Out Of Compo 2021 / Realtime Drawing the Model
Shuran33Good afternoon dear reader!
In this article I would like to tell you how the Realtime Drawing the Model contest took place at the Out Of Compo 2021 Art Festival.
The fifth Out Of Compo art festival was decided to make as an unusual one: all the previous ones had already started to look like each other, and we needed some kind of shake-up, something had to change. The story with the closing of the demoparty and their departure into the virtual environment, as it seems to me, had a negative impact on the participants, all lacked communication. So I thought for a long time about the idea of doing Out Of Compo live, the only thing that stopped me was that it had to be done in Moscow, and you can imagine what kind of prices it was.
I looked for a room for a while, looked at many lofts: they were comfortable, had all the necessary audio equipment and a projector. The only thing that stopped me was the price tag: the cost started at 40,000 rubles for one weekend. I did not know how many people would come and how to calculate the price for the entrance ticket, which would be acceptable for everybody, but at the same time not to be at a loss, either. After all, many came from far away and spent money on the road. Then I decided to find an apartment that could accommodate everyone who wanted to attend, as well as hold an after-party there.
In about six months I smoothly began to write the plan of the event in a text file, it grew at a great speed, constantly replenished with new ideas. At a certain point I even had to purge it, otherwise I could get lost in it. There were a lot of ideas, but to implement all of them was difficult.
Initially I was looking for people who could give lectures on graphics, but the search led nowhere. I included myself, I thought that I would be able to do everything, but how wrong I was... The lectures were never held, I regret about.
In early spring our group of ZX Spectrum and I were going to another birthday party for ejkot in Moscow region. And there the idea to make a new compo with nude drawing on retro platforms was born. We joked and laughed about the idea, but I was hooked and decided to do it after all.
At that time it seemed very easy to me, I just had to find a suitable sitter who would agree to this experiment. It took me two months to find a model, all the models I could find did not suit me in any way. They are beautiful ladies, but none of them were young, usually they were middle-aged women, or girls of unusual appearance, with tattoos and pierced in all places. Already a month before Out Of Compo started, when I was really starting to worry, I was approached by Milana, she agreed to participate as a model. We discussed the terms and agreed that she would be our model.
We had to think of a pose for the sitter, think about her clothes, and decide about the lighting. The easiest thing to do was to find the lighting, coordinating with the person who does photo and video shooting. In the end, it turned out that the person let me down and there were no lighting stands. It was very sad, and I think it even greatly affected the quality of the work created. I will be more careful next time. Initially I wanted the model to be completely naked and only cover herself with the ZX Spectrum, but Milana absolutely refused to pose in this way. We agreed that she would leave her panties on, plus she would bring her own hat. I added fishnet gloves and stockings. It turned out beautifully.
Three hours were allotted for posing, with several breaks. This is how academic sketches are usually done in art schools. In our case, it might have been done differently: it might have been worthwhile to pose for an hour, so that the pose would be fixed, and then everyone would finish the picture for a few hours. In our case, after each break, Milana would sit down a little differently and would not be able to repeat the pose exactly.
During the drawing, the music background was created by Dj porno-UZI, this musician is known to many, the selection of tracks was crazy - everyone liked it very much, then he was asked to send me names of the songs.
For me, another minus was Milana's wish that no one would take her picture while she posed, so there are almost no general photos. Next time you need to stipulate this point in advance, I also wanted to make a video review of the contest, but in this case, it did not work. I will take this issue into account for the future. The big problem was that one of the flash drives with photos died the next day, so a lot of photos and videos just disappeared. No way to restore it did not bring any results. Quite bad.
Even two weeks before Out Of Compo started, I did a chat poll to see who was going to come and want to participate in the Realtime Drawing the Model festival. This gave the understanding that there would be not so many participants. Many of them declined due to the small period of time to draw. I even wanted to involve remote participants, I planned to take photos of Milana from different angles and send them to the participants, but I did not do this. Now I think I did the right thing. The option of drawing directly at the art festival is much more interesting.
There were seven people in all, including me. There was no way I could have missed it! And one girl was painting with watercolors on canvas without using a computer.
I agree that my mistake was to put her work together with the digital work in one contest. It would have been better to show her work separately from compo, but what's done is done. I will keep that in mind from now on. Too unequal conditions, which were not in the rules of the contest - that was my fault.
After the contest, I contacted the participants and asked them to tell me about their impressions, for which I had prepared a short list of questions. Let's find out what the contest was like for each of them.
