Fairy

Good, how've you been? Make any great drawings lately? I remember you've always been really good at them. :]

Oh okay. What have you been focusing on nowadays?

Thanks! :D Glad you liked it.

You should try out Ubers sometime. How is Excadrill walled by Lugia again?

xD draw an espeon<33

ALEXIAL!!!!!!! What's up!?

Alright, that makes sense, occupational experience especially. Sort of a sink or swim sort of thing at times, even when they do train you. That's also true of just about any job, in that you'll always pick up a few things here and there, stuff you never knew about, and end up applying it to your own skillset.

Sounds good to me. I was pretty much at the same level as everyone else at 16/17 myself, I'd like to think on average most people are, but it also depends on when people start drawing, too. Pokestick, for example, I think is only 17 and he has incredible talent.

Did I already say that I wouldn't mind being in school either if it wasn't for the fact that I don't like homework compared to job work? Just being back in school again, I remember why I was glad to get out in the first place, but the nicest thing about school is that it's also no pressure in comparsion. At school, you must meet your own expectations most of the time (at least, I've never been to a school with a professor that had outrageously high expectations). At work, you have to meet your superior's expectations and I dunno, I guess I never really felt good about that. Even when I was working at my first job at Little Caesars. :\ I must have had all the wrong jobs, because aside from some really cool gigs, it never seemed as if anything I did was good enough (which is weirder considering I often went above what I was required to do... at the cost of some time, yes >_>). That's the sole reason I prefer homework. :P

On the other hand, those reasons are also why I'm somewhat interested in patient care related careers, such as working at rehabilitation centers, because at least there, the amount of care I put into my work would be seen as beneficial. But video games first. I know I wanna do that right away.

it's adorable. i want one xD

Hey ! Thanks for the input !
Cool Sig and avatar !

Aw, come on, don't give me that. :( You didn't just draw that really cool stuff in your gallery (which I mean both the user and A&D versions) outta thin air. Some kind of practice had to be involved, unless you're a natural talent, which would then put you way above the rest of us. :O I gotta know how you do it, I still think that stuff in there is amazing.

Aha, I got it! You never did tell me how or where you learned all your art skills/received your (in)formal training. All eyes are on you now.

So nothing at all, huh? Oh well, at least you're here, that's better than nothing. :D I just thought maybe you had something cool, even if it wasn't art related. I totally understand, though. Like I said before, most of my artwork stays with me, because I only really need to show it to people I'm working for or with, and I'm not looking to be a professional artist, anyway. I don't need any special accolades, which is why every time I've ever made an art account somewhere, I've never kept up with it for more than a week or two.

Aqua Bunny is an exception because it's not just for me. That, and back in the day I wanted the Nidoran family to be accepted more than they were, so I used all the talents and clout I had to help that ball get rolling. It was kind of a sacrifice, though. My original site, Creative Worlds, was a lot more popular in that it was way more varied, but I got tired of drawing fan art, and having to keep up with gaming culture. For some reason, Pokemon is an exception. I'm happier with AB, but it's no where near as popular as the currently defunct CW was. So in the end, I really didn't care to just have my own stuff up just to say "hey look what I can do", I just wanted to help the little guys, that's all. :( Sounds corny, I know.

Having a website can be annoying on certain days, but truth be told I find messing with Tumblr much more aggravating, and that site's built to be simple. I never really got into it, but I use it because it is convenient for everyone else, and it's a good way to show newbies the site's old stuff. Go with the flow, I suppose.

Hah, well, seeing as Larvitar is a reptile, if you wanna keep it real you can't do a whole lot beyond accessorize. Clothes on Pokemon is annoying as heck when they don't have the build to wear them in the first place, so I feel sorry for you. XD Having a Kirlia and a Machop would be so much easier. Any design I have for a Pokemon is 100% based on the character, or to put it another way, I let the characterization determine the final design, but I also do that because I try to create a cast of snowflakes, if you know what I mean. If they all had the same body shape, eyes, whatever, I think we'd all get bored with them. Heck, even I'd quit and just play video games all day or something. A lot of that inspiration comes from cartoons, or cartoon movies. One of my favorite movies to this day is still Cats Don't Dance. I love how the animals are distinguishable as whatever they represent, are relatively scaled appropriately, and are still by and large shorter than humans, but have just enough leeway to let their characterization determine their overall design. I wouldn't have it any other way, but that's the old cartoonist in me. :P

Lisa, for example, is essentially a 16 year old, but she's very average. So, her design looks closer to that of your common Nidorina, but younger. Based off of real life, she looks like the forgettable, nameless kids I bypassed in the hallways during my high school years. I hate making that comparison, but characterization emulates real life. *shrug*

The other Nidorina, the one in my avatar, is a lighter, happier take of cool big sis. She plays around a lot because that's the role she assumed as the oldest among her siblings. Protective, but always willing to have fun with all of them (she's very close to her large family, which reflects her wanting a large family herself). She's based on the sort of quirky, gender neutral in tastes but nevertheless feminine girls I know or have known. She's also atheletic and into physical fitness, which is why she has more of a figure (though overall she still appears stumpy because Nido biology).

