Art: Mondigan 100 (Black and White)

And eighty hours of work later... happy birthday to my fictional character, haha. I'm finally glad to do a piece of this magnitude, especially for myself. Thank you all so much for the support, reading my weird writings and everything. You guys don't know how much it means to me.

This will be the cover for when I collect all 100 of these theme pieces. You can check them (and the story) out here: [link]

Click to full-view on deviantART!

Art: 057/100 Themes - Sacrifice

"Zuplikon." Sacrifice. - 57/100 Themes.

Sometimes trying to be a good person means you'll end up doing bad things. Bohren sees being a knight as a route to manhood, but really it depends on what kind of person you serve.

 

For once, the throne room of Aneral was quiet. The Brennan Royal Guard which had protected the Auster family for generations had over a thousand men, but only the most trusted would be selected to attend to the crown prince. Fenne wanted this ceremony to be private. He thought it would be best to keep the identities of his personal bodyguards secret.

He stood and drew his sword. "Thank you, all of you. I am sure you understand why you are here today," he nodded. "Today, I am no longer a schoolboy but a true prince in my own right. You have all demonstrated your skills, but more importantly, you have demonstrated your loyalty. Therefore, I am going to reward you with the most elite, military position you can possibly obtain - my personal guard."

Bohren shifted in his military uniform. This should be an honor. This was the moment he had been waiting for his entire life. Yet all he could think about were his fingers. Even with his gloves on, they were so cold. He wrung them together to try and keep warm as Fenne called names of the other twenty men in the room. Each approached the throne in turn. Bohren knew many of these men. Although they differed in skill, they all came from the longest lines of Brennan nobility.

Fenne called his name. Bohren clutched his hands, walked down the center aisle and knelt at the prince's feet. Fenne touched the sword to his left shoulder. "Do you swear your allegiance to your kingdom?"

"In all trials, you highness," he nodded, repeating the same words the other men before him had said.

He touched the blade to his right shoulder. "Do you swear your first loyalty is to myself, your prince?"

"There is no other."

Finally, he let the tip of the weapon rest on the crown of Bohren's head. "Do you swear that, should the day arise, you will sacrifice all that you have and are for the state?"

"On my life." He forced a smile.

"Rise, Bohren, as Lord of Tabir, member of the Order of House Auster."

Bohren made the god's sign across his chest and joined the others in line.

Art: 054/100 Themes - Tower

"Turios." Tower - 54/100 Themes.

There is something incredibly gut-wrenching I enjoy watching in betrayal. And that characters should be presented with very hard choices. And chances to redeem themselves. They say at the end of a story, each character gets a 'reward' - or something as a result of their actions. Still don't know what to do with Fenne. He just fails so hard at the "standing up and being a man" thing (get it? standing up? oh, ho, ho, double entendre!)

 

Fenne enjoyed the contemplative quiet his tower room offered. The city sprawled below with people crawling like busy ants, but only bird song reached him here. He rubbed the scars left by the stitches from his amputation. Every so often, he felt as if his legs were still there. No longer able to tap his foot, he rapped his knuckles on the windowsill in time to the song stuck in his head. As he did, he heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me." Fenne's personal royal guard, Bohren opened the door and scratched his mop of blond hair. He bowed, "The Heilmdoran Prince wants a word with you before he heads out."

"I already told him I'm not interested." Fenne traced his fingers along the wood grain of his chair arms.

"He's got something for you." Bohren forced a smile, hoping to see his prince happy. "I think you'll like it."

Fenne folded his hands together. He trusted his knight's opinion, even if he was too optimistic at times. "Let him in, I guess."

Bohren exited and returned with a regal man in a thick, fur-lined cloak. He had a well-muscled build and light brown hair, cropped close to his skull that exposed his high forehead and aquiline nose. He met Fenne with his intense, orange eyes and bowed. "Your highness," he said, holding out a long, heavy, object wrapped in ordinary sack cloth.

Fenne frowned, "What is this? You had better not be mocking me."

"I would like to clarify that there are no hard feelings between my domain and yours due to our mutual interactions with the Tyrisi. Therefore, I have brought you a gift."

He gently laid the package on the floor and knelt to gingerly unwrap each corner of the cloth Fenne's breath caught in his throat as he gazed at the beauty Sorian had unveiled. A functional, mechanical leg. The bent steel bars replicated bone, and the copper wire mimicked the graceful flex of muscle. Sorian had replicated, the knee, ankle, and even toe joints with tiny hinges and gears, reinforced by outer plates of iron.

