College doodles continued

So, I posted a couple doodles that I had done in class a few days back. This post is a continuation of that post, and it just shows that I shouldn't be trusted near blank sheets of paper when I've got a pencil... because in no time flat you can bet that little Toothlesses will start popping up!

The Red Rage And A Worldview Of Fear: Analysis By Justoffravenpoint (Rima)

This is my first time doing this sort of thing, but I' going to post an analysis by another HTTYD fan. She runs an excellent Tumblr blog (which is where I originally met her) though I don't know whether she has been too busy to be active recently. Anyway, I was sent this analysis by her, and I liked it so much I wanted to show it to others. When I was on Tumblr, a LOT of my posts were actually just replies to other people's posts, and I liked that... I liked being able to celebrate HTTYD through other people's amazing work. So, I'm considering posting other people's stuff on my blog... whether analyses or art. I'll have to see if this works... because I want to have the people's permission first (I already got Rima's). If I do this, it will allow the blog to celebrate HTTYD more broadly AND let you see that quite a lot of my ideas are not necessarily original to me! I learn a lot from others, Rima included, so without further delay, here is her analysis of the Red Rage scene.

Ok, my campus is waaaaaaaaay cooler than I thought

I had to make a video for my society, as I may have mentioned on the blog. I posted an image from it a few days ago. If you want to know how the movie was received, click the "read more".

Oh Dear...

Below is an image I did for a funny video that will be played in front of... my entire college. I was asked to photo edit a bunch of guys (including myself) onto super hero bodies (like Ironman, Superman, Batman...). Ahem, yeah, this might be the most horrendously nerdy thing I've ever done... might be. Click the read more... because I'm semi trying to hide it from the world while showing it. Man, that isn't the best strategy, is it?

College doodles (so far...)

Western Civ got a lot more Toothless doodles on the front than I can usually sneak in during a class period. This is mostly due to the fact that our professor spent the entire first class telling us about the syllabus...

Ecology, the dream class of a young Viking man who wants to map the world...

In English Lit I managed to do an attempt at a doodle of Toothless dangling Hiccup off a cliff. I may play around with this positioning and actual do a real image of it one day. Here's hoping!

Oh, and my Genetics book has an... interesting... sticker on the front! Haha, I love it. I wish I could get a hold of my Genetics lab book, but currently my professor has it. It has a doodle at the front as well, but it is just a drawing of Toothless looking at a double helix. Anyway, this is how one should always start a year of college... with as many Toothless's as possible!

Blog Policies

So, since my blog is (thankfully) getting a couple of readers, I felt I would lay down some basic facts about how this blog works. Some of this will be, yes, rules, but other things will hopefully be fun for you!

Ok, first thing I suppose you should know is that I am a Christian. That means I WILL hold certain moral views and principles. I am happy to discuss them with you, but if you want to argue them, I may not reply to your messages. This blog isn't about that, it is about HTTYD, BUT I can hopefully say that my love for Christ will permeate the way I post, do art, talk, and analyze here on the blog. If my views conflict with yours, I am sorry, and I do wish you would consider my stand point, but I don't say things to try and attack those who don't believe what I do. If we differ, we can still be friends, and I don't plan to attack you or use this blog as a platform against you... but I will speak what I believe is right, and you should probably know that most of my stories and analysis have at least some roots in the principles I've come to believe.

Alright, with that I would like to say that I do have children who read this blog. That means I want any sort of even mildly bad or vulgar language to stay out of the comments. If you comment and use language that I don't approve of, I will delete it. I don't really approve of it, and I don't want the atmosphere here to have it. No, I'm not gonna fall over dead if you spout something off in anger or excitement, but I may delete your comment. I don't dislike you for it, I just don't want it posted.

That leads me to commenting... PLEASE feel feel to! I so, so, so love it when people comment on this blog. When you don't comment, I really don't know if what I'v done, said, or drawn is even remotely thought provoking. I don't really even know if people read my posts. So, if you feel like you will be a nuisance by commenting, you are not! If you are shy and feel that maybe I'm too busy or "important" in the fandom... I'm not. I'm just a fan, exactly like you, and I want to hear your thoughts! I try to reply to comments as much as possible, so feel free to ask questions or state opinions. You are all really great, and even if it as simple "I like that piece of art" or "That scene is my favorite too" comming from my readers really excites me! Thank you to those who do comment! I use Disqus, and it is super simple to make an account. All you need is an email address. So, if you ever do get on a post and have any thoughts, you'd make this HTTYD fan really happy if you'd let me here them! This doesn't just have to be a blog about me... in fact I'd like to get to know you... what your favorite scenes are, who your favorite character is, what other movies you enjoy, when you have a bday (incase of special bday posts). So, please feel free to contact me.

