This is the VGCats pumpkin. We used the template from the webcomic's website. 

Poor guy. He's a real tropper for wearing the Santa hat lol. 

John Wayne Xiao Bao....I wonder how he herds the cattle? 

Full-blown coma lol 

Really tired. 

A candid shot with the Bao. 

Big Update

Update on big update lol: Busier day than I expected. I got my MRI and I do have a fused bone in my ankle so I will get surgery when summer comes 0.o

I at least downloaded all the pictures on the computer. Tomorrow I will save them all then upload them for your viewing pleasure.

I'm sorry, but here are some Xiao Bao pics to tie you over:
http://usera.imagecave.com/HBThingy/xiaobao003.jpg
http://usera.imagecave.com/HBThingy/xiaobao004.jpg
http://usera.imagecave.com/HBThingy/xiaobao005shrunk.PNG

Thanks Enoch. At least my leg will feel better and I can maybe ram people with a wheel chair for several weeks ^^.



Tomorrow night I will make a huge update with photos and neat stuff.

Stuff to look forward to:

New Profile pic
Xiao Bao pictures galore
Pumpkin pics
Squidworks meeting and sketchcrawl
Life Drawings

and if I get these all up with time to spare I will update my comic...although I can't color it :(

Phew, I would have updated sooner, but fall break has been rather busy. I have to get a MRI for my foot in the morning. My right foot has been aching ever since I started working. I thought I put too much stress on the foot, but I might actually have a fused bone in the ankle. This explains why it hurts soo much. That was rather too much information lol.

Let the updates begin!

Ba gah?

Two weeks before fall break and Thanksgiving...

For some reason right now it feels like finals. I have a biology project due Thursday. I presented my speech on Japan's wartime atrocities in speech class (I always wanted to research this.)
Plus, I have a funeral for my grandfather on Saturday. (Pretty odd situation since I never knew him. I don't even remember his face.)
Also Sunday I'm going to the Squidworks meeting to do a Sketch Crawl.
http://www.squidworks.com
http://www.sketchcrawl.com

This week is already turning out bad and will probably worsen until Sunday.

I want turkey really bad and I want to update my comic and blog really bad.

Thanks Enoch, Romy, and Bemmie for all of your comments. Sorry I couldn't reply immediately.

"Ephemeral comics" may be the official name of my new url. I picked "ephemeral" because my artwork is best in black and white with bits of color. Plus, charcoal is a crucial medium I will use in the future. This medium has an airy and frail quality that can really make comics fun. The name just sound so dramatic and real.

I recently saw this awesome book about Van Gogh's drawings. I was really surprised he sketches like he paints. The style is so beautiful, and the drawings have swirls and lines that seemingly map the feeling of a paintbrush. I tried this type of technique on a tree I was drawing, and it made it 50% better.

Here are some of his drawings:
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Van_Gogh/images.asp

"The Cypresses" just gave me chills. ^^

The Xiao Bao pictures will (cross your fingers) be put up this weekend.
hehe it's really funny. I never noticed how much he grew until my sister saw some baby guinea pigs. Xiao Bao is pretty huge now. I think he grew 2 inches. He can almost get out of the gate I have o.0. Yet, he's still just as adorable when I first got him.

Wow this is a really long post. Well, back to my art seminar paper...what a long week this is going to be and Enoch don't give up on your website!! :D

Profile change

I couldn't stand looking at my profile pic anymore. It's kind of creepy seeing your face so much lol. I'm probably going to put up a better pic or a doodle of me.

I also updated my interests a bit. Franz Ferdinand finally got on the music list. They rock and Alex Kapranos always has the sexy eyes lol.

For some art fun go check out Lui Ferreyra's work. I saw his figure painitngs at Emmanuel Gallery. He also has a pretty nifty site.
http://www.luiferreyra.com/

California cries

There is a Shojo Manga Exhibition at California State University.....dear god they have Clamp art.
http://animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=7720

Maybe I should quickly fly out to California to see this exhibit.....wait I don't have any money. (cries) I haven't been this depressed about living Colorado since Maaya Sakamoto performed at the Anime Expo. Curse you California fo getting such awesome stuff. You better go if you're in California!

Hey Em....they said it's coming to Chicago art Institute as well. (shakes fist)

That's it I'm moving to California as soon as possible.

Halloween and Randomness

Xiao Bao's costume has already come in. He's going to be a cowboy. I put the hat on him and it seemed to stay on. hehe I'll post some pics on Halloween.

