I still exist! ...and I'm still making stuff.

Alright... Let's catch some fish.

MousePaw has pretty much taken over my life... yes, it's true. Creating a game requires a lot of devotion! But in my spare time (weekends, pretty much) I still work on other things...

A Vocaloid Character Design Contest!

Yes, blog followers, by now you must know that I love Vocaloid a great deal... so when I heard about the "Everyone's Vocaloid Project" Character Design contest held by Yamaha, I had to try my hand at drawing up a character or two.

This one, Nocturne, is my first entry, but since there are no limits on entries I'll probably make another one (a guy) as well. :)

One-Wing 2011 - Finished at last.

It feels like months ago when I posted the pencil drawing which eventually led to this finished product. At first I attempted shading her in Photoshop like I did with my illustration of Len & Rin Kagamine. But no matter how many times I tried, I just wasn't satisfied with it...so I ended up going with a much simpler vectorized shading instead. ^^;

And that's what I've been working on.

Thanks for visiting; I'm really sorry I no longer update this blog nearly as much as I used to. I'm down from once a week to once a month if even...but yeah. At this time of my life, I have to keep myself busy or I'm afraid I'll become depressed or something. :/

MousePaw: Pipe Climbing

I finally have a new Word4Word clip to show!

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The last couple of weeks I've spent on "exit" and "enter" animations - where our two characters Alicia and Rebekah walk in and walk out of various stages (leading up to the various challenges/ story sequences). It sounds simple enough, but there are a few twists...

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One of them is that they have to climb in and out of pipes! Take a look...

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Another challenge is that I always have to have the characters stop and start in the exact same place so that the various clips can play together seamlessly. (The video above is actually four clips played in a row, for example.) It's so interesting to experience all that goes into making art for a game.

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Hopefully I can find a few more things to post that won't give away too much of the storyline of the game. We'll see! ^.^~

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One more thing. Mousepawgames.com has just opened its Beta listing. If any elementary school teacher would be interested in Beta testing our game for free in their classroom, please visit our homepage. :)

MousePaw: Aviary Ambient Animations

Do you think there are enough A words in the title of this post? :)
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Once again, the ambient animations for Word4Word are intended to be background as the player is making decisions - just to make the characters seem like they're not standing around lifelessly.
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Here are the different bird characters in the aviary of the pet store. Simple enough animations, yet fun - I enjoy how "twitchy" bird movements are.
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The Seagull Sisters:

Dip the Pelican:

(He isn't eating the soup, he's just stirring it...for now.)

Stringfellow the Hawk:

Morris the Eagle:

Sadly, I won't be able to post too much more of my MousePaw work online because it will give away elements of the story - and we can't have that :) So you'll just have to wait for the release to see the rest of my work for the game.

What I'm Working On

Remember the days when I used to post something new once or twice a week?
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Those days are definately gone, but it's not because I'm producing less work than usual. I could still crank out a fully-rendered drawing a week. However, I've turned my focus to bigger projects - and lots of 'em! The only downside is the long periods of time where I have nothing to show.
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That's why I decided to make this special post to show a few bits and pieces of all my various projects right now. All of them are works in progress, but it should give a bit of an idea what I'm spending my time on lately.

I. MousePaw: Word4Word

Not surprisingly, a great deal of time is going into MousePaw Games' latest game project, Word4Word, an educational game that teaches English skills. The kindergarden version Beta is projected to be finished in August of 2011 (Just in time to give to schools for testing. :))
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I'm approaching the animation for the game by starting with the simplest things and working my way up. First on the list is the ambient animations, which basically have the characters staying in one place, but shifting around and blinking as part of the background while the player is doing something. I've uploaded two short clips to serve as examples:
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Here are Alicia and Rebekah in ambient:


And here they are again, but this time in scuba mode!

After the ambients are finished for every stage, I will move on to the exiting and entering animations - and then finally the action and lip-sync as the characters interact with one another and with the player.

II. Vocaloid Art: Len & Rin Kagamine, Append ver.

By now, most of my blog visitors probably know how much I love Vocaloid, the software which allows users to create songs with virtual vocalists.
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Len & Rin Kagamine were originally designed by character artist KEI, the same artist who designed my two favorite Vocaloid characters, Miku Hatsune and Luka Megurine. However, I did not love the Kagamines quite as much... that was until I saw their Append versions.
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Miku's Append version, which served as an add-on to the original program, adding 6 new variations of her voice, was released about half a year ago. Besides increasing the realism of the virtual voice, Miku Append also came with new box art featuring the character Miku in a much more "technological" design. Now, last December on the Kagamines' 2-year birthday, their own Append version was released. I was absolutely amazed by the new box art and knew from the moment I saw it that I would have to draw them myself, and soon.
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And so I began with Len:

This Vector drawing may seem nearly finished, but it actually has a long way to go. Firstly, I plan to take it into photoshop and paint on more dramatic shading. And secondly:

I have to add Rin!

Here is a rough idea of what the completed version will look like. Sing it, Kagamines!!!

