Zheph Skyre pages 47 and 48 & Happy New Years!

 I have finished up with pages 47 and 48 of Zheph Skyre. I am very glad I got these done.

I don't know where I got the idea to make Vanessa a Goth Princess, but I absolutely love the idea. In my original concept of her, she just seemed dull. She rebelled against aristocratic living, but she seemed to have nothing interesting about her compared to Zheph. I have been making many additions to this character's personality over time.

I am only showing servants here with dark skin because I wanted this fantasy world to mirror ours. Slavery was a crime, but indentured servitude of certain sorts is still a despicable issue in today's world. I wanted to show how much Vanessa is against it.

Happy New Years everyone! I will post something special tomorrow and then resume with the web comic on Friday.

Christmas, Web Comic Sketch, & My Mom's Gift

Christmas was very relaxing. I hung out with family for 3 days, got some interesting presents, ate a lot of food, and relaxed. The holiday season prior to Christmas was actually a little stressful.

Happy Holidays! I decided to post this sketch yesterday on my Zheph Skyre web comic page. It is the entire current cast all wearing reindeer antlers, with Zheph wearing Rudolph's nose. I thought it would be funny.

My web comic will be updated this Friday. I am hoping to upload a colored picture of the last page I made.

I gave this acrylic painting of our dog to my mother. In the photograph I took for this painting, there was the pellet stove and wires in the background. I was wondering what to put in the background until my friend Liz suggested a Christmas tree. I decided to have my mom's smaller tree in the background because she likes it more. It is decorated with the more serious decorations while the larger holds everything else.

Satyr, Fairy, Break in Web Comic, & What is to Come

I was not able to finish the next page of the Zheph Skyre web comic, but I was able to upload this sketch drawing I made of my own version of a satyr and a fairy. I am sorry, but these past few pages have required a lot of detail. I don't believe the next few will though.

For both instances of these mythological creatures, they have less human features than most versions of these creatures. The satyr is actually half monkey, half goat. The fairy just has much more insect like features than most fairies. I think I will make fairies of different elements like my dragons.

I am thinking about possibly getting a different domain space for this web comic. Most likely the website will be "www.zhephskyre.com." It would more likely help me get more followers and it would be easier for me to get add space on my web site so that I could make money.

Next week I will make the next page for Monday, get the pages that still need to be colored in, and then go on another break until Friday for Zheph Skyre. The week of New Years Eve will also be a little like this. I'm not entirely sure which days I can update this blog for the next two weeks.

Some More New Art at the Worcester Art Museum

Here is some more artwork that has just been put on display recently at the Worcester Art Museum. These pieces are currently in the 20th Century Gallery.

I have seen certain pieces from this gallery in one of my art history books. Mostly likely the history of design. I find that fact a little bit funny.

The Spiral Jetty is a famous man made landmark.

There is also a new exhibit of Georges Rouault, a French print maker. I am not sure if anyone can take pictures of individual works from this gallery, so I just took a picture of the whole gallery from outside the glass doors.

The Walking Dead

(This image is from tvilicious.com)
 

I have just finished watching the first season of The Walking Dead on Netflix. Considering the first season is only six episodes long, it didn't take too long. I have seen a few parts from the show of both seasons prior to watching it now, so I already know of a few spoilers.

It is an interesting show, though I don't really recall the characters names, just their faces and their behaiviors. I can understand why they might die off at times just so that the veiwers don't have too many characters to try to remember.

Many people who haven't seen this show beleive it is just one long zombie story. Sure it is a zombie story, but a story that takes place in a zombie apocolypse can allow for some interesting human behavior amongst the characters. Movies with zombies tend to either focus on horror or even comedy nowadays, but this series has drama in it.

How would certain people react if their loved one was ever turned into a dangerous monster? What would a spouse do in a crumbling world if their husband or wife was believed to be dead? At what point is there no hope left? These are many questions this series asks and tries it's best to answer.

