Sketching Character Practice!

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

First of all, World cup is still going on, so I've still got a lot of work at the bar, especially since it looks like England's qualified for the next round of the 'Cup after their 6-1 win, with the last of the matches (Against Belgium) to decide where they'll be sitting in match ups - at least as far as I can tell. I'll admit, I'm usually working during matches rather than watching them, so I could be wrong outside of the score and the next match up. lol.

That isn't to say I've done nothing, however. Admittedly its only really sketch work so far, but I've been essentially practicing for the project I'll be doing - I made some mention of it last time, in fact, though let me explain.

So, what the project entailed was linked to some of my older pictures involving a character named Kitai. In the storyline the character is in, he was once part of a rebel team, two of the characters being a pare of twins. Now, I've sketched the Yume twins before, but only ever as their child selves, never as their adult forms, so my intent is to do a shot o the twins, back to back, as adults. However, I haven't drawn their adult forms before, and so I was working from their discriptions alone. As such, I sketched them individually at first to get a feel for them before I do a true version of them together. Admittedly they're not the final sketch versions for these two, but are more me practicing them before I do anything else.

So, the first of the twins I sketched was Shiro:

For Shiro, I wanted a slightly wilder appearence, which would eventually include scars including some on the exposed side of the body. The weaponry is gloves that house metal claws in the back (which will need shortening slightly otherwise he would struggle to bend his wrist when they're contracted). 

For his brother, Kuro:

I was considering something a little more refined, standing straighter, not half naked and a little more reserved expression, though for the final version, he would need to look a little more similar to Shiro in his face, considering they are meant to be identical twins. Along with the lack of scars and his clothing, I wanted his hair to also look different as well. Kuro's weapon is one inherited from his father and is his primary form of attack. Since Shiro had his weapon shown, it made sense for Kuro to also have his on view as well.

As you can see, there is a lot to do to get these sketches close to how I imagine them, along with fixing the proportions slightly - Kuro's hand is definitely out of wack, for example. However, considering it's the first time I've put pen to paper in terms of their adult selves, they're just about ready for the tweaking to get them into proper form. Hopefully their final selves, ready for a full digital makeover, will be much better. Watch this space!

Until next time!

Tara

Stream of Chosha-ness!

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

While this is a bit belated, Happy Father's Day! I know the actual day was yesterday, but since I always do my blogs on Mondays, I couldn't say it on the day. Though I did personally get to say it to my own dad, so no worries! I did have something funny happen when getting my present for Father's Day, however. I had been a little unsure what to get him until my mum suggested something he had actually wanted - a power station for his car. Now, I know next to nothing about cars, but I wanted to get something dad actually might want rather than some trinket that he might never use, so off I went to the auto shop in town and found the power station pretty easily. so, I took the box with the power station to the counter to buy and I was told with a very serious expression that "I can't use it and bring it back in a few days."

Now, I'm pretty sure that auto shops are not libraries. I was buying it after all. Makes me wonder if someone's actually done that before or if I just look that much like an idiot or newbee where cars are concerned that they needed to point this out, I had no idea, but I still found it kind of funny anyway, if only by how utterly serious they were saying it.

Joking aside they were awesome people and dad was happy with his present.

Anyways, Along with Father's day, I was a bit on the busy side. As you guys likely know, the world cup has started and as someone who works in a bar, we've been showing the matches in the pub itself, meaning we needed to have staff to cover the matches, including yours truely, hence why today is really more a stream of consciousness rather than ay expression of artistry - though some things you see, hear and do at the pub could make for ab entire book/comic series in and of itself. I mentioned it before but I'm making note of all kind of fun tings I've seen of heard, even stupid stuff I've done as well and will one day make a small series on it for fun. Who knows, it might get a laugh :)

One of the biggest matches at the pub so far, of course, was the England game (for those of you who aren't aware, I'm from the UK, FYI) and they were playing Tunisia today and won - great start for the team :) I'm not a big football fan, honestly, but hey, I should at least show some patriotic support! So well done team! When I've not been busy serving customers I've been checking on some of the other matches too and there've been some good ones so far. Here's hoping that the rest of the world cup goes well too!

But anyways, I hope that my 'blah-ing' hasn't been too off putting, beyond the maybe promise of eventual comic series of various spoofs at my bar job, but now we've all started getting into the rhythm of work alongside football, I should be back to work on my projects once again. Along with the badges, I've got a couple request I've got that I'm going to be working on, and I'm also having a little experiment with different styles as well, especially since one of my requests was asked to be in my take of a specific style. So I should have some interesting stuff for you all soon and hope you look forwards to it.

Until next time!

Tara

Badges In Progress!

Hey Everyone! Welcome back!