I'm really behind on Halloween this year. I haven't decided what picture I should carve on the pumpkin. I'm tempted to do this VGCats template.
http://vgcats.com/news/pumpkins/leo.gif

I'm silly and masochistic. I may even do a XXXholic pumpkin. Clamp art is sooo hard to carve lol. If it's good maybe I'll enter it in to this contest.
http://animenewsnetwork.com/contest.php?id=64 Soo much dvds :D

And about DayDream....it's been almost three months since I updated it. (I'm terrible.) Well, as soon as fallbreak comes I'm going to try to make up for lost time. The problem with leaving a comic for soo long is that other ideas pop into your head that are better. I'm going to finish the comic for sure though.

I want to get an official domain...that illustrates the comics to come...kind of like a label. I really need some ideas.

Flipbook comics <---maybe
Drip comics
Label Eraser
Comic Gems
Felt Comics
Colorless comics
Coal comics
Visionary comics
Volatile comics
Ephemeral <-----maybe
Meteoric comics <-----maybe
Reverie comics ( may be taken already)

All of these names are crappy. I mean names like "Flight", "Squidworks", and "Blank Labels comics" are awesome names. Okay...Ephemeral would be an awesome name too....but it may be too serious. And Meteoric is interesting, but people may think I do sci-fi comics....(I really hate spaceships lol)

Give me some ideas wonderful bloggers!

I admit

I really want to open myself up as an individual, so just like Conan O'Brien's celebrity secrets segment. Here are my (whispers) "Secrets."

1) I really like anime and no not the tentacle stuff or Yugi-oh.

2) I saw the first three Pokemon movies in theaters. I'm not that bad. When I saw the third movie, a 40 year-old guy with loads of snacks around him giggled "Pika pika."

3) People who learn Japanese to be hip really annoys me.

4) Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? Ellen stole the cookie from the cookie jar.Who me? Yes you! Couldn’t be! Then who... (I lied. I really did steal those yummy cookies and they were good.)

5) I don't know Chinese or Kung Fu and please don't call me a twinkie.

6) Moths and spiders freak me out.

7) Shopping carts are the devil.

8) I get jealous when I see really fantastic art.

9) I'm beginning to think only winning the lotto will insure my chances to go to Calarts (around $30,000 a year).

10) Xiao Bao is my new hairy chested boyfriend XD.

Now you know some of my (whispers) secrets. And yes I will buy a Powerball ticket for the 340 million jackpot. I really only want one million for goodness sakes.

Halloween

Hehe this year Halloween maybe more exciting than usual.

http://cuddlycavies.homestead.com/costumes.html

I am so bad lol. I might get Xiao Bao the Cowboy outfit and the santa hat. The pirate outfit is just too tempting....now if I got the turkey outfit Xiao Bao will never speak to me again lol.

Tell me what other outfits I should consider....

Gosh now I know why some parents go crazy in dressing up their kids.

Wallace and Gromit

A great and cute movie with classic wit and intelligence. I was so happy to hear that the movie made it to number one. Aardman deserved it, but they didn't deserve this :
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/10/aardman.fire/index.html

I consider Aardman's work high art and when something so amazing is destroyed. It just breaks my heart. Just like when Edvard Munch's "The Scream" was stolen and damaged, I just felt hopeless.

Thankfully nobody was hurt in the fire and Aardman will make new creations to fill up another warehouse, but I would have loved to have seen an Aardman museum of such wonderful creations.

The Long Awaited Photos

Da Xiao Bao has arrived!!!

hehe it's so funny. I went to take him to Petsmart for a check-up. He was a brave little trooper. Most of the people who worked there were surprised how cute he was. He was just a little white ball of fur lol.

I got the medical papers back and they put Xiao Bao Yu on it XD. Too hilarious. I never thought he had a last name, but I guess he adopted ours. Oddly, the name works.

Meepers!

Yes that's a little green igloo lol. He's just eating his timothy hay and making trouble. 

Had to lighten this photo to allow the inner Xiao Bao to come through. He's resting on my lap :D 

Look at him strut his stuff! 

An artist's angle of Xiao Bao lol. 

NDK photos

Finally, got them up ^^. I'll try someday in the near future to post my autograph DVD, but it's soo precious to me lol.

NDK was a blast and I will go again next year!

lol I look chubby in this picture. You can kinda see my Chitose cosplay. (Faint) Brad touched my shoulder! He's soo nice. I must visit Vancouver someday to meet him again. 

