Saftkeur
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Update - September 2020
🕑 Added 2020-09-07 13:46:34 +0000 UTCWell, it's a slower year than I'd hoped in terms of art output thus far, but it's been pretty good progress in terms of just... exploring new things, updating old characters and content, and generally progressing myself art-wise.
Character updates have been taking over more of my time than expected; it makes sense in hindsight, I can't really use any characters in fresh scenes without first getting their models updated to properly work with the newer setup, and there's not much point in half-updating someone when I could bring them all the way up to current standards. And there's a lot of characters... ^^;
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Besides the more required stuff - updating material shaders so things will render effectively in Iray - I've also been putting more effort into style consistency, and more importantly for me right now, making characters look more appropriately their own age. Which, admittedly, is not something I've put a lot of thought into in the past; given that the Paerans in particular are fantasy characters, I like to imagine them as being sort of ageless, as in "without age" rather than "ancient and immortal". But that doesn't mean it's not still super important to stress that they're physically and mentally adults, which is something my style choices haven't really done a good job of illustrating in the past. Trying to incorporate anime styling into semi-realistic 3D doesn't always work out.
But so far, it is working out, I think! I'm really fond of how Natsume looks, for example; a bit hit-or-miss on some of the other recent updates, but they've been improving (Amelia and Wanda in particular might need a re-revisit, they still look a bit younger than I'm comfy with). Work in progress, but it's getting somewhere.
On that note, currently (as in, right this moment) I'm working on Elie!
The 2020 version isn't fully finished yet, but hopefully the difference is pretty clear already. I won't deny that the original anime-ified big eyes and round face isn't cute, but to me, seeing her in a more realistic style just feels so much better, she's that much closer to being the character I actually imagine her being. ^^
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I'm still trying to work on full arts as well, of course! Apologies for how slow it's been on that front, it's been a while since I've even posted anything new to the $5 tier because of all these character updates coming out instead. The Ruri-Kuchi-Lissa scene is nearly finished, though, and there's a couple of scene revisits I've been planning to get to still, belatedly. And some "abandoned" projects I still want to finish; one in particular that is long overdue (a digital drawn piece featuring a certain Fire Emblem character), but there's half-finished 3D scenes as well I previously got stuck on, and could probably tackle much more effectively now than I could before.
Any old unfinished pieces you're especially wanting to see me finish? I'd love to hear about 'em!
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What else? I haven't done one of these updates in a while, I should probably try to cover as much as possible, huh.
I suppose all there really is left is Real Life™ updating. I'll gloss over the Big Thing currently affecting most of the world - I don't go out in public very often to begin with, so that's mostly been just a lot of inconveniences with trying to shop, not much else - but beyond that, I'm trying to find more time to exercise, to take better care of my body.
It's a tricky thing to do when so much interaction happens online now (lots of time spent looking at screens) and all of my own work is done on computers (lots of time sitting at a desk), and frankly, us humans weren't designed for that sort of lifestyle. Still, it's hard to convince myself to go exercise just for the sake of exercising, since it's become so ingrained that time away from the computer = being unproductive! A hard mental state to get out of, but summer heat is dying down a bit, so it's a bit easier to get outside more frequently now just for the sake of being outside.
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In parting...
There's more to come, hopefully soon, and not just that Elie updating and that Ruri-Kuchi-Lissa scene. :3 Keep an eye out as well for maybe a few extra posts sprinkled in as well; once I figure out more of my potential projects and all, I might put up a poll or two to help pick what sorts of scenes to work on, that sort of thing.
Thanks to all of you for continuing to support and follow me through all this chaos and everything! I hope you all are staying healthy and keeping away from stress during these times too, and just in general. <3
