http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:renatus&section=today deviantART RSS for by:renatus en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:00:43 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/21248730/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/21248730/ Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:45:28 PDT Night City story.

For those of you with LiveJournals, I'll be posting the WIP in locked posts over at the Night City Tales community. Please note you'll need to be a member to see those posts.

I'm also working ona rewrite of Zombies in the Spring at the same time, so this should be an, ah, interesting year!

]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/15379045/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/15379045/ Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:29:56 PST
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'Selves' is a personal project. I wanted something to fill up November like NaNoWriMo used to, but the last thing I wanted to do was start another novel. I decided a few days before November I'd do a drawing every day for the month, and instead of just drawing whatever, I picked a unifying theme and medium for the month. Hence selves--drawings of different aspects of who I am/was/might have been, and ink, a medium I quite enjoy and don't do enough with.

Each day I pick a subtheme or topic and use that to develop a drawing. I've been picking from a list of themes, but I may well use songtitles or random words picked out of books. I might go the other way 'round and find a word to attach to a concept of myself I've decided to draw.

My goal for this project is to complete a more or less finished drawing every day of the month (or more if I find myself in a mad scramble to catch up, like I did yesterday), experiment with technique, composition, and subject, and to have fun.

I don't have any expectation that most of these will be great or even very good--after all, this is my own personal mad dash to get lots of stuff out in a month. If as much as ten percent of the drawings (that's a whole three) are strong finished pieces, I'm going to be pleasantly surprised. But it's rather like mining; one has to dig up and refine a lot of ore to get any gold at all. I'm sure I'll learn things about my drawing processes and techniques, and come up with ideas I can refine later.

I'll be updating with a batch every five days. Have fun watching, and feel free to comment and critique on any aspects of this you wish to.

]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/10776754/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/10776754/ Sun, 19 Nov 2006 11:09:20 PST Zombies in the Spring. 33 chapters, 148,890 words.

I've been working on this for a little more than a year, so I'm kind of... out of sorts and hyperventilating right now. My gods, did I write all of that?!

]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/10247522/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/10247522/ Sun, 01 Oct 2006 11:54:33 PDT
The website is Night City. I made all of the graphics myself and coded it (with aid of Dreamweaver to make the gruntwork go faster).

The shining jewel there right now is the short novel in the Stories section, 31 Days. I didn't quite finish it last November, even though I reached 50k, and it sat for 8 months before I finally was able to complete and edit it. It's not perfect, but it's as good as I could make it. It also broke my heart.

I'm really excited about this, guys. This is my baby. I know I sound blase but that's because I've poured so much into this. I'm happy and afraid all at the same time.


Imagine a city where organic-looking skyscapers rise nestle together with old tenaments, baroque buildings, and burned-out shells. On one street high technology reigns in the form of an elecronic billboard advertising the latest in virtual reality neural interfaces, and it's hanging on the remains of a building crumbling from simple neglect. In one corner of the city live commercial barons who reside in centuries-old mansions, some of which they built themselves... in the opposite corner the buildings stand abandoned, the streets quiet except for the howls and whispers of ghosts.

This is a city built of dreams and nightmares. The world is like ours but not, both more advanced and falling into entropy. It fades at the edges, and reality is never sure. This is a city that is the most modern in its world, but it is also a city where magic runs just under the surface, where vampires walk unnoticed among the humans, and where ghouls haunt the dreams of the living. This is a city that touches our reality but is not of it.

This is Night City.

]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/9470187/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/9470187/ Sun, 23 Jul 2006 17:06:21 PDT RENATUS: Me, the author.
RASPUTIN: Necromancer Protag of Zombies in the Spring. Tall, gangly, puppydog eyes.
ADRIAN: Aristocrat Protag of Zombies in the Spring. Atheletic, blonde, gorgeous.

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RENATUS: [Sits, staring with frustration at open document. Types a few lines, then deleted them. Sighs in frustration.] Is it really that hard? All you two need to do is eat breakfast.

RASPUTIN: We'd rather have sex.

RENATUS: No. You haven't eaten in ages. You need breakfast. You also need plot progression over breakfast, dig?

ADRIAN: We're two healthy men in our mid-20s. We'll live without breakfast. Make with the screwing, already! We've been waiting for this for chapters.