The two of them together framed up and ready for auction. If you want to buy any of these pieces, give me a comment and lots of money. :D 

"Sensation" an art piece done in charcoal on bristol paper. It depicts the everlasting sensation of holding hands with someone you love...even if the relationship has ended. (Sounds like what happened to me lol.) 

"Torn Between" my fanart tribute to my favorite manga right now. Sarasa on the left, Sarasa dressed up as Tatara in the center, and her star crossed lover Shuri. 

I wish I was that person coming towards Brad. 

Brad Swaile auctioning to his heart's desire. 

NDK experience

Wow what a great Sunday I had. This con exceeded my expectations and was wonderful. Everybody was nice and clean lol. Plus, at the last moment I got in to cosplay spirit and dressed poorly as Chitose Hibiya (the landlady in Chobits).

They had enough panels to keep me busy.
The panels that really wowed me were:

Airbrushing...wow I might ask for one for Christmas now. A really fun device that makes smooth color transitions and it has this odd graffiti sensation to it too :D

Meeting Brad Swaile...lol I almost fainted when I met him (gosh I'm such a giddy dork). He was soo nice and I even got a picture with him. He autographed my Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz movie. He even drew Quatre's head at the bottom. That's about the point where I almost fainted lol. I forgot that he studied as a graphic designer. He was also the MC for the closing ceremonies. He auctioned off a Megaman inspired painting he did for the Katrina fund. I wish I could have got it, but the bid went up to $90.

Cel painting...pretty cool. I actually never thought cel painting was that easy, but now since I experienced it, I'll try to paint some more cels.

24 hour comics panel...I met two awesome comic creators Stan Yan and Ethan Wenberg. They did a voiceover of their comic and showed the 24 hour comic documentary. I joined their forum and in the future might meet up with them at the local coffee shop. They are both Denver based artists ^^. http://www.squidworks.com

Auction/Closing ceremony...this event really reminded me of the silent auction I had at my high school. It was very intimate and fun. The con raised $5,500 toward Katrina. Whoo hoo!

I will definately be coming back next year...even though sadly no one bought my art.

Gah!

Darn it. I thought my morning class was cancelled today, but I wasn't sure. So I decided to come anyway...and guess what...it was cancelled! (gnaws at the wall.)

Something good must come out of this.....I guess I have time to write this post. ^^

To think I could have spent two more hours with Xiao Bao ><.

Oh I forgot to pull up the NDK link.
http://www.ndkdenver.org
Wow their site is quite lame lol. Hopefully Bamboo Dong from Animenewsnetwork.com will be present. I think she's a native Coloradoan (she talks about DIA and AV's Foresberg in posts) and I always loved her articles.

I do know Brad Swaile is attending :) He's known for his voice acting as Quatre in Gundam Wing. I love his voice. I hope he will be there on Sunday.

Robert and Emily DeJesus will also be there. "How to Loathe Drawing Manga Style" is just too funny. http://www.robertdejesus.com/htlmain.html

Now back to day dreaming about Xiao Bao. Meepers!

Figured it out

The comic will be updated one more time before I leave it on hiatus for a while. I feel a little sad and defeated because of this, but I'm just too darn sleepy lol.

Meanwhile, I will try to update this blog instead of the comic. I'll begin to upload the long awaited Xiao Bao pictures, school artwork, "Breakfast at Tivoli" newspaper comic, and other interesting stuff. lol right now my blog gets more hits than my comic.

During the hiatus, I'm going to try to find a domain so the link will be permanent. Keenspace changing to Comic Genesis really messed me up. Right now, I'm thinking manganese.com or manganese-comics.com or even something completely different. I kind of want to get away from the association of anime and manga because my comics' art style may change in the future.

I'm attending my first convention on September 18. It's Denver's Nan Desu Kan (anime convention.) I'm a little scared of the fandom lol. I've known about the convention for a while, but its taken a couple of years just to admit my anime geekiness. I just hope I don't see horrible cosplay of a man in a Sailor Moon outfit (shudders.) I'm going to enter some art in the show, and I'll see how that goes. So if you're attending as well and want to give me comments on my comic or anything else, I'll be there.

I'll try to upload guinea pics tonight. Huzzah!

Spam

Sorry wonderful readers... I added word verification to the comments. I just couldn't take it anymore after someone spammed on the Katrina post :(

It's an extra step, but at least no more spammers. I think anonymous comments can still be posted so you don't have to be on blogger.

