Reflecting on the Past Twelve Months

And so the new years is upon us. For many a time of celebration and reflection. Now a days it's really just another night for me. I don't party, I work two jobs, so even though I have tomorrow off I'm just sitting in watching MST3K on youtube and drawing. Not that I'm complaining. But if you're off celebrating tonight be sure to stay safe and have fun!

I noticed others filling out those 'year in review' art summaries that tend to float around on Deviant Art so I thought I'd fill one out too and take a look back at the artwork I've done and things I've accomplished this year. Blank template here.

I think this year I really worked on experimenting with different media, both traditional and digital, and I’ve really come to love both even more than before. I also pushed myself in how much work I can get done in a short time with the “31 Days of Horror Art” project I did over October; as well as the Steampunk Comic and Alencia comic.

I re-launched “Or Maybe Not” as a web comic, although I admittedly left it unattended for most of the year due to working. However I hope to give it more attention this new year, as well as digging into my Alencia comics even more! I also started my Synesthesia painting blog which could also use some more attention. Those paintings really help me explore and share my Synesthesia as well as explain it to others.

Art has always been a light in my life, something I can fall back on and find comfort in. A lot of gloomy things have happened this year that have attempted to break my spirit, or my heart, or sometimes both. But time and time again I have to look past those things, brush them off, and march forward. I have too many things that I want to do let the bad stuff keep me down. And even though I have to keep telling myself this, I keep listening. Because I have to hold onto the light that art gives me, and I have to create, and keep improving, because I know if I do then I can propel myself forward into more desirable situations (and jobs).

It's hard to keep positive, even though there are plenty of people in the same boat as me. When looking up at my peers who made the plunge and picked up and moved to go chase their dreams while I stick around here slugging it out in retail it can be hard to see a bright side. However... I have plans. Goals. Things that I want to see come into fruition, things to create and publish and nurture and grow into something special. So, there will be plenty to look out for from me in 2013. I plan on rocking this year.

So with that, here's some Dio. My motivational music muse as of late *fist pump*


I'd also like to thank you all for following me and enjoying my art. Don't be afraid to comment or drop me a line some time. I won't bite :)
Have a great new years guys!

Christmas Eve Doodles

I got to see Rise of the Guardians today. I highly suggest it. Great movie! For the rest of the evening I did some more dip pen practice.

We've got Theolyn trying to get a mistletoe smooch from Alencia, Spork Bunny drying off, and an annoyed Seraphim (member of the super hero team Spork Bunny is a part of).

I'm really loving the dip pen. I think I may have to start using it for comic pages...

Dip Pen Revival

Hey Everyone! I've been really busy with work lately but I had a chance to sit down tonight and do some practice inking with my dip pens. It was really good to use them again and I think I'm falling back in love with them :P Here's the result of tonight's practice.

Just a little scene with Alencia, Theolyn, and the this guy. Looking at it now I think I should have bent his wing forward a bit to better show that he's making a 'wall' between them and Theolyn. I also should have made the letters on 'HEY' thicker. I know I have a name for the demon guy but I have to find where I wrote it down... He becomes important to her story later~

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday season, whatever you celebrate! <3

Gravedigger

I've been playing around with ideas for a new character so I thought I'd draw her out tonight while doing some Manga Studio inking practice.

She's a grave digger from a small town who decided she wanted to be a treasure hunter. She's got a southern twang to her voice and is very muscular from years of digging graves and manual labor around the cemetery. More of her to come~

(She also needs a name, suggestions are welcome.)

Fluid Lines

Hello all! I've been really busy with work lately but today I had time to practice inking with Managa Studio. I decided to finish up a Kale sketch and then give inking it a go.

I am really loving this program so far <3 You can check it out here. I'm using the EX 4 version. If you're interested in getting the program be sure to join the newsletter to get special deals and offers. That's how I got the Black Friday sale deal (paid $30 instead of $300).
I love a good deal. Speaking of which, if you're still looking for some unique gifts this holiday season I still have illustrations and comics up at my Etsy store including copies of 'Kale: Lost & Found' and 'Alencia: A Noble Deed.'

