Rei Kuassary at the Cosplay Camp

With all my aches and pains from the Cosplay Camp yesterday, I can’t get myself to write a proper aftermath post at the moment. But I would like to thank everyone who came to the event and made it an absolute success! Thank you, ありがとう, 謝謝, Salamat!

Most of all…

Thank you to my beautiful cosplayer, Tracy, for bringing Rei Kuassary to life! She’s gone above and beyond, even making her own pair of wings to make the cosplay as accurate as possible!

It has always been one of my greatest wishes that some day, someone would cosplay my character, even just once. That dream came true yesterday, and a lot of people took her pictures, which made me even happier.

Thank you once again, Tracy! I hope you had a lot of fun at the event! I hope to see you again very soon!

Fire Blade

The sword has been crafted to the best of my ability… and now all I need is an Angel willing to wield it. (・ω-*)

In less than 12 hours I’ll be at SM North Edsa’s Sky Dome, hanging around with my fellow manga artists and teaching at the Indie Sketching Studio. I’m not sure what will happen, but I’ll try not to panic even if I’m already going nuts at this very moment. ヾ(。-`ω´-)ﾉ

I’ll be signing books and teaching basic anatomy tomorrow. Feel free to pass by and say hi! ～(^з^)-☆

Trese vs. Rei

I’m literally running around like a headless chicken with the Cosplay Camp being just one day away. ヽ(≧Д≦)ノ My insomnia’s kicking in, so I decided to draw something to make me feel sleepy…

Somehow, it ended up like this. (シ_ _)シ

I didn’t want to spend too much time drawing this especially since I still have a lot of things to prepare, so I used a reference for the background. I wanted this to be true to Trese’s style, so I used black and white with some horizontal grays.

I feel like something is lacking, but I need to stop nitpicking on this and try to get some sleep. ﾍ(￣ ￣;ﾍ)

I don’t know why Trese’s so hostile towards Rei… It just came out that way… ━Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)━

Sword Update: Painting

My nephew did an awesome job painting the gold and silver parts of the sword~ It looks ah~may~zing~! ＼(*T▽T*)／ Although it does confirm my fears about using chip board… it’s not as smooth as I’d like, but it looks good on the photo anyway. (;*´Д`)ﾉ

I might take a break tonight and finish the sheath first before I start adding red glitter on the hand guard. I’d better finish this tomorrow though, so that it will have enough time to dry fully before Sunday.

Sunday’s so close now… I can almost faint. ヾ(-_-;)

And you might notice that the photo’s no longer crummy in quality~ Guess who bought a new camera~? (≧∇≦)/

Sword Update: Finishing Touches

I’ve finally finished “carving” the hand guard and pommel of Rei’s sword, and I’m quite happy with how it turned out. ｡◕‿◕｡ I used a kind of plastic rope from the hardware store to make the trimmings on the guard and pommel. It gave the sword more details than the original artwork, but hey, I designed it anyway. (─‿‿─)

The white stuff is home-made, air drying clay. It’s not as strong as I want it to be, but I’m hoping a good coat of paint will strengthen it a bit. ヾ(・ω・ｏ)

I didn’t put the two “flares” on the pommel because 1. I haven’t figured out how to make those yet; and 2. I don’t think it’s really needed. I’ll be asking my nephew to paint this for me tomorrow, so I have all of tonight to decide if I’ll add it or not.

…I wonder if I should still make a sheath for this? (/ﾟДﾟ)/

Oh Death, Where is Thy Sting?

Ironic how I draw death when it’s the official series launch! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ ︵  ┻━┻

I think my brain’s been corrupted. Why am I drawing strange things like this after a long break? I do like the overall “dramatic” effect, but it just looks plain creepy!

Anyway, I hope I’ll see you guys at the launch. It’s on a Sunday, the 29th of July 2012 at the SM North Sky Dome! We’ve got a ton of prizes in store, so please pass by and meet all your favorite Oh No! Manga artists~! ヽ(･ω･ゞ)

On another note, who said blue and red can’t be used together in one scene? Break all the rules, I say, break them!

Sword Update: The Hilt

I think for the hilt, the guard and the pommel will be the most difficult to copy from the art. (¬_¬)ﾉ These are cardboard cutouts of both the cross and hand guard, and I just stuck them with PVC glue and hot glue.

The hand guard has the three parts, and the middle one is stuck to the pommel, so it holds its shape easily enough. The two smaller ones on each side is much harder, because they’re cut off halfway through. I decided to use some copper wire and hot glue them to the cardboard.

Can you say, “burnt fingers again”? (,,#ﾟДﾟ)

This is what it looks like at the moment. (シ_ _)シ I’ll need to put on more dry paper maché to strengthen the hand guard, but it’s looking good so far. (｡･ω･)ﾉﾞ I think I made the sword slighter bigger than it should be, but that’s what you get for not measuring things before diving right into it! ━Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)━

I still need to make the rain guard… the pommel should be fine since I made some air drying clay for it. I just hope it’ll be solid enough by the time the 29th rolls around. (ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ

And I might sound smart for knowing all the names for all the sword’s parts, but in reality? That’s what Wikipedia is for. ＿φ(￣ー￣ )

Fella Winner~

I keep forgetting to blog about this~ But I guess it really is better late than never. (´-ω-｀)

During Deviant Art’s 10th year anniversary, they held several contests including the 10 Commandments of Fella. I decided to try my hand on the 7th commandment, “Thou Shalt Honor Fella” and draw my perfect Fella.

