Monica Valentinelli
Take the Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge and Change Your World
Greetings and Salutations!
This week's news, announcements, and musings include Wednesday's check-in and a motivational post for my Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge. You are welcome to join us at any time. Thanks so much for reading and supporting my art!
In the 01/26/2017 edition:
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Oh My Watercolor! Photos and a NASA-inspired Creative Prompt
By Monica Valentinelli on Jan 26, 2017 01:45 pm
Hello, hello, hello! I hope you’re doing well. Today, I’m happy to share with you part one of a two part project I’m working on. As you may recall, January’s theme for my year-long creative challenge was “Play!” Last night, I tried a new technique I’ve never attempted before–watercolor! A few weeks ago, I wrote a poem about hope and decided to illustrate it. Thanks to my friend and comics professor Ursula Murray Husted, she suggested I do the lettering separately because I’m using cold press paper.
Before I get to my photos, I have a new Creative Prompt for you. It’s all about spppppaaaaaaccccccceeeeeeeee!
Creative Prompt: Using NASA as Inspiration
Today’s prompt is for all you writers out there. Did you know that NASA publishes a photo of the day? Photos are a fantastic way to get your creative juices flowing, because they act as an anchor to generate ideas. Sometimes, they post pictures of moons, astronauts, nebulas–oh my!
Using NASA’s Photo of the Day as inspiration, write about that photo. You could:
Tell a science fiction story starring a heroic scientist or astronomer
Write a poem about how space is big. Reaaaaaalllly, really big!
Describe how you’d live on the surface of a moon
Create an alien ship or species that lives on a spaceship
Design a want ad for astronauts flying to Mars
Or, if you’re all out of ideas? You could write a fan letter to NASA, instead. I’m sure they’d love to hear how wonderful their scientific exploration and efforts are, and how their photos inspire you!
From Watercolors to Nebulas
Since I wanted to try something new, I thought I’d post some pics to show you how I took my background over the finish line. New is scary–even for me! The first picture is of a background that I knew I was going to add stars to. I chose colors I might see in a nebula, to give the background a little dimension. The color does vary a little bit–I also learned that lighting makes all the difference in the world. Definitely need to keep that in mind for the future!
Step two was to add the stars. I thought about where the stars might be visible, since some gaseous clouds would be thicker in spots than others. To add a little dimension, my first instinct was to add two shooting stars (e.g. comets).
Ehhhh… I wasn’t happy with that second comet, because the perspective felt off to me. I didn’t want to paint over the whole piece, but I didn’t think it worked, either. So, I decided to paint over it and add more black for more contrast. This is what it looks like before I added more stars.
Annnnnnnd, voila! The final version! Believe it or not, this is a picture I took from my iPhone in much better lighting. I’m pumped, because I don’t have to scan it and the photo really brought out the layers of paint I was working with. For part two of this project, I’m going to hand-letter my poem. You’ll see that in a future post!
Mood: BOO-YAH!
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Ummm…. Two. Wait, no three. No two.
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Laundry. UGH.
In My Ears: Classical
Game Last Played: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Book Last Read: Research materials for work.
Movie/TV Show Last Viewed: Lucifer
Latest Artistic Project: Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge and Rules
Latest Releases: Read my end-of-the-year list of releases for an overview of what I’ve put out for 2016. Check out Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling and, if you like it, consider leaving a review.
Current State of Projects: Read my latest project update.
MANW Check-In Week 4: Celebrating One Month, January’s Accountability, and Turning No into Yes
By Monica Valentinelli on Jan 25, 2017 08:17 am
Congratulations! We’re now in Week 4 of the Make Art Not War Challenge 2017. How are you doing? This month’s theme was PLAY, and I hope you’ve embraced that with vigor. The theme was designed for you to plant the seeds for discipline; I will help you grow as the year continues, by building off of this initial theme every month.
Okay, now that we’re in week four this is a good time for me to check in with all of you and see how committed I’ve been to my pledge.
My Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge pledge:
I pledge to devote one hour a day to my original art.
If I don’t feel motivated, I pledge to write down the reasons why I wanted to take this challenge for fifteen minutes or one-to-three pages whichever comes first.
I pledge to mark down on the calendar whenever I complete a day’s efforts.
As the challenge creator, I pledge to create a weekly accountability post every Wednesday beginning on January 9th. Comments will be open. Hashtag #makeartnotwar2017 #manw2017
I pledge to check into social media twice a week for personal use, and once a month with my local community of artists and writers.
January 2017 Accountability
I made original art for one hour every day when I could. I had a convention, and I figured out that making art while at conventions is more involved than I imagined it would be.
I did not have a problem with motivation.
I used gold star stickers to mark down on the calendar when I made art.
