Friday 30 December 2011

Glossy Buttons

I've been doing a spot of 2D texture work for a friend's game.


I've never done glossy before! It's quite exciting.

Tuesday 20 December 2011

To Do Lists: Because sometimes this stuff doesn't just happen.

Here's my current To Do List. Usually the things on my To Do List aren't actually things I have to do, and are more like things I've considered doing, thought would be good if I did do them, and hoped that I actually do get around to doing them. I probably only get round to half of the things before deciding, "Another time," or "...nah, I changed my mind." It's not a very good system. I highly recommend working on the things on your To Do lists instead of just hoping you end up getting them done.

To Do.


Christmas presents for family and boyfriend. All done!
Bought. Sometimes I like to start with things I can strike off straight away.
Wrap Christmas presents.

Sort out Digital Files and Folders. Half done...
I've been meaning to do this for years. I've just found out you can get some nice desktop backgrounds that look like rooms, which you can arrange your icons around on. I may have to make one for myself one day, but this has done for now.
As for the actual Files in the system.... well. That is going to take a little longer. But once I've done it, I'm sure life will feel a little clearer.

Learn how to do a Self Assessment.
I downloaded all of my transactions for the past 5 years yesterday and put them into a neat little graph. I'll learn how to actually do it properly after I've sorted out my Folders though.

Work on First Novel
First Draft of more than 40,000 words done thanks to NaNoWriMo.
Need to follow the steps on The Plot Whisperer to refine the plot arc.
And then... See what happens next after that.

Sell artwork.
Make more artwork.
Be less attached to artwork made.
Set up gallery of artwork, on or offline. Preferably online to begin with?
Actually start cataloguing artwork made.

Blog More.
I'm currently in the process of that...
Sell advertising space. By the way, if you have a site you think I'd like to link to, do let me know :)

Sort out Online Presence.
I did that less than a year ago, but I think I need to do it yet again. I have more than one blog, more than one email account, and those email accounts need sorting or deleting too. And I think I want to sort out my blogs too, add in some proper labels etc.

Do Laundry.
Sigh. Done?

Alright, this list is getting a bit cumbersome now. Better stop now and get on with the decluttering.

Thursday 8 December 2011

December: Post Nano Plot Reflection

I realised that although I didn't manage 50,000 words in one month, I have managed over 40,000 words over October and November put together. Throughout October I spent some time trying to write a diary entry everyday, mostly of odd trains of thought I was having as I was having them, even the nonsense ones, just to see how many words I would do. I'd definitely like to see if I could combine parts of the two into any sort of entertaining novelish object.

NaNoWriMo has a list of things that you can do once you've recovered from thirty days of novel writing.
December's is all about sorting out the plot arc of the novel:

The Plot Whisperer -- Plot Writing Month (December). Goal: Refine the plot arc of your first draft.


And here are some others they've listed that go on throughout the year:


NaBloPoMoNational Blog Posting Month (Year-Round). Goal: Post every day for a month.
SciFiWriMoScience Fiction Writing Month (Year-Round). Goal: choose a target word count and reach it in a month, writing sci-fi or fantasy.
750 Words(Year-Round). Goal: write 750 words a day. Includes month-long challenges.
Wriye(Year-Round). Goal: Set a word-count goal for the year and work towards it between January 1 and December 31.

There are also 24 hour and 48 hour challenges that you can take part in if you don't fancy a month of writing tonnes of words:


24 Hour Comics Day(Changes annually, lasts 24 hours). Goal: Draw a 24-page comic in one 24-hour period.
48 Hour Film Project(Varies; operates via tours around the USA, lasts 48 hours). Goal: Create a short film in 48 hours.
Lots to be doing!

I really have no idea how my novel thing is going to go at the moment. There were some mentions of tea stained diaries being found in parks, so I really feel I have to transcribe those particular diary sections on paper and tea stain them. And then leave them in parks where they can be found. Especially after finding it so fun writing on my little 2x3 inch coptic bound book and singeing the edges with Sam's amazing rocket lighter of blue fire. It's pretty nice, the burned smell I get off it now.

I'm not a pyro.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

NaNoWriMo: 2011

For the past month of November I've been a half busy / half not busy little bee, typing away at my very first novel.

It's not going as quickly as it should be. I began on 1st November 2011, like all the other NaNoWriMo participants. Unfortunately, I spent many days away from my laptop in that time and wrote not a word. I ended November with just over 17,000 words out of 50,000. Poor. But never mind. I'm carrying on, with a current word count of 19,458 and rising. If I really set myself on the task, I could definitely hit 50,000 before we reach 2012. Easy. Just so long as I keep typing! I've even begun to write in a little 100page 2x3inch book I made, just to make sure I can write something while I'm away from the laptop.


Novelist Gyseman, here I come.

I've also got another idea in the works. I'm going to spend 2012 making sure I write between 137 and 164 words every single day for a year. Maybe every night just describing my day. I could call it "My 2012", since I'm sure a lot of books are probably already called or are going to be called "2012", what with the universe ending and everything. Perhaps you can buy my first novel before Christmas next year for a loved one, just in case the universe does end. Then you can buy my other book after that, if it turns out the universe still exists and is doing fine with us still here? Best to cover your bases.

