Snotlout HTTYD2 Poster

Ok, they are just SHOWING OFF. Seriously, this displays so many different facets of how the animation has improved. For one thing, the Hookfang's jaw is giving us a beautiful display of the new, more flexible, more realistic dragon and human rigging system. They said they were using a new program that incorporated a skeleton, and then allowed for flesh movement and realistic fat jiggle. You can see that in Hookfang's mouth here, but it also easily seen in Toothless and even Cloudjumper in parts of the trailer. So... all that to say, I'm super pleased with it! It makes the dragons feel even more organic and alive than they did in the first film (which is saying something especially considering how well done Toothless was).

Also, we all have to say it, Snotlout actually doesn't look ugly anymore. It's a nice change, and I anticipate seeing him being a bit more handsome. Of course, he's still gonna have a repulsive personality. For some reason this look makes me feel like book Snotlout... it is probably the little mustache. Plus book Snotlout is supposed to be sort of muscular and dashing. Anyway, his outfit is great as well... love the turquoise scale pattern and black fur. They really are doing a great job maturing the looks of the characters. Oh, and of course it's hilarious to see that he and Hookfang maintain their sort of tough love relationship from RoB/DoB. I betcha it will be more subtle and feel better in the second movie because it got a little old in the series. This should be fun, and considering Snotlout will fight in the big battle (you can see that it is he and Hookfang carrying Hiccup before he spins off into the air using his flight suit), I'm happy to see him looking a little more manly, a little more epic. I mean, since when has Snotlout been cool??

Toothless Yawns

So, weeks and weeks ago school started, and  on my first day in biology class I doodled a little picture of Toothless yawning up near the title of my notebook. Well... a couple of days later I flipped back to it (accidentally... I had forgotten it was there!), and it seemed really, really cute. I'm always trying to find new positions to draw Toothless in (because he really is gorgeous from just about ever angle), and I decided to turn that little doodle into a digital painting. So, the painting is above, and the doodle is below. 

Haha, so I wrote in the "D'awwwwwwww!!" when I came across it the second time in my notes! I love doodling in my books when classes are waiting to start, and sometimes I really like the ideas that come to me. I didn't have anything to do this afternoon (aside from study for a chemistry exam, finish biology assignments, and then wrap it all up with way, way too much trig), so I decided I would try and use my time well and make a painting. I tried hard to do something I don't think I've done in any of my others (because of laziness when I drew them), and that is to include the beautiful and faint mottling on Toothless's sides and wings. Then of course his pink tongue is super cute. I suppose this can count as another of my silly tongue/licky posts. I just love how starkly his pink mouth stands out against his black hide. His eyes and mouth do that, really pop because of how brilliant their colors are against the deep black of Toothless's skin. Anyway, I had lots of fun with this. I've been doing a lot of cute Toothless recently... maybe I'll do another angry/aggressive/attitude/snarly Toothless sometime in the near future. But, as of now, I'm happy to have him being innocently charming and wonderful!

As usual the image is larger if you open it in a new tab or window, and I would love any comments or advice any of you might have. I'm still trying to nail down a style of digital painting that I work well with... it's tricky!

Probably one of the most unique fan creations I have been given. Ever.

About a month or two ago, a very consistent and helpful wiki editor named Baricuda asked me if he could send me a gift. I was a little hesitant to give out my address, and I told him that, and he understood. But after watching him and getting to know him a bit better, I felt very confident that I could give him my address. The gift he gave me was absolutely incredible! It is a real wood, real metal, actual size replica of Hiccup's prosthetic from the end of HTTYD (along with GotNF and RoB). It is fabulous, and it looks great in my room! I have no idea what I've done to cause someone to spend so much time and creative effort on me, but I want to thank Baricuda deeply! You've been shockingly nice in making this for me, and I appreciate it so, so much! It is one of the most unique items in my little HTTYD collection! I've been given drawings and digital paintings and photoshop images and short stories and puzzles and toys, but I've never gotten anything quite like this! It's just so fascinatingly different, and you must have one incredibly rare skill set to be able to create something like this! So, thanks very much for the gift. I really still can't believe you made something for me even though we really haven't gotten to know one another well at all! You've been a very kind and thoughtful friend. Thank you.

HTTYD2-Wake Me Up

Ok, so this is my first ever HTTYD music video! I used the peppy instrumental part of the song Wake Me Up. I had just recently stumbled onto the song, and I just liked it so much that I felt I had to try and do something with it. The bouncy happiness of it was really fun to work with, and even though it's got plenty of problems and isn't anything really special, I'm pleased with it! It's very short... yeah, I ran out of music! I had wanted to include some HTTYD and GotNF scenes as well (Forbidden Friendship and Toothless breaking the auto tail would have been fun), but I just din't have space for it. So, in the end, this is sorta to celebrate the fun, light, loving moments that we've gotten to see of HTTYD 2.

Hicctooth Hug!

So, this is my version of a Valentine's day fan art. It's rather big... like a lot of my other drawings, so if you open it in a new window you should be able to have a better look at it. This actually is part of a Valentine's day gift I made for someone, but this has a lot of the image removed and no semi-sappy signature on it. 

So... I just was piddling around with my pad, trying to make line arts, and I finished this one, and it just struck me as being really sweet. It pretty much started as a doodle, but I liked the positioning, so I cleaned it up. Then I wanted to color it. I used very basic shading, just wash colors without much blending or detail... mostly because I wanted to keep the charm of the line art. Then I used a sepia sheet background, but I edited the tint so as to make it a bit of a warmer, pinker color. And... yes, it's extremely funny, but I do have a very faint pink heart outlining these two in the background. C'mon folks, it is Valentine's day!

