Back to the basics

I've recently decided that I need to get back to my art basics in order to really boost my artistic capabilities. After purchasing a new anatomy book (Figure Drawing Design and Invention by Michael Hampton) at Wonder Con last month, I've started doing some daily gesture drawings which I'll be trying to post as often as I can.

The tricky thing is improving old techniques and learning new ones without having my current and developing styles conflict, which is something that's been a little vexing. Anyway, here's today's posts!

MY THOUGHTS ON: Naruto Chapter 627- Sasuke's Answer

Besides reading One Piece, I also checked out Naruto this week. I have a love-hate relationship with Naruto, having once been an big fan prior to the beginning of part 2, and subsequently losing interest due to some questionable writing decisions and the somewhat uninspired designs of new characters. However as the series draws closer to it's conclusion and many of the plot threads are ironed out, I've begun to enjoy the series again, though I still can't say it's as good as it was during the early part of it's run.

Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto-

Chapter 627 Sasuke's Answer

SPOILERS FOLLOW

MY THOUGHTS ON: One Piece Chapter 705- Maynard the Pursuer

After writing a lengthy article on how much I love Eiichiro Oda's One Piece in it's cumulative entirety, what better way to follow up than with a brief run down on the most recent chapter? Hit the jump to read my take aways on this week's installment.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

MY FIVE FAVORITE MANGA #2: One Piece

Now that my religiously themed blogging project is done, I'm going to start doing more of my regular comic, film, and toy posts again and to start, I thought it'd be a good idea to finish up my Five Favorite Manga countdown I started a couple weeks ago.

I really doubt this comic needs any introduction from me at all, since anyone who reads manga has a high probability of know about this series already. It is the most popular and best selling manga of all time in Japan, and it's demographic is surprisingly all inclusive which is an incredible achievement for a comic book. Obviously, it's one of my favorite comics as well. If you haven't read it, here's a brief primer on it and before we even begin I'll just say that every comic fan owes it to themselves to give this series a try.

ONE PIECE By Eiichiro Oda

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 40

Okay, so I've been a little behind on my final three posts, this weekend was really busy so I didn't really get a chance to sneak away and write like I thought I would. There was also the matter that the subject matter of days 38 and 39 required a little more thought than I was expecting, and wanting to write something worth reading, I decided it'd be best if I took my time with them.

Anyway, here we are at the final post of my Lent blogging project.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 39

In the penultimate post of my project, I'll be examining the reason for the season: Jesus' death and resurrection and my thoughts on why it was necessary and our benefits from God's pro-activity.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 38

Yesterday, I speculated on the nature and the need for humanity's imperfection and to follow up I'm going to be putting to "paper" my ideas on sin and its nature to form the basis for my thoughts on Jesus' sacrifice.

Cafe

A quick sketch I drew up last night. This will probably go in the Gremlin World vol. 3 graphic novel which will be out this summer, as Cafe's character information page illustration. The book version will be in color.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 37

Last night's post on metaphysical speculation was actually very enjoyable to write. Today I think I'm going to be focusing on something a little more tangible and down to earth, that is the value of imperfection. I will looking at my theory on why human beings were made to be imperfect and how that fits into God's plan.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 36

Another day, another post. Today I'm going to post about something that I think everyone thinks about every once in a while, I'm going to post about what I think Heaven, or the afterlife, is like.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 35

The final five days of my project.

The past couple of days have given me a lot to think about. For starters, the timing on my blog posts has been out of whack for a few days, which is why I didn't post anything this weekend. Turns out I was actually ahead of schedule by two days. Secondly, I can definitely say now that I'm coming out of this project having made progress on some of the issues that I described a few days ago, but there is still always room to push myself more.

I can say what I want to say now, but I think I need to improve how I take action with my words now. I need to really commit to my opinion and what I want to do. Now that I know where I want to start, I have to continue to follow through with that but also take my improvements to the next level.

