Anyone in Düsseldorf, Germany, who is going to the DoKoMi con should keep their eyes peeled for and her girlfriend, who will be dressed as Louis and James respectively this Sunday (19th). She's dressed as Louis before, and cuts an absolutely fabulous~ figure:



And I am super excited to see photos this time around, especially since she's outdoing herself yet again and making new, more exact costumes ...




I am so flattered that people like my characters enough to want to cosplay them, especially when they do such a bang-up job of it. I will not be there, because I live all the way on the other side of the world in Singapore, but anyone over there do say hi! They're friendly people!


--Sak

Incidentally, it's creeps like this who also made me lose interest in drawing Clopin in the first place. Needless to say I finally figured out how to block people on that site.




--Sak

So I missed May 4th but Happy Follow-Up-To-Star-Wars-Day everybody.

I had stuff I wanted to draw to commemorate this day as usual, but after breakneck-animating for weeks and losing sleep over my finals, I'm just not in the mood to exert myself over drawings right now. I've spent all weekend thus far sleeping in, running Star Wars marathons, and playing on my SWTOR toons. All of them.

In the meantime I guess have these two new roleplay logs instead:





See you in the 'verse!



--Sak

I've been rushing at breakneck speeds to finish my animation in time for the official submission deadline tomorrow ... or, today, by now actually. However, there are still little fixes I want to make to Santiago's introduction scenes, as well as some revisions to the "finished" sequences with Louis and James, so I'm holding back on uploading the clips to Youtube.

Until then, have some progress shots!





--Sak

... From about two years ago.

The art's a little old, and it's only half-way colored, but with a few tweaks in the dialogue here and there and Photoshop tricks to fix some awkward lineart, I think I might be able to salvage it. I drew it years ago as the sequel to the last Neopet series I drew, about Virtupets shenanigans as Sloth's personal coffee slave, and features my Jetsam Nachtenfeldudu more prominently.

Now I'm excited to finish it up. One more reason to rush that essay ...




--Sak

I just got back from the cinemas, where I caught Warm Bodies with my bestie from LASALLE. I know what you're thinking, that the movie didn't look that great. Yet another zombie movie amongst the throngs of supernatural the media flings at us, yet another teenage romance to appeal to every young adult with a pulse. And I will be the first to admit that when I first heard the outline of the story - a cute young man who just happens to be undead falls in love with a young girl at first sight - I was skeptical. I assumed it would become a rehash of Twilight, and I just got over the nausea of seeing those posters cluttering all the billboards.

However, after trawling through the trailers and finding them appealing and funny, I decided that the movie was worth a shot. It advertises itself as a quirky, humorous take on zombies, throwing in a mix of teenage romance and sub-par CGI. You can't blame them; it's no blockbuster, but it now makes me a little sad that it isn't, because I think the moral of the movie deserves to be shared with so many more people. I went in expecting a silly comedy. I came out with the impression that this movie is not a humorous romance at all.

In fact, it's a social commentary.

The movie doesn't take itself seriously the entire way through, even in its conscious decision to advertise itself the way it did. Hiding behind sarcastic, quippy voice-overs and clever cutting to deliver an enjoyable film, it successfully delivers a much more serious message in its undertones. Despite being set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, it's a reflection of society today, especially in regards to how people treat each other.

Everyone judges everybody else. It's human nature, it's what we do. We build walls around ourselves - literally, or figuratively - and put people in a box. If they don't fit, we make them fit, because it disturbs our little lives otherwise. We create labels for everything - music, clothes, even other people - and judge ourselves according to what we listen to, wear, or do. We get assigned nicknames, social positions, or refer to certain groups using racial slang.

And then there are those of us who go along with what others think we are, or what we think we should be, usually as a result of social propaganda. You say I'm a mindless brain-eating corpse? Then I'll quietly adhere to these expectations, and that's what I will be. Neither side is "right" or "wrong", nobody in life really is. Opinions are subject to scrutiny from person to person. But it's when you can overcome these differences and learn to live harmoniously together that you'll discover a much richer, much more satisfying life. It's no coincidence that the zombies haunt the airport; they represent the repressed, the misunderstood, and people from all walks of life, all ages, and all races.

The focus isn't the love story, the zombies, or the young girl.

The focus is that in our hectic society, we rapidly risk getting lost in the tide of what's expected of us. We're so busy with fitting in, with having the latest gadgetry, with having ourselves and our opinions heard the loudest, that we're willing to forget about others. Or worse, we're happy to step on top of others in order to get our way. Everyone is becoming more selfish, materialistic, and opinionated.


And I thought Warm Bodies was a brilliant wake-up call.