Finally, I'm going to tell you about a new "policy". I am FULLY willing to take requests! If you want a certain piece of art, if you want a certain scene analyzed, if you want something from Dsplash explained, or if you just want to know what I think about something, feel free to tell me! I'd love to do analyses on request... that is what Glory did and she was fantastic. I probably will never get to her level of writing and blogging, but I do try to do my best to give you interesting stuff. An example of how I try to take requests is that I was asked what I thought of the soundtrack. Instead of giving and answer, I wrote a full post. I am completely willing to do that, in fact I love to do it! So, if you have a post you'd like to see, pop me a comment! As for art, I can do line arts and sketches very quickly, and I will do them on request. If you want me to do a digital painting, it would have to be an idea that I liked enough to put the time into... which on average is twenty hours. So, no promises that I can get to all the requests, but I will try if anyone gives me any, and I hope I'll be able to do a good job.

So, that is how the blog works! I hope you will continue reading, and thanks so much to those of you who do.

Skrillaphobia? Cured.

For a rather interesting, personal post concerning frightening events both in HTTYD2 and in my own strange and silly fandom life, please click the "read more"

Nightmare of Nightmares

This is a digital painting I have done just recently. Probably took me ten hours to complete. The above image is NOT the full painting, but I will post the entire image below along with some close ups. Due to spoilers, I'm gonna use a "read more". Please take a look.

Back at college.

Well, I am back at college. Kinda weird. The summer just flew! You can see my little Funko Pop Toothless up on top of my desk there, I brought him to keep me company. I have a very rigorous set of classes this year, so I may not be able to post as often. I have brought my digital art tablet, though, so I plan to finish a painting I've been working on. Also, one of my best friends has moved into the dorm room right next to me, so it will be nice to have more company (he paid for my ticket to see HTTYD2, so he is pretty stinking awesome). Anyway, hopefully I'll still be active, but please don't be surprised if it takes me longer to post or get back to you!

Update

Hello all! I just want to thank you for reading my blog and for all the comments you leave. I am sorry that I haven't posted any real analyses or art pieces in a while. I have one big analyses and one really big art project in the wings right now. I hope to have them finished by Tuesday. I have spent over three hours on the art piece already... but I don't know how much longer it will take. Hopefully it will be worth the wait. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what I was up to, and I hope you'll check back occasionally to see If I've posted my painting!

Man... This is so cool.

This is an art piece that Dean Deblois drew! It is currently for sale online at the site linked here.

The only catch is that it is very expensive! I could buy it... I have enough, but I don't feel good spending the money on myself. Out of all the HTTYD merchandise out there, though, this is the bit I would like the most. It is 125$... and I wish I could get it for my birthday, or get people to pitch in on it so I wouldn't feel bad about purchasing it myself. I just don't know... I mean, COME ON, it is profession art by the director himself, and it looks fabulous! It'd be such a grown up HTTYD thing to get, too...

I really love it mostly because Dean did it, and he knows so well (better than anyone, I suppose) how to convey the feelings and essence of HTTYD. This one is so particularly fantastic in that it shows the calm beauty of Hiccup and Toothless's friendship. That calm, brotherly sort of kindness and love that makes them able to enjoy even the simplest things together. So, the fact that this drawing is so pretty (it is artistically really neat in and of itself) AND the fact that it was actually drawn by the man responsible for making HTTYD such an incredible, inspiring, and heartwarming tale drew it... well that makes it even cooler! 

Not sure if I'll decide to buy this or not... but I'd really like to!

Some of my favorite tee shirt entries!

I am really stunned by some of the artistic talent that has been displayed by the welovefine tee shirt contest. I'm gonna post some of them here (they are, sadly, not full sized images), and just tell you why I'd be thrilled to where each one of these as a shirt!

Welovefine Tee Shirt contest open for rating!

