Sketch Of The Day - Gesture drawing (nudity!)

Focusing on drawing the human figure I have done some gesture drawing lately for exercise. Don't know what gesture drawing is? Fantasytree to the rescue!

Fantasytree tip #12: If your looking for a really good introduction to gesture drawing from a great art teacher (and brilliant artist!), you should take a look at Glenn Vilppus article at Animation World Magazine. It can be found at:

AWN:s Vilppu drawing online

All his articles at that site are amazing and actually make an art course in themselves. Much recommended!

Here is my favorite of my recent gestures - 2 min sketch with a 6B pencil on A4, trying out the "under palm" grip for looser arm movement:

2 min gesture drawing

Sketch Of The Day - Botticelli Portrait Study

A quick digital sketch I have done for one of the amazing anatomy lesson threads at the Cgsociety forum. These anatomy lessons are run by Rebecca Kimmel and are based on studies from master works. Since I just love doing master studies I am so happy that I have found this great instructional resource.

Fantasytree tip #11: If you wish to improve your figure drawing (the way you draw humans, animals, beasts etc.) you should definitely register at Cgsociety and join one of the lessons or workshops found in the forum.

This sketch is a quick (15 min) master study from a portrait by Sandro Botticelli (ArtRage 2,5):

Sketch Of The Day - Frazetta Study

Today Frazetta's sketchbook "Rough Works" arrived in the mail. Here's my first quick study from it (pencil, HB):

(Click for full view)


Fantasytree tip #9: If you like fantasy art and still don't know who Frank Frazetta is (if you like fantasy, chances are you've seen many of his illustrations), you really have some magnificent exploring to do.

Frazetta's page at Wikipedia can be found here: Frazetta

Fantasytree tip #10: Also Frazetta's student, Ken Kelly is a marvellous painter and has done many classical paintings in the genre.

Ken Kelly's website with a generous gallery can be found at: Ken Kelly

WiP of The Day - Fan art assignment

Today I continued with a drawing from reference assignment for an online class on drawing spherical objects that I'm taking. Here's the first WiP of the asignment (pencil, HB).



All these free drawing lessons can be found at the great art community Wetcanvas.

Fantasytree tip #8: Want to learn how to draw, starting from the very basics? Want to get feedback on your drawings from an online mentor, being part of a great, encouraging online community? Want to do inspiring drawing exercises without any set time limit for completing them? Looking for a way to do all these things for free? Then I suggest you visit the Classroom for drawing basics that is continually running. I'm doing my 5th class at the moment and have learned a lot from each class, improving my drawing abilities a lot. All it takes is a registration and your ready to join the class.

Another Fantasy Art Painting of Mine

The next piece was made for the March challenge at the marvellous ImagineFX site. The theme of the challenge was "I, For One, Welcome Our New Overlords".

(Note: This is just a part of the painting. Click it for full view)

LAST LAUGH (2009)

Fantasytree tip #7: If you're interested in making - or looking at - fantasy and sci-fi art, I truly recommend the homepage of the magazine ImagineFX. A great community for anything related to art of these genres.

The 10 Best Progressive Metal Albums Ever

Another of my favorite genres that often uses fantastic themes and lyrics (for a power metal top 10 look HERE) is Progressive Metal. Many of my favorite bands and musicians actually belong to that genre - Dream Theater, Symphony X, Shadow Gallery and others.

Fantasytree tip #6: One of the very best progressive metal albums - actually one of the best albums ever made, that I never get tired of and actually listened to this very morning - is Images and Words by Dream Theater. If you haven't heard this album... drop everything you have at hand and head for nearest record store. It's THAT marvellous. Promise me you'll hear it all the way through at least 3 times before deciding what you think of it, though (This album is rated as #16 in the progressive metal chart and as #919 overall at rateyourmusic.com).

These are the 10 highest rated Progressive Metal albums on rateyourmusic.com right now:

1. Opeth - Still Life (1999)

2. Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001)

3. Edge of Sanity - Crimson (1996)

4. Atheist - Unquestionable Presence (1991)

5. Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime (1988)

6. Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors (2002)

7. maudlin of the Well - Leaving Your Body Map (2001)

8. Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory (1999)

9. Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)

10. Tiamat - Wildhoney (1994)

Of these I have heard and own albums by Opeth (but the only Opeth album I have is "Deliverance", not one of these three), that I find a little too brutal and dark; Queensrÿche and Dream Theater - but I do not really like the concepts of either one of these two, although they are great (Queensrÿche) and brilliant (Dream Theater) musically; Tiamat - the only album I've heard, an old one that I think was entitled "Clouds", was too much towards the black metal genre for my taste.

