aphorism [noun]

(AF-uh-riz-uhm) - a terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation

where is my mind?!!? i'm having a really tough time focusing lately and it only gets worse from here i think. =P i think my mind is already in San Diego, even though it's still 3 weeks away. holy smokes it's only 3 weeks away!!
at any rate, just thought i'd throw this up real quick. this was this month's cover for Supergirl radio show (#50) for PendantAudio.com. don't judge me too badly. this is one of very few attempts at an action scene and i was super low on time that the background was really all i could do. last week was chock full of workin on my mini artbook. BUT it's all sent off, paid for, and all i gotta do is hope and pray it gets here before we leave for comic con. i may die from worry. T_T

pullulate [verb]

(PUHL-yuh-leyt) - to exist abundantly; swarm; teem

the first half of today i was finishing up my mini artbook. the second half is spent drawing this month's PendantAudio.com Supergirl radio show cover. this is a picture i took on my phone of part of the cover. i'll post the finished piece after they post it online next week.
as for my mini artbook, Mini Hot Cakes, i'm actually a wee bit excited about it. and normally i'm not cuz i tend to be my own worst critic. but i'm hoping it turns out as nifty as i think it will. it's gonna be small and thin (hence the mini part) but it's just the precursor to my actual artbook, Hot Cakes. i'll be bringing the mini book with me to San Diego and my goal is to get it in the hands of at least 10 very important people. whatever i have left over, i'll be selling at other cons or online, probably for $10. it's full colors all the way (cuz i'm not really a huge fan of just b/w lineart on my artbooks), 28 pages chock full of stuff i've drawn over the past couple of years. i have saved some art for my main book so there will be stuff in there that won't be in this one.

i got the email yesterday from New York Comic Con that i've been accepted to get a table in their artist alley! i'm superdy duper excited cuz we've been thinking about going there but money was just such a huge factor. and as i tend to come down really hard on myself, i really didn't think they'd accept my request. i mean there are tons of very talented artists that are probably trying to get in. i was very surprised they said yes. and since the husband, theFranchize, got accepted too, ID Comics Studios will be there to represent! =) with the news of our acceptance to NYCC, we've kicked these artbooks into high gear. it also gave me a little validity to what i'm doing which is important, especially when ur down in the dumps. basically, i'm glad to know i don't suck. =P i can't wait! the table cost is ri-donk-ulous and the hotel is probably even worse but we should reach an even larger audience there. gotta bring our A-game! we'll be playin with the big boys! ^__^

abut [verb]

(uh-buht) - to be adjacent; touch or join at the edge or border

thanx to theFranchize's consecutive late-night caricature gigs at after-prom parties this weekend, i've had loads of time to myself. and with that, apparently, comes productivity! who knew! as u can tell, i have finally added more than the 1 trial page on this website of mine. my progress started out as just a page for the commission info so i have someplace online i can direct folks to for pricing. then i needed to put samples up, so i did. then once i was done, i went Gump on myself and figured "well, i've gotten this far. i may as well keep going." and many hours later, i got my pages and links and whatnot up! yay me! the gallery definitely needs more tlc but formatting the pictures to fit properly was a pain in the ass. it's a work in progress.
these images are for the latest ebay commission i did. it's of Magik from X-Men (Colossus's sister). i drew her before for a different client, but that time she had goat legs. i was very pleased to hear from this client that he wanted her to have regular legs. goat legs are hard! =( well, they are for me, anyway. below are my progression shots, from pencils, to flat colors, to shadows, to highlights. i think i'm finally getting more comfortable with coloring this way and they're starting to look much like what i see in my head. i went with a white bg for this cuz i've been doing a lot of darker bgs as of late. i liked it so much, i turned it into a wallpaper for my desktop. =)

brindled [adjective]

(BRIN-dld) - gray or tawny with darker streaks or spots

i actually KNEW that word of the day! that's the first. thanks to me working at a dog kennel for a couple years. =)

just thought i'd share what i'm currently working on. now before u get the wrong impression, that's not actually the paper i'm drawing on. i was trying out some effects on my camera phone with this new app i downloaded and that's what that is. i'm drawing the cover to my mini artbook that i'm hoping to have with me going into San Diego Comic Con. i'll be handing them out to some publishers and whatnot that i meet over there. then if i have any left over, i'll be selling them online and at comic cons that i'll be attending this year. i hope the cover turns out as cool as i hope in my head. which, btw, hardly ever happens. cross ur fingers!

lucubrate [verb]

(LOO-kyoo-breyt) - to work, write, or study laboriously, especially at night

funny, even though this word of the day made me giggle like an immature 8-year-old boy because it LOOKS like lubricate, i actually lucubrate a lot. i work best that way! =P
anyway, i forgot that i hadn't posted the full version of these 5Finity Sheena Artist Proof cards. i'm sorry, i forget lots of things. i previewed these back on May 10th (Animalcule) now that the proper owner of these sketchcards have received them, i can post them. the top two cards were specific requests of the client. the bottom he left up to me to do and since i had been watching River Monsters lately, i couldn't help but have gigantic fishes in the cards. =P i was a little apprehensive about the butterfly card at first because i'm not so good at drawing bugs but it actually turned out to be one of my faves of the set! =) these were all done with micron pens and copic markers.

leitmotif [noun]

(LYT-moh-teef) - a dominant and recurring theme

this is my Bomb Queen commission i recently did for the winner of an ebay auction i held. i didn't know about this character before but after looking up her vitals on comicvine.com (my GO-TO website for any comic info i need), it was clear that she's just my cup of tea to draw. =) didn't wear much, bad-ass, sleazy - what more could i ask for! this is one of very few inks-only commissions i've done and i decided to put a little extra juice into this one. thanks to Adam Hughes, who i have a love-hate thing for (i love his art cuz it's flippin amazing and i hate his art cuz it's flippin amazing). studying his art is helping me understand grays and heavy blacks in my artwork, particularly shiny leather stuff. again, i hate and love that guy's stuff. this is probably one of the best things i've drawn lately and i'm really glad that the guy i drew it for really liked it too!
in case u were wondering, i went from pencils, straight to the copic gray markers (both cool and warm grays), then finished it off with microns to ink the whole piece. the bomb she's holding is supposed to be some type of phallic innuendo of sorts. not sure it came across that way but even if it didn't, it's all good. it still fits. =P


i decided to upload this also. this is the original colors i did for the Supergirl cover i posted the other day. i just turned it all sepia-ish for the final cover image to give it an old-time poster feel. but this was how it started out.

in other news, i'm trying really hard not to be too bummed about not going to Heroes Con this weekend. i know the other guys in the studio (with the exception of Domo who is actually going) have other things going on that makes it better for them to stay. and i know they were super-late in getting back to us about whether we had a table or not. but for me, i was kinda looking forward to it. i haven't been to a comic con since baltimore last year and i think i need to be in that environment. i mean, don't get me wrong, i love going to these pet expos. but not being around the comic scene is really doing a number on my confidence to draw comic-related things. i guess i shouldn't be too bummed since we are planning on going to the mother of all comic cons, COMIC CON! but still, it's tough to see fellow artists talk about their table numbers and books they have out. yeah, i'm hatin! so what! sigh.
however! my plans for this weekend is to try not to sulk too much and use it to be productive instead! i'm gonna turn this blog into some type of functional Peng-Peng Art website. so don't be shocked if u check back next week and some things have changed. =) so, here's to productivity!