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Initially I was going to protest that the intent was for Backslash to worry that Whitney was going to say no, but having given it some thought I now realize that I really did mess up there. The correct wording should be either "How could I not say yes?" or "How could I say no?" The goof has now been rectified with the former phrasing. ^^;

No prompt. No character. Nothing like the rest. Not even in focus. But here you go:



Merry Christmas.

hS

Ok, first off, you really improved a lot since the first entry. The shading is done nicely, not overdone, and in the right places. The legs are drawn nicely and well proportioned, I particularly like the shading since it captures the light source quite well. i also really like the shading for the face, it gives the face a nice contour.

Now, improvements, I'm going to nitpick here since this is probably the last time I'm critiquing your art unless you decide to make more art threads in the future. First, the clothes. You did add folds, which are nice, but now the folds themselves are the problem. Your folds don't really fold, they are just lines. You didn't make what I call fold bumps on the outline of the clothes. While you could get away with that usually, it's still a good idea to draw some, usually where the cloth is being compressed. Also, keep in mind folds appear both when the cloth is being compressed and stretched, and careful not to overdo the folds.
Next, the hands. These are pretty well structured compared to your previous sketches, a bit of an issue with the left hand is that the fingers seem a little too short.
The hair is a bit iffy here, I can see strands, which is nice, but there is too much crisscrossing. It lacks flow. Yes, hair is not always perfectly parallel, but this seems like you tried too hard to make each strand go in a unique direction. This is actually the opposite problem to the folds; for the folds, there wasn't enough detail, for the hair, you placed too much.

Overall, the sketch itself is pretty well structured, and well drawn. However, it could benefit from improving the fine details, but be careful not to overdo the details. A good mantra to follow is "art is suggestion, not replication". All you need to do is suggest the details are there by placing a couple of details, enough for the viewer to notice, but not too much as to clutter up the sketch.

P.S. You seemed to have switched the left and right feet.(^ _ ^)

Though, there's an extra word at a key moment:

"How could I not say no?"

Agents Whitney and Backslash have a little Heart-To-Heart in the Headquarters' Courtyard.

Merry (early) Christmas, everyone!

V'z abg ragveryl pbaivaprq Rkl vf vagb tveyf, npghnyyl. Abg gung gung obguref Nerngun... fur'f zber guna unys qbvat vg sbe sha, naljnl.

I'm actually planning a full revision of Gravity's Embrace for NaNoEdMo in March. It's the first NaNo that's felt like it could be edited into shape (rather than rewritten entirely, as my forst one was). Once I've got that done... well, it /is/ a spectacularly entertaining setting, and partly created by PPCers to boot. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to take another romp through it.

Not a sequel, though. Exy and Areatha's story is the end of the setting as we know it, I feel.

hS

http://www.springhole.net/writing/christmasspecialtropes.htm

-Twistey

They're a lot easier. The first year, I think I only got... ten days in? Less? And the problems vary in difficulty, so...

I did this last year with the Island of Misfit Toys. There is a part with a book where you can read the inside and the words are just nonsense.

It's one thing I've tried hard to fix in #12; if I revise these, I will tweak it. I had issues with the skirt on the right-hand outfit looking pleated, but I've got that sorted out in my head now.

As to the faces... well, they weren't meant to be different angles! :D Yeah, you're not wrong.

hS

Agent Kaitlyn's dreams come true, in a piece I like to call:

Shrooms for the Shroom Throne!

I've tried to apply everything I've learnt over the course of Drawcember - particularly blending, shading, and hands - into an image which is spliced together from about five different photos. Obviously she's in hobbit disguise, which lets me shake off any minor issues in proportion (I actually had to redraw her head to be 'too large'...!). And... yeah, I knew from the very start that this was the only option for the last picture. ^_^

hS

Some people are extremely badass-looking given that they're wearing polo necks and occasionally furry waistcoats.



Half a dozen preposterously ugly people have various emotions, not many of them specific, all of them unsettling.



Officers Ward and OhJesusWhatHappenedToYourFaceAndSkin on patrol in downtown Los Angeles.

. . . thanks to wildlife protection laws and editing difficulties!

—doctorlit, ultimately pretty happy the Galaxy Far, Far Away contains porgs now

"They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler."

Yeah, they did a good job with that message. I also liked that, like the question of grey morality among the Jedi, they didn't try to paint heroics as black-and-white either. Poe got rightly condemned for losing so many lives to take out a scary ship, delaying an evacuation in the process. But Vice Admiral Holdo actually uses a suicide tactic later on, this time for the sake of saving lives and giving an evacuation more time to continue. It's a movie that asks you to weigh your options before acting.

—doctorlit, amused by "the perfect Jedi is a droid"

I admit I didn't really notice before you pointed it out, but you're right about the entire mission Finn and Rose went on: it's a fetch quest. I've been trying to come up with a way to "fix" it the way I would if I were editing a story, but . . . I really can't find anything. (Other than your suggestion of having Finn and Rose use their technical skills and experience to solve the problem. But that would have been a much shorter movie . . .