FIGUARTS ZERO SUPER SAIYAN SON GOKU

Bandai has finally announced the release information on a figure I've been waiting to get for a while, which also happens to be their first foray into Dragon Ball Figuarts Zeros- Super Saiyan Son Goku from the Frieza Saga.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 34

The past few days have been great, but they've also felt a lot more busy. There's so much to write about lately and trying to get to everything plus work on my art has been kind of a pick-and-choose situation, but it feels good to actually be working on things most of the time. I've got alot of ideas of what I want to do, it's just finding the next starting point that's the challenge.

The Xombi Family

At the behest of one of my usual Gremlin World readers, here's a quick sketch of the Xombi family. Yes, Pepper's last name is officially Xombi. Here's a bit about them:

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 33

With the last few days of my religious postings winding down, I do have to say that this experiment has been a really good thing for me. I definitely feel much more confident about putting my thoughts out there and communicating with others. I'm also much more focused, I think, on both my writing and my art- which I am still a little behind on but I've been learning alot of new tricks for.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 32

The last few days have seen some set backs since I've been having some trouble figuring out what to write and unfortunately, there hasn't been much toy news to report on either to fill the gap. I've been diligently working on some artwork but it really isn't anything I can show off yet, though I'm hoping to have something finished up later on today.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 31

We have finally reached the final 10 days of my posting project.

Religion has many functions in my life, it is the path to the truth I believe in, it is a program of self improvement, it is a moral compass, and it gives me a concrete relationship to the world around me. Through religious teachings I find challenges to constantly better myself and philosophy to meditate on. It also offers me a chance to decompress from the stresses of the world after the week and a place to find solace when I'm distressed.

Not a bad deal for an hour of my time once a week.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 30

Well, this is no good. I finally caught up on my postings just to fall behind two days.

Anyway, today something important happend: I posted a comment on a Yahoo! news article.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 29

And now I'm a day behind again, I knew I shouldn't have started the last post with that.

Today's Gospel was another of those famous Bible stories that almost everyone knows, Jesus and the Adulterous Woman and it functions much like last week's Gospel with the Pharisees acting high-and-mighty and missing the point of Jesus' teachings. However, Jesus is able to turn the tables on his antagonists and uses their human imperfection as a way to outwit them and save the life of the adulterous woman.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 28

Alright! Finally all caught up!

Today was a pretty good day. Yesterday was very productive with three posts made along with a speed painting posted. Today work went pretty well, I had a nice dinner with my family, and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

FIGMA News: Week of March 11, 2013

New toy news post! Today we're looking at the new Figma figures that've been advertised over the past week. Hit the jump for more info!

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 27

Today I'm going to just go over some art stuff since I've been hitting the philosophy pretty hard lately. I think I would really like to do a regliously themed piece of art to celebrate Easter, but I'm having some trouble thinking of what I want to do. I'm going to keep thinking on it, for sure, so hopefully I'll have something cool to show for it in a couple weeks.

SPEED ART: Tree

Another painting today. Obviously a tree, I was inspired by the plum and cherry trees around my neighborhood while I was out walking tonight. About 30 minutes again, Photoshop CS3. Hopefully, I'll be able to make these speed paintings regular updates here... afterall, that's the main reason I have a blog! I kind of think I overdid the glow a little... but it's been a long time since I did a non-character piece so this was nice!

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 26

Okay, so moving on from the previous topics, today I'm going to look at my ideas when it comes to man being made in God's image. Most people seem to think it's in a literal sense, especially since Jesus was a seemingly ordinary man, but many have said that humans could have a more optimal form. Here's my thoughts on the topic.

SPEED ART: Pai in 30 min.

