http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:cynicalcoffee&section=today deviantART RSS for by:cynicalcoffee en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:32:32 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/28885262/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/28885262/ Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:12:27 PST
To my partner - I have a few characters for you to choose from, but the truth is I don't really have a preference on which one you do. I'm usually running games, so these aren't as fleshed out as a player character might be. Take as much artistic liberty as you like.


Bert and the thousandfold brotherhood

Bert is a bartender, and so are all of his brothers. He is portly, bald, and ill-shaven. A dirty apron hangs perpetually unused from his belt, and his unprotected shirt is spotty with stains. Bert doesn't say much, and for that matter he doesn't move much either. Aside from maybe taking a few steps to pour a drink or place an order, he stands in the same spot, polishing the same area on the counter over, and over, and over again. There is literally a trough worn into the counter where Bert rubs it with a dirty rag for hours upon hours a day. The rest of the counter is filthy. To one who has never met Bert before, he appears completely normal, although maybe a fat lazy slob. If one has never been to a bar run by one of Bert's brothers, they probably wouldn't suspect anything is amiss. Those who walk into Bert's shop coming from another city where one of his brothers work are in for a shock. Often after the initial surprise they approach Bert and ask him how he got there ahead of them, to which he greets them with a blank stare and replies, "We're brothers, not the same guy" Bert has hundreds, maybe thousands of brothers. All run shady dive bars, and all look identically the same. Sure, they may be wearing different clothes, the bars may be different, but Bert and his brothers remain the same, and so does the trough dug in the counter from polishing. Not much has been made of Bert and his brothers, and frankly not many people know. Those who have been to another bar run by one of the brotherhood simply assume they're twins, maybe triplets at the most. Nobody has quite realized the truth, and Bert and all his brothers prefer it that way.

I don't have any sketches of Bert, but think fat sitcom bartender and you're pretty much there.


Cathak Fen Keth

Fen is a fire aspected Terrestrial recently graduated from the House of Bells. He is hot headed, no pun intended, secure and righteous in his belief that he is a prince of the earth, and ready to get out into the world and start bashing some heads. He is of relatively high breading and has inherited a small panoply of jade weapons and armor. There's just one problem. He's scared to death of water, and getting out to the threshold means crossing the sea. He irrationally fears that being submerged in a large body of water will dowse his fiery exaltation. Despite his admirable zeal, he is the laughing stock of his peers, many of whom are on their way to glory in battle, while Fen is left on the Blessed isle to "safeguard" their home. Fen wears red jade plate armor and wields a red jade reaver daiklave. He has a tendency to over compensate for his phobia, becoming angry at the drop of a hat and flaring his anima as often as he can. This last behavior has gotten him in a great deal of trouble, and his family is becoming tired of paying out damages to the affected parties. Fen has just turned 20.

This is a sketch I did a long time ago of Fen [link]



Ilu Ilusthip

Ilu is a solar, eclipse caste pirate who loves to raid and destroy the Scarlet Empire's ships, wherever they happen to go. She has dark, sun tanned skin, is somewhat petite of stature, but commands her crew as if she were ten feet tall. She opts to wear little armor, favoring mobility, speed, and the ability to strike first over bodily protection. She wields an orichalcum saber and custom made firewand.
Little sketch here. [link] and here [link] and here [link]



If you get stuck and need more info let me know. I'm sitting in the lab at my college as I write this and don't have any of my character notes in front of me. I'll try to elaborate more, especially in Ilu, when I get home tonight.

Thanks much, and good luck!

]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/28856348/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/28856348/ Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:32:50 PST
]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/27440822/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/27440822/ Sun, 27 Sep 2009 03:20:13 PDT
]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/26919865/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/26919865/ Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:22:56 PDT
]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/24893185/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/24893185/ Fri, 22 May 2009 15:51:48 PDT
]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/24771052/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/24771052/ Fri, 15 May 2009 14:13:02 PDT
]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/24703675/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/24703675/ Mon, 11 May 2009 13:30:18 PDT
]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/24380962/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/24380962/ Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:35:46 PDT
That's still a lot for two and a half days, but not impossible. Wish me luck!

]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/23879828/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/23879828/ Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:29:50 PDT
I know I'm going to pass tone, color, and composition, as well as acting for ani (would be really sad if I failed that one). I'm probably going to pass Bio, though I have no friggin clue what's going on in that class. Love Dr. Wood, but I really wish he used Moodle. If I can redo a few of my ani assignments, which honestly won't be too hard, all I'll have to worry about is life drawing, which'll probably be the hardest to swing. Well, it'll be the most time consuming to swing, at least.

It's probably wrong, but I also feel somewhat comforted that there are a shit ton of people in the same boat as me. It's a sinking boat, sure. A sinking dingy in the frigid waters of the Bering Straight with forty foot seas, absolutely. But we'll pull through, or at least I hope we will. It's just a matter of putting in the time, and that's all it's ever been.