Also, I had a nice idea today. You may notice XXX has suddenly appeared as a page on my blog. I'll write more about that another time.

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Cereal box doll houses, the Desperados Dojo Mansion, and zombie survival simulators.

So here's the story.

Yesterday, I heard something post through the door after I had already been down once and signed for a parcel for one of the guys living downstairs. I don't know why I thought this second thing would be anything interesting, but lo and behold, there was a brand new Ikea catalogue, addressed to no one in particular.

I nicked it.

Mine now.

I spent the rest of the day thinking about how when I was little I liked making little environments for woodlice out of sand, and a paper house with an amazing special thread operated lift for my Polly Pocket figures [I surprise myself with this memory. Perhaps I'm remembering it better than it was... no, it was definitely as wicked as I remember it], and totally loved watching Art Attack and Blue Peter when they made little rooms and models for toys to live and play in.

And then I wondered. Now that I'm adult enough to use a pair of scissors without a guardian present and childish enough to still love this stuff... Why haven't I actually made a sturdier one out of cardboard yet?

In my second year of Computer Game Design I thought about modelling my bedroom in Maya for practice, and got part of the way there. Ever since, I've been thinking about recreating the main areas I liked to spend my time. Didn't quite happen. And now I have five empty cereal boxes beginning to clutter up my bedroom floor because I haven't decided what to do with them yet.

My original plan for this cardboard was to go around measuring my room to recreate it to scale out of the cardboard, and do the lounge and kitchen and bathroom after that. Even make little mini-us's to live in it.

Except while I was measuring I had the idea to recreate our flat in Unity 3D, and add zombies or monsters and turn the flat into an FPS. Or a zombie survival simulator. Exciting idea.

In the end I decided to use the cardboard to make a Desperados Dojo Mansion for my Lego Man. I got about this far before I decided I wanted to make the FPS/zombie survival sim of my house more.

Three walls, a floor and a bridge to fight on. But nobody to fight. Hmm.

I think maybe if I had done some solid pre-pro on it, I might have been more focused. Oh well. It's currently sat on my windowsill, along with my purple should-sort-through-but-haven't-yet folder of.. stuff, and green bag of old journals dating from as far back as a decade ago [probably].

I haven't decided if I'm going to keep working on it or dismantle it for the cardboard to make the cardboard version of my room. Although I am going to finish another box of Maple Pecan Crisp by tomorrow, so the Desperados Dojo Mansion is probably safe for now.
Unless it falls out of my window.
It's not going to fall out of my window.



Wednesday 21 September 2011

My scientific study of responses to Facebook and it's changes: 21st Sept 2011.

Introduction
Here's my highly scientific review of the response to the latest changes that seemed to have occurred on the social site I love to be nosy on. It's short and sweet, factual, and I'd like to think fairly accurate in terms of the constructive criticism it presents. Written in true this-is-what-I-remember-of-science-class-experiment-write-ups-in-school fashion.

Method
It took me some time to find out some of these things [I searched for the term "facebook" in my friends posts to find out how many were talking about the most recent changes and it only brought up two posts - LIES! - one of which was in a language I kind of can't be bothered to Google-translate...]. I have also included the status update I'll post with a link to this blog post in the count.

Results

Number of statuses found today referencing recent changes: At least 20. 
>:( - Number of those consisting of definite complaints: 15. That's 75%.
 :? - Number of those that might be complaints hidden in dumbfoundedness: 3. 15%
:) - Number of those consisting of an "I can deal with this" attitude: 1. Bless you, Kozlik the Easygoing. 5%
:D - Number of those praising the changes: 1. But I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic...
["I personally like the new Facebook page, but then again I like unnecessary, complicated, pointless things."]. 5%


Evaluation
I haven't got figures for the comments posted on those statuses. There were a fair few of them, many complaints, but I'm not concerned about being highly thorough about those replies.

Conclusion
So, with 75% of statuses about the changes on my feed being definite complaints*, and only 5% praising the changes - sarcastically at that - I think it's safe to say:

WTF FB. WTF.

*While typing up this informative report, another person posted a status complaining at Facebook for "fucking changing my Facebook!", bring the total up to 16 out of 21 posts being definite complaints; or 76.1905%. There was also a complaint about all the complaints, but it included no praise for FB so was ignored by the study.

Cyfarthfa Street, Plasnewydd, Roath, Cardiff

Here are two photos of Cyfarthfa Street, looking very different in both. The second one here is from the day of the previous post about colours, when the pink/orange cloud reflected warm light onto the shiny wet roof tops. The first one was taken today to show you just how different the place looked a few days ago compared to today's ordinary cloudyness. I will paint this street one day.


21st September 2011 - A typical grey cloudy day, with street looking fairly dark and subdued.


17th September 2011 - With shiny pink rooftops and deep dark clouds further away, the street itself looks brighter.

Side by side. I flipped one to make the comparison a little easier on the eyes.

Saturday 17 September 2011

Colours - Do you see what I see?

I just saw a very interesting episode of Horizon on BBC iPlayer all about colour and the perception of colour. I found it particularly interesting how the colour terms we learn can affect how easily we perceive different shades of a colour, quite drastically in some cases...

