so whats i been doing instead of blogging?

err i guess there would be no great surprise in telling you iv been up to my ears in paint

 for latest updates on my art click here

iv written some poetry too

to see that click here

and i got back into designing board games

mainly because ... well ... i was bored and it seemed appropriate way to kill time

(yes awful pun i know)

 perhaps ill post a pic of that later

ohh and did i ever mention i was designing a dragon

a fully articulated one using a program called blender

(wire frame environment)

yes hes a little basic for now but hes still a baby

as time goes on and i learn more about the program he will get a little more detailed

(forgive the awkward pose for now poetic poses will come later this is simply the easiest pose to design him around)

iv used blender briefly in the past to very basically and crudely alter objects.

and the computer nearly melted at the effort of doing just that

but this is my first try at creating from scratch and certainly my first go at adding the ability to pose

most folk learn using a ginger bread man

...

(a screen shot of said ginger bread man posted by some one on yahoo)

but i figured sod it if im going to learn ill do it with something that will hold my interest

now im not designing him with a view to animation, i want him as a model for painting or for use in comp gen art.

and yes im aware the frame is a mess but.. i tried smoothing it out and didnt like it .. i prefer the craggy look

now .. experienced users of the program would of gotten this far in their design in less than an hour

but so far its taken me forever

im not going to tell you how many days it took me to get this far because you would laugh

but ohh well im a newbie ill get better as i go on

for now though

we need to give him a name

(answers on a self addressed postcard to blog answers.com ;-)

and yes hes seeing an orthodontist today

i was busy adding the teeth last time i was working on him

not yet finished shaping them and positioning them

all of which as im sure you can easily conclude means ... yep im still getting hit by a fair few mini manic phases

and damned useful they are too

i have some good news to share too but that my dears is another post ;-)