Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, y'all!

Hey-hey, kids!

First of all, since it's not Christmas yet, I should wish my deepest congratulations to the newly-wed couple. Whoo boy. I'm really sorry I couldn't make it, but I know that the excess of food left in my absence won't go to waste. I eagerly await news on how the wedding went.

Okay back to holiday mischief, after constant prodding for more sketches. Well, I stopped using plain pencils and did some inking again for these bits, so it's much clearer. Takes more time and geez, if there's a mistake I can't be bothered to go through the process of cleaning up. Bleh. I should break out and use my new ink pens, but gotta try to finish off the old ones first.

Anyway, I tried to come up with some Christmassy themes. The first one that came impulsively, was the rambo-santa-esque design (pic 2), oft depicted in South Park. Bleh, I know. It's so much like the other stuff I draw: some protagonist in the front with some baddies looming behind. Rather boring.

So I tried to think deep and I remembered this tale I'd forgotten a long time back. That little match girl. You know... the one that froze to death. Grim, huh? Anyway, I kinda messed up a bit and decided to work beyond that mistake to create a 'gritty' feel with all that 'messy' lines here and there. Kinda gives the 'undefined boundaries' that you get from an incandescent match, I hope.

Finally, a last picture that I invite you to read into on your own.

Anyway. Merry Christmas again. Enjoy the new year!

Australia is on FIRE!

Heyo everyone!

Man, is it hot! It's so hot Australia is LITERALLY on fire. Huge pieces of it, too. It's as if the whole place underwent spontaneous combustion. The sky looks as if a volcano had erupted, even in a place that is relatively far away from the actual fires. Well, the firemen have their work cut out for them and we all respectfully salute their valiant efforts. Incidentally you should pick up the 'Firefighter! Daigo of Company M' manga if you can. It's brilliant writing and really gives a whole new light to firefighters.

So, what else has been happening? Well, I've been to the ballet performance of Swan Lake. You know... there's a reason why that's the epitomy of ballet. This year I was seated pretty far away, so I couldn't get any close-up views but a more panaromic one of the entire performance. Ah, the talented... Also attended a Christmas party at which vast quantities of alcohol were consumed and friendly poker games were won. Even got a look at that newfangled Wii! Generally things were good, but I'm having lots of difficulties getting home in time for my cousin's wedding. Vexing, indeed.

Anyway, let's briefly run through some of the pictures. I'm really sorry but some are terribly messy and even uncomplete. However, there is quantity. I'm finding that using the mechanical pencil and 2B pencil method of sketching tends to generate fairly messy pics. I'm also not very happy with shading using the 2B pencil, especially when it's scanned... but it does the job I guess. I need to start going back to blue-pencil and inking.

The first three are a continuation after the last post. What can I say? It was a bikko frenzy that has gone now. Still, there's a huge amount of art on her out there, and I was just putting my own style out. The first one's my own fairly original concept of her browsing through some music titles. I must admit that in retrospect that 'peg-leg' I gave her is REALLY ridiculous. I should have drawn a proper crutch, except I don't know how to.

The fourth risque pic is inspired by one of the sequences in the OP of xxxHoLiC. Now, I haven't really seen much of the series yet, and that bizzare style of LONG people seems to put me off... but the music at the start and end are REALLY catchy. Plus there's that risque duo (they're minor characters) really made me stop and really want to draw them out. Of course, if you look around there's probably better art somewhere, but... I tried.

I've also included one I've done on Zero Louise (pic 6), from the anime Zero no Tsukaima. Cute as heck, but too short! It was great fun watching, though. My sketch doesn't do justice to the real anime (none of them ever do! You should know that by now!) so really... go watch it. Anyway, between Bikko, Maru and Moro, and Zero Louise, which do you think would be something I should work on? I get the feeling that if I should ever sneak into an anime festival again, I'd like to leave one (or more) of these characters lying around in the art room.

The fifth and last pic are just some experiments I've tried of different angles. The fifth resurrects some old characters I'd created when I started (more than a year ago) to try a top-view of some action scenes. The last one was supposed to be a bottom-up view... and I did like it enough to want to try adding in more grand backgrounds with giant spaceships, ruins and all... but I got sidetracked and lost interest. There you go... unfinished.

