Tekkoshocon 2013!

It's almost Tekko time and once again this year my husband and I will be selling along side Dani Cat Designs in Artists Alley. The Ed Head will not be joining us as we've been taken over by frogs from space... no really...

"Attention Pekoponian worshipers of the Head that is Ed! We have taken capture of your beloved mascot and as such we are taking over the nmallenart.com art table this year at Tekkoshocon to raise proceeds for our impending invasion! Surrender you Gundam... I mean the planet! Buy our stuff! Support the Keronian takeover!"

Birthday Brrrraains!

Recently I was asked to do a very special commission which I'm excited to finally share with everyone!



Like me, Asher is a huge Plants vs Zombies fan! His favorite zombie from the game, produced by PopCap, is the elusive and mysterious Yeti Zombie. I was asked to draw the Yeti Zombie for buttons in time for his birthday and right away I knew I had to make brain ice cream!

I enjoyed everything about this request, but when I received the photo this morning I was on top of the world. There's nothing like drawing for kids!

Tekkoshocon

Dani Cat Designs and NMALLENART.COM will return to Tekkoshocon this year. Look for us in Artists Alley near Manifested Dreams.

I will have new merchandise like jewelry and key chains as well as new paper wallets for gamers, otaku and comic book fans. The magnetic dress up dolls will return so stop by and put your favorite bishōnen in a dress or sailor fuku. Buttons are a staple of ours and of course get your photo taken with the Ed Head. The best photos will be featured on our Facebook page!

See you there!

Etsy

A few months back I started selling art on Etsy.com. Etsy's mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. Their vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice: Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade. How awesome is that? I'm hoping to do most of my holiday shopping on Etsy this year and you should too.

Please visit my store http://www.etsy.com/shop/nmallenart and check out all the great items other Etsy sellers have to offer!

It's Yard Sale Season...

...and I can't help myself. Yard/Garage Sales, Flea Markets & Thrift Stores are great for art inspiration.

You could stumble across a unique item that demands you start yet another craft project or maybe the finishing touch for your current project will find you. Regardless, it's worth a look. So if you pass a sale, take a moment out of your day and stop. Who knows what treasure you may find.

This year I brought home a handwritten recipe book, an old copy of The How And Why Wonder Book of Guns (Wonder Books, Inc. 1963) which has great illustrations, a desk-top easel to display my new art book, a wall mirror with cork board to display some of my costume jewelry as well as a few creative shelving solutions.

Soon I'll have my own sale in effort to make more room for next year's finds.

April Fools and the Internet

I really appreciate how so many internet entities use the opportunity of April Fools Day to play with their websites. It shows a comical and creative side that we don't always see. Here are a few from today that I find amusing.

• Google is notorious for playing along, this year they've changed their name to Topeka.
  
  
• deviantArt changed their users icons again this year to one of several "Team" somethings from Twilight or Lady Gaga. I think the icon swap they pulled two years ago was funnier.
  
  
• LiveJournal says that their beloved mascot, Frank the goat, has been asked to star in an upcoming 3D movie about a goat and his lawyer: Frank & Stein. I don't know about you, but I'd go see it.
  
  
• IGN released a fake movie trailer for the popular video game series Halo. A few years ago the did one for Zelda.
  

I don't see anything from Twitter or Facebook yet, but it's early. If you're looking for more April Fools Day Internet Pranks? Check out: http://twitter.com/AprFoolsDay

Tekkoshocon VIII

Dani Cat Designs and NMALLENART.COM will return to Tekkoshocon this year. Look for us in Artists Alley near Manifested Dreams. I may need to leave with an Octobloop this year :3 More info as the event approaches.

Doodle 4 Google: Time to Vote

Help select Google's National Finalists from their 40 Regional Winners. 

Tegaki vs. Oekaki

So I am experimenting with a Tegaki E blog.  For some reason I expected it to be more advanced than my old Oekaki board.  So far I'm not that impressed...

Don't get me wrong, the whole concept of a doodle blog is awesome.  I love the idea that people can respond to your art with more art.  It seems like a great medium for role playing artists like myself, if you have someone to draw with, that is.  

Still the actual Tegaki tools are basic.  You can zoom, but you can't scroll.  You can pick colors from a large pallette, but there's no paint bucket.  You can change opacity but there is no watercolor brush.  Everything is on a single layer and there is no mask mode.  At least you can save and retouch your work.

Basic advise for anyone who wants to use an internet based drawing program:  Take screenshots often!

If you want to look me up on Tegaki, I don't really have anything up yet.  But you can find me here.  http://www.unowen.net/tegaki/uentries.php?u=62488

Tekkoshocon 2009

Tekkoshocon 2009 was a hit!  The Artists Alley experience this year was much improved over the previous year.  We joined a new fandom, met up with old friends and made new friends.  

No question, we will return in 2010.

