FanArt_RainbowNight

I'm trying to force myself to paint quicker and be less precious overall, and at the same time, I have been itching to do some King Falls AM fan art, so everything converged into this concept of Emily Potter upon returning from the Rainbow Lights. It's not necessarily an illustration of any particular scene, but just a mood piece.

This "brutal" coloring technique is basically just about quickly flatting over lines and then going to overpaints as soon as possible. I recently saw these lines scrolling through my files, which kinda reminded me of Emily Potter, so everything seemed set to try this more reckless coloring technique at long last.

King Falls of course is a podcast of broadcast clips from a small-town radio station. It holds a special place in my heart because I came across it just when I moved to small town, myself, so the main(?) character Sammy Stevens' situation resonated with me quite a bit, as he too just moved to his own little, colorful town.

Man, I wanna say there were only like 15 episodes at most when I first got into the show--yeah, I remember Storm Sanders being introduced in one of my first "live" episodes, so I guess there were only 14 episodes? I vaguely remember Kingsie being discussed early on, so maybe they were up to 21? Anyway, they're now up to 49! It was so cool seeing how everything started clicking together, when at first it felt like a Ben 10 or Secret Saturdays sorta "creature of the week" vibe, which was already cool enough for me.

I started listening to the show off of an Imgur post compiling podcast recommendations, and this one landed when many others on the list didn't because the production was simply outstanding, the music was incredible, and the story hit just right given my recent move to Nowhere-shi, Japan. Plus the characters, especially Emily Potter and the hosts, were quite charming together and evocative of a larger, inhabitable world.

The trick with the show was/is that you kinda have to let episodes accumulate so you can marathon them, otherwise, it's way, way, way too easy to miss references on the normal twice-a-month posting schedule. My initial ~15 episode marathon was crucial to hooking me, because I was able to get invested in how things starting linking up beyond just the neato-ness of each episode. But realistically, I'm not sure I would have been able to engage with the show as deeply if I was waiting for each episode. In the early days, it was usually a matter of "can't wait till the next Emily episode," which then gave way to "can't wait to see how this all clicks together." So after my most recent marathon, I'm now fully caught up again (as of 5/4/17, Ep. 49), but the thing is, they just hit a really interesting twist, so now for the first time, I kinda want to be current, if only so I don't accidentally hit any spoilers...

Related, I was working on a more serious fanart piece, and wouldn't you know it, the most recent episode kinda spoiled the theme--I was kinda hoping it'd fade from the forefront of popular memory. Anyway, as for today's piece, it's prolly my very favorite character, Emily P. I was always pumped when she was on the show in the early episodes, and again she was instrumental in making me a fan of the show itself. So this was kinda inspired by her recent return to the show, hence the starry night and rainbow lights. Pretty excited to see where they go next.

Not normal,

Reuxben

FanArt_RestStop

This is a mock-up poster/cover for Rish Outfield's fantastic short story, "Rest Stop," which he performs solo on his podcast, "The Rish Outcast," while he's not co-manning The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine or the That Gets My Goat podcast.

I randomly messed around with the snowfall layer and discovered a particularly spooky look here, which I could buy as a final, but it felt just a little too dead-on "horror." I didn't want the image to be too blatant; it had to feel mysteriously sinister, like a sinking feeling something bad might happen.

I initially started with the hag's mug looming over everything, but it just didn't feel correct, so I ended up abandoning this take after checking on and liking the hagless version. I like the empty space building suspense as you travel down the image, plus it allowed for a super subtle face in the snowfall.

Ultimately, it felt more important to emphasize it's the dude's story and the hag is only vaguely part of it, making it feel wiser to keeping her merely implied. The hood was briefly story-accurate brown, before going green-black to blend into the hair/forest/depths, so the hag does still survive into the final image.

This piece involved a little unconventional processing for me. Normally I'd fully draw and color everything then go over with heavier core shadows, but this time, I just colored the rim lighting after getting the figures' structures down. Painting the snow was perhaps my favorite part, it's just so relaxing as always.

