Mari Ringing In The New Year

...well, first illustration of the new year. I had to draw Mari because...she's my muse...and my mascot. ^_^ ...but, she sure took a heck of a lot of time to draw! ...not color...draw! I had to fuss over this pose quite a bit, but, I'm pretty happy with the results. ...and then...I had to color and I wanted to bring back an old method that I haven't used in a while, but that I thought would go well with this scene...hopefully add a little sultriness to the image.

...ah, but it's 39 minutes until tomorrow and I'm a little beat. So, in short, I hope she looks alright...because I'm too sleepy to tell. LOL! ...*yawns* Alrighty! HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! 

Lion Paws...A New Tale

Well, the year is coming to a close, but I'm finally able to get some work done with the various stories I'm working on. Lately, I've been working quite a bit on an illustrated novel entitled, "Lion Paws". It'll be a series of inspirational romantic novels revolving around two families, the Ayeles and the Chickoas. The first in the series features the youngest member of the Ayele bunch, Adon. It also features one of my first published characters, Kichoro. I'm extremely excited about this series and can't wait for it to take off. Here are some images from production:

This is Kichoro, a young woman raising her young son. And the fella is Adon, a quiet carpenter.

And this is little Ja.

This is Oceanside Village, the town where everyone lives.

Here are costume designs for Adon, Kichoro and little Ja.

This is a costume design for Kichoro.

I'm hoping to have a teaser booklet out for this series come this summer. With any luck, I'll have it in time for my first convention of the season. Wish me luck!

Well, backgrounds have never been my strongest suit, so I've been getting as much practice in as I can. In particular, I'm working steadily on getting the hang of rendering water. 

...little by little, it's coming along. The more I practice, the more things I notice about water and its intricacies. I just have to keep having at it. Next time, maybe I'll actually add someone into the background scene. ^^; At any rate, I'll keep trying my best.

Aoi: Blue Sun - An Upcoming Children's Fantasy Book

Oh my! I almost forgot to mention this. Please check out my other blog:
http://aoibluesun.blogspot.com/

There you will find information about my newest fantasy series, Aoi: Blue Sun. It's still early in the works, but it's coming along. It's slated to be a children's fantasy book that follows the tales of Aoi, a water spirit and her human friend, Ashley, a young boy. Their adventure takes them on a journey of friendship and trust and a few other life lessons along the way.

I invite you to check it out. There's not much on the page now, but it'll soon be bustling with artwork, character profiles and a few other goodies in the coming months. I hope you'll enjoy it. 

It's Been A While...

...goodness, it's been quite a while since I've uploaded...well, anything. Sorry about that. Quite a lot of things have been happening in my personal life. It's been keeping me rather busy. 

In the interim, I've come to realize that my mascot, Mari, has grown into my muse as well. Mari helps me to bring out the assorted emotions and feelings, the beauty and wide-eyed wonder that is the source of my artistic exploration. This is Mari being a bit more vulnerable. Even now, she speaks to me. She's grown on me so much in such a short time. ^_^ Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and sorry for the absence. I'll try to make myself a little more active around here. ^_^

Sweet Shoppe Issue no.2 Coming In July!

Well, it's in progress and coming along well. The most recent turn of events with this issue...the cover art is finally completed. 

If the time constraints permit, I'll have this issue ready to go by the start of my convention season.

One Full Year Later...

I must confess, I'm a bit surprised that I've neglected my blog for an entire year. I apologize for that. 2012 was a very busy year for me.

Last year, I expanded my convention tour to include a third convention where I sold my work. I also completed the second issue of Hybrid: Gods and Demons. It was a big success and a definite labor of love!

Now, I'm now working on the second issue of Sweet Shoppe. Things are coming along well with layouts and story completely finished. Working on illustrations, now.

Bella Mariposa is still in the works, as well. It will most likely be featured as side stories at the end of the comics I produce, or as a series of ashcan comics...or possibly a web-comic. We'll see.

There's a lot more that's been going on over the last year, but it's much too much for just one post. For now, I'll leave you with Miele from Bella Mariposa. This is my first sketch/drawing of the new year. It looks like it's going to be the year of the honeybee.