Michael F Dawes

Art, photos, musings, video projects, things I've liked and other assorted material.

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Recent level I worked on for my Amiga game..

Y’know, I have no idea where I’m going to mostly end up in terms of social networks now.

Should I just.. use Tumblr again? Hive? Masto? Ig? It’s too confusing.. 😭 And if I do use Tumblr should I post everything here (recently my ig is a mess of goth outfit photos and gamedev stuff, haha!) or just a subset of it? I know I can’t maintain multiple themed accounts on a single network easily i just end up not posting anything, but uuuugh.

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95% complete.. #wip #abstractart #pencils #polychromos on #bristolboard This started off being a #tinnitus (argh!) pic but I’m not sure that’s where it ended up. #darkart #artist #artistoninstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/BnoJDEVh049/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=cfxc00njtzaq

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*Very* early days but working on a tile set for a game with a limited (64 colour) palette, + gradients. I’m aiming for a more Amiga-ish look for my next project, so I’m mocking things up together. Setting limitations to make the graphics more fun and challenging to create. (Also faster once in the groove) My IG is very inconsistent. 😅 #aseprite #amiga #indiegamedev #retro (at Burley, Leeds)

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Off topic but - New hair! 😱 I hadn’t been to a barbers in decades? Long hair was annoying me in this weather and I wanted a 2nd opinion on wtf to do with stupid hairline. I hadn’t realised how versatile this was going to be though. I’ve got some sort of creepy rockabilly thing going on atm? #hairstyles #hair #argh #retro

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Everyone got dressed up for #worldgothday yesterday. E was very excited by this. E is excited by most things. #autodesksketchbook #sketch #sketchbook #family #wip Very rushed so I can go to sleep. 😴 Can’t. Stop. Seeing. Mistakes. Argh! (at Burley, Leeds)

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Long time since I’ve posted. Jellybean, my last rat died last night. 😐 It was very peaceful and he didn’t seem hugely bothered by it. Drew him with his brother Butternut. I might finish, print, colour and gild this but I’m not sure yet. I’ll be back to posting at some point soon. #comicdrawapp #illustration #pets #rat #ratsofinstagram (at Burley, Leeds)

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Happy Easter from the CMO gang approximately 15 years in the future! Except.. CMO started over 10 years ago so 15 years forward for them is almost now? 🤯 #webcomic #inking #comicdrawapp (at Burley, Leeds)

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I think I’ve got it...?

I finally had the eureka moment I need to start a ball rolling that could get CMO back up and running again.

I have thought this before, but this time it’s ticking boxes I’ve not been able to previously. CMO has almost “come back” about 3 or 4 different times and I have pages of alternate rough and finished continuations.. Many of which I can now place eventually into the timeline, or pull panels from if needed, but holy crap.

It’s all down to a change of perspective but I know how it can work now. I do want to talk about these different versions at some point, but I’ll get on the right track first then they can be something like “deleted scenes”. Strange times!

Don’t believe it ‘til you see it though. 🤔

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Sooooo.. Rethinking those art posting rules. 😌

Back from prolonged internet break/crisis of confidence/perpetually undulating brain malfunction, taking a second stab at the drawing a day challenge thing. Got to get into the studio more but jeez it’s cold there at the moment.

I have to change the rules though slightly. I don’t currently have the mental fortitude to commit to such a task on those terms. I can post WIPs now and have it count towards the tally: Having to start on a random short piece when a bigger piece is taking ages is really counterproductive and messes up any flow/momentum I might build. I’m also not totally sure I should reset the counter if I take a day or two off? I’ll probably say “if I don’t post a pic on weekends that’s fine, weekends = no pressure, because having the number constantly reset to low numbers will be needlessly negative, and I’m trying to train myself to be more productive/prolific not be more depressed. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 🤨

I’m be drawing very random stuff anyway. Have a very odd comic blog post to write too.

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Preview of what is probably pic number 10, but might come later if it takes ages. #wip #trippy #linework #ink #procreate #art #illustration #oc #comics #challenge #drawingaday #creepingmeout

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When you’re an artist who doesn’t art enough and has to come up with bizarre motivational structures to kick your ass into actually working. (particularly non digital work) - and breaking through a lot of mental barriers.

In the studio space now, which is nice!

http://www.instagram.com/creepingmeout

Soo, the rules go like: 

I have to upload something every day (to Instagram in this case). Then the score increases.

The piece doesn’t have to be great, but it does have to be “a finished form.” - It can only by a WIP if that means it’s finished-ish - eg; It’s an ink pic I may continue digitally later. 

If I miss a day, the score resets to 0, and I have to start again.

Comic pages count - if I end up in a position to upload a CMO or something.

This is to force me into working when I don’t feel like it, boosting the amount of work as fast as possible, and hopefully strong-arm me into trying more interesting stuff.

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2 Pisces #ipadart #fantasyart #conceptart #wip #doodle #applepencil #ipadart #procreate #dailypic #dailyart

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Dead trees. 1 #wip #darkart #procreate #doodle #wip #sketch #ipadart #applepencil

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If you have a Mac.. Zombie Holiday Prologue might work on it. 😀 http://creepingmeout.com/Zombie-Holiday.dmg 

I did what amounts to a minor bug fix on a 10-ish year old abandonware title, but it was interesting to get it running again, though it was a headache updating it.. (I had to load the editor in a VM running Snow Leopard as it doesn’t like modern Mac OS.) I’d love to be able to make more in a way that’s supported by more platforms. :/

Hmm, in fact that’s a good point. Anyone got any suggestions for a 2D engine/game making tool I could recreate/do similar to this to which would not slow me down in the programming stages? PGF was great as it was totally visual and you didnt have to really do programming as such, just visual routines, collision boxes and millions of variables for different stats to make everything perform as you wanted. It was really incredible - you could make pretty much any type of platformer in it, but alas it’s long dead. (Even if it wasn’t dead, targeting Mac without even having App Store support is no good at all..)

I doubt there’s anything like PGF.. Gamemaker? Fusion? What would you use?

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One of my favourite things.. Trial and error/experiments with new materials. Even if they don’t fully work, haha. 😅 (still learning useful things!) Scarab I 5x7” #wip #darkart #darkartists #clay #acrylics #doodle #relief

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Couldn’t sleep so here’s a #doodle of Lucy dressed as a generic sexy #witch .. #webcomics #creepingmeout #procreate #ipadart #applepencil #halloween #costume #spooky #wip I have some really odd stuff in the works I’m looking forward to posting here soon. 😀

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October! 🎃 A bit of a change of tone, haha. Which is the best creepy critter? Hmm, remember Spooky School ABCs? That was fun! Sadly it doesn’t run on modern devices but I’ll bring it back at some point. I could probably make a cute poster out of these guys though. 🤔 #indiedev #ios #halloween #spooky #creepy #wip