Update

HELLOOOOOOOOO out there!

Wow, it sure has been a long time since I've written a post. So many things have happened! Chickadee is going really well! We released our first game, Notorious Inc, this past summer. You can play it for free at our site, Chickadee Games, or various places around the web, or if you're feeling generous you can buy it for a whopping 99 cents for iOS and Android. 

We gave a lightening talk called Maker/Player as part of Pecha Kucha Portland, back in July, about our creative process, Notorious Inc. dev and the importance of collaboration. I was incredibly apprehensive about doing the talk when Adam first suggested it. I am not a public speaker and it's about the last thing I want to be doing, ever. BUT, I did it, with lots of encouragement from Adam, and practice, I was able to get through it! I think I even did pretty well! You can watch it and let me know!

Maker/Player by Adam and Sarah deGrandis from PechaKucha Portland on Vimeo.

AND! Some of our absolute bestest friends from the Oregon moved here over the summer. HERE! TO MAINE! It's been kinda dreamy knowing that they are all within walking distance of our apartment!

Alright, I think that's probably enough of an update for the moment. I'm going to share some stuff I've been making next!

LATER DUDES!

Chickadee!

So. Big news that I can't believe I haven't posted about yet!! Adam and I have started a game studio Chickadee Games!

We're most of the way through our first game, Notorious Inc! (You can read about it and see some screenshots on the Games page on our site) I'm learning a lot of new stuff and Adam has been a really great teacher and I think I've been surprising both of us with the art I've been making. I've been drawing bears and bunnies for so many years now that I was worried that was all I knew anymore!

So please, go check out our site and like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. 

Free Animal Crossing Inspired Pattern

A few weeks ago Adam surprised me with a 3DS and Animal Crossing: New Leaf. We've been playing it every day since and it's pretty great! And since it's been on my mind non-stop, I decided to design a free, AC inspired pattern.

The Most Important Tools mini cross stitch pattern that features, well, just that! The most important tools you need in your AC town! It's available as a free download in .pdf format and you can click here to get it or click on the image below!

It measures about 2 1/2 inches on 14 pt and about 3 1/4 on 11 pt. See, I told you, mini! Happy stitching!

Fuzzy Brain and PAX East

You know those days where you just feel like your brain is fuzzy and you can't seem to focus? I'm having one of those. I really did plan on being productive today and I've started to do about a million things. But I think being out of town for the weekend and the holiday kind of threw me off.

On Saturday I attended PAX East, or as I liked calling it "Total Nerd Party", in Boston. Adam was invited to work at the booth for a game he did art for called Monaco, by Pocketwatch Games. It's a top-down heist game that you can play with up to four players. Their booth was totally packed all day and everyone who tried the game seemed really excited about it. I, too, was super excited to play it annnd it's really fun and I'd totally love the art work regardless of if my husband did it. I kept telling Adam how happy it made me to see some younger kids (well, like 14-16 years old) excited about Monaco. Especially when there were lots of big, kinda brainless, AAA games being thrown at them.



Monaco was part of the Indie Mega Booth, which was filled with tons of great indie games (my favorite kind!). I wish I had gotten a chance to play more, but I'm kinda bad at waiting in lines.

I spent most of my day there walking around the expo hall, dodging people in giant costumes and circling The Secret World booth -a game I've been excited about for a while. Parts of it take place in a fictitious Maine town, so I'd be hard pressed to at least not have been interested.  I made it to their last presentation of the day and when they started tossing little dog tag beta keys of the different secret societies in the game at the end of it I was a little too short to grab any (I'm sure it had nothing to do with my catching abilities), but a guy in front of me gave me one of the like, four, he had caught. Adam also got me one too, even though I don't know where he was standing.

On our way out we got to try co-op Minecraft for the Xbox 360 which was pretty great! I expect at least one or two weekends of Adam and I getting nothing done when that comes out in May.

Overall, I had a really nice time at PAX. I got to see lots of neat stuff we got to see some friends that we haven't seen in a really long time. It was great to finally meet Andy from Pocketwatch since Adam has worked with him a bunch of times in the past million years.

SO HEY. Go check out Monaco! And then tell all your friends! And then buy it when it comes out! Yay!

Carmen quilt top

What! That was fast!

I put together the Carmen quilt top today.

I guess I shouldn't be, but I'm kind of surprised how nicely it came out! This was my first time doing half square triangles and I was a little nervous. The whole 7/8 inch thing was kind of freaking me out while I was cutting the blocks yesterday. (Real talk: cutting the blocks kind of freaks me out in general!) Now I need to decide what color to use for the backing and how I want to quilt the top.

