It’s been a stressful week… + NanDesuKan Report

This week has been full of tedious and time consuming obligations. I’m still not done but things have been progressing quite well. Of course I haven’t really stopped working and have some things to show you guys. One other thing to note is that last week was NanDesuKan so I’ll talk a bit about that.

Since I went to two conventions earlier this year I was having convention fatigue. I didn’t really feel like going but I did want to take some artwork for the Art Gallery section of the event. This time I decided to take only some prints so that I could sell them for a lower price in hopes that I could sell them this time. This year I took the piñatas That I made all throughout the end of last year and the beginning of this year. Some have actually sold already, such as the Popplio and Eevee and have been comissioned to make another one. So for NanDesuKan I was offering Pikachu, Rowlette, Litten, Mimikyu, Totoro, Jiji, and I made two new ones for this convention. Goku and Kuririn. I made them as kids wearing their attire from their training days under Muten Roshi (I even decided to make their turtle shells the day before the convention).

Just in case you forgot or haven’t seen them before, here are the piñatas that I took with me.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32628223106/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32628014416/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32515650162/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32628204896/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31856433233/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32546322051/in/dateposted-public/

Here are Goku and Kuriring that I made especifically for NanDesuKan.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152283125/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36754812210/in/dateposted-public/

The construction of the turtle shells using foam board.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36963133466/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152447945/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316265314/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152441715/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316258924/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316255544/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152447945/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316265314/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152441715/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316258924/in/dateposted-public/https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316255544/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316265314/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152441715/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316258924/in/dateposted-public/

And here they are with them on and painted (painted using spray paint). Tied with some garden ropes to emulate the ones in the series.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36338391343/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152268315/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37152251955/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36316051194/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36754626810/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36754643650/in/dateposted-public/

This was the piñata side of things. But I prefer drawing more, so of course I took some of the new 2d art that I have been working on this year. Thinking back I was learning more than creating this year. But I feel it was worth it (I still have a ways to go, but I’m starting to understand things a bit more now).

My original plan was to show these pieces on their own and before the convention so that those who take the time to visit this site would get a sneak peak as a sort of special “reward” for visiting the site. But I got really busy preparing for the convention that I didn’t have the time (those two weeks before the convention were also quite stressful). Luckily I did get not only the new piñatas finished, but I also had two new artworks done in those weeks prior.

I took 4 art pieces in total this year.

I made a new piece with the prints of the legendary Pokemon from X/Y.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37153150535/in/dateposted-public/

I dumbly chose to do a Saber piece (from Fate Stay Night, I think). But that series can get rather complicated if you haven’t seen or played any of the games (which I haven’t). (There’s so many Sabers) So I really didn’t know what I was doing at all… This was one of the pieces I was doing right before the convention. Thinking back maybe I should have done something else, but oh well.

Done both traditionally and digitally.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37153226875/in/dateposted-public/

This piece I had been working with during the summer. I took a bit of a break and did some minor tweaks right before the convention though.

It is Misaka Mikoto from the To Aru series (will make a post especifically for it later).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982080862/in/dateposted-public/

And the last piece that I offered this year is the other drawing that I made right before the convention.

This one is of Goku, Kuririn and Muten Roshi. (I will also make another post just for this one and talk about it more).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982148692/in/dateposted-public/

So these are the pieces I took this year. Now for the results. Out of all the piñatas, only Rowlette and Mimikyu were sold. And of the 2d art, all of them were sold except for the Saber piece. And out of all the pieces only one went to the live auction, that being the Pokemon X/Y piece.

On top of selling a good amount of them this year, I also won an award again this year.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982351652/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36982350522/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/37153546725/in/dateposted-public/

Seems like I won the 3D category again this year. Plus I also won the Video Game Room Art Show award. Seems like the 3D award was for the piñatas, and the Video Game award was especifically for Rowlette. With that said, I assured another weekend pass for next year.

Not too bad.

Sorry I haven’t really been posting much, but it has gotten a bit stressful these days. And now the future is looking a bit shaky… Heck even the sun and moon were kind of ominous when the outcome of the future was put on jeapardy.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36340111293/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/36756416450/in/dateposted-public/

A bit weird but won’t deny, they looked beautiful. (by the way, they look red because of the fires that were burning on the west coast.)

