tkmangaka

Happy Thanksgiving Day everybody! Every year at this time I join together with friends and family to celebrate this holiday, and today was no different. I just came back from a night at my aunt's house for dinner and fellowship with other members of my family. I wonder what you all usually do on this day and what you are thankful for? I'm basically thankful for God, family, friends, and my life in general. ^_^ I'm thankful that I have an opportunity to share this manga and blog with you all and that I have great friends in this community as well. Here's to keeping this feeling of thankfulness throughout the year!

Well I realize I forgot to give you a sketch yesterday so...



This is a quickie sketch of Snowla and Hailo. I'll give you a couple fun facts about these two and the scenario of this sketch. First the scenario. This is taking place on Earth during the summer when this part of the manga is taking place. Since Hailo is a Freezan, his hair can maintain spikiness in Atmos because it is cooler there than Earth. On Earth however, when an Icenoz is exposed to warm temps for too long, their hair flops. ^_^ So Snowla sees this as an opportunity to style his hair a bit. XD Hair styling is one of Snowla's hobbies afterall.



Here's the second friend pic series from DREAM mangaka and good friend Selenaloong. That's her on the left and me and Marshmellow on the right. Plus a little horse in the background! >w< Cute huh? Thanks again Selena! It's really sweet! I'll see you all later!

>____< ~shaking my head~ Hey! I got here a bit early today. So on my way up I was doing more storyboard. But the whole end of Chapter 9 feels awkward to me and that's good, because I set up a very awkward situation for the kids. ^__^ But it's also bad because I'm having trouble putting it all out on paper. Many scenarios swimming in my head and I want the right one to come out. Oh well. I'll just keep plowing through until I get there. ^_^ But now for the big news...

~DRUMROLL~



TADAAAAAAAAAAA! It's here at last! Well not really at last, I ordered it Sunday, it shipped Monday, and got here today so it was pretty quick. Anyway, here's my new button maker! With which I hope to fill many shirts, coats, pants, and backpacks with cute little ThunderKid buttons!



23 cm Obitsu doll Denki is here for the closeup. Nice piece of work though I haven't had a chance to use it yet. I need to get some kinda spray for it so that it doesn't rust when I store it for long periods.



And finally here's the pieces of each button next to Autobot Micromaster Mudslinger! ^_^ They were a lot smaller than I thought 1.25" was going to be and I have a ruler. But I think small will do nicely for this series. Though if this really takes off I may have purchase a larger model down the road.

FANART


^__^ It's a sketch of Natsumi as she appears in the DREAM Collab project from Anime610! Well not so much a sketch since she inked and colored it! Natsumi looks as sweet as ever! >w< It was done as a post on our sketch sharing topic, but I wanted to show it because it's so cute! Anime was one of our first DREAM mangaka and she still has several projects going on though she's currently not on the rotation schedule. Plus she stops by the forum too! ^^ She also did this little fanart, which was one of the first I ever got for ThunderKid. So I'm happy to see this! X3 Thanks Anime if you're reading this! And for this too!



^____^ It's a friends picture of Anime, Me, and Marshmellow! (L -> R) It's very sweet! Thanks a lot again! I have like two others that I have from other DREAM mangaka Selenaloong and Bella Mist and I'll have them posted in the next two days. Until then, I'll see you on Thanksgiving!

Howdy! Well it's Tuesday, meaning that tomorrow is the last day before Thanksgiving. Hope you all have big plans for those days with your families and stuff. I know I'm looking forward to the time off. It'll give me some time to finish some ThunderKid projects and get a bit more active on the DREAM forums (besides chat-boxing ^_______^). Speaking of projects, I thought I'd sketch out one of them on the way home.



Heh heh! Sorry for the storyboard quality, but this is what I usually do for brainstorm sketches. ^__^;; Anywho, I have the task of doing a pic for the month of August.. And since it's a summer month I thought to give the kids one last pool party before going back to school. (Of course in Clode's case that will be sooner since her official break doesn't start til harvest time in Ulus.) Of course some older kids are watching on the side, including two of of our Icenoz characters Hailo and Flurriza. I should have them introduced by next year January when this pic will go up so I don't have any trouble putting in some of the cast from Icenoz. I'll probably have more so this is just a prototype sketch. Look forward to the real thing! Unless I decide to ditch the pool theme for the kids catching fireflies. (Another summertime activity). I'll show the pencil phase when I get to it. Probably by Black Friday.

