Commissions now open!

Hi all.
I've opened commissions from my DeviantART page for sketches, illustrations, comic and animation work.
Sketches from £8, inks from £15, full colour from £20, comic art from £40 per page and animation from £250.
For full information, visit my info sheet on DeviantART here.

Thoughts on London Comic Con/ MCM Expo

Okay, so it's a few days after the end of May's London Expo, but this is the first chance I've had to do my write up since then so here it is. :P

(Pic borrowed from Ben Smallman AKA Wonchop)

After the (as it turns out, unnecessary) worry about the possibility of no longer being allowed in Expo's Comic Village, I decided to get a shift on with rebooting my Soulsnatchers comic so I could take it with me to sell. If anyone missed the drama, MCM are starting to crack down on people using the Comic Village as a dealer area without having their own comics and artwork to sell. Rules were rather ambiguous at first, but it turns out as long as you do comic artwork/ writing of some sort, you're good to go. :)

So there I was on Friday evening, making my way to London and excited about picking up my Soulsnatchers comics at the venue - printed by UKComics and very kindly held by Matt Dyson until I got there on Saturday morning. As well as the comics, I brought with me some reprints of my Anime Convention Survival Guide poster and postcards, Portal and Zelda prints, my Team Fortress 2 postcards and a brand new print featuring Alusius, one of the main characters from Soulsnatchers.
Also making its first Expo appearance was the new Midlands Comics Collective "The End of the World", in which I have a short story, along with Laura Howell and Josh Clarke who were seated either side of me during the weekend.

Unfortunately, I'd somehow acquired a rather annoying throat infection on Thursday which meant I was losing my voice and couldn't talk much over the weekend. Nothing like being hoarse for a few days to help you practise your charades skills!

Setting up on Saturday morning, there was already a huge crowd gathering for the show's opening. Andy and I were still setting up when they were let through the doors at 9am, but as soon as we started getting things out, people were ready to buy them, so a good start to the weekend!
For the entire day the hall was absolutely packed, which made getting in and out hell, but it was definitely good for sales.

Sunday was rather quiet, more so than usual on an Expo weekend. We could only think that people were outside enjoying the sunshine rather than being stuck indoors and baking in their cosplays.
One thing I'm pretty certain of is that I really need to set some time aside to deal with my point of sale stuff. True, fan art does bring people to the table, but I always forget to do anything like banners or display items until the last minute and that could really help give my presence a boost. I'm going to make sure I do this for my next con.

What made me the happiest with the things that people bought from my table, was that there was quite a bit of interest in my Soulsnatchers comic, even though I didn't sell an awful lot of them. A couple of buyers were repeat customers, which was awesome, including one person who has the same name as one of the main characters (if you're reading this Killian, I definitely do remember you from last May, just had my wires a bit crossed! Hope you enjoyed the comic. ;) ).

A few people bought "The End of the World" as well and Laura passed a copy on to a guy from the Geek Talk radio show to review, so fingers crossed that it's well received!

As I mostly stayed in Comic Village, I didn't get to see a lot of the show, but here are my thoughts on a few things to do with the weekend.

Organisation
No problems for me here! Straight in with no fuss, Was even able to get a badge sleeve and lanyard, which I've not been able to do at previous Expos because they ran out.
I was a little flustered on Thursday because the venue were only taking deliveries on Thursday and Friday morning (wasn't really explained why this was), but fortunately this was sorted very efficiently by the guys at UKComics who sent a courier to deliver our comics to Comic Village.

Layout
Comic Village was bigger than ever this May. As well as the two blocks of tables that they normally have, a third was added closer to the centre of the hall. There was also more room to get around, which had been a bit of a problem previously if you needed to sort stuff at the front of the table.
For the rest of the show, it seems like a lot of popular stands were grouped together at the front of the hall and people were constantly huddled around those, blocking the aisles. As previously mentioned, this caused great difficulty in getting in and out of the hall(didn't help that toilets, food and drink were outside the hall). Probably not an awful lot that could be done about it as the stallholders get to choose their location, but hopefully measures will be taken at future events to stop it being such a problem for getting around.

Attendance
Saturday was pretty much a record-breaking day all round for Expo. Although it was crowded due to the sheer amount of people, it did mean that they were coming to the Comic Village in flurries as they passed by all the dealer tables and came out of the panel room (which was in the top corner). I made more money that day than I have on any other day at a con and it looks like a lot of others did too, so that was encouraging! :)
Sunday kind of killed it a bit, as there were a lot less people than usual (even for a Sunday) and it seemed like most were just passing through Comic Village on the way to other things. Can't really blame anything for that though and through previous experience, this seems to be the exception and not the rule. Still hasn't put me off getting a table in October for my fourth London Expo!

