March 2024 wrap-up
My approach to March was to put my Weekly Art Practice on hold while participating in NaNoRenO in an attempt to really push my art skills into focusing on scenes and backgrounds. I felt like I started off pretty strong on this mission but at this point in the month I know it’s not gonna happen.
NaNoRenO
While I spat out over 8 different backgrounds in 2 weeks, when I went to switch into writing mode I wasn’t really feeling the project any more. I have most of the ideas fleshed out but I don’t love it. I also don’t get the same creative hit from writing as I do from working on visual art.
I did enjoy troubleshooting the Ren’py setup though. I was able to get randomised scene selection working with modatory scenes in between. If I were to do the project again I would probably try to team up with a writer instead of trying to tackle it all on my own. For this project my girlfriend says she’s tempted to take a shot at doing the writing so maybe it will turn into a game in the end.
One thing I learned about taking on a month-long project was that it was a great way to trigger my procrastination instincts. I finished 2 whole games this month, one of which I had been putting off for ages. The Return of Obra Dinn (which only took 2 days) and Tears of the Kingdom, which it turns out I was only about 15 hours from the end when I put it down months ago. So now I know that if I want to finish some other things all I need to do is give myself a big project to avoid.
I did do one last piece for the project last week. The only character who makes an appearance, a fisherman who stops by the lighthouse to give the main character supplies.
The vibe for the game that I wanted to aim for was everything seems to be fine, this is like learning what a day in the life of a lighthouse keeper is. But with a pretty quick reveal that something isn’t right. Minor hints of this were going to be added to the background pieces but I think there’s only one visible now. This led to the choice to keep the kind of dead, beady eyes my fisherman sketch had in the final product. I wanted him to also look a little off.
All in all the first two weeks were a great crash course in doing completed scenes. But I quickly started to miss my weekly art practice. Having clear goals every day really helps with focus and a sense of accomplishment. The variety and change up every week helps too, so it felt almost odd to focus on a single project for a whole month.
A different kind of scene
Since I kind of “ran out” of pieces to work on for the Ren'py project but didn’t want to resume weekly art practice yet I started a new, very large piece. It’s not large in pixels but it does feel large in ambition. This is what I have so far:
My Ren’py work did make me more comfortable with scenes and trying out new styles. I wanted to work on something similar but with references that would help a scene be recognizable. A challenge to make a piece that could still resemble the references. So this is a representation of Dragon Flowers, a famous Montreal flower shop. Or at least it’s old location. The store has had a rough few years.
I started with the upper balconies, trying to focus on smaller segments to not feel too overwhelmed. Dragon Flowers always has a lot of stuff outside the shop, and I honestly find it rather chaotic. But it’s what makes it an interesting challenge. My goal will be to work on it when I still feel like drawing after doing my daily WAP goals.
Conclusion
While I’m not ending the month with a completed game as I had planned, the amount of time I spent in Clip Studio, trying out new brushes, doing research into lighting and scenes did lead to a lot of learning. I actually even enjoyed working on all the scenes. I do still wish I could find a consistent style (I’m constantly agonising over what kind of brush I should use for inking, how big should it be???). But overall I don’t think the pieces I did this month vary too wildly from one another.
Next month I’m going to get back into regular practice and blogging.