I always feel weird doing these calendar pictures with non-Christmas themes around this time of year. Next year I need to get December! I want to do a Christmas theme picture! >___< Still might this season. They're not together in the story now, yeah, but they're all doing everything else. And Ula and Cume haven't even met Haruka, Aki, Natsumi, Fuyuki, and Clode yet! Well, That's for later chapters I guess. Well I need to get back to finishing the big final scene of Chapter 9. Can't say anything as it's pretty much the biggest thing that happens in that chapter. ^___^ I'll see you all tomorrow!

Well it's Thanksgiving week again! Soon it will be dinner and family time at my aunt's house. But I still have a lot to do. Things to do (and it's a bit) include a term project, some homework, Icenoz, the DREAM collab, and some DREAM calendar art. I'm hoping to get a good bit of all of these done this week Thanksgiving break. ^__^ On the side I have some planning to do to get ready to open the shop at last!


Don't you want to have a couple of these little babies to wear one day? I hope so, because I just bought a button maker this weekend and I hope to have these available by early next year. With Volume 1 too I hope! These should be good for selling at anime conventions too, so look forward to them!

Now onto the sketch for the day!



Surprise! I was on the way home and I did this. It's the Hamura family! It originally started as a sketch of Aki's mother but I had enough room on the page so I thought about adding in AKi and his baby sister Ami. ^__^ So you know Aki's family will be introduced in the upcoming Chapter8 & 9 two parter so look forward to it. I'll see you tomorrow!

Well it's Monday again. Which means it's time for some new pages on SJ! The kids are about ready to make a break for it, but they have to deal with these guys first. Enjoy!

Two page spread this Friday! Denki and the kids have a little lesson on the Warriors of the Storm while they wait. And it seems little Ula is bit of a Strato-fan herself. ^__^ See you all Monday!

Hey all! So it's blog time and I figure I'd do a few sketches. I'm trying to do an article for the DREAM Manga Group for this December issue. I'm almost done with it but it may not be very illustrated. It's about the whole printing process and what you need to know. But now onto yesterday's sketches.



I figured that since Chapter 8 is going to have a random group of preschoolers I should do a little practice. =w= Don't you just want to eat them? On another note, as I was doing these sketches, I was remembering all the times I've heard artists say they're not very good at drawing kids. I didn't really understand until I was drawing the second little boy. I think it's feeling like you're just drawing a teenager's head on a tinier body and calling it a child. Of course I still think he looks about as 4-5 years of age as the rest of them, but I think I understand where the feeling of not being able to draw kids comes from. Just an observation of mine. ^___^

Next week I plan on taking my files to the printer speaking of which so I can get ThunderKid Volume printed finally! I'll keep you posted!

BWAAA! Sorry I missed last night guys. I meant to post this last night but this animated movie The Happy Cricket put me to sleep the second time watching it. I mean it's cutesy enough but the plot was really hard to get. Plus the scenes kept skipping around everywhere. If you want I'll give a better opinion about it if I can get through it wide awake. ^^

So back to the sketch from yesterday. I was having a bit of trouble thinking of something to sketch so I finally settled on something more random than usual.



Don't know if this counts as a spoiler or not, but this is a much older rain dragon than little Flarai. Now the raidra were originally supposed to have more finned ears but I thought it would look too much like the pokemon Dragonair so I changed them a bit. And yeah, that's Natsumi looking up at Denki who is on its head.

And here's a little storyboard for you all.



Little Natsumi and little Fuyuki are having a rendezvous in this part of the story. Which by the midpoint of my original script is about 120 panels long. About the length of Chapter 5. 8| So I think if I do it a ll in one chapter it'll turn out longer than Chapter 4 and I don't think I want that. Sooooooooo this adventure is gonna be a two-parter after all! Yaaay! This'll be the first two-part story starring the kids on Earth only. Look forward to it. And also look forward to this!





Another little preview of the next couple pages of Chapter 6! Hailo's going somewhere and the girls are following as best as they can. I won't give away too much now. Just being vague enough not to spoil anything while showing these penciled pages. ^^ And with that, I'll see you all later!