Here's the original sketch that started all of this. While listening to "Rest Stop," I kept envisioning a cool/creepy poster like this, and am happy to have been able to translate it into a finished piece. Rish Outfield is an excellent storyteller in the entire sense--that is, a phenomenal writer and performer of story--and his stuff really fires up my imagination, so I'm eager to try my hand at another story.

Not normal,

Reuxben

Fun_Mere

This was a study I did that morphed into a quasi sketch of Meer Katnip from the Tanis Podcast. I could see her as perhaps of Asian or even Russian descent with a heavy winter coat with fur trimming, isolated away in self-imposed exile somewhere, doing her thing. However, I should note, while I really, really enjoy the The Black Tapes Podcast podcast, I am on the verge of giving up on Tanis.

I cleared out the current two seasons of TBP, and found out that, neat, they have a sister podcast that's apparently a more SF-y TBP. That's got to rock. Well, I listened to the first episode literally three times at least, and then the first five episodes or so twice, and I still had no idea what's going on. Not like, "oh, man, what's gonna happen next???" but like, "Ok, what is this about? Why should I care? Why should anyone on the show care? Why is anybody doing any of this? Why is that hacker character such a jerk? Is this supposed to be charming?"

I mean, let's get right down to it, easily my least favorite personality on the show is Meer Katnip. Let's pretend the show were scripted real quick...I would say the writers are trying to make an abrasively charming "Dr. House" type, who's so good at what they do and so ultimately helpful that their severe social shortcomings get forgiven. I can get down with that, but there's no underlying warmth to it. Like, imagine if there were say a brother-sister sort of relationship where MK might needle or "abuse" Nic, but you could sense that she actually did care for him if anything external were threatening the cat's mousey plaything, I could buy that. Or if there were moment of opening up and betraying what causes the curtness, or if she saved his life or something, that gives us some contrast to the general harshness.

But when it's so one-sided, she just feels like a rude bully, and then there's such a labored effort by Nic and the dude he hangs out with on location sometimes to assure the listener that despite the brusqueness, this MK character sure is cool, eh? I just can't get into it. It's telling not showing; there's nothing for me to "see" where the coolness comes from to alleviate the rudeness. This was true at least (especially) for season 1, which is what made that season such a chore to get through, if I'm being perfectly honest. I would dread(!) whenever MK was coming on. Contrast this with the joy when Alex would stop over!

But after my first bout of "wow...I don't think I can keep going with this one," I soon happened across the Reddit for all the Pacific Northwest Stories series. And while it seemed the consensus was that TBP was a better listen than Tanis (and there was certainly much more discussion of that show, too), those who did enjoy Tanis did stress that after making it through season 1, it really pays off in season 2. I'm just about current on season 2, and I'm still waiting for stuff to feel worth it, and I'm just weary of the cycle of "find out what happens next time" and then we find out nothing substantial next time. I can appreciate not giving any real meat to chew on if they want to preserve/prolong as much mystery as possible, but when denied even the bones to go on, then there's only so many times you can keep coming back to the diner.

Granted I listen to the podcast while drawing, so maybe I can only 95% focus on the audio (but to be fair, painting, inking, etc. doesn't actually take major concentration after setting up the base stuff), but I do the same for all audio, and am fully absorbed by TBP, Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe, the Bright Sessions, King Falls, Dunesteef, etc. enough to follow those narratives and discern what I like and dislike about each.

I must say, though, when it's just rando-wacky tales, like the bonus short about the sadistic doctor lady (Bonus Ep1), or the early season 1 episode with the urban legend of the elevator game, that stuff rocks. It's weird, unsettling, and vaguely relevant, but compact enough to feel satisfying. Just like with the early TBP where seemingly unconnected weird stories just came at you episode to episode, those felt worthwhile because they were self-contained enough to feel like something happened, and only got richer when things started coming together. Tanis just feels like someone trying to wink you into submission that they know something you don't know, but they won't even tell you generally what it even is that they know and why you need to know it, just that you need to know it. So why do you even care that they know it? Who knows!

