The Lamppost Island Dispatch

Tixi and Turbo, with lyrics

2009-01-15T02:55:16Z

Leonard Cohen's "Jazz Police" may seem a strange choice for Tixi, but there's more about it that fits her than just the first line or two of lyrics. Meanwhile, Turbo's crusing the lanes of the Desert Speedway to Mark Knopfler's "Coyote", about a similar solitary southwestern speedster.

Luen Mazarine

2009-01-14T05:13:23Z

Just thought I'd draw a character from my for-the-moment-back-burnered Delyria setting: Luen Mazarine (yes, that's how it's spelled now), the grouchy monster-tamer. He usually wields an oversized chalice, but I couldn't figure out how to make that work with this pose (I know, I know, should've planned better), but a meter-long staff carries about the same meaning - he's not out to kill things, he's out to make them work to his advantage.

Dopple, Blitz, and more lyrics

2009-01-12T18:23:09Z

Another pair annotated with song lyrics - REM's "Bad Day" and the Foo Fighters' "Breakout", to go along with Dopple and Blitz. I've been having fun with the typography on these; Gyre's yesterday was just sort of generic, but all the others should have something appropriate going on with the lettering. Incidentally, that's supposed to be the font as in the official Critters logo.

Gyre and Digit, with lyrics

2009-01-12T06:22:23Z

These are two appropriate songs for them, too - The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" and Röyksopp's "Remind Me". Probably the best version of Digit I've drawn yet, and Gyre's not half-bad, either. I'm starting to concentrate more on backgrounds, getting more of a feel for just what their territories look like. This is because it's getting to be time when I need to start drawing out the level graphics and actually building stages, and I need a good clear mental picture beforehand.

Gimble with Wrench

2009-01-10T03:14:12Z

Here's Gimble, the mechanically-oriented Critter with the mentality of a pre-teen girl on a constant sugar high. Those markings around her eyes aren't eyelashes; they're just white squarish spots that resemble gear teeth. I've drawn her here before, but I liked this expression so much I just had to share this one - it's not often you see Gimble actually at work. She clearly enjoys it, too, spinning from one project to the next in a literal whirlwind of activity.

Patch, Glitch, and the Critters Logo

2009-01-08T07:11:32Z

Not much to comment on here - just the main character of the Critters story, her partner, and a slightly redesigned logo for the series. The tilt works somehow, I think.

Auger's favorite word

2009-01-07T02:25:35Z

Just a bit of silliness here to break the journal back in - you might notice that the URL no longer has a ":3300" in it for the port number; my Internet connection is back and better than ever, and that includes port 80 finally working.

Incidentally, if LJ does go belly-up, all of my images are safe (since they're all on the lamppostisland.com server here), and I'll be backing the text up soonish, so nothing here should be lost.

Multi-Patch

2009-01-02T04:33:49Z

Just a silly doodle for now - what if Patch had three heads (and four arms)? The fact is, she's not really proportioned for it; her head's too big anyway to fit three of them onto her body, and even then her ears stick out too far to the sides. So this doesn't really work. The arms might, but she doesn't really need them; they'd be a fun addition, but not really part of her essential Patchiness.

Patch Variants and a note

2009-01-01T06:40:46Z

You've probably noticed that the images here seem to be missing. There's a reason for this; my (now former) ISP is embroiled in some kind of legal battle with Qwest, who promptly pulled the plug on them. I've since switched ISPs, but it'll take some time for my connection to flip over. Until then, since I'd rather keep the art on a server I actually own (for my own reasons), I'm going to put this journal on hold. It shouldn't be more than a week before I'm back, though, so consider this a short new-years vacation. See you shortly!

Turbo

2008-12-30T06:47:30Z

Just thought I'd put up another picture of the System's workhorse Critter, Turbo, whose strength and speed are (almost) unmatched, but who gets very little respect from the others, or from the System in general. Her job is tiring, but at least it gives her a chance to get out on the solitary roads; Turbo has a very philosophical mindset, and enjoys having time to herself to think.

Two more

2008-12-29T03:53:42Z

Er - yeah, sorry about that, you two. Onyx, of course, has four legs, and Pearl has four arms. There's no corresponding second winged Critter, though; Piper has wings but is basically bird-shaped, Gyre's propellor doesn't really count, and Jette's wings are rigid and also don't really count.