]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/23595942/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/23595942/ Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:39:27 PDT
]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/23149565/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/23149565/ Thu, 12 Feb 2009 02:12:45 PST
]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/22925563/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/22925563/ Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:07:40 PST
I'm really not a structural thinker. When drawing, I usually use the most simple of armatures to start building it up. Thus, when it comes to really looking at anatomy and not just drawing what you see, but really emphasizing something (like the tops of your hands being bony) I feel like I'm somewhat lacking. But hey, that's what I'm in school for, right? Also happens to be exactly what I'm working on right now. I have 11 more weeks to understand a more structural method of drawing. Should be able to do it if I work a lot at it.

]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/22526700/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/22526700/ Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:06:57 PST . That's alright, though. At least it's better than being bored. Don't really have anything to post, but if I get something worth putting up I'll put it up.

]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/22057469/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/22057469/ Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:33:13 PST
]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/21722738/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/21722738/ Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:30:06 PST
I switched my major to a BFA in production animation. The design degree looked cool, but after this semester I feel like it's really not me, so I'm going straight art starting in January. I'm going to have some catching up to do, but hey, at least I'm switching sooner than later.

Nothing really new to say. I'm still at school seven days a week, about ten hours a day. I feel like I'm really improving and moving closer to a professional level in my work. I'm still a little rough around the edges, but miles away from how I was working just a couple months ago. So, while I'm still working rough (we aren't really given enough time to make any finished pieces), I'm a whole hell of a lot faster while preserving accuracy than I used to be, if that makes sense.

]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/21657606/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/21657606/ Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:52:39 PST
]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/20349721/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/20349721/ Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:56:20 PDT
That being said, Digipen is HARD. By the end of this semester I will have done 3,000 drawings, not including drawings for animation and drawings done in class. That's 200 drawings a week for 15 weeks ON TOP OF the drawing for everything else and normal coursework. By the end of the academic year, it'll be over 6,000. I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty damn awesome to me.

In four days, I've spent probably around 35-40 hours on campus just trying to get my crap done. First week. It only gets harder from here, and I can't wait!

Needless to say, I'm not going to be updating for awhile (like... next June)

]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/20085533/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/20085533/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:23:58 PDT
My punishment for applying late, I guess.

]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/19304846/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/19304846/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:57:49 PDT
Of course, this being the Christmas in July, I demand you all drink heavily.

]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/17323284/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/17323284/ Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:15:43 PDT

It's not as robust as photoshop or painter, as far as I can tell, but it's got a couple cool pros.

It's like 300 dollars less than the other two
It emulates traditional mediums to a relatively good degree
It's been really easy to use so far

I'd definitely suggest it if you have a tablet.

]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/17218269/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/17218269/ Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:02:10 PST
So, to set this up for you, I know I'm not a great artist. However, saying that I'm not great is far and away from not being able to draw. You can probably see where this is heading.

I'm an art student, and I've got some spectacular teachers. My current prof is a relatively successful professional artist and just a part time teacher. I've made really good progress learning from her. At the same time, I think she hates me, lol.

For instance, the other day she was saying how happy she was with the progress I was making in her class. She followed that up with saying that it looked like I'd never taken a drawing class before. Now, keep in mind that I'd been drawing for a year at this point. That's not to say I was or am wonderful, but come on.

Or this little gem, "See, you don't need talent if you work hard"

And finally, today, saying that I never learned how to use value to convey form, but I've made such progress in just 11 weeks. Now, I understand where she was coming on this one, but there was a total of one object, that wasn't even the model we were drawing, that she based this on. As a matter of fact, until taking her class, value was the only way I knew how to convey form.

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike her at all. I think she's a good teacher and everything (aside from the "you couldn't draw before me" stuff), but today's talk made a 23 year old man feel like going outside and crying.

]]> *cynicalcoffee http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/17154587/ http://cynicalcoffee.deviantart.com/journal/17154587/ Sun, 02 Mar 2008 18:43:54 PST
edit: pretty much done. I missed a couple big drawings, but I'm not going to sweat it for now.

It occurs to me that I've never really used the journal on here, so here's some updates about me and my life.

Cynicalcomics is pretty much dead, or at least put on indefinite hold. I really don't have the time to take both studio art classes and focus on my own projects. While this sucks, my ability to draw and paint has improved dramatically over the past year. I will be posting original characters, comics, etc, but probably not until this summer when I'll actually have some time.

I'm engaged to KittyPhoenix, who is also an incredible artist. I spend all my time drawing, painting, thinking about drawing and painting, or with kittyphoenix. You would think, then, that I'd be much better by this point. *sigh*

Contrary to how a lot of people are on the internet, I am much nicer anonymously than I am in person. I'm not mean, but my personality is hard to translate over the interwebs. I am far more likely to speak frankly to a someone in person. Go figure.

Etc etc... I really hate these blournal things. Ah yes! That's why I never used it.

]]> *cynicalcoffee