Cosmos Dragons

Here are two sketches of Cosmos Dragons from my Zheph Skyre series. I know I have already shown a newer drawing of the top one, but I must look back at my own progress.

As you can see, the top one is a Star Dragon. It is a panther's head combined with a Mexican Walking Fish. I looked up strange fish on Google and this actually intrigued me.

The bottom one is an evil Galactic Dragon. I combined the head of a baboon with a horned beetle. I'm not sure why I haven't used more insects for my dragon combinations, but I should have. It maybe weird looking, but I like it.

Roller Blading

I was just roller skating with my cousin today at Roll on America. I got a deal on admission due to the holiday, and it was my Christmas gift to him. It was fun, even though it took some to get used to it again since I haven't been in years, and the skates must be really old since it is impossible to come to a stop. Next time I'll do roller blades because those are faster and easier to brake with.

I was just thinking how interesting it would be to animate characters on roller blades much like snowboarding. I think of Anime I like to watch like Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion and Eureka Seven, which have giant robots that roller blade and fly as if they were riding snowboards. It's interesting what you can use in real life to base in artwork and animation.

Sketchings Storage

I had received a very nice 3 ring binder with many empty pages in it from my godparents/ Uncle Bruce and Aunt Jane for Christmas. I was wondering at 1st what it was for, since I don't take pictures that often. They told me I can use it to store my sketches.

I realized that is a wonderful idea. I have a portfolio to store pictures of my best artwork, but having a case for the numerous sketches that came before it and have helped me develop my ideas is a good idea. Artists' sketches prove useful even to other people down the line.

I recall my teachers have told me to keep my sketches, but they never told me in what. Not all sketchbooks are secure, and they are more likely to tear over time. I also have had the tendency to take pages out of the sketchbooks in order to scan the images, but just simply placing the pages back into the sketchbook is no good. Having them in a secure place, like how comic book fanatics keep their most prized graphic novels in sealed plastic and organized, is a very wise idea that I suggest to other artists as well.

Shadow Dragons

Here are 2 early sketches of two different shadows dragons for my series Zheph Skyre.

The top sketch incorporates a leopard and a Komodo dragon and a leopard. It's a little weird to try to make something of the element "shadow" not look evil, but I think I have the right idea.

The bottom sketch incorporates a raven and a goat. I was having difficulty with combining these two animals' heads together, but I finally have a good concept I actually like.

Christmas Art and Music

First of all, houses should try to keep it simple if they decorate their houses. Unless if they have a lot of lights that work together, too many decorations can just make a house look cheap and clashing.



I have a limited list of songs I like for Christmas these days. Most seem way too cheery, have nothing really to do with Christmas, or what it truly means. Does Frosty the Snowman, Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer, or Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer help people feel closer to one another on this holiday? I think Carol of the Bells, songs that incorporate Jesus, and songs that are more calm are better suited for the holiday spirit. I do like the funny songs out there that complain about the horrors that surround Christmas.

Most of the cutesie Christmas artowork you might find does not work for me. Again, it should be simple and it can still look great.

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanuka! Happy Holidays to everyone!

Metal Dragons

Here are two sketches of metal dragons from my series Zheph Skyre.

The one on the top is a good dragon called an Armored Dragon. I based it's head on an armadillo and a turtle.

The one on the bottom is an evil dragon called a Quicksilver Dragon. I based it on a snake and a vampire bat.

I'm sorry if I forgot to post something yesterday. It has been busy this holiday season, so it should go more smoothly afterwards.

Electricity Dragons

 Here are two old sketches I drew of an evil and a good electric dragon from my novel series. They were both drawn before I began to use real animals to base my dragons on, but I plan to base the top one on a wolf and a ram while the bottom one will be based on a fox and a kangaroo. The one on the top is a Thunder Dragon and the bottom sketch that I colored in is a Lightning Dragon.

 

These two dragons are important to my story because the evil dragon is the 1st dragon the audience will be introduced to, and a Lightning Dragon will become one of the main characters . I don't want to spoil too much, so I'll leave it on that for now.

