IT HAD TO BE THE WIND

ANIMATION YO

Thu, 22 May 2008 16:06:05 GMT

Rainy days like this make me feel like laying on the couch and watching cartoons all day (no time for that!). If I had time, then today I'd be up for cool and comedy.

#1 This is the scene that every Bebop fan raves about but I don't care about failing to be UNIQUE, it's just beautiful, baby. Last night we watched it while I worked on comic pages, and haven't gotten the theme out of my head since.

#2. The scene when Mars, the Bringer of War by Holst is played is actually my favorite, but I couldn't find it and this is awesome too.

#3 Yadda yadda, everyone likes this too because it's so stupid.

#4 I only saw maybe a third of Justice League, but because of that episode The Flash rocks my world.

Aaaand a badass cartoon opening.

PS: What

PPS: My dad owns a dealership

Last post about this, I sweeear...Today.

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:49:02 GMT

The poor, malnourished, tiny mom cat having a staring contest with my fat, spoiled, ungrateful cat:

And then like usual, they swiftly flee under the house.

I haven't done work yet today, I just keep going outside and looking at them. ;___;

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:44:19 GMT

There's a random litter of kittens on our front porch, well-guarded by their single teen mom (seriously this cat is tiny).

She stares at me for a bit, I say GTG and walk around the house to go through a different door.

Glancing out the back porch window - I've been followed! She sat there for a few minutes until I came out to give her water and cat food. She's not terribly friendly, just hungry and cautious.......and I'm a sucker.

Past stray cat experiences have been unkind: The first was a white kitten who was dying of various conditions on our lawn. We took it to the vet, where they proposed a $300-400 bill that I couldn't possibly pay...so they pressured me to pay to put it down. I didn't know what to say, definitely not "NO let's let it suffer horribly for another day until it dies." SO they put to sleep. And then AJ and I got scabies.

The next was a very friendly stray that we liked a lot, and took to the shelter. The plan was, if she had no diseases and no one adopted her after a week or two (it would be a few months of holding her before putting her down), AJ's mom would take her. But after one week they euthanized her due to random a mistake of theirs. AJ's mom had to call her way up to the top over a couple of days to get an apology and an explanation.

Today I get upset when I think too hard about those two cats. Clearly, feeding a new set of strays is an RAD IDEA.

There doesn't seem to be much of an animal control here, I called several months ago and they don't deal with cats [edit: Rather, they only deal with threatening animals, despite the diseases an overpopulation of feral cats can bring - I dunno]. Does anyone know about this kind of thing?

Critique Meme Result #1

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:04:39 GMT

I've had a fever for a couple of days (oddly no other symptoms) and I haven't felt like doing much but sleep. But based on your suggestions in the critique meme, I was inspired!

The full-size is NWS for artsy boobs. Yes...it's a pinup, which is contrary to much of what I said I'd do on my own time...but it started as figure practice and I liked where it was going.

Key things you advised me to be more conscious about:

+ More size variation in lineart widths (moar thin lines)
+ Try more graceful, delicate subjects and characters
+ Less idealized figures, for the love of God draw an A-cup, vary body types (I think her leg is still too long but oh well D:)
+ I tend to have TASTE THE RAINBOW colors within skin-tones, restrain them a bit to prevent the image from appearing overworked
+ Have backgrounds more often

...But crap. I forgot to address the lineart suggestion in this drawing (Seee, this is why I needed your critiques :B)...but what I draw next will focus just on that. So - thank you all very much for your help!

It's goin' around, and it looks like a helpful meme.

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:46:03 GMT

1. Do I have a distinct style of drawing?
2. If so, what exactly is it that defines my "style"?
3. Would you say my art usually follows a 'theme'?
4. Is there anything I really need to improve on or change?
5. Does my style (if I have one) remind you of/look like the style of anyone else?
6. Judging from whatever art of mine that you've seen, what do you think I do the best at?
7. What do you think I suck at?

Be brutally honest or whatever! I'm only most aware that I draw too many busty women, not enough original characters, and I have the usual anatomy struggles. I need you all to help me realize my other flaws <3

vidjya gamez

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:52:56 GMT

Animation A
Animation B

These are samples for a sim/adventure game I've been hired on. They're weird because I used too much blinking to segway into the different emotions, but I won't be selecting the frames for the in-game animations anyway. This...was just me playing with the layers in Imageready, because it's fun.

I've worked with the creator last fall, for his puzzle game called Spandex Force (which parodies superheroes and follows a Puzzle Quest type style).

CHECK IT OUT KIDS

DRAWING REQUESTS: RESULTS!

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:01:17 GMT

Hay guys :D I've returned from my vacation! I actually finished these a few days ago, but I haven't had a moment to scan 'em. Anyway...

