My NaNo Prep So Far...

It is officially the last month before NaNoWriMo.

*dies*

If that doesn't freak you out, I don't know what will. NaNo is amazing, but INSANE!!

I've basically procrastinated my prep for it all this time, after struggling through two failed book ideas, I finally found an idea I liked. And that would work.

I think.

But just because I have this idea doesn't mean I have a complete plot- there are so many more things I'm nowhere near figuring out! So that means---October is the prepping month.

I have to kick my non-motivated butt into action!!

This is my idea journal or whatever you wanna call it! This is basically all I've touched concerning prep. All of my ideas and brainstorming go in here!

I have a page that has the start of what I think my novel will be on it- but I need to fill up way more pages.

*sobs into the floor*

I have the best understanding of my main character...which...happened....because...

*nervous laughing*

Because innocently, Jaclynn and I decided- HEY! Let's write our characters together as a writing exercise to get to know them more!
So of course we did that.

She had a girl character (since then her NaNo novel has changed, but that was originally her character).

And I have a guy character.

Can you see where this is heading? XD

We started out writing really awkwardly because I had no inspiration, but soon enough we were writing like crazy...the writing exercise went over the span of a couple weeks...And...the inevitability of us TOTALLY SHIPPING OUR CHARACTERS TOGETHER HAPPENED.

I've drawn some fan art...

This was just the start of all the fan art to come afterward. I think in total I made...eight drawings of these two love birds...XD XD

(edited by Jaclynn)

But besides us making a huge ship for our two separate characters, I learned a lot about my character Zack! I think it'll be easier to hear his voice now when I write him in the first draft. If he would just shut up about how he's made for Evelyn, maybe I could focus. XD LOL!

(picture does not belong to me. I found it on Pinterest. XD)

This is a real life, not drawing of what I imagine Zack to look like! If he was one hundred percent accurate, he would look just a little different, but this is pretty good. ;)

This was a drawing I posted on Instagram of another one of my characters! She is the actual love interest of Zack's, even though once again- Zack is yelling about Evelyn. 

*sigh*
BE QUIET, ZACK, I KNOW.

Basically my NaNo prep has involved too much drawing and not enough deciding what my PLOT IS EVEN ABOUT.

(That's how you know I love drawing more than writing. XD)

So, tell me! How is your guys' prep going? Have you ever drawn your characters before? :) I love to do it, I feel like I get to personally figure out more about them from it. ;)

Thank you for reading my post! :D

-Emma-

P.S. Tell me if you want to learn more about Zevelyn...I have multiple screenshots of our texts and how their story all went down. Plus an abundance of drawings. XD

Project: Finish What I Started - Update One + A FAIL

Hi everyone!
If you read my post about finishing what I started, then you would know I'm going on the journey of finishing all of the unfinished drawings in my most recent sketchbook!

I am calling it Project: Finish What I Started, and I am bringing you my first update! :D
I have finished a total of four drawings so far! Here they are-

This was the first drawing that I attempted to finish- two bounty hunter sisters! :) 

And here is the finished product! I wasn't really in love with the drawing when I drew it (that's why I never completed it), but I think it looks pretty cool all done! :)

Now I don't think I showed this dude to you in my list of drawings I wanted to finish, but he was incomplete, and I am going to be finishing nearly all of the drawings in this sketchbook. He was originally supposed to be one of the characters in my NaNo novel, Wings of the Banished, but if you notice (ha) he has quite the large chin, and I didn't like his pose and just bleah. But I did it. I penned him in, then colored him! Look at what he looks like now! :) 

He looks pretty great! I still don't like his slouchy pose, but he turned out a lot better once I fixed his chin in the final product. :) He doesn't look like my character though, since I gave him red hair and casual clothes.

Unfinished...

Finished! I love the bright colors I got to use in this drawing! I'm super happy I finished it! It only took me a little bit, and now I have one more completed picture in my sketchbook! :)

And now for the fail. This drawing of Jaclynn and I acting on stage at some sort of rehearsal. 

*cringe*

My problem was the lighting. Stage lights are harsh, drowning the actors out in super bright light and ultimately creating harsh shadows as well where the light doesn't shine. And I colored in the drawing with normal colors and normal lighting in mind, but it didn't look like Jaclynn and I were on stage or whatever, so I attempted to add the spotlights and lighting, resulting in this really funkily (that's not a word but who cares) colored drawing.

It also didn't help that I really disliked the drawing without it being colored. XD

ANYWAY! That was my first update. I also got back on track with posting Glazed, which is another thing that I want to finish this year. It's been going on for over a year now or something insane. O.O BUT I WILL FINISH IT, AND IT WILL BE OVER!

(My, my, redundant much?XD)

I hope you liked my update, and stay tuned for another one next week! :)

-Emma-

Is there anything that you are planning on finishing this year? Basically all of my resolutions revolve around finishing stuff that I've started...O.o

Expressions - Capturing the Emotions Inside

Hi everyone!:)

Although I have made all of the drawings for the next part of Glazed (turns out we have to wait two more parts for the "scary thing" to happen. Oops!;D), I thought it would be best to break up the constant flow of Glazed with some tips for artists!:) I believe that this "tutorial" might help writers, too, for writing expressions. I hope.;D

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to make a post about drawing expressions for your characters that look real and capture the emotions that they are feeling. So, let's get on with it!

 

Happy!

To make your character look truly happy, the secret is to push their cheeks up, making their eyes somewhat squinty from the bottom. It immediately adds a genuine touch to it, but in case you want their smile to be tight and fake, don't add the "squintiness". To finish, add a big smile with little lines at the corners of the smile. Eyebrows differ all depending on what kind of happy grin you want, but a generic smile usually has high eyebrows to add a gleeful appearance. 

Sadness, with a bit of fear or disbelief.

I originally meant for this one to be only sad, but it turned out being a little fearful, too, which is fine!:)

Upturned eyebrows, wide eyes, and a bit of the mouth open, makes this look look a little shocked and very sad, with just a dash of disappointment.;) 

Sad and Hurt.

 This expression was created with low upturned eyebrows, squinted eyes with tears.

ANGRY!XD

Making your characters angry is so much fun!XD A lot of things are incorporated to make your character look genuinely angry, such as arched eyebrows that deeply slope downwards, making the skin above the eyes go over the eye, squinted eyes, and occasionally bared teeth for that extra something. LOL! I also add wrinkles to the bridge of the nose, corners of the mouth and nose, and above the nose.:)

Boooored...

 Making your character look bored is pretty easy, I add no curve to the top of their eyes (just two straight lines) then the curve below that for the bottom of their eyes. I didn't do anything special for their eyebrows, but you could make one higher than the other to add a bit more "flavor" to the character.XD

Confused, Skeptical, Doubtful.

To make your character look more confused, I would have made the eyebrows dip farther down into the line of vision, but I didn't, so he looks more skeptical than confused. Usually for skepticism, I only do one high arched eyebrow and slightly squinted eyes.:) 

Bonus- Cocky!

To make a character look cocky or arrogant, there are many different ways to do so, but this is just one- I made them have a smirk, which, to me, means that only one side of the mouth is actually smiling, so only one cheek is pushed up into the eye. You can bring one eyebrow up farther than the other, but I decided on making both of them upturned. Mildly "smiley" eyes finish the expression.:) 

(Also, I would raise the actual head, so that they are looking down at whoever they are looking at for that sense of superiority that comes with pride and arrogance.)

I hope you liked seeing all of the different expressions, although I didn't cover all of them.:) I hope this helped!:D

-Emma-