Another WIP fan art print preview

I was trying a new outlining style for this fan art piece for Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, aka Ronin Warriors. The final print will be available for purchase during Kumoricon.

This is Ryo Sanada wearing the Kikoutei, Inferno, Armor:

Again, because this is fan art, the final version will not be posted into this site’s gallery. If you would like to follow my fan art creations, you may watch me on my new deviantart account. Please be aware that some of the fan art is old and not up to my current abilities.

Kumoricon countdown

It’s official: Kumoricon has listed Feathered Robot Productions in their exhibitors list. With a mere three weeks to get ready for the con, I’m rushing to get all my products up to date and in order. I still need to create business cards, print and punch buttons, glue magnets, fold origami, and a whole slew of other things to finish. It’s going to be a busy few weeks, but I think I’ve got most of it under control.

Here are some origami roses I’ve folded:

My camera and the poor lighting don’t do the iridescent paper justice. Currently I only have one of each color, but am contemplating making a run to the paper store to get more. I think if time allows, and the heatwave leaves, then I might.

I’m very rusty at getting ready for conventions, which is all the more reason to do the best that I can, and hopefully memories of artist alley do’s and don’ts will soon come back before it’s too late.

Contest entries are up

Now that voting has finished, Kumoricon has posted the entries for their contests, thus allowing me to now place mine into my portfolio. They may now be viewed in the Design section of my site. I’m pretty sure my mascot design didn’t win, but that just makes me want to try harder and do better for next year. The thing I will keep in mind the most is to not wait until the last minute.

Again, the winning entries will not be visible until later this month and after the convention. My fingers are crossed!

At the gardens

Wonderful weather has been washing over Portland so I visited the Rose Garden and Japanese Garden again to clear my head. The blooming roses provided a lot of inspiration for some merchandise I’m making to sell at Kumoricon.

I didn’t catch the names of these roses, but they’re pretty:

Wandering the paths of the Japanese Garden always helps to relieve my stress:

Hope everyone gets a chance to find a place and some time to relax.

In other arts

Now that the contests are over, I’ve returned my attention to my comic. There are initially three main villains. I’ve taken photos, but will have scans added to my main comic area soon.

This is Dark Energy:

This is Dark Matter:

This is Void:

These characters are very complicated to draw, and by testing out their designs, I can reexamine my art and simplify them for the comic. Right now, drawing these characters requires a lot of hatching, which is too time consuming for the lengthy comic that I have in mind, but the big spots of black will help me go faster.

Contest complete, part 2

The deadline to turn in all entries for the contest was today at 11:59:59 PM PDT, and I managed to finish and submit everything by 9:55 PM PDT. The mascot winner will not be announced until the end of Kumoricon 2010, so I won’t know anything until after the convention is over in September. Regardless, I’m hopeful that my hard work, effort and design will win.

Here is a sneak peak of part of the mascot design:

I feel a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders now.

On a side note, there was a third contest going on to design Anime News Network’s new icons. I teamed up with Zack Corcoran to form: Feathered Robot Productions studio and swiftly created a set of icons for their contest. Supposedly the contest ends tomorrow, and DVD sets are the prize for each icon. They haven’t announced which series they’re offering as rewards, but I’m still hopeful it will go well. Wish us luck!

Contest complete, part 1

After a major overhaul of a design, I’ve finished the program book cover entry for Kumoricon 2010.

Here is a sneak peak of a piece of the cover design:

I had to create and revamp several assets to insert onto the cover, and I hope it is a cohesive enough design that it will win. Once the contest is over and the winners announced, I’ll place the whole image into the Design section of my site.

Now I must rush to get the mascot design going before the deadline hits. My fingers are crossed it all goes well!

Contest cramming

Happy July 4th!

I’m currently rushing to complete artwork for two contests: designing a mascot and creating a program book cover. The deadline for both is July 18th, so please wish me luck as I finalize the designs and color everything in. Once the deadline has passed, and my entries submitted, I’ll post them.

A sign of Summer

Summers are often full of warm weather and sunshine, but this year has been oddly cool and cloudy for the Pacific Northwest. Despite the tepid temperatures, one sign of Summer still sprung forth: Spiders.

One spider created this magnificent web on our deck:

I’m not sure what species of spider this was, but it created a very stunning web. I hope this sign of summer summons warmer temperatures soon.

Summer in the Lan Su Chinese Garden

Over the rainy weekend, I spent a day wandering downtown Portland. Towards the end of the outing, I managed to slip into the Lan Su Chinese Garden, twenty minutes before closing. Due to the weather and the late hour, the garden was wonderfully empty, and I wandered through the passageways and soaked in the rare serenity. Luckily, in the last ten minutes the rain tapered off, and I managed a few photos of the tranquility.

A duck found the perfect resting spot in the lake:

The exhibit of penjing, or landscapes in miniature, was taking place by the Four-Sided Hall:

This was my favorite penjing:

Here’s a view of the Mid-lake Pavilion through the leaves of the penjing:

With warmer weather in the forecast, I hope to visit the garden again soon.