It’s been a long time since I posted, like a month now. But the good news is that I’ve been concentrating on my art, and have seen some significant improvements.
I’m not going to post any of my junk artwork though, because it’s not really all that interesting. But I will post a few inner workings for you to see, just to get an idea of what I’ve been doing.
I’ve been wanting to post for a while now, since I actually have quite a bit to update, mainly for the benefit of those of you who haven’t been following me on facebook. But the amount of things I wanted to talk about got so overwhelming that I began procrastinating. And as the updates on facebook increased, so too did the towering task of writing a blog post about what I have been doing.
Fortunately, I came upon a solution of an omake photo post. Don’t expect too much text, but it’s definitely more than the facebook updates. Please enjoy, and go to my facebook page to fill in the details on the conversations I’ve been having with my facebook fans.
Recently, I reached my 400th facebook fan. It’s since increased but I thought it’d be worth mentioning anyway. I really do appreciate the support from everyone. I post to share whatever’s on my mind with everyone, and most importantly is to share my art. That’s the real reason why you guys support me. I tend to get side-tracked with all these other ideas that I forget that the main reason I post is to share my art, and not necessarily just my ideas, though people seem to like that too.
When I said I’d take a break from blogging, and practice on my art, I also decided to try going back to analog drawing. It’s something that I hadn’t done in years, and was long overdue. I was ambitious to start, and wanted to fill an entire sketchbook in one month. That didn’t happen. Far from it. But I did get some much needed practice. And that small amount of time invested did show significant improvement. I hope to continue this.
My friends at Zen United sent me some swag! It got a fair bit of attention on facebook, so I’m glad that I’m able to PR Zen United and their awesomesauce goodies. I wish North America would have more of these things available. It’s good PR, and addresses the fans.
Not too long after, Zen sent me a second box of swag, which included art cards, a gorgeous (and sexy) “swimsuit” calendar a couple of Noel nendoroids (which btw, I already have one that they sent me previously) and some T-shirts. Most importantly, is the Blazblue CS Limited Edition. My artwork is in the artbook enclosed.
There was an Earth Day event in Vancouver and the lower mainland in which participants are asked to turn off all their lights and appliances at the same time for an hour or so. It’s a bold statement in how to be sustainable, and save the planet. Thousands of houses, apartments, and establishments participated in the event. It felt somewhat liberating to “disconnect” for a bit, and spend quality time with my wife. I snapped this appreciative photo of a gift from Jun of Collateral Damage Studios.
This happens when I don’t check my email for 72 hours. This happened on three occasions. One of which, I was sick with the flu, and didn’t check my email for 3 days. I spent the whole time in bed, feeling like crap. I occasionally woke up and played Time Hollow (a game I had been saving for a couple years for when I got sick) before getting too tired and dizzy and going back to sleep. Honestly, I don’t think it was a good idea to play Time Hollow while with the flu. I had terrible and confusing dreams about time travel while I was deliriously sick.
Speaking of visual novels, I also played Saya’s Song when I read about it on NeoGAF. It’s a good thing I didn’t play this while I was sick. That would have been a terrible, terrible mistake. I think I’m still emotionally scarred by playing this game. It’s an incredible and twisted thriller VN that isn’t for the faint of heart… I… I don’t want to talk about it anymore. See my facebook page. There’s a thread discussion on it.
I acquired these two cuties a while back. Haruhi remained in storage for a long time, but was finally let out.
I attended a meet up event for a Street Fighter tournament. I didn’t actually join the tournament, but enjoyed the casual play session. There were some decently skilled players, but their play style was rather “textbook”. I’m not as good as them when it comes to fighting games, but I know a good fighter when I see one, and these guys unfortunately, weren’t. I would have liked to be pwned in a spectacular fashion by a truly skilled player.
I got a 3DS! I acquired this one using points that my wife had accumulated at Shopper’s Drugmart. (yeah, they sell Nintendo and Sony products there. Weird eh?). So essentially I got it for next to nothing!
If you have a 3DS, please contact me with your friend code so we can add each other in! I’ve since changed my avatar to be much much cuter (that’s right!). She even has nekomimi! I wish they had a purple hair option so I could make Melody.
