Just thought I'd mention that I am open for art commissions for the summer. Details over on the artyblogthinger.

Okay! So I'm out the other end of my watercolor class and it was AWESOME the whole way through. Pretty soon here I'll put the finishing touches on my favorite pieces from the class and scan them into the artblog.

And that means that it is OFFICIALLY summer. I've got no idea what to do with myself :D That is, I do have plenty of things to do, but settling on a direction and then marching onward is proving to be difficult. I'm thinking I just need a few days of silly time-wasting before I get down to business.
( Win - appropriate and otherwise )
( Random things )

That's all I can think of for now, although I may have to come back and edit in case more win happens before I go to bed :D!

Phew!

So I've just come home from sampling the new fancyschmancy italian-themed place that just opened here. I am full of excellent food and one really yummy drink (Peach Bellini, mmm), and feeling too lazy to move.

I recently had a mini-crisis-but-not on the career front, in that my publisher announced a company-wide reorganization and laid off a number of employees, including my editor. There was a couple days of uncertainty and me getting used to the idea that I might suddenly have a lot more free time for school, but it seems I worried for nothing. The book is still moving forward, and I still get to call myself a professional illustrator (even if I don't actually FEEL like one yet. I wonder if I ever will.).

On the school front, I'm currently enrolled in a summer class, Intro to Watercolor, and I'm having a really excellent time. I've never used proper watercolors before (at least, not since Ms. Dull's 5th grade art class), so getting to experiment with actual techniques on high-quality paper that doesn't wrinkle when you paint it is proving to be a lot of fun. I find myself habitually going to class three hours early just so I can start working sooner while I have the room to myself. I'll probably scan in all the paintings I'm working on for the course, but some of them are quite large so it will take me a while. As soon as I finish this entry I'll post on pencil_smudged a photo of two of my largest WIP paintings that I snapped with my cellphone.

In other news, I've got a little vaycay planned for the end of July, when Callin and I will be jetting off to San Diego to sample the delights of Comic-Con, but also just to have a nice, relaxing few days. We've got ideas of doing some other traveling, too, but I'm a little fuzzy on the details just now (>w<)

Also, I am thinking of opening myself up for art commissions this summer, probably in a couple weeks time once I've finished my painting class. Haven't thought about the particulars yet, but expect to see a post here and/or on pencil_smudged about that relatively soon.

Also, I have discovered tegaki. I blame kasugai_gummie entirely.

And on April Fool's Day, although it's 6AM which is far too early to be getting on with the tomfoolery. Oh, I am dreading going in to campus today =_=;;

Things I Would Like To Get Done This Week

-Show up to Japanese class (ahaha, you would NOT believe how hard this has been for me this semester, lulz)
-Finish sculpture project so I don't have to fool with it next week (also, OW, my hands D: )
-Tidy up loose ends of Tokyopop rough draft stuff
-sign up for fall semester
-taxes *vomits* (x_x)

Mmm, the weather's finally getting warm again. Seriously, I am SO over winter. This is the first year in my life that I have actually disliked winter, and it used to be my favorite season.

I have received a notice that some obnoxiously ambitious person from my high school graduating class is pulling together a 5-year reunion this year. I...I feel old. Like, REALLY REALLY old. And then I remember that I'm turning 24 next year and I feel practically ANCIENT. Ugh. Okay, let's not talk about that anymore.

Urgh. I have Japanese homework to finish. Plz, sensei. No moar.

So, my apologies to all of you who are watching this journal for art, for I have created yet ANOTHER journal for posting my art things at: pencil_smudged with a backup journal over at InsaneJournal.

That said, I have (FINALLY, LAWLZ) a new piece of art thanks to my new obsession, Mononoke, specifically Kusuriuri-san who, as I've said numerous times in numerous places, is Pants-Wettingly Hot.

GIRLYBOY FANART GO!!!!

Preview:




I'll continue to post here periodically, but mostly just whiny lifethings and fanblargh. All future art goodies will be over at pencil_smudged.

...but only long enough to post this and retreat into lurkerdom once again.

5252 kiriban for my devART page. Which was supposed to be something completely and entirely different, but it's been ages since I've posted anything and I didn't have room in my schedule to throw together the thing I was actually planning on drawing. Thing thing thing...I am a babbling, tired thing @_@

( The Great and Boyish Black-and-White Thing That Nearly Killed Me. Yus. )

Okay. Now I am going to unplug and let my brain run out my ears to puddle in my shoes.

Oh, in other news, I've started work on the book, and have kissed all thoughts of having a life for the next year goodbye. :D!

FINALLY.

FINALLY. AFTER NEARLY A YEAR OF WORK AND WAITING AND MORE WAITING...

I HAVE A BOOK DEAL.


