People read my comics! XD

The guys over at Sweatdrop have been one of the main promoters of UK-made manga styled comics in recent years, encouraging not just their own work, but pretty much anyone and everyone who draws stuff.

Their latest podcast is an Expo special, and they spend much of the time talking about al the people who had new coimcs to sell. It's a great compliment (and a little scary) to hear them mention my coimcs as well! A little quote on what they said about each one:

D.R.U.N.K - "... I'm slightly worried."

Japanofail - "It's really, really funny."

Beholder of the Eye - "Draw more, there will be the beating stick if you don't!"

If you want to have a proper listen then go here here. My stuff appears at just after the the 36 minute mark, but be sure to listen to the whole thing to get the scoop on everybody else's work as well! ^_^

And of course if you're intrigued by what's said and want to read my stuff, the shop is here. *enters pimp mode*

I'm suddenly feeling good about myself and have an hour or two to spare. It's been a couple months, so it's about time to get drawing again! :-O

I have a shop!

I've just opened a new blog page and have converted it into a little online shop for my comics.

Find it here:
http://www.ushioshop.blogspot.com/

Payments are by Paypal only but I'll post to anywhere with an address! It took me a while to figure out how to make everything work, but it's finally good to go!

Please feel free to have a browse - and perhaps even buy something!

^_^

Good god, does he ever stop whining?

I recognize the need to keep updates vaguely regular, despite the fact I've done precious little in terms of productive drawing.

So what have I been doing?

Life.

We have have on in some form or another, we just have to deal with it. ;-D

On the plus side I've had a chance to sketch out some random ideas. I've probably got enough for Japanofail 2 once I've got the time to draw them up. Also have some ideas floating around for a couple other stories, although I really need to get some established projects done before I can seriously consider that (Beholder 2 anyone? Lol!).

My brain is alive, but my body is running somewhere behind it. Once the time comes I will start drawing once again!

A little known fact, but I also write reviews on anime and manga from time to time on eyeonanime.co.uk, so if you feel the need you can find me floating around on their forums. My obligations there were seemingly sacrificed while I drew some comics, so I'm desperately trying to clear my backlog of reviews. Once I've caught a little up I will try and establish a balance between writing, drawing and life. Target: October Expo, and already I want more time for get ready! XD

A quiet landmark

Japanofail has just hit 25 pages on host site drunkduck. It's good enough for a mention in the news there, so no reason not to mention it here.

Have also tweaked the blog a little, adding a links section for sites related to my drawing and other places I like to hang out. Please take a look if you've the time!

Productivity's gone down a little in terms of drawing. Looks like real life is going to kidnap me for at least the next 4 weeks, but if I'm psychotically determined enough I might still get some drawing done. (the effort needed will probably shorten my lifespan, lol) At the very least the weekly updates for Japanofail won't be interuppred because it's already been done, so that's something. ^^

...so what next?

First up: THE INVASION HAS BEGUN! >:-D Yep, for those who missed out on the Expo (or more likely ran out of money or found my face too scary), my comics should now be available at Orbital Manga in London. They're quite keen on supporting the small press scene, so they took pity on this poor artist and have taken on copies of D.R.U.N.K., Japanofail and Beholder of the Eye for your reading pleasure. If you happen to find yourself in there one of these days, please take a look! ^^

After the hustle and bustle of the Expo, there's been a bit of a void in the last two weeks where I don't really know what to do with myself. In an attempt to kick-start myself into action, I'm going to announce my intentions for the next few months which should put me under the gun enough to get going again. (or just finish me off ^^;)

1 - Otaku Bytes - Did this a while ago now, but my first 4-koma comic (I did it before starting Japanofail) is imminent I think. It's only a page's worth, but will be in the next Anime Connect magazine if anyone's a member on the UK Anime Club. Despite the short length it's highly likely that it'll have a much bigger circualtion than my other stuff combined, so hopefully a few people will read it. Will have to make a start on the next one soon I think...

2 - Manga Jiman - The Japanese Embassy manga competition. I think in it's third year now but this will be my first time entering. The task is to write a 6-8 page story with the theme of 'The Sun'. I've come up with an idea, so between now and September will try and get something done. :-)

3 - Japanofail 2 - There's no getting out of it: Out of all the stuff I've done so far, this is by far the most popular. Haven't touched it for a while as the online updates are still working through the backlog from issue 1, but I've got a bunch of ideas for later on for when they inevitably run out (I've noticed they're getting stranger).

4 - Beholder of the Eye 2 - Have you read issue 1 yet? Well, have you? Lol! ;-D For anyone who took the risk on this all I can do is repeat myself and say thanks so much! I've had a couple of people give a positive response, and that's enough to get me started on issue 2! It's in the thumbnail stages right now so work has already started. Who knows how long it'll take though, but fingers crossed for October Expo if things run smoothly.

That's about it for now, I suppose I should really spend more time just practising on backgrounds or using colour or something, but I'm happier just to jump in and try to learn on the fly. We'll have to see how things go so wish me luck!

Getting all shojo...

Totally out of my safe zone, but I've entered a Manga drawing competition for a make-up company! Eyeko were present at the London Expo giving out some freebies, but they came over to my table with a leaflet about it so thought it rude not to accept!

I've done little in terms of a real range, but so far it's been totally non-shojo in terms of style. Was a change of pace from other stuff I've done, and was glad to have an excuse to experiment with colouring again. The challenge was appreciated! All things considered I think I came out relatively unscathed.

I got my entry in before the deadlines at the end of May, but it was since extended until the end of June. It does mean that us early birds are already on there here. While I did it, I think copyright now lies with them so I hope they don't mind me talking about it here. ^^; Will be interesting to see how many other people enter - I look forward to seeing everyone's work!

Expo Artist's Alley

Still in full recovery mode from last weekend at the Expo. Not yet had a day free since then so feeling human again is a steady process. I've not actually had time to draw anything for a whole week now, but thought I'd share the last thing I did.

The above pic is my Artist's Alley entry for the Expo. The theme was 'Self Portrait' so went a ways to reveal a bit of my eeeevil side! >:-) It didn't place anywhere in the contest (congrats to the winnars! ^_^ ), but I had a lot of fun doing it. Does it look anything like me? That depends I suppose, heh...

Still feel very much in an experimental stage where I test the waters with various techniques at every opportunity. With this one I had a big play with inking... hatching, cross-hatching and 'let's do a thousand more lines' hatching were all in full swing. Kind of went overboard with it but at the same time I almost feel as though I didn't do enough. ^^;

Oh and please excuse the signature thingy in the bottom left. I'm normally loathed to do that on illustrations, especially one so big, but there was big white gap in the corner that needed filling somehow (maybe that's the wrong attitude...). I made the siggy up at the last minute and came up with that funky little thing. It's a bit unusual so might stick with it for now, lol. Oh and I'm still trying to work out the best way to draw hands, damn them. Think I got about half of the fingers okay, but it's always hard!

I entered this on Saturday and later saw it nestled in the top left corner of the over 16s section... if anyone saw it there I hope they liked it! ^_^