2010 Wrap Ups

Last batch of Island Girls

Monkey Business

I'm wrapping up one or two more pictures for 2010. Lets see where the next year will take me. :D

Saron, child of water

Aaah...after inking for a whole month, I finally was able to take time to color something today.

This picture shows what Saron professes in. He's a fisherman. A very talented one, so he spends a lot of time in the water. If I were to equate an element with him, it would be water. So expect more Saron pictures that are water themed.

This was a nice warm up to get into the swing of things but I really feel I should make another one. XD

Edit: Two hours later and I figured out what was bothering me about this picture. I forgot to add a blue hue, because evidently, Saron is UNDERWATER. It looks so much better now, haha.

Meet Jolly

Hey there. Meet a new member to my clown family, this is Jolly! As his name implies, he's quite happy. In fact, he's happy all the time. Quite a balance between Connie who is a very sad clown. But thats why they become good friends. However, as often as Jolly attempts to make Connie smile, she can't. But she's glad to have him around anyway. :)

I have a whole explainable/story about how my clowns work, so its safe to say you will never see Jolly sad, and you will never see Connie happy. Maybe I'll delve into that later, but for now, this is all in fun (and therapeutic too).

This is close to what I have in mind for Jolly's design but I need to tweak some things and he'll be ready. I can't wait to draw him more.

As for Isola, unfortunately, I burned out right at the end! I'm eight pages away from being finished with inking. No worries, after a week break, I'm going to get it done and then start coloring. I've already started writing the second chapter and I'm happy with what I have so far. Anyway, off to finish off Jolly. What adventures will come out of he and Connie? =D

A quiet November

But I am not dead. :D

November I'm going to be concentrating on inking ALL of Isola's pages. And to push me, I'm participating in Nanomango for the whole month. If you want a sneak peek of Isola, with dialogue and everything, be sure to go there. I'm posting two pages everyday until everything is finished.

Exciting! So while I'll have no time to post here, my work is going all towards there.

So in essence, see you in December~!

Fail cover, oh wells

You win some, you lose some. And this time, I lost. I played with this image so many times I'm sick of working on it. It's so...overcrowded and random. No composition what so ever (even when that's not my strong point). So basically after a whole year of trying to finish it, I'm throwing in the towel finally. It's time to start fresh! But it wouldn't be fair not to show my efforts at least.

So before I leave for my trip, I'm going to try and draft a new cover for Isola since this one fell through. By the way, I finished penciling all the pages! Exciting!

When I return from Japan, I'm going to ink the pages, show a bit of progress, then coloring, yadda yadda. I'm very proud that I've gotten this far with this project. =D

So until then, see ya at the end of this month, ya'll. I'm off to adventure and inspiration.

Island Girls a Workin'

Had these sitting on my sketchbook and decided to give them some color. I was burnt out on drawing comic things, that I was achin' to color something. ANYTHING. And this truely hit the spot.

This style of drawing and coloring is quite addicting and I plan on making more. So hopefully I'll get around to a few more in between penciling this comic of mine. *points to the comic meter on the right* We're sooo close~!

Back to work

Working hard on Isola. These are two finished pages I inked. But I'm getting along with sketching them so I can ink the rest in one full sweep. I like this new version of the story already. :)

Listen

Surrounded by people, they will always hear you. But, they just don't listen.

Expressive piece.

Just Breathe

Expressive Piece.

Thought Ballons

Too much to think about. Let me out!

Expressive Piece.

Caged

Expressive piece.

Sorry for my absence. ;(

On the Sweet Island

I've been doing a lot of warm up sketches before I worked on real pictures or comic pages. I doodled up these three ladies (who currently have no names) and they just turned out to have life on their own. There are more doodles of them that I wish to finish. I just colored them for fun. :D

I also did a test print of these on glossy paper on my own printer and gosh...it turned out so nice a crispy! I will make more of these ladies, in fact, I may just go ahead and make them the header of this blog. It needs a makeover anyway. I know it seems that I've been doing nothing but "island" themed pics, but I'm constantly trying to keep in the mode when working on Isola. Plus it's summer so it feels good to.

More soon~!