Levee

Cartoon Brew posted this very ironic and unsettling Public Service Announcement original brought up by http://rudepundit.blogspot.com

Mr. Bill, the famous clay character from Saturday Night Live, warns viewers that the levees might flood and break. Bush said, "I don't think anyone could have anticipated the breach of the levees." Well, look at this PSA from 2004 and you'll know the truth.
http://www.mrbill.com/MBReed.wmv

There is no words you can say about the disaster. It is truly a horrific sight. I know Lousiana and Mississippi will someday be better than ever. Please donate anything you can...a dollar even. I just hope help it gets there in time before more people suffer.

Comic Decisions

Oy, it has been a hard week. The previous post already explained some of it lol. I have 16 college credits this year (a full load) which includes painting, life drawing, biology, lab, presentational speaking (bleah!), and freshman art seminar. Plus I finally got a job at Albertsons on Friday and the weekend which is awesome. I really need the money.

I'm just so crammed and tired. I'm afraid that I will have to put my comic on hiatus. I really would hate to do that so I'm thinking of getting rid of color images and just putting up the black and white for now. Plus, I might allow myself to post irregularly, which will be a pain in the butt for my readers. Hopefully, I can figure out what to do soon.

Thanks for your patience.

Oh yeah check out this awesome site:
http://sketchcrawl.com
It is such a great idea. I wish I lived in California to participate.

Blogs are for venting

Sorry to whoever reads this. Be warned in the next paragraph I shall be unleashing my rage and sorrow for what happened to me this week. So if you hate hearing other people's problems or are afraid of cuss words please run away. I truly believe blogs are therapeutic....especially in break ups.
(Note: I'm not the type of person who likes to talk about my personal life, but oh well I'm pissed. I need to vent.)

Yesterday, I broke up with my boyfriend of one month (actually two if you count me trying to call him and never getting an answer.) Now one month doesn't seem a lot, but he was my first boyfriend. I'm quite insecure and never had great experiences in high school. He was the first one that may have returned the same feeling I had for him.

We hanged out together and watched movies together. It was so much fun, and admittedly I really thought I was in love. Our relationship was going great, but sometimes he didn't include me in certain things. I was frankly surprised he didn't tell his family about me. Well, then came my Florida vacation. On the trip, I bought souvenirs just for him. Then, I came back, which led to the excrutiating four weeks of not being able to get a hold of him. I called him, emailed him, and when I did get a hold of him "oh, I'm busy shit." After a couple weeks, I started to wonder "does he hate me?", "does he have another girl", and "did he die?" I worried about it everyday and had constant insomnia and depression.

I only finally got to see him again this week. We go to the same school together. Well, I finally got to meet up with him. I could tell he was uneasy, damn uneasy. We talked and walked for a bit. Then, I finally couldn't take it anymore. "Am I still your girlfriend?" I asked. He replied, "Good question." (Smart Ass. I really should have kicked him or punch him at that point.) "Well, I don't feel like a relationship right now. But I'm really sorry how I treated you." (No shit. At this point I should have cried or yelled, but being the damn too nice person I am I merely said, "Oh well sometimes that happens. Damn I really should have yelled at him.)

I finally cried when I came home. I rode on a bus for an hour and was directly across a couple that were cuddling each other. Just terrible. My sisters thought he was a coward and has no balls lol. For goodness sakes he couldn't even dump me. Asshole bastard.

I doubt he would read this, but if you do, now you understand why you suck soo much.
Thank you blog. I feel much better now.
Now what should I do with the gifts I bought him?

Xiao Bao!

For my lack of updating, here's a little fun comic about my new pet ^^. College starts Monday...so you might have to cherish this comic for a while.

Joe Ranft and Dan Lee

Losing two of Pixar's greatest contributors in a year is just heartbreaking. I've never met them, but I have met their work.

Dan Lee was an inspirational artist and someone who really understood sketching. It wasn't a chore for him, but a daily routine he enjoyed while sitting in a cafe. He created the design for Nemo in Finding Nemo. Lee was someone who truly lived for his art. Even while undergoing chemotherapy for his lung cancer, he kept on creating designs for Pixar. Just this week, I heard friends of family are launching a book of his sketches (appropriately a coffee table book).
http://danleebooklaunch.blogspot.com/

Suddenly Wednesday, Pixar lost another great animator. Joe Ranft worked on numerous animation masterpieces including both Toy Storys, Nightmare Before Christmas, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Brave Little Toaster, and many more. He also did the voice of Heimlich the catepillar in A Bug's Life. He died in a car accident while participating in the program Mosaic, which pairs successful businessmen and people who need help.