Last time I showed you guy the seven badge ideas that I came up with that would be related to Tanra Studios. While I'll probebly end up doing full versions of all of them eventually, if only to use later, I have done some progress on two of them. They're not complete, of course, and a lot of tweaking will be needed, but I thought I'd at least give you an update on how things are going.

So first of all, one of the badges I was looking at was the Oneiros skull idea. I was thinking of doing it in a silhouette/icon-esque manner, though I'll admit I'm a little uncertain on colours at the moment. This one is the  one mist subject to change on design. This first version I went for was a more uniformed, almost symmetrical design, though I did have other ideas for one that utilises the initial sketch a little more, making it look more melted and disjointed, thus less symmetrical. That one is one I'll likely play with next, however. Along with being a bit unsure on its final design, I'm also currently a little unsure on colours, thus this version is very much in progress/ experimental stage. Still, what I have so far, unfinished as it is, is this:

The markings on the badge design are to help me work out what will be where. The smallest circle is the 'safe zone' where any design inside will definitely be on the badge. the middle circle is where the badge might bend over to curl around to the back and the dotted circle is where anything might be cut. While experimenting, I was only messing with colour to the middle circle, though. When finalised, I'd do it to the dotted line. 

While I like some aspects of the design, it currently doesn't stand out much. So if I continued with it, I'd need to make the silhouette pop a bit more, either by giving the design light and shading, or by messing with the background. I have some other thoughts as well for the design, such as slash markings similar to some from the comic, however, as said, this is one that needs a lot more work and experimenting on to get it right.

The next one was the chibi version of Somnus. With that one, his colours mostly match those from his initial design, though I'm still contemplating shirt colours. The main problem is that Somnus, as a character, favours blacks, greys and purples, so again, the background might need a bit of work, either by going for an opposing colour, or maybe doing that glittery design from a print idea. Either way, note that the current background colour is not likely to be in its final version - that will be my main experiment for that one.

For now, though, this is what I've done:

Apologies if the picture is a tad blurred for the blog. As you can see, I was working on this to the edges, as I am supposed to be. lol. As you can tell compared to my initial design, its not full body any longer, but rather a closer image. This is because full version would have made him ridiculously small on the badge. While flats are done, minus making the colour stand out a bit more, you may notice the two white 'balls' - the one hovering over his hand, and the one on the staff. There are currently uncoloured, with the white as placeholders, since these are to have mixed, swirling-like colours and will give off some light of their own. So for now, I just needed to be sure I knew where each part world be when I get around to working on them without disrupting line art or pulling on the original sketch too much. It also helps in arranging the placement of the character, as that might also change slightly if I feel it needs shifting, enlarging, etc.

Still, with what I have so far, what do you guys think? Comment below and let me know! :)

Until next time!

Tara

Budding Badges!

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So, I've been working on some ideas for badges. At the moment, these are only rough ideas since I'm not entirely sure of what the badge dimensions are just yet - the problems of not having one's own badge maker and needing to outsource. However, for right now, these are all only sketched ideas, with only two of the seven eventually making the final cut. Those two will then go on to having digital versions completed which will match the dimensions for the badges, since by that time I should have an idea of what might work out best.

So if you like, give me your input on what you might think would work best as a badge design. After all, if eough people like a particular design, it'll be one of the two that'll make it to merchandising stage :)

So, what are the ideas? Well, here's photographs of the sketches - I apologise for my, as usual, fairly abysmal photography skills:

For the first design, it was the most simple, yet probebly the most striking - a stylised version of one of the Oneiros' heads. I found that when I did badges for Susanoo, the one that sold the most was the Orochi's eye badge. Essentially something leaning towards 'cool' rather than based on a particular character. Plus, skull designs are pretty popular when it comes to T-shirts and such. With the right combination of colours, the badge could be quite striking, even if the badge itself ends up being relatively small. Plus with these creatures being the main antagonists of the series, it seemed a fairly fitting thing for merchandise of Dreamwalkers.

The second design was less to do with Dreamwalkers itself, and more my personal mascot that, in Dreamwalkers and generally everything I've been doing since starting has the Luphin character somewhere. If you have the first chapter of Dreamwalkers, it's in there somewhere. :) Plus where 'cool' doesn't pick up interest, cute is its next contender. However, as its not technically a character in the series, but more my mascot, it might not be so fitting for a Dreamwalkers badge. But if it doesn't end up a badge, I might still use the design elsewhere. Luphins always seem to show up in my work somewhere. lol

The next here designs are similar in ideas, leaning towards 'cute'. However, these are significantly less fuzzy and more 'chibi' versions of the three main characters currently introduced in the series: Rem, Somnus and Ashling:

Admittedly, out of the three, while Rem seems the most adorable, Somnus and Ashling's poses might work better for the badges since they'd leave less blank space of nothing. However, it would make more sense for Rem and/or Somnus to get badges with them being the main focus from chapter one. Rem being the main protagonist, while Somnus being the deurangonist. Its always possible, depending on how people take to whatever two make the first cut that the chibi other versions could show up later on.