Maybe an easier description is that she reminds me of all the artsy girls I know without being artistic herself. All that is kind of hard to capture in appearance, but I think I sort of show it. That's why she's so smiley and bright eyed all the time.

And it goes on... the point is, it's never arbitrary, though if the character is background, they may just be designed based on an archetype just because.

I should try doodling something in the oekaki, just to see what happens. It won't be absolutely effortless, but it'll probably look kind of stupid. I just want to see if anyone'd notice or even care. Bulbagarden still has an active oekaki, I used to go there. Being active in more than one place at a time is taxing for me, though. I dunno how anyone does it. I remember looking at the bottom of the Topman/Topshop website at all the dozens of social network buttons and icons. I'm thinking "and someone out there probably has an account for every last one of these, and has yet to lose their mind". Some people can do it, apparently. Tumblr is too hard for me! I'd hate to see what would happen if I got too much more active than that.

I hate dominating these conversations. Come on, Alex, stop making me feel bad. :( You've gotta have some interesting things to bring up!

Yeah, I hear ya. I suppose I respond to as many people's galleries as I can because I put myself in their position. Sometimes I don't honestly have to as many people have left comments already, but I like to show interest because, well, I generally am interested. On the other hand, the gallery that have no one saying anything, I wouldn't want them to come out of it empty handed, so I leave something there for people anyway, using what little critiquing skill I have to give them a hand. But it does seem like there's a lot of post and run users there, which I can't blame. If you've got no other ideas, what else are you gonna do? Might as well check out the other boards. Still, it would be helpful to help your fellow artists out.

Eh. Overall, I guess I don't really care. I was just curious about why everything seemed so off balance. I'm fine with doing what I do for everyone. :)

Well, as for AB, I always have something cooking even if it literally takes forever to get any of it done. I live such a busy life that it's hard to really devote any time to any one thing. Even the rough animation that I posted for Tonight, I probably won't touch it again for a few months. I honestly just wanted to have digital thumbnails that I can use at a later date. I'm backlogged on a few animations as it is.

If you wanna contribute (as I'm sure you've noticed I'm not the only one with stuff on that site, though I probably have the most (and with photos, it's hard to tell whose are whose unless they have a watermark or content that you know matches the artist)), that's really up to you. I never force anyone to do anything. As long as it's within a PG rating, that's basically my only rule. Well, that and drawn art needs a sig because a long time ago we had art thieves out the butt, so it's an identification safeguard. You know, that reminds me. I know you don't have a gallery anywhere else, but do you own any websites otherwise? I mean, I guess it might not make sense unless it was journal-esque, but I'm just curious.

The heck? I still wonder why we aren't using that oekaki. Sorry if that came outta nowhere, it just popped up in my mind.

Well, if your Larvitar likes comic books, then that's a bloody good start if I say so, myself. Lisa started off as a no-name-one-off that was in this gif (which you may have seen already):

http://aquabunny.creativeworlds.net/media/gifs/Wii.gif

Okay. So she did have a name. Clearly, it's Lisa. But anyway, just based on that one gif, she eventually became sort of a hyper, comic book, video game and technology nerd who was familiar with all the dumbest memes and internet culture. But that idea didn't last long because I couldn't relate (my knowledge of memes extends to Trollface and the old How Do I Shot Web, and that's about it, XD). So, I scaled her way the heck back, and now she's just a gamer girl who's into western comics, looking to eventually get a job in making games (NOW I can relate). This helped separate her from her friend, Tuff, who's a Japanophile/wannabe mangaka into eastern comics. Lisa also got toned down in demeanor, and now she's rather quiet, and Tuff is the crazy boisterous one. Lisa still shows her old crazier side in the heat of video game competitions, though.

Honestly, if Lisa was someone else's character, or I let someone else adopt her, she probably would've worked well with her intital characterization, but I literally don't know not a single person who's that into the internet, so anything I'd make up would just ring false because I have no life references. I don't like making up fake characters, so something had to give. However, I know a lot of people into comics, and I want to make games. I also know girls that want to make games, too. Boom, there you go.

And that's how character development works with me in a nutshell, with a character that seems pretty related to what you're looking for. What I'm saying overall is that a good place to start is definitely with things you either like, or things you understand. It'll take time for you to settle into a groove you like. Oh boy will it take some time. But once you settle on something, you'll really enjoy it. It's only when you really don't know where you're going with it that it seems pointless and you end up abandoning it.

