11/13/09 - COMMISSION STATUS:

• Full for the year! I may open up commissions in Dec., but I won't know until then. :p
• View this Calendar thing to see what I'm up to. *Calendar disclaimer: This thing runs my life, but sometimes life gets the better of it and it becomes more of a loose work-guideline.*

AS OF SEPTEMBER, THERE WILL BE A $40 MINIMUM FOR ALL ORDERS. This may not end up being permanent, but right now I'd rather that every project account for at least half a day's work. :B

( Details and Price Charts Behind the Cut. )

Based on The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly's movie poster, here is some Avatar fanart for lackshmana's birthday! ...Oh my god his birthday was in February. We moved right when I wanted to draw him this and after moving it took half a year for me to catch up (SO MANY EXCUSES WERE MADE) but it's dooone at last. 8D Anyway, he's the one who introduced me to Clint Eastwood Films, TGTB&TU included, and he digs Avatar so there it is!

The inspiration for this pic is based on the episode "Zuko Alone" where Zuko's got the whole "Man With No Name" thing going on. BTW, I found out that the Chinese characters I used are totally wrong XD. Thanks a lot Chinese dictionary, remind me to never get any kanji tattoos.



Just an original character of sorts! It's not pictured here, but she makes her travels with a seeing-eye dachshund.



Fanart of space_coyote's comic, Yokaiden! I drew fanart earlier this year but mixed up the name of the creature, a Kappa, with something else called a Tengu. Since the meaning behind it was then sort of lost this was a bit of a make-up. XD Hamachi is an adorable character!



And because giving everyone art is fun, here's a sketch fanart for mercury_hat, of her minicomic. :D

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I've been bad at working during this month and will definitely have to work during Thanksgiving Break, but this is the first time I've fanarted people in a long while, it's totally worth it. x_x

This little girl is yet another random character I would doodle in my high school notebooks. IIRC she was a homeless girl who pretended to be a fairy with using patched together junk, and I had been watching too much Cardcaptors (ROLLERBLADES). I've little interest in drawing her or anything like her today, but it seemed like a design worth making sense of!



Tools used:
[Old version = ball point pen + back of a bowling advertisement]
[New version = micron pen + card stock]

BONUS Copic-Colored version (a bit messy...)



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Eggghhh been feeling sick lately; awesomely enough it's usually when I sit down at the computer, but if I'm kicked back on the couch drawing throwaway stuff in my sketchbook, I'm fine. Too bad doodles don't pay the rent!

Oh my god so like

I found a random pile of old art from 2002-2003, my senior year of HS. SO HERE IS THE FIRST IN A SMALL SERIES OF REDRAWS.



In the old version I majorly skimped on her hands and feet, because I was so wrapped up in giving her pretty eyes and hair (THANKS, WATASE *_*). It wasn't long after then that I learned anatomy matters.

Tools used:
[Old version = ball point pen + back of a school flyer]
[New version = blue micron pen + blue Copics + back of abandoned old Death Note fanart]

Anyway, I'm going to try posting art weekly from now on~ :D After staying in the grind of job-art for so long, I've forgotten to make drawing personal and fun. Also, I'm a little afraid of LJ dying off since people don't update like they used to (myself included). LJ has been in my life since 2001, I can't let it go just yet!


THIS IS POST #1001, YAY

DEAR ARTISTS: There are some swell people that I've been drawing for over the past two years who need just a little bit of final art...that I sadly can't deliver because I'm overscheduled. What they need are:

-20 small graphical icons
-6 sketches to go along with a story-type thing, featuring random scenes and figures and such.

These will have a ninja-ish theme to em. If you're interested, his name is Mark and you can reach him at [naruto-arena at hotmail dot com].

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A lot of the projects I've worked for in recent months can't be shared yet, but here's what I can post! :D




[^^^Drawn for superheronation.com], probably more to follow in the new year]





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If you've wanted to order the book I drew for but were put off by the shipping costs, through the 25th Lulu is offering a 15% discount. Just type in the coupon code "TRICK".

Fun stuff to link:

MISSIONCLOCK IPHONE APP: I drew the little icon for it. :D

If you have an iPhone and you like to keep up on the Shuttle Missions, you can find it here! The creator is a really nice person and has justly earned NASA love from the iPhone-using employees there. I FEEL LIKE I'M THE ONE IN SPACE NOW 8D

While I am pimping stuff out, here's a large thing: Anathema Volume 1, now available for lulu-print!

