hey everyone! Obviously I've missed a couple
three days of the Christmas Challenge, but I
guess hitting CGs and drawing that hard for that
long finally caught up with me and now my motivation
has frozen over. It's thawing, don't worry, I
just can't seem to get myself to take any project
seriously at the moment, and considering the fact
that a couple of them are commissions, that's not
a good thing. CX So I'm just catching up on some
much needed sleep and goofing around with pointless things I
probably wouldn't otherwise, like collecting
stamps. Check 'em out! They're on my journal page.
Hehe, I didn't think I'd find that many so fast. lol

I've also been hit with some major inspiration for my
manga, which is another reason I haven't been drawing
much (I'm writing... imagine that CX This is actually the
manga that the guy on my journal is from. He looks so
different now... lol). I've actually got half the names
figured out! There's still quite a bit that needs work,
but hey, the plot, characters and concepts are much
farther than any other story I've ever played with,
so to say I'm excited is an understatement. Now if the
ideas would leave me alone for a bit so I could write
them down and do something more important... XD

Anywho, I do have three Christmas sketches almost
ready to be colored (along with the two I've posted),
so as soon as I convince myself to scan and color
them I'll get them up for you to enjoy. I'm also
almost finished with another Dojinshi featuring
Sesshomaru and Rin. I so wanted it finished after
the InuYasha Final act episode "Sesshomaru in the
Underworld" since the story takes place right after
that. But one week to do 13 complete pages just isn't enough time (I'm actually going all the way with this one! Penning, tone and everything ^v^). Hopefully I'll have it for Christmas though. Then I can start on another. lol

By the way, I do have another drawing tip all figured out, but since December was looking so busy I decided to postpone it until after the holidays. ^^' I'll see about making it consistant every week after that. ^v^

Well I guess that's all for now. At least you'll know what I've been up to since I haven't been posting. I'll get a heater under that muse of mine and be up and postin' in no time. XD Hope you're enjoying the Christmas holidays so far!

Ani

Hey everyone! I just got back from my much needed and enjoyed Thanksgiving vacation, so I'm a bit tired, but I just had to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving before it's over! Hope you all had a good one! ^V^

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Well, since I can't think of anything interesting
to put in my journal at the moment, I figured I might
as well try out this new drawing tip/ tutorial idea.
I'm hoping to do one of these at least once a week,
so we'll see how that goes. I'll just pick out a
detail I personally find important to drawing and
elaborate on it a little bit, with a few doodles
to go along and make it fun. ^v^









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Okay! Lets start off with the eyes. Since they're
one of the first things we look at to get an idea
of what the characters feeling, it's only natural
that they will affect our whole perspective on the
rest of the picture. So if you want to give the emotion
of your whole drawing a good impression... start with
the eyes. ^v^

The pupils I think are one of the most important details,
so I'll focus on that for now.

I've noticed that the bigger the pupils are, the more calm,
relaxed, or sad the characters' emotion appears to be,
while a smaller pupil makes them seem more alert, nervous,
angry, surprised... you get the idea XD (Now this isn't
exactly how it in in real life, but hey, it's anime.
everything's exaggerated to make the emotions more intense C< ).
Somethin' like this:

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Next time you're tryin' to hit a certain emotion but the eyes aren't cooperating, try adjusting the size of the pupil. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't, but at least it'll give you a starting point. ^v^

Here are some random eyes with different sized pupils you can look over. At least I tried to make them different. CX lol Just for fun, do you think you can match up all the eyeballs with the right characters? You can be sure that they don't go beyond InuYasha & Yu-Gi-Oh. CX Definitely a big plate of cookies to the one who can! I even get them mixed up. XD One character is doubled, just as a hint. ^v^

^EDIT: I'll give you the answers in the next journal. Forgot to mention that. ^^'



Well, that's all for my first tip. Short & sweet, but I hope it was helpful! lemme know what you think. ^v^

Hey Guys! Been a while since I updated my journal,
so I thought I'd use it to let ya know what I've been
working on lately. First off, I've finally hooked
up with paypal so I can start doing commissions!
Yay! I've still got a few things to do yet, but
it shouldn't be more than a week before I open them.
So if you'd like to commission me, now's the time
to start thinkin' about it! I'm also fine tuning my
CSS skills to update my journal (maybe you noticed a
few changes, maybe not. Either way, it was hard work!
lol) It still needs a lot of work, but at
least it's coming. I have an entire layout planned for
it, but I'm sure it'll take me more than just one
sitting to figure it all out. CX

Well, now that I've got the boring stuff out of the way,
onto the art updates! Here's a sneek peek on some
of the art projects I'm working on and (hopefully ^^' )
will finish.
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REQUESTS
Only four left! I swear I must have had around 20 or
more, but now it's narrowed to quatro. CX I'll be
opening commissions as soon as they're taken care of.
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CGs (COMPUTER GRAPHICS)
Oh, I don't dare try to count all the ones I'd like to
finish, but as for the first ones that come to mind....
1. one featuring Sesshomaru & Kagura as somewhat of a
tribute to the 2nd (?) episode of the new season.
2. Another pic with Sesshomaru & the moon. *sigh*
you can never have too many of them. XD
3. InuYasha & Kagome by the well as a cover for one of
my favorite fanfics by =The-Elven-Priestess.

soooo many others, but like I said, I can only think of a few atm. CX
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DOJINSHIS
You know I think I've been doing a bit more in this department than the last two recently. As far as writing goes anyways. Here's a little taste for you to nibble on. ^v^ Some of the titles may be different later on, so just consider these their working titles.