This series is currently on its third season on AMC, but since I have quite a bit of the series to get through I will just have to wait until the third series appears on Netflix before watching it.

Page 47 In Black and White, Idea, & Store Updates

Here's page 47 of the Zheph Skyre web comic. Again, this has not been colored in due to the hectic holiday season and the fact that I had to finish the previous few pages late. I do not believe that this page should take too long to finish and color in, but hopefully I can get it done as soon as possible.

I was given an idea to make a Youtube video using the pages from my web comic. I can easily voice over for every single character and move the frames of the comic due to the specific action. It probably will take a while before I can get around to that, and I would have to make a video for one chapter at a time. Since there is only one chapter finished, I would only be able to create one video.

My store will have more items available for sale. There will be mugs, magnets, and note cards for sale with my artwork printed on them. I'm hoping to have a wider selection in my store with some cheaper items available. I can understand how most people don't wish to spend too much money at times.

Zheph Skyre: Pages 44, 45, 46 Have All Been Redone

I have finished up with these three pages of my Zheph Skyre web comic. I know page 44 already had color, but there were some minor details I thought it required.

I added some more flesh color to these two on this page.

This page introduces Princess Marybeth and Cornelia. For a while I was trying to figure out how to make these two characters different from each other than just appearance, because if they both act and behave the same than I might as well just have one princess. I am hoping that I can give these two different personalities as I progress with the story. They will have similarities, but for a good reason.

I am truly happy to reach this point in my web comic. I am finally introducing a particular character that I truly enjoyed making. There are plenty of other characters I am thinking up that I hope to bring to life, but this is a big milestone for me. I regretted not being able to reach this point when I previously tried to make this web comic.

Page 45 and 46 of Zheph Skyre Are Still Not In Color...

Unfortunately I was not able to get these two pages of Zheph Skyre colored in. They will be done over the weekend. Hopefully this won't affect me from getting page 47 from getting done in time.

The Holidays

I am just giving fair warning, I plan to take the week off on the week of Christmas. That means that I will not have any new pages for my web comic series except for a special holiday image. That will also mean that I won't have any blog posts.

I will however be working diligently on getting up to date on making pages for my web comic series. There just won't be anything posted until the week afterwards during New Years. I am hoping to have three pages ready for that week.

"Looking at the Stars" & Events at WAM

 The Worcester Art Museum is very busy over the holidays.

Every Sunday there is a Christmas Concert in the Renaissance Court. Each Sunday there is a different group performing, like the Merrimack Valley Ringers and the Worcester Brass Consort. Every group sounds beautiful.

On New Year's Eve, the Worcester Art Museum is open until 6:00 for First Night Worcester. The museum used to stay open until a later, but considering the employees and the fact that many people are drinking heavily on New Year's Eve, they have decided for the best to close at an earlier time. This year New Year's Eve falls on a Tuesday, so everyone, including me, has to come in for work, but we are only coming in from 3:00 to 6:00. I am so happy about that because we have had long days on New Year's Eve and that usually ruins the celebration for us all.

The waterfall prints have been replaced in the Japanese exhibit by prints made by Imamura Yoshio called Looking at the Stars. As you can see, they are comprised of mostly dark, earthy colors. In my own opinion, some of them are a bit weird, but there are some parts that are enjoyable.

Page 45 of Zheph Skyre in Black and White & Signing Up For a Panel at Anime Boston

I have uploaded this page of the Zheph Skyre web comic. Unfortunately it is not colored. This upcoming chapter appears to have a lot of detail and it is taking a lot more time than I thought it would. Hopefully after the holidays, I will be on a better track.

I have signed up for a question and answer panel at this upcoming Anime Boston. I don't know if I will get it, but I wanted to try. If I get this, at least it is something to replace not getting an Artist Alley table. Hopefully there will be an open room at some point. It seems like that sometimes at the convention on the schedule.