So, I'm feeling really proud of myself right now. I feel like I have a hard time following through on larger projects and just getting started has given me so much motivation! I plan to do a post soon about what these quilts/designs are about. But I think I'm going to hold off for a little while until I have at least one of them completely done. Of course, some of you already know!

Custom stamps

I did a couple custom stamps the other day. I was just asked to add some details to two of my regular designs and they came out so cute!

I forgot how much I liked carving stamps so I'm glad that I've gotten some orders lately. Maybe I'll design some new ones?

Also, unrelated to stamps but so excited to finally get some other projects I've been thinking about actually started! These are going to be real soon!

Colors, meatloaf, moving.

I've got some new, neat ideas. Well, ok maybe not that new. But still feeling excited! 

Also exciting: Adam and I made meatloaf in the crock pot from this book and mashed potatoes for dinner last night. It was sooo good and I can't wait to have some leftovers. I might just have to have an early lunch today!

Not as exciting: Looking for a new place to live. What a pain.

I think you should play this: ImmorTall

Adam and I were chatting about indie games earlier and how frustrating it is that the mainstream view of games is all blood and guts and guns. I don't really play many games like that and never really have. What I have always loved about games is that you get to see worlds you never could have imagined and have experiences that you can't have in real life. And while I don't need to feel something when I play a game, I've realized lately that when I do, regardless of the emotion, it sticks with me for a looong time. I still remember screaming and turning off my monitor when a zombie popped out of a puddle in Half-Life 2, the horrible grinding/growling sound in grandma's house when you play as Carmen in The Path, being psyched when Pango (that stubborn bitch!) finally gave me her picture in Animal Crossing: Wild World and how I felt at the end of ImmorTall by Pixelante.

It's a very short game so I don't want to give anything away but on the Pixelante site ImmorTall is described as "a poignant walk through the life of an alien caught in the midst of humanity". 

( click on screenshots to go to the game)

The game is so beautiful in the simplicity of the story and artwork. I had been meaning to share it with Adam for so long because it just randomly pops in my head sometimes. I finally did today and then decided to post about it here in hopes of sharing it with a few more people!


So if you have a few minutes please use them to check out ImmorTall. You can literally play it in a few minutes and if you don't think it's beautiful or feel nothing at the end they you are probably a robot, or dead, or a jerk! (JK, kinda)

Buddy Monday - Tim Aste

Many years ago my main squeeze, Adam, moved here to Eugene, OR for an internship, which then led to a job and him living far far away (I was in Maine!) and living with some dudes that he worked with. One of those dudes was named Tim Aste! When we moved here a few years ago I finally got to meet Tim and I'm so glad! He's one of the nicest people I have ever met and he makes everyone laugh like crazy AND we share a love for Archie comics. Tim is an artist, musician, adventurer, super supporter of this blog and all around awesome. Adam and I can't wait for him to be in our wedding and show him around Maine a little bit!


1. Tell us about yourself?

I'm Tim and I make computer art! I went to a formal four year art school for Graphic Design but after three semesters I decided it was for chumps and dropped out to move back to my hometown and eventually pursued other interests (booze and dames). I kept up with my art in my spare time, but my real interest was in 3D and sadly there weren't as many programs around for that style of art nine years ago. I tried to keep up with my own art as a hobby and after a few years of adventures and shenanigans I had my portfolio noticed by GarageGames in Eugene, OR and eventually moved cross country for an internship there which turned into a career. Never did get that degree, but I guess that's ok. Outside of art I like to hike, photograph, drink beer and compose goofy music.

2. What do you make?

Like Adam (who I met at GarageGames years ago) I also make video game art for a living. I am currently the only artist in a small company so this covers a very broad spectrum depending on needs. I am not masterful in any one area, but I have the ability to do a lot of things averagely. That can be a good thing I guess! Depending on what is needed I will either be creating 3D Models, Animating 3D Models, creating 2D images, performing a variety of Branding/Graphic Design tasks, or designing Websites. That covers about 90% of my time, the remaining 10% is party time.

3. How did you come up with your shop/business/blog name?

Our little company, PushButton Labs got it's name because one of my partners already owned the domain name and we all thought it was pretty good. Afterwards, designing the logo was a pretty straightforward deal since it's a pretty easy name to iconify. I still did about 50 thumbnails, but the simplest idea won out, and probably for the better.

4. Influences?

Oh man, well I guess it depends on the project. For the project I'm working now I'd say Todd Pickens, The Sims, Kodomo Manga, and Valve's Team Fortress 2. Actually, probably Tyco Toys too, remember those awesome trucks? For some personal art I've been working on when I am motivated and have free time I'd say it's pretty Warhammer influenced, it's a nice "sharp" contrast to the very "bubbly" looking stuff I'm working on at work, I enjoy both. It's hard for me to figure out key influences as hundreds of things come to mind. Like a lot of people I usually delve deep into research before setting out to concept a new look or idea, I have a whole bookcase full of good research material I constantly rifle through.

5. Who would you like to collaborate with?

Mostly a lot of the guys I currently work with! I am lucky enough to currently work on site with another company here in Eugene, and it's got tons of great talent there. I wish I could show off the project I've been working on for the last few months with these guys as it's probably the best looking project to date in my career. I can't wait to show it off! It would be fun to work with Mark B. and Adam (read Adam's Buddy Monday here!) from Mad Otter someday, if only because we'd have a good time regardless.

6. 5 songs you like to work to?

Well, this week I'd say:

Eluvium - New Animals from the Air

Godspeed You Black Emperor - Dead Flag Blues

Russian Circles - Geneva

Nine Inch Nails - Just Like You Imagined

Reggie & The Full Effect - R

Listen Here!

To learn more about Tim click on any of the images in this post, become his friend on Facebook, follow him on Twitter or visit the PushButton Labs site.

Rosie

A couple weeks back I shared the gem chart I had made for one of my Sims and mentioned that I had started a notebook just for game notes. Well, this is the start - Rosie Maxell. 

I've gotten into the habit of giving my Sims the last names of whatever is around the computer. There have been many Hewlett, Packard and Altec families. So very many. So here is Rosie. She likes to travel and has quite the collection starting of artifacts in her basement, has mastered fishing (did you guys know you could catch robot fish?!) and also gardening. She just built a nice house in Egypt. Yep, things are going good for Rosie and I think I kind of want to embroider this drawing.

Oh, and I totally spared you guys all the other notes that are actually on that page. I didn't want to bore you too much.

Griddlers/Nonograms

Since around September I have been crazy about these puzzles called nonograms or griddlers. They are a kind of logic puzzle where you fill in squares on a grid to make pictures. The puzzles range all different sizes, difficulties and images. The site I have been doing them through is called Griddlers.net. I love it because the puzzles are all made by members and it's so fun to see what people come up with. Last night I made a couple of my own puzzles while watching SNL (If you missed, watch it here because Jon Hamm was hilarious!) and snuggling under a blanket.

 

It occurred to me today that these, especially the little town, would make great cross stitch patterns so I might try that out soon. So yeah, I think they are lots of fun and can be a good challenge. I definitely recommend you guys try them out! If you want to try the little city puzzle you can just click on the image above.

Buddy Monday - Adam deGrandis

This week's buddy is a pretty special one to me! Adam and I met in 2001 at Maine College of Art. We lived in the same house, had the same major and every. single. class. together. We became fast friends and even when we both left MECA to go to other schools for a bit (and both eventually returned) we stayed close. Very simply put, Adam makes art for video games and getting to see that process is SO cool. He is one of the most dedicated, hard workers I have ever met and seeing his skills and creativity grow over the years has been amazing. I can honestly say that I am in love with this week's Buddy Monday feature. So much so that I am going to marry the crap out of him in a couple months!

1. Tell us about yourself?

My name is Adam deGrandis.  I got my start in graphic design in high school as an intern at a local branding firm, went to Maine College of Art, and then made a jump to games.  Generally speaking, I believe a person is only as good as what they put back into the world, so I'm constantly working on something.  At work I obviously have games to make, but I also work on little side project games at home, take the odd graphic design job from friends I know, draw little doodles in my sketchbook, and I also write and record a lot of music.  And while I love art, I think I may be a little more passionate about teaching - but that is a whole giant tangent that I won't get into right now.

2. What do you make?

Professionally, I make artwork for computer and console games.  Without getting into the details of it, I sculpt, paint, and animate using a computer as my primary tool.  If its something you see when playing a game, it's something I make.

