04 - Long time no see + Monofighters

Holy cow!! It's been AGES since I last posted here! Almost a year! It's such a pity that I couldn't keep up with this blog, haha. I'll try to keep it running though, as this is a place in which I can post pictures without worrying about copyright issues (unlike deviantART).
Soo...wow...it's been so long I feel like this post should be VERY lengthy. But I don't think it would be very ethic to post a bible text attack, haha. As if anyone read this thing anyways...
But where to start!! Well...last time I posted something was back in October 2007...woah...for the first part I think what deserves a bigger mention is my trip to Guadalajara in December of the same year. The reason I went there was to see Björk give her first concert in my country, but that wasn't the most remarkable thing that spawned from the voyage. What I'm most grateful about is that I found people that would later on become some of my dearest friends ever. I never imagined things would turn out this way, and it's an interesting twist life gave.
You'll see, I can't say I was completely happy about the concert. I spent LOADS of money (the tickets alone were 120 dollars, which is outrageous for a single night festival, add to that traveling expenses and such, and it wasn't cheap at all!), and the concert itself wasn't very satisfying for me. I guess I built a very idealized image of what a Björk concert would be in my head, only to be disappointed by what came in reality. However...thanks to that concert I met incredible people that have marked me for my whole life. These people are a part of an independent studio I now am a part of called Cloverian, and well...appart from giving me new ideas to fulfill, they have given me another family by introducing me to some other people. I can't say I haven't learned anything with the friends I have had before December, but I believe every new person that comes into your life can teach you something new about living and about yourself, and with so many new dear friends I have gotten a clearer vision of my life, my future, and who I am. Of course, the people from Guadalajara haven't been the only people to influence my life so greatly. Some friends from all over the world have also come across my little self, much to my happiness!!

Anyways! It's been enough sweet talk about my short life now, hasn't it?! Let's move on to what was the original reason of this little blog, and that is of course, my personal projects.
The newest is titled Monofighters, and will be hosted monthly in Cloverian. I won't talk much about the plot right now, but I'll say it all starts with 16 people with unusual abilities and even more unusual pasts that get enroled into a tournament to fight for a mystical artifact that can grant any wish to whoever earns it. However, the plot soon develops into a much more complex argument, in which of course the future of the universe itself may be at peril. The original story was written by my good friend Zeo, or Celph, however you want to call him, and was put in motion as an online RPBlog game that goes by the same name. However, my story will be nothing but an adaptation of the original, so a lot of tweaks and changed will be in effect of my own writing. Anyways, I trust the end result will be good, as a lot of people have put their faiths in me. And in a little bit of a promotion I'll leave you with some teaser images of the story.


Promotional poster with most of the main characters.
And a concept design of a creature that will make it's appearance later in the story.
I think it's noticeable how I've had a lot of time to practice with Painter IX, as both of these pictures were crafted with that software. The first one used pencil lineart and colors with Painter and Photoshop, and the second was completely drawn in Painter... Oh no wait, I drew the sketch in Open Canvas, because it's a lighter program. But well, you get the idea, haha.

03 - The Portal + Aasha

It's been a while since I posted here. Dialy life has kept me busy and distracted on other matters that are, of course, more important.
Anyways! I think the most outstanding event lately is my reading material: The Count of Montecristo. This is this is probably the best novel I have read; so far it's absolutely stunning. I really can't wait to finish it, but I also want to give it time and enjoy it word by word. Fantastic read. I also recently got Orson Scott Card's Ender's Shadow, a parallel story to Ender's Game, which is the best sci-fi I've ever read. As soon as I'm over with Dumas's top work, I'll give Ender's Shadow a nice and (I bet) fast read.

