Brunch Time ^___^

[Celtic_Emperor]

This is my first picture of the new year. It is another oekaki of Sister Prier, Sister Alouette, and Culotte of La Pucelle (a demon hunting squad) having brunch at the local udon shop in Pot au Feu City.

This is my fourth time drawing Prier but my first time drawing Alouette and Culotte. ^^

The picture doesn't need much explaination to the viewer other than that Sister Alouette is Prier and Culotte's teacher and mentor. One of the lessons she often teaches them both is proper manners and etiquette, so its no wonder why she's a little upset that Prier isn't putting any of that to practice for this brunch. ^^;

On the other hand however, Culotte, Prier's younger brother, has a crush on Alouette and does his best to please her in both the mundane and in the field. 😱 😍

Will Alouette ever get through to Prier? Only the Goddess Poitreene knows for sure! 😀

Artwork by & © Damien Jones

Sister Prier, Sister Alouette, Culotte & La Pucelle: Tactics © Nippon Ichi Software

Drawn on tablet. Colored with Painter 9.

 

[Low_Roads]

Who loves noodles? Clearly Prier does! This is a rather snug, homey scene (Alouette's frosty anxiety drop not withstanding). The colors are comfortingly warm (even the deep purple of the robes has some warmth to it) and well balanced (tying the picture into a seamless whole quite effectively), and the background detail displays a pleasant clutter eloquent of everyday living. The wall screen decoration is nicely varied and credible. And you just have to love Prier's happy-cat enthusiasm as she slurps down her food! All figures are well posed (effective positioning of the chop sticks) and show good personality. I don't know what sort of success these three have hunting demons, but they're clearly tightly knit and loving. Now, if only one of 'em would learn her table manners...

 

[His Divine Shadow]

Prier's face is most amusing. XD The wee sweatdrop and heart are nice touches, that they are. Well done on the background; it blends in most seamlessly with the scene and those in it. Reminds me a little of a hobbit hole...perhaps it is that window...but, I digress. Good show all around! :happy:

 

[mpeyton]

I like.

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Who loves noodles? Clearly Prier does! This is a rather snug, homey scene (Alouette's frosty anxiety drop not withstanding). The colors are comfortingly warm (even the deep purple of the robes has some warmth to it) and well balanced (tying the picture into a seamless whole quite effectively), and the background detail displays a pleasant clutter eloquent of everyday living. The wall screen decoration is nicely varied and credible. And you just have to love Prier's happy-cat enthusiasm as she slurps down her food! All figures are well posed (effective positioning of the chop sticks) and show good personality. I don't know what sort of success these three have hunting demons, but they're clearly tightly knit and loving. Now, if only one of 'em would learn her table manners...

Thank you. 🙂

I wanted to make sure they were all acting/expressing themselves in a different way, as these types of situations don't happen just at meals. In the early part of the story Prier and Alouette are two completely different people.

Culotte, dispite his puppy love crush on Alouette, is very well-mannered. So he's not doing it just for her sake, though he's definitely trying harder, maybe too hard.

Alouette is sort of stuck in the middle, so to speak. ^^

It's really hard to know these characters if you haven't played the game or seen more artwork, so hopefully I've achieved some level of understanding for folks not familiar with the series.

As for demon hunting skills, Prier's results are unquestionable, but her methods are sometimes excessive or brutish.

Culotte, unlike Prier, is more of the cleric type, who uses whatever is handy to fight. He's kind of cowardly (come on, he's just a 12 year old boy!), so he attacks from a distance.

Dispite his meekness however, he's actually far more disciplined and knowledgable than his sister.

Alouette, well, she's a master, and the power of the goddess is clearly with her in any action. She is of the mentality that demons, spirits, zombies, etc, are poor souls who need to be delivered. So she takes a sort of caring pity on them, even though she must destroy them. She often apologizes to the heavens, and has even blessed and helped souls cross over after they're defeated.

The thing about the udon shop in the game is that its pretty patronizing.

