General update
Not too different from last post. Mostly I've just done cleanup type stuff, though I redid the hair after examining how the Air anime did it. And I redrew the visible hand, but it looks somehow wrong for no reason than I can specify. Maybe too narrow?
Also, this version was scaled down to give an idea of how it'd look, and it does seem to make the lines look a little nicer, I guess. Oh, and the purple/magenta/whatever rectangle is there to use as a "Are there holes or stray pixels where there shouldn't be? Let's put something distinctively coloured behind to see." layer.
I realised something odd, though: much like when I'm drawing in pencil, the shading I've done on this so far is really quite subtle. I think one of my next picture experiments should involve deep shadow experiments, much like how this one's served as a nice platform for shiny hair techniques? Otherwise it could be hard for me to draw anything with a strong horror feel to it, or something...
Oh, and one other thing I realised: I have very little idea what a baby fox would look like from tht angle, or even if the sizes are right. I guess I should find some reference images? So far I've not really used any in that pic, but that's because I have a rough idea of what the other bits should look like.
In other news, Uni work has definitely become less harsh. However, I've also lost much of my ability to spend time working on it, which is not exactly good. I need to figure out a way to get back into the work-doing frame of mind somehow.
The laptop turns out to be nice for doing Uni-work on, and is also apparently a competent gaming platform; it runs the HL2 engine with slightly better settings than Umbra-tan does, I think, which shows the difference in age. Which does remind me of something I may or may not have mentioned previously, namely that I don't know what to do with this computer when it comes to the point that I need more powerful hardware. I guess if I've got my own job and place then I'll just keep her, since giving away a partner that's served faithfully for years does not feel right to me...
There is one problem with that laptop, though: my room doesn't have enough free table space to use it on. I've not come up with a cunning plan for a comfortable place to work with it, yet, so I tend instead not to use it as much as I would otherwise...
In financial terms, I'm trying to avoid buying anything expensive, in the aim of making it to about march 20th or so (when I an go back to London, and after which the next student loan installment will come in) without needing to ask parents for any money. This was earlier in the past, when family chaos meant I technically was only being supported by one parent, and so got an extra £400 per payment or so. This year so far it's counted as me having both helping (which meant a reduction since previous years) but father is now at compulsory retirement age, so can't help much unless he can find a new job to do. The general situation is actually looking a little bleak, since mother will be retiring in a few years too, and nii-chan is not exactly self-sufficient. I guess mother at least is counting on me to be able to make it on my own, after I graduate, which is kinda a scary thought.
I think my arm strength has gone up somewhat since starting Wing Chun, which I'm ambivalent about. I mean, being able to hit hard is nice, but I don't particularly want to end up being burly.
Strength is only part of it, though; my technique is getting better too, I think. I dunno about softness (i.e. the skill that lets you deform and flow around attacks rather than meeting them head on), since the only experience I have with Chi Sau (the exercise that practices this) has been either on the "this is what you do" level (which is fairly simple), or the "random chi sau initiated by higher-level student!" level (which moves faster than I can follow and usually demonstrates the difference in skill levels within a few moments). The latter usually leaves me somewhere between laughing and smiling, though, because despite its combative look (and purpose - essentially you're trying to flow through the holes in your partner's defences) Chi Sau is closer to a game than anything else. I'm looking forward to more of this (because it's fun), but we've not really started it yet with the main teacher...
...And considering the amount of bracketed sentences, that last paragraph was probably quite confusing, so apologies if I've lost anyone. ^^;
For anime, I finished Kekkaishi recently, which I have a very good view of overall. It's somewhere between 3rd and 5th place in my favourites list, I think, because it's not got quite as consistent flow as the Nanoha series, but contains moments of extreme awesome to balance it out. And by moments, I meant stuff like "the whole of episode 47", which is incredible (even without much context). The other thing I liked about it was its magic system, which happens to be much the same flavour as I'd use in a story, and are indeed using in that RP I mention so often here.
But that does mean I've finished the last series I was seriously watching. I've checked out a few anime since StrikerS ended and I realised HiguKai and Kekkaishi were the last ones I had left on my list, but they've all had a "this is okay/good" feel to them, rather than "oh wow, this is top 5 material". I might've been spoiled, since the three anime I mentioned in this paragraph were that good...
Anyway, I think that was all I had to say for the moment. It got kinda long, but there may well have been people who read it anyway. <3