How my approach to perspective has changed

[ThreeOhFour]

Thanks, Chris! I didn't really mean for that part to sound like 'this is how to show a big world', I really just meant it as 'I wanted a way to show more of the world than I usually could, and felt this helped me do it'. If it didn't give you the feeling of walking in a big world, that's just how it goes. Intent doesn't always translate well to the viewer, and I think it takes a lot more than a change in perspective to really accomplish a specific goal - this just nudged me a bit closer to getting there, perhaps.

[Ryan Timothy B]

Those who think they know all, know nothing.

I've been playing around with Maya lately modeling whenever I feel like making something. Currently making an anthropomorphic fox. Since I'm not all that great at modeling yet (quite bad actually), I have been copying heavily from someone else's work so I could keep the shape and style and still be low polygon. I believe their work was somewhere around 1250 triangles and I'm nearly double that. Albeit I did add more definition so that it wasn't as low poly, also I have made it with an actual mouth, but it's definitely something that takes a huge amount of practice and I'm not there yet. Just moving one vertex can dramatically change the feel of your character. I've been staring at it for at least a week now, playing with it here and there between life and TV shows (Stranger Things was amazing) but cannot settle on anything. I keep making adjustments and saying "wow, that made it much better. How could I not see that before?".

Anyway your work has impressed me and you've developed your skill way beyond anything I can now do. I can always remember your first attempts with your stylus - man you've come a long way. I've tried searching for them but no luck. Do you still have them? It would be nice for people to see where you really really started. I believe I called them painted pixel art, or that it looked like the town you had drawn was mold covered.

[ThreeOhFour]

I think faces are especially sensitive when it comes to making adjustments. It's very easy to make one that looks creepy or grotesque just because it's a little bit off.

Sadly, I have very few images that are a few years old, and certainly nothing THAT old. I'm a terrible archivist of my own work, and most of that stuff was hosted on image sites such as Imageshack which have been dead for years. People unfamiliar with my early work will just have to believe those of us that were there when we say that I was really very bad at drawing.

[gameboy]

Sadly, I have very few images that are a few years old, and certainly nothing THAT old. I'm a terrible archivist of my own work, and most of that stuff was hosted on image sites such as Imageshack which have been dead for years. People unfamiliar with my early work will just have to believe those of us that were there when we say that I was really very bad at drawing.

I remember playing this and thinking it was a pretty good looking game. Your art has come a looong way since, but it's fair to say that wasn't a bad start at all.

It was better than anything I could do at the time, surely.

[Grundislav]

I will always love the painting of the elephant.

[ThreeOhFour]

Well, this has been a fun trip down memory lane.

To be fair: I still draw elephants like that. That's one thing I haven't learned to do properly yet.

It's amusing that I still haven't made a game as high resolution as this one since.

[Grundislav]

To be fair: I still draw elephants like that. That's one thing I haven't learned to do properly yet.

You'll get there. I believe in you.

[CaptainD]

I will always love the painting of the elephant.

Wait... aren't you supposed to ignore the elephant in the room?

[Danvzare]

I will always love the painting of the elephant.

Wait... aren't you supposed to ignore the elephant in the room?

Sometimes you need to talk about the elephant in the room.

[tigris]

Thanks for sharing your experience, awesome post!

[NickyNyce]

I have never seen a rubber duck and a lava lamp in the same room before....lmao

[ThreeOhFour]

I will always talk about the elephant in the room.

tigris: Thank you!

NickyNyce: I definitely have! Be more adventurous with your interior design!

[xBRANEx]

I just wanted to say thank you for this blog and posts on this forum because I've read most of them in the past years. They've been a huge help.

[ThreeOhFour]

Very nice of you to say, thank you!

[dactylopus]

Thanks for the insightful post.  It's great to see a breakdown of the progress from over the years, made better by commentary from the artist.

[Yitcomics]

Today I put up an essay I've been putting together about how I've changed my approach to using perspective when drawing background for games, and I figure some of you may be interested.

INTERESRTED!!!?,i'm in desperate need of it lol

Thank you so much for doing this,I always keep a look out for these kinds of articles.

[Mandle]

Gosh, yes, absolutely. It's super, super hard to escape your own style. Every time you draw a stroke with a pencil that stroke is guided by years and years of practice and knowledge hidden in your brain that tells you how to draw that stroke. Ignoring all that subconscious knowledge isn't very easy; it's the well traveled path to an image that we hope will look good, and veering off that path is very hard when your goal is always hoping to make something that looks good.

This is something I read in a book about the entire creation of "The Nightmare Before Christmas":

Tim Burton was sending the concept artists sketches of what he wanted scenery and characters to look like, and they were cleaning them up way to much for his liking, and he said something like: "Good, but it has to be more jaunty and squiggly in places..."

So the concept artists all decided to start drawing with their off-hands and suddenly everything they drew was getting the Burton stamp of approval...

Maybe the other side of the brain does have something new to offer when you're worried your style is getting stale?

[ThreeOhFour]

dactylopus: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the post!

Yitcomics: Hooray, thank you, and you're welcome!

Mandle: It might be! Hard to say - that's a really extreme example, but I guess it shows that sometimes an extreme push is what's needed. Interesting anecdote, thanks for sharing!

[Mouth for war]

The way you have evolved with your art is Amazing!!! Seeing that screenie from your first game made me think how my first game looked (3 attempts at a sequel and still nothing so It's safe to say it will never happen haha ) I'd like to think I'm doing better now with the art even if I'm all 3D these days. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread, it just made me think how I began as well. Fun to look back at things. Allright I'll shut up now

[NickyNyce]

I spy marijuana