"CSI: Swamp Files" is one that has gotten a ton of laughs; it's a nice hark back to my editorial cartooning days in high school, despite being a random doodle in church.
Well, that's it for now. Enjoy!
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Abstraction of Frogs
And now, after a long prolonged break, here's some more art from my personal files. I'm going all out, here, so brace yourselves!
With the piece above, I guess I wanted to do something really random and abstract, something that couldn't be grounded in some real life analogue...and yet I still see a couple of characters in this piece, one trying to eat the other, and the other trying to escape being eaten. Well, so much for that endeavor.
"Below the Surface" is a piece that I wanted to be really special, to push myself on. So I decided to try my hand at an optical illusion, using the checkerboard pattern to try and create the hidden image of a face. However, I had to resort to illustrating some parts of the face with a light colored pencil to bring it more out. I'll be following this up with another piece very soon.
You will not believe how long this took for me! "Catholic Chapel" was one where I tried my hand again at perspective, and this time with one of the greatest architectural styles of all time. Actually, this isn't exactly a true Catholic Cathedral; being LDS, I thought it would be interesting to use a symbol familiar to LDS audiences, that being the growing seed of faith in the stained glass window.
"Orange Drop" was actually really random; one day I was peeling away the skin of an orange, looked at the white bits left from the peel, and just right then and there started to draw a face on an orange in colored pencil. I'm not sure how I can explain the meaning behind this one, or even if there IS a meaning behind it. Then again, art is subjective, right?
And you thought I would be deep and philosophical all the way through, didn't ya?
"CSI: Swamp Files" is one that has gotten a ton of laughs; it's a nice hark back to my editorial cartooning days in high school, despite being a random doodle in church.
Well, that's it for now. Enjoy!
"CSI: Swamp Files" is one that has gotten a ton of laughs; it's a nice hark back to my editorial cartooning days in high school, despite being a random doodle in church.
Well, that's it for now. Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Pokemon Origins: A Fan Theory
Before I post another piece of artwork here, I have to flash back to the Pokemon blog. Like I said, I like Pokemon, but recently I noticed that a lot of things about the universe of this franchise go completely unexplained. For example, where did Pokemon come from in the first place? Why is it okay in this universe to use them for what's basically legalized cock-fighting, especially given that they're (for the most part) portrayed as sentient creatures? And how in the world did they figure out that they could convert matter into energy and back, and yet only use such technology to capture Pokemon?
I'll bet that there are a ton of fan theories out there concerning this, but might I submit my own?
Thousands of years before the events of the main series, humanity had reached the pinnacle of technological advancement, but the world was wracked with war, with different nations utilizing devastating weapons against each other (we'll assume that this is an era where the nuclear bomb was wiped out, though). Desperate to gain an edge, one nation turned to genetic engineering, and created beasts capable of utilizing elemental powers against their enemies, as well as transform into more powerful forms: the Pokemon. To control the otherwise destructive creatures, the Poke' Ball was developed as a means of quickly transporting these living weapons to the battlefield. The Pokemon were given to elite classes of soldiers who could train the Pokemon to battling perfection, then unleash them on their enemies. Over time, more and more powerful Pokemon were developed, until the Pokemon that would forever after be known as 'Legendaries' were born. However, for all their advancement, the engineers lost control over the Legendaries, who went and wreaked havoc over the entire planet, reshaping entire continents and nearly wiping out the human race, destroying the great civilization that created them. While the Legendaries eventually tired out and retreated to enjoy a rest to last several millenniums, their far weaker counterparts began to run wild. Humanity, meanwhile, was reduced to tribal status. It would take them thousands of years to rediscover some of the technology of their ancestors, and in the meantime, they learned not just to survive a world with super-powered creatures, but also to develop lasting bonds with them not through capturing them against their will, but instead through a sort of spirit quest where a , even going as far as to worship the Legendaries, granting them mythic status even as the past was forgotten. The Pokemons' fighting instinct was put to great advantage, at first as a means of protection against wild Pokemon and bandits, but eventually in small competitive battles that substituted for inter-tribal battles, which eventually became the modern Pokemon battle. It was found that great power and skill could be found when a trainer treated his/her Pokemon with genuine kindness and love, rather than cruelty and abuse.
And thus, we have our Pokemon world.
Again, just a fan theory, but what do you think?
I'll bet that there are a ton of fan theories out there concerning this, but might I submit my own?
