[Art/Writing] Jairus: Merry Christmas

[Ren Gaulen]

Roger Smith: "DOUBLE-O! It's SHOWTIME!!"

[WhiteFox]

I've found two ways to shade things, and a combination of the two methods is useful.

First is using the lasso tool, making a selection, and filling it with shade. Or, Magic wand a shape (Like, say, his shoulder) and Option-lasso away what shouldn't be shaded.

Second option still uses the same selection methods, but uses the gradient tool to give a blended shadow rather then Fill. I do not suggest using the Smudge tool to get a blended shadow.

A third possible method would be to cross hatch all the shading, then fill the area with color on a layer behind once it's scanned. I didn't get very good results with this, but I didn't really pursue it much and didn't have the right tools.

What I'm messing around with (And what is delaying my next comic page) is shading with my tablet and the airbrush tool. Which is very fun, very impressionistic, and very labor intensive. I'll probably save that for hair. I wouldn't recommend shading like that with a mouse.

By the way, you forgot the eyebrows again. His forehead looks huge.

[Jairus]

Okay, I know I haven't posted in a day or so, but since the only one bugged by that is me let's move on, shall we?

First order of business:
Abel Valentine is the next subject for inking. Let's consider this a final call for recommendations for fixes and little tricks to do to make him look better, so that when I ink him he looks right. I'd honestly love to make this one look as good as possible. Also, I hope to be doing this one soon: I know I've already gotten a few recommendations and made a few fixes, but a few more couldn't hurt.

Second order of business:
I have learned that simply adding eyebrows can drastically change an expression. I penciled in some eyebrows for my Jy 413 sketch, and he ended up looking more nervous or apprehensive rather than the annoyed I was sort of going for originally.

Eyebrows

Anyway, if those work, I'll ink them in and fix the drawing. If not, it's an easy fix. I have also realized that Jy's eyes seem to be pointing in different directions. This is excused by me being an idiot.

And you're right Fox: not only does he have a huge forehead, he also has a long neck. Dammit.

Third order of business:
I'm thinking of posting some background information for a slightly weird idea of mine that was tentatively called "The Last Warlock." The reason I am only vaguely thinking of this is because I already want to work on the information for The Covenant Wars, start writing that, and practice drawing and coloring. So, at most it would be basically just an expository background plot dump, such as "Robin Hood defeats Pope in magical duel." Yeah... a little weird. Um, anyway, I'll see if I can't fit it in somewhere.

Fourth order of business:
Um... haiku, I guess.

Where waves and water
Turn sweet, you have hit a big
River, idiot.

This is magic, silly
Person, not a miracle.
There's a difference.

I quite like my new
Desk. It's nice to work at, but
My couch feels unloved.

A sketch or two can
Make all the difference. It
Is experience.

Mark One's flamethrowers
Were physical working props.
Damn, that is awesome.

Has anyone else
Thought that the three word game would
Make great free-form verse?

My fan keeps making
Funny noises. Maybe I should
Get it looked at?

There is an empty
Box in my closet. Should I
Instead fill it up?

Where is the narwhal?
Here is the happy little
Narwhal! Freakazoid.

A five-year old kid
Saying "fuck off." That's where "The
Last Warlock" started.

The conversations
I have can get really weird.
Really really weird.

My mind is a weird
Place. Sometimes, it frightens me.
Why choose "Library?"

The only person who
Might get that last one is Ren.
Ask him if you dare.

Perhaps I should write
A random haiku. Oh look
Here, I just didn't.

I like my mom's cats.
They're very cute, and very
Friendly as well. Um...

Hm, I couldn't make
That last one work properly.
Perhaps the next one?

My goodness, it's late
And I am tired. Good night, all!
I'll see you later!

Oh, one more. Dual-
Wielding magic energy
Swords: that is awesome.

[Ren Gaulen]

My mind is a weird
Place. Sometimes, it frightens me.
Why choose "Library?"

The only person who
Might get that last one is Ren.
Ask him if you dare.

*Guy Shishio's voice* LIBRARY?!

[Jairus]

Gods, I need to stop IMing and start writing/drawing shit again. Well, this is all a somewhat older idea (as in a few years old) called The Last Warlock. I'm probably never going to write it, but I thought it would be a good idea to give at least some background info for this world. I'll try to keep this short and entertaining (and fail), especially since this story will probably never be told. Okay. Let's do this. Apologies in advance for how disorganized this is. Just ask questions, and I'll try to answer them. Anyway...

The world is Earth. A parallel Earth. The year in the modern day is about 2005 Common Era plus or minus five years, a development of the Old Colonial Calendar. History diverged at an early stage for a simple reason: their world has magic. There's also a minor theme of the flipping of myth and fact between our worlds. For example, in their world Robin Hood (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) was a major historical figure, while a version of Sherlock Holmes lived in Londinium towards the end of the 19th century. On the other hand, there have been historical fiction works written in their world where a Second Great War occurred, including the invention/use of weapons capable of destroying cities in a single blast. To be honest, it was to allow the use of some fairly elaborate/stupid jokes on my part, and is fairly indicative of my immaturity when I came up with this stuff. By the modern day, there is little to no overlap between figures in our world or theirs. Namewise, most countries tend to use alternative or historical names.

