Sorry for the lack of un-fulfilling updates. I had an injury earlier this month and I didn't think much of it until it got bad. Until I get some tests done we are not sure if it is worse than it is or will get better. Take care of yourself because health is one thing you have that you take advantage of until it is gone as this owner of a Vietnamese BBQ shop once said to me.


It is a struggle mentally and physically because I don't want to think about it all the time but it hurts so it is hard to take my mind off of it. Alas I still sketch and getting back to painting again. What happened to this month March 2016?

I am working on another book review of Dawn: The World of Final Fantasy by Yoshitaka Amano. I will have it probably by next month! (Maybe sometime this weekend)


Thank you for your interest & support!

-K

My school the Academy of Art University hosts panels periodically for each department. 

If there is a chance you cannot see it live the events are usually recorded so you may watch it at any time as much as you would like. I have been fortunate to go to some of these demonstrations :D

One example of an event not recorded was when Naughty Dog visited because they showcased some of their trade secrets. 

In my sketchbook the other week I had some random notes and some half quotes from Anthony Jones from this presentation.

It is very informative, inspiring. Every great artist I know, admired and respected had struggled in their life in one point or another to get to the point that they are at now.

The panel consists of Anthony Jones, Ross Tran, Dan LuVisi and Luis Carrasco. 

The presentation is about 2 hours with a Q&A at the end. 

Lately I have been doing a lot back to basics stuff of fundamental drawing and to get past the time of doing rigorous  work at the easel I watch Feng Zhu Design Cinema and John Park's Pateron videos. 

Feng Zhu is a phenomenal artist who worked on concepts on movies and games such as the Star Wars prequels, transformers and other notable big franchises. With much of his success Zhu gives back his knowledge on a series he created called Design Cinema when he has an opportunity....despite opening his own school in Singapore called FZD School of Design he posts them on youtube account for FREE! 

Recently I have bought a new TV and have it hooked up to my PS3. My main source of television for years is primarily YouTube. I don't have cable.  I have the app on the PlayStation and if you have to app on your phone or electronic device as well you can cast what is on your device to the TV pretty easily. Because the layout and interface on the Ps3 app sucks so they enabled consumers to use the mobile app instead. 

Back on point for years I have been watching and keeping up with the Design Cinema series for years since it's release about 6 years ago. I initially started following Feng Zhu after purchasing almost all of his DVDs through the Gnomon workshops because of his knowledge of perspective.  

When Zhu first started the series it was mainly a weekly release but as his schedule grew busier he releases episodes while he can.  With almost 90 episodes I have only watched the episodes that seemed interesting and cool to me. To really reap Feng Zhu's knowledge I started watching all the episodes in chronological manner. The episodes are informative and range from 10 minutes to almost an hour at times and some episodes include multiple parts.

Watch it as a playlist or individual episodes

Currently I am at episode 28. Hearing him speak and seeing what he has doing has increased my digital painting skills after coming back to watch these with more art fundamentals than before to understand what he is doing and why. So I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve now with speed. As my friend made aware to me March is a truly busy month! 

Also for some inspiring and motivating images check out Feng Zhu's blog for showcasing student work. Beware it will slow your bandwidth way down! :Click Here:

A little bit of awesome sauce!

I was waiting for this!

2,222hits

Thank You for your  support

On 02/05/16 this counter was reached
First Post of March I meant to do last month! Here it is!

Thank you! So much!  

          =D

Long way in the day. I thought it would be cool and one of my first goals to have at least one viewer per day. I get multiple visits per day now on average. Last month in January I reached record breaking views and the month before most views in a single day. Each month I have been getting record breaking views that keeps doubling. I mean I got my wish of 365 views last month.

It has been a rough 3 or so years keeping this up on a bi-weekly or weekly basis by myself. Sometimes I get tired or think my point isn't being displayed clearly and the classic question why am I doing this?

Forgot what season this is but this was Sterling from the tv show Hell's Kitchen. He was annoying at times but had relevant information at times. 

Last week I talked to someone I haven't talked to in awhile and it was encouraging that although we haven't spoken for a long time they believed in me and my goals. For some reason artists have the stigma of being dumb and sometimes that changes one's perception of me. A long time ago I was told a story if you have a gift use it....if you don't you pay the consequence and price of not using your given gift with misery and other such things.

I have a lot of interesting topics that I have not published or have done drafts for. Stay tuned for a lot of numerous things in store.

I have been behind on release dates but I am working on a lot of new opportunities.

Usually a Kiriban comes with a picture....

There was this special picture I was working on between projects for the kiriban and have the intial idea and thumbnail out.

I was thinking the theme of the piece would be Bushido or the heart of it. I haven't really drawn any samurais and thought it would be different than just drawing katanas, Odachis and ninjas.

 I can't find my original sketch after looking for it...time to make another one.

WIP-Work in Progress

This is what I have so far. I think it lacks substance. There is no narrative.  

I'm not sure the reason yet he is hoping around in the woods for?

Not sure what is he fighting or running from? Even this little bit adds to the image.

Working with digital mediums is part of my process now even if it is traditional.
 It had changed the way I sketch. I used to fill volumes of sketchbooks in no time unless I have a specific idea or thumbnail I'll sketch something fully like this Satsuki sketch from Kill la Kill. For now for thumbnail generation is still done traditionally with edits made in Photoshop.

I'll explain some other time what I am doing and how and why so. 

From my favorite show Fated to Love You (Taiwanese Version)
Have been re-watching it for the last couple of months instead of binge watching it like before.
It is now available on youtube.  

Keep on doing what you. At times along the way one gets discouraged or lose site of what their original intention or goal. Leonardo Da Vinci once said, "Paintings are never finished only abandoned." That is a depressing thought and wow nothing will ever be truly be completed. My interpretation of this I literally have thousands of drawings in my hard drive that I have not completed but want to. Recently I saw a panel with Ross Tran and he had some work he started years ago, stopped and continued later to finish the artwork. I found this inspiring and not to beat myself up for all the unfinished work I had.

I like to use Prismacolor brush and Copic Markers for these quick pose sketches. I prefer the grip on the prismacolor's barrel for quick musings and Copics for serious long term rendering.

Tip: Use other colors other than black to see any overlapping in shapes in lines. Don't use too light of a color to. 

One example of an old sketch and re-refining it later is this image I remember there was a blizzard outside and I looked out the window and just imagined this scene. What if someone was out there at this moment in this weather walking through and a female death spirit is encircling this weary dude and enticing him... I have fleshed it out more with a refined sketch a few times and don't feel like I did it justice! One of these days I'll capture the raw emotion I originally felt!