Well that's it. Let's see how things develop. Might think up a story to commit to paper one of these days.

Bikko and more!

Hello all and congratulations to the multitude of couples being wed this season including my colleague and my cousin. My goodness... what is it about this season?

Perhaps it is a very non-subtle hint with regards to peer pressure. Frightening. Well, being the failure I am, who knows what will happen, eh? No, no... I shan't be bitter about this. After all, it is indeed a joyous occasion full of emotion... well that's what it seems like.

Well, at least there's good food abound. That's always great.

Anyway, this week's (or fortnight's) slew of pics are inspired by a certain injured friend. It seems that crippled women can have an air of danger or liveliness about them, too! Well, the first and foruth pictures feature this girl fondly referred to as Bikko. I'm not quite sure what anime created her, but my browsing around has piqued my interest. A girl crippled horribly in an acccident, losing her right eye and left leg but still going on in life. Major cute-age too.

The second is some character I've drawn for a while. I've just realised her proportions are out, but I wanted to capture the danger one can pose if armed with a cane and a cast with a hidden dagger. Somehow didn't turn out as menacing as I intended. Need to work on that idea.

The last picture was supposed to be inspired by a blind woman wielding a naginata as seen in Samurai Champloo. I hadn't seen that episode in a long time but I recall she really whupped the two protagonists in the show. Now that was a deadly woman. I've failed to capture her calm and I certainly couldn't be bothered to provide the lavish background of that episode (I believe it was an engrossing bridge fight scene).

Mixed in between these is a nice little pic I drew of Raven from Teen Titans. Again, I just like her so I threw her in for fun. No cripple about her. Hmmm... well not any yet.

Okay, that's enough misogynistic content today. Off you go, you who have bore witness to depravity.

Late Halloween Update...

... but we have a Monster and Ghoul bonanza, ladies and gentlemen. I sincerely apologise for the downtime, if you were looking forward to an update. Nothing much was happening in my life, therefore I didn't feel any need to put a blog post up. I did have a few sketches handy, just lazy to scan.

Due to the lack of anything else, I'll just do brief descriptions of the sketches. The first one I believe is one of my more creative ideas. I was listening to the Christmas music (yes... they're out NOW) and just felt that Frosty really should be zombified! So we have a mix of sinister Halloween and pure snowy goodness (not that it snows here during Christmas).

Next is based off something I read a while back that every graveyard is protected by a head spirit. It usually takes the form of a knight or a small child. Well, I can't draw nasty knights very well, so why not a creepy child? Okay... she's like a goth reject. I'll work on it one day.

Third is a tribute to the webcomic 'Gone with the Blastwave' (http://www.blastwavecomic.com/). I swear... the world is full of talented artists like this and it puts the rest of the amatuers like me into a deep, pathetic shame. No official training either, but truly a master! Argh! Jealous!

Ahhh.... the fourth pic has an interesting story. One night, while sleeping, I dreamt of a girl who committed suicide and haunts this school that looks oddly like a cross between my primary and secondary school. Hauntingly beautiful, yet extremely timid. Now, I couldn't EXACTLY reproduce the girl from my dreams, but somehow I tried to do my best. I also can't remember what really happened in the dream except for some bits... but that's pretty much like all my dreams.

Fifth is some random generic insectoid-like creature that I tried to come up with just to bring some variety to my monsters... nothing special except I was staring at a Daddy-long-legs at that time.

Final pic is to celebrate the coming of heat to Australia and the decreased volume of clothing that brings. It also commemorates a certain friend who has a knack of busting her ankle. Based off the insides of a tram... where I spend a lot of time.

Well, to sign off I guess I should wish the best of luck to those of you whom I know are taking exams. Well... there's really not that many of you, are there? Even less if I consider the ones that actually know of this site. Oh, well... good luck. Don't stress too much on these trivial matters.

Boo-ye Boo-ye

Halloween's a'coming again!

Whoah! It's been a while, hasn't it? I mean... it really HAS been a while. Good thing nobody bothers to read this blog.

Alright... look I promised to give some shout outs in my last post. No... I haven't prepared myself to do that as of yet. So, be patient if you were expecting anything. If you were expecting some crazy excuse as to why it's been so long... well... again you're going to be disappointed. Perhpas you can chalk it up to laziness. Yeah, laziness works real good!