Thousands of years before the events of the main series, humanity had reached the pinnacle of technological advancement, but the world was wracked with war, with different nations utilizing devastating weapons against each other (we'll assume that this is an era where the nuclear bomb was wiped out, though). Desperate to gain an edge, one nation turned to genetic engineering, and created beasts capable of utilizing elemental powers against their enemies, as well as transform into more powerful forms: the Pokemon. To control the otherwise destructive creatures, the Poke' Ball was developed as a means of quickly transporting these living weapons to the battlefield. The Pokemon were given to elite classes of soldiers who could train the Pokemon to battling perfection, then unleash them on their enemies. Over time, more and more powerful Pokemon were developed, until the Pokemon that would forever after be known as 'Legendaries' were born. However, for all their advancement, the engineers lost control over the Legendaries, who went and wreaked havoc over the entire planet, reshaping entire continents and nearly wiping out the human race, destroying the great civilization that created them. While the Legendaries eventually tired out and retreated to enjoy a rest to last several millenniums, their far weaker counterparts began to run wild. Humanity, meanwhile, was reduced to tribal status. It would take them thousands of years to rediscover some of the technology of their ancestors, and in the meantime, they learned not just to survive a world with super-powered creatures, but also to develop lasting bonds with them not through capturing them against their will, but instead through a sort of spirit quest where a , even going as far as to worship the Legendaries, granting them mythic status even as the past was forgotten. The Pokemons' fighting instinct was put to great advantage, at first as a means of protection against wild Pokemon and bandits, but eventually in small competitive battles that substituted for inter-tribal battles, which eventually became the modern Pokemon battle. It was found that great power and skill could be found when a trainer treated his/her Pokemon with genuine kindness and love, rather than cruelty and abuse.
And thus, we have our Pokemon world.
Again, just a fan theory, but what do you think?
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Back @ College & Lovin' It!
Yessir, for those of you who read my Facebook account, I am back again at college. A ton of stuff is different from last semester; for example, now I've got a full apartment with six guys rather than four guys and an apartment to myself (actually, truth be told, there's five of us here; we have no idea where #6 is at the moment.). It's kind of nice to have a roommate; mine's Nick, who's come down all the way from Ontario, Canada. For him, being in Idaho isn't actually all that much different from being in Canada. I was kind of expecting him to be all like, "No sno, eh?", and "What's aboot", that sort of thing, but the only Canadian thing he's done is describe the bathroom as the washroom.
So, boys and girls, how about some art for yah? This time, I'm putting up one I did quite recently:
Entitled "Struggles of the Heart", I got the idea for this one while coming up with thumbnails for a Final project for one of my online art classes last semester. I'll let you guys figure out the symbolism for this one.
But why stop there?
This is one that you can probably still find on DeviantArt somewhere. To describe this story, I shall relate a story told by John Bytheway:
"An old Indian man once told a young boy, 'There are two wolves inside of me, one good and one evil, and they are always fighting against each other.'
'But which one will win?' The Boy asked.
'The one that I choose to feed."
So, boys and girls, how about some art for yah? This time, I'm putting up one I did quite recently:
But why stop there?
This is one that you can probably still find on DeviantArt somewhere. To describe this story, I shall relate a story told by John Bytheway:
"An old Indian man once told a young boy, 'There are two wolves inside of me, one good and one evil, and they are always fighting against each other.'
'But which one will win?' The Boy asked.
'The one that I choose to feed."
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Nostalgia and the GBA-SP
Yeah, it's a bit late to be blogging, but I felt like geeking out and coming out with this confession: I am not a gamer. Shocking, given how I am a 21-year old college student in the 21st century. Of course, one would have to define what a gamer is: my idea of a gamer is someone who is up to speed on the latest and greatest, has their own private library of titles, and of course has at least one or two consoles of their very own that hook up to the tv (i.e. PlayStation, XBox, and Wii systems). Heck, I haven't even got all that much into PC MMO's, despite the fact that I've got Old Republic and Star Trek Online downloaded into my laptop, courtesy of my good mission buddy, Aaron Thomas (not that I wouldn't play those games; living on BYU-I campus means that you can't access any website having to do with games whatsoever. Not even kidding; I wrote an essay on violence in gaming and you would not BELIEVE how hard it was to find quotable material with that filter).
Don't assume, however, that I'm completely out of the loop. I do possess a Game Boy Advance-SP, and that brings me to what I desire to speak on.