DeviantArt

These are some sketches from my Zheph Skyre series I made a few years ago. They are all either important characters in the story except for one dragon. I might talk about each one of them later. I edited them a while ago and posted them on Deviant Art.

I used to like Deviant Art a while ago a lot more than I do now. It used to be one of the only ways I could display my artwork, but now I prefer my own website for my professional work. Sure on my website I can't have people leave comments, but it just looks more personal and unique.

Besides that, Deviant Art is mostly just good for a select few artists, and I believe those artists pay for the better service. I don't want to pay for an online service to display my artwork unless I can have complete freedom with the appearance.

I've realized that DeviantArt isn't the best site to show artwork on. A lot of the artwork is amateur, sexual, or fan art. I do like to draw fan art from time to time, but I truly love to be original. Also, sexual art can only help get artists jobs with very few companies.

Culinary Arts

I don't know how many artists or designers like to cook, bake or prepare food, but I do like it myself. I'm not so into it that I watch Rachael Ray or the Food Network, but I still enjoy it. I recently made three batches of a deviled eggs recipe that included fresh tuna, scallions, curry, parsley, and olive oil. Some parts of cooking is a little boring, like mincing ingredients instead of just cutting them, but it is worth it in the end. I received compliments on how good it was today at the party I served it at.

I have also made home made chocolates before, but I have keep having to improve my technique. I have the double boiling system down, but I've just been experimenting with what I've been putting inside them and how I have been filling them. I found out some easier, faster ways of making certain flavors of chocolates, like orange cream, mint cream, raspberry creme, and peanut butter. I still have to figure out how to develop my caramel chocolates.

There are plenty of other dishes I am capable to making, like this shrimp and Ramen stir fry recipe I've made before. Mostly I find cooking to be simple, as nowadays people can just search for recipes online, find the ingredients, and follow the directions. The internet has removed the need for cook books. However, I like when I can make small changes here and there to the recipes. It makes cooking feel more like artwork when I have the freedom to add or take away certain ingredients.

Netheus

This is an early sketch of Netheus from my Zheph Skyre series. There is no simple explanation for this character...

Netheus started off as a lifeless invention created by Zheph. He was a large steam powered armored suit that he can pilot with various weapons and gadgets. Zheph was trying to make something that would protect him from whatever the city could throw at him, something that would show just how ignorant the city has been, and something that could make him seem larger than his actual short size. Zheph is really uneasy about being shorter than Vanessa.

Zheph had been working on this invention for years and was nearly completed by the beginning of my first book. It wasn't until certain circumstances that forced Zheph to try to come up with a way to make his suit even more powerful. Certainly it was powerful compared to anything in Corthon, but he witnessed something dreadful from the outside world that made him uneasy. The suit's weapons weren't powerful enough, it wasn't fast enough, and it couldn't fly high nor long enough for him to face this particular challenge. He ends up stressing over trying to improve his invention, but he just can't figure out the technology yet.

He ends up finding a spell written on a scroll to enchant the thing with life, which he is skeptical at first, but he realizes he is out of options. Zheph uses the spell and it makes Netheus come to life as a creature. Zheph wasn't expecting that and now can't figure out what to do with him. Seeing how Zheph is now responsible for Netheus, he takes him with him to face this challenge.

I was thinking of making Netheus into a sphinx, as I had not included that species in my story at all, and he seems to represent a sphinx most of the time. I decided this armored form will only appear when Zheph is joined up with him. As you can see, Netheus's main weapons are two blades on each arm. They can be used like Wolverine's claws or they can turn and slash in the opposite direction as if they became one blade.

Earth Dragons

Here are another two sketches of Earth Dragons from my Zheph Skyre series.

The top earth dragon is based on the combination of an elephant and an ox. At first I just wanted to make the trunk a hard horn. but than I realized if this creature were real, it would have problems with its hard tusks as well. I decided to switch things around. The trunk would become a hard horn while the tusks would actually become side trunks. I know it might be odd, but I think it would give the creature more options of what it can do.