Arms, Wings, and Legs

2008-12-29T01:37:36Z

The character designs for the Critters include - as usual for me - a handful of multi-limbed characters. These are them; I've made attempts at other ones, like four-legged versions of Flicker and Auger, but they haven't stuck the same way these three have. Ruby, on the left, has four arms (and a sort of centauroid posture most of the time), Dopple has a big pair of batlike wings, and Frigid has four legs. They're all sort of oddly proportioned as well, even beyond the extra limbs, but there's not much a deep meaning there. They just are who they are.

!Patch

2008-12-28T03:13:04Z

Just for a bit of balance, here's Patch's would-be partner and, initially at least, evil counterpart: Glitch. The eventual fate of those two is something that remains to be seen, but it will be seen, at least. I'm going to be devoting more time and attention to this story - working on the game's engine, rebuilding the village (yet again) after the engine's been upgraded, and this time being sure to figure out how to make actual story events happen. I think I've figured out what my ideal medium is - I just need to do all the up-front work to make it happen.

Even More Patch

2008-12-27T07:49:37Z

I'll just present these without comment in the order I drew them.

Beaky Demon Thing

2008-12-24T06:03:58Z

Just an experiment in drawing an unusual character with an unusual angle and pose; this isn't anyone in particular, though the rectangular mark on his top pair of shoulders would indicate that he belongs in the Mondecart setting, as a demon of some kind. A demon of what? It's hard to say - though all of them have a sort of dual purpose. Nihal is as much a demon of Madness as of Courage, and Nashira as much a demon of Confusion as Experience. Sloth begets Efficiency, Envy begets Self-growth, and Pride is as double-edged as always. Mondecart's story is as much a deconstruction of the usual ideas of "good" and "evil" as it is a setting for a card-based game where demons fight each other.

Patch, making faces

2008-12-20T20:14:46Z

I admit, I've been obsessing over Patch lately, but this is what it was leading up to - a bunch of facial expressions, mostly for the sake of practice but also because some of these are faces I'd never tried putting on Patch before. She's very rarely angry, for instance, and the "skeptical" face seems even more out of character. That is, unless you picture her saying "Waaaait a second! This isn't pie!" or something along those line.

Also, the "morose" expression really should have the ears down, but that's because it just started as a generic "facing backwards" shot, just to show off that the stripe behind her eyes actually goes all the way around her head.

Patch sketches

2008-12-19T04:27:28Z

Just a few random sketches of the maintenance-Critter, Patch. The one on the right was a challenge to draw the usually-cartoonish Patch as a realistic character; I felt the need to give her shorts and a pendant for some reason - maybe she's going surfing or something.

Fala, conbadge-style

2008-12-16T05:58:47Z

Just a quick experiment in drawing Fala as if she needed a badge for a convention. I might ink and color this one, just to have an updated badge for at least one of my characters (I don't have a single character who's really recognizably "me"; the best I could do is wear a dozen of them and hope someone recognizes one).

Flicker, re-designed

2008-12-15T07:59:13Z

Ehr - roight then, Oi oughtta introduce meself. Name's Flicker, an' me specialty is buildin' little contraptions an' whatnot f'r all th' other Critters. Me territ'ry is named th' Crimson Canyon - er maybe Cavern, tho' it's sorta both - an' it's a hot place full o' magma an' molten metal an' whatnot. Ehr - roight, y' prob'ly knew oll that. But 't least Oi'm in me proper shape here, as y' can see - squarish, wi' big arms an' small legs. May not be in color loike that older one, but Oi look roight, an' tha's whot matters. Still jus' th' one usable arm, but that's nowt gonna slow me down one bit. Oi'm ready an' willin' t' make anythin' y' need. Ehr - roight after this nap. An' supper... an' me post-dinner nap...

Aurora (and Ratiomancy)

2008-12-14T05:21:29Z

This character is Aurora, a raccoon who lives in Elseways, on the University grounds. She's physically unremarkable - a raccoon of normal size and shape - apart from the copper-colored lightning-bolt collar she wears, you might think she's just another animal. She's a bit more than that, though; Aurora has the inherent ability to generate and control electricity. Like Skye Bergstrom, her physical changes are too subtle to see most of the time, but her fur has an odd texture to it; it's stiffer and almost feather-like, which means she poofs quite dramatically whenever she's surprised. Likewise, her ability is like Skye's ability to create balls of light; it's based on how magic works in Elseways, which is a system I've nicknamed "ratiomancy".