--Sak

I pride myself on being an "old soul" when it comes to music taste. As a kid I was raised on classical greats like Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, and the list goes on by my dad. My mom weaned my sister and I on goldies like ABBA, Bon Jovi, Rod Stewart, and Boney M. I listen to copious amounts of 70s and 80s bands that make me look like a bit of a dweeb to my classmates, ranging anywhere from Alice Cooper, Queen, Led Zeppelin, and Joan Jett through to Adam Ant and Dead or Alive. As a result, I'm heavily biased against what I call the "mainstream crap on MTV".




When I found out Adam Lambert was coming to Singapore March 8th I was both excited and conflicted, because I had already bought tickets to see Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin) live on the 21st this month as well. But I'm glad I caved into my temptations and went in the end.


It was a fantastic show. Lambert not only sings great (in my opinion), but he had such a great persona and confidence about him that it was impossible not to love him. Even though the venue called for seating, not a single person was sitting down, much to the security guards' dismay. People were standing up and jumping around and clapping their hands, and those of us on the first floor were clamouring to get as close to the stage as possible. I won't deny it, I was one of them, and I got pretty darned close. At one point Adam even called out the people sitting front-and-center, because they weren't on their feet like everyone else. The exchange literally went something like this: "What are you doing? Are you sleeping? No? Then get up! Oh I see, you're updating your Facebook. In the middle of my concert. She's updating her Facebook! Nah that's alright."


And this is Singapore. At the risk of offending my Singaporean watchers, in my experience attending concerts here in the past, I've seen some pretty docile and uncooperative audiences. But these guys were going crazy. I saw tons of people in custom-made 'Singapore Adam Lambert Fans' and 'Singapore Glambert' tees. By the end we were all on our feet and packed in the aisles between the rows, all screaming and crying for so much more that they wound up sticking around for not one, but two encores. The two guys next to me were practically in tears that they were actually seeing him live. It was great.


The concert was held at the new Star mall, in the massive concert hall that recently opened. It seats up to 5,000 people, and when I looked around I swear I couldn't see a single vacant seat. Not a single one. That's 5,000 people in a country notorious for its homophobic laws, that just don't care about preferences, just letting themselves go and having the time of their lives. It made me so happy on so many levels. Adam even recounted this one time someone asked if he was "promoting certain lifestyles" (quote unquote) and everyone in the theater booed the guy. It was fantastic.


I am going to be so sore all over tomorrow, from all my jumping around and clapping and screaming for two hours, and will probably be hoarse for the next few days. But I don't care, that was so worth it. Everyone in the audience knew the words to the songs and were singing along. It was really, really, tons of fun, even if I went alone to the concert. Karaoke with Adam Lambert! I may upload some of the videos I took to my Youtube account over the next few days.


One Adam down, one more to go (Ant). I am a happy Sak.


--Sak

I frequently get questions about LASALLE College of the Arts, where I study. Unfortunately I don't have time to go into tremendous detail when answering them, as much as I'd like to explain more what it's like. But maybe these can give you a glimpse:

[link]

[link]

I don't know why my face looks so fat in the second one. Where did my jawline go?


--Sak

Hey guys,

The VAs and myself are mighty busy this week, so there won't be any podcasting this evening. However, due to the drastic timezone differences having any sort of livestream would be impossible, as our only convenient times are midnight in the States, the early a.m. in Europe/UK, and just after noon for me.

As such, we'll only be able to answer questions you guys post here, in the Comments section of this journal, and then upload it as another vlog. We'll probably only be able to get around to another podcast next weekend, so you have a good while to ask us anything.

Bear in mind we won't repeat questions, and we probably won't be able to get through them all, but if there's anything you want to ask the VAs or even myself about Honour Amongst Thieves, the process, how they got the voices, the color of their socks, anything at all ... then now's the time to ask.

I will update you all with the podcast, whenever we do get around to it. You will be able to find it in the HAT Podcast section of my Youtube account, as always: [link]

Thanks again for all the support you guys have shown for this project so far, it's really kept me going whenever things got really tough. Consider this the least I can do to give back to the community that has been so enthusiastic about my work so far. Happy Asking!


--Sak

Hey folks,

I've just uploaded a new showreel showcasing some of the better Honour Amongst Thieves work and progression to my Youtube account, here: [link] I've been sick all week so progress on the actual animation has been slow, but you can get a sneak-peek of Louis's scene there.


--Sak

Hay gais, hay!

The ever-so-lovely and so-friggin'-brilliant-at-art-I-am-so-jealous-of-his-skill is offering $20 bust commissions (SERIOUSLY CHEAP!! What a steal!) that you should totally go and check out!! I just got mine and I love it!



He also takes duo-commissions. So seriously guys, check him ouuuutttt!! His stuff makes me want to hide away in a cave somewhere with nothing but Photoshop, a tablet, paper, and pens until I learn what actual art really is.




