Christmas is around the corner, guys! I bet everyone is busy getting ready for the festivities~ ♥ Let’s try not to forget the reason for the season, as Christmas does fall on Sunday this year~ :3
Lechon is a pork dish that features a whole pig cooked over charcoal. The skin is roasted to crispy perfection while the meat is left juicy and tender. In many places, including the Philippines, the original use of suckling pig has given way to medium-sized adult pig. Lechon is usually served during special events and holidays, especially on Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
I can’t draw lechon that well, but Ian, please don’t drop that lechon. I might cry if you did. :( Even if it’s only a suckling pig, I love lechon too much to really care about its size. xD
Original character by Ray Magbanua, creator of Private I Café; for the Indie Komiks Manila Secret Santa Event. I’m sorry if the lower part of his uniform isn’t accurate! >.<;;; And I hope you don’t mind that I gave him brown shoes. Merry Christmas~ ♥
PS. If you can't view images from Picasa, this is also posted on my dA. :3
In the hopes of inspiring people and because of my love of Fan Art, I've decided to host a Secret Santa in Indie Komiks Manila. I don’t know about you guys, but I never get invited to any Secret Santa events in Deviant Art. I’ve always been jealous of those famous artists who get fan art as presents… And I still haven’t finished my Art Trades from last year’s event. I know I’m getting a coal in my stocking for that, for sure.
I got my present early from Carlo of Callous Comics. :D Perhaps I should think about colors for Karma’s angels now that people are asking me about it. xD Honestly though, the monochrome looks good on Rei~ And I’m really happy how this turned out~ ♥
Thanks again Carlo! Now I have to work on my baby’s present. ;u; Please go check out Callous Comics for more of his works! x3
Oh, one more thing, how’s the new layout working for you guys? :D Better than the gloomy grayscale, or did you like that one better? :3
Now that I’m back from Hong Kong, I have some time to update my website and…
Meet the Boss Lady, Gorawyn. Anything she says, goes; because if you don’t? No moonies for you. ;x; Besides, who’d dare steal gold from a dragon anyway? ;_;
Yes, I know her name is Relena and not “Lena”, but Chibi-Lena just… rolls off the tongue, you know? >:
Now I have to do the next gazillion chibis on my list. @_@;;; Every time I draw a chibi, the proportion and built changes! =.=;;;
And now I realized I didn’t put textures on this one. Good job, me, give yourself a pat on the back… *pats* I need to stop sleeping like a vampire. >: It’s turning my wonky.
But is this really the end? Personally, I would love to draw more of Baku’s human form. Maybe he would meet up with Kuromi after she leaves the school?
In any case, is anyone interested in getting the copy-bon form of this series? As I’d expected, Mote-Mote didn’t sell very well in Komikon because not a lot of people know about this anime. ^^;;; But this is ok! Komikon was still quite an experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!
So anyway, my sister is going the USA this December. This means I can ship stuff to the US (and possibly Canada) from the US! I’ve already got 4 packed away and ready. :D Although I still need to find out how much it will cost for shipping, the book itself is only US$1.50. ^_^
Feel free to comment or email me and let me know! Thanks guys! ♥
Now that I’ve recovered from the post-con virus (aka. the flu), I can write up something about my first Komikon experience as an independent comic book vendor. :)
My day started rather early… as in the night before early. I wasn’t really able to sleep much, because I was worrying about forgetting to bring something important. So I checked and re-checked both bags and kept imagining how I was going to set up my table step-by-step. By 7:30 am, I still haven’t slept a wink, but it was too late then. I had to get going.
Every single muscle in my body aches from having to carry books, tarpaulin, a custom magazine stand (made by my darling nephew), cloth, and many miscellaneous important items to and from the Komikon… but right now, I don’t even care if I wasn’t able to earn back the money I spent for making the indies…
I’ve never had so much fun in my life.
