North of Gravity Studio

Art Class Results, Lots of Buttons, and 24-Hour Comic

2010-07-19T20:48:00.002-04:00

It's been a while! But I've been very productive!

My art class (Drawing II at MSU) finished about a month ago, and I'm just now getting around to sorting all the photos of my work from it.

Here are a few of the pictures I did...

(that one is a self portrait done in eyeshadow, of all things)

Here are pictures of a book I put together for a project. We were supposed to tell a story in 25 parts, so I chose to illustrate my Sophomore year of college (last year).

I didn't include them all here, but you get the idea. It was a tough project, but I think it taught me a lot.

Here's my final project for the class. We were each given a word to illustrate; mine was "plethora". I chose to illustrate an excess of people, all looking out and judging the environment they were places in.

This thing is huge in real life. I wanted the viewer to subconsciously place themselves into the void in the lower left corner, and make the picture complete.

Keep an eye out for these kids in the future -- they're part of a very long-running comic idea called Beat.

Anyway, on to the fun stuff! Here are the buttons I did for Vault of Midnight these past few weeks...

(this one's my favorite)

The longcat buttons were sold for $4.50 -- the price of two buttons. Apparently it was bought about five minutes after I left the store -- and then the same guy came back in and bought three more. Whoever you are, thank you!

And a bonus! Two dozen buttons that will hopefully be appearing in Crazy Wisdom in the next few days!

And here's what they were resting on in the first picture...

It's been a while since I've done any actual fanart! (PS in case you haven't hear yet, that movie was awful. please don't waste your hard-earned money on it)

And finally (yes, finally) here is the 24-hour comic that I did last Saturday (WARNING: here there be cussing).

Hmm, that dialogue is pretty hard to see. Anyway, if you want to read the rest (and be able to tell what the hell is going on in those first pages), keep a lookout for insomniac to appear at Vault of Midnight as soon as I get it printed.

On a non-art note, I'm going to Mackinac Island tomorrow! Eeeee ponies!

Until next time, chums...

These Are Things That I Have Made

2010-06-28T19:42:00.002-04:00

I've been really busy these last few weeks. I'm in this art class that meets every day from 8:00 am to 11:00 am, and by the end of it, I'm just burnt out and I don't want to draw anymore. More on that later.

I just got a ~*~*~*~NEW CAMERA~*~*~*~ so now I can properly document what I'm working on! First, some old business. I never uploaded any pictures of CANIS or my buttons stand. So, here they are!

The people at Vault of Midnight were nice enough to put CANIS over with my buttons, instead of with the rest of the local stuff.

Now, here are some of the newer buttons. These ones went out a week ago.

I have some new ones that will go out at the end of this week, but I don't want to unveil them just yet. So I'll leave you with the title page from my next comic that I'm working on....

I Am The Worst Blogger

2010-05-14T23:06:00.002-04:00

Well chums, it's been quite a while since I've written anything here. In truth, it's because I didn't want to make a new entry before I had copies of CANIS ready to show here.

However, I only have materials for 100 books. I assembled 50 for SPACE, and sold or traded 45 of them away. The remaining 5 immediately went to Vault of Midnight for sale. I have no more books to take pictures of, and Austin Hendry has already returned the stapler we used to assemble the books. So, I have materials for 50 more books lying around, but nothing with which to put them together.

I'm sorry I have nothing to show you, but as soon as I get them put together, I'll post pictures. And some more good news -- I've already thought up my next project. Think mermaids.

Next time will be picture-heavy. Get ready, chums.

CANIS is 99.9% Done, and I Have More Buttons For You!

2010-04-15T16:17:00.002-04:00

Howdy, all!

Despite a short hospitalization, I've been back and working harder than ever. CANIS is alllllllmost done -- I just need to color the cover, print the cover, and assemble the actual book. Soon they'll be up for sale!

In other news, I have a ton of buttons to show you. I'll be dropping these off at Vault of Midnight later today.

And I have some closeups, but for some reason they don't want to show up. I'll try to edit this later with some more photos.

See you soon, chums.

Happy Spring!

2010-04-07T07:20:00.002-04:00

I hope you had a terrific spring-themed holiday that is representative of your religious choices.

I lied when I said that I'd have the comic scanned by last weekend. Looks like it'll have to be after THIS weekend, kiddos. Unless an amazing and talented person can show me how to use the scanners all the way up on North Campus. Fun fact: I have never personally been up there, but I heard that the squirrels there aren't as tame. Bo-ring!