I drew 2 pieces, Fancy Fella and Shota Fella. Fancy Fella won second place which gave me a 6 month premium membership and a Fella plushie! (*≧▽≦)ﾉｼ))

…or at least, that’s what I and the other winners thought. (,,#ﾟДﾟ) The plushies were unfortunately out of stock, and we were given dA points equivalent to Fella’s value so that we could either wait for the new stock of plushies to come or spend it on some other dA item.

I chose to wait, and on January 2012, I finally got him~ ヽ(*≧∇≦)ﾉ

Isn’t he the cutest thing? (｡◕‿◕)｡ Thanks again to the dA staff for the awesome contest!

Gift: Thy Will Be Done by Suoh12

ヽ(*≧∇≦)ﾉ I feel as if I'm being spoiled lately with all this fanart~ Which is also very inspiring because that cosplay sword has not been making much progress lately. (;*△*;)

I have sculpting block, I suppose? ヽ(･ω･ゞ) I can see it in my head, and I think my idea will work, but I still need to translate it onto the real thing.

Oh well, back to work I go! And fanart today is brought to you by Suoh12! Thank you again so very much! I love it to bits~ ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

Tripping Down Memory Lane

I was going through some of my old files when I came across this lovely image~ ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

This would be the first (and possibly last? ﾍ(;´Д｀ﾍ)) collaboration with my classmate and fellow Anime Illusions member, Mogz. It was funny because neither of us had tablets then so this was drawn with the mouse! (*･∀･)／＼(･∀･*)

I was trying to copy his icon, Melissa, and he drew Lezarius. They’re characters from his story, “Seraphim Wing” which he was able to publish long before we graduated from college! ━Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)━

I really wonder how this tale ended. Maybe I can bug him to make a webcomic someday~ (｡･｀ω´･｡)

Gift: Dominic Hunter by Misakichan

You know, Dominic seems to be really popular, second only to Rei from the Karma series. ヽ(･ω･ゞ) He’s not even originally from Karma, but one of my earliest characters from Guardians of Celestia, another series I need to work on! (*≧▽≦)ﾉｼ))

Let me just finish the series I’m currently working on before I start on another one again… I don’t think my brain can handle any more creative thinking. (｡･ω･)ﾉﾞ

Fan art today brought to you by Misakichan! (｡･｀ω´･｡)

My Uncle, My Teacher

A few people have asked me how I got into drawing “seriously” in the first place.

We all started with a blank sheet of paper or coloring books and a bunch of colorful crayons, pens, and pencils. In fact, I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. But I didn’t really take it seriously until I spent my summer days with this guy:

This is my uncle, Albert Madarang happily eating a piece of waffle with loads of butter and syrup~ xD My sister and I took summer classes with him when I was about 8-years-old. We drew a bunch of Disney stuff back then, and I couldn’t control my pencil properly so my lines were always heavy, and erasing any mistakes made the table shake “like an earthquake” as my uncle would put it. xDDD

I really thought it was a one-time thing, but when I began watching Sailor Moon when I was 11, I took lessons again, this time with my nephew, because my sister was no longer interested.

I continued taking summer classes with him until I was 16. He patiently taught me anatomy, perspective, colors, and all the basic principles I still use in drawing today. :D We only stopped having summer classes because I entered college for formal training.

Lessons with him were the best summers of my life~ Which is why I continue to draw today and even took the same course as he did in Fine Arts: Advertising.

But the most important lesson he taught me?

“Put the drawing aside when you get frustrated. Rest when you’re tired… drawing should always be fun.”

So yeah, if you like my work, thank this guy~ He is the awesome-est~ ♥

Sword Update: The Blade

After burning my fingertips with hot glue, I was finally able to finish the blade part of Rei’s sword. ♥

It’s a bit broader than what I’d really like, but I I didn’t really make measurements when I was making this, so I guess I’ll chalk it up to experience. It’s become a lot heavier with all these layers or glue, paper, and board, so I’m a little worried…

I will probably never work with chip boards ever again. =_=;;; Illustration boards may be harder to work with, but the edges are smooth when you score it (cutting it halfway to fold it neatly). Plus, chip boards just don’t stay in place. You can’t see it in the photo, but the blade is a little twisted, making my OCD kick in.

I’m debating whether or not I have time to redo the blade or not. My brother says no one’s really going to look at this closely, and swords are never perfectly straight anyway. I actually took these photos are a sort of test, and it looks better than I thought, so I might just leave it to my nephew to hide the flaws with his painting. *u*;;; Besides, I should probably use whatever spare time I have left to make a sheath for this.

Ah well, 24 days left until the event. Wish me luck! ♥

Eri by Elmer Damaso

I remember saying that I wouldn’t buy a frame for this piece, but after spotting a 13 x 17 frame colored in the same shade as Eri’s hair at National Bookstore, I knew it would be too perfect to pass up.

With this, my entire wall of fame is in dire need of a fresh makeover. In other words, I’ll be shopping for more frames for my other pieces in the next few weeks. :3a This is going to be fun~ ♥

How I’m Making a “Real” Version of Rei’s Sword

As part of the huge Oh No! Manga event occurring later this month, I’ve decided to make a real life version of Rei’s sword in Karma.