It was sheer joy that I got to meet my idols again. Elmer Damaso, Taga-ilog, Michael David (geh! I forgot to give him a copy of my indie!), Kajo, and even Enjelia Villanueva! Wah~! Thank you for putting up with my crazy fangirling! ;_;
I will write something better tomorrow when I finally get some sleep (I didn’t sleep the night before). For now, here is a wallpaper of the art that debuted in the indie today. :)
Thank you guys, for coming to visit me today! I hope you enjoyed the free mini card (which was supposed to be a sticker actually), and thank you for all the kind words! For now, I need to find and use some “phoenix down” before I collapse. ♥
With any printer comes its own challenges. Mine? Well, it’s an HP1310 with a mind of its own. It decides to print pages off the center of the paper, either moving the content too high or too low, which means trouble for printing independent comics.
So how did I tackle this problem when I had 3 books to print?
I printed A4 sheets onto 8.5 x 13 inch paper and cut them down to A4 size. All 46+ of them. I don’t know if that’s what they call dedication or the beauty of a crazed mind.
And that, my friends, is a rusted, semi-sharp paper slicer from my gua kong. It may be old, but it helped me get through all of my and Renka-chan’s pages with near-flawless precision.
…that’s the second time gua kong has somehow helped me out of a bind, and I’ve never even met my mother’s father. Hmn…
There are many things I learned from making an independent manga, but the best rule that I can give to anyone is to not print the pages when you’re not sure about your page layout yet! >.>;;; You know me, I jump the gun whenever I get the chance to do it!
As a result? I had to cut up a few pages and paste them together. Literally. @_@;;;
But if you need to edit something and don’t have the printer ink to do it, then I suggest you only print what you need and use glue stick to put them together. It’s dry glue, so it won’t wrinkle your pages and is fairly easy to use… just makes sure your hands are clean when you starting gluing!
Ok, that’s it for my update! I just got off the phone with Pigtails creator, Jazmin Cruz. She reminded me to prepare a couple of things for my booth, and I asked her to bring some of her merchandise to sell in Komikon. We’ll see how everything goes this Saturday! :D
So there I was, getting lost at the Boni MRT Station, trying to figure out how to get to the Bayanihan Center (without looking like an newbie), and time was running out! It was already 9:15 am, and we were asked to arrive at 9:00 am!
Thankfully, I figured out how to get to Robinsons Pioneer (no thanks to the guard, mind you) and rode a trike to the center. Manong was quite helpful in pointing out where I should go, and it turned out I was sharing the trike with 2 other Komikon participants… one of which was Kubori Kikiam’s Michael David. @o@;;; I think he was carrying a package full of his books when we entered the room, but that’s just me speculating.
Well, never mind that awkward moment. When I entered the room? It was full of people! Oh dear gracious, I was worried about what happened in the 30 minutes that already passed from the start of the meeting but… it didn’t look as if it started at all!
I settled at the back of the room, near the door, and took a quick snapshot of the people inside. Somehow, they all looked like veterans, and I was the only greenhorn panting in the corner. ;o;
The organizer, Jon Zamar, gave out the indie IDs and the guy beside him with the red shirt (who also looks familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it) gave me the guidelines and map.
…and that was it. Seriously. orz;;; They basically told us we could go home after that.
It was… kinda overwhelming? I thought I was about to receive the greatest secret Komikon has kept for the past 6 conventions! Like where the secret ninjas are hiding while we set up the booth, or which Samurai class will be on duty that day, or which aswang we should watch out for!
But alas… All I got was an ID and map. The real meeting was for the sponsors and exhibitors only. ;_;
Oh well, I can tell you where to find me during the convention. I was placed near the stage, and I’ll be table-mates with Section Six Comics and Ernest Fiestan of Crazy Metro. W-why am I paired up with Komikon veterans?! @_@;;; There’s no way I can be on par with these guys! ;; S-sob…
And to top it off? I recently found out author of WIP Comics is a friend of Renka-chan’s. He’s going to be on table 13, very close to my table. I’m just doomed, aren’t I? xD;;;
And of course the bigger question: Should I wear a skirt or pants for this event? Hrm…
EDIT: ....omg, GAIS! I was pretty sure that was Michael David, but he just commented that he wasn't in the meeting! So that was either a doppelganger or a certified mumu! I told you Komikon has some secret underworld agents!!! xox;;; Ho noes...