I have heard such great comments and stories about these two men. I never knew them, but after they died, I wish I did.

Back to College

(sigh) Another week I can't put up my comic.
1. Darn Procreate Painter Classic is giving me a headache.
2. I really need to work on the newspaper comic.
3. And I'm just lazy.

Maybe I'll put up a Xiao Bao sketch just to make me feel less guilty.

College....back to college...book supply bill $132 without art supplies...without art supplies.
Then tuition....you wonder why college students are so poor.

I'm happy to go back. I like getting back into a regular routine. However, I'm sad I will not be able to go to my Animation Show chats. Darn evil Freshman art seminar is scheduled so late.

I'm speechless....

Not only is "Rapunzel: Unbraided" based upon Fragonard's "The Swing" (one of my favorite paintings), but it's 3-D. It's as silky as 2-D. I can't believe it. Now I'm really worried 2-D will never come back.

Check out the article and pics as I gasp at its beauty and weep for the only thing 2-D had going for it. The ability to mimic a painting.

http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/articles/showarticle.php?ID=1589

8:15 AM

400,000 gone
Not in an instant
Lingered on
Painful and agonizing deaths
The atomic bomb

Melting flesh
Oil burns
Radiation
Loss of loved ones
And silence...

Peace was meant
Was it worth it?
60 years since
War exists and hate exists
Let's pray the use of the bomb died
Never made again to ruin people's lives

Picture : BISCHOF, Werner "Town of Hiroshima". A victim of the Hiroshima atomic explosion, Japan, 1951

Guinea Genesis

I had a really rocking birthday and a special present. A guinea pig! After 19 years of pleading for a pet, I finally got one. I named him Shao Bao or Xiao Bao (I'm not to sure what spelling to use yet lol). It means "little bun." I'll post some comparing pictures of my guinea and a bun later :p
He's just soo darn cute. I swear Star Trek must have gotten the idea of tribbles from guinea pigs. They make little squeaks when they are happy.

The rest of my post concerns my comic "DayDream." As some of you know Keenspace has official changed their name to Comic Genesis. This is all fine and dandy, but this might mean I would have to change my webcomic address to manganese.comicgenesis.com. I'm unsure that the switch will cause the little readers I have to become confused and start losing interest. Plus, I like the name keenspace....it sounds normal and people can spell it (genesis is quite tricky lol). I'll keep you posted if I decide the final url for the address.

In other news, which is great news! Jean Claude and Christo might finally get approved and started on the "Over the River" project. This may be their last project and it is in Colorado. I have no excuse. I must sign up and volunteer to be a part of this historic art duo. These wrap artists are recently remembered for "The Gates" in New York. I wish I could have been there. It looked so beautiful even on tv! Hopefully, I will get to experience it when the time comes.

http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_3973341,00.html

Cross your fingers! ^^

Back from Florida!

Sorry for my abscence from the comic and the blog. I was avoiding long lines in Disney World in
semi-sunny Florida. It was raining and steaming most of the time I was there.

I'm just plain broke now. Disney World has sucked all of my money lol.

My family tried to see the space shuttle launch, but as you know it got delayed. However, I did get freeze dried ice cream :D

Hopefully things will get back to normal. I will update my comic ASAP. I still having figured out the layer problem. If I still haven't figured it out be July 25, I'm just going to post the unfinished image and replace it when I can.

July 26 is my B-day! Whooo hooo! Another year older, another year crazier!

The "Layer" Gods must hate me

(sigh) What an awful comic week!

I'm so sorry. I've been trying to finish the color image that is suppose to be posted tomorrow. Well, Procreate's layers have been acting goofy. My lines keep getting overtaken by the new layer, which never happened to me before. It is quite mysterious. The only setting that is not doing this is watercolor ><.

I'm not to sure what is going on because it seems to work just fine when I pull up my Keenswim image again.

I'll try to upload it as soon as possible.

July 4th delay

Happy July 4th everyone! Of course Happy Birthday to my sister as well.

Sadly because of our insane celebrations...DayDream will be updating late. I will either update late tomorrow or Wednesday. The second comic this week is a color title...so that might contribute to the lateness ><.

I went to the Cherry Creek Art Festival 15th celebration this weekend. It was a blast. I'll write more about it later.

