Goodness, I could have sworn I actually posted here since midterms. Must have been on Tumblr. Damn social networks are all blurring together.

I was going to post some more art today, but I'm going to actually work on more art instead, I think. That and watch Aladdin. Unless SOPA would give me shit for mentioning Aladdin on my blog.

In which case I will draw all the Aladdin fanarts and SOPA can suck it.

But yeah, I'll be putting up more of O'Yoné up at midnight and give more updates on what I'm doing, including some personal news.

EDIT: Or I could end up with an upset stomach. They will be up this week, though.

Book Illustration Storyboards

So, I'm taking book illustration, where I have to draw a full 32 page picture book, plus cover art. Luckily, three of those pages are for the title, copyright and dedication, but I still did spots for those. Anyhow, I'm doing a re-write of a Japanese folktale called the Flute. It's an awful and sad story and the writing is horribly dated in the original version I read, which is the one in the link, but I re-did it in my own style, formatted to fit 29 pages with illustrations.

Warning before you scroll or read the links: while the class is to create picture books in the style of children's picture books, this is very much so not something I'd tell a small child. I would especially not tell a small child this story if they have a step-parent. It's like Cinderella, except there is no prince or happy ending.

Anyhow, first steps are character designs and storyboards. I'll load up the character designs and thumbnails later, but I took some pictures of my favorite layouts of the storyboards to share:

"In her twelfth autumn, O'Yoné lost her mother."

Father forgets Mother-Who-Died. O'Yoné doesn't.

Stepmother is jealous of O'Yoné's relationship with Father.
Father receives news from the Capital.

"But if you leave, you shall never see me again."

Father plays the flute.

Father leaves the Capital.

"[She is] In the bamboo grove."

Father plays the flute a final time and finds O'Yoné's body.

Father kills Stepmother and becomes a monk to repent.

Yeah, like I said: not a kid's tale. It is a great, if tragic, story, and I thought that it was simple enough while also lending a lot to potential scenery, which is why I picked it. I never do anthro characters, too, aside from where it's needed (i.e. werewolves, Beauty and the Beast, Journey to the West and similar stories), but I thought it would be interesting to turn the characters into anthropomorphic creatures from Japanese mythology, so I made Father into a general kitsune, Mother-Who-is-Dead into a tengu woman (her hair and O'Yone's are both wings), Stepmother into a ninetails kitsune and O'Yoné into a mix of tengu and kitsune. I got a lot of inspiration in the character design from Okami, too, particularly in how to do the tengu hair.

Shit I write in class

This is a ritual poem for creative writing. I wrote it with a craving in mind. And Christmas, a little. Oh, and maybe a little bit of Tool.


Paying the Toll

Annual wind down.
Debts to pay.
Grab that stupid green bag and get in the car, bitch.
We’re going shopping.

Large eggs.
Chopped nuts.
Do we still have vanilla left?
Shit, forgot if we have the flour.
Better get the brown sugar, too.
Chocolate chips.
Don’t be a wuss.
Get the big one.
Yeahhhh, that’s it.

Get back.
Oh hey, we did have enough sugar.
Whoops.
...Shit, I should have picked up baking soda.
Ah well, powder works too,
I think.

Get out the tools.
Preheat 375º F.

Mix in 2 1/2 cups flour
With a tsp salt and soda–
no, powder–
And sneak in some cinnamon.
Mix it well in a large bowl.
You should invest in a sifter.
Really, how the hell
Can you tell
Is it mixed right?
Fuck it, that looks good.

In a bigger bowl,
Mix two sticks butter
Softened–
Wait, softed?
God damn it.
I hate butter.

Throw it in a small bowl.
Nuke it.
Son of a bitch, it’s all drippy,
Oily, and gross.

Back in the big bowl.
Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar
And 3/4 the other sugar.
Oh, teaspoon of vanilla.
Mix it all together until smooth.

Shit, why can’t I find the KitchenAid?
Who looses a KitchenAid mixer?
It’s like loosing a baby.

Fuck it, we’ll improvise.
Rice paddle?
...Yeah, that’ll work.

SHIT, WHY IS THE BUTTER STILL THIS HARD?!

Note to self:
If you ever see that guy from GQ
Who said that cooking can be “manly”
But baking is always “dainty”
Hit him with your still frozen butter.
How’s that for fuckin’ dainty?