So where do we stand on Tanis? I dunno, I might relisten to season 2 after it's all released, and if that doesn't work out [faint background female scream], I'm pretty sure I'll drop it, or at least only check in once per season. I really, really hope they pull it together; had such high hopes after TBP. Worse comes to worst, at least they have a new series coming out, too. Optimistic for that one, just as I was with Tanis.

Reuxben

Fun_Juss4Kikz2

Just got back from GP Kyoto, where I met the great Algenpfleger!

I was working on a special upcoming piece after each day of the event, so not much time to finish smaller pieces, hence all the teaser/study bits on Twitter rather than actual finished stuff. But I did manage to color up some old lines to kill time before the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) home.

Bonus blingy version.

I can't believe it, but I lost my Shinkansen tickets TWICE--first on the way to Kyoto, then again on the way back, except on the return, I also lost my WALLET! because I thought, well, this time I'll put the travel slip in my wallet since I never, ever, ever, ever lose my wallet...

Bonus Twitter version.

I can't remember ever losing tickets before in my life, let alone my wallet, and to get the double whammy...I got the wallet back just fine because it's Japan, but still, that could have gone extremely poorly. I was already using a note to travel rather than actual tickets because I forgot my train tickets in the Bullet Train from Tokyo, so the staff had to confirm my tickets were in the seat-back pouch I detailed, and then they made up a little doctor's note for me to use as proxy tickets for the rest of the trip.

Bonus teaser collection.

The event itself was great--I even met a couple people who remembered me from past events!

And of course, Algenpfleger is simply the best; I am humbled he puts up with me.

Reuxben

Fun_AudioDramachick

A little pencil sketch with digital colors of Alex Reeeegan from The Black Tapes Podcast.
Fun Facts: Today's title is not a slight towards females, it's a pun based on the buzzword "audiodrama" and the Japanese pronunciation of "dramatic," which sounds like "dramachick," which in turn sounds like a slang construction for "a female who is interested in acting." As a subnote, "drama" is the blanket term for all narrative shows here in JP.

Here's the version with bells, but not the final processing whistles.
Easter Eggs: Did...did you just...see...something...? It...it was probably nothing...Anyway, I'm not sure if only Nic Silver is supposed to be Canadian, but everyone's got some intense Canadianisms flying aboot on this show, eh, so I decided to have a little spelling lesson on her shirt, inspired by that old joke, "How do you spell 'Canada'?" Also, I modeled her mic after Nate Holt's, so hopefully that's a plausible recorder.

Now here's where I mighta stopped before I started working more with post-production stuff, notably, it has a considerably more straightforward background, a photo I took somewhere in Tokyo.
As an aside, I continue my futile and quiet resentment of podcasts that refuse to describe characters, especially main characters, particularly when it comes to long-sprawling serials where you're spending hours with the characters. As an artist, I appreciate the freedom of an "editor" not breathing down your neck with direction, but that doesn't mean having some direction is bad. It's even necessary. I hate when editors and clients say, "Ah, do whatever you want," and then you have to read their minds on what they're actually looking for and invariably go back for redos when the invariable "Yeah, I was thinking more like..." comes back. Just skip to that part, dude, spare everyone the hassle. But I'm getting off topic.

This is just the basics of the image, with an untouched background. The photo was taken in early evening, but with the processing in the final image, we made it a little more, well, dramatic, pulling it together with a richer, reddish sheen to reflect the more sinister parts of the show (I don't like red, myself).