1. ONE STEP AHEAD
the first is what I'd like to call a remedy for the symptoms one gets after reading too many SesshxKag fanfics. I mean, I like to read them, but I still can't stand how Kagome and InuYasha are separated in order to make it possible since they're always my fave pairing in the end. Sooo, I came up with this cute little ditty as a reminder that InuYasha's always going to be her lover, even if Sesshomaru comes into the picture. ^^

^UPDATE This one has the panel layout finished, so chances are you may see this one soon. ^v^

2. DINNER DUEL
lol I'm really looking forward to this one. It's a classic scenario of a father forcing his son to eat his least favorite food... Just Inu No Taisho & young Sesshomaru style. Oooh, It's gonna be good. lol

^{UPDATE 11/17/09} I just finished the panel layout to this last night! Yet another you may see first.

3. JUST A GAME
It's hard to find someone to play with when you're a half demon such as Young InuYasha, so why not ask your ever so reluctent big brother? XD lol I'm not sure how the panels will turn out on this one, but hopefully I'll get the plans figured out so I can do it.

4. A PROMISE RENEWED
This one is just me picking up loose ends with Kouga & Ayame, and what could (or SHOULD) happen later on. I've also got a possible follow up idea for it called A Promise Kept, but I guess I'll have to see if I get to the first one. I'm sure it'll be more than 20 pages. 0.o

5. AFTERMATH
this one is still a bit sketchy in my head, but I know it happens only a couple days after the "hell arc" with Sesshomaru & Rin. You might call it a follow up on their relationship, & how deeply affected Sesshomaru truly was.
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ORIGINAL MANGA
I'm finally getting some good ideas for my story! It needs more detail, but at least some of the main concepts are coming together. I'm hoping that by the time I have the dojinshis above finished, I'll have my story finished & my skills up to snuff to illustrate it as my first manga. ^V^
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ANIMATIONS
I haven't done too much with it lately (thanks to some extra hour jobs & catching up afterwards) but I do have one animation project in the making that I'm now working on with . It's basically a full round display of the great demon Sesshomaru is, yet showing in the end the true nature of his heart underneath, and we all know what that is. ^///^ It'll be somewhere under 1 minute long.
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MY CD
I've finally written enough songs to record my own CD! I still have to copyright them and record them in my studio, but at least the hard part with writing them is done. I never thought I'd be capable of writing that many (around 13 ^v^), but I've got 'em! I'll see if I can get it on amazon to make it available if any of you who would be interested. ^v^

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Well, I guess that's all I can think of that I've got in the fire. If I remember anything else (which undoubtedly is bound to happen CX) I'll update it. Thanks for all your support everyone! You're the best. ^V^

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^{UPDATE 11/18/09} Ha, I knew I'd forget something. My slideshow/music video! I've been planning this forever it seems, but it's now just getting to the "going to do it" stage. It's basically all of my InuYasha artwork put to a guitar arrangement I did with 4 InuYasha themes. At least taking this long to get to this project has given me time to get better with playing it on my guitar. CX A lot of stretchy chords on that thing, believe me. lol

I finally got around to making my own Journal skin!
Woot! I've still got quite a bit to learn & a lot
more features I want to add, but at least it looks
fairly decent for now. ^v^ (at least I hope it does...
I don't trust the preview window CX) By the way, This
is my latest design of the main character for my story.
I thought he'd be perfect to
display in my Journal.

It's pretty late, & I'm extremely tired after such a long day, but I just had to share this with you guys. I was leaning near the door tonight thinking about the funeral today, & more or less Really feeling the loss of my Grandma. That's when I noticed a car backing up & driving off, as if they had just pulled out of our drive way. I got curious so I stepped out to see if they had been talking to someone or something. That's when I heard a faint but pitifully desperate cry from the driveway. I panicked thinking that something must have gotten run over by that car or something & ran in the direction of the crying.

There laying on the cold gravel as cute but lonely as could be, was the most adorable little black kitten I had ever seen. Apparently the one in the car no longer wanted it or couldn't take care of it, & decided to get rid of it drop it in my driveway. I about cried. I scooped the little sweetness in my arms & immediately it started to scramble under my chin, hoping to find some comfort there I guess. *aaaaawwwwwweee!* So I fixed up a bed, offered him some milk & put him in a nice warm room where he'd be comfortable when I had to work or study.

I don't think I've ever met such an adorable little kitten. I've tended many, but none of them have ever been so friendly or pleased to have me care for them as he does. But you know? I can't help but think that my Grandma had something to do with bringing this little angel to me. Nothing seems to please me more than taking care of someone or something in need, especially animals, so I guess my Grandma knew just what to do to make me feel better about losing her. She gave me a kitty. ^///^ Thank you grandma.

Just for the record, I named him "Boo" after my new original character in my "Boston & Lily" comic. It just seemed fitting. ^v^

Isn't he cute?
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