Add in two large eggs gradually.

Now that you wasted 30 minutes
And your arm feels oddly beefy,
Mix in the dry ingredients.
Gradually.

You just dumped
The whole thing in
Again.
You stupid bitch.

MIX, STUPID, MIX!

Oh yeah, you gotta mix in the chips and nuts, now.
Shit ain’t ever gonna end.
But hey, check out that right biceps you’re building.

Grease up your poor little cookie sheet,
And drop rounded tablespoons of dough on it.

Recipe yields 60.
Or more, ‘cause recipes lie.
Yeah, have fun with your one sheet.
Quit bitching.
Just wrap the rest and keep baking as you go.

It’s this or Amazon. Keep going.

Bake for five minutes first.
No, just listen.
Take it out for a little to cool.
Then shove it in for another five.
Yeah, that’s right.
Soft bake.
I ain’t baking no hard ass cookies.

Oh, and while you’re waiting, soak your fucking utensils.
Shit’s annoying to clean up.

Take out your cookies and let them cool.
Or dump them in open Tupperwear, yeah.
That works too.

Keep doing this until you’re out of the dough.
Oh hey, check that out.
Seventy-two cookies.
And with a sheet that fits a dozen.
Nestle, you lying bastards.

Wrap it all up in your nice pastry boxes.
Tag them for your friends.
Yeah, just enough for all of them.
Swear to never fucking do this shit again.

...Fuck.
I want a cookie.

The Raffle (Again)

So, I posted details on the raffle at my lolita blog. I'm also going to start taking orders for the two badge sets I made soon, as well as for anymore commissions and the other prints I did at the con, so keep an eye out.

Anime Boston Lucky Pack Raffle

Raffle info is here. I left my cellphone charger in Boston, unfortunately, so I have to get a new one tomorrow and get pics up sometime after class. But everything should be set 100% good to go tomorrow night.

Late Night Doodles

Just fooling around rather than sleeping. I really have no clue how Arnold and Helga sneaked in there. I was going to draw Panty, and then she ended up puckering way too much and before I knew it, my favorite non-anime cartoon couple ended up in the corner. (I know they never were in the show, really, but they were supposed to end up together after another season and movie before it got canceled. Helga was going to get a teen spin off, too, but that never took.)

The rest is a self portrait and the two things I'm looking forward to the most this year in terms of long running fandom: the last installment of the Harry Potter series as movies and the re-release of the Sailor Moon manga. The chibi of Sailor Moon and Luna are going to get cleaned up, colored and go on a bookmark for AB, btw. If I didn't have grand plans for it that aren't likely going to be done on time for AB, the Princess Serenity sketch would get the same treatment and be set up for the con too. Well... ok, we'll see. Other things take first priority.

Harry... also was kind of a surprise. I was looking at images of Dick Grayson, had his hair style on the brain and last minute he turned into 17-year old Harry Potter with a cut on his face and the locket horcrux. Ginny is my favorite side character in the series, so I started drawing her, too. Did anyone else notice that Harry was having erotic dreams about her in Half-Blood Prince (the book, obviously; that movie was atrocious)? I haven't read the books in a while, but I remember Harry thinking something in the lines of him being glad that Ron wasn't aware of his attention towards Ginny or of certain embarrassing dreams at night. Poor horny Harry. Even wizarding chosen ones get hit hard by their hormones.

More Fashion Drawing Classwork

So, at least I have my stuff for my fashion illustration done. I just need to have one of the pieces mounted. Here's what's what:

Postcard design from the front...


And the back.

I know neither is fashion illustration, really, but he said it didn't have to be. It needs to just be representative of what we do as illustrators. So I decided to spot older work and to do a cleaner, colored version of that drawing of Montmartre in Paris with the balloons. Also, logo update

And we also had to do a piece on Carnivale in Rio de Janeiro. Not my cup of tea usually since I don't really like showgirl-like costumes (says the burlesque fan), but it was honestly fun to work on.
Some in-class drawings were also submitted, but unfortunately I don't have scans/photos of them yet. They're more ink and watercolor washes on brown craft paper, though. It's like the most unprofessional paper to work on next to newsprint, but honestly, I love working on it and I get ver positive reactions from them. Apparently they have a "nice quality".