I was actually going to update about what I had to go through in preparing the original print outs for xeroxing, but this is much more exciting news~ ♥
I have in my possession, all 30 copies of Karma 2, Mote-Mote, and Renka-chan’s “Soul Dice”! They’re cut, stapled, and ready to be sold at Komikon this coming November 19!
Although I’m disappointed that I can’t splurge a little for colored covers, this will be a good “test run” for my first convention as a seller. >.<;;; Besides, black and white Mote-Mote turned out pretty well~
There’s a sneak peak into the Epilogue available in the independent manga. International readers don’t need to fret, because I will probably post these pages on site some day… not right away though, because I want to give the Komikon people their exclusivity. And speaking of exclusive, this Komikon version of Karma will replace all Japanese “Rei-nee”s and “Tori-nii”s with their Tagalog equivalent, “Ate Rei” and “Kuya Tori”!
Soul Dice's cover will not be in the catalogue given out at the Komikon, unfortunately, but with Lan looking so cute, I'm betting people will be fighting just to get this manga~ ♥ I’m now wondering if it was a good idea to just print 30 pieces of this book… but then again, I can only carry so much in my backpack. @_@;;;
This is one of my complaints about the xeroxing. >.>;;; What is with those blurred edges??? I thought the xerox machine would be able to cut it off cleanly, but apparently not! If I do sell these again, I will need to modify the original copies so that it will turn out better next time!
The other complaint? The sketches I added are not all clear! Some turned out alright, others didn't. ;_; S-sob... More modifications for next time, for sure!
Either way though, I got these exactly one week before Komikon starts. Not bad, considering I’m releasing 2 books and working on Mist. T-then again, Mist is late this week, so I’m wondering… if joining Komikon will cost me my job. >.>;;; Wah! I hope not! ;~;
Ok, I really need to sleep. I’ve had this flu all week long, and working so hard is really not healthy. @~@;;; Good night guys! See you at Komikon! *^_^*
Indie Tiangge 2011 by ~komikon on deviantART
7th Row, 1st Column.
It’s funny how the indies are dominated by male artists. :( I thought there was a lot of girl power in the industry… This will change some day, some how!
I’ll give you guys an update when I know where my table will be. :)
I've finally finished Mote-Mote! x3 All the pages have been printed out, but there’s a minor correction in the copyright page. x.x;;; I don’t understand why I always catch wrong spellings and grammar errors only after I’m printed the page out. It’s a wee bit frustrating. :/
Here's a sneak peek at the extras I'll be adding to the copy-bon~
That's a really old sketch, but I loved how it turned out~ I’ve been meaning to color this since forever, but there’s no way I can do it now. ;_; I’m way behind schedule for Mist’s pages and Karma’s page layouts! Not to mention that my hand is already dying…
I need to find a good place to xerox my copy-bon. Maybe I can test it in copytrade or something… National Bookstore is a good bet for quality copies, but it’s expensive. ;_; I want to bring down the prices for my books… low-budget and all that.
Ok, back to work now! …or maybe I’ll snack on that caramel pudding. I’m hungry… x~x;;;
Last night, I was pulling an all-nighter for Mist while listening to ChiChi and GiGi's “Top 10 Definitions of Horror” Podcast. At around 4am, I remembered Chico saying something about being on air at 4am on a Saturday, so I decided to turn the radio on and post a tweet…
cokho7: anyone know the music chichi and gigi used for the @rxtmr's halloween horror special? would love to hear the entire thing! >.<;;;
Chico was the only one on air, but he read my message and said he would try to look for it. That was really exciting because he’s never read my messages or tweets before! He was telling people to send in their requests because… I guess it was too early! He sounded so sleepy!
Funny thing was, Chico forgot where he put my message! So he played it saying “Someone requested this- you know who you are!” and only read my tweet when the song ended. It was so cool~ And I hope a lot of Komikon artists heard it and share my sentiments about the Philippines. :3
The only thing was, Chico kept thinking I was a guy. Probably because he has an avid listener named “Coco” who is a boy?
