I recently setup a login/auth system using Node.JS, MariaDB, Firebase, and Sign in with Google. Initially I was going to setup the systems directly, but realizing Firebase could handle a lot of the work, and I wouldn't need to pay the Google/Apple developer account fees made me give it a try.

It is very weird having a user system and database and not storing any passwords for them! I also love not having to worry about password reset systems and all the other things required for a secure and functional login system. I managed to get the checks for token revokation to be done through a Firebase Realtime Database. Since it's just a key/value store, I am thinking i could move this to a local REDIS server instead, but it's working quite well so far.

Now to setup the actual websocket server which I will be using uwebsockets.js for.

Trying to catch up on math 🫠

This has also given me an opportunity to look into LaTeX. I first discovered it when looking to document some formula for a space games physics.

_{Some notes I am making}

Play with LaTeX in-browser here: latex.js.org/playground

College Day 1. Game Programming at George Brown. It feels a bit surreal, but I am extremely excited.

I have wanted to make a post over the past two weeks on a multi-part dragon I am drawing and then animating, but every time I started a post, I noticed something I wanted to change.

Here it is with a quick background added. Creating varied landscapes and backgrounds is one of the next things I want to start practising.

The final step is rigging and animating in Spine 2D. I have raised and lowered wings for each side, so I will be able to make flying animation. Pictured are the resting wings.

When I get some more time I will upload some progress pictures.

Sadly noticed my nib was dead on Monday, thanfully replacements are coming.

I found out that I could apply gradient map to textures on brushes, which adds a lot of depth and shading in a single stroke. While all these examples are of "Texture - Reptile", the gradients look very similar applied to other textures. These are beautiful, and this is definitely going to help for metallic surfaces too.

Find the Gold / Pearl gradients here: gold-and-pearl-gradients

Made a rainbow cloud brush:

I found a brush pack that really captures the thick paint amazingly. You can see it in the background undr my name.

Find the brush pack here: Memileo Impasto Brushes

Lots of updates. This week I have been working on clouds, skin, plants and trees.

These are my two favorites from the cloud study:

I also had a lighter background ready so I can see how that changes them. It made me realize I can't rely on the background for shading the clouds and need to mix in the light/darker shade myself if I want it to show on both light/dark backgrounds.

You can see here is where I realized the white cloud didn't really have any darker shades because I was relying on the black background for that. However the purple cloud I added the shading myself.

I need to play with the different pore brushes, but I am getting an idea of how to make skin.

I got a good start on trees and bushes. I want to make a little personal library of pre-made assets.

I am going to do some bushes or trees with a separate branch layer, so if I wanted to let you gather from a bush I could use a particle effect during the gatherng and then remove the leaf layer to represent a depleated resource

Along with Metal this has been a tricky one so far... While there are some canvas textures, there is no canvas brush by default or in any brush pack I found so far.

So I created my own canvas texture brushes. Selecting the texture, and then changing the TEXTURE blend mode to "Lightness Map" was all I needed to do to get this effect. Pixel Engine. (Blend mode under the brush texture pattern options, not general brush blend mode)

Left Texture: "Woof Tissue" for Burlap - Right texture: "01 Canvas" for a finer thread appearance

I decided to draw a model as if it was an artists poseable mannequin. I figure this will be the easiest way to start learning how to make human-ish movements.

First I drew each separate part in Krita, and exported it to another file where I merged each body part as a single layer or group. Then I imported each part into Spine, create a skeleton, and attached the parts to the skeleton.

Then I was able to get a (very rudimentary) wave animation keyed out.

I added a few more colors to the dragon skin pattern. I also realized I will need to come up with something else for actual scales. I reawlly love this texture and how this is coming along. Can't wait to actually draw and animate the dragon.

Dragon Skin Purple & Green

The coming week I will be focusing more on character models and animation. I need to make side-profile versions, and then try making walk/run/jump animations. Also dragons. And fire.

I am getting familiar with different brushes in Krita, and hoarding any good bundles I can find. Advanced brushes can make certian things, particuarilly textures and hair, a lot easier.

I have been trying a few different methods to make dragon scales, this one being made with a reptile texture brush and a few layers underneath.

I also found a cloud brush makes nice looking clouds very easily.

Here are some of my favorite brush packs so far:

Rakurri Brush Set V2

FizzyFlowers Essential Brushset V2

Grass and Fields Brush Pack - KMC Visuals

Basic Cloud Brushes - Bea2

For the past month or so I have been learning Spine 2D. Spine lets you create skeletal based animations, which can greatly reduce filesize compared to using spritesheets. It also makes it easier to create natural feeling animations, as it can interpolate between keyframes for you. Spine pro also supports meshes and mesh deformation, which can be weighted to bones so moving a bone can deform specific vertices

Here is a small example of making a butterfly animation