LOLI-POP
- Created By Wakusei Aoshi
Colour and I are Reconciling Our Differences
(I don't know why some of my words in the title are capitalized and some aren't...C-composition?! :D)
I've found some good resources on colouring that I'd like to share with you guys~!
huevaluechroma.com - This website was very good at explaining colour theory, even though it's very complex and still hasn't sunken into my brain yet, it has opened my mind a lot to understanding colour. I highly recommend using this site because it shows how colour isn't something flat, but something more three dimensional.
http://www.floobynooby.com/ICG/artvalues.html - I haven't read through all of this, but so far it has been helpful. It's helpful on a level of simple understanding. It's just giving tips on basic things that you may or may not have already known, but it's nice for the reinforcements of that.
color wheel - This is helpful and fun to use. I use this with the help of these videos:
It's all getting much clearer now.
I like that guy's videos because he explain things well and talks about points that I've never thought of before. My only problem, and I have this with probably every art tutorial type of video I've seen...The videos are close to 20 minutes long, some are even longer than that. You'd think they are chock full of information, but they are instead full of the guy thinking about what to say next. Editing you guys, editing.
I also found a really really lovely website that helps HEAPS TONNNSSS on lighting:
I only wish I could turn the heads because I have a difficulties with shading the head from different angles, too...>3>
On top of all that, I've learned how to practice colouring~!
Every day I have been using a palette of about 3-4 colours and painting a quick 30 minute (or less) portrait. It's helpful in understanding how to use certain colours.
Now that my apprehensions over colouring have passed I am met with a new dilemma: screen toning.
I've realized that with colouring I might want to try painting with different lightings and scenes in mind, but not only that. I should also think about colouring effecting mood, so I would like to do practice bits based on emotion.
That got me thinking. You know what else expresses emotion besides colours? Backgrounds and screen tones!
Screen toning is just pure hell to me. It's hell because I can't find ANYTHING that explains ANYTHING about screen toning. Somehow the mangaka always choose just the right screen tones to make a scene either adorable or tear jerking. Of course, I've seen a lot of mangaka that unfortunately fail at this, too, but have good enough story-telling that it isn't so bad.
I don't want to be that sort of mangaka! I want everything to be the best that it can be!
Screen tones just baffle me. I can put in certain tones and hope they give the desired effect, but it's just...something that takes a lot of experience which I greatly lack.
I could probably do the same thing I'm doing with colour...but there are so many ranges of motion that can be shown with screen tones. Not only that, but what screen tone is used or the overall emotion depends on the build up. How do I get an emotion across exactly without build up...>3>
*sigh*
I wish I could just look them up and find billions of tutorials on them, but that's not gonna happen.
Maybe I'll figure out and be able to be one of the very few people with tutorials on screen toning.
The only tutorials I've found are ones that explain how to make your own or find some and then what they are. Not how to use them. Some also explain their meaning, but again, not how to use them.
That's the end of my ranting. Now here is a beautiful song from Nausicaa (that I didn't know was in Nausicaa, the melody yes, but not the rendition):
Now I'm off to find good examples of screen toning in manga (which is incredibly hard 'cause that requires a lot of reading...Just gotta remember what manga I thought did well at storytelling...'orz)
ADIOSSS~!
Gaiz, gaiz, I feel it! ;w;
I have the feeling I've finally come up with an idea for a manga that is slightly shounen~! :D
I don't really have anything much about it except a few ideas floating in my head that have yet to be grounded.
I often tell you guys whenever I've gotten a new idea and I do this mainly for me so that I can go back and read through these (embarrassing) posts and get inspired on another idea or fix/elaborate on one I've already mentioned.
My idea goes like this:
I'm not sure how long it is in the future but eventually humanity has become virtually immortal because the medical system is near perfection. Because of this many humans live on earth. This is obviously a problem so a scientist invented an android that kills humans. Now this lone android (might be more than one, one sounds a bit too puny) must go against the vast population of androids protecting the humans in a world where it's hard to tell who is human and who is an android.
Killing humans is a sad and terrible thing to do, but at that time on earth it is the right thing and in such a story I'd like to address what makes a human a human.
It's actually a more optimistic approach to a future. The utopian future which is also a dystopian future...Hrmm...
It's optimistic because in most stories that take place in the future Earth is destroyed or in ruins or something. This story takes place in a future so incredibly advanced that humanity has found ways to restore Earth.
