Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Mist: Chibi-Lena

chibi relena south from mist

Yes, I know her name is Relena and not “Lena”, but Chibi-Lena just… rolls off the tongue, you know? >:

Now I have to do the next gazillion chibis on my list. @_@;;; Every time I draw a chibi, the proportion and built changes! =.=;;;

And now I realized I didn’t put textures on this one. Good job, me, give yourself a pat on the back… *pats* I need to stop sleeping like a vampire. >: It’s turning my wonky.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Mote-Mote: Page 17

And now we have come to the conclusion of Mote-Mote! Thank you so much for supporting this series! It was one heck of a ride, with dangerous procrastination levels that would have equaled to style-changes in between pages! @_@;;;

But is this really the end? Personally, I would love to draw more of Baku’s human form. Maybe he would meet up with Kuromi after she leaves the school?

In any case, is anyone interested in getting the copy-bon form of this series? As I’d expected, Mote-Mote didn’t sell very well in Komikon because not a lot of people know about this anime. ^^;;; But this is ok! Komikon was still quite an experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

So anyway, my sister is going the USA this December. This means I can ship stuff to the US (and possibly Canada) from the US! I’ve already got 4 packed away and ready. :D Although I still need to find out how much it will cost for shipping, the book itself is only US$1.50. ^_^

Feel free to comment or email me and let me know! Thanks guys! ♥

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

The 7th Philippine Komikon: Aftermath

Now that I’ve recovered from the post-con virus (aka. the flu), I can write up something about my first Komikon experience as an independent comic book vendor. :)

7th philippine komikon 2011 - kurohiko price list

My day started rather early… as in the night before early. I wasn’t really able to sleep much, because I was worrying about forgetting to bring something important. So I checked and re-checked both bags and kept imagining how I was going to set up my table step-by-step. By 7:30 am, I still haven’t slept a wink, but it was too late then. I had to get going.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Home from the 7th Komikon

Every single muscle in my body aches from having to carry books, tarpaulin, a custom magazine stand (made by my darling nephew), cloth, and many miscellaneous important items to and from the Komikon… but right now, I don’t even care if I wasn’t able to earn back the money I spent for making the indies…

I’ve never had so much fun in my life.

It was sheer joy that I got to meet my idols again. Elmer Damaso, Taga-ilog, Michael David (geh! I forgot to give him a copy of my indie!), Kajo, and even Enjelia Villanueva! Wah~! Thank you for putting up with my crazy fangirling! ;_;

I will write something better tomorrow when I finally get some sleep (I didn’t sleep the night before). For now, here is a wallpaper of the art that debuted in the indie today. :)

Thank you guys, for coming to visit me today! I hope you enjoyed the free mini card (which was supposed to be a sticker actually), and thank you for all the kind words! For now, I need to find and use some “phoenix down” before I collapse. ♥

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

How I Prepared the Pages for Independent Printing

With any printer comes its own challenges. Mine? Well, it’s an HP1310 with a mind of its own. It decides to print pages off the center of the paper, either moving the content too high or too low, which means trouble for printing independent comics.

So how did I tackle this problem when I had 3 books to print?

I printed A4 sheets onto 8.5 x 13 inch paper and cut them down to A4 size. All 46+ of them. I don’t know if that’s what they call dedication or the beauty of a crazed mind.

karma 2 - cutting the pages

And that, my friends, is a rusted, semi-sharp paper slicer from my gua kong. It may be old, but it helped me get through all of my and Renka-chan’s pages with near-flawless precision.

…that’s the second time gua kong has somehow helped me out of a bind, and I’ve never even met my mother’s father. Hmn…

karma 2 - more cutting and pasting... literally.

There are many things I learned from making an independent manga, but the best rule that I can give to anyone is to not print the pages when you’re not sure about your page layout yet! >.>;;; You know me, I jump the gun whenever I get the chance to do it!

As a result? I had to cut up a few pages and paste them together. Literally. @_@;;;

But if you need to edit something and don’t have the printer ink to do it, then I suggest you only print what you need and use glue stick to put them together. It’s dry glue, so it won’t wrinkle your pages and is fairly easy to use… just makes sure your hands are clean when you starting gluing!

Ok, that’s it for my update! I just got off the phone with Pigtails creator, Jazmin Cruz. She reminded me to prepare a couple of things for my booth, and I asked her to bring some of her merchandise to sell in Komikon. We’ll see how everything goes this Saturday! :D

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

That Komikon Staff Meeting…

So there I was, getting lost at the Boni MRT Station, trying to figure out how to get to the Bayanihan Center (without looking like an newbie), and time was running out! It was already 9:15 am, and we were asked to arrive at 9:00 am!

Thankfully, I figured out how to get to Robinsons Pioneer (no thanks to the guard, mind you) and rode a trike to the center. Manong was quite helpful in pointing out where I should go, and it turned out I was sharing the trike with 2 other Komikon participants… one of which was Kubori Kikiam’s Michael David. @o@;;; I think he was carrying a package full of his books when we entered the room, but that’s just me speculating.

inside the komikon meeting at the bayanihan center

Well, never mind that awkward moment. When I entered the room? It was full of people! Oh dear gracious, I was worried about what happened in the 30 minutes that already passed from the start of the meeting but… it didn’t look as if it started at all!

