Man, I am really glad that May is almost over. It's been a pretty crummy month, all things considered, but with some good things here and there. Good things being a bit of work here and there, and going to Disneyland with my little bro. But a large chunk of time -almost two weeks- was spent attempting to fix my broken internet. Yes, it took that long to get it fixed. And really, the only reason it got fixed at all was because we switched to a different ISP. It was kind of nightmarish dealing with that, especially since I know I lost work days because of it, and put a ton of stress on me and my family (since their internet is all based around my computer.) Also, partly because of that, didn't get tickets to Comic Con this year. -_-

But as of today, house will pretty much be to myself for the next six weeks. My little bros will also be around for part of that, but I think it'll still be a lot of the responsibility falling to me. On the flipside, it'll also be nice (and kinda interesting) to effectively have the whole house to myself for that long. We shall see how it goes!

Alrighty, it's time to give you some more LP and art:





First off for arts, this is actually a redoing of an old character from a very old story. I wanted to try and new painting technique, and I'm actually really happy with how it came out! I think I'm finally figuring out painting techniques that work for me. Makes me excited to paint again in the future.

( Obedience )

Finished the rest of the characters for Atlantica, and started in on the Agrabah characters.

( All Hearts - Ursula, Flotsam, Jetsam, Aladdin, Abu and Carpet )

And a whole slew of waking-up drawings:

( Under-covers drawings 393-411 )

Drawing: Mostly a whole lot of storyboarding, plus askblog answers

Writing: All tags all the time

...Have I seriously not updated this journal since April? Geeeebus. I think I'm just going to take everything in bullet points because I'm too tired to go into deep analysis on things before getting to the LP and art dump part of this post.

- The biggest thing here is that my grandpa passed away this last weekend, after a decade-long battle with Alzheimers. This is the first time I've ever lost a grandparent. It's funny, but because of the Alzheimers, it kind of feels like he's already been gone for awhile. I am now glad I got to see him last month, but also glad I did not see him in his last days, from the way my mom described how he looked. The memorial service is next week. More than anything, I'm just worried about my mom, who's also been awfully sick since last week, and my dad left for overseas just a day or two before my grandpa died. I'm glad my little bro is coming home this week.

- I feel like I am in a constant flux state of confidence and fear about the future. Sometimes I'll feel fine, and sometimes I'll worry myself silly. I wish I knew what to expect or where I'll be at the end of the year.

- I've been doing some freelance work for a music video, and although it's going slow, I'm enjoying working on it. If I just had more work like this in a constant stream, I'd be doing all right.

- iJAG is going well as always, and I love everyone that's in it. I'm also greatly enjoying some one-on-one RP shenanigans, and it's so great to have both these things to look forward to.

- I am still spoiler-free for KH3D, and honestly looking forward to that game coming out is the one big thing I am anticipating in July...even moreso than Comic Con. I so wish it was coming out in June; that'd be most ideal for me. Just from what everyone's said, I reeeeeally wanna play it.

- I am also still preparing for AM2 Convention in June. To that end, kiaxet and tairako helped me out with making these custom painted ponies:

( A PARADE OF PAINTED PONIES )

Now to the art dump part, starting with some more episodes of the LP:







Some more All Hearts:

( All Hearts - Lock, Shock, Barrel, Ariel, Flounder, Sebastian, King Triton, Prince Eric, Glut )

And a whole crapton of waking-up drawings:

( Under-covers drawings 374-392 )

Drawing: Endless things; seriously, I have so much to do

Writing: Bestest RPs

KH3D Countdown: 83 Days

Once again, it's been forever since I've updated here. And my excuses are the same...busy with many different projects, mostly checking iJAG for Dreamwidth stuff and Plurk for friend stuff. I'll try to keep up a bit better in the future.

May is going to be an...interesting month. Definitely a busy one in many ways. But for right now, I got a little less than a month's worth of freelance work, which will be real nice. Also, the project itself is actually pretty fun to work on...my kind of aesthetic and such. Hope the finished product turns out well! Mentordude says that work leads to more work, so I definitely hope that's true.

I've got a whole ton of ponies on my desk that I intend to paint and sell for AM2 Convention! I did some test paints for three of them, and they turned out okay! I'm excited for the con...

Also, while I'm still avoiding spoilers completely, I at least listened to some of the songs from KH3D. And...huh, it's a bit different from their normal OSTs, but so far I think this one may be one of my favorites. The songs are just so happy.

Got another dump of LP and arts for ya...



( All Hearts - Santa, Reindeer and Sally )

( Under-covers drawings 359-373 )

Drawing: Lots of freelance stuff and more

Writing: Tags and such for iJAG

KH3D Countdown: 102 Days

OH GOODNESS but I've been busy around here! There are seriously not enough hours in the day.

