Theme by Robyn

The situation involving this image (but also the image) is a little bit crap due to numerous technical issues:

1. my computer's original motherboard got fried (my fault),

2. I've been slowly rebuilding what I had including reacquiring/transferring licenses and finding drivers (no, I don't want help, it's already a mess managing on my own),

3. with the new motherboard, my 4:3 Wacom can no longer map exclusively to one 16:9 monitor (meaning either I stop using my dual-monitor setup or I now have to draw a very tall "0" to draw "o", if that gives you an idea of the degree to which the proportions have been contorted)

4. I haven't even gotten a chance to TRY to get my ancient scanner working again (the above is an iPad photo of the drawing), and

5. by this point, I've used traditional media so little that when I went to get a good pen, not only did I reach for the toolbox instead of my art box, most of the pens have long had the ink dry out.

If this sounds like a laundry list of excuses not to draw, it is. I do feel like all I want to do instead of draw is give excuses why I'm not, so here they are:

A. Drawing is physically taxing for me now (not that the above list helps anything),

B. I have significantly less time in the day after work, between overtime and running errands and buying a house and trying to eat better and working out and everything else I'm trying to accomplish with myself that does NOT involve drawing, and

C. In the grand scheme of things, I don't really care about the end result—that is, where the great artists I admire bust their butts because their dream is to see that omnibus of inspiring work at the end of their journey, I see a lot of misery exerting myself for something I'm pretty okay with seeing in volumes of text instead, even if only on my personal computer.

...I know this is a very long way to say, "Hey, I'm not really drawing anymore, but here's a doodle" but I kinda should say it. I did fall in love with the visuals here, though not enough so that I'm going to "finish" this more than you see above... not this year, anyway. Sad to say, but since I managed to make their human versions in XCOM 2, I've basically substituted that for their entire universe. It's captivating (if creepy) how they have their own private lives outside of me, now—I noticed that Darian talks with Ruth in particular, and it's both sweet and weird.

I'd guess this means I should start playing The Sims, but I don't like wholesale manufacturing my characters in someone else's game THAT much. Anyway, I'd never finish writing my other stories if I hang up on this one as much as I have*... luckily, my other characters don't translate as well, so I'll get some work done. Eventually. After we finally have a place to live and not have to worry about losing stuff in the process of moving things anymore (or in the process of trying to get a bloated, unoptimized game to run on something that clearly can't).

*The idea of Lucasing the story constantly runs through my head, but I don't think I could ever change anything, if I did—no "Greedo shot first" kind of thing, so much as adding in forgotten scenes (one in particular bugged me) and maybe taking out stuff that doesn't work as well. I also realized just how horrible their universe actually is, and I kinda want to spell that out a little better... one of these years. It's okay if I don't get to, though... too interested in finishing more of my Steam library.