Well, happy fireworks!!!!

Howl's Moving Castle Review and Analysis

Finally, I had enough time to put up my review for Howl's Moving Castle. I saw it on opening day June 10 at the Mayan Theater. Howl's Moving Castle is the latest movie from the director Hayao Miyazaki. This movie is adapted from Diane Wynne Jones's book of the same name. I didn't get the chance to read her book before I saw the movie, but I might pick it up.

Howl is about a young girl named Sophie who gets turned into a 90 year-old woman by the Witch of the Waste. She takes refuge in a moving castle that is owned by the notorious Howl. Howl leads Sophie through enchanting mayhem.

Pretty vague summary huh? Well, this movie is something you just have to see. Some scenes and situations you really can't describe.

There have been many reviews saying that this is not the best of Miyazaki's work. Sadly, this is true. Howl's Moving Castle is a bit more perplexing and a lot more mysterious than his other works. However, I still enjoyed this movie. It is definitely MUCH better than Steamboy (which came out earlier this year.) I actually was entertained through out Howl's Moving Castle even though some parts were unclear. Oddly, after a couple days, the movie made more sense.

Analysis (Spoilers)

The more you think about this movie; the more it makes sense. A lot of people complained that this movie wasn't very deep or had didn't have different metaphors like other Miyazaki movies. That is false. One quote from Diana Wynne Jones allowed me to figure out why in the world Sophie kept on changing without warning throughout the movie. I couldn't find the quote (sadness) but it described how Jones always wanted to convey how old people have the spirit of young people. The only limit is their own appearance and self image.

In the movie, Sophie doesn't think highly of herself. She even feels a little bit more comfortable in an old woman's body! Her transformations (young and old) during the movie reflected her self esteem or when she had a child like spirit and ideal. I believe Sophie never was dispelled of the witch's magic. Yup peeps, I thinks she is still an old woman at the end of the movie (that is why her hair is still gray.) She only looks young because she finally fell in love and truly accepted herself.

The prince and the scarecrow confused a lot of people. I think it was there for a twist and a later realization that "Turnip head" is a stalker lol.

Now Howl himself is quite mysterious. The sub-plot about him losing his heart is quite confusing, but could also be used as an excuse for another metaphor. Howl seems to have a common routine and no spice in his life. He's always running away and never takes care of anything, especially the castle. As soon as Sophie comes along, he begins to have situations like the hair fiasco to cause him to feel emotions. He begins to open his heart and allows Sophie to journey into his past. She discovers he has a heart that they can both share. Aww they fell in love lol. So in a roundabout way it makes sense.

Well that's how I perceived the movie. It was a beautiful and fun movie. A little bit hard to understand, but worth it in the end.

Avatar Episode: The Blue Spirit

Since this blog always seems to get most of it's hits from my Avatar post, I thought why not start an episode guide. I'm really behind, but I'll start with the most recent episode. Also because it was soo awesome lol.

A very surprising episode! It had a great twist in the end. (I won't try to spoil it.)

However, I'll list the main features and lessons I learned from the episode:

1. Sucking on frozen frogs may heal the characters, but don't try it at home. 0.o
2. Aang must hate arrows after this episode.
3. Momo really doesn't understand how to fetch water. (But he understands how to fetch jewelry ^^)
4. I love the masked acrobat wonder! For many reasons....lol
5. Sokka is very scary when he is sick.
6. Commander Zhao truly has a stick up his butt.
7. Aang and Prince Zuko are going to have a tough decision ahead of them.
8. Finally, Prince Zuko ponders while buff and half naked in his bed lol

As you can tell already my episode guide is really silly. You can read serious reviews here anyway.
http://www.tv.com/avatar-the-last-airbender/show/28841/episode_guide.html

I really love this show and I'm pleased to find out the creators of Avatar, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, are part of the judging panel for the Nextoons: The Nicktoon Film Festival. This might be a good indication that Avatar is here to stay!

Check out this great film festival at: http://www.nick.com/all_nick/nicktoons/site/filmfest/index.html

Tuesday and Thursdays

Okay, the Keenswim posting worked out well. So far a lot of different people has started to visit the "DayDream" site. Hooray!!!

But it is quite odd that my blog gets more visitors because of my Avatar: The Last Airbender post. So I shall advertise again ^^. (Shameless plug)

http://manganese.keenspace.com

It updates Tuesday and Thursdays. So gooooooo!!!

