K.J. stands for…

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
As Comic-Con preparations have me somewhat busy, here’s another older piece, done for the cover of a mini-comic called Kid Justice:


click above for larger view

The actual Kid Justice story was written by Josh, drawn by Vinny, and published by Big Boss Comics. Incidentally, the Presidential seal in the background of my cover was snagged from one of Vinny’s panels inside the comic. The story (and a black and white version of my humble cover) are going to be included in a Big Boss Comics anthology, which will be on sale at Comic-Con. More on that (and my other Comic-Con happenings) as Comic-Con gets closer.

Quick Post, and a Plug

~ J.Ho ~ 1 Comment
(Posted early, as has become my habit…)

From a commisioned project where I was asked to illustrate a few distinct TV characters. First up, Eddie Munster:

click above for larger view

Drawn in pencil and inked with a Tombo brush pen and Sakura microns, meticulously touched up in Photoshop to make it look like I know what I’m doing, and then colored (in Photoshop). This piece is actually a bit older, but I think it holds up decently.

But enough about me–remember this post? Well Charles has completed the mystical fish’s extensive background story, entitled “The Children of Gods,” complete with an appendix explaining some of his references and influences.

It’s really an excellent piece of writing, so go read it! Go!

A Not-So-Familiar Face…

~ J.Ho ~ 6 Comments
(Posting a wee bit early today…)

Just a quick little pen sketch, with some Photoshop colors slapped in. Anybody remember this little guy?

Not an obscure 80’s cartoon, not a hoax, and not a fever dream–it’s Cog, the title character of The Legend of Cog, an ashcan comic that I sold at Comic-Con in 2006. Basically the 24-page mini-comic is the lead-in to a much larger story which, theoretically, will see the light of day within the next couple of years. You can read the first eight pages at http://www.legendofcog.com/. Unfortunately, that website has been horribly neglected (as has Cog) for the past year. Again, theoretically, I should be updating that site soon.

There won’t be a new issue of Cog at this year’s convention, but I am pretty busy working on a few other things for the convention–a sketchbook, and two give-away postcards (one of which features Cog himself). I’ll post more about that stuff and talk a little bit about where I’m at on The Legend of Cog as the convention gets closer.

5-SECOND REVIEW: I Saw Transformers O_O

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
Transformers (In theaters now!)

I’m cramming for Comic-Con, plus it’s already late, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time reviewing Transformers here. Basically, it’s a fun film that is sometimes silly, with good special effects and action, and a some decent one-liners and nods to the franchise’s history. Some of the attempted humor is clunky, and a lot of the fight scenes are blurry and chaotic, but the character designs, which were controversial among many fans, work excellently in the context of the film, and we are left wide open for a sequel.

Verdict: Awesome. Well worth full ticket prices to see robots gettin’ blowed up good. You will leave the theater feeling like someone grabbed you and shook you by the shoulders for two-plus hours… in a good way!

For More Giant Robots Getting Blowed Up Good: My other favorite giant robot franchises include, Giant Robo, Escaflowne, The Big O, and Robotech.

* * *

NOW, as a bonus, here’s a little e-mail that I wrote up and sent out to a few friends and co-workers. Hammers said it was blogworthy, and by god, when he says something is blogworthy, I BLOG! You will note, that as I have enjoyed the movie at this point, I must eat my words in regards to the filmmaking skills of one Michael Bay. My apologies to Mister Bay and the enormous pile of money that he sleeps on. At any rate, please enjoy:

As you all may or may not know, the live action Transformers movie is debuting on the fourth of July, 7-4-7, as the posters say. Only it isn’t, because they moved it up a day, so 7-3-7, as the new posters say. But then they decided to move it up another day with advance screenings starting at 8:00pm, so now it’s premiering on 7-2-7, which is not on any poster that I have seen. Basically, Transformers will be opening on a Monday, giving it a SEVEN day Fourth of July ‘weekend’ opening. You are asking yourself a question right now, and the answer is, “yes, Hollywood is ridiculous.”

