An Actor's Nicest Character

I thought I'd do a nostalgia post, now that I've rewatched Wild Thornberries season 2 (which turns into something else). 

Eliza is now nicer to Darwin, which is great. 

And I remembered Debbie as being a useless whiner. But she holds up pretty darn well during their travels. She's not enthusiastic about their lifestyle, but she finds a lot of ways to cope with it. She makes friends in new places, and even takes care of her adopted little brother. 

Betty White had a role! 

I had one of my silly thoughts. Nigel Thornberry is probably the nicest character that I've seen Tim Curry play. Of all his roles, Nigel Thornberry is the person I would prefer to meet. He may be eccentric, but I could learn a lot about animals from him. 

Which of course made me think about some other actors, and which of their characters I would most like to meet. I didn't follow this train of thought very far, but some actors it would be really easy. If they voiced one of my favorite characters, it would be a no brainer. I haven't seen Wade's voice actor in much else, but I'd definitely want to meet Wade. 

It was a little harder to decide for my favorite actor. Which of Hugh Jackman's characters would I most want to meet? Wolverine isn't particularly social. Maybe Bunny? That's kind of cheating though. I love rabbits. I guess I'd be biased toward animal characters... 

Survey Sidetracks

I learned an unusual amount about how to make a survey work effectively. Mostly during science classes, but also while asking people to do surveys for a while at the zoo. Questions have to be phrased clearly, have helpful answers, and so many other variables. 

I just took a survey that came on the Brandon Sanderson newsletter (author of Mistborn). One question was not very effective, because no response actually fit me. A different question brought about an entirely different problem. It asked what I would name my shard blade. So I started thinking what Fern's sword would be called. The survey was put on hold as I brainstormed possible ideas. I got some ideas, but I still need to work some more on the final name. I could only put a prototype name on the survey. 

Growl

I just watched some of the behind the scenes for Beauty and the Beast (the live action Disney version). I've mentioned before how Dan Stevens is really good at doing different voices, to the point where I can't recognize him between most of the roles I've seen him in. 

I had always assumed that his beast voice had something artificial added to give it an extra growl. But there was a clip of the actors reading their lines, and he just did that with his voice. So cool! Now I'm even more impressed with him than I was before. 

Instagram was a waste of time

So, I just learned that there's nothing you can do to stop Instagram from using your art for AI. So I've taken down most of the things I just posted. And I probably won't be posting much more here. What a waste of time. 

Rats are too smart

I think I have the Rats of NIMH in my garden. 

I got a live trap to try to catch the rats that hang out in the compost bin. I wear gloves when I reset it, to hopefully keep my scent off. And I know rats are smart. But this stuff just started to get unbelievable. I started keeping track of what these rats have done. Then I stopped keeping track because it never ended. 

Something fell against the catch, so the door couldn't shut. The rats somehow knew that it was blocked, because they finally went into the trap to steal the food. 

I fixed the trap and put new bait in. And they somehow got in without triggering the catch. 

Then somehow they managed to trigger the trap without getting caught in it. 

Then I found a bird in the trap. I let the poor thing out, and reset it. 

Then, once again, the rats got the bait without triggering it.

Then it caught another bird.

And another. 

So, I stopped setting the rat trap. I don't want to traumatize out native songbird population by locking them away for part of the day before I find them and let them out.  

The Latest Sketchbook

I finally finished another sketchbook! And it only took about four years. So it's time to share my favorites. There are more than ever, which is hopefully a sign that my art is improving. I will resist pointing out the mistakes I made XD 

This is a scene I redrew from The Last Unicorn. I tried to get something of a tapestry feel to the image behind her. 

My beast, from my version of Beauty and the Beast. 

Someone once told me they wanted a tattoo of tigers and California poppies. That sounded really pretty, so I drew it. Except I don't think I have her contact information to show her... 

Wade, from Elemental! I was amazed at how hard he was to draw. They said that he was a beast to animate, but I didn't realize that drawing a single image of him would also be a beast. I would have thought that the lack of any solid shape would have made him simpler to draw. But it just meant that certain details had to be just right, or he didn't look like Wade anymore. 

A fox wearing foxgloves! 

My favorite work of art is Winged Victory, in the Louvre. Which I finally got to see a couple years ago! At one point, I looked up images of what the statue might have looked like if she weren't broken. And none of them looked very good. So I did my own! It may not fit an expert's pattern, but it fits my vision. 

Ame And Yuki, from Wolf Children. I tried to do the sky in pastel, and made a mess of it. But that gives it texture XD

My Pokemon trainer, Cara with her Ponyta, Polaris. She's wearing a Sygna Suit, which are featured in a spin-off game. Some of them look really cool because the trainer matches their Pokemon. I wanted to try designing one for Cara and Polaris. 

When I was playing Undertale for the first time, I was horrified when Asgore broke the Mercy. I wanted to try to capture that moment. 

Queen Tara and Ronin, from Epic. I love both of these characters. Queen Tara is still the coolest namesake I could hope for. 

Figuring the Future

I just started a short story that takes place several years in the future of another story. And I realized how many things I have to figure out about. Like whether these characters have boyfriends or girlfriends! They're actually old enough to be married by now. 

That's hard to grasp when I've only ever written about them as teenagers. 

I don't think any of them are married yet. After thinking about it, they'd take some time to get started on that. 

This all coming from someone who sucks as writing romance. So I'll probably just have one person decide to ask someone out by the end.