The unturned pages

So since I'm redoing Isola, I figured I'd show the pages that I stopped on. The rest up to page 10 are nothing but thumbnailed squiggles but the last page is the best you're going to get regarding my sketch phase. One thing I have a problem with, is that Kylie and Annie look different on each page and each panel. It IRKS me. Not to mention some of their faces are just plain ugly.
One of the better pages, actually my favorite. I started getting better with each page that I started on. But now now, I started to wind down. I was not happy with this entire process.
And this is what I sketch over before I start inking. Nasty stuff, right? I'm doing a new method. I want my pencils cleaned up nice so inking wont be a problem. I shouldn't have to guess what I'm inking over, thats why my inking is less than desired.

My page paneling is going to be better this time around since I'm thumbnailing and preparing in advance. I'm practicing drawing the characters more, so they should look the same with each page that's done. I'm really, really trying. This should hold you guys over until I get the real stuff done. ;)

IF: Diary

In Isola, there's not really a time to write down your feelings or confessions in a book. Rather, they are these secret sharing tiki's among the island that you can give your juicy details to. They won't tell and they won't judge. :D

I always relied on friends to tell my feelings to. They are my diaries. I wanted to express that with the friendship between Annie and Kylie. They do have a bit to talk about. Oh and the secret tiki's wouldn't mind keeping such thoughts locked up as well.

Kylie Design - Finale

And here are my "final" Kylie designs. You can tell she hasn't changed at all aside from her dress. No longer in the fake muumuu, she is now wearing a nice pattern dress. :)

I love Kylie. Her personality is already well rounded, though I'm still trying to get to know everybody else. She's often scheming things in an attempt to help solve problems but sometimes they don't work out, causing trouble and embarrassment for everybody else. Case in point, her trying to match Annie and Saron together.

Kylie is also very intuned to other people's feelings, which she hopes her cheery demeanor will not allow anyone to be sad. Kylie is proud of where she comes from, so she's passionate about getting Isola back to the way it was by any cost. She, along with Saron, are very knowledgeable about the island and it's legends so they educate Annie (and the reader) about things throughout the story.

Okay now that's done. I'm slugging along with getting thumbnails done for the first part of Isola. And...I'm afraid it's going to run up to 50 pages!! It's insane. I wonder if I can break it up into two parts. Originally the story is supposed to be about 8 to 10 chapters long but if all the chapters are as long as this one, then it may be double. And I wasn't planning on spending that much time on this story. We'll see. But I'll push through.

Saron's designs are next and then Akua's. Both shouldn't take long since I already know what they look like. I just need reference. Seeya.

Annie Redux - Finale

Ooh, even in school I had a hard time with turn arounds! I will keep practicing until I get it right! Nevertheless, here's Annie's final design and colors. If I improve...maybe I'll make a new turn around. I doubt it though.
And a batch of expressions. She's defenitly more expressive than her first design that's for sure. And it's fun drawing her this way. I got a new idea of whi she really is. She's actually more motherly, despite being extremely immature and uncultured at times.

I was sick this whole week so it defenitly slowed me down, I would have had these done earlier but I still met my deadline, phew. So I have to decide what's next. Should I go on to another character or explore Annie a bit more. Well, to save me from becoming bored, I think I should move on to Kylie. The only new thing about Kylie will be her clothes, I'm perfectly fine with the way she looks and her personality. So this will be quick.

For now, its off to bed~!

Annie Redux - Color Tests

First color test of Annie. The one to the top right was my first attempt (I always start on the top right when I draw...maybe its a leftie thing) and her colors weren't right. I'm still...unsure about her reddish brown hair. It grows on me, because it's fitting with the variety of looks on Isola. Not everyone has ebony hair.

I'm more comfortable with her looks, but now I just have to tighten her design. Should she keep the beads in her hair or not? They remind me of how Dazzni wears her's...but with good reason. Dazzni is actually related to Annie? But how? Well...I did say that Isola is a possible prequel to Pumpkin Hollow. :)

Anyway, I'm starting to round off Annie's character. She has a hobby. She likes beads. She's pretty excitable and is one to speak before thinking. She's also uncultured...so this should be very funny. I will be drawing a few more sketches of her before making a finalized picture with color keys.

And then, off to my second favorite character. Kylie~!