Oh, and by the way, there was already a screening at the L.A. Film Festival, the world premier in Italy, and another advance screening set for this weekend at the annual Transformers convention taking place in scenic Rhode Island. So, even watching it on the first day of the SEVEN day opening, I will already basically be the last person in the world watching it.

Which brings me to the point of this mass mailing. for those of you who had the stamina to stick with me, I applaud you. Again, I digress. presently, the point of this message:

TRANSFORMERS
This Monday July 2nd, 8:00 PM
(Author’s Note: location excluded, as this invite has now expired)

I have my ticket, and I will be there, rain or shine, alone if need be–as track four of the soundtrack to the original Transformers movie says, NOTHING’S GONNA STAND IN MY WAY. I will not be buying tickets or saving seats for anyone, but I would be delighted if you would meet me there. If you decide to come, I highly recommend buying tickets online. And since I’m not doing anything other than writing this email, feel free to bring as many people as you like.

I need not remind you that this is a movie based on a popular toy franchise, being released on a major holiday ‘weekend’ in hopes of attracting the lowest common denominator, and is directed by Michael Bay (a director who is, in case you haven’t noticed, not necessarily good). In short, this movie has three strikes against it–and we are walking into a dangerous situation at best (Let us not forget Pearl Harbor… the movie, not the historical tragedy. Though we should also remember the historical tragedy, for reasons that I shouldn’t have to explain to you here**). Ahem. As I was saying–

Like Optimus Prime recruiting soldiers for the Ark’s fateful journey to planet Earth, I will only be taking volunteers for this mission. Let no one feel obligated to fight for the freedom of all sentient beings. But with any luck, we might see some cool special effects and watch some robots get blowed up good.

So–if you decide to attend, just meet me inside. You will know me by the geeky child-like grin on my face.

-j

** Actually, I’m being a jerk about Pearl Harbor (the movie), I haven’t seen it, though I understand that it is terrible.

Turtle Power (Part 4 of 4): Cool But Rude

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
The final one:

click above for larger view

Well, now that I’m done posting these, I can bore you all with some rambling on, as I promised previously. Raphael is probably my favorite of the turtles these days, on account of him being the abrasive smart-ass of the group. When I was a kid, I liked Donatello best, because I always liked characters who were inventors (like Wheeljack in Transformers or Panthro in Thundercats). Donatello is still a real close second for me.

Working on these turtle pieces was a lot of fun. It was quite a different experience for me–drawing clean, simple pen sketches in one shot is a far cry from my usual M.O. (which is either super-sketchy or super anal-retentive). Also, including an environment to emphasize each turtle’s personality and actually thinking about composition was quite a change of pace for me. Leonardo always struck me as a noble defender-type character, with a somewhat static personality, so I did my best to make him look stoic and watchful, but not too dynamic. Michelangelo is a total spazz, so having him jumping out of a building with frenetic energy (possibly into a battle, or possibly for kicks) seemed to make sense. Donatello, being the most pensive of the turtles, is the only who doesn’t have his weapon drawn, and instead is daydreaming on a fire escape. Raphael is, of course, looking disgruntled, whether because living in a sewer stinks (literally) or because he’s about to kick somebody’s ass. Incidentally, Raphael was the first of the series that I drew (I posted him last because I also thought it was the strongest of the four), and was inspired by my brief time having an apartment that smelled like garbage and wanting to kick someone’s ass because of it.

Lastly, you might note that each turtle was colored a different shade of green–this is something that was done with the original action figures in the 90’s, and was done again with the relaunch of the cartoon and toyline in recent years. I’ve always been a little bit baffled by which hues of green they matched with which bandana color–the combinations always seemed to clash. I did my best here to make the color combinations complimentary. Oh, and the titles for these posts paraphrase the themesong from the 90’s cartoon, in case you didn’t know.