Anyway, asides from nothing much happening, we do know that Halloween is approaching. Not that it's a big thing, but I thought I'd kick it off with some spoooOOOooooky sketches! Pic 1 marks the return of Chainsaw Dave, the Chainsaw-weilding maniac who's supposed to dispense sick justice. Except the victim... isn't... anyone in particular... yet. Moving on. Pic 2 is an attempt to depart from the overuse of plain pencils and move back into inks. Vampire, bone dragon and a wolf! The damsel in distress is somewhat inspired by Liz Sherman in Hellboy (Again! Why don't I just do Lobster Johnson and be done with it?).

A good pal has just turned 19 and this being her last year as a teen I've advised her to be 'that much more reckless' despite my own opinions. Well she obviously doesn't need much help. Well, at least the booze is good where she is.

The final pic is a tribute to yet another great anime obsession of late: Noein. Okay... there's something about anime that add a dash of science into their plots that really makes me unable to resist, but... it's inexplicable. Well there's a healthy dose of Quantum Physics in this one that had me rushing off to Google and Wiki to read on until my pathetic brain implodes. It has... there's runny stuff coming outta my ears. It didn't even take 1 paragraph to liquify my mental matter. Anyway, asides from the sciency stuff... the plot and art is FANTASTIC. Anyway pic 4 has thought me a few things: shading is hard, drawing nice tombstones (and designing them) is REALLY hard, and finally I should really consider giving up on the 'Hellboy-esque' style of drawing. It just won't fly.

Anyway I'm off to delve more into the deep Noein story. Oh... and Eureka 7's last few episodes as well!

Post Manifest Depression

Heya folks!

Well Manifest (the big one) has come and gone again for another year. Man was it chaotic, but as last year... it's been awesome. So good in fact, that I'm suffering from withdrawal symptoms. To tell the truth I had to cut into some of the time seeing as my dear sister came to visit as well.

Ah it was a packed weekend. So many things to do and boy did I do as much as I could. Watched oodles of screenings and thus running from theatre to theatre. Ogled the short skirts and low necklines. Chatted with some really talented artists (I'll give a shout out in my next post), watched several competitions (Iron Artist! Whoo!) and just bummed around the Oztaku room sketching. Oh... eating too! To cap it off, I entered the 'On-the-day' sketching competition organised by Oztaku again and won! (Thanks Oztaku!) Okay... to be honest I think there were less than 5 entries.

Overall impression? C'mon! It's like the only anime festival I go to! It's gotta be great. Even waiting in line for over an hour to get my ticket was fun. Even standing in cramped conditions was fun. I just can't get enough, and if I had enough cash I'd tour the convention circuit around Australia.

Anyway brief descriptions of the piccies. First and third pics are about this little girl I came up with which is partly inspired by something I saw in an Oztake issue... I think. The hammer is, at least. 3rd pic is a bit screwed up as I thought I'd do an action angle... and totally ruined it. Will need work as well, as both are rather messy.

2nd pic is what I drew while I was attending a free class during Manifest. They taught people how to draw faces and I think I managed to capture some of it. Definitely learned a lot, so I'm gonna try to incorporate more of that into my sketches from now on.

So you know I'm currently obsessed with Hellboy. However, I just can't seem to draw that hulking figure. I was thinking of replacing him with a slightly more lithe elf-creature. Hmmm.... still thinking. It's a BIT out of place. Anyway, I did put a bit of effort into pic 4, except for the guys in the back. I just drew those as an afterthought.

Finally, pic 5 was a suggestion by a pal. Supposedly this chainsaw weilding guy is supposed to mete bloody justice to all hypocrites and supreme idiots. Couldn't think of anyone to kill but thought I'd do some sinister shading... you'll probably note that I haven't really tried that form before (just couldn't get it), but I rather like the result today. Hmmm... let's see what comes out of this.

Okay that's it blog-keteers. For those on holidays, happy holidays. For those who aren't too bad. I'll be off now.

Oh, Hellboy... you're so....

2 pictures inspired from another Hellboy comic I've borrowed from the library. Well, the first one is. I haven't seen Mignola do many on Death Knights.