Shinging Armor

Finished up a small drawing last night of Kale in some new armor. I had to pick up some real ink after using Manga Studio all week.

Not loving the armor, but it at least gave me some practice. Also reminded me to redesign Kale's Oraelia badge. I want to do buttons of it in the future C:

Pentel pocket brush pen, Staedtler pigment liner pen 0.1, non-photo blue pencil, on A6 Deleter comic paper. (5.75”x4”)

Tripple L

A little watercolor illustration in response to a comment from a friend about a wrestling name she made up for me.

THE LACEY LAMBASTING LOLITA!

The clothing designs are from various brands but I changed the colors to match a purple/lavender color pallet. I also wish I had that wig.

Queen of the Mountain

I was itching to do some more practice with Manga Studio after work today so I took another crack at it, this time with some fan art. Abby Bominable of Monster High looking a bit more ferocious than usual. She's my favorite <3 I might color it later or take another shot at it so it looks more like the image in my head. I just had to get it out for now.

Two updates in one day? You guys are getting spoiled today. Enjoy it while it lasts :P Also still figuring out tricks for rendering blood. Might have to get out my Hellsing mangas for a bit of studying soon.

His Bloodied Hands

More Manga Studio practice this morning! Figured out the dip pen feature a bit more. The brush pen tool looks more like a dry brush effect so it's not as smooth as the dip pen (or a phsyical ink/brush combo) so I'll be using the pen more often.

I drew out part of a scene from a story I was/am working on with El Goro. Alencia was adapted to be in this story too, and she's meeting Hugo for the first time. Her clairvoyance allows her to see fresh blood on his hands meaning that he's killed someone. However I haven't added the blood yet (I did but it looked lame) so I'll be working on that later.

And now I'm off work!

Tones

I took a leap yesterday and between job shifts ordered Manga Studio EX 4. I got it for a major Black Friday bargain online. It's usually $300 but was on sale for $30. Seeing that lots of comic artists I like use it, like Coelasquid of "Manly Guys Doing Manly Things" (who actually posted a tip about the Black Friday deal on tumblr) I thought I'd give it a go.

It took a while to download (it was the digital version) but once I got it up and running I got to play around with it a bit. While it's different from Adobe Photoshop it does pay close attention to the tools comic artists use and how it separates layers. It also offers lots of different ways to get LINE VARIATION and fine tuning each tool to get it exactly how you want it (like different kinds of dip pen nib types and sizes, brushes, multiliner pens, etc.) I'm having fun with it but I'm still a bit stiff with it. Also hoping to force myself to use some real comic tones since I have no experience with them at all (traditional or digital tones. I worry about not sizing them right so they look good when printing. I hope to get over this fear.) since I usually just use flat greys. I feel like it's something I should learn/know how to use.

Here's my experimental doodle of the day via Manga Studio:

I need SO MUCH more practice with tones. At least it was fun to use.

Maids and Dwarves

Had some time between jobs recently (before the black friday/weekend rush) so did some art-ing.

My maid character Alice during a service rush.
Pencil, Watercolor and Ink on 90lb watercolor paper, 5.5”x8”

Some digital WIP doodles of a new Dwarf guy and new costume for my poison brewer/necromancer Zona.

More to come soon, if I survive this weekend :P

Kale Turnaround

Hey everyone!
I've been busy with both my day jobs lately. But now that training is done with the new one, and my other job has hired some new seasonal workers, I'm finding more time for art now. Lately I'm working on some character turn-a-rounds for upcoming comic projects. Yesterday I started one for Kale for the updated incarnation of her comic I'm hoping to start next year.

Here's a sneak peak:

A big thanks to folks at the facebook page for helping me out with critiques! If you want to follow along with project updates on my facebook page come join in the fun!

I've also got some more work on my Alencia comic done that I'll be sharing soon too. Stay tuned for that!

There's also comics and original illustrations up at my Etsy page if you're looking for some gift ideas, something to cover that hole in your wall, or a treat for yourself!