Annie Redux - She's got the look

Yup, it's Annie's new look. Honest to goodness, Annie is probably going to go through changes upon changes. Personally I felt her first look was too much like Maggy's. I know it seems silly, but hey, this is me. Its all in the attitude as well. I have a habit of making all my star girls, spunky and headstrong. I needed to break out of that formula and try something new, with a new look as well.
Annie was born on Isola, but moved to the city, spending most of her life there. Originally, she got a letter from Kylie asking her to come back to help bring the island back to it's original splendor. I was torn between going that route, or shipping Annie unwillingly to Isola where she developed a bad attitude problem because she had to leave the city. It wouldn't balance well, since Akua is already a nasty brat in the story, there's no need for two!
As I sketched the new Annie, her new personality started to show on paper. I have to decide how she's going to be and keep in mind that she is a true city girl. How would I be if I suddenly had to stay on an island, with no cars, no computers, no phone signal! A humitidy! Think about how she's going to deal with all that hair!

I'm going to continue to sketch Annie out. Flesh out her new expressions and do some full bodies. My style of drawing Isola is also going to change. I want the characters to appear more squishy. Tiny necks with fat arms and small hands. Did you notice her huge eyes? I thought I'd stay away from huge eyes every since I broke away from drawing anime. But it works here. :)

More sketching for me.

Breaking promises II

Okay shock and horror first. Explanation down below.

I'm finally posting my Isola pages. Why? Because I'm not continuing this way anymore. WAIT DONT PANIC. I'M NOT QUITTING. But can you see? How bad this is? I know promised that I wouldn't redraw these pages and start over. But come on, this is awful. Even I can't stand it.

I knew from the start I wasn't going about this the right way. No thumbnails, not enough concepts, I only had a script and a few character designs. And all this was done on the computer when I know, I myself feel limited when I draw straight from the tablet. My drawings are more charming on paper, I feel more comfortable. I'm not obligated to rush through like I've done here (as well as Get a Clue). Isola is a very special story (aren't they all? lol) and I can't see it go down like this. I can't cheat myself on background and coloring, because the world of Isola is very cultural and vibrant. I did research to get enough inspiration, should I not follow through with the rest?

I'm personally glad I saw this within myself. I opened up the folder and couldn't believe I thought I was doing a good job somewhat. So once again, I'm not quitting. Yes, I'm starting over even when I said I would not. But I'm capable of better. I realize that not only could I improve on the art, but I need to practice making comic pages as well. There are many changes I'd like to make. I don't like how I'm letting the art run off the pages so much. Paneling practice will do wonders.

So in the meantime, I will continue to work through the concepts of this story. Dig deep into the world of Isola and explore the personality of the characters more. Annie needs more fleshing, especially if she's the star. I really don't want her to be a Maggy clone. This is a personal journey for me and I'd like to welcome you guys along. This will also prompt me to make a decent concept portfolio and even perhaps I'll get to print a book like I want to. All in all, this story is not done.

But I have so much work to do. Right now, I'm going to start fleshing out my characters again, since it's the most fun part to me. :D I'm pretty excited.

Fanart Centric Part 2

Okay these are out of my system now the real work begins. (though I still will be doing more fanart, I just wont post most of them here for obvious reasons).

Fanart Centric

Sorry...I've been obsessed lately. :D

Get a Clue: The Prodigal Son

And you thought I forgot about Get a Clue? :)

More drama in the Robinson household with Solo, as she deals with the ever annoying (yet dashingly cute) twin brother Eddy. Mom and Dad are on the scene and so enters Omar, the eldest brother. But why is he coming home...?

Okay, I have a long post ahead, couple of things happening (or happened).

Firstly, I hit another art block, that's nothing new. I wasted time on an idea and wound up not being productive at all. Had a case of the sads for a few weeks and I needed to work on something more...happy. So I put Isola on hold to get back to Get a Clue. That's what it's there for, you know? I learned to work through my creative ADD, thats why I have two projects (*possibly four, but more on that later).

I found these...old, OLD pages of Get a Clue. Ugh, they are horrid. But I promised myself that I wouldn't redraw them. I have to move forward. So I finished these as quickly as possible. Quite fast, mind you. Because everything is simple on these pages. There are no backgrounds, no dimensions. I should be ashamed of myself! But I'm not. The next part will contain all of those. And I changed dad's name back to Lloyd. I love the name Lloyd.