Nothing fantastic this week. Coming weekend is gonna be pretty good though. MANIFEST! Argh! I can't get into the sketching groove! Still, it'll be good to be there. all the anime until my brain rots.

Anyone reading who's going there let me know!

Story not continued. Instead...

Hey-hey boys and girls! Bwe-hoo-hoo-ha-ha!

No Itchy and Scratch... I mean Midnight Church this update. Sorry. For some reason or other, I couldn't draw nuts for a while and after that I just completely lost the knack. Totally. It's worse than the doodles you randomly create. Oh don't get me wrong... I did try. Last week I went for a walk and ended up near a HUGE cemetary in Melbourne. I even went in and walked around for a bit of inspiration.

Asides from being reprimanded for disturbing the spirits which are supposedly given reprieve from the depths of Hell this season (aka Hungry Ghost Festival), the only thing I got from it was a sense of wonder and perhaps a grasp of mortality. Seriously... you guys need to try it out some time if you haven't. Walk around a cemetary... it's so quiet and peaceful and sobering.

Work's been piling up as well and I am trying my best to complete it. Almost there, so to speak. Still I've been having some fun. Asides from Honey and Clover 2, which I adore (It's a sappy anime... almost. But I LOVE IT!) I've also been watching Season 5 of Teen Titans. Okay... the image of me watching teen superheroes duking it out is a bit disturbing, and being turned into a fanboy because of a certain episode's just pathetic. So sue me! I love cartoons! I saw a few fan-themed things based upon this Jinx-Kid Flash (Episode: Lightspeed) thing that I thought, "Why not contribute a bit?". Thus you have the last 2 pictures. Um... you can stop pitying me now. It's not good for your health. Please stop. Please?

The first three are just practice runs to get back into shape after realising how terrible I was. Manifest 2006 is coming up in a few weeks! If I am to try to enter Iron Artist and not lose so terribly, I must be able to come up with something not so pathetic! Either way, I'll probably be hiding in the drawing room between running from screening to screening. It's not like I'm good at video games or have huge wads of cash to throw at goodies anyway.

Okay, best to sign off now. Laters.

Have you heard the one about....

Greetings, blogettes. How goes the madness that is now?

Okay... things are stagnating here. I really should report more but I can't. Everything's moving and I'm standing alone watching it all go by. That sort of thing... oh well.

Alrighty... have you guys ever heard of the woman who woke up at midnight, looked out into a cloudy night and thought that it was an early Sunday morning? She dressed and went straight to church. What happens then? Well...

Alright, the story isn't mine. I got inspired when I was reading one of the Hellboy books by Mignola. If you are familiar with Hellboy you probably have an idea what the story's going to be like. Not like you couldn't tell from all the messy sketches in Pic 1. Funny thing is I know at least one person who did something similar once (no not me). Anyway... the story wasn't elaborated by Mignola, but I thought I'd try to expand on it. There's also another story arc that sounds very interesting to me. Pity I can't quite grasp Mignola's style which seems to have lots and lots of shadows. Ugh... guess there's a reason he's so famous.

Second pic was inspired by the webcomic Ever After: http://ea.snafu-comics.com/. Remember the PPG Doujinshi I recommended last time? Well now there's more comics there and Ever After's artist is insanely good (it's a tough battle between PPG and EA!). Bet you all forgot about that site! It's a right shame if you did.

Oh, speaking of insanely good... some might be confused about me mentioning 13thousand a few posts back. Okay... she's an incredibly talented artist I met at Animania a while back. You can see for yourself what a PROFESSIONAL artist is like: http://13thousand.deviantart.com/. I was recommended to get a deviant account, but have not really been working on that. Okay... I STARTED one. Haven't uploaded anything. May already have been deleted due to lack of use. Anyway, I'll get around to doing that soon.... maybe.... uh.....

Alright, people. I'm stopping here. Let's see what else happens.

I shamble back

Hey, peoples...

I thought I'd try this again after intense pressure from some sources.

Okay, some updates. My passport is still missing but I'm back on the trams and going my way. I'm also quite sure that the perpetrator might eventually stumble here and laugh at all the trouble he's caused me and all I can do is whine about it and be less of a man. Well, fine. Not like that's news anyway. I'm still busy finishing up my other projects seeing as they're all I can do at the moment.