"I should hope that you would forgive my obtaining your measurements from your seamstress. I simply desired that my design fit your body perfectly. I did not mean to commit an intrusion on your privacy." He stood, letting Fenne view the construction in its entire, burnished glory. "If you sign with me and back my position against those Tyrisi traitors, I will give you the twin to this creation and return for a proper, personal fitting."

He gave one final bow and headed out the door. Fenne returned his attention to the window, but he could not shake his nagging curiosity. Once he heard Sorian descend the tower stairs, he shifted his eyes back onto the steel prosthetic on the floor. "Bohren," he called. "I need your help."

Art: 051/100 Themes - Sport

"Oludum". Sport - 51/100 Themes.

Even fantasy schools have field days.

At heart, Bohren is a swordsman, so he never does too well at the joust. Even he doesn't have the upper-body strength to handle a lance for too long (or being hit in the chest with one), and his aim is too terrible for ring jousting. Even so, he tries because he thinks it's the most impressive sport, and he gets to wear some cool armor while riding a horse.

Usually forgotten or disfavored due to his unassuming behavior in class, Rivek is a dark horse who blazes through archery tournaments. He easily nets first in most tournaments he enrolls in thanks to his avian powers and hunting practice. Not that he would listen to rules, but even if instructed to use his normal eyesight, he can't reign his body in to that level. Archery is probably the only profitable activity Rivek does that isn't morally questionable.  

More in this Series: http://fongmingyun.deviantart.com/gallery/281196

   

Rivek sat behind the empty stands, eating a pork bun from one hand and jingling a pouch of coins in the other. His snack was dry and a bit too salty, but he had already paid for it. His unstrung bow and other archery equipment lay on the ground next to him, arranged in a neat grid.

Bohren approached his friend. He still wore his breastplate and carried his helmet under his arm. His thick, blond hair was matted with sweat and taken on the rounded shape of his headgear. He reached out an armored hand to grab the remaining bread but Rivek shoved the entire thing in his mouth.

Bohren frowned, "So - how did you do?"

Rivek took his time chewing before he swallowed to speak. Bohren gritted his teeth. The archer smirked, holding up the bag of coins. "I don't know. You tell me. Well enough?"

"You're a cheat. The rules say no magic."

"I'm offended you think I'm a cheat!" His blue eyes briefly flashed to an avian gold. "I'm just naturally talented. And you? Manage to win anything?"

"Does two broken lances count?"

"Your incompetence is astounding." Rivek laughed. It was cut short by his growling stomach. After shooting all day in the heat, that pork bun hadn't nearly been satisfying enough. "Dinner?"

Bohren jabbed Rivek in the abdomen. "You're buying."

Art: 048/100 Themes - Childhood

"Enfantea." Childhood. - 48/100 Themes.

Rivek's mother, step-father, and step-brother all die in a yet-to-be-determined accident. So Rivek does what any person who wants to save his own hide does - assumes his dead brother's identity. Because he is clearly too young to govern Cordelain, the lands are put under a steward, and he is sent to live with his step-father's cousin - who happens to be Bohren's father. Bohren, a spoiled only child, resents this at first, but the incident above warms him towards the intruder. When he finds out Rivek is illiterate, he teaches him to read. Thus, an epic bromance was formed.

 

Summer was the best. Bohren stood at the foot of an immense apple tree. He knew they were still unripe and very sour, but at eleven years old, the climbing itself was fun enough.

He grabbed the lowest branch and lifted his legs into the air for a little swing. He planted his feet against the sturdy trunk. Gingerly, he walked his hands to the base of the branch until he could wrap his entire body around the width of the tree. Using the knots in the bark as footholds, he stretched himself upwards. The first place the trunk split was low enough that he could reach it with his hands. With a small kick, he hoisted himself up into the forked limbs. 

He sat for a second in this great tree-seat, surrounded by green leaves. "Hello," he said to the nearest branch. "Nice to meet you."

He took a twig and shook it like an extended arm. "I'm sure you've heard of me. I am Sir Bohren from Tabir, and my father is the High Grand Super Lord of Tabir. And one day, I'm going to be like my dad, and I'm going to be a knight with armor covered in so many diamonds, you'll look at it, and you'll go blind. And I'm going to slay a dragon and rescue a beautiful princess with lots of yellow hair who will fall in love with me."