*EXPIRES ON HER DESK FROM JOY AND RELIEF*

MY NEW INTUOS3 TABLET = ORGASMIC BLISS.

Got one more done for the grand finale of Spring Break. Sadly, I was only productive for about the last 3 days of the vacation, but I'll take what I can get.

Busted my ass trying to get this done, was experimenting with things in PS, etc. Original character, and yes his eyes are supposed to be like that XD

( Simeon )
Okay. Time to go to bed. School *gag* in the morning...ToT

Hey all, Dad's okay, he's recovering just fine, and thanks v. much for all the warm wishes ♥ Unfortunately, the whole ruckus precluded a rather extended bout of artist's block which I've only JUST NOW overcome (THANKYOUJAYSUS), with the help of some really, REALLY superspecialawesome fic by canis_m and a day of rewatching Princess Tutu.

Fandom: Princess Tutu
Character(s): Fakir (sorry, no duck this time -_-;)
Title: none, really, or maybe Flipping The Bird To Artist's Block

( Done in PS9, as always. )

What? She's going on hiatus when she hasn't really been posting ANYWAY? D:

( What's going on. )

( A 12 Kingdoms WIP scrap as a parting gift. )

Yes yes, no art in ages, no worthwhile posts either, etc etc etc, but I have to share this with the world because Ahahaha I LOVE MY FILIPINO FAMILY. Even though it's been years since I've seen them and I miss them horribly and I'm a really terrible person for not writing. DX

Anyways, a letter from my two cousins Jordan and Jasper, who were just little boys when I last saw them and now Jordan is already approaching his final year in highschool T_T (for those who don't know, most kids graduate from high school at 16 in the Philippines; they don't have middle school). I squibble over the fact that Jordan signs his 'love' with a heart, and that Jasper has a nearly illegible scrawl ♥ ♥ ♥ And yes, they wrote to me on H.O.T. stationery. For the curious, the native language of the Philippines is Tagalog (pronounced ta-GAH-log), English is taught as the second language.

( I swear, I want to frame this ♥ )

Guh. There's nothing like the start of a new semester to completely up-end one's usual routine of obsessive internet browsing. Apologies go out to anyone who actually thought they were going to see art on this journal; apparently I'm not responsible enough to handle school and creativity simultaneously =_=;

However! I'm working on the whole managing-all-aspects-of-my-life thing, and it's almost-sort-of working, thanks in part to a little plan I hatched with graffititype to keep each other motivated and on-task. I just cleared the first hurdle of the semester (History of Graphic Design exam), which turned out to be more of a carpet-wrinkle than an actual, y'know, hurdle, so now I can get back to putting art as first priority (but not ignoring my studies til the last minute because OMG, no, it always turns out too painful in the end).

On that note, I STILL have yet to finish compagnie's commission, though that's at the very top of the list, so hopefully I'll be getting that done within the next week (gomen ne! m(_ _)m). I've also been laying the groundwork for what will probably be a very large, extensive, and time-consuming personal project. Seriously, I'm settling in for the long haul on this one...I've come up with ideas that I really like, and I want to execute them all properly. Most of my original work for possibly the next year or so will be based upon the themes for this project, and once I've firmly established all my working guidelines, I may try to insinuate it into my courseload, see if I can't earn some credit on it. I can't guarantee it'll turn out to be a masterpiece by professional standards, but for my first original work of novel-length, I'm excited about where it could go.

Progress with Tokyopop has slowed down, thanks in part to Stu Levy (president of the company) being out of the office until March. Paul (my editor) had wanted to do the final clean-up pitch in person, but with Stu being gone for so long, he's decided to compromise with a phone conference. We'll see how it goes, though frankly, now that I'm back in school full-time, I'm not particularly eager to add a whole HELL of a lot of work to my plate. Even if we get approval in February, I'm pegging mid-March as the likely time for things to pick up with TP, so until then I'm doubling up on schoolwork and trying to get ahead as much as I can, since I'm guessing (read: hoping XD) that my attentions will be pretty divided by the end of the semester.

Plans to attend Kyoto Seika sometime before I die have been renewed. I just may be able to do it, if I am very responsible, and very, very lucky (stipulations which could very well kill my plans before they even get off the ground, but I am working on these things, I swear). Callin and Stacey are largely responsible for me getting my motivation back, since they decided they were going to go back to Japan this semester and study. It may be sort of silly of me to be making all these plans (with the intention of getting through everything before I hit, like, age 25), but every day I spend stuck in this town gives me one more reason to get the hell outta Dodge.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. OH SHIT.



Translation: I'm in that slightly insane/very high mood that usually produces my best artwork and I have -school- tomorrow. At 8 am.