Your drawing request results in order of completion:

Bonuses!

For Emily, since you requested an icon! I've only just started the case so I don't know anything about his character. Supposed to be a "Who, meee?" type of shot.

I'm sorry that I didn't get to color everyone's! My excuse: in the end I felt that in my style, greyscale would suit some of the characters more.

I hope you all like them - something I enjoy the most is giving my interpretation to an existing design, but moreso when it's not a commercial character that you see 32936289 versions of on deviant art!

Also, this:

I finally beat Case 5 from the first Phoenix Wright game (sheesh, that took me like a month!), but to my joy Emily got me the next game for my birthday! Armed with that, like 2139861 borrowed volumes of Et Cetera, and Venture Bros Season 2, I should have plenty of things to keep me from working this month. Hurrr hur

party party join us join us PARTY PARTY

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:25:22 GMT

Monster faaans, I know you're there because I got at least one of you to read it like two years ago, and more of you read it on your own. For everyone else, any summarizing I do with my bad writing will probably put off people from reading it, but fans like spiffyfish have done so marvelously!

Anyway, I'm linking the community now 'cause I've just finished some fanart for the series and posted stuff there a few times. If you wanna see what I drew, you have to go there to view (and hopefully allow all the amazing fanstuffs by others to get you reading it).

It's my birthday; I'm gonna actually take the night off. Actually.

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:37:00 GMT

WHAT? I personally know very few people who are into the comic Blade of the Immortal and it barely exists at my local bookstore, but it is a comic worth getting addicted to (I've only followed it for 2~ years, but it's been out for a whiiile). It has an insanely cool cast, genre-defying art, and of course really screwed-up-yet-intriguing violence. CHECK IT YO

okay also

Cat: "...i heard something scratchy coming from my printer and was watching it confused and all of a sudden a giant roach squeezes its way out of the front USB port"
Me:"
"

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. In her printer. Out her USB port. WHAT. I hate little else beyond roaches, and hating them is even in my LJ interests: "watching roaches die." So...sweet dreams, everyone!

Oh oh Emily:

This is probably not useful for you since your other icons at least try to follow a base style, but the idea super-punched me in the face at like 3 AM, at the time when dumb ideas are totalli funni. I won't be offended if you don't use it! >___> I just love that Fry picture.

super serial

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:59:18 GMT

I am sorry for all the absences and negativity in emails/IMs this month. It mostly comes down to a painfully rushed work-month (I'm leaving town next week for a bit), and then everyone asking "HOW'S WORK? lol!"

So...positive stuff!

RETURN OF ART REQUEST MEME

Remember this stuff? Time to turn that around! For my coming birthday I'm giving art presents to you all.

Comment with a written description/drawing of YOUR OWN character, and I will draw it while I'm on vacation next week.
This must be an ORIGINAL character of yours; not commercial fanart. I'll probably do a meme for fanart another time!
It can be an existing character from your own comic, someone you plan to write about someday, an original roleplay character...just about anything, as long as you can write about them or have a drawing for me to go on.
No "draw me, but like, totally crazy and wearing a hockey mask lol" requests, I want your creativity as well. :D

Now...request away, be you friend or kindly e-stranger!

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:24:10 GMT

I'M ON UR LJ, WRITIN ON UR LJ STRIKE (baaaaaw)

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:56:34 GMT

HAI GUYZ! I forgot to exist online for the past week and a half, mostly because I was preparing art table stuff and spazzing out a lot. I'm still catching up on real work, but I'm sort-of back.

A liiittle late, but...Megacon! It was fun and very 'educational' for an art-table newbie like me. Thank you cetriya for inviting me, and heck - for allowing me so much table time. Everyone show her and Sarah (a fellow table invitee) looove!

¹ ²
³⁴

¹ This was AJ's birthday gift. Woohooo Bebop!
² Towards the final minutes of the convention, Cetriya commissioned me to digitally sketch her a picture of the early 90's anime character, Devil Hunter Yohko.
³ I liked this girl's look a lot, and was super happy that someone commissioned this to be based off her.
⁴ Emily, my good half-e-friend (we originally knew eachother online but she lives quite close!) took the train down to Orlando, dressed for the convention as the newest incarnation of Phoenix Wright. We had a mini-collab: she penciled and I inked/colored it. (((it wasn't until later that we realized his eyebrows had a different shape and I totally gave him SJJ hair but WHO CARES it was fun and I love drawing with friends)))

Convention sketches: I drew some of these for practice, some for fun, and some to have traditionally-drawn stuff to sell.

^^^The specific cause of death was Emily's awesome idea (I wanted it to be sweets, but had no fun wording in my head)! Sarah/StarMasayume, one of my table-mates, snatched it up. She is super-awesome for this because she was also so kind as to scan it (as well as many other drawings) for me!