I have posted the accountability posts and did use the hashtags #makeartnotwar2017 #manw2017.
I did fall down on social media usage, because I wanted to keep abreast of political changes and right now I’m regretting that. More on this below.
Okay, so where I fell down was on social media. It’s hard to extricate myself from it, because I do log in for work. The problem isn’t doing that “one quick thing”, it’s the fact that I have had 24-7 access to it on my phone, my dual monitors, etc. So, yesterday I made the decision to remove access on my phone; I’ll put it back when I’m traveling, but for now this is the safest and best approach going forward.
How I’ve Been Using Social Media
In talking to other friends so many of us rely on social media for making plans and remaining in touch as well. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had that begin with “Well, didn’t you see what happened on Facebook?” Even when I do use it, I’m not on it enough to know or read what everyone is up to. I’ve been engaging with Facebook Groups more, though, and I also use Messenger. The nice thing about Messenger, is that it’s a separate app so I don’t need Facebook on my phone. That’s definitely staying.
With respect to Twitter, I was using the service as a news aggregator and… Well, I just cannot have access to the news 24-7, either. The only solution is to disconnect and stick to my original pledge. It didn’t affect my productivity this month, but that’s never the problem. The issue is that it impacts my mood, and that’s when my focus and enthusiasm for my original art tends to go by the wayside.
I’m seeing quite a few of you checking in on the Twitter hashtag–and that’s great! Don’t be afraid to revisit your personal promises, too, because next week’s check-in kicks off a brand new month. Exciting!
Creative Challenge: Turning “No’s” Into “Yes’s”
Some of you may have stopped and started on this challenge. You had every intention of making art every day, of setting aside your frustration, and focusing on yourself. You might feel guilty for taking that time, or might be comparing yourself to other, more established artists wondering if you’ll ever get “there.” Or, you might feel a ton of pressure to be perfect or make a gorgeous, saleable piece of art every time you sit down to create.
Negativity is a Creative Challenge that you’ll have to overcome if you want to establish a routine and sharpen your focus. Right now, what you’re telling yourself is “No, I can’t do this.” The reasons why you’re saying “No.” will vary widely, but that negativity is exacerbated by everyone around you and our current political climate. It does have an impact, even if you can’t see it now; artists are keen observers, because it’s up to
The question you need to ask yourself is: “How do I turn a ‘No’ into a ‘Yes’?” If you cannot say “Yes, I will devote my time to making art and focusing on my craft.” then how can you expect anyone else to publish, buy, or support your finished works?
Your reasons for saying “Yes!” to yourself will also vary; the first step, however, is to recognize that you are saying “No.” Then, it’s up to you to figure out why that is to overcome your personal, often very emotional, challenge. I believe you can do it, and I wish you the best of luck.
Now that we’re a month in–tell me how you’re doing! Comments are open, and I’d love to hear how this challenge is impacting your life as an artist.
Mood: Tired but motivated
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Two
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: 30
In My Ears: Classical
Game Last Played: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Book Last Read: Research materials for work.
Movie/TV Show Last Viewed: Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs
Latest Artistic Project: Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge and Rules
Latest Releases: Read my end-of-the-year list of releases for an overview of what I’ve put out for 2016. Check out Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling and, if you like it, consider leaving a review.
Current State of Projects: Read my latest project update.
What I Mean When I Say 3-D Character Design
By Monica Valentinelli on Jan 24, 2017 11:24 am
Assume that the first 5,000 words of this post is a treatise on the use of propaganda to make it socially acceptable to attack opponents and commit horrific acts throughout history. I want to write it, but I have work to do and I’m grumpy(1)(2).
It was pointed out to me that I haven’t blogged about designing games or writing stories for a bit, and that’s something I definitely want to sprinkle in here and there. Often, the challenge for me is that I have my own lexicon(3) for creative elements. For example, I hate the terms “crunch” and “fluff” with the fiery passion of a thousand red suns, because I feel those terms devalue both the necessary work that systems designers do and the talented efforts of setting designers. Instead, I call the systems the “engine” for a game, because that’s what makes a game go. The setting, then, is the “vehicle”. Combined, they make a game filled with passengers (e.g. the characters). Without the engine or the vehicle, you don’t have a game. You have a pile of rules or you have a bunch of descriptions. You definitely need both to play.
What about those passengers, though? Well, circling back to my goal to define what I mean when I say “3-D character design”, I envision all game’s characters to be a personality that lifts right off the page. Player-characters aren’t photographs, because they’re not static. They’re active, and their stories are shaped by a player sitting at the table. In many games, I also like to envision the GM’s characters to be the same way, because that offers more potential for conflict and interactions. Thus, three-dimensional characters are more life-like than 2D; they are full of desires, fears, and quirks–just like the people filling their shoes.