Magicwise, they all technically exist. Wizards, witches, and sorcerers abound, while there are only a few warlocks left, only one actively uses his special ability (the titular last warlock). Most people are somewhat aware of the existence of magic, if nothing more than weird random events in their life. Technically, it hasn't been acknowledged, even if it is a historical fact that Rome was destroyed by some form of weapon with roughly the same power as a nuclear bomb some 800+ years ago. A handful of schools and libraries have collections of sorcery books, especially the University of Alexandria in Northern Africa. There are possibly magical schools, though since none of the main characters wen to one it doesn't matter that much. Most magical education is either self-taught or from teacher to student. Most governments have mages who serve in a sort of special forces (and were used during Operation Earth Shaker in the Persian War), while a lot of mages also volunteer and help out with certain... threats that cannot normally be dealt with. The use of mages as weapons is a historical matter, with the Holy Christian Empire using mages as inquisitors. The main "magical school" in the CAST is the Trinity Academy in Trimontaine, which also serves as a normal multi-level school (Trimontaine is very much a university town). A handful of mages are "out of the closet" about their magical abilities, but these are fairly rare. The system of magic is an arcane one, but one fairly similar to true Modern Magic.

Geographically, it is our world, with a few minor exceptions. The biggest one is that their magnetic poles flipped about a thousand years ago, causing massive disruptions in trade and travel as well as animals that led to the Dark Ages and contributed to the collapse of the Holy Christian Empire and the Persian-Roman Empire, and likewise the rise of the Diutsch Germanian Reich (modern-day Deutsch Reich). They therefore use a reversed map on a mostly world-wide scale, though a few countries use a map system similar to ours. Therefore, cities like Trimontaine (our world's Boston) are on the west coast. Californias (about two-three times larger) is an East-coast nation state, and a member of the Confederation of American States and Territories. World population is about one billion or so less than our world, for a handful of reasons.

Geopolitically, things are a bit different. Most nations are either larger superpowers like our world or parts of EU-like alliances. The South American continent (North American) is completely united under the Confederation of American States and Territories (or CAST), which also controls the Albion Islands (British Isles) through conquest of the Empire of Albion early in the eighteen hundreds: CAST has a hybridization of our America's government and modern British Parliament. The Royal Family still exists, but are maintained for mostly political purposes. The Central Americas are a collection of smaller nations, while the North American nations have recently formed - in the last thirty years or so - an EU-like body called the North American Economic Union. Most of Central and Western Europe - including roughly half of modern day Russia - is ruled by the Deutsch Reich, formerly the Diutsch Germanian Reich, which is currently ruled by Kaiserin Wilhemina the Seventh. The Alliance of African Nations is another EU-like structure, and was founded in the late 19th century: it was the tremendous shift of power caused by this new alliance that helped create the environment that jumpstarted the Great War. The Eurasian Territories are nominally their own nations, but are currently controlled by the League of Nations following the Persian War twenty years ago. The government most commonly known as the United Kingdoms is our China, and is a tightly-knit group of separate kingdoms with traditions stretching back in total several thousand years: it is nominally ruled by either the Emperor or the Empress, but power is in fact concentrated in the parliament. Nipon is a small power, but is growing in influence. The collapse of the Empire of Albion led to a large number of smaller territories declaring independence and founding their own nations: for the most part, they remain separate to this day. The whole world also has the League of Nations, which is basically our UN and was created following the Great War as an attempt to prevent such a war from ever occuring again. So far so good.