Magic is an inherent part of a person - they either have it or don't, and (short of cheating) there's no way to change that. It's not all fun and games, though. Sure, you get some kind of supernatural power that effectively turns you into a superhero (and, in fact, many magicians keep their ability a tightly-held secret), but there's a cost. To fuel your power, your body requires you to eat some kind of substance. Exactly what this is varies wildly from person to person - it could be as common as wood or ice, or as rare as a specific herb or gemstone. This fact is balanced by the fact that things which are more rare or specific will have a greater restorative effect. However, it's not so straightforward, and this is where the "ratio" part comes in.

A magician's energy level can be expressed as a fraction like 21/25, or a percentage - ideally, it should stay as close to 100% as possible. There's nothing keeping it there, though; the "numerator" drops slowly over time. It even drops while the magician sleeps (although more slowly than while awake), which means a good night's rest may feel nice but won't really help that gnawing hunger. Every time the magician's power is used, the numerator drops even more quickly. Below about 50%, the hunger starts to become overwhelming, and at 0%, they're completely drained and will be unable to think about anything else - of course, no matter how much else they eat, they'll stay hungry as long as their specific need goes unfulfilled. It's a different kind of hunger, but it has much the same effects. Overeating, however, causes much different things to happen.

There's nothing keeping the fraction from going above 100% - in fact, some people do this on purpose for the high it gives them. Eating their specific food increases the numerator by the same amount no matter what, even if they're already "full". Up to around 200%, the effect is a kind of euphoric madness and a loss of control of their own power. This is self-correcting in most cases, since using it will drop the percentage back down, but the problem is that they have no actual control over how it behaves. Aurora in "overdrive" mode would just shoot lightning bolts randomly (and from this picture, it looks like she's up around 110% herself). A healer might turn carcinogenic, while a shapeshifter might turn monstrous. It's possible to go over 200% - there's no theoretical maximum - but at some point, the magician's body will be unable to contain the vast amounts of built-up energy, and without a release, this can be fatal.

The denominator of the fraction never drops; it only builds slowly but steadily upwards over time as the magician uses their ability over and over again. This has two main effects - one is that they can hold more energy, so they progressively need more and more of their key substance to keep going. The other, though, is that they can use their power more without worrying about running out, and they're less likely to go into overdrive mode. Of course, if they do, it'll just take that much longer to get back to normal; this can lead to fairly dangerous situations.

Aurora, for her part, is actually more skilled than she appears; she's an unofficial magic instructor at the University (there are no public-knowledge magic departments there, mostly because the University respects a magician's right not to out him/herself, and so the meetings are generally secret and unofficial). She's sensitive to the signs that magicians exhibit, and can directly estimate someone's energy ratio to within the nearest 10%. Aurora's key food (and I could use an actual term for these "key foods") is garlic, so she makes sure to keep a large stash of it around just in case.

the Storyteller

2008-12-07T03:05:33Z

I'm wandering off out of town for a week - I'll leave you with this picture of someone else prone to wandering around places and telling stories about where he's been and what he's done. He has many names, and has been many places, but there's no mistaking his gray-and-black body, his wings that seem far too small to fly on, and his rare body shape. Six arms, all the better to gesture and punctuate his sentences with. Six legs, all the better to roam the worlds upon. Three eyes, one for each of the ways of seeing. A beak that can mimic anyone's voice, and ears that can hear a melody from miles away. He's the Storyteller, and when I get back, he'll have more stories to share...

Beta

2008-12-05T01:01:01Z

Artificial life form turned engineer, Beta works for the Continuum Corps in their Engineering division; he has encyclopedic knowledge of electronics and circuit design stored in his brain, and his stubby but surprisingly dextrous hands have put together more than a few handy gadgets for the agents. Beta was originally an artificial life form, created in an attempt to design a whole line of obedient servant creatures who would perform maintenance tasks while remaining permanently cheerful and having no will of their own. Beta suffered from the defect of having a personality and free will, and he would've been destroyed shortly after birth if not for a last-minute rescue.

Beta is less than 3 feet tall, and his childlike proportions and speech impediment often give people the impression that he's just some sort of pet, kept around because he's cute. The fact is, Beta hates being called "cute"; he just wants to be seen for what he is inside. He's plagued by the thought that no matter what he does, he's still just a small fuzzy animal, and a defective one at that - he's a perfectionist who takes mistakes very personally, and depresses very easily because of it.