RENATUS: [Grinds teeth.] Breakfast. Plot progression. It isn't hard. Eat, read letters, talk about letters, finish eating, then you can bonk your brains out. Just work with me, all right?

RASPUTIN & ADRIAN: [Ignoring the author, they start to grope each other.]

RENATUS: ... Right, since I see I won't get anywhere with you two, I think I'll just go and draw. Hm... How about... pin ups of you both. [RASPUTIN & ADRIAN glance up as RENATUS taps her lips with a finger.] Underwear pin ups... and I'm thinking pink. Pink, lacy, and frilly.

RASPUTIN: [Looks alarmed.]

ADRIAN: [Looks concerned.]

RENATUS: Yes, I believe... Rufflebutt undies for you both, in pink and white. With matching ruffled collars! And GARTERS!

RASPTUIN: [Jaw drops open.] I, what, PINK? LACE?!

ADRIAN: [Cringing] Oh gods, that's emasculating! You wouldn't!

RENATUS: [Looks grim while she poises her pencil over a drawing pad.]

RASPUTIN & ADRIAN: [Look at each other with horror and embarrassment.] She would.

RASPUTIN: Eheh... what was that you said about breakfast?

RENATUS: And plot progression.

ADRIAN: My, my! I seem to be terribly hungry! And in desperate need of reading material!

RENATUS: [Grinning in a particularly vicious way.] That's right. [Watches RASPUTIN & ADRIAN, chastised, shuffle away, and laughs evilly.] I WILL NOT BE DICTATED TO BY IMAGINARY PEOPLE! ]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/8969399/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/8969399/ Sun, 04 Jun 2006 14:17:01 PDT F. A. Q.
My designs available at Ellen Million Graphics
Zombies in the Spring

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Zombies! They want to eat your brains!
Zombies! They melt in the rain!
Zombies! They wear Abercrombie!
Kill an Ambercrombie Zombie today!

(Did you know almost nothing rhymes wih zombie? 'Struth!)

Zombies in the Spring [link] just got updated with Chapter 11, the longest chapter yet. This is where things get really exciting, folks! I'm switching back to weekly updates as well, so check back every Sunday to see what happens next.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/8540510/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/8540510/ Fri, 21 Apr 2006 11:45:19 PDT F. A. Q.
My designs available at Ellen Million Graphics
Zombies in the Spring

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After my computer unexpectedly started going tits up on me and my friend Sylvia of Wish3 nearly lost her scripts for the webcomic, I figure this is timely advice - back up your important files!

You should if at all possible back up to a seperate computer or external hard drive that is usually kept disconnected from power, two discs (CD or DVD, one kept at home, one elsewhere), some webspace in compressed files (RAR or ZIP - Gmail is good for this), and if the files are text or digital paintings, make hardcopies, with at least one you can keep elsewhere - but in a seperate location than the second disc. If you want to be extra safe, keep backups of your most important files on a thumb drive you keep with you when you go out.

DO NOT use floppy discs or Zip discs if you can avoid it! Both media are very sensitive to dust and magnetic changes and are infamous for failing for no good reason.

Make ABSOLUTELY certain that your backup files can be read by another computer! Verify the backups on your computer to make sure they aren't corrupt, and open them on another computer to make sure they are readable. This is especially important for CDs or DVDs, because sometimes writing problems can make it seem like a disc works, but it only works on the computer it is created on.

The number of backups is a lot, but in the long run it isn't really that bad. How often you do it depends on how often the fileset is added to or changed. You have to ask yourself how much work you'd lose and have to redo if you only backed up once a year, once a quarter, once a month, and once a week. Some of the easier methods, like backing up to a seperate computer and to webspace/an email account, you can do more often. The spendier/time consuming ones can be done less often, but once again keep in mind how much you would lose if that were your only copy, and what you'd have to do to make the work up.

This is the computer technician recommended method for keeping your files safe, and as a former tech I can vouch for it. Computers can have hard drive crashes, discs can get lost or scratched, disasters can happen that wipe out a building; this is why it is important to have multiple backups spread across different locations. Please don't chance losing years worth of hard work.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/8460475/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/8460475/ Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:30:47 PDT F. A. Q.
My designs available at Ellen Million Graphics
Zombies in the Spring

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So, a few things...

