PMBQ

I'm please to announce that I have a new blog!



I'm feeling like it's time to retire LiveJournal. This probably not a surprise to most of you, as my entries have been pretty far and few.

I still visit and read my friends page, but the actual act of blogging on LJ is more laborious than on other platforms. I've been doing a lot of web design and development with Wordpress this past year, and that's quickly becoming a more enjoyable way to blog.

The original draw of LJ did definitely have to do with the community. I really do love writing/blogging, but did not want to share every single thought I had with the public. With LJ, you could have friends groups, and I enjoyed being able to share more private entries with a certain group, while keeping things like convention news public.

I guess now that I'm older, and perhaps better at self-editing, I am more relaxed about who I am and what I have to say. I don't feel the need to write anything I'm not comfortable sharing with everyone. All the angst of my youth is, for the most part, pretty much behind me :)

I'm not sure if this is "goodbye" forever. (There was some drama a few years back, when I decided to say goodbye, but as you all know I did come back :) Like I said, I still stop by daily to check on friends...and the longer you have an account on a platform, the harder it is to completely let go, because of the sentimental history. With LJ, it's hard to believe that I've been on here since 2003? 2004? (I'm sure it says on my profile page somewhere.)

Anyways, for now, you can see some of my latest over at Pandabloggin'. I'll be group posting with many of my friends/family that help me out at P.M.B.Q. Studios, and you'll be able to see how their points of view help contribute to my body of work :)

Thanks for sticking around and hope to see you at the new blog!

Just a quick wrap-up...

We had a GREAT TIME at Comic-Con!!! Lots of interesting things happened, as well as some good press for our new online store PANDALINE. Thanks also to everyone who came by and visited us!!!

Comic-Con was especially inspiring this year. It was the show's 40th anniversary, Hayao Miyazaki was present, usagiguy's Usagi Yojimbo turned 25, beautiful San Diego weather, tons of creative people milling about...the combination was just magical!

Been busy dealing with the usual con-aftermath, but we'll do a write-up of things probably later next week. Until then, enjoy this shot of our pre-show booth :)

I'm pleased to announce our new online store, Pandaline!

We hope to highlight indie panda design of all kinds, as well as the ones we create ourselves.

Please check it out :)

The old PMBQShop is still temporarily open, until I can transition those products over to the new system.

Now that that's done, time to head over to SDCC @_@ I have some meetings this afternoon, but I will be at the booth more often starting Friday! Also I will be taking commissions, so feel free to get your requests ready :)

- PMBQ

Whew! It's been so busy between Anime Expo and Comic Con...worked on a few new t-shirt designs, redesigning the online store (which is still in progress) and designing other misc. stuff for Comic Con.

If you're going to SDCC, please stop by and check out the madness at booth #4519!

Here's a little sneak peak if you go to http://twitpic.com/apibj.

Trying to get the online store together before the end of the week, but if you want more updates you should follow my Twitter at www.twitter.com/pmbq!

Yes, it's been quiet here on the PMBQ LJ. Just a little result of this annual event I like to call "convention season." I believe I've mentioned before that it begins in April and ends after San Diego Comic Con. July is an especially busy month, with both Anime Expo and SDCC.

Well, to tell you the truth, I've been dealing with a lot of crap during the trip. Most notably, I had an unpleasant stay with the official AX hotel, the Westin Bonaventure. In fact, I'm still dealing with filing a complaint with them, especially after hearing that several others also had bad experiences.

On the bright side, the PMBQ Staff got to meet Kel Mitchell (of Nickelodeon's "Kenan & Kel"). Kel was a childhood hero for many of us. (I actually don't watch much TV, so this was my first time meeting Kel.) We hooked up Kel with a Sad Panda PMBQ shirt, and he even came by and hung out at our booth! He was a pretty cool guy. I also think he's probably Hana Neko's new biggest fan, haha.

Anyways, I definitely will do a proper write-up, as it was a fun show. It also prompted a lot of thoughts that I currently have regarding the state of the manga/anime industry. I just need to wade through the Westin Bonaventure drama first. (If you need to catch up on that drama, you can check it out at my @PMBQ Twitter .)

I leave you with a photo of PMBQ Studios + Kel at AX 2009:



- PMBQ

Some more t-shirt designs debuting this weekend.

For Women:


For Men:


Both shirts have a matching logo detail, printed on the back at the lower righthand side.

See you at Fanime Con if you're going! We're in the Exhibit Hall, Booth 421, but it's a pretty small hall so I'm sure you'll be able to find us.