In any case, Gino finally came on the air and I remembered… Gino is a gamer! He would probably be interested in anime too!
I didn’t think that was going to get read on the air, but it did! And in the exact words of Gino, “You tell me when it is right now!”
Apparently, Gino was deprived of going to cons when he was in the States and it was one thing that he regrets. Note that this was already around… 7 in the morning? And I’ve been up all night… but who can say no to GiGi and s/he’s this demanding?
xD;;; I had to correct Chico by then, because he sounded really confused on how to address me! So does this mean we’re going to have a certified, hot DJ, who’s man enough to call himself a girl? (I swear, that statement only makes if you listen to The Morning Rush.)
…well, probably not. Someone in the booth said that November 19 was a Sunday, so Gino immediately said he couldn’t go. Otherwise, he knew where the Bayanihan Center was and even mentioned it was by Pioneer and that he was really close by.
But then that got me thinking… maybe if enough artists bugged him to go, he would! I for one, would love to meet him, and wouldn’t mind giving him a copy of my indie~ So rally up, fellow artists! You have the links to their tweets, so tweet away to Gino and encourage him to visit us at Komikon! We may not compare to the huge cons in the USA or Japan, but we love what we do, and we’re all awesome, friendly people who only bite when asked! I’m kidding, I’m kidding~! xD;;;
It’s a silly dream of mine to see the DJs I love so much, but hey, as they say, dreaming is free of charge~ Thanks again to Chico for keeping me company during my all-nighter with some awesome music~ It got me through the night~ ♥
With Komikon only a little more than a month away, I decided to try and print a few pages early just to see how I’ll go about screen toning the pages for the actual indie. I used Azorite’s panel from page 19 of the webcomic for my test:
…well, you can’t really see the differences with my camera phone, but the first two were bitmaps using different frequencies (70 and 90 at 300dpi); the third one was done using the halftone filter in photoshop; and the last is the regular gray tones I used for the webcomic version.
Strangely enough the halftone filter works best for this print size, and I’m surprised that the font was just the right size! All I need to do now is to arrange the pages and Karma: Chapter 2 should be ready for the xerox machines! xD
Funny thing though, just when I began printing these last night, my printer decided to die on me. I spent the entire night trying to fix it, and finally had to go to the repair shop this morning. I’ve slept a total of 3 hours in the last 48 hours and spent P600 on printer repair, but seeing this makes me really happy and excited! x3
…now I need to get my lazy self to work on Mist before my deadline kills me. x.x;;;
I keep forgetting to post this now that I have approval! Sorry about that, guys! I’ve been busy trying to prepare for Komikon on the 19th of November, as well as planning more pages for Mist! We’re on Page 2 now, so please visit us when you can!
This illustration made me experiment on making my own brush for the butterfly effect, and honestly? Wow… I should have tried to make my own brushes earlier! It would have saved me a lot of time and effort in detailing pages!
Oh well, I guess with time, we learn~ :3 Hope you guys like the illustration!
And by the way? The piano is based on the piano we have in our living room. It was a gift from my grandfather to my older siblings~ ♥ I wish I had met him… so here’s to you, gua kong! I hope you are in peace~ :3
Mist, the new webcomic I'm working on, has officially launched!
…a couple of days ago. What kind of artist am I? Missing my own launch… You see? This is why people shouldn’t hire me. >.>;;; I mean, no, please hire me..! Lawl… ;u;
I have a little something that I wanted to go with the first page, but thanks to the tropical storms we’ve been having lately, I only have time to work on… well, work! So here’s a sneak peek on the latest Mist illustration:
Yes, we’re actually going to have an official soundtrack to go with the comic! But no, sorry guys, I’m not going to be the one singing~ because I'd scare people that way-! That’ll be Emily’s job, and she has a beautiful voice, so please watch out for it!
Ok, I’m behind schedule on everything, so I’ll have to cut it short here~ :3 See you guys real soon!