Sherhan, Naro-Fominsk, Moscow region.
Introduce yourself, please, tell me from what city you are, how long are you fond of drawing on retrocomputers.
Hello! My name is Maxim, pseudonym Sherhan. I am from Naro-Fominsk city, Moscow region. Would not say that drawing is a hobby, it's kind of a trial. Trying their forces mainly at the party.
How did you know that there will be Out Of Compo?
I found out about the festival directly from the organizer, our Shuran. Was sure that it will be hold online, but was surprised that it will be in live. Even phoned the day before to make sure it was coming.
When did you decide you were going to participate in this competition? What was it that interested you in it?
I would have taken part in the contest anyway, because I like to try my hand at the festival itself. And when I found out that I was going to work as a model, I had already decided that I would participate :-) There were joking considerations about what will be the sitter and even thought that I would draw our organizer. But we were lucky enough to meet our model at the door and show her to the organizers. The girl was amazing!
Which computer did you choose to create your work and why?
The ZX Spectrum platform was chosen for drawing. It was chosen because I love this platform "spectrum forever!", and its support. And also there is an opportunity to draw with attributes, which at first sight seems easy, but at the same time difficult.
Tell me, how did you draw? How did you start to draw, what kind of difficulties did you encounter while drawing? Did you have enough time to create a finished picture?
I started drawing in standard resolution of Spectrum 192 x 256, there were few editors to draw in windows resolution and I lost a lot of time studying them. Missed the good old BGE on the ZX Spectrum. Tried to start drawing the model a few times, failed to convey the perspective and beauty. It was crooked. In the end I started to draw with attributes at the same time. This one was easier for me, and more complicated because of the lower resolution of 32 x 24 pixels. In the end I only finished the work in 53с format. To answer the question about time... There was enough time, it's more about experience and talent. Take a look at the other participants work.
Was it interesting for you to participate in this contest? How special was it for you?
It was very interesting to participate, even though it was the first time I had ever painted a nude model. It was great and unusual, and it was just a highlight of the Out Of Compo art festival.
In your opinion, how did you choose the girl model for the contest? How was the pose chosen for the drawing? What would you change if you could?
The girl for the drawing was chosen beautiful, with smooth features and a good figure. It was a terrific model. For the drawing, the pose, I think, was clumsy, straight. Simple, like a square. It lacked eroticism. I would have planted her a little sideways. Maybe stretch out her leg. I'd make the pose more relaxed.
Did you enjoy participating in this contest? Would you like to participate in similar contests again?
I enjoyed it. It's a highlight of the festival. I will definitely take part in this and similar contests again.
What would you advise next participants to take part in such contest?
I would advise to definitely take part! Bring your laptop, as there were not enough machines. Participants to prepare, put emulators, choose editors to your liking in advance and go for it!
Vinnny, Nizhny Novgorod
Introduce yourselves please. Tell me from what city you are from and how long you are fond of drawing on retrocomputers.
Hi, my name is Vinnny, I'm from Nizhny Novgorod. I am an old AMIGA user and do not know words of spectrumism. Just kidding. ZX Spectrum was my first computer from about 1994 to 1996, later I upgraded to Amiga. Can't really call me an artist, as I have almost no skills and experience, but nevertheless I am happy to draw some simple things on ZX Spectrum.
How did you know that there will be Out Of Compo?
I found out about Out Of Compo from a Telegram chat about half a year ago. At that time, the announcement was buzzing in almost all the demoscene chats.
When did you decide that you would participate in this contest? What made you interested in it?
I immediately decided to go to the party in person, especially since it's a cakewalk for us, 400 km away :) I can't draw people, so I haven't prepared any works in advance. Participation in the drawing contest was spontaneous, I rather wanted to try myself in an unusual for our scene contest. It was kind of like Realtime Handdraw but the live model added a little more "oil to the fire" :)
What computer did you choose to create your work and why?
As a tool I chose 53c-editor for ZX Spectrum. The reason was simple - it was difficult to draw people, and I was a bit of a painter myself.
Tell me, how did you draw? What helped you to start drawing, what kind of difficulties did you face while drawing? Did you have enough time to create a complete picture?
Despite the easy 53c format I had to redraw my work 3 times. From the first sketch it was clear that I could not represent the whole model in this format, all the details would be lost. So I decided to draw the most emphasized areas - the tits and computer. On the second sketch I found myself thinking that I was getting too shallow again, so I had to make it even larger. For a long time, I couldn't get the head and hands, so I had either to get even closer, or somehow work it out. In the end, spent about half an hour, and was not satisfied with the result.