Actually, I got 3 3DSs. I had preordered two from Toys R Us, and one from Gamestop. I hoped to sell them, but Nintendo didn’t make any mistakes this time (unlike the Wii) and there was no shortage, so I returned them. Risk free! But I did lose time out of it, unfortunately.
My hamsters Chip and Dale. Dale passed away in December while I was in Singapore. Chip is getting old, but he’s doing okay. He’s been since moved to the den so I can monitor him.
One of my facebook fans. I have been blessed by a god!
I recently found out that Rachel Alucard is also a fan of my page!
I found an excellent solution for the two loose stationery items that she comes with. I don’t like loose pieces, and this makes her look much more dexterous and cool. Umm… what’s her name again?
I know a lot of you have probably seen my Plenair cup. I did a sort of “retro treatment” to this photo, and thought it nice enough to post. Also got a fair bit of attention on facebook. Then again, what’s not to like about Plenair? 😀
It snowed at some point in time. I can’t remember when. But damn, Marisa should have stayed indoors!
I got HMO Miku. I won’t bother talking about it, because Fabrice does an excellent job with his review. I am happy that we’ve got a band though. 🙂
This is a desktop wallpaper! CLICK TO DOWNLOAD!!! XD
That is a lot of keyboards. I thought GSC would be cheap and just re-press keyboards, but no, they’re actually all unique sculpts!
I’m a leek -er I mean l33t drummer!
Speaking of the K-On set, I did manage to snag the Wonderfest set now. I forgot to post the pics to that, but you can find them on my facebook page.
On it, I also admitted to being a Miku whore.
The style of HMO is so different. It really makes traditional Miku a bit boring. Using this face totally changes everything. Note that traditional Miku’s face is quite a bit wider than HMO.
Tsundere party.
TSUN!!!
Top down perspective. They look pretty awesome!
THIS IS A DESKTOP WALLPAPER! CLICK TO DOWNLOAD!
All around Vancouver, there are Sakura trees, and they bloom during the spring season. It looks absolutely beautiful to see streets lined with Sakura trees. If you ever decide to come to Vancouver, any time of the year has its own beautiful features, but definitely come during spring to check out the trees in full bloom. It doesn’t last very long though, so you have to get in at the right time!
I had sent out some signed posters a while back for the Blazblue poster contest, but unfortunately, none of them arrived. I hadn’t had time until recently to sign some more, and re-send them. Unfortunately, I had to fold them and slip them into envelopes this time. I suspect that the postal service doesn’t like poster tubes or something. I also heard stories of the postal service stealing mail.
Damn, this is costing me some serious coin! If you’d like to help me out, please donate to me on paypal. This paypal account is strictly used as a prize fund. You’ll get a permanent spot of recognition on my page (if you give me your web address).
One of my best friends bought me a present out of the blue. He was also the one that bought me the previous nendoroid playset. Now my band has a place to practice! I’ll have to make some time to do a nice photoshoot of this.
More sketchiness!! I decided that I need to practice my facial expressions more, and really try to bring emotions out. I haven’t been doing that with my drawings, so they all tend to have a sort of emotionless facial expression. [rss]If you’re looking for the contest code, it’s asusrt16 for you here.[/rss] I think by doing more of these, it will also increase the dynamic content of my drawings, so they’re not all so pose-y.
Ah… a lazy Sunday. Some days are nice and beautiful, but you just want to stay indoors and enjoy the warmth of your bed while the sun shines its rays into the house.
I love what the guys at Collateral Damage Studios are doing – they’re sharing and spreading anime and awareness on a completely different level than me. When they mentioned that they were overworked, I was more than happy to offer doing a piece for them for their upcoming artbook. An out-of-the-blue suggestion turned into a full-blown piece. I posted a crop of my initial sketch on facebook, and it seemed to catch a fair bit of interest. I liked the way the drawing was going too.
A crop preview of the finished image. One of the things that I deliberately kept in mind trying to keep the image looking dynamic. I intensified the expressions on Marisa and White Rock Shooter, and also kept the rough line work. It was actually A LOT of work to use the rough line work but in a controlled way so that it didn’t look messy. If you look carefully, much of the original sketch line doesn’t actually exist in the finished piece anymore.