Zombies in the Spring is going slowly but it is going. I've uploaded a few pieces of artwork there.
I've also obtained a Y! Gallery. There will be some crossover with here, and some crossover with ZS. Some stuff will be exclusive to there, mostly naughtier stuff.

Hey! Read the novel. It's almost ten chapters long now, and perhaps halfway through. I don't update regularly because I suck, but I WILL finish it long before the year is out.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/7705044/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/7705044/ Wed, 25 Jan 2006 14:22:55 PST F. A. Q.
My designs available at Ellen Million Graphics
Zombies in the Spring

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FINALLY, the second NaNoWriMo project that I started is truly a project of its own, with a proper title to boot! Zombies in the Spring is a highly silly serial fantasy novel featuring a pseudo-Victorian world, snooty elves, and necromantic hilarity. If you don't laugh - you're already dead!

Updates Wednesdays.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/7033172/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/7033172/ Sun, 13 Nov 2005 06:32:45 PST F. A. Q.
My designs available at Ellen Million Graphics
The Ridiculous Fantasy Extravaganza!

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I originally intended on doing two novels for NaNoWriMo, but my second ended up catching my attention more and I have focused work on that. It is called 31 Days, and it is an urban fantasy set in a place called Night City in a parallel universe. Ghouls are a rare occurance in Night City, and while they are dangerous, they are usually not too much trouble to eliminate due to their hostile natures and inability to work with other sentient creatures. However, ghouls are starting to rise up in numbers and this time they're working together...

I am posting it chapter by chapter here. I intend to keep it public as it is a part of a Night City project I have started.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/6914598/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/6914598/ Mon, 31 Oct 2005 09:39:30 PST F. A. Q.
My designs available at Ellen Million Graphics
The Ridiculous Fantasy Extravaganza!

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For me, NaNoWriMo will begin in less than four and a half hours. I won't be able to start at midnight as I have to wake up at 8 am, but you can be sure I'll be writing like a FIEND when I get home, bucket-sized mug of coffee by my side.

This year I have chosen to put the novel up on a webpage, and you can follow along here. It will be silly, outrageous fantasy, and while I can't promise that it will be good, I will certainly try my best. *g* Notice the deviation I have posted today; that's Rasputin, one of the main characters of the novel.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/6854365/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/6854365/ Mon, 24 Oct 2005 11:48:48 PDT [link] I can vouch for the quality of the products, too; the shirts I ordered last year were of very sturdy quality and comfortable materials and the transfers sink nicely into the fabric after three or four washings. The colouring books are a really nice, smooth paper, good for people of all ages.

Second, I finally acquired a scanner, thanks to my father in law. It is old but it still works, which is good enough for now! I updated with one picture today, and will put up one or two more this week. Having means to show off what I've been doing has made me more likely to draw, as well as the realisation that if I don't do something during my Finnish class I have to constantly fight falling asleep. Drawing keeps me awake and anchored to the here and now - and yes, I am doing well in the class, thank you very much! *g*

I'm also doing NaNoWriMo again this year. My fourth time! This time I'm going to try writing something for the sheer random silly fun of it, rather than one of my precious, long-held storylines like I did the past three years. It's anyone's guess how awesome it will be, but I'm putting up a website for it that I will update chapter by chapter, and with art as well. I plan on really going all-out ridiculous on this, so I figure that if it's actually publishable by some miracle, whoever wants to publish it won't care about first publishing rights. Frankly, I'm betting on my other manuscripts for that, as this one will be like candy for the brain. Circus peanuts type of mind candy, at that. Look for that later this week. ]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/6405262/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/6405262/ Sat, 03 Sep 2005 12:16:32 PDT
Anyhow. Ellen Million has her site all fixed up, so you can get my designs there again. Snow Faery is really great on cards, which isn't a surprise since that is what I originally designed it for. Ellen said it was pretty popular at the fair she went to, which of course pleases me greatly! I'm also hoping that in the coming months I will have more up on Ellen's site.

I also recommend her t-shirts, regardless of the design you choose; I bought four last winter for gifts, and they've all been great. She chooses high-quality shirts, and the transfers are very good as well. The designs are a bit stiff on the shirt at first, but this quickly goes away after a few washings as the design sort of sinks into the fabric.

Heh, enough pimping. I'm hoping to get a scanner soon so that I have incentive to draw things - being able to show off my artwork to people is a big incentive for me to draw them in the first place. I like to share my ideas.