The bottom earth dragon is based on the combination of a rhinoceros and a warthog. I decided recently that the tusks from the warthog would have to replace the usual whiskers I normally give dragons. I know the bottom one looks a little like Deathwing from Blizzard's World of Warcraft, but I have seen the close up details of that dragons and there are some major differences between the two. Deathwing's lower jaw has metal armor on it, Deathwing doesn't have the horns and tusks my dragon has, the colors will be different, and the rest of the body of my dragon won't look like Deathwing at all from some of my later sketches. I admit that I do like WoW, but I have not had the time to play it recently.

WAM Student Gallery

The Worcester Art Museum has a variety of classes offered for people of all ages in almost any medium. These classes can sometimes be used for college credit, and some of these classes end up traveling abroad! I myself have taken a comic book class, a tablet drawing class, and a class for marketing my artwork all at the Worcester Art Museum. It is only a coincident that Andy Fish was my teacher in all three classes...

Well, the Worcester Art Museum displays the artwork of its students from time to time. I could not get a certain printed in time to display from my tablet drawing class, but I was at least able to bring in a good number of my business cards. I designed them myself and had them printed via Over Night Prints.com, which is a very good printing site for numerous uses. You can see up above that I used the elemental star from my website for my logo, and I used the wings along the corners. I was suggested to not use a border for my card design, and I should have my own email address through my own website. I will keep the border, though I will re-size it a little bit in order to fit the website's card size, and I will get my own email address after I run out of these cards. It is a good idea to order a large number to start out with.

There are plenty of good pieces on display in the education wing of the museum. Check out Elizabeth Swallow's sculpture, Bob Cardoza's and Richard Leguex's paintings. Even the children's works are impressive.

Light Dragons & Snowboarding

Here are two sketches of an good and evil light dragon that will appear in the Zheph Skyre series. The good dragon's head is based on a horse and a lion fish. The evil dragon's head is based on a crane and a horned lizard.

For the longest period of time, I was going to make just one species of dragons for the element of light that were good, and one species of dragons for darkness/shadow that were evil. It wasn't limited to just dragons but for all other species and human wizards in my series. Light = Good and Shadow = Evil.

I came to a conclusion with the help of a previous girlfriend that I shouldn't necessarily do that. If the other elements have good and evil within them, than darkness and light should as well. People generally judge with their eyes most of the time. In movies and comic books, most of the time the heroes have been depicted in one image while the villains have been depicted in the opposite. More modern stories have shown that appearances can be deceiving. I won't even just limit one species to be entirely good and one species to be entirely evil. Humans have a choice and so would any intelligent being.

Besides, I thought of some instances where light could mean something negative, like the atom bomb, and shadow can mean something good, like nighttime when everyone sleeps and dreams.

An instance where light and darkness can each be used as an element for good or evil is Legend of Dragoon.

On a side note, I went to Mt. Wachusett today and went snowboarding. I had a blast. I am only mentioning this because it might influence some animations I make in the future.

Been Busy with Portfolio

I'm sorry I didn't post anything yesterday. I've been really busy with trying to fix my portfolio website lately.

I know that the animations that make up the buttons on my website are a little lacking, so I've been improving them. In turn, I will also improve the opening and include a skip button that will allow the viewers to enter my website without watching the intro if they want to.

There will also be new content available soon. Mostly there will be new images, but there will also be a new animation soon.

Water Dragons 2

Here is a drawing of two water dragons I drew. I began to color them in Photoshop and already they are beginning to look awesome!

For their full bodies I wanted them to be underwater creatures, but I wanted to keep wings of some sort on them. That way, they can at least fly a little bit when they come out of the water and they won't appear too much like the Loch Ness Monster.

Rock Critic Idea

This is a sketch for an online cartoon series I had in mind. I love the website That Guy With the Glasses with the numerous funny videos of people reviewing subject matter of my interests. A good number of them are really funny, and they even have crossovers with other critics which can get ridiculous.

