UPDATE

[tealin]

I know you thought this day would never come ...

I HAVE UPDATED MY WEBSITE.


As well as that, the Utter Miscellany area is as up-to-date as it can be. The links and FAQ have been modified slightly, too, if anyone cares ...

I'm working on converting pages that were in the old format into the list format, and cross-referencing like mad to make sure every character and book has all their respective images, but wow ... that's a lot of work. I should be sewing my Halloween costume but somehow flannel is repulsive in the summer heat, so I slave over a hot laptop instead. Go fig. I think I've been conditioned to update my site in the summer because that's when I've been out of work, in the past, and more often than not the computer has been kept in the coolest, darkest room of the house. Still, a year – even a relatively unproductive and CRAZY year such as the last one – that's a long time without an update. Sorry. If you find any broken or misdirected links, please let me know so I can fix them while I'm still in website-updatey mode.

6:31 AM
Thanks to our neighbours blaring South Park at bloody five in the bloody morning, the Discworld page has been updated too, for what it's worth.

12:57 PM
The Goblet of Fire page is now in list format, which makes it even more apparent how few drawings it has. I'm working on converting Azkaban's page but it has the opposite problem .. holy crap did I ever draw the heck out of that book.

Off to work now, so no more updates today, probably.

10:12 PM
I lied. (Liar!) I mean, I did go in to work, but I also updated a bit more. Prisoner of Azkaban* is in list format now (it goes on and on!) though incomplete because I haven't added stuff from the Azkaban Project By-Products. The Azkaban Project is off the front page (I figured four years was a good run) but you can still find it at the bottom of the Azkaban page. All the Books pages should have the same sort of navigation stuff at the bottom. Please be vigilant for broken links to the Azkaban page; I changed the filename at the last minute and I think I got them all but I don't know. All the old Books pages should now redirect to their current incarnations.
*Going back through all the stuff for this book and listening to the soundtrack was great ... How did she get this one so right and then ... what happened?

Whew.

It is definitely not time to treat myself to a little musical villainy. [innocent whistling]

Comments

[septentrio.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, it took you so long that I forgot your website is totally how I found you to begin with. XD I was like, "She has a website?" And then, "OH YEAH, DER." :D

Checking it as we speak. :D

What costume are you doing?

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Not gonna say, in case I've left it too late to get finished on time and I have to disappoint people by recycling last year's.

[septentrio.livejournal.com]

Aw, okay. Well since you said flannel, I will have to assume you are going either as Adam Maitland from Beetlejuice or George Lucas. ;D

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Actually I only got flannel because I couldn't find wool (or a decent facsimile) in anything approaching the right colour. It was a choice between flannel and linen, and linen was way too identifiably lineny and expensive.

[sequie.livejournal.com]

Yay!!! I just adore your drawings and to see the new(er) ones finally in one place together with the old ones is terrific! And it totally put me back into "Sunset Boulevard"-mood *turns up volume of CD*

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[bleupencil.livejournal.com]

So. Much. Love for your art! ♥

[alexandra-stone.livejournal.com]

You have The Bartimaeus Trilogy art!!! *spazout*

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I've had that for well over a year now ... :)

[alexandra-stone.livejournal.com]

i didnt know that since i'd never been to the misc art section before XDD
btw: DH's 'flying' and 'snape shaped hole' = epic win ehehe. I really havent checked your site in ages >.>;

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

An, an UPDATE? Holy crap. I mean, I've probably seen it all already because I've been following your blog for a while, but I'll go see it anyway since you tried so hard. 8D

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

Bahahah, I never saw the Silverwing anime doodle! The distributor wanted it more anime? Is this one of the changes that occurred to worsen production that you had mentioned over at sydpad's blog?

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

That actually happened pretty early on ... they reached an OK compromise on the design, I thought, though it did render the characters EXTREMELY difficult to draw, which made the final product look really shoddy. They had this great strategy to keep the budget down: in anime, especially TV anime, the characters can hold poses for a long time with only short bits of full animation in between, because the dynamism is found in the timing, staging, and storyboarding. What they failed to factor into this equation was that the poses that they held are generally really well-drawn, and you just don't have artists of that calibre working at a second-rate TV animation sweathouse in Manila. On top of that they also had to use the timing indicated in the boards, timing indicated by someone who's probably got a little experience but is essentially doing it blind, not getting to test the timing of the poses or go back and meddle with it when it gets into animation to make it look better, so it gets mushy. So basically, they tried to be economical by adopting anime's techniques, but the circumstances led to forfeiting what anime does well, so you end up with something that falls short on all sides. Sigh.

