That Time of the Month

Now, while I failed to deliver my promises of bi-daily content, I realize that updating far less frequently gives me far more time to reflect on what I've made along with showcasing the progress of particular projects all in one viewing.

Also, I tend to forget that I have an audience and that they haven't seen the work I do every waking day. My apologies to those that read The Tuna Matrix on a regular basis!

Anyway.

My landscape painting class has continued into its next semester, so I'm picking up where I left off. Once again I have another lovely view of the back end of Mr. Bills, the local seafood market. 75% done.

I'm trying to paint a lot of metallic things, particularly rusty surfaces. There's a train yard across from campus, so I have an ample supply of beat-up train cars. 50% done.

For my independent study, I've been playing around with incorporating medical imaging into my paintings. During the review of my honors project progress, many of my professors brought up my choice of anatomical information and the "accuracy" of my sources. Why are medical illustrations any better than MRI scans? Good question. Same goes for the other way around. Might as well use as many different methods of portraying the body as possible! Here are a couple studies I played around with.

And a  portrait of Zac. A tad bit off in places, but you won't notice if you don't know him!

In my spare time, I spend a lot of time thinking about RPGs. Specifically, my own RPGs. While I am a long ways from having the authority to design and direct a full-length fantasy epic, I can still dream mighty big and store all of my notes and drawings for that "one perfect game" (that everyone has). Among the many common RPG elements that I endlessly try to refine and optimize is the world's cosmology. Almost every RPG uses some sort of element system, whether it's to describe the basic building blocks of the universe or simply provide weaknesses and resistances to monsters. In my particular world, the world of Two, I've focused a lot on designing and characterizing the representatives of its elements. I want each elemental spirit to have a unique personality that has a significant impact on the story's protagonist.

In the game I split the natural elements into 6 primary elements (Water, Fire, Earth, Life, Light, Dark) and 2 secondary elements (Wind, Balance). Present here are Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, and Light.

Zephyr, the Whippet of the Wind. How many games have featured a whippet as a central character? None that I've played. Zephyr acts as a guding force throughout the story, commanding the winds to direct the party.

 Aspidochelone, the World Whale. Asp swims through bodies of water, filtering contaminants out of the water through his baleen teeth and into a giant pearl he grows on his back.

 Odiamah, the Furnace of the Earth. Referred to as Momma Bellows by her worshippers, she acts as the guardian spirit of metal and industry. She never apologizes for her frequent smoky belches.

I chose a phoenix to represent fire, passion, rage, and revolution. Phoenix begins life as a heart-warming chick, grows into a flamboyant, impulsive, and raging teenager, and ends life as a grand and passionate bird.

Last is a beast I sort of consider to be my own self-made guardian spirit, Lucifer the Morning Star. Lucifer? That sound scandalous. Well, Lucifer as a word means morning star in Latin, an appropriate name for a spirit of light. I consider it a worthy challenge to reappropriate a name associated with the ultimate evil into something very good. A name's just a name, right? Plus, the name just kind of sounds cool. Lucifer is one of my most redesigned creations. This particular variant is actually the one I use in my Pathfinder group as my character's Eidolon (a soul-bonded extra-planar companion). Because Eidolons constantly change as its summoner grows, I decided to actually redraw him for each significant change. This is version 4.

Version 3 (A terrible curse turned his wings pink)

 Version 2

 Version 1

And last but not least, here's a small bit from the comic I've been working on for F&M's comic magazine. That is indeed a food processor. They want no more than 4 pages for each submission, and I'm pushing 10. Looks like it might have to make its debut elsewhere...