Slayers: Divine restart

Slayers: Divine on Smackjeeves

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let the sphere know that I've finally restarted my doujinshi efforts. If you've been following me (or even if not) I've been using this doujinshi as a way to improve my art and storytelling abilities. A way for me to learn to organize my thoughts and to translate what I want to say through pictures and dialogue. I hope I'm getting the hang of it because, you see, I want my original titles to be amazing when they really hit the ground running!

Maybe I can learn some marketing while I'm at it, nyo.

So follow along, why not?

Recent sketches

Been off and on with the drawing thing the passed few weeks but with my recent job situation I think it's finally coming back. I'm going to keep working on it, of course. Because I love it. <3 br="br">

My life at work

Here’s a situation and you all can tell me what I can do. I think it interesting that every time I scroll down on blogrolls or other social media and these…work help articles are popping up:

Right now, I’m a waitress at an Indian joint in the Pitt. I’ve been there since Feb. 2011 and, at the beginning, it wasn’t so bad. I make $8.00 an hour with no tips and I average 10 hours a week.
But these hours are spread out in such a way that I’m spending a lot of time on public transportation getting from home to work and visa-verse.

The work environment began to degrade when my coworker, a student from India, started working with us. He came around when my bosses and their entire family went to India for 6 weeks leaving me with the welfare of the restaurant. We did very well and everything went smoothly but, again, the quality of the environment began to get worse. They started neglecting me as a candidate for anything extra curricular like catering or deliveries around downtown and cut my hours to give this other guy more even though he was in school. Lately, it’s been really bad. This happens all the time but here’s one example: Last week I had asked for some time off for my chest. I had gotten so angry, so irritated with their attitude and the boredom of sitting around in downtown all the time that I had to slightly change my routine just so I wouldn’t end up in the hospital. They said OK (plus I haven’t had any real time off since I started working there.).

They called me in for Monday night because coworker had a class to go to. I wasn’t happy about it but I went in anyway. While there, it went from bad to worse. Boss-lady came in and we’re usually pretty busy with deliveries and with in-house orders so but she likes to try and do everything because she believes that nothing will get done if she’s not doing it. 3 sets of regular customers came in, I knew them all and I knew what they ordered except one of them, this time, wanted to change up their order a bit so I ended up fielding a few questions. Now, I’m not Indian but I know the food at the restaurant and I know the menu and how big everything is. They asked me a question and as I was answering, boss-lady runs over, bumps her body into mine causing me to stumble off to the side a bit and says “What’s the problem?” I say “There is no problem, they were just wondering about portion sizes” and she raises her hand in my face and says “don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of this.” I turned away, put my pen and book down and then the phone rings for a delivery. As soon as I go to pick it up she says “Hey! I’ll get it.”

Now. This happens a lot to which I have to ask myself “Do you even want me here?” And it’s putting a real damper on my attitude.

The week before last she called me in to work on some time off and at first I was like “No, I have some things I want to get done.” And she says “but don’t you need the money?”
I thought. “$16.00? really. Maybe not.” And then she starts guilt tripping a little bit like “Fine, I’ll just deal with it.” I got annoyed and said I would be there. When I got there, she fucked around with me the entire 2 hours I was there. I know it doesn’t seem like a long time but when people are dicking you around it feels like a thousand years.

She was first yelling and screaming at me about how fast I was going with customers. At lunch time we do a pretty big buffet and we get a lot of people all the time during lunch so there’s always a lot to do and there’s no set priority of what to do first. We just have to do what we can when we’re in front of it or thinking about it. I have developed my own little system to handle customers and get as much done as possible.
So I was at the register handling the people leaving. She walked over to the register, stood there and watched me. Now, remember, every seat in the restaurant was full with the exception of the people leaving. Instead of going away and doing something else like I would have done she just stood there watching me. I finally looked over and asked “What’s the matter?”
She said “Here, let me do this.”

I said “Why? I got it and it’s getting done…”

She says “Bev, just go do something else.”

