I've had tons of downtime at work, so I've been sketching.

Here is some work I've done this week.

( This week, in sketches! )


And here is some older, but more polished work (IMHO).

( Derpdederp- EXALTED NERDERY )

I couldn't participate in 24 hour comic day, but I was inspired by beatonna 's journal comics.

Ohhhh Saturday.

( Page-Stretching Goodness )

Otakon was fantastic, despite the lack of sleep! I made enough money to pay my rent for august, sold another 8 Macchina books (despite not having any on hand) and took an assload of commissions!

I can't quite rest easy yet, though! Macchina books arrive tomorrow, I want to update my comic tonight and I have 5 commissions that need to be finished and mailed out.

I haven't even unpacked yet! I got home, took a shower and immediately had to head out to dinner at 7. I got home at 9:30 and passed out until work in the morning! It feels awesome to sleep in my own bed again! :D

<3

Definitely doing Otakon again next year. Dizziness invited me to participate in NekoCon which isn't too far from my place! I'm going to check out the site and calculate the expenses to see if it's something I can do. K-pod is willing to split the table, so who knows! :D 

I was shocked and incredibly pleased with the number of preorders I recieved for my graphic novel, La Macchina Bellica! 29 preorders total, mostly from the US (and strangely, many of them from Texas - a good 1/4), but I did recieve several international orders: Canada, the UK, Germany, Italy, Norway and the Netherlands! 

I'm overwhelmed with joy and a feeling that maybe I can make my dream of becoming a well-known comic artist come true! 

I'm going to be taking additional orders at Otakon, at my Artist Alley table L12! I made several new silkscreen prints this weekend to sell, though I didn't really get any shirts done. I'm looking forward to more silkscreens in the future! I thought I might be a little rusty, but it all came right back to me while working on it this weekend!

Also, I'll be heading over to Small Press Expo in Bethesda in late September, though not with a table. I'm going to bring some copies of my graphic novel to hand out to small publishers, like First Second, to see if maybe I can get a chance of getting my name out there more! 


Overall, things are looking up!

List of Conventions I want to attend/get tables at for next year:
Katsucon (DC area)
Anime Expo (LA, CA)
Anime Weekend Atlanta
Otakon (Baltimore)
NY Comic Con
MoCCA (NY)
Akon (Dallas, TX)
Anime Central (Rosemont, IL)
Yaoi-Con (San Mateo, CA)
Small Press Expo

Of course, not all of them are possible, but I shall see. I'm trying to hit all the big cons in the US to get the biggest chance for exposure! Living in DC makes it so much easier to travel, since I'm very close to 3 major airports.

Lulu is offering a sale on bulk orders of comic sized books that is just too good for me to not try to hit, and it's only going on until July 14th, so I thought I would see if maybe I can get enough preorders for me to do this!

I've recently created a PDF for my graphic novel La Macchina Bellica and have sent it off to Lulu to get a proof copy.

( Here are more details! )
So tell your mom! Tell your friends! Buy my shit. :P

I thought I would update the LJ to my DISASTROUS progress on my futa doll.

I realized, as I pulled my first casts, WHY these dolls are not sculpted originally in oil clay. I might have had more success if I hadn't made the mistake during the initial mold making to NOT spray mold release on the mold. That one mistake at the start has totally ruined the doll. @_____@

Because it was so hard to get the strips of metal off the rubber (it was stuck and in some places had to be cut off), I unintentionally warped the clay pieces. So when I repaired them, they were no longer symetrical.

Unfortunately, this was particularly bad in the most important place- the face. The mold is a good 1/4 off on one side.

Casting hollow is also very difficult. @_@ We ran into numerous problems and had to recast so many times just to get the first untinted resin doll. It was so difficult, in fact, that I scrapped the idea of doing dolls for my senior project. Instead, I'm gluing all the pieces together and making her a "Birth of Venus" sculpture (I'm building a giant nautilus shell for her to be falling out of).

I still have the first hollow cast, which I am going to sand and finish for my personal collection (I went through all the trouble of making this damn doll I'm at least going to keep one).

She is 26" tall from top of head to heel. I took a few disasterous pictures to share, and I'll have more once I complete the sculpture and then my personal doll.

( DISASTROUS PHOTOS )


So.. yeah. I'm not happy with the results, but I'm trying to make it work considering I've invested over 60 hours between sculpting and molds. :\

I've been working on the mold. I'm about 1/3 of the way through. >:|

( Photos )

( Progress on Moira- NSFW )

Foot is too small, but I'm going to work on it more Sunday.