I’m of the mind that three-dimensional character portrayals actively support a better play experience(4), because we–the designers–are presenting characters for two reasons. First, the characters are there for the GM to narrate. The more characters there are, the easier it is to portray them as photographs because they’re elements needed to build a narrative. But, even tweaking those characters just a little bit makes them more fun to interact with and more emotionally compelling to rescue, fight, investigate, chase, etc.
Second, the characters we present are not only necessary for the players, they also underline the play experience; you typically can’t have a game without characters (or roles) of some sort unless it’s intentionally designed not to have them. Character depictions are also a strong indicator of what that vehicle (e.g. setting) is like for the game, and when these portrayals are flat it sends a strong message to the players at the table.
For example, many players internalize they are not welcome in a game if the art and text doesn’t not include their identities, because they don’t feel a connection and can’t see themselves playing the game. This happens on both a subconscious and conscious level, and it is tied to one of the reasons why people buy games in the first place. To have fun, people need to feel vested in a game, and that investment depends on any number of factors. I’ve found that one of the best and surest ways to increase a player’s interest, is to focus on three-dimensional characters that many different types of players would be attracted to.
Three-dimensional characters do take some work to create, but I personally feel having this as a design goal makes us better designers and writers. The identity portion of that is part and parcel to ensuring characters are handled appropriately, and to that end I’m teaching a class called Writing the Other: Writing RPGs Sans Fail with K. Tempest Bradford. Outside of the discussions to sensitively portraying different identities, there are tons of techniques you can employ to zero in on making better characters.
Now that I’ve defined what three-dimensional characters are, I’ll address tips for designing them in a later post.
(1) Politics and winter. I have a great life, but nothing sends me into a rage faster than attacking women’s rights and seeing a bunch of dudes be smug about it. And winter, because this season has been way too long for sure!
(2) Broke my pledge to check in less, but I’m glad I got that out of my system now.
(3) It has always been this way, ever since I was very little.
(4) The same is true in fiction. Flat characters are boring to read!
Mood: Pissed
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: So many!
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: 30
In My Ears: Classical
Game Last Played: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Book Last Read: Research materials for work.
Movie/TV Show Last Viewed: Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs
Latest Artistic Project: Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge and Rules
Latest Releases: Read my end-of-the-year list of releases for an overview of what I’ve put out for 2016. Check out Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling and, if you like it, consider leaving a review.
Current State of Projects: Read my latest project update.
Creative Prompt: A Time Capsule You’ll Open In Four Years
By Monica Valentinelli on Jan 20, 2017 03:34 pm
Today’s creative prompt is inspired by the Presidential Inauguration and, in part, by famous artists and actors like Octavia Butler and Bruce Lee who wrote down the definitive goals they had for their careers. Simply, my idea is to use the words “I will…” and then list what you will do during the next four years.
To turn this into a creative prompt and kick your artistic nature into high gear, create a time capsule for your future self instead. You might write a letter to yourself and seal it away, only to be opened again in four years. You might find a shoebox or some other container and fill it with slips of paper to remind yourself where you are now, what you hope for, and what you think will happen. Or, you might take this as an opportunity to find images and pictures to record for your future self; these are elements that you believe are super important that you will hang on to–no matter what.
Creating a time capsule, either through letter writing or by using your physical space, gives you the gift of time. It removes a small piece of yourself from this moment and helps you visualize yourself in four years. It’s also a way to bring hope and clearly pinpoint what you’re feeling as well, and that can be powerful on multiple levels. Though, if you want to go the traditional route and put artifacts in the capsule, that’s great, too!
The key for this prompt will be to remember where you put the time capsule four years from now. If you’re writing a letter to yourself, I would put it in a sealed envelope and attach it to December in your 2017 wall calendar. Then, I’d continue moving the envelope to December 2018, 19, and 20 until it’s read to be opened. Alternatively, you could go the digital route and use a service like My Time Capsule, instead.
Mood: Chilly with a side of fries
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Two, believe it or not.
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: 30
In My Ears: Movie soundtrack playlist. Nothing.
Game Last Played: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Book Last Read: Research materials for work.
Movie/TV Show Last Viewed: Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs
Latest Artistic Project: Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge and Rules
Latest Releases: Read my end-of-the-year list of releases for an overview of what I’ve put out for 2016. Check out Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling and, if you like it, consider leaving a review.
Current State of Projects: Read my latest project update.
Recent Articles:
MANW Week 3 Check-In: New Creative Prompt & Challenge Follow-Up
MANW Week 2: Check-In and Making Art at Conventions
My 2016 Year-End Publications Post
On Not Making Art
Writing the Other Sans Fail Registration Now Available