The characters are inconsistent and off model. They also lack proper expressions. I know it seems like I'm ripping these pages apart but this is true. I know how bad they are. I strive to get better. I'm excited to practice things. I'm riding on an artistic drive, so there's lots I want to do before it runs out. Oh yes, lots of fun projects happening. :) I even made a check list.

So anyway, semi-update on life and arts. More exciting things to come perhaps? Of course!

Akua - Dance of Fire

Yay! I finally finished an illustration, with all traditional media no less. ;D I'm actually fairly proud of this one. I feel I can grow more working with traditional media (especially with mixing colors) but this is pretty good for now.

I intended on submitting this somewhere but didn't make it on time so, oh well. It was a stress reliever anyway. The hot coals! GAH! They took me forever to draw and to color! But I didn't want to give up.

This is actually a spoiler pic. Akua does dance on fire during the comic but he wears a lot more haha. I hope I can get an idea of what to do for Annie and Saron. I will prolly do another one of Kylie too since I gave up on the last pic. Hope you enjoy. I need to get back to the comics.

Isola: Page 6 preview

Sweet reunion of cousins. =D

I love Annie but gah, Kylie is such a sweet heart. I need to develop everybody a little bit more so I can express them properly in the pages. I have to admit, I did kind of jump into this.

Also I did much better on this page than I did my other pages. But still, I'm going back to pencil and pen after this.

Not much to say. Tired. I'm going to be spending time getting an illustration going before going on with the next pages. I need to get it done before Friday, ssh. :)

Isola: Page 5: preview

And there is Aunt Julia. Congrats, you met all of Annie's family. OH WAIT, you haven't met grandpa yet. Well...he's coming a lot later.

This page turned out better than the last one but still, I would have been done sooner had I not start to change so many things. The computer makes you bend comic rules a bit with all the undos and ctrl alt z's. This will be remedied, since I already have up to page 10 thumbnailed on the computer, after that, I'm doing all my pencils and inks by hand. I found that my drawings are defenitly more expressive when I do it on paper.

And less static. So yes.

I will get started on page 6 tonight for it to be finished tomorrow and then inking 7-10! If I could get at least to page 15 done before June...I'd be incredibly happy. I'm going to work hard to get there. Thanks everybody for the kind words. More soon!

Isola: Page 4 preview

Welcome to Isola! Everybody say hi to uncle Monty.

Finally done with this page. And I must say, going through this comic (even if it is just the 4th page) is still a learning process. I fear that my lineless backgrounds could either make or break this comic. I struggled hard with this one, another reason why it took so long, save for the computer drama. I'm not very satisfied with this page. I need guidelines for the backgrounds. So unless I have a solid sketch underneath, I shouldn't bother because it takes longer.

I will wait until the end of this segment to determine if I'm going to continue the lineless background, or mix and match. Either way...the backgrounds on this page are pretty...uh...looks like a 1st grader did it. =( But I'm determined to get better at it! That's why I'm doing this. To have fun and to learn. I also realized me working on one page at a time gets them done faster. Hmm.

I'm going to prep the next page and hopefully it'll be ready in a day or two. I have a little bit more time on my hands for now. I have up to page 10 sketched out, so it's still time to go, go, go. I'm still hoping to launch this thing in June. We'll see...

Back in business

I'm working. Working. Working! Honest. :)

No news is not so good news

Bad news. April was a bad month. A very bad month. *grumbles*

Ontop of which, the main deal is, my computer died. And although I should be getting a new one in a few days, it slowed me down with drawing and comic works. I'm heavily disappointed. So disappointed, that I just stopped drawing altogether. What was the point?
That was a very bad attitude and I was encouraged by a few to continue as best I could. I've kept myself busy to not be sad about things so that took up time as well. I managed to scramble a few hours to myself yesterday and drew something that renewed my love for markers and pencils.

Kylie from Isola!(close up)

This was a lot of fun. Plenty of mistakes, smudges and inconsistencies, but I learned a little more than before and plus this just started off as a doodle. No planning, not much thought behind it. It was just for fun. But MY GOSH, I still love it. Dont think I'll finish it. I already ruined it enough already haha.

I want to make solo pics of everybody else and also a group pic. But hey, I still need to catch up on comic pages! So much to do! ...but alas with no computer, it makes things harder. *wilts*

Sorry, I'm working hard. I promise. Until next time when my shiny computer comes home~