TotU pg 5

Hey folks! Managed to get another page drawn, but won't have time to add tones for a while so here is the inked page in a more raw stage. I did get some work done while I was gone, especially for this comic, but showing it would spoil too much of it so for now we have this raw page. I'll post more when I can. I start training for my new second job bright and early tomorrow ;3;

I hope you've been keeping up with El Goro at Talk Without Rhythm Podcast for "31 Days of Halloween." He's been able to keep updating every day this month, much better than I have, so go reward his hard work by telling him how awesome he is. There's a facebook for the podcast too.

See you folks later~

Day 22/ Page 4 TotU

Hey all! Day 22 and comic page number 4 of "Tomb of the Unspoken".

Just to let everyone know the next update will probably be Sunday. I'll be posting what ever I can get done over the next three days and then that will be it for "31 Day of Horror Art." I'm starting a new second job on Monday and that whole week will be 12-13 hour shifts all day and night (8am through 10pm) and I will not have time to draw any updates. It pains me but it'll just be for that week. My hours after training will be much more manageable. I'll keep updating the comic afterwards so that will still keep going. I'm excited to be doing it. I hope you enjoy the comic so far, and I'll see you in a few days!

TotU page 3

Hey everyone! Got my errands (read: finding pieces for a Mabel of Gravity Falls Halloween costume) done this morning so page 3 of 'Alencia: Tomb of the Unspoken' got done early today. Enjoy, more is on the way!

Be sure to check out El Goro's review for "31 Days of Halloween" with today's review of "Dread."

Tomb of the Unspoken- pg.2

Hey everyone! Things are getting pretty cray cray around here. Between work, family/home obligations, and this project I'm getting a bit stretched thin over here. There just don't seem to be enough hours in the day. But I'm gonna keep going with these as best I can. On Thursday I'll be out all day, and spending Friday and Saturday with my beloved (celebrating Halloween with a huge movie marathon. I need this.) So I'll be working on pages while I'm out and uploading them in a bigger upload when I get back (looking at some time Sunday). Then Monday I start my new second job and things will get even more crazy 8D

So here is page 2:

Don't forget to check out what El Goro is up to with the "31 Days of Halloween" podcast.

[EDIT]- Added the text to the page :P

Back in Black and White

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed the Clockwork Queen mini comic because now I'm back on "31 Days of Horror" but this time I'm mixing it up with a new comic! I'll be posting a page (or more!) every day following a new Alencia adventure, "Tomb of the Unspoken." The way it's going right now this might last past October, so if that happens I'll just keep updating until it's done! :D

Here's page 1

Make sure you're checking out El Goro's "31 Days of Halloween" podcasts! Today he reviewed the french horror film "Sheitan."

Clockwork Update

Hello everyone! I'm getting some things sorted out today (errands and chores that need to be done) and spending some time with loved ones so to make up for yesterday's lack of a proper update, as well as today and tomorrow I'm going to post a special treat for you! A six page comic! This was the comic I did for an anthology that later got cut from the book. It's a snippet from a story I was working on in early college, a steampunk-horror-scifi involving a scientist who uses his wife as a prototype for a military robot project as well as kidnapping other people. The rest of the story is a rescue mission involving other characters, but this mini comic just concentrates on the scientist.

The comic pages were on 5x8" watercolor paper and were drawn with pencil, inked with pocket Pentel brush pen, and toned with India ink. The color washes, as well as text and speech bubbles, were added in Photoshop. I definitely want to experiment with water-coloring comics in the future and have been looking to comics like Blacksad for inspiration. I hope to have my pages that well painted in the future.

Let me know what you think! Enjoy, and see you in a few days horror fans!

Bad News for Today

Sorry guys but I'm not going to be uploading a "31 Days of Horror Art" piece tonight for personal reasons. But I will do what I can soon to make up for it. Sorry to disappoint but I have some things that need to be taken care of first.

Day 17- I brought some friends...