Which means that I need to get back to my primary source of sharing - writing. God, I'm such a wannabe right now. I recently had my pet project explode on me, so I am writing now, instead of slacking off. I suddenly realized that the character shift I introduced halfway through would not work, as the novel needed to be from the same character's viewpoint from start to finish, which means basically writing a whole new second half, in addition to the massive rewrite the first half needs. However, I also realized that having the same story being from the other character's viewpoint would make a whole novel by itself, a parallel story.

And never mind the ten other stories I have on the backburner and the millions of half-formed ideas. To paraphrase UrsulaV, if I never got another idea again I'd ahve a backlog that would last me until I died of old age. ]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/5556974/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/5556974/ Sun, 05 Jun 2005 02:38:37 PDT ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/5484996/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/5484996/ Sat, 28 May 2005 11:45:46 PDT F. A. Q.
My designs available at Ellen Million Graphics

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An apology to everyone who's patiently watching this space for it being more boring than cold oatmeal. Adjusting to a new country took way more out of me than I thought it would and I've been busily making up for lost time with my husband. End result, though, is a big fat zero on the public creativity front.

I've had a hard time not just thinking of myself as a totally lazy bastard. I've been told by no less than four people that integrating into a new country is hard work, and even though Juha is doing most of the heavy lifting as far as figuring out paperwork and such, it is surprisingly taxing, mentally.

Still.

At the very least, I've kept up with doing some scribbling in my sketchbook. 'Snot very artistic, but it's helped me keep my hand in and spawned a couple of ideas. I do very definitely need to start getting back into gear, however. Might take a while to get anything put up here, exactly, although I hope that once I get settled into a routine (moving to a new place and starting language classes soon, you see), I am aiming for an update once a week.

If you need entertainment before then, though, you can go vulture at my personal journal, although I can't promise to be actually entertaining.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/4702414/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/4702414/ Tue, 01 Mar 2005 13:09:31 PST F. A. Q.
My designs available at Ellen Million Graphics

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My long wait has ended and the long move has been completed; I now reside in Finland, not far away from Helsinki, with my cat and my husband. It's really chilly here, more of a winter than I've seen in years.

Anyhow, I'm well on my way into getting settled in, and my cat is overjoyed to be an only child with an entire new apartment to explore. My stress levels have gone waaaaay down now that I'm here (and finally with Juha again), so my urge to draw and write has been slowly flowing back. Still don't have scanner access, though, so updates on art will have to wait until I can scan things or I manage to paint something decent.

Being as it is so cold, though, I need to crochet some more hats and such, so photos of those may grace my gallery soon.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/4407263/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/4407263/ Mon, 24 Jan 2005 22:21:24 PST F. A. Q.
My designs available at Ellen Million Graphics

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You need to look at this man's art. He's a friend of mine who does illos for an Illinois newspaper, and he seriously rocks. If nothing else, check out the very last one - it's geniunely creepy with it's up-out-of-the-grave perspective.

In other news, I'm considering putting up some of my fiber arts (crochet and sewing) projects up on my gallery. At least, the more interesting stuff; I can't see boring anyone with crochet washcloths.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/4339294/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/4339294/ Mon, 17 Jan 2005 00:11:33 PST F. A. Q.
My designs available at Ellen Million Graphics

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It's been a good run, so far. I'm still alive, which has been an accomplishment in and of itself, and I'm doing relatively well. I may not have four degrees or fifty million dollars, but I know what I'm doing with my life, which is good enough for me.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/4085046/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/4085046/ Fri, 17 Dec 2004 00:45:48 PST F. A. Q.
My designs available at Ellen Million Graphics

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So, NaNoWriMo is long since over, and I did make it past 50k. However, the novel isn't finished, although it bloody well could be if I wasn't wasting so much time on Sims 2. But I like controlling little computer people...

Er, anyhow. Three 'new' pieces uploaded - two are older, and some might recognize them from Elfwood. I recently left Elfwood for good, and chose my two favourite (and best) pieces from there to go into this gallery. Seven years isn't a bad run, really, although I probably should have given up on it a long time ago, once it became apparent that my work as an admin was useless.

Anyhow. The third picture is from the last issue of Woodworks E-zine. Go to the picture to find out how to get that last issue. Hopefully, the domain will be alive once again soemtime soon so everyone can read the back issues.