Okay. Basic history. Really basic. As in one paragraph. The Roman Empire became the Holy Christian Empire in the 300s of the Colonial Era, an era of expansion. They eventually controlled all of Europe and area around the Meditterranean region, ruled from Rome by His Holiness the Imperial Majesty. The Persian Empire - while not as large as it was in our time, was of equivalent size the the HCE, so they were rivals: it united with a handful of breakaway factions of the HCE to form the Roman-Persian Empire. Eventually sometime in the early eleven hundreds, they conquered the Jerusalem area, and the HCE declared the Great Crusade against the RPE. The war ended up going into the late eleven hundreds, when an army under the control of Prince Richard Leonhart of the Diutsch Province joined up with a band of thieves and criminals and deserters under the leadership of Sir William of Sherwood and marched on Rome to demand an audience with His Holiness. Exactly what happened is unknown, but in a single night Rome was destroyed which - combined with a strange and as-yet-unexplained flip of the Earth's magnetic poles - brought about the dark ages. The Roman-Persian Empire was likewise destroyed. Prince Leonhart assassinated his rivals and took control of the Diutsch Province and declared himself 1st Emperor of the Germanian Reich: his descendants rule the Deutsch Reich to this day. The Empire of Albion was able to pick up a handful of colonies, but expanded into other regions of the world, including the American continents, particularly what was now called South America. Germania gradually conquered most of Europe and Eurasia, including about half of modern-day Russia as a result of the Two Hundred Years war. They didn't conquer all of Europe, however: at least France and Spain remain independent, and Italy is considered under the control of the LN for a handful of reasons. The American colonies eventually declared independence and had their war against Albion sometime in the late sixteen hundreds/early seventeen hundreds, but instead of a single nation they formed a confederation of small nations that over the course of the next few centuries has basically achieved the status of a single nation. In the early nineteenth century they invaded and conquered Albion. Communism never really developed beyond the level of a thought experiment. Jonathan Sherwood (their world's Sherlock Holmes) lived in Londenium (later the site of the meeting building for the League of Nations) and worked in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century. A number of events kick-started the Great War, which lasted from 1910 to 1920: rumors abound that Sherwood had something to do with it ending. The ending of the Great War saw a handful of international tensions being lowered in the face of wanting to avoid such destructive conflict (which saw CAST territory actually invaded). The period between the 20's and roughly 1980 saw a massive expansion of technology. The Eurasian Territories, however, were left economically broken, and eventually this kickstarted what is referred to as the Persian War, where the eventual use of combat mages and a number of secret magitech bombs left the territory under the jurisdiction and reconstruction of the LN. Advance twenty years, and you're in the present. And there's a really basic breakdown of their history.

Okay, technology. About 90% of the world runs on renewable energy, thanks to the efforts of a handful of CAST scientists in the mid-to-late eighteen hundreds and their predictions of the dangers of the then Industrial Revolution. The major switchover from fossil fuels to renewable energy happened in the 1940s. Nuclear power or weapons were never developed outside of a handful of experimental reactors. Aside from that, it's basically the same. I mean, I know it sounds like a copout, but there's a trick to it: besides the logos and the basic designs, it is more or less our world. Well, that, and King Enterprises is basically the Microsoft/GM/Ford/Lockheed Martin of their world. Its corporate headquarters are in the urban aread of Trimontaine (just outside where most of the story was going to take place).

In terms of religion. It doesn't come up that much. A minor note running through my settings is that mages are fairly skeptical, since alongside magic comes an understanding of the supernatural, including gods and the like. So, it's rare that mages are particularly religious. Moral beings, yes, but not religious. That's part of it. Another thing is that the three Abrahamic faiths were devastated by the Great Crusade, and never recovered. This was also partially caused by how both sides demonstrated a willingness to use magic against the other side, as well as a number of other tactics that just didn't sit right with most people who knew the local mage. Plus, if you've grown up with the local mage, and they've been there your whole life and done nothing but good, and then someone barges in and claims that they are in fact evil and that despite using the exact same magic you are somehow good, they're going to ignore you. As it is, the three Abrahamic faiths are significantly smaller than they are today, and no longer hold much influence. The Protestant Reformation also never happened. One of the larger religions in the western world is basically Revival Greco-Romanism, though a lot of other paganistic religions suvived (Neo-Norse is big this season) and the western religions were more or less unaffected, but most Abrahamic influences obviously never touched them. As for the other religions, there are some subtle differences, but for the most part they're the same.

And in their world, the expression is "No shit, Sherwood." Sucks to be the great-great-grandson of the famous Dr. Jonathan Sherwood, doesn't it?


...
Okay, there we go. Background info for a story that will probably never be written. Clearly I have issues.

Next up is hopefully inking in a few of my drawings, as well as doing a handful that I want to do... Abel and Jy drinking at the bar is still on my to-do list. And practicing coloring some more. Gods I hate shading. It doesn't help that I have no idea how to make it look right. Oh well, trial and error, trial and error.

Haiku time, I guess.
Only one tonight?
Well, that's not enough for me.
I must have some more.

The wolf howls at
The moon, calling out to her
Scattered family.

The ferret pops out
From his den. He watches me.
Cute little bugger.

The heat of the forge,
Sound of hammer folding steel.
A sword shall be born.

[Jairus]

A few bits of haiku, since I won't have time to post later tonight.

Folded steel, glowing
Red, sharpened edge. A hiss of
Steam, the sword is done.

Beneath rythmic beats
Against sheet steel, the armor
Slowly takes its shape.

AOL Instant
Messaging has quit once more.
Damn you, AOL.

Thank you.

[WhiteFox]

Gods, I need to stop IMing and start writing/drawing shit again.

I'm probably never going to write it, but I thought it would be a good idea to give at least some background info for this world.

If you can stop IMing, stop writing background info too. Just write the damn story. If you have more notes then drafts, somethings up.

I don't read notes. I never read notes.

Readers don't need them. Content of the story should either be introduced properly, in story, or glossed over. Most details bog a story down anyway. Writers don't need them. The world is as they dictate. And if you're worried about technical accuracy, you're paying attention to the wrong things in your story.

... since this story will probably never be told.