After doing watercolor paintings for most of the month I long to use some non-photo blue and mechanical pencils, and to revisit some of my own characters. So for today's illustration I mixed ink and pencils to show off my aspiring Necromancer (and early D&D character) Zona facing off against an unseen enemy.

Be sure to also check out day 17 of El Goro's "31 Days of Halloween" as he reviews 1989's "Intruder."

Day 16

Playing around with the composition here... it came out different than the sketch. It feels slightly off but I still like it. Roses and carnations because I read that's what they stuffed the beaks of their masks with to mask the scent if the dead. I was also trying to do a Mignola-ish thing with the flea there but I did get it quite how I wanted.

Plague Doctors are just so cool looking.

Be sure to check out what El Goro is up to for "31 Days of Halloween!"

Day 15

For today's illustration (or yesterday's now, sorry. I literally spaced out while watching 'Spaced.' I'm on season 2 now.) I decided to choose one of the many listed demons of hell to draw a portrait of. They all have interesting descriptions and finding monsters and demons of old to be interesting I decided to give it a shot. I chose the Marquis Amon. He had two descriptions on the wiki page I found but I decided to draw this one for the wolf teeth in a raven's head. I liked that. Also still haven't out grown my desire for red paint backgrounds. I thought it would compliment the colors here.

Be sure to check out day 15 of El Goro's "31 Days of Horror" if you haven't already!

Day 14- Bad day getting worse

Hey guys. I had planned to upload a new drawing after getting back from work but I wasn't expecting to have to stay late (thanks to customers deciding to come in 3 minutes till closing and then take their time looking around. I had to stay an extra 30 minutes to get things done), and to be this physically and mentally EXHAUSTED.

You should have seen me try to make dinner when I got home. I was curled up on the floor, surrounded by rice that I dropped everywhere while trying to measure it, sobbing like a wounded animal. It was pretty pathetic. I might have to draw it later...

But since I'm so tired I had then decided to post a drawing I did a few months ago especially for Halloween that I was quite proud of. But after searching my files I seem to have not scanned it yet. "No fear" I thought, "I have it in a sketchbook still" except oh wait I don't. And I still can't find it. So here is a drawing of my Scion: HERO character Ramla getting a violent bloody nose (those happen before she sees a prophecy, although I took liberties in making this one much more bloody).

I have a new watercolor painting planned for tomorrow. Thanks for sticking with me!
Also be sure to give El Goro some love and listen to his newest "31 Days of Halloween" podacast. I'm enjoying the hell out of them and so should you!

Also to cap off this terrible evening it looks like Blogger is spazzing out and reset everyone's blog views and traffic/blog info and stats. I hope that will be fixed soon, otherwise it looks like we're starting fresh :/

Day 13

Hello all! So for today's drawing I did an ink illustration of some corpses and chrysanthemums. The corpses are inspired by the Cappuccini Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily. I found out about this spooky place after doing research for a college illustration project and it's stuck in my mind ever since. It's the only place I've seen that displays the bodies of people on their walls, on hooks, and in glass coffins. I heard it was considered an honor to have your body rest here but it never fails to make me feel uneasy. I personally feel like the remains of the dead need to be treated with a certain level of care and respect and while the customs here are accepted, I still feel uneasy about it all. But I think that's part of why it has stuck with me. Aside from this place giving me feelings of unease, I still respect it as the bodies of the dead were cared for and even preserved very carefully, including ritual visits from family members and even changing the clothing of the dead to be more presentable. Aside from Egyptian pharaohs I haven't heard of anyone taking so much care with the dead in contemporary times.

I also added chrysanthemums as they are a customary funeral flower in Italy (and must not be used for anything other than funerals).

Be sure to check out El Goro's latest podcast review for "31 Days of Halloween" with the movie "House."

Day 12- All Caught Up

Hello all! I'm back with Day 12's illustration. Another more fashion inspired one. I bought a cute sweater recently (at full price no less!) and I've been wanting to wear some cute, 'pastel goth' inspired outfits but work prevents me from playing dress up so I draw it out instead :P

Don't forget to check out El Goro's review for Day 12 of "31 Days of Halloween" with the movie 'Silver Bullet.'