It’s probably really because Dai, a dear friend of mine is going to write me a little fan fiction about Soubi and Kuromi. xD;;;
I’ve been meaning to experiment with this style for a long time! You know, how they leave the clothing in silhouette but detail the hair and skin? That, plus the use of other colors for shading. I’ve tried it before but I don’t think I ever came up with anything that came out this nicely. x3
Purple looks so good on Soubi. And it means mystery, right? Or spiritual, I don't know...
Of course, he’s lonely, so I had to add blue… because you feel blue when you’re lonely. xDDD Ahahaha, so corny, I’m so sorry!!!
Then again, maybe I’m just being emo about a lot of things, ahaha~ Either way, enjoy the fan art! These won’t last when I start working again.
By the way… I think there was an official illustration that was something like this..? I seem to recall an image that was somewhat like this, but it had… bandages? I really can’t remember! If anyone knows what I’m talking about, post it in the comments or something. :D
You have no idea how nervous this makes me. *_* No. I. Dear.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I will go hide under my bed until it all blows over. *o*;;;
Oh yeah… the actually pages should be out by next month. Or something. IDK. Gonna hide now.
It's pretty much official, so I guess I can make an announcement here. :3
I will be part of November 19th’s Independent Komiks Tiangge in Komikon! For now, I will be releasing 2 books, Mote-Mote and Karma: Ai (Karma Chapter 2)!
I know, I know, both are available to read for free online, but I will be adding some special extras for the indies.
For Mote-Mote, there will be several Onegai My Melody fan arts that I have never posted online. I will try to add a few more pages to the finished doujin, but this is more or less the basic idea of what to expect when you buy it as an indie.
For Karma, it may be renamed “Karma: Ai”. The reason I am doing this is because I want to turn Karma into a series of short stories for indies. Each will have it's own subtitle, but all of them will have “Karma” somewhere on it. :) And because this is my original work, I will be including an epilogue to what is available online. I’m not sure if I’m going to post the epilogue online anymore, but we’ll see!
There will also be material from the original chapter 2 drawings. I used A.illusions characters for this version, but in the original, there were 4 characters specifically created for Karma.
Needless to say, I’m very nervous about participating in Komikon. This will be my first Komikon as an indie seller, so… I’m kinda worried! What if no one buys my books? What if people get irritated that they could read it online anyway? What if I get lost on the way to the Bayanihan Center? What if I don’t finish these on time??? ;u;
Ah well… I will do my best! I hope to see you guys at the Komikon! >.<;;;
The colors of this illustration makes my eyes bleed. But somehow, I like how it turned out… much much better than my first attempt, although I’m still not fully satisfied.
I don’t know how Rann-sama can color with all the color of the rainbow without making the colors try to outdo/kill each other!
Ah well… I still have a lot to learn. :)
Do you remember some time ago when Deviant Art held a “Picture Yourself in Wonderland” contest? I was going to join that, but I wasn’t able to finish my entry on time! I went overboard with my design that I didn’t expect I would need more than a few days for coloring (and my coloring skills were extremely inefficient at the time).
As a result, I left it in my external hard drive, unfinished. I have a tendency of doing this whenever I reformat my computer. –_-;;; It’s a terrible habit of laziness, I know, but one I’m trying to change.
Well, I decided that maybe it was time I finished it. But you know what? I couldn’t make heads or tails over my layers and the colors burned my eyes so much that I. Just. Started over.
So far so good with this new color scheme. You can probably tell that’s Aly, but she is cosplaying the White Queen from Alice in Wonderland. I’m not using any particular version for the costume design, but I guess it’s more of Tim Burton’s? Or maybe Rann-sama’s X-Down? I don’t know, but I might use a checkerboard background like X-Down if I get lazy. xD;;;
Wonder if you can guess who is the one in blue in the teeny-tiny preview? >3;;; The main cast is pretty much there in this one illustration, so~ :D
About Me: My name is Columbia Kho, an amateur manga artist dreaming of becoming a pro!
Tungkol saan yung unang komiks na ginawa mo?
* What is your first comics about?