Nothing can be done except go forward I guess… ε- (￣､￣A) ﾌｩｰ

That should be all for now, I’ll get back to you guys later.

Hasta la proxima,

-Nube

September 10, 2017 0

The start of Youtube videos and Advertisements

I have started working on some new content for my Youtube Channel. I will be doing quite a few different things though, so they will take a while to edit and whatnot. I don’t plan on releasing them anytime soon though. Or at least the new format. I will upload the old format on my second channel for those who need or prefer it that way.

Misaka Mikoto is the first one to be drawn and recorded this year. But I still haven’t decided if she will be the first video to be uploaded. I want to make a good amount of videos to create a backlog of them that way I can upload them on a set schedule.

I still plan on making a background for it though, so it isn’t fully finished yet.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32645279133/in/dateposted-public/

I’ll be opening up an Etsy shop to make it easier for you guys to purchase things. But I plan to make some advertisements first before making it go live. Tht’s what I have been working on recently.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32616430054/in/dateposted-public/

It still looks quite dark… I’ll have to make some adjustments. Bu in any case it is coming along nicely.

The next convention is almost here already! Next week. So I have to make preperations. I plan on making some artwork to explain my piñata products. In the end I believe marketing played a big role in keeping people from purchasing them. Hopefully this will help.

This was just a small update. Back to work it is.

Hasta la proxima.

-Nube

March 15, 2017 0

Preparing for Animeland Wasabi II -Piñatas Part II

It took me a month to make 8 piñatas, I could probably push at least 10 in the same amount of time. I say a month but really it’s about 3 weeks and … 3 days? Some did take a bit longer due to me not having the right color of paper or thinking about the shape I would cut the strips of paper. Despite keeping that in mind, I was surprised that they took that long to make. But now that I have finished them I can look back and and think about ways to cut at the very least 5 days off (if not more). In the end, preparation and planning takes time, almost half of it. I wonder just how much I can refine out of my process.

Looking at the pictures, I will have no choice but to divide it into two more posts. The middle process of actually putting together and giving shape to the balloons that had hardened with the engrudo and newspaper. And the final part of decorating them and giving them their final appearance.

I took a lot of pictures about the process, but don’t wan’t to flood you guys with information so I only posted the most important photos here. But if you click on one, it should take you to flickr which is where I uploaded all of them. There you can get a full view of the process in case you need more angles and steps in between the photos that I did post. In case you don’t want to leave this page as you see flickr than you can right click and open in a different tab.

I made it so that the photos spoke for themselves about the process I took, but if you have any questions do let me know and I will respond as best as I can.

Sorting out the shapes once they had dried sure took a while, next time I have to find a way to keep together the balloons that correspond to one another.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32252956550/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32478830102/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820294113/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31789145354/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32591818516/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32478815652/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820280493/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31789122444/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31789117984/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820267073/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32632173215/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32591764026/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820211643/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32632112145/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32252834090/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32509636691/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820136413/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32509593571/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32591605716/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32591595286/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32252733110/in/dateposted-public/

To speed up the process of cutting the paper that will cover the piñatas I recommend to do several at once. Line up strips of paper together than folded up in halves.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/31820061383/in/dateposted-public/

You’ll end up with this at the end, from there just cut out the shape or shapes you wish to make and that will minimize the amount of time you will be using to cut paper. Otherwise it is a time eater, I can tell you that from experience.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32509530941/in/dateposted-public/

Here’s a sneak peak at what is to come next time.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32252715430/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32591584436/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/32252705620/in/dateposted-public/

That will be all for now. I will be adding the final process and showing you photos of how they turned out. I’d say they came out great but we’ll see what you think.

Hasta la proxima.

-Nube

January 31, 2017 0

I’m back!

Sorry I disappeared for about what, a month? The last few weeks were quite hectic. I had finals during the beginning of December and truthfully, it was the final project for Japanese class (a language class) that really took quite a bit of my time. We had to create a children’s story and have at the very least 10 pictures to go along with it. I made sure to take care of the actual story first so as to not have problems later, but I failed to take into account the pictures. This became a problem, after all I was planning on drawing them all out.

