Coleoptera Daydreams

Got a new picture for you folks. Let me know what you think. A friend at work asked me to draw her a picture and this is what I came up with. I've done another bug-head girl in the past, and so thought I should continue the tradition with yet another bug-lolita. They're a ton of fun to draw. I'm thinking maybe some digital water colors over the sketch will look awfully nice. Not that I need anymore excuses to not work on my reel.



So, in lieu of FFXII, we picked up Contact for the DS. It's a fun little Atlus game that basically plays like an MMO, where you change outfits to change jobs, cook, fish, have stat boosting food, and auto-attack your enemies. I'm afraid it's going to put a slight damper on the 12 for me, but in the end I think I'm going to be in love with that game no matter what. Contact, so far, has actually been very well put together. Combat is simplistic and Ragnarok Online-esque, but full of techs and stuff. The writing is witty and clever without being overbearingly geeky. And cooking is friendly and quite fun. I've gotten all but 2 outfits, my fisherman and my thief, so that's my goal for next play time. Cause I need to start fishing. Badly. Anyway, if you have a DS, it's definitely a worthy addition.

We watched Mildred Pierce as reference for Lindsey's senior animation project. I'd forgotten how stunning some of the shots are. The shadow is almost a whole separate character, flowing over faces and bodies, shrouding them in their most vulnerable times, gripping them at their most intense. Almost every major moment happens in a projected silhouette in fact. On top of their amazing noir lighting, the pure depth put into every shot is awe-inspiring.

The recent trend to make movies more realistic has pulled away from some of the really amazing aspects of shot layout. Specifically, the interplay of foreground and background objects to direct the eye. I miss the days of heavy foreground objects looming into view in almost every shot. Or deep unfocused rooms and landscapes, always miles away in the background. I hate to sound like one of those "all new movies suck" old timers, but I really wish we could see some of the elements used in the 40's so artfully brought back without all the flash and pomp of modern film.

I guess I'd forgotten how much I loved old noir.