Hello, 2012

It’s now 2012, and I can hardly believe it. I’m not sad to see 2011 go, but I just don’t feel like the year has changed.

Over the winter I’ve been working as a volunteer Graphic Designer for the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, Inc. (BCNC for short), and I’m having a ton of fun working with their projects. I’m illustrating a Dragon logo based on the upcoming Chinese New Year Zodiac creature, and I’m designing the BCNC’s invitations for their 2012 Chinese New Year Banquet. I’ll be posting pictures as soon as the invitations go out to the public. Then I’ll be working on one more project for the BCNC in relation to the Chinese New Year, but I can’t say just yet what it is because it hasn’t started yet. I’m really looking forward to adding these projects to my portfolio as I’m really proud of how they’ve turned out.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year I’m looking forward to picking up some great Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals over the internet. I learned my lesson a few years ago not to bother with going to the stores to join in on the stampede, but to rather go online and keep track of daily deals and the such. With that lesson learned, I managed to pick up Poser Debut for a little more than fifty percent off. I’m very much a visual artist, and I think this investment will really help improve my characters’ anatomy and fluidity.

The Nightmare Before Halloween

The Northeast was hammered by a winter snow storm that did more damage than anyone had expected, mostly because the trees hadn’t dropped their leaves, and the wet snow weighed the branches down to their breaking point. Many people were without power for several days, and some are still without power. Most of the snow has melted, and Halloween trick-or-treaters are only now starting to make their postponed candy rounds. My home was mostly undamaged from the storm and falling branches, and we only lost power for a mere 24hours. While I was able to use my cellphone to check the internet and do some drawing in the quiet, it was still an ordeal that I would not want to go through again any time soon.

Virus, begone!

Last week I discovered someone had hacked my website and inserted some code for their sites that were known to carry malware. According to Google, my site did not transmit any malware or viruses, and thanks to their webmaster tools, I was able to clean and repair my site. I’ve also added some new security measures that will hopefully prevent any chances of a repeat infection. The one good outcome of the infection is that my site is now the number one result when my name is Googled.

As usual, new art is in the works and will be posted soon. Thank you for returning to view my site.

Origami under the Umbrella

Yesterday I visited MICE, and had a great time looking over everyone’s tables. I purchased a few minicomics and handed out my business cards. I hope I will be able to meet more local comics artists, and I definitely wany to obtain a table next year. In the meantime, I plan to visit the Boston Comics Roundtable more often and continue to try to meet more artists. There’s a lot of talent out here!

On October 1st, I’ll be participating in the Emerson Umbrella’s Origami Festival. While the main theme is to showcase and sell origami crafts, I’ll also be selling my mini-comics, buttons, and magnets. If you’re in the area, please stop by!

And we’re back

After a month of frenzied packing, moving, redecorating, painting, and finally unpacking, I am mostly up and running. Updates will still be slow as I continue to try to get my feet back on the ground, but I am beginning to get back to my many art projects.

Some cool news is all six of my minicomics are now being carried by local comic shops The Million Year Picnic and New England Comics. I really appreciate that these stores carry local minicomics. Please check them out and see what other local independent comic artists are making.

I’m also very excited to check out the upcoming Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo. Unfortunately I’m too late in obtaining a table, but I’m definitely planning on visiting them, especially since it’s FREE!

Heading back

Here’s some crazy news: I’m heading back to Massachusetts! It’s all very sudden, but going to be very helpful for my career. Unfortunately this means I had to, and did, cancel my spot at Kumoricon’s Artist Alley this year. I really appreciate that I was given the opportunity to rejoin their community, but now another can take my spot. I hope everyone who goes has a great time! I’m looking forward to seeing all the pictures.

So my eyes are now locked on Anime Boston 2012. Please wish me luck as I regain my footing in the very humid, and very hot East Coast!

Art projects and appearances

While I’ve been wishing for Samurai Trooper figures, I’ve also been working diligently on several art projects. Here’s a list of what’s been in the works:

Kumoricon 2012 Mascot – due July 10th/DONE
Tankadere 2: Tech vs. Magic – due Sept. 10th
Seven Deadly Sins Samurai Trooper fanart illustration – due Aug. 30th
Fireworks & Fireflies Samurai Trooper fanart illustration – due Sept. 5th
Personal various anime fanart illustrations – ongoing
Personal comic work – ongoing

My mascot entry was accepted, and I’ll be adding it to my gallery soon! I’m really happy with it this time, and even if I don’t win, I feel like I learned a lot. There’s hardly any comparison between it and my entry for 2011! Look for it in the Design section soon!

I’m also trying to get into Kumoricon’s 2011 Artist Alley again, and will hopefully be hearing about that very soon!

Ouch. My wallet…

So just after Tenkuu no Touma and Rekka no Ryo recolor are announced, comes news of the great Kikoutei special release to be available for preorder on July 8th!

As with Touma and Ryo, Kikoutei is an exclusive. Luckily, a few companies have already picked up the post of “middleman” and are already offering Touma and Ryo at varying price-hikes. I’ve seen them on eBay, but I have never used it for preorders. Another option is Big Bad Toy Store.com, which gets a lot of great reviews and is in the USA, but their prices for being a second middleman prohibit me from obtaining two of each figure as I want. The last choice is to go with a middleman direct from Japan. Oh, the woes of first world problems.

Have a happy July 4th!