Art Stuff

[Noonahootin]

Oh, Noonahootin ol' boy. I did wrong by you.

BUT DA-YUM Vizon sure rocked dat battle! Noonahootin's face really shows the betrayal and emotion of the moment.

[Vizon]

Thanks Foxpenoona! I was trying out a different technique (aka broader brush strokes, different PS brush). I like how it's more painty and less precise. I wanted to capture more of the feel and emotion of the moment than exacting details (as is my usual pitfall).

[Noonahootin]

Also, Noonahootin's ghost costume is amazing. That Hallowe'en picture is adorable!

[Nyika]

I think it's brilliant! Probably my favorite of yours so far.

[Vizon]

I think it's brilliant! Probably my favorite of yours so far.

The Halloween picture or Noonahootin's death? ;)

[Matra Hammer]

I have my favorite.

coughiconcough

But really the Dr. Manhattan Zevka is wonderful. Get that marten a glass castle on mars.

Love the air fight too. Makes me want to punch Aster right in his beak.

[Vizon]

Ah, Poko. You were my favorite. I'm sorry you had to go this way.

I will miss that snarky little ferret.

[foxpen]

Your best so far, Vizon! Those tears and her raw paws, and her whiskers all curling up....it looks so sad and painful and *sobs*

[Vizon]

Thanks, Foxpen. Yeah I think this is my first try at "tears" so I'm happy with how they came out. This being the last death and all, I had a lot of practice, and didn't feel too rushed. Gotta say though...the google image searching I had to do to find good references were all pretty hideous. People can sure be cruel to animals. Don't let your dog walk on hot asphalt in the summer!  :-\

[Risk]

This picture makes me extremely uncomfortable. But so did Poko's death. I think that's a good thing! And you need a medal for braving reference pictures. I've given up on doing that a long time ago. It's one thing to write about something like Noonahootin's surgery, where you can distance your visualization from the words just enough that it doesn't bother you. But watching it, or bringing it, or something like it, to life, takes guts. Please keep those guts inside you. No one wants to see them and you need them to keep living so you can draw more!

And thanks for the Risk pictures, Vizon! And everyone else, too. I never said that before, did I? I don't really remember... I don't think I did. I was too scared of sounding awkward about it. _{^{I still am. I'm going to lie awake for hours fretting about this post tonight.}}

Anyway I really hope you stay around for the next contest!

[Vizon]

Oh hey Risk! What a wonderful surprise!

Yes, words often do not quite convey what images can, and often images fail to convey what they intend (just look at Deviantart). I make it my goal to try to communicate with my painting what I cannot always convey with words. Poko was near and dear to my heart, though I grew quite fond of all the characters, so I think I tried extra hard with this one to portray the potency of the moment. She did have a whole life ahead of her yet, which is sad, but at the same time her death was not meaningless, so even though it made me sad that it happened, it wasn't a complete tragedy. I think it said a lot about who she was as a character and strengthened/solidified who she was, under it all.

I will do my best to keep my guts in where they're supposed to be, and you're welcome for the pictures. Glad you liked them. It's been a fun ride and I will try to stick around for the next contest as well.
I was reprimanded by a professional bronze sculptor over the weekend, however, for giving away my work. He told me to stop. But you know...this at least is fun for me, and I'm not putting as much into all of these as I could since I know they're pretty temporary and it's more for practice and the fun of it than making money. That's what work's for, right?  ;D

It's good exercise. Maybe I'll try out some new techniques next round. Or just do funny sketches. We'll see.

[Matra Hammer]

Y'know, Vizon, your style would lend well to an illustrated/graphic novel. Especially if you can convey all that danger and sadness with one burning padfoot. Have you ever thought to try? I know I'd love seeing a full story read and seen through your hand.

Wouldn't surprise me at all if you gave it the full 100 yards and found a publisher with ease. I'd buy a copy.

[Vizon]

Well I've made some short-lived attempts in the past. One I didn't even finish - I was basically illustrating a role play that happened with my characters. You can take a look if you can abide the stupid pop-ups. It's old. It's not very good: http://www.angelfire.com/realm/LNSC/comics.html

A more recent venture was a book I illustrated for my nephew. I don't have it online as a whole finished work, but I do have most of the illustrations here if you scroll down a bit: http://johannasartsavanna.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-07-12T11:23:00-07:00&max-results=7

Haven't updated that blog in a while.

Anyway, you're probably right. I should try to publish something for real. Currently I am procrastinating a completely different kind of project, however, which is a game. I've been a bit distracted from it since getting back into this Redwall stuff, but I should probably get back to it.

[Matra Hammer]

Author-illustrators can go very far. A few graphic novel and children's book authors I know from school enjoy a great deal of success through their two-fold artistic threat. Lots of hurdles go whizzing by when you hold both art assets in your paws. Give it a try once your game project is complete.

Thank you very much for sharing your projects. I admire that you can so readily share your work with your family (and produce such an adorable story.)

And I can only parrot previous posts but, well, you've been an incredible asset to this contest. Tis good news knowing you'll be around for the next one.

[Vizon]

I've been updating my links here and all over the forum since Photobucket stopped being a free site. There are a few messages from the MO1 forum that I cannot find now, so I am going to post them here, for posterity.

Dancing Noonahootin:



And Matra's crazy prediction for the story of MO1, which, admittedly, does not make as much sense out of context, and I cannot tell you much context except Nyika's a rugby star and Istvan is her soap-making fanboy, Goragula is Doctor Who somehow, Poko is Batpoko, Zevka is Conan the Barbarian and Vanessa is rocking out 80's style: