As of the time I am writing this, my first movie submission, Insufficient: Tear, has just passed 1000 views on top of obtaining daily fifth a few days back, right after submission. I still can barely believe I finished an animation and people liked it.
It isn't much and it's just a number, but thank you, people who clicked and watched the animation. Thank you, reviewers who provided such in depth feedback (or cracked a joke or left a nice comment). Thank you, @Karsys and @OfficialHenyx, without whom the animation would be bare of sound (ironically). Thank you, too, 67 people who appreciate my work enough to put up with everything I upload, good and bad. All of you, the community, is what made me love Newgrounds so much and made me stay as an artist.
Art is not my profession. When I graduated from high school and must decide what to do for the rest of my life, I told myself "You're no good at this. This isn't how you help people." So I went into engineering school. I don't regret it, but I find barely any joy in it. I chose to be there, but I wasn't the smartest nor the most diligent, and classes become nothing but a chore I must complete.
I started seriously learning art. Alone at nights between exams and part-time work, I put effort into studying something I truly enjoy. I spent money on tools and resources. I treated it as an expensive hobby because I always thought "This is an indulgence. You're never gonna get good enough to make it a living."
See, insufficiency is my greatest companion. I've got a terrible case of inferiority. It doesn't bother me much anymore, but it's still there and persistent. I make art and tell stories mostly for myself, sure, but also to seek approval. If I can inspire you then that is enough.
That's a flaw I'm willing to embrace. I'm not the best one to preach life lessons but no one really is. We're all imperfect.
Thank you for helping me find joy. There is much I want to share and I'm happy to know you will listen.
The next part of Insufficient is being worked on. A lot of the reviews voice confusion and curiosity as to the why and the where. I'm planning to make scenes clearer and details better in the next one but I invite you to have fun with your imagination! Think what you want to think.
Some questions I do want to answer though:
-> "Who is this? How did she get here? What is this place?" (from EpikHellSword)
- In my scripts, I refer to her as Green but she's nameless. Right now, I've no clue either. That world however, shouldn't be unfamiliar. It's not a matter of where, but when.
-> "Towards the end I'm not sure if she greets the monster in naivety, or raises her hand in fear?" (from Cyberdevil)
- Having no dialogues do make ambiguity an issue but I find it forces creative ways to play with expressions and gestures. In this case, she was smiling as if greeting the monster. Naivety is her biggest flaw, not silence.
-> "Did you use flash for this?" (from Spedmallet)
- No, I did not. I use Krita for everything now. I urge anyone trying to find a good art software to give it a shot. Not only is it optionally free (you can buy it but it's exactly the same) it works perfectly for painting, sketching and animating. Don't go broke just for Adobe y'all.
That's it for the deceptively long post. As the series is fairly new (the concept for the world is old, but the characters are fresh born) I'm happy to hear any inputs or comments. Stories are meaningless after all if they can't connect with the people.