Today I decided to challenge myself a little and did this quick sketch and painting of Pai Bunny Pinhead from my comic, Gremlin World. You can also view this pic at the Gremlin World website. The illustration took roughly 30 minutes to complete, all in Photoshop CS3.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 25

It has just been brought to my attention (thanks Kam!) that the Catholic Church has a new pope: Pope Francis from Argentina, making him the first pope from Latin America. I eagerly await to learn about our new pontiff's stance on many topics (many of which I outlined in this episode), and pray for his blessing and that he will lead the Catholic Church into a new era and out of the shadow of past sins and transgressions.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 24

It seems like one of the big arguments these days is Religion vs. Science. There are many proponents for both, and traditionally, religion has been used as a way to explain the unknown, while science takes its place when we develop an understanding for the unknown. Personally, I think both are essential to humanity now and going forward and believe science will always be playing catch up to God.

FIGUARTS News: Week of March 11, 2013

Each week moving forward, I will be doing a round up of the news on the figure lines I collect. It won't be as comprehensive as a news site like Tomopop, but it should have some information for those interested. To spice it up, I'll also be posting my impressions of said figures along with links to preorders or stores you can buy them from.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 23

Forgiveness is a primary tenant of the Christian faith, but is also one of the hardest to live up to.

People piss me off on a daily basis and it's not that we aren't allowed to react to the ugly feelings that build up inside, it's just that we shouldn't react in a way that abuses the person who made us upset in the first place. Even if everyone else said they'd deserve it. I'll say it again, this is hard.

GREMLIN WORLD: WORLD 20 PAGE 12

BEHOLD!! The new page of Gremlin World! I see some new faces amongst the legion of The Dark Plum! Looks like they're finally tired of losing.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 22

Today's Gospel was the story of the Prodigal Son, which I'm fairly sure everyone is probably familiar with. To summarize it, the Prodigal Son is about a man who squanders the wealth his father gives him on debauchery and gambling. When he returns to his father's home after he's wasted everything, his father welcomes the man back with a feast. The man's brother, who had obeyed his father and stayed with him, gets upset because he has never had a party thrown for him, but the father tells him to welcome his brother back because he was lost and is now found.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 21

Well, this is a little bit late. Curse you, day light savings time!

So, for those of you who know me, or maybe just those who've been following my blog for a while, you know that I'm a huge toy collector. I have been collecting toys seriously since 2007, and originally I was only going to be buying high priced figures as a way to get me to save money. Well, that plan has pretty much backfired, but I'm getting a serious case of buyer's fatigue right now so I'm hoping I can use this to kind of start fresh and thin the heard.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 20

Half way point, FTW! (I just gave myself a hi-five.)

So, today I'm going to discuss an issue which is a little nearer and dearer to me than some of the other things I've talked about so far. Although I'm a fervent Catholic, not many of the other people that I know are. In fact, many of them aren't religious at all, and I think that this is something worth writing about.

MY FIVE FAVORITE MANGA #3: Busou Renkin

Busou Renkin is Watsuki Nobuhiro's third comic serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, following the iconic hit Rurouni Kenshin - Meiji Kenkaku Romantan and the widely panned (even though I still love it) Gun Blaze West. Watsuki has long been my favorite manga author and while Rurouni Kenshin was an epic drama battle comic, Busou Renkin gave Watsuki a chance to make a comic that was as funny as it was exciting.

BUSOU RENKIN by Nobuhiro Watsuki

MY FIVE FAVORITE MANGA #4: The World God Only Knows

"I can see the ending."

Actually, I can't; but that's a good thing in this case. Today I'm going to do a review of my fourth favorite manga out there, The World God Only Knows (or Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai)

THE WORLD GOD ONLY KNOWS by Tamiki Wakaki

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PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 19

Looking through the news these past few weeks, I couldn't help but notice all the speculation and gossip regarding the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the strange assumption from some corners of the media that without the Pope, the Catholic Church is going to be lost in some Mad Max-style wasteland where only carnage and desolation subsist.