Ok, fine. I dropped my pen and walked away. As I was cleaning tables in the back she came to me and told me I needed to pay closer attention the people coming into the restaurant. I just said OK and kept working.
But I think the final straw was when I asked her if I could leave at the time I normally leave after lunch. She said, and I quote:

“No. You need to stay until 3 because I have things I need to get done today.” and she walked away from me muttering under her breath “I’ve been trying to get out of here for the passed hour.”

I was stunned. Simply stunned. She called ME in on MY day off to help her when I ALSO had things to do but the world had to stop for her? What? I said, OK and asked her if I could at least eat since there was nobody else in the restaurant. She said yes but that I had to “Hurry up in case people show up.”

I’m thinking. Every time I eat and we’re still open, even if I’ve been dismissed for a few hours, I get up and help anyone in the place plus people coming in. That’s just the way I am. I’ll interrupt my lunch for people and it’s been like that since I was working there.

I go to the back, pick up a place while slightly cussing under my breath and Boss-man (her husband) comes out and just laughs at me like “What’s the matter.”

I said “Nothing” and kept working to throw a little bit of food on my plate. Boss-lady comes back there and they start screaming at each other in Panjaub and she comes storming out of the kitchen yelling at me: “FINE Beverly, you can leave! Not like I had things to do today.”

Consider camel back broken. I dropped my plate and left. Chest pain and all.
Now, look. I know it’s unprofessional to diss your bosses and job but fuck all that. A couple of months ago I asked for an increase in my pay. Boss-man is all like “What? Like a bonus or something.” And I said Yes.

“Just something to help me save a little bit of money. winter is coming and I want to have something put away for food and such since I can’t get on food stamps.”

He said OK.

His idea of a bonus is $8.00-$20.00 and when he gives me $20.00 he won’t give me anything extra on the following check.

I have some people telling me to quit. I have some people telling to stay since it’s $100.00 plus or minus every week but to be honest, I want to quit. And Badly. I have a second job, one where I make more than my weeks pay from the Indian joint in two days. (if that made any sense). Even with the second job, all of the money I make is going straight to rent and bills plus the occasional home cooked meal. If I’m not too tired and annoyed to make myself something.

I’ve packed on 25 pounds, developed chest pain, have grown to hate customer service and have developed prejudice against Indian people and their culture. I have a severe negative emotional reaction to anything Indian and my love of being around new people has been hindered. I think customer service, especially with food, is a good opportunity to meet lots of cool people, and I have. Popular musicians from the orchestra, conductors, directors; I’ve met politicians and activists; I’ve met people from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Israel. So, lots of interesting people, lots of cool stories from all of them. But I’m at the end. I really can’t do this anymore.

I’m afraid I’ll be stuck and that I’ll end up as a low end waitress for the rest of my days. I’ve been contemplating suicide and destroying things and even reenlisting in the military. I almost punched a hole in my wall yesterday amidst sobbing like a little kid. I’m having severe emotional breakdowns and headaches on a daily basis. My art has stagnated and it rains all the time…I’m tired of this and, honestly, not sure what to do. I have been looking for other jobs and work but no call backs and when I go in to check they’ve already filled positions or something. I’ve been persistent and everything else. I would like to go back to school but can’t settle on a major and it’s coming out in my grades. I’m bored with the classes I’m taking and the degree I want is just novelty. I thought about opening a business but my credit is so bad I don’t think I can…plus in this economy what would be the point?

I haven’t stood up for myself because of the way I go about it. It’s been bottled up for so long that if I do release it’ll be super bad. Violent even but I can’t let these people walk all over me anymore. And a lot of this anxiety is stemming from boredom! I’M BORED!

Pixiv Oekaki Chat: Part One

I was touring around some of the different ways our artistic Japanese and Korean counterparts communicate with one another and what sort of social networking they engage in and I happened upon:

Pixiv Chat

Now, I've been with Pixiv for about a year now. For those of you who do not know, Pixiv is the Japanese equivalent to Deviantart without all of the drag-you-down popularity competition. That's not to say there aren't popular artists on Pixiv but it seems their fair exposure is actually fair. When you submit, your art is actually on the front page for people to see. When you type in keywords, it doesn't automatically filter out to the most popular in that tag. It goes from order of submission with the newest pieces popping up first.