Number one in my Progressive Metal chart is - as already mentioned in the tip above - "Images and Words" by Dream Theater.

Which Progressive Metal album is the best ever in your opinion?

Recently Read: The Children of Húrin by J. R. R. Tolkien

Unable to leave the ancient Library just yet as there are so many remarkable books to keep you fascinated, the librarian seizes the opportunity and starts talking about yet another book...

(Today it is Trustdale in the 5th inquart, 0 S.D. and the sun still rules the sky this late afternoon)

ast night I finished reading the latest novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Children of Húrin. This novel - the result of his son Christopher Tolkien successfully putting together different fragments written by his father into one complete narrative - takes place in The First Age, long before the Third Age events of The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings.

I read in a review of the book before I decided to buy it, that this novel stylistically could be seen as a novel somewhere "between" the archaic prose of The Silmarillion and the more accessible books about the ring. That is actually a very good description of this book. If you don't like Tolkien's two most famous books (The ring trilogy is actually one single work), you will probably not be intrigued by this one. If you want to know more about the history of Middle-earth and experience an epic - albeit dark - story in one of the most detailed fantasy settings that will ever be created, then this is definitely something for you.

The story is not as elaborate - or exciting - as those about Bilbo's and Frodo's quests. But it's a dark high fantasy saga with captivating characters and marvellous settings. The beautiful illustrations by Alan Lee (smaller ones in black-and-white as well as some colored full-page ones) makes it an even richer experience.

Highly recommended for Tolkien fans but probably not for a more "mainstream fantasy" reader, looking for an easy-to-digest novel of a more casual style.

Fantasytree tip #5: If you have never read Tolkien before - and still haven't experienced some of the best fantasy ever written - my advice is that you to start with the two "ring-books", The Hobbit and Lord of the rings.

As a comparison I would rate these three works by Tolkien as follows:

Children of Húrin: 8 out of 10 Leaves

The Hobbit: 9 out of 10 Leaves

Lord of The Rings: 10 out of 10 Leaves (FANTASY MASTERPIECE!)

Each one of these three novels offers a fantastic experience of Tolkien's Middle-Earth though. Enjoy your travels.

Related links:

The Tolkien Society (includes a HUGE link-collection about practically everything related to Tolkien)

TheOneRing.net

An Online Fantasy World You Can Visit Today

Walking down the spiral stairs for what seems like forever you finally arrive in the dark, damp catacombs beneath the Citadel. As you walk through a long, winding torch-lit corridor, seven heavy iron gates are unlocked in order for you to finally reach your shimmering destination. Before you - almost blinding you with the intensity of its bright white and blue light - stands the huge Portal of Dreams, capable of sending you to other worlds...

(today it is Moondale in the 3rd inquart, 0 S.D and a gentle drizzle is falling)




ver since I was just a little child I have been fascinated by how stories, fairy tales, books and - as I grew up - computer RPGs and MMORPGs seem capable of creating worlds existing within the real world. The idea with this post, that will hopefully one day grow into an entire fantasy universe (imagine a list with hundreds of Online Fantasy Worlds...that is what I call a smorgasbord) is to start collecting links to some of the available online fantasy worlds in one place.

Criteria for being included are at the moment:
- It is a fully developed, released MMORPG fantasy world (not in an alpha or beta state)
- It is totally free to enter and to experience at least parts of the world (registration will however probably be needed as it usually is)
- It must be an original world, no "clones" or fan versions of already existing ones
- It must be a browser-based world (no client download should be necessary)
- It must be a world described through the use of SOME kind of graphics (no text-based MUDs - Multi User Dungeons - at the moment, since then there are just TOO many to choose from)

Fantasytree tip #4: If you like or are curious about trying text-based MUDs I recommend you to visit The Mudconnector for more than one thousand MUDs to choose from.

I will try to keep this list up-to-date and to mark worlds that are no longer existing. But I am - as always - grateful for any feedback or suggestions I can get. If you feel that you have created a MMORPG world that meets the above criteria, simply write a comment where you give me the name of the world and your the address to your website and I'll come and take visit before I add it.