MY FIVE FAVORITE MANGA #5: Prunus Girl

The best thing about my Lent project is that its kept me posting everyday, but as this is an art, comics and animation blog, I think it's time for me to inject some of those topics back into the blog. This week I was originally hoping to be doing a countdown of my five favorite comic book heroes along with fan art of each character but that's hit a bit of a snag so I'll be looking at my five favorite manga instead- not that I have anything against more mainstream comics, I just happen to have access to more manga than Marvel or DC right now and I'll be getting to the guys a little bit later.

Prunus Girl by Matsumoto Tomoki

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 18

Today I'm going to post about love. Love- the core of God's essence and the most powerful force in the universe. And as corny and cliche as that sounds, love does some really awesome things, though there's been some bad stuff done in its name, too.

THE AH-HA SHOW- LISTEN TO IT!!

Coming off my last "Pals with the Big G" post, I just want to give a shout out to my friend Andy and his pod cast show "The Andy and Harrison Show Featuring Harrison and Andy." Or as they like to call it the "Ah-Ha Show.'

The show is a loose format-styled podcast, and is primarily about the real life escapades of the titular duo and their relations with the opposite sex. The show is straight forward, honest and engaging; refusing to shy away even from some truly eyebrow raising details. It is often hilarious, as well for the same reason.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 17

Almost half way through all 40 entries! Still need to make up an entry though.

Today I had lunch with a good friend who does ministry work with his church. Speaking with him was very reaffirming in a way that I don't get to experience too much. The majority of my friends aren't particularly religious, so it's hard to get feed back from peers that are Christian as well. My friend also did well to remind me to stick it out when thing seem tough... God has a plan and when I look for the signs, I'll see them.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 16

Today at church we discussed how God is always with us at all times and in all things. That he is a universal existence.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 15

I didn't get to post last night because I was really tired and ended up trying to rush through my writing, which is not what this project is supposed to be about. So, after some much needed rest, I'm coming back to this blog with a clear head to really contemplate the topic at hand.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 14

Got some rough news today, and I think I'm really going to need to do some praying and soul searching. This is the time to really put my best foot forward and live the life I really want to live. I will be praying for God's good graces and putting 110% into my goals moving forward, I've got some time off of work coming up and I'm going to give it my all to put it to good use!

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 13

Okay, going to be real here, I'm a geek (this surprises no one familiar with this blog).

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 12

Today was a fun day, and decently productive for me. I have been reminded of how many blessings I have been given throughout my life and of the hope I can extend for things to come. In pondering the meaning of the Easter season and what I hope to accomplish in my life, I think I can feel something is starting to happen. And when all is said and done, I think I will be closer both to Jesus and the person I want to be.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 11

Still gotta catch up, hopefully tomorrow.

Lately I've been listening to my friend's podcast a lot (which will be the topic of it's own post in the very, very near future) and one of the things I like best about it is that my friend and his co-host are very candid about a myriad of several different topics, which I think is very refreshing considering how many people (myself included) often try to soften or sugarcoat our feelings in order to make them more palatable to others.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 10

Ah, I've fallen behind a day... I will make it up soon.

Today's topic is another more introspective look... I'm going to be writing about a particular problem I have with following through with plans or ideas. I've actually been called out on this problem and it's definitely something I have to get over.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 9

Last night's post was kind of heavy and still didn't really say everything I wanted to about God... but for this post I think I'm going to kind of scale back and just talk about some life experiences.

A look at some Zombie Shark Bear progress...

Here's a quick look at an art test image for my hopefully-soon-to-be-worked-on project Zombie Shark Bear. I don't quite think I'm going to be going this direction after all, but I'd definitely like to hear your opinion on this.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 8

Well, I guess I missed a day... but there are reasons for that and I will be doing two posts tomorrow!

I complained a little about this in my last post, but.... I gotta stop posting so late. I'm so tired I really don't want to type or continue to be awake, it's also hard to think but this project is about sacrifice of time toward strengthening my relationship with God and making myself a better person.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 7

Technically this should be Day 8 because of the intro but whatever... I've been at this for a week!

