Katara Necklace

Oops! I almost forgot to upload this!

A poorly crafted attempt at Katara's necklace from "Avatar: the Last Airbender". My sister and I were REALLY bored. We also made a little forest spirit that you can view in my older posts.

Anyway, just an attempt at jewelery making.

Since it's technically art, I suppose it belongs on the blog.

Bring Me to Life

Yet another T-shirt hot off the press.

This time it features Astro Boy on the front and Pinoco on the back.

Both characters are creations of celebrated Japanese animator Osamu Tezuka. You can learn more about him and "Astro Boy" by following an extensive list of links in my previous entry titled "Astro and Beyond".

These characters have interesting similarities beyond being close to my heart.

1) When robotic scientist Dr. Tenma lost his son Tobio in a car accident, he was convinced of resurrecting him by creating a replica robot to replace his son. But when the robot was completed, Dr. Tenma soon discovered that no robot could replace his son. The new Tobio could never eat, nor sleep, nor grow to be a man as his son would have. He heartlessly sold the robot to a circus.

Meanwhile, the new Tobio had come to love the Dr., feeling in his heart that he was his dearest father, and perceiving that he was indeed Tobio. He went on to become Astro Boy.

2) I won't get into much detail about Pinoco. Please follow this link to now the specifics of her story: (link).

When Pinoco was little more than a bundle of central nerve and organ systems, and no body to carry her in the world, she sought the help of Dr. Black Jack to repair her. He brought the 18 year old a new life, giving her a synthetic body of a young girl to fit her nerve and organ systems.

But when Pinoco met her sister once more, transformed, she too, like Astro, was abandoned by her only family member. One that neither loved not cared for her.

Please follow this link to the first English subtitled episode of Black Jack that features Pinoco: (link).

Anyway... sorry for the rant. This T-shirt is a design dedicated to my love for both unfortunates and their similarities. Please enjoy :) There's more where this came from!

P.S. in some pics they look kind of... lop sided. It's only because of the way I was holding the camera.

Astro and Beyond

Recently, much like my long-reigning Disney obsession, so too has come a new one. Tezuka anime.
He was an animator who became famous for his children's' cartoons. They were a blend of imagination, darkness, reality, and the simple way of showing children the darker parts of life through creative and lovable characters. He went on to fabricate some of the most well known anime shows of all time such as "Astro Boy" and "Kimba the White Lion".

To learn more about this great animator with imagination and storytelling far beyond his time, go here: (link).

To learn more about "Astro Boy", go here: (link). To see the first episode in Japanese with English subtitles, go here: (link).

To learn about "Kimba the White Lion", go here: (link). To see the first episode in its original English dub, go here: (link). To see the first episode of the sequel series in its original English dub, go here: (link).

My love of Tezuka's animation prompted me to see the new Disney movie based on his "Astro Boy". It was... mildly entertaining. A lot of the concepts were unlike the original show, but it was still... alright. After seeing the movie I drew this picture from memory.

I highly recommend following the links above. I am expected, because of my age, to watch garbage shows on TV like "Glee" that teach me nothing and are bleached and powdered to the point that virtually no reality is present.

Unlike those shows, however, Tezuka faces the dark subjects, like racism, abandonment and one's own inner demons. Though his shows are old, can be described as 'hokey', have annoying theme songs and old-style animation, past the first glance, there is a heart and soul to his shows that modern TV can not provide.

I'm sure "Glee" can not make me ponder my purpose in the world, destiny, or my own inner workings.

Mai in Red

More Airbender fan art :) tee hee!
Just doodling at the breakfast table while staying at my godparents' house. She sort of popped up as I was mindlessly scribling.
If you dont know, this is Mai from the Airbender cartoon series (follow this link to find out more about this great show: link)
I didn't really know what her outifit looks like, so I made one up for her. Personally, I think she looks good in red, rather than her usual black :)

Potterish

That's right. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" has just been cartoon-ized. (I know that's not a word...)

I felt a little Potterish (yet another non-existent word) and scribbled this in front of the TV. It should probably be coloured to finish the project, but meh, I'm busy as it is ;)

Anyone else pumped from Potter 7 pt. 2? I know I am! REALLY excited!

