SAI: Saddening Annoying Institution

Most people fond of making art would generally agree that sometimes, pencil and paper is not enough. Traditional media will only get you so far, and even if you get it all down on canvas or what have you, taking a picture of it or scanning it will probably butcher the quality. That’s why a lot of people turn to digital art.

Everyone has MS Paint on their computer, and even if art isn’t your thing, you’ve probably spent a good hour or so of your life making doodles on it. And if you’re like me, the limitless options in Photoshop will overwhelm you, leaving you in the fetal position murmuring “all those filters… f-filters….”

My personal favorite is SAI, a program somewhere in between the two. It’s simpler and cleaner, with the options of Photoshop mixed with the cleanness and primness of MS Paint. Sounds awesome, right? Well it is.

But it is so hard to make anything good on it.

It’s a cute program, with a small array of different brushes as well as some filters for when you want to make some sw33t color effectz. But, and I see this happening often, I will see something that someone has made on SAI, stare at my hands, stare at the blank SAI canvas before me, look back at my hands, and silently close out the window.

Don’t get me wrong, once in a blue moon I’ve been able to go the distance and pop out something that vaguely resembles art of quality.

wow I was really proud of this. hurrah for homestuck fanart!!

Even if I muster up the strength to produce something like that, as soon as I’ve posted it for the world to see, I end up hating it and fearing that everyone will judge me for my lack of skill minutes later.

I’ve had access to a tablet pen once in my life. It was part of a fancy laptop/tablet hybrid my friend had. Once she fell asleep, I ended up going on SAI on her laptop and staying up til around four in the morning drawing with it. MAN IT WAS FUN. Maybe if I had a tablet SAI would be less frustrating than drawing with a mouse. Who knows.

To be honest at this point I don’t even know where this is going.

8^y

I guess this could just be considered me whining about my struggles as a starving artist. It’s a hard knock life. I mean, I could make another post about my imminent cosplay panic attack, but no one wants to read that, right?

In conclusion:

Why am I not on SAI right now testing it out and making sure I improve rather than talking about it on a blog. Take it from me kids. Practice truly makes perfect.

Crunch time: Ohayocon in three weeks!!

I’ve written about Ohayocon before, but I’ll gloss over it again. Taking place for around a decade now, Ohayocon (pronounced Ohio Con) is a Columbus event categorized as an anime convention, but people from all walks of the pop culture world can be found there. I’m really there for the Homestuck and Doctor Who.

I ordered my badge last month, and now the con is three weeks away. I’m more anxious than excited. I’ve barely paid any thought to all the cool stuff that’s going to be there. This is mostly because I’ve been too wrapped up in finishing my cosplay, which I’ve written a post about before.

It’s coming along nicely. Since my last post I’ve made new horns and gotten 90% further in the whole getup. All we have to do now, my group and I, is order makeup that includes body paint and tooth black (which sounds gross, but you just put it on to give the illusion of pointed teeth).

While I’ve been torn on whether or not the final product is going to be really good or really bad, I’m more confident in how it’s all going to tie together, although I’m pressed for time to finish things like messing with the wig that came from China, complete with a washing guide written in terribly broken English. The more I mess with it the more I remember why long hair never suited me.

Here’s a gallery of everything I have so far.

Wig/horns. I have to straighten the wig and tinker with the hair parting. That’s a foam head I drew on in sixth grade, now edited to have the cosplay’s makeup pattern.

borderline barbarian chic.

Skirt, courtesy of Morgan that I painted and sewed a purple waist band onto to spice it up. The less solid black there is the better. That would be boring.

getting my swish on.

Hollow plastic wiffle ball bat painted to resemble a club. I’ll probably have to approach a security guard and tell them it’s not a deadly weapon. It’s not very visible, but the end is splatted with green and blue paint.

strangely non-threatening.

…And everything else, including two pairs of shoes and a whopping eight pieces of handmade jewelry. Yeah I have a cat blanket, wanna fight about it?

meow.

Here’s a close up of one of the shoes, since I painted them myself.

honk.

I’m waiting on a couple of finishing details in the mail, and then the whole thing will be complete save for makeup. And then we’ll all be crammed in a Columbus hotel room, painting each other grey and white and sticking horns on our heads.

It’s gonna be a great time.