I really should start writing these posts earlier so that I'm not so tired when I try to sort my thoughts since I really would like to get into more insightful topics like what I think the nature of love is and why I think God is, in fact, logical despite what some might think. Unfortunately, though, I'm tired while writing again and today was quite frustrating, so I'd like to keep my post short for today.

CAPTAIN THOR MAN

It's been a few years since Plastic Booty effectively wrapped our work on our THOR Designer Figure, and now we've finally received pics of a completed figure... and it turned out AWESOME!!

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 6

Today I really haven't thought too much about religion, but I have been thinking about being an artist and finding success in my own way. I know I briefly touched on my artistic woes the other day, but motivating myself as an artist and writer has been extremely difficult.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 5

To be honest, I really don't feel like writing anything today. My stomach hurts from eating too much, and I'm extremely exhausted. I'm also not too sure what it is I want to write about today.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 4

Not too much to say today... I spent the majority of the my free time today reading Prunus Girl and Steel Ball Run, Part Seven of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, so I really didn't get a chance to just sit back and ponder things.

When I read comics like Jojo, which have a history spanning decades, I really look at my own body of work and regret not working more diligently on my own stories. I can only hope that I will continue to improve and find stronger motivation through my continued efforts.

Since today's post is short... here's an illustration...

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 3

Whoops! Almost forgot today's post!

Being as today was Sunday, I think the most appropriate thing to talk about would be today's sermon at church. Today's Gospel was about Jesus meditating in the desert for forty days and forty nights while resisting the temptation of the devil.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 2

Friends and family are the greatest gifts in the world.

Relationships with other people are really the most enriching experiences you can have, and the more valuable than anything. Don't let small things, or even big things, come between them if you can.

Today's thoughts are super simple, but very important to enjoying life to the fullest.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Day 1

For my first Lenten blog post, I suppose it'd be a good idea to start with who I believe God is and why my faith is so important to me.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Lent Blogging

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and in trying to come up with something to give up in order to better myself, I decided something that would help me even better than giving something up would be writing daily blogs about my experience as a 30-something Catholic artist/ customer care consultant bachelor in California.

So, that's going to be my Lenten project.

I was thinking of writing an entry about Pope Benedict's retirement this week, but I think I will take some more time to really get my thoughts on the topic in order. I also want to write about more conventional topics like the toy shows last weekend in New York and Japan. Lots of cool stuff announced. 

It is very late, and I am very tired. I think I will write a post tomorrow with more substance, but I am glad I wrote something today.

God bless everyone!

Gremlin World World 20 Rewrites

I've been working on World 20 of Gremlin World for sometime now facing several set backs and the ever present desire to take the story or artwork up a notch. I haven't been all too active on Deviant Art for a little while either due to many of the same reasons, but I think it's time for me to start posting World 20 up there, so in anticipation, I've gone through and tweaked alot of the dialogue on EVERY page to make sure the story is more cohesive and gives a little more insight into the story that preceded Gremlin World, From Earth To Eden.

GREMLIN WORLD WORLD 20 PAGE 11

View full size here. 

After all kinds of hardships, I've finally finished a new page of Gremlin World!! And, I think and hope the effort really shows on this one... It was a ton of fun getting to draw Re Zem, Cubic Z and Dai Kiken again. I think Re Zem is my favorite to draw of the trio, Dai Kiken is the most fun to write for and Cubic Z has the most interesting design. Originally, they were all supposed to shiver at the thought of Pai in the final panel, but I think this brief dialogue works better and is much more funny, it also sets the next page up better; so I'm glad I went with my new approach.

New Computer and ....

Well, I finally got around to updating my desktop computer with a new set up I got from my uncle last summer. It was free and it has a 1 TB hard drive, so it should've been pretty cool; I even got a copy of Windows 8 to go with it.... Unfortunately, looks like it's not so hot in the processing and RAM department, and is going to need some upgrading in order for me to really work on it... I guess it's a project moving forward, and at the very least I'll be able to keep the hard drive for storage, so it's all good.