He stood, carefully balancing each of his legs on a branch, and bowed. It threw him off, and he quickly shrank back to seated position. Once he thought he was safe from his own teetering, he looked up. The apples had started to grow. This one right above him looked a little kind of red. 

He stood again and reached his arm up. He plucked the only apple within his grasp. His mouth watered, imagining the delicious sugar and juice. Without hesitation, he bit into it, and his mouth was flooded with a sour taste so strong it made him suck in his cheeks. He spat out the wood-hard piece he had bit off and threw the rest to the ground. Gross. 

What now? He looked down from his mighty perch and saw something a few rows of trees away: a skinny boy with messy, black hair. He wore peasant's clothes that were far too big for him. The shirt he had fell to his knees. He held his arms extended towards the sky. A dozen brown sparrows sat on his outstretched limbs, tittering and flapping their wings like excited schoolgirls. 

"Hey. Hey! You! You're the new kid, right? Better move. They're going to poop on you." 

The black-haired boy looked up, right at Bohren. He dropped his arms, and the sparrows flew away in a chirping flurry. Even from this height and distance, Bohren could make out a strange shape on the boy's right cheek.

"Yeah, you! Come here." The strange boy stepped over slowly. 

"Come on." Why did he take so long just to walk over? Bohren flattened his stomach against a branch. They were deep, crossed, purple scars - one vertically down his right eye, and one horizontally across his cheekbone. So weird. Bohren leaned over to get a better look.

"What's wrong with your face?"

And Bohren fell.

He hit the ground on his left arm. Something cracked. He tried to get up, but the pain was unbearable. It was as if his entire arm were a pulsing, muscular fire. He cried.

Silently, the other boy turned and took a step away.

"You're can't leave me here!" 

The scarred boy took a knife from his pocket and snapped a twig from the low branch Bohren had been climbing on. Then, he made a spiraling cut into the edge of his shirt, turning the bottom hem into a long ribbon.

Then, he came back. He grabbed Bohren's arm, making him scream again and causing tears to roll down his face. Bohren rubbed his sniffling nose with his good arm. He put his arm back down, and a trail of clear mucous extended between his upper lip and sleeve.

"Hey!" he muttered. "That hurts." 

The boy set the branch against Bohren's arm and began wrapping it there with the ripped piece of shirt.

"Can you talk?" 

The boy narrowed his strangely bright, blue eyes and shrugged, but he continued to tie the makeshift splint around Bohren's arm. Bohren watched, tears almost lost in wonder at the bandaging process. Much to Bohren's pained chagrin, the boy finished by bending and tying the fractured arm to Bohren's chest. Bohren yelped as he tied the last knot, very, very tight. The boy gave him a small smirk. 

Did he think this was funny? "Your name. Give me your name." 

"Rivek."

Art: 034/100 Themes - Stars

"Eztrelea." Stars. - 33/100 Themes.

Rivek is a shitty cook. He can eat most things raw, so there was really no incentive to learn how. Bohren pales in comparison as a hunter and is an ordinary human being, so he's always trying to cook whatever Rivek has caught before the hawk-boy has eaten it all (otherwise, he'd probably starve to death). It's more of a challenge than you'd think - Riv is one of those skinny, human, vacuum guys... who likes to eat his catch while it's still warm.

 

Bohren's stomach roared. It was dark now, but the stars in the night sky gave the two enough light to stay awake.

"Give me that," he said, wrenching half a dead rabbit from Rivek's bloodied hands. Its hindquarters had already been consumed, and the bones lay scattered on the ground. "You seem completely happy to just eat all of that and let me starve."

The hawk-mage licked his fingers and shrugged, "I killed it, didn't I? I mean, you didn't manage to hunt down anything for yourself."

Bohren set to work with a knife, peeling off the skin, so he could cook and eat what remained. The edges were ragged from Rivek's initial carnivorous frenzy, so the skinning process - which he was already pretty bad at - was even more difficult. Well, ingesting a little fur wouldn't hurt. He emptied the ribcage and threw the entrails on the ground.

"Hey! I could have eaten that."

"You already ate way more than your share." He yanked off the remaining skin and nodded to his pack. "Mind starting a fire?"