I might try some more pieces like these–they’re very relaxing to do. Thoughts? (By the way, I do plan on responding to comments again, I’ve just been busy getting ready for Comic-Con… O_O )

The others in the series:

Real Life IM Transcript, Fake IM names… Subject: Transformers and Pokemon

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
It started out innocently enough…

[00:32] AUTOBOT-Elric: butthead
[00:32] AUTOBOT-Elric: ya there?
[00:33] green lantern wannabe: yeah i am
[00:33] AUTOBOT-Elric: i just saw a clip of transformers on david letterman
[00:34] green lantern wannabe: ok so how was the Tf clip?
[00:34] AUTOBOT-Elric: that **** was rad
[00:34] AUTOBOT-Elric: they’re giving away too much, which is a bad sign
[00:34] green lantern wannabe: hahahah sure i hear it looks good
[00:34] AUTOBOT-Elric: but
[00:34] green lantern wannabe: hahahah mayybbeee
[00:34] AUTOBOT-Elric: the clip is radddd
[00:34] green lantern wannabe: haha
[00:34] AUTOBOT-Elric: its megatrron cornering spike on a rooftop
[00:34] AUTOBOT-Elric: dude
[00:34] AUTOBOT-Elric: it looked great
[00:35] AUTOBOT-Elric: and its the first i’ve heard megs talk
[00:35] AUTOBOT-Elric: hugo weaving sounds nothing like himself
[00:35] AUTOBOT-Elric: i can not wait for this ****!
[00:36] AUTOBOT-Elric: seriously dude, this **** is no fair
[00:37] AUTOBOT-Elric: everyone has seen the movie but me
[00:37] AUTOBOT-Elric: WHY GODDDD
[00:37] AUTOBOT-Elric: ???
[00:37] green lantern wannabe: hahahahah
[00:37] green lantern wannabe: its cool man
[00:37] green lantern wannabe: no worries
[00:37] green lantern wannabe: you’ll get your turn
[00:37] AUTOBOT-Elric: I WANT IT NOWWWWW
[00:37] AUTOBOT-Elric: HUNGERRRRRRRR
[00:37] AUTOBOT-Elric: I WANT IT SO BADDDD I CAN TASTE IT
[00:37] AUTOBOT-Elric: IT DRIVES ME MAD TO SEE IT WASTED
[00:38] AUTOBOT-Elric: little quote from the og TF soundtrack there, niatch

Then some talk about my tragic dating life lead to…

[01:03] AUTOBOT-Elric: i think instead of dating i’m just gonna buy a DS and become a pokemon trainer
[01:03] AUTOBOT-Elric: sound good?
[01:03] AUTOBOT-Elric: quit everything else
[01:06] green lantern wannabe: dude
[01:06] green lantern wannabe: go to bed
[01:06] green lantern wannabe: haha
[01:07] AUTOBOT-Elric: you know what u need to do
[01:08] AUTOBOT-Elric: make a name for yourself
[01:08] green lantern wannabe: umm surreeee
[01:08] green lantern wannabe: ok
[01:08] AUTOBOT-Elric: and then go thru my favorites on DA
[01:08] AUTOBOT-Elric: and just pick people to hire
[01:08] AUTOBOT-Elric: and then tell me all about it
[01:08] AUTOBOT-Elric: you’ll have to txt me
[01:08] AUTOBOT-Elric: cuz i’ll be travelling the world, becoming the world’s greatest pokemon trainer
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: BOOM… BOOMBOOMBOOM-BOOM
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: I WANNA BEEEE THE VERY BEST
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: LIKE NO ONE EVER WAS
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: TO CATCH THEM IS MY TRUE TEST
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: TO TRAIN EM IS MY CAUSE
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: I’LL TRAVEL ‘CROSS THE LAND
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: SEARCHIN FAR AND WIDE
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: EACH POKEMON TO UNDERSTAND
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: THE POWERRRRRR THATSSSS INSIIIIDE
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: POKEMON!
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: GOTTA CATCH EM ALLLL
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: IT’S YOU AND ME
[01:09] AUTOBOT-Elric: YOU KNOW ITS OUR DESTINY
[01:10] AUTOBOT-Elric: YOU NEEED ME AND I NEEEED YOU
[01:10] AUTOBOT-Elric: POKEEEEEEMONNNNNNN
[01:10] green lantern wannabe: okkkk
[01:10] green lantern wannabe: sure you do that
[01:10] green lantern wannabe: yeahhhh
[01:10] AUTOBOT-Elric: dude
[01:10] AUTOBOT-Elric: YOU SAID ITS OK!
[01:10] AUTOBOT-Elric: *packs duffle bag and pokeballs*
[01:11] green lantern wannabe: dude.. you are making me tired
[01:12] AUTOBOT-Elric: dude
[01:12] AUTOBOT-Elric: you have to have stamina
[01:12] AUTOBOT-Elric: if you want to be the world’s best pokemon trainer
[01:12] AUTOBOT-Elric: …
[01:12] AUTOBOT-Elric: WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
[01:12] AUTOBOT-Elric: e_e
[01:14] AUTOBOT-Elric: eh comrade???
[01:14] AUTOBOT-Elric: eh?
[01:14] AUTOBOT-Elric: ;)
[01:15] green lantern wannabe: eh?