As the last two posts were about job matters, I think this time I'll make it about my own projects, projects I've reserved for a future in which (hopefully) I'll be able to give them completion with proper funding and publishing. There are several projects inside my head, Most of them are just sketches, but some are inclining more towards a completed work. The most notorious ones are provisionally named Portal and Chronicles of Byrna. The second needs renaming QUICKLY and DESPERATELY. This two stories have been floating around my mind since I was a prepubescent kid, when I was probably 10 or 11. Those where the times they were born though, as they have evolved immensely through the years. The first one, Portal (which was originally named Guardians of the Portal), started out as a very magical story notoriously influenced by fantasy books and japanese animation, and now has developed into a more sci-fi deal with obvious influences of the american and european comic book world. It approaches the fabulous topic of time travel, and follows 5 individuals (our heroes) who have the ability to alter the fabric of time and space around them with their minds for reasons revealed later in the story. Each one of this characters has a special ability appart from time-space distortion, making him or her necessary to the team in a way. The very main character, Aasha, is a 20 year old asian girl that posseses superstrength and control over the earth and plants. Later on she also develops a sonic scream (or so I intend her to). Every member of the team is associated with a classical nature element, Aasha relating to earth, thus having a symbolic green tone look.
I have to confess the picture I'll soon leave you with isn't precisely what I'd call fantastic, it's quite dreadful actually, but I'm trying to practice sketching with one of those tablets to draw in the computer. It still feels somewhat unnatural, and I prefer to use it only for painting, but I'd like to try my hand at this too. Anyways, here is a picture of Aasha's latest avatar, which is always subject to changes. I hope you like it! (a bit...).



Cheers!

2 - Jobs + Polar bear

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I'm currently working with a small, local editing house. They focus their publishing mainly on children's book. As a full project they have only published an illustrated Bible for kids, and are currently working on an illustrated fable compilation, in which I'll participate.
The first book I worked in for them was a fable based on a pretty old one, called commonly "The stork and the wolf". The story tells that a wolf was wandering around the forest with a bone stuck in his troath. He was gasping for air and could barely make his efforts to seek help. Later, the wolf came across a stork, to whom he asked for help. The stork was about to deny, but the wolf told her she "would get something no other animal in the forest ever had". The stork, blinded by curiosity and ambition, helped the wolf by removing the bone with it's long neck, but the wolf walked away without giving her anything. The stork yelled at him that she deserved something, as she had done the wolf a favor, to which he replied "a favor's not a faovr is something in return is expected".
Well that was the fable, only, instead of the stork and the wolf, the editors decided to use dinosaurs because almost every fable had something to do with a wolf. So yeah, it was a 16 page long book that told the same story, only with a T-rex and a Pterosaur, and some other dinosaurs who mocked the T-rex in his misfortune.

Anyways, I'm currently working on another book for them, this time an adaptation of the tale of Johnny, the boy who cried "wolf!", only this time with cute harp seals and a polar bear.
...Yeah I know.
So here's a sketch I did of the polar bear, who is of course replacing the wolf. I had a hard time getting used to them because I don't tend to draw animals.
Good thing I'm being forced to learn with this editing house, hahaha.



Sorry for small image and terrible outlines.
Cheers!

Origins + Cookie monster

Hello everybody! I really don't know how to start this very first post so I guess I'll talk about me and the relationship I have with the graphic ambient a bit. I can tell you I have been drawing and doodling stuff since I was around 3 years old. I don't even remember what I used to do, but my parents have a wonderful (a.k.a. horrid) drawing of a dinosaur I did as a toddler. As I have grown up, my influences, and of course my style, have changed; from dinosaurs to a painting-looking comic style, passing through cartoons, comic strips, manga and anime, gothic and various others I wouldn't know how to define. I have to say I'm not very happy with the style I currently have, and I can't claim it as my own. That's why I'm always willing to take every advice and help others might offer, with the purpose of learning and evolving as an illustrator.
I'm currently working with a small editing house called Librooks, which specialy publishes children's books. I've illustrated just one book for them, but I'm currently working on the second and I hope I will be working on a lot more in the future.
I opened this blog in search for a place where I could share anything I drew without worrying too much about wether it's finished or sketchy, and I'm willing to recieve any kind of critic (preferably constructive, haha) that may help me unravel for the better.

Well now for today's image...since I was a kid, I remember watching one very special show I can assure every kid (at least in America) has seen at least once: Sesame street. I always remember that show with joy, and those memories bring smiles to my face. As this is my first post, I thought it would be good to have something finished (or apparently finished), so I'm uploading this wallpaper of the adorable cookie monster I did some minutes ago for a friend of mine. I did it with Photoshop CS and a Genius 8x6 tablet. How could one forget the mischieves of this memorable furry character?


I hope you like it. Tell me what you think about it.

So I guess that's all for today. Drop by for a visit regulary, I'll try to be posting a sketch every 3 days or something like that. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoy drawing them.

Cheers!