The last two designs were more leaning towards their actual designs and were actually inspired by the Somnus poster idea I got to digital version for my degree show. That is the character holding a glowing ball - the ball itself representing imagination/dream/potential that can be crafted by the Dreamwalkers while in the dreamscape into whatever they might need via will - something explained in more detain in the course of the story. Considering what I mentioned of the two focus characters, for that idea I only did those two so far - If only because they made for cool mirror images:

I personally like the idea of these designs, however, I'm unsure if others would be interested in them as badges, at least for the first lot of merchandise for Dreamwalkers that weren't prints. These two would make a tad more sense to be done together, but could work solo as well. Still, if they dont get much interest as badges I do have ideas to repurpose them to designs for other things, such as perhaps internet 'banners' or 'icons'. 

Still, I would love to know what you guys think! Any input would be great. After all, not only does it help me to know what you guys like, but it also helps me give you guys things you might want. So let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

Until next time!

Tara

Nine Tails Sketch

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So I've been practicing sketching supernatural creatures and, keeping in line with the 'fox lord' sketch I did a few weeks ago, the first thing I decided to sketch - admittedly in the notebook I was also writing my ideas and such down in - was a nine tailed fox. The other reason I decided to focus on this was because of the character Huxian in the TanraStudios blog, who is one of these supernatural foxes himself

It wouldn't shock me if this is a supernatural creature you've heard about before. Foxes with supernatural gifts, not just nine tailed ones, are pretty common in media like anime, Manga and games, as well as appearing within Japanese, Chinese and Korean mythology, to name a few, though foxes have shown up in other mythology as well.

Notable examples in media are:

For anime, the ninetailed fox that was sealed into the title character in the anime/manga Naruto, the character Kurama from YuYu Hakushou, Shippo from Inuyasha, Tomoe from Kamisama kiss, Renamon and her various digivolutions in Digimon, to name just a few.

In games, Pokemon such as the Vulpix, Zorua and Fennikin lines are all based on foxes - even their pokedex entries seem to reflect some of the myths. Also, Tails from Sonic, Keaton in Legend of Zelda, the boss 'Ninetails' in Okami, Ahri from League of Legends and even the Hermit Social link in Persona 4 are all foxes that seem to have some inspiration from the mythologies. Once again, to name but a few.

As for the mythologies themselves, mainly if you heard of them through games and such, it's likely that the name 'Kitsune' has cropped up, which is the Japanese name for foxes, whether supernatural or otherwise, though this is not the only term they're known by. 'Nogitsune' and 'Yako' are usually what more trickster types are known by, who are more often than not mischievous at best and malicious at worst, whereas a 'Zenko' is a fox usually associated with the god 'Inari', and seen as said god's messengers and thus more benevolent. 'Tenko' are foxes that are considered celestial, having  gained nine tails after living for 1000 years and ascended to the heavens. These are the highest ranked kitsune.

In Chinese Mythology, supernatural foxes are referred to as 'Huli Jing' - fox spirits - and their nine tailed versions are called 'Jiuweihu'. Like their Japanese counterparts, Huli Jing can be good or bad spirits. Foxes also seem to be linked to divine beings as well, with forms of Huxian (Fox Immortal/ fox gods) that either are equivalent to Inari, or have an animal form of a nine tailed fox, though this can refer to several different beings, either individually or as a collective trio of fox god(desses).

(Ironically, when I created the character Huxian for Pandora, I actually had't known about the actual versions in the mythology, though when I found out, I saw no reason to change it. Hell, it even fits, given his storyline...)

Korea's version of supernatural foxes are referred to as 'Kumiho', litterally meaning 'nine tailed fox'. Unlike both Japanese and Chinese equivalents, which ca lean to any spectrum of a moral compass, Kumiho are almost unanimously malevolent and would feast on human flesh, specifically the heart of liver, depending on the tale.

Though these are some differences in mythologies, such as Kumiho having a bead containing knowledge that could be absorbed from others or, if swallowed by a human could give them gifts; Kitsune able to use fire or possess humans etc, there are many similarities to the mythologies where abilities are concerned. They are generally shape shifters that can take on human forms, mostly that of beautiful women, though sometimes older men. In Japanese and Chinese mythologies especially, they seem to even gain some magical power, especially as nine tails, and able to perform other feats such as divination or sorcery.