Karma is about angels. The first story was an experimental, short-story I drew for a call for submissions on Culture Crash, a local comic/manga magazine. Alas, it was never published, but it was a good learning experience for me~
What is your favorite medium? Tools of the trade?
Watercolor and color pencils! I love drawing in a sort of “pastel” effect, but because of time constraints, I’ve had to color in Photoshop for most of my paid commissions. ^^;
Describe your drawing style in 3 words
Shoujo/Shounen Manga. x.x;;; I tried to change said-style for my thesis, but… I don’t know, drawing in Manga/Anime style always makes me very happy.
Technically, this is also Mallory’s cheesiness, but what the hey-
This is such a typical, shoujo manga storyline. I’m kind of glad I got to draw this scene, because Hiiragi blushing? That never happened in the anime did it? xD
Not counting that new year’s(?) episode though… the one with Hiiragi in a kimono and ponytailed hair? I’m pretty sure he sorta blushed then, but I can’t remember now. I should have downloaded the entire series! ;u;
Anyway, I just finished Karma: Chapter 2 and now I’m wrapping up Mote-Mote too. I hope this drive continues so I can get on with A.illusions already!
…I really need to practice drawing kisses. This looks so awkward somehow. ;u;
Back to sleep for me! Hope you guys enjoyed this page! ^^
Lately, I’ve been practicing drawing directly on the computer to see if that would speed things up. I didn’t think that screen resolutions would be a problem, and ever since I got a 17-inch monitor, I would always use 1280x1024.
What I didn’t realize was that all those circles I’ve been drawing were ovals all along. So basically, my digital drawing were quite… long. But this new illustration of Cammy Gomez from Twilight’s Calling was drawn in a newly adjust screen, so hopefully, the proportions look better!
…what? I wanted to draw something nice, fluffy, and… pink. Someone in Deviant Art was asking for more Twilight’s Calling art, especially of Cammy showing off her new-do~ :> How can I resist?
Also, Windows 7… why are there still several programs that don’t work properly on you? I finally gave up on it and went back to XP Home. It’s notably slower than Win7 because a 32-bit only recognizes a maximum of 3gigs of RAM. I have 4gigs, so 1gig will be sitting around in my CPU doing nothing for now. ;_; I guess I should give Win7 a few more months before I try it again so that other programs can catch up!
R.I.P. my bluw wacom pen, which is barely working now. Guess I need to buy a replacement soon. ;o; Why are my techie things dying? ;_;
D’aww… I got a new fanart! Rei’s wearing a skirt, haha! xD;;; She’s the only female member in A.illusions who wears pants instead of skirts, so this really made me smile. The outfit is totally cute too! *u*;;;
Thanks again Evangeline! I will need to print this out when I get printer working again. ;u;~ ♥
And I really like the background style. :D I should try it out some time~~
abandoning putting this manga on extending hiatus, a new page! And it looks… extremely underwhelming, IDK. ;o;
You could say I had art-block on this for… forever! I had started on this page last February and only managed to add the finish touches today.
I’m not really sure why… but I guess I wanted someone to feel better. I recently found out someone I know was going through a really tough time, and I guess this is my way of hoping they will be alright.
This wasn’t on the original script, but I wanted it to be somewhat more dramatic. That 3rd panel on the middle though… reminds me of Severus Snape. *A*;;; I’m a Harry Potter fan, and I read all 7 books, so I guess maybe that line was subconsciously stuck in my brain?
Anyway, hope you guys like it! :)
Just wanted to post this here too because… I really do think Danaan-chan looks so cute in the maid outift. *u*;;; It turned out better than I expected since I only had one night to finish this.
And I also have only a few minutes of break time to post this. I am way behind schedule on my secret missions~
If you want a chance in winning the outfit Danaan-chan is wearing, Please visit Cosplay Holic for details. >3<;;;
It looks like my monitor melted from all that hotness… xD;;;
Seriously though… it looks like Ghost Month is affecting me terribly this year. Of all the time for my monitor to break down. :/ This is gonna set me back on a lot of work.