Finally! Something got done. Here's the 25k kiriban for my old dA account, snagged by kirui aka kasugai_gummie, who requested a DGM fanart, with extra points granted for Rabi-Rabi-rabu X3 So! Here he is, in an Alternate Fashion Universe once again, because those uniforms are really just a pain in the ass to draw and I am lazy.

Title: 25k kiriban
Fandom: D. Gray-man (Rabi)
Medium: PS9

( His coat is a bit of ghei. Stomach-bearing ghei, yes. But still, quite ghei. )

All right! I am back home from my stay in Columbus with yaoikitten, and I'm working to get unpacked and get my room back in some semblance of order XD Thanks so much everyone for all the crackified birthday wishes and things, and a belated Happy Birthday goes out to kasugai_gummie with lots of smoochies and loff ♥ ♥ ♥

Ohayocon was...well it wasn't the best one I've been to. Apparently there have been changes in the con's management this year, not to mention they were understaffed, so things were pretty disorganized and scaled-down. The most disappointing thing for me was the absence of Sasuga Books from the dealer's room, but it would seem they're having some trouble this year and couldn't make it. I did manage to spend money, don't get me wrong, but not nearly as much as I would've had SB been there. I did manage to snag two Brave Story gatchapon cellphone strap thingers of Mitsuru and Wataru, which I'm willing to bet were the ONLY pieces of Brave Story merch being sold there. Other yummies included a foil DGM poster of Allen (SO PRETTY. I'm totally framing it.), Togainu no Chi poster (gawd, the artwork for this game/series is just...effing hot), Irohanihoheto pencil board, Shounen Onmyouji pencil board, Death Note pillow, and a pretty burgundy velvet jacket which was being sold by one of the clothing vendors dealing in fake kimonos and goth-loli-inspired things. Also snagged the Last Exile Dio/Lucciola trading figure, which is cute beyond cute and makes kittens laugh and frolic ♥

The biggest highlight of the convention was probably the Getting Your Manga Published panel. I was curious to see who the guest speakers were, so I decided to attend, maybe hear some good tips from industry professionals for making it in the business, etc. About 15 minutes in, they asked if anyone had attempted to have their work published, and when I raised my hand and talked about Rising Stars and my current bit of work with Tokyopop, I was invited to come up and speak as a panelist. I met Tavisha and Rikki Simons, creators of Tokyopop's Shutterbox manga series, as well as Bruce Lewis, an artist and designer who's been working closely with the industry on countless projects for well over a decade. Getting to hear their thoughts and speak with them was a really valuable experience for me, so hopefully I'll be able to put all I've learned to good use in the future.

I was going to make a longer entry and really break down my little vacation in a play-by-play, but honestly I've had a bit of a fire lit under my ass after the panel and my birthday (22. Egads.), and I'm feeling rather serious and ready to make things move. There is artwork that needs finishing, I need to pay my tuition, my desk needs organizing, and I've got a whole suitcase full of laundry that needs done. Most importantly, I need to kick things into overdrive in terms of skill improvement. I won't survive at the rate I'm doing things, so it's gut-check time for me now, and I've got to get my ass in gear.

This may be the beginning of a hiatus, I'm not sure yet; it depends on how often I get artwork completed and scanned in.

I hope everyone's New Year has started well! I'm staying with yaoikitten this week; I'll be attending the Ohayocon anime convention with her and her boyfriend this weekend, so you won't see me much online. With any luck I won't completely empty my wallet (I've gotten a little wiser at spending $$$ on anime goods...especially since most of the stuff can be found online cheaper than at a con XD).

More art is in the works, apologies go out to bistrot for me taking SO EFFING LONG to get her commission done. I swear it's coming soon, hon. Also coming up at some point is a dA kiriban and various pet projects I've had on the back burner for a while now. Please look forward to it!

Happy Thanksgiving guys!! :DDD

So! I've been thinking about it for a while, and today I decided to take my cue from korilin and draw something for Christmas cards this year. I'll send one to anyone who wants one :D Just leave your name and address in a comment (they'll all be screened, so no worries about stalkeryness) if you, like me, love to get real things in the mail :D

*bumps this post to the top til Christmas she finally has some actual art to post, rather than pointless rambles*

Ahahaha! I TOLD y'all I'd get some new art up in here. I finally sat down and experimented with some new things I've learned about PS9 and created the image I'll be using for the Xmas cards I'm sending out, so if you've requested a card and want to be surprised, DO NOT CLICK THE CUT!

Oh, also, for you deviants out there, take note of the new dA account: http://sekiraku.deviantart.com . I figured it was time for a change :D

title: first snow
fandom: Christmas 2006, original
medium: PS9

( Warning: Cavity-inducing cuteness ahead! )