What a ninja does in private...

...should really stay in private!

Based on a running joke on the ArmorGames forums. Since I'm a moderator, I get poked fun of a lot. It's...a bit of a long story but essentially I'm now the resident cross-dresser.

Despite not being interested in cross-dressing in real life. But hey, apparently it's cool now :P

Orlestat Character Sheet

This is as official as I'm going to get with Orlestat. It shows his general demeanour, the major features and behaviors and colour markings. But really the feathers I always do ad-hoc, so it's not like I'm terribly fussed.

Haunted

I was going to draw a character poster. Then I was going to draw wallpaper. It ended up being neither.

But it's pretty, and I like it.

This is a picture from one of the opening scenes of the novel I'm working on, that features Orlestat.

Strop blown away

I swear the image is the right way up.

On Armorgames, there's a grand tournament involving the characters from the userbase. Since I'm a moderator there and everybody knows Strop the ninja-pony, I got roped in.

So here's Strop getting sucked into another world, another world of mystery and the sadistic machinations of another user. But I shall prevail!

And if I don't I'll just bring out the banhammer :D

This is the first sketch of Orlestat I've done with the tablet, and hence the first time I've colored him in this manner. Previously it would have been far too bothersome.

Orlestat is an unnaturally irridiscient shade of blue. But eh, that's how I always saw him. I got super sloppy on the back anatomy but eh, whatever!

Take Care of Yourself

Life can be complicated but this image seems to convey what it needs to.

Strop techniques page 1

VCL compressed version

I'm not sure what to say. I was sick, struggling to study and needed some motivation so I kicked this one out. Plenty more where it came from.

Forest Jump

Quickfire animated .gif sketch of strop doing his ninja thing in a forest.

It's hardly perfect but it was fun and good practice. I might do a few more of these or something and might do a casual b&w flash animation sometime. Just something pokey and light-hearted.

Strop of the Night

One of the early sketches of revamped Strop. Because he was skulking around, I made it a night-time sketch.

The anatomy is horrid- the thighs are way too long because I moved things around improperly between sketching and coloring. Also the costume was far from finalised- I removed the armbands and the kunai pouch (which you can't see anyway). Also this strop's arms are too big.

But the lighting is kinda funky and I was still not used to the tablet by this stage so here you go.

Strop character sheet

This is the official version of Strop, as he stands right now. Ever since last year I've gained the online reputation as a ninja pony, and so I've grown into that and will no longer use my real life nickname online.

The dimensions are now genuinely mine, as opposed to being exaggerated as in the past. Strop seems to be the ninja name, but in some capacity this character is still Morgan, and has retained his archery (despite the fact I'm not an archer myself). I just like the notion of stillness.

In other words, if anybody ever wants to draw strop, this is the basic template. Strop does not wear fancy stuff and tends to be quite minimalist, so will not carry a whole range of equipment, and sometimes carries nothing at all. Final note: I'll put in holes for the ears: works better.

Even Ninja

100% Open Canvas, quick sketch. I'm trying to find my old style on the new tablet, but this is hampered by limited space and the inability to do my natural strokes.

This is, however, the style I may settle for when doing comic art.

The really poor Japanes calligraphy comes from a 9th century Zen saying. Translated, it reads "Go and drink some tea!" Interpreted, it is an invitation to reflect and discover yourself. I found it pretty apt for the subject.

Machine Becomes You

Non-furry.

I wanted something arty and edgy, and I think I ended up with something completely like, psychadelic. The reason is I originally wanted to go with contrast between dull mechanical hues and rich fleshy tones, and ended up with artificially saturated tones on mild fleshy tones. Converses don't apply however and so I end up with something visually overly busy. I was disappointed when I finally realised where I went wrong but now I look at it again, it's not *too* bad. Interesting.

Quite a few references, see if you can get them all. Some of them are merely the result of my spending too much time in operating theater. It's like...well this is something I've always wanted to do and will do more of in the future.

Warrior Mazzelh

Mazzelhs are the intellectual property of Zophia: http://mazzelh.deviantart.com/ Used with written permission.

So yeah, this is like, a rare piece of fan-art. First things first, the head is a bit off-shape, the eye color is not typical to the character species, and she's definitely skinnier than is typical, but most of this was intentional. And I think she possibly could be drunken boxing...

Anyway, yeah. Greeeeeeeeen.

Karate Bunny

Nes doesn't do karate, but it's an injoke.