It was a rather interesting experience since it was a new experience and fun but also quite hard and really stressful. Working on it was making me feel sick throughout the whole experience. I had to work on it as soon as I woke up and took only breaks to take care of things like eating and other living necessities. In a way I got a glimpse at the life of what a mangaka has to go through every single week. And, I seriously have a whole lot of more respect for them. To be fair, the work I did was still mediocre in the end (this is what happens for trying to draw it all in 5 days) but still presentable. What’s funny is that I was planning to color them too. Boy was I wrong!

Anyway, it’s been just a little over a week since I entered winter vacations. Although I did decide to take about five days off to just stop and take a moment to just have fun, I had to quickly get back to work. I do feel bad for not updating this space for this whole time though. I truly apologize. But worry not, since I was documenting my work so that I can speak about it in days to come. I have quite a lot of work that is to come. It’s quite daunting actually, but I’ll make it work.

Next semester I will not be going back to school. I decided to invest my time and money for the sake of artwork. I don’t remember if I already mentioned this before but I have been accepted by two anime conventions at the beginning of the year. They are Anime Land Wasabi and Colorado Anime Fest. I still have to take care of some things so that I can say I will 100% be there (it has to do with taxes, I will explain later since new artist have to know this), but I shouldn’t have any problems taking care of that.

Having said that I am currently working on the products I will have available at my table. I will write about that later. Truthfully I just wanted to give a bit of an update about where I’m at and a little glimpse of what’s to come.

Hasta la proxima,

Nube Obscura

December 27, 2016 0

Another year of life (2016)

I’ve made it through another year of life huh? This is the year I was preparing my self for. All the work I have put towards getting better were for this year that has finally come. It’s sink or swim now. Will my efforts bring forth fruit or will I have to deal with a crushing de

feat? That is what I have in store. It’s all a matter of my work from here on out and sadly luck… I don’t like leaving things to chance, but that seems to be a factor as well. All I can do is go at it with everything I have and work towards the best. Whether that will be rewarded is still yet to be seen.

Speaking of which I have some news… I got a table at one of the anime conventions next year. This one is for Wasabi. I’m a little nervous, but we’ll see how it all goes. Still haven’t heard from Colorado Anime Fest. They were supposed to let the applicants know by the 31st, but still no response. I wonder if they only contact the applicants that got a table? Oh well. This is one step closer to see what happens with my art in this type of setting.

November 2nd is “El Dia de los Muertos” (day of the dead) in Mexico. It’s a holiday very much like the OBon festival in Japan. It’s a time of celebration where we go to the cemetery to clean and remember our past loved ones. It is said that this is the one time a year when they (the spirits) are allowed to descend to Earth and visit their loved ones. I only ever experienced this festivity in my life, but it was a truly wonderful time to spend with one’s family and speak about one’s ancestors. I’m glad it’s getting some recognition outside of Mexico.

It’s strange though, this is the first year I have ever had a cake with a “Calabera” (skull)(a gift from my brother). Though I guess it makes sense. All my family is living and buried in Mexico so one can’t really celebrate it here in the States.

Of course the cake is “Tres Leches” a really tasty cake that has a really soft and moist layer filled with sweet milk. If you ever have a chance do try it.

We usually don’t give gifts on birthdays, we’ve always been quite frugal since just hanging out together is a good enough gift. But I have made it to 25 so I guess my brother felt he should give me something good this year. And man will it make it much easier to work. My Vaio laptop is no slouch, but once it gets to the intensive jobs it does slow down. Which is why the gaming pc he gave me such a great gift.

I was thinking of getting a stronger pc so this really relieves me of having to worry about that. Just a couple of more things and I will have everything I need to fully create everything I can think up to it’s full potential and be fully self sustainable.

So far this year has had a strong start. Here’s hoping I can continue to make it better.

Gracias por estar conmigo este año, espero que sigan con migo en este que viene.

Hasta la proxima,

Nube

November 2, 2016 0

Quick Update 10/21/16

The deadline for voting on the winners of the art contest on DrawCrowd was yesterday on 10/20/16 and yet only the cosplay category winner has been announced… None of the actual Corel winners have been mentioned at all. That’s truly strange, I wonder if the winners have been notified yet? Having said that, there are two pieces that I feel should be first and second place (of course this is just my top picks).

For second place I would choose this one:

Artist – 녹충

She appears to be an artist from South Korea.

