A City Where it Never Rains

This is, more or less, an entry to let you know we're still alive.

So, yes.

We live! I think old-style manga effects are as much a part of what I like about the genre as anything. Such lengths to be expressive. Rendered patiently with a nib.



peace.

-raze

Free Talk:

It's been awhile, but it's also been so busy that I think we're absolutely excused for our absence. Raze has been trying to dig herself out of spring schoolwork and I...well, you know the story. A neverending cycle as follows: work, clinical, clinical, clinical, school, work, work.  Seven days, and then seven days again marathon. Whee. I've become a drinker of coffee, which is strange since I don't particularly enjoy the taste. I need to wean myself away from the caffeine. Raze does, too. Both of us suffer from a racing heart and nightmares when we drink it. Our bodies work similarly, I think.   On another note, we got a huge downpour today. It's been so long...I'm very happy and hope it helps our water levels in this state.

As far as creativity goes, Raze is thinking about going to a figure drawing class over the summer, and by God, I think my mother is actually expressing approval. Wow. We'll see how this goes. More news as it comes.


Doodle Bug:

Hehehe. Look what I found! This is from a couple of years back, when we finally found a setting we liked. This would technically be the first page for Rainshadow, though of course, she'll want to redraw it and fix its flaws or some shit. Yeah, right. You'll never get to it, silly. Nonetheless, I slapped a title on it! I'm so bad. Still, I would so love to see this made someday, because I love this story. If it's something I enjoy, I hope others would, too. Think I may dig some more old sketches from limbo. This one is from about 2003 (?) - I think that's right. No maths right now please. (Raze is 18 now and was (?) 13-14 then.)

Doodle bug:

Calamity Child Anathema Character Sketches. Not finished, but sketching around in terms of design.  Trying for the very basic as far as their younger selves go. (Older designs to come.) Opinions welcome. Looking more for comments in terms of design, first impressions, etc.

-Raze / Taylor

Free Talk: 

Specifically, The 3 Different Voices of this Journal

There have been a few posts since I last wrote in here. One by Taylor and one crazy one by Meaghan - the rocket scientist herself. (Not kidding.)  I suppose I should clarify that there are more people using this journal than me. I'm just the one who talks and posts the most.  True to life, too.  I babble aloud more that the others. I created little user pics for each of us to help tell the difference. Now, I'm no artist BUT the pictures do resemble us a bit, as far as features go. I'd like to add more (preferably not drawn by me).  It's lucky that we three don't really resemble each other.  Hopefully, it will help, because we don't always sign our names after commenting. 

My name is Erin, and my penname here is Ruin.  I've also been around in the fandoms as a couple of names - Tanuki-dono, for one. Hahaha - I used to write so much fanfic.  Those were the days... I'm the one who primarily keeps up with the friends-list.  So, if someone has commented back and forth with you, it's probably me.  Unfortunately, I often take breaks from Livejournal and don't always comment as regularly as I'd like.  One, I don't always have something meaningful to say; and two, I'm a busy gal!  My current goal in life is to be happy.  Such a simple statement, but arguably one of the most difficult ideals to obtain. 

I'm currently finishing up my Associate's Degree in Radiologic Technology.  I'll be finished this May, and hopefully I'll be a Registered Radiographer by June/July of this year.  I currently have clinicals Monday through Wednesday (which is basically full-time work without pay at this point in time). On Thursday, I commute 2 hours round trip to my college campus for class.  And lastly, I work a part-time job in my field as an x-ray tech (while cross-training in basic nursing) most weekends - Friday through Sunday 8am to 6pm plus overtime if needed (people always seem to walk in right at 6, and we don't leave until the last patient is finished! XD)  So, that's a bit of explanation as to why I sometimes don't get back to you - I don't forget! (I just get sidetracked.)

My interests are too numerous to list.  I should probably wait for another day.  Just skimming the surface... I love stories and books, and of late I've grown fond of sparse and concise writing.  As a young girl, I remember loving the grandiose and purple prose classics, but nowadays, my tastes are much different.  I'm much pickier, you could say.  I used to draw, and when I was young, I envisioned furthering my painting love, but now I've kind of pushed that back to "the hobby that I'll make time for in old age."  I like dry, boring histories.  My bookshelf is a mishmash of selective manga, histories, and medical books, with a few spotted fiction novels squished in between. That's all for now.  *shifty eyes* 

Oh, and I look a lot like my avatar.  Ash blonde (really, it's light brown since it's winter now) and clear, light blue eyes.  Heart-shaped face and vulcan ears. No photos right now, though, no matter how much you like putting a name to a face.  (This is public, anyway.)