I also finished my second page of colour mixing experiments the other day:


And before that I was reading all about fashion and the colours that suit a person. Haha. I can't quite figure out if I'm a Deep Autumn or a Deep Winter. I suspect I'm somewhere between the two, like Miss Kardashian in the example on the page linked.

And wow. There was some crazy beautiful lighting going on outside just now. It has been on and off showering today, so the rooftops are shiny, reflecting pink light coming from a big cloud that was just above. I took some time out from typing this to attempt to take some pics.




The rainbow from earlier.
This is a different rainbow picture; the first rainbow I saw after moving to Cardiff, shown here for the contrast with today's pictures.


Wednesday 7 September 2011

White Tiger

Nearly done! I think I just want to add a glaze or two of colour to the black scriveners ink of the background, blue or maybe green, and add a little more of the ink here or there.

Pencil grid, pencil & black biro line work.

Black biro line work with watercolor shading added.

With the black scriveners ink added.

I'm really surprised with how well the underwater parts turned out in the photo of the painting. For a split second I thought I'd uploaded the wrong image until I noticed the splodgy reflections in the background. When I look at the actual painting I can't help but see biro squiggles!

Playing with watercolour / watercolor triads.

Instead of doing any more work on the white tiger last night, I spent nearly the whole day doing this instead:


I went through my entire Daler Rowney [Aquafine ?] 12 half-pan pocket set, sorted them into some experimental triads [using the yellow-green as a yellow in some and the bluer-green as a blue, and the oranges as reds] to see what different colours I could make.

The whole process took me so much longer than I thought it would - literally all day - but it was worth it. It forced me to mix colours I wouldn't ordinarily think of mixing, not to mention use colours I don't normally like using. For example, I always thought of R2 [the fifth colour across the top of the first image, or the middle one below] as far too bright to be used for anything that wasn't going to be super bright. Rookie mistake! It actually makes a really nice peachy kind of colour when watered down. And I've had these watercolour paints how long?*

Silly Char; the clue is in the name.

So in doing an exercise like this, you learn so much about what your paints can do for you. Now I know how to get a pretty peach colour, a dark bluey grey, and which blues and reds/oranges/browns to mix to get different purples and greens and browns and greys. I also realised that the bluer green of the two I have [third from the right in the first image] can probably be used as a blue by itself in some pictures quite happily. See the last two columns in the first image - they feel almost fruity to me, sunny, warm, and maybe even Mediterranean. I can't be sure about that last bit though; I've never been to the Mediterranean.


Meanwhile, the left-hand columns using the colder blue feel like they can be used to represent colder climates and northern areas quite easily.

Top and bottom of the left column: I can't not see a forest by a mountain.

One thing I haven't experimented with yet is the black colour in my set. I want to see how it reacts when mixed with each of the other colours in the set, and also what kind of feelings I can get out of it if I replace a colour in a triad with the black. I'd really like to try recreating some of the colour combinations I saw while watching 300 with my flatmates last night. But before I start on that, I really should finish the line work of my tiger!



* Years. Possibly a decade. I don't even know the names of any of my colours; I lost the little tint chart telling me their names a while ago. I'm sure it's lurking around in my stuff somewhere...

Monday 5 September 2011

W H Smith: 5 Oil & Acrylic Painting Boards

A while ago I went out and bought a set of five 12x9inch white painting boards from the W H Smiths in Cardiff. Two of these I gave to friends to draw on to decorate the flat we've just moved into in Roath, while the rest I kept for myself to think of something to do with. Here's what I've done - excuse the quality of the photos, I took them using my phone camera. I'm thinking I might join the Canon club soon, but we'll see.

~


A tracing of a belly dancer, lined with biro and metallic gel pens, the background and floor coloured in with watercolour, spattered lightly with orange paint. She's still there on my desk, standing in the lamplight while it's on. I still need to finish reading that copy of House of Leaves.

~


A self portrait; pictured resting on an empty Lucky beer bottle I acquired from the Prince of Wales in Cardiff during a little post-gym pint night a year or two ago, she's now stuck to my bedroom door - on the living room side. For this image I used a photo of myself and added grid lines to assist me in getting the proportions right. Drawn in pencil first, then with biro outlines, added some metallic gel pen and then painted in the hair with scriveners ink that I bought from a museum somewhere.

The symbols at the top of the image show my "Four Pillars of Destiny" based on my date of birth, while the clock pendant is the same one I'm currently wearing. I bought the necklace at a car boot sale in Saundersfoot with my mum, for the low low price of 50p! It was originally £1, but I got to have it for 50p because the clock itself didn't work. It now hangs around my neck set to the time I was born - ten to noon. You know, just in case I ever forget...

~


A white tiger, again from a photo [this one found via the wonders of the internet] using grid lines to help me get the proportions and details right. My flatmate says using grid lines is cheating, but he's a monkey. This one is a work in progress, using pencil and black biro, and I will possibly use more scriveners ink to fill in the background of dark water. I was intending to finish it today but it will probably be done by tomorrow instead.

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Using FB to Live The Dream!

