an art blog

Link: https://alexandraktang.itch.io/assignment-10-painting-the-polygons (pw: 2dart) Tools: Paint, Wacom Intuos, Unity Desc: A rotating scene with a box of Gheerios (mispelled Cheerios), Soles (Doles) Pineapple Chunks, and a regular brown box. Feedback: This was another assignment I spent too much time on because I started having fun, plus some more extra time because I decided to do this in Paint. I was unfamiliar with using the Intuos because I was used to using my iPad and it felt super unwieldly as I tried to use Photoshop, so I decided to pare down my software and go into Paint (which then brought its own trouble). All in all, I quite like this. I tried to do thicker outlines to go for a more toon-shaded style, but I think I would've needed to do some lighting and shading work. I also think the design of the pineapple can could've been made a little more fun, and the Gheerios box has too many thin lines that at a certain angle, it becomes hard to look at (primarily in the back of the box.)

Two designs for the Tunnel of Love cart: one a more traditional cart with a heart seat, the other a swan-shaped cart that covers the more traditional cart.

Tools: Procreate, iPad, Apple Pencil Pro Desc: A worn down, defunct Tunnel of Love Feedback: Originally, I wanted an outside perspective of a tunnel of love with the words "TUNNEL OF LOVE" plastered on a wall somewhere, but it was hard to find reference photos of the outside that would depict what I was looking to draw. It was much easier to find references for the interiors, which I find to be arguably creepier. I knew I wanted the vibes to be cheap, worn, and not well-maintained; it's meant to be a creepy dungeon-like area that the characters visit to find the entrance to the realm of Gods (in order to kill the God of Love). A lot of the texturing on the thin walls is meant to show a poor paint job that's now cracking from a lack of maintenance. I wanted to give the rest of the piece more texturing or light work but that's both a time and skill issue. I think the final reddish-pink hue that goes over the entire piece does well to tie things together and give it the creepy glow I wanted, but next time, I'd rather be more intentional about all of the textures and the coloring for everything (for instance, the swan would be presumably be white when the ride first opened and now it'd probably be yellowed with time, maybe even rusted over-- rather than red-pink).

Tools: Procreate, iPad, Apple Pencil Pro Desc: Key art for Seraphim: Burn at the Stake (idk lmao) that depicts Protagonist B (I haven't named her yet lmao) as a looming shadow that holds Lane in her hands. Feedback: My goal with this key art was to demonstrate the possessive, controlling nature of the two protagonists' relationship. In this piece, Lane is shown bent over, as if she's just finished running away from something right into her best friend's hands. The size difference and upward angle is meant to symbolize the power difference between the two. Originally, I thought a lot about NSYNC's Bye Bye Bye music video and considered making Lane a puppet, but I think the characters are bound by a love and loyalty that has become toxic and not straight up manipulation. Lane willingly comes back every time. In the future, I think this could be pushed further with more exaggerated poses and perhaps Lane shouldn't also be a shadow? I think having Lane be fully colored could help drive home the message that her friend's control is all-consuming despite not actually being present. I think more could also be done with texturing, perhaps making Protagonist B wispier like a shadow/haze. I quite liked the texturing of my second sketch and think maybe something like that could be cool for another rendition of this key art. Also, I should fix the hand size/fit them in the page better :' )

Tools: Procreate, Apple iPad Pro, Apple Pencil Pro Feedback: This was a fun assignment because I thought more about who this character is. I mentioned last week that I'm still in the process of extricating her personality from the other main protagonist of the game, but the irony of that is their relationship is toxically codependent. I probably should've done a pose that would actually happen in game as that would be a little more useful for the character sheet as a working document, but these expressions and the art of her lounging by the couch does give a little more insight to the side of her you probably wouldn't encounter in the game as much since it's a survival horror game. I also should've drawn more right facing expressions since all the art I've drawn of her has been left-facing. Additionally, given the color palette I chose for the page, I kind of think maybe I should've gone with the other color scheme I made last week; or I should've chosen colors that work better with the palette I actually chose. Oopsie.

Tools: Procreate, Apple iPad Pro, Apple Pencil Pro Description: LANE - 27yo, F, East Asian descent Works an office job she doesn't care for, fairly apathetic to everyone and everything other than gossip and fashion, aimless, hard to get ahold of, only cares about her best friend who all-but-abandoned her once she entered a romantic relationship Asymmetry in both hair and jacket to denote trendiness, unconventionality, going against the grain Feedback: In the original silhouette, her posture and hair really stood out to me. As such, I wanted to design a fairly trendy character who was rather blasé, even when holding a knife in what I saw to be a fur coat (I don't know how to draw/color fur lmao). I opted for asymmetry in both in her hair and jacket to allude to unconventional choices. I think this could've been pushed further by attempting to add some texture to her clothing and maybe adding makeup to her face too, but I can't draw faces, which is why she looks like Daria (in the end, I kind of like it though). I wanted to go with darker hues like violet, magenta, and navy for the game originally, but after doing the palette switch, I quite like the colors on her, especially because that hair color feels trendier than what would presumably be her natural black hair. (I also now realize as I'm typing this that I'm missing the side view for her left side, and it's actually important since her design is asymmetrical. If I have time, I'll edit this and add that view too-- sorry!)