As one of my final 'tests' in .gif format before I got my tablet, I decided to step up my animation one more level. However, any more levels and the computer can't handle it, so I'm getting flash. I believe I'm justified now :P

This is supposed to run at 25fps...however it may chug in slower computers (like mine) in certain parts. It's not meant to. I already had to shrink it to half its size so this is nowhere near the quality of the original.

This doesn't need a title because I think it's as self-explanatory as it is lame xD

One might think that I did this because I've been watching the beach-volleyball in the Beijing Olympics. But this is in fact the secondary reason: the main reason was because the theme for the ArmorGames art battle was "Unicorns" and everybody was doing a Charlie the Unicorn spinoff. I wanted to do something a little more *topical*.

I figured a long horse face was perfect to carry the expression, so the joke was born. I did try to be somewhat accurate in portraying the stadium, but obviously it's all compositional background to the punchline.

Note: I've tried to stay true to Aeryn's actual build as I've re-envisaged it- athletic, not waifish nor voluptuous...like beach volleyball athletes!

Swimsuit edition

Well, seeing as I drew a shark...man thingy, I thought I might as well do a shark...girl to go with it :P Despite my dislike of using sexual archetypes to the exclusion of variances, I don't think I'll bother going past the simple male/female forms, as this was more an exercise than anything else.

I managed to scare some people with the 'roids overdose guy, and I think while this girl may appear slightly less intimidating, she is still a little creepy.

The morphology of sharks and the like really don't lend themselves to anthropomorphisation.

And now for something I've never ever tried before: anthropomorphising aquatic life forms. Seriously- their morphology is completely different, no limbs...their locomotion is defined almost entirely by their tail...

So yeah, it's always been a bit ridiculous for me to think about. But here you go! I know some people have done it before, I didn't know how it was going to turn out, and I guess it looks okay. And yes, I wasn't aiming for subtlety here.

MS Paint is awesome.

I don't have a name for this guy. All I know is that he really needs to lay off the steroids.

And Another Thing...

Normally I introduce characters by doing a sketch of them in nothing but skin/fur. However, for the purposes of the project "Strugglers", Quinn's white trackies with red stripe *is* her skin, so I had to work on that first and foremost.

I drew this to represent the kind of relationship that Quinn and Nes have, as well as visually constrasting the two. As a B-girl, Quinn struggles with feminist issues and chauvinism, as well as her own insecurities which has her reacting rather hostilely to new talent.

The other reason I drew this was to solidify my style for making a comic or something out of the project. Yep, that's right. Maybe webcomic. Haha. Don't expect it to be updated regularly: class is coming up.

Quinn © dong (strop), June 2008

Homegirl Aeryn

This is a sketch done with a random pacer with leads that liked to smudge...but I cleaned it up so it goes in home :)

Aeryn was one of the first characters I ever generated, and also the most troublesome. Being a unicorn, I felt she should carry a mythical air, but this does not suit my fondness for gritty, down-to-earth characters well. So initially, she was really feminine and ethereal. Then eventually in subsequent incarnations, she became shorter (she was supposed to be short anyway), stockier and more rugged, until you have the current "homely" look.

You'll note her arms are BUILT for a female. See that Dragunov? I kept her sniper background with her throughout: lugging a 10lb rifle around for years would do *something* to them!

Aeryn © strop

Nes' ginga

This is Nes again. Practicing his ginga.

The ginga (or jinga) provides the basis of Capoeira, both in terms of footwork and rhythm. It looks unstable but is in fact very balanced, and the center of gravity is low. The hands are always ready to guard the face.

Note here that Nes' ginga is unusually quick, and his hand movements a little jerky- I've tried to modify it to reflect his 'rabbitness'.

Drawn by mouse using PAP 4.0 (free version). I'll be doing more of these as I may be developing a game later, and this will form part of a pilot version/alpha. The real version would assumedly be done using 3D models.

THAT'S RITE. MOAR FURRY GAMEZ! In like ten years.

Neske © strop

And on that note, I'm now signing my work either strop or dong. They're both me.

Morgan's Jockstrap

I don't know why I didn't upload this before!

Done late last year, in scratchy pen in my scrapbook. I basically set out to do one of the *gayest* pictures I could possibly think of, and this is about it. Please, do note all the details, such as the things hanging on the line.

The background is in fact the view from my apartment window. However, due to the perspective, this looks like the 9th floor as opposed to the 6th. Either way, I just wanted to say it's a real purdy view, and yes, the clouds can even look like that in the morning.

I, however, wouldn't dream of hanging my clothes on the line at six in the morning wearing nothing but a jockstrap. I don't even own a jockstrap. Though it might solve the problem of tails...