Hunting in the King's Woods meant some trees had been cleared to make paths. Rivek sat defiantly on a stump they had set up camp around. He had no intention of complying. "I'm not the one that needs to cook his food, am I?"

Bohren scoffed and set down the rabbit-half. He went into the bag, pulled out a flint, and began slowly growing a fire from their collection of tinder. Rivek shifted to the other side of the stump, away from the rising flame.

Bohren skewered his soon-to-be dinner on a stick and hung it over the crackling fire. He sat down on the same stump and elbowed Rivek in the side. "You're shivering."

"Me and fire - well, we aren't on good terms right now," Rivek laughed between the chattering of his teeth.

"Come on," Bohren said, throwing his arm around his friend's shoulders. "I have another way to keep you warm."

"Wait. What are you thinking?"

"What are you thinking?"

Rivek threw Bohren's arm off. "You're gross."

"Well, I don't know what you were thinking, but I was thinking I had an extra blanket in the tent."

Art: Character Relations and Outfit Guide for Mondigan

Every time I start a new sketchbook (roughly every six months or so), I draw Rivek in whatever is outfit design is at that point. it's a way of seeing how far I have come and how far I need to go. These are usually done in airports and on planes since I like having new sketchbooks for trips - and because the whole character centers around flight.

I did this waiting to take BUR -> OAK to see some college friends in San Fransisco. It has some stronger linework due to influence from Eric Canete. His costume uses more metal and doesn't have as dramatic sleeves anymore since I wanted to trim the silhouette into one that accents vertical lines (I know, because he's not a skinny whelp enough as it is). And his pose is not relaxed and he's got more of a smirk because I wanted something more excited about life this time around.

 

When I flew back home for a week in August, I lost my pencil case (including my signature stamp). So after flipping out, I bought some cheap pencils to draw with (HB, I am accustomed to 4B). But I still didn't want to do anything fancy, so I decided to try and draw portraits of my characters (a few I have never shown the public before, even!). The goal was to get them to look different but keep nationalities and family relationships similar. I need to draw smaller eyes.
 
Rivek is our socially-stigmatized main character who serves as the personal agent and doer of dirty work to the doctor-princess, Willow. She is as stubborn and bull-headed as she is hopeful. In order to gain an ally and stop a war, Willow is set to marry another prince, Fenne, but he re-negs on the engagement when she proves her feelings really lie with Rivek - costing him his ability to walk.

To take our his frustration, he banishes Rivek and hires Rivek's best friend, Bohren into his guard. Knowing they are now on opposite sides tears Bohren to pieces because he still needs to separate his feelings between friendship and homosexual romance. In exchange for a new pair of legs, Fenne allies with Sorian, the leader of the country invading Willow's territory. Together, they build war machines and commit genocide.
 
Eamon is Fenne's scientific advisor - who helped Willow with her doctor training back in school - is afraid that the princes will murder his daughter, Perrin. So the pair seek refugee status with Willow. She accepts, and Perrin develops a rapport with Rivek due to their interest in dark magic. Rivek looks over Eamon's notes and helps re-work them to use dark magic, thus giving their side an edge advantage.

But to using dark magic requires dark mages, so he seeks the help of his estranged sister, Mirab. She agrees if once the war is over, Willow and her congress stops the genocide against their people. Kai is her adopted son. His merchant father abandoned him when he began to show traces of dark magic.

There are more details, but I think that's enough for now. Those things in the corner are some dress silhouettes from the Alexander McQueen Exhibit. Everyone's name ends in an "n" sound.

 

This is an outfit design guide for the seven countries that make up the continent of Mondigan. It details stuff like climate, color scheme. All designs are based around a central tenet of the countries' value system - represented as a simple geometric shape that gets repeated in the outfit. Countries that are more similar in mindset use more similar shapes. Each also has a signature style item unique to that culture. Unity for the entire continent, though, should be derived from similar materials.

 

Expanding on that further, I went ahead and drew some male and female Alisian outfits. Alisians live in a strict, role-based meritocracy where rank is determined by what you have done and what your forefathers have done. Although there is a certain genetic phenotype common in Alisians (tall, thin, pale, non-red hair, angular skull, hooked nose), appearance, gender, and sexual orientation are not measures of a person's value. Especially if that person can wield a sword. An Alisian is self-defined by their devotion to their religion and having been raised in an Alisian culture.