So, I suppose it needs to be clarified, I do NOT think Hiccup and Toothless have a "romantic" relationship, and anyone who would draw that from this would make me said. I do hate it when Hiccup and Toothless's friendship gets warped out of context in that way or any other (and I especially hate it if I catch myself taking their innocent friendship out-of-character). The simple question is this: Do they love each other? Well, yes of course! So, I'm of the opinion that Valentine's day is a perfectly good excuse to celebrate all kinds of love, whether romantic, familial, or just great friends. Glad to have a holiday that gave me an excuse to draw a charming piece with Hiccup and Toothless together, and glad to have a holiday to make me grateful for the many loving people in my life. There is a lot, a whole lot, more to love than the shallow stuff that our culture pumps out, but HTTYD and some other stories (whether romantic or not) have done a beautiful job at displaying real, selfless, and undying love between two friends. I appreciate that.

So, I hope you all will have a fantastic day, whether you have a significant other, or a great friend, or a loving family. I'm very blessed to have many people who have shown great kindness and love to me, and I am so, so grateful to say I even feel that I have a loving relationship with God through Christ. Sorry if I sound cliche or like I'm rambling, but it is true. I've received so much love from so many people, and if any of you reading this have ever shown me kindness, I thank you deeply.

Snow day!

Alright, where I live, snow is VERY uncommon. When I woke up in my dorm and saw the ground white, I jumped into as much clothing as I had and rushed out to go and take pictures.

Ok, so that's all pretty and nice and dandy, but why am I posting these on my HTTYD blog? It's a fair question. I confess to having a little fun with the snow...

Yes... that is my feeble attempt at making Night Fury tracks. But, seriously, how cool would it be to find actual tracks in the snow. I'd have a heart attack before ever getting to see that gorgeous dragon so starkly black against the snow.

Ok, so then I found a field that I knew no one else would come to (haha, I've done some kind of funny HTTYD reenactments in this field to be honest XP). I made about a half sized Toothless head out of the snow. It actually looked pretty good, better than this picture shows, BUT my phone DIED right after I took this shot! I wasn't even sure if I got it... sigh. So I only got one shot from not such a flattering angle. I wish I could have made more, but he'll be melted by now. Man, I wish we could have had more snow. If ever given about a foot, I'm gonna make a life-sized Toothless, and I'll be sure that my phone is charged!

These faces!!

what did I just eat?

About to sneeze

Veggie broth?

Oh that's bad.

Seriously, that's bad.

That veggie stuff made me feel bad enough too...

I can't get over these two expressions! Seriously, how great is this dragon even when he's uncomfortable?! The episode Eel Effect gave us a good long look at poor Toothless being extremely sick, but not just sick, panic stricken and very dangerous. Although it made me sad to see him hurting, it did give us some gloriously expressive faces that we don't get to see very often. This kind of nervousness, discomfort, and grossed-out-ness are not things we get to see all the time. I loved this episode, and I can think of a ton of ways to use the images in messages (as a dragon equivalent of an emoticon!). Wow, that "about-to-sneeze" look is great, but he was moving too fast to get an image without motion blur. Anyway, love these.

It's been a little while!

Sorry I've not been able to post as much. There are a variety of reasons, but tons of school would be one of them. Another would be that I am trying to be careful to make sure that I live on God first and foremost, so I have been taking some time off of other nice things so as to spend time with Him. I'll still run this blog, no question about that, but I may post a little less frequently.

Ok, but I will say one thing. Eel Effect, not a bad episode! Although I do like DoB and RoB, sometimes they just aren't worth posting about. Sometimes they actually miff me (Hiccup's attitude in Tale of Two Dragons, the whole goofy mocking of the touch scene in Free Scauldy... yeah, sometimes the show annoys me.). But then other episodes are good. I liked Frozen, and I felt it had a good balance of action and plot. Plus the Speed Stinger is a gorgeous dragon who we actually can even see in the Dragon Manual in the first film! But, back to Eel Effect... yay! A Toothless/Hiccup centered episode! Granted... Toothless did start suffering the effects of the eel really, really fast, but it was still interesting! He was conscious enough to realize he hurt Hiccup at first, and I appreciated that, but then I also like that his condition got worse and worse. In the end, I just really liked to see Hiccup concerned, and I also enjoy it when Toothless reveals that he isn't some tame puppy dog. He's dangerous. He could have easily killed Hiccup near the end there... and with how disoriented he was, I suppose it could have been possible (I just LOVE that kind of drama! Imagine how AWFUL it would be if Toothless killed Hiccup in a state of madness! I'm not saying I want it to happen, but the potential of that kind of tragedy adds a lot of good angst and emotion to the episode.). Anyway, it was good to see Toothless back as his old self in the end. The way the eel affected him was also interesting. His senses were disoriented AND super heightened. That's neat! It makes perfect sense. He can't see straight, he keeps coughing up fire, every noise hurts his head, and I imagine that every gentle touch feels like a stunning blow. No wonder he lost control, and no wonder the dragons steer clear of eels! Aw' and he was cute when he didn't like the medicine! Loved that, we got to see both sides of him! I'm glad it turned out ok, and it was a neat episode overall!