Later, I continue to be hilarious…

[01:29] AUTOBOT-Elric: ok cool, sounds like a plan
[01:29] AUTOBOT-Elric: i’m gonna get together some supplies and pick out a few pokeballs
[01:29] AUTOBOT-Elric: then i need to email professor oak
[01:29] AUTOBOT-Elric: then its off to bed
[01:29] AUTOBOT-Elric: and i start my journey as a pokemon trainer tommorrow!
[01:30] AUTOBOT-Elric: who should i pick first?
[01:30] AUTOBOT-Elric: i’m thinking bulbasaur
[01:30] AUTOBOT-Elric: dude… ?
[01:30] AUTOBOT-Elric: what do you think?
[01:30] AUTOBOT-Elric: you seem like a squirtle man yourself
[01:31] green lantern wannabe: hahaha
[01:31] green lantern wannabe: umm i dont know’
[01:31] green lantern wannabe: its been awhile since i played
[01:32] AUTOBOT-Elric: lol… i forgot, you actually are really good at it
[01:32] AUTOBOT-Elric: damn dude
[01:32] AUTOBOT-Elric: you and i need to both get DS’s
[01:32] AUTOBOT-Elric: and each get a diff version of the game
[01:32] AUTOBOT-Elric: we’ll be rivals!
[01:32] AUTOBOT-Elric: this is gonna be rad.
[01:33] green lantern wannabe: im retired
[01:33] AUTOBOT-Elric: dude
[01:34] AUTOBOT-Elric: i can see the heart of a pokemon trainer burning deep in you
[01:34] AUTOBOT-Elric: it never dies man
[01:34] green lantern wannabe: i hung it up for a bigger and more dangerous hunt
[01:36] AUTOBOT-Elric: digimon
[01:36] AUTOBOT-Elric: yeah i heard that brutha
[01:36] AUTOBOT-Elric: high five!
[01:40] green lantern wannabe: ummmm ok
[01:40] green lantern wannabe: have fun with that

Finally…

[02:04] green lantern wannabe: ok, im going to bed, so i can get up bright and early and get to work on the rest of the stuff i need to do
[02:04] green lantern wannabe: oh and
[02:05] green lantern wannabe: pika pika pika
[02:05] AUTOBOT-Elric: LOL
[02:05] green lantern wannabe: pikachuuuuuuuu
[02:05] AUTOBOT-Elric: I LOVE YOU MAN
[02:05] green lantern wannabe: hahah yeah yeah pika yeah
[02:05] green lantern wannabe: good pika.. imean night

The End!

