Yeah, I'm still here.

Busy quarter. Articles resume soon after I sort some work out and also figure out if I need to re-configure some bits due to DC's sudden, drastic marketing revamp, though that's also brought up some excllent points to use for other articles I had planned.

Also, I've finally decided what this blog is for. This is my blog for (mostly) comics-related things. I said earlier on in this blog's life that it was going to be for whatever I wanted it to be, and that was true. And now I want it more focused. So yeah.

There are a couple more projects of mine in the works that I don't want to say much about yet, because I find when I talk about these sorts of things before I execute them I tend to not go through with them. So why did I even write that last sentence at all? Just to let you know of a possibility of new things. They will be linked here should they arise.

Speaking of new things, though, there are a couple blog-related announcements. One, I've deleted the long-dead Blog of a Hundred Faces and the practically-flatlining Foodpeople. They were neat ideas, ones I might revisit again someday (especially Foodpeople), but I wasn't doing anything much with that space, certainly not enough to warrant an entire blog. The Gamelass tumblr will be kept up but unlinked to, mostly because I've forgotten my password and realized I prefer browsing tumblr more than actually trying to figure out how to use it. The pictures from that blog in particular are very likely to resurface later on the announcement below.

In the wake of these other blogs, I have made a new one. It's called Holden Has A Sketchbook, and it's where I'll be posting bits of artwork. I hope you enjoy it.

[Holden Out.]

More Fanart, You Guys

The last few days I've been working on something for Mr. Ross Campbell, who is by and large these days one of my big ol' comics heroes.
Here are the scribbly, nocturnal fruits of that labor.

It still could be better, but I'm reasonably happy with how it turned out. Shadoweyes is ludicrously fun to draw, and I think I was able to at least hint at the beautifully twisty, crumbling mess that is Dranac. I also haven't done a coloured pencil piece in quite a while, so neat to see I still had an idea of what I was doing. Still, I had to do some tweaks in Photoshop to really impart the feel I wanted.

For comparison purposes, here's the unaltered image, straight from the sketchbook.

Keep on making quality comics and blog posts, Mr. Campbell.

[Holden Out.]

Glorified Fanart, You Guys

I'm gonna try and facilitate a couple art-dumps here soon. Here's an appetizer--three bits from my current sketchbook, all recent. And all comics-related. And all technically fanart. Bluh.

Quick Comics News!

You guys! YOU GUYS!

Paul Chadwick is making more Concrete!

AND

Ross Campbell has a tumblr!

That is all.

[Holden Out.]

Con pics...only a week and a half late!

Without really much further explanation (and really, no apologies--it's finals week), some images from this year's 2011 Emerald City Comicon. There were a few costumes I loved that I didn't get to capture, due to my camera being old and exceedingly slow (as well as being a battery-muncher, om nom nom), but I have some cosplay highlights regardless, followed by a few non-comics pickups.

Sunday Comics returns this coming Sunday, the 20th.

Updatin' [Emerald City Con Report!...Sorta]

Another announcement? Why yes.

Clicky-clicky, foos.

Main body of announcement in that thing up there.
Sooooo yeah. While the majority of these things probably won't be the greatest quality (again, like the above), the important thing is that I'm doing SOMETHING comics-related.

[Holden Out.]

Here are some new things I guess

I have begun another semi-interactive art project type thing, called GameLass. You can find it aaat:

http://gamelass.tumblr.com/

Yay.

In addition, um, here's some recent schooltime doodles.

I really like putting the word "SPACE" on things from space.

[Holden Out.]

A Little Rundown and Reflection of the Year Gone By.

Inspired by longtime internet buddy Adri, who done did a similar thing on her tumblr. And because it's good to go back and revisit these things briefly.

So, it's the twenty-'leven. Let's pause and briefly look at the twenty-ten just before we move on to the new hotness.

