I can't help it. Back when Street Fighter 4 came out on the home systems, I just had the urge to draw fan art for Crimson Viper. I really like her design. I actually started this illustration months ago. I took some time off from it several times but I finally sat down and finished. I even made a little tutorial for it over at ChromaEngine. So check it out if you'd like to see the work in progress.
It's October and that means a lot of things but the one thing in particular that got me excited was carving a pumpkin!!! I took my niece to a pumpkin patch and not being able to say "no" to an adorable 9 year old, I ended up getting 3 pumpkins. Two we painted but the biggest one we saved for carving. After much argument over what to carve, I chose a character from Persona 4; Teddie.
She thought it was creepy but hey its Halloween, but now that I think about it, I should have let her choose what she wanted....Lol! I guess I got carried away, I haven't carved a pumpkin in over 20 years so choosing an elaborate image to carve was probably not a good choice. I give credit to all those pumpkin carvers out there. It ain't easy. So after I chose my image, I had to determine where to make the cutouts. Basically, making it a black and white image and figuring out how the pieces will stay together. As my niece would say, make sure there are no "floating" pieces.
After I sat down to carve, I realize a kitchen knife wasn't going to work. I ran out, bought a cheap pumpkin carving set and went to work. After gutting the poor pumpkin with my niece, 3 and a half hours later I was done. Not the best but I think I got it to work.
In case your wondering , my niece did help some but I ended up making another image for her to carve on the smaller pumpkin. <3
I have tweeted. Somehow there are many Melissa DeJesus's so trying to do a combination of mine name proved difficult. I ended up with MelissaDejesus1, because I am number 1. >=}
I needed an avatar, so what better way to make one is create a whole new illustration! Yup, that is the sole reason I drew this. Lol. Anyway, I had a sketch like this in my mini sketch book and i thought I'd practice my coloring some more.
We actually started at 12am Saturday, which might not have been a good idea, being that Hwan came from work and we've all already been up during the day. We struggled through the night, and crashed one by one. By late morning we where all up again, refreshed (sorta) and went back to comics.
There were 8 of us in total; Becky, Vasilis, Vanessa, Eve, Hwan, Robin, Rob and myself, and several cats that distracted us with their cuteness. We worked steadfast and everyone results were awesome! I managed to pencil 5 pages of my Rapunzel comic and inked 2! Here are the incomplete pages.
Oh man, I just came back from the Small Press Expo this past weekend and it was great!! I went with my gal pals Hwan and Robin. There was a lot going on and to be honest a bit over-whelming for me at first. To see original creators and their works really inspired me. Their innovativeness really impressed me too. On Saturday I walked out to the hall for a breather and on an empty table in front of me stood a tiny paper figure. A yeti to be exact. A sucker for any type of mini figure, I picked it up and put it in my bag.
To my surprise when examining the paper figure later, there was a reward offer posted on the back for his return. A bigger sucker for things like this, I went back to Expo the next day, found the Last Dollar Comics booth, and returned him. I got a reward, a cardstock paper with more paper monsters to make! So much fun!!!
The highlight of course, was Hwan, Robin, and myself managed to put a mini comic together!! We've planned for months but was able to put it together at the last minute. I was only able to put in the first 6 pages of my Rapunzel comic, but it was still finished by pure determination!! Check out Hwan and Robin's blog to see the cover and their sample pages.
This coming weekend is 24 Hours comics day. So I plan to finish up my Rapunzel comic. Hopefully i can get a good amount done!
Let's start with a brief history: For some reason, when I was a little kid I felt compelled to draw and color on the faces of my dolls. Little plastic toy figures got full make-overs, including a small bugs bunny figure I painted black and white. Around the age of 11 I got a ceramic Santa and painted him with much love and care...only to be knocked over by my parents while it dried on the room divider, breaking into several pieces.
Time went by and my hobbies turned to comics and video games. One particular time i remember running to the magazine store with my girlfriends after school(one of them being Hwan, lol) to drool over the long awaited sequel Final Fantasy 7.