I was just thinking of something I might want to review if I could ever find the time and passion to review. I realized on the website that I had seen a critic for pop music and a critic for rap music, but there was no critic for rock music. That seemed entirely unfair to me as I like rock music and don't care much for pop or rap.

My idea was a jester who is cynical, angry, and possibly psychotic. I could see myself giving lists of my favorite rock songs of all time, reviewing some rock music that I really hate, and using video footage from downloaded music videos to help prove my point. There are plenty of jokes to be made.

However, I don't see myself doing this anytime soon, as I am more dedicated towards some other ideas I am trying out right now, and I don't think I have all of the necessary programs in order to make such videos. It's just a thought of mine.

11 Second Club

This was made by dandeentremont

I was just told yesterday from a coworker about this website called The 11 Second Club. It is a website that has a contest every month where they provide an audio clip that lasts 11 seconds and you have to animate it within a month. It can be done with 3D or 2D animation, but it must contain the audio and it must only contain appropriate visuals for all audiences.

For each month members can vote on each animation based on a 10 star rating. I myself joined this website and viewed quite a few animations for the month of November. There were quite a few animations that needed work, but some of them were really good.

The winners receive critiques from professional animators. That right there is a valuable prize! It may not be a job, but it could definably help when applying for a career in this field. And in the end, if you get a decent rating for your animation even if you don't win, you can use it online for your personal portfolio. It is a win win situation.

I will submit 2D animations, but I must practice a little more before I submit. Hopefully after I try out this competition, I can get my microphone on my computer to work and make animations entirely made by myself.

1st Friday Boston

(This image is owned by SoWa)

I visited 1st Friday in Boston at the SoWa Artists Guild of 450 Harrison Avenue and I really enjoyed it. I saw lots of colorful paintings, huge paintings that would take up an entire wall, photographs, vintage stuff, and sculptures of all shapes and sizes including ones entirely made from hanger wires. If you are into the Arts, I suggest you visit, and perhaps you'll find something that will define your home.

I went there as a suggestion from Andy Fish, who taught "How to Market Your Artwork in the 21st Century" at the Worcester Art Museum of which I partook in. I have a better understanding of what studios and galleries are and what they make. I am unsure if my style and preference for most of my artwork would belong in a gallery or require a studio space. However, I can definitely see the benefit in having both for other types of artists.

Here's a list of artists and galleries that intrigued me on Harrison Ave.

Brian Murphy: Totally Weird Sculpture
John Martino: Khaki Gallery
Chase Young Galley
Leslie Wilcox and Ellen Wetmore:  Boston Sculptors Gallery
Cove Gallery
Beth Dacey
nest
Anna Davis
Russ Gerard: Gurari Collections
Sandy Belock-Phippen
Sharon Whitham
The Biennial Project
Kingston Gallery
Maggie Carberry
Shepherd Print Studio
Jacqueline Barrett

Soup2Nuts

Soup2Nuts is an award winning animation company in Watertown Massachusetts. It primarily uses Adobe Flash to produce such shows as "Word Girl", "Dr. Katz", and "Home Movies". Feel free to visit their website at http://www.soup2nuts.tv/index.html.

I have applied to this company not long after I went to college. They sent me tests in the form of flash files, but I did not get the jobs of animator or storyboard artist. I understand now that I did not fulfill the requirements. Even after I took their advice of getting a Wacom Tablet to draw on my computer and reading Richard Williams' "The Animator's Survival Kit", which is a book I highly recommend to aspiring animators, I still required more experience.

This company gave me a test scene that needed to be completed in a week, which I took advantage of, but told me that one animator could finish this scene in a day. I worked tirelessly on the tests each day, but didn't understand how anyone could pull off this workload in one day. After a class with Andy Fish in tablet drawing at the Worcester Art Museum I went back into flash to experiment more with the tablet. I found out my previous method was entirely flawed.

