MY MESSAGE

Finally... ;___; I've... Finished!!! Yay!!! ;__;... Mmhhhggggrrhh...... YEEEAAAHHHH!! ^________^ *chuckle*

*Crowd - Err.... I think he's gone nuts... u_u;;*


This is drawing... Is dedicated yet again to all the wonderful members of the DA/Sonic community who had sacrificed their time to support me in my works and daily commitments - both at home and at school.


You guys have been totally awesome... I'm proud to say how wonderful a bunch of people you guys are... Talented, cheerful, friendly, consistent, persistent, creative, interesting and lovable people.


This Christmas Group Picture was original set a deadline to finished on X-Mas but I failed on both accounts - X-Mas day Australia time and X-Mas day U.S/Canada time... However it may be a day late I look back at all the hours I've spent on this... And really feel grateful that it is completed.


This has taken me the whole month of December to do and everyone of you had helped me along to get to the finish. Thank you all for supporting me always. *bows in thanks, gratitude, honour and respect*

And how could I not forget my most important person to thank?

To Bobbi 'Marie' Vecchio (aka MTP) for _always_ being there for me whenever I need it. She's been with me for over a year and I thank her for her love and support that has made me smile everyday and appreciate life with a purpose...

......


Hope you'll enjoy viewing this monster!! Take care and have fun....



P.S.

WHILE THE PAGE IS LOADING [SIZE = 2.2 MB!!] FEEL FREE TO READ SOME NOTES ^_~


- Total time taken = Many hours... LOL (I don't remember the exact amount of hours but let's say I've taken a full day to complete this ie. 24 hours and a bit. ^_~)

- This X-Mas Group Pic is 6 pages long (A4 size white paper + scrap photocopy paper from uni).

- Shading style is applied - originally I was going to keep it to 'simple shading' (one shade lighter) similar to the previous Thank You Group Pic No. 1. ^_~

- How many people are in there this time? Who knows? Can you count them for me? *chuckles*

- What makes a group picture difficult to draw is the planning stage. Most of the hours spent is actually on the planning, composition of people, geographical landscaping and layout. The drawing part is the easiest part whereas the planning part can be the latter. ^_^

- I have to think logically who is going to be in there and if so 'who are they with?'. That part is very important to me because it adds a lot of value to the drawing or the scene - e.g. Why not draw your friend with doing something with another friend or a group of friends rather than single out?

- The hardest part of making/processing the group pic is the research part. In order to do a really good group pic you need to know the community quite well. It adds excitement when you draw in those who really deserve to be in there and to those who have been supporting you all the way on what you do for the community. ^_^

- What I found annoying was the fact I had to find space (as I advance into at least more than half way… ^^) for the people I really want to be exposed! Sometimes you may have drawn a spot that has been reserved for other people but you feel that you should’ve done it the other way around by replacing the new ones filling their spot… If you do that then that means more time and energy since you have to rub out the whole thing and also reorganise the dynamics of that space. X_X;;

- A way to save time drawing group pics is to think ahead and have a general idea of what the setting is going to be, what the occasion is and how many people to fit in. ^^

- Planning is crucial. Like I said earlier this takes up most of the time in the process of making a group pic. In this occasion planning took almost 70% of my time from start to completion.

- Some people told me they where should they start if they plan to make one? Well start simple first. ^_^ Go for one page and draw like maybe 4 or 5 people together.

- As you advance with more practice you’ll realise that group pictures can become more complex because you have to consider the movement, posture and expression each person is portraying in that ‘shot’. Keep it simple and add variety in the expression of your friends when you’re confident.

- Landscaping can be fun and a time saver but only when you know what you’re doing. Backgrounds can take 50% of your group pic at times. Remember drawing a background can be used to fill up ‘unnecessary space’ so use this technique wisely. ^_~

- Over the years many have told me that they have difficulty drawing BGs (backgrounds). Well don’t give up you must put yourself in a quiet space and just infuse with your surroundings. Someone who appreciates nature is more likely to do a better job than those who don’t. You will feel motivate because you believe that you will produce something out of this world and believe me when I had my first go I said to myself ‘Wow… This looks awesome! O_O ^^..’

- When you finished a big project like this always, always, always, always…. Celebrate a little! LMAO! You will feel rewarded for your patience.



MY PAST WORKS

1: SoaH CitY Mall
[link]

2: SoaH CitY New Years 2003
[link]

3: Invitation To A Sonic Parade
[link]

4: Sonic Verse Team Cafe Party
[link]

5: THANK YOU GROUP PIC 2004
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6. NO.2 THANK YOU GROUP PIC 2004
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