There are tons of stories about supernatural foxes, whether they have nine tails or not, all of them pretty interesting to read and these is a ton more information about foxes in mythology.

Honestly speaking, Foxes are my favourite (real) animal, with them being my second favourite supernatural one - that honour goes to dragons (I used to be really obsessed with those as a kid and still love them now). Still, I hope you liked the bits of info. I really would suggest looking them up for more in-depth stuff though, cause there are some really good bits of info on them and folk lore that I really couldn't get into without this blog ending up taking a week or so to read. Still, if you're interested, there are tons of places online to find out more :)

Until next time!

Tara

The Meaning of Nightmares

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So I mentioned that I was working on a bit more research last time, though admittedly part of that research was mythology in general. However, I have also been doing some more looking into dreams, nightmares, meanings and the likes, since that is a central part of Dreamwalkers.

For those who may not remember, or those just joining, Dreamwalkers is somewhat episodic in nature, at least somewhat. Despite an overarching plot, the main purpose of the SOS team is about saving people from monster controlled nightmares praying on the sleeper's subconscious desires, fears etc. As such, a lot of character to the side characters and even a bit on some of the main characters themselves is told through the types of things they dream about and an interpretation of them - its not everything about the characters, of course, but just additional titbits about them. As such, looking up nightmares and meanings will certainly help to improve on character development, especially for episodic characters you only have short times to get to know.

While researching, I came across a video on YouTube that popped up on my suggestions feed that was only uploaded a week or so ago which covers ten common nightmares and meaning, and thought it was pretty interesting, not to mention very relevant, and thought I'd share it with you guys.

All credit for the video, of course, goes to Alltime 10s. Give them a like on YouTube if you enjoyed what you saw here and, if you like what they do, subscribe to their channel, too. If nothing else, I found it really interesting! :) Who knows, you might find a nightmare you've had and now know the meaning, or maybe one of these nightmares may show up in Dreamwalkers.

Until net time!

Tara

I Have A Plan!!!

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So, I've been thinking of a little project to do on the side, mostly in relation to the blogs, mainly because my wrists have been a little on the sore side and I'm being careful in hopes I dont end up with Tendonitis again. As you may remember, a while ago, when I was last suffering pretty badly from tendonitis and unable to really draw, I explored different myths and legends about dreams, with a touch of dream interpretation. While I would never class myself as an anthropologist (though that sounds like an amazing job, not gonna lie. Respect to those training in or working in that field) I've always been interested in mythology and how people interpreted various things that created the myths in the first place. Without things like that, we might not have so many diverse beliefs in the past and such rich mythologies in different countries.

Essentially, I was considering doing something similar to what I did with the dream based myths, but with my drawing, sketches or interpretations of different myths, with a bit of information about them. The reason I was thinking this is because of the other comic I'm joint working on with my partner in crime in TanraStudios is heavily based in mythologies, being at its core about a supernatural detective agency. Since I'm doing the research anyway, it would be killing two birds with one stone. I know that we've touched on them in the script based side stories that are posted on the TanraStudios blog. So, I'm thinking that, in-between my usual blogs, I might do some info and sketches about some of the myths and legends I look up. It could be a ton of fun, to be honest, especially when there are myths that cross over different countries and have somewhat different takes to them. Who knows, some of these creatures may even end up popping into Dreamwakers, because hey, in dreams, anything is possible.

In the meantime, I'll admit that I've not been particually busy on the drawing front, as I mentioned (fingers crossed on the wrist thing) but I did a little doodle here and there just to keep my hand in.

Is anyone ever inspired to doodle just because they happen to have a pet? I certainly know while I was at university, one of my comic ideas (which I didn't get to do in the end) was going to be about the antics of my, at the time, new puppy and the cat I had. They used to sleep together and get up to mischief. My cat even taught my dog how to beg. Pretty funny thing to see.

I do still want to do a comic about those two, even though my cat passed away before I finished uni. Their antics should be remembered!

But anyway, once again, with just pen, I decided to do a sketch inspired by my dog!

Admittedly, it's without the particular markings in his fur, so it kinda looks more like the dog from the film Up. But for a drawing that took only a minute or so, it came out pretty good. Maybe I'll do a full body one and do shading too. Or try to do dogs in lots of different styles. I suppose it would all depend on if I'm trying to take it easy with my wrists, or if I'm focused on one of my projects again :)

Either way, if all goes well, I'll see about doing some blog posts based on the mythology thing with images, if not I might just talk about them, or I'll be doing my usual thing. Its all the change things up a little bit and make it fun for all of us, especially you guys who read my rambles each week. Thank you!!! You're all awesome!

Until next time!

Tara