Today is a big post dedicated to a few pretty entrepreneurial people [say that really fast ten times!] who regularly pop up on my Facebook feed with the exciting things they've been doing lately.

Each one inspires me and each one shows that if you have a bit of passion, and drive, and the determination to take down those barriers that prevent you from making your dreams a reality, then you really can grow that idea or dream and bring it out into the world for everyone else to see. Just work hard, and make it happen!

So, in no particular order, here they are:

---

Alice Cat


Alice is a sweet little lady who really has bloomed in her chosen trade of modelling over the past year or so. On her Model Mayhem profile she gives this quirky little description of herself:
"The best way to describe my modelling style (my style in general in fact) would be that it's a mish-mash of cheesecake cuteness, a sweet and silly Sandra Dee classic Pin-Up, mixed with a dark, gothic edge that shines through in bizarre little bursts."
Give her a look, especially if you're a bit quirky yourself and have a secret desire to get into modelling [or if you fancy getting in on a bit of the style - she has been selling off a few of her things lately to make room for more!]. She also expresses her creativity in the form of Cubles - cute little plushies, each one lovingly handmade by Alice - and she really does love making each one!


---

Inkspill Illustrations - François Savarimuthu


François is a designer, illustrator and printer living and working in South East Wales. A truly passionate artist; he always seems to busy working on multiple projects and commissions. One look at his intricate and highly detailed work and you just know that patience and love for his work are definitely traits he carries.

"I Illustrate, Design & Print because I love producing work that meets a purpose, working with others is a passion of mine and when I can incorporate my love for art and design into that scenario that's when I'm most happiest."


---

Paint the Moment - Chloé Bruce


Chloé was one of the initial FB users to catch my attention through my news feed for selling her work online - drawings, canvas paintings, canvas bags, cute handmade cuddly things, photography work and even tattoo designs. She seems to be one of those people whose passion for painting and creating art spills over into any medium she can get her hands on!


"Art has been a huge influence in my life since I was young, from the days when finger painting was all the craze up until today, and now all aspects of art interests me. I love expressing my feelings, creativity and imagination through my work, whether it's a photograph a painting or even a piece of design. It's what I know best."

---

Not Your Hero - Pete Harries


The most recent work to be thrown up into my view has been Pete's Not Your Hero work. He's been working really hard over the past month to get his t-shirt business started, and if you check out the info on his FB page you can see he really means business!


"Each T-shirt is an individual experience, each one of our T-shirts has a story. With art specifically design for that cut of shirt and packaging specific to that design. At Not Your Hero we want to bring you shirts that you will look forward to putting on in the morning.

I love T-shirts.

And what's not to love? Such a simple garment with so many possibilities.

Actually I take that back, T-shirts are far from simple. Colour, texture, fit, design. Does it represent you? Does it show your beliefs? Or maybe your interests? Is it comfy? Does it smell nice? T-shirts are a complex blend of these elements, of which there are thousands of possibilities. The trouble is when you have thousands of possibilities combining them can produce a variety of outcomes, that's where another one of my loves comes into this story.

I love art.

Film, graphic design, music, photography, fashion, painting, video games, poetry, storytelling, cooking this list goes on... I love getting the chance to experience great art and I love being able to participate in creating great art for others to experience. When creating a great T-shirt there is a distinct art in selecting and creating the elements that will go into the shirt to create the finished work. To create an experience."

Well now, that sounds like a lot of love to me :)


---

Toxic Games - Q.U.B.E.


Q.U.B.E. was the final year Computer Games Design project of a few guys in the year above me in uni. Facebook's A Year Ago Today feature is telling me that a year ago today, Dan Da Rocha was "off to Gamescom in Germany in the morning to promote QUBE! :D"

Clearly, it's been promoted pretty damn well because they have been all over the place now, attending conferences and being interviewed for the game, which is to be released in the next year! Very exciting. Check out the Q.U.B.E. game website here, and the blogspot here.

---

Well there you go, five nice varied examples of loving your art, whatever it is, and working hard at it! Because sometimes this stuff doesn't just happen - you MAKE it happen ;)

Leave me a comment below if you enjoyed reading this post, found it useful, inspirational, or if there is anything you wanted to say or see me respond to next week!

Monday 8 August 2011

Sometimes it's like this stuff just happens...

Have you ever looked back at something you're particularly proud of doing and thought to yourself, "Did I really just do that?" I do it every time I make a pretty picture, every time I get a compliment on something I've made, every time I find a piece of artwork I did a long time ago... It really is like it comes out of no where.

During my final year of Uni, the title of the blog I set up to follow the work I did ("I'll make it pretty, you do the rest.") became kind of ironic. While I was there working on my final major project, trying to work out how to javascript some magic 3D/2D view switching into action in Unity3D, there Tim was focusing on the textures and the lighting and the baking. He was the one trying to make it look pretty, while I was the one trying to handle the rest.

It wasn't until I had finished spending all my energy on my dissertation and hand in for the final major project was over that I realised I hadn't drawn any sweet art in a long time. I actually began to forget what I was capable of. When I moved out of uni accommodation to live in a flat with some friends a month ago, I found a cardboard tube of old life drawings that I had done in blue biro on big paper back in my first year. I couldn't believe it. There was even a drawing of Ollie Elliott, freehand and in pencil, and you could easily tell who it was if you knew him. I barely even knew him back then.