In other news, I joined the voting jury for the Cartoonist Choice Awards. You can only join if you have a webcomic.

http://www.ccawards.com

A lot of great nominations this year. Maybe someday in an alternate reality, I can get nominated......maybe when pigs fly or even cows. Wow can you imagine the mess on your car?

Keenswim entry

Finally! My Keenswim entry is finished. Hopefully it will be put in this website soon:
http://keenswim.keenspace.com

I really want more people to visit my comic and hopefully this little advertising will help. Click on the above image if you want to see it clearly.

My goodness....now I know why my comic is not colored lol. It would take me forever, and I would have to sit in front of the computer until eternity (shudder). Also I won't put this awesome comic in the webcomic website. It's a little special extra thing :p

You may also notice the colors and brushstrokes of this color image is quite different from my last attempts. I've been playing around with my Procreate and finally found the right effect. Hooray!

My banner! Isn't it beautiful?

Update May 23: Well, it seems the comic will go update Tuesday and Thursdays. I haven't been able to go on the computer on weekends because of the mayhem that is summer. I will update the keenswim thing soon. Who knew summer=procrastination?

Narnia and comic ideas

I can't wait until December ^^ Finally, the Chronicles of Narnia will be adapted into a movie. You can see the new trailer when Star Wars comes out.
It's funny. I never realized until high school that Narnia was a book based on Christianity. You would think I would have noticed after the children were called "Son of Adam or daughter of Eve." Plus, the climatic Aslan scene in the book...geez I'm so clueless lol.
Despite all the religion embedded in the text, I still love the books. The cast and props looks great although I thought Lucy would be blonde? All I'm asking is that they sell Susan's bow in the Noble Collections catalogue. Anyway they already sell Harry Potter wands! Oh also the Harry Potter Goblet of Fire trailer premiered. Wow it looks fantastic. I still have no idea how they are going to fit the whole book into a movie.

I finished my Keenswim sketch. All I have left to do is color it and hopefully more people will visit my comic. hmm I've been thinking about what my next comic should be. I know DayDream isn't even half way done, but I think for the next comic I will need sometime to research and set up backgrounds. I might even use real watercolors. So here are some of my ideas:

1. Teenage boy that can manipulate fire from a psychic institute finds out he has a little sister. He runs away and hides to take care of her. He enrolls in a boarding school a meets a girl that could make him feel normal again.

2. Chinese themed comic that I may still need to think through. It involves a a stubborn prince, a girl who runs like the wind, a sweet and clueless warrior, and a paralyzed and barren girl (I feel bad for her). This was originally two seperate stories, but I might combine them together.

3. Smaller comic about a shy teacher and student who falls in love with her. She knows it is wrong, but is age really a factor in love? ( This may be a little too freaky lol)

4. Or finally the comic based on Bless Me Ultima...sort of dealing with spiritual witchcraft and sacrifices.

Darn I have too many ideas!!!

No comic this week.

Way too much to do. Finals are this week, which means the comic will take a one week break. I will update twice next week to start up my summer comic plan. Hooray!

Now I must weep in the sorrow that is finals.

My visit to Robischon!

I had a great time visiting Robischon Gallery Wednesday. The artwork was simply amazing and the picture above just doesn't do it justice. Stefan Kleinschuster's Rubric III (2004) and all of his works in this exhibition are made up of patches and "nebulas" of oil paint. Stefan was there and explained he wanted to leave on the canvas the same swirls you find when mixing a palette. In all of his works, his main tool isn't a paintbrush, but a palette knife. He considers his works "magnificent failures", but I simply think it is gorgeous.

I heard he might do a drawing class sometime next summer. I'm definitely signing up.

Sniffles

Cough..cough...

Ugh...it's almost finals and I have a crappy cold. Colorado has been weird lately. What happened to the 70 degree weather?

One more week of my first year in college. I wish I was healthy. Need chicken soup...need cure for cold....

Cough...comic updated....cough

Oh yeah...isn't May Asian Heritage month? Well, I guess hooray for Asians! Now I want to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender lol and Kung Fu Hustle.

This must be the most boring post ever...oh well I'm grumpy and sick.

Zombie Woman

These last few weeks have been a complete pain. I'm just such a procrastinator and all of my projects are gaining up one me. Need sleep ~.~But, I always have room for my interests. Muwahhaa!

