30 Days of Marvel

I recently found a 30 Days of Marvel Meme and have been doing it sporadically on my livejournal and decided to post it over here, in a more public venue.
I also decided to post sketches to go with my answers. The first day asked 'Who is your favorite Marvel Character?'
Day#1: Your Favorite Character: Well, I have more than one: My top Three MOST favorites are Kitty Pryde, Jean Grey and Warren Worthington III, followed closely by Gambit, Human Torch and Blink. I first was introduced to Kitty Pryde as part of an anthology of prose for the X-Men that I was given as a gift when I was a kid. She was on the cover of it, without her mask and I wondered who this girl was: I could identify everyone else but her. I read the book and in two stories she was introduced, one after the events of 'Mutant Massacre' the other before, and something about her character attracted me. She was equal parts strong and vulnerable, happy and melancholy. This was before internet was as prevalent as it is now so looking for her didn't come up with many results and then when I started reading back issues of Uncanny X-Men, she appeared! The more I read her in the pages of my Uncanny X-Men the more I loved her. People say she's a mary sue, something Claremont made to be his dream girl, but I think she's more than that. She was a girl character that was ahead of her time: praised for being intelligent, savvy in 'male only' fields like computers and sci-fi, courageous enough to sass Wolverine and kind enough to help the Rasputins feel at home in a country far from their childhood. She was everything I wanted to be: smart, brave, funny, courageous, loyal and devoted to her team. As I've read the comic following her growth from a 13 year old girl to a young woman who's faced aliens and Magneto, and evil beyond what any child should be exposed to, I've loved her all the more, and felt myself grow and learn from her.
Let's go to Jean Grey before I start waxing nostalgic and make us all groan with cheesiness. I admit it, for years and years, I didn't like Jean Grey at ALL. I thought she was 'oh sooo perfect!' with her looks and her powers and being the Phoenix and having all the men fall over themselves wanting her attentions, I thought, "I don't sympathize or relate to her' I didn't, not like I did with Kitty Pryde, and in fact it wasn't until I found out Scott cheated on her with Emma Frost that I started to like her. It's not a schedenfreude way, that I liked her being hurt or liked that she was 'taken down a peg' but that Scott did that to her, Emma did that to another woman, and I got mad on her part, and I felt I could understand her better. She, for all her looks and her powers, couldn't keep her husband from hurting her like that, and so I sympathized with her and went back to re-read my back issues, with new eyes and realized: hey, this woman is AWESOME. First X-Woman who held her own among men, who was kind to everyone, regardless of their past or their actions, even bad guys, who died to save her friends and ended up with a force inhabiting her that she never truly wanted(yes she asked for help and said she'd accept any terms, but when you're hurtling towards earth in a ramshackle rocket with high chances of being killed, you'll accept anyone's help) and she lost so much in the time she was gone, and when she returned, she had to start over from the ground up not only with her new powers but with her relationships and her life, and she smiled through it, and persevered and became a woman to be reckoned with, a woman to look at and say " I want HER in my corner." She's an extraordinary character, and I adore her.
Last but not least, is Warren Worthington. I first was introduced to him in the same book that I 'met' Kitty Pryde and was instantly taken with him, but alas! At the time, I couldn't find any issues or books with him, until I happened across a copy of 'Mutant Massacre' and in the same book that I got to know him, I had to watch him suffer the agony of losing his wings and nearly his life. I got more issues, going further back, to before Kitty Pryde and got to meet him again, as a young, winged Angel. Something about him draws me, he is, I admit, a generic character, a stereotype even, who fades behind the rest of the more vibrant X-Men, but his personality, steady and compassionate even in the face of what he's endured and what his friends have gone through, is attractive to me. If I lived in the pages of the X-Men, I'd follow him, and adore him, wanting to be his friend, his confidante. Jean has, or had, Scott, Hank and Bobby have each other, and Warren is the lone man who has to take to the sky to reconcile himself with his feelings. I'd want to be the one who listens to him unburden himself about his life and his worries. I don't even know if that's normal, but that's how I feel: He needs a friend.

APEcon 2010 Recap Part one

Quite a whiles after APEcon, I'm able to sit down and go through the various business cards, flyers and advertisements I'd picked up at the con. In alphabetical order, I'll discuss which sites/contents I like, and which ones I had personal interaction with in terms of the artists or creators behind the stuff presented on each site.

Business Cards:

*** 6th Circle Comics A webcomic about tattooists at the '6th Circle Tattoo Parlor' I haven't read it all, but in skimming through it, I can see it's a good read, underground humor about body modifications and tattoos. I met one of the maintainers, who was drawing a wicked sweet Darth Vader.

***** Jed Alexander I met this man and his wife. He's incredibly talented, and very kind. He has this wonderful Jean James-esque piece of elephants and a cityscape and if it weren't for the size of the poster I would have bought it. He drew me an elephant and I bought postcards, one of which has said elephants and cityscape. An incredibly talented and nice man. You can see the elephants and cityscape piece here.

