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Site FAQ
Yep, it's the Site FAQ... the place where I
get to ask myself questions and then answer them.
What did you
use to create the site?
This current version of the site was written and designed in Macromedia
Dreamweaver MX. It's also the first website of mine to make extensive
use of cascading style sheets (CSS) in the layout. The graphics
were done in Paint Shop Pro 5 initially. Now I use Paint Shop Pro
7.
What program
do you use to colorize your art?
I'm an avid fan of Paint Shop Pro and I'm currently using version
7. Some of the older works were done with version 5. The Aoi
tutorial provides a rough basis for how I colorize my work.
Although Paint Shop Pro is up to version 9, I don't feel compelled
to upgrade to it. The way it handles lines (i.e. the Pen Tool) is
just not quick and intuitive for me. Though I'll probably be forced
to learn this method someday. PSP, Gimp, and Photoshop all adopted
it.
Can I use your
art on my site or archive? Can I sell your art?
No. I may, however, make exceptions. Contact me about it if you
want to use my work for some reason. As for selling, absolutely
NOT.
Why saurians?
Ever since I was a little kid, I always had a thing for dinosaurs.
I think most kids, growing up in an environment that tolerates dinosaurs,
at one point had a fascination with the reptilians. For me, the
interest in dinosaurs simply never faded over time. They were not
fictitious beasts of myth and legend, they were living, breathing
animals.
Who influenced
your designs?
Growing up, I can cite four key sources of inspiration. The first,
which shouldn't be too surprising, was the DIC cartoon Dinosaucers.
Most saurian artists have seen this cartoon at some point. But,
for the uninitiated, it was basically about two groups of anthropomorphic
dinosaurs - the Dinosaucers and the Tyrannos - who came to Earth
in an attempt to save their ravaged home planet. Not since Dinosaucers
has there really been a cartoon about dinosaurs in a science-fiction
setting. It's a small wonder, what with Jurassic Park and all, that
no one has since resurrected the concept. Second, there were the
Ninja Turtles. The bizarre and offbeat premise always grabbed me
and like most saurs my age, the cartoon is fondly remembered. Third,
Super Mario Brothers. It was Mario himself, nor Luigi - specifically
it was the Koopas. Way back, when I was just starting to learn how
to draw things that remotely resembled humans, I started with Koopa
Troopas (particularly the ones that stood upright in Super Mario
World, and also the Koopa Kids). You could say that at the foundation
of it all, Koopa Troopas were the start of it. So, kudos go to Shigeru
Miyamoto and his team for their design. And lastly, there's Jurassic
Park, whose influence should be obvious.
What does Kyouryuu
mean?
Kyouryuu is the Japanese word for dinosaur. Taken literally, it
means 'scary or frightening dragon', which is not unlike the etymology
of dinosaur as meaning 'terrible lizard'.
Who was Akairaptor?
Kyouryuu and Akairaptor are one in the same. I just changed my name
to Kyouryuu.
What's with all the
levels?
I've been constructing maps for PC games for years. I first
started making clunky misshapen maps for Descent, and eventually
wound up doing more sophisticated maps for Descent 3 and Unreal
Tournament and finding an awesome career where I now do this for
a living with THQ. Pretty neat, huh?
Who is that orange
dragon anyway?
Her name is Tai. She is a character who I created sometime
around the end of high schools (somewhere in 1999 or 2000) and who
has constantly evolved since then. She has been the subject of most
of my artistic efforts.
Will you ever restart
the Dragon Angel Tai manga series?
That's the plan. But I just need to find the time to do it.
What is PNG
and how can I view it?
PNG stands
for Portable Network Graphics format. Short and simple, some browsers
have trouble viewing PNG files. I would strongly suggest
using Mozilla Firefox. I use
PNG for most of my art these days because it's generally lossless
(unlike JPEG) and superior to GIF.
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