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What I am doing:

Workin workin workin constantly on game art and comic pages while watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (next on my list is Oz because I like depressing myself during work). But also, I finally caught up on Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. If you were unsure about this new FMA because of its slow beginning/repeated stories from the first show, step into episode 14 and face the wall of kickass-everything. I'm such a stupid elitist but the comic's story is so much more fun for me and it's awesome to see my favorite scenes so well represented in animation-land.

Anyway, I'm working on a lot of art. It would be nice if October slowed down a little but I don't think that's going to happen. Maybe November? Just a weekend or two? D:

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What I am not doing:

Successfully responding to comments and emails and other peoples' entries. For over a week I've accumulated several tabs of LJ comments, entries and emails and other messages that need a proper reply, but when I'm not working, cooking or sleeping or grocery shopping, I'm writing LJ entry excuses about failing to respond to people. It's all too much, you know.

But yeah, people deserve thoughtful responses rather than rushed, empty ones - I'll get back to you soon.

Oh hi it's nearly 6 am and I'm wasting precious sleep time; good night!

Who has used Lulu to print a comic? I've formatted everything to fit at 6x9 (+ bleed), but I don't know how to get all the images into a single PDF to their guidelines. They have instructions, very specific instructions, but everything I've read is geared towards manuscripts and not comics.

Printing is kinda hard man

[edit] OH UH, NVM ...But if any of y'all have helpful tips I'll be happy to hear them.



Commission for the lovely California gal, jadedshard - go read her story!

Gail Simone very quickly became one of my favorite writers after Birds of Prey and Secret 6 (ohhh how I want to read her run on Deadpool and eventually Wonder Woman), but this just reveals her to be such a ridiculously good person as well. I'm not familiar with much of John Ostrander's work, but that is a sad and difficult situation and I donated what I could.

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A week or so ago I sketched some quickies from a bunch of stuff, it's all on DA already so this is a bit of a repost.

( Doodle Stuff )
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This was drawn for Kyt Dotson, for her new story Black Hat Magick. As you can see on her other website, Mill Avenue Vexations, she's a huge supporter of artists of all different styles. I totally must return the favor and pimp her work often!

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Slowly catching up! For those awaiting emails and preliminaries/preliminary revisions, I hope to resolve all of this tomorrow (today, I work on bonus material for the print version of Anathema 8D ).

http://shirt.woot.com/ My friend Emily kicked some shirt butt and took some shirt names; support her, cute graphic design and Pluto-love todaaay :B

[edit] Use this link to view the shirt now <333

Went out for a frappucino yesterday~ \o/

Took a work-break to sketch Truffles the pixie sprite from Chowder! ...Only younger and less terrifying. I don't know what it is, if it's some shallow fixation I have or what, but I enjoy drawing younger versions of old characters.

Old School lesbians yeeeehaw



I actually did most of this...a year ago, but saw it today and realized it could get away without being totally refined.

Haven't posted art publicly in a while because I always feel like customers are watching this thing and wondering why I have time to post fun-art and not to draw their stuff. This a foolish thing to worry about and it means I barely end up drawing anything for personal improvement or fun.

I AM FINALLY CAUGHT UP after weeks of anxiety and moving hell (except for on DA comments)...And now I have to leave town with AJ to clean the old house, nooo I'll be behind again

Anyway, to celebrate nothing at all I drew some members of the Anathema cast...in God awful emulations of some of my influences, past and present. Guess which style is which (some of them may be poorly emulated x100000 ie: lower right) :D

Here's a public hellooo to customers and anyone who's been wondering: I'm done moving...mostly!

I'm trying out this Google Calendar thang to organize my life because I've come back to 43 emails, a few unfinished projects from March, and little remaining sanity. This is also for your benefit if you're a customer; it's best viewed in monthly format and I've listed everything I need to do and everyone waiting for a reply.

If you don't see your name on there when we've already corresponded, I may have missed you in the bunch; please let me know (same for if you want to commission something new - it may be a longer wait but April should still happen). If you need something sooner than listed I'll do my best to accommodate.