Why not? Write the f***er and tell us the bloody story.

Besides, don't you want to write it? Whether we read it or not, you're probably going to enjoy writing it.

[Jairus]

Gods, I need to stop IMing and start writing/drawing shit again.

I'm probably never going to write it, but I thought it would be a good idea to give at least some background info for this world.

If you can stop IMing, stop writing background info too. Just write the damn story. If you have more notes then drafts, somethings up.

I don't read notes. I never read notes.

Readers don't need them. Content of the story should either be introduced properly, in story, or glossed over. Most details bog a story down anyway. Writers don't need them. The world is as they dictate. And if you're worried about technical accuracy, you're paying attention to the wrong things in your story.

Yeah, but the notes help me keep my mind focused and figure out how things work, as well as remember what's different between one world and another. I mean, I still have to remind myself that their directions are flipped. I want to know how my world works: even if a detail never comes up, the fact that I know it means that it's there, and that world is a little more complete. And the more complete my information is, the easier it is to enter my character's minds and figure them out, and the easier it is for me to write in their world.

... since this story will probably never be told.

Why not? Write the f***er and tell us the bloody story.

Besides, don't you want to write it? Whether we read it or not, you're probably going to enjoy writing it.

Because as I learned about a year ago (two or three years after I started coming up with this world), Gosho Aoyama already basically did this story. Though he kind of screwed up a few things that made me cry about lost opportunities on his part (he should have told his freaking girlfriend what happened at the beginning: it would have spared him a lot of grief on his part). At least I acknowledged that the freaking eternal youth serum is magical.

In other words, it'll always be compared to a story it has no relationship to. I mean, I created this whole story just to create a situation where a five-year-old could say "fuck" and be completely justified.


...
Anyway... any advice on Abel Valentine or how I positioned those eyebrows? I'd like to make any final tweaks I can before I ink him/Jy413's eyebrows.

[WhiteFox]

Anyway... any advice on Abel Valentine or how I positioned those eyebrows? I'd like to make any final tweaks I can before I ink him/Jy413's eyebrows.

Abel's face looks out of alignment. Things look a little off kilter. Either A: One corner of his mouth looks like it might be smirking a bit, but his eyes aren't centered on his head, or B: he's turned his head a bit to the right... in which case his mouth and eyes are well positioned but his nose should be further to the right, if you take depth into account.

I'd put a little muscle mass on his forward leg, or find a way to otherwise define his leg from his hips.

You did define the taper to his arms, kudos.

The wings are a bit off in terms of anatomy, but wings are always a pain in the butt (Also, I do realized that you're imitating Amber's style for this). You might want to pull back the feathers, though, Able has as much bat membrane as he does feathers.

[Jairus]

Anyway... any advice on Abel Valentine or how I positioned those eyebrows? I'd like to make any final tweaks I can before I ink him/Jy413's eyebrows.

Abel's face looks out of alignment. Things look a little off kilter. Either A: One corner of his mouth looks like it might be smirking a bit, but his eyes aren't centered on his head, or B: he's turned his head a bit to the right... in which case his mouth and eyes are well positioned but his nose should be further to the right, if you take depth into account.

Yeah, he's supposed to be looking to the side... I'll fix the nose tomorrow. Or maybe tonight. I won't be able to scan it until Sunday evening, though.

I'd put a little muscle mass on his forward leg, or find a way to otherwise define his leg from his hips.

Hm... okay, I'll try something on the pants. Come to think of it, the... well, no other word, crotch of his pants looks a little high. I'll fix that too.

You did define the taper to his arms, kudos.

Cool. Thanks.

The wings are a bit off in terms of anatomy, but wings are always a pain in the butt (Also, I do realized that you're imitating Amber's style for this). You might want to pull back the feathers, though, Able has as much bat membrane as he does feathers.

Fix the feathers on the wings. Check. I don't remember what picture of Abel I was using as a reference, but okay. And yes, I am imitating her style. But you've got that link to that website with all of those pictures of wings, so when I actually try to draw some of my winged characters I'll use that as a reference. And after having drawn Dan Strife's (which I will not post because A) it is bad and B) it is hideous) wings twice, I think they look much better the second time around. Thanks again.

A wing in flight is
Hard to draw. Now add it to
A human figure.

Yeah, sorry about how bad that one is, but I want to try to post at least some writing of mine whenever I post ehre.

[WhiteFox]

Hm... okay, I'll try something on the pants. Come to think of it, the... well, no other word, crotch of his pants looks a little high. I'll fix that too.

I use "inseam".

But you've got that link to that website with all of those pictures of wings, so when I actually try to draw some of my winged characters I'll use that as a reference.

Be warned: bat and bird wings are structured differently. You might have to get creative with the anatomy. But we are talking about cartoons, here. It's our job to get creative. Amber seems to draw Abel with bat membrane instead of primary feathers, if that helps.

[Jairus]

Hm... okay, I'll try something on the pants. Come to think of it, the... well, no other word, crotch of his pants looks a little high. I'll fix that too.

