Fragging Place

When I sketch out my ideas for the controllers it’s a breeze on paper since I am working on a flat surface and I can simply erase what I don’t like. That all ends though the minute I try recreating that image on the controller with paint. All that breeziness comes to a crashing halt. Working around the curves and different sections of the controller can make a simple image complicated. Now I know why most people use sharpies or stick to simple designs like tiger stripes. But I am bad with pens, I hate the mess, and simple/plain is just not part of my vocabulary.

In the beginning I tried sketching my plans out on the controller before painting but the pencil marks get smudged and following those lines exactly never seem to work right. Worst thing about it is the pencil lead shows through the paint sometimes which bugs the hell out of me because I know its there even if no one else see’s it. It’s like having a black sheet of paper and sticking a fraction of a shade lighter black dot in the center of it. No one else might see it but if you see it, it drives you nuts.

At one point I even thought about taping off the images before painting but that’s just more work to me to have to do. One controller can take me about 4 -5 hours to paint that to me is too long so I’m not about to tack on another 5 hours. Besides cutting out strip after strip of tape to get it just right would drive me up a wall. Yeah prep is good but unnecessary if it’s not needed.

So I stick to just winging it straight through. To me it’s just easier to pick which image I want and just start painting, after much cursing, the controllers always kick ass in the end anyways and if it doesn’t it’s back to a sheet of sandpaper for a do-over.