Day 11- Belated

Hey all! Sorry for being a no-show yesterday. Had places to go and people to see but I bring you an offering of a zombie-fied Moomintroll!

Once thought to be a cartoon that I had imagined in a childhood fever dream it turns out the Moomins were a pretty rockin cartoon I enjoyed as a kid. I don't remember much from it other than odd character designs, a charming little world they all inhabbit, and little finger-like creatures called "Hattifattener."


It also included one of the least memorable opening themes of my childhood.

Be sure to check out the Alternative Mindz website as this illustration was born because of them. They were nice enough to invite me to participate in a little event they are doing were different artists draw zombies of comic strip characters to celebrate Halloween! Moomintroll was mine, but be sure to check out what the other artists involved are doing too!

And as always be sure to check out El Goro's "31 Days of Horror" review for "House of the Long Shadows"!

Day 12 will be coming up soon along with Day 13! Stay tuned!

Day 10- Hail Gozer!

Greetings all! Day 10's entry comes a little late in the day today since I wanted to finish it properly. Thanks to a suggestion from my handsome partner in crime Ryan, I tried my hand at painting Gozer the Gozerian of the first Ghost Busters movie. She was a lot of fun to paint and I had a good time playing with the colors.

Be sure to check out El Goro's newest "31 Days of Horror" movie review of THE DEADLY SPAWN!

Demonic Frills

To prep for today's illustration I started doing some warm up drawings. I'm very tired from work today (under staffed, overworked, along with rude customers, it just hasn't been a great day) but while drawing I really liked this one of a little demon girl wearing a Lolita outfit featuring plague doctor masks and flowers. I decided on the print pattern near the end, but if I had planned it out early I probably would have given her a mask :P Making her a demon was inspired by a photo a friend posted recently of a goat with two pairs of large horns. I thought it was interesting and it grew from there. I also just really miss drawing Lolita related things. So here's day 9, a demon girl in frills to chase away my retail blues. I do plan on coloring her, I just don't have the strength today, forgive me.

I'll try to draw something scarier tomorrow, promise. Be sure to check in with El Goro and see what horror movie he's reviewing today!

Day 8

Greetings all!
To celebrate day 8 of "31 Days of Horror Art" I'm paying tribute to one of my favorite horror/sci-fi franchises, "Alien." I'm a big fan of 'Alien' and 'Aliens' so I had to draw something in honor of it. I had draw to draw the first gen Alien (with the clear head and visable skull, my absolute favorite design and Giger's original vision), the leading lady herself Ellen Ripley, and of course Jonesy the cat. I swear that cat most of the time has the expression of "oh man you guys are screwed," especially in a certain scene.

Don't forget to check out El Goro's latest podcast, "31 Days of Halloween," where he reviews a horror movie every day this month!

Mistress of the Dark

When I was in late middle school/early high school I saw the first Elvira movie. Despite being a bit more prudish at the time, I thought Elvira was just such an awesome lady. She didn't care what people thought of her, and was sassy and confident. I wanted to be like her in these respects. Then later in high school I got to meet Cassandra Peterson at a sci-fi convention in London. She was super nice, absolutely gorgeous, and signed my DVD of her first movie. I still admire her to this day.

I think I got all the desire for red wash out of my system. I promise I won't abuse it anymore ;3;

Be sure to check out El Goro's newest podcast review for the 1976 movie "Satan's Slave."

Doubt Monster

Starting early today!
This illustration is a bit more conceptual in it's horror, and also a 'relief' drawing for me. I had a discussion with El Goro while I was struggling with the previous illustration and I expressed that while working on my projects I hear a little 'voice' that asks me probing questions and says things in a quest to get me to give up on what I'm doing. It's caused me over the years to drop projects and not get around to doing things that I'm actually excited about. He explained that your brain actually tries to end your 'suffering' by convincing you to stop doing things that stress you out or cause anxiety. So our brains are actually trying to sabotage us when we work! It made so much sense to me, I then became inspired to draw this big, looming, smoky monster that sits on my shoulders trying to convince me to give up. It represents the feelings of self doubt, fear, inadequacy, that lead to vulnerability, anxiety, and other frighting emotions that leave me feeling like a helpless failure.