On the character design notes side of things, I figure Alex has shorter brown hair, and is probably a little short herself, especially compared to Strand. Like, I bet even on her tippy-toes, he's still a bit taller than her. But she probably looks like a little fighter, or at least like she's athletic. She hikes and hoofs it around often enough and seemingly effortlessly so, plus the playful aggro tone she takes in the theme song gives me that feisty/spunky impression, like maybe she even boxes or whatever for health. But I'd also think it reasonable if she took up say boxing or even general self defense to stay a little safer out there on the road. The only stretch, aside from the Canadian shirt, was that I wanted to try a longer neck since it puts her head naturally higher, making it like she's always reaching, as if for an answer, the way you crane your neck when you're looking for--seeking--something.

Here are the flat color layers, from which we build everything else, including the background, though I do want to try starting with the background. I only had cel-shaded tones pre-set on the hair and skin since it tends to impart some seemingly necessary depth. Everything else was just one flat color on its own layer. But because I was working from a photo of the lines from a watercolor sketchbook, the natural light gradations on the rough paper surface added inherent toning to the flats, which were on overlay mode.

Here are the lines, with just the masks for figure and background set up. I've been doing a lot of digital lately, so like I said, I cheated a little and used pencil here...I just love drawing traditionally; digital still feels one step removed from drawing-drawing; there's a real, conscious labor in drawing entirely digitally for me still. In any case, you can really see the hearty, natural texture the watercolor paper gives in this step. I was thinking about watercoloring this to match the Strand piece, actually...still have the lines sitting around, fortunately, so who knows what the future holds.

Anyway, with all the proper stuff out of the way, this was a version I was thinking about using on Twitter before deciding to push it a little further before publication. I wanted to emphasize just Alex and the Pacific Northwest Stories logo, to really hone in on what the image is about, her as a PNWSie. I'm struggling to come up with a simplified, yet satisfying execution on these run-and-gun type of pieces, though, so I had to pass on this one. There's definitely appeal in keeping it kinda rough looking, but it's not quite nailed down enough for me to go with these minimalist, nigh-monochromatic pieces yet.

Speaking of Twitter, though, this was the version I presented there. I was super exhausted so I really came in under the wire, complete with the darker version of the background.
Anyway, I really quite enjoy the The Black Tapes Podcast podcast, and have some more stuff backlogged coming up for next week or so. And actually, speaking briefly to the trend of hyper-rando interpretations in fan art, particularly with regards to podcast fan art, I see a lot of totally off-the-wall stuff that's just clearly self-indulgent to whatever the artist wants to shoehorn onto the character's identity...like, to be frank, sometimes I'm thinking, how on Earth do you get that look from that voice and characterization? I mean, are we listening to the same podcast? Manipulating the material beyond recognition feels more like a slight towards the source, if anything...just call it an inspired piece or whatever if you want to make it all wacky. Fan art is supposed to honor the source material, not insult/abuse it. Some stuff just kills the vibe.

Speaking of warping something into our personal interests, bonus Magic Set Editor card concepts! I love black cards and especially the utter peace of mind you get from making your opponent discard, and fortunately, as a sort of self-interested, enterprising, and cerebrally-aggressive character, Alex would fit that bill just fine.

Easter Eggs: The flavor text is a reference to how they tend to repeat exactly what an interviewee just said but in the interrogative form. The flavor text is a reference to how they tend to repeat exactly what an interviewee just said but in the interrogative form? Yes.

I also wanted to make a Dark Confidant-style card reflecting Alex's quite self-interested quest for satisfaction (i.e. a scoop/knowledge/resolution). As an aside, I was playing during Ravnica, but never saw a Bob in person, though I did get a little flooded in Pain Seers during Theros block (drawing upwards of 3 cards total during its entire run in Standard since my lads almost always bit the dust on sight) so by association, I have some warmth for the OG, or TGO, if you will. Anyway, of course you could auto-pilot argue Alex's quest for knowledge is snap blue, but since her quest has a considerable self-interested edge, owing to her desire to further her professional pursuits with that knowledge, plus she regularly accepts self-destruction in service of that knowledge I would argue she's black, not quite blue. To be fair, I could buy a blue-black argument, but the main hang-up is that it's not that she seeks knowledge for knowledge's sake, it's for personal ambition, even disregarding ethics and accepting harm if she feels it's necessary.