It's like after all those stories where the Earth was desolate so everyone moved to another planet and then the Earth was restored and so they moved back.
Also this is with androids that follow Isaac Asimov's three laws:
-A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
-A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
-A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
However, since it's something programmed into androids scientists can also reprogram androids to do the opposite.
Yep, yep.
This is also a good story to do design-wise because humanity has advanced to much that beauty is what is now sought after rather than intellectual advancement. Therefore everybody looks unique and beautiful.
People no longer give birth and have a range of relationships.
Yep, yep, yep.
:D
This was inspired from several stories of futures because they all had different and interesting takes on technological advancement. Also I was inspired by the religion vs atheism debates etc. because...I don't know. Last night I just watched a bunch of videos like that and suddenly thought of this story! XD
It's not supporting the idea of a god or anything with 'intelligent design' but rather the furthest a human can evolve before they eventually die out. Androids etc. aren't life forms, are not immortal, so it's not really the same thing. I need to give more thought on this though. I feel like I want androids to replace the humans, but that's not realistic what-so-ever.
Also I say immortal and virtually immortal but I just mean that they have incredibly long life spans and if the humans gets sick etc. then they can immediately be healed so there is a very low chance of them dying unless they are murdered.
Human vs. human murder would still exist, but it's incredibly rare because it would be very hard to do so.
Let's enough ranting about it. I should probably go add to my own idea and start building this 'cause...what better time than the present? No time is a bad time to start something new! :D
ADIOSSS!!
Sketchies and Blahness
I've been sketching a lot of things gaiz, I haven't been THAT lazy.
The sketch bundle in the top left corner I did right now. It's going to be the cover for my random shoujo pages for practice 'cause every story needs a cover! I mean...everything needs a cover even if it isn't a story~! :D
I drew the same people a while ago in the bottom right corner. I have myself, the two people I had crushes on, some friends and their crushes, and some weird people who give off shoujo manga vibes! XD
Also with the bundle from the bottom right corner are character designs for a shoujo one shot. I like how the guy looks, but the girl looks boring. She's supposed to be decently attractive and not the type that sticks out too much because the main focus is on her (lovely) personality~! :D Unfortunately, I gave her a weird hairstyle and she just looks like a goofy eccentric character...O.o;
Above them is the sketch of a picture for a contest on pixiv that I will try my best to finish before I go to college and coincidentally the contest ends on the day I start my classes! XD
Above that is none other thannn...Hikaru Miko Wakusei who was my Naruto OC who I am drawing for the Mary Sue challenge~! :D Lemme tell ya, she is definitely a mary-sue...I mean her 'goddess' or something version has no pupils, angle wings, AND cat ears..WUT?! I mean, she's a bit more creative of a mary sue (clothing-wise), but she is just painfully a mary sue. I did tone down her character a bit as I learned about how to create real characters, but I dunno, she still felt a tad bit mary sue...>3>
Then again, it's Naruto, people are randomly extremely powerful for no reason except that they were mad or whatever at that moment. Just like in every shounen manga~! :D
The drawings on the bottom left are just sketches for my story. I was trying to figure out the hair styles and how the main characters looked etc. The different kinds of outfits and the overall ethnic feel of the characters.
I drew the main character and his change in hairstyle. Basically it just grows out! XD But 'cause it's such a weird hairstyle it grows out strangely.
I finally read some Ao Haru Ride and I surprisingly liked it. It's like shoujo candy. It uses the same basic events that most shoujo have (one moment was extremely awkward and I have no clue why the author put it in there because nobody really talked about it afterwards) but it's so sweet and nice that it's hard to stay away from.
I put off reading it mainly because it looked very boring. The plot summaries I read of it sounded totes boring...
But then I was looking a what kinds of manga that some of the members of Morning Musume like to read and the majority of them said Ao Haru Ride. It is pretty good.
I also realized a bit of the way through reading it immediately when a character started crying who the mangaka was. Surprisingly it was the same mangaka for Strobe Edge which I just finished a few days ago (and I believe there was also a cameo of the characters from that one part). The mangaka improved a lot from that manga, but I still have a problem of telling characters apart. It's mainly the main characters which is a terrible thing! At that scene where I think there was a cameo I couldn't really tell if it was a cameo since the characters looked like every other character. But I assumed it was since there was random focus on them for a few panels...XD
So, yeahh, go read it!
Since I mention basic events of most shoujo a few moments ago...let me address a few of those here!