My former professor Stefan Kleinschuster is opening a new exhibit at the Robischon Gallery! Some of his new pieces are online and look spectacular. Hopefully, I will have him as a teacher again in the near future.
http://www.robischongallery.com

Also, when I was still apart of The Manga Academy, I had a really nice TA named Rivkah. She always helped out and had really beautiful art. She won the Digital Manga contest and got picked up by Tokyopop. It's amazing to be published by a mainstream manga publisher. Rivkah is one of those type of people who was born with artistic ability. She only started drawing manga in 2003 and now look where she is headed.

So I guess if animation fails me (I hope not ><) then I could always try to be published or keep up my webcomic thing. I guess the art industry really relys on luck, talent, and being sweet. Best of luck Rivkah ^^
http://rivkah.com/

On a separate note: Keenspace is hosting this summer exhibit of webcomics called KeenSwim to help advertise for the lesser known comics (like mine ><). So I will be submiting a color page with the characters from DayDream as soon as I can. hmmm I hope I don't have to put Winsor in a bikini...that would be too brutal lol.

Well it's going to be late...

I won't be able to post the color comic until Wednesday at the latest. But I do have to say, it looks really neat ^^.

I've been so busy with my business proposal on printmaking, my sculpture project, and my kinship project that it would be impossible to upload my comic today. Ugh, I really want to get my comic rolling.

So bare with me. Finals are coming soon and all I can think about is my comic. XD

UPDATE:

Well, I finished it sooner than I thought. Go check out the image ^^ It is really awesome. I hope people won't mistaken Sierra as Mary Jane lol. Now off to bed!

The Finale

I finally put the last of The Animation Show 2005 pictures up. I used magical chalk the day before. As you can see, I was quite giddy after seeing The Animation Show.

If you haven't seen The Animation Show yet, I insist you go see it pronto at the nearest theater. I don't think you can get the same effects of the show if you see it on dvd. In Don Hertzfeldt's The Meaning of Life, the galaxy scene sparkled and bounced back and forth on the theater's walls. I don't think you can experience this unless you have a projector at home.

So go I say.

And of course, I must thank The Animation Show crew for putting together a spectacular show this year. Also, The Starz Filmcenter for bringing the show to Denver.

I simply pranced outside the theater after the show. My eyes were gushing with pure joy! And also tried to hop like a bunny. 

The looming screen before the show. By the time 7:15 rolled along, the theater was almost full. 

Chalk work before the opening. I did 5 or so around the campus.The magical chalk hypnotized some pedestrians. 

Very Tired, but still warm and fuzzy

Here's My Animation Show review: Click the title above!
It's hard to review such a wonderful collection of short films. I loved it all, I can't wait until next year or at least until the dvd comes out ^^

Well, I have gotten a few comments amazingly on my Avatar: The Last Airbender post. My gosh how did you people find this blog lol? It's a great show and thanks for the comments.
http://hbthingy.blogspot.com/2005/03/avatar-last-airbender.html#comments

There will probably be one more post to finalize my experience helping out the Animation Show. Soon, this blog will go back to me ranting and trying to direct you to my webcomic.
http://manganese.keenspace.com
I'm so shameful lol.

Now I need to go to sleep...hopefully not during class lol.

Animation Show results

Great show, but how many people showed up?

Well, the 7:15 show crowd didn't sell out, but it was almost filled. Amazingly there were more woman than men in the theater. lol at the end of the program, I clapped and people did as well.

So I guess the promotion was a success. The program will continue throughout the week, and I'm going to see it again today. I'll report on that screening.

I'll post my review and pictures on Monday. I have way too much homework lol.

Congrats to my sister! She passed and will get her masters in English! Hoooray!

Animation Show Tonight!

Yay! The day has finally come! now I can leap like a crazy woman. I'm a little mad that our Denver newspapers did write their own reviews. Denver Post used a review from The New York Times while Rocky Mountain News only wrote a little blurb about it. Hopefully the Westword will write an original review ><. I guess at least I don't have any spoilers ^^. I did a few last flyer stops such as The CU Computer Animation lab and also used magical chalk to annonce the glory of The Animation Show to pedestrians. I'll post some more pictures of the premiere tonight! I'm so pressed for time lately. My college projects have piled up on me. Arghh! So I'm working furiously on them right now so I can enjoy The Animation Show. And as I am complaining my poor older sister is going through her thesis. She has to justify her paper in front of a panel of professors tonight. Best of Luck! You can read her rantings at her blog: http://whoknowswhocares.blogspot.com

Gosh I'm just so excited!