Crogan, Sketches ,and some watercolor

First of all, Yesterday when I went to pick up my book (finally after a month reserving on waiting list), I caved and went on a book binge, borrowing books and manga. I also gave a chance to "Crogan's Loyalty" and "Crogan's March", which I surprisingly liked. Chris Schweizer's art is simple, but fun to look at. I love how people draw their characters with interesting shapes, yet give more energy and life to them. What also pulled me in was the story-telling. If you like historical fiction that offers a question of 2 or more sides of historical events, then you'll find yourself asking for more adventures of the Crogan legacy.
Which is why I did a bunch of doodles practicing or trying to dissect the style in Crogan. I plan to make a proper fanart tribute to Chris Schweizer's Crogan.

When really I should have been looking at photos of buildings and environments to practice drawing them. Which I did yesterday. While waiting for my brother to finish class, I went outside, found a spot and a subject, and draw. And here is the fruit of labor...

...not one of my best drawings. Actually it's pretty bad. But that won't stop me!
Sunday, I actually had some fun with watercolors, making a short watercolor doodle. At first I wanted to experiment with these old color markers I found, but after testing them, I went with watercolor. I really need to give a proper fanart tribute to the Wakfu anime also. I didn't understand a single thing in that show, but I loved it. (haven't touched the game in a while though.)

That short comic Candy/Sugar Dominion....still working on page 28, still gotta draw and ink 2 more pages, and the cover...and tone...and letter...I'm getting there. But honestly, it makes me wonder...am I cut out for comics? I'm suitable for illustrations or animation? Or some other niche? I read this post on "How to become a Mangaka", and it brought up some good points about becoming a mangaka. And here I quote:

Let’s say, your story writing skills are top notch but your drawing skills really suck. Do you really want to stick with manga? Because there is a lot of other stuff you can write for. The same goes for drawing, If you are good at drawing manga art it doesn’t mean you are meant to be a mangaka. Maybe you can be a great character designer for videogames or illustrate for a company’s.Maybe you should just stick with fanart?

But if manga is something you are absolutely sure of then consider this; If you have the passion for writing but suck at drawing, then you can either learn how to draw or work with someone who is more talented in drawing. The same goes the other way around. If you suck in writing story, learn how to do it or let someone else do it. This is very important, know your sunlight and kryptonite, your pro’s and cons, your virtus and glitches!    

 (source http://howtobam.com/prep-yourself/)

So yeah, that did make me wonder, would I be better as a concept artist? Storyboard artist? Illustrator? And that brought up another artist identity crisis, which I'm trying to ignore by working on this short comic.

New profile pic for future facebook page, and test comic for Beeswax

First off, I finished this yesterday. This is the id or icon I want to use for my more professional work. I plan on making a facebook page for my art. Because let's face it, my deviantart isn't the most professional site to look at. I'm a little ashamed at the lack of original art, and the huge dumps of fanart. Now, all this stuff surrounding me, my own characters (except Jesus), and I do want to make comics of them.The snake is my eastern zodiac animal, that's all, and I love cookies.

And this little comic here, is me testing out the drawing of "Beeswax", a small web-comic I plan on making. Eruti might be on the back-burner even longer.

And today, I watched the premiere of FOX's new show "The Red Band Society", and oh my goodness I'm hooked instantly. It's so endearing and definitely "a breath of fresh air." This is not an official tribute, but here's some sketchy fanart.

Oooh! Almost forgot, finished the poster entry. You can vote via facebook, or look at other entries and vote for them. Link

Candy Dominion progress so far. (So close yet so far away >.<)

I feel so close to finishing all the inking.
BUT...
I still have clean them up, letter and balloon, and tone...
Aw snap. But I'm sure I'll have it ready in time before Halloween hits. *sigh* I am wondering what I can do for Eruti. Or if I should wait more and still work on that script.
Perhaps I should start working on that storyboard for that Music Video I wanted to make. Or make those short story comics. Urgh! So many choices. Oooh! And then there's that illustration series I want to finish. So many projects, so little time...

Shatter Me: Poster drafts. And some shoutouts.

Lindsey Stirling is holding a poster design contest for her "Shatter Me" album tour. These are mere rough drafts, because my pencil drafts were hard for people to look at, so I couldn't get the right feedback.

Anyway, leave a comment. I really appreciate feedback. Otherwise, for those on deviantart, shoot me a message.

Also, a BIG shoutout, courtesy of Bonka Chan.
The artist who goes by "Princess Harumi" or her tumblr "playbunny", is recovering from her ER treatment. But she needs some financial aid, and prayers. I'll provide the link here, so you can look for yourselves. She has linked a paypal donation button as well. Thank you Bonka for signalling this. Although, truth be told, I almost thought that was Bonka, haha. This is why it's important to read CAREFULLY.

Oh, speaking of which, there's this artist who recently got his laptop and external hard drive stolen. That's 6 years of work gone. So far, they have found good support from online, but I'd like to still give a shout out to either read this blog and signal boost it. Hopefully the crooks will be found. Or if you'd like to donate to the couple.

Well, that's that. Take care everyone.

Hullabaloo and more sketches

First off...

Yep, James Lopez and his team will be creating 2 short films of Hullabaloo. I want to see this 2D steampunk masterpieace. Argh, a lot of other countries are doing 2D animations. I really want to see them. There's Master Jiang and the Six Kingdoms. It looks fantastic.
On the side note, I meant to upload the sketches last night, but I forgot. One day's worth of sketches. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to draw Eruti. I want to find that hybrid of anime and cartoon. And then of course, experimenting with what is my more natural style (first top 2 sketches).
Oh yeah, I couldn't resist the chance to draw John Oliver as a parrot.

New one-shot comic, and crazy goals for rest of this year.

Eruti is on the back-burner again. However, I don't want to just rush that story. It's quite dear to me, but so are a lot of other stories. Rather than focusing solely on Eruti, I've decided to finish an old project of mine.
If any of you remember that old OLD Shonen Jump Manga Contest entry I shelved last year, I've brought it back out. Phew! It's been a while since I last drew those characters. My brother seems quite happy that his idea won't be shelved forever. I'm actually glad he gave me an idea to quickly run with.
So far, I'm steadily inking this 22nd page, with only 8 more pages to sketch and ink.
And then that leaves touch-ups, lettering, and toning for all 30 pages.

Of course, I need to make a good cover for it as well.
Now lately, it's kind of disturbing how few of the most interesting, or peculiar, dreams start breathing a life of their own. Perhaps 3 nights ago, I had this odd dream. I was obviously in it (going to change to a different character), and for some reason I was held hostage? Then I was saved by this agent/spy/police officer? For some reason time must have skipped forward and I ended up being his partner and helping him with his missions?

It still has this potential love story, and for some reason they're too adorable to pass up on. It's scary how these dreams work. It's as rare as finding a unicorn. Heck, there's seriously a Snow-White story that I want to do, and a story with some mouse king? See? It's mind-blowing how these rare dreams can turn into stories.

Now another crazy, radical idea, would webfiction be a good route for some of my longer stories? I would definitely add illustrations there. Heck, even the webcomic Best Friends Forever is continuing with written pseudo-chapters and sketches. Again, so many choices, but so little time. And most of all, what is the best route for me? Still praying over it, and trying to relax.