'Descendant' Promotion Events

Hello my minions!

I want to let you know I am holding a few events:

1. Yeah!! I hit 70 fans on Manga Magazine and 60 on Smackjeeves today! I'm still waiting for 100 so that I can draw you fun art! These will be separate so 2 people have an opportunity to receive free art.

Also:

I would like to encourage everyone to SHARE the links provided. Every share and every fan, especially on Smackjeeves, allows me one step closer to being the success I wish to be, but I can't do it without your help. If you have any social media outlets, please use them. I will do my very best to reward you all for the effort in a great story and great and evolving art as well as bigger and better events and goodies revolving around 'Descendant'. Also, don't be shy! Feel free to drop a line every once in a while and I'll do MY very best to keep you all updated as well.

Descendant on Smackjeeves


2. Title page art: I am accepting title page submissions to attach to my chapters as the story progresses (on Descendant). The best of the best will be featured in the official printed books, those who do not make it into the books will be featured on my official 'Descendant' website as fanart and, eventually, be compiled into a fanart book that will be the goal for a future contest as well as printed books! :3

To view current fanart and contest entries:

Un-Chaptered Work and Fanart

Submissions must be 8x11 or 10x14 at 300 DPI. They must be of the characters in my comic and be done to the best of your abilities. All fanart will be featured on Smackjeeves.

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I am letting you all know that I start printing in October and since some of these companies have page minimums, that will mean I want to fill the blank pages with art from not just me but also from you! How cool would it be to see YOUR art in a book?

Also, as an added incentive, I will be offering space after my chapters for a preview of any titles that you may want to see in print someday as an advertisement! That's right, I am offering to feature your webcomic in my book to expose you to my audience as well as anyone else who picks up the book! More details coming soon!

3. I will be resurrecting my drawing classes every Sunday at 5pm EST (or, depending on how many want to participate). These classes will go over story design, character design and general illustration. I will be running polls on my deviantart account and asking here what you all would like to go over. This will continue based on PARTICIPATION. Meaning, if nobody shows up, I will not be doing this anymore. I don't like to offer to help people and have nobody take advantage of it.

Anyway, I hope you all participate! Once money and time become more available, I'll be doing a lot more.

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?

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!

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.


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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...

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!

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?

Ffff; I need to blog more.

No, really. My lack therof has really been evident, especially since I'm supposed to be getting my name out there as a budding comic book artist!**lawoo**

Anyway, a few life updates and then onto the good stuff:

As many of you are aware I have moved to Pittsburgh, PA. Just had to get out of the south, you know? I finally got my own apartment that needs a bit of renovation and i am working on getting a new computer for my arts. The one I have no isn't really doign the job as far as graphics go so...that's on the to-do list.

Right now, I am working on a Slayers Doujinshi which can be found here:

Djwaglmuffin @ Deviantart

I'll also be posting it on smackjeeves and drunkduck as soo as the first chapter is done...which is taking quite a bit longer than I wanted it to because of all the life drama...f'ing LIFE!!

I am also planning on the business side of the spectrum but I need money...and a computer but I wonder if I can use a small business loan for all of that. I need to ask these questions. Really...the biggest thing is a computer. Once I get that I'll be flying with thsi stuff.

Get ready, I'm comin'.


Slayers Divine: Tip the scales by *djwagLmuffin on deviantART