Just yesterday, I finally broke out my silver-colored Game Boy from it's plastic bag confinement, and played a few of the titles that, years before, played the tar out of, and it was a serious nostalgia moment for me--not to mention a dark, clumsy search for footing down a weed-ridden memory lane. Even though I've been back from my mission since Christmas 2012, it took me a long time to get back to my games. Like I said before, my gaming palette is actually very limited, and is dominated by one thing: Pokemon. Good grief, Pokemon was a major figure in my childhood. I still remember the day when I received my copy of Pokemon Red (my brother got Blue) for the Game Boy color, and on that day, my life was revolutionized. I've still got that copy of Pokemon Red with me today, but I haven't touched it in a long while, but since then I've acquired Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen, and even the Red Rescue Version of Mystery Dungeon. It was really weird to see where I left off and have absolutely no clue what in the world I was doing back then to put me there ( I now have suspicions that one of my younger siblings tampered with my Emerald Game. Whether that suspicion is unfounded or not may never be known in this life). With that, I've wondered whether or not I should just clear the save data and start all over again, but something holds me back. Is it the fact that I've got Pokemon from FireRed traded over to LeafGreen, or something else entirely? I dunno. Admittedly, I haven't been putting very much attention on those games, anyway; Mystery Dungeon, for some reason, has proven to be the more addictive game thus far.
Playing those games also made me mull over some potential Christmas gifts that I could ask for; it's been a running theme in my youth to see the Sunday Ads show off the flashy new handhelds and their games, and feel a little jealous, and sad that I was left in the dust with my older gen game. Well, now that I'm officially an adult, I should just be able to go and get a 3DS from the store and reserve a copy of X or Y (nice to see them branch away from color schemes, by the way), right? If only it were that simple.
But seriously folks, have you seen the trailers for those games? YEESH, I can't believe how far the games have come. I've got to get my hands on a 3DS one of these days and relive the glory days.
Well, enough pointless ranting, how about some art?
This should dispel any ideas that Pokemon was the ONLY thing going on for me. I had the 1st Super Mario Bros. in Game Boy form growing up (don't know where it went, though), and I've still got the GBA form of Super Mario Bros 3. Plus I've done my research, so I'm quite familiar with the franchise...as well as, unfortunately, the movie adaptation. I saw THAT piece of dumpster fodder when I was a kid, and good grief, the scene where the prisoner was being turned into one of their Goomba footsoldiers gave me nightmares. It's only years later that I recognize how absolutely terrible the rest of the movie was (seriously, what the heck was up with Dennis Hopper and that haircut?) It just got everything so WRONG about the games.
Anyway, about the piece: it's basically my own spin on the classic characters that I drew back in the mission, giving them a more or less realistic spin. I had the most fun with Bowser; the closest analogue I could get to him was a carnosaur, more or less along the lines of the abelisaurs and so that influenced the design of the head. I also tried to make the shell segmented, giving him a greater amount of flexibility, but I don't think it showed very well in this rendition.
Well, anyway, enjoy!
Don't assume, however, that I'm completely out of the loop. I do possess a Game Boy Advance-SP, and that brings me to what I desire to speak on.
Just yesterday, I finally broke out my silver-colored Game Boy from it's plastic bag confinement, and played a few of the titles that, years before, played the tar out of, and it was a serious nostalgia moment for me--not to mention a dark, clumsy search for footing down a weed-ridden memory lane. Even though I've been back from my mission since Christmas 2012, it took me a long time to get back to my games. Like I said before, my gaming palette is actually very limited, and is dominated by one thing: Pokemon. Good grief, Pokemon was a major figure in my childhood. I still remember the day when I received my copy of Pokemon Red (my brother got Blue) for the Game Boy color, and on that day, my life was revolutionized. I've still got that copy of Pokemon Red with me today, but I haven't touched it in a long while, but since then I've acquired Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen, and even the Red Rescue Version of Mystery Dungeon. It was really weird to see where I left off and have absolutely no clue what in the world I was doing back then to put me there ( I now have suspicions that one of my younger siblings tampered with my Emerald Game. Whether that suspicion is unfounded or not may never be known in this life). With that, I've wondered whether or not I should just clear the save data and start all over again, but something holds me back. Is it the fact that I've got Pokemon from FireRed traded over to LeafGreen, or something else entirely? I dunno. Admittedly, I haven't been putting very much attention on those games, anyway; Mystery Dungeon, for some reason, has proven to be the more addictive game thus far.
