Taking a look at my process here. This took about 3 1/2 hours to complete. All done on PhotoShop with my Wacom tablet. If the layout is backwards, it's because of my depressingly bad computer skills. And the fact that I am too lazy to go back and fix it. Sorry about that. I fail!

The picture on the bottom is the original sketch. I'm not sure what I was really thinking of in terms of background. Looking at it again makes me think 'absolutely nothing at all'. In my head, I had only envisioned the girl posed in a sort of lounging position. When it came to sketching it, I hurriedly added the window-ledge-whatever around her so that I could get my bearings on how she would be leaning. Or something like that. As you can see, the window mysteriously disappeared after the second stage.

The second stage was polishing the lines a little bit - lowering the opacity on the first sketch, adding another layer, and then going over the lines again. Sort of fine-tuning it, getting a better idea of the pose. I then lowered the opacity on the second layer, making it so that the lines were slightly darker than the original sketch's.

Third stage - added another layer, and then did the polished inkwork. Smoothing out the lines and whatnot. Most annoying part of the process. At least, it is for me.

In stage 4, I create yet another layer, and then place it below the final ink layer. I erase the two earlier sketch layers, and then decide on colors. Gehnn (the character pictured here) has a sort of plain, muted look, so I keep it relatively simple. Her wardrobe goes more for function and comfort than fashion. Am now enjoying myself immensely.

LAST STAGE is shading 'n shining. Well, more shading than shining. Shining comes later, when I have time. Anyways, imagining where the light source is, and outlining and filling the shadows accordingly. Adding a shiny silver sheen to the metal parts of her boots. Finishing up, and yes! I am done!

Well, almost. There's still the shining to do. And a background, I suppose. But for now that's good enough.

And now I must go watch White Christmas with my mother. Tootle pip!

MOOVAAAYS

Here is something about me that not many people know (oh, no, wait...): I. LOVE. MOVIES.

As long as I can remember, one of the most exciting and nostalgic parts of my childhood was going to the movie theater. There are three in my hometown - the Del Oro Theater, Sierra Cinemas, and Sutton Cinemas. My favorite was, and still is, Del Oro. Sierra Cinemas is perhaps the most modern(ish) of the three, and has the most screens. Sutton is....well....it's tiny, and not very high quality, but by gum they show some good movies. Sometimes. Usually, you only go there if the movie you want to see is playing there (I think there's an agreement among the theaters that no one movie will be played in any of the theaters at the same time). But ANYWAY - they just can't compare to Del Oro. It's the oldest, the prettiest, and by far the most atmospheric. Walking into the main theater, you really feel like you're going to see something amazing. Not just walking in and sitting down in front of a huge screen, but as if you are actually going to see something. Does that make sense? Probably not. You'll just have to go there and see for yourself. Meh.

At any rate, speaking of movies, I went to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader this weekend with some friends at Sierra Cinemas. I had seen the trailer, and thought that it looked like it might be decent. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe had been really good, and Prince Caspian was okay, verging on pretty good. I was hoping for some of the fantasy elements of the books being more present in the movie this time. Boy, was I disappointed.

Now, it wasn't a bad movie. My philosophy about movies based off of books is to mentally separate them, so that when I go to see the movie, I won't be biased based on how accurate it was to the book, or based on the fact that it IS based on the book and thus must be worth seeing (Harry Potter, anyone?). So I see the movie as a completely different story, a different media. Which is exactly what it is.

Watching Dawn Treader, I was impressed with the special effects, and the way they were presented. Most of it was absolutely beautiful - my favorite scene was at the end, with the sea of white flowers floating in the water. Gorgeous.

That said, the CGI was also a problem. As cool as it was, it was just....EVERYWHERE. The entire film was just smothered in it. There are some movies that can maybe make this work (ahem Avatar cough cough), but in others it's just a distraction, and can grow to be very annoying.

All in all, the movie was just way too flashy and not very subtle. And not just the CGI, but the plot and the writing. No, the movie does not follow the book, in case you're wondering. I mean, it had the essential bits (the painting with the ship, Eustace being turned into a dragon, etc.), but mostly it was all from the writer's imaginations. But, as I've said, I don't really like to involve that in my movie viewing, so that's just an aside for easily infuriated movie-goers.

Again, nothing was very subtle. In a good movie - in a good story, just in general - much of what the characters are thinking is left up to the reader's/viewers interpretation. The actors won't give long monologues about how depressing their life is, they won't even openly talk about their feelings. When they do, it's sort of (inadvertently) condescending to the audience. If you're too oblivious to figure out what's going one without a long explanation, then why the heck are you watching this movie? I like to be treated like I can understand the course of events without having every plot point explained to me. That's closer to real life - no one walks up to you when you're confused and explains what you should do next. You have to figure it out on your own. And that's that.

Now, Dawn Treader certainly was not made up of monologues or anything. But it doesn't leave much to your imagination. The story the writers give you is just very tired out - you've heard or read something like it many times before. And that sort of makes it a bit dull. Halfway through the movie, you're thinking "Come on, I know how this is going to end. Why are they stretching it out?"

Ah, well. Let's hope the next movie is better. What IS the next book anyway? Let me check.....

The Silver Chair. Aye yi yi YI.

Well, one can only hope.

I will say this - the actor who played Eustace was awesome. At least in the beginning. He's excellent at portraying an obnoxious schoolboy who thinks he's a genius. It was sort of weird when he started behaving nicely. I mean, that's not bad, it's just -

(slip BANG)

Ouch.