I use "inseam".

That works. But you get what I mean. And I think I've figured out what to do, though I don't quite know how to describe it. I guess I'll be filling it in a little bit on the inseam, kind of making the leg go that way... I'm not making any sense. I need to go to bed and get some sleep.

But you've got that link to that website with all of those pictures of wings, so when I actually try to draw some of my winged characters I'll use that as a reference.

Be warned: bat and bird wings are structured differently. You might have to get creative with the anatomy. But we are talking about cartoons, here. It's our job to get creative. Amber seems to draw Abel with bat membrane instead of primary feathers, if that helps.

Yeah, true. Quite differently, from what I recall. Bat's especially. Thanks again.

Now, here's just a quick question for anyone who looks in here. My mom recommends buying an art tablet if I want to keep drawing and practicing, and I honestly have no idea what kind I would end up getting. Money... well, I've just gotten my birthday present from my grandparents, so I've got a bit to spend. So, any recommendations for ones you guys think are the best, particularly for a MacBook? Thanks in advance, and good night.


And haiku, I guess.
The trigger's pulled. The
Hammer falls. Gases explode,
The bullet fires.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

... Are we talking USB type thing here? Or a solid board to draw on?

[LionHeart]

Assuming we're talking the USB type (which, given the context, seems most likely), I'd recommend the ones made by Wacom as the best.

I have a Graphire3 which I bought a while back, and it's brilliant.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I was going to say, there's a thread about them in the Long Library...

[rt]

Since wolf mentioned your inks look 'off black' and you have your photoshop, after you get a little more used to all the buttons, looking through a tutorial (or two dozen) will find you lots of ways to blacken the black, whiten the white, smooth, correct, adjust, warp, and help with the inks and colouring.

There are lots of ways to do it, and some are complicated, so it may be more confusing then helpfull at first. Some might not even fit what you are doing since some people ink in photoshop, have tablets, or other supplies.

As for the art a nice job for the first tries, and nice perspective on the box a page or two back.

[Jairus]

I was going to say, there's a thread about them in the Long Library...

Well, I did not know that. And now I feel like an idiot. Never mind. And yes, I do mean a USB type.

Since wolf mentioned your inks look 'off black' and you have your photoshop, after you get a little more used to all the buttons, looking through a tutorial (or two dozen) will find you lots of ways to blacken the black, whiten the white, smooth, correct, adjust, warp, and help with the inks and colouring.

There are lots of ways to do it, and some are complicated, so it may be more confusing then helpfull at first. Some might not even fit what you are doing since some people ink in photoshop, have tablets, or other supplies.

As for the art a nice job for the first tries, and nice perspective on the box a page or two back.

Those inks looked off-black because they were scanned in color, not black and white. But yes, that will probably all help... especially considering that I am having difficulties getting the edges to fully color in. Might be a relic of the pencil markings.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I was going to say, there's a thread about them in the Long Library...

Well, I did not know that. And now I feel like an idiot. Never mind. And yes, I do mean a USB type.

Don't feel that way. I'm letting you know because I thought you might not know, it being before your time. And if people have provided all this information before, it doesn't hurt to go look it up. ;-]

[WhiteFox]

I have a 6x8 Intuos 3, and I started with a graphire 4x5. Although the larger size is nice, I *love* the programmable tool buttons.

I got it "mint in box" from E-Bay for half price.

[Jairus]

Will look into it. I think I'd like the size too.

Anyway...

This is just something I wanna do: draw Aniki's (Ren) character as a bit of practice. This is also somewhat me practicing using boxes and spheres to try and improve how I build my bodies. This is nowhere near done, and it's just something I did over about twenty/thirty minutes.

Quick Ren sketch

Yeah... it sucks. He's supposed to have his hand behind his head in embarrassment, while his upper body is kind of angled to allow the pose and he's supposed to have most of his weight resting on his left leg... I don't think it worked so hot. Anyway, advice always appreciated, especially from the guy who's drawn him the most. *coughrencough* Here's a scan of the original underlying framework, if you're interested.

I really really wanna draw me (Jairus) shortly, as well as something partially influenced by a series of conversations Ren and I have had (which is why I PM'ed you, Fox). And I want to WRITE something... dammit Jay get to work!

Sorry. Um, right.

I'm about to be weird. This is just based on a comment I made that the "Three Word Game" would make great free-form poetry, or whatever it's called (Cogi will probably correct me)...
Strong winds blow.
Sails open up,
and flags flutter.
Ropes grow taut.
Sailors cry out:
Everyone to positions.
Weight the anchor,
and cast off.
The ship slowly
Pulls away from
The seaside dock.
Familes wave goodbye
As husbands and
Fathers and sons
Set sail on
Their long journey.
Soon, it leaves
The harbor's mouth.
The ship grows
Small, and then
Its sails vanish
Below the horizon.

Yeah... that was just plain weird. Sorry.

There once was a nutjob called Jay,
Whose poems were slightly cliche,
He thought he could write,
But his works were so trite,
That at best they were merely okay.