I'm going to be slow on the uploading, unless I pull myself away from video games and write more, as I don't have a scanner available right now, alas and alack, and I'm still wobbly about this digital media thing. It isn't likely I'll have a scanner for quite some time to come; I move to Finland in late February, and it is likely money will have to go towards finding an apartment and food and such before electronic gadgets. Wah! In the mean time, I'll just have to make myself get better at this whole tablet business.

It also occurs to me that putting up a devART ID might be nice. I'll have to see if I can manage to take a decent photo of myself - a tricky proposition considering the lighting in this house and the lack of places to set the camera. At least it has a timer.


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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3897149/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3897149/ Mon, 22 Nov 2004 21:27:04 PST F. A. Q.

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My deviation "A Pirate's Life for me" [link] is now available in the "Rum and Ruffians" colouring book available from Ellen Million Graphics, here: [link]

I also have a design up on EMG that is perfect for winter holiday cards, a Snow Faery! You can order it on cards, magnets, stickers, and t-shirts here: [link]

In other news, NaNoWriMo is going well. I'm currently at 38382 words.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3675443/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3675443/ Mon, 25 Oct 2004 22:27:24 PDT F. A. Q.

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An older design of mine I originally created for winter holiday cards in 2002 is now available as cards, stickers, magents, or t-shirts from Ellen Million graphics! [link]

This one was very popular with my friends, family, and mother's co-workers, and it's great for the holidays or winter birthdays. I'm sure it makes a spifftastic t-shirt, as well!

On another note completely, I was busy moving for a couple of weeks, and now I'm doing Liaison duties for NaNoWriMo [link] , AND I'll be doing that in November, so it's rather unlikely I'll have the time to post anything new until December. I should have a whole slew of new art up then, however - I have a LOT of gift art to do, not to mention my 2004 holiday cards...

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3410946/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3410946/ Tue, 21 Sep 2004 00:01:13 PDT F. A. Q.

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Please check the scraps gallery for a cute doodle I intend to develop further in the future!

"Backed Against a Wall" was done for a ~ boyswillbegirls contest, "Damsels in Distress", that I was probably too late for. Oops. The other two deviations were done for fun, and finished specifically to be colouring pages. I'm hoping to colour them myself, soon - if I can get all of the drawings I owe people done, that is! At any rate, I need to get this and a whole slew of other things done before November; I'm doing NaNoWriMo again for the third year in a row, then, and heavens know I'll be too busy pounding keys to draw.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3265422/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3265422/ Wed, 01 Sep 2004 18:48:43 PDT Mistress of Riddles got accepted into Ellen Million's upcoming Dark Fantasy coloring book!

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3231314/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3231314/ Sat, 28 Aug 2004 11:19:20 PDT
In other news, I discovered one of the big problems with using oneself for pose reference. Even with a timer function on my digital camera, plenty of places to put it, and even a tripod, nothing can change the fact that some body types will simply not work with the pose one is trying to achive. Skinny people make poor reference when one is trying to draw chubby goddesses, and chubby people make even worse reference when one is trying to draw a slender person in particular poses.

Perhaps if I looked around on Google long enough for images of someone tied to a stake, I'd find something, but it's SUCH a bother.

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]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3197481/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3197481/ Mon, 23 Aug 2004 17:43:09 PDT ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3058000/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/3058000/ Fri, 06 Aug 2004 13:20:05 PDT
I'm going to try to get into her Dark Fantasy colouring book as well, which means I should shove off soon and start producing something interesting and possibly demonic. I have an idea, fortunately, that should look quite nice once I've developed it.

On another note, I'm somewhat suprised at how well my pirates turned out, after going through a whiny, angsty slump a few days ago. My muse (who unlike me is not a flesh and blood person but rather a voice that lives in my head) had to kick me in the ass to make me realize that to do better, I'd have to simply DO BETTER. It wasn't really a matter of how, it was a matter of putting forth effort, and strangling the little voice that would whine "But I caaaaaaaan't" that would pop up every so often.

Because obviously, I very well can. ]]> ~renatus http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/2941064/ http://renatus.deviantart.com/journal/2941064/ Thu, 22 Jul 2004 10:58:42 PDT
Had some initial snafus with joining - it was only now that it wouldn't reject my password! - but, well, here I am. ]]> ~renatus