Parallels.

Something I ponder a lot about these days is character design and how much cartooning-down I want to do in general.

We love big, inviting eyes and people that are something like 6 heads tall - because let's be real, when you look in a mirror and realize how tiny your head ACTUALLY is in comparison to the rest of your body, it's actually kind of unsettling - and all sorts of shortcuts that make storytelling potent and hyperhuman. We also like to look at characters with either far fewer details, so we can inject ourselves into them and find them more relatable... or far more details, because then they deeply enrich the world they inhabit and become the opposing forces we pit ourselves against.

Long story short.

I was sketching and did 3 different Mae'houns, sort of as a test of how detailed and non-detailed I could get, with my usual style there in the middle.

Also, you know, to prove this point to anyone who's interested.

Rotoscoping.

Trying for that classic cutscene look. Still in 256 colors, plus matching the simplified colors of the sprites and tilesets.

Economy, double, or deluxe?

This is coming along really well, I think!

Tileset kingdom.

Perhaps some humble beginnings...

"Where does the line start?"

The riff-raff at the Guild Hall waiting for their assignments.

Wolfenstein moment.

For the status screen and potentially dialogue boxes, I thought it'd be a good idea to be prepared with avatars - representing our heroine's current physical/emotional state.

It's like I keep saying: "A couple of pixels changes everything".

Back on task.

Lifting (or "come on!" and "woo-hoo!") hands; riding at full speed; a flintlock pistol; a painted foal; bats of a sort; cardinals.

And a sunset couldn't save me now.

I love baobabs. So, since the beginning, I've imagined them as a part of this saga.

Scale is important!

Video game goals.

I have mentioned to friends that my last therapy session was actually very enlightening on an artistic level. (I've gotten a lot of insight into my art through my regular therapy sessions, so there you go. They're good for coaching and bouncing ideas off of.) We talked about the parallels between fantasy and real life - overlaps as well as the need for a "safe" realization of wishes and desires. So when I dream up a video game where you ride a yak around, pitch a tent, weave your own clothes, and work in the fields, I think that's some concept of a life I envision working out pretty well for me.

One thing that always bothers me about fantasy video games is how you can often carry 99 small glass bottles of potions, as well as several cabins, swords, suits of armor, etc... and still see a character wearing scantily clothes with nothing on their back. Where is all of this STUFF? Don't get me wrong - I find those 99 Cure2 potions infinitely useful, but it takes away so much of the worldwide travel feel of the game when there's no positive or negative consequences for the act of taking basic necessities with you. (I've enjoyed/hated Earthbound for the relatively small inventory slots, where you carry things like bubblegum, baseball caps, and sandwiches.) The horse/horse analog is always an upgrade but does nothing much but make you pass up monsters and satisfy the estrogen levels people like me, who squee at every mount like a 7th grade girl.

So, as I [pretend to] learn to code some Python and draw up sprites, I want to keep in mind the romanticism of lightweight travel - the intimacy of the goods you carry with you. How everything has a place, it gets unpacked, it sits in your campsite. I've spent some time studying nomadic lifestyles, specifically of north and east Africa - the sticks, reeds, and hides atop camels as people move from place to place. I love it. Your possessions become sacred to you, being repaired and re-used, and they are a comforting constant in an otherwise changing landscape.

Home base.

All packed up and ready to go!

Some more pixel art!

Mae'houn and a few of her friends, complete with thumb-sucking little children. Again, I tell myself it's for fun, but I would love to have a classic 8/16-bit RPG of it. One glorious day, perhaps.

Yakety yak.

Mucha hair!

The rider and the poet.