For real.

It's Moira, from my comic. Um... she's coming out well. I'm.. very happy with her. I'm going to finish her on Thursday (I'm staying at the class until I finish).

She's still really lumpy, but the clay was too warm for me to keep working it. Luckily it's going to be cold all week, so the clay will harden up a little with the cooler temp and be a little more solid.

Here is mostly the diagram.

( And here is the rest. Head, torso, arms, hands. NSFW )


<3

Duckie and I worked so hard on our costumes, but in the end, it was all for naught.

Our sewing machine broke- the tension knob busted and fucked up our stitches.

( but they're still pretty cool )

.... going to sleep now >_

Oh, Youka Nitta, how could you be so dumb?

So many cases of direct copying from ads. I mean, sometimes even the same clothes/shoes, backgrounds bit for bit.

Sigh.

Porkshanks, the girl who made my steampunk goggles for Kana, helped modify the violin in th is video.

OH GOD I WANT TO GO TO THE EDISON SO BADLY.

I always forget to update here T___T

( Macchina Chapter 2 Page 22 to Chapter 3 Page 2 )

Now... I have to draw and ink three comic pages this weekend. I guess it was right about the procrastination portion. XDD


(still working on the first meme entries, bear with me XDDD)

Boo. Now I'm caught up on the One Piece anime too, so I have nothing else to watch. D: There needs to be more episodes so that I may watch them, and more manga too! I wish I knew japanese so I could understand the raws.

Also, damn I suck at updating LJ with new pages.

(  Macchina: Chapter 2 Pages 15-21 )

I also have a bunch of art I need to post, but I'm dying of the sickness and need to lie down before having to go back to work in an hour.

Shipping

Each print will be shipped between two pieces of cardboard, wrapped in brown paper. Shipping day is usually Saturday (my day off). Shipping is $3 via first class mail. Priority will be $5. International will be $9 for international unregistered airmail.

Payment

I accept paypal (non-cc as I only have a personal account, so this can only be from paypal balance or bank account- I do accept e-checks but I will not get started until the payment has cleared), money order, personal check (2 weeks to clear) and well-concealed cash (at your own risk).

I redid the In the Apple tree prints and am quite pleased with the results!

Final Run: Edition of 11
I redid this print and most of them came out pretty awesome. Printed on 2ply Strathmore Vellum bristol board. I ran out of the green used for the first run, so the color is different.


Print 1 of 11: Image Above: $20
Print 2 of 11: Click for Image: $20
Print 3 of 11: Click for Image: $20
Print 4 of 11: Click for Image: $20
Print 5 of 11:Click for Image: $17
Print 6 of 11: Click for Image: $18
Print 7 of 11: Click for Image: $17
Print 8 of 11: Click for Image: HOLD
Print 9 of 11: Click for Image: $17
Print 10 of 11:Click for Image: $15
Print 11 of 11: Click for Image: $15

Also, I got myself a tegaki account! I haven't used it yet BUT I WILL TONIGHT!

TEGAKI!




( SD Clothes, Wigs and Shoes; A FUCKTON OF ANIME FIGURES )

Lady Fleur Silkscreen prints: Click here for sales thread
In the Apple Tree silkscreen prints: Click here for sales thread


Soon, I will be putting up for sale some doll items (Extra wigs, eyes, ect) and I will be rooting through my anime figures in the attic upstairs and putting them up for sale. They have been up there for at least a year and a half. I'm totally not going to miss them.



Stupid security deposit on the electric has run me short for the month. ::shakes fist of rage::

I made a japanese stab bind book for Duckie. It came out pretty awesome. I don't remember how many pages I put in the journal. It's either hemp leaf or tortoise bind. Anyways, book cloth and scrap book paper. The pictures in the front are drawn by me of Duckie and my characters, Traian and Alastair. The long strings in the front were trimmed and tied into a bow before I gave it to her.

( Photos )


I also have a few more prints for sale.

"Lady Fleur" 11 X 14
My first print in Serigraphy/Silkscreen class. Speedball silkscreen acrylic on Strathmore 2ply vellum bristol board. Made using the indirect stencil method. This was done in an edition of four with two artist prints that were misregistered.

Print 1 of 4 (the best of the group)SOLD
( Image )
Print 2 of 4: Click for Image $8
Print 3 of 4: Click for Image $8
Print 4 of 4: Click for Image $8
Artist Proof 1: Click for Image $5
Artist Proof : Click for Image $5