And as long as we're making magical cards, mize well try a Planeswalker. Because she's willing to injure others (or at least bring discomfort to them) for her own interests, including Strand and even Nicodealio, I'd give the nod to pure black cards, down to the mana cost. Oh man, how funny that this song comes on while I'm writing this. It must be in the air here.

All righty, I guess that's it.

Reuxben

Fun_StrandAloneComplex

Some fan art for The Black Tapes Podcast, pretty scary at times, but unsettling just about wire to wire. It helps that while catching up, I marathoned these from 1am to 5am in this big, empty, old-timey mini-mansion out in the middle of Nowheremura, Japan.

I figure fellow Yalie Dr. Richard Strand's a little older, and is actually pretty much how I picture speaking-voice Steve Blum. In any case, this is not quite my first idea of what he looks like, but a nice starting point all the same. I should say, it's actually a bit annoying how podcasts tend to hate describing main characters. Always with the flowery descriptions of people main characters are talking to, but nothing to hang your hat on for the main homies.

I wanted to make this image look something like a pulp cover or something, you know, plenty of blank space for dressing. The top would be the series title of course, but for the bottom right, I thought it might be neat to include some kind of text, too. The full quote I was working from was:

I like the idea of “going down in,” and everybody is like that, everybody is a detective. The unknown is a magnet, and you can learn many, many things by going down in there. But it doesn’t negate a bright road, either...We love mysteries, life is filled with them, some of them are very abstract.

David Lynch

This came from an interview I was listening to while making this (usually listen to music and a podcast while working), and it felt quite appropriate for this series. And no, I'm not a Charlie Rose fan...the guy just interrupts and suggests to a frustrating degree, though I was actually impressed with his interview of that fraud "running" for President, wherein he actually calls that turd on his idiotic claims, though doesn't push as hard as he certainly could. Anyway, what were we talking about? Right, The Black Tapes Podcast.

I came across The Black Tapes via this listing of good podcasts, which I'm still making my way through. While some from that list were misses for me, The Black Tapes is definitely worth a listen. The first two episodes alone are a satisfying enough experience if you don't want to hang in for the at-present two full seasons, makes me feel like Ben 10 season 1 did, with the travel around and meet the freak of the week presentation style, and then it takes a much darker, more continuity-reliant turn soon enough, putting it in a trajectory all its own.

For this piece, I knew I wanted to draw Dr. Strand over top some scary, mysterious figure. But then I thought I'd drop some blood from his ears to symbolize the particularly pernicious nature audio takes in this series. I noticed the blood might make a neat shape, so it's kinda Alex Reeeegan hanging out in an alert pose in the upper left, I suppose. I didn't want to fully draw out either since I'm actually drawing a more straightforward piece of them right now, so I figured getting a little abstract in general would be ok here.

As for the background, we have a keyboard, since the series has a heavy musical element, plus a mysterious figure in a keyboard-playing position interlaced with a Golden Ratio diagram for kicks. The texture I used is one of my favorites since it has such a neat ring and drop of liquid, which I captured from a piece of paper I used to absorb the splash damage from a cold glass of water. But the way it rings around Strand's head hints at the supernatural qualities of the series, meanwhile it conveniently slices through his neck as well, hinting at some of the apparent danger he may be in. While I try to avoid using reds too heavily, the overall reddish wash felt necessary for the series' more sinister tones.

This was a fun little change of pace. I listen to a bunch of audio while drawing away, so I'm quite glad to have discovered the audio drama scene, since it was hitherto just music and/or interview podcasts. Want to do some more fan art of stuff...well, I mean, I have, but nothing feels good enough to post. I'm only posting this because I told myself the next one would go up. And so it is.

Reuxben