Female characters being written badly though... yes, that's something I definitely understand, and I can definitely see that. I've certainly seen a lot of stuff with female characters who were just... very difficult to like. It's especially easy to notice when there are very few women in a series (like Fushigi Yuugi, for example). Now that I think of it, there was some of this problem in my last fandom as well. Since you asked, that was Weiss Kreuz, 2001-2003 or so (man, has it been that long? I had to go check my ancient fanfiction.net account to find out. Thought it was more recent). Anyway, that was the last fandom I was actually active in, aside from My Little Pony but that was focused on collection/restoration rather than the, er, show and fic and stuff... where am I going with this. OH RIGHT. Weiss Kreuz. It had some female characters that were pretty awesome, but most of them didn't have a lot of screen time compared to the main male charaters, and they tended to get ignored a lot in fic. Though I was only involved in the fanfiction writing side, so maybe things were different in other ways. Hard to tell.
Fables, you say? I've heard of it. At one point I considered picking it up, but my ex was a fan, and... eh... well, you probably know how it is. But I'm sure after a while all that bitterness will have worn off and I'll be able to read it. I used to be really big into comics, but man, they're expensive, and it isn't like you ever run into them at the used book store. So I've kind of slowed down what I've been reading. I still need to get through Maus, and I haven't read all my volumes of Moomins, but that's all I have at the moment. I really want to read more, though. In my 4th year of undergrad I took a course on comics as literature, and ahhhhh so much good stuff to read (though we didn't touch any Gaiman). Though the analysis bit wasn't as fun, hah.
As far as art goes, pencil crayons are really the only thing that I've had consistent access to, and they're the only thing that I've become really, really good at. I use them for pretty much everything (when I do draw). And normally people end up thinking it's photoshop if they see it online, or pastel if they see it in real life - because the colours are so smooth and the texture does not look the way they would normally expect it to look. I sometimes feel kind of... smug, I guess, when they get all wide-eyed and like, "What? Pencil crayon? No way!". Hah.
Paint Shop Pro is kind of archaic I guess, but it gets the job done. I bought my copy - this was way back and I'm pretty sure torrents didn't exist - and I haven't really bothered to move on, I just keep using PSP7. I think part of the reason that digital colouring takes me longer than physical colouring is partly because I'm just better at real media, and more used to it, so I can blend colours more quickly, get them to look exactly the way I want them to. Also, when doing digital, I have to use my non-dominant hand, which slows things up a bit. Well, whatever the reason, coloured pencils take me a couple days, whereas digital takes a week or more, and that's if I constantly sit there and do it.
It really, really bothers me that digital is looked at more highly than traditional, at least in the online world. I know that digital art looks better on a computer, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with traditional - and yet, I've gotten so many comments saying "Oh, this is okay, but you'd do so much better with photoshop". I DON'T WANT TO USE PHOTOSHOP. And I know they think they mean it as a compliment, but it really, really comes off as if they're putting down my medium, and arghhhh. Nooooo. (Now I just feel like whining).
Multi-talented people are just like, wow. Fortunately a lot of the ones that I know about/follow/etc are so good that I can't even bother being envious of their skill; I just sit back and enjoy the pretty. Like Ursula Vernon, oh my god, so good. *flails* The things she can do with paint, good lord. Or a few hours with a tablet. alksdfj.
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Yuu. Fic writer & book lover. M/Canada.
Re: Your comment of 25062 characters exceeds the maximum character length of 4300.
Date: 2009-09-01 09:14 am (UTC)I was only involved in the fanfiction writing side, so maybe things were different in other ways. Hard to tell.
Fables, you say? I've heard of it. At one point I considered picking it up, but my ex was a fan, and... eh... well, you probably know how it is. But I'm sure after a while all that bitterness will have worn off and I'll be able to read it.
I used to be really big into comics, but man, they're expensive, and it isn't like you ever run into them at the used book store. So I've kind of slowed down what I've been reading. I still need to get through Maus, and I haven't read all my volumes of Moomins, but that's all I have at the moment. I really want to read more, though. In my 4th year of undergrad I took a course on comics as literature, and ahhhhh so much good stuff to read (though we didn't touch any Gaiman). Though the analysis bit wasn't as fun, hah.
As far as art goes, pencil crayons are really the only thing that I've had consistent access to, and they're the only thing that I've become really, really good at. I use them for pretty much everything (when I do draw). And normally people end up thinking it's photoshop if they see it online, or pastel if they see it in real life - because the colours are so smooth and the texture does not look the way they would normally expect it to look. I sometimes feel kind of... smug, I guess, when they get all wide-eyed and like, "What? Pencil crayon? No way!". Hah.
Paint Shop Pro is kind of archaic I guess, but it gets the job done. I bought my copy - this was way back and I'm pretty sure torrents didn't exist - and I haven't really bothered to move on, I just keep using PSP7. I think part of the reason that digital colouring takes me longer than physical colouring is partly because I'm just better at real media, and more used to it, so I can blend colours more quickly, get them to look exactly the way I want them to. Also, when doing digital, I have to use my non-dominant hand, which slows things up a bit. Well, whatever the reason, coloured pencils take me a couple days, whereas digital takes a week or more, and that's if I constantly sit there and do it.
It really, really bothers me that digital is looked at more highly than traditional, at least in the online world. I know that digital art looks better on a computer, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with traditional - and yet, I've gotten so many comments saying "Oh, this is okay, but you'd do so much better with photoshop". I DON'T WANT TO USE PHOTOSHOP. And I know they think they mean it as a compliment, but it really, really comes off as if they're putting down my medium, and arghhhh. Nooooo. (Now I just feel like whining).
Multi-talented people are just like, wow. Fortunately a lot of the ones that I know about/follow/etc are so good that I can't even bother being envious of their skill; I just sit back and enjoy the pretty. Like Ursula Vernon, oh my god, so good. *flails* The things she can do with paint, good lord. Or a few hours with a tablet. alksdfj.