I really don't think there was any intentional emotional manipulation on the filmmakers' parts. As far as I understood it, filming was already completed when we lost Carrie Fisher, so I think the scene with the bridge attack was already planned and shot by then. A little uncomfortable in hindsight, to be sure, but I don't blame them for wanting to leave as much of her acting work in as possible.

—doctorlit, too distracted by the feels and the spectacle to notice the holes in the plot

"They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler."

(Yeah, I hilariously overestimated how much spoiler text was necessary in the initial post . . .)

But that only makes it worse! We could have had a movie with a whole bunch of Admiral Ackbar scenes right in the middle! That would have been amazing! Like, no offense to Vice Admiral Holdo or her actor, just . . . I don't know you, Vice Admiral Holdo. I knew Admiral Ackbar. He was an old friend . . .

. . . Oh, but I just discovered the reason. Wikipedia says Ackbar's original voice actor passed away after The Force Awakens. They found another voice actor for Last Jedi, but maybe wanted to retire the character? I feel like a jerk, now . . .

I do feel like there's a bit of a bias towards human characters in Star Wars, especially in the newer films. I don't think Chewbacca has gotten nearly as much relative screen time in VII and VIII as he did in the original trilogy. I know Luke, Leia and Han were always the focus, but there was still room for Chewbacca and even Ewoks to participate in battles. And the prequels had Jar Jar and brought Chewbacca back for a bit . . . I know Jar Jar wasn't well received, but my point is that in this series set in space and filled with planets of unique, bizarre life forms, and the main movers and shakers always seem to be humans. I realize that the CGI or makeup/puppetry for an alien character is more complex than just throwing clothes on an actor and putting them on screen, but I really would like a bit more species diversity in a series full of aliens . . .

—doctorlit just, like, doesn't know Vice Admiral Holdo, okay?

They're only there because Skellig Michael (aka Luke's island) is absolutely full of puffins, and it was too much effort to edit them out. Thus, porgs were designed and edited over all the puffins in shot. =]

I'm curious, (rot13 for people who didn't read it yet) Qvq rvgure bs gur Nergurn znantrq gb trg guebhtu gurve Rkl'f sbegerff bs abcr? And have you any idea about writing other stories using that 'verse?

"They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler." "They hate that spoiler."

And I liked it. The grayer view on the Force and the Jedi is something I always appreciate, especially when you remember the way Jedi are supposed to work before Order 66 (Fan of KotORs and the Old Republic in general speaking). And I always felt like 'Euh, so the perfect Jedi is a droid?' and 'How Anakin is the only one Jedi snapping? That way of doing things just breed darksiders'. Good to see that questioning brought up in the movies, beyond the 'meta' we can see with Luke mocking the idea he's a Deus Ex Machina, especially when we remember so many people prefered Han over him in the original trilogy.

I also like the general 'Reality Ensues' attached to the Resistance and so many points of the movie. Heroes and desperate plans don't always save the day, not all scoundrels have the nobless of becoming Han Solo, defeating the superweapon or killing their leader doesn't mean the enemy is done... The lesson of 'sometimes the only possible victory is living long enough to fight again later' is also a good one point to bring out too.

And frankly, I like the way Kylo offed Snoke. We know the dark side is a way laced with treachery, where apprentices kill their masters to take their power... Actually seeing it happen successfully (for once) feels impressive, and the fight scene with the guards after that certainly don't spoil anything. Having him stay on the dark side feels perfect here too, the idea he could have turned back to the light here would have been so cheap.

Also really liked the scene were they used Yoda the puppet. It's so precious, fun, awesome, and the essage he delivers he's the right one at the moment.

And I don't see why some people on the web are saalty bout the way Luke dies. First, the projection thing? LegendsExpanded Universe had Force illusions, and if a Jedi can create one of a Super Star Destroyer, or some darksiders the illusion of more warships in a fleet, why not this? And the idea it overetends Luke and costs him his life isn't far-fetched or anything to me. And as a small OT, don't see that much of a problem with the critters Porg. Sure, they're clearly there to make plushies, but they appear seconds at most in a row, except when they distract Chewie. I can get over them.

All in all, I liked that movie, and I'm curious about where they'll go with the next ones.

... Yes, the scene with Leia and the vacuum felt a bit ridiculious. I wonder where she got enough of a Force training for pulling that off. Still not spoiling the movie for me.

[Checks the calendar] And... a bit.

_{A big bit.}

Shaddup.

hS

PS: Happy birthday, Hardric! Haha you're old(ish).

Congratulations on finishing your finals, Hardric, and good luck in the job search! But a bit of advice: It's not what you know, it's who knows you. Make sure to make connections in the field you want to go in.