Tiling
Originally published at Grappa Pixel Tea. Please leave any comments there.
So, last night I really did a lot of work on Paraplu. Like many nights I spent working on Soft Landing the result was… nothing. No new graphics, just about 3 hours of meandering experimentation. Sometimes I feel really good after these sessions, sometimes I truly wish I at very least could come out of them with something to show.
It’s a tricky thing. I suppose I shouldn’t be hard on myself, since a lot of times that I do this I realise afterwards that I have come a long way. Last night, I’d never attempted to draw a stone tile pattern before, and a few hours later, I still couldn’t do it. Almost all of the work I have done for Soft Landing represents my first attempt at any number of things.
I’m hard on myself when it comes to my art, which is both good and bad. I could probably do with a little more self-praise, as I almost never feel happy with my work, and that causes me to only really work in short bursts. Like most creative people I hate it and I love it when someone points out a mistake or shortcoming in my work - I like seeing myself learn but I love seeing myself create something wonderful that other people and myself can agree on. I don’t show my art to many people, and even the people I do show it to only see what I carefully let filter through. The problem, I guess, being that I don’t think I’m very good, but I have no real way of knowing. I don’t suppose there really is, now I think about it.
In my game-making adventures I think Fet probably more than anyone else has a good understanding of my creative process because he’s probably the only person I’m comfortable with showing anything I’m working on. Some of the sketches and mock-ups I send him are obscenely incomplete but he has developed a keen understanding how my work evolves and what it will look like when it’s complete - and thus I’m easily able to discuss direction with him during the developmental process. In the old days of #urd I used to get much more varied feedback. I wonder - if I posted the more nitty-gritty development art in here, would people be interested? (If so, let me know!)
Ramble ramble ramble.
I guess what I’m saying is, it’s weird to spend hours working on something and only come out of it with something as intangible as knowledge. I don’t even know how well it will really serve me in the future - it’s just impossible to say how many more times I’ll have to attempt doing it to end up with the right 384 bytes of information that looks great in a video game.
This Weekend:
- GT Legends with Ross. I’m sure we’ll end up @ Cadwell Park in 1965 cars, as usual. It’s the best fun. Looking forward to this! MAN am I rusty, too.
- Paraplu. Feeling very inspired.
- Not going out. I’m so tired, I just want to sit around for a few days and get my hobby on.
- Cook something nice! It’s been a while since I tried cooking a new dish. (Suggestions?)
- Sit outside on the balcony and drink some wine, because - well.. wouldn’t you?
- Jules