The Life of Pi

This past Saturday I went to the movies. I thought "Man With the Iron Fist" was still in theaters, but it turned out it wasn't. It is too bad, because I enjoy Quentin Tarantino films, and usually he makes good action films. The only other film that my date wanted to see was "Life of Pi" since she read the book the movie was based on, so I agreed to it. I never read the book, but I think I might at some point.

Just letting everyone know before they continue to read this, this blog contains spoilers.

(This image is from en.wikipedia.org)

I was impressed visually with this film. I saw the trailer with the scene of the flying fish and was a little intrigued by it, but I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to see it in theaters. I had watched an online review of it by Movie Bob on the Escapist, and since he didn't care for anything else besides the visuals in the movie I didn't think I would really want to see it. I pretty much agree with his analysis.

The visuals are interesting to a certain point, but there are a ton of computer generated animals and scenes that really didn't work for me. Computer animation should only be in movies that are completely computer generated. It just looks ridiculous when movie creators try to make realistic creatures in CGI for the entire movie and expect the audience to believe they are real. I can understand why the movie creators had to make CGI animals and scenes because most of the animals in this movie are endangered species and would most likely get hurt or killed if they tried these specific scenes.

Unfortunately, the only time it was playing was in 3D of coarse. It was interesting in 3D, but it wasn't worth the extra $11.

The entire movie follows Pi, and I don't really care for his character at times. Sure there are instances when his youthfulness gets him into trouble and there were some funny spectacles with him and the tiger, but he is the sort of character who should have others surround him. Pi has these weird hallucinations sometimes, and it appears likely that you cannot believe Pi's story. By the end of the movie he describes what happened to these Japanese people who are questioning him about why the boat sank, but the Japanese people demand a different story that is actually believable. Pi gives them a much more believable story with no animals, no no mysterious island, and instead he is on a life boat with just people. We are led to believe that Pi's story is supposed to make people believe in God, but all it seems to do is say "you go through life believing things based on facts and more believable stories, or you can accept the fantastical and choose for yourself whether or not you believe in God." This is a bit of a strange movie. I am strongly looking forward to "The Hobbit" coming out this weekend.

Page 44 of Zheph Skyre

Here is page 44 of my Zheph Skyre web comic. As you can see, it is the king and queen of Corthon. If you think they look odd, they should. I wanted to portray this royal, wealthy family in a way that most people would find ridiculous. I am only wondering if I should shrink the eyes of these two because they are supposed to be really old. Typically older characters in Anime and Manga are portrayed with smaller, squinting eyes compared to the younger generations. I am glad the wrinkles and hollow cheecks came out like this though.

Centaur Sketches

I decided to draw my own version of a centaur. In my fantasy universe of Zheph Skyre, centaurs are half horse, half monkey and not man. I think too many fantasy creatures have human characteristics. How many creatures in my universe should be capable of conversing with humans? It would be simpler to make certain creatures unable to speak to humans. It would help set a gap between people and nature, and it would limit the number of characters of different races. It is a similar argument I had for my design of a minotaur.

 I had to sketch certain creatures for this design. I was also sketching possible parts for a satyr.

Here is my version of a centaur. I gave the top ape part the hair and ears of a horse. The lower part has digit fingers on each leg and a longer tail. The fingers on all of the limbs have more hoof-like nails though. This particular creature would be fast on the ground, but be capable of climbing trees. How else would a centaur manage to keep well hidden from normal people?

Page 43 of Zheph Skyre Complete

I have finished page 43 of Zheph Skyre. It is later in the evening and we are taking a look in the castle. Apparently the king and queen are arguing.

Page 43 of Zheph Skyre without color and Genesis Holiday Postcard

Sorry everyone, I could only get page 43 of Zheph Skyre done without color. Things have been busy for me with the holidays right around the corner.

I forgot to mention on Monday the Art Committee of Genesis Club had shown us the Holiday postcard for this season. I found the quote we decided to use on the back of the postcard:

"These tender memories are;---a fairy tale. Of some enchanted land we know not where, but lovely as a landscape in a dream."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It goes along with the image on the front and it is from a Holiday poem.

