Okamiden

I have been playing Okamiden on the Nintendo DS lately. I played the original Okami on the Wii, so I couldn't pass up the sequel. Though I miss having Issun as a sidekick, Okamiden does a great job introducing new characters to partner up with Chibiterasu. I decided to draw Chibi with my favorite partner, Kagu. My first attempt was with markers and ink. I really wanted to try out my Yarka watercolor set, especially since I do not have much experience with them. Plus, it would be a great addition to the authenticity. For the second attempt, I fixed some issues from the previous drawing and had fun painting.

Dog Day Afternoon

On Wednesday afternoon, I traveled to College Station to stay the night with a couple of friends.  I decided to transport some of my belongings to my new house as well.  My roommate, Lizzy, is currently training a five month old red goldendoodle, Sampson.  He is in the Aggie Guide-Dogs & Service Dogs (AGS) puppy raising program.


Aggie Guide-Dogs & Service-Dogs (AGS) is a student-run organization at Texas A&M University that began in 1997.  AGS' purpose is to educate about, fundraise for, and promote the training and use of service dogs and to increase awareness about how these animals help the individuals with disabilities who use them.


The main goal of AGS is to train puppies to become service dogs.  With the help of Puppy Raisers, puppies learn how to obey and behave in public places, as well as commands unique to service dogs.  AGS members also provide services to the community via education and therapy-dog programs.


I have been in AGS since my freshman year at Texas A&M University.  I was on my way to become a puppy raiser until I got accepted into the Department of Visualization the summer of 2009.  After experiencing two summer studios and a technical drawing class, it was evident I would not have time to train and raise a puppy.  Even so, I still manage to take part by taking pictures at AGS' socializations, meetings, and events.  I have been dubbed the unofficial photographer.  Here are some of my favorite pictures I have taken through my journey with AGS:

   

I accompanied Lizzy, Brianna, Ariel, and their dogs to the dog park.  Brianna is training Bentley, a five month old cream goldendoodle, and Ariel is training Duke, a year old black labradoodle.  Fortunately, I had my camera to record the mayhem.

For more information on AGS: Aggie Guide-Dogs & Service-Dogs

Color Schemes

Here are various color schemes for my character.  And these aren't even all of them!  I think I did over thirty color schemes, but I still couldn't decide on one.  Thanks to friend's input and my own personal preference, I have decided on the sea green color scheme.  All of the schemes were found from kuler. 

Expressions without Direction

To display my mood in the most appropriate way, I drew the apathetic beast.  He morphed in my sketchbook after sitting through hours of studio project presentations in October 2010.  The line art was created in May.

I recently decided I wanted to develop this character.  Since his name, personality, and colors are currently undecided, I sketched out various facial expressions to help establish his character.  He is burly and clumsy, similar to a mastiff or bear.  As for personality characteristics, he is curious but cautious, docile and friendly when not provoked.  I imagine him similar to Ash's Charizard in the Pokémon series.

The plan is to model, rig, animate, and texture him in Maya when I find the time.  I can already visualize his heavy, swaggered gait in my head.  I want his rig to be suitable for biped and quadruped motion.  The orthographic projections were drawn in December 2010.  His front legs/arms are too thin in the drawing, but will be altered before I start to model.