Adrianna Bamber I don't recall seeing her table, so I might've gotten her card from the freebies table, but she does adorable animal paintings, I really enjoy her Unicorn family portrait, under 'Pony Portraits."

Aggie Cheung I really liked the art pieces she had at Apecon, so I picked up her card. Looking at her site, I'm awed by her different styles and techniques, and really like her "Couples' piece

***** Alain Norte This guy is talented and nice. I saw his pieces and he had a sign saying 'ask about con sketches' which I did. He agreed to do a BEAUTIFUL Jean Grey, and I love it so so much. I also love that he drew her as powerful and beautiful without going for cheesecake and fanservice.I was actually a little worried as I walked away after leaving my sketchbook with him considering his Powergirl in a swimsuit piece on prominent display on his table (although, let's be honest, it's kinda hard to draw PG without having to include fanservice isn't it?)but he drew her tastefully and beautifully. If I see him at another convention, I'll be begging him for another piece to add to my collection. He also does great zombies :3

Amy Martin Another table I didn't really look at, but looking at her site, she has comics she's made for sale and the artstyle looks crisp and clean. Not much else to say.

Andrew Mar Looking at his stuff, I keep thinking I'd stopped at his table and looked at his art, but I can't remember if I did or not, but I like his works, his asian women perspective studies are beautiful

The Anthology Project A collection of different artists and their own comics all combined together (hence the 'anthonlogy' in the name I suppose) with different ideas and talents. This site looks interesting and I'll be looking at it in more depth at another time. I don't recall what I saw at their booth, but I must've liked it enough to pick up their card.

Elle Johara Also does lesbiandrama, a webcomic I haven't read. Her stuff is pretty funny, although I can't remember how much of it I saw at APEcon.

Bees and Murderers I originally picked this up because, after all, how can you resist a card with a cute bee saying 'Bees and Murderers"? I didn't look at his stuff when I walked by, it didn't seem like something I'd like, and going to his site, I'm not able to read the comics easily, at least on my computer and I like some of his works, especially under the 'illustration' part, but overall, I'm a big fan of the title itself.

Brandon Bird OMG this guy. I saw him at last year's APEcon where my friend bought his 'Christopher Walken' poster and a set of his Law and Order valentines cards. He mixes realistic portraits of actors with surreal situations, like a wonderful piece of his of Sir Ian McKellen, as Magneto, with baby chicks all over him, or his piece of Nicholas Cage being embraced by a baboon or something like that. He's talented and offbeat.Said Sir Ian piece: here

Brianna Harden Originally I picked up her card for the cool bear painted on it, but looking at her site, she's immensely talented, I love her 'Something you can't return to' piece and her hairstyles piece from the front page.

Brynn Metheney She specializes in animal illustration, and even does realistic images of animals she's invented or altered.

Buluchu This woman shared the table with Aggie Cheung, and I actually remember her! She had these cute purses and a clever idea she'd made, of an bracelet.. thing with a hook, for keys, so you could put the band around your wrist, but it was covered in cute material, not like the spiral plastic that always pinches my skin. I was SO tempted to buy one of her wallet/purse things that folded over and over, but I was trying to conserve my money. I'll definitely be checking her site out and keeping an eye on her products.Looking at her shop, she has a traveler's organizer with room for the passport, credit cards, airline cards, airline tickets(I think?) a pen and it all zips so nothing falls out, I coulda used that when I went to Japan last summer!

Cat Farris Cute stuff, not my kind of thing, but someone might be into her stuff.

Danni Shinya I stood at her table in awe of her skills and her creations but walked away with nothing because I was trying to save money and also, incredibly, looking at her works, intimidated me. She does beautiful paintings and beautiful women and apparently she's done some covers for Marvel Comics of X-23. I liked the piece she did of the woman and the tiger.

DotsDotsDots Remember when you were a kid, you'd get these plastic beads and put them in a shape and use a hot iron to melt one side of it together so the other side had a picture? this guy makes them of your favorite video game character, or pokemon or character (he has a Nico Robin from One Piece! I love her so much, I wish I'd seen that at his table!) They're cute, they look like they leaped right from your old school Sega.

DuckaComic I don't remember seeing her stuff, but looking through her blogspot, she seems to have a great sense of humor and I actually just remembered, she must've been the woman with the neat rubber duckies we saw. Wow! She had cool stuff, I should take the time to look at her stuff if she comes to another APEcon.

Dusty Divine What an amazing name. Dusty Divine. And what an amazing talent. His renderings and paintings are beautiful and full of emotion and passion.

Eidolon Fine Arts I was captivated by some of the beautiful pieces they had at their table. Apparently this is a book seller or something? I don't know, but it was pretty crowded so I couldn't get in to look at anything, so I might've missed out on buying something wonderful (reading their site, they say at Comiccon 2010, they had Jean James' pieces for sale) but that's also a good sign: good stuff if the people crowded it.

Emily Martin Part of the Megamoth Studios, I didn't stop to browse the table, it was too crowded, so I scanned the art she had, liked it and grabbed a card. Not much else to say.