I thank Soup2Nuts and Andy Fish for all they taught me, and I am continuing to develop my animation skills. Why am I writing all of this? It is because I have always wanted to become an animator, and I suggest everyone as well to follow their dreams even in these hard times. I am going to apply to Soup2Nuts again after I work on some good quality animations that I will have posted on my website. I will make sure I can do what test they give me within the span of time they expect of me. If I don't get the job at Soup2Nuts, than I will search elsewhere, but I will still wish this company luck as they continue to give the world award winning animation.

I just want to let everyone know that life dreams are hard, but they are worth pursuing.

Fire Dragons

Here are some early sketches of Fire dragons I drew a while ago. One is based on a roaster and an iguana. The other is based on an alligator and a seahorse. Again both of these will appear in my series.

This upcoming Friday I will be going to 1st Friday in Boston run by the SoWa Artists Guild of 450 Harrison Avenue to check out some art studios and galleries. I am looking forward to it. Perhaps I will feature my work in a gallery.

Water Dragons

Here are some early sketches of 2 different types of Water Dragons. One is based on a shark and a swordfish. The other is based on a dolphin and a squid. I am planning to paint a picture in Photoshop with these two dragons in it. Again, these will be in the Zheph series.

Wind Dragons

Here are early sketches of 2 dragon heads for the Zheph story. One I based on aspects from an owl and a jack rabbit. The other I based on a vulture and a badger. I don't know why, but I seem to enjoy keeping some specific aspects for my dragons. They all have whiskers, they have somewhat of a mask/helm on the faces, and they all have hair on the back of their heads growing down their backs. The dragons can vary on many other forms beyond that. I'm not sure why I prefer these aspects, but I do, and these aspects are what will help separate these creatures from others of similar forms like hydras, drakes, wurms, and other creatures I might include in my story.

Orbs

Here are some sketches  leading up to a character I drew for a one shot manga I am working on with the writer of this story. It is one of the reasons why my web-comic has been very slow lately.

As you can see, I was given certain details of the character and I gave the author some different designs for parts of her.

This is what I came up with in the end for Avalon. I will have 2 chapters available at Anime Boston.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a sketch I drew of a celestial dragon. It will appear in my Zheph Skyre series @ some point. I used details from a panther, a strange Mexican fish, and a snake in order to draw it. Right now I'm coloring it in Photoshop.

And Now, Something Completely Different

Here are the pages I made for the 24 Hour Comic challenge I participated in. I had to work and sleep during these 24 hours, so I didn't get to do as much as I would have liked with the quality I would have wanted. But that is just part of the fun of doing a random comic in just one day. I call this series "Toy Wars."

Jahovac

This is a sketch of Jahovac (I might change his name). He is a warrior who Jacques hired to capture Zheph, but after his first encounter with Zheph, Jahovac just wants to defeat him in battle no matter what the outcome is. This is because Zheph left him alive in their fight and he mocked Jahovac's way of life.

He has incredible strength and stamina due to his training from his homeland of fighters. In his homeland, everyone is trained to fight using styles from everywhere in the world. Jahovac favors fighting with brute strength, armor, and heavy weapons, but he was also trained to be stealthy at times. He hates sneaking around, but that is what he is hired to do more often.

Even though Jahovac has dark skin and most white men in Terra Geaya view such color as "tainted by the devil," his country has no racist views. Jacques values the fear he gives others. Zheph was surprised to see someone with such dark skin, but that was all.

Jahovac will actually become a great asset to Zheph in upcoming adventures, but Jahovac is determined to prove himself stronger than any warrior.

Jacques

This is a sketch of Jacques. He was Zheph's childhood friend when Zheph came back to Corthon after his family disappeared. Jacques doesn't have a family either, so together they rounded up abandoned children and formed a gang of thieves. Jacques didn't care about Zheph's appearance. In fact, he knew Zheph's reputation and the advanced weapons he made would help the gang prosper.