Those moments that you have seen in the majority of manga:
-Girl bullied by the girls who like the super popular guy (happens all the time and it's quite annoying because it's sooo unrealistic because in the first place girls don't really make clubs over that thing and from my experience most girls aren't that in love with the same guy so much that they'd make a club for them!)
-Guy or girl falls on top of guy (somehow this always always happens. I do like these scenes, but it ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS happens...>3>)
-Guy blocking girl with arm or arms (like the cicada block~! :D Ohohoho...but seriously I think if a guy did that to me in real life I'd die inside a little because that looks sooo incredibly stupid on the guy's part. Whatever he is doing it looks like obvious intimidation and reflects basically the same emotion. It looks just oh so silly)
-Random guys attack main girl and guy saves girl(Happens in every single shoujo that I can think of...at the moment...'orz I know the world's a scary place, but sheesh)
-Guy saves girl from being hit on by saying 'she's my girlfriend'(I'd really like to know what manga started this because it feels like that has been happening a lot in the more recent shoujos. I think it's cute, but...it was in Ao Haru Ride and there was barely any reaction and it was such a pointless scene that it made me cringe. Now I feel like I'll always cringe at such a scene because it's just...so overused...It Seiyuu Ka-!, though, I found it acceptable because it was one of the few cliches used and it had an excuse, the guy is so used to acting that being overly dramatic like that fits his character and would be something he would do)
-Girl who seems nice at first actually wants the guy the main character is after and becomes an anatagonist instead of a friend (I'd really like to see this more creatively. I mean, it is fairly realistic for a cliche. I have seen this happen several times. I've also seen it where friends stopped being friends because on person thought the other person like the same person they did. I wish shoujo mangakas could have more creative antagonists.)
Those are all I could think of right now. Feel free to comment on this post with more shoujo cliches! There are plenty out there! XD
ADIOSSS~!
Dere Dere Meme
Stolen from TrueStory
Your Loli/Shota side:
[x] You tilt your head when you're confused. (Probably got it from my dog 'cause I like to copy her when she does that...XD)
[x] You love sweets and cute things.
[x] You are often confused and lost in conversations with your friends.
[ ] You blush simply thinking of sexual things.
[x] People often call you cute.
[x] You care a lot about your friends.
[x] You embarrass yourself a lot with silly question or statements. (Or by making terrible jokes...'orz)
[x] You like bright, soft colors.
[x] You enjoy listening to cute, sweet, gentle songs. (Dango~ No I'm just kidding, that song annoys me, but I like other cute/sweet gentle songs)
[x] You add things to the end of your friend's names (Everyone ends with the ii sound! :D)
[x] People often say "aww" when you've done something clumsy/silly. (Might just be a Southern thing 'cause then they go 'Bless her heart' which could be taken as an insult...)
[x] You like anime/movies about romance, love and friendship.
Total: 11
Your Tsundere side:
[ ] You come off as tough and confident on the outside, when you are actually soft and emotional on the inside
[x] You often hide your true feelings for someone.
[ ] You are caring but deny it when someone tells it to you.
[x] You are protective.
[ ] When someone bugs you, you tell them right away strongly, but are still on the inside worried that you've hurt them.
[x] You are easily embarrassed.
[x] Compliments make you feel awkward and you always deny them.
[ ] You tease and bully the one you love to hide your feelings. (This one is strange for me because I usually don't tease you if I don't like you, but that can go with a friend, a family member, just a singer that I like, etc.)
[ ] You can be violent at times.
[ ] You may hurt people a lot, but regret it right away
[ ] When people say Thank You, you often reply by saying it was for yourself
[ ] You never cry in front of others. (I always do! 'orz)
Total: 4
Your Yandere side:
[ ] You are often loving, caring, sweet - until someone upsets you badly.
[ ] When angry, you're normally hide it until the time for revenge is right.
[x] You can at times, be obsessive.
[ ] People have said you are "two-faced".
[ ] People tell you you're nice, but can be creepy at times.
[ ] You scare the crap out of your friends when you get upset.
[ ]People find it weird to see you anything other than gentle and smiling. (Seems they find it weird when I am...O.o;)
[x] When you're upset, sometimes you still smile, even when saying something harsh. (Which has caused confusion for third parties who have witnessed this...For some reason they thought we were friends even though everyday we'd politely insult each other)
[ ] You can get very violent.
[y] You love to help people, but often love to help yourself more. (Sort of...maybe?)