Shirts will be available at the P.M.B.Q. Shop after the convention!

Can't have one without the other :)

(Devil Panda is actually on more of a red shirt, rather than pink.)

Setting up for Fanime Con today, more previews tomorrow!

Here's a little teaser of things to come at Fanime Con next week:







They'll also be available at the online P.M.B.Q. SHOP after the show.

Also, just wanted to plug my comic Unemployed Pandas if you haven't visited lately!

I think it's important to note that the previous post was a bit of an exercise. Personally, I just wanted to share some thoughts, ideas, and experiencees, almost as a form of therapy.

Also, I did want to pose the question openly and rhetorically about "How much should you blog?" I think that most people do not think about the information they are sharing, especially on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets.

I did get a few crits that the last post was a bit long. I probably should have labelled it more of an essay, vs. blog. But hey, if you clicked the LJ Cut link, you knew what you were getting into! ^_-

Anyways, once Fanime is over, I plan on writing about all the things I haven't written about these past 7 years.

Until then, I'll definitely be posting some preview art of the upcoming t-shirt/product designs this year!

I drew this as a submission for this year's Souvenir Guide at SDCC. I've been waiting for another Usagi Yojimbo Anniversary event to finally submit some artwork. It features Usagi and his son Jotaro.

This is also the first year that the Souvenir Guide will be in color, so I was equally stoked about that.

I know I sound like a broken record, but Stan Sakai (aka usagiguy) is truly a class act. I try to follow his example, although sometimes my impatience and temper might get the best of me, especially at the longer cons ^_^;;

I will probably make postcards of this art to pass out at cons this year.

One thing I also realized after I submitted this to SDCC is that the souvenir guide is probably going to be printed on newsprint. If that's the case, I hope the colors don't come out too muddy.

Another thing that I'm discovering is that I LOVE the page ratio size that I use for my new comic Unemployed Pandas. I actually did a first attempt at the above drawing at 11"x8.5", but I wasn't feeling inspired. I trashed it, opened up a new doc the size of my Unemployed Pandas page, and things just fell into place.

As a final note, I'll be a Guest of Honor at CAAT-X this upcoming Saturday, 4/25. ianoji and dragonluk are giving some Manga Start classes, which should be a lot of fun. I'll pretty much be around all weekend hanging out at my table with my usual comics and shirts, and answering any art questions.

First:



This sketch was directly inspired by the 3D render done by a very dear friend of mine, konartist3d. You can see his render at http://konartist3d.deviantart.com/art/Thundercats-Lion-o-Redesign-119153894

Kawaii Kon was great. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth and supported us. It was a pleasure to hang out with Hawaii fellow artists and friends Deb Aoki, Jon J. Murakami, Mechahawaii and Nemu*Nemu* and last but not least usagiguy. I am refreshed and inspired and have been sketching all morning. There's also a lot on my mind about the trip, but I haven't quite had time to formalize it all. At the moment, reality calls and I have to stop drawing and blogging to tie up a lot of business admin loose ends.

Next up will be CAAT-X on April 25 in Fremont, CA!

It's been awhile, but it feels great to be back into drawing comics!

No doubt, my small band of followers has noticed the 3+ year hiatus from Tea Club. Although I have not completely abandoned it, I just kept getting bogged down by the whole process of drawing it. Also, like many other comic artists, I have been forced to prioritize paying work rather than drawing my comic.

I guess the important thing is, I'm back at it. I'm taking a really different approach to drawing this comic; the art process is a lot more organic. For story, I'm collaborating with my friend Mervyn, so that I'm not tripping over myself as much as I was with Tea Club.

The other funny thing I'm noticing is how much of an influence usagiguy has been to me. All the years of reading Usagi Yojimbo seem to be coming out in my work. There was definitely a period of time when I intensely studied Stan's storytelling work, and as a kid I totally put in my hours of drawing Usagi and the whole cast of characters. I never meant for Samurai Panda to seem Usagi-like, but the art influence is definitely there.

As for Tea Club, I haven't abandoned it completely. Drawing Unemployed Pandas is refreshing for me, and my hope is that I get back into the groove enough to go back to Tea Club. When I do go back to it, I know exactly where it's going to pick up, which will probably be a surprise for most of you. (Sadly, I think that the ending of Resident Tea-Vil is probably never going to see the light of day, as the moment has totally passed.)

Anyways, enjoy the ride of reading about Unemployed Pandas! I'm drawing with a buffer now, so updates should be fairly on schedule :)

Drawn on a cloudy Saturday morning...