Well, that was silly.
I'm going to bed. Hopefully,
I'll forget this stuff.

The game Bioshock
Is one of the scariest
Things I've ever seen.

Good night.

[WhiteFox]

Yeah... it sucks. He's supposed to have his hand behind his head in embarrassment, while his upper body is kind of angled to allow the pose and he's supposed to have most of his weight resting on his left leg... I don't think it worked so hot. Anyway, advice always appreciated, especially from the guy who's drawn him the most. *coughrencough* Here's a scan of the original underlying framework, if you're interested.

*Neck crick* Some of this might get a bit technical, and maybe a bit challenging.

First off, let me say that I do see an improvement, particularly around the shoulders. All of the comments here are to do with pose, but the proportions and anatomy are starting to improve.

-For the hand behind the head, tilt it more so the palm faces us. Move his elbow farther up, till it's almost level with the top of his head, and let the forearm drop so his hand is behind his head. For a more extreme pose, bring his elbow straight up. His forearm and hand will be obscured by his head and neck.
-(If you don't want to draw a foreshortened elbow, or tuck the hand behind the head, lower the elbow so it's slightly below level with the shoulder, and place the hand above his shoulder *next to* his head, near his ear. Be warned that this will require drawing the hand so it points back and up, a rather challenging pose. Here's a quick diagram, pardon the quick and dirty sketch. The neck is off and the shoulder should be higher.)
-Place his right foot further inward. The more weight placed on it, the closer to the center of his torso (plumb with his spine) his foot will be.
-Tilt his hips so the side with the relaxed leg is lower, bend the left leg at the knee, take the heel off the ground, and draw the balls of his feet level with the heel of his right foot.

Any time you're working on a pose that doesn't look like it should, get into the pose yourself. When you draw without refrence, you're not drawing the pose, you're drawing what you *think* the pose should be (this relies on your left brain, the logical part of your head. It sucks at drawing). Then you look at it, and ask yourself "Why doesn't that look right?" (looking at something objectively uses the right side of your brain, which is great at art. Sometimes the right brain will tell you what something looks like, but because there might be a detail you normally overlook, or it's at a funny angle, the right brain will say "That's not what it's supposed to look like!" This is why faces and hands can be so hard to draw)

Taking a look at an actual pose gives you an idea of what's actually going on in the characters head and how s/he is communicating it. Exaggerate the pose, see what stands out. What are the key elements of the pose that express what you want to say? (In this case, the hand and the shifted weight)

Anatomy you can learn out of books. For pose, you have to learn how to act.

[Edit] I thought the 3 word/line poetry was wonderful. I live in the Canadian maritimes, by the way, so I'm used to seeing sailors and even sailing boats all the time. The imagery is very dreamlike, and candid too. I didn't think it was weird at all. Heck, I think it was better poetry then the limericks and Haikus you've put up so far.

There once was a poet named Jai,
Who took a risk on some new po'eh-tray.
He thought it quite dismal,
But despite his dismissal,
NaBan thought it the best on display.

[Jairus]

Okay, I need to breathe some life into this thread. Live, dammit! Anyway, I'm reworking all of the stats I've got so far for the ships in the Covenant Wars setting because they're all too heavily armed and because I've made a few changes to their names and the names of the governments in the setting. In the meantime, here's some of the tech used by ships in the Covenant Wars, which will help set stuff up for the stats when they get posted.


The Lift Ring system is the primary means of flight used by skycraft. A Lift Ring is basically an energy propeller mounted in a ducted ring that projects and controls the propeller. In addition to providing lift, Lift Rings allows provide motion and maneuverability for the vessels mounted to them, though some ships also use compression thrusters for this. Lift Rings work far better in pairs: though it is possible to achieve flight with only one Lift Ring, it is easier to control movement with a matched pair. Lift Rings come in many sizes, ranging from fighter-sized ones up to the massive rings used to lift capital ships. There are also specialized Lift Rings designed to work underwater. The first Lift Rings were invented approximately one hundred years ago, and were crucial to Frolencia's invasion of the Jin Republic.

The Lift Vane system is a development of the Lift Ring sysem, and uses a pair of wing-like projector fins to generate the spinning vortex of lift between them. Though easily capable of generating larger amounts of lift and speed when compared to the Lift Ring system, Lift Vanes require a great deal ofpower to run, and as such are mostly only seen on capital ships, though a few smaller ships use them as well. The first Lift Vanes were designed by the Gilgamen Empire, but were swiftly appropriated by other governments.

The Lift Wing system is a more recent development of the Lift Ring and Lift Vane systems, developed only within the last ten years. Lift Wings work by projecting a "vane" of energy identical to that used by a Lift Ring in order to generate lift. They tend to be more compact than the other two Lift systems, in addition to delivering superior speed to any ship using them. On the other hand, they are fairly energy intesive, and at least two are needed for flight. Only a handful of ships mount Lift Wings, though among these are Frolencia's new Laevatein-class Dreadnaught.