2010, for me, started off more craptastically than I think any year of my life ever has. I was a couple months out of a relationship and the breakup was still hitting me hard. I was about a year out of college and was starting to really feel it--I was missing campus life in a big way and my college friends felt further away than ever. I had yet to start truly disliking my little retail job, but I was still less than thrilled with it, especially given  that at this point, I had no direction beyond it. I knew I wouldn't be working there forever (at least, I hoped not), but what lay ahead jobwise was completely uncertain. I was doing absolutely nothing with my English degree, that was for sure, since I had decided not to become a teacher and hadn't really pursued any options beyond that. Not knowing how I was going to get out of the temporary job--that was the scary bit.

Spring brought Emerald City Con--the best Emerald City Con, in fact, that I'd ever been to. I got to interview some web comic artists I appreciate, and while E-triple-C always rekindles my love of comics, whethere its been dimmed that year or not, this year I felt was especially potent for really reminding me why I love that medium so dearly. Taking my best friend along helped immensely too.

Towards the end of spring was the tiny epiphany that would ultimately make the second act of this year turn out substantially better than the first--deciding to continue my education with a second degree, specifically one in graphic design. After substantial research of the colleges offering programs in my state, I found that one of the best programs happened to also be the closest one to me--offered by the same place I got my Associate's from, no less, adding a sort of poignant returning-to-a-prior-time feel. The time window between deciding to validate graphic design as a career path for me and signing up for my first round of courses was very brief, almost impulsive, and I would be starting late summer. Things were starting, overall, to look up a little.

Summer brought my second trip to London, which I think was very good for me--as a means to relax, to experience some new scenery...I really felt on vacation there; it was soothing to my mental state and the first time that year I felt really, truly relaxed for any significant length of time. London worked its magic to unwind me a bit. It was also post-London that I grew a small beard, a good way to achieve a slightly different look without altering much; something else I think I needed.

The real turnaround from the year's sucky beginnings, though, was the start of the classes. I'm someone that actually enjoys being in school if the subject is interesting me, and this time around was no different. I actually felt like I was supposed to be there--I was provided with insightful teachers and a big sense of hope about my future. My art's been steadily improving again. I know not to repeat a lot of the networking and knowledge mistakes I made back in University--I'm going to keep good solid connections with my instructors and use whatever resources I can, towards the end, to try and land myself a job in a related field.

So, things have been going uphill from there. There's still plenty to improve--for example, I'm still working retail, and would like to live in an apartment somewhere as opposed to my current situation--but I'm learning things, I have direction, I'm building valuable skills, I've finally grown comfortable being single once more, and, most importantly, I really, truly feel like I can do this. I can finally move forward again. I've got a lot of help and support from friends old and new, a head full of ideas, and perhaps now, the audacity to actually execute said ideas.
Get over here 2011, and give me a hug. I think you're gonna be a good one.

[Holden Out.]

FoodPeople is back.

Yes it is.

I've wanted to bring it back for a while, and now...well, I have. Suggest away!

I don't know yet whether I should operate it on a schedule, or just sort of dash one or two off when I feel like it...what do you guys think?

Also, the old order-up list was cleared, just for ease.

Also also, if anyone out there who reads this knows their way around Blogger templates/CSS, could we maybe talk about putting together something that'd make it look more like a menu or something? That'd be nifty.

[Holden Out.]

The Sketch-Spring is trickling again.

Hola, kids. Holden's back in school again, and you know what that means--more in-class doodles.

Here, have a space explorer girl in lieu of a Sunday Comics entry.

[Holden Out.]

Neglecting a Blaugh

My artbuddy Kii over at Rakugaki has been getting on me to put some of this stuff in here, so here we go!
After the main course, I have some propositions, as well, so stay tuned to the end for those, please.

How many titles can I come up with for these sorts of entries?

