Things That Make Me Smile No. 231: A Short, Animated Gif

Though it took an extra week, I put together a rough story in pictures. I’d forgotten how much words, not pictures, are my medium. I can create a visually stunning image, but telling a full story just using pictures is quite difficult. My skill with a pen/pencil has grown rusty, and I never managed the skill level I aspired to. As such, break between what I wanted to do and was capable of doing proved wider than I’d hoped.

Still, I undertook this for the challenge, and challenge it was. There’s a lot I attempted but failed because my drawing skills weren’t there. I had to add a few beats to the story, too, so it could flow more smoothly. All in all, the final story required 17 images, not including the title page or closing words. Between the two, I think I’ve more than completed the October challenge, though not as I intended.

A quick technical note before the show: I used my laptop folded in tablet mode and the digital active pen it came with for the majority of the drawing. I drew everything in GIMP 2.10. A few of the images required a touch up with my finger and the mouse, but it’s a start. This has been a hard path, but I think I’m becoming familiar, if not proficient, with my drawing tools. It will take much longer for my skills to improve, though.

Note: Because some people had trouble with getting it to go off again, I have put this story on a continuous loop. Just keep an eye out for “The End” at the top of the page, and the next one is the title. Enjoy.

P.S. For the curious, here is my “outline.” Can you see where I incorporated the various elements?

Story: Girl with balloon walking along. Girl sees dog. Girl stops to pet dog. Her balloon floats away. She is upset. Dog leaves. She’s sad. Dog comes back with balloon. Girl happy and leaves with dog.

This entry was posted in Art, Music, Crafts, etc., Creativity Exercises, Smiles and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Share Your Thoughts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.