Author’s Note: Yes, I am aware that naming Bulbasaur and Squirtle as starting Pokemon shows what an old man I am. That’s why I really do need to buy a DS and start training an Infernape or something. Just sayin.

Turtle Power (Part 3 of 4): Does Machines

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
The next in the series:

click above for larger view

I didn’t depict Donatello displaying his mechanical prowess, though hopefuly his pensive pose relays his more intellectual nature, as compared to his brothers. I will be talking a little bit more about these pieces once I post the final one in the series–most of what I have to say involves comparing and contrasting the turtle brothers, so it doesn’t make sense to bore you folks until you’ve seen all four pieces. Then it makes total sense to bore y’all.

Current Mood: Productive.
Reading: The Elric Saga: Part I (just finished it).
Watching: They Live, Hellboy: Sword of Storms, and Danny Phantom: Reality Trip.
Still Listening To: the soundtrack for Transformers the Movie. NOTHING’S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY!

The others in the series:

Turtle Power (Part 2 of 4): Party Dude

~ J.Ho ~ 5 Comments
It’s odd that Michelangelo has now appeared three times on my blog, especially since Donatello and Raphael are my favorites. This is the second in a series:

click above for larger view

Umm, not much to say about this. The offset colors I’m using in the backgrounds on all of these is something I’m swiping from old Looney Tunes shorts. I think it’s a Friz Freleng mannerism, but I’m not positive. Anyone?

The others in the series:

Turtle Power (Part 1 of 4): Leader

~ J.Ho ~ 4 Comments
I did some simple pen drawings during my recent plumbing/flooring crisis that I liked enough to digitally color and post. Here’s the first in a series:

click above for larger view

This is not a particularly strong piece on its own, but I think it works well with the others–but you’ll have to be the judge of that as I post the others over the next couple of weeks. No preliminary pencil on these–basically I just sketched out a few rough versions in pen and then drew one final version based on those roughs. Minimal photoshop clean-up.

The others in the series:

Handy Man

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
Posted early, blahblahblah:

My second entry for the Practice Makes Perfect Art Jam. The subject this time is “The Three Hands of the Dead“:

Yeah, I know there are four hands there–out of all my sketches I was happy with four, so I figured I’d throw in the extra one. I had so much fun with my Sasquatch post, that I basically used the same technique again–sketched in purple pencil (Col-Erase is my brand of choice, in case you were wondering), and outlined with a hot pink Prismacolor marker (yes, the color was actually called hot pink) and an ultra-fine black Sharpie.

As for the hands themselves, I think I did an okay, if bland job of it. Check out the other entries at Practice Makes Perfect.

Switchblade Sasquatch

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
Posted early…

I needed a last minute emergency post, and asked Hammers what to draw. He said “sasquatch” apparently because of the Tenacious D movie. I haven’t seen it yet, but I came up with this:


The switchblade was my idea, but I still felt it needed some more zing, and Hammers suggested a gleam or a star.

My plumbing problem is fixed and my sewage carpets have been replaced by hardwood laminate. Also, apparently, I’m the only person in the universe who does not like hardwood floors. At any rate, my woes have come to an end (knock on hardwood), and we will be returning shortly to the robust posts of extreme dorkiness that you have come to expect from this blog.

**EDIT**
When I typed up this post, I was a little under the gun and forgot a few things I wanted to mention–the sketching was done in (obviously) blue pencil, the thick outline was done with an orange Sharpie, and the thin outline was done with a black ultra-fine-tip Sharpie. After scanning the sketch, I adjusted the blues and oranges separately to achieve the hues and contrast that I wanted. The natural color of an orange Sharpie is considerably darker.

The Bare Minimum

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
Posted WAAAY early, so that I can concentrate on other BS.

