Finished Troy sprites for my visual novel project, Folk Knight
These were in the speed paint video from yesterday so go give that a look if you’re interested in seeing my digital art process ^_^
Back from Ravencon in Williamsburg and jumping right back into con prep for Tidewater Comicon. Journal after the break...
Conventions
So before going to Ravencon this past week, I was able to make new buttons and button displays for my table (pictured above). They actually did pretty well so I think I’ll be designing a few more before TWCC next month (I say next month, which is technically true, but... it’s only two weeks away 0_0 !!!)
Ravencon itself was awesome! My neighbors were great and I met a lot of cool authors and artists there! Plus, received a bunch of awesome commissions! (pictured at top)
Folk Knight
Last week... wasn’t kind to Folk Knight T_T. I was planning on posting a new WIP video to YouTube with speedpaints of both Troy’s bedroom background and the school exterior background only... I wanted to start over on the school. CAUSE THAT’S THE INSANITY I LIKE IN MY HOUSE. Ugh, I do this all the time. I’ll start something, sink a couple hours into it... and suddenly realize it’s not working for me -_-;
Anyway, I start over on the school, I’m set back a day. Then, my computer starts blue screening... GREAT! I’m behind another day. As time kept pressing on (as it just loves to do haha) I realized I wouldn’t be finishing the school time lapse vid before Ravencon and I needed to focus on my con prep (this is also why I didn’t get to making a journal last week -_-;). But I’m glad I did! That’s something I feel I need to work on, recognizing when to let something go and move on, especially if I have the option to come back to it later.
Well, here’s what I did on the first version of the school:
and here’s the second version WIP:
There are a few reasons why I decided to start over and make changes and I’ll address them in the next WIP video when I post that.
Next Week
Cooooooon Preeeeeep. Seriously, though, TWCC and Animazement are going to come up super fast so I’ll be spending most of my time getting ready for those. Apart from that, I have some commission work I need to do and it would be awesome if I could get that new video done!
And I have a lot of art and stories I want to share with you!
That's a big reason why I want to start making weekly journals. Starting today, I’ll be posting a weekly recap of everything I’m working on and plan to work on. This includes the status of my web comic Folk Knight, my visual novel MuseStruck, and all the work I’m doing for upcoming conventions (I hope to see some of you there!)
After this week, the blog entries will be a lot more digestible. But I feel, for this first one, I just need to lay everything out.
So, before the break, I just want to say my asks are open! Feel free to shoot me a question/comment about anything. (Fav ice cream, Hogwarts house, w/e!)
Later!
-Kenzi
Kenzi Blog: Week of 4/2/18
Oh, hey! I’m surprised you clicked “Keep reading.” I mean, I’m glad you did! Makes me feel less like I’m just shouting this to the void... heh ^_^;
Conventions:
Anyway, let’s just dive right in with the most time sensitive item I’ve been working on, convention prep. I’ve got three cons coming up in the next two months *sweats profusely* . This may not sound like a lot for you (or maybe it sounds like an insane “con crud” induced death wish haha) but I am equal parts super excited and super nervous about this! Upcoming cons are:
RavenCon, April 20-22 Williamsburg, VA
Tidewater Comicon, May 11-12 Virginia Beach
Animazement, May 25-27 Raleigh, NC
So I do my printing on my own printer. To save money this time, I’ve decided to try out a Refillable Ink Cartridge system. Which involves...... lots of syringes I guess? Haha, I think I accidentally ordered too many or something so now I just have an abundance of large needle syringes 0_0 (also note they’re a special kind for ink. not the pokey skin kind :P). Syringe Wolverine cosplay?
Anyway, if any of you have tried out RIC or CISS in the past, I’d love to know how it did or didn’t work for you!
MuseStruck:
Okay, so before I talk about my current project, Folk Knight, I think I need to talk about MuseStruck (my other baby).
So a couple years ago I suddenly got the urge to make a Visual Novel (gee, wonder where I got that idea... *side glances at Steam catalog* >_>). This VN had inspiration pulled from a lot of my favorite things including fantasy, mythology, classic literature, art, and anime.
Then a year ago, @cornpickerart and I started working on it... and quickly saw the project balloon to a size we weren’t ready for. We thought about cutting back ideas, some trimming was to the story’s benefit really. But then there were aspects that we couldn’t let go. Things that I felt were integral to the story or game experience that we wanted to make.
So. Here’s the thing. We just realized we needed to try smaller things first and work up to the type of gameplay we want to have in MuseStruck. Baby steps. That being said. MuseStruck isn’t dead. Far from it.
I draw characters from MuseStruck still all the time. Though I’ve told myself to not dedicate so much time to writing stories for it and instead put that time and energy into bettering my skills in both art and programming. Now I can say that when I do get back to MuseStruck (which I do have a plan for when that will happen, but I’ll save that for another journal) I know I’ll be more confident and prepared to tackle it! \(^o^)/
(some sketches of MuseStruck characters that I’ve never posted... I have lots of files like this ^_^;)
Folk Knight:
And finally there is Folk Knight. If you made it this far then... wow. I think I might love you. Anyway, this is my current project that I am working on. I would say probably my time is split 50/50 with this and con stuff right now.
Originally I wanted it to be a web comic. Why a web comic? Well... it’s something I’ve done before. @cornpickerart and I ran a web comic back in high school that we stopped once we went of to different states and different colleges.
I wanted to tell a story that takes place in the MuseStruck universe but with a lot less overhead work and a shorter story altogether. So, Folk Knight was born! Well, so it was supposed be but then I realized something... I don’t want to do a web comic. Le gasp!!!
I actually read a ton of webcomics and enjoy the weekly experience and appreciate all the hard work that goes into keeping them up. Seriously! It’s tough stuff! But after a few updates I realized that making the comic was taking a lot of time... and I wasn’t feeling it. Gosh that sounds whiny doesn’t it? I guess what I’m trying to say is, I figured out if I was going to put that much work into something, I want it to be something I want to do. And what I want to do is make a stinkin’ Visual Novel danggummit!
So that’s what brings us to the Folk Knight of now... a serial Visual Novel!
So it’s kinda a combination of both. Baby steps remember? To keep the game making doable for me, I’ll be releasing the Folk Knight VN in chapters. Every chapter will be released free to play, just like the web comic would have been free to read.
I’ve already begun the conversion of my Chapter 1 script into the Visual Novel format and am working with a few beta readers/players to help me work out the story flow and gameplay.
I’m hoping to get a Chapter 1 demo done by the end of April and Chapter 1 completed and released officially by May! I know it’s a tight deadline but I’m seriously pouring all my blood, sweat, and time into this now!
Next Week:
Ooooookay! We finally come to the end of it! What I plan to do this coming week. Well, let’s see... maybe I should just list it? I hope to...
Post some Folk Knight character designs (get y’all introduced)
Finish two fantasy/horror paintings I’ve been working on
I have a backlog of BNHA fan art I should finish too...
Test out the new print system!
Aaand I think I should keep it at that. Don’t want to overdo it. If anyone’s still reading this, like I said, not every journal entry is gonna be a monster like this. I just... had a lot to get off my chest to get this journal thing rolling ^_^;
You are amazing and I wish you the best in all your creative endeavors!(seriously, you got something you’re working on you want to share, hit me up! I love hearing others stories or finding new comics to read, games to play!)