Hoo-kay, time to get crackin'

Phew, moving-related stuff is looking up! Now all we have to do is submit the application, then commission-binge for the week until I find out one way or another.
Trying to catch up on DA comments and friends' submissions, and:

DA COMMENT: "wow trop classe et le lapin qui n'a pas l'air psycho du tout"
BABELFISH: "wow too class and the rabbit which n' l' does not have; air psycho of the whole"

...Can someone help me here

Thank you again cetriya for THIS AWESOME PICTURE (this post prompted by it arriving in the mail). I don't mean to make a big deal but I really appreciate A) you inviting me to your table last year, and B) you being so darned nice in general, and C) giving me a fully colored superdrawing when I paid for a sketch. I hope Megacon and all your current con and comic endeavors treat you well. <3

I want to commission artists more often. ...But I need more OCs. Durn it Rebecca, get more creative

[edit] OH

I'm sorry, if you've made a comment on DA I'm sort of...weeks behind on those. And then they slowly pile up. And then I make LJ entries about it instead of replying. I'll remedy this soon!

1) Saw Watchmen! I've read the comic twice before so I know how it goes down, and this interpretation was fine by me. Maybe I have no taste, but the internet NERD RAGE says I should examine each line and report on how it offended me and every single thing the comic stood for.
...Okay yes, the sex scenes were long and stupid but in a funny way. ...And okay, the soundtrack was awkward, but whatever man, the comic is still there and still good on its own. JUST ENJOY THINGS YOU...YOU INTERNET

2) My tablet (...AJ's tablet) is skipping around. I bought a new cover for it and everything, but the cursor will jump around in the middle of my brush strokes. UUUURGFFGGF Oh nevermind it was electrical interference from working so close to the screen. ...No wonder I'm blind

3) Downloaded the Painter 11 trial! This whole thing is irrelevant if you don't digitally draw, but these are the improvements so far (ie: things that make it more like Photoshop so I don't have to switch to that in the middle of drawing):

• The transform tool is now under the edit bar instead of the filter section.
• You can ctrl+click layers to select them as a whole, and there is a polygonal select tool. FINALLY
• You can finally work in pngs. This is probably the biggest benefit to me since half my projects required them to be pngs, it sucked jumping to PS just to re-save a file as something else.

But is it less crashy? Who knows! Random experimental thing:

I'M SORRY

A few of you guys are expecting finished work and email replies, but ever since Thursday night my computer has been shutting off at random (in the middle of work, in the middle of answering emails or DA/LJ comments, FFFFFFFFFFFF).

I'll get back to you when this thing is fixed (didn't know that my computer had an in-home warranty! :o rock). In the meantime, happy V-Day and here is a finished commission:



(MS YOUNGBAG BONUS. I think she would still look mean as a younger woman.) The first picture was commissioned by MihoshiK for Kiraxlee. I love drawing OCs, because you get a more personal level of creativity from the customer (or in this case, the customer's friend). Thank you to deathchalupa, yuugi, tl__dr, astorauth, digitalwar, and jadedshard for your help on the lighting, based on your input I went with a nice middle ground! :B

Paul Dini/Dustin Nguyen aren't going to be on Detective Comics anymore. :/ Not only was reading the title like watching the old show (since Paul Dini was also a writer on TAS), Nyguyen's covers and interiors were always marvelous! If you're not familiar with his art, take a quick look. Classay, ain't it?

Apparently when it resumes it's possibly going to be about Batgirl, or Batwoman or something, and AJ told me of some speculation about Oracle finding a cure so she could be Batgirl again. I think it's all guessing right now, but if it's true then that. would. be. so stupid.

I don't like reading comics month to month because it's too easy to forget little (but important) parts of the story, and having to refresh each time is a pain, but Detective Comics was episodic enough to avoid that problem. Also, I care so so little about any of the big events in the DC universe (HAUGHBLAUGH ANTILIFE EQUATION DUR BATMAN DEAD DUR MORRISON CAVEMEN).

The only other stuff I have to keep reading is Secret Six and Fables, since Birds of Prey is also no more, and Runaways kinda bored me after a while (even though B.K. Vaughan is the man, I'm sorry rayerai >___>).

Does anyone wanna cry with me? ;_;

I knew most of these birthdays were coming, but four of you, and I mean you LJ people, have birthdays on the 27th. This is AFTER three other birthdays this month. January is craaazy.

(From LL) HILARIOUS CAT FIGHT. If I ever have to draw one, this would be a fantastic reference! ...I hope they were just playing and not actually trying to kill eachother.

This is the best shot of them all because when scrolling to it AJ narrated, "...Feel my touch." How sad that Frisky Dingo is no more.