Ballpoint pen and red sharpie, done in one shot, no preliminary pencils. Minimal Photoshop cleanup:

click above for larger view

I don’t show it much on this blog, but I do play around with different styles a lot when I’m sketching. In the midst of my on-going plumbing/garbage-carpet crisis, I have focused on doing simple pen drawings to keep me sane. Doing these minimalist pen drawings without making major mistakes is a zen-like exercise that helps keep me from moidalizin’ everything around me. With this particular comic, I think I was subconsciously swiping/homaging the style of my good friend Annie, of Ape Kabuki. However, her comics are simultaneously better, funnier, and more enigmatic. Stop looking at my crap, and go look at her blog!

Legal (Pad) Hi-Jinx

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
This is the doomsday scenario, people. I have been dealing with twelve-plus hour workdays, backed-up kitchen sinks, an apartment that now smells like garbage, and the usual BS. And yet, so unswerving is my fanatical devotion to the way of the blog, that here I am posting a dorky sketch of an 80’s cartoon character. It ain’t pretty, but it’s new, it’s in color (technically), and it’s here:

click above for larger view

Doodled this on an actual legal pad quite some time ago, scanned it in, added the shadow, type, and red eyes in Photoshop, and stored it away for a rainy day. Little did I know that the “rain” would be filthy, disgusting water, being regurgitated by my kitchen sink’s drain like vomit. Good times.

Gray skies are gonna clear up
Put on a happy face
Wipe off the clouds and cheer up
Put on a happy face

OH HEY, I ALMOST FORGOT…
Remember this post? Well thankfully, Charles got his computer in order, and he posted the mystical fish’s extensive background story, entitled “The Children of the Gods”!

Go read it! Go!

AGGRO

~ J.Ho ~ 7 Comments
Posting a few hours early…

This squirrel looks aggravated:

click above for larger view

Colored using techniques from an excellent tutorial on Deviant Art. It was nice trying something a little different, and while I don’t think this piece was a complete success, the process did give me an idea of how I might integrate this kind of soft lighting into my normal coloring style (which is not so drastically different to begin with).

A Ninja.

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
Something has alarmed this ninja:

Perhaps he’s alarmed that this is such a lame post? However, I am happy with the background colors on this. What can I say, folks, the day job has been awfully busy recently. O_O

One, Two, Tree

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
Two sketches today–both for the all new Practice Makes Perfect Art Jam, a new blog started by Ric Nicholls, which I am now a contributor to. Ric is one of the moderators of the He-Man.org fan-art forum that I mention so frequently, and he also happens to be an uber-talented artist. Check out his blog–it’s linked on the sidebar!

Anyways, the first challenge was to come up with a “Living Tree of Woe,” with an emphasis on working out the facial expression. After doing a couple of pages of fast pen sketches, I picked out the one that I liked the most, did a tight pencil version of it, then scanned and colored it:

click above for larger view

To be honest, I think I got carried away with trying to get the tree part right, and failed to really nail the facial expression. I’m lame!

Anyways, while sketching, I also drew a tree of woe with no face at all, emphasizing body language instead. I quickly tightened some pencils over it, scanned it, and slapped some colors on:

click above for larger view

I realize this in no way makes up for my failure to get the face right on the first one, but I just figured I’d share it since it was a by-product of my first attempt.

Comments and critiques?

Check out the Practice Makes Perfect Blog for everyone else’s entries!

Burn baby, burn!

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
Another pixelly pencil-tool Photoshop sketch:

The way this was originally drawn, the devil boy was supposed to be engulfed in flame. Obviously the way I colored it changed it so that the flame is really just behind him. I’m not sure if my attempts at depicting fiery backlighting were successful at all, but I did have fun with this one. The cold versus hot color scheme is, I think, something that I subconsciously was trying to swipe from the Brothers Hildebrandt.

What is thy bidding, my master?

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
The title of today’s post is a quote from Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back, actually), though I’m just using it here because it seemed appropriate for the body language of today’s sketch:
click above for larger view

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. My post is here, the entire thread (including some of my previous sketches) is here.