The compression thruster is a development of Lift Ring technology, and uses a number of small Lift Rings placed in sequence as a sort of jet engine. The power requirements for compression thrusters are fairly high, but allow for incredible speed and thrust power: some experimental models have allowed for near super-sonic flight. Most capital ships nowadays use compression thrusters for movement and use Lift technology for flight and maneuverability.

An autogun is the general term for any semi-automatic weapon. They range in caliber and firing rate, from handheld models to larger cannon-like models. The introduction of the autogun by the Frolencian Empire helped to revolutionize warfare. Autoguns as mounted on fighters or capital vessels are referred to as Close-In Weapon Systems, designed for anti-missile or anti-fighter operation.

The rotary autocannon is a development of the autogun, and incorporates three or more complete autoguns into a rotating configuration, allowing for an incredible rate of fire compared to most guns. Most autocannons have either a three, four, or six barrel configuration, with three barrel configurations mostly being used by smaller craft while six barrel configurations are used by larger ships.

The "Yetholm" energy shield system is descended of the same technology that allowed for the creation of the Lift Rings and related technology. Yetholm shields use the same style of energy as Lift tech, shaped into flat planes of energy that fit together to form 360 degrees of protection around a ship using them. Because the shields are opaque to all attacks, ships must drop their shields in order to attack. It is also possible to overload the shield's projectors by forcing them to block too much: to this day, many skycraft are capable of delivering massive broadsides in an attempt to do just this. Yetholm projectors are too large and take too much energy to be mounted on smaller ships and are mostly seen only on capital ships, but there are a handful of smaller ship that mount experimental small-scale Yetholms. Yetholm shields were introduced shortly after Lift Rings, but the two were not combined together for a short while.

Another development of Lift Ring tech, particle cannons fire bolts of energy to deal damage against other ships. Power intensive and bulky, only more recent ships have these guns mounted on turrets to increase their effectiveness. Particle cannons have very little effect on Yetholm shields, but are extremely effective against unshielded vessels: this explains why Capital ships aren't completely armed with these guns. Also, particle blasts tend to "scatter" over distances, meaning that their range isn't as good as some shell-firing guns: this does, however, lead to an interesting affect when used on ships where the blast causes secondary damage in addition to the main blast.

A linear catapult is a fairly recent invention that uses magnetism to accelerate a craft to high speeds before launching it. This is an improvement over launch pads or launching gantries, which can only be lifted up from or dropped from. Most larger ships incoporporate one or two.

Linear cannons are a development of linear catapults, and use magnetism and a long barrel to accelerate a fired round to incredible speeds. Linear cannons require similar power to particle cannons to operate, and cannot be mounted on smaller ships. Though they were originally designed as anti-armor guns, it has been discovered that they are capable of damaging Yetholm energy shields, and as such are mainly used for that role nowadays. Linear cannons were originally introduced by the Gilgamen Empire, and to this day they remain the primary users of linear cannons.

A Differential Engine is essentially a clockwork computer, but taken a few steps further. DE's come in farious sizes and scales of power, and are practically a requirement for skycraft to properly function. Though they are technically clockwork machines, more recent models (made in the last ten to fifteen years or so) include a type of microcircuitry board for increased power at a smaller scale. To this date, the smallest DE is approximately the size of a briefcase and is called "Logos", and was invented by Doctor Rafe of Frolencia's Imperial Research and Development Institute: it is essentially purely made of microcircuitry boards.

The Biblos power core is the standard power core for all manner of skycraft. It is essentially a highly efficient magitech capacitor, capable of storing vast quantities of energy in a relatively small space: it is in essence an artificial sorcerer's stone. Biblos power cores are used by all known skycraft. Some larger skycraft (in fact most capital ships) include generators in order to recharge the power core and prolong the ship's operational time, though fighters and other smaller ships typically do not have the space for this. Biblos power cores are rated in scale from Class I to Class X, with each increasing class being capable of storing more power (and are also larger): Class Is are normally used for fighters, while Class Xs are used in capital ships. There are reports of a Class XI Biblos power core being under development in the halls of IRDI, but these are uncomfirmed.


...
Okay, hopefully I can post some more stuff (modified Roland stats and the Gainer and HARO are on my mind, currently). I'll definitely start posting more often. Hopefully. Maybe.

[techmaster-glitch]

I love reading this stuff. All this background makes it very easy to picture how everything will fit together in a story, and what it will all "look" like.

I really like the yethlom shields, in that they are defensive two-ways. It somehow seems more realistic, and it has to be a major factor in battle tactics

[Ren Gaulen]

Wow. I must say it's a lot of information. It all is really interesting, though. I'll be loking forward to new updates.

[Jairus]

I love reading this stuff. All this background makes it very easy to picture how everything will fit together in a story, and what it will all "look" like.

