浪漫菖蒲 / Roman shobu

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2010-06-21T17:32:00.001-07:00

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Canzine!

2009-10-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note- I'm going to be exhibiting at Canzine this weekend on Sunday November 1st at the Gladstone Hotel from 1:00pm - 7:00pm. $5 gets you in the door and you get a copy of Broken Pencil magazine as well. I went last year and it is a really crowded event but lots of fun. I don't know a lot about the zine world so I really look forward to seeing what kinds of things people will have for sale. I actually have a lot more money this year so I hope to pick up lots of fun things since I have no minis for trading. ;A;

I will have copies of OSCP 1+2, OSCP3 with the new cover, Sunflower Club #1, and some mini prints. No new comics since I've been so busy with Arabesque which will also debut at Canzine as well. I handbound each and every book.

Arabesque is a really wonderful and varied book featuring contributions from around 16 different international contributors from all around the world (from Australia to Finland to Argentina!). I drew some illustrations and worked on the design and production of the zine. I'm so proud to have been a part of this wonderful project. Some highlights of the book include an article about pre-WWII Japanese girls magazines, fashion illustrations, an article about a famous cemetary in Buenos Aires with photos, photographs, and lots of other things.

To keep updated on Arabesque, please check out the blog we set up. In the future we will have posts from contributors to the zine featuring things that are related to the aesthetics side of the zine.

Arabesque Zine

2009-09-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

Preorders for the otome (maiden) aesthetics zine Arabesque have started! I contributed a lot to this zine with the cover design, layout, and illustrations. There are lots of really interesting articles in it with fashion illustrations and photoshoots. There are even colour pages! We are being a little mysterious with the content right now but will probably reveal more as the book gets printed and assembled. :-) I am going to handle the handbinding for each copy. I hope that it does well so that we may produce another issue for summer 2010 that is even more gorgeous than this one. <3

We've been planning this since July last year and now I can't believe this is finally going to be a reality. It started out with some wishful thinking by my friend Rinna, and we decided to organize and get a zine done. For this zine we have 16 international contributors. :D

Please check it out. Thanks for your support! We will debut the book at Canzine in Toronto this November 1st.

2009/09/24 - Jirou

2009-09-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went out for lunch and didn't realize that the leaves were turning colour until that day. It was very beautiful. Autumn is already here upon us. Can you believe it? A year has passed since I decided to draw more comics.

A few days ago I finished the pencils for OSCP4. It is something like 95 pages. I wonder if how many pages I will have to throw away and whether what I have right now makes any sense at all or not. Comics take so long to do yet they are so easy to read quickly. What takes me several months to produce probably only takes an hour to read at most. How long will it take me to ink all this?! D:

I scanned in and started inking parts of the first page today. Here is a part of a panel. I'm kind of out of practice. Already I feel that the drawing is going to superior to OSCP3 in so many ways. I can't even look at OSCP3 without cringing or thinking about how I would draw a certain thing different. If I start a new comic project someday I want to try doing it in a different style.

2009/09/15 - Arabesque Profile

2009-09-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

Profile I drew for the Arabesque zine. Not really accurate I suppose but recently I've been drawing this kind of illustration.

There are many things left to do in terms of illustration and layout! Hopefully the first issue will be done by the end of September. Show debut will be at Canzine this November 1st, but of course you can order online before that. We will have actual colour pages! *gasp* It is more aesthetics orientated, and I didn't have a lot of time to do any comics but there are illustrations and lots of interesting articles. Please look forward to it. :-)

2009/09/13 - Cute sketches

2009-09-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

If I drew comics like this, it would make my life easier:

Somehow this reminds me of Sazae-san.

In other news, my drawing in general has gotten much, much better:

This does not happen in the comic, BTW. Ha ha ha- don't you wish it would? >:D
My drawing has gotten better but it has also become more cuter and rounder. D:

Working on the manuscript of OSCP4 and finishing the layout for Arabesque. There are a lot of little knick-knack things to worry about.

The zine should be finished sometime at the end of September. :D

It has been a while hasn't it?