Morgan © D.Ong. Image © D.Ong.

Ryan's kamikaze combo!!!

This is yet another "on lined paper during class" ballpoint animations, and as you can see, it's another subtle hint that I really *do* need a Wacom. And yes, the bit at the end is in fact a doubleleg, back full, dropkick, so I'm not bsing on the thumbnail.

Ryan's another character I have no connection to anymore, but again, since I penned this one just after I penned the one of Chance, here you go! This time, you get to see seven seconds of his barely-out-of-control personality!

Chance's kata

This was a pen doodle of a character no longer in existence, but it was kinda nifty, and seeing as I'm uploading all the stuff I drew in class, and I did this almost eight months ago...it goes here!

I'd like to think that one can see elements of personality or style in even this brief passage. I was trying to put together a slightly eccentric style (a lunging block!? Back kick into gainer flash kick!?) as it kinda embodies the character- oddball and somewhat unpredictable.

Epiphany

Too much explanation required! Points in a quick list:

* Based on a commission brief written by my partner Strawcat.
* I owed him the very same picture since 27 months ago but wasn't good enough to do it then.
* Upon rereading the brief, I pounced on it and slaved over it in OC over the new year as I was ill.
* I don't have a tablet. I wish I had a tablet as drawing with the mouse drives me nuts.
* This is the low quality version. I might make prints of the full quality version but the filesize is massive.

Epiphany (the character) belongs to Strawcat. My sig is in the bottom right.

Lift Your Head and Wonder

This is a doodle I did as part of "let's not do anything for NaNoWriMo day". I managed to create and characterise an entirely new...character in the space of three sketches! This is the third and despite not having all the relevant details (including wrinkles and some of the clothing), I liked it.

Jack will have to be a sufficient name for him: he's a neutral medic trapped on a war-locked world in my novel project "Anthropometry"- so his role is something like Medicins Sans Frontièrs (if that's the right spelling). He's getting old and starting to think what he's done with his life and how long he'll last.

Jack©Dong Nov.2007

Ravensuit (activated)

And this is where you see the entire point of that gizmo on the back. Corvin (the character modelling the suit) is actually human (barring those scary hybrid grafts that serve as his feet...) and the entire aim of the suit was something patchy, something that showed both what it was intimating towards, and yet revealed its own craft.

The wings were the fun part. I was originally going for a clean effect but I only have a mouse so since I suck, it came out looking craptacular. Cue motion-blur and smudge tool. Then plasma filter, overlay and a bit of lighting source trickery and erase tool.

Corvin(Icarus)©Strawcat, 2007

Ravensuit (wingless)

Aiee, I can't believe I forgot to upload these here, even when I did on DA and FA.

Anyway, the latest in the long string of unfinished projects I have is this sci-fi. At least, again, it's supposed to be for one of those free-form text RPs but I've already made headway on a novel based on it, heh. This is one of the characters in it- or, at least, the design for his freaky suit. Note that there's some transparency because I actually drew the lineart to tell myself where everything was supposed to go.

Corvin (Icarus)©Strawcat, July 2007.

Updated Morgan reference (lineart)

Upon meeting an equine-loving friend on Friday, I was reminded that I have not done many drawings of Morgan for a long time. So while taking a break today, I shot out two quick sketches, because in that time, I couldn't really do any of the stuff that I *owe* other people, heh.

Besides, Morgan is totally cute. You may note that his musculature and structure has changed to being less spindly- this is because my own body structure has significantly changed due to more intense training. But Morgan still has more on the pecs and biceps than I do, and always will, since by comparison our basic structures differ.

I'll color this in OC later, probably after I finish everything else.

The Short Patrol

(reupload...couldn't leave well enough alone)

I like how this turned out. Eventually I will throw everything I have at coloring it digitally. By the time I get to that, I should have Photoshop CS up and running, and...yeah. Anyway, this is Nes and Ryan, standing in front of The Severed Tail (the inn in ICO).

It was totally a Kodak Moment.

Ryan is © his player, and all that.

Tumbling bunnies

This is in fact a .gif animation...since I don't have flash. Yet.

I doodled it over the course of 2 1/2 classes...yes I should have been paying more attention. But, eh. 66 frames, 5 seconds. It's only as of late that I've been able to draw animations more realistically, since I am quite a bit better at tricking and martial arts than I was two years ago, so I pretty much understand the principles of motion. This is good, since I want to be able to draw fluid and realistic yet stylised animations, like (hopefully) the one above.

There's too much background info to describe, so you'll have to clicky the comment link.