For the past couple of weeks, I've been working on a comic as part of my Creative Writing class, based on my own life experiences. I'm really excited to have finally finished the project, and am wanting to share it with anyone who wants to. You can read the whole thing right here. I'm including this in my portfolio, which I'll be sending off in a couple days to the Minneapolis and Savannah Colleges of Art and Design- I'm applying for their respective Sequential Art programs- with the intent of snagging a nice thick scholarship. Here's hoping!

Besides the memoir comic, I've completed eight pieces in my concentration series, with four more to go. In order:

Vishnu,

Hades,

Quetzacoatal,

Apollo,

Buddha,

Jesus,

and Zeus.


I'm not entirely sure which ones I want to do next. I want to do four goddesses, but I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas, mostly because I want to avoid doing any more Greek/Roman characters. *shrug* If you have any suggestions, I'll be happy to hear them!

(Oh, and thanks to whomever added the Artsy Fartsy blog topic choice)

Here are three pieces I'm working on for a 12-part series- still in progress, as you can probably guess. In order of appearance, Apollo, Vishnu, and Bacchus:





Next up are going to be Jesus, Hades, and Quetzacoatal. This is gonna be sweet, hopefully.

Dear Obama,

Congratulations! Please don't suck.



Love,

America

Here's hoping I can nab that prize pack- there are a couple really fantastic entries, so I hope there's room for one more. This one was actually a lot of fun to color.



Thank you, and good night.

The school semester is finally over for me, and it also means I'm finally done with the first half of my AP Art program. The following is a collection of all of the works I've made so far, including some non-Photoshopped photography, some collages, and a buncha other stuff. If you've been wondering why I haven't been updating The Island, well, here's why:






















And if that wasn't enough, I'm also working on another comic- this one for school! In our Creative Writing class, we've been reading Maus (one of the first graphic novels I ever read, and one of my favorites). Now, over the break, we've been asked to translate the memoirs we wrote into comic-book form. Here's what I've got so far.







If you noticed the pages look a little different than my previous comics, it's because I'm trying out a new system. The pages are still drawn on paper by hand, but with my new Wacom Bamboo tablet (thanks, Grandma!), I'm inking them digitally! I'm having a lot of fun playing around with it, but be sure to let me know what you think of it.

The other big thing that's been occupying my time is college applications and scholarships. I've already been accepted to Savannah College of Art and Design, but I still need to scrape together enough cash to pay for it. Hence, the massive portfolio you just scrolled past that I'm still in the process of assembling. A few more observational drawings, and I should be good to go! In the meantime, I'm also looking into a BSA Eagle Scout scholarship, including one for Jewish Scouts, and my school picked five of my pieces to be entered for the national Scholastics Art and Writing competition, including The Island- here's hoping!

Speaking of The Island, my hopes are that once all of the college stuff is settled, I'll have a little more free time. If nothing else, then the summer will be available. I'm kinda annoyed that it's been dragged out this long, but ah well.

Happy Holidays, Destructoid! I missed you.

This is it, folks. The night before Election Night. The night before America decides who will lead their country- at least, part of America. More people are expected to vote than ever, which is good. Those of you who aren't, well... it's your call. To tell the truth, I've always found the usual response- "I'm just one person! My vote won't matter!"- to be annoying, and frankly small-minded. Yes, you may think your vote does not count, but so does every potential voter that doesn't show up. Add them all up, and you've got quite a few people who say that their vote doesn't count. Ironic, no?

It's here that most people would include some grand speech about the "Power of One". I'd like to change this to what I'll call the "Power of One More." Submitting your vote will not automatically change the world- to expect something that obvious is unrealistic. Instead, a vote contributes to the overall image of the American people (filtered through the electoral college, of course), and helps to create a more well-rounded outcome. The reason that the results of this election, and just about every election are so close is that the voters are not all for one side or the other- indeed, there are a wide variety of voters, with differences in opinions on every single issue. Certainly there are the uber-hippie Liberals, and the war-hungry Republicans, but those are just the extremes. This is obvious, though; at least, it should seem obvious.

But this wide image is not always represented accurately. This morning, I was reading about neighborhoods with a high concentration of blacks that were being harassed. Apparently, some mysterious group has been leaving notes on the doors, claiming that police will be at the voting registration areas for background checks, all all to try to scare voters into staying home. It disgusts me, really, not just because of the scare tactics, but because the perpetrators don't understand that it hurts them, too; scaring voters away means we have a less balanced view of our nation, which means that the results are less likely to be accurate. After all, the election is a reflection of or nation's opinion. How can we succeed in that if we don't get enough of our nation to vote?

The other thing I want to bring up is that an American's job is not done once they leave that polling center. No matter which man is elected President tomorrow night, it is our duty to keep him in line. If he fails to keep his extravagant promises, it's our job to call him out on it. If he passes a bill we don't like, it's our job to oppose it. If he is found to be a corrupt or incompetent leader, it is our job to straighten the hell outta him, and get him out of office ASAP. It is our privilege, our right, our duty as Americans to bitch about our leaders. We just have to make sure that when we bitch, we do it not only in a reasonable, level-headed manner, but we do it where we know that our leaders are going to hear about it.

The ball is in your court, America. Whatever happens, it's your call.