Thanks to my cousin, I've also found a new comic and anime to be interested in called Maoyuu Maou Yuusha. The story is nice in that it takes alot of fantasy troupes and turns them on their ear while being very informative on the practical (and not so practical) economics and geo-politics of war. I have really high hopes for this project and am confident that I will enjoy every minute/ page of it.

More to come soon...

TOYS: JANUARY'S NEW FIGMA!

Courtesy of the Figma Blog this month's new Figma Preorders have been revealed, and they're both looking pretty cool!

First up, right on the heels of her beau Kirito comes Figma No. 178, Asuna!

Happy New Bear.

This was supposed to be New Year's Art, but it didn't really turn out how I wanted it to. I actually really like this piece as it is right now though, so I really had to fight myself on releasing it. I think this will be one in a series, so I'll try to have the next one done at the end of the week for you! Happy New Bear!

Happy New Year 2013

Hello all friends and readers!

Though it's a couple days late, Happy New Year to you all!

Merry Christmas Art!!

Evolution Girl Zoe and Nyamo, the girl from across the sea, are here to bring you some Christmas cheer!! Happy Holidays to all my blog readers, and I hope you have many blessings this Christmas!

COMIC THOUGHTS: ONE PUNCH MAN

Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai Final Thoughts

So, I just finished watching Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai Episode 12 today, the first new anime I've watched through to the end in a great long while. As to be expected Kyoto Animation still does wonderful work, though I honestly wish they'd not pigeon hole themselves in terms of genre as much as they do. Still, they are truly masters of their craft and one of the best animation studios around. Lots of great secondary animations, lighting effects and attention to detail make this show lovely to behold, and I'm looking forward to owning it on Blu Ray, and also getting the characters in action figure form via Figma or Figuarts, whomever decides to make them.

PALS WITH THE BIG G: Stuff to think about

Yesterday at church, I saw something interesting.

Painting practice

Ever since I went to CTN in mid-October, I've been trying to learn some new skills to improve my art. I've also been working on converting my work process almost entirely to the digital format, rather than drawing by hand and doing the cleaning up and finishing digitally like I have in the past. Here are the latest Gremlin World artworks that I've done since then, I hope you enjoy them!

Of Gremlins and Bears

Well, at least I've managed to post twice in one month as opposed to once...

Not really the optimal way to start a post, but it's true and it gets me off to a quick start.

GREMLIN WORLD EASTER COMPLETE

Finally finished this piece at the behest of a friend. Got Pepper added in and have some new ideas for the GW art style. Stay tuned!

Zombie Shark Bear Episode M.E. The Purge

So that thing I was going to post the other day....

So that thing I was going to post the other day.... Well it turns out repainting the first 5 pages of World 20 is going to take a while longer than I thought, but here's a look at how it's coming!!

So what does that mean? Well I'll be skipping the painting for a bit and going straight to new pages! Next week new GW in yo' face!!!

San Diego Comic Con 2012 Wrap Up

So we've seen this year's San Diego Comic Con come and go and it was a great year! We had a ton of interest this year and the books and stickers all sold pretty well! Zombie Shark Bear saw a ton of interest and I got to meet several really cool people!

GREMLIN WORLD SKETCH

Some sketches I did for Pai while at San Diego Comic Con this year. I've been putting a new emphasis on gesture drawing, which you can see here. Will Pai feature these looks in the comic? Possibly...

Also, check back tonight for some Comic Con 2012 decompression!

San Diego 2012- In motion!

To everyone who came out to Comic Con and stopped by the Aswembar Productions booth, thank you so much! It was great meeting you and chatting! If I didn't get to talk to you, I thank you all the same and will be working hard to really make Gremlin World and Zombie Shark Bear as awesome as I can for you!

