dubiouslog

Today I saw VG again after all these months. I was looking forward to this day with excitement. I’m very happy to be with him again.
However, this is not what this entry is about.

After he left in train, I was to take the subway home. I was getting down the stairs when, about ten metres away from me, I saw a man tripping on an elderly beggar. The latter fell over and since he looked rather fragile I thought he could have gotten something broken, but then the man who tripped on him refused to help him and began yelling all sorts of obscenities, basically calling the beggar a human scum and a waste of existence. The thing went on for at least a few minutes, then the elder tried to defend himself saying he would have called the police or something, at which the other replied threatening him; then he went away.

As for me, I was frozen there for the whole time. I would have really said something to that horrible person, but what if he turned violent? I was feeling weak for all the walking and the hot weather, and that man was twice my size. I feel a bit angry for not being able to do anything useful, but I keep telling myself that after all it’s not my fault if I wasn’t feeling good; were I in my usual shape, I would have had nothing to fear. I expected someone else to defend the beggar, but all the other people kept walking like nothing was happening - if something, they were speeding up. No one else seemed to care.

And this may feel like a rhetorical question, but seriously: what’s wrong with people? Seriously.

I’m writing about my latest Oblivion adventures but it’s getting very long so I wanted to post this before.

First of all, Swampnova is closed because I shouldn’t be writing depressing stuff. Sad people should cheer themselves up, not mope on the Internet. I should know better than that, but these last few months have been nothing but an avalanche of bad decisions on my part.

Speaking of which, at least I’m considerate enough to not put my private life online, else I’d be feeling rather embarrassed now. Long story short, I’m back with VG again. I was wrong on him, he proved it, and I’m grateful to him for being able to forgive me.
Happily ever after, then? I sure hope so.

In the end, this summer went rather differently than planned, and as such I wasn’t able to work on that Pokémon comic, too bad. However, I think I may be remaking Advanced Blanket’s layout as soon as I can; even though the current one is only a few months old and is not that bad as for what concerns usability and presentation, it feels like it’s lacking something, like it doesn’t even begin to convey who I am. This comes as no surprise when I think of the period in which I worked on that layout, but anyway.
I already have some ideas for the redesign. The concept came to me in a flash a few days ago, it has to do with a huge top image…look, I’ll just post a sketch here:

and this may be a thirty-seconds quickie made with the mouse in a Messenger window but it’s really pretty self-explanatory. I think it’s a very powerful image and it also gives a whole new meaning to the site name - Advanced Blanket, is this blanket nothing but our very skin? It’s also a very personal work and as such it can be easily recognized as mine. I think. I don’t know, it came to me in a flash and I was OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. THIS IS THE BEST IDEA EVER and while the way I pictured it in my head is probably way grander than the actual artwork I’ve yet to make I think the idea itself is just fine.

and another thing yet: I’m considering to open a webdesign blog. There are a lot of things I’ve always wanted to write which I never actually did because I felt like they just didn’t belong on this place, so I thought that maybe it would be better if I started a serious blog which would maybe gain its own userbase instead of boring my four readers to death with uninteresting stuff. What if the world has been deprived of my illuminating ideas because of these restraints? JUST THINK OF IT!
hahahahaha yeah I know, it’s just that I want to write about webdesign, I don’t have any stupid pretenses.

next post will have actual drawings! I promise

then after all the rage I come to learn Sugimori’s got a blog in which he posted the concept artworks for the Pokémon movies 10 and 11 characters and I must say that they really are gorgeous. Why won’t he use that lineart style with all of his other work I will never know, but by now you’ll all know I’m a sucker for sketchy linearts so my opinion may be somehow biased. Oh Sugimori why you do this to me, I loved you and hated you and loved you again. :(

Anyway, have a drawing of me in a cyber armor. The finished work and the base sketch are actually the same thing in this case, as I only had to work on top of the sketch and add details and shading without ever erasing it - I only cleaned up some areas in the end, like the leg on the left and so. It was inked with a Japanese brush pen I bought a few months ago but never quite figured out how to put to good use. Guess I’ll have to explore this technique more then.

On another news, guess who’s been playing Oblivion instead of doing something productive for a change? Next post will have pictures of the two characters I’ve been playing as and maybe some drawings too, who knows.

I played The Sims 3 too, and uninstalled it after a day. What a waste of my time. It’s almost impossible to make a sim who’s at least decent looking and doesn’t have that soulless doll face. The body type sliders are stupid and a thin woman will also be as flat as a sheet, which is just wrong. Men tend to look like they’re sixteen unless they have a beard, case in which they look like they’re sixteen and have a fake beard. Making a house is a pain in the ass, too. The Sims for me has always been about making a beautiful house with beautiful characters, I’ve been doing that since forever, why does it have to be that frustrating now?

I really miss the magic of the original The Sims. Anyone who played that will remember the dauntingly beautiful building mode soundtracks, like this one. Because of these pieces now I can’t help but feel there’s something grave and solemn about building a house. Like dreams are taking a shape and ceasing to be dreams.
It’s incredible to think that such quality came from a game which gained so much popularity that “true gamers” labelled it as marketed to casuals and not worth their time. Sure, The Sims brought many casual gamers to gaming, but it was no Wii Sports. It was fun, but it was also inspired and, ultimately, a work of art. It earned its place in history.

That’s how I see it at least.