The Fuzzy Slug » Uncategorized

All Write! Webcomic: Bold Feelings

Natalie — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:08:14 +0000

In which a minor crisis is averted.

Check out the full comic here.

MaAH Illustration: Doppin

Natalie — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:46:16 +0000

Initial digital sketch.

Beginning to ink the piece digitally.

Final image.

Yesterday, P.G. Holyfield released some exciting news about his novel, Murder at Avedon Hill. It’s going to be published though Dragon Moon Press. As a fan of the story (and friend of the author) I couldn’t be happier for Patrick. As I’ve said upon numerous occasions, it’s a wonderful story and it deserves any and all recognition it receives. So, big congrats! I can hardly wait for its new release. You can see the official press release here. He also released a special announcement episode, here.

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I was going to wait to post this image when the corresponding episode of MaAH was released, but with the recent good news, I figured now was as good a time as any.

Patrick asked me a while ago if I would be interested in doing another image for one of the last chapters. I, of course, jumped at the suggestion. The image itself was left open to whatever scene I wanted to do. After refreshing myself on the events of the applicable chapters, I sent a few ideas off to Patrick. From that correspondence we decided on this image (as to prevent any major spoilers of the plot).

For this illustration I decided to do the whole thing digitally. This method worked well for the last MaAH illustration I did, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to expand my digital art skills.

The first image is a rough concept sketch for what I had in mind. That was approved. I then moved on to the inking. The great thing about working digitally, I found, was that if I made a mistake at any point, I could easily redo or adjust the image. In this case, I found that I had placed the arm in an awkward position. I also noticed that the eye position was a bit off. So, I just moved everything around a bit until I was satisfied.

For coloring I shaded with sharp lines of different color shades rather than doing a blended shading. The only reason for this was that I hadn’t really used that technique much and wanted more experience. Plus, I like the look. I also changed the color of the ink for the spirits from the original black to a light blue. This was done using a clipping mask layer (in Photoshop) under the ink layer. During the coloring of the spirits, I also found they needed more detail, so I added some swirls and additional line details. To get the spirits to look transparent, I filled them with color on a separate layer, then reduced the opacity of the layer.

The hardest part of the coloring, oddly enough, was the background. I was having trouble getting a texture and color that I really liked. After adding several textured layers and tweaking the color settings, I finally found a combination that I liked, while also matching the described scene in the story.

New Fuzzy Slug URL

Natalie — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 22:57:00 +0000

Just so y’all know, I have registered the http://www.fuzzyslug.com domain. Right now Blogger is converting the old blogspot address to the new one. However, eventually I see myself moving to Word Press as I am out growing the Blogger features. So, I since I don’t want to loose anyone along the way, please update any links you have. Thanks! :-)

The Best Fake Medieval Castle

Natalie — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:24:00 +0000

This is a photo of Châteaux Haut-Koenigsbourg near Orschwiller, France. There is actually an interesting story that goes along with this castle (and why the title of this post is what it is). The castle’s documented history dates back to the 1100′s. The ownership of the castle passed hands a few times before being destroyed in 1462 by a coalition of forces from Strasbourg, Colmar, and Basle. It was then rebuilt in 1479 by the Thierstein brothers. They improved upon the design of the castle by adapting the structure for artillery. In 1517 the last of the Thiersteins died out and the castle passed hands once again to Maximilian I. At this time the castle began to fall into disrepair. In 1633 the dilapidated fortress was taken by the Swedes in their war with Austria during the Thirty Years’ War. A few days later what was left of the castle was destroyed by a fire. In 1899, the castle was given as a gift from the town of Selestat to German emperor Wilhelm II. In 1900 work began to restore the castle to the state it was in before the Thirty Years’ War. Architect and archaeologist, Bodo Ebhardt, took on the task of restoration from historical accounts and documents. Since some information was lacking, Bodo improvised where necessary, trying to keep accurate to medieval construction. The result was fairly accurate as recent historians have determined. So, in reality it’s not completely fake, just mostly. ;)

It turned out (as I later discovered) that artist John Howe was participating in a small documentary on the artist, Leo Schnug (who painted the interior paintings of the castle) the day before we visited. Here’s the preview if you know French. If not, well, just pretend. ;)

Technical Details
Camera: Nikon D50
Aperture Value: f/11
Exposure Program: Program
Focal Length: 18 mm
Metering Mode: Multi-Segment
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/320 sec

Aww… it’s such a cute little city

Natalie — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:51:00 +0000

Friday night we went down to OMSI and took some photos of downtown Portland at night. This is taken from the east back of the Willamette river looking west along the Portland Esplanade. I think that is Venus in the upper left corner.

Technical Details
Camera: Nikon D50
Aperture Value: f/8
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 18 mm
Metering Mode: Multi-Segment
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/0 sec

Tunnel of Sharks

Natalie — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:59:00 +0000

This was taken at the Oregon Coast Aquarium during a random trip to the coast at the beginning of the year. We ended up getting there late in the day and pretty much had the run of the place. Apparently the aquarium doesn’t get many visitors on New Year’s day. Anyway, I should have brought a tripod if I knew it was going to be this devoid of people. Instead I had to rely on a steady hand and a convenient wall (such as the case in this shot) to get sharp photos without resorting to ugly flash. This is a fairly new exhibit at the aquarium. It is called Passages of the Deep and there are a series of three tunnels like this. And yes, those are some shark jaws at the end of the tunnel. This whole exhibit was created out of the old Keiko orca tank (“Free Willy” killer whale) after they shipped him back to Scandinavia.

Technical Details
Camera: Nikon D50
Aperture Value: f/3.5
Exposure Program: Program
Focal Length: 18 mm
Metering Mode: Multi-Segment
Exposure Bias Value: -3 EV
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/2 sec

2lips

Natalie — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:42:00 +0000

Here is another photo from the tulip festival. This shot was a bit tricky to get. I had to straddle a row of flowers only to find out that I needed more light. Stupid cloud… So, once the sun came out a bit I took a bunch of shots just to make sure I got a non-fuzzy one. This one seemed to be the best out of the lot.

Remember folks…

Natalie — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:10:00 +0000

…tomorrow is International Computer Shutdown Day! So get out there in the real world and do stuff!

Masters of Engineering?

Natalie — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:47:00 +0000

I hope so.
Class is officially over for the term and now I must endure the ravages of time while I wait to see if my grades are high enough. For graduates this means that you must get a B- or better. *much nail bitting*
If all goes well I will finally graduate!
I hope I hope I hope.

I hope.

The blind leading the blind….

Natalie — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:48:00 +0000

It was one of those gotta-take-a-second-look moments. I was walking past Pioneer Courthouse in downtown Portland the other day and there was a large group of people hanging around one of the statue fountains. Normally, one could expect many groups of people hanging around that spot. Of course, normally those people would mostly consist of either homeless people or grungy dreadlocky pierced teenagers asking people for smokes. This time is was a group of blind folks. They didn’t look homeless and they weren’t bumming smokes… hmmm…. odd.

They were on a tour.

Yes, a tour. THAT is what got the second look.

While that idea, in itself, is not all that odd, the tour guide also appeared to be blind.
I didn’t think I’d actually see the old adage “the blind leading the blind” materialize word for word.

Out of curiosity, you find yourself asking… “so… how does a blind tour work?”

The tour guide stopped in front of one of fountains and announced to the group that if they felt around they would find some statues of animals. The tour group starts poking around. One unfortunate group member trips over a fawn statue on the ground. Others manage to find the a deer statue and start feeling it and commenting on how lovely it is.

I was torn between laughing and thinking how cool that was. I compromised. I giggled then thought about how cool it was. :)