2009-08-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

So much has happened in the past few months! I went to a lot of events over the summer including TCAF, MoCCA, and Otakon. I am not sure if I will be going to SPX or APE or not but deep down in my heart I really wish I could go! I already signed up for Canzine in Toronto which is happening this November 1st though. :D I hope to see some of you there! I should have a new zine and mini comic out by then. Please look for it!

I'm working on the pencils for OSCP4 now. I'm 34 pages in! About 1/3rd into the comic... Can you believe it? It was around this same time last year that I drew and finished the first issue of OSCP in two weeks. D: My artwork has changed so much since then. It is really embarrassing just to look at it and realize how bad my drawing was a year ago. It is still really horrible (as in needs more improvement as always), and though I am happy for improvement it is kind of bad how there is no consistency between issues

From June 2008

From May 2009

I think it really helped me to keep my lines simpler and thicker. I guess the art has gotten more stylized, and it has helped that I am more familiar with my characters as well.

Inking my pencils has really helped me improve as through the process I realize what is drawn poorly and what I can improve on.

The difference really is astounding! And already my pencils are so much better as you can see from this page for OSCP4!

Anyway, I'm going to keep working hard. Thank you everyone for your continued support! I'm going to try and update this blog more frequently as well. :D

2009/02/16 and 03/08

2009-04-12T22:55:00.000-07:00

Whoa- long time no see- I've been so busy with school and drawing comics that I forgot that I had a blog or a website to even update. D: Anyway, I just did a massive update on the website a few minutes ago. I finished inking the third issue of OSCP today except for three pages that I am dreading to ink because they are so boring. D: D: I am accepting preorders for the third issue. But it is kind of thick (about 75+ pages) and so the price has to go up. Which is kind of sucky. *A*; I'm so sorry that it is so expensive. (>_<; Who is going to buy this? OMG. >_<;

From 2009/2/16

From 2009/03/08

I've been trying my hand at brushwork but wasn't able to apply any of these skills for the comic I just finished since I can only draw monsters well with it. Also, my brushes are already starting to curve instead of having nice points like when I bought them. Maybe it is because of how I hold the brush...

(click on the image to see a larger size)
That duck in the corner saying "OH BOY OH BOY" gets me every time. I need to make a comic featuring this duck. If only a day lasted more than 24 hours, then I could get done all of the things that I want to do. orz

Oh yeah, some of my screenprints and some paintings are up at an exhibit at the RPS Collective in Oakland until April 25th. You can buy some prints and copies of OSCP#2 there as well. Photos from the reception and other info can be found here.

2009/03/05

2009-03-05T15:19:00.000-08:00

Recently I have been sick! So depressing! ;_; I wish I would stop feeling so nauseous and have migraine whenever I wake up in the morning!

I went to Toronto a couple of days ago- I checked in with The Beguiling and apparently they sold out of the books I left on consignment there. I can't believe it- was it really sold? Did someone really buy it? I'm really amazed to think that people would purchase it especially since it was shrinkwrapped too because I included so many extras in the second issue. I hope that the people who bought the books didn't feel disappointed afterwards. :-( I am always afraid of what people think when they buy the books without knowing what it is. *_* Maybe because the cover looked interesting? D: But I'm very happy though. I got some money, and I used it to buy a new brush and a tube of red gouache that I really needed. I take money I make from comics to buy supplies to make more comics. *A*; I don't think there is such a thing as making profit from mini comics- at least not for me. But I'm happy that there seems to be people reading my stuff. ;_; Thank you so much...!

Oscar and Jirou with their clothing switched. Maybe it fits them better.

ライチのアンソロの原稿を作って始めたけど、まだまだですね。ゼラを描くのはなぜか難しいです。うまく出来ない。（泣　来週には全部完成しなくちゃ…　イラストは2枚を描く予定ですが、今日はファンサイトでゼラタミ中心小説を読んで、時間があったらギャグ・マンガも描きたいなと思い始めた。内容がまだ決められないが…

学校で色々なことがあって、あまり余裕がないね。
早く春が来ないかな。ここ、雪はまだ溶かさない！

It's 2009 already

2009-02-20T23:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted here in so long. Really late but happy 2009 everyone. So many things have been happening recently. I don't know what will happen the next day. Losing so much faith in things, and I often feel like I should just quit drawing and making stuff.