I really like the way it looks, it’s simple and gives a scene that would happen in real life.

My pick for first place:

Artist – Miimork

She appears to be from Thailand.

This one has so much going on. And without words you get a story out of this one image. I really like it and feel it deserves to win above all other entries. The description says it all though, “This is the illustration of my friend who’s studying architecture. Back to school, new project, and old friend.”

In any case, good luck to the winners.

As for my work? I have been uploading artwork to DrawCrowd in intervals and at different time periods to see when it is most effective. I started with a Reina Tanaka drawing, uploaded at night which got over a hundred views in a day. That amazed me.

It was this one:

Tanaka Reina photobook study — Are you interested in it as a print?

Uploading to Pixiv you barely get a hundred if that in about a week and let’s not even talk about the abysmal views on DevianArt. After I believe five days it is getting close to 500, amazing huh?

After that I uploaded an Ai Takahashi drawing about two or three days later in the morning. And that one exploded in views. In one day it got around 6,000 views! I’ve never had that many people look at my work in such a short amount of time. After two days it is getting close to 9,000 with two likes and one promotion.

This one:

Ai Takahashi pencil drawing — Are you interested in it as a print?

What does liking and promoting mean? DrawCrowd is pretty interesting in that you have two options to let the artist know how much you like their art. You have the standard like option. By liking an artwork you are making a personal and private list of work you liked while letting the artist know that someone liked their artwork. Promoting an artwork on the other hand compiles a public list that is shown in your profile showcasing artwork that you deem good enough to recommend. It’s a really good system that creates a chain reaction of exposing artwork that others that follow said artist might like as well.

Now back to the third piece I have uploaded thus far. The third piece is the Halloween painting of Yuzuki Yukari I made last year. I uploaded it today in the morning and it has already reached close to 20,000 views! In just one day! This site is incredible at giving exposure to one’s work. I’m really glad I decided to give it a try. It did so well in fact that it has made it to DrawCrowds daily ranking! These daily rankings are a list of artwork that are popular during a day and are showcased on the homepage of DrawCrowd giving the artist and art piece more exposure. I debuted at #195, so I still have a ways to go compared to other artists. I wonder if I can reach the top 100?

This one:

Yuzuki Yukari - "Halloween Pumpkin Smash" — Print now available.

Well that was a quick update. I also have another announcement but I will leave that for tomorrow. Till next time.

Hasta la próxima,

-Nube

October 21, 2016 0

One of my plans for next year and some thoughts.

Fall is finally here! And I can’t tell you just how happy that makes me. Fall is my favorite season after all. On top of that, it’s no longer Summer which I can’t stand because I really don’t like the heat… at all. (；￣Д￣）

But yeah, when I work on the Honedge outside it feels great whenever a gust of wind pops up every once in a while and it isn’t hot air that drains my energy. It’s also great because it brings back memories of when I worked on other projects around this time of the year. °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° So Magical…

With that said, let’s talk about one of my plans for next year. Next year I want to start entering the Artist Alleys in conventions. This year I went to my first Art Show at NDK and learned quite a bit. But as an artist that loves to draw anime and pop culture themed artwork I should make this a focal point to my survival as an artist. So having said that, I already applied to next years local Artist Alley at a convention named Animeland Wasabi.

Hmmm… I’ve been hearing some “interesting” stories that people have had with the Animeland conventions in general. Although that does raise some red flags, nothing ventured nothing gained. So if I get chosen to get a spot I’ll go for it and see for myself. Truth is that I have only gone to this convention once about three years ago or so…

Wait, so as I was researching this convention I was also keeping my eye out for any other conventions here in Colorado and found out that there is another one named Colorado Anime Fest. Never heard of it before… Oh, it seems like it’s a new convention that just popped up this year it seems (sorry, I am writing this as I’m looking up information). The thing is that it will be going on at the same time as the Animeland convention…

Well if I had a choice, I guess I would like to give the new guys a try. And their tables seem pretty affordable as well. So if I do get a spot I’ll probably give Colorado Anime Fest the first pick. Since I’m still starting out, maybe it will be a good idea to start at a fledgling convention as well. So I will apply right after this.

Heh… That’s pretty cool. So we are getting more conventions throughout the year here in Colorado. Seems like Colorado had a reputation of not having many and or losing them quite quickly leaving NanDesuKan as the only one to survive throughout the years. This is really great news. I wonder if it has anything to do with more people moving to Colorado?