I'm learning to beat those feelings back, because honestly nothing feels better than holding up a pile of drawings or comic pages and admiring all the hard work you've done. It outweighs the fear, the fear is just stickier to get past. So never give up!

While you're here I also suggest checking out El Goro's podcast today for a great review of the movie "Stanley."

Ghost Bride

Hey guys. Today's illustration is on the simple side. I tried to experiment with silhouettes but didn't get the desired effect. I was aiming for something haunting and ethereal but I think it fell a bit short. But better to try and fail then not try at all. Gaining experience points and all that :P

The ghost of a bride wandering the forest looking for her groom.

Be sure to check out day 5 of El Goro's "31 Days of Halloween" podcast! He covers the movie "Kwaidan."

Trickster Spirit

Today's Illustration is a creature I've designed for a future Alencia story. This creature is actually an enchanted mask that entraps the spirit of anyone who puts it on. In the story (so far at least) there are two of these masks that have spirits attached to them. They float around in the tomb they are imprisoned in collecting bones that they use to construct their 'bodies.' Because of this they can arrange the bones into what ever form they want. If they want to be snake-like they can, if they want lots of limbs they can. If they want to combine themselves into a bigger monster, THEY CAN. So I'm having lots of fun with them so far, but still have things to iron out. Today's illustration is one of them after it has torn apart some fresh prey to take its bones.

Also decided to stick to graphite and watercolor with this one. I think prefer the results when using ink and water color but I suspected a lot of the bone detail would be lost with the brush pen. Still quite happy with it and the layering I did with all the blood/gore.

El Goro's podcast today covers the 1960 movie "Jigoku." Check it out!

Note: Tomorrow's update might be late. I'll be out of town for the day, then going right into work that evening. I'll try to update that afternoon/night or twice on Saturday.

Lovecraftian

For my birthday this year El Goro sent me some awesome books, one of them being a thick and heavy copy of 'The Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft.'

I read comic books much more than novels because a lot of the times I find it hard to really get into a book and have it keep my attention for long periods of time. Usually Neil Gaiman books are the only ones to do this. And even then I have a bunch of his books that I've never finished. As a kid I had a habit of picking up fantasy books that looked interested but I didn't fully understand the way they were written so I'd leave them for years waiting to be 'smart' enough to read them. I'll usually find a book that sounds interested and leave it by page 4. Its not something I'm proud of but it makes my reading tastes very narrow. I was pleased as punch upon receiving this beautiful book, and excited to finally sample some of Lovecraft's work, but I was also afraid that his writing style might be over my head and harder to enjoy. Luckily I was dead wrong and I found myself pouring over the book on a long road trip. I find his work easy to read and an absolute treat to enjoy.

So here is my first attempt at a worthy offering to his greatness. I say first attempt because there are things I'd like to do differently next time that will prompt me enough to give a portrait of him a second try (Like my failure at typography; at least it looks like the banner is being eaten...) However I still like this one so it will go up today. For those haven't enjoyed the work of H.P. Lovecraft I highly suggest you throw down some dough for this book. Especially if you find yourself enjoying lots of 'Chuthulu' type things. It's good to know the source material.

Also if you haven't yet be sure to check out El Goro's podcast today where he reviews "The Bat" starring Vincent Price!

And yes those are Elder God Putti.

The Prince of Horror

When I was a kid one of my favorite movies was 'Edward Scissorhands.' I hadn't seen anything like it and it was a treat to go to my friend's house and watch it during sleep overs. There was just something magical and enchanting about it. The characters, the setting, the haunting music; I loved it all! But Vincent Price was a big part of my love for the movie. He was so charming and charismatic in the movie but I knew next to nothing about him. As I got older I learned more and enjoyed more of his movies. So this is my little tribute to him. Based on this photo.