I don't know which surprises me more; the fact that I can draw from observation, or the fact that I could forget something like that.

Thursday 4 August 2011

JustClick Psychometric Test

After automatically registering with JustClick when registering for something for Graduation day, I checked out the psychometric test on there. I was actually kind of surprised at what it came up with out of my input. Here's what it said:

DESCRIPTIVE WORDS
Dependable, compliant, deliberate, careful, amiable, systematic, persistent, precise, good listener, accurate, kind, perfectionist, logical, hesitant, reserved, mild, reflective, suspicious, self-conscious, accommodating, non-demanding, probing and serious.


GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
- A perfectionist who strives to avoid error.
- Dislikes unrealistic deadlines and being pressurised to release work before she is satisfied it is correct.
- Works in a thorough and systematic manner in order to reach the perfect solution.
- Prepared to follow systems, rules and procedures.
- Needs time to adjust to change.
- Wants to tie up the loose ends and see an assignment through to conclusion.
- Logical even in adverse situations.
- Non-aggressive; dislikes trouble, conflict and hassle.


Motivators
Charlotte Gyseman is motivated by a happy home life, constant appreciation and security of situation. Maintaining the status quo is also important, as are reassurances and standard operating procedures. She dislikes sudden or abrupt changes and should be given sincere appreciation for a job well done.


Should Charlotte Gyseman have a boss, then ideally that person will be democratic in approach and recognise the need for security within the working environment. The requirements of the job should be clearly defined, understood and preferably given in writing.


Values Charlotte Gyseman brings to the Organisation
Charlotte Gyseman will be recognised and valued for her natural ability to perform consistently and predictably. This will be particularly noticeable when working in specialist or administrative roles and where she is called upon to maintain exacting standards of performance, both personally and for those with whom she works closely. What will also be apparent will be her special ability to stabilise excitable people, demonstrate loyalty and develop unique skills.

Not sure what percentage of the time this would be an accurate description of me, but it feels fairly accurate...

Monday 1 August 2011

Woops

I gotta stop saying that I'm going to keep doing something forever, because apparently I tend not to...

For the entire of July I may have taken around five photos of me for the whole month. Woops indeed. What I did manage to do, however, was keep a fairly accurate sleep diary throughout that time. Apparently, leaving Uni accommodation and moving to Cardiff did wonders to my sleeping patterns!

I'm not actually there right now, I'm back in my home Shire at my family's house. I need to get some plans made and in action for some income. I've got a little saved up to live off, but my cashflow is far too negative at the moment. I could probably quite easily go out and get a job, but my heart is set on getting some passive income on the go, which does mean that my Artfire shop has been suffering a little neglect. Instead I've been painting and drawing a few things, with the intention of turning them into posters or prints for sale online.

If you ever went on Kaneva, you might recognise one of my symbols...

I actually forgot that I was capable of drawing, until I found the life-drawings I did back in my first year of uni. How does someone like me just forget something like that?!

New Project: Chav City

A short while ago I asked my housemates to give me a game brief to work on. Here are some of the current details:

Chav City [working title] is a turn-based strategy game inspired by the Harry Brown film and a turn-based strategy game that I unfortunately don't remember the name of right now [should have written it down...].
There are three teams to choose from; the Chavs, the OAPs, and the Police, and there are three kinds of unit; Melee, Ranged, and Heavy.
Each team has a base [Council Estates, Retirement Home and Police Station], and the aim of the game is to take over an opponents base.


I'm pretty sure it would be easier to just make it as a board game, but the point of the project for me is just to see what it takes to make one of these kinds of games digitally.

~

I've learned a tiny bit of Blender by watching the videos here: http://www.blendercookie.com/getting-started-with-blender/ It feels a bit odd learning something from the start again, but it will be good once I know how to use Blender as well as Maya.

I've also just discovered that there is a new version of Unity3D or something, it's been that long since I opened the program last. Not sure yet what has changed, so I will have to find out in a bit.

Wednesday 20 July 2011

Back in the World of the Wide Web.

Internet man was round yesterday to give us internet access at our house.

Now that I'm not a student [I am a student, I'm still studying, but I don't think studying independantly of any organisations like Universities or schools of my own accord using the Internet and any other sources available to me counts as being a Student in the Gov's eyes, for Some Reason[?] ], I possibly won't be having my free licence to use Maya anymore. So, today I'm downloading Blender again to re-learn it so I can make stuff.

OH! And I forgot to mention, I seem to have gotten me a 2:1 for the past three years of work.

"Miss Charlotte Gyseman B.A.(Hons)"

Nicely done.


Wednesday 29 June 2011

A photo a day.

Well... the page-a-day didn't quite work out. I think the problem was that I got discouraged when I found I was having so many blank pages on days where I wasn't feeling in a particularly arty mood, and ended up losing track of the whole thing. Never mind, I still have the pages to doodle on when I want to.