Sorry, I won’t be posting the actual piece until a little later.
I was commissioned by someone to draw something for a wedding anniversary as a gift for his wife. I won’t get into the details of it, but this is a rough crop as well. The finished product actually doesn’t look like this at all. He opted for a more realistic (an accurate) portrayal of his wife, which looks good in its own right. Just no longer anime. I kept the original line-work, and may go back and create another anime version just for fun. I do like how this anime version’s face turned out.
I read this on the oatmeal and couldn’t help but laugh. It’s so true! I am going through this now. Go check it out. The oatmeal is a gold mine of good content.
You could say that this is my life as a freelance artist. It’s great fun. I’ve been doing all sorts of things, from drawing illustrations to creating logos and websites. But it also has its downsides. I don’t want to turn this post into a rant about my life or the life of a freelance career. What I’ve shared is the upside, and I LIKE IT! (if you like what I’m doing, join me on facebook!)
On a final note, I got interviewed at Toypusher.com. If you haven’t read it yet, go read it!
New posts coming soon!
Read more!
Youuuuuu have a piece of VOFAN art in that pile of BlazBlue goods. Jealous~
Also, definite improvements in art, I think. Always impressive!
And it is my favorite piece. I love VOFAN’s artwork. I hope to try that style of art some time.
Awesome 😀
Looking forward to the new posts, and grats on the Toypusher gig :3
Really enjoying the nendoroid photos… muhaha Marisa stuck in snow part should be a wallpaper desu… Wish postage in canada is not so $$$ =_=
haha I guess it would make a pretty good wallpaper!
Yeah, I hate postage in Canada. Sucks…
Freelance artist, that would be a dream job for me. As for me, today’s my last week of class, now 5 days of finals coming up.
After that I’m actually flying to Asia in 11 days, I dunno if I will be able to do it, but I’m getting a sketchbook and going to practice how to draw like you. I really haven’t had a chance to do anything this year (it’s May already, wtf?!?) thanks to overloading my schedule trying to graduate early. But yeah, hopefully I’ll improve a lot over the summer and catch up to you. (I wish. lawl)
Well, I see you as a competition more than any other artists I guess, just because you’re the one I am in most frequent contact with and you have a career I want to pursue.
Also, I like your sketches and saw your advice about paper sketches. Found my sketchbook that collected dust over the year, going to mass sketch and practice. Will be without internet for a while when I get to Taiwan though, so hopefully next time I get internet I’ll have stuff that is worth showing you. 🙂
Being a freelance artist isn’t as glamorous as you may think! It’s a lot of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. It’s also a highly saturated field, with lots of amateur artists charging incredibly low prices, which unfortunately, ruins the market and expectations.
Hey awesome that you’re going to Asia! I totally know what you mean… I feel like I haven’t gotten much done either! But for you, you’ve got good priorities. You’ll be glad you worked hard to graduate early. 🙂
Nah, don’t see me as competition. There are just too many artists out there, many of which draw much better than either of us. I once heard this saying “The race is long, but in the end, it’s only with yourself.” so work hard for yourself, not to be better than someone else.
Instead, you should cultivate an attitude of adopting a mentor, or an idol that can inspire you to move forward.
I hope to see some of your sketches in the future!
Man, so much stuff, thought fragment time.
Some really cool people(?) like you on Facebook, a vampire and a goddess must be nice.
You should stop posting pretty drawings makes me wanna pick up drawing again but I’m too lazy since I’m at the point where I need to make a conscious effort to improve. Perhaps I might try the sketch book thing. Speaking of which, you better show that filled sketchbook otherwise it will bother me to no end. Same thing for the Marisa fan, as a Touhou fan I need to see the completed work.
Lots and lots of nendos, if I was more into them I would probably have gotten Kirino and Miku. Miku is in fact currently holding my “cutest nendo ever” spot now that I think about it. Also, awesome Marisa (hat?) picture, I would have loved to see more snow during the winter. Sigh…stupid climate change.
You know, Saya no Uta was my first VN. I haven’t played any since, not because I didn’t enjoy but because I found Saya no Uta put the bar to high for me. Regular VN’s seem boring in comparison with their normal themes and style. About the game itself, none of the three endings made me happy. All three made feel sad for Saya, true nature aside she really was a maiden in love.