I hear El Goro of "Talk Without Rhythm Podcast" is going to be covering 'The Bat' featuring Vincent Price tomorrow! Be sure to check it out. Today he covered "The Mummy's Curse."

That's Not How You Make Friends

Good morning boils and ghouls!

Today starts the beginning of the "31 Days of Horror Art" project! Today we begin with an ink and watercolor illustration called "Making Friends."

I really love working with the Pentel Pocket Brush-Pen and the ink is very waterproof (unlike the regular Pentel Brush-Pen) so it allows me to work with watercolor and not smear the ink everywhere. For this image I wanted to show a more sinister side to Lolitas and play on the comments I've seen over the years from girls who are the 'only Lolita in the village' who long to have a friend who likes the fashion. I thought it would be funny if one of these girls 'made' a friend who was a fellow Lolita.

For anyone who doesn't know what Lolita Fashion is here is the handbook where you can read all about it. Here is also the original article that got me hooked on the fashion almost 10 years ago.

El Goro of Talk Without Rhythm Pocast has started his "31 Days of Horror" reviews with the movie "The Ghoul." Check it out!

I'm off to a grueling day of truck shift now, see you tomorrow!

Art Plans for October

Greetings everyone! I have some news to share:

-Turns out I didn't get into the Steampunk Anthology after all. But my friend Steven Yarbrough did so I'll still be excited to see the two stories he illustrated in the book. I saw the line art for one of them and it was excellent! Also since the pages didn't get in, I'll be sharing them for my next project....

-31 Days of Horror Art
This is a project I'm doing along side El Goro of Talk without Rhythm Podcast. Every October he reviews one horror movie a day that he's never seen before. So this October I will be posting a new piece of art that is horror, Halloween, or 'spooky' themed everyday! Halloween/Samhain is my favorite holiday of the year and I think this will be the perfect way to celebrate it all month!

-Also to note, things like OMN are going to continue to be sporadic since I've been getting more hours at work lately (yay) but I will try to put out at least one comic this month if any. 31 Days of Horror Art will be my main project for the month :)

-Etsy
I'm going to hopefully get some artwork and comics up on Etsy soon. I've got to photograph everything and post them all. I've been pretty busy selling things on Ebay too which I'll be doing another round of stuff for soon. But I'm hoping to have original artwork, some prints, comics and even OOAK jewelry pieces that I've made up on Esty in the next few days. I'll do another post when that is all ready.

Clockwork Queen in a Comic Anthology

I recently was invited by a friend to participate in a Steampunk themed anthology project put together by Neoflux Productions.

My entry was a short, tl;dr version of the intro for a steampunk horror story I was working on back in my early years at SCAD. I’ve redone the comic twice for school projects but it’s been sitting on the back burner since about early 2008 so I thought I’d revive the idea for this, but take liberties and shorten it to just get the basic idea across. I had gotten a small watercolor paper journal recently and decided to draw and ink the comic in that. Working so small was both interesting and challenging but working with ink wash was a pure joy. The colors were added in Photoshop since the entries had to be colored. I really wanted to keep the comic in greyscale but the simple color wash look has grown on me. This project has inspired me to try more watercolor/wet media techniques with my comics and I look forward to doing more of that as time goes on :D

http://www.facebook.com/groups/236795539754275/ (the FB page) Steampunk Originals is an anthology of Steampunk comics. Coordinated by Neoflux Productions. Published by Arcana.

I’ll post updates once it gets published! Also be sure to check out the work of my friend Steven Yarbrough. He was also part of the project and told me about it in the first place. He’s a super nice and talented guy, so be sure to check him out!

Updates!

I can't believe it's August already. Where has the summer gone? Granted I'm pretty ready for fall :P

I just wanted to let everyone know what's going down as things are changing a lot in the world of Fran.

1. Comics
Right now I have a three page update for OMN waiting to be looked over and hopefully put up tonight. I didn't tone or color it like I had planned to because I was invited to take part in a Steampunk Anthology comic by a friend of mine so I'll be trying my hardest to finish up a few pages of comic for that. I'm really excited about it and did a little coloring test to see what kind of style I'll be doing it in.