^^^
It didn't sell, but I liked the inking, the experimental style and the coloring so I'm glad I could keep it. NYAAAAH.

In color! Ignore them large feet.

^^^
This was drawn soley as an example of the kind of quick sketch-coloring jobs I was up for at the convention. Plus nostalgia-teeeeims

^^^These both were commissioned by Sarah/StarMasayume. The first were busts of her two original characters, and the second is of Tsubasa Chronicles characters - drawn and colored within the final hour of the convention. It's weird not having any line weight to it!

These next four were part of a series of five, actually. All the girls had costumes with their takes on Alice in Wonderland characters, and after trusting me with her digital camera for Sunday, I drew quick pictures for each of them. I was floored by how awesomely nice they were! They were so understanding of my inability to finish all of them before the afternoon's end, so they allowed me to finish from home and mail them off from there.

This week has been a sort-of Spring Break, with Cat and Sean hanging out here. I'm tryyying to work, but going to Universal Studios, shish-kabobing, and then playing Pokemon is not work. Whaaat, Pokemon? I kind of forgot about it for several months, but with AJ and Sean bubbling about it daily I got in the mood.

A Daily Deviation? For me? You shouldn't have!

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 09:31:53 GMT

Kind of old since it happened three days ago...but hurraaah.

Recent Commission Love

Self-Absorbed-Reminiscing-Thing:

The Daily Deviation stuff makes me remember when I first joined DA in 2003. I wanted hits, I wanted validation - never mind that I absolutely sucked. A year and a half later I was linked by The Best Page in the Universe from entering his illustration contest, and ended up with about 30,000 hits in a day. So I was 30,000 pageviews richer, but finally realized that hits didn't make me any better at drawing or lead to employers busting down my door for my prized Watase-wannabe style.

By DA standards I know that what the Rosa/Rydia picture got was totally not a lot of hits, but with raises in attention I always feel super self-conscious about anything I've ever posted online, EVER, then I delete old works or F-lock LJ entries (who seriously cares about those?). I'm terrible at handling even the smallest of spotlights, but one positive is an increased drive to perfect my work so no one has to see crap drawings from me anymore (even though that totally won't stop lololol).

Look at all this SUPER DD FAME going to my head, I'm SUPER FAMOUS NOW! So famous that I won't even lower myself to talk on THE LJ anymore. I think I'll stop doing commissions altogether, people should just start giving me money for being lil ol' me. Because I had a DD! LOVE ME!

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 07:46:04 GMT

Oh God, someone even sang the high part towards the end!

AJ and I have been marathoning seasons 2 and 3 of Lost (been out of the loop for two years), and we're nearly done with Season 3! I wonder if I'll be ticked off with all the cliffhangers once we're caught up? Probably. But for now it's fun, it gives me something to look forward to while working through each day.

Hey, a question for people who've worked Artist's Alleys in conventions: I've been invited to share a table with someone (woo) at Megacon in March, but I've never done anything like this. What should I focus on more, selling prints or trying to sell commissioned sketches? For that matter, do I need to know how to draw characters off the top of my head (like your Narutos and Inu Yashas or what have you), or...are references provided? That sounds unlikely, but I wondered anyway! Should I make a list of stuff I know how to draw?

This process is all crazy to me ahhhhhh D:

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:30:05 GMT

I've definitely cheated this week, and drawn too many things for myself instead of the stuff I'm being paid for.

Another soap mascot design thing, this one being based on "Dove" soap.

Trying to move on from the murder of Jack Hammer, Ms. Oldbat makes Edgeworth take her on a beach stroll before she'll testify in court. Needing her testimony, he cannot object!

...Happy Valentine's Day.

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:00:58 GMT

HAY THAR, 5 AM! I haven't seen you in a while.

Tegaki E

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:30:03 GMT

junemermaid linked this really cool doodle-blog site called "Tegaki E." You draw a picture then people draw comments - or you view the index for others' drawings to draw comments on.

EXAMPLES OF FUN I encountered last night, for the skeptical: (I really wanna get people on this)

The drawing vs. the viewer
Bashing DA lol
Continuations via comments
Fanart fun

It lends itself very easily picture battles, and the site is freee from all the DA crap such as favorites, watches, and pageviews. Just draw fun things and be happy! The site isn't about who's who, but here's my profile in case you notice some jackass with a weird soap icon drawing on your entries.

Back to work I go.

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:27:11 GMT

Weekly Whatevers:

What the hell is this:

or (it's a personification of Ivory Soap, which makes me break out in hives and is eeevil)

Because of my allergies to Ivory soap, it was suggested that I'm not worthy of the name "Soap Committee" and that I should change it to "Filth Committee."
Filth Committee is cuuute

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:55:30 GMT

This icon is outdated, but...I kinda like its MSPaint/Wattersonesque quality.