Doodle 4 Google

Google Doodles, the art designed on, around and through the Google logo, were started by a Google intern in 2000.  That Intern, now Google Webmaster, Dennis Hwang, began the tradition of celebrating worldwide events and holidays by creating themed variations of the Google logo.

Doodle 4 Google is a competition for K-12 students to design a new Google Doodle. This year the theme is "What I Wish for the World."  Registration closes on March 17th and all entries are due by March 31st.

Google is offering some very nice gifts for all finalists but the winner will recieve a $15,000 college scholarship to be used at the school of their choice, a trip to the Google New York Office, a laptop computer, and a t-shirt printed with their doodle.  The winner's school will also recieve a $25,000 technology grant towards the establishment/improvement of a computer lab.  

More information can be found here

http://www.google.com/doodle4google/index.html

I wish they did this when I was in school...

Artist's Block

For five issues Dr. James S. Payne has been writing about Writer's Block on WritersNewsWeekly.com. Writing is an art, so Artist's Block and Writer's Block go hand in hand. Artists of every medium get stuck from time to time and often for the same reason.

Most people who draw "get rusty" from not drawing often enough. We get "stuck" or "uninspired" when we can't think of what to draw. We often say we're "in a rut" when we can't seem to produce anything for an extended period of time. These are all excuses we use when we can't get around the block.

So what is the Block, anyway? I think Dr. Payne explains it best in his second article on Writer's Block:

"When an author experiences writers block, he or she is imagining failure. The more one imagines failure, the greater the anxiety..."

As artists we put pressure on ourselves to perform. Every piece that we produce is a reflection of us, so we want them all to be something great and the fear that the next piece won't be great can be devastating. I can't tell you how many pages of my sketchbook I've torn out and thrown away over the years because I didn't like what I was producing and I didn't want anyone else to see it. Embarrassment, or the anxiety and fear of being criticized for or embarrassed over one's artwork, is the basis of Artist's Block.

So how do you get over it? I think one of my professor's said it best, or maybe it was passed on from one of his professors:

"You have a lot of bad drawings in you, it's best to get them out now..."

Not every piece you produce is going to be a winner and that's true for every artist no matter what their skill level. Artists suffering from the Block need to accept this. It's okay to "fail" but artists should not look at bad drawings or bad criticism as failures. Learn from a bad gesture and start over. It's okay to throw away that sketchbook page as long as you try again. If you get bad criticism, even if it's nasty, try to take something positive from it. If you feel "burnt out" take a break and it's okay to pick up a crayon, magic marker or pen and doodle something silly. This can be a great way to relax and have fun! FUN! Remember? Drawing is suppose to be fun! So put down that professional piece and scribble out some fan art with your little sibling's jumbo crayons!

You can read Dr. Payne's articles here. He is one of my favorite columnists on WritersNewsWeekly.com and the author of the PeopleWise series which was published by SterlingHouse.

The Pro's of Fan Work

Recently a colleague of mine spoke of her friend, a "brilliant writer," who used her talent to write fan fiction based on her favorite TV series. "What a shame." my colleague said.

For the most part, artists and writers see fan work as flattering tributes to the original. Inspired by the original work, they often share their inspired creations with friends and online fandoms. Some critics may look at this and say, "What a shame. They should be doing their own work!" Others see it as a flattering tribute. I see it as a potential promotional tool for the young artist or writer.

This week I wrote an article for WritersNewsWeekly.com about the Pro's of Fan Work (primarily fan fiction) and how the growing artist or writer can benefit. You can read the full article by clicking here.

Here are a few examples of successful fans who's fan work gained them the attention of some big industry names:

N. Matsumoto (aka spacecoyote)'s Simpsons and Futurama fan art that she shared on deviantart.com earned her a job with Bongo Comics, a company created and owned by Simpsons creator Matt Groening. She will be working on a short Simpsons manga and has been contacted by 20th Century Fox to potentially work on the relaunch of Futurama. You can read the full article about Space Coyote's success by clicking here.

Harry Potter fan, Francisca Solar, wasn't happy with Rowling's fifth book in the popular series so she wrote her own sequel "Harry Potter and the Decline of the High Elves." Published on fanfiction.net, her story received positive reviews from all over the world and was viewed more than 80,000 times. Harry Potter publisher, Random House, took notice. The company liked her work so much they offered her a contract to write her own original trilogy. You can read more about Francisca and her series by clicking here.

Writing fan fiction or drawing fan art can be a simple labor of love, fun hobby and a way for a fan to give back to their fandom or express their inspired fantasies. In many cases, fan work serves a more professional service, acting as a form of practice for the growing artist or writer. Fan work can prove to be a fun exercise in emulating existing styles in drawing or writing. This can lead artists and writers to branch off and create their own original pieces. Fan work also makes great online portfolio bait. Think about how many people Google search their favorite books, shows and characters. Lure viewers to your portfolio website with fan work of a popular subject, and you have a better chance of getting your original work noticed.