Cosplay
As I didn't spend much time away from my table, nor did I attend the Masquerade, I didn't really get to see any awesome cosplays. There were a few cool Zelda ones, a great femme Loki and Thor and oddly enough a Parsley the Lion. Another highlight was Josh's friend's little sister who was incredibly cute in an Assassin's Creed outfit! :D

People
The best part! :)
Everyone was so awesome and friendly, from the other CV sellers and the staff I talked with, to the customers. Saw a few familiar faces, including Lisa Cummins, Lee Bradley, David Shirley, Donna McGarry, Elenawing and Wonchop, and met some new people from the Comic Village Alliance group (some of whom I recognised at previous cons but hadn't really talked to). Didn't get to see everybody unfortunately as I either missed out or they didn't get to London, but they're all awesome and have great comics and arts so go and check them out! I've added a list of some of the members and their websites at the bottom of the post.

So although it wasn't the best weekend sales-wise or from the lack of voice, I did have fun and hope to have even more next time! :)

----------------
On a more serious note though, there is something I should help draw to people's attention.
Artist Donna Evans (Tavington on DeviantART) is trying to get something done about the guy selling stolen artwork on canvases at various MCM events. She's got quite a bit of help from people spotting the work in her photos of the stall and linking to the original artists and is also getting in contact with Expo and various watchdog agents, but we need the word spread as far as possible so it doesn't continue to happen!

Here are her DA journal and Tumblr links:
http://tavington.deviantart.com/journal/STOLEN-ART-AT-MCM-EXPO-Please-read-Update-2-305116737

http://tavington.tumblr.com/post/24051690578/stolen-images-from-london-expo-may-2011-please


Stay cool everyone!

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Comic Village Alliance dudes:

Lisa Cummins - Madam Butterscotch comic | DeviantART
David Shirley - Fera website | Facebook page
Donna McGarry - Facebook page
George Beedham - Not Regret Studios/
Matt Dyson - Moo and Keo
Emily Brady and Alice Nuttal - Footloose
Robin Hoelzemann - Cura Regis
Tyler Wilson - COGDrawings Facebook page
Nikki Wynne - Nixity/
Josh Clarke - JoshClarkeDraws Facebook page
Jahvin Baxter - Yakage Force
Rob Cureton - Orful Comics
Eamonn Standing - Tallisman Rogue
Rebecca Blackwell - Breakwater comic| DeviantART
Helen Trifourki - DeviantART
Chris Bruce - Little Horrors
Katherine Ellis - Crankrats
Daniel Cook
Claude T.C. - Claude Etc.
Luke Surl - LukeSurl.com
Hannah Shepherd - DeviantART
Kai Lynn - DeviantART
Kit Jo Yuki - DeviantART
Geof Banyard - The Island of Dr Geof
Jenika Ioffreda - Neptune Factory
Zoe Kirk-Robinson - All Over The House
Jade Sarson - Cafe Suada
Jennie Wood - Miss Jennie
Joe Decie - What I Drew
Howard Hardiman - Cute But Sad
Kate Hutchinson - Widdershins
Ed Kitchen - Dark Matter
Lee Bradley - Lee Bradley.com
John Cei Douglas - Tumblr
Marc Ellerby - MarcEllerby.com
Peter Vine - Hard Graft
Lee Fenton-Wilkinson - Afroella Facebook page | Kromatroncomics
Sophie Lou - Sophira-lou Facebook page | DeviantART
David-Elliot Mumford - Ink Mumblings
Yel Zamor - DeviantART
Selena Thomas - DeviantART
Holly Lines - DeviantART
Mike Medaglia - The Comix Reader
Adam Davies
Karen Rubins - KarenRubins.com

Apologies if I've missed anyone out! Please let me know so I can add you to the list.

Soulsnatchers print update

In-progress update for the Soulsnatchers "Alusius" print!
You can get this by contributing to the Soulsnatchers Indiegogo campaign and it will also be available at London Comic Con this weekend (though copies will be limited so don't miss out!).

Next stage is to add details and highlights to the foreground.

Indiegogo campaign for Soulsnatchers Issue 01

Hello all you lovely people!

I've set up an Indiegogo page to help raise the funds to print Soulsnatchers Issue 1 for London May Expo. I'd be really grateful for any contributions and if you could share the link in as many places as possible. :)





In return for your hard-earned monies, you'll receive the following:


Up to $7 - A PDF copy of Soulsnatchers #1


$8 - Both a PDF and physical copy of Soulsnatchers #1.


$15 - PDF and signed physical copy of Soulsnatchers #1 and a "thank you" in the back of future issues (with a link to your website).


$25 - PDF and signed physical copy of Soulsnatchers #1, a "thank you" in the back of future issues (with a link to your website) and an exclusive Soulsnatchers print.


$40 - PDF and a physical copy of Soulsnatchers #1 signed with a small sketch, a "thank you" in the back of future issues (with a link to your website) and an exclusive Soulsnatchers print (will be limited to 5).


$50 - PDF and signed physical copy of Soulsnatchers #1, a "thank you" in the back of future issues (with a link to your website), an exclusive Soulsnatchers print and a pencil and ink drawing of your choice (will be limited to 3).


$75 -  PDF and signed physical copy of Soulsnatchers #1, a "thank you" in the back of future issues (with a link to your website), an exclusive Soulsnatchers print, a pencil and ink drawing of your choice and all further issues of Soulsnatchers for free (will be limited to 2).


