Characters and costumes

I have several art projects in the works, and luckily my comic is amongst them. Here are some compiled snapshots of character and costume designs for the comic:

A minion, the main anti-hero, and the main character:

The heroes:

I am constantly reminded of how much skill and knowledge I need to accumulate just so I can create a believable world and unique characters. Comic artists will often need to gain skills in graphic design, fashion design, architecture, and typography, and we also have to dabble in several other professions like biology, geography, and astronomy. For now, I just need to design three more characters and a building, and then I can start drawing the actual comic.

Bubble Tea for the busy artist

While in college, I developed a taste for bubble tea, and would get one with my college work-study coworker. Over time, the local store closed, and I moved away to Oregon. Luckily for me, bubble tea exists and thrives in Oregon, and with the warm weather fast approaching, I find myself purchasing more of these tasty concoctions. My favorite place to get them is the nearby Bubble Bubble Tea store.

Here is a view of the inside of the uniquely designed store:

My favorite Bubble Bubble Tea concoction is the Mocha Coffee Slushy:

It’s a great snack and a cool drink combined into one. Not only is it delicious, it also improves my creativity and productivity. One of these giant drinks will give me enough buzz to keep me drawing well into the night. I’ll be drinking a lot of these when I get to drawing my comic’s pages.

Food is love

I grew up in Massachusetts, and was always able to get great Chinese food either by my Gramma’s cooking or from Chinatown. When I left for college in Minnesota, I found a distinct lack of my favorite dishes, but I managed to survive by finding replacements for Chinese food. I developed a taste for Vietnamese and Japanese foods. Sadly, those favorite foods and restaurants were also left behind when I moved further west to Oregon.

Luckily, Portland, Oregon, has a Chinatown, and while it’s sparse and seemingly abandoned when compared to Boston or San Francisco, a few great restaurants remain to tide tourists and Lan Su Chinese Garden visitors over. I found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that mimics some of my favorite dishes from Boston.

This is the House Special Pan-Seared Noodle dish:

And this dish, Soy Sauce Chicken and Rice Combination Plate, is only available on the weekends:

It all definitely hits the spot and is a nice taste of my childhood. Visit Portland’s Chinatown, and be sure to stop by Chen’s Good Taste Restaurant for some great food.

“W” is for Workshop

On Friday I presented a comics workshop to the students of the Whitford Middle School, and I had a ton of fun seeing the students flex their creative muscles.

Here are some pictures of the presentation:

Here is a picture of a comic page I created specifically to display at the workshop:

The students were a pleasure to work with, and they created some interesting stories. One disheartening aspect of these workshops is how often the students will say to me: “I don’t know how to draw that”, and due to time limitations, I can only advise them to try their best. In reality, most students are drawing very well for their age group, and I tell them that they have plenty of time ahead of them to practice and improve their craft.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: “There are no shortcuts or secret formulas to creating art; I can offer ideas and guidance, and show how I draw and how I compose an image, but in the end, the path to being an artist is like the path to enlightenment: you must find your own way.”

Go back to the source

When I was younger, I would spend some summer days in my grandma’s apartment watching TV while my parents worked. One of my favorite memories is of seeing a strange cartoon, very unlike the standard Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, or any other mindless children’s show of the time. I was only able to catch a glimpse of the second half of the episode, and I wouldn’t see the entire series until I was in high school, but it captured my imagination.

The show was an anime called Ronin Warriors, and I blame it for turning me into a comic artist.

High school and college have come and gone, and Ronin Warriors has vanished from most anime radars, but its influence on me remains. Now that I have the time and creative freedom, I’ve gone back to Ronin Warriors, found my inspiration, and drafted up twenty-seven chapters of my current, and most ambitious, comic project.

At twenty-seven chapters half of the story has been written and sits at a major turning point. While the second “season” stews in my mind, I’m again, reworking costume designs and getting to know my characters. I hope to have material to share soon, as this project is consuming most of my creative output.

Creating a comic is no small feat, and while this project is time-consuming and creatively intensive, I’m feeling artistically fulfilled for the first time. Wish me luck in avoiding writer’s and artist’s block.

