Merry Christmas 2013

URGH!! 1 semester done, and now 1 more to go.
But for now, I'm gonna enjoy my winter break.
And for the holidays, I bring you:

For the Christians and "How to train your dragon" fans. Happy Holidays.

Hiatus of stuff

Welp, I've got a job now, as an art teacher.

And the first year is seriously rough. But it's supposed to be.
But because of all the madness, it means all of my projects will come to a stop until further notice.
And that Shonen Jump Contest really isn't a priority anymore.
But somehow, I do intend to complete the comic and at least post it somewhere.
So don't expect much activity right now.

Manga entry progress so far

And this is only the inking process
21/31
so far

a little portion of the already inked page 13.

[UPDATE 7/30/13] as the inking status shows WAAAAYYY above, I've finished 19 in total. Pages 14-19 spread out here ^^

Heck Crafts ^^

Yeah, it's rare for me to do arts and crafts.
But I nearly forgot that I had done some.
First off, my little Jack Skellington gourd

Made this last Saturday during our church's outreach program. It's small dried gourd shells. Had some left over from long time ago, so we used em. This is almost 4" high, and the color was done with basic color markers. Though I had to use some white gesso. It looks a bit smeared because of the gloss sprayed on it. Why Halloween in the middle of summer?
Erm.....summerween?


Now for the next craft, this was a gift made for a "care-package" to a family. My bible study group pitched in some stuff. I went and made a small empty book, where one could write some small note or gesture.

All made with whatever stuff I found lying around the house. A little wobbly, and I'm way out of touch ever since my last print-making course.

And updates:
erm.....still working on manga for Shonen Jump competition. My chances look slim, but I want to give it a try.

Pencil tests

I'm trying to use a method where you sketch with blue pencil and use regular pencil to "ink", thus eliminating the need to re-ink.
So far, they work, but to some extent.
The first one I realized the paper was creme, and I pressed down too hard with the blue. And my pencil wasn't dark enough.  The result is this.

The 2nd one I finished today.
Still not happy.

And honestly, I look back at my original roots, to when I made fancomics. I was far more comfortable sketching with pencil, and then inking.  Heck, back then I used to color/shade by hand too. With a tablet, I've done a lot by computer.
I'm currently trying to enter the Shonen Jump weekly manga competition. That's why I'm testing out with pencils and blues. But with the short amount of time I have, I think I just have to go with what's more natural with me.

Now, for the drawing. This is a really old character I created. This is Kanamo, the Seamstress. One of the 12 demigods of Trinio. She doesn't represent any particular race or group, but the title Seamstress signifies her vital role in creating threads and ties to the other deities. That and she can practically make magically-enhanced clothes and fabric with whatever she can find around her. Her magic power may not be the strongest, but she makes up for it with channeling inner strength through her specially-tailored robe.
[UPDATE]6/25/13
did my first pencil test for a dummy comic page. Surprisingly not bad. But clean-up is unavoidable.
Gonna do another one, except I'll try to add inks

Welp...I think I know what route I'm going with. Honestly it's more easier to ink the stuff. It's just been a while since I'm so used to the tablet and stuff. 

Funny Bible Study moment: True Story

This literally happened last Monday.

Eruti Test: Shadow's Collar [DONE]

Welp, here's what I've GOT so far  [pages 4/6]
Again, this is a test, experiment. So there might be some changes with the style or the size of pages.

If for some reason you can't see well on the blog, it's on my deviantart here.
I plan on doing more tests, maybe test out colored pages
But for now, I think the best course of action is to make some drawings for the comic, while working on the basic plot. It's still messy as heck.

idea behind "Turtle Pie" entry

Threadless has been hosting a design contest for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 25th anniversary.
Man, I love TMNT. Saw few glimpses from the old cartoon of the 80s.
But it was the 2003 show that got me really hooked.
New one on Nick, really REALLY love it.
Unfortunately my entry wasn't good enough for competing. Guess it still needed work.
This below is the finished design:

What inspired it? Well the idea is this:

 

Yep, just finished the comics today. Also on deviantart.
...I really REALLY need to finish the Eruti test comic.

If I got a Society6 or Zazzle shop, would it be a bad idea to use this rejected design?
More importantly, would anyone even buy it?

Ethelmay character sheet, DONE...for now

I'm done with these character sheets.
But then again, I think I'm putting waaay too much in these.

And...the test comic...I know...need to get that out.

oooohh! Ethelmay possessed?

Possessed? What madness are you drawing InYuJi?!!!

Actually, yeah. Being the prophesied "Harbinger" (title pending), she acts as a vessel for fairies, the head fairies. She can call on their power, but only for a little while. She has to be careful, because some certain fairies want control over her.

But yeah, I changed the spelling of her name. No way her grandfather would be able to know a chinese name "mei" meaning beauty or plum, something. So I decided to be random and say she was born in May. So unoriginal, I know.

Reference sheet for Jason

At long last, I've finished the reference sheet for one of my main characters for Eruti.
Meet Jason. Don't have a full character bio on him.
But for now, this is him.