Despite being a military culture, the central tenet of Alisian religion is "balance" of light and dark. All things in moderation. Therefore, their visual design symbol is a diamond - symmetrical on all sides but still highly dynamic. Given that Rivek and Mirab are half-Alisian and best represent the phenotype, I have drawn them in generic male and female Alisian clothing. The cuts are slightly different to exaggerate how the diamond form falls along each gender, but given that gender is not a defining trait of the individual, the overall design remains mostly the same.

The sleeves are tied to the main shirt body and often not used in summer. They can come in multiple lengths, mix and match for variety. However, it is important to note that - even in the dead of winter - sleeves and arm gear are not worn during religious ceremonies out of respect.

Alisians begin combat training as soon as they can walk, and young adults tend to venture to other countries to seek temporary work. So although much of the Alisian economy is self-sustaining on fish, sheep, and tough grains, they also receive a strong vein of outside income from steel and mercenary work. Unscrupulous, non-religious, private businessmen will usually hire an Alisian bodyguard (this is how Rivek's father and mother met). So, completely illogically, I drew Bohren in a tentative Alisian armor design... which I am not promptly scrapping. It is far too impractical. I also meant to draw Willow in Alisian priestess robes, but I got lazy.

 

Sometimes, I draw my characters in their skivvies. For the record, this is what they would wear to sleep.  Done in the lobby of =ProdigyBombay's ultra-cool workplace while I was waiting for her to hang out with me.

Art: 030/100 Themes – Under the Rain

"Sun pluvea." Under the Rain. 030/100 Themes.

Rivek's foster father is the lord of a very pretty, small, seaside town. The three of them take their summer holidays there the year after Willow first arrives at their school.

Willowren used to mad crush on Bohren. Too bad he's gay. Then again, at sixteen, he doesn't know that yet.

Jesus, my anatomy took a hit on this one, too. Have to get back into figure drawing, I guess.

Willowren knew her legs were shorter, but she absolutely refused to come in second. She turned around and saw Bohren a good thirty feet or so behind her. Burying his sandals at the beach had bought her an early advantage.

She rounded a corner to duck out of eye-shot and into the hedge that surrounded the Cordelain manor. Not exactly behavior fit for a princess, but her mother was thankfully nowhere nearby to admonish her. She yelped as a dripping branch smack her across the forehead, leaving a pink welt in its wake. "Shit," she muttered under her breath. Also very unbecoming of a princess.

Emerging from the brush with a number of new scrapes, she turned around to gauge her progress but was distracted by the hazy, gray sky. She wiped the water from her eyes. The sight of rainclouds hovering over the open ocean was still new to her. After all, up until a year ago, she'd been living in a country whose largest water source were lakes fed by melting mountain ice. The lakes were big in their own way, but it was like comparing a very large chicken to an adult horse.

Unfortunately, for all her clever planning, Bohren still had longer legs. His muttered cursing over his muddy sandals caused her to break into a run again, stifling a laugh.

Panting, she dashed up the remaining few yards to the back kitchen door. Despite its weight, she flung it open with energy from excitement. And with just as much enthusiasm, she slammed it shut. The force caused a wooden bowl to come rattling off a nearby countertop, spilling its contents - soaking lentils - all over the ground. She leaned back against the door for a quick breath which immediately turned into a hearty laugh.

"I see this is the type of decorum they're teaching young ladies at the palace these days," the cook snorted.

Willow just shrugged and lifted her sopping bangs out of her eyes.

"Oh, you have no need for apologies, do you, princess?" Her stammering was interrupted by a rhythmic knock on the door.

She leaned against the keyhole, "What's the password?"

"Password? You've got to be kidding me. Uh... abra-ca-fucking-dabra."

"Nope, try again."

"Password."

"I'm not that stupid."

"Will is amazing and smart and beautiful, and I will never again challenge her to a footrace."

She opened the door just a crack. Bohren stood under the awning, dripping wet and getting further drenched in the rain every second. He had removed his shirt and was using it to wipe his forehead, but it didn't wipe the smirk off his face.

Perfect. Just how she had planned it.

---

I have a backlog of these - and I will be uploading them once a day until our artbook pre-order is over.