---

I'm Taylor.  I go by Raze.  I am a junior in high school.  I'm  not exactly  sure what I want to do when I graduate... but I do know that I want art to stay a part of my life.  I am considered hard-working by some and a horrible procrastinator by others.  One day, a boy at school told me it was weird when I spoke. "It's like you speak in sentence fragments.." .....I never have been good at casual conversation and I guess that would be part of the problem.  I also have this strange ability to offend people and not realize what I have done.

I am also a serious fastpitch softball pitcher.  I can play any position on the field and I have hit  3 balls out of park.  My favourite games have been the few  chances that I have gotten to play with my sisters.  Erin was my favourite short stop ever and Meaghan my favourite catcher.

Art is a joyous thing for me, but if I am even considering pursuing it then I really better get my butt in gear.  Should probably take a class and work on drawing from real life and practice paneling for comics.  My favourite manga right now are Banya: The Explosive Delivery Man, Qwan, and Naruto.  I would love to be able to draw like them. Effortless-looking.

Er...what do I look like?  Dark, I guess.  Dark, curly waves for hair.  Dark eyes with heavy brows.  I can pull off that smoky, angry look, I think. Dark skin with red undertones.  Dark, dark, dark.  Like a Cherokee.
   

---

Lastly, there is Meaghan, who isn't officially wanting to be here with us.  Though...we've taken to labeling her Wrath lately, since it sounds good with the other names. (Raze, Ruin, and Wrath has a rhythm, you know?) When people make cracks about rocket science, I always think of Meaghan.  Why? That's what she is.  Aerospace engineer. Or at least, that's what she's working toward.  She's got almost four years of engineering school under her belt now.  She currently co-ops through her college and doesn't say a lot about her job.  Most of it is classified information, and contrary to popular belief, she takes her work seriously.  She's very tight-lipped.  "NASA hasn't declassified this..." and "NASA hasn't declassified that..."  Pshh.  Math peoples.  Don't get me wrong.  I like math, too.  Sometimes.  Only when it's applied to sciences like physics and chemistry, though.

Meaghan is...very loveable, actually.  She likes to doodle the most crazy drawings and doujinshi.  If she draws, it's usually shojou-esque in that timeless late 80s to early 90s manga style.  She'll post sometimes at our fanart account (http://www.LOTUS-ink.deviantart.com) but not often.  Her fannish works are escapism when her workload gets to be too much, I think.  She's got long medium brown hair and angular eyes.  Her eyebrows are quite arched, giving her the eternal look of mischief.  Her round features make her look pouty and "cute."  Unfortunately, it always looks like she's lying. Even when she's not.

-Erin / Ruin

So...the Japanese variant of Rhysmyth cracked me up so much that it inspired this fanart. EDIT: Hey, and I finished it. Picked up Rhysmyth and to be honest, think it's rubbish stories with  not so genuine characters who come off as uninspired stereotypes. BUT it was fun to draw.

- Taylor / Raze
 

...Meaghan saw me drawing and for some reason it turned into Wahzee. She asked for his name and when I gave it, she made fun of me...a lot. I need to do some real fanart someday instead of this crack. Oh, well. Crack is fun. Poor Wahzee. @.@

-Taylor / Raze

It's been so long I hardly remember the format here.

Free Talk:

It's been an interesting holiday.  There's been work, and there's been worry. Sometimes, I wish I would just bite down and get everything I need to get done done and paid for so it doesn't weigh on my mind so much.  Procrastination isn't pretty, kitties. I have lengthy background check papers to fill out, and one more return I need to make - neither of which I particularly want to do, because I want to savor the hours I have free before the thirty-hour-plus work weekend that is in store for me.  And there are Christmas presents, namely movies, that I want to enjoy.  In fact, on a whim, I'll have you know, I purchased one such movie - for my sister, Taylor.  Raze, or Yoriko17, as some of you know her. Anyway, I was picking up movies at Target and Pan's Labyrinth was on the shelf. Now, I've seen some of the visual features in brief television spots etc. but had never bothered to check it out. Yes, I know about the awards yadda-yadda-yadda.  But I never knew the real story. I just thought it was some distant, kind of whacked fantasy story.  If you've seen it, I know you're laughing at me... Anyway, I absolutely...was flabbergasted by the story.