I really like this.

Anyway, I started using the chat client a few weeks ago because I was curious about oekaki and what it actually was. Turns out, it can be used a nice form of communication! And pixiv has several different clients that can be used as such:

Pixiv Drawr
DrawTwit

And, aside from drawing small little sketch blips in SAI or Manga Studio, having a side little doodle palette online is actually a lot of fun, and it helps to build interest from people in other countries thus stimulation connections between users.

--------------
OKAY, so now that the intro is out of the way I wanted to break down how to use these sites or how I understand it thus far starting with Pixiv Chat:

• #1:   "Now on Air" means that the user created a canvas and is actively drawing in the client. To join them, click inside the blue square (and I will cover that screen a little later).
• #2:   This is the topic or what the user is doing in the chat. Sometimes, I noticed, people will create different rooms for different things. I've seen rooms range from adult themed inflation to yaoi to random girly doodles. 
• #3:   This is the user's name
• #4:   This tells you how many people are in this persons room. 
• #5:   I'm not sure what the Japanese says but I think it means: "My page". If you're using the client for the first time it will ask you to log in and all you need to do is log in with your pixiv account ID.
• #6:   The "Help" Button
• #7:   "Log out"
• #8:   This is a typical search bar. I would use the Japanese tags if you're looking for something. For instance if I wanted to find someone drawing "Slayers" stuff I would instead type "スレイヤーズ"
• #9:   I believe these are popular tags or recent tags. I'm not quite sure.  

Page Two:

(Inactive Room or Expired Session)

• #1:   The screen with the giant "Play" button on it is a recording of the session thus far or, if the session has expired, is simply a recording of that session. A few days ago I held a little Slayers: Xellos session to learn the client and using it as an example.
• #2:   These are occasional static snapshots that Pixiv takes. I'm not sure how frequent these are but it allows you to click on and it will pop up in another window as an image file.
• #?:   I'm unsure what this box does...really.
• #3:   The "Subject Line" of the chat room
• #4:   Tags list
• #5:   A description box. 
• #6:   Pixiv user information with a clickable link to my user profile.
• #7:   A list of users will pop up in this box. Since I was the only one in my room it just counts me.
• #?:   Not sure what this box does either...
• #8:   A handy-dandy twitter button. This will notify your followers that you are currently in chat or if you want to share what you've done.
• #9:   Same thing only a link if you want to post it in FB or another area of the net.

Active room changes:

• #1:   If you click a live room this is what the side bar will look like.
• #2:   "Log in with your pixiv account"
• #3:   "Log in as a guest"

"My Page" (page 3)

• #1:   "Create Room" button
• #2:   "To use this software, you must have Java installed" ..I think.
• #3:   A view of my user history

------------------------

Alrighty!

This is the first installment to the Interface at Pixiv chat. The next blog post I'll go over how to create a room and the third I'll talk about the actual drawing client!

A little angry...

 As I stated in a previous blog I've been pretty upset all day. First, WoW isn't working the way it should which is annoying  because when I can't get my pen moving I like to relax with some video games. But no. That was a bust. Second, my computer magically erases 2 chapters of my doujinshi which was enough to make me cry. Seriously. Sob..like a little kid. Mostly because of the kind of work that goes into creating a comic book of any variety and..poof. Gone. The stress was enough to give me a monster sized headache that attacked me all day long. /ugh

To be honest though I'm not really worried about the WoW thing but my art? Shit. I could have punched puppies I was so mad.

And lastly, I got into a sort of shit fight with my sister. I hate fighting with my family mostly because it opens up old wounds that have seriously yet to heal. Talking to them reminds me of just how hated and neglected I was as a youngster and even now. They have a special way of making me feel useless, worthless, unwanted and only good to be around if they want something. And the excuses for the neglect are unbelievable half the time but...I think over time I've become numb to the thoughts until we start to converse and she was being particularly disrespectful.