We've reached our funding goal, and there are eight days left, to pre-order the Boiled Fish Art Book project, coming Spring 2011! Sixty-four pages of illustration, sketches, and walkthroughs from ten great artists. Also include exclusive content - and you get more exclusive bonuses if you preorder. You may even win an original sketch! Please support us - through donation or advertising - here: http://kck.st/c8Afi8

Art: 024/100 Themes - No Time

"Ni teimpo." - No Time. 24/100 Themes.


"Take off your armor."

"Rivek, you're fucking nuts. What if I got hit?"

"You're already hit. It's magefire - you can't see it, but you can feel it, right?"

Bohren nodded.

"It's white magic - white magic that's going to burn inside you until it reaches your spine, rendering you immobile until it burns through to your brain."

"Fantastic bedside manner you have, but I'm pretty sure don't want to die."

"Then shut up and take off your shirt." Rivek unlaced his gauntlet and slashed open his palm. "Not the best, but really all I can think of at the moment."

Rivek tore a corner off the now-useless shirt and clenched it in his bleeding hand, letting the fibers saturate until the gray fabric had turned a deep purple. As he peeled the wet cloth from his cut, he felt a distinct sting for every strand trying to stick to his wet palm. The area which had been closest to the self-inflicted wound had already begun to thin from the acidity. Sloppily, he used it to bind Bohren's shoulder.

"Now how long do we have?" Bohren muttered. The fire was already starting to cool as the black blood ate away at the fire's magic source.

"Until I die from blood loss. Let's just hope that's not anytime soon because I"m not a great doctor."

"I think I prefer Willow."

Art: Magnum Original and Miscellanous Sketches

I'm archiving my sketchbook before I move, so I finally got around to scanning the original sketches and unshaded comic sample page I used for the Magnum design. If you're wondering: Yes, I got in. No, it won't be posted here. And the person I'm up against is Zimmay, and I am super intimidated since she can, you know, actually draw comics.



And also, here are some Mondigan sketches for 100 Themes which need to be re-done (I may save "Mother Nature" and "No Time," but in order to do so, I must re-do "Cat"). In addition, I have an unfinished sketch of a winter uniform inspired by Sam Weber's cover for The Shadow Rising, a painting which pretty much incorporates everything I love, haha.

Art: 021/100 Themes - Vacation

"Satunea." - Vacation. 21/100 Themes.

Rivek's mother's home city is a gorgeous port town. One summer in their teen years, Rivek, Willow, and Bohren spent a good amount of time there. Originally, Willow had a huge crush on Bohren - and why not? He's good looking and incredibly sweet. (Actually, she couldn't even conceive of ever being attracted to Rivek, who she actually thought he was pretty awkward-looking.)

I can't draw feet.


She didn't want to tell him that she'd fallen on purpose, so that he would carry her back to the beach.

Art: 016/100 Themes - Questioning

"Interegon." Questioning. - 16/100 Themes.

Infer what you will.

Art: 013/100 Themes - Misfortune

"Sanrujea." Misfortune. 13/100 Themes.

Rivek is good at math and highly dislikes games where he has no control over the outcome. Bohren is an easy con. Rivek knows where to get weighted dice. Bohren does not.


"No goddamn way, Riv. This game is pure luck. You just beat me six times."

"Well, given the probability, it's possible. Although, highly unlikely."

"Shut up. You cheated."

"..."

"You cheated."

"Yeah."

"Why?!"

"To see how long it'd take you to notice."

"Notice my punching you in the face."

Art & Rant: San Fransisco Sketches and Fine Art

Here are some more sketches that I did when I was in San Fransisco, none of which will be finished. I think the marathon had burned me out.

Clockwise from top left: Ruji, Alisian demi-goddess of luck and fortune. Willowren in medic gear, looking like a crack addict. Rivek and Bohren playing a game of dice, failed 100 Themes piece.


At a friend's party, I was struck with the desire to draw an octopus. People keep asking me to finish this one. I guess it's because it's something "different." I don't think it is - fine arts circles are already brimming with people-with-antlers and sexual-innuendo-of-girls-and-octopi. Also, I don't like her face.


Fine Arts friend of mine was saying that all the ImagineFX stuff was boring because it's that same "almost realism" style. That irritate me. I'm a big proponent of "if it's enjoyable, who cares if it's innovative?" It seems like we get caught up so often in desiring and making something new that we don't desire or make something for the sake of doing it so that it's fun for both artist and viewer.