I've also been immersing myself in the virtual world to avoid dealing with reality. Maybe I need to start crawling back, but it will be a slow process.

Anyway, the first three pictures were supposed to be released on the day of the incident. They were to depict some of the costumes on the anime festival I attended. Okay, there was no Hsien-Ko, but I like her of all the Dark Stalkers characters. Dunno why. Anyway I apologise for the messiness.

The last 2 pictures were my personal wishes on my antagonists. Unfortunately they will not be fulfilled. At most it will be a source of amusement for them. Hopefully some Divine Will will see to it that they laugh themselves to death. Sometimes I wish I had a Death Note.

Alright. I'm back. I'll do my best to stay back regularly. Until then, you're free to laugh and make fun of me as usual. Cyaz.

I've just been robbed

I've just been robbed.

Some teens grabbed my bag while I was relaxing on the tram and ran out into a dark alley. I was too slow to grab them.

Nobody on the tram did anything. Nobody said anything. The tram driver DID have a wonderful opinion that I should run after those teens into the alleyway. Brilliant. Asides from that he did nothing. Kept insisting I get off his tram instead of delaying him, though. Fantastic.

Called the police. Assured me that they'd be there shortly and told me to stay at the area to report to them. I waited in the Melbourne winter practically in the middle of nowhere. If you're wondering... it's cold. Below 10 C. Waited 1/2 an hour, called back and made another request. Same assurances. Waited 1 hour. Nothing. After a while, a nice officer called. Said they were tied up someplace else. Asked if it wasn't a bother for me to magic myself to a nearby (not by MY definition) station to report it. After 1.5 hours... with no transport except trams... at approximately 10.30pm on a cold... Monday... night (and I hadn't eaten dinner, too). It wasn't going to happen.

Finally came home, tired, miserable and sick of humanity. Called the nearby police station and lodged a report. At least this officer was nice. However, there's nothing they can do for me.

Tomorrow I'm going to search the (far from home) place to see if I can find my bag containing my passports, educational certificates, study-related documents and forms and most importantly my USB containing files pertaining to my project. Alone. I've already resigned to the fact that I'm going to lose all my personal electronics.

Way to go, humanity. May you all rot in Hell. Go Fuck Yourself.

P.S. There will be no more updates until I feel better.

Failed challenge and Animania

Sup, dudes. Chill.

Okay, let's report. Last week I attended Animania. Had a BLAST (as I always do at anime conventions) and met some very... very... very... talented artists. I saw some eye-popping cosplayers (Jo from Burst Angels and Morrigan from Vampire Saviour) and enjoyed the anime screenings (pity they were rather limited). If I feel like it, I may take it upon myself to try to sketch said characters. I indulged in some purchases, tried to push through the crowd and felt extremely old (I was quite possibly the 10th oldest person there).

Anyway, there was a doodling competition. There were two categories: General and Fantasy. I entered both, and while I was pretty proud of my fantasy one (which I shan't reproduce) it didn't quite make it. Fortunately, despite the intense competition, I won 2nd place by a fluke. I only used a blunt pencil, a small piece of paper (the size given was A5) and cluttered it with all sorts of nonsense. The result is very poorly reproduced in Pic 2, embellished with inks and added hatchings. First time I've won anything, therefore pretty happy about it.

The first pic was issued as a challenge. Unfortunately, the challengee knows that I dislike drawing men (unless they're crazed lunatics or muscle-bound mutants), therefore I hope I will be forgiven for the apparent lack of care put into this sketch. It is quite possibly among my worst efforts. I had such a good vision of it, too.

It's been a busy week so I'm cooling down this weekend. That's about it.

P.S. 13thousand, if you're reading this: I like your work.

Another load of....

Here's another batch of stuff to keep you people happy. Included are some cut-outs that you can pose on your desk or use to roleplay or something. I'll draw a better (and cleaner... oh, God, cleaner) version one day.

Also some stuff showing the winter version of Beanie Man (much cooler than the real personae) in all his growling anger. Cold makes me miserable. On the flipside, some people are enjoying summer and flaunting all their assets. Unfair? You bet. God has a cruel streak.

An anime festival is coming up. Animania, I believe. I think I shall be attending if I can scrounge up the cash and the time. If not there's always Manifest in September.