Anyway, it's been emotional and irritating but I'm still pushing forward regardless. Giving up is just not in my base programing. I drew these little bits to calm myself down and think a little bit. The first one is Xellos and Lina Inverse from Slayers (I'm working on a doujinshi so it'll be Slayers fanart for a while!). I actually drew this last night but kept tweaking it and this is the final result. The second one was ...well, the calming piece.

Usually when I get pissed off like earlier I draw angry art but not tonight. I decided to draw something a little calmer, sensual even. I think my wonderful crack OTP is perfect subject matter for my learning experience and they have a fond place in my crooked little mind. The intent was to calm but I still feel pretty tense. I think I need some sleep so...off we gooooo!

Sketches volume 1

For your face: Bunch of Slayers stuff. WEE!

 <---this one was for a forum post "Draw the poster above you" ...nobody drew for me but dammit, I sure did for them. Oh well.

 Luna MUST tortured everyone she comes across. This was a question posed to me. Seriously, you should all know better.

 <--this was a follow up sketch to "Eve of Battle"

 Ubrizael; an angel and a jerk.

（￣□￣；）

 Lina Inverse for Deb Aoki @About.com It was her birthday so.. Yeah!

 LS request. Timmy says "Xellos eating a donut!" And this is the result.

 Gaav. I think "Chaos Dragon" sounds f*kin cool as hell.

 Ummm...pokemon.

 Luna, Xellos, Spot. And a butterfly.

 Gourry for the ever awesome HLrespect!!

<--Milgazia and Filia

Gourry and Lina-->

 Ok, loads of art.

New paintings #1

Well, it's been a day of...irritation. Earlier today I discovered that Chapters 6 and 7 of my doujinshi was deleted and all I did was restart my computer.

Thanks windows!

Anyway, it's ok...I'll just redraw it and be back on the road.

Here are some new paintings!

"Eve of Battle" Xellos and Luna Inverse beating each other up. I really like the way this came out though I know it still needs some work...for my next piece, it'll be a lot better.

"Bleeds Light" Luna Inverse from Slayers

"Path of Destruction" Lina Inverse from Slayers. Working on background and foreground integration as well as composition and color.

Art Block PART 1

This is an old post from DA that still has merit. Please enjoy.

Out of the 805 people that voted on the last poll (ON DA), 507 of you have asked to bring back guides, advice and tutorials on how to break art block.

So with that observation I have decided to reinsert my time into the community as I still have great faith that each and every one of us has the patience, talent and potential to start our respective projects and persist even in the harshest environments.

Let's start from the top: What causes art block?

Trends and Industry Health

As it stands the illustration community, be it video games, comic books, animation, etc. Has taken a great nose dive into the concrete in recent years, especially if you live in the land of the free, home of the brave.


I have noticed that industry trends can have an adverse effect on those of us who wish to create what we feel are great works of art and collections of love-laboring. With a drowning industry and seeing our favorite books and videos being removed from all distribution channels we begin, in the back of our minds, to lose heart in our own pushes forward.

It has an even more negative effect on those of us who believe we were made for nothing else but story creation and art. It's as if we are chasing a speeding train that has what it needs to survive on the bones but not what it needs to plump up.

This may seem like meaningless information but...

The industry shapes how we draw and what sort of stories we tell. Many notice that vampires, zombies, ninjas and samurai are popular in the mainstream and then create stories and characters based on that thinking theirs will also be popular only to find that it doesn't work. And if it does, it's because people are 1) looking for it and 2) the art or story compensates for lack of the other.

If you do see your numbers go up through that strategy, it's only because it's been tossed in the corner with people who are already fans of these subjects.

Another problem we seem to run into a lot around here, especially on DA, is the fanart issue. DA has bred a place where fanart gets the most unintentional praise than original works and if you do happen to post an original that does well it's because you're :devgenzoman:.

This fanart versus original art thing has REALLY disheartened an entire generation of artists that I believe to be devastating to the health of our community. The fact that a poorly drawn MLP doodle can acquire 1000+ hits but an original piece that took days barely breaks 100 views.

Using DA as a gauge to track your progress...?