Most people know this already, but I'll just reiterate it here again...I am trying to stay SPOILER FREE for KH3D! I know most friends have already spoiled themselves, but I really wanna hold out until I can play the game myself. So please don't go sharin' spoilers with me! I've been good about them so far, unlike with BBS, where I got spoiled for Vanitas without my consent on dA.

IN THE MEANWHILE, I'LL JUST ROLL AROUND AND HOPE THAT SUMMER GETS HERE SOON SO THAT I CAN PLAY IT AAAAAAAAAAH AAAAAAAAAAAAH

This past weekend I was super-busy with a sudden barrage of freelance projects, all of which I thankfully got done on time and to the clients' satisfactions! Had to do a storyboard for a commerical (online commercial, but still) and then a series of stickers, logos, mock sites and more for a music video. If either of those things goes up soon, then I'll link 'em.

Also, on Saturday, I went up to visit my grandma, since she was recovering from a broken wrist and I haven't seen her in awhile besides. It was nice just to hang out with her for awhile and talk, and we also got us some In-N-Out and ice cream. We also went to see my grandpa, and it was...definitely an interesting experience seeing him again, compared to the last time we visited him. I know he didn't recognize me at all, but at least he seemed to smile a bit when I talked to him. I drew him a little sketch just to keep.

OH, something else I just remembered...I got invited, so I'll bet at AM2 Convention in June at an artist's alley table! :D I'll be selling a buncha stuff, including fanart-things and copies of LG...so woot, finally get the chance to do that! I'll probably mention the con again closer to June.

And hey, Kia's computer is working again, so we've got another episode of the Kingdom Hearts 2 Let's Play up!



( All Hearts - Hercules and Zack Fair )

( Under-covers drawings 351-358 )

Drawing: So many things I've lost track

Writing: BEST THREADS IN iJAG

Wondercon last weekend was a bunch of fun! It was my first time going since it was down in Anaheim this year, and I headed out there with corrielle and kiaxet. We ended up staying in the Hilton...probably the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in for a con. |D All in all, it was like a more chill version of SDCC, and I spent most of my time just hanging out with friends or scouring the exhibit hall. I went to some of the business-related panels, but didn't really hear much new from those (although it was interesting hearing people discuss Wonder Woman's history for her costumes and body shapes.) The panels for Once Upon A Time and Community were a lot of fun to watch. Got to see Pascal, Jean, Axel, Katie, Amy and many others in the hall, which was fun! :D I ended up buying a whole bunch of books from Archaia (they were having a buy two, get three free sale and COULD NOT RESIST THAT), plus a book on color and light by the illustrator of Dinotopia...it's been real useful for working on my painting. If it's in Anaheim again, gotta make sure that I go back to the con next year.

Also been busy this week doing Gnomon Preview Days again, in which I said hi to some old friends there too, and also just working on stuff and the usual job-hunting. I seriously can't believe March is almost over...

In case you haven't seen yet, I've started an askblog on tumblr! It's Ask Master Eraqus, and thusfar it's been a lot of fun to do. XDa Hopefully I can keep up with it!

( MLP - Day and Night )

Ending with more All Hearts and waking-up drawings...

( All Hearts - Megara, Phil, Pegasus, Pain and Panic )

( Under-covers drawings 340-350 )

Drawing: Commission work, portfolio prep, All Hearts, etc.

Writing: Mostly tags

I really need to keep up on my LJ/DW friendslists better; I feel like I'm way behind on those! Just been forgetting to check them on a daily basis...

Anyways, a whole bunch has happened recently! I finally finished all the work for the opera, and then last weekend I got to head up to San Francisco and see it! This was my first time ever heading all the way up to San Fran, and it was a super-long drive by myself. However, upon getting there, everything went pretty well! Got to meet the crew before the show, and everyone really enjoyed the art. This was the first opera I'd ever seen, and it was a lot of fun to watch! Great singing, and the characters and story were funny and entertaining. At the end, I actually went up and took a bow with everyone, which was an interesting experience. XD

After helping everyone clean up the set (since this was at a high school theater; and a really nice one at that) we all went out for dinner at a pub in San Fran, and then I stayed the night with some friends of the art director. They had a really nice place, and I talked some with Arlin, who was big in the solar power business. Although, at like 5:30 in the morning while I was staying there, there was a 4.0 earthquake right in the city where I was staying...definitely felt that one. @_@ However, it doesn't seem like they got any serious damage there, thankfully.