I sometimes see gallery art as being a popularity contest. There's no real accurate measure of art like there is with code, so it's pretty luck-based. Did you get your name out there? Do you know the right people? I feel it's very "bandwagon." There are so many people who draw like James Jean and Audrey Kawasaki. It all seems very trendy to draw doe-eyed girls with bleeding tentacles.

It's true with code, though, too. Microsoft released a pretty user-unfriendly workplace system back with Windows 95. However, they pushed really hard, and we all got hooked to it. Then, they went and re-vamped their user experience "for the better." Problem ensues in that we have already accustomed to the old, yet flawed system. So is the change really better? All I know is, I am thankful for .docx -> .doc converters.

We can't know what's ahead if we don't know what's already been done, and not just in your own niche field. I think this is why I choose to do both. I don't want to get caught up in the latest styles or the new release patches. If I like it, that's all that matters. Otherwise, inevitably, I would end up circling myself.

Art: Art Half-Marathon 09, Day 13 or 011/100 Themes - Memory

"Memorea." Memory. 11/100 Themes.

Rivek tends towards writing things down, and Bohren, years later, still has a habit of reading them.

Bohren looks good with a little facial hair.

Art: Art Half-Marathon 09, Day 08 or 006/100 Themes - Breakaway

"Ruta liber." Breakaway. 6/100 Themes.

Rivek and Bohren, at 17 and 18 respectively, the latter helping the former walk to a meeting where he will sign away his citizenship.

A metaphorical rebirth, in a way. When Rivek is pardoned for impersonating nobility, he breaks free of the lies he made during that time. However, this forces him to adopt and accept his innate qualities as a dark-mage - an identity which is chained in its own right by a blood contract to Willow.

Bohren, though, is the kind of guy who would stick by his best friend no matter what crazy emotional crises he was going through. Not much of an identity breakaway there, but it high time where he has to come to terms with his own sexuality.

I liked this one, but I ran out of time on the execution. Notice the fast shading and... uh... how he's missing legs.


"You didn't even wash up, did you?"

"Well, I heard my best friend was finally conscious again."

"And thus, you subject his sensitive, avian nose to upir post-practice odor?"

"I'm afraid he'll have to deal with it until his charred legs can walk again by themselves."

"Well played, sir. Now, you taking me to sign my life away?"

"In blood, no less. I heard there's a bonus: free tattoo."

"Goddamn fantastic. I can't hardly wait."

"Good to have you back."

"Same here. Same here. Ow, watch your foot."

Art: Art Half-Marathon 09, Day 07 or 005/100 Themes - Seeking Solace

"Venar kuia." - Seeking Solace. 5/100 Themes.

When Rivek isn't around, Willow seeks out Bohren. I didn't have time to write anything to accompany this.

Art: Random Sketches from October

This is the final visual design for Cinderella from the Prince project. I think I've made him my favorite. A conversation with my roommate really helped further the story along - the glass slipper is now an etched pocket watch.


Paul Barnett of EA Mythic came to talk at our school. He gave a great - honest and hilarious - lecture, and then afterwards, challenged me to draw a "Victorian warrior princess." This was the first sketch, done during GameX. Since then, I submitted some better-looking contours. But also since then, EA underwent massive layoffs (including our recruiter). Not sure what's going to happen from here.


I'm still trying re-designs for different nations in my story. Here's Bohren at a later age (around 28.). I like the shoulder-pads, but I think so far, it's a little Wolverine-Wade-Wilson in overall flow. Yes, he has facial hair at he gets older.


An old character from high school, when I was more into BL. Adrian is a male prostitute, his boyish looks a combination of make-up and malnourishment throughout puberty. Although he's now experienced and in-demand to the point where he can choose his clients, he still has all kinds of hepatitis and syphilis. It never made sense to me why, in harem stories, no one ever got STDs.


And finally, some very old drawings for an art trade on Gaia Online with sinxai.

Art: Prince Project and Mondigan Designs

It's been awhile. I've been drawing on and off, just got back from New York Anime Fest - where I actually learned a lot more about comic conventions. I might give one a shot. My table partner, Alitha, mentioned that audiences might really appreciate the pencil renders more.

