Pixels and Politics

So that sketch I put up the other day has been all lined out:



I added a few details and tweaked a few things, namely the lightbulb thing on top and the polyp-like growths on the 'arms'. I'm probably going to make bubbles or something come out of those. Colouring is already underway, and I'm pretty happy with how their coming out.
Preview:


While doing this colouring, I've also been re-living my youth and doing some pixel artwork. Don't worry, though, there is a purpose.




It's actually been quite fun to do, but I'm slowly coming to realise just how much there is to do.



These are the blocks I've edited so far, including the ground/flowers. Some stuff such as the wood and sand are colour-tinted stand-ins from other packs, such as the Painterly Pack which is one of my favourites. The whole thing is supposed to be Mars themed, but I'm not sure how to get that across.
At the moment I have red/brown soil and orange foliage, which just looks like autumn. I'll have to experiment with perhaps getting rid of the grass all together, or perhaps only making it cover a sparse amount of the tile. As for the trees, I may make the leaves more scraggly and twiggy, and perhaps just make them completely invisible to make the place more barren and alien.
I'll also be changing the textures for the Mobs and making them more Mars-contextual. I'm still unsure as to what to make the skeletons and zombies. I don't want them to be people, nor do I want them to be humanoid aliens.
I'll figure it out, I'm sure.

On a similar topic, my quest for isometric paper - a paper type which no-one seems to know exists - has been abandoned. I can't find a shop that sells it and the only option I've found online is a print-out:


_{This would be so much more useful if I had a printer}

Why am I so obsessed with finding isometric paper?
because it looks great for technical drawings:




Source




Sauce




Ketchup




GodDammitDanNotAgain!
Indeed, that's what isometric was made for. I plan to use it for designs of machines/tools for all that space stuff I'm designing.


Now, I'm not one for being contemporary and keeping up to date, but this one was hard to ignore miss. Riots. I know that this has been covered by every blogger and their dog (and whatever other pets they have), and I know that simply typing about it won't change it, but it's an absolutely disgraceful display of behavior.
This sort of attitude is just... saddening. It's a totally unjustifiable act. It's like those student protest riots all over again; an initially acceptable act of free speech quickly snowballs into full-on anarchy.



<sub>I felt like contributing. I'm not one for subtlety.




Exactly</sub>


With that out of the way, here's some interesting stuff for you to watch:

More goodness from Cyriak.


-Obvious drug metaphor-. I also like the way Death's scythe blade unfurls as he sits down.


Another brilliant animated short from our rivals fellow animators in Gobelins. They are too good. And I still can't pronounce that title.


A short based on Silent Hill concepts. It is adequately mind-fucking.


Apparently this was at Bradford Animation Festival. I wouldn't know, what with me not going and all. I love this and how it's constantly shifting. Morphing animation is some of my favourite.

Sleepy time now.