I settled at the back of the room, near the door, and took a quick snapshot of the people inside. Somehow, they all looked like veterans, and I was the only greenhorn panting in the corner. ;o;

The organizer, Jon Zamar, gave out the indie IDs and the guy beside him with the red shirt (who also looks familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it) gave me the guidelines and map.

komikon id

…and that was it. Seriously. orz;;; They basically told us we could go home after that.

It was… kinda overwhelming? I thought I was about to receive the greatest secret Komikon has kept for the past 6 conventions! Like where the secret ninjas are hiding while we set up the booth, or which Samurai class will be on duty that day, or which aswang we should watch out for!

But alas… All I got was an ID and map. The real meeting was for the sponsors and exhibitors only. ;_;

Oh well, I can tell you where to find me during the convention. I was placed near the stage, and I’ll be table-mates with Section Six Comics and Ernest Fiestan of Crazy Metro. W-why am I paired up with Komikon veterans?! @_@;;; There’s no way I can be on par with these guys! ;; S-sob…

And to top it off? I recently found out author of WIP Comics is a friend of Renka-chan’s. He’s going to be on table 13, very close to my table. I’m just doomed, aren’t I? xD;;;

And of course the bigger question: Should I wear a skirt or pants for this event? Hrm…

EDIT: ....omg, GAIS! I was pretty sure that was Michael David, but he just commented that he wasn't in the meeting! So that was either a doppelganger or a certified mumu! I told you Komikon has some secret underworld agents!!! xox;;; Ho noes...

Monday, November 14, 2011

The Indies are Ready for Komikon 2011!

I was actually going to update about what I had to go through in preparing the original print outs for xeroxing, but this is much more exciting news~ ♥

karma 2 and mote-mote independent manga

I have in my possession, all 30 copies of Karma 2, Mote-Mote, and Renka-chan’s “Soul Dice”! They’re cut, stapled, and ready to be sold at Komikon this coming November 19!

Although I’m disappointed that I can’t splurge a little for colored covers, this will be a good “test run” for my first convention as a seller. >.<;;; Besides, black and white Mote-Mote turned out pretty well~

inside pages of karma 2

There’s a sneak peak into the Epilogue available in the independent manga. International readers don’t need to fret, because I will probably post these pages on site some day… not right away though, because I want to give the Komikon people their exclusivity. And speaking of exclusive, this Komikon version of Karma will replace all Japanese “Rei-nee”s and “Tori-nii”s with their Tagalog equivalent, “Ate Rei” and “Kuya Tori”!

soul dice

Soul Dice's cover will not be in the catalogue given out at the Komikon, unfortunately, but with Lan looking so cute, I'm betting people will be fighting just to get this manga~ ♥ I’m now wondering if it was a good idea to just print 30 pieces of this book… but then again, I can only carry so much in my backpack. @_@;;;

soul dice inside page

This is one of my complaints about the xeroxing. >.>;;; What is with those blurred edges??? I thought the xerox machine would be able to cut it off cleanly, but apparently not! If I do sell these again, I will need to modify the original copies so that it will turn out better next time!

The other complaint? The sketches I added are not all clear! Some turned out alright, others didn't. ;_; S-sob... More modifications for next time, for sure!

Either way though, I got these exactly one week before Komikon starts. Not bad, considering I’m releasing 2 books and working on Mist. T-then again, Mist is late this week, so I’m wondering… if joining Komikon will cost me my job. >.>;;; Wah! I hope not! ;~;

Ok, I really need to sleep. I’ve had this flu all week long, and working so hard is really not healthy. @~@;;; Good night guys! See you at Komikon! *^_^*

Friday, November 11, 2011

Komikon 2011: Indie List of Participants


Indie Tiangge 2011 by ~komikon on deviantART

7th Row, 1st Column.

It’s funny how the indies are dominated by male artists. :( I thought there was a lot of girl power in the industry… This will change some day, some how!

I’ll give you guys an update when I know where my table will be. :)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Komikon: Mote-Mote Sneak Peek!

I've finally finished Mote-Mote! x3 All the pages have been printed out, but there’s a minor correction in the copyright page. x.x;;; I don’t understand why I always catch wrong spellings and grammar errors only after I’m printed the page out. It’s a wee bit frustrating. :/

Here's a sneak peek at the extras I'll be adding to the copy-bon~

wip 2011.11.01 - mote-mote sketch - kuromi / kurumi nui and hiiragi keiichi

That's a really old sketch, but I loved how it turned out~ I’ve been meaning to color this since forever, but there’s no way I can do it now. ;_; I’m way behind schedule for Mist’s pages and Karma’s page layouts! Not to mention that my hand is already dying…

I need to find a good place to xerox my copy-bon. Maybe I can test it in copytrade or something… National Bookstore is a good bet for quality copies, but it’s expensive. ;_; I want to bring down the prices for my books… low-budget and all that.

Ok, back to work now! …or maybe I’ll snack on that caramel pudding. I’m hungry… x~x;;;