I made notebooks recently- but I failed in the binding so that the paper does not really attach well. Will try harder when I actually have the time and find some good paper to do the job. D:

Anyway, here are the original pencils I used for the bottom illustrations:

And here is the final product:

Yeah. These days I just feel like walking into the sunset and never reappear again. See you again someday maybe never tomorrow today and yesterday.

2008/12/19 - Jirou and Winter Comics!

2008-12-22T01:04:00.000-08:00

Jirou looking kind of scary. I wonder what is on his mind?

And I updated the website with winter comics for a comic anthology I participated in called "White Christmas". The anthology is so awesome though. You should check out each and every one of the artists who appear in the book. All of the stories are really excellant. It was great fun being able to participate in this project. Thanks to Colleen and Laura for pulling this book together!

HE SEES YOU WHEN YOU'RE SLEEPING: christmas comics
36 pages long, featuring comics by Jordyn Bochon, Greg Denton, Jesse Jacobs, Laura Kenins, Jody Kramer, Chris Lockerbie, Colleen MacIsaac, Saicoink, and Leslie Supnet.

I have one or two extra copies left. Let me know if you want a hard copy. Printed and bounded with love in Halifax.

2008/12/11 Birds and butterflies

2008-12-17T07:31:00.000-08:00

Oh! It's already December. It's been such a long time since I've posted here. I just finished moving lately so my life is still very much in the air. I need to get things settled down and cleaned up. I've been rearranging my room and that feels nice because it is giving me a new start. Change is good from time to time.

Vivien and butterflies. I want to ink this later. Something about this makes it feel really sad...

Oscar without glasses has a kind of intensity in his eyes. I need to learn to draw birds better.

I like this sketch a lot for that same reason. I think it's a younger Oscar (at 13 instead of 18 like he is in the story).

It is kind of interesting to compare things that I drew earlier this year to my skills right now and realize how much I was able to improve in such a short period of time through sheer determination. Wow! I have to keep drawing.

Anyway, I finished a screenprint quite recently. This is probably the last one I will do for a long while since I don't have access to a studio anymore. :-( Life is sad. Hu hu hu hu *sad*

This is just a preview. You'll see the whole image sometime in the spring of 2009 or something. That seems like such a long time away! I already feel like I'm spoiling a lot by even mentioning this piece here!

I made three different colour versions- magenta, red, and black. Maybe the red is the most striking one but it is also the one I made the least of. *_*;

Now that we're nearing to the holidays I don't think I will have much time to post here for the rest of the year. Maybe I'll see you all (who ever is reading this- who reads this any more?!) in January. I have so much to do- and I really want to draw more for my comic...

BTW, some of my friends brought some copies of OSCP to Montreal's Expozine as well as The Royal Bison Craft's and Arts Fair in Edmonton last month. I don't know if anyone bought anything in Edmonton, but apparently one person picked up copies of OSCP 1&2 in Montreal and it was a guy. OMG WOW. THAT'S SO COOL. I don't know- I'm so happy just to make ONE SALE. *A* And I wasn't even there. Who was this person?! I wish that all the people I sold books to at events would email me to let me know what they think about it. *_*; That would totally make my day.

I need to work harder on the next issue. It will be so cool- and even longer than second issue since I will have more time to work on it. :D

2008/11/23 - Painting the Sky Red

2008-11-23T19:50:00.001-08:00

I have lots of more important things to do- but I couldn't help myself from drawing this. I spent a lot of time today working on character sketches in pencil and I found myself inking and coloring this. It's kind of a bit psychedelic don't you think? The background and cloud like things are all composed from photographs that I've taken. Recently I've taken an interesting in photographing fabrics and using them in my artwork as background or to create effects. I guess it gives a kind of dimension to the flatness of my artwork.

I want to reink Jirou's uniform (the character on the right hand side)- maybe I will do it soon. I think I might use this image when I get around to redesigning the site- which I should do soon. Maybe I will try for something that is more of a simple design this time.