Intermittent Sketch Dump

2008-12-04T04:00:44Z

I'll do a few of these during the next few days; again, my schedule's still a mess, but I've drawn some things:

A more three-dimensional-looking Gyre, with a slightly redesigned (and more authentically helicoptery) tail rotor.

And Vesta - revamped a bit for a new setting, now plus two arms and minus one tail and most of her fur.

Irregular schedule ahead

2008-12-02T06:30:48Z

This is just to say that, for the next two weeks or so, my schedule is going to be very irregular thanks to end-of-semester stuff (and a conference in Vancouver next week). Regular updates should start up again around the 12th or 13th, after I get back; I might post things before then if I feel like it, but I can't promise anything.

Avram Markov

2008-11-30T21:05:22Z

The people of Elseways come in a variety of different shapes, and tend to dwell in different places accordingly. There are humans, like Skye; they make up about 30 percent of the total population, and tend to live clustered together in large social groups - cities, in other words. The humans of Elseways come in all the varieties they do on Earth (in fact, Elseways shares Earth's geography to a certain extent). There are also animals - these make up another 30 percent of the population, and come in all the species they do on Earth. Mammals and birds are all intelligent beings, capable of speech, although they still behave mostly like animals; the wilderness of Elseways is a lawless place. There are no cute little squirrel villages made of treehouses or anything like that - just because they're intelligent doesn't make them social. Then there's the other 40 percent of the population.

They're called "demihumans" - their anatomy is a mix of human and animal features, always based on a single species of animal (there are no animal hybrids there; gryphons are technically not allowed). The exact proportions vary, from nearly-human with a few animal features (such as ears or a tail) to nearly animal with a few human features, and everything between. The typical sort of anthro-animal characters you see fall into this spectrum, too. Demihumans can freely go just about anywhere, although they don't quite fit into the cities (which are really built mostly by humans for humans without much regard for anyone else) or the wilderness (pure animals don't see any kinship to demihumans at all; a demi-raccoon trying to get along with raccoons will just get strange looks and a small measure of pity). There's an odd sort of symmetry here; humans live in cities and, even if they visit the wilderness, are more or less expected to wear clothes. Animals live in the wilderness, but even in cities it's a little strange to see one wearing clothes. Demihumans mostly wear partial clothes, if any - the standard cartoon outfit of a shirt and no pants is entirely typical of their kind, although of course individuals who choose to identiy more strongly with one side of their heritage or the other can wear full outfits or nothing at all. Demihumans don't really occupy any defined place in overall society, although there are large demihuman-exclusive regions built in out-of-the-way places by separatists who want to live life on their own terms; these places tend to be areas that humans abandoned long ago and left to the wilderness, or out in rural areas where the border between wild and civilized is more blurry.

Avram here is a demi-deer, although his extra limbs are another matter entirely. Independent of whether a person is human, demihuman, or animal, there's another set of possibilities; one can either be normal, magical (which leads back to ratiomancy, and I'll explain that later), or "touched". About 1% of the overall population is magical, while about 10% is touched; they have no special inherent abilities, but their bodies are altered some way - extra limbs are common (unsurprisingly), but so are different colorations, weird patterns over their skin or fur, cross-species body parts (like a unicorn's horn), or odd proportions (like extra-long arms), among other things. All of these can be combined freely, as well, and be present to varying degrees. Magical is actually a subset of touched; you can't have an innate ability without also being anatomically odd. Centauroids are touched demi-humans, for instance; a normal demi-deer would have four limbs, but Avram's eight are a matter of his being one of the touched.

Avram is a park ranger, living independently out in the Near Wilds; a few miles from the outpost is his cabin, where he and his twin sister Annika (who has the same pattern of limbs Avram does; twins are always identically anatomied) lead self-sufficient lives. They patrol the campgrounds, picnic areas, and hiking trails that the humans set up for their own use, making sure the worlds of humanity and wilderness don't collide - they don't just go after litterbugs and otherwise careless people, but also do their best to prevent humans from straying from the trails or being attacked by animals. They're not official park rangers - the wilderness isn't a park, and the city doesn't have any influence over it - just a pair of demihumans whose job is to keep the borders from leaking.