****Emma Sancartier Her stuff is beautiful, delicately rendered watercolors. I loved her Anglerfish couple and her firebird art, I was so tempted to splurge on the prints. She gets stars for doing anglerfish art.

Eunjung June Kim I passed her table, didn't stop to look, she was crowded, but the art on the back of her card had me picking it up and pocketing it. Her stuff is wonderful, and cheerful, I like her use of color and shadows.

Fiona Meng Interesting artstyle, and interesting in a good way. She does subjects that are both beautiful and unsettling in a way, like 'The Last Judgement' and also has some graphic novels. All I remember of her table is one girl dressed up like the woman drawn on the business card, with one pink eye.

*****Frederick the Great! The man was wearing a top hat and a nice coat, and doing free drawings of historical figures. He runs this site, about history,I haven't read it yet, I plan to though. He said he'd draw me Nathan Hale, but I had to leave early and he said he'd mail it to me. I'm still waiting for it, but if he mails it, he's got a fan for life, if he didn't, ah well, it was the thought that counted. It looks like it'll be a funny comic. EDIT: I got my Nathan Hale as well as a wonderful kind letter, he's every bit the gentleman he appears to be.

Grim Wilkins I wish I'd taken the time to look through his book, looking at his site, his art looks awesome and the title "Love Story in the Woods' sounds cool. If he's at the next APEcon I'll have to remember to check him out.

Hans Tseng Interesting art, I like his illustrations and his stuff is pretty.

Industrial Fairytale Steampunkish jewelery and art, I really admired the things they had for sale but it was out of my price range. I did love the 'Oh My Stars and Garters' cover and I like the robot stuff too. A site I'll be checking out often.

Jakc Designs Cute tees and blankets with cute images sewn on them, like ice cream cones and robots.

Jana Cook Looking at her site, I can't tell where she's going, and her stuff is kind of..generic. I'm not sure what to think of this site. But she has some funny ideas in her videos and comics.

Agent Scully redux

I used a reference I found online but I think the previous one looks more like the Agent Scully we all know.

Sketch A Day, part two

My first try at drawing Agent Scully while watching reruns of 'X-Files'.

Sketch your Life attempt one

I'm currently undertaking Michael Nobbs' Sketch Everyday challenge, and this is one of the pages. I recently found the third season of 'Bones' at Rasputins and was watching it. I adore the main character, Bones, so dang much, ADORE. So while watching ' Player Under Pressure' I made an attempt to sketch her face out, it seemed easy enough, she has very strong features (her jawline, her eyes) but it proved a lot harder than I'd hoped. Hopefully, for a first try, it looks enough like her that I can be proud. In the same episode there was a character with a distinctive and retro hairstyle, which I quickly jotted down, in the corner opposite Bones. I made an aborted try at Zach, my second favorite character, but he proved too hard to try, not without a still of him. (Oh man, The Pain in the Heart! :( ) In the very bottom, the PG is a try at designing a logo for Power Girl to go in the hole on her chest, but you know, her chest hole IS kinda her logo now huh? The rest are doodles, nothing too terribly amazing, but it feels nice to have something on paper, something to be working on instead of sitting idly watching my dvds.

Sketch Your Life-Michael Nobbs

So I recently downloaded Michael Nobbs' free ebook 'Start to Draw Your Life' (Here ) and his book gave me more ideas for what to do with this blog, hopefully this will breathe some new life here. I'll try to do what he suggests, drawing something from my life, something small and quick every day and upload it here, not quite every day, I start school again in a couple of weeks and I don't know how much time I'll have to mess with scanning and uploads and the like but I can at least try a massive weekend dump every week. I try to draw a bit every day but it usually results in sketches and detailed drawings of people and the like, not exactly super challenging stuff or stream of consciousness style sketches like Michael Nobbs is encouraging, so let's see if I can take up his challenge.

His blog, I plan to read through it and see what information I learn from it, is here.

Green Arrow II

So the last couple of days I've read the few graphic novels I have that feature Connor Hawke, Green Arrow II. And surfing the 'net for more fan stuff and pictures of him.

I think, somehow, almost without my knowing it, he became one of the top five favorite DC characters in my list.

He's the son of the original Green Arrow, a Buddhist monk, gentle, kind, polite, loving, forgiving, vegan, patient, loyal, and a hopeless romantic. On paper, he sounds perfect, too bad he's not real. Anyways, he came about in the 90s I believe, and I think he's Kyle Rayner's best friend, they did a lot of team ups in the 90s. I missed a LOT of his storylines, it wasn't until I got a copy of Green Arrow:Quiver in a library that I got to read him for the first time, so all my exposure is from the Kevin Smith-and the writers afterwards-run, so I'm hoping to find other books with him in it, he just seems like such a stand up guy, I want to read more about him.

Anyways, so basically Connor Hawke's just an interesting and unique character-not just because of his ethnicity(white, black and asian all in one package) but because he's so mild and even tempered when the rest of the cast are volatile and temperamental. He's even keeled in the face of his father's outbursts, and Mia's antics and Kyle's energy. I really look forward to finding out more about him and his storylines in the GNs of Green Arrow.