$100 - PDF and signed physical copy of Soulsnatchers #1, a "thank you" in the back of future issues (with a link to your website), an exclusive Soulsnatchers print and full colour digital drawing of your choice and all further issues of Soulsnatchers for free (will be limited to 2).


$250 - The ultimate perk! PDF and signed physical copy of Soulsnatchers #1, a "thank you" in the back of future issues (with a link to your website), an exclusive Soulsnatchers print, a full colour digital drawing of your choice, all further issues of Soulsnatchers for free AND a cameo appearance in issue #2 (will be limited to 1).


Some progress pics have been posted to the gallery as well, including the sketch for the exclusive print


The comic will still be printed if the goal isn't reached, but I could still use a helping hand getting started. Any retweets, Facebook "likes" or link sharing will also be very much appreciated!




Many thanks!


- Giuseppa

Soulsnatchers Issue 1 taster!

Hi all, been a while!

Soulsnatchers is now underway and the first issue will be available at MCM Expo in May. I had some taster copies with me at Birmingham Comic Con last weekend which will also be available at Kitacon from the 13th-15th April (along with some other neat stuff), but in case you missed out I've posted the pages here for your perusal.

Page 01:

Page 02:

Page 03:

Page 04:

Page 05:

Page 06:

They have also been upload to my DeviantART gallery here: http://ryuuza-san.deviantart.com

Pages will be given a further sprucing up before then and I'll be setting up an Indiegogo page shortly to help raise funds for the printing costs for issues 1 and 2 (the second of which will be available at October Expo if not before), so hopefully this will keep you guys interested enough to make a pledge towards it. ;)

All the best,

Giuseppa

HTDM art trade - Franz

My half of an art trade with =Pharan on the HowToDrawManga group at DeviantART. It's his character Franz from "Purelight" fighting an alien robot (which currently doesn't have a design so I made one up).
For his half he drew my Soulsnatchers character Alusius, which is pretty damn awesome (I was especially excited since no one else had drawn him before).

Since one of the goals of the HTDM trades is to practice drawing skills, I decided to go all out, especially since I haven't done many backgrounds/ environments as of late.

I also went for an action piece in an effort to continue improving anatomy and foreshortening with my figures.

There's definitely a lot that needs work in this piece, given the time to work on it.
I suppose the main things I've noticed are as follows.
I realise that Franz's arms look a little disjointed compared to the rest of his body, and I don't think the angled plane of the cape is helping. Trees and rock texture really need some work and I'm not terribly convinced by the sunlight effects or the cloud and foreground shadows either (they don't seem to mesh with the colouring style).

However, I definitely feel that I'm still carrying on with the improvement streak that I've had as of late and I'm certainly not as afraid to try new stuff as I was a couple of years ago. I think the weekly drawing stuff has helped a lot in that regard.

Anywho, critique away! Any helpful advice would also be very welcome. : )

DeviantART link

Convention progress!

Since I'm not uploading much in the way of art at the moment, thought I might as well post a bit of an update on how things are going in preparation for Ayacon and the upcoming May MCM Expo.
On the arty front, I've got a few print ideas in the pipeline. I've not got the layout sketches scanned in, but here's a rough idea so far:
*Portal 2 - Chell jumping through a ceiling portal with Wheatley and a companion cube (and GLaDOS spying through the portal).
*Tron: Legacy - Sam starting up a light cycle, with the light cycle itself still in wireframe form.
*LoZ: Twilight Princess - Link battling Stallord (with a few Staltroops thrown in).

I'm hoping to at least have the Portal 2 and Tron prints ready for Expo and things seem to be heading that way at the moment, which is good. : )

Cosplay-wise, for Ayacon I'll be taking three costumes with me:
*LoZ Ocarina of Time Link (about 90% finished thanks to Kitacon at the beginning of April)
*Resident Evil 2 Claire Redfield (about 40% finished, with all the material cut out but not sewn)
*Mystery "Yami no Matsuei" cosplay (not started yet, but got all the material)

I entered the Link costume into Kita's cosplay competition, but unfortunately sudden work deadlines meant it couldn't be finished to the level I wanted and I had to use a bought pair of leggings, which probably counted against me in a big way.
The sword and shield on the other hand, I'm quite happy with save for a few touch-ups. I used coloured vinyl with adhesive mirror for the metal and it turned out really well (got quite a few compliments so must have been doing something right!).
Anyway, here are a couple of pictures taken after the competition (taken with Nert's camera by a mate who was standing in for him - ignore the twisted bit of the strap. : P):
Link photo 1
Link photo2

Not much needs to be done to it as it is, especially since I'm not going to be entering any more contests with it, but time-permitting I want to redo the hems and sleeves on the tunic and white shirt, stiffen the collar of the white shirt, make the leggings, tighten the belts and sew some backing onto the scabbard strap (hot glue does NOT work on vinyl surfaces!).

Post Ayacon, I've got tentative plans to do Luther Lansfeld, "The Creator", from Star Ocean 3. There aren't many good pictures of him floating around and there are virtually none of his spear/blade thing so I had to approximate what it would look like from some blurry Youtube video screenshots. Initial sketches look promising though so fingers crossed!

Hope everyone had a good Easter holiday!