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

*pats you on the head* There, there. :| Despite its shortcomings, it was enough to satisfy my 12-ear-old self, at any rate. :)

You know what else I just realized? There is a HUGE jump on the quality of art depending on the section, like, you can tell at what point in your life you read something because the art is better/worse, depending. The Discworld page, for example, is overall about a bajillion times greater than the others. XD It's quite remarkable, really. Heck, you can even tell you got better whilst doing the Azkaban project. Improvement is enjoyable.

Also, the one Bromeliad drawing of Masklin and the thing is no longer misfiled, as it is under "Bromeliad." Not a huge thing, but I noticed anyway. 8B

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

[groans and clutches head] Oh maaaaaan, some of that stuff is so awful. If it weren't for the fact that so many people have told me they like seeing it, it would be GONE. Believe it or not, a disproportionate number of requests for the use of artwork have been for the really old stuff! Why?

Agh, agh, agh.

I'm glad you can see and appreciate the improvement .... :) And yeah, I think the Azkaban Project was the best way I could have spent that summer, not only did it boost me up a notch but it kept me from completely losing my mind before work started again in the fall.

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

Hahah, I know the feeling, sort of. Well, not the "masses of fans forcing me to keep my outdated art in full view of the public" part. I mean the looking back and just wanting to DIE OF SHAME part. Also, since I have also been writing down stories and such since I was around 10, I have the double-cringe of seeing another AWSUM LIEK WHOA story about people with swords and magic.

I can't remember where this phrase came from, but it goes something like, "I don't wish I knew then what I know now; I just hope I'm not as dumb now as I was back then."

There is an artist (who shall not be named) who has not visibly improved since I was in grade 8... and I am starting college in the fall. I mean, in grade 8 I thought she was amazing, even though she stopped updating after a while, claiming she had gotten fed up with art thieves (which is fair enough). She returned with a pic not too long ago and, uh, I was underwhelmed to say the least. To say that I appreciate improvement is a bit of an understatement. :P

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

It's one thing to do art for a hobby, it's another to have a very definite goal and a lot of literature out there acting like one of those roller coaster signboards, saying 'You must be this good to work here.' My site spans the entire time from enthusiastic amateur in high school, through an intense animation program, and six years of professional experience ... there's nothing like having to draw for eight hours (or more) every day to improve one's drawing skills. Obviously I don't know who you're talking about or what her story is, but ... circumstances being what they are ...

Update

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

You might want to change the copyright date from 2004 . . .

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know, when I'm done I'm going to just go through everything and copy/paste the new copyright line.

[azvolrien.livejournal.com]

There's a slight mistake on the Discworld page - the 'Nonchalance' link leads to Vimes with his ducky blanket.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Woops! Thanks.

[beckychan.livejournal.com]

Your webpage... oh my god, that's how I found you! ♥ I'll have to take a look! (When it's not the morning I'm going to be moving my funiture to my new living establishment.)

[ubiquitouspitt.livejournal.com]

Yaaaaaayyy!

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

Just thought I'd mention, if you're ever interested in doing more Redwall art (I love that series, by the way), I have some photos of my pet mouse that you might find helpful. I actually took them with the intent of doing some mouse drawings of my own.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Those probably would be very helpful, though I'm starting to feel that what I need most if a taxidermy mouse/rat/misc. rodent that will hold perfectly still and which I can turn around to study from every angle. And also some more imagination in the way I construct cartoon rodent heads, which hasn't changed since I was 14.

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's fiendishly difficult to get a mouse (or any kind of rodent, I suppose) to stay still for any reason. They even move in their sleep.

I'd suggest, for a cartoon rodent head, to make it as close to a real rodent head as possible. They're almost perfectly proportioned for cartoon-ization anyway.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

The trouble is ... it has to look bad-ass, rather than just cute. Rodents have cute built in. I like what they did with the rats in Secret of Nimh (perhaps a bit too much); they're expressive, but still clearly rats, and you can honestly believe they could kill each other. Obviously mice have to be a bit cuter than rats, but they still swashbuckle.

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean. Even rats make me melt inside at the cuteness. But, then, I'm a rodent-lover, so that isn't surprising. I think that's why I like Reepicheep--he's cute, and he swashbuckles!