I won't provide any information at all about the different worlds (except that they meet the criteria stated above). Part of the excitement should be for you - and me as I will probably forget which world is which as the list grows - to find out more about and explore these distant destinations.

Shivering you enter the Portal of Dreams heading for...

(Recently visited by me)

More worlds to be added soon...


Image by

Finding a Good Free MMO Game Online - A Step By Step Guide, Part 2

You are happy to once again turn your back on all the sounds of the market square and finding your way into the serenity of the countryside. The wise old man smiles as he opens the door and you soon find yourself sitting by his side in front of the fireplace. His calm voice is accompanied by the squeaking from his old rocking chair as he begins to talk...

(Today it is Squaredale in the 2nd inquart, 0 S.D. and clouds cover the sun this afternoon)





n the previous post in this guide you were advised to first decide whether you were looking for a F2P (requires download) or a browser-based MMO game. Done that? Great, then you're ready for:

Step 2A: Deciding the genre by picking your game (browser-based)

Fantasytree tip #1: If you are completely new to MMOs or feel hesitant about downloading a client it's wise to start with a browser-based game just to make sure you like the main game concept of MMO:s before you put down the extra time and effort it takes to find and download a client-based one.

The time has now come to decide whether you want to be a human warrior or a minotaur mage in a fantasy setting - or if you perhaps prefer playing a trigger happy bounty hunter in some future dystopia. In other words: Which genre are you looking for? And would you like a text/tile-based, 2D, 2,5D or 3D experience? (Welcome to the jungle...)

However, if you have decided on the F2P alternative you must also make sure your computer can meet the system requirements. We will look at that specific problem in the next part of this guide (Most of the general tips I give in this part apply to F2P gaming as well though, so keep reading...)

Let's start by focusing on the less complicated - but often somewhat limited - alternative of playing a MMO directly in your browser. (Path "A")

My favorite site when trying to pick a free MMO to play is OnRpg.com. However this approach requires you to define certain search criteria and compare ratings or reviews between different games in order to find your game. If you want an even faster way to find some of the very best browser-based MMOs I suggest you take a look at this list from the site Freebrowsergamer.com.

Fantasytree tip #2: Make sure that you also take a look at what is available for a "free" account vs. a "premium" account. Sometimes certain areas, skills, quests and items are only available for premium members. If you find that there is too much of a disadvantage to only playing for free, then there is really just one decision to make: Bite that sour apple and pay or simply find another game. (Personally I don't mind if I can't have all the most powerful items in a game, however I find it hard playing a game in which I know that some areas and quests - probably the most inspiring ones - will always be out of my reach unless I start paying a monthly fee.) Of course it is all up to every gamer to decide what is important for a rewarding experience. I recommend you to check these things BEFORE falling in love with - and dedicating a lot of time to - a game though.


Step 3A: Register at the site

After having picked a game what you do next is going to the site to register for a game account. You will probably have to submit your e-mail address in order to receive an activation mail for your account.

Fantasytree tip #3: Register an extra mail account at one of the free mail services that you use for all the different game accounts you will have to make in order to play the best of the available online MMO games. A "ijustusethisforgaming@ ... .com" account is really good to have when you don't want too much game related mails among your private ones.


Step 4A: Go to your mailbox and activate your account

Once you've found the "account activation mail" and your account is activated you simply - 5A: - log in and start playing (probably by creating your first character and perhaps going through some sort of tutorial)

In the next part of this guide we will take a look at in which ways your computer will perhaps limit your choices when it comes to which F2P (and B2P - Buy to play - or P2P - Pay to play) games you can actually play.

But let's end this part - and finish the guide as far as it comes to browser-based gaming by summing up:


The steps included in finding and beginning to play a good, free, browser-based MMO:

1. Decide that it's a browser-based (A) and not F2P (B - will be covered in the next part of this guide) MMO game you're looking for.

2A. Find a game you feel like trying - you can for instance use this list for that purpose. Don't forget to look at "free vs. premium account advantages"

3A. Go to the game site and register (submit that alternative e-mail address I suggested)

4A. Go to inbox and activate account

5A. Go back to game site, log in and enter another world...


I hope this guide was helpful to you. Please comment or mail me if you like/dislike it.

Don't miss part 3 (coming soon...)