"Into the Out-of-It" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)

So there I was, just me and a hundred angry razor clams...and they were out for blood. Luckily, I had a deck of playing cards in my utility belt, and when I threatened to start doing street magic, they all fled on their weird little razor clam motorbikes.

It was nearly sundown...but I wanted a donut.

I don't know if I should continue... Common decency says that what happened next shouldn't be spoken of in polite society...but I'll give you a clue:

THERE WERE RAINBOW SPRINKLES INVOLVED.

So I made this draw-er-ing:

[Transparent png created with a free sketch program on my phone. 2020.]

#pixelart #rejectedretrovideogamebaddies

Then I made a new image featuring a flowery background that I created with a "flower" pen, and after it was finished, I placed my transparent png creature on top of the background...

[Digitally drawed it all with my phone. 2020.]

And then I thought, "What would that picture look like after having way too much nitrous-oxide in a short amount of time and you're suffering from the WAH-WAHS? Probably like this:

[Digital drawing with digital embellishments. 2020.]

So now we get to the heart of the matter... Why do I feel like the first drawing of my pixel creature is 100 percent mine. No doubts.

And the 2nd image, with the purdy background, created using basically a digital "stamp" or "sticker" of a flower, is MOSTLY mine. I chose the colors and sizes of the flowers in the background and I "placed" them in the scene the way I wanted before overlaying the little monster on them---and this image only feels like it's "cheating" a little bit... Teeny tiny...

The third image, however, with the cool blurring and vortex-like effects... I'm not sure about that one. I mean, my original art was manipulated using a digital effect filter made specifically for artists to use on their own images, AND I drew the raw material being manipulated by the filter---it's not a "STOLEN" image---so I SHOULDN'T think this piece is mostly cheating...but it does feel like it is. Quite a bit.

Is it just me??? I use digital COLORS all the time to enhance my ink and pencil drawings, and it doesn't bother me...so why would using an effects filter? It's all mathematics...all code...

Until we hear the razor clams returning... Their tiny bikes whining in the night like a dozen cats in heat.

Big bad bag o' bother...

I reckon the sheriff's been bushwacked, and our only hope for survival is a global digital art collective who can cast a protection spell on the vulnerable populations and keep the boardwalks razor clam gang free...

It will be a wonderful world when that dream comes true!

Until then, keep you hopes high and your masks on!!! LATERRRRR!

---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)