Update - I originally wrote this journal at 1/2am when I was tired and I feel it shows. I've gone back and re-written a few things I feel don't flow well, as well as add in the video I wanted to include as it was missing. And so, after sixteen months, my first OC Project has come to an end. As this has been a big part of my art and creating during that time, it's hard to really grasp how I feel about it being finished. For the most part I think this has been a fun little project. I'll go into more detail why further below but for the most part it allowed me to do something I find extremely enjoyable; draw my OCs and develop them further. I also found it to be an interesting topic of discussion with other artists, some feeling it was holding me back by how limiting it was coming across, while others like Tuntalm were inspired to start a similarly project called "Hello, my name is" over on the group RandomBrains.
It's also helped me grow and expand my roster in a way I never considered before. I'll go more into it but now I find myself wanting to work with and develop all of my characters more, rather than just the core three.
Did I meet my goals?
I first created this project to accomplish three things and now that it's done, I'd like to look back at them to see if I hit them. So, lets look back at what I said in OC List, and see how I got on:
"Actually FINISH pieces. Before I began this project back in December, there were a few pieces for characters like Snow, Velvet and Norika that I began working on but never completed."
I definitely met this target. With the exception of March 2016, I finished one digital piece for each of the characters I wanted to draw (two for Zoey). Sure there were corners cut on them and shading is something I really need to look into more, but the loop of "starting but not finishing" was broken.
"Start to shed some light on lesser known and used OCs. With the help of toonartist I've been reviving a number of my older OCs over the last year or so. He's also been helping me create new ones from random concepts, ideas and conversations and I've also been planning to do something with the characters I adopted from wearetheproblem."
Again I definitely met this target. One of the problems I faced prior to starting it was how rarely I drew characters that weren't Snow, Mewrah and Norika. Characters like Ephea and Amber had existed back as far as 2008 but were barely touched between me creating them and me staring the project. I feel spending a month on each OC allowed me to focus purely on them, and often I'd find myself hit with some random inspiration and idea for their backstory, personality or ability. I also enjoyed working with newer characters like Morgan, Paru and Zoey for the first time, and it's been great seeing people show support for them. It's certainly made me more keen to evolve them more in the future and perhaps re-shuffle my lineup so they get more of a spotlight than what I initially planned for them.
It also made me realise that adopting characters my old friend Tom (aka wearetheproblem) didn't really work out for me. I went into more detail why in OC Reshuffle and Happy New Year Everyone/January Update, but I've find myself now more interested in the revived version of Amber and the new OCs Jen and Tabitha than I think I ever really did for Adrianna, Velvet and Hazel. I think those three just felt off, often because the changes I made so they would work in my world just didn't seem right. Celeste/Camilla is a perfect example of this; as Camilla was so far removed from Celeste, it didn't take much for me to turn my ideas and new elements into a brand new character with little more than a name change. I find I have more freedom with the new characters, and that's something I'm looking forward to working on more in the future then trying to add to existing concepts while also respecting their original incarnation and creator.
"Update and re-design my "known" characters. I love commissioning another artists, dropping various elements in front of them like they're Lego blocks and then seeing what they create. I've done this with a few artists, namely toonartist, PactMaker and Keem-Toon and I felt it was finally time for me to compile all their suggested in one look."
I easily hit this target, showing off tweaks and concepts I'd had in mind for a while. I've also since found myself coming up with new designs for a number of characters, either as the old one didn't sit well with me (Zoey's Martial Arts look), the colour palette was a little off (Morgan), the direction I chose didn't work (Camilla) or it just seemed too similar to another character (Ephea). I'm aiming to work with a few artists in the coming months to hopefully bring some of these ideas to life.
I also feel this project helped me more when it comes improving than anything I had done prior. There was, granted, one issue that hung over the project (which I'll get to shortly) but I've easily produced more art during this sixteen months than I did in the year or so on my old account and in the time between starting this one and starting my project. The pictures I've done have exposed my issues with gestures and proportions and while I've hardly mastered either, I now know of the problems and thus am able to address them in the future. You're mileage may vary on how much I have improved over this project but I feel, even though the Paru and Saffina pictures may be amoung the weaker ones I've done, they still look better than the Snow one I started this project with.
Just before I started this project, I saw this video:
I'd advise watching the entire video if you get a moment, but the key moment happened at the 3:42 mark, when Satchbag Goods utters the phrase "Done is better than perfect". He goes on to explain that it is better to get something done rather than waiting for it to be perfect. In many ways that was the trap I fell into prior to this project; I wanted the piece to be perfect and kept starting it over until it "was", a goal that never came. As I said above, by "putting on my gloves and stepping in the ring" I have learned more about art than I ever did spinning in a circle. I'll admit I'm not proud of most of the pictures I've drawn, in the classic "five minutes after I've finished it, I hate it" sense a lot of artists go through. Going back to my boxing example, I've definitely lost each of those matches, but I still got back up and tried again, where I may do a little better in the following match.
Were There Problems?
Oh without a doubt. Having a self imposed deadline meant I was pushing myself to finish pictures but it also meant I was cutting corners. I had actually planned for a background on the first picture but never got around to adding it in, so none of my pieces got one for consistency. There were also a fair few occasions where I'd allow bad shading or a poorly drawn/proportioned limb to stay because I knew fixing it would waste time that may have been needed elsewhere. The final picture is a perfect example of this, as I knew the shading was bad in places but I was so desperate to hit my deadline (or as close as possible) I just accepted what I had done. While I was living by the "done is better than perfect" mentality, there is a fine line between having flaws where you've still done your best and cutting corners because you don't want to fix them, and sometimes I wondered if I fell into the wrong side of it.
There was also a couple of occasions where I wanted to draw other things, like a simple Norika sketch showing off some of the alternative designs I had in mind for her, or the "Season 2 Previews" that had to get scrapped because I needed to focus on the main piece.
The other major issue I faced was how slowly I improved, and my reluctance to draw anything to help with my "training". While I've since begun working with a recommended Loomis book, I find I'm only willing to read it and do some of the exercises during my lunch break at work. When I am at home, all I wanted to do is work on the piece for my project (or procrastinate as I often did). As I've said to some people, drawing my OCs will always be where I get my most enjoyment in art, and I often find the only way I can get motivated to draw is when I do something I find enjoyable. Additionally, even if I wanted to do some work with one of my books, the looming deadline for the upcoming picture could well mean I'd be unable to do anything that isn't related to the piece.
When We Return
I have a lot in mind for the "next season" of my project. With the help of various artists a fair number of my OCs have received modified or brand new redesigns, and my first goal for the new incarnation will be to draw these myself. I'd also like to start drawing some of the "alternative" designs I have, whether they're simply a revamped version of an older design or something else entirely. I also have some new characters I'd like to draw this time, be they characters I never got to during the first wave, new characters who were created as it was happening or people I've revived and given a new spin on. Finally I'd also like to officially show the different body shapes for my OCs. I've always tried to give my characters a unique figure, whether it's the petite and slim Ephea, the perky and toned Mewrah, the curvaceous and voluptuous Norika, the "pear shaped" Camilla or the muscular Morgan. I see the unique body shapes as being one of the more important parts of my character's design but trying to convey that to artists I commission and work with can be a pain. I feel drawing them naked or nearly naked will both help me in my learning, as well as giving myself and other artists a better reference to work off of. Yes, I do like topless pinups but I want these pictures to be more of an anatomy study and character reference first, so if you dislike seeing an artist draw naked women then I'd advise un-watching me now.