This story takes place in medieval France, and these characters are all french, but here they are eating noodles with chopsticks. I'm not saying noodles didn't exist or were not eaten by the french at the time, but for a story thats actually not about asian characters or culture for a change, they sure don't know how to relinquish the reigns completely. They do this same thing with anime and manga too!

Prier is french for "prayer"

Culotte is french for "pants or britches"

Alouette, well, that obviously french.

Theres a whole lot of other french nuances and things too.

Theres always got to be a little asian (influence) in everything though, in this case, an udon noodle shop, and thats kind of a pet peeve. I'm not saying they should be eating french food either, but it would make more sense, you know.

Ah well, I'm just glad to make the most of it. ^^

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Prier's face is most amusing. XD The wee sweatdrop and heart are nice touches, that they are. Well done on the background; it blends in most seamlessly with the scene and those in it. Reminds me a little of a hobbit hole...perhaps it is that window...but, I digress. Good show all around! :happy:

Thank you. 🙂 The udon shop has a homely atmosphere, as most of the townspeople are regulars there, including Father Salade, and of course these three. The Church of the Holy Maiden is also in Pot e Feu City, so priests and nuns frequent the establishment as well. 🙂

In the game for example, when you talk to the owner/cook, he tells you how Father Salade came in the other day and downed 12 bowls.

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

I like.

Me like dat joo like. LOL :happy:

 

[nessonite1]

Thats cute ^^ I like the smaller eyes, people don't use those enough.

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Thats cute ^^ I like the smaller eyes, people don't use those enough.

Thank you. 🙂

Do you mean as a style or for the nuance of expression? (which is why Culotte has beedy eyes in this one, and Alouettes eyes are the way they are and Prier's head is slightly bigger than it's supposed to be, the cat smile, etc. etc.)

 

[rajee]

Great picture Vlad. 😀

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Thank you. 🙂

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Just curious, has anyone even played this game, or am the only one who has it?

 

[Low_Roads]

I never even heard of it until you started sketching the characters. Then, I'm not the most tuned-in, gamewise.

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Do you own a playstation 2, or know someone you could borrow one from?

 

[Low_Roads]

So, this is a Playstation 2 game! I did own a system until the darned thing quit on me, and have simply never bothered to replace it. There just weren't enough intriguing games being produced to make it worth the expense (unlike for the PS 1, which I adored). Nowdays I don't play much of anything, and with generation 3 system costs threatening to approach $300-$400 I won't be doing so anytime soon. Regardless, I might have tried out La Pucelle, though I've found that head-to-head gameplay in tactics games can be rather frustrating for me. I prefer the exploration dynamic in RPG and action games. The Tomb Raider games were perfect for me, where exploration, a totally emersive environment and problem solving were key and it often didn't matter if you even faced an opponent.

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Yeah, its a ps2 RPG game. La Pucelle is unique, because of the way leveling works. It doesn't take as long, and you can control the way stats that are raised based on the bonuses you get from equippment and such. The game mechanics are not cumbersome, and results don't take too long to get.

Overall, I like it the game for it's characters and story the most. If I don't like the art, I don't even bother, even if a game gets great reviews. 🙂

As for Tomb Raider, I agree. I own I-IV (playstation) and the gold edition for the PC. There are two games in the series I never purchased, because by that time it wasn't as fun anymore, and from what I hear the latest Tomb Raider (Angel of Darkness) bombed bad.

They're making a new one (for PS3) and giving Lara a new, more natural and realistic look, but I hope they just use that as filler and the game isn't what it used to be.

The first Tomb Raider had crappy graphics and not many weopons by comparision, yet it is still my favorite. They need to reapproach the series from the perspective they did with the first one, and the quality of the plot, and spruce it up with the new graphics.

I haven't played Tomb Raider in a long time, and I don't play video games often anymore. Like you, theres just nothing of interest really. Its all more of the same.

RPGs like La Pucelle are the only ones that stand up to me sometimes, as I know they are worth the money almost all the time. I know I'll get my time and moneys worth out of a game like that.

But everything else is some street gang, car-chase robbery sort of game. That may be fun to the people that game is marketed to, but people like me could never enjoy it.