This is probably a terrible idea as well. I used to think that's what the pageview numbers were for. That each hit told me that people were at the very least noticing my work and the more people visited, the more motivated I would be to create something new. Personally, I have broken myself out of this thought process a long time ago but that doesn't mean it's still not a rampant reality for others. I stopped caring about the numbers and started focusing on the fact that my projects were moving forward. I was doing my absolute best at that time and using my various projects to continue to improve. Slowly, but at least it's moving forward.

But these numbers can be disheartening BUT it can tell you how you truly feel about your art when you take a step back from it.

But DJ! (;O;)

Now, now, don't cry...

A problem many of us face is that we don't push ourselves or attempt daring ideas. We all have these ideas: I want Character A to stand in the middle of the page striking a bad ass fighting pose.

Cool, we have the parameters but define "Bad ass" Define "fighting" Define "middle of the page". As artists we have to break each element down like scientists looking for the God Particle. As artists, we have to put words with our work and let that sense of expression come out.

Now let's say you finish this masterpiece and you post it on DA. You feel good about it. Colors are awesome and well placed, the background reinforces your message, your character is posed beautifully and everything about the composition screams "I DEMAND YOUR ATTENTION" But it only receives 132 views.

Quite the slap in the face, huh? You thought it would be the one. You thought you worked hard on it. You thought that you had overcome some soul-gnawing hurdle that you were trying to overcome for months. This original thing you want to blurt to the entire planet! But, no. 130 dev views.

Even the most introverted comic book artist I have ever met posts their work on this site (and many others) because they want to share with the world the things they feel they can't say out loud. But this dev view system really has a way of kicking you in the teeth when you feel you've attempted that very feat. So we retract.

We begin to question our push forward and that hinders our movements. Especially if you're like me and have to teach yourself everything you know through observation, tutorials and books. We see these numbers and trends, these people passing us up as road blocks that crash to the ground every time we feel we're at our current goal.

^----This can all cause art block.

Personal problems and financial burdens

It's a craptastic economy, we're all mostly in debt and even worse off if you're an artist and there are no jobs that match your skill set. Tensions are high, anxiety shaking you to the bones. Political upheaval every time you turn on the TV.

Life sux

The things in our lives tend to either block us from going forward or push us in the desired direction..or even back, if you're a scientist. ...you know. As Nian said in Stargate SG-1: "I am a scientist. A step in any direction is still progress." _{...something to that effect.}

Here's what you do:

(and yes, I'll be following my own advice and if it works for me, I'll be starting an Artist Anonymous group, right here on DA.)

First, if you're having a problem in your life that is getting in the way of your creative energy I would say, instead of trying to draw through it, try taking care of that problem first. If the problem is time sensitive, ie you can't drop everything to tackle it like Emmitt Smith in the good ol' days then don't worry about it until you CAN take care of it.

Once this problem has been kicked off the edge of the cliff like Smeagol in the lavas of Mount Doom, reflect upon any life lesson this problem may have taught you and pat yourself on the back. You not only learned something for later in life but you also learned something your dear original characters can use in your story process later.

Another idea is to become excited about the problems in your life. I know this seems like a bizarre approach but if you head into what appears to be a bad situation with a gung-ho 'tude from the get-go, you can inspire the people around you like a beacon of hope that any problem can be overcome with a little positive influence.

If you're like me and "positive" just isn't in your programming, might I suggest 'calm' at the very least. But I have a horrid temper so...yeah. :|

Carry a sketchbook

I say this all the time but if you're a serious artist and want this to be your thing you need to be drawing all the time, even during bad times. I know this is sort of contradictory to what I just got done rambling about but sketching, at the very least, will also help you get through a problem. Use that opportunity to draw expressions or gestures that require a little more...passion (anger) behind the lines. Use that energy and turn it into art.

Try other forms of art

Always wanted to try paints? AWESOME! Do it when you feel you can't draw. Pull up some how-to on color mixing and teach yourself about the color wheel and how to use gamut masks. Get some super sculpy and create a model for whatever reason makes you feel happy.

