Tag: future plans

Another year of life

On By Nube ObscuraIn Artist Project, Chance!, UpdateLeave a comment

So, another year has passed. I put some goals for my self this year, and although I could have done better I did accomplish them. So I will continue to go forward. The future does seem quite shaky and uncertain. But that’s life… I won’t give up.

I guess my goals for this new year is to take things further and accomplish even more things this year. I also want to be more physically active and learn Japanese to a proficient level. I’ve put those guys in the back burner for far too long. It’s time I give them the time they need.

This is the drawing for this year. I was thinking of adding some Dia de los Muertos influences, but maybe next time. Today was quite a busy day so I wanted to make a quick drawing. I really like Yoshitoki Oima’s art style a lot (creator of “A Silent Voice”), so I decided to use her style for this drawing. I didn’t have much time for coloring either (I actually just drew it in about half an hour a couple of minutes before I started making this entry) so I will just do the line art like if it was from a manga panel. I was thinking of inking it as well but the day is almost over so I will leave it like this. Besides it looks quite clean this way.

Nube 2017 crop centered resize

Here’s to working towards a better future and accomplishing our goals!

Hasta la proxima,

-Nube

I’m back… finally

On By Nube ObscuraIn Artist Project, Update, WelcomeLeave a comment

Well didn’t plan that absense but I got really busy again and also just wanted to focus on some growth as an artist that I was truthfully just putting on the backburner thinking it would be ok to continue in that way. Of course, that came and caught on to me which is why I had another failure when I attended the COAF (that second anime convention I attended a while a go now). It did bum me quite a bit, I won’t lie. But it was for the best. I was taking old work from a couple of years ago that I was really just experimenting on and really that had no place in a selling environment… So I will start again and try my best to produce top quality work. Though I don’t really plan on attending another artist alley. They are quite boring. It’s much more fun actually attending it and walking around. I’ve got a whole lot more respect for them (the artists that attend anime conventions) now.

Well, once that convention was all over I decided to rethink my strategy and change some things. I will make that clear soon. But what I can say is that I want to grow exponentially in skill. I have a ways to go, but now I have a stronger motivation to do so. I promised my self that I would accomplish my goals, and I will. No use in making excuses or analyzing everything. Let’s just get better and do. That’s something I have forgotten how to do since I got out of high school. It’s time I bring back that type of dicipline back in my life.

That will be all for now.

Hasta la proxima.

-Nube

Another year of life (2016)

On By Nube ObscuraIn Artist Project, Chance!, UpdateLeave a comment

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.

DSC_1072

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.

DSC_1070 crop

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

Current state and future plans 10/17/16

On By Nube ObscuraIn Artist Project, UpdateLeave a comment

So about a week ago I mentioned that I would be entering an art contest… I didn’t. So… I did end up working on it all week, but add to that a whole lot of other things that for some reason all piled up together all that week, and I was completely stressed out. What’s strange is that it did bring back some memories of back when I was in high school. Back then I was always stressed out beyond belief. Having said all that I did manage to take care of all things or at the very least have them prepared so that I could finish it later. As for the contest itself, by the time I had something presentable that I wouldn’t feel too bad showcasing I only had one minute left. And to make things more annoying I couldn’t find the notebook with my passwords, although that wouldn’t have helped at all since I hadn’t created an account yet… I was so focused on getting so many things done on top of the picture for the contest that I forgot to do something so basic…

Had this been open to traditional techniques I would have been ok, but I had to use Corel Painter. That quickly became a problem seeing as I’m just barely getting used to Photoshop. So on top of thinking about what to draw and how to do it, I also had to learn how to use Corel at the same time. And that is time consuming. Despite all my efforts, I ran out of time by only a minute… It sucks, but I did pick up some new abilities and am now at least somewhat ready for the next contest.

For this contest the theme was “first day of school”. Going by the description I feel they wanted something that evoked feelings of going back to school (whatever that may have been for the artist). As for me, as I explained before I was really stressed out throughout most of my high school life due to the high amounts of schoolwork (among other things), but like most high schoolers I did at some point or another have a crush. And that alone helped ease the stress and give a reason to go to class and sometimes even look forward to it.

It’s funny, when I was in high school or younger I would probably be to embarrassed to even admit this.

That being said, this is what I came up with:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/30281173202/in/dateposted-public/

 

I had about an hour left when I got to this point, but if I was serious about actually having a chance of winning I had give it a background. And that is what I struggled with before I eventually got to this point:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcloudxero/30311670511/in/dateposted-public/

 

Seeing as I was running out of time I used a cloning technique that Corel’s “Master Painters” use by using a picture/photo and turning it into brush strokes that change it’s look and feel depending on what brush and medium you use. But as you can see it still needs a lot of work. I actually decided to use this technique when I only had 10 minutes left and I knew i wouldn’t be able to make a background from scratch. At this point I would change a couple of colors to make it all match and maybe add some more details here and there.

Well that didn’t end up happening, but although I won’t be able to submit this to the art contest I do like what I have so far. It has the potential to become even better after some more work. But I do want to make some artwork for Halloween though. So I’ll probably let this one rest for a bit. Plus I’m still working on that Honedge.

Back to where the contest was being held, DrawCrowd seems to be somewhat new for artist to showcase artwork. And so far I’m really liking it. I really allows for people to see your work even if you happen to be  new to the site unlike Deviantart. With that being said I’ll probably start letting DeviantArt go and focus on Pixiv and DrawCrowd.

Last week I went to go collect some pictures of the fall scenery around my neighborhood before the leafs fall off completely. I took a good number of them. I will upload them to a separate Flickr account that will be filled with my photos that can be used for reference or whatever projects people feel like using them for. I guess I only ask that people say where they got the photo from, but in the end that will end up being the decision of the user/artist. But I don’t want to just dump pile them in there, I want to categorize them so that they are easy for people to find what they are looking for. My main goal is to someday have people collaborate in making this Flickr grow by providing photos of interesting and useful places, objects ect. that can be used freely by everybody that happens to stumble upon them. That’s the main goal I have for it, but for now I will start by just adding my collection. Hopefully that becomes useful to at least some of you.

That should be all for now, I really want to start working on the next piece for Halloween.

Hasta la próxima,

-Nube

One of my plans for next year and some thoughts.

On By Nube ObscuraIn Artist Project, Chance!, UpdateLeave a comment

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!

Future plans and thoughts 9/19/15

On By Nube ObscuraIn Artist Project, UpdateLeave a comment

This past month has been a good one. I have been doing some good progress overall with my artist project. I actually got some of the artwork bought. So things have improved a lot since last year. What a sad year that was… But now I just have to keep pushing forward.

To do that, I figured I have to be ready for anything. I noticed that one of the things that holds me back is not having ideas on what to do as my next project. So with that in mind I decided to fully catalog all the old artwork that will be part of the “RESTORATION PROJECT” that I announced a long time ago. I just went through all my sketches and sketchbooks and have a nice amount of work to use. This gave me a respectable 80 pieces of different work that I can work on in the future. But of course I also have to keep in mind to do completely new work as well. After all, as an artist I have to give my customers what they want, so I have to make sure at least half of my work is even relevant to the tastes of “today” whenever that is.

I wonder how I can increase my exposure on Pixiv, or Deviantart for that matter. I guess I have to be more social huh?..

Well better find someway to increase my popularity and soon.

Para El Futuro!

-XERO