Sorry about that people. The show was cheese I know but SuperFriends will always be a part of me for better or for worse. XDDDD Well as to why I titled that it's because I've been giving a bit more thought into my own wonder twins Umi and Arashi. As you know I've been storyboarding Chapter 8 lately and Umi will have a big part to play in that one. This afternoon I figured that I'd have her twin Arashi play a role as well! And after sketching out a few more scenes this evening I've decided that I'm going to keep him in. ^^ So this post is for the twins!




Check this out! ^^ This of course is from the beginning of Chapter 1 when the Raiyama kids share an RPG experience. Same scene but different everything else. The one on the right was done around 2005 and the one on the left is the current version done in 2007. It's times like these that I actually appreciate looking back on old work. Of course even the current version Umi and Arashi didn't have enough time to really get exposed and developed as characters. Which is why I'm glad both are back in Chapter 8.



So this is more or less how they'll look in that chapter. Umi will be back in her full big sister form to the kids. While Arashi will have a few surprises in store as well. Well I'll see you all next time.

Well this last week was pretty awesome. And it's not just because of my birthday last Friday. I ended up doing better in a test and assignment I did than I thought, and this week's assignments have been relatively easy so far. I'm hoping to have more time to do other things. Like Icenoz for example.

Icenoz Progress:


The next level is underway and I did a few extra buildings to pump up the variety a bit. So far it's looking nice and each level up should take less time than the last. If I can finish the assignment in the next two days I may be done with this level by Saturday.



Tight enough spacing? Here are some back alley shops and an inn. I hope it'll look better once I cobblestone all the roads.

Sketches/Storyboard:


ThunderKid chapter planning has been going pretty well too. I've been working on the storyboards almost every day for Chapter 8, the one following Denki's Icenoz adventures in Chapters 6 and 7, and it's shaping up pretty good. I get a lot more ideas when I storyboard after I script out the first draft. Like here Natsumi finds herself on the heads of a group of preschoolers. I'm trying to make this story as interesting as I can. Also in addition to Umi, her twin Arashi may show up as well. Just got this idea on the bus to school today and I'm gonna keep running with it. I want to establish their characters a lot more since I felt I didn't get enough of a chance in Chapters 1 and 3.

Fanart:
And while I didn't find those new Power Rangers yet, I got something even better!

Super adorable birthday card/fanart from Marshmellow Muffin! >w< She colored Snowla so nicely in this picture and the effects are pretty too. I also love this one:


It's Hailo, Iccielle, and little Ciclia too! I really am a huge fan of her artwork and style. It's so uniquely cute and adorable. If you're reading this Marshie, thanks again! I so can't wait to continue Chapter 6 so I can introduce them in the story. I hope you'll love them as much as I do. Anyway, I should update again either tonight or tomorrow. See you then!

After a couple pages trapped in a block of ice, Denki and Flarai are free! Of course the first thing he does is console little Ula. Talk about turning weakness into strength right? ^__^

Alone in the darkness, Ula and Cume recover from their ordeal, and one comes to a revelation. Just thought I'd try being poetic for this one. Anyway , poor Ula is clearly shaken from what she went through, but that's what older brothers are for.

Hey all!  So another day comes and goes.  ^^  Here's a sketch without further ado!



Here's Denki, Hailo, and Flarai!  On the way home I realized I haven't drawn Denki in a while.  So, I thought I'd sketch out Denki today along with Hailo.  Okeedokie I'll see you all later!

Last week I found out that my favorite Power Rangers the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are coming back to toy stores with new figures.  ^__^  Needless to say I'm planning on picking them up later or sooner.  But right now, it's school and stuff til Friday and my b-day.  I've got a bit of HW as usual but I'm gonna do a bit each day until its all done.  ^^d

Back to ThunderKid, I've been doing a bit of work on the storyboard for CH8.  Starting to think I should just do scripts like my friend Marshmellow Muffin.  She just does a storyboard as her script, but I type out everything on the fly and just kinda change it as I do the storyboard.  But I guess I may end up changing stuff anyway even if I did it the other way around.  Oh well.  Anyway, here is some storyboard.



Sorry it's so sketchy.  I'm doing this on a printout of my script so the drawings are a lot smaller than my usual sketches.  This is some rewrite here where the words are.

