#44: The Unexpected Joys of Making Stuff for Fun!
Aforementioned Joys only unexpected because I routinely forget about them. Some news, some art, some links, and even some music. Enjoy!
Hello dear Readers!
In between the sudden snowfall and equally sudden bursts of sunshine that are oh-so-typical of the Dutch late winter, I have been making stuff… mostly for fun! I’d better tell you more about it before I come to my senses and revert back to my usual workaholic self…
The Time(lapse) Has Come
A week ago I was getting ready to draw the latest Patron-requested Doodle commission when, on a whim, decided to record the process as a time-lapse. No script, no voice-over… just the slightly sped-up footage of the drawing, from first pencil lines all the way to digital colouring-in.
The Doodle and the video both came out really well, and were fun to make, so I thought it might make a nice treat for my Patrons and others interested in my process if I started making more of these videos.
Not much longer after publishing this video, the very same Patron who asked for the above delightful rabbitfolk rogue contacted me about a regular commission for another character of theirs!
Once again, just for fun, I decided to record this drawing as a timelapse video as well, which you can watch below:
At this point, I don’t know if this kind of video is going to become a series, or if it will replace Ink Piece, or if it will be something I continue to do without a set schedule, just for fun. At the moment I continue to see my YouTube channel less as another platform to navigate / “grow” on, and more as a way to supplement this newsletter with audio-visual material.
As such, I’m going to try and keep this “just for fun” approach.
It also helps soothe my soul to create media that shows the process of creating art, in a landscape where so-called “AI” unethical image-generating tools continue to make life for human artists that much more exasperating.
One thing I do know is that as long as I enjoy making timelapse videos, I’ll keep making them.
Card Games and Catharsis at the Creek
Something else that happened last week was that I failed to remember the old adage of “don’t feed the trolls”. I received a pretty mean string of comments on my Greenjackers trailer video, which only in hindsight I realised were posted simply for attention and to rile people up. I also strongly suspect the same commenter went as far as registering an itch.io account for the sole purpose of writing a similarly worded “review” on the game’s page. Ho-hum.
The whole thing left me angry and very demoralised for most of the weekend, so - along with getting back into making timelapse videos - I revisited a show that never fails to cheer me up: Craig of the Creek.
Last summer I published an episode of Ink Piece that briefly discussed what I love about the show, going over - amongst other things - how it helped me to realise my own genderfluidity.
I still have difficulty pinpointing exactly what it is about CotC that touches my heart so much. I can list the many qualities that I think make it one of (if not the) favourite animated show of my life. The character and environment designs are lovely, the voice-acting is stellar, the music and sound design is wonderful, the writing a constant delight, and the diversity and inclusiveness of the show both on screen and amongst the creative team, is fantastic.
It even introduced me to one of my new favourite bands, Bad Moves (more from them later).
It creatively blends wholesome slice-of-life antics with the colourful and energetic world of childhood imagination.
Perhaps what really does it for me, though, is remind me of parts of my childhood that I no longer remember as vividly as I would like. Notionally, I am aware that I engaged in the same kind of make-believe games with other kids my age, but I no longer remember what that felt like.
As someone who grew up in an anglophone bubble within a larger italian-speaking context, CotC also shows me the kind of wider friendship groups and dynamics I feel like I missed out on.
In a nutshell, watching an episode of Craig of the Creek is just as likely to have me beaming with joy as it is to make me teary-eyed and whistful. Very often it does both!
Just the other day I watched the season one episode “Bring Out Your Beast”, which is a hilarious love-letter to the world of trading card games. I fully identify with Craig and his friends, picking BYOB cards for a deck based on how cute the artwork on the cards is, instead of what the cards actually do (I had some many Weedles and Caterpies back in the day).
Either way, it got me inspired to create some of my own over-the-top ridiculous TCG-style characters. Just over an hour ago, I recycled an old card template I made years ago and, made these:
I must specify at this time: I have no idea what I’m going to do with these, if I am indeed going to do anything with them at all.
The text on each card does not relate to any extant game rules.
If I were to attempt turning this into an actual game, I only know the following:
The game’s rules will most likely recycle those of a game I was working on back in 2017. The game was cooperative, and had the players using their creature cards collaboratively against a shared enemy: a randomised deck of monster/chaos cards.
The creature designs are going to keep that “things kids think are cool” vibe. I have already asked some of the lovely people over on the Penflower Ink Discord server (cough which you can access by becoming a patron cough) to provide me with examples of what their children/younger siblings and relatives think is cool, and now have a lot of prompts for future card designs.
For now, I’m going to just keep making more of these funny little guys for fun. We’ll see if they ever actually turn into a functioning game.
TTRPG News and Resources
As you know I recently published my latest RPG, Greenjackers, which is still currently itch-funding. Here are some cool TTRPG resources by other creatives that I wanted to share:
TTRPGKids’ “Making a tabletop RPG for YOUR particular Kid: The Quickstart Guide”.
Pandion Games’ TTRPG Design Project Template.
Aaron Goss’ Rules for Trading Treasures in TTRPGs.
Worth a Read
Here are some newsletters I also enjoyed this week, and that I recommend you give a look at:
That’s all for this week!
As always, thank you so much for reading. One last reminder that if you feel like supporting my work, you can buy something from my website or itchio, join my Patreon, or commission me.
I’ll leave you with Bad Moves’ latest track: New Year’s Reprieve. Enjoy!
Until next time,
- Penflower
thanks for mentioning my art commissions! :)