[x] You like slow, sweet, but twisted songs. (Oh, so many vocaloid songs like this...XD)
[ ] You like colors like dark blue or light red.
Total: 3.5
Your Kuudere side:
[ ] You don't show your emotions to others.
[x] You hide your true feelings.
[x] When you become close to someone, you slowly open up.
[x] Although you don't show it, you are easily made happy.
[ ] You care for others a lot, still you don't show it.
[ ] People think you are mysterious.
[x] You can be shy.
[ ] You aren't very loud, rather silent.
[ ] You know who to trust and who not to. (Not really, my brother and I have a problem of trusting people too much...'orz)
[ ] You choose your friends wisely.
[ ]You like simple colors, like light purple or white.
[ ] You are rather mature.
Total: 4
Your Dandere side:
[x] You are a shy person.
[x] You are quiet and don't speak up for yourself.
[x] You look down instead of straight forwards when walking. (It's either straight up or straight down for me...'orz Or side to side like in dat one Harry Potter game~! :D)
[ ] You sometimes go to extreme levels just to get out of public speaking.
[ ] You have stage fright.
[ ] You are stoic and not very open.
[ ] You hide yourself with your hair at times. (I used to when I was little, but not anymore)
[x] Your face starts boiling when speaking with others.
[x] You speak very quietly in case you say something silly or you sound weird.
[ ] You are afraid of meeting new people.
[x] You are a hard worker.
[ ] You do not have as many friendships as others, but those you do have, you cherish very much. (This is the one thing they say about introverts that I can't relate to because I usually have bunches of friends I feel closely towards...O.o;)
Total: 6
LOLI!! It fits my Loli-pop name well! ;D But that makes 100% sense.
I've never felt so touched...;w;
(Probably have, from leik a nice comment or something, but in a different way that I'm talking about here)
This article:
Comic Connections: Urasawa Naoki Talks with Top European Artists
And this article:
I've seen a lot of OEL manga, and although I appreciate the effort and the existence of them, I never particularly had a taste for them. The quality wasn't very high, I never found anything with both good art and good story. Unique art and unique stories, but nothing particularly engaging and they felt a tad bit sloppy (sorry for lumping them all together, I know they took a lot to do but I've yet to be wowed by any of them).
Those articles give me hope. No, those artists mentioned give me hope. Why am I saying hope? I don't have any other word for it right now. Hope sounds like the right word, even though it isn't.
Naoki Urasawa talking with European Artists about comics. That is a blow to the heart, right there, with cupid's arrow. I can't even talk about it, that's just out of this world amazing to read about, I wish I was there...;m;
My point in making this post is that...WHERE HAVE I BEEN!? THESE COMICS ARE AMAZING:
And they are all French! Gosh, France...you gaiz and Japan are always stealing my heart! ;3; What with The Count of Monte Cristo and many other lovely novels, fashion, art, and now comics!? What else will I find about you France that will make me love you?! ;m;
I loved it when Peeters said that Moebius tells the artists: ‘Get out of your everyday life. Living and drawing are adventures.’
Ahhh, touches my heart...makes me want to draw more comics...;3;
I should broaden my horizons from not just manga but to other comics. Although saying that I don't exactly mean broadening my horizons too greatly! XD There are a lot of comics I don't really want to read and probably never will just because they might have catchy stories or characters, but I don't agree with the writing style (I'm looking at you American comics).
It has more to do with speech bubbles, actions, panel placement, etc. American comics seem to have too much fun with panels and also the coloured ones aren't particularly appealing to my eyes most of the time.
Korean manhwa that is coloured is really good at adding colouring, but most of the American comics I've seen with colour use wayyy too much colour that is wayyy too saturated.
Examples of how Korean manhwa do it right:
Examples how American comics do it wrong:
Why are the colours so bright and why is the inking so dark?!
This may just be a personal preference of mind that I like a lot of contrast and light bright colours because it makes it not feel as messy, cluttered, etc.
As much as I like the style of American comics, I find them hard to read because everything feels too mechanical, I guess.
Manga looks like a story somebody handwrote, and American comics looks like a story somebody typed. It's easier to notice the mistakes in grammar etc. in the typed rather than the handwritten, if ya know what I mean? :D
Okiedoke, enough talk...Why am I posting twice today? I was originally posting this to be inspiring, but now I feel like I'm bashing American comics, which don't mean to it's just...not my personal preference...;3; Like with Western genre movies...'orz No matter how good it is I just can't get into it.
ADIOSSS~! :D