Instead I've started a new 365 project. I take a photo of myself everyday for a month. And again the next month. And again and again until I make 12 months! But I don't just take a picture of my face like Noah did. Sometimes I edit them, practising and experimenting with digital tools to see what effects I can come up with and achieve.

Okay. I confess. It's partly an excuse to make pretty pictures of myself to put onto Facebook and to put into a book of my own for when I'm older or gone. A part of me wants to have lots and lots of sweeeet looking pictures, but I'm not a model... And I thought that since I'm not a model, then I shouldn't be taking or making pictures of myself and editing them like I wanted to put on display anywhere...

I think Alice Cat changed that belief. She wasn't a model. She was just a sweet looking little girl a couple years below me in school, and then a few years later, BAM! Now look at her. She's working away at a career she loves and she's looking pretty damn fine doing it. It's awesome. It's inspiring. It made me start taking a picture of myself everyday, and hopefully everyday for at least a year.

And sure, maybe I'm not doing it with a career in modelling in mind [or maybe I am.. I've never had a solid vision of a career path in mind], and maybe I missed one day and sneaked in a screenshot image of my sleep pattern diary, and maybe some of the photos are really lazy ones where I haven't even edited or colour corrected them, let alone tried to do anything arty.

But even the unedited ones still show something of who I was and where I was that particular day in the series. Not to mention how I really like how a few of them have turned out. If I can, I'd like to keep this up for the rest of my life. Join me! Feel free to post any links to your similar projects in the comments :)

Friday 17 June 2011

I forgot to mention, there was a little ginger girl/toddler and Gen, both sat in my room where my piles of clothes should have been.

Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man. It's been a long time since I last had an open eyed dream, but this morning, I had one. I think I went to bed between 3am and 4am; I had stayed up writing and painting some business cards for today's Grad Show. I think I woke up and grabbed my phone to check the time a few times, one being at around half 11am, and finally waking up at half 12ish. This one had it's frantic moments.

The Dream

At some point, I'm at a party in a room with tables. It feels a bit like a cross between Revs and my old school Art classrooms. Dave Ware is there and we're talking about something, except we're talking through the table like it's some kind of string telephone.

Leter, after he's gone and come back again, he sits next to me and asks me if I'm a lesbian. Hahaha. No. I'm not.

I don't remember what happens between the above and the below.

I must have opened my eyes. I'm in bed and I can't get up. It's light out, I left my curtains open, and I try to turn around or cover my eyes so that I can't see anything. That way, maybe my brain will stop thinking I'm not moving not matter how much I try to move. It's not working, however much I turn, even a complete 180, my vision morphs back into what I can see from bed. I try to at least get my phone and check what the time is, because I need to go to the Grad Show later. I accidentally knock over my glass from the desk beside me, and I hear glass break at it falls to the floor. Of course, I can't see it. I can't sit up.

I gingerly reach a hand down to see if it really it broken, and instead pick up a broken glass bong. And I'm like, wtf is a bong doing in my room? And then I remember the party that had happened just before in my dream. I freak out because I need to wake up, and I wonder if I actually will ever feel like I'm really awake again, and then I start to think I am actually just mental, that I lost my mind ages ago, because I get stuck like this for so long.

At some point it switches back to the party. I see some jackass playing my guitar. I'm on a square spiral staircase. I yell at him and the party quietens. Suddenly, I'm authority. I tell him the rules.
1. Don't break my guitar.
2. Don't let anything else break my guitar.
3. When you're done, put it back on the stand.
And then still make sure nothing else happens to it.

The party is dead quiet.

4., or is it 5.? - Make sure you enjoy it.

And then the party continued, as if I had finished some kind of speech. I went up the stairs, I think with Lucy Liddell, and there was some kind of display space up there with glass cabinets. After some kind of conversation I don't remember well, I end up with a purple and orange tamagotchi.

And then I wake up.

The Reality

Well. Bryony was on the phone in the kitchen yesterday and a tamagotchi was mentioned when Daisy thought that's what they were talking about.
I don't know why I had a bong in my mind, or why there were parties in a place like Revs crossed with my art classroom.
On the first night I met Dave, he did tell me and Jess Pearce that we were lesbians with each other. It was also the first night I'd met Jess, and I'm pretty sure we weren't doing anything lesbianish. I'm not sure why exactly in the dream he started seriously asking if I was a lesbian. Maybe it was because his girlfriend and I "kissed" for a photo at the last party they threw.

Sunday 12 June 2011

How NOT to stand out with your advertising.

Quickly went onto IndieDB today to accept an invite to join the group Flying Bones [the team name for our final major project], and lo and behold, what did I see?


I'm guessing those adverts on the edges are supposed to be in the background - but they're not and have ended up covering a fair portion of the screen's edges. I can't read any of the numbers on the side. I'm not amused. Especially since Ctrl scrolling doesn't do anything to help it.

I don't even know what they're advertising precisely, but already I've probably developed a subconscious link between it and the feeling of rage it's giving me. F.

Monday 6 June 2011

Quick Prototype Development

Today I registered at IndieDB.

Then I read through this article by the people from the Experimental Gameplay Project on how to prototype games in 7 days.

... A very short post today.

Sunday 5 June 2011

I win!