3 silhouettes for Assignment 8: Character

Tools: Procreate, Apple iPad Pro, Apple Pencil Pro Description: This is a residential Victorian town of a relatively small size, perhaps a total of 35 residents. It has a town square where residents gather during the day to chat, buy and sell items, and explore. Feedback: I wanted to depict a section of this town, an alley felt like a proper cross section with a general goods store and a few residential buildings. The town is closed level with exits that lead to the overworld, and this would likely be one of them and not actually meant to be walked around in. I was minorly confused about how to block this out and was completely confused about lighting. I think after more consideration, I would have tried to make it more clear that it's an exit. I also cheated a little and used my thesis JRPG town, which made it a little harder to block out in reverse. In the future, I'd do the homework as I'm supposed to do.

The text is inspired by text found in The Legend of Zelda series and is just created by flipping each letter sideways and splitting the pieces apart (the text says "General").

Tools: Aseprite Feedback: I really enjoyed working on this assignment and am very proud of it. The scope was far too large but I had so much fun. While I was away, I originally made two previous attempts at this homework in Procreate, but each one of those felt uninspired and weren't things I was proud of (which is part of why I took so long to submit this, sorry!) I started drawing in pixel art because I noticed that while I was drawing in Procreate, the sizing was always different and I couldn't figure out how to to swap elements between sets when the sizing didn't line up. The first image is a pixel art representation of my actual bedroom wall, pictured above. I figured this could be used in games where players get to customize their clutter in sets but not each piece individually (though I could've done that given I've already drawn everything). From there on, I searched for prints from the respective artists whose prints are featured on my wall and recreated them. All of these are represented and credited in the PureRef screenshot above. In the future, I would give myself more time. While I think everything looks great at a quick glance and maybe from afar, I know a fudged the pixels much of the time. I would also think more about color coordination between the three sections and maybe work toward a red, blue, and green theme for each. I also ultimately ran out of time/motivation/willpower to create new photostrips and just recolored it rather than designing new poses.

One (well, two) sketches of my first favorite character in media: Winnie the Pooh.

Tools: Procreate, iPad, Apple Pencil Pro Desc: Visual representation of waking up from a long nap Feedback: (My homework is illegal, sorry!) I think this is a decent representation of the sensation of waking up from a disorienting nap, but it also feels like it can be attributed to many other sensations. I like the scratchy circular floaters, inspired by the ones you get when you look at something bright, because it feels accurate to the distorted vision you have when you wake up. The red spiky shapes represent your (or my) dry eyes and numb limbs when I wake up and the occasional "sparkling" feeling that accompanies it. I feel these could be a bit more dynamic than just growing into another shape to emphasize that rhythmic "shock". If I were to redo it, I'd make it more "spiky" somehow. The dizziness swirls also just feel too expected, so I would want to make something less obvious next time to represent these sensations. I think maybe that's part of why I feel this GIF can still represent other feelings beyond just the one I chose?

En Plein Air, 120ml Pure Air | €290.00

Tools: Procreate, iPad, Apple Pencil Pro, Aseprite Desc: 8x8, 16x16, 32x32 pixel renditions of the Durecko Feedback: When approaching each rendition, I first blocked out the silhouette to that resembled the Durecko. The key was always maintaining some sort of oblong ellipse because when I messed around with more rectangular shapes (as in the 8x8 rendition), I found those to be less recognizable. Then, once I was able to recognize the monster, I went in with another color to start etching out some defining features, such as the arms, tail, and face. Here, I tried to use differing colors to differentiate body parts, such as the digits on its feet and the spikes on the body. I studied the example art of the Leondan and translated that technique onto my piece with the Durecko. I kept thinking about how Blake Reynolds said a good pixel artist looks at a display like a mosaic piece where a not-so-good artist looks at it like a rock and chisel. Unfortunately, I think my pixel art still looks more like Rambo's than Mighty Final Fight because I found myself using colors to outline more than to add depth and detail. I think I'm lacking understanding of light and shadow, and that makes using color to show depth a little harder too. Nonetheless, I find comfort in stricter requirements when making art because I often get overwhelmed when there are too much freedom. The 8x8 was maybe a little too restrictive, but 16x16 was easy to sketch over and over until it felt right. 32x32 was certainly harder but when I was limited to 4 colors, it still felt doable. When I was allowed to use an unlimited amount, I just didn't know what to do with them. I'm still happy with where these ended up, but I think after learning more about color theory, I'd like to revisit them again.

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Tools: Procreate, iPad, Apple Pencil Pro Desc: A security camera inspired by the anatomy of a bat. Feedback: I'm proud of the fact that this does look quite similar to both the reference items-- a security camera and a bat. I wanted to add more of the mechanical parts, such as wiring under the wings. In the reference image of the bat, its wings are more translucent and if I were able to showcase that coloring, it would be the perfect place to show wiring that makes the camera work. The part I was concerned about was that I wanted the security camera to be inspired by the bat and less like a mechanical bat. Next time, I'd also like to work more on the color and shadowing.

The Durecko worries about being preyed upon by other creatures, often forgetting that its tough and sharp exterior is often enough to deter most.