Finals Week = Unlikely Updating

Little swamped right now, sorry.  My finals week starts Monday, and I’m starting to study now because I have some serious exams coming up (not to mention a couple of major papers to write). So I probably won’t be writing new blog posts for a bit. :(

“Crossover”

For those who don’t know, a “crossover” on TLKFAA is when you incorporate characters from other movies, comics, video games, books, TV shows, etc. into Lion King-related artwork.

I don’t do them too often, but this picture is one example – a mixture of Simba and the Catbus from the film “My Friend Totoro“, because I just watched that movie and the idea popped into my head.

Click here for a short clip featuring the Catbus.

Hating on T&P

My least favorite characters from the original Lion King are Timon and Pumbaa. I know, I know, I’m a heartless soulless monster who doesn’t like anything fun. I don’t really have anything against the pair – I just don’t like them as much as any of the other characters. I like lions and hyenas, and I prefer both the personality and the designs of Zazu and Rafiki over T&P.

I suppose one of my problems with the comedic duo is the fact that they are so referential. In order to be funny to a modern audience they play up the allusions in a way that dates the movie and reduces it from being a more powerful, timeless tale to “dressing in drag and doing the hula”. I know that TLK is necessarily a product of its time, and that all of the characters have moments where they slip into the moment (“It’s a Small World”; “cub sandwich”). But T&P are definitely more to blame than the rest, IMO. Their TV show, naturally terrible as a movie-derivative tends to be, is waaaay too much like this for me.

I also am not a fan of the character designs for the pair. Warthogs are inherently unappealing creatures, so I guess the animators did they best they could with Pumbaa, but Timon to me is not a good adaptation of a meerkat. Far too personified for my taste, especially with those extremely human, clawless hands and his tendency to walk upright everywhere. The “Disney look” doesn’t really suit a meerkat either, with the massive nose and ears.

And since the pair are the comedic duo – both male of course – there is a big slow guy (seemingly dimwitted but really quite insightful) and a small skinny guy (seems to be running the show, snappy and quick) which is kind of a tired combination. Look at some Disney variations on this theme in Horace/Jasper (101 Dalmatians), Pain/Panic (Hercules), Trusty/Jock (Lady and the Tramp), Gus/Jaq (Cinderella), and Sulley/Mike (Monsters, Inc.). One thing I like about the more recent Pixar work is the experimentation of new kinds of comic relief (go, Dory!) that doesn’t rely as much upon old standards. But I digress from my initial rambling.

In summary, T&P are too referential, have bleh designs, and are a tired comic relief trope. These are my own opinions, and you are free to disagree with me. But in my TLK hierarchy, this pair is on the bottom rung.

A New Udevu

Udevu appeared in the comic “An Unusual Choir” as a rather fuzzy Mufasa-clone.  (Udevu is my own name for him since he did not have one in the story.) Since clones are boring, I never really drew him.  But then I just recently noticed that Udevu has a minor coloring error on his left shoulder.  So I revamped his design to include that (I call it a birthmark) and then spiced up his look even further by giving his tail the same treatment, since his tail is never shown in the comic.

Udevu is Simba’s uncle in the comic, and I like the idea of him being a younger brother to Mufasa and Scar…read the brief story I have for him in the comments on the pic.  That’s why I added the green eyes and black tail tuft to his design.  Here is the revamp:

Real to Digital

Here is a side-by-side of my most recent real-media-to-digital picture, since I just talked about doing it.  The image on the left is my unaltered original sketch, ballpoint pen on lined paper.  The one to the right has been altered.

The first thing I did was convert the raw sketch to black and white, altering the blue levels so that the notebook lines almost disappear (if you look closely they are visible in the altered version).  Then I added a color layer underneath my sketch, and a shadow layer over it.  A blah textured bg came next that I don’t particularly like, and last I added the shadow words and copyright.  Voila.  So essentially the end product is the same pen sketch that I came in with, just with more bells and whistles.

Stats Check I

Yes, I’m going to be lame and post some of my own TLKFAA stats here…mostly because if I put them somewhere else, I would likely forget them and it would be difficult to go back for reference. So feel free to ignore me now, this is purely for my own reference. =)

4/22/10
Months on Archive: 45
Number of Uploads: 1,066
Number of Fans: 646 (468 Visible, 178 Hidden)
Counted Gallery Visits: 29,066
Site Contest Wins: 5

Number of OCs: 150
Art Trades/Reqs: 152
User Comments: 145
My Comments: 905
Favorite Pics:  428
100 Pic Contest: 52% complete

Popular Pictures: 614
Top 10 Pop-pics:
149 = 46 – Family
70 = 34 – Stars
68 = GoingBananas
63 = CubbieCare
63 = EverybodyWants…
61 = AdultSimbaConst…
50 = WhyLoveKiara?
48 = LoveInTheOutlands
46 = AShockingSurprise
43 = ZiraKovuRealism

Reigns Breakdown:
Mohatu – 14
Uru – 23
Mufasa – 75
Scar – 61
Simba – 72
Kiara – 7

Real Media?

Yeah…I don’t use it much for my TLK fanart. I don’t have anything against real media, it’s just not as convenient for me. The picture above is my most detailed piece created entirely with real media, made with yellow paper, colored pencils, and fine-tipped Sharpie. I have a couple of others in my gallery, but few and far between.