Try a craft. Buy some wood and make a clock or a weird looking spice rack for your mother (or father or anyone who likes to cook) /thumbsup

Listen to some music

Go to Pandora or another radio station and flip the stations to different genres. Let the tunes guide you. Maybe you'll even find another type of music that speaks to your creative soul and opens up new ideas and avenues you would have otherwise not considered.

I listen to different genres when I'm drawing different things. Dubstep for fanart, alternative and showtunes for my original work, ambient and electronic for random not-categorized art. There's an entire musical world out there that reinforces everything you do. Music can also hinder you. If you're listening to a song and you feel the urge to slaughter Alliance Gnomes in WoW instead of drawing, flip the station until your hands feel like sketching. :nod:

:iconforthehordeplz:

"Copy" someones art

I hate this but it's worth mentioning.  We all do it, we've all done it and if you say you haven't you're a dirty, rotten liar.

Go to your favorite persons DA or art piece and find the one that inspires you the most. Put it side by side a blank canvas in your program of choice and draw the ENTIRE composition, top to bottom. Color it if it's colored, add all the details...you get the picture.

NOW WHEN YOU DO THIS: Don't copy the STYLE of the persons work. If you're working on your own anatomy style or line style, use your own twists and turns to guide you through the process.  For example if I wanted to draw this:

"Mommy Dearest" -Pupukachoo on DA

I would draw Xellos the way I normally draw him. (I would also not post this rework if I ever did it)

Do this a few times. You'll not only learn something but you'll begin to train your brain into the kind of work and time it takes to create a masterpiece.

(I wouldn't post these compositions though due to trolls but if you do, put them in your scraps or post the original next to yours and let the original artist know what you're doing. As long as you give advanced warning most people are pretty cool about that sort of thing... Most...)

Exercise your body and mind

Yeah, go stretch, go for a walk, read some books on astrophysics JUST because you can. (can you all tell I like space yet?) Go dig holes in the ground and find some feldspar.... Explore another interest or something you've always liked to try.

For me? I've always wanted to take a horse out onto the plains with a telescope and a dog and stargaze.

These are also life lessons. The more you learn, the more art material you have to work with in your head and the better your stories will be because you'll have experience.

Museums are also gold mines of ideas and innovation.


---------------------------------

This post is humongous. It is for a reason and if I actually sat down and applied more thought into this journal, it would be a book.

A VERY LONG and SNARLING MONSTER of a book!

    

Like this one!

Only with an angry Leonardo DaVinci on the front posed like Uncle Sam in those propaganda posters telling you to buy war bonds.

Yeah...

It's finished!

One Law by *djwagLmuffin on deviantART

So I finally finished it and posted it a few days ago...and now that *I've* had a chance to look at it again, I'm thinking my shadows might need some improvement BUT tis a giant step forward, people! FORWARD!

My goal for the next month and a half is to settle on a coloring style. I'm also still studying manga when I have a minute as well as trucking forward with both my original title and Doujinshi. I'm hoping to be finished with Slayers: Divine by December/January. Which could totally happen if I stick my nose to the grind stone. I'm also looking at attempting to apply for Comiket 2013 so...let's hope it works out.

Ayee, processes!

 

So here I am with my first art process blog. I posting this because I'm hoping in doing so I can formulate new avenues of approach and also allowing people to give me opinions on a better platform then DA. This way you and I can see the step by step  way I execute my compositions without me having to reload and hope that someone notices the changes.

Anyway, the top portion was the finished line work for Luna Inverse, Lina Inverse's big sister in the Slayers universe. She is an enigma of a character that I have taken a great fascination with. She and I connected on some level, mostly because as personality and situations go we have a lot in common. She's militant, I'm militant. She's a waitress, I'm a waitress. She's the oldest, I'm the oldest. She's scary, I'm scary. I swear it's creepy. Except I would NEVER wear that GOD AWFUL pink thing she's wearing. Ever. NEVER*.

*You know...unless I somehow managed to land myself an otaku boyfriend who was into that sort of thing... >.>

***ANYWAY***

I eventually finished the background characters as shown below. I believe Gourry and Dilgear (aka Spot) still need a little bit of work and I might tinker with Xellos a bit more just to give them some more life but we'll see. I don't want them to overpower Luna who is the exhibition in this piece. 