As time went on, Jacques began committing more and more serious crimes than just stealing from street vendors. The two leaders often fought over what was acceptable and what was necessary to survive.

Jacques began to notice Zheph's little trips into the castle, and that Zheph wasn't sneaking in to steal things. The trust in their relationship began to wither.

It was one fateful night that these two were to become enemies, and Jacques lost his eye. From then on, Jacques tried to hunt Zheph down and capture him in order to keep him around to build more weapons for the gang. Zheph has had to make more and more gadgets in order to avoid fighting his own gang, now called the Scar.

Jacques is more of a strategist than a fighter or a creator, so he heavily relies on his ever growing gang for everything.

Vanessa

This is a sketch of Princess Vanessa Aweon, the only friend Zheph has at the beginning of my story. They may become lovers later on, but not everything will be smoothly like every fairy tale you ever heard of.

Vanessa is a 17 year old girl who has introduced the "goth" style to Corthon. Like Zheph, she is mocked for her chosen appearance, but since she is a princess she is still regarded as royalty. She is one of three daughters to the King and Queen. The rest of her family dress as royalty do. Her father and her sisters, Marylynne and Cordelia, all act like snobbish royalty. Her mother is the only one who treats her with respect.

Vanessa met Zheph as her family marched in a parade when she was eight and Zheph was seven. They found each others' odd appearance interesting. From then on, Zheph sneaks up to her tower in the castle ever night.

Vanessa likes to write poetry and music. She is able to sing her sad songs, but rarely does so out of embarrassment.

Vanessa likes to practice fencing, in fact she is better at fighting all around than Zheph is, even though Zheph has been fighting off thugs and the royal guards daily. She was able to study fencing under an older servant girl who she was very close to, but had disappeared when Vanessa was 16. Her father is suspected for her disappearance.

Vanessa, unlike Zheph, believe in magic and mystical creatures even though neither one of them have ever seen proof. The only proof Vanessa has to offer in the existence of magic is her mysterious dreams of events that have yet to come that always come true...

Zheph Skyre

This is a sketch of Zheph Skyre, the main character of my series. There are some parts I have changed here and there over time, but I am using this sketch to start the layout for my animation series.

Zheph is an inventor who starts off living his life in Corthon, the capital city of the country Heartrogard. Although he is only 16, his inventions are mostly steam-punk based. They advanced to all in Corthon, but are not accepted in this city which still lives in a time period like our Medieval period due to the huge walls built around the city. The walls were built for protection, but they are only a hindrance. He is shunned by the townspeople for his innovative ideas, his strange clothes, and his odd appearance of red eyes with red and blonde hair and freckles. I was also thinking of giving him a tail he hides in his trench coat. He is viewed to be a witch or a demon by most people.

He was born in Corthon to a loving mother and father, and had a younger sister all with the same odd features as him except they all had some orange hair instead of red and no freckles. From a young age, he was taught the basics of machinery by his parents, and was able to build his own inventions from there. Unfortunately, his family disappeared when he was seven when the four of them were about to leave Corthon after their house burned down. Zheph managed to return to Corthon, but had no memory as to what happened to his family.

From then on, he lived as a street urchin and helped form a gang of thieves in order to survive. Around the age of 13, he left the gang due to its growing violent nature, and was then targeted by it.

Zheph now wants to leave Corthon and explore the world of Terra Geaya with the only friend he has left, but he is desperately trying to finish his greatest invention...

Webcomic

I have been wondering whether or not to continue making my web comic or to make an online animated series using 2D Flash instead.  No matter what I create, there will be a lot of detail in my style, there's no way I can go around that attribute I have.

 I have been developing this story for nearly a decade, so I am just wondering what coarse of action to take to tell it.  If I had the resources, I might make it a video game series.  You can visit my interactive flash story for Book 1 here.

If people wanted to help me make this, I would be honored.  If not, than I will have to rely on myself for everything.  There may not be an opportunity for money right away, but this is just something I feel compelled to do.

I will post some sketches from my series and perhaps some pages from my web comic soon.