I've decided to do the comic on watercolor paper with ink and inkwash, and then color flat colors under it in photoshop. This will allow me to have the black and white versions of the comic that I like doing, while providing the book with colored pages that they require. Long time followers might remember this gentleman as he's a hint to what story I'm adapting for this book :)

2. VA Comicon
The Alencia fan art contest ends on the 4th, and any entries I get will be formatted into the book, and it will be sent off to get printed. I am SUPER excited! Also a bit nervous as the con gets closer and things around me get more hectic. But I'm too excited to let the nervousness last too long :P

3. Side Projects
My media studies for the most part are on hold but in their place I've been doing a "30 day monster girl challenge" on tumblr. I've been using it as a character design/media excercise and it's been going well so far. Click the link there to follow the tag on my art tumblr. It will resume after the comic anthology is done (as that deadline is pretty close).

4. Kale
After sitting down and thinking it over I've decided I'm going to restart my Kale story. The first issue, while being an important early mile stone in my comics career, doesn't allow me to take the story in the directions I'd like to. So I'm working on completely rewriting it, and already I'm seeing a massive improvement. I'll bring more news and behind the scenes look at the story as I work on it.

Okay that's all I have for now. Keep an eye open for an OMN update either late tonight or tomorrow!

ART PLANS.

Hey guys! It's been a while but loads have been going on. Mostly busy at work. But now I'm starting to settle down a bit and I've got plans. ART PLANS.

+VA Comicon Small Press Table
You've been hearing me talk about this for a while but that's because I'm super stoked for it! My first table at a non-anime convention! I've been making plans for merch that I want to make and bring including the new Alencia comic, buttons, prints, and some other small items like key chains and book marks.

+Media Studies
There are things like animals and landscapes that I feel like I need to draw more of so I'll be doing a lot more studies to get in the swing of drawing them. For now I'm using certain sketchbooks for this as well as making ATC style cards that I'll be doing studies as miniature illustrations on. I'll be posting them to my tumblr and then grouping them here too. Here are a few so far:










+Or Maybe Not Webcomic
I've got scripts from Ryan lined up and am currently working on the next update. Looking to have it up by Friday since I have a few days off work. I'm going to try to update it as much as I can between now and VA Comicon since I plan on making post cards to pimp it out for the con. I also need to just sit down and draw more comics.

+Kale issue #2
Is still in progress! I've been rewriting an reworking things and I'm starting to think that I should do it as a one shot book like I originally planned but maybe start it over after all. I learned a lot from the first issue but the more I look back at it the more I see things I wish I had done differently. I'm going to keep working on it and when I come to a final decision I'll talk about it here. But either way Kale's story will continue.

+Alencia Comics (and Contest!)
Writing for Alencia's stories has been much easier. She comes more naturally to me than Kale so her stories will be more in number and varied. I really like working in short story/episodic format and I will continue that. I'm also really enjoying mixing horror with fantasy so that is a plus!
Alencia's first short comic will be featured at my table at VA Comicon and will feature FAN ART! I have a fan art contest running from now till August 4th, where anyone who sends me fan art for Alencia will be included in the book (with their name and information to their website) and will receive a free copy of the comic for themselves! Just send me a copy of your fan art (large file size, TIFF, 300dpi, I need it large so when I format the book it will print nicely and not be pixelated) to fran_rowan(at)yahoo(dot)com. Here are some references for your use:
-Alencia close up
-Alencia and Human!Theloyn height chart in color. Theolyn hasn't been introduced in his human version yet (he appears as a cat in the comic for now) but if you wish to draw him then by all means go for it :)
-Preview of the comic. Also for your inspiration here is the preview of the comic featuring the first 6 pages.
Also please keep fan art to PG-13. The comic isn't really rated but it's not really hardcore or anything. If you have any questions please let me know. I'll be sure to share the entries and their artists here too!

I'm also making jewelry that I'll be selling on my Etsy page soon so keep your eyes peeled for that! This post is epically long as it is so goodbye for now and stay tuned!