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III. One-Wing 2011

Because it's just been too long since I've drawn my own character mascot... ^^;

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Right now she's only in rough pencil phase. Hopefully I will get more time to finish her soon...but it probably won't be until after I finish the Kagamines.

No, the dress won't be transparent in the finished version. :P

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I'm also doing a little bit more internship work for Shine Global in NY... however, I am not allowed to post any work online. But that is what I am working on! Please come back soon to see all of these projects once they are finished. :)

The Last MousePaw Characters...

Finally done with all of these! Now to move on to in-game animations.
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Here's Dip the Pelican, who is fond of alphabet soup.
And this last little guy is the player character! His (or her) name is Scamper, and he works for the SpyRats, as you can tell from the funky spy-watch he wears. His watch serves as part of the UI for the game :)

Trying a New Style...

I have a confession to make... I've been slightly afraid of tablets. That's right, a bit of tablet-phobia on my part. I've become so accustomed to drawing with pencil & paper, scanning my images, and then finishing with a mouse that I feared transitioning to a tablet would change my style too drastically.

Another less shocking confession is that I've become kind of attached to vectors. They're smooth and clean -- everything my art isn't naturally -- and animatable to boot! But as I've been looking at art all around the web by my favorite artists, it's clear that using a tablet with photoshop is the preferred artistic look which is embraced by most.

So at last I tried it myself. Here my first entirely tablet-drawn work... Please click to view the full-size.

The work is called "The Cursed Sword" and features a character of my own creation named Brice Bataille.

In conclusion, I'm not going to abandon the world of vectors and go Photoshop-all-the-way... It takes much longer and there's no hope of ever animating an image like this... However, I think it would be interesting to combine the two styles (vector + painted) and see what I can come up with. :)

MousePaw - Crabs

Here's some more characters for Operation SpyRat: Word4Word. They're all crabs! Most of them don't look all that different...but wait until you see the last two.

Pinch:

Clamp:

Snap:

Bob:Claude, the fiddler crab:

His Majesty, the King Crab:

I had to do a lot of looking at pictures of real crabs to draw these...and man they are ugly, especially those king crabs - they are huge and make me cringe quite a bit. Nonetheless, I think the characters aren't nearly so untouchable. :)

The Archeress

At last, I have more art to show. This one I'm quite proud of, it's a female archer (or archeress, though I'm not sure if that's a real word >w<). I drew her standing at first, but then chose to place her in a more dynamic pose that expresses more energy and the tension of being in the middle of a fight.

I also spent a lot of time tweaking her color scheme.

This illustration is inspired by the online trading card game Ederon, which I once often played and recently decided to return to. One of my decks is a solo Hunter, and this is the picture that comes to my head whenever I play this bow-based deck.
Please click to see the full size!

Here are some WIP versions of the illustration:

Rough pencil sketch

Digitized drawing (vectors)

Penciled shading (which I like to call a "shading map." I create the vector version by looking at this).

Thanks and let me know your thoughts!

Seagull Sisters

More characters for the MousePaw games...
These three sisters which appear in Word4Word are like chatty teenage girls. I decided to give them matching scarves & anklets as well as ridiculous eyelashes to go for that effect. :3

Getting Pencily...again

Well as most of you know, I've obtained a position as a Game Art intern so the vast majority of my efforts are going toward that! (I've started a blog about my experience which can be found here.) Thus, I don't really have the time to fully render out my drawings anymore... and so I'm back to posting pencil sketches. Some of these I might return to once I get the time though :)
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I decided to revisit some of my characters from Covenant! Here are the two rivals, Analise Helkiah and Celia Cottonmeadow. I revamped their designs slightly too.
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The two next sketches are both of a new character that I just designed and am already getting really fond of. I can't tell you her name yet... However, as you can see, she has a fondness for playing the saxophone...and cuddling with the saxophone?

(100th post!) Takashi & Janet

Here is another picture based on the ongoing rp that my sister and I have, Generation 7 (G7). It is my first illustration created completely with vectors - no photoshop here, 100% flash! I think I'm pretty much sold on vectors now.
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About the characters: Takashi is a shy, sweet guy from Japan who has had a big crush on the cold, reserved rocker girl Janet ever since they first met. Who would have thought they would get together? But will it last, or is heartbreak imminant?
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Also, this is my 100th post on this blog. Seems like just yesterday I was at my 50th! >w<
This blog is my very first web domain, but since then I've expanded - I now am on DeviantArt and Carbonmade as well - username "OneWingArt" on both if anyone is curious. :3

Annie & Soonyi

Now that the opening sequence for the game is finished, it's back to making more vector models! Firstly, here's our armadillo heroine that helps out the SpyRats, Annie.

Not only is she cute and smart, but she can roll completely into a ball. Handy!

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Now on to more villains. I've already introduced Blueclaw the cat and his sly siamese minion, Ming. Now, here is another siamese minion. This is Soonyi (pronounced "Sue-nee"). Unlike his playful counterpart, Soonyi is more of a bully.

Here are both siamese minions together! Obviously two very different kitties.

They are siamese if you please. They are siamese if you don't please...

