[ iykyk ]
Hey.
After diving head-first into the pre-pro stage of the my next fan art project, I tried to skip a step (turnaround drawings, namely) and diving into modeling, just trying to “feel it,” like the good old days.
No go. Everything looked like dog shit. Timing, most likely. Actually, to be honest, I did make a few stabs at some turnaround drawings, but just kept missing. Wasn’t quite sure which section of my brain I wanted to pull from. Should it be simple and defined, like my “Braxton” style? Or should it be more in line with the edgier approach I went with Gauntlet? This project started from that Gauntlet vibe, but I wasn’t convinced that small minority of folks who even see my work were even vibing with that aesthetic. So I fussed, fussed some more, than threw my hands up and said I’d come back to it in the future.
[FYI, my entire “Projects” folder is stacked with “See Ya Later” half-started stuff]
So I figured, why not pivot to something I already understand? Enter this fella here.
I created Braxton sometime back in 2013 or so? And a few years later, designed an app where he would be something like a virtual pet/fortune teller, where the fortunes were mostly absurd, but occasionally profound. Spec’d that sucker out, and even collaborated w/ a buddy to get a functioning version up and running. This was back in 2016/2017 or so.
Life happened, for all involved, and the app got shelved, involuntarily. The loop worked, I liked it, people who played it were amused, but nothing came of it since then. It took me years to finally nail Braxton, get his lips working the way I want (which is harder than it looks, at least if was for me), and it wasn’t until maybe a year or so ago that I felt like…yeah, that’s him.
Getting him to move around was fun. Getting his mouth to animate properly? Pure joy. I know, he’s probably the most dead-simple design I’ve ever put out. But ironically enough…more difficult to get “just right” than anything I’ve ever worked on. And now it’s in a cozy place to actually do something with.
That something? Getting the old app reskinned and updated with my updated style. No more Flash/Adobe Animate, now it’s purely Blender. Pre-rendered, of course, because I could never get his 3D model to work quite the way I wanted in Unity. But, one feature at a time, I’ll be updating the new app with sparkly new pre-rendered art, a deeper retro vibe (think CRT monitor/VHS grain, sorta), and a few new features and a more robust database for the fortune strings.
It’s arduous, but incremental progress has been made. I updated the stars, for one:
And currently focused on Mr. Luu, the moon, trying to get him just right as well. No WIP for the time being on that one.
So, yeah. It’s a process. It’s all part of the process. The starting, the stopping, the doubting, the frustration, the getting back to it again. But we’re getting there. Can’t wait to share more.
-M
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