Mary the Snow-deer, I hate you, you're much more popular than me.

So... big news, I guess, lol.

I have just finished my first ever paid illustration job. And it went absolutely swimmingly.

The job was for a book cover and two spread illos for a book that's being released in Frankfurt, by Calcium Creative. I had to draw two vikings, one for a cover and one for a spread illo, and a longboat, and they seemed to really like what I did. =] Let's hope it gets good reception in Frankfurt, lol.

So i'm really looking forwards to the next job - I hope it won't be too long! I'm planning on popping up to London in the next couple of weeks to meet my agent, and hopefully get my portfolio properly sorted so that they can start passing it around to clients. Yay!

That's pretty much it from me.

But I think, starting from this entry, i'm going to post about an illustrator I like on every entry I make. It's helpful for me, and hopefully other people might find it inspiring.

This entry is:

Yun Kouga



Official Japanese site: here.
Anime News Network site: here.

I think anyone who knows me on Facebook will know how I love to draw Ritsuka, who is the main character from Yun Kouga's manga, Loveless. 12 year old Ritsuka suddenly becomes involved with a shady character named Soubi who, after the death of Seimei, Ritsuka's older brother, appears from nowhere and constantly tells Ritsuka that he loves him. It turns out that Soubi was linked with Seimei through a secret world of spell battles and secret names; Ritsuka's secret name being Loveless. Soubi and Seimei were Fighter and Sacrifice; the components of which the battle system in Loveless is constructed. The Fighter does the damage, the Sacrifice takes the damage. This manga is interesting in it's ideals of innocence, loyalty and virginity, the latter of which being shown by the outrageously cute cat ears sprouting from characters' heads, making social relationships between characters obvious. For example, the 28 year old school teacher, Shinonome Hitomi, often gets teased because she still has her ears. It also makes Ritsuka wary of Soubi at first, as Soubi has no ears when he meets Ritsuka. It's a very cute manga, but with some adult subtexts such as the dysfunctional relationship between Ritsuka and Soubi (no matter how cute it is, a 19 year old kissing a 12 year old is a little bit weird), and Soubi's strange feelings towards pain and ownership. I think Loveless is definitely one of Yun Kouga's most popular manga - it was made into an anime series with a very pretty intro and animation style in 2005 by J.C Staff.

The main thing I find appealing about her style, however, is it's clarity; every panel is clear and distinct and she doesn't go overboard with the screen tone, yet she somehow manages to make nearly every panel look absolutely stunning. The way she uses colour is just so pretty too, with muted, soft colours. She started her career as a doujinka (fan manga artist) doing doujinshi for series like Captain Tsubasa, then debuted with her first original manga; Metal Heart. She currently has several ongoing series, Loveless being one of them, as well as Gestalt, Crown of Love and Tenshicho.

Stay hard to find.

Well, I thought i'd update with some exciting news - I've been accepted by an illustration agency. =D

I was actually approached by them after my exhibition in London, well... saying that, I was approached by quite a few but not a lot of them seemed actually genuine. This one checked out however, so I decided to send them some stuff and they loved it. They're called Advocate Art, and they promote your work all around the world in different art trade fairs and with over 700 art buyers. So it's looking pretty hopeful. However, i'm trying to keep an even head over it - it might not even work out, so we'll see. It's good news, though, right?

So after I send them back the contracts, we sort of sort my Advocate portfolio out between us, which they then take round to clients, and it's also advertised on their site, but they say they are by no means just an online company. So it's looking really hopeful. Some of their artists have had huge deals with people like Expedia, Discovery Channel and Taylor Swift. =D

In other news, Moonlet and the Love-Monks have now started to accept gigs, which means they'll be playing in and around Cornwall. I have to design some stage props for them to use - they already have the massive frog I had for my exhibition. They're a really original sounding band with interesing instruments, so I fully recommend you check them out if they're in your area. I promise a very good night out! Their first gig is at the Live Bar in Truro on the 4th of October. Be good to see you there!

Thirdly, just a quick note to say that i've updated my website, and it now has a web design pricing page. So if you know anyone who would like a portfolio website for cheap, please direct them to my page.

I think that's pretty much it. Off back to Plymouth later for a little while - I now need to find a part time job to fund my manga habit. =3

1000 Words

Thought i'd better update this, since it's been bloody ages. =3

Believe it or not, i've been busy. Unfortunately, it's more to do with surviving than drawing, but i'm getting back on track now and sorting myself out. I'm in the process of finishing up some projects that I started a while ago and kind of let them drag out.

First up is Vinita's new website: http://www.vinitaslazyafternoon.com !

Vinita Hemachandra is a friend of mine (another illustrator =3) who graduated in the same class as me. Her style is really lovely - flowing, feminine, and really deep-rooted in all the things she believes in. Check out her site and have a look at her new shop. All built by yours truly. =]

Next up, which is something I feel incredibly guilty for, is starting the MBMedia website. MBMedia (previously MBPhotos) is a cornish based photography/media company formed by my old school friends Marc Macnab and Ben Lean. They're very very good at what they do, and considering i've already recieved the payment (they took some amazing body reference photos for me!), I'm planning on getting this done as quickly as my standards will let me. Please consider them for any weddings, parties, occasions, whatever. They're really very good. =]

And the third thing on my list is creating some new designs for greetings cards, which I will be sending to lots of different card publishing companies, and some greetings cards magazines. Hopefully, they'll sell and I can finally get some money coming in! Wish me luck!

So, that's all. I'd better get off before Dad goes ape on me. =£