Apparently there are other conventions although they tend to deviate to other themes such as comic books, steam punk among others, but I’ll stick with the anime based ones.

So those are some of my plans for next year. Hopefully I get a spot at Colorado Anime Fest and NanDesuKan next year. Here’s hoping. ( •̀ᄇ• ́)ﻭ✧

For now I will continue to work on new pieces that will hopefully attract more people to site, and hopefully get more clients.

Oh, just a little something extra. When I did go to Animeland Wasabi I got a chance to photograph these guys.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/29328027824/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/29921148636/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/29955091845/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/29328025954/in/dateposted-public/

Jealous? ¡¡¡( •̀ ᴗ •́ )و!!!

Just kidding. Well despite what they say about Animeland, and despite it being small, it was still pretty fun.

Well that will be it for this one. Next time I want to give an update on the Honedge.

Hasta la próxima,

-Nube

CHANCE!

September 26, 2016 0

Getting Ready for NanDesuKan 4

Finally finished prepping the frames and artwork for tomorrow. (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧ The only things left are to make the labels that will be used for the silent auction. These labels will contain the name of the pieces and the starting bid. Once I have that done I just need to head over to the convention which starts… tomorrow…

“And the Con’s tomorrow~!” ∑(ﾟﾛﾟ〃)

…

It has been quite stressful this past two weeks, more than I thought it would be. Getting the artwork ready to be presented took quite some time. Especially considering that I had to get 16 frames ready (this includes cleaning, painting, fitting, backing etc.). But I powered through it. ρ(￣ﾍ￣ﾒ)

The thing that really has me stressed out though is that I had to do all this while attending college since last week. For this semester I decided to take Japanese II. I haven’t had a Japanese class since I was in high school. About six years ago now… it’s been quite a while… On top of that I am attending the class of my high school teacher who has been teaching at my university. I was surprised how well I was at getting right back into it and taking off from where I last left off. But on the other hand I can see quite well how much more I have to learn and also how much I have to perfect in understanding what I do “know”. This worries me because we have daily quizzes, which I luckily am able to replace by writing sentences at home (which does take quite a bit of understanding of the material in order to pull off). What really worries me is the tests, those I have to do no matter what. And as I just found out, I have a test this Tuesday. Right after NanDesuKan… (❁°͈▵°͈)

[loud exhale]…

Will I be ok? I guess I can cram as much knowledge on Monday…

Ah, I’ll figure it out. For now let’s just focus on getting a section secured tomorrow and hopefully enjoying this weekend.

Of course I will be taking pictures (…of cosplayers … and artwork of course!..). On top of that I really do wonder if I will do ok tomorrow, will my artwork move people enough for them to buy something? Let’s see if my skills are good enough.

Hasta la próxima,

-Nube

CHANCE!

September 1, 2016 0

Getting Ready for NanDesuKan 2

This post will be a bit short in that I will only be showcasing the artwork and frames I will be taking and using.

You will notice that I am showing the Adventure time piece twice, that’s because I decide to trade the frame with another piece (the one shown at the end). This photos only show they artwork and frames, I’m still not finished positioning and framing them in the photos shown below (so please keep that in mind).

So these are the pieces and frames I will be using. Some of them I decided to just clean up and use as they are, while others I decided to paint up. For a couple of them I also had to create some backing paper so they looked a bit more presentable. I will show the end results tomorrow. It took me almost all day to finish them all, but I did it. (•̀o•́)ง

I will talk a bit more on my thought on the next post.

Hasta la próxima,

-Nube

CHANCE!

August 28, 2016 0

Getting Ready for NanDesuKan 1

So as I said in my last post, I will be taking some artwork to a local anime convention. One of the first steps I had to do first was choose the pieces of art I will be taking. Having decided to wait until I had a good amount of pieces I could showcase to the public I noticed my first hurdle, there are far too many to take… This meant I had to decide which ones to take this time around and which ones to leave behind.