It's kind of strange to compare both the pencils with the colored illustration all inked! I think maybe for the facial expressions the pencils convey them better- especially Oscar seems even more devious in the original. Maybe I need to add more expression in his eye and close his mouth a bit more. Anyway, you can see download a larger version of this image on deviantart.

2008/11- It's been a while!

2008-11-21T18:24:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in such a long time! Things have been hectic here as my schedule hardly affords me any breathing time or sleeping time. Canzine went without a hitch. It was a lot of fun to be hanging out with other artists and people interested in self-publishing and zines and mini comics. It's not the most ideal place for comics though there were some cool artists to attend the event. I'll be posting more about the books I bought sometime soon when I have the free time. Next time if I do attend Canzine again I'll be sure to book my own table.

Anyway, a big thank you for everyone who stopped by the table and to those who picked up copies of OSCP. I hope that you weren't so surprised with the content and that you were able to have some enjoyment from the books. D: I worry about this so much. *_*;

I just finished a six page comic for a Christmas-themed anthology my friends are putting together. I'll post more information on the project as I learn more. My story isn't all that hot since I am out of ideas and all that- but there are some excellent artists to join aboard the book so it should be worth your while. :-)

I have some exciting projects lined up for the coming months including an online version of OSCP and some illustration projects. Look out for it! I'll post news about it as things progress. In the mean time, I need to figure out how to survive what is remaining of this term in school.

Here is Oscar from one of the working sketches for the web comic. It is a prologue to issue one and takes place during Junior year when Jirou first meets Oscar:

After I complete that I will have to work on redrawing all of issue one. So many things to do... orz Who knows what the future will hold?!

2008/10/21 Canzine!

2008-10-22T03:31:00.000-07:00

I will be attending Canzine this year in Toronto on October 26th, Sunday. It is a one day event. The 5$ entrance fee gets you a free copy of the magazine Broken Pencil and access to lots of cool zines, books, comics from independent presses as well as many interesting events.

I will be attending with Kim Hoang, Wai Khan Au, and Phil McAndrew. I think our table will be located under the name Bella Torta Press.

Open Spaces and Closed Places #2 is printed and ready for sale at Canzine. I guess you can say it will debut at Canzine.

The artwork this time is has improved a lot over the first issue. It's really amazing what I am able to accomplish in two months. I'm really excited to hear people's reaction to this. (But filled with shame and embarrassment at the same time for this and the first issue). orz

Things I will have for sale:
- OSCP #1 & #2
- Gilles & Sylvie mini comic (new!)
- Interchangeable Ogata Calendar
- two mini linocut prints
- two different kinds of postcards
- and buttons----

If you buy something from me I'll most likely give you a button for free- but only if you're nice to me. :-) I look forward to meeting people at the event. If you actually have read this blog, let me know. *A*;

On Saturday I'll put up more information on how you can order OSCP#2 over the Internets. I'm still busy preparing some extras for those of you who purchase a copy. :D

2008/10/12 - Not amused

2008-10-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

I've been busy, not really wanting to talk to people or contact them or whatever because I've been working on the second issue of my comic. *A*; Sorry about that. Once I finish it for Canzine, I'm going to be able to move on with my life, read more and study more, and most importantly get in contact with people again. *A*;

Anyway, here is a panel from a page of the comic that I finished inking today. It takes me so long to do inking- like it took me four hours just to ink and edit this one page (editting includes adding tones and blacks, etc.). I have 10 pages left to ink and three more pages to pencil and ink as well. I'm using a combination of digital inking and brush as well. The brush is used for the more dynamic and weird stuff because it lends itself better to that. Digital inking takes a really long time, but because I can't draw, it works well for what I'm doing.

The comic will be about 32 pages + about 6-8 pages of extra materials, depending on how things go with time.

2008/06/17 - Over there, do you see it?

2008-10-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

Whoa! It's been a while since I updated. September was quite a hectic time, and I suppose that October will be quite hectic as well. I have so much I need to do and so much that I want to do but I really don't have enough hours in the day or the energy to do everything.