Remind me to donate on pay day, which is actually tomorrow. Like send me a tweet or something.
haha you like me on facebook, so that’s all that matters. 😛
I aim to inspire, so drawing pretty pictures is my thing! Let me inspire you! DRAW!
But I need to practice what I preach and fill that sketchbook too! ^^;
I’m perfectly fine with there not being so much snow. I’m sick of shoveling it.
You’re right, Saya no Uta is in a league all its own! I’m surprised it was your first VN! Personally, I think ending 2 was ideal for Saya. Her job was to procreate, and she succeeded. She was content with her love, and only wished for happiness. The thing is, the scientific papers left behind may have shown that Saya was probably more delusioned with the romantic portrayal of love, mixed with her mission. So I dunno. O_o;
I don’t think it would be very nice of me to send you a reminder to donate. 😐
Finally, A POST!!!! LOLX
Once again, long time no see you post a post at here. But I already get used to it. = =
This time post is a little bit different. Seem like it is all about your updates in Facebook. But it is okay, at least you have managed to post something out at here. ^^
p/s: from the start until end I am totally no idea about what I said, just ignore it. = =
Freelance artist??? I also want to be. Same as Jeff. Seem like it is something cool to do. But this job has also involved something like animation???
Well, I have a rough framework about should my future be. At first, I want to be someone like you, a freelancer, then I want to become a web master of a blog I created in wordpress. But until now I still don’t know how wordpress work….
I want to do a blog include art, travel and photography. So maybe I will take the course of Multimedia and Design 1-2 years later. Hope all can go smoothly as what planning in my mind.
It’s more for the benefit of my followers who don’t have facebook or don’t follow me on facebook. I included content that isn’t in the facebook updates too.
thats quite some updates.
You would have gotten 401 if i had a facebook account ^^ thats great to see you have that much of followers. That picture of the analog drawing (the girl) looks very nice no sign of rustyness in my opinion.
Wow so many emails! are most of them junk? if not then you sure are a busy and demanded person ^^
Sora no Yuta was my second VN played after Shuffle! it amazes me how people can come up with sure greatness, plus the creator did a great job with the recent Madoka series from shaft.
Hitagi Senjougahara! my favorite ..one of my favorite girls, nice idea with the loose accessories, i should try that too, i nearly lost them when i accidentally drop them while cleaner..spent like 5 minutes on the floor lol
haha i would so lol if K-ON actually made ritsu play drums with leaks as substitute, dont wouldnt be such a bad idea for a gag, im sure people with find it amusing.
Anyway to finish off the comment, Its great to see you back posting! =)
Haha sorry. My procrastination lead to a huge long post. ^^;
Followers have gone up to 437 since I posted. lol!
The analog drawing was done after a long while of warm-up and practice. LOL! I’m too ashamed to show some of the other crap I did – looks like a drunk monkey drawing with his left foot, hanging upside down, in a truck, that’s tumbling off a cliff.
Most of my emails are notification emails for when people post comments on my blog, my youtube videos, or my facebook page and direct emails from fans or other people I’ve keep in contact with. I don’t get junk emails. 🙂
I need to play Shuffle! sometime… and I also have to watch Madoka Magica! I’ve heard unreal things about it!
Sorry it took so long for me to post! ^^;
I saw a lot of these photos from Facebook…so this is a compilation of Facebook updates then? Kidding. ^^ It’s nice to see a new blog entry again from you! (Although I’ve been guilty of not being able to update for a while again. OTL)
So much Blazblue loot you have there! I’m so envious! Even though I have yet to play Blazblue, I find Noel so adorable… and you now have multiple Noel Puchis? Envy! I would gladly take one off of your hands if you decide to sell one of them. ;~;
Stationery girl == Hitagi Senjougahara from Bakemonogatari… which reminds me that I still need to watch that series… Don’t you have her nendo puchi too? Shame on you!
