Art: Sebastian, His Butler

Another very late santas-workshop picture for Cinnamon-doll. I did the cel coloring again to speed things up. I wanted to experiment with back light, so balancing this picture was tough (and I am still not totally happy). I need to try a different color scheme (other than red/purple/blue/yellow).  I've actually watched this series. I liked it, but didn't love it.

Art: Fanart of Prussia from Hetalia

This is a Santa's Workshop gift for Lady-of-Halos. I'm sorry for being the slowest, busiest artist ever.  More work with dramatic lighting, poses, and composition. I'm not a Hetalia fan, but I love historical costumes and flags.  He has a girl's face, but I think that is fine given the subject matter.

More work with dramatic lighting, poses, and composition. I'm not a Hetalia fan, but I love historical costumes and flags.

Art: Inception - The Big Under

My entry for the Inception "The Big Under" comic book cover contest. I've been working on this nonstop for the past week or so, even on the plane flying back home for holiday break. We rented the movie, and I'm a little embarrassed to say I watched it seven times while painting (and three times in theater when it first premiered). Cobb's face is referenced from a shot in Fischer's hotel dream before he kicks in the door of Room 528. This is the text-less version. The text version is on my deviantART.

I went for a painted look since I thought I could better convey drama through light, color and value than line. In my mind, the core of the story is Cobb manipulating the relationship between Saito and Sonia. Hence, I left out Arthur and Nash (as much as I love Arthur). Along the same lines, I left out guns, samurai swords, rosaries, and the camera - since they facilitate the plot but don't relate directly to the core. I chose to focus on Cobb crossing mental barriers between dream worlds - so his background is a maze - something with infinite possibility but no reference to something that exists. I put Cobb's legs in a way to form a triangle up into the more detailed parts of the image. The PASIV device and the wires are another mechanism to lead the eye around the otherwise dark area. The running pose is homage as well to the promotional material from the movie itself (the poster with Arthur in the rotating hallway). Again, to focus on the relationship between the characters, I wanted the arms of the lovers to connect, and form a subtle but dynamic triangle with the Extractor. Another tactic I used to keep the eye circling is re-using the red from the title in small articles on each character. Here are some detail shots as well:

Art: AnimeNext 2010

Here are most of the commissions I did for AnimeNext. It's mostly fanart, as per usual at this convention. I slightly lowered my color prices, though, and I ended up with a lot of them.

The first one is some headshots of someone's characters, inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender in a modern setting.


I also had to draw this very odd-looking Pokemon, Blaziken. Bipedal, humanoid Pokemon irk me. The fire in the background was fun to do, too.


I was also asked to draw Taokaka from the video game Blazblue. I like how this one turned out.


I spoke with Yoon, and she said my commissioners kept coming to her to pick up work I was doing for them. Do we look alike? Haha.

The next day, I drew a couple cosplaying as characters from .hack.


A friend of mine also asked me to draw his youngest daughter with her favorite Pokemon, Eevee.


I sketched out a couple as chibis.


This piece is one of - if not the - most elaborate piece I've done. Two original characters for a constant, returning customer. I threw in the semi-background to thank him for his loyalty. This one piece paid for the con for me, but it took all of Sunday to draw!

Art: Wizard World Philadelphia 2010

I went to Wizard World Philly his past weekend. It was a nice change or pace, being able to draw women with muscles and curvy bodies. I may come from the anime side of things, but I do appreciate American comic book culture. Not to mention, commissions at comic conventions go for way higher price points. I got a record number of tips because people were so satisfied by the pieces I did specifically for them.

Not like Fanime, where I got a tip for basically entertaining three children who I was drawing chibis of as they watched me the entire time I was drawing them, haha.

By the way, oh my god, I saw Bruce Campbell! I didn't see Patrick Stewart as hard as I looked, but I am happy to know that he and I were in the same room. That man is so amazing. And oh my god, I was sitting next to the man who draws Green Latern, and I saw the guy who did the covers for Strathmore's new paper line, and so many more. It was insane.

But, yes, uh, art... The first thing I was asked to draw was Supergirl:


I really enjoy when people get full-body pictures since it gives me more leeway with the posing. Another man asked me to draw Vampirella in his sketchbook. The same sketchbook that a hell of a lot of professional artists had drawn in. I was intimidated silly. The proportions were a bit off since I was rushed and am not used to working on such large paper.


A guy came by and asked me to draw his daughter as Star Sapphire, who she had dressed up as for Halloween:


Another guy couldn't decide between Sailor Jupiter (my childhood hero!) and Nico Minoru (I love her design... and Jo Chen), so he got me to draw both. Haha, well, he was also debating about adding Alice Cullen, but I nixed that one. I'm not much of a Twilight fan.


Robin. Again. Time Drake, this time. Maybe this is a sign. His eyes are too high, but I like the exaggerated jaw structure which I don't get to play around with as much when drawing anime (which leans toward softer features).


