18 July 2001 // one more a-kon story for now... [a]
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Seen on IP yesterday: "Time is money, money is the root of all evil, and knowledge is power. Therefore, procrastination is the key to world peace." As usual, I'm doing my part for peace, and doing it well. *sweatdrop* It's been over a month since my last update, when I was intending to complete the A-kon story within a couple of days. Geh. *dragonslayer bow* Moushiwake arimasen! (please forgive me!)
So, er, this isn't the full-fleged continuation of the A-kon road trip story - more likely at this point is that I'll tell bits and pieces for the next few months or so. One part that I do want to rave about, though, is the cel painting workshop with Steve Bennett on friday. This was one of the things I definitely did not want to miss. I got to the room about 5 minutes after the scheduled starting time, but fortunately there was still room... and it hadn't started yet anyway. :P After about a half hour or so, Steve finally arrived and gave us a quick introduction (the key words are Patience and Discipline) and sent us off to wash our hands and get a cup of water. Then we got to pick a cel to paint from some pre-printed ones they'd brought for that purpose - I got a nifty one of Ranma in a catgirl outfit sitting on top of panda-Genma (apparently all the Escaflowne ones they had got snatched up by the people at the last con they were at in Canada). 
We went over basics and technique: you mix all your colors from five basics (red, yellow, blue, black, white - the fun part is trying to match a color you mixed and ran out of), make sure you get a thick coat of paint, do the small details first (including highlights and shadows) and work your way up, painting larger areas of details and clothing and whatnot, and you paint the main color of the skin last. The coolest part for me was that since I was in costume, I was used to illustrate a lot of these points (it's easier to do on a brightly-colored cosplayer). *grin* For example, you do the skin color last so you have a clean, consistent color. Hair and clothing can have other colors mixed in - the fibers pick up reflections of other colors. Skin doesn't do that, however. "So let's say Merle here finally got fed up with Hitomi and the group and decided to go on a rampage and kill all of them, and she's got blood and scrapes and bruises all over - then you could paint her skin with all kinds of colors. But you don't want, say, Sailor Moon striking a heroic pose looking like that." (or something to that effect, not an actual quote) While we painted, Steve told us about his own experiences working as an animator in Japan and some about how the industry works - for example, though much of the drawing is done by men, most of the painting is done by women, since women have a better sense of color-coordination. :) I was concentrating on getting the shading to look somewhat right, so all I got done before the class was over was the small details and the shadows. I finally finished painting it on Sunday - click on the thumbnail at the left to see the finished product. :) I was going to go back for the second session on Saturday, but the room was so packed, it was ridiculous.
Okay, time to get showered and ready for work. I may add more to this entry later today or not... I certainly have more I want to say. :P
recent alterations //
21 November 2002 // I'm not dead yet!
03 October 2002 // Snarling bitch to genki fangirl in 0.8 seconds flat! [i]
27 September 2002 // He's got butterfly wings, not feathery angel wings. Geez, people!
25 September 2002 // The Great Oekaki Contest Begins! [ai]
14 September 2002 // The obsessiveness continues...