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Just as a side note, I get to do the vocals for Ming! I'm excited about that. (After all, I love villains.) It will also be quite a contrast to the deep voice of Jake Haffie who voices Soonyi.

Pencil Drawings

This happens every time I get busy with a big project. Because I'm directing so much of my efforts to MousePaw, I don't really have the time to fully render out my drawings, but it doesn't stop me from drawing. So here's my latest sketches. (They're all either original characters or fan art.)

This last one is special. I guarantee that you will see it again, somewhere... Somewhere you probably won't expect!

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Hm... these drawings all have one main thing in common. I should really start drawing some more guys! >w<

Word 4 Word Opening Sequence Animation - Sneak Peek!

For all of you who are curious about the project I've been working on for the last month or so, here is a little glimpse.

Did you see the lip sync?! :D I still remember being in my Flash class and getting so excited when a guest speaker came and showed us how to do lip sync. Little did I know then that one day I'd be working on a game project where lip sync was a large part.

For those of you who are wondering - yes, both voices are me. Those probably won't be what we use for the final clip (so I'll have to tweak the sync a bit again, heh) but that's all I've got to work with for now, hehe. :3

Although I've only posted a short clip, I actually have 1 entire minute of animation completed for the opening sequence - I suspect it will be 3 minutes when done (including the credits). And that's what I'm up to!

Don't forget you can keep tabs of both sides of the work for Operation SpyRat: Word 4 Word on MousePaw's website, www.mousepawgames.com.

Cats!

Every game needs a villain... And when your main protagonists are mice, of course the villains have to be cats!
This is Blueclaw. Like most evil masterminds, he is bent for world domination - of course.

Don't make him angry...

This is Ming, a minion of Blueclaw's...though he may or may not have his own agenda as well. This little siamese is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters for the pending MousePaw game series Operation SpyRat!

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In other MousePaw news, our website is up!!! Not much on it yet, but there's a short paragraph about our games & our mission, an update on our process, and of course a countdown ticking toward the projected launch of game 1! (Operation SpyRat: Word 4 Word) Check it out - especially if you're looking for cute, fun, and educational games for kids.

http://www.mousepawgames.com/

A New Drawing of Elhiroth

Click here to enlarge.

As you may know, Elhiroth is one of my favorite original characters, both because of his design and his story. I still think it's unfortunate that I was unable to get very far on my old graphic novel project, Covenant. I'm still fond of the story and the characters. Maybe someday I will be able to return to it again. In the meantime, I can still make art of my favorite spirit-servant. :)
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For those who are interested, here is the original sketch and vector illustration that led to the final work:

Vector Model - Rebekah

I'm continuing work on making all the MousePaw characters into vector models, and next is Rebekah the turtle. I'm getting faster at making these things, I think :3
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I'm also doing a bit of animation for Append7 and will be animating these guys too now that the scripts are ready. Hopefully I'll have showable animations soon.

One-Wing & Flutter

Likely you've noticed One-Wing's Gallery has a new banner!
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The art featured is my first step into an entire new way of making art - illustrating with vectors. The drawing was created entirely out of vectors, then taken into photoshop for finishing. So what do you think about the look?? Here is the full drawing:

Click for full size

Personally, I'm pleased with the result and excited to pursue this new style further.
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Here is the vector drawing before taken into photoshop:

About the characters featured: Obviously you all know One-Wing, the mascot of this website. But a few of you might recognize her little friend as well. It's Flutter, my own personal character from the MousePaw game series. I would have had to make a vector of her anyway, so why not include her in this new experiment?
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Comments and critiques welcome. I know that since I'm starting something new, I still have a lot of things to work on, so I'd love to hear what you guys think I could fix. :3

Vector Model - Alicia

Here's another MousePaw Flash Vector - Alicia, the female mouse who stars in Word 4 Word.

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I also have more Vector Models for Append6 but I'm going to wait and post them all at once, I think. Also, you may notice I got a new template for my blog, but the banner no longer fits very well. Thus, a new banner is in the works as well. And I've started on the animated intro to Append7 as well!! (Then I'll actually explain what it is.) Yup, busy as always. :3

One-Wing Art DEMO REEL 1.0 !

Today, One-Wing's Gallery turns One-Year Old!! My very first post, "Introducting One-Wing," appeared on exactly this day, May 3, 2009.
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That being said, how appropriate is it that one year later, I post the culmination of all my works, a 3-minute video clip of all my best in art and animation? And so, here it is... I've posted two previews for you, and now it's the whole thing. Click the screenshot to head on over to youtube and enjoy. :)

Or you can click here.

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Keep in mind that this is only version 1.0, there will be many many versions to follow as I continue to make more works and update my reel with them.

The first change will no doubt be the replacing of one or both of the flash clips at the end, as they are too similar! I intend to make lots more flash projects over the summer :D

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Now you guys, I want your feedback now more than ever before! This is what I'm going to show to potential employers and I need as much critique as possible to make it the best I can. Have at it! Does the music bug you? Are the transitions too fast? Should I show more things? Less things?

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Thank you so much for giving me a reason to post all my works online for an entire year. I will do my best to continue to post quality work for you guys.