Movie Talk:

Pan's Labyrinth

How to put it in words? Perhaps with my own introduction. As I mentioned above, I had no clue as of to what the story was about or where it was set at the time I purchased the DVD. I thought Pan was some little fantasy girl who no doubt entered some kind of fantastical labyrinth where she met computer graphitized creatures that flitted to and fro.  No, Pan is not a girl.  And no, the fantasy isn't that simple.  Stop reading now if you'd rather watch the movie unspoiled, as it is much better that way...unless you're squeamish about violence. No, not the slasher type of violence that is glorified on television these days, but the type that rolls your stomach around and constricts your heart.

The original Spanish title is El Laberinto del Fauno, which translates as The Labyrinth of the Faun quite directly.  The title it was released as - Pan's Labyrinth - draws inspiration from a faun-like Greek God known as Pan.  I admit, it's a poetic reference, so I'm not bothered by it.  Now, the little girl in the trailers...her name is Ofelia. Beautiful name.   What I love most about the movie is the interwoven quality of the violence and the fantasy elements.  There are many instances in real life where great fantasy writers, or really, writers in general, are driven to new horizons by the harshness of reality.  Escapism at its finest, you could say.  There are little things that I love - how a violent scene sets the vulnerability of the following fantasy element, and so on.  It's interesting to watch how Ofelia's fantasies grow ever more violent as the world around her crumbles.  Then, there are the technical elements.  The shapes attributed to certain characters and lighting.  Each aspect seems meticulously assigned.  I have not yet watched the director's commentary, but I'm sure it will be a treat.  There are plenty of little aspects I noticed regarding the characters that are too deliberate to be chance.

Ah... I can't go on. Just watch it, please.   The voice-over on this trailer is loud, but if you've no idea of the movie, it's a good glimpse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqYiSlkvRuw

-Erin / Ruin


Doodle of the Moment:

Just a random girl drawn by Taylor.  A whim, she says. Huh. She always says that, doesn't she?

Merry Christmas, everyone. We'll try to update and comment to everyone's entries sometime this week!

Free Talk:

Now I need more time, somehow I'll make it through - I just need more time.

I landed a job as a radiologic tech at one of the urgent care facilities in town. I'm still a little shell-shocked.  I was offered the job at the end of a quick interview and ushered to complete my drug testing and physical evaluation.  Now, I have to buy more uniforms to conform to the facility.  Two colors are allowed - a maroon wine color and a grayish blue.  I also have to purchase a stethoscope because, evidently, I am going to cross-train in lab and nursing.  (I admit that part makes me excited - I like to learn.)

I'm excited, and uncharacteristically nervous, because I really wanna do a good job. I might start as early as this weekend.

In a way, it stinks, because Tay-Tay was just freed up from her fall softball season (ended Saturday) and she finally has time to draw again, and I won't be around to help her.  But on the flipside, I'll be earning some much-needed money. Not a large amount of money, but it sure beats a job at the mall.


Book Review:

Stopped by Waldenbooks this weekend and perused the sale section.  There, sitting proudly on the shelf, was a large hardback copy of Smithsonian's Human.  $10.  Only that much for something that should be nearer to $60!  Taylor and I split the cost so we were each out only about five bucks.  See, I'm always collecting reference books and large picture books.  My latest purchases have been medical references and odds and ends such a weather/climate handbook.  Anything helps in creating realistic settings, methinks.  (Taylor and I both have been recently obsessed with the Atacama Desert.) 

All in all, Human is jampacked with information, like an encyclopedia.  The topics (Origins, Body, Mind, Life Cycle, Society, Culture, Peoples, and Future) tease you with just enough introductory information to inspire you to look further into the specifics.  The book is written for the average person, not the experts, and I think the aim is to touch upon all the varieties that make up the human tapestry, which it definitely succeeds in doing.  I haven't read the entire book word-for-word (I just got it Saturday, and all 512 pages would be a stretch even for me), but I like what I see.  There is some confusion in muscle classification on page 68, but it is minor and rather obvious if you've taken human anatomy.  (Skeletal muscle is mislabeled as cardiac muscle and cardiac muscle is mislabeled as smooth muscle.)  The most impressive thing for me about this book is the visual aspect of it.  Someone spent a lot of time crafting the graphics, especially in the Body section.  Amazing, indeed. And the chosen supplemental photographs are nice as well. Vibrant and inspiring.


Doodle of the Moment:

Taylor likes to draw with Sharpies, too.  Chiko from Rainshadow. She appears at first to be the most annoying, selfish girl on earth.  But it is her plot that moves everything else forward - shifts the earth under the rest of the characters' feet.  This expression gives us a glance into her past.