Featuring characters from my comic, Peter and Vivien. Peter is a bit of a minor character and has a punkish style and attitude. I have a hard time drawing him. Vivien changes her looks all the time. I have trouble drawing her consistently.

Read more about this screenprint here. I just finished it yesterday. It is the cover for the third issue of comic project I'm working on. Second issue will release sometime at the end of October if things go my way! I have so much work to be doing let alone sit around twiddling my thumbs and drawings comics. :-(

Recently I went to New York City for work and that gave me more inspiration for creating comics and my work as well. I was able to meet some old friends and meet some new people as well (whom I need to contact!). In terms of people and art, things have been going well, BUT in terms of work, things could be a bit better, I suppose! I need to put more effort in it!!!

2008/09/06 - Oh Too Bad

2008-09-09T12:05:00.001-07:00

I wonder what Oscar said to Jirou that made him angry. LOL

I'm feeling so anxious. These two are the only thing helping me get through the day. I wonder if I should create a LJ again for sketches or whatnot. *_*; Should I?

Yesterday, I got in the mail this manga called 、Sakamichi no apollon by Kodama Yuki. I really like the artstyle. And I like the presentation. The story takes place in 1966, and the simple and solid linework reflect simpler times. Times when, as they say, the world was soft. It is a school story with some music-related elements like one of the main characters plays the piano and discovers jazz through another character. I wasn't expecting much. I only ordered the manga because of the character with glasses in gakuran that graced the front cover. This is my weakness I suppose. Second volume will come out in October. I think I want to get it when it comes out because I like the interaction between the main characters. One of them is banchou-like and he has a cool school hat just like I do. <3 I want to get some artbooks from the Pan-Exotica series too. Hopefully my order can go through. I have to buy so many books this month that my budget is getting rather out of control. *_*;

I feel disconnected from the people around me and melancholic and often tired. :-(

2008/08/17 - Oscar's Eyes

2008-09-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guyz. I realized today while I was sketching after doing some intense reading that I have perfected Oscar's perverted smile and his knowing sideways glance. Not like the above but a bit better maybe. Anyway, the artwork for the next book is going to be so much better. First book is so embarrassing. But then again it always is.

2008/08/17 - Jirou baby

2008-09-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

I bought paper used for markers and it is working out great for me. <3 But my brush pen is out of ink. Life is sad. ;_; When I was designing this character Jirou he was supposed to be even more insane. He is, kind of, maybe, but not as much as during the preliminary planning.

2008/04/13 - Alex and Flowers

2008-09-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

We haven't seen Alex in a long while. I guess you can say Alex has an affinity with flowers and animals and other things in nature. He looks really happy here. I haven't drawn Alex very much recently.

Also I updated the website today! This update took me a really long time since I had to revamp a few things and learn some new things about CSS coding and such. I spent 5 hours trying to get the web form to work until I finally remembered that my webhost had a form to help me out with that. -_- What a waste of time! I seriously don't know how to go about working with CGI and PERL. I can't handle computer languages anymore. And to think I used to have a knack with these things. *sigh*

Anyway, I put up an order page (which gave me a whole lot of grief) so that people can easily order stuff if they wanted to. *A* Please buy something-- Uuuu.

2008/06/17 - Running Time

2008-08-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

I'm going on a short hiatus as I'm moving and stuff.
SO DEPRESSING.
Sometimes I feel like running running running away!

2008/08/26 - Trashy Shoujo Manga

2008-08-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

Click on the image for larger version. Have you ever read tacky 70s shoujo manga before? It is my bread and butter.

2008/05/28 - Why Hello There

2008-08-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

From inside my Moleskine notebook while I was still in Japan.

Finished an illustration lately. I really want to screenprint this. It would be so awesome to work in these colors. This would work wonderfully as a zine cover or something about ghosts or mysterious things. I don't have time to set up a way to make screenprints at the moment though. School is starting up soon. I'm scared.

2008/04/23 - Attack!

2008-08-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

from April.

The tip of my brush pen has worn. I need to buy a new one now. :-(