This is Scare Glow, another of Skeletor’s thugs, who was introduced towards the end of the toyline, arguably after the franchise had “jumped the shark.” He was originally billed as the “Evil Ghost of Skeletor,” though this was never further clarified or confirmed in any official manner. It seems like fans generally agree that he is probably not Skeletor’s ghost, and that works fine for me. As a result, I have changed his title to “Evil Ghost Warrior.”

The drawing itself is actually several months old–after I completed Skeletor, I had a couple of failed attempts at Scare Glow that got as far as inks, but didn’t quite sit right with me… actually, those first few attempts just plain sucked. What you’re looking at is my third attempt, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. The pose is meant to convey Scare Glow’s standing as I see it–one of the deadliest and most trusted of Skeletor’s minions. Anyways, this pic had been sitting in my hard-drive half-colored for months, and now here it is.

Before I sign off for the day, an anal retentive point that I want to address–Scare Glow’s weapon is frequently referred to as a scythe, and I’m sorry but that is hands-down, one-hundred percent wrong. A weapon does not automatically become scythe just because it’s wielded by a grim reaper-like character! I should however, clarify that I’m talking about the classic Scare Glow–the Scare Glow for the 200x revamp, actually did carry a scythe. But back to the classic version–I’ve also seen it referred to as a halberd, which is much closer, but still not quite right, because Scare Glow’s weapon lacks a spike at the head and a hook or thorn on the backside of the blade. I thought that it was a glaive, but this too was a mistake, as closer inspection revealed that a glaive’s blade is mounted on the end of the pole, not the side. Further investigation lead me to the lochaber axe, which is pretty close–but again, Scare Glow’s weapon lacked a vital component–a hook at the head of the pole. Finally, my research turned up the bardiche and the voulge–both seem like they could work, but I’m guessing voulge is the way to go.

Do we have any medieval weapons experts who can give us a verdict? Or maybe just a really well versed fantasy RPG fan?

Post Script: Sorry Buffy-fans, THIS isn’t a scythe either–alliteration does not make a scythe a scythe!

I caught up on comments this weekend!

~ J.Ho
Just a quick heads up for anyone interested–I caught up with responding to comments going all the way back to the beginning of April. Sorry for being so delinquent–I’ll try to do better job keeping up in the future. A special thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a comment. The feedback is appreciated!

**EDIT** For whatever stupid reason, I had comments on the post below turned off. I am an idiot. Comment away, if you so desire. Thanks, and sorry for the inconvenience!

I don’t actually have a magenta hoodie or red hair… or neon skin… or a turquoise shirt…

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
Taking a break from vector art and He-Man–a self portrait to appease my tremendous ego:
click above for larger view

This started out as kind of a quick random sketch done for the sake of fulfilling my Friday post (hence the self-deprecating word balloon and the super hi-larious t-shirt text). I felt somewhat lukewarm about it, until I stumbled upon the idea of using an abstract color scheme. Now I’m actually pretty happy with it.

The style of this piece resembles an Oekaki, but rather than using a dedicated Oekaki program or interface, I just used the pencil tool in Photoshop to sketch and color this. The simplicity of sketching with the pencil tool is something I’ve been enjoying, and I dig the pixelly pseudo-16-bit look.

Post Script: Perhaps you’ve noticed the advertisement on the sidebar for Skill City? Check it out–it’s free and fun, and… what do you know, my dear friend and longtime crony Jacob designed 90% of the visuals. Seriously, it’s good stuff, and I will gladly play anyone a game of Librum Confundo! My screen name on Skill City is “Ohsnap”–drop by and say hi!

**EDIT** It was brought to my attention that I should have warned people that Skill City is for Windows only. Sorry!

**EDIT#2** For whatever stupid reason, I had comments on this post turned off. I am an idiot. Comment away, if you so desire. Thanks, and sorry for the inconvenience!