I then laid out the first run with colors. Again, I think the pink she wears is just terrible. It's doesn't say "I'm the most powerful human in the world" at all BUT that's one of the reasons why I like this character so much. She's insane powerful (as my interpretation of her goes) and you would have never known by these colors. For her traveling outfit I mix some deep violet, teal (to compliment her hair) and silvers. 

I am still trying to find my thing. My technique..something that is recognizable as mine, but I'm not sure how well that's working out. Granted, people know my style and the way I draw but not the way I color. I know I can do much better and I've been practicing, I promise. For the bottom preview, I started working more with different tools: Water, marker and blend. I like them all except the marker tool. For some reason I can't get them to reproduce the results I want that others seem to get. When I watch videos on SAI nobody talks about what tools and settings they use so I generally have to wing it. Lately I've just been watching the video and working towards my own results and I've gotta tell you, I've dabbled in just about everything, but I think it may be coming around. I think my use of colors will also improve once I figure it out.

 And finally we move onto where I am now. I finished her skin, hair and boots and changed her top to white, following a little closer to her canon picture. I also adjusted the color of her boots just a touch. Another problem I tend to have is I think too far ahead with my work. I'm always trying to rush so taking my time and doing a good job is a recent phenom. There's another piece that has stark light behind my Troll hunter and that one is kicking my ass. It's not the detail I'm having problems with, it's lighting and color choices. So this is going to be a good test, but I'll tell ya'. I have about 4 pieces I haven't submitted because I had the expressed intention of coloring them but am hesitating. 

I promise I'm working on it. I want to get better so the message I'm trying to convey in my stories will come across better. especially in my colored pieces.

~DJ~

Allpose: Finally here!

Allpose on Ebay!

I am pleased to announce that Allpose has brought its amazing resource here to the USofA.

What is Allpose?

Allpose is a set of books created for anyone looking for that perfect pose. The books are designed for animators, comickers and designers! Anyone who wants to add more movement and depth to their art!

Book Details:

•     70-72 Poses (equaling 2000+ images) per book
•     Full character turn-arounds including worm's eye, bird's eye and profiles.
•     Back cover pagination for quick flip, making the search for that perfect pose convenient.
•     A-5 size paper (the size of each volume)

Some pictures:

 
I have already seen an improvement in my personal artwork because of these books!

Believe me when I say THIS is the resource we are all looking for. Especially those of us who are just beyond the basic standing and sitting poses and who want to give out characters more flare.

Even better?

If you are already familiar with figure drawing, all of these poses can easily be adjusted to suit your artistic needs!

Want a FREE sample book?

Then feel free to drop me a line: djwaglmuffin@gmail.com
Subject line: Allpose sample book

Follow me on Twitter and join our Facebook group!

@djwaglmuffin
Allpose on Facebook!

Descendant

Descendant: Part One

I am pleased to announce that my official, original title "Descendant" is moving along well and Chapter one is almost finished! (yeah!)

I have huge plans for this title including: Character design sheets, history lesson webtoons, backstory compilation books, posters, prints, pins, you name it. This is my baby.

But, I have a waitressing job so if there are any small breaks between pages you'll know why. I figured I should let everyone know about this because despite my want and desire to make my book my everything I really can't. Bills beckon!

~dj

Reclaiming my lost blog

It's been at least a year or so since I've updated this thing. Seriously? I'm no good at this blogging thing. I was trying it on Tumblr but I have no real interest in talking to people on that which is why I like the Tweeter much better. ANYHOO, before I join the ramblin' man I think I should set some parameters on what I'll be blogging about:

• Art and a jumble of "how-to" so I can feel like I'm helping the average person with theirs
• Occasional politics. I love politics. 
• My life here in the Pitt and other such randomness.

^--all of this hinging on the fact that I actually remember to talk every once in a while.

I'm also going to use this as a platform to share some of my comic book so follow along everyone! This journey should be fun!

 Sleepy Xellos?