3. How did you come up with your shop/business/blog name?

Well for a little over a year, I operated my own contract studio which was called Games Extract.  The name is something my brother thought of, and the whole idea is that I didn't make whole games, I just made the sweet part, the part that was tangible, the part you remembered, etc, etc.  But now, I'm working my dream job at a studio called Mad Otter Games.  That name came from part of a documentary which featured river otters fighting off crocodiles who enter their territory.  They swim up and jump on the croc's backs until they leave.  It's a metaphor for our approach to the games industry.  We're small, fast, and super adorable competing and winning against much heavier, slower, scary adversaries.

4. Influences?

On a personal (and more meaningful) note, I would have to say Randall Sckaal, George LaRou, Joe Maruschak, and this blog's very own Sarah Lomba, as they were all mentors of mine at some point in my life.

Talking about the greater world, though, my influences are pretty wide reaching.  For example, I love studying the original disney aninmators because they did a lot to define animation as an art, but then hanna barbara found a way to boil down the art to make it profitable and fast.  And sticking with animation, then there's more current figures... Brendan Small, Brad Bird, Matt Groening and company, Astrobase Go.  And a bunch of bands too. And authors. I basically admire and can find something to learn from anyone who finds a way to make something of substance.

5. Who would you like to collaborate with?

Well the good people at Mad Otter are the people I love working with; I wasn't joking when I said its my dream job.  I guess, though, I'd love to be able to define how we worked.  Having a big pile of no-strings-attached money which allowed us to make a really revolutionary game would be fantastic.  For those of you not in the know, games are EXTREMELY expensive to make, and thats the reason why most new games are just a copy of something that already came out.  It's more cost effective to copy a working formula than try to come up with something new.  So if I got to work with my current coworkers on something brand new, that would be ideal.

6. 5 songs you like to work to?
Cave In - Big Riff
Sunny Day Real Estate - Friday
Russian Circles  - Youngblood
Toadies - Little Sin
The Long Winters - Copernicus

Listen to them here!

To learn more about Adam or Mad Otter click any of the images in this post, become a fan on facebook or follow them on twitter.

It was still worth it.

I made this to keep track of a gem collection that one of my sims has. Something got messed up though and now she can't travel. I loved making this little chart so much. I found a little blank sketchbook that I now plan on using just for game related notes and doodles because I'm always scribbling stuff when I play games.

Oh and Buddy Monday will be back tomorrow! The holiday last week totally threw me off and I didn't even realize it was Monday. Yeesh.

Game color palettes

When I was in school I took a color theory class. The class was mostly focused on painting because, well, it was taught by a painting teacher. And for the first few weeks of the semester she pretty much treated me and the other new media major in the class like we were aliens with our "digital media". (She warmed up to us eventually. Even after telling me later that she thought I was a smart ass for saying I thought paintings were kind of boring because they just hang on a wall.)

Our final was to make a book however we wanted as long as it had something to do with color. I chose to do a little booklet of color palettes I made from screenshots of different video game levels. My goal was to show the use of color to convey different environments and emotions in games, so I only used ones that I had played. Every once and a while I go back to the file that has all the palettes and add a new one. I was looking at them today and thought I'd share a couple! (The only ones that were in the actual project are the HL2 ones.)

Animal Crossing:

Half Life 2:

Shadow of the Colossus:

Twilight Princess:

I think my favorites are from Shadow of the Colossus. They are so beautiful and subtle. I have about a million different ideas of things to do with these palettes but I thought I would just start with sharing some. So there, something other than crochet for now.

Poor, poor Goldie.

Once, about 3 years ago I got this idea that it would be really fun to try and do needle felt versions of some of my favorite Animal Crossing: Wild World characters. My mom had, for some holiday I think, bought me a really beautiful fibers for needle felting from Halcyon Yarn. (Which, by the way, just happens to be in my home town. Jealous? You probably should be.) I didn't (and still don't) know much about needle felting or fibers so I didn't really think about the type of fiber vs. the size of what I was making. The fibers were chunky and no matter how many times I stabbed and stabbed and stabbed, they just never got all that firm. But I kept stabbing away and in the end I got this little, loosey goosey, funny looking version of Goldie.

 

I just found her today and I honestly have no idea how she has stayed in tact as long as she has. I was sure that her little arms would have been long gone by now at least.

For the record, here is the real Goldie:

Scarlet

Yesterday was one of those days where I had big plans of productivity but it was just warm enough inside to make you feel really, really lazy. When it got cooler last night I decided to make at least one thing so I re-drew Scarlet from my bear drawings of the ladies from The Path. Isn't she cute in this locket? I'm going to try and work on some of the other girls later on.