Here's some more "what are they gonna be wearing in CH8."



Just little Natsumi and Fuyuki for now.  I ran out of time on the train.  ^__^;;  I got the idea for the shirts and dress from an online catalogue from the Japanese Yahoo shops they have available.  Aren't they cute?  I wanted to put Natsumi in a hat too, but I couldn't find any that particularly fit the outfit she's in.  Well I'll be back tomorrow everyone!  ~waves~

Update time again!  Well the scary part is over and Blizzana has just stowed the kids away while she takes off for the unsuspecting kingdom of Altos below.  Next update is this Friday!

I tell you, it doesn't get more tense than this part in Volume 1.  But it's conclusion is a sigh of relief if you've been keeping up.  Anyway, Ula's out of danger for now but what will Blizzana do next?  Wait and see.

Feels like it was just last week when I had my last midterm. Actually it was two weeks ago but now I have another one tomorrow so wish me luck.  ^_^  I should be able to get through it alright and then I can get back to Icenoz.

For tonight's update I wanted to show you my storyboard so far.  But the scan couldn't get my light sketches.  I'll try again tomorrow but in the meantime I have a larger sketch from a part of CH8.  Guess who's back in the story!



That's right!  Big sister Umi! Just because Denki's in Atmos doesn't mean she doesn't do things for her other little brothers and sisters.  Right now it seems she's hugging the life out of poor little Natsumi and Fuyuki, but- you know.  I wanted to involve the kids' families as much as possible and that's hard considering the plot.  But I'm going to do my best.  I'll see you tomorrow with the SJ update!  Good night everybody!

Evening!  Sorry for the bad joke!  ^_^  Well it's been about two and a half years since I began work on the pages that would make up ThunderKid Chapter 1.  And since then I had been working on those pages until I had about 4-5 chapters for sale as a volume 1.  Well, I now have my Volume 1 and I'm about ready to go ahead with the final stage.  Have a look!



I wanted to keep this cover partly simple but eyecatching and cute at the same time and I hope I did a good job with that.  Because this month I plan to make the first proof and 500 copies of ThunderKid Volume 1!  XD  I'm really excited about this as its my first project of this type.  I've already found the printer and fixed all the pages.  I just need to batch them all together and send them in to the printer and I can finally open up the ThunderKid site store.  Wish me well as I venture into this project.



Meanwhile I recently finished the script for Chapter 8 which will take the action back to Rokumo the kids' home district in Tokyo.  So after the Icenoz adventure concludes in Chapter 7 it'll be a new adventure with Haruka and the gang on Earth.  Here's what they'll be wearing in the first part of the chapter.  I'm doing my best to keep them in character dress-wise but in style so I have to do a lot of referencing on kids clothing sites to stay current.  The kids are looking a little uneasy right now but that's because the first part is a little uneasy for them all.  You'll see as I reveal more about the storyboard process which has also begun today.

And just to show you that I have some pages ready for action when Icenoz is finished...



Just a small taste of what's coming when Chapter 6 resumes.  There are at least 12 other pages set up like this and ready for inking and toning.  I just need to finish the city first.  So with that I'll see you soon!  ^_^

Hey hey hey!  Getting a bit busy at school again but I am getting things done for sure!  I have one test this week so wish me luck and a paper due next week which I am more than half done with.  Outside of school I try to keep busy with the manga.  So with that in mind...



Tada!  Level 2 of Icenoz was completed last Monday morning.  Really happy it turned out okay.  I literally filled up level 2 from about 1/3 complete in about 3-4 days.



If I really push it, I can have the next level done by Friday or hopefully sooner since it's slightly less mountain I need to fill up.



If I work at it a bit at a time I can probably make that mid-month goal.  I still have to skip next month's DREAM issue but I'll be ready by the February 2010 issue.  Anyway, please continue supporting me with building up Icenoz.

I'll leave you with this.




Some sketches of the kids in a scene from a future chapter.  Haruka's reading a map so they're obviously getting their bearings straight for a journey they'll be making later.  I'll be back tomorrow with something about the printing of Volume 1.  See you then!^^

O_O  Mmmm  this scene was really tense for me to write and draw, but a little tension is to be expected in life I guess.   Poor Ula though!  Friday hurry up so this cliffhanger can end!