Now, I was told that I would be provided enough space for all the artwork I decided to take, but I don’t wan’t to take too much space and monopolize the room! One other thing I need to keep in mind is frames. Rules state that they have to hang and can’t just be stuck to the wall (though I really wouldn’t do that in the first place). The most cost effective way to do it is to make my own frames. Wood would be to expensive and would cost almost as much as buying them new, so I did think of using paper frames. Although that wouldn’t be such a bad idea, I had two spare frames given to me. After seeing them framed I couldn’t help but like they way they looked, so I decided to frame them all.

This meant that I would have to buy some frames, a task that can get extremely expensive. So I did the only option I had, and that is to go to the thrift store. Luckily every Saturday they have sales which would really lighten the burden of the expenses. When I arrived it quickly became apparent that it would be so easy. I had to scavenge through the piles of frames out on display. I had to make sure they were the right size, or at the very least close to it. This took quite a while and two thrift stores. When I arrive home I found out that one of them was defective and broken (even though it was packaged in its original box and looks new) and another one was a great frame but would accommodate the pieces I currently have.

One thing to note is that I did have to cut a couple of pieces off from the original line up I had originally decided to take. After much thought I decided upon 16 pieces well 18 if I count the Keyblades, which thinking about it now is already a big number… I wonder if I will really be ok taking all this pieces? Only one way to find out I guess.

Choosing the pieces to take, check. Buying them frames, check. And I already went ahead and chose which artwork went with what frame. These were the hardest parts, but they are now finished. The next step is to clean them up, paint some of them and get them ready and packaged so that they are easy to move around.

Hasta la próxima,

-Nube

CHANCE!

August 27, 2016 0

Big News! (((o(ﾟ▽ﾟ)o)))

So… because I was so focused on working with the Youtube video and the Traditional X Digital I kinda forgot that just how close the local anime convention NanDesuKan was. To my surprise the convention is only a little less than two weeks away. Now that wouldn’t be too big a deal concerning the amount of time I can dedicate to new work. But an amazing opportunity became available this year! But more on this a bit further down, first let me give a little background.

I started going to NanDesuKan when I got out of high school. One thing that I look forward to the most (well along with looking at the cosplayers) is the Artist Alley where artist come together and sell prints of their work. I have seen some amazing artwork and dreamed of joining the same stage at some point. But I knew that my skills had a ways to go till I was worthy of showcasing my work. But I soon found out that not only did I have to worry about my skills but I also had to take into account that they have a raffle system to get a table. On top of that, past artist also have a chance to continue getting a table on the subsequent years. So really in the end getting a table will be solely based on luck. Now, once I do get a table I can be voted to come again the next year. Which is why I feel that having a high level of skill was of utmost importance.

Funnily enough now that I felt I had created a good number of artwork that could be sold, well I was too late to apply to get a spot. So for that reason I had no choice but sit this year out (assuming I would even get a spot).

As if by luck or fate I found out that I also had a chance to sell my art in the Art Show. The difference between the Art Show and the Artist Alley is that the Artist Alley is all about selling prints and duplicates of goods. The Art Show on the other hand is all about selling the original physical artwork. This includes drawings, paintings, statues, etc. So in essence this works to my strengths since I prefer to do traditional art work. On top of that, most of the artist go to the Artist Alley instead since they tend to focus on digital artwork. This means that not that many people submit artwork leaving spaces open. So all of that sounds good right?

Well, it gets even better… The system for showcasing artwork in the Art Show is done by just showing up with one’s artwork the first day and securing a spot. So as long as I get there early enough I get a chance to showcase and sell my art! On top of all that, after contacting them to clarify some of my concerns, I also learned that I really won’t have any real restrictions in how many art pieces I can submit. In the last years there was a limitation of using a 4×4 foot panel to hang artwork. But now that has been done away with and they will provide even more space if needed! Just thinking about it…

For that reason I will be focusing on getting things ready. I want to make some special frames for a couple of art pieces and I only have a little less than two weeks so I will be using all my time and focus on that. There are a couple of things that will also keep me busier on top of getting ready for the Art Show. School has started this week, so my schedule will be completely packed. Hmm.. I don’t want to keep neglecting this page though, so I will do my best to give updates on the work I have prior to the convention and during it.

This will be a great step for the Artist Project! If I can make this work…

“hhfffuuuu” σ(≧ε≦ｏ)

I will call these opportunites:

CHANCE!

Hasta la próxima,

-Nube

August 23, 2016 0