During NYAF, someone asked me if I had a version of this in color. I said no, whereupon she lost interest in purchasing it. It's not that I don't like color - it's that, for that style - color actually takes away from the regality of the pieces. They are meant to look like emblems, carved in stone (which is why I'll never do one for a poppy, bubble-gum, neon rainbow, series). I've gotten comments before with, "Oh wow! You're really good. I just didn't see if when I walked by since it wasn't in color!"

Another issue about comic cons, though... The thing is while - with effort - I can draw super buff super heroes, I just prefer lean (read: scrawny) guys. So part of me is thinking I can't survive in the testosterone laden, fan-boy world. But maybe it's a good thing if I can reach out to those few female comic book nerds or at least offer something a little different than hard inks and harder abs.

Anywho, re-designing Rivek since I want to do a 3D model of him for a pseudo capstone. The bad part being the art department no longer has ZBrush. (Why? Why? Why?! *sob*)


On the same lengths, I'm trying to develop a video game - specifically MMO - visual style for the storyline. So, different nations have different fashions. This is Brennan - lots of straight cuts and square shapes, with shoulder guards, tunics, and high boots. It's a country of leather and religion where maintaining order - and thus, power - is top prioirty. Bohren- a full Brennan noble - is on the left, but I hated his arm, so I re-drew the same clothing style on Rivek - a half-Brennan - on the right, and now I hate his neck. Whatever, the point of this was clothes, not anatomy.


I also start a wiki to keep character data on, so I need some pictures to break up the massive amounts of text. This is my old roleplay character, Aidan. However, here, his eyes make him look like a butch lesbian woman, so I'll need to re-draw this. Oddly enough, My roommate said she might make out with him.


Another wiki headshot. Bohren. I think the facial aspects are accurate but a bit too youthful. I have to re-draw this one, too. Bad scan is bad.


Also, here are some sketches from the Prince Project. It still needs a lot of work. School has put the research phase on hold


I also quite want to do a sequential art project based on Mozart's Requiem. Basically, it'd be a pencil-rendered comic book (so, maybe a little more like a fine art book like Prince). But right now, I lack a story. I don't know what though! Should I connect it to my old work? Ah, I have no idea.

Sketches: Tailors Daughter, Mondigan, Gore & Pokemon

With finals, soon followed by my grandfather's passing, followed by my grandmother's epic quest to get into a nursing home, I haven't had the chance to post. But I've been drawing a lot of the sketchbooks I'll be selling the convention season.

Drawn in the hospital when my grandmother fell and broke her arm. In story, Rivek gets thrown into prison and nearly executed. Bohren is the one who pulls his wretched body from the fire. I really like how Bohren's face turned out.


"One perfect summer." The vacation after Bohren and Rivek's "junior" year and Willow's "freshman" year of secondary school, they spend some time in Cordelain - Rivek's mother's city. It's a quaint beach port. Bohren is the kind of guy who shows off how strong he is by giving girls piggy-back rides. Rivek thinks it's stupid.


"Psittacinus" means "parrot" in Latin, so my friend tells me. A symbolic piece, trying to show the pseduo-homosexual relationship between Bohren and Rivek, one that Rivek is blind to. Rivek's throat is garrotted, and Bohr's lips sewn together - a dual symbol of silence. The channeling beads - what Bohren uses to amplify magic - are tying them together but in the same process, binding Bohren's arms or ability to do anything about the situation.


I tend to draw Bohren topless. This is just a posing, pretty shot of him. Fun fact: He's named after chemist Niels Bohr. I am such a nerd.


Mirab, Rivek's elder sister of four years, is a legendary leader and warrior amongst her kinsman. Equal to, maybe even more, powerful than her brother. They call her, "The Gloves," because she ends up with so much blood on her arms. She is a tall, hot, sexy, skinny, small-breated blonde who can kick your butt.


Drew this in the funeral home while discussing stuff. What an arduous process. I was trying to come up with a (mildly) heavier, not-cloth, armor for Rivek more along the lines of traditional fantasy.


More Pokemon on the way. I don't know if they're cute, but I colored the first set here.


And finally, some Tailor's Daughter stuff. I didn't do as well as in the course as I had hoped, but I got whe I deserved given that I pooped out on the project from taking so many other classes.


I settled on their character designs. Nothing too fancy - this is the small-time romance between the daughter of a tradesman and a youthful sailor. Tried something odd for the cat, though, and I'm not sure I like it.


Also, just some random shit sketches.