This weekend wasn't a total loss though; I managed to scrape together some business card designs. Here is the front, my dears:

...aaand the back!

No, I sadly don't really have two birds fly around me with that banner. But I do know Latin, fo sho!

Valete, amici!

xo

My First Minicomic is...Complete!!

2010-03-31T18:21:00.001-04:00

Wow, this has taken me way too long! I just wanted to make a short little post to tell you that CANIS, my first comic venture is done! I still need to go through and add in some filler pages, such as my autobiographical and copyright information, but that shouldn't take too long.

I'll write a new post and upload the scans as soon as I have them. Count on seeing some actual, finished pages by Monday!

Eeeeee!

CANIS is almost done!

2010-03-24T12:16:00.002-04:00

Alright chums, I know I haven't been so good at updating this thing, but I've been very busy, and you're about to see why!

I've been working on a 16-page oneshot that called CANIS. I've only got about three pages left to ink, so I decided to share the very first panel with you!

...Unfortunately I don't have a good scanner or even a camera at my disposal, so you'll have to settle for awful photos from my webcam. I know, I know. I live in the stone age.

Without revealing too much, the story is about a dog. You can even see her in the first panel! That's our stoic protagonist, Sasheel, with her unnamed master. It's a story about love, betrayal, loyalty, revenge, and (most importantly) a sexy lady.

It's taken me a long time to complete, mostly because I have to map EVERYTHING out before I can progress to the next step. So I had to get completely done with the script before I could start drawing, and completely done with the pencils before I could start inking. It's the first "for serious" comic I've ever done, and I'm really excited about it. Hopefully Beat will be next!

Adios, chums!

PS Also I have some more buttons at Vault of Midnight. Unfortunately I'm out of parts for them, and I ordered the wrong parts off the website, but hopefully that'll be figured out by the end of this week. But here is the last batch I made out of my original kit:

The pooping pony, the awesome face, and the bikes one have sold alredy, or so I've been told. As always, email me or comment if you want a button of your very own!

More Buttons, Comic News

2010-02-18T21:54:00.002-05:00

Whoof! It's been a while since I wrote last. New buttons are out!

And it turns out that there was another batch of buttons that was a bit older that I put out, but I can't figure out how to get the photos from my phone to my computer. Because, you see, I'm not a very smart person.

Anyway, I checked back at Vault of Midnight today, and it looks like the squirrel and tiger had already sold. I'm so glad the squirrel is in a loving home now!

I was just feeding the squirrels earlier today. I think I'm the reason that the squirrels on campus are so obese (also, I discovered today that they go crazy for Cinnamon Toast Crunch).

Back to creative news! My one-shot comic is nearly all pencilled. It's going to come in at 16 pages, with a vaguely Arabian Nights-y feeling. I don't want to post any actual pages til they're inked, but I can give you some preview art for the characters.

Til we meet again!

The First Crop of Buttons

2010-01-18T14:29:00.003-05:00

Good news!

I contacted one of the people down at Vault of Midnight, the awesome comic and game shop in Ann Arbor. They said that they'd be happy to carry my buttons, provided I make a way to display them. So, this last week, I've been busily doodling and cutting out buttons.

Here are the pictures of the buttons that I made for Vault of Midnight. I have loads more, but I tried to choose the most comic-themed ones for this store. I'm still holding out hope that Peaceable Kingdom and Crazy Wisdom might want to carry them. Cross your fingers!

Anyway, here are the buttons, in their wood-and-felt display case. Note the glitter glue.

These were all taken from my crappy webcam. I think I need to save up and buy myself a legit digital camera.

Anyway, I need to put some finishing touches on the display case, and then I'll be off to deliver them to Vault of Midnight. Do these buttons look like ones you'd want to buy? I hope so!

Tata for now, friends!

PS I'm always open for custom orders for buttons! Drop me a line, and I'll be happy to draw you whatever you want!

The Start of Something New

2010-01-07T16:12:00.006-05:00

Hello, reader!

I hesitate to use the plural, because I'm pretty sure the only one who will read this is my mom. Oh well. From small things, big things one day come.

I started this blog because I want to drum up some publicity for some of my recent creative projects. I feel like I need to be able to direct people to my own little corner of the internet, and (very) gradually build up recognition.

So, without further ado, this is the start of North of Gravity Studio, my blog, my production company, and the summary of what exactly I do!