Playing those games also made me mull over some potential Christmas gifts that I could ask for; it's been a running theme in my youth to see the Sunday Ads show off the flashy new handhelds and their games, and feel a little jealous, and sad that I was left in the dust with my older gen game. Well, now that I'm officially an adult, I should just be able to go and get a 3DS from the store and reserve a copy of X or Y (nice to see them branch away from color schemes, by the way), right? If only it were that simple.
But seriously folks, have you seen the trailers for those games? YEESH, I can't believe how far the games have come. I've got to get my hands on a 3DS one of these days and relive the glory days.
Well, enough pointless ranting, how about some art?
This should dispel any ideas that Pokemon was the ONLY thing going on for me. I had the 1st Super Mario Bros. in Game Boy form growing up (don't know where it went, though), and I've still got the GBA form of Super Mario Bros 3. Plus I've done my research, so I'm quite familiar with the franchise...as well as, unfortunately, the movie adaptation. I saw THAT piece of dumpster fodder when I was a kid, and good grief, the scene where the prisoner was being turned into one of their Goomba footsoldiers gave me nightmares. It's only years later that I recognize how absolutely terrible the rest of the movie was (seriously, what the heck was up with Dennis Hopper and that haircut?) It just got everything so WRONG about the games.
Anyway, about the piece: it's basically my own spin on the classic characters that I drew back in the mission, giving them a more or less realistic spin. I had the most fun with Bowser; the closest analogue I could get to him was a carnosaur, more or less along the lines of the abelisaurs and so that influenced the design of the head. I also tried to make the shell segmented, giving him a greater amount of flexibility, but I don't think it showed very well in this rendition.
Well, anyway, enjoy!
...And now it begins...
Hey Internet, this is Devin Q, starting his very first blog post:
For those of you who may by some odd random chance spot this while strolling through the internet, here's a little something-something about myself; a skinny guy born and raised in the Gem State, I've always had a creative mind and a passion for making art. After I got back from an LDS mission serving at the Family & Church History Headquarters mission in Salt Lake City, I started my freshman year at BYU-I, and while there I started up an account at deviantart.com. It was great being able to share what I could do with the world, but eventually I had to close that account for personal reasons (but you can still find what I've posted on there, though. Really should've done a better job of cleaning out). After a while, I thought about starting my own website, but after my good friend Ben Fuller informed me of the enormous costs of running my own site, I decided to go with EBlogger, instead.
And now to unleash the fantastic madness!
What you'll be seeing from here on out is not just whatever the heck I decide to not post on Facebook, but also some of my own original artwork that I've done either in my spare time, or for one of the art classes that I have taken or will be taking. BTW, I've also been in the process of working on a children's book, a project that had its beginnings in high school, and also a graphic novel. I'll be posting updates on their progress, but I won't be sharing the artwork until it's completely ready. Another thing to note is that I have a YouTube account where I share my thoughts on recent events in the entertainment industry, particularly in science fiction, fantasy, and animation, and also reviews of films that I've seen. I recommend you go check that out; just search Moviedragon009.
Well, here's hoping this blog will go places!
For those of you who may by some odd random chance spot this while strolling through the internet, here's a little something-something about myself; a skinny guy born and raised in the Gem State, I've always had a creative mind and a passion for making art. After I got back from an LDS mission serving at the Family & Church History Headquarters mission in Salt Lake City, I started my freshman year at BYU-I, and while there I started up an account at deviantart.com. It was great being able to share what I could do with the world, but eventually I had to close that account for personal reasons (but you can still find what I've posted on there, though. Really should've done a better job of cleaning out). After a while, I thought about starting my own website, but after my good friend Ben Fuller informed me of the enormous costs of running my own site, I decided to go with EBlogger, instead.
And now to unleash the fantastic madness!
What you'll be seeing from here on out is not just whatever the heck I decide to not post on Facebook, but also some of my own original artwork that I've done either in my spare time, or for one of the art classes that I have taken or will be taking. BTW, I've also been in the process of working on a children's book, a project that had its beginnings in high school, and also a graphic novel. I'll be posting updates on their progress, but I won't be sharing the artwork until it's completely ready. Another thing to note is that I have a YouTube account where I share my thoughts on recent events in the entertainment industry, particularly in science fiction, fantasy, and animation, and also reviews of films that I've seen. I recommend you go check that out; just search Moviedragon009.
Well, here's hoping this blog will go places!
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