Lumi-eared

 

still working on the game job. 6 dragons to go. I wish I would be faster. And I wish it wouldn't be gloomy dragons but cute little cats o_o And while I work the cats tend to nap next to my screens in their little bed. I wish I'd be a cat. XD

whozzaaa... pink!

so... we actually made it. In this awesome contest ! 6. place is not bad. At least I don't have to worry about how to pay for a legal Flash version anymore. :D
We'll upload the game as soon as a sponsor decided for the game which might take some more days. I have to admit that I doubted more and more that we'll make it (contest took so effin long) but... sun shines on our heads again.

I hope nobody gets pink-cancer from my blog. I got tired of white and though it's not fancy for men getting caught reading a pink blog you have to bear with it till I find something else.

A side-story which is really funny (odd):
At one fair I started joking around with Vinc from Tokyopop if people sell the Shikishi (autograph) cards when they don't want a "for XY" on it. Normally people act like: "NEVER! No way!" Odd about the whole thing is that one card is on ebay now and of course there is no "for...." on it. So I guess it's from one of those girls who shook their heads so enthusiastically.
Is it so hard to admit that you get those cards because you consider getting money out of it? Come on, I am happy myself that the "Lady Oscar" comics are worth 50 bucks atm. .... though I bought those because I really enjoyed reading it (though the kitsch almost hurt).
Strange enough and funny people are bidding on it. If you happen to be one of those: I'll send you one for free with an extra hug ;)

And now back to painting stones for a game... doh.

Posts and Reviews

gosh... i bought too many books & tools o_o
Anyways, there were some gems in and I'll try to write some intelligent reviews within the next days.

Next to that I would ask you to leave comments only in English, German or French. Some funny people wrote in very sloppy Portugese (I know what "fofo" means but that doesn't mean the rest does....) which even Bablefish couldn't translate.
I can't read Chinese either. I hope nobody feels offended by my lack of ability to answer comments that looks like +#°%&$ to me.

Review List to come:
SmudgeGuard 
DA laptop bag (have to write that one anyway)
Classic Pen Wacom

Tokyo Inferno 1-2 (comic)
Kyolee tome 1 (comic)
and some more "usefull" books for artists :)

I promised to make some more mannekin shots for Miss Kirschvogel which will be uploaded soon. 

Worth an information: still working on agency illustrations and game illustrations and mah comics. I still feel like I am too slow but my arm keeps telling me the opposite. I guess I have to listen to my arm now. >_>

See u in Kassel :3

I'll leave for Kassel tomorrow... the last con this year and I'm looking forward to come back and finish some comic pages. It's awesome, I haven't sketched that many pages for SIX years... and now everything I can think of is: XY more.. you can finish those >_< and I think those are good. Really.
Anyways, life is kinda upside down at the moment. I really want to finish the graphics for the Pong Game and the sketches for a real game you can buy and play (and burn if you like). .. no, you won't. If I get it done as I imagine it it will look good. Really... hopefully... I guess.

I hope I can finish a lot next week. Some people have been waiting for their stuff for ages. I feel bad for it but work was so exhausting I came home and literally fell asleep while falling onto the couch.

And since so many people visit my blog just because of the Art S Buck mannekins: yes, BUY THEM. They rock! ...

Anne

21 Weeks later - no horror though

She's really pretty O_O and I love her eye color (smoked amber something). She's 1 kg lighter than her brother which can be quite unuseful in fights ("and here rolls the panzer over meee"....)

Her character is quite clear. She's a bit reserved, quite and a silent bon vivant. She purrs only when she feels like purring and usually loves to watch everything. Normally her cuddle time is around 4 in the morning where she gets in a total frenzy and treadles on my face to get attention O_o;

Tretel got really big. I know that the cats from this breed (if you can call it "breed") turn out to be usually Catzillas so let's see if Tretel will be a Catzilla too. He's the one of the siblings who loves to be pampered, to cuddle, to snorr on his back and who loves to crawl into holes, your shirt, under your blanket and freshly washed clothes. He's still not the bright one of the two cats but I guess it's one of his charms. Treadle likes to get his cuddle time at 5 in the morning.

Alltogether our nights got a lot shorter....

21 weeks ago

How's life? - Oh, nice!

 obviously we start with random Hantje and Tretel pics...
what can I say... both are fine, Tretel grows into a catzilla and Hantje is a little princee-nator.

Normally I am not a fan of piggy pink but her nose is just so "awww" and "owww" and going all the ugly babytalk down like an idiot XD.










I have to admit that I'm fighting with getting back into normal mode after sickness- even more with a sinusitis feeling like a jelly-head. Hopefully I'll be able to finish a little in-game animation and backgrounds for two games this evening... doh!
Many things to write about but it feels odd to talk about things I can't show, companies I can't name and project I rejected. (after 5 years it's nice though to say "no thanks!" instead of getting rejected... hohohoh!... I'm sorry, the mint-oil burned my braincells away... )

250 km

Hantje found a new place to sit, play, nerve and sleep: Right on my desk. What is really irritating is that she loves the mouse arrow which makes it kinda impossible to work since you have your whole screen "pawed" by her.

Yesterday Ty and me visited my family -celebrating two birthsdays- and we drove right into a thunderstorm. It's been a long time since I was in the middle of such a thunderstorm. Partially the streets went down under and although it was fun to drive through the puddles of water it made a little mess in our time-table. Oh well...

Gucci... Hantje and Tretel's half-brother. He is SO HUGE. When we first saw him we both went like "omg, that's not a cat!". I have no idea if he grew a lot or we aren't used to huge cats anymore but we both pray that ours won't get that big. He's a meanie btw.