Last night's dream was interesting. And also kind of fun. And slightly worrying. But mostly fun.

The Dream

I don't remember all of it right now, but I remember taking a trip in a minivan with back packs, and I think I was going with Gen or someone like her, to make a documentary. We went to this place with lots of hot hip hop people, it was like their club, and I wasn't sure if shit was going to go down or not. They had a bar. It was more like a pub, if all the patrons in the pub were hot hip hop people.

I remember a hole in the floor and some graffiti on a wall. I think the people were okay with us, except for this one blonde girl. She was one of them, but was styled kind of emo. She didn't like me, didn't like how the others liked me, and got kind of territorial on me, passively so. Passively, that is, unless she crept up behind me and tried to attack me, possibly trying to throw me into the hole next to the wall. I sensed her coming and somehow managed to force her own strength against her, and as I was balanced against the wall, used it to help me push her into the hole instead. It was bad-ass. I didn't really see what happened to her after she fell, there were girders and things down there.

Next thing I know she's back up in the club, and the others are aware of her dislike for me. She turns out to be insane, gets up on this stage thing, breaks a bottle of drink and sprinkles it around her on the stage, and then tries to light it...

Except it doesn't take. She scuffles about for another bottle of drink to set fire to, but that one's not flammable enough either.

Show's over.

I turn to someone at the bar and say something. Then I have to pick up all my heavy bags to shove back into the minivan so we can go.

~

Before that section of dream, I think I had another one. It involved something like a cross between a pirate crew and a bunch of cowboys, but they turned out to be dead, but they didn't know it. I went to go steal their treasure, and succeeded, but then it turned out one of them wasn't a ghost and was still alive. I think I decided I'd give him the treasure, but wasn't sure whether to give him all of it or half of it, seeing as I was the one who managed to retrieve it from the ghosts.

~

I also have a vague recollection of Rob, the manager of the place I first worked at, but I don't know if he was in these dreams or one from a previous night in which I had to do some work.

The Reality

I can only assume the documentary part was inspired by Tom and Sam, although I haven't seen them for a good while since I left 21. As for the rest... The bar layout kind of reminded me of a mirror-imaged Murrenger [a pub in Newport]. I also have a vague recollection of Rob, the manager of the place I first worked at, but I don't know if he was in that dream or one from a previous night where I had to do some work.

Saturday 4 June 2011

It's been a while. I've been working.

This morning / last night was a weird one. I'm not sure I can even explain it. I can only remember different sections of it. I don't know how they transition between each other or what order they go in. I assume they're partly inspired by the cleaning I did in my room yesterday...

The Dream

I'm looking through an old notepad with loose sheets in. It's my auntie's. The work is amazing but they are all doodles and tests. I try to figure out how she made a bit of yellow light drawn in chalk pastels three sheets of tracing paper look like it was emanating light for real by fiddling with how they go over each other. They work best when separated.

~

My sister Gen is in bed. I'm folding clothes. Something about sorting out some stuff. Are we moving house? Two pianos instead of one, my youngest sister plays the left one and I try to play along on the one on the right, asking which note she was playing then. I think it was an A. Something about Owain being around, but Gen's still napping. I've still got clothes I need to sort out.

~

I'm looking through photos. Very old photos of one of my aunts, and they come to life in my mind. I'm seeing her as a teenager, and she swears at my grandma the way one of my sisters has sworn at my mother. It was weird. Now that I'm awake, I don't know which aunt it was supposed to be. She just had long dark curly hair. And the whole scene seemed too modern. The place reminded me of the house I lived in when I was just starting school.

~

A house. Dad's building and extension, a little toilet/conservatory. It didn't occur to me how odd that combination was, seeing as anyone in there would be seen by anyone outside. At least it was double-glazing. There was something weird going on in the interior as well; walls/sections that moved to access the door or drain-work.

~

Fish tanks hanging outside the back door as if they were a plant-hanger/shelf combo. Photos of my youngest sister asleep in one [they are all empty otherwise] turn into her actually being there, asleep there. Before I see my aunt swear, I see her try to sit on one of the tanks, and she does. But then it breaks - she was too heavy for the attachment between the tank and the fabric holding them up in place to hold her. It breaks, but doesn't smash the glass. That's when she hears herself being called and goes back into the house, swearing.

~

I'm riding a bicycle with racing-handle-bars and a very wide tread along the section of road I used to walk along to get to primary school. Instead of gravel, along the side is turf, and when I ride the bike on the turf it "mows" or clears the turf away... I was hired to do it. Three people come up to me. I know them in the dream, and as I ride back and forth along the little stretch clearing the grass I joke about running them over. I also wonder when the last time I rode a bike was.

~

There are lots of men. Gangsters. I think we're in the same area as the place I was riding the bike, but now there are big black ornate gates on the property. Some kind of back-chatty banter/conflict/taunting ensues, like in a movie where one side might say "I'll get you next time, you won't get away with this!" I think I get into a slight tanglement with one gangster. No biggie. I think I made him bleed. They came out worse on the other end.

The Reality

I woke up thinking, "Hah! I showed them."

Hand in done, presentation on Tuesday!

