GODZILLA - In Theaters Tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow's the big day!  I'm pretty anxious about it myself.

But I'll bet you forgot who else lives in San Francisco (where a major part of the movie takes place), so I'll let Bessie Higgenbottom get a word in...  ;)

Done tonight/this morning on tablet in FireAlpaca.

In Memory of Ken Utsui (1931-2014)

I heard sad news: Prolific actor Ken Utsui, best known for playing Japan's first celluloid superhero Super-Giant (AKA: Starman) from 1957 to 1959, has died in Aichi, Nagoya of pulmonary emphysema today, aged 82. While he hated the role (due to the costume and its embarrassingly pronounced crotch area), he nonetheless started an endless generation of invincible costumed heroes in Japan, protecting not just their native country, but the peace of the entire world.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Utsui.

Done this morning on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Happy 45th Anniversary, Ultra Seven!

Done tonight on tablet in Photoshop, this is the first new tablet art I've done in a month, after moving to a new Richmond neighborhood!  And it couldn't have been a better occasion, as tonight is the 45th Anniversary of one of my top favorite superheroes, Ultra Seven!  Japan's answer to Superman.  The TV series, Ultra Seven (Tsuburaya; 1967), created by Eiji Tsuburaya (as an unofficial follow-up to his previous hit, Ultraman), premiered on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) on this day in 1967!  And for this occasion, Rekira (giving a piggyback ride to Lily Merriweather) shakes the hand of one of his inspirations.  (Another character I made, Dengeking, is influenced by Seven as well!)

Have a great one!

RIP Jerry Nelson and Neil Armstrong

I was sad to hear that veteran Muppet performer Jerry Nelson (78) and pioneer astronaut Neil Armstrong (82) have died Thursday and today (Saturday), respectively, so I whipped up this bit of art featuring Rekira and Lily Merriweather flying into outer space.  Done on tablet in Photoshop.

Thanks for the great memories, Jerry and Neil.  We'll miss you.

Goodbye, Arianna

I am very sad to report that my grandniece, Arianna, who was born prematurely on January 14, passed away last night at about 10PM (February 24).  She was in intensive care, and succumbed to an infection she was fighting with for weeks.  My family was very sad over the news, some of my family members pretty much saw it coming.  I was looking forward to having more kids in the family.  (But we still do have Jenna, who's several months old, so I'm thankful for that.)  So I decided to express myself with this drawing:

Done tonight on tablet in Photoshop.

My 50th Post!

This is my 50th post on this blog!

To kick off February for this occasion, I did a new doodle on tablet in Photoshop during the night!  Just completed is a scene of Rekira being surrounded by a horde of Omicron Robot Spies, and ready to fight them.

As an added bonus, some more Rekira stuff I had yet to post from last year.  All were also done on tablet in Photoshop.

Here is a test comic art I did of Tatsuo, on utilizing a technique similar to the col-erase procedure I've done with many of my recent doodles.  This was done on December 10 of last year.

An illustration I did on November 5th last year of Mysti-Girl from the Dynamic Heralds!

And another test of Rekira himself done on November 15 of last year.

And a couple of FX tests done with the above.  The first is an NG "half-tone" test, the other is a red neon test.

A new Lily piece, and RIP Ricky Garduno

Here's yet another Lily test, done this morning on tablet in Photoshop, complete with blue draft lines!  Some people (artists included) like the new hairdo I did for Lily, so I just might use it after all.  :)

And something sad happened this past week; animator/cartoonist Ricky Garduno died at the young age of 35.  Some say it was suicide, which makes his passing more tragic.  (He was very depressed, I hear.)  Although I never met Ricky in person, he became a friend on Facebook a while back, and he enjoyed my art and a lot of other cool stuff I shared there, even commenting a little here and there.  That made things more poignant, so I had to acknowledge that.  Below, here's something I just finished tonight, on tablet in Photoshop, featuring Lily with Kimbo from Garduno's 1930 Nightmare Theater, featured on Dumm Comics (one of my favorite comic strip sites).

Rest in Peace, Ricky.

RIP Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

This past week, Steve Jobs, co-founder of the electronics company Apple, Inc., died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 56.  His legendary status is well deserved, and it's sad to see him go so soon.  He was a pioneer, an innovator, a billionaire, and a great inspiration to us all.  And despite his health problem in the last several years, he pressed on bravely.  I could go as far as to call him the real-life Tony Stark/Iron Man!

And thus, he deserves a tribute.  Finished just now on Flash is a tablet drawing I did of Lily Merriweather paying tribute to Jobs.

Thank you for years of quality computers and groundbreaking gadgets, Steve.  We'll miss you.

Happy 20th Anniversary, Rekira!

The moment has arrived!

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the creation of my own original giant monster, Rekira!

Who, or what, is "Rekira?" Refer to this introduction link for more info! In it, I explain how I conceived this awesome monster.

Below, I made my 20th Anniversary artwork for Rekira. Based on a pencil sketch I did yesterday while at Caffespresso, I traced it over tonight in Flash. Here is the black & red version:


Black:


Red:


Source Sketch:

That's a different-looking logo, isn't it? :)

I also used two lightning bolts on each side, as opposed to one in the final version.

And something that's been ridiculously long overdue, my support tribute to my friends in Japan!

The little girl riding astride Rekira, in case you didn't know, is my other character, Lily Merriweather.

On March 11, when a series of disasters began to hit Japan, I was absolutely distraught. I was so sad for everyone there that I couldn't draw for weeks. But I knew I could not give up. I can't. So I wanted to do something to acknowledge my friends over there. Rekira may be a monster like Godzilla, but he's also a hero. And Japan needs heroes, now more than ever (even the American Lily).

I began drawing this weeks after the disasters, and finished inking it (with Micron pens) on April 8, 2011. After some personal delays up to this point, I scanned and colored it last night in Photoshop. I'm really proud of how it came out.

This 20th Anniversary for Rekira is a day to be remembered.