Gather round the campfire, kids, it's that time again! Time for me to share little snitchings of art...things. Probably shorter than previous entries. BUT. I do have some good news.
Good bit number one: I have come across and read some new comics. You know what that means...new Sunday Comics entries! Yum yum fresh comics in bloodstream.
Good bit number two: I've started an endeavour to do some small bit of creative work every day, which will hopefully result in more stuff to show. So far it's working. I was kind of stressing myself out trying to plan out these days in which I would have some grand swoop of working on a project for hours, when really those only seem to come when you don't plan them. A more moderate approach is good for where I'm at mentally right now.

Onwards!

O what a whimsical entry~

Another Holden's Bookshelf entry today? Pfft, nah. At least probably not. You may have noticed that hasn't popped up with any more entries since the first one, and Sunday Comics has been absent as well. The reasons for this are entirely divergent: in the case of Sunday Comics, I've begun to feel like I'm running out of comics to spotlight. As big a comics nerd as I can be, I only personally own so many, so the output for those entries may see a decrease in frequency. Holden's Bookshelf has the opposite problem: I have too many books to choose from (I recently bought a second bookshelf, and a third one becoming necessary could easily only be a couple years away). I feel overwhelmed, and I didn't bother to set many rules, moreover, for what sorts of books I'd review. Maybe I shouldn't have as much ruling, and it can be Sunday Comics' freer cousin.

In any case, that's not what today's focus is about. Today's post comes entirely courtesy of Cineris, a talented gal who in addition to her main blog (The Infinite Contradiction Of Endless Hope), has recently launched an intriguing sci-fi/philosophy experiment one called Sidereal Stilus. Over in Infinite Contradiction, she recently posted an entry that I just had to take my own stab at (the exercise itself being derived originally from none other than prominent author Neil Gaiman). This exercise is simply called "I Believe."

Yep, it's another pile of art.

Yep. This is becoming a regular thing, it seems. If it becomes a regular enough thing it may get its own categorization and become some weird lumpy little deformity of a feature.

I guess...I guess we'll do some more of this now.

More art-related-things posting, that is. I aim to be getting back on top of keeping up with the Sunday Comics and Holden's Bookshelf entries again this week as well, these past couple weeks have just been busy.

Anyway. Yes. Things what I drew and made.

I tend to doodle on my notes.

Just some fun scribbles, because really, where else am I going to put them? All of these were done with one of those cheap ballpoint pens you get at Staples in hundred-packs.

A self-portrait...thing from the corner of a shopping list. I tend to caricaturize myself like this. Not really sure why.

Doodled on an index card during a long wait at an office. Sorry about the random writing in her hair, they were the notes the card originally contained. Not supposed to be anyone specific, I just like short hair. And stars. And Eyes.

Weird fish-eyed depiction of my character Tar, from the back of the same index card. Getting closer to what I actually want him to look like but still not quite there. One of his better gas mask designs though (he wears that thing because of some very special breathing issues).

Unfinished picture of characters Didi and Natasha arguing, done on the back of a class syllabus. I probably will add to it later. There's a lot I like AND dislike about this...this is pretty much the first time I've absolutely nailed what I envision Didi looking like (especially her hair...big fluffy tangled dreadlock pigtails), but I botched Natasha pretty hard...she's got a slightly too-small head and way too long of a neck. She's also supposed to be a lot shorter than Didi, though you could argue she's slightly in the foreground. Poses are a little stiff too, but I'm trying to work on that. For the record, since her hand's unfinished, Didi's eating a microwavable Hostess Fruit Pie-type thing. I imagine they get into bicker-sessions like this a lot, but wouldn't you know it, they're best friends.

[Holden Out.]

Textual Teatime

I feel sort of guilty, I've been making an effort to spread the knowledge of this place's existence a little bit more, now that I'm a bit prouder of it, but then I go and just cease updates for a while. Although I could just stop apologizing whenever this sort of thing happens and just roll with "it updates when it updates." I'll employ that in the future, I guess. Attempting to do so in the middle of an apology would make me look like a jerk.


Anyway.