Turned out pretty alright considering neither of us are supposed to be programmers. We changed a lot of the textures in the house to something a little more old-looking and realistic over the past couple of weeks. I've also managed to squeeze in a couple of extra levels for a bit more gameplay time. Here are a couple of in-game screen shots showing Tim's texturing and light mapping skills.

3D Mode

2D Mode

Fuck it, I'm in.

Okay. I know. I've ranted and raved and then gone back on my word and then gone back on it again about whether or not I wanted to make games. But after the challenges, the expected failures but also the surprise successes of working on this final project, I'm up for it. I have been extremely inspired by the success of Q.U.B.E., but I have no idea where I want what I will do to go. Probably into my collection of stuff I have done for myself.

Over the next month I'm going to work on the mechanics and the code we used in our final major project and make myself a new game. It won't be FP[3], but it will come out of that. It won't be all fancy and story and AAA style animations and look beautifully like real life. It will be extremely simplified, extremely basic, it will not try to be arty; it will just be a game. A tidy, efficient, well executed game. Maybe with some funky colours and a feel of abstractness about it. Maybe. Who cares. I'm in charge on this project and the only one grading it will be me.

Do I sound angry? I think I sound angry. I'm not angry... Just very, very determined to do what I want, and get what I want, when I want it.

... Although, I have also been listening to Queen's I Want It All all day, which may have something to do with it.

Monday 9 May 2011

Personal Statement.

Well, it is now almost ten to 11pm, and I've been quickly typing out a personal statement for tomorrows lecture.

I've given up on trying to pursue a career in something in particular. Here's what I typed out. Italicised text is just the stuff I wrote to get into writing mode.

---

Personal Statement.

I have experience in:
- modelling and UV mapping in Maya,
- texturing with Photoshop,
- some javascript programming in Unity3D,
- organisation and planning within spreadsheets, including Excel, Google Docs and Google Sites
- animation in Flash and Maya.

You know, writing a personal statement is really fucking hard when you have so many varied and sometimes conflicting interests, especially when you don’t know who you’re trying to impress.

Maybe I should start with why I chose to study Computer Games Design at University.

Well.


I do not have a passion for games. I have a passion for creating, making, observing, learning, exploring new areas and concepts, and an insatiable desire for acquiring more knowledge and skills that allow me to do even more for myself.

When I chose to study Computer Game Design, I was looking for a course that would allow me to further develop multiple skills, including my visual art skills [drawing, painting, photography, photo-manipulation, sculpture, architecture, animation and film making], story writing [be this for games, music, film or plain prose], audio creation [including song writing and ambient music and audio clip selection for conveying feelings and sensations within a situation or area - although usually for use in film/visual work], research skills [including historical, psychological and scientific understanding, and learning how things and systems physically work and the concepts behind why they work in this way, and what these things could mean for future developments in various areas], programming skills [to allow me to create and control interactive virtual environments and systems myself] and teamwork skills.

When I was younger I was never able to seriously answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” As a young adult, I still feel unable to pigeonhole myself into a single specific career choice.

---

Haha. What do you think... would you give me a job?

A more important question to me would be; would you give me a job I would enjoy?

Friday 6 May 2011

HubHouse: Make a house a Home.

I've added a few tables and chairs into the house now. It also got some interior walls and new different wallpaper colours over Easter. And a bit of grime. The bathroom now has a bath, but no sink or loo... very hygienic...


There is a magic teleportation device in one of the rooms aswell. It looks like a very strange and out of place cube.


...Okay, there isn't actually going to be a strange mysterious teleporting cube in the game. The cube is just the place holder for the code until we can get some magic paintings modelled and textured in there.

Wednesday 20 April 2011

HubHouse: Changing Rooms

Got some fancy new wallpaper for the walls, coving and skirting boards, and a nice bit of board for the door...



Click on the images to get a better look at the wallpaper and grime.

HubHouse: Hole in the wall.

Bit more progress today, I've knocked through the wall, and UV mapped the house and given it a quick texture. Also been fiddling with lights, still looks a bit on the dingy side and what little light there is in the stairwell seems to be coming from out of nowhere...


Tuesday 19 April 2011

HubHouse: Infinite Stairway

Here's the stairway the player begins in.


Access to the actual home part of the house: coming soon!

Monday 18 April 2011

New house hub-area...

Here's what I've been working on today:


When I'm done, the player can try and try to get out, but they will always end up in the same place...

Sunday 17 April 2011

FireBENCH!

This is a little something I made last night, for fun:


... I call it "FireBENCH!"


When you click, you fire benches that are on fire at the targets on the wall.*


... The targets are flammable.


Each time you click, the word, "Fire!" can just about be heard over the background music of a version of Firestarter that had Eric Cartman dubbed in as singing along to it.


* The targets' faces originally looked like a slightly modified version of the "troll face" that I've seen around the Internet, except with pink skin, brown hair added and an orange hoodie. I believe the picture was drawn by Frodey [or Frody?] in the year below me, but I hadn't asked to use it so I've got some more standard targets in for these screenshots. Also, I started feeling a bit creeped out by the fact that I had made this game when all those faces were looking at me, so I thought I'd better change it anyway...