The image was an acrylic painting by Genesis member Rick Lagueux. We all found it to be quite wonderful. Unfortunately the postcards we have printed right now are too small, and will have to be reprinted in the normal postcard size. There are a few other details on the back that have to be edited.

Back to Snowboarding

The ski slopes at Mount Wachusett have opened up once again this winter. I wasn't available to snowboard this past weekend when it finally opened, but I was able to go today.

It became rather warm today, but it made it feel nice as I snowboarded on that slope. Supposedly, the weather in this area is supposed to remain this warm for the rest of the week, and it is also supposed to rain this Wednesday. If this is true, the snow might melt before the end of the week. This season isn't starting as well as I was hoping. Global warming is more than just a pain in the butt.

I got a new snowboard and I am glad to say that it is much better than my previous board. My old board was an all mountain snowboard, which was shaped with the arch going up in the middle and was larger than most other boards. It was good for beginners. My new board is more of a trick board, which is smaller, lighter, more flexible, and has a reversed arch that allows me to have better control. I was even able to make small jumps with this board, which was impossible with my previous one. I'm not sure if I should ever try the trick park. It costs money to use it and I think I would require more practice.

Even though the snow was mostly man made, the scene was beautiful. It is one of the simple joys I get out of life.

Chapter 1 of Zheph Skyre is Finished & Hypnotist Show

Here is page 42 of the Zheph Skyre web comic, the last page of Chapter 1. I decided to end this chapter with showing that Zheph could turn somethings as negative as getting hit in the face with a rotten tomato and using it for something beneficial. Also, I wanted to show a certain way of how Zheph can manage to survive when everyone in the city hates him.

I recall seeing experiments of using balloons to float fruit and vegetable gardens at high altitudes where they could possibly grow better than on the ground. I thought it would make sense for Zheph to do this in a city with a limited market of food. Of coarse he would have to do this in a place with high altitude that no one would be able to get to. I realized I could easily put these devises on top of a huge building that is abandoned. I wanted to show that Zheph is a great scavenger.

I want people to remember this lesson that I am trying to teach. Most people, if not all people, are forced to go through life with many difficulties and negative criticisms thrown at them. But life is what you make of it. Through hard work, determination, and a positive attitude, you can make it through life. Don't give up. It might seem cliche, but be all that you can be.

This was a picture I took at Holy Name High School tonight where I watched a hypnotist show. I have seen a funnier hypnotist show at my college where the hypnotist managed to get the people to say really funny things, but it was not age appropriate and there were younger people here. The hypnotist however did tell everyone to try their hardest at the end of the show.

Anime Boston's Yōkai Art Contest Results

I forgot to mention that the results for Anime Boston's Yōkai Art Contest results have been posted on their website with all of the other submissions in a gallery. I suggest everyone to check it out. The winners' work look awesome, but there are a lot of good ones in the gallery including mine.

I have filled out an Artists' Alley application, but I have not heard back if I have a space. I'm hoping to get informed as soon as possible because I want to go to PAX East if I don't get this Artists' Alley table. Unfortunately there is a time limit on reservations for PAX East.

Zheph Skyre Web Comic Page Finished

I had finished coloring page 41 of Zheph Skyre and got it uploaded. Zheph has gone to an abandoned library and is now about to scale it, but why? What do you think Zheph is up to now? What might he do with a rotten tomatoes?

Page 41 of Zheph Skyre in Black and White & Futurama

I have uploaded the next page of Zheph Skyre though it isn't finished yet. I still have to color it in completely. I could have uploaded the image with some of the colors, but it doesn't look good yet.

(This image is from getvideoartwork.com)

I finally watched the Futurama movie "Into the Wild Green Yonder" on Netflix. I found it to be hilarious. Out of the four Futurama movies, it was not nearly as good as "Bender's Game," but it was better than "Beast with a Billion Backs."