Glad to here it. As I think I mentioned, I'm still working on fixing up the stats for the ships, but in addition to buying me some time this will also help all of those ships make sense. Now I just have to figure out which Class of Biblos goes into which ship... maybe I'll just say "Biblos power core" and cut corners that way. After all, I don't say how many projectors each ship has for the Yetholm shields.

I really like the yethlom shields, in that they are defensive two-ways. It somehow seems more realistic, and it has to be a major factor in battle tactics

Agreed. I like it too. To be fair, once major battle start up, the shields are basically down... but until that time... hehehehe. Ships designed to deliver massive shield-overloading broadsides, anti-shield torpedoes, having to lower segments of shields in order to launch fighters or fire weapons... it's gonna be fun.

Wow. I must say it's a lot of information. It all is really interesting, though. I'll be loking forward to new updates.

Glad to hear it, Nii-san. But really... compared to the forty or so pages necessary to cover the ships, this is nothing.

I am clearly insane. But we all knew that anyway.

[Jairus]

Almost forgot about this. This is just something I did for the IF contest. Quick and dirty, but a lot of fun to put together. Yahtzee, of Zero Punctuation infamy.

I'm annoyed... with YOU

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I was going to ask if you'd actually drawn that, or if you'd picked it up off his site...


Yes, it's that accurate.

[Jairus]

I was going to ask if you'd actually drawn that, or if you'd picked it up off his site...


Yes, it's that accurate.

I did it on my Appleworks Drawing program, but I used both his logo and a handful of his movies for reference. The other version has him playing a video game and being annoyed with it (in other words, he was looking to the side), but I liked this one better. The hat still bothers me though, because it looks a little too high on his head... oh well, overall it looks pretty good.

[WhiteFox]

I think the hat needs to taper more. If it were wider at the brim, it could sit lower on the head.

And, once again, I am impressed that all it takes is two half circles and correct placement to convey attitude. Expressions are funny things.

[Jairus]

Time to breathe some more life into my thread.

Despite my dislike of puns, sometimes I just enter a punny mood (soon I shall subject all of you to the horror that is the Hyperspatial Mass Reclaimer system, as well as the Superlative Parallel Component system developed from it). Like this afternoon, when I started making Code Geass puns. Unfortunately, I doubt that much of this will make much sense to most people, but I've been subjecting Pagan and Ren to these damned spin puns, so now, it's your turn. I apologize in advance for those who don't get it... and for those who do, it's your own damn fault for looking.

For those who don't get it, the character of Suzaku Kururugi has acquired the fan nickname of "Spinzaku," due to his repeated use of a spinning kick as his signature move. So, basically, I decided to fit "spin" into other Code Geass names... aheheheh. Beware: pages of spin puns await you. Anyway, bring on the spuns...


Lespin Lamperouge = Lelouch Lamperouge

Spino = Zero

Jeremiah Spinwald = Jeremiah Gottwald

Lloyd Aspin = Lloyd Asplund

Cecile Spinny = Cecile Croomy.

Nina Spinstein = Nina Einstein

Spinley Fenette = Shirley Fenette

Sayoko Spinozaki = Sayoko Shinozaki

Spinshata = Rakshata

Spinhard Reid = Diethard Reid

Charles Spin Britannia = Charles Vi Britannia
   And by extension... replace all of the royal family's middle names with "spin."
   i.e. Lelouch Spin Britannia.

Spinevere su Britannia = Guinevere su Britannia

Spinzel el Britannia = Schneizel el Britannia

Bismarck Spinstein = Bismarck Waldstein

Gino Spinberg = Gino Weinberg


Li Spinke = Li Xingke

Knights of the Spin = Knights of the Round (Though I have to admit to liking Ren's version, SPIN OF THE ROUND!!!)


Spinalot = Lancelot

Lancelot Spin Cavalry = Lancelot Air Cavalry

Lancelot Spinquista = Lancelot Conquista

Lancelot Spinion = Lancelot Albion

Gurspin Mk-II = Guren Mk-II

Guren Spin Type = Guren Flight Type

Guren SPINEN = Guren SEITEN

Spincent = Vincent

Spinkirou = Shinkirou

Morspin = Mordred

Trispin = Tristan

Spinfried = Siegfried

Sutherland Spin = Sutherland Sieg

Spin-Hu = Shen-Hu

Spinland = Sutherland

Glouspin = Gloucester

Glaspin = Glasgow

Spinocles = Damocles

Spinwain = Gawain

Spinman = Portman

Spin-Ru = Gun-ru

Akatsuspin = Akatsuki

Akatsuki Jikispin type = Akatsuki Jikisan type

Panzer Spinnel = Panzer Hummel

Spingetsu = Zangetsu



Also, two just plain silly ones...

Spin Gaulen = Ren Gaulen
Ren Spinnen = the same



Oy. So many terrible puns. I'm gonna get picked up by the Spinpolice at this rate.

I promise something with a little more meat in the not-too-distant future. Like the afore-mentioned gadget, or some stuff about Justinian and his Mobile Armors and the Augustan Empire...

... heheh. Anyway, enjoy!