# Before I started writing, this is how I handled a blank piece of paper:  (NSFW )



## Guard Dog (Sep 21, 2018)

I've never been able to abide an empty, blank surface.
This is how I've remedied that for more than 50 years now:






Most of these are 20 years old or better, with some being from my high school days.
And I've been drawing with the same old Technical Pencil/Lead holder since the early '80s. 


G.D.


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## TuesdayEve (Sep 22, 2018)

Hey,
What’s NSFW? Figuring it’s a warning. 
We have people of all ages here including kids,
I would be more direct, adult content and warn 
some images may be offensive.

But they’re cool. Six &  seven caught my attention.
 I’ve always been facinated with muscular skeletal 
movement too.


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## Guard Dog (Sep 22, 2018)

TuesdayEve said:


> Hey,
> What’s NSFW? Figuring it’s a warning.
> We have people of all ages here including kids,
> I would be more direct, adult content and warn
> ...



Uh... Sorry. I thought "NSFW" was universally understood to mean "Not Safe For Work" these days, implying nudity or foul language.
I had a lot of this stuff up at DievantArt for a while, years ago, and it didn't trip any alarms, so I figured that was enough warning.
I'll label things better next time... 


G.D.


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## fschutt (Sep 22, 2018)

I mean they are pretty good except that dragon and the last warrior with the derpy, wide-open eyes.

But this is weird, how could you start a thread in Visual Arts without 30 posts? For me, the "new thread" button is missing, so I assumed that you need 30 posts for it.


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## Guard Dog (Sep 22, 2018)

fschutt said:


> I mean they are pretty good except that dragon and the last warrior with the derpy, wide-open eyes.
> 
> But this is weird, how could you start a thread in Visual Arts without 30 posts? For me, the "new thread" button is missing, so I assumed that you need 30 posts for it.



I don't know what to tell you about the button... it was there and I used it. *shrug*

By the way, the "warrior with the derpy eyes" is my version of the Green Martians from E.R.B.'s _John Carter of Mars series_... I think I drew that one about... 1981 or '82. 
The dragon was a rough sketch that took about 20 minutes. I have inked ones that are much better.


G.D.


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## JustRob (Sep 22, 2018)

fschutt said:


> But this is weird, how could you start a thread in Visual Arts without 30 posts? For me, the "new thread" button is missing, so I assumed that you need 30 posts for it.





Guard Dog said:


> I don't know what to tell you about the button... it was there and I used it. *shrug*



Felix, we've had some technical glitches in the website software that decides when to upgrade new members. It was believed that they'd been fixed but I have reported this anomaly to see whether there is an explanation.


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## Gumby (Sep 22, 2018)

Yes, the gremlins sometimes make arbitrary decisions and we don't seem to be able to stop them.


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## Guard Dog (Sep 22, 2018)

Gumby said:


> Yes, the gremlins sometimes make arbitrary decisions and we don't seem to be able to stop them.



If that's the case, then this is the first time the gremlins ever decided they like me, 'cause most of the time, they seem to delight in making me their favorite punching bag.
Especially when it comes to computers...



G.D.


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## fschutt (Sep 22, 2018)

Well good thing I'm a programmer by day...

EDIT: I found out what the problem was: If you're not logged in, there is a white banner at the top of the page with "what cookies do you want to set?" - I had ticked everything off except "essential cookies". That means that whether you have permissions or not to make a new post, is determined by what cookies you allow to set. If you just click "OK" and allow all cookies, then the "New Post" button shows up like usual. So for anyone experiencing this problem: Log out, clear all cookies for this site, Ctrl + F5 refresh to get the banner again, click "OK" without disabling any cookies, then log in again.
It's a bit weird that some forums require cookies that fall under the "Marketing" or "Statistics" use-case, but I guess I'll live with that.


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## Ralph Rotten (Sep 22, 2018)

Are you going to create any illustrations or cover art for your book?


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## Guard Dog (Sep 22, 2018)

Ralph Rotten said:


> Are you going to create any illustrations or cover art for your book?