I love this cartoon.series. The whole series is hilarious, and unlike Family Guy when it returned to television, this series managed to remain hilarious. Also, this series is funnier than it's predeceasing series "The Simpsons", or at least for a majority of the newest seasons of "The Simpsons."

Previous Two Pages Updated

I finished page 40 of Zheph Skyre this past Saturday. Mostly there were just a few places that needed to be colored in.

I wanted to show that the townspeople in the city also hate Zheph, along with the knights and the gang. After all, Zheph set off a sleeping gas grenade in the town and nearly burnt someone's home down. But these are only a few small things Zheph has done that the people hate him for. More on that will be revealed. One of the major concerns as the story writer is how I portray Zheph's reaction to this. I wanted him to be angry, but I didn't want him to want revenge because that is not his character. He tries to retain a calm mind, and he tries to get whatever positive he can out of this situation.

I also updated page 39. There is the sound effect of the motor and the text has been changed a little. I accidentally saved over the file with the speech bubbles and I had to reenter the text. I thought certain things could be improved.

Page 40 Unfinished

Here is page 40 of Zheph Skyre, but unfortunately due to the family holiday I couldn't finish it. I will tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all enjoy the time you spend with your loved ones and all of the delicious food you get to eat. I sure am!

"Power Up Replay 2012: The Future is in the Past Electric Boogaloo" The Aftermath

The Gaming Society of the University Massachusetts at Dartmouth held it's annual Power Up last Saturday November 17th. It's full name was "Power Up Replay 2012: The Future is in the Past Electric Boogaloo". It was really awesome! I went into Cedar Dell, payed $15, was given an achievement checklist, and had a great time. It was very gratifying seeing familiar faces.

For a good majority of the time I was there, I spent it in the Magic Tournament area. They held a Draft Tournament, a Standard Tournament, Legacy I think, and free play. I didn't do so well overall, but I still had a lot of fun. I have a better idea of what should be in my Standard deck.

There was also some free pizza, soda, and eventually at the end the baked goods were free. Sure the pizza was the cheap version provided by Sudexo through the school, but that was a minor flaw.

In the main area, there were plenty of old school games. I got to play some Duck Hunt, and the original Super Mario. I saw also Tetris, old school Sonic,and many other games some of which I never even heard of. There were even score listings of top ranks for certain games in a certain amount of time.

All in all, I still say other clubs and organizations in colleges should definably have charity events like this one if they don't already.

Page 39 is Uploaded & Wreck It Ralph

I finally got page 39 of my Zheph Skyre web comic uploaded. I'm sorry for the delay, but I was working as fast as I could. I had a much more busy weekend than I thought I would have. Perhaps I should change the schedule to Tuesdays and Fridays instead. It appears I'd have more time to spend on Monday and Tuesday than I would for Saturdays and Sundays, so I would get the pages done on time with color.

On this page, Zheph is now driving away (I forgot to put the sound effect of the engine, I'll have to go back into it), and Jahovac is left standing defeated. Jacques goes up to Jahovac to try to convince him to go along with a different plan. Will this plan actually work?

(This image is from imdb.com.)

I went to see Wreck it Ralph last Friday since I was in the Dartmouth area, and the Power Up main events didn't start until the next day. I didn't read everything on the Facebook event page too clearly it seems. So I went to see this movie in 3D since that was the earliest time and I did not want to wait another two hours to see it. It was an enjoyable movie.

There are quite a few famous guest appearances by some famous video game characters, but they were all very small since the movie had to focus on the story. I thought the movie was actually going to be funnier, but maybe my sense of humor has developed since I was a child and the humor here is just more appealing to a younger audience. The visual gags and the animation were really good though. A lot of thought and effort went into this movie and it shows. There were a few small problems here and there like the pop music choices they had, and how much time was spent in one specific video game world. I still enjoyed it though.

Tomorrow I will discuss Power Up.