I say real media is not convenient for me mostly because it’s hard for me to keep the supplies necessary to create all of the colors I normally use. Colored pencils are the easiest for me to use, but I need dozens of them in order to make a pic like the one above. It’s also difficult to fix mistakes made with colored pencils, since it’s mostly an additive process. Markers are likewise unforgivable, and if you’ve seen my one wholly-marker pic, you can see my lack of skills using them. Paints are my favorite as far as flexibility, particularly oil, but they’re just so messy to use…it’s a very involved process mixing the paints, switching brushes, having a clear workspace, etc.

I do still sketch and doodle, but I usually alter them or use them as the base for more detailed photoshop pics. In general, I just don’t bother with real media when digital drawing can be so much simpler. All the brush sizes I want, all the colors I need, and no mess…just my tablet, computer, and software. Done and done. Not to mention that handy-dandy “undo” function!

Tablet Talk

For those who are wondering what I use to digitally draw, I am currently using the Wacom Bamboo Fun 6×8 (silver), purchased in December 2008.  I have model CTE-650, the one that originally came in the green box.  Here is an excellent comprehensive review of the model I use; Wacom is now selling a more modern version of the Bamboo Fun (orange box) on their website.

This is actually my second tablet; my first was a small blue Wacom with a drawing space of 4×6 inches (compared to the 6×8 I currently have).  It was the Wacom Graphire4, in blue, and I actually still have it and use it as my backup tablet.  It’s perfectly functional four years after I bought it, which is an indicator of its long-term quality. I highly recommend starting out with a smaller tablet; then after a year or two upgrading in size if you want.  Graphire4 tablets are long gone, but Wacom is offering a new small tablet called the Bamboo Craft which looks intriguing.

I recommend Wacom as a tablet manufacturer for interested casual fanartists because they are very affordable, and to be honest most fanart does not require the precision of the higher-priced Intuos models or similar brands.  Maybe in five years you might feel the need for more pressure levels or similar flashy stats, but when just beginning in the world of tablets that really isn’t necessary–it will be enough of a wow factor to be able to draw on your computer the way you would on a piece of paper!  If you’re less of a hobbyist and more of a serious art student, I would ask your professors what they would recommend, since I’m coming from a purely hobby perspective.

I also suggest waiting for the holiday season, if you can…I got my Bamboo fun for about 1/2 price ($110 when it normally retailed $199).  I think Best Buy carries the latest Bamboos in-store if you just can’t wait, though. ;)  And maybe you can’t – tablets are just so much FUN!

My Pet Pride

Y’all probably know how much I’m into drawing Lion King canon and subcanon, but you may not know about my little pet side project – my pride of melanistic lions.   They’re black lions…hypothetically similar to black leopards or jaguars, the dark coloring due to a high amount of the pigment melanin.  It’s relatively unknown whether true melanistic lions are possible (read this page for more info) but I love the idea of them.

And apparently I’m not the only one.  Most of my melanistic pride of lions was actually adopted off of the TLKFAA Trading Tree.  I don’t know why I collect them, but I just find them very aesthetically appealing, and no two black lion designs are exactly alike.  (And yes, I admit that I am a collector.  I don’t honestly see any harm in “collecting” digital characters…you can’t “neglect” them, and if any of the people who adopt them out to me want them back, I’ll be happy to oblige.  I see it as incorporating these characters into a pride that I cherish, which is better than them being left forgotten in someone else’s characters section.)  To me it’s fascinating to see how different fanartists create such an assortment of unique designs from a limited palette…much in the way I find making stories out of the limited confines of LK canon fascinating, I suppose.

I’m always on the lookout for new black lion designs up for grabs.  So if you see one pop up on the Trading Tree, don’t be surprised if you see my name there applying for it!  My Melanist Pride always has room for new friends. ^^

Merchandise Errors

Just for fun, and because I just recently updated this section of my Photobucket account, I thought I would share a few funny merchandise errors here.  It’s amazing the variety of mistakes that can appear in merchandise – take a look!

Two big errors in the pic to the left – Mufasa seems to be missing an awful large part of his bulk, and Sarabi has acquired a Zira-esque headstripe.  Though to be fair, this pre-dates Zira.  Sarabi looks kind of neat with a headstripe!  I actually have a hard copy of the one on the right (I might scan in my own version since I snagged this dark photo online).  LK book illustrators routinely use pictures of lineart as part of their own illustrations, but if they alter those, watch out for pieces left behind—like Scar’s dislocated paw in Simba’s armpit.

I only very recently discovered this one to the left, and it’s one of my personal favorites.  The coloring job is excellent on the cubs, perfectly matched to the design…of Simba and Nala, not Kovu and Kiara.  Golden Kovu is just so cute!  The one on the right is a napkin (I just uploaded a pic on TLKFAA about another napkin error) that perhaps on casual inspection looks fine.  Then on closer examination…the right paw belongs to Kiara, the left paw belongs to Kovu, the center paw belongs to…WTF?

Check out the rest of my Merchandise Errors album for yourself…there are many other fun mishaps lying around!