It's been a great turn out this year and I'm definitely looking forward to topping out table next year!

Also, for those of you who may not have seen it yet, here's a look at the cover for Gremlin World Volume 2! If you're going to be at San Diego Comic Con this weekend, look us up at table O8 of the small press area!

Easter picture

Okay, so... I guess I already messed up on posting twice a day.

Oh, well, look toward the future!

Today I wanted to share the Easter picture that I was working on a few weeks ago. It's still a WIP, but it's pretty far along. It features Pai sitting in an Easter egg, and Pepper's going to be added in soon eating a chocolate rabbit while wearing a bunny costume. It's a nice pic, I think.

So I'm going to try to post...

...about something at least twice a day, everyday this week.

Why? Because there's alot on my mind and I need to get it out there!

New Page of Gremlin World after 10,000 Years

Straight to the dome! Seriously, this page took so many redo's for me to be satisfied with it... it seems simple enough but planning it (especially when the original flash back sequence wasn't supposed to be more than 3 pages) off the cuff was really difficult. Anyway, so yeah, prelude to the end of the From Earth To Eden scene...

Potato People

Hello all!

Gearing up for Comic Con, and already have something to show for it! Here's some concept art for some stickers I'm thinking of having at the booth! What do you guys think?!

First up is Pai Bunny Pinhead!

Welcome to The Future!

Happy New Year!... one month late! But still in time for Asian Lunar Calendar New Year!

Just wanted to give a couple quick shout outs to get the year going! Both of these blogs are by friends of mine, and are really great reads!

First up... Errant Cluster. Lots of neat posts to check out here, especially if you're into anime, manga, or randomness!

Next, check out my long time art buddy's blog Load Universe Into Cannon. Aim At Brain. Fire., though I think now it's been shortened to just The Art of Luigi Lucarelli. And congrats to Luigi on his recent interview with ArtSketch!

Again, both great blogs! Make sure not to miss them!

Gremlin World 20 Page 4

It's up at www.gremlinworld.com now, please check it out!!

Art Works

So, adding a few art works that I've been working on during the last few months... Here you go!!

A Hatsune Miku pic I did for a contest sponsored by Good Smile Company. The theme was "Cheerful Japan." I didn't win but had a ton of fun doing this piece. I used the same technique as the Gremlin World Vol. 1 cover and took about 6 hours from sketch to final. Hope you like it!!

So how about those pics? Designer Con 2011 Part 1

I said on Monday I'd have some pics from this past weekend up for show that evening, well... it never happened. This has been a greatly productive week, and I always tried to make time to post them, but it never happened... I apologize about that and here are those pics from Designer Con 2011!

First up are some pics from Scott Wilcowski, whose work you can explore in greater detail here: http://www.scottwilkowski.com/

We've got some custom Sucklord figs:

AWESOME WEEKEND

Is Awesome.

Saturday was a big day for PBC (Plastic Booty Collectibles) and the crew and I rolled down to Pasadena for this year's D-Con, though we did show up there a little later than I was hoping, which was totally my fault.

Review: RIOBOT Delphine 2nd Type

Head over to the Rabbit Haul and check out my review of Sen-Ti-Nel's RIOBOT Delphine 2nd Type action figure!

http://www.cooksux.com/2011/09/25/riobot_delphine2nd/

Gremlin World Update!

Head over to Gremlin World to check it out!

Today we've got the villains- The Hierarchy of Twelve! I've literally been waiting YEARS to show off these guys- and now they're finally here and ready to stomp Pai's bunny butt into mulch... or at least try to!

Toy Review: Max Gokin Mazinkaiser

A few weeks ago I blogged that I'll be writing toy reviews over at my friend's toy blog, The Rabbit Haul. Two weeks ago I did my first review, taking a look at Max Factory's Max Gokin Mazinkaiser figure. You can check it out here:

http://www.cooksux.com/2011/08/09/mg_mazinkaiser/

Remember This Guy?

