PAINT.EXE

I don't consider myself much of an artist.

This is maybe odd, because I am familiar with many artistic disciplines. However, 2D art is not one of them.
2D art is what I primarily think of when "artists" are brought up, and its also the the discipline which costs me the most to be lacking.

To realize an artistic vision, I have to rely on others a fair bit.

One day I felt resentful of this reliance.

Usually.

Limitation breeds creativity.

I will not be limited.

1. Anthropomorphic moth aliens from a sci-fi IP.

2. 2010-era internet ".exe" horror visual aesthetics.

At my disposal is Paint.NET, a C# .NET written photo editor.

I always tell people that its Paint, but with everything you actually use from Photoshop and nothing more (and if you do need more, just get a plugin).

I kinda just drew shapes.

After a couple a face jumped out at me in my mind. It ended up as primarily a mix between two inspirations:

Despite being overjoyed at a successful artistic product, I was still a little worried because it felt "too basic".

However I'd soon find that the lack of complexity within the base gave me TONS of wiggle room in post-processing.

I was able to animate each piece in its own little way–all synchronized.

The mane was split into its individual pieces and animated into a writhing, vengeful organ, slamming against the picture plane akin to the bass against the ears.

All of the synchronization is done with Touchdesigner's TDAbleton component, and a little extra work to get good data to use. I manually "chart" composition elements onto a parallel MIDI track, such that the information is provided to Touchdesigner in time with the music.

Touchdesigner receives it as CHOP trigger data, which can be manipulated and exported to control the post-processing. This is has been the foundation of my production/show stack for at least a year now. Its extremely potent.