The thought had crossed my mind. I haven't done any painting in a good while, but I think I still remember how.
I already have a ton of things that I've done over the years concerning it that I've never really known what I'd end up doing with.
I mean, considering the length of time I've toyed with this story, and my habit of drawing or sketching ideas out, I could probably illustrate the book with maps, ship schematics, etc. without any trouble, or much work past what I've already done just incidentally.

Edit: 
See this? I have a full 6-view set of drawings I drew up for this ship, plus an interior schematic for all decks. You could build the bloody thing from what I've drawn.




G.D.


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## Ralph Rotten (Sep 22, 2018)

You totally have the skills for some very promising margin art.  Y'know; those little hand-drawn pics inserted in the text to illustrate something the hero is seeing or doing, or to illustrate someone's inner thinking.
The really cool thing about artwork in eBooks is that the reader can double-tap on a pic to get a full-sized view (complete with pinch-zooming). So you could have some really detailed artwork, and if the reader were interested in peering deeper, they could.
I have inserted entire floorplans into some of my books (bunker blueprints are like prepper porn for survivalists.)
You can do some interesting things with artwork in electronic books.


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## Ralph Rotten (Sep 22, 2018)

Here is a simple pic I added to the latest book. It's a sketch hastily drawn by one of the heroes as he considers the potential of gravitational disaffinity.


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## Ralph Rotten (Sep 22, 2018)

Here is a more complex drawing, some of the others were 3000x3000 pixel quality so the reader can peer at the fine detail.


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## Ralph Rotten (Sep 22, 2018)

Who says adult books can't have pictures? Right?


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## Guard Dog (Sep 22, 2018)

Ralph Rotten said:


> Who says adult books can't have pictures? Right?



The "Adult Books" I had when I was a teenager didn't have anything _but_ pictures...


G.D.


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## Ralph Rotten (Sep 22, 2018)

...and centerfolds.

Yeah, you should add some margin art.  You could show cutaways of the androids, or enhancements to the humans, that sorta stuff.
You certainly have the skills to do it.


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## Guard Dog (Sep 22, 2018)

Don't get too ahead of myself there, Ralph... I gotta get the damn thing written first. :-s

I do appreciate your confidence and enthusiasm though. 


G.D.


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## JustRob (Sep 23, 2018)

I am in awe of your graphical ability G.D. but then because of my aphantasia I cannot even imagine a picture in my mind's eye, let alone draw it. My mind is a perpetually dark place filled with concepts that serve as my images. Hence I have always been good at geometry because that can be reduced to conceptual relationships, but nothing more complex such as the human form, except for the emotive derivative functions embodied in those essential curves of course. I won't encroach on your thread by explaining how I handled a blank piece of paper with my geometry but it amazed a fellow mathematician who didn't believe that it was possible.

Here's a philosophical conundrum though. How can someone like me incapable of creating a picture within his own mind apparently create realistic pictures in the minds of others with his writing? The written word guides a reader in a direction but the reader then provides the mental illustrations to fit their own perceptions. If the writer also provides his own illustrations then the situation becomes very different, not necessarily wrong but just different.


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## Guard Dog (Sep 23, 2018)

JustRob said:


> I am in awe of your graphical ability G.D. but then because of my aphantasia I cannot even imagine a picture in my mind's eye, let alone draw it. My mind is a perpetually dark place filled with concepts that serve as my images. Hence I have always been good at geometry because that can be reduced to conceptual relationships, but nothing more complex such as the human form, except for the emotive derivative functions embodied in those essential curves of course. I won't encroach on your thread by explaining how I handled a blank piece of paper with my geometry but it amazed a fellow mathematician who didn't believe that it was possible.
> 
> Here's a philosophical conundrum though. How can someone like me incapable of creating a picture within his own mind apparently create realistic pictures in the minds of others with his writing? The written word guides a reader in a direction but the reader then provides the mental illustrations to fit their own perceptions. If the writer also provides his own illustrations then the situation becomes very different, not necessarily wrong but just different.



Thanks Rob. Drawing is something I've been doing since I was old enough to know what a pencil was for. I've done it all my life.