There's a lot of ground to cover that I'd like to--not the least of which is at least one entry (possibly two) on my recent trip to London, because the wider the time gap between the actual trip and my post on it grows, the less relevent it becomes to my time there and the less interested I become in writing about it. It's already been a week. I've just got to gather together some photos, mostly, and take one last set of related ones. So look for that hopefully very soon. I also, as previously mentioned, want to start introducing more article "features" again--I really should start sticking up some test-drives.


As for the missing Sunday Comics this week, I was working on an art project. One which I'm very close to completing and hope to finish very soon so I can just snap photos of the thing and hang it on my wall. I really hope the spray fixative doesn't ruin the ink, but I need to spray it with something when I finish, because the surface I'm working with isn't very ink-friendly and I need to keep being very aware of where my fingers are when I'm adding in details...even when the ink's dry it has a terrible tendency to smudge the instant my greasy little digits touch it on this surface.


And now, so this isn't just me whining about how I'm not getting anything done, another transcription of a dream, because I haven't done that in quite a long while here.

A Tiny Graphic Novel Victory

There's usually an issue of Entertainment Weekly lying around the house, and occasionally, if the cover grabs me, I'll thumb through it, because it can be, for lack of a better descriptor, entertaining; and I do like to keep at least sort of abreast of the goings-on of modern pop culture. This week's (I think it's this week's, I didn't look at the date) proclaimed it was a double-sized issue regarding "The 100 Greatest Characters Of The Last 20 Years!"

Well, I had to take a peek at that. Characters, no matter what medium, are very important to me because it is so frequently characters that truly drive a story and interesting characters that have such a large hand in shaping the pop culture landscape of their times. It was a fun read and I was pleased to see that the characters they selected did indeed span from all points in those 20 years, and that they plucked from a wide variety of entertainment media: characters from movies and TV series, yes, but also from books and even a couple plays...and one surprise entry from a graphic novel that made me grin in absolute delight.

Jimmy Corrigan was their number 62. The number, to me, isn't even important. It's that something like Jimmy Corrigan even made it onto that list, no less as the only purely comic-book entry (Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark and Heath Ledger's Joker also made it on there, but the entries were for the movies rather than the books. Understandable). Jimmy Corrigan is one of my favourite graphic novels ever. If I were to make a list of all the ones I've read and rank them, it would consistently be in the top 3, and I still don't think the Sunday Comics entry of it I did a while back does it true justice. I know hardly anyone who's read it and even fewer people who liked it. Yet there it is, nestled in the pages of a major national entertainment magazine, being hailed as containing one of the greatest characters of the 90s and 00s. They even describe the titular Jimmy as I often have when trying to explain the character to people...that he's sort of like a late-30s Charlie Brown.

Congratulations, Chris Ware, on having your artful novel recognized for something like this!

[Holden Out.]

PS. Also, there will not be a Sunday Comics entry tomorrow, or possibly even the following Sunday. I will be unavoidably distracted.

Skull Hat! SKULL HAT!

I was hesitant to post this intially, because really, I don't much care for "HEY GUYS LOOK WHAT I FOUND" posts. But this lil' guy was so cute that I just couldn't resist.

Above: The warm, fleecy embrace of the cutest death ever descending upon my noggin.

For a little background, I love skull stuff. It's not meant to be a macabre fascination, it's not me trying to be somehow edgy or gothy or whatever you want to claim, I just like skulls. They're neat-looking and structurally fascinating. I have a skull shirt that's among my favourites, I sleep in skull pajama pants...and now I have a skull hat.

I picked up this little cutie at Seattle's historic Pike Place Market a couple days back...they're made by a local crafty gal (Lynn Rosskamp) out of recycled/repurposed fleece, which is awesome, and she has hojillions of designs, all equally adorable--pandas, monsters, unicorns, cats, cows, zombies, pirates, orcas, elephants...the spectrum is wide. If you're ever in the area, pick one up, or at least stop by the booth. Lynn's company, PingiHats, currently has a website but no shopping cart functionality...yet. They're working on it. In the meantime, this little guy will definitely be warming my head come wintertime.

I think I will call him Yorick.

[Holden Out.]