fredart : blogbits

Gah. I hate key. I HATE them!!!

Asmodeus just pointed this out to me: Tomoyo After - It’s a Wonderful LIfe. This follows up on the story of one of the Clannad girls, Sakagami Tomyo. She’s not the one that most Clannad fans focus on, and her scenario stands pretty much on its own, but i’m really glad to see this extension on her. I’m actually quite fond of her character, really, so.. yeah, one more friggin Key thing to buy.

bastards. Really, i hate them.

- pirotunes: Melotron - Kein Problem (Problemzonen-Mix) -

Seriously, it almost could be. I was browsing by Akiba Blog and i came across this picture…

It’s Erika! and Largo! he even has his Muffin Man Scooter!

Here’s the full article on the “Street Rap” if you’re curious about more silliness.

Ya, i know. I’m really low on sleep. Can ya tell? Anyways, back to more serious things…

- pirotunes: Akotcha - The Breather -

This is actually a drawing that i’ve owed someone for a long time (a very long time, as in, a few years ^^;;) I was reminded about it a few months ago and it STILL took this long to remember to do it. I hope she likes it.

Yeah, i had some stuff running thru my head as i drew this, but i’ll let other ponder it. I’ve been avoiding doing anything akin to the Broken Miho drawing for a long time, and i guess its because i dont want to compete with that image, but this is its own, i think. Not as complex, not as good, but still… it’s got something, i think.

- pirotunes: Pride & Fall - December from “Nephesh” -

Wah, this will teach me to let everything drop for several weeks as i sop through my ‘creative’ moods. Meh. The last time i looked at a to do list was weeks ago, and there are all sorts of things on here that i’ve been sort of, uh, ignoring. This list is gonna give me a headache…

The snow yesterday was oddly refreshing and yet ultimately irritating. You’d think someone who routinely lives through michigan winters would be able to get through one freak day of snow in April without near frostbite on his hands and extreme frustration with the wind and snow. Meh.

In the end, i didn’t have as much trouble doing todays comic as many of the more recent ones. Yes, threading two story arcs happening at the same time is a real bitch, because you have to act out in your head two totally different scenarios, and then make them actually relate the way you saw them relating in your head. Not so easy when you have to have solid, believable words down. Some thought that Kimiko’s dialogue was a little too pat, but i dunno, she’s speaking from the gut, to me, so i think it’s pretty close.

Finally, got a new upgrade to Ecto today and waaiiiii… it’s super spiffy. Very nice. This program really does make blogging easier and more fun… at least, on the OSX platform.

Since i intend to blog more, i’ll leave comments open for a few days before closing them on more recent blogs.

I apologize once again for not maintaining my daily blogging for the past month or so. Not that i owe anyone blog entries, but it is my desire to do a daily blog, so… you know. Not surprisingly, i’ve also been avoiding rantage on the Megatokyo site too. Bummer. So much for that resolution. I think it was dead and buried back in February.

Why? Well, for the most part, I’ve been that busy. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with work, much of that getting settled into our new place and the every day work required to keep Megatokyo and the Megagear store going. The kicker recently has been my struggles with writing. In the past year, i haven’t been struggling with the art like i used to. My ability to express myself through my drawings is better than it used to be. I don’t find myself struggling with it the way i had at times in the past. The writing is also, i think, better… but that doesn’t mean it’s hasn’t involved a lot of hair pulling and head-to-desk action.

My problem is that i’m an emotive writer. I could look at an outline all day and get zip from it. Laying out details and stats about characters, situations, scripted scenarios and other things don’t help me write a damn thing. They are required, to a point, to give structure and a framework to a story, but the real meat of it requires something more. I have to live the story through a process of drawing and muddling — an inexact science that i’m amazed that produces anything at all, nevermind readable comics. I’m sure any professional writer or artist would be appalled by my working style.

I know i’ve produced something like 600 or so comics in the past 4-5 years, and from that you could almost say that i’m reliable at what i do… but i still panic a little everytime i sit down to do a comic. I often have no idea if a comic is going to take 8 hours or 18. I wish i had a better handle on the writing process, but then again, maybe i don’t. This is how i work, and i manage to struggle thru it each and every time. Maybe they wouldn’t be the same if i didn’t have to struggle with them so.

Anyways, i feel like i’ve been drifting to the surface again recently, and i feel like communicating again. Whee

- pirotunes: Endura - The Watcher & The Watched - The Watcher -

Heheh, damn. I was bad recently and had a friend pick up the first four volumes of the Mahoraba manga for me. I love Iove the manga for this series, and i feel dumb saying this but i think Mahoraba is my favorite series this year. I don’t expect others to really share that view, but thats ok. It reminds me of what i do for some reason. Its nice to be a fan of works that are not light years beyond what you yourself might be capable of doing. The art’s good, but its not Akamatsu-level, the story is good but it’s not so serious that it’s A-level worship material. I just… like it.

Enough drooling. I’ll paw thru them later. Able also managed to find a Potato plushie for me. Uwahh… its cute, and it’s guarding my desk right now.

Comic stuff seems to be going ok, finally managed to get traction on this current arc, now it’s just the labor of drawing it all (which i dont mind, its the time that kills me. The last comic took 15 hours to draw and put together, give or take an hour). Need to help Seraphim with store stuff today, lots of errands to run. Must put Mahoraba manga in locked cabinet and give sarah the key… yeah.

Now i just need for the Mahoraba soundtrack to come out. I already have one of the Drama disks… heh. At least its not the mountain of stuff that there is to collect is monster series like Air.

- pirotunes: Spineshank - Slavery -

This is going to be a totally pointless blog entry, but i have to start somewhere. Sorry for the lack of daily bloggage. Between the move and the subsequent trip up in my development and drawing cycle, its… been a month. Things are settling down tho, and hopefully i can get into some sort of balanced routine for a while — i kinda need it.

I think starting over for friday was good idea. You have no idea how much better this comic is than the one i had before. It was like i was totally not paying attention to the characters. As always, the commentary on it was interesting. I’m going to have fun with this whole sequence, if i can pull it off. I’ve been listening to a LOT of industrial lately, just to get my mood down for the CoE stuff. Ya, yet another Itunes purchase (there’s something just right about the pirotune listed below when thinking about the CoE and Largo’s descent into it. :P) I’ve been good tho, i want to order two CDs (Imperative Reaction and Droom) but i can’t… justify… getting them.

On a side note, i’ve been thwarted recently. I’ve been trying to watch some raw jp eps of Mahoraba, and dammit if the source i’ve been using didn’t switch to WMV9… which i can’t play on a mac. Major bummer. Oh, and be sure to watch Futakoi Alternative. That’s an order. (pics here) I’m just dying with laughter over how they took an ABYSMALLY bad show (a lame harem anime involving sets of twins which made Sister Princess look good) and… just said “what the hell, it can’t get any worse” and had fun with it. heheh. Good stuff. At least for one episode so far.

Gotta remember to remind people about the WIzzywig signing next weekend. My first public appearance this year. Gee. I wonder if anyone will come…

- pirotunes: Combichrist - Today I Woke to the Rain of Blood -

These server issues just make me wanna hit myself in the face with a 2×8. Sorry that i haven’t blogged much lately, but things have been that out of kilter lately. Kinda tired of it, i sorta want things to settle down a little. Big thing now is that i have to catch up on some email, i have a LOT of important emails i have to get to. I even have two eps of Air and Mahoraba sitting here ready to watch. Bleah. I wonder when…

- pirotunes: Combichrist - Like to Thank My Buddies from “Everybody Hates You” -