As far as your conundrum goes, I'm at a loss, due to never really being able figure out how my own mind works.
I've always been able to see 3-D objects as flat images, almost instantly, or reverse the process and see the flat image as a solid object. It's not something I have to even think about, or work at, it just happens.

This whole writing thing has surprised me, since it's never been something I've even considered. But now it seems like I have living, breathing people wandering around in my head that want out, so now I've gotta figure out how to let 'em... in a way that's foreign to me. Because I can't do it in the usual graphic manner that I'm accustomed to, due to it's suddenly being inadequate for the job.

And you know what's funny? If I do finally get what I'm working on finished, and in the hands and minds of others... I'm fairly sure someone out there may set down and draw their own versions of these characters, as they see them in their own minds. Because that's exactly what I've done, many times over the years.




G.D.


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## Ralph Rotten (Sep 23, 2018)

I am lousy at 2D art, my forte was always 3D art: Model building, ceramics, clay sculpting. I throw a mean set of dishes.


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## Guard Dog (Sep 23, 2018)

Ralph Rotten said:


> I am lousy at 2D art, my forte was always 3D art: Model building, ceramics, clay sculpting. I throw a mean set of dishes.



I leave the dish throwin' to the ex-wives, but I also do woodworking, like building furniture and shelves, as well as sculpted walking canes.


I also used to build models... I've still got about 20 unbuilt kits out in my storage room... Planes, helicopters, armored vehicles. I keep threatening to dig 'em all out and sell 'em, but probably never will. 
Hell, I may actually get around to puttin' 'em together, one'a these days.




G.D.


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## JustRob (Sep 24, 2018)

Guard Dog said:


> This whole writing thing has surprised me, since it's never been something I've even considered. But now it seems like I have living, breathing people wandering around in my head that want out, so now I've gotta figure out how to let 'em... in a way that's foreign to me. Because I can't do it in the usual graphic manner that I'm accustomed to, due to it's suddenly being inadequate for the job.



I  know what you mean. I have _never_ wanted to be a writer, but quite suddenly an entire story materialised in my mind and would not leave me alone. I even asked an established script-writer whether I could unload it on someone else because I didn't really want to write it and it was obviously a TV series, but he told me that that sort of thing seldom works and I'd have to do it myself. That's why I wrote my novel, simply to get the thoughts out of my head. My characters lived on there though, even raising children, and I ended up with a saga that would fill a trilogy of novels, but I haven't written the remainder of the story as they seem content with their existence now and know that they can wake up again any time they like.

I have never felt that I have created a story but rather that I simply observed and reported on events in the lives of those characters. In fact I warn other members about indulging in puppetry, forcing their characters to behave in particular ways just to suit their plot. Having conceived the characters, and that word "conceived" is exactly the one used about conceiving children of course, it is better to allow them to behave naturally. I think in that way they come across as plausible and convincing. There is ample space in a human brain for such entities to thrive without having any effect on its normal functioning.

I have had a particularly odd experience though, which is having knowledge of very intimate scenes between my characters which I wouldn't dream of including in my finished work. I have even written some of these down, but in a way I respect the privacy of my characters. Now that is extremely odd, but one has to maintain a working relationship with these entities, I think. No, it definitely isn't just puppetry.

During our beta reading of other members' works my angel and I sometimes remark that it isn't believable that a character would behave the way that the writer has stated. That's the result of puppetry and it shows through to the reader because readers also conceive the characters as living entities from the information given in a story.

I think you have the right idea about conceiving stories, but then the task is to write them down effectively, which is quite different from drawing them as you say.


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## Ralph Rotten (Sep 24, 2018)

I built models for years.
To me, building a model is like writing a story.
You craft every detail to create an image of another world.
Here is something geeky I did about 20 years ago.




















[FONT=&quot]This model is actually fiber optic. When you press a hidden button, the instrument panel lights up, the work light over the engine illuminates, and the TV on the work bench shows an 8mm image of the Galactica.
[/FONT]Did I mention that I'm a little OCD?
Okay. mebbe I'm a lot OCD, but not Adrian Monk OCD or anything.