Was it interesting for you to participate in this contest? How unusual was it for you?
It seems to me that the demoscene lacks this kind of excitement, unusual and non-standard contests. Some would say it's walking on the edge, but I think it's searching and adapting to current realities. Yes, it's new. Yes, it's unusual. But that's the demoscene, where everyone is different.
How do you think the girl models were chosen for the contest? How was the pose chosen for the drawing? What would you change if you could?
In the contest with the drawing of the model girl, everything was perfect, the pose, the boobs, and the ZX Spectrum. Everything is in harmony. I hope the next time the number of models in the frame will increase, although I guess we'll have to forget about 53c then :) Demoparty in any form - always a holiday! I had a great buzz, talked to friends I haven't seen for a long time. And I'd love to come to the next one!
What is your advice to the next participants in a similar contest?
I advise everyone to live a more active life, look for the demoscene ray of light in our gray weekdays, and come in person, because there is no way to convey the atmosphere from the screen of the monitor. See you soon!
TmK ^ deMarche, Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod region.
Introduce yourself please, tell me what city you are from, how long you are fond of drawing on retrocomputers.
Alexander aka TmK/deMarche, Dzerzhinsk Nizhny Novgorod region. (Link to zxart.ee with my graphics). Drawing as well as writing music and coding, I am busy since 1996/97 year, I am drawing a little bit on party where I go or in demos.
How did you know about Out Of Compo?
From the main organizer at another secret meeting of the club of anonymous demosceners.
When did you decide that you were going to participate in this contest? What were you interested in it?
It wasn't even a question of whether or not to attend the party - there will be friends, fellowship and a show, we should definitely go. This year I wanted to make an Invitational, all efforts went to him, so the picture for the party in the Oldschool Adult Graphics contest is not drawn.
What computer did you choose for your work and why?
I have chosen ZX-Spectrum as it is the most familiar to me retro-computer.
Tell me how did you draw? How did you start drawing, what were the difficulties in drawing? Did you have enough time to create a finished picture?
I started with a general rough sketch using a graphics tablet, then I gradually traced the contours and textured. I tried to draw directly in ZX format, taking into account the signposts for further coloring. The biggest challenge for me was observing aspect ratio when drawing outlines - I zoomed in, moved pixels, textured, when the result seemed to suit me, I switched back to full color and was surprised to find the proportions of the part I drew with respect to the rest. I couldn't manage the face, so I drew a mask instead of the eyes for simplicity. Now, looking back, I would start with rendering grayscale b/w image on the PC, then convert it further and render it within the ZX screen.
Was it interesting for you to participate in this contest? How unusual was it for you?
It was highly unusual. Forty year old men scrutinizing a half-naked model for the purpose of drawing her on retro computers - no comments :).
How do you think the girl model for the contest was chosen? How was the pose chosen for drawing? What would you change if you had the opportunity?
The girl is good. The pose changed a bit after the breaks, and I remember redrawing almost finished legs - it would be nice to follow the preservation of the pose somehow. Regarding the pose, I think those who were on the edges, where there was a semi-profile view, were the luckiest. The pose was the simplest, on the other hand if you think of something more complicated it might have been good on one side and not so good on the other, you have to experiment. Maybe I would have added something else from clothing, something like a scarf, stole, that can be thrown around the neck, wrap it around the arm, etc., but again, you need to look at all angles how it would look.
Did you enjoy participating in this contest? Would you like to participate in similar contests again?
I enjoyed it, I will participate.
What would you advise to the next participants in a similar contest?
To prepare in advance :)
Adam Bazaroff ^ Excess team, Kazan
This is an unusual demoparty. Two things made me go:
- Meeting my friends (fucking covid doesn't let me see them more often).
- Drawing from life in pixelart.
When I heard about this idea, I was blown away and instantly decided that I would participate. It's an incredible idea, it's an incredible experience! Especially for me, not knowing how to draw :)
Here I will tell you the shortcomings.
1. the lighting. I know that the organizers were let down and the illuminator "didn't show up". Bad light interfered, especially because, and this is my own personal miscalculation, that I sat opposite the sitter and my drawing was as flat as possible. Next time I'll try to sit a little to the side.
2. A lot of detail on the sitter. Gloves were completely unnecessary - to paint in 4 colors (in my case) was extremely difficult and I oooooh very long messed with them (and still turned out badly :) Also, catching the constantly changing smile of the sitter and trying to transfer it to an area of ~20 pixels - a special skill :) I really spent more time on her than I did on... you know. It still didn't work.
