Prissy Little Chloe

Creating Action Scenes Concept Art Tutorial  After wrapping up my first fanart series on NieR:Automata ( catch it right here ), I would like to start a new walk-through series right here, on how I create action scenes for entertainment art. So, let's jump into it! Step 1: Reference and Thumbnails To start building a reference board, I use a free app called PureRef; it allows you to take any reference images that you like, and lay them out in an organized collage.  One thing to keep in mind when creating thumbnails, is it’s best to get as  many  ideas as you can down on paper. Don't be intimidated by that! There are no wrong ideas and it doesn't matter if it looks rudimentary at this stage.  When creating thumbnail sketches, think of what you want to see as the main focus of the scene; so, in this case, I want to have the main character 2B slashing a large machine – something inspired by an in-game screenshot. Now, with a rough sketch of b...

3 years of waiting - 3 months of Xbox jealousy Many of you on PC will know our first AAA game of the year is Square Enix's Rise of the Tomb Raider -- and let me just say this game is gorgeous . I preordered it a few days ago (for those wondering if that was a good idea, I have a post on that), preloaded it and played it at the strike of noon. Maxed-out the settings immediately -- which you can very well do on am Nvidia 960 or 970. If you have a 980, 980 ti or Titan X -- then beast; but definitely play this on the Nvidia 9-series if you're team green. For those on ATI AMD, I feel sorry for you. Even though Lara's hair will look just as good. When I launched the first level -- a snowy disaster zone -- I felt like taking a plunge off the cliff for fun, just like the original -- and Halo of course. The physics are fantastic, by the way. The flurries fell so naturally and the footprint tracks in the crisp, white snow are better than Arkham Origins and Battlefro...

Not watching tv is the easy part - I only watch The Vampire Diaries anyway Plus lot of shows are on Holiday break - until late January. Fine. Because I had my office set up in the living room, I had to move my desktop upstairs so we can put the gigantic Christmas tree up where it was. It's still there! That's okay too. Because it's a huge tree and all. So I lug every part of my gaming setup up the stairs, which takes half an hour or so.  That's my desktop computer, whole desk, chair, headphones, speakers, Xbox controller, plus I carry my whole bedroom with me compartmentalized in my drawers, so that's an extra 50 lbs up a flight of twenty-five stairs. So I set it all up, which takes another half-hour. I turn my computer on to game the stress away. I launch Black Ops 3 Zombies, my favourite multiplayer game and find a match. That only lasts twenty seconds, because I host and someone sent me a message different from the occasional ...

Heads-up: the word "Console" is dirtier than "Mac" for hardcore PC gamers I'm going to be blunt here - when it comes to PC graphics, there is no contest. Now of course that means you need a good PC, so you'll have to spend a minimum of $800 for an entry-level setup - although, if you look on YouTube, there are some videos where you could (amazingly) upgrade your PC or build a new one for less than $200, that's capable of playing most games. I've been playing consoles like NES and Sega Genesis (or Saturn as some of you know it) since I was two. I played games like Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog, Donkey Kong and Tetris. Then I moved to Super Nintendo, N64 and Sega Dreamcast, so I can play Mario 64 and NBA 2k. I began to see graphic potential in games when the Nintendo GameCube came out. The visuals were stunning - titles like Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi's Mansion and Mario Kart were all I played for months. Then I got a Nintendo DS for ...

Okay, I'm guilty of doing what's essentially gaming-taboo, three times this year: pre-ordering! I've pre-ordered Metal Gear Solid V, Black Ops III and Fallout 4 - easily the most anticipated titles Q4 of 2015. Verdict? Well after a year in review, I definitely don't regret pre-ordering Black Ops III. I got to pre-load the entire 50 GB for PC and I was good to go for Zombies by 12 am. Pre-ordering Metal Gear Solid V (my favorite game this year, hands down) made me nervous; After all I couldn't wait to play it since Ground Zeroes last year. No one knew about the existence Black Ops III before April, I mean we expected it since BO2, but it wasn't set in stone until that Snapchat snap (is that what you call them?), with the "Listen only to the sound of my voice" tag. My favorite Call of Duty pre-launch and in-game campaign, by far! As for Fallout. I've heard of Fallout 4 coming for years now, but having only joined the franchise in at t...

Alright, this post is unrelated to my book (wow, for once); it's something I love to do and it's an idea I may turn into a little job. So, I love art! Painting, drawing all that good stuff - but the form of art I love the absolute most (it's become unhealthy actually, going on strong for about fifteen years; I should see someone about this) is video games! Video games? How could that be art. Well. This is no longer 1985 and even though I love Super Mario Bros. (you'll see how much in the bit, like I mentioned it's at addiction level, haha level. Nope? Okay.) video games since about 2010 have used REAL people and environments. No more jumping on top of flags or onto a button that thwarts a turtle-dragon into a lava pit. No, no. We have beautiful lakes, winds and sands and the flags actually blow and the lava really bubbles, complete with sounds and everything (it's no longer the classic Nintendo orange pixel rectangle). So if your child loves to play games - the...