Small world

Sometimes the internet feels so small! Today I got a google alert about this post at Game Set Watch about the sisters from The Path as S. Jane bears. Then I noticed that my drawing was found via my friend from college, Zachary. Theeeen I noticed that the name of the writer sounded familiar and it ends up it was the husband of the maker of awesome purses, Lexi (Seriously, I have a wristlet made by her and it's the cutest ever!), who I know through Etsy and other internet places.

I don't know, you guys. I just think it's kind of funny when things like this happen.

Dim lights and The Path

I'm up too late as is evident by this 3 am post. I've gotten into bad sleeping habits lately that I just can't seem to kick no matter what. (It doesn't even seen to matter how cute Adam is when he asks me to snuggle up and watch some cartoons with him when he goes to bed...and it's really cute.) Most nights I have just been watching TV or episodes of Nip/Tuck online, but tonight I decided to draw. So what did I draw? The ladies from the Tale of Tales game, The Path, as bears. Via the light of my laptop. And a book light. On cardboard. So forgive the wonky-ness.

If you haven't heard of The Path then you are missing out on an intense and beautiful experience. In fact, I can't even put it into words. Seriously. I just spent 30 minutes trying to and just kept typing and deleting whatever I wrote. It might also be because it's pushing 4 am so here is one description from the Tale of Tales site:

The Path is a short horror game inspired by older versions of Little Red Ridinghood, set in modern day. The Path offers an atmospheric experience of exploration, discovery and introspection through a unique form of gameplay, designed to immerse you deeply into its dark themes. Every interaction in the game expresses an aspect of the narrative. The six protagonists each have their own age and personality and allow the player to live through the tale in different ways. Most of the story, however, relies on your active imagination.

If you have $10 you can spare and want a truly unique experience (or you have an awesome friend who has $10 and wants to share the experience. Thanks again, forever and ever, Zachary!) then you need to buy The Path. Or, at the very least download the free prologue and honestly tell me you aren't intrigued.

Finally! Yay!

Ok, there will be images and stuff but just bear (bare?) with me first!

I just e-mailed and got a speedy reply from Anne, the registrar of the art school I went to, about the status of my diploma. ( I always say degree but Adam always has to remind me that the diploma is the piece of paper, whateves!) It was supposed to have been mailed to my Mom's house at the end of August and nothing ever showed up. Even though I walked in graduation last year I still had one more class to take, which I did this past spring. I had pretty much assumed the worst and that even though I had already been told everything was all settled up and I was done something had gone wrong. It just seems to be the cards I'm dealt a fair amount of the time and I very much mean that in the least dramatic way possible. If there's going to be a miscommunication about something or something getting lost...YO! It will involve me! So yeah, I'm not sure what happened but Anne said she would send it out right away! I guess she called me a few weeks ago, but I never got her message so she might have had my really old number. I was just so happy to hear from her because the last couple e-mails I sent months ago were replied by people who I didn't know and when you went to a college with around 500-600 people including faculty and staff, you know pretty much everyone.

It feels nice to get something big like that out of the way! Especially since the entire rest of my day will more than likely be spent playing Fable 2. I have been waiting anxiously since I first heard about a sequel a few years ago for this game. I often get excited about games but not THIS excited. I'm keeping my cool pretty well on the outside, but inside I'm completely geeking out and losing it. You know that character on SNL that loses it over surprise parties? Yeah, that's me on the inside RIGHT NOW.

I guess I will use this as a way to segue into video game related crafts. I've seen a lot of Portal and Weighted Companion Cube stuff but this has to be one of my favorites. I'm actually in the process of making one for Adam and I right now! You can get the pattern here! I think for a lot of people it's a nostalgia kind of thing because they grew up playing Nintendo or Atari or whatever, but that's not the case for me. I really love the idea of hand made items that honor such a digital format. It's old vs. new media and it's perfect! I think video games can be such an amazing art form and so insanely creative and unique. I have about a million more things I want to write about this, but I am starving so I'm going to eat some food and resume this post another time!

ok ok. so lately i'v e gotten on this kick of downloading game demos late at night and playing them. they usually only last an hour and since they are all casual games, you can more or less play through the whole thing in about that much time. adam got me one for my birthday called fashion solitaire which i pretty much love to death because you dress these little models, BUT what i really love about it is that you can customize the wardrobes. and oh man, it's so fun. it's almost like how i like to make sims and build them houses and then not actually play with them.
i feel like it's a really fun way for me to play with color and pattern in a context as opposed to when i play around on the colourlovers site.