And before heading home, stopped at a famous coffee shop to meet Ryune for breakfast. It was a good meal for cheap, and we had a lot of fun talking for awhile! Although man, driving in San Francisco proper is pretty nerve-wracking. @_@ Also my first time ever crossing the Bay Bridge...it was a toll, but I've never driven across a bridge that huge before.

If you want to see some of the art I did for the opera, you can see the prologue for it here:



Sometime I'll also upload the few photos I took while I was there of the backstage and crew.

Also this week, got to meet John de Lancie to give him a commission of Discord from MLP! :D He was a super nice dude. I'm debating going to the next BronyCon in June since I was invited...it's just a matter of figuring out if I can afford the cost of flying and possibly lodging. This is the original painting of Discord for ghettopeach that John signed; the commissioned one is a slight variation on this:



And then next weekend I'll be heading off to Wondercon...first time ever at that con; hope it's fun!

Here's a bunch more art things:

( All Hearts - Ice Titan, Rock Titan and Hydra )

( Under-covers drawings 335-339 )

Drawing: All Hearts, got some more stuff coming up

Writing: Whole lotta tags

Well, the anticipation thing has been stretched into summer at this point, so I'm not even going to touch on that right now. I'll just say that...yeah, same old song, again.

I'm back to jobhunting again, but some more opportunities have come up, so here's hoping they work out.

Tomorrow I'm driving all the way up to San Francisco to go see The Manga Flute, which I did all the backdrops and the prologue images for. If you're in the area, go check it out! This is my first time heading all the way up to San Fran, especially on my own, so hopefully everything will go well. Because the drive is so long, I won't be back until Monday night or so...will blab about the experience when I return!

Also, I finished another storyboard! :D This is one I've been working on for awhile (since the start of the year) and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! I wanted to go with a self-contained story, with no dialogue and lots of acting. Actually ended up redoing an old board from years ago. Under the cut is both the paper version, and an animatic version:

( The Morning Dog )

Still no new LP because of busted computers, but here's some more All Hearts and waking-up drawings...

( All Hearts - Cerberus and Hades )

( Under-covers drawings 314-334 )

Drawing: FINALLY finished up the opera stuff and the storyboard! I've got a board test coming up, plus All Hearts and such.

Writing: Tags everywhere

Busy busy busy as always, and these next few weeks will be especially intense. x_x I'm hoping for good news at the end of them, but won't go into it much here for now. However, if I don't post again here for awhile, it's because busy-ness has nommed me.

I've had a terrible urge to make an askblog for awhile now, but I just don't know if I've got the time to do it... T_T

Also, in regards to the latest trailer for KH3D? ALL. MY. SCREAMING. IDK if I'll repeat every point here since I already freaked out in plurk when I first saw it, but AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. WANT TO PLAY THE GAME NOOOOOOWWWWWW.

No new LP since Kia's computer has sadly been busted, but here's more All Hearts and waking-up drawings...

( All Hearts - The Mayor )

( Under-covers drawings 300-313 )

Drawing: Tons of stuff for the opera, storyboarding, All Hearts, commissions, etc.

Writing: EVERYTHING FUN AT iJAG IT'S BEEN A CRAZY WEEK.

GOODNESS it's been awhile since I've posted. Between my daily schedule and then doing stuff in itsjustagamerp, I've been surprisingly busy. Here's where things stand:
- I'm hoping to finish the new storyboard I've been working on next week. It's definitely my longest yet.
- I'm hoping to finish most, if not all of the opera stuff by the end of next week.
- About halfway through the work I've been doing on designs for a social networking game idea; stuff I want to add to the portfolio.
- Applied for about four dozen jobs or so in all of that.
- Finished all the boards and revisions for DSP.
- Finished a couple've smaller commissions.
- Haven't gotten as much done on reindeer story as I've liked, since that's been falling by the wayside for other projects.

And also! Finished a (somewhat late) birthday gift for corrielle! I hope that you like this!

( Arya and Nymeria )

I'm going through a whole bunch of anxiety about the future...although a lot of that anxiety will probably kick in later down the road, so IDK if I want to talk about it right now. It will probably come up later in time. I think plurk knows some of that already. :(

Aside from that seemingly-endless worry, I have of course still been busy with art stuff. We'll start with the most recent LP episode, then go into drawings...



I went to Disneyland yesterday, and had a really good drawing day! So, here's a dump of all the life drawing a did, plus a watercolor:

( Disneyland doodles )

( All Hearts - Lumiere )

Also, I'm thinking of doing a livestream of how I do All Hearts paintings tomorrow night. Will see how that goes!

( Under-covers drawings 292-299 )

Drawing: Commissions, projects, storyboards, All Hearts...tons of stuff, basically

Writing: Tags!