I like Secret of Nimh too, and I think the anatomy for the rodent characters remained reasonably accurate as well, or as accurate as it could be (obviously, there had to be some tweaking while anthropomorphizing the characters--it may be interesting to note that while the front feet of mice are shaped almost exactly like human hands, they have no thumbs, just a little nub where the thumb should be).

My newest journal entry is pretty much dedicated to mouse pictures, if you want to take a look. I think most are, indeed, of her just looking cute (I think she's asleep in about half). Some are kind of blurry, but there are some nice poses. There's one in there where I could imagine her wearing a little black cape and plotting the destruction of Earth:

[moonmystique.livejournal.com]

Neville's Gran is my favorite image of the updates <3

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

I have JUST NOW found your Aziraphale and decided you can probably hear the squeal from across the country.

So perfect.

SO. PERFECT.

This usurps linnpuzzle's.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks! Good Omens fans are a discerning bunch, so your enthusiasm is flattering. :)

YAY!

[auditrixlectrix.livejournal.com]

So looking forward to looking through the updates.

[anathelen.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the update! I like your Childermass. JS&MN was a very paintable book in general; Ms Clarke gave quite a bit of atmosphere to work with and left me spooked for days.

I just finished Master & Commander the book and, having not seen the movie, had your drawings in mind the entire time. Must. Read. Them. All! Fortunately, I live in a sailing town; the public library has all of the books and the movie. I will be busy this weekend.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Wow, it seems like quite a number of people have never discovered the Utter Miscellany page ... is there any way I could make it more obvious? I guess hiding it at the bottom of the 'Terra Extra Harry Potter' list and not giving it any sort of description is poor sales technique...

I'm glad you're enjoying the O'Brien books. Unfortunately I fell off the wagon when summer ended a few years ago and never climbed back on again, but one of these days I'll read the rest of them. I'm jealous of you, getting to see the movie for the first time. If you can, try to watch it with as good a sound system as possible!

[creednick.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, I love you.

[rhianimated.livejournal.com]

I have just finished reading the last of the Bartimaeus Trilogy books, and have to say that seeing the drawings you did from them some time ago was the main reason I picked up the series in the first place; and I loved it, so, thankyou!

I've always wondered what, apart from his Ptolemy guise, Bartimaeus would look like in his Djinni form; I can't seem to pin down anything resembling a decent mental image, or remember if his appearance was specified as being anything other than whatever guise he was adopting at the time. I love your Kitty though, and your Golem's Eye Nathaniel with the floofy hair and uncomfortably tight suit is absolutely spot on :)

[ledygrey.livejournal.com]

on the Prisoner of Azkaban page, about halfway down, Hermione Doesn't Like Divination and Home From Practise both link to the hippogryff picture of Buckbeak chowing down.



(...also, Disney wouldn't happen to have any openings for gofer...? I make a mean pot of coffee...)

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Sheesh, what is up with that picture? It kept elbowing its way in when I was making the list, too. Foul thing. Anyway, should be fixed now. Thanks for catching that!


(Not to disparage your coffee skillz, but Disney already has Carlos, who is quite possibly a manifestation of the God of Coffee...)

[ledygrey.livejournal.com]

alas and woe!

[kellhound1365.livejournal.com]

I've got to tell you I can't express how much I love your sketches. I especially like all the little sketches you did of Dr Horribles face and that you posted the little frame by frame break down of how you paid attention to subtle expression. I'm gonna start doing that now to work on my acting for comic book art.

[salamandersoup.livejournal.com]

I've missed your website. :3 LOL AWW THE MARAUDERS' PHOTO ALBUM IS STILL THERE. :DDD ahh, memories.

...and then there were seven

[(Anonymous)]

I love the amazing updates to your website, but your front page still says:

"Now I've read all four several times, the movie has come out, merchandise has filled stores, and the ranks of Potterheads have grown immeasurably."

Notice that there seem to be only four HP books in existence according to this statement. Harmless overlook, I know, and I just wanted to alert you to it. Maybe I'm just being annoyingly picky? haha

Re: ...and then there were seven

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Hahah, yeah, I admit I've turned a blind eye to the opening spiel on my page for the last ... eight years ... actually I haven't touched my HP front page in forever. Thanks for the reminder, I'll see what I can do about it.