I shouldn’t try to draw armor without reference.

This is not a portrait of Christian Slater, it’s a drawing in progress of a dude who is part fly or something.

Firstly, I saw it in 3d and the group I went with all seemed to find the 3d bad and distracting, some of them comparing it unfavorably to Avatar. It didn’t bother me at all. I noticed it a lot at first but very soon I forgot all about it. Occasionally a wisp would float across the screen, reminding me the effect was still there. I guess that could be called distracting; but what was it distracting from? A waif slowly meandering across a cg landscape?

That’s not to say this was a boring film; my attention was held through-out, whether by the visuals or what was going on. The story is a stock one of good versus evil plus girl transported from the real world to a dream world or is it. Nothing is original here and that’s okay, as long as the story-telling (ie pace, structure, clarity) is good and the characters are developed and genuine. The latter is where this film falls short; the characters do not have any dimension to them and are not even archetypal, like the plot. They’re just… there, doing what the plot requires of them, none of them more interesting or developed than any of the White Queen’s chess pieces. (I would also compare them to the cottony, insubstantial aforementioned wisps that float across the screen, but two similes would be overkill).

Alice was blond, beautiful, and wan, and other than that, I did not know anything more about her character at the end than I did at the beginning, except that she looks great draped loosely in blue fabric. The Mad Hatter was pretty much Johnny Depp being Johnny Depp but without any of the nuance or charm he is capable of. The White Queen’s only interest came from her actress walking funny and her repulsive, but somehow also beautiful make-up job. I would have enjoyed more of her. She was weird and I wonder what made her that way.

I have other issues with this movie, one being the excessive use of CG. Everything is shot in front of green screen, and most of the time, the actors aren’t filmed together, because Alice is either shrunken or giant for most of the film. And Crispin Glover has a nine foot computer body, and Helena Bonham Carter is short with a big head. When Alice was trying to outrun evil armor-card things, I never felt fear for her, because I knew the danger was entirely computer generated. She couldn’t be hurt. I did not buy into the illusion that the world, and its dangers, were real.

Johnny Depp even does a CG dance, at the end. And it is so stupid, I can’t put it into words. That scene was so bad it destroyed any benevolent feelings I had toward the movie until then. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

This is my character, she eats children and can cut glass on her cheekbones.

Painted on a crappy monitor so I have no idea what it looks like on a good monitor.

There is quite a variety of owl species but each one is a murder machine. I did some owl doodles trying to bring out the personality of different species.

I was inspired by a drawing I found while looking at greek pottery at wikimedia commons:

daw, so cute

But it’s still important to take inspiration and ideas from other artists. Seeing sketches by someone you admire that has clues to their process is just as exciting as seeing a fully rendered painting. Here are some by Glen Keane, a living legend among animation fans. He’s supervised the animation of a whole bunch of Disney leads, including Ariel, Aladdin, Beast, Pocahontas, and Tarzan. His drawings are bold and graphic, and so awesome that I’m sure if I look at them hard enough I will absorb some of his greatness.

There’s a blog showcasing his drawings, maintained by a fan, and videos of him drawing on youtube:

The designers justify it as “style” but I think it goes to show how this game has no style. The character models and the backgrounds all attempt to look as realistic as possible- but fall pitifully short. None of the other armors are attractive, but they’re not as exaggerated and over the top either. There just isn’t a cohesive look to the game. Who was the art director? Ah, no wonder, looks like he worked previously on Kotor, a game even more horrifyingly ugly.

Cailan’s and Loghain’s armor are a minor quibble but I can still poke fun at it.

This was what I drew to amuse my friends for Christmas. It’s not great, but it is a picture.

I’ve pretty much only doodled this past week. I keep telling myself it’s for warming up, but I never move on to actually make a complete picture. Well that changes now! I swear to God I made this blog to make myself get better and I will start updating as often as possible. I’m really inspired by this guy. He must draw every waking moment, maybe in his sleep too. He is incredible.

I’ll be moving soon, and I’ve already started shipping my belongings east. I’m a little excited when I’m not