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## Guard Dog (Sep 25, 2018)

Ralph Rotten said:


> I am lousy at 2D art, my forte was always 3D art: Model building, ceramics, clay sculpting. I throw a mean set of dishes.



I've dabbled with 3-D computer art, but again, only in the context of the story I'm writing, and using it to help develop characters.

Speaking of that... You know the Synthetic Lady you coached me with on the A.I. thread? B'Ell?  Wanna see what she looks like?

Have a look:




I put that together using some software I down-loaded off the web. Can't use it anymore though, 'cause my current comp just doesn't have the horsepower to run it. 
Still, I got that out of it before it died, and B'Ell got a face and body I can actually see now... so it's all good.


G.D.


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## Ralph Rotten (Sep 25, 2018)

Pretty cute!


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## Guard Dog (Sep 27, 2018)

Ralph Rotten said:


> Pretty cute!



Heh... Well, I've not run into too many people who like looking at "ugly", so... *shrug*

Oh, and I might as well show folks this:



It's a schematic of the artificial planetoids known as The Three Sisters. 
I dunno if anybody can make out the hen-scratched numbers there, but there was no minor amount of figuring involved to get the sketch done. It is a scale drawing, after all.
And that large view in the middle is a section through the outer shell, showing the habitable surface below.

Yeah, I spent 20+ years as a mechanical designer, among other things... It's a hard habit to break, sometimes.



G.D.


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## TuesdayEve (Sep 28, 2018)

Dear GD, 
Thanks for making B’Ell realistically authentic,
athletic and strong, without the ginormous bulging 
top heavy breasts often depicted as warrior women.
Just a female point of view.


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## Guard Dog (Sep 28, 2018)

TuesdayEve said:


> Dear GD,
> Thanks for making B’Ell realistically authentic,
> athletic and strong, without the ginormous bulging
> top heavy breasts often depicted as warrior women.
> Just a female point of view.



You're welcome, I guess... And I say "I guess" because if I'd drawn another character, an 18 year-old by the name of Samantha Jane Eddington, you'd be singing a different tune... 

Because Sam has a bit of an affliction; She, for some unknown reason, thinks that having ginormous hooters make her look more like an adult, and will therefore get her taken more seriously.  

And she about drove the magic-users to the point of insanity, until they "magicked up" the dimensions that suited her... even though everyone around her was saying "Whoa, girl... back 'em down a couple of cup sizes" when they saw her.... Them... Whatever.

Anyway, the general consensus is, whatever makes her happy, and keeps her from driving everyone nuts is okay... So long as it's not causing her any problems.

But yes, I have all sorts of people in this story... Tall ones, short ones, thick ones, thin ones..and everything in between. And that's both male and female.

And B'Ell came out that way, 'cause, well... that's just how B'Ell looks.
I should also add that B'Ell isn't really so much of the "Warrior Queen" type, even though, like everyone around her, she does know how to fight, and does it well. She's mostly the science-y Tech type. Well, at least until she loses her temper and her eyes start to glow... :ChainGunSmiley:



G.D.


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## TuesdayEve (Sep 28, 2018)

I should have given a broader viewpoint,  but it was 
the moment....Thanks for being even across the board.
Even chubbies can be limber. 
And...I have no issue with big boobs, I’m just
tired of the stereotype.
I don’t see B’Ell as a queen but as a smart and 
independent, capable of taking care of herself young 
woman.
I can relate.


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## Goldwriter (Nov 2, 2018)

You remind me of David Choe


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## Guard Dog (Nov 8, 2018)

Goldwriter said:


> You remind me of David Choe



Who, me?

You'll have to pardon my confusion, but I've looked over Dave's work, and well... I don't see much of a similarity.

You have an example that I've maybe missed, that's triggerin' the thought?

By the way, I grew up wanting to draw and paint like guys such as Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo. And I developed my ideas of what a dragon should look like from the art of Rowena Morrill...

And I pretty much learned how to draw people by studying comics, and with the help of one Dr. Henry Gray.

I'm also rather fond of this guy's work:

That one is by Gerald Brom, and it's been the wallpaper on my phone and/or computer for a lot of years now.




Thanks for lookin' in.


G.D.


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