And yada yada yadaaa

The next week will be spent drawing comic pages. \o/

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:59:34 GMT

Not that I caaare....cause I don't have a wiiiii...and AJ sooold his...

We immediately played the real song and sang these new lyrics along with it.

noooo I did the big-head thing again D: It's a curse on all things traditionally drawn.

For kiwipanda and digitalwar.

UGLY EVEN FOR SKETCHES, WILL DO BETTER FANART SOMEDAY

Possibly the most random fanart I've ever drawn! I recalled webcomic artist Ghastly's coffee illustration of the character (like years ago), and she was neat looking. So I looked it up a week ago and sketched 'er.

I plan to do some Venture Bros fanart this month. I've been missing that show a lot (even though I own it on DVD...)

I've drawn a lot more stuff, but most of it's under wraps. How are yoooou?

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:08:35 GMT

Non-commissioned stuff from my sketchbook that occupied me during break.

^^^
Two of these are reposted (though Jill has been flipped right-side-up), I liked em~

I'm back, I have a fantastic new computer, but I also have a scanner that won't scan and a tablet with a fraying usb wire. I'm sure I can get the scanner going, but the tablet will have to be sent in; heeeeeeeell naaaaaaaaaw

YEE-HAW! Futurama is on for an hour now. I'm positive it will always be awesome to me the way Scrubs once was, but then again... I did tune in to all the 4 daily airings of Scrubs on Comedy Central, aaall summer and fall. Wow, I killed that.

In the mood for artichokes tonight, but sheesh. I'd have to peel my way down a giant pine-cone of a vegetable, cut, boil, pan-fry, and then I'd have about 4 bites of food. And I think the pomegranate season is ending, which I've barely takenadvantage of! Other than Asparagus, what weird food should I go for now?

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 05:33:04 GMT

Merry Christmas!

These were printed on fancy card things for all those who wanted Christmas Cards! A re-drawing of these folks whipped up three years ago.

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 23:14:14 GMT

Christmas present for Emily, a Floridian friend! I've never done a proper picture for her, only sketches; one should celebrate an artist who's kept at the same webcomic for so many years. Plus, she designs neat characters. ++, she totally hooks me up with Avatar episodes. +++, she's a joy to talk to. <3

Weird process: It was originally sketched on computer but I decided to print it, use my lightboard to ink over, then color with Copics. Dusker is way more tan than he should be.

Revisiting an old design. The pose and anatomy are boooooring.

Commissioned stuff!

<-NWSISH; DON'T CLICK AT WORK OR YOUR BOSS WILL RAPE AND FIRE YOU

^I'd love any critiques here; her right arm has bothered me the whole time drawing it.

Huge Entry, Sorryyyy

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:20:33 GMT

Christopher Schmitt has (along with other authors) published another web design book, Adapting to Web Standards. I was hired to draw some interior art using Illustrator (admittedly vectors are difficult for me to use well); not only was he very patient with my lack of Illustrator proficiency, he just sent me a copy of the book! If you comment on the most recent entry of his blog, you may win a copy.

Chris was my employer when I worked as a lowly scanner for the Claude Pepper Foundation, and he was a darned nice boss. We even played Mario Kart DS during one or two of my breaks. Anyway...thanks for the book, Chris! And here is a sketch of Chris being all Mac-like and me being PC-like, hur hur. I actually hate these commercials, but the picture was fun to draw.

Inspired by junemermaid's comment (here), I just...had to do it. >__> lolol NO STEALING THIS DESIGN, NOMURA!

Sketch commissions:
(Actually...this wasn't for money but for a good token on LL, but I also think the person is super nice and it was her birthday)
The customer wanted Rosa to shine, Christmas-style.
This turned out so angular! Oh well, it was a fun, actiony scene.

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:19:10 GMT

Last Saturday AJ and I took a stray kitty to the shelter, as the weather was chilly and it would cry outside our door all night long. We just felt really, really bad for her. AJ's mom will adopt her if no one else will.

A small commission for an RPer who wanted a specified variety of emotions for her characters:

They are the same person, but with a Jekyl/Hyde thing going on. I liked shading their shiny hair a lot.

And

The comic I've been hired for is called "Anathema", and this nothing more than a super quick color chart for the colorist (lol bad anatomy, boring poses). I saw a small sample of the colorists' work, and it's bangin'. The only problem is that I drew the pages believing they'd stay in black and white with grey tones. Thus, there are dramatic shadows and thick lineart everywhere, and I'm not sure such a style lends itself to color at all!