I’m missing out on so many Nendos! The latest I have is the movie version of Nendo Yuki. Still wanting to get HMO Miku. ;A;
Hrm. I should go over to Toy Pusher’s to see that feature. :3c
Hope to see more updates from you soon~!
ya facebook compilation for my readers who aren’t on facebook (so basically Fabrice ^^ I wrote this for him)
Noel and Taokaka are my favorite characters. Noel is totally adorable! Yeah I can sell you a Noel, sure. 🙂
I have a nendoroid puchi set#2 of Bakemonogatari. I just like the backpack girl. ^^
HMO Miku is totally worth it. Cutest. Nendoroid. Ever.
Thanks for visiting! 😀
LOL. I’m sure Fabrice appreciates your effort for this wholeheartedly XDD
Oh~ you just have the second set. Haha. I have the first and second (still unopened) and I still haven’t watched the series yet… so I guess more shame should be on me. LOL ~_~;;
Speaking of series that have not yet been watched… Madoka is definitely a series that you must watch! It’s only 12 episodes so you can easily watch the entire series even if you’re busy 😛
OMG NOEL! NOEEEEL! *grabby hands* Definitely interested! ? Shoot me an email as to how much you want to sell her for :3
HMO Mikuuuu. ;~; I guess I should hunt for her soon. Madoka nendos are coming in a few months time will be the next massacre for my wallet (considering I haven’t even completed the K-On! Nendos yet. Heh)
I will be grabbing Madoka Magica when I get the chance. sigh I’ve fallen so far behind in my anime… it’s getting kinda ridiculous…
In regards to Noel, we’re cool. I’ll drop you a line when I get the chance. Gotta do some comment replies first. ^^
I preordered Madoka nendoroid as well! She’s just too cute! She’ll look pretty good next to Milky Holmes too, I’m sure. ^^ Damn all these nendoroids!
Go, go, go! I hope you would get that chance soon, because you’re missing out on a great series. I haven’t raved this much for any mahou shoujo series ever… since Sailormoon Sailor Stars (and even then, I still had some gripes about the series). So I think that’s saying something ^^;
About that email… well, I replied back already… so 😛
and darn all nendos for being so adorable! I’m still reluctant to PO Madoka because I’m trying to adhere to my hiatus. ;~; Darn it!
I’m planning to get a media box like Boxee so I can watch it on my big screen TV instead.
I want a 3DS, but I want that sweet looking purple one Nintendo showed off long ago. PLEASE RELEASE THE PURPLE ONE, NINTENDO!
Speaking of art, I really need to get back into the habit of sketching daily. My skills are rotting!
Those hamsters are adorable! Shame about Dale, though. I’m sure he lived a good life. (My own hamsters, Buster and Christa, both suffered horrible fates. Christa was attacked by my mother’s poodle and died of her injuries while Buster FROZE TO DEATH. I went on vacation with my mom and told my dad not to forget to take Buster out of the garage. It was winter. Dad forgot…)
Did they have a purple one?! Wow I guess that would be pretty nice.
Yes! Sketch! I want to see your sketches!
Wow, poor hammies! 🙁 Sorry that brought up sad memories! Buster is a cute name. I’m surprised that Buster didn’t survive, since hamsters are supposed to be able to handle winter weather. Maybe it really was too cold?
Hallo aus München, sehr schönes Design was Du da hast. Darf ich fragen woher?
Hallo!
Danke für das Betrachten meiner Website!
Ich komme aus Kanada!
Had a nice time interviewing you, thanks again. ^^
Sakura photo is now my wallpaper, thanks for sharing. Now I’m forced to clean my desktop ^^;
Looking forward to see more pretty sketches.
It was fun being interviewed by you. You ask some great questions! ^^
Wow, seems like lots has happened in the last month, especially in terms of figure aquisitions 🙂
I didn’t know Shopper’s Drug Mart sold 3DS’s. I go there all the time to pick up stuff from the post office inside, but I never bother to actually look around.
If you have a 3DS, let me know so I can add you in! 🙂
Figure acquisitions, isn’t all that much really… well, it’s mostly nendoroids. I think that a lot has been happening outside of my blogging/anime life recently, that I’ve had trouble posting.
waaah!!! you are so cool!!! SUPER AWESOME!! (prussia: hey thats my line!) i wnat to ask if i can add you in the 3DS, mine is 3222-5633-3510