The thing about the 119 or so that you say were viewing A&D is that a huge portion of those people probably came from other sections, or aren't inherently artists. Honestly, I have no issue with that. I have no issue with any of it, really. But I guess what I mean is, well, it's the difference between posting your artwork on, oh I dunno, a forum completely dedicated to showcasing concept art (so now it has a purpose), and then posting artwork on a forum dedicated to plumbing. I wouldn't expect much from the latter. In fact, I would wonder what posessed me into thinking that was even a smart move. On the plumbing site, I may get a few "good jobs", but by and large, no one's going to have any real idea about what I've done, or even if it was something I worked really hard on vs something I slapped together.

On the concept art forum, though, the only reason anyone's there is to post work and get critiques on it. It's such a high profile site that anyone who isn't confident enough to showcase any work on it more than likely won't even sign up. Sites like this actually exist, they have some of the best artists I've ever seen anywhere, but heck if I'd ever join, it's really intimidating, and all my art is decidedly made for the purpose of being utilized in cartoons. n_n; Realistic skill, I have none (or at least lack the confidence to take seriously enough in regards to myself). I understand anatomy, went through all that, but once I started applying it to cartoony stuff and stopped practicing on the realistic, well, yeah.

Ugh. Anyway, so basically anyone who's remotely good will join this site. Because of how this site is set up, if you post artwork, you'd expect feedback. Conversely, you're almost expected to leave feedback for others as well. The site does not exist in a vaccuum, and it's not merely a place to just showcase art (they'll kindly redirect you to DeviantArt if you wanna do that). If all of a sudden, people stopped leaving feedback for others, and only lived within the bubble of their own galleries, that would be a very strange thing on that site, and it would effectively stop functioning the way that it was meant to. There'd be reason to show some serious concern.

Oh no, I have no idea where I was going with this. Curse you short term memory! That and my rambling. Bad combo.

Anyway, something about the above and then relate it to A&D but on a smaller scale because this site is not nearly as serious as said concept art sites.

Didn't Dero have a resource topic? I thought he was gonna sticky that. I've got a lot of those, though I probably need to find a site to upload a majority of them.

I don't know what PC family means, but okay. I don't have any objections. :)

lol, it's so hard to keep up with you... lemme try to tackle everything you brought up.

How the heck did I miss Cyclops. I mean, seriously. And I knew that last one was Hawkeye, I just knew it, but I didn't want to say anything because I thought I'd be wrong and didn't wanna look stupid. Grevious I didn't catch.

Aqua Bunny tends to do that to people, I'm told. :P Well, to anyone who actually goes through it (it's really the only way to appreciate the site, and that's when people finally "get it", skeptics included, I've had some of those :D). I'm pretty sure I still get plenty of click and exits, and I also get people who are Pokemon purists (in it only for the games) just jump to the articles, which is sort of missing the point (unless they go to that Yamash-ita article, that's my favorite one, but hey, I admire that guy). I guess they're still informative. If it wasn't for me, the Bulbapedia would still consider non-royal Nidos as hairless, which doesn't even make sense. But I get no credit for those things. That's fine. I'm totally cool with that. -n-

Aqua Bunny has done a lot for Nido recognition overall, but I think nowadays people don't really remember that anymore. Back in the mid 2000's (and paired with my original site), I really helped to boost Nidorina's popularity, and by extension, the other Nidos (you could literally count the amount of Nidorina fan art on sites like DA using only two hands). I described my site once as a tree. It's at a point now where there are branches branching off branches now, but they are removed from the trunk. That is, Nidos seem to be getting a lot more attention, but people are removed from how any of it started (or rather, when it really took off). And that's just sort of the way the internet works. Things spread around, and people no longer remember the origins. That, however, I really am okay with, because honestly I like AB as sort of small and of the greater internet's radar. :D

But enough about that. I just like getting historical, which to others is much more like unnecessary trivia... sorry for ramblin'.

i love your mudkip drawing ~

Can't wait dollface!

I love them both even though Angelle's face is a little obscured. But I'm sure it's because it's a sketch! But I love her wings. Maybe make both of their feet a little less human-like too! I think on Blizzelle her dress needs to be a little longer and no stockings but I love. her. crown. Love her facial expression too!

Fingers would be fine. And they all definitely have defined personalities. The story behind them is that they embody the spirit of the original baker who made them (Pokedex shizz).

On Gingerelle she needs to look a little more 3Dish and she'll be perfect. So it looks like she's made of mud but still with the buttons/frosting decorations. But she can be saved til last since I want to see all the evos!

pank poo

I'm home and now I get to see Firella in her full glory and she's perfect ;;