Tekkoshocon 2008

as a convention was a bust... However my friends made the con special! This year we participated in Artist's Alley for the first time. Artistically it was a great experience. I met a lot of great artists and shared my work with a lot of Otaku! Here are some pictures of the crew and our table.



My end of the table (The Al head belongs to our friend Bill and was for display only)


Dani made some awesome clocks and her buttons were so clever!


Ari's crocheted items were a big hit!


Me, my Envy wig and my girls! I met these two maybe three years ago. They stole my heart with their Greed and Envy cosplay and I look for them every year! <3>


I hope the Tekko staff gets their stuff together next year. The Greentree Radisson is no place for a con that big. It was cramped and miserable. Lines were terrible and there were a lot of rude con-ops. There were a lot of nice, helpful volunteers... but the incident in Artist's Alley was so unbelievable that a lot of people are talking about not going back next year. I hope that Tekko takes all of the negative feedback that it has received to heart and makes some necessary changes.

A New Day, A New Web Comic

No, really! I've been keeping this under wraps for a while now but today writersnewsweekly.com, an online newspaper geared to new writers and those involved in the literary industry, was officially launched along with my comic "Monkey In The Middle: a primate example of the writer's plight"


Monkey In The Middle is a simple story about a writer trying to get published. Imma Monkey has a story to tell and won't let anything get in her way! Join her as she takes on troublesome technology, intense industry professionals, and personal procastination.

http://www.writersnewsweekly.com/Monkey_in_the_Middle_1.html

Tekkoshocon 2008

Tekkoshocon, the Anime & Asian Culture Convention based in Pittsburgh, PA is right around the corner. What does this mean for NMALLENART?


NMALLENART has teamed up with Dani Cat Designs and several other talented artists and craftsman to put together an art table in this year's Tekkoshocon Artists Alley. It's official, our first venture into the world of art sales will be April 11th - 13th at the Radisson Hotel in Green Tree. We're hard at work creating various kinds of swag featuring some of your favorite cartoon characters, symbols and sayings to offer to this years con goers. We are even working on an awesome raffle basket that some lucky otaku will get to take home at the end of the con!

Check out the Tekkoshocon website for more information. We hope to see you there.

With the Light: a Manga With Heart

Last week I was casually looking through Border's selection of manga, when I came across something unique...

"With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child" by Keiko Tobe.
The title was enough to make me stop in my tracks. "A manga about raising an autistic child?!" Amongst all of the sci-fi/fantasy and magical school girl/boy manga this book stood out to me as something special and unique.

I pick it up off of the shelf and immediately looked at the art... BEAUTIFUL! I skimmed the back cover copy... Interesting! I looked at the price... $14! That's awesome considering how thick it is! I wanted to buy it right there and then but... I was low on funds. The book is certainly on my wish list, though!

I've done a little reading up on it and have come across many positive reviews about they story's entertainment and educational value. I must say that I personally have no experience with Autism, but that doesn't matter. This book has really peeked my interests and I will certainly follow-up later with a real review once I get my hands on a copy.

You can read more about the book on comicworldnews.com and mangablog.net.

Non Competitive Artists in the Competitve Field of Art

The first thing that I was told when I decided to go to school for something art related was "It's a competitive field." This was told to me time and time again and I did my best to ignore it. I love art and have always tried to let my heart push me forward rather than the thrill of competition.

I believe that everyone has a certain competitive nature. It's human. When I was young I would compete with other kids for the attention of the adults. Every time I play a video game with my friends we are being competitive. We want to win, we don't want to lose because often when losing in a public setting an issue of embarrassment surfaces. I was never good at handling embarrassment, often arguing and causing conflict. I was never good at sports or on stage talent, in turn, the thought of losing made me avoid these public competitive situations all together.

For a long time I refused to think competitively when it came to my art. I can easily look around and see so many artists who are "better". I guess it's that fear of looking at others who are better as the "winners" and feeling like a "loser" therefor being embarrassed by my current abilities. There are so many art styles out there that it makes it hard to compare your work to others. Regardless, it's easy to say "I wish I could draw(design, write, sing, etc) like so-in-so." These thoughts, fears of embarrassment or disappointment can often hold an artist back from trying to get better.

The statement "Art is a competitive field" usually relates to the job market. Of course any profession that relates to a skill is going to be competitive. Those who are better at their skill are more likely to get the job. Popular artists are popular because they're good, or enough people exist who think they're good. Is it my competitive nature that makes me strive to be one of these "good" artists or is it my passion? Could it be a little of both? Does one have to be competitive to succeed? If so how are some people naturally "good" artists? Is there a place for non competitive artists who are driven by passion alone? Is it possible to be driven by passion alone?