First place in Realtime Drawing the Model went to a charcoal artist... It's old-school, but it's not a retro platform... so it's up to the organizers. In Realtime Adult 53C also I don't quite agree with the first place - BlastOFF got more colorful and complex work (imho). In the classic Oldschool Adult Graphics it's all good - some of the work is so magical. This is the second time I'm trying to troll Shuran (sorry, bro :) by putting up explicit works and then gradually "simplifying" them at the request of the organizer :) This time I decided to make a picture in Basic BC 0010-01, the work took 13th place, which is fair enough. This time it took only 4 edits (all of them were to the red field, in case you're wondering) for the work to be accepted :) Personally, I got my high from working on it. Vilnius Basic is a one love!
Great room for such an event, although the air conditioning was not quite up to the task (it was "normal" for this summer heat - a hundred degrees). Appreciated the exposition from RTS. Games where you have to quickly press buttons, making a variety of umm... motions are very entertaining! Due to overlapping it was not possible to hold a lecture on the games, which saddened. Hopefully Shuran33 will hold them in the form of a stream. That would be interesting. WoodPixel contest and GaGa.ru tabletop toys helped a lot to occupy my free time. Well, the after-party at the apartment is worthy of a separate report - we had a great time!
Sorry for the rambling. Thanks a lot to NedoPC in general and to the organizers in general and personally to Shuran33! That's pretty much it. Draw, create, write, meet more often!
toughthrough
I haven't drawn, including retroplatforms, for probably more than a decade. Only a couple of years ago I decided to pick up pixels again. I've heard about the existence of Out Of Compo for a long time, but I got interested in it in winter, during DiHalt Lite 2020, which was held right after OOC, and it was actively discussed. The date of the event and the offline format I've learned most likely from the demoparty of Telegram Channels. The desire to take part somewhere then and appeared, but because I haven't had practice for a long time, I was not in the mood to participate in the main compo, and even less in realtime. About two or three weeks before the party I had the idea of a graphic work, which was not too trivial to spend time on it. And a couple of evenings before the party I realized it. This gave me an extra incentive to try my hand at realtime...
I also learned about the realtime contest from the channel, and when the poll was announced, I agreed to participate. Although at the time I strongly doubted that I could do anything quickly, I agreed rather in support of this original (for a demoparty) compo. For the work I chose the format of traditional graphic mode of ZX Spectrum, because I had some experience with it in the past, and in rltime it's better not to take chances with new tools. As usual I started to create my work with a simple sketch on paper. In this case it was also an unavoidable step because of the angle. Unfortunately, the prepared vantage point of all the participants gave (in my opinion) not the best view. So I made a sketch from another point, from which the model looked more interesting, and later checked with it when working on the computer. In particular this (and my inability) resulted in distortions and corrections. Given the limited time and something else, I was outputting the composition on the fly. And the idea was a total fiasco. Well, almost. Finished my work in a hurry, and the idea of how to do it right came as soon as I posted the work.
Realtime contest with a model is certainly an interesting idea. And the model is great, and the contests are fun))) I found it interesting and somehow unusual. Of the minuses, as I wrote above, not the best vantage point and maybe the lighting. More of course was the heat which the air conditioner coped with at the limit, but our model stoically. The music from the invited DJs was very nice. If there are similar competitions in the future, I'd love to take part.
What would be my advice to future participants? Honestly, I don't know. Probably the same as in any other contest - be surprised).
I want to say thank you very much to all participants, you are the best! I hope, next time you will definitely take part in another contest like this. The heat at Out Of Compo did not help at all for the productive creation of the works. It felt like we were all in a sauna and we all ran outside to cool off. The air conditioners were running at maximum, but could not cool the sun-heated attic space. Would not consider attics again, only cool basements! :) After the contest was over, there was a heated discussion about it. It was the time to record interviews with the contestants, but I realized it only now and I was short of hands, frankly speaking. After the showing of works and counting of votes, there was an awards ceremony, presentation of diplomas and words of gratitude for participating in Out Of Compo.
Thank you so much to everyone who was able to come, support and help. As it turned out, holding events like this is not easy. When you start doing it, there are so many small organizational issues that you do not have time to solve some of them. A lot of nerves have been spent, but the desire to do more and do it better has not disappeared. On the contrary, I already have ideas for the next Out Of Compo. I will give up something and add something new.
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Shuran33