Nice guy came at the end of Saturday and asked me to draw Emma Frost overnight. Then he told me the next morning it was the best piece he'd ever bought. Ah, I forgot to take a picture of the second one he asked for! Emma Frost with a Flyers hat and hockey stick. Haha.


Ah, the people were so nice. This guy asked for Powergirl, then said thank you again on my deviantART, then showed it off on his Twitter.


Finally, in the last three hours of the con, a young man asked me to do Avatar artwork, and our discussion slowly transitioned into me drawing Zuko and Draco - two characters who are intended villains but who are not thoroughly evil but merely have something to prove to their own self-worth. I'm really glad he took the shading option since it gave me a chance to play with the lighting. I think he was happy, too. It may have been more expensive, but I tried to make it worthwhile.


I've discovered it takes me awhile to warm up at a con, so the first and commissions aren't the best. But if I get rushed, they tend to turn out pretty bad. You want to bet somewhere between third and fifth.

I've just been so busy with school, moving, and conventions, that I haven't had much impetus to do original work. How sad. :(

Art: Draco Dormiens, Color

And, seven episodes of LOST later, another print...

Art: Dies Irae, Colored

For this con season - since it'll be my last, rather than make new prints, I'm re-touching some old ones. It still takes a long time, though. I tried to do it on Livestream, but my internet connection keeps dropping out.

I made some Gaia work which I'll post when I'm finished all of them.

Art: Bas-Relief Style

Oh, and I did get to some finished pieces I might add. These are the refults from the sketch work you saw a couple posts earlier.

I'm very happy with the D. Grayman one, maybe because it's one of my favorite series (despite my Allen looking a little wonky). I wish to draw portraits of all the characters now! I went for a more musical theme because of Allen's relationship to Mana and performances and masks. Also, I altered the Rose Cross to say "Linali" and "Marian" - two people I think Allen hold as the most important. Also, if you notice, the final number on the circle part of the cross is "14," which I swear makes sense if you read it. "Indemnis" means "innocence" in Latin, which is pretty self-explanatory given the storyline.


Also, Harry Potter! This one's been doing pretty well out of my prints. In addition to the items I prevoiusly mentioned, we have a snake and a lion and an abstracted Forbidden Forest and Ministry of Magic. Also, each character is matched up to their animal - Hermione to Crookshanks, Harry to Hedwig, and Ron to Scabbers. There are a wand and a broomstick crossed in the background, and it says "Dracon dormiens nunquam titillandus" - "never tickle a sleeping dragon" - Hogwarts's motto.

Art: Fanart Sketches

Long time, no post, huh? Well, I need to get back into the habit. The only thing I can say is that con season has started, so there will be fan art and badly photographed commissions ahead. Although, the latter will be in another post.

This is? was? for a collaboration with Kheleksul. I don't know where she is on it right now.


I did a Harry Potter picture, based on the final book. I'll post the finals in another entry. As you can see, when doing crest-style work, I draw each figure separately and piece them together on the computer. Harry is holding all three Deathly Hallows (and the Snitch from his first Quidditch game). Hermione has "Beedle the Bard" and that Bag of Holding. Ron has the sword of Godric, and the Deluminator. The bird-like thing is Fawkes which represents Dumbledore, and the four heads are the four ghosts Harry walked to his "death" with.


Oh, this was something I came up with back in January. It's a Steampunk Alternate Universe Romance for Mondigan, titled "The Bow and the Rose."

The world is made up of floating cities - divided into two classes, those that power the engines and those that live on the ships. Ari Kovalev (Rivek) is a the son of a mechanic who lost his eye, arm, and his father's life in the engines. A romantic in the chronological sense of the word, he takes his revenge by becoming a vigilante. But why use a bow in a world full of guns? For the message, that is hearkens back to a more peaceful time when everyone lived, equally on the ground. Wilhelmina Solaris (Willowren) is a rich girl, sporting no visible body modification as a symbol of her purity. But her desire for a more exciting life has drawn her inevitably towards a particular one-eyed bowman, and she leaves roses on her doorstep, hoping he will come. Baron English (Bohren) is her lifelong friend and guardian, head of the royal guard, who cannot help but worry about what her head full of fantasies has gotten her into this time.

Samuel Jenner (Sorian) is Wilhelmina's power-hungry uncle who has nearly replaced his entire form with mechanical parts. He murdered Kovalev's father and thus, is the prime target for revenge. Jerry the Hand (Kaiaden) is the leader of a street gang of teenaged boys who sell mechanical parts and body modifications in exchange for modifications on themselves. He works directly for Jenner since no one suspects the young. Jhiri (Mirab) is one of Jenner's experiments, a princess from another island whose 'ghost' has been imprinted on a mechanical body, so she will stay beautiful forever. It is unclear whose side she is on - or if she has the emotional capacity to even chose a side anymore.