Sunflowers in my parent's garden. I love that garden, it's so unbelievable huge....

Wine- still green. That one grew in the garden when I was a baby as well. I have no idea how old the plants are but the wine is sugar-sweet in autumn (one reason for regular visits... hehe).

my father's passion for wood... it's just a detail shot since I didn't manage to get the whole thing on a photo without stumbling right into the raspberries.

Oh YUMMY! I love tomatos. Thanks god my parents still think we pratically starve in Berlin and lavish vegetables and fruits on us every time we visit. :D

Getting closer to Berlin again. I stood up at 06:30 and was back home at 02:something.... So tired. We slept longer than expected but fresh air from out of town makes me always tired.

Comics you should read...

are those of Lew.
follow the white rabbit

I love her comics. Not only because Hanni and Tretel (after the last week named "Hantje and Tretje"... since Hanni IS orange) got their very own comic :3

Shikishi

... tends to be unspellable for people who have no idea what it's used for.
Actually it's an autograph card on thick paper with a fancy silver frame.
My summer Shikishi for for the AnimagiC in Bonn, Germany will look like this:

after doing Kulla Shikishis this one is kinda great (not that the others were not great but Chubs give a lot more possibilites). I had some really odd ideas but this one was the best without giving too many spoilers.

Ugly watermark because it's a must.

Whoever wants the card should attend the AnimagiC convention in Bonn at the end of this month.

The day I buried my computer...

It's SO EFFIN HOT. Gods... thankfully the cats are happy with a plastic bag although it tends to be kinda annyoing if you have to concentrate with "kr schkrschkr" all the time.
Plastic bag dilberately destroyed. Goal achieved.

I spend the whole day rescueing/saving my old files... I didn't think it would take that long but well...

Hilarious slippers. I would never wear those outside but for "Cat wants to chew on your toes"-protection those are fine... It can't get any uglier though. And I realized that I am as pale as a corpse. No intention to melt in the sun though... 42° are not funny anymore.

Treadle likes those as well. I never had a cat with such a huge shoe fetisch.

Treadle: "They suit me, don't they?"
Anne: "..."









And: The evil package of doom (doom means= because of you I'm literally broke, you.. you... arf!). Computer is not back up... hope I can get everything done tomorrow :(
It sucks a lot.

PS. If you ever consider buying the suite, buy the englisch version. The german costs 1500 Euro more. Can anybody explain why anybody should pay 200% of the normal price?! I don't get it.





Yesterday I got bad news for my current job. Which leads me back to my project. If something isn't working out the way you want it, skip it and do what you *can* do. I am still angry though... spend so much time on something that will never be finished. Well, at least it taught me a lesson. Never to late to learn something, right?

*muttering*

Dear Tendo, I didn't miss you...

why did you come back?

Oh my pencil!

Week 2 with a book cover. Finally we're getting there- the final concept. But it was and is a very long walk but every time I get one little piece of the puzzle together I mentally make a cross... next step... next dozens sheets of paper.
Working with an author is really exhausting. Mostly because you can't look into his or her head. It's different and sometimes difficult but I enjoy it as much as it scares me because there are not only my expectations but also those of somebody else.

Can't show all those fail sketches but I will... when I'm allowed to like in... 2 years o.o

Gouache- first attempt...

Gouache can be a real bitch.
I like the color as much as I dislike it. It's like taming a lion for me but I guess I won't give up.
I'll upload some progress pics later.

First thoughts:
- I started too dark
- used too much white (okay, next time no white)
- the grass is reddish-pink (actually better than I thought since I wanted to stick to 4 colors while mixing... red, white, blue and black).


I'm unsure if I really love the colors or hate them. I guess my first attempt isn't that bad but it's still a long way to go.
I started because I wanted to try something new and well, it is new. Acrylics are great when you actually found out how to use them right and I got bored of them after the last book. Maybe bored isn't the correct word.
Better: It doesn't surprise me anymore. Which is good but I miss the feeling "Dang, how the heck does it work?!"



My day started actually really WEIRD.
Every Thursday the garbagemen are busy in our street and I just ran into the "mob" when they started collecting the garbage cans. One of the men started staring as I walked by. Am I looking that gross?! (okay, I literally fell out of bed but oh my... )
He still stared when I passed him.
"Excuse me..."
Yuck!
"My son.. he's ... what is he doing again?... Oh, manga!"
Still unsure what he wants. AND late...
"Aren't you one of those girls?" (sounded a bit like I have a disease...)
"Uh... if you mean if I am one of those doing comics, than yes.."
He smiled.
"I knew it!"

Doh! I live in the middle of nowhere (for Berlin).

Before & After

Some things change..

My desk for the last six months. I cleaned everything today, packed the acrylics back into a box, ripped off the paper, scrubbed hours to get rid of the tape-glue and threw away old jars with old color. It was kinda sad.

That´s how my table looks now. What a huge difference. I haven´t seen the glas-inlay for ages and I have no idea if I ever gonna use it before I move. Guess not. Next additional table will be one without glas-inlay since it´s odd to have one without any possibilty to use it (PC equipment will move here next week... wee!).

So... I´m still thinking about a new book project. I guess I won´t do anything for the next weeks since I´m busy with agency work (christmas... now... well... >_>; )

My fingercups tickle. Every day I don´t work I get impatient. It´s like my muses are punching me every minute forcing me to move on. "Don´t wait, do it, do it."
Normally the months after a finished book are the most productive ones for me. It´s like all ideas are finally creeping back into my head where Kulla was for six month. So much space to fill.
And still.. I´m kinda sad. Five years with Kulla left a lot of traces.
I´m curious what comes next.