Huffy26

Yes, I'm back from Thailand. ^^ Just visiting my grandma and relatives in Bangkok and Mueng Phrae you could say. It was a relatively tame visit since I was catching up with my relatives for the most part and did not do much exploring, sightseeing, or shopping. Though, my aunt and uncle did took me to a few neat places like the Cha-am beach and the Hue Hing beach (I'm liking Cha-am better because it is not as crowded as Hue Hing). However, it really does feel surreal to be back in the snow after having been on the warm, sunny beaches merely a few days ago. It's almost like someone asked a pegasus or two to change the weather. @_@ 

The only part I don't really like about this trip would be the long flight (20 or more hours), but even then, it wasn't so bad since I slept through most of it. Plus, I got to watch Pinkie Pie and Rarity helped out with Coriander and Saffron's restaurant about 10 or so times, so it was a good chance to re-watch the episode. I guess I could have play a video game or watch a different story on the plane (I did finally get around to watching Zootopia but just once), but I didn't feel like it. =/

Overall, it was a pleasant trip, and hopefully I can visit again some time next year! That, and I'm already missing how affordable and accessible the food over there is. ;_;

Though, I got a lot of catching up to do with art and the internet. x.X You see, while I did do a lot of pencil drawings in Thailand, I didn't have much time to do the other stuffs that I usually do. Hopefully I didn't forget too much about SAI. On the bright side, it seems like I don't have as much catching up to do here on DA, so it shouldn't take me too long to comment or reply to people thankfully. ^^

In other words, it seems like a good time to share my thoughts on various topics like art, life, and the future!

I would say that these past 2 years has been most unexpected... And I mean that in a good way! I suppose my personal life is mostly the same except for one thing: art. And as it turned out, that made a whole world of differences for me.  

You see, when I decided to get better with art during the Summer of 2016, I thought my journey would be pretty different. How different are we talking? Probably the differences between Cranky Doodle and Pinkie Pie kind of difference. You could say I was a lot more pessimistic when I first started the journey into the art world. I was expecting isolation, stagnation, disappointment and general unhappiness. And Boy, was I wrong.
 
Isolation? Nope. Ha. I met a few people who I can actually call friends because of this journey, and that's much much better than how I usually do when it comes to making friends. This is not even going into how I can mingle with people slightly better because I can talk a bit about my understanding of art as well as showing them my artworks (Trust me, talking about art and showing artworks tend to be more interesting than talking about accounting in most scenario). 

Stagnation? Comparing my first actual submission NATG2016 Day 1: RainbowDashStandingonaCloud and the newest one I have in my gallery Are We There Yet It's a world of differences. Okay so maybe those two might not makes for the best comparison, but I think you get the idea. Sure, I have much to learn still, but I'm learning. Furthermore, learning art made me more observant and patient, and that has a huge impact on my life in general because well... let's face it. Some of the problems in life really can't be solved with just sheer speed. At any rate, art certainly helps me develop myself better.      

Disappointment and general unhappiness? If the two preceding paragraphs didn't already gave it away... Far from it. I don't think I have ever been more happy and content actually. There's a lot of freedom in art (For example, I could totally ship Fluttershy and Oleander together or Pinkie and Queen Chrysalis together, and there's not much that could stop my diabolical schemes), and I'm sure quite a few of you knew that already, but that's probably why I took quite a liking to it. For someone like me who has problems with accents and speech (I immigrated to Canada in 1997), I do appreciate having another way of expressing myself very, very much.  

Needless to say, my initial expectation were wrong on all 3 counts, and hey, I'm glad I was wrong.  

Ah, but perhaps you're not here to read about what I thought about my art journey or the past huh? Or maybe I've already mentioning it elsewhere? I suppose it would be good if I were to talk a bit about the present and the future as well. 

For the time being, I can't say I have too much to worry about. As far as I could tell, my friends are still doing well (Despite school being as nightmarish as ever. I can't blame them, I still have nightmares about school despite being done with it.) and my family are getting along for the most part. It also helps that I've been done with school for a while now, and my employment is still steady (I've been with my employer for over 10 years). So yeah, there's not many obligation for me to concern myself with. I guess one thing I could work on is finding a soul mate/love interest/significant other, but those things usually take a bit of time. 

I do wonder about the future, but then again, I think most people are concerned about what the future will be like. Though, most of my worries are more along the line of "are my friends and families going to be all right?" type than the " Am I going to make it?" type which admittedly backfired on me a number of time but the overall result was still good in the end. 

Anyways, thank you all of you for your supports! Whether it'd be a critique, comment, watch, or just a simple glance at my art, I do appreciate having you all around. After all, it is thanks to all of you that I can say " my plans have worked far too well!" with varying degree of seriousness. >.> ... In all seriousness however, it really would be different without all of you around, so please, do take care of yourself. 

Lastly, please feel free to ask me questions if you have anything at all on your mind! Now is a good time at any, really. I can't say that my answers will be what you would like to hear or what you're expecting it to be, but who knows? Ask and see if you're up for it.

P.S. FYI. I'm making a trip to British Columbia around Christmas and another trip to Thailand near the beginning of January. It's been a while since I got to see my family, and I've been meaning to catch up with them (That, and it's certainly a good chance to show my grandma what I've been up to art-wise). So, don't be surprise if I'm not as responsive from the end of December to near the end of January.  

P.S.#2 I'll probably have a few more artworks to upload before the end of this year. I've been practicing humans as well as ponies, so it's another reason why I haven't been uploading as many arts lately. 

I got tagged by and it seems like a good time to make an entry anyway, so I figured why not. I'm suppose to name 10 of my favourite characters from 10 different fandoms, and they would be...

1. Rainbow Dash (The mare who got me into this)
2. Oleander (TFH) (Not much is known about her at this moment, but I've been warming up to her)
3. Amaterasu (Okami)
4. Curly Brace (Cavestory)
5. Pollensalta (FFVII)
6. Felicia (Darkstalkers)
7. Gene (God Hand)
8. X (Megaman)
9. Princess Peach (Mario)
10. Richter Belmont (Castlevania)  

But yeah, most of my favorite characters are from older video games because there is just not that many shows I am into. =/ And no, I'm not going to tag anyone else. >.>

On an unrelated note, I've recently discovered what the dilution setting in Paint Tool SAI does, and I kind of wish I realized it sooner. x_X I guess even after all these time, I still need to get more comfortable with the software and its setting!

Hey, 

I just want to tell you all about an art tutorial website I found to be helpful in case any of you is looking for a bit more guidance now that the NATG is over with. Two months ago, a friend of mine, Tara, showed me to the website CTRL Paint. Some of you may have seen this website already, but I just thought I should mention it here again.

 www.ctrlpaint.com/library/

Keep in mind that I actually haven’t gone through all of the content on the site itself, but it seems promising from what I’ve seen so far. It’s one of the ways I’ve been refining my techniques. What I like about the CTRL Paint website is that it showcase and demonstrate various techniques, tips, and concepts. Moreover, it also provides some guidance and exercises that you could do to get better at whatever it is you’re drawing. While the site  generally has more video dedicated to digital painting in photoshop, it also have a bunch of video that are relevant to traditional artists and artists that use a different painting software. Oh, and there’s also the fact that most of the videos are not too lengthy and are free to watch.

 

Of course, watching a bunch of video won’t magically make you better at art, but it may give you a better idea of how to improve your drawing process, or at the very least, gives you an idea of how the other artist may go about it.