Honestly, I'm really giving myself an excuse not to just work on the test comic. Bad me.

Ethelmay's character sheet is coming soon. I almost ALMOST considered changing her name, but nope.

New signature ideas

I've been pondering changing how I sign my artwork in general
one idea I've always liked was doing that chinese signature stamp
Or just rewriting my full name in a more artsy, illegible manner
So a few minutes and I just vomited everything (almost) into this splash page

Now I've just realized that I haven't even numbered/labeled these.

I'm taking critique/feedback on this.

you guys can note me at deviantart.

test comic-drafting

working on a short test comic
really, when it comes to webcomics, I just have to "do it"
it seems like I'm going all technical into page size, drawing techniques, and style.
I just have go and see where it'll take me.

it's a really short 6 page thing

2nd pixel brains animated and other smut

yep, the 2nd pixel brains animated. But it's preferable to watch the swf file on deviantart .
yeah, seems like I'm updating either my deviantart or tumblr more. I can't believe how much I've back-slid into old routines. I've practically given up on trying to crank out more stuff for the dA tombraider contest. Sometimes I ask, "why? They probably won't look at your stuff?"
...my answer..."who knows? gotta try"
so I've got these pretties

Yep, that's what I've been doing. Now...I really have to concentrate on cranking out a short test comic for Eruti. I've been so daunted with the pettiest of things, ex: style and look of overal art, the outline of the stories in the series, fully developing characters, settings and environments, etc etc.

But yeah, I really need to stop trying to please people, and just do what I love to do. Easier said than done. If only I can get my self-discipline in check.

Jar of Dirt, animated

Welp, it's finished at last
though I wish I could figure out how to convert flash for youtube

2.5 months I think went into this. I originally got the idea last year, but couldn't come around to finishing due to student-teaching.

Secret flash project almost done

It's almost done. I wanna say 85%, but I think more of 75% due to coloring.
But I'm so excited! I just hope I can have an easier time exporting it for youtube.

speaking of youtube, a little something I made for the Pixel Brains

Practicing forest speedpaints

Gosh it's more sloppier than it is.
But that's learning, everything isn't great on the first or 2nd try. Took about 1.5-2 hours cuz I didn't keep tract of the time.

Actually the first speedpaint was this, I was practicing how to paint a tree

 Eruti is gonna have lots of towns, villages, and mostly nature, so lotsa forests and trees. Best get practicing. Actually I need to practice the style for the webcomic. Otherwise there won't be much consistency. Gonna put this stuff in my tumblr as well

Secret flash project

What is it?
Well...here's the hint

I'm aiming at finishing and releasing it by early March
progress: ....so far 25% maybe

Snail pace on the character sheets

I've started character sheets for the 2 main characters, Ethelmei and Jason
unfortunately, old habits are rearing their head.
However, I'm rather happy with this little doodle here

I'm surprised. This was all done on computer with tablet. Guess it shows that I have to use more intense shadows or blacks and more intentional use of line with my pencil drawings. At this point I'm like "screw the whole finding the right art style to fit the mood"

But I think I'm going to have to be more experimental with styles. Cuz I want to find that nice union of simple, dynamic, yet detailed. Sort of like a bybrid of anime and cartoonish. My friend told me that, it doesn't matter, all webcomics will start off looking horrible, but as time progresses, you get better. And it's true in cases of fancomics or other comics. I'm really not too terribly paranoid on spamming people with every day of my life, which is why I avoid twitter, tumblr, or don't post much on dA or even here.

But I do hope everyone is doing well. 

Peace and God bless you all.

Sound of music drawing

yeah....I should have finished this sooner (like immediately after Christmas) I believe on Christmas eve or even before, they showed "Sound of Music" on public tv. I watched and I was already wanting to sing along.

And that's the sloppy doodle.

In case some of my dA watchers know, I'm here somewhere.

Ji-Hyun is in there, though she's a bit weirded out

and the other 3 are from my story Eruti.

Which is slowly in progress. I'm putting it here, and not on dA.

Maybe I'll just compile the stuff I've done and make a weekly dump and then put it on dA.

Cuz this is not worth putting on dA as a separate update.

Some Kappa Mikey love

Why is it that I'm a later boomer when it comes to tv shows or animes.
Well I've become a fan of this old cartoon called Kappa Mikey. Too bad it was only 2 seasons.
the deviantartist AndrewK actually worked on the show. Thanks to him I've been introduced to this show.
I felt like I had to draw some fanart for it.
so far, a little doodle on a scrap slip of paper.

Will I make it into a final piece? Not sure. Might come up with something different. Is it a bad thing if I'm a Mikey X Mitsuki shipper?

A new year, and a rebirth of this here blog

Well it's 2013, and here's the first post for the year.

...not much, I know. But this will mainly be where post stuff for development.

Rather than get tumblr, I'll just use what I already have.

Blogger isn't dead yet!

And yep, I actually drew up a header for this blog.

hope you all like it.

Will I change it? ....maybe