Reposted from the Plastic Booty Blog, by 3DJohnny:
Gears have begun to turn, and by turn I mean its time to learn how to rotocast! Those heads are gonna be too heavy if they are solid resin so what a perfect time to learn a new technique and mix it with everything I have already learned. Ill post up some new pics once I get him all ready for the next phase!

And a big shout out to all the people who showed interest in THOR this year so far, I cant thank you enough!

So yeah, the next PLASTIC BOOTY figure we'll be releasing is Kerberus! THOR was well received during Comic Con thanks to everyone, so we're definitely looking at upping the ante with this next release!

AND IT'S OUT!

GREMLIN WORLD Vol.1 is now up for order here:


If you've enjoyed GW up till now, please pick up a copy- it's better than ever before with a ton of extras! The book will also be available through other channels soon, but if you'd like to order from Aswembar directly with a discounted price, shoot me an email!

Bandai spams Figuarts, turns Amiami into void

It's that time of the month (actually it was Sunday night)... that time where it seems the entire world decends upon one particular website turning it's servers into a veritible black hole for hours on end. It was time for Bandai to put up pre-orders for their new Figuarts and reduce one of the best Japanese toy shops on the internet, AmiAmi,to a slow-moving, buggy mess if you could even get to the website at all (9 times-out-of 10 you got a white screen with a 'try again soon' message). It's become a tradition.

GREMLIN WORLD: THE BOOK: THE RELEASE!

Hey guys,

Here's the ad for the new book! It'll be available for purchase on WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3rd!! I was hoping to get it out today, but ran into some difficulties at the last minute. Anyway, this ad gives a good idea of what you'll find in this volume, hope you pick up a copy!!
It'll run $14.99 on Lulu, and $12.99 if you order through myself or the upcoming Aswembar shop!

New Toy Blog and New Stuff

Recently did a blog post over at The Rabbit Haul, a toy review blog that I'll be contributing to a couple times a week. If you're interested in Japanese toys or collecting, I suggest checking it out. My friend's the owner and his articles are pretty amusing. Oh yeah, I'll be posting under the handle GPA, so please visit and leave a comment!

Also, I will be making a major effort to post more on this blog 1-2 times a week about various things; art, movies, music, comic, food- pretty much anything I feel deserves mention.

I'll also be trying to do a weekly art print and we'll have a nice mix of fan art (yeah, finally caving to that) and original content. And new Gremlin World will be starting with new pages on Wednesday, August 3.

San Diego Comic Con 2011 WRAP UP!!

Today is Monday, July 25. Comic Con has ended again and we're back to the normal pace of things.

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2011

Two and a half days down... Two to go! At booth O-06 in the small press area, if you're going stop by and say "Hi!" Over near the Oni Press Booth!

STUFF I BUY: ROBOT DAMASHII/ SUPER ROBOT CHOGOKIN

For myself and hundreds of other Japanese toy collectors out there, there is one brand name which is synonymous with the trade- Bandai.

Bandai is one of the biggest toy making companies in the world and has a colorful, long running history filled with ups and downs and tireless perseverance to the art of toy creation. They're the company behind the S.I.C. line up of figures I previously posted about and are behind the toy lines featured in this article as well- Robot Damashii and Super Robot Chogokin.

NEW ZSB Preview!!!

Behold! New proof that I actually have been working this whole time! Here's a look at a new piece of Zombie Shark Bear art that's going toward the Comic Con book.... hope you guys dig it. Also hope you buy the book! And the Gremlin World book too... and COLLAB, also!

GREMLIN WORLD WORLD 19 PAGE 8

FINALLY UPATED GREMLIN WORLD!

Hopefully, I'll finally be trending this towards the regular, next page should be up on Friday!

THOR UPDATE BY 3D JOHNNY

Cool! New update on Thor from Plastic Booty!

20 THORs almost ready for Comic-Con 2011!