Well? What are you waiting for!


--Sak

A visit from Aunt Flo when I'm already feeling dizzy, sick, and nauseous from a combination of exhaustion, stress, and sleep deprivation ...

OH FICKLE LADY FATE I LOVE YOUR SENSE OF HUMOUR HAR-DE HAR HAR.




--Sak

Louis is starting to talk!


It's happening!

For those asking, I'm animating directly into the computer using a Wacom tablet. The animation program I'm using is TVPaint Animation 10 Pro. Super expensive so I use the school computers, but it's like the illegitimate love-child between Photoshop and Adobe After Effects without Flash's niggling tendencies to crash every ten minutes. That program is sex. <3


--Sak

"I'm not whining, I'm complaining. Do you want to hear whining?" -- [link]

Okay, no, on a more serious note: I've just had to re-draw the last two days' worth of frames and in-betweens for Louis because I realized I'd been drawing him "wrong".

Throughout Louis's character progress he's undergone several changes, most based on my own personal decisions, but many were also due to feedback from you guys here on DA, and I realise now that the "Louis is too skinny I don't like it" comments got to me more than they should have.

What these people don't realize is that Louis is ridiculously tall and skinny on purpose: he's a cartoon. He's not meant to be realistic, he's meant to be an exaggeration of the flamboyant gay stereotype, the skinny French stereotype, and his design reflects his wiles and cunning when it comes to out-witting his opponents. Out of all his design evolutions, this below still remains my favorite:



It's older art I realize, and the color scheme is out of date, but that to me was his most fun and most "accurate" design. It's also the point in time when I still had the most fun drawing him, and from this point on I'm going to try to go back to that style. If I'm going to be animating him frame after frame - and if I'm going to be drawing him panel after panel to tell his story in a graphic novel - then I want to have fun doing it. These proportions and caricatures for faces and body types also make it more fun to design his crew and other characters he will be interacting with in his world.

If cartoony styles aren't your thing then I'm sorry, but there are plenty of other artists out there you can find with more "realistic" proportions. Louis was, is, and always should be "fun".

Besides ... you could always just go to my sister's account to see him with more "realistic" proportions:



There. Just had to get that off my chest. Now, back to those frames ...


--Sak

James's Intro Sequence (in sketch lines!) is available for your viewing over on my Youtube account, here: [link]

It's sound-effect-less, music-less, and not cleaned up at all, but I will be uploading each scene as I complete them so that the voice actors can see how their work is coming together. Perhaps it's also interesting for people interested in some of the processes of animation, as well.


--Sak

Let it never be said that Sak doesn't deliver!

Last Sunday I had a Skype meeting with Brendan Julian and Richard Johnston - the voices of Louis and James respectively from my upcoming animation - to discuss the finer points of Honour Amongst Thieves. As promised, I managed to record it and so without further ado, I present to you:



I was delighted to see the two of them got along so well, because their character interaction promises to be great this way. Unfortunately, Santiago's VA was unable to make it due to timezones, but perhaps sometime in future we'll be able to repeat this again plus one Spaniard!

Enjoy!


--Sak

Big, fat apology for all my watchers if you've asked me questions or sent me notes and I haven't replied to them. Either your comment annoyed me and I deleted it (I've been on edge lately with college stress and irritation is rife) but more likely I just haven't gotten around to cleaning out my inbox ... all 420 comments at the moment. I'm just chucking art up here as I go but I have no time to breathe.

In the meantime, I'd also like to advertise , a new group organized by our own herself as a place to adverise our Original Characters. Spawned by my recent rant about the constant labeling most OCs get from others, this group is a place to show off your originality and comment on others, so do give it a look or join in.

Just doing my part to advertise for a fellow Deviant. Stay awesome and keep drawing. I'm going to go back to the college and chain myself to the tablet pen for the next two months now.


--Sak

There's nothing quite like sitting back on pillows in a dim room with painted murals and UV lights discussing the problems of the world and how we can change the future for the better through the aromatic smoke of several shisha pipes with complete strangers. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone.

I feel like I can change the world. Maybe not in big ways, but in small, baby steps. I want to finish this animation, I want to get my message out. I want to make a graphic novel that underlines current issues through the eyes of my characters; I want to make a difference. I feel justified in knowing I'm not the only one who thinks like this.

I want to change the world.



_{... Damn, this sounded so much better in my head at 3a.m. in the cafe toilets when I thought of it.}
--Sak

--Sak

So I've finally begun in-betweening James's introduction sequence ...



It's consisted of hours of listening to him scream "Oh BLOODY HELL" and "DAMN IT!" into my ear.


--Sak