Arctic and Africa

Painted quite awhile ago, on two canvases I received for Christmas two years ago. This was during that large Disney loop I was experiencing. I found them tucked away and felt like showing them to you :)

The first canvas shows the grey-blue-greens of a frosty Canadian arctic, mountains peeking out from the storm, the Northern Lights shimmering in the sky, and the silhouette of Kenai and Koda from Disney's "Brother Bear". These characters are also featured in two other posts that you can find here in my older posts.

In contrast, the second painting shows the hot, blazing savanna, the glowing yellow sun up above, and the silhouettes of Simba and Nala from Disney's "The Lion King". You can find another "Lion King" related post elsewhere in my older posts.

I really like the contrast between frosty arctic and blazing savanna. I am rather pleased with them and I especially like their vibrant colours!

Obsession is Apparent

Whoa, that's allot of pictures!

For Christmas my sister and I received tickets to see "The Wizard of Oz" the musical, which was touring North America and would be stopping in a town near by. To mark the occasion, we decided to make our own T-shirts in the Oz theme and wear them to the production.

We bought our materials at Michael's (which included T-shirts and fabric markers) and were eager to start the project.

Here is my finished work I wore to the show. It features Dorothy Gale and the Scarecrow on the front, and the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion on the back. I also signed my name at the top beside the Tin Man, but for privacy's sake I covered it with a business card for the photograph.

Although on a T-shirt, this is probably one of my best works. I especially like the finished product of the Tin Man and Scarecrow.

It got me thinking... why shouldn't I design all of my shirts? Frankly, I am unimpressed with the wardrobe options available at retail malls, and if I chose to deck out my own T-shirts, I could customize them to my heart's content :) It would also be less costly, as I'd only have to buy a plain T-shirt and use the existing markers and materials I used for my Oz shirt. I've already started looking into this idea, now I only have to coax my mother into getting me a white fabric marker.

Now I can't wait for "The Lion King" to come to Toronto, 'cause I've got tickets and my markers are at the ready!

Two-Panel Kenai and Koda

A gradual two-panel facial expression transition between characters: Koda and Kenai from Disney's "Brother Bear".

This was part of my Disney cartoon experimental phase I had a while back. I was originally going to have about five panels, with the characters interacting, but I got lazy and side tracked. Maybe one day I'll complete the project.

Aw... these guys are just so cute :3

I had a lot of fun drawing them.

Airbender Funnies

Ya! I've finally succeeded at creating an original, half-decent comic strip!
A little comic I did featuring Zuko and Uncle Iroh (is that how you spell his name???) I did a few weeks ago.
It's hard to read in small scale, so if you want to read it, you have to click on the image. It will become larger and then you can easily read the speech bubbles and even get a closer look at the facial expressions.
I worked pretty hard on this one, but I do think Zuko's head is a bit ...round... in the final box, and I slacked off on Iroh's drawings towards the end.
Hope it's amusing, though :)

Warrior Girl

I don't know? Is she some kind of warrior?... I'm guessing so because of her sword...
Honestly, I just started doodling on my manga sketch pad and she sort of showed up. I really like her though, and I remember spending ages on her sleeves and collar. I think it payed off.
One of my more favorite anime-style drawings, then again, there's only a few...
Hope you like :)

Watching from Afar

An art project I recently finished at my after-school classes. The truth is, the image in a magazine that I was basing my figure off of had her hand behind another model, so I stuck a pillar in my scene, hence avoiding frustrating hand-drawing.
This is done in charcoal and grey and white pastels.
I rather enjoyed working on her, but I must say, charcoal is not my favorite media. I don't enjoy drawing hands either.

From My Manga Sketch Pad

Two anime-style characters I designed a while back after ready a manga called Kimi Ni Todoke (which I recommend to NO ONE). One of my best efforts at Japanese-style cartooning. Not sure who they are, though...

Airbender Fanart: 4

The fourth instalment of my Airbender fanart process. Katara's face has been reworked, as well as Zuko's. His posture has been changed (leg position), his shirt detailed, and i have added a wall (the place they are sitting on).
Zuko's legs might be too small for his body, and maybe Katara's head is STILL too big...? Hm...