The HTTYD2 tee shirt contest I entered has now opened for rating. If you have a welovefine account (or if you want to make one [they make some amazing HTTYD tee shirts]) you can follow the link bellow to go and vote on all the tee shirts to help decide which ones will be made and then worn by dragon fans all around!

https://contest.welovefine.com/vote.php?id_contest=83#/id_submit=34496

If you drop by and see my design (the one posted above), I'm sure I'd really appreciate any votes you might give to it! It certainly isn't the best one on there... there are some REALLY professional ones, but I think mine is at least good enough to be running with the others. So, please vote (not necessarily for mine), and soon we'll have new tees!

Every Fairy Tale Needs A Good Ol' Fashion Villian

Pardon my Sherlock quote for the title, but this post is going to focus on Drago, and why I think he was such a fantastic character and villain, AND why he scares me to death and makes me really loathe him with a passion! He's NOT the kind of villain I can like, but I can appreciate his complexity and his role in the story along with the fascinating themes he has brought into the world of HTTYD.

It can't just be me

This is a large set of gifs, so I am going to put it under a "read more" so as to not clog up the blog. (Sadly, none of the gifs are mine)

A Boy Left With Nothing

Ok, so this was a pitiful attempt! I tried to do a digital painting of a much younger Drago on the day he lost his arm and his family. These events would trigger something in the young man and turn him into one of the most terrifying villains I have seen in animated movies. I know his head is big... but it was tricky to proportion him because in the film he isn't really very normal looking (like most other viking adults, he is very stylized in his animation). I actually really like the idea of Drago's backstory, and I intend to delve into it in a post sometime soon. But, until then, hopefully you'll at least enjoy this a little. I'm not all that crazy for it myself... but it was my shot at it. It's hard to age his features down and make him look much younger, but at least I've learned some things from my attempt. Thanks for viewing!

Cloudjumper Sepia Sketch

I did a quick sketch of Cloudjumper today. I did the outline in a darker pencil and then went back and did small details in a lighter grey. I rather like it, but it isn't anything special. This is the type of art that takes me the least amount of effort and headache. I did look at a couple of references to get details right on his head and stuff, but the positioning was all freehanded. I think he was a lovely dragon, but he's a little tricky to draw due to his many fins and wings sticking out all over the place! Anyway, I hope you like it!

Dragons: Beasts? Species? Races? Beings?

I am going to try and pin down exactly where I think dragons belong in relationship to humans in the HTTYD universe. Are they just animals or are they equals? Where do they rank alongside their Viking counterparts? Is the death of a dragon as much of a tragedy as the death of a human being? Click the "read more" to view my thoughts.

DWPress: Dragons (Chapter 1 Review)

Below the "read more" are screenshots from the new HTTYD app: DreamWorks Press: DRAGONS. Now, I do not include all the screenshots I took because that would be rotten of me to put all the info from the story up onto the blog when it is a book that is being sold. So, I'm just gonna post about half of them and tell you how the app appears to work and what I think of it.

DreamWorks Press: DRAGONS

I have purchased this new app from DreamWorks. I plan to give a review on it once I get far enough int to judge its quality. So far, at the very least, it looks like it will have gorgeous illustration are. I personally am a fan of the style they are using in their digital paintings. So, I'm hoping it was good... considering it was a little pricey! So far, the application Rise Of Berk has been a very fun game, and it was free (however, it has in-app purchases, and I hate those). So, if this app is anywhere near as good as that one I will be pleased. It looks like it will be a completely different sort of game... sort of like a roleplaying story, which is cool with me! I used to run a role-play, so I don't mind doing them. Oh, and it has a 3D Toothless as its loading screen before the game first opens, and who does't love that!

I'll post a review as soon as I've gotten into it, but I'm looking forward to getting enough time to sit down and actually play into it!

Sigh... :'(

How To Train Your Dragon 2 is no longer playing in any theaters in my area. Its a little sad... because I can remember when HTTYD stopped playing and everybody sort of dumped it. And I only got to see the second one six times (haha, which I am thankful for and which was probably plenty!). I'm really not all that sad that I didn't go and see it again yesterday, but I am sad that it will now be MONTHS before I can watch it again! Agh! I can feel myself forgetting the lines and losing my grip on the subtle facial expressions and gestures!! How will I survive until the DVD release? Keep calm and train dragons!