12/19 Sketch Dump

Hey, everyone! So after some months stuck in an art block, Japanese studies, and recent frustration about the lack of content in my blog, I'm finally going to post something for once. My classes also just ended for the term and I've been recently motivated to do some digital doodling, with the use of (LE GASP) Photoshop CS6 instead of Pixelmator. My new MSI doesn't support Pixelmator (sadly) so, since yesterday, I've dived into an attempt to master Photoshop's seemingly complicated interface and figuring everything out on my own:

There's a little bit of explanation for everything, which I've outlined below. All descriptions are from bottom to top, just to let you know.

1. Self-portrait doodle contemplating the culture shock of Photoshop. And hello new profile picture EDIT: disregard that, the picture won't cooperate with me. My hair is originally wild and curly as compared to my previous avatar, and the fact that it even was straight was after a number of hair treatments that eventually messed up my scalp to the point that I had to stop attempting to straighten my hair indefinitely (much sadness). I've since accepted it for what it is, and figured that if I couldn't straighten it like I envisioned, then I would at least try to make it look presentable, and make it look cool somehow when I drew it on paper. And to be fair the more I try to, the more pleased I feel with myself, though I wish I could just make up my mind as to which hairstyle should be my official one.
2. My rice cooker. I was really going all out on my draw-the-first-thing-that-comes-to-mind-challenge which I absently set upon myself ever since I started doodling on this space (bear in mind though this is the 4th thing I drew). For those who aren't aware from my Instagram, I've been living in Japan since October this year to pursue my Japanese studies and become either an interpreter or a teacher. While living in a sharehouse near Tokyo, I've found my rice cooker to be my most useful appliance; my mother told me I could cook just about anything in a rice cooker, and every other week I would attempt cooking all sorts of things with it, such as Japanese chicken curry, and my ham and cheese quiche that surprisingly turned out really well when I cooked it in there. I'll be sharing the recipe at a later time though. :P
3. My girlfriend. Since March of this year, I've had a relationship with my woman, and we're honestly still going strong. Nine months and counting! Love you always, you klutz <3
4. My friend LucatheJackal (formerly LucarioofAura). Figured I owed you a doodle of you after all this time, Luc. Enjoy :P
5. My OC I made for a game I once played back in 2006. A long time ago in a distant land, I Aku, the shapeshifting master of darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil once played a game my eldest sibling gave to me called Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire (I had to look this up on FanFiction.Net because for the life of me I completely forgot what the title was and had to do a trial-and-error check on the site's Games section as I recall once looking up fan fiction of the game). The name of my character was Gale Waft, a mercenary who wound up participating in the Rites of Rulership, only to end up saving Silmaria from a menacing dragon. For the next decade or so my character remained merely as a dormant figure in the back of my mind, to the point that I had completely forgotten the name of the game I made him for. That is, until very recently, when I began playing Dragon Age: Origins for the Xbox 360 (in which case his name was simply Gale, as I couldn't rename his last name). Both times I envisioned him as a mercenary dragged into saving the world from destruction by some maleficent dragon. I'm interested in further developing his character from just some random merc from who knows where into something more interesting, but as of the moment, I'm stumped. More doodling is in order, methinks.
6. Bby behemoth. A plush of the thing actually exists. Also one of my few successful attempts at practicing lineless digital painting. Hooray for progress!
7. Otamatone. This note-shaped contraption is actually an all-in-one instrument sold here in Japan. It can play as a guitar, or saxophone even! The weird stuff Japanese come up with, eh? Not sure if it plays any piano though. Its mouth opens when you play a note!
8. These two gators. I keep two stuffed gators in my room--one is a long, light green one my girlfriend christened as Crocigator. The other is a smaller, floofy one I've named Stubby, which I intend to give her when we see each other personally.
9. My two OCs for a fantasy world inside my head. These two are a pair of OCs I created around 4-5 years ago, initially as characters for an online MMO. The one at the back is Etherei, from a race of people born of pure energy. The one in front is Myrto, a former kinsman of Eth's who became genetically modified through inhumane experiments done onto him. Their interaction here is just an attempt at fleshing out their characters (and finally seeing them in digital and color).

Whew. After that whole ordeal I'm actually still itching to draw more. That said I'll be posting some stuff again, and hopefully keep it running for a while before my next indefinite hiatus.