“A” is for Art

On Friday, May 7th, I had the pleasure of participating in Jackson Middle School’s Multicultural day where I presented two workshops on the same subject: Manga and Anime Illustration. I was able to utilize my experiences with the library to streamline the lesson and provide a stronger sense of what the course goal was: to understand the underlying artistic trends that permeate Japanese illustrations and to implement them in an illustration.

This time I made it very clear to each session that I am unable to teach all the elements of design, illustration, or even drawing basics within a 55 minute course, and I think the kids respected that. My impressions were also that the students were also able to better relax and have fun without the pressures of drawing skill levels or style emulation looming over them.

I was surprised that several students asked if I had a deviantart account, and so I had to say no. I did, however, provide my portfolio address, and perhaps some might drop by.

(Edit: 5/26/10: I realize I don’t have permission to show the students’ faces, so I’ve removed the pictures. My apologies if anyone was offended.)

I have another workshop coming up in two weeks, and the Spring 2010 Making Comics course is nearly over. The completion of these events are coinciding with the finalization of my comic’s story. I hope to use the summer months to draw it and potentially turn it into a webcomic. Wish me luck!

Weird weather

Spring’s transition into summer has been full of very restless weather with pockets of pouring rain and hail, bouts of blustering winds, and a few stray spots of sunshine. This wacky weather pattern makes it very hard to dress for going out, but on one occassion, I was in my car when I got a view of a whole rainbow WITH a mirror rainbow next to it! I quickly pulled into a vacant business parking lot so I could snag some pictures.

It sits on the edge of the passing storm:

Amazingly, I saw the end of the rainbow:

Too bad there wasn’t any gold there, but I found it to be a great experience nonetheless. It’s a reminder that there is an opportunity to discover something new and beautiful every day!

WIP fan art print preview

I’m a bit rusty with my inking and have been struggling to get back into it. What better way than to create fan art for practice?

Here’s a sneak peek at half of a Final Fantasy VII piece:

More to come soon.

Pictureless progress

This past week has been full of writing and drawing, though I have no scans to show of it. I’ve been diligently working on getting my comic’s story written out while also revising character designs. One of the hardest parts of creating a story is naming things like the characters, world-specific items, and the story itself. One of my students asked what the title of my comic is, and I couldn’t really answer him.

On a side note, Zack Corcoran and I are attempting to obtain an Artist Alley spot at this year’s KumoriCon. Wish us luck, and hopefully I will have some news about that soon. I have a few illustration pieces I want to revise for it, and I want to create some new stuff too.

In the meantime, I have a few appearances coming up in May as part of two schools’ events. I’m scrambling to organize everything, but my fingers are crossed that it will all go well.

Sketches and scones

I’ve been wrestling with a comic idea for some time and managed finished up some character sketches and clothing designs. I recently decided to scrap the art and start over.

Here is a picture of those sketches before they’re off to the recycling bin:

While it’s disheartening to have to revise the designs, I have an easy hobby and, consequently, a treat to help cheer myself up: baking chocolate chip scones.

When I was a work-study in college, one of my supervisors would often bring chocolate chip scones from a local bakery, and they were delicious! I found that a very few Starbucks carried a similar concoction, but sadly, none of them are on the West Coast. I scoured the internet and found a really good recipe. I modified it a little and have been baking all winter.

These are great when fresh:

The recipe is as follows:
Ingredients-
2 and a smidge cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening or unsalted butter
1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tbs. sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
a few pinches of crystal sugar to top

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl sift together flour and sugar and add in the chocolate chips. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a separate small bowl combine the milk, egg, and vanilla extract. Combine ingredients into the large bowl and blend together until it forms a soft, crumbly dough.

Turn the dough out onto lightly floured parchment paper and knead gently until it is about 7 or 8 inches in diameter, flipping occasionally. Sprinkle with crystal sugar to cover, then cut into 8 wedges. Pierce the tops a few times with a knife or once with a fork, and then place onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes and serve hot.

If you try your hand at this recipe, please let me know how it turned out for you. Enjoy!