This was actually my first project with Gama-Go that I did last Winter. It's finally released, so now I can post it.

It features their character, Bling Bling Panda. He doesn't really look like a panda, but he acts like one. Weird, huh?

Originally I called this "Bling King of Sushi" :) I concepted it and did the initial Illustrator render, but Gama-Go in-house cleaned it up (and added details like the fat marbling, things I am not so great at).

You can buy it here!

WIP of Street Fighter IV's Crimson Viper. Directly inspired by my buddy Jimmy Tran/ nexxorcist's recent pic.

Working on it in Painter. Definitely loving Painter lately, as it allows me the freedom to experiment with colors without the mess of traditional painting (but! I really think budding artists should still learn how to paint in traditional media...I was in oil painting classes for 3 years, and still paint in watercolor a few times a year).

I want to finish it, but I have to get back to my paying work now :(

BTW, please vote for Jimmy's Crimson Viper entry at the Don't Panic contest!

Also...thanks to everyone who visited me this past weekend at WonderCon :) All of us at P.M.B.Q. Studios appreciate your ongoing support!!

My Gama-Go design work seemed to be pretty interesting to y'all, so I figured I would post a little follow-up to the process :)

My role in the t-shirt design process was to flesh out the concept sketches, which were initially done by Wednesday Kirwan. I took her sketches and basically rendered them out in Illustrator. Sometimes I would chat with her if she had a vision to the finished work, but it was largely left up to me.

As for colors, I consulted past Gama-Go works and was given a color constraint by the Creative Director. They like to use a lot of colors, which is definitely a challenge for me because I am a fan of 2-3 color design and usage.

The images above is basically what I submitted to the Creative Director. So, you can see that I suggested the shirt base colors as well as tried to pick a colorful yet harmonious palette. Also I tried to assemble the elements in an artistic manner. I knew there would probably be some minor changes after I submitted, as I was still getting the hang of their color palettes, styles, etc.

I was definitely pleasantly surprised to see that the final work was fairly close to what got printed, even down to the shirt color suggestions. "Forest" had a number of changes, which I wasn't too surprised about. However the funniest thing about that work is that I had suggested the concept of "Forest Fire" to Gama-Go, and they actually ended up doing something with it. (As for "Jellyfish" I can see why they changed the tendrils from pink to green; pink kinda looks like intestines.)

It really is an honor to be working with Gama-Go. Not only are they great folks, but working for them helps improve my own art; it's totally a win-win situation. There aren't too many jobs that you can say that about!

Just plugging my Gama-Go work from last winter, as the shirts are now for sale!

I dubbed this one "Forest Fire":

http://www.gama-go.com/product.php?productid=16750&cat=270&page=1

And this was "Jellyfish":

http://www.gama-go.com/product.php?productid=16753&cat=270&page=1

It's pretty different from my usual style, and was difficult to wrap my head around at first. However, I started to get into it and understand the Gama-Go style more. The base sketches for both designs were done by Wednesday Kirwan, a very talented and creative illustrator in SF. (I would plug her website, except that it seems it is currently under construction.) The work I did for them definitely affects my own work from here on out; it's always good to broaden your horizons!

In other news, it's officially con season once more. I spent last week in stealth mode at NYCC, where I met up with a number of old friends and industry colleagues. It was definitely inspiring as well, which was the main reason why I went.

This weekend I'm a Guest of Honor at Animation on Display, where I will be there only on Feb. 14. I'm giving a number of informative panels, something I pretty much never do at other conventions :) (Something about the small conventions that I just like being a major contributor towards...).

On Feb. 27-Mar. 1, I'll be exhibiting my toys, comics, apparel, etc. at WonderCon, booth #1137. I will also be doing manga demonstrations at the Sakura of America/Manga Start booth, #1432.

All righty...it is indeed time to get back to work :)

Yes, for some reason I started watching this series. I suppose the romantic in me is drawn to it. (Yes, you know you are a closet romantic too!!! Don't deny it!!!)

In doing these digi-doodles, I'm finding that I am generally more interested in capturing characters, their expressions, and interactions with other characters. That's why I tend to focus more on features that convey emotions, like facial expressions and especially something in the eyes. As a consequence, I'm not terribly interested in fleshing out the other details of a composition. Like, I did set out to render the "flower border" more prominently, but as I continued painting I kind of lost interest ^_^;; (Well, that, compounded with the fact that I am pretty busy today and need to finish quite a few freelance items by the end of the day.)

You can see a larger version at my DA page.