Back to fan art, though. I friggin' love D. Grayman! The character designs appeal so much to me. Lavi is one of my favorite characters, but I admit I dig eyepatches in general. I did another bas-relief style picture with them. Here are the initial sketches:


I decided my style wasn't "animu" enough for the next fan art pieces I wanted to do (pieces I have wanted to do for a long time, characters which I will put to rest once this is accomplished). So, I looked at ProdigyBombay and Korilin's work for some visual reference. I don't think I got it, though. I need to keep trying.


I went on and did the sketches anyhow.

The only organ not removed from the body during mummification was the heart. Therefore, I thought it would be very appropriate to do a Bakura piece, since his trademark card is the "Change of Heart." I really loved YuGiOh when I was in high school. It was the only reason I would wake up so early on Saturday morning (and simultaneously do my chemistry homework while watching). I want to re-draw everyone except Bakura and the Millennium Items. Yugi looks like a plant.


Finally, this is a piece I've wanted to do for ever, but could never find a decent way to do it. EVA is one of my favorite series, and for his seventeen minutes of screentime, I absolutely adore Kaworu. I need to draw a lot more elements for this, though. The seated Rei and Asuka are the ones I am not using in the final. Upon further analysis, the piece should center on the (much more popular) girls, rather than Shinji.


Anyhow, I was happy with my art when I made the last post, but now I'm not. I feel obligated to move into digital color for the wrong reasons - to please other people, not to better my own skills.

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.

Sketches: Dancers and Pokemon

A few weeks ago, I saw my friend Nirav in his swing dancing show. They wore newsboy caps, collared shirts, and suspenders. It hasn't left my mind since.

If Rivek and Bohren lived in the 1910s/20s, they would have gone off to the Great War, lost a few fingers, and then come back only to work as street sweepers. Sucks.


Along the same lines, I wanted to do some ballroom dance pictures. I've had this idea since high school where it's kind of like their prom. Rivek's a guard and technically on duty for the night, so Willow asks him to follow her outside where no one will see, and they dance in the moonlight as the music wafts through the windows. Pose is woefully stiff because I drew it while watching Wolverine in the theatre (Ironiceally, it's the only movie where I find Ryan Reynolds attractive. I bet it's the swords.).


Here are some Pokemon I am making into con season keychains. Again, some are going to need re-drawing. When I work, I need to draw the same thing over and over before it's just right.


Oh, and sometimes, I forget how to draw my own characters... I had to practice to figure out how to draw Rivek's face again. I still can't do it in three-quarters just right.

Sketches: Sena, Dominance War, 1714, and Pokemon

Every so often, I find I have a new follower. Thank you, it really brightens my day to know people are reading this. :) Even if you are secretly making fun of it. No matter how weird my stuff is... Now, speaking of weird.

I have a thing for very old mythology, and a lot of old mythology is very dark. Prior to the Victorian ages, fairy tales were very different, and I'm trying to craft my own set of similar stories which possess these themes - in particular, transformation. Obviously, male-female relationships have been a point of contention since the beginning of humankind.

Long ago, the ocean was perfectly still. Sena Mahara is one of four gods and goddesses whose human forms were crafted from animals. She was a great, silver fish. Her human body retained the same svelte qualities, and every mortal man worshiped her, hoping to find a woman half as beautiful. Verulis was the only man who dared court the goddess himself. After much searching, he trapped her in a net and impregnated her against her will. Enraged, the goddess took him between her legs and dove into the sea where the ocean bloated her flesh like a beautiful corpse. The mortal man clung to her like a parasite, and the water beasts turned them into a tentacled, symbiotic creature. Since then, the sea has always been a seductive yet furious mistress towards all sailors, and Verulis is a name for men whose downfall is caused by women or their own rampant libidos.



Ta-da. More Dominance War - his final design, I hope. I'm sick of drawing him, though. So I'll color this and be through. The 3D model is so close to completion as well. Color compositions soon.


During my friend's swing dancing show, my other friend leans over and says, "Grace, your spirit animal is a zombie." My other friend, Joe, says, "My spirit animal is a bear - with sharks for hands!" It escalated. So, here we are: YiYi (Wall-E), Kristen( Cat in Apron), Daniel (Black Hole), Alice (Piranha Pete Plant), Jake (Talking Cupcake), Hamster Riding A Dog Riding a Bigger Dog - All Pink! (Rebbecca), Meerkat (Zoey), Other Meerkat (Nirav), Zombie (Me), Drunk Golden Retriever With Eye Patch and Bow Tie (Ted), Penguin with Shotgun (Rob), and Bear With Sharks for Hands (Joe).

I have awesome friends.


Also, continuing on the "cute" theme, I'm making Pokemon keychains for convention season. It's going to be a lot of work, especially since I have to re-draw almost all of these. Only Espeon and Jolteon don't look like they're diabetic. :(