I can't quite remember where, possibly the store 'Anime Crash' that I used to visit, but when I walked in, there was a Final Fantasy 7 box, and to my amazement, it was a plastic model kit. With my hobby reborn, an obsession started.
I had no prior experience or knowledge with these type of kits so I learned along the way. I knew enough to find a hobby store and purchase the paints listed in the pamphlet the kit came with, some putty, and glue. The store might have actually carried the paints, I don't recall, it was a long time ago. Remember, this was a time where the internet was different from today. No youtube to look up tutorials. I had to go to Japanese bookstores, follow the pictures in the magazines and learn Katakana so I can read names of kits, colors and such. Anyway, here they are, kits 1 and 2.
My first kits. I was 16 years old. Aeris was actually the first out the 2 I painted. I didn't put much concern into the base so I left it as it was.
Blurred the corner so you don't see the junk in my house. Lol!
The kit came with decals for the eyes. The first and only time I've ever used decals.
Cloud and Aeris where painted entirely by brush with Tamiya paints. I used most of the colors out of the jar and only used putty around Aeris' waist. I had no sanding tools but the kits where clean enough.
This weekend Becky, Hwan, and myself will be at Thats Entertainment, 244 Park Ave., Worcestor, Massachusetts for a Women of Comics gathering. The trio will be joining Tara McPherson, and Hilary Price for an afternoon of signing, sketching, and demonstration! This fateful day will be Saturday 12th! So be there!
Aye...I finally finished the animation I've been working on for the last few weeks. I barely went outside, I haven't spoken to anyone but the animation is done.
Toward the end I rushed a bit, and when I look back I can see some things I'd like to fix and add to it, but overall I'm happy with the way it came out. After I animated the scenes I handed them over to Rob who put the scenes together and did all the editing! Thank you!! ---<3
I wouldn't have finished without help but it was a fun project and it made me realize I need to brush up on my animation and take it a bit more seriously. It's definitely something I won't give up.
The animation short is a teaser trailer to the 8 page comic I did for Zuda a few months back. This one was also submitted for another contest on Aniboom where Fox was looking for an edgy holiday short. The writer, Ed Power (who also writes the MyCage comic strip) thought the comic idea was perfect for the animation contest. I have to admit, it seemed like a great opportunity at first but I really debated on wheher it was something I could pull off. But one thing I've learned over the years is that if I keep turning down opportunities, I'm going to get nowhere fast.
Believe me, I thought about giving up a few times but I managed to pull it off and I'm glad I did. I have another animated project under my belt and it's something I stuck with to the end to finish. So I feel good about it and I hope it keeps me on a productive path.
Since the clip itself has no credits, I'd like to thank Roberto Flores, Albert Li, Sean Callahan, and Alex Shum for the help, (even if a little provided), in getting this done. Thanks guys!!
Now that the animating is over....back to comics!!
She thought it was creepy but hey its Halloween, but now that I think about it, I should have let her choose what she wanted....Lol! I guess I got carried away, I haven't carved a pumpkin in over 20 years so choosing an elaborate image to carve was probably not a good choice. I give credit to all those pumpkin carvers out there. It ain't easy. So after I chose my image, I had to determine where to make the cutouts. Basically, making it a black and white image and figuring out how the pieces will stay together. As my niece would say, make sure there are no "floating" pieces.
In case your wondering , my niece did help some but I ended up making another image for her to carve on the smaller pumpkin. <3
My first kits. I was 16 years old. Aeris was actually the first out the 2 I painted. I didn't put much concern into the base so I left it as it was. 
Blurred the corner so you don't see the junk in my house. Lol!
The kit came with decals for the eyes. The first and only time I've ever used decals.
Cloud and Aeris where painted entirely by brush with Tamiya paints. I used most of the colors out of the jar and only used putty around Aeris' waist. I had no sanding tools but the kits where clean enough.