Hey. Taylor here.  I'm not as long-winded as Erin, so I'm just going to post a quick link and doodle and be off.  This link is a fun way to build your vocabulary if you're bored, and for each word you get correct, 10 grains of rice are donated to the hungry. GO BOOKMARK IT NOW.

This is a little doodle I did and inked with a crappy pen during class.  We had to turn it in that day for MOLE DAY (chemistry). Thus, my chicken scritch handwriting. Ahaha. But hand-drawing screentones is always fun. A short about Avogadro and his beautiful numbers. Enjoy the stupidity.

Free Talk:

Halloween story. Inmate.  Standing over a tall lookout.  Confinement.  Simple garb, bare dirty feet.  Spiritual reflection. Solitary confinement - severe negative impact on a prisoner's mental state, perhaps depression or even an existential crisis.

That's what is in my head right now. I have a million stories running around up there, so I did what all young ladies who should be doing their college coursework do - I scan a one-page doujinshi that makes fun of Sasuke.  Fear the Feelings.

-Erin

Free Talk:

I have discovered....Podcasting.

Hooray. I feel all modern and hip now.

There are a number of really cool-looking science feeds that I'm busy subscribing myself to.  My mind explodes.  I love free information. This is a much better option that all those audio lectures I've been perusing on eBay. Though I can't say I'll never buy all those lectures, of course. I'm just a nerd like that. Anyone got any favorites? So far I'm subscribed to Naked Scientists Naked Science Radio Show, Science Update Podcast, NPR: Science Friday, This Week in Science - The Kickass Science Podcast, aaaand Democracy Now! (if any of you are familiar with Amy Goodman). Fun, fun, fun.  Stuff to listen to on my way to and from clinical assignments (and the commute to actual college, of course).


Doodle of the Moment:

Here is a look into Parthenian, the initial setting for Rainshadow. Taylor pen sketched this one a couple of months ago - back when we had free time in the summer months.  The is the city that Kazuo approaches in the prologue snippet I posted last time. (The snippet is friend-locked, so you'll need to be on our friends-list to view it.  If you want to be on our f-list, leave a comment.) Parthenian seems a bit vacant here, hahahaha. Didn't bother with drawing the people at the time.

Free Talk:

I did it. I ordered some new memory for my laptop.  So, hopefully by the end of the week, my computer will be capable of running Photoshop without totally crashing. I'm upgrading from 512 to 1 Gig, so it will help marginally.  I'd like to get up to full potential by the end of the year (2 GB of RAM).  I've always wanted to try experimenting with coloring by using layers, so perhaps I will be able to do so soon.  Feel free to direct me to useful tutorials in preparation. (Do you have any favorites?)

--Erin


I hardly ever blog on here, and it feels weird to type my thoughts. I'm holding my bladder, so I'll make this quick.  Uhm... The doodle I'm  posting today is crappy and unfinished, because I did it quickly while I was in ISS (In-School-Suspension) due to a cell phone violation. (Poo.) But that was last Spring. Now, I've changed schools and am happily enjoying a faculty that doesn't haze me out of every activity due to a familial grudge! But that's a story for another day.  The doodle doesn't really capture the brattiness of Roka's character, because it's at a point in the story where he's dealing with a lot of stress and change. But meh. TMI.

This picture below is of Roka, the quintessential dynamic character. He's the protagonist from Rainshadow.  You're most likely to find him in a scuffle with other kids in the city.  Thin and wiry due to the poor diet he gets in Parthenian, you might say he has "little man's syndrome."  Always striving to prove himself, ahahahaha. And failing miserably.  Ah, but enough of that. The story of Rainshadow follows his path of life - because everyone has to grow up.  Some just struggle more than others.

Gotta go pee now. Bye.

--Taylor



Doodle of the Moment:

And a brief instrumental to accompany it: Opening Credits by Hybrid.

Free Talk:

How many of you out there love music?  I do. All types of music.  A friend of mine, goldknight00, mentioned once to me, while we were talking about storyboarding for movies, that he felt like a sequence of images connected together is like music.  That's the best way he could think to understand it.  Sequences flowing visually.  That is music.

Perhaps that is so.  When I think of music, my head fills with pictures and movement - sometimes people, sometimes backgrounds, but always visual flow.  In some cases, I get glimpses of stories or actions that I have no idea what to do with. Sometimes, that very music is the inspiration for a scene or an idea.

I like to mix vocal songs with soundscape ones to create playlists for the stories running around in my head.  The monstrous ones (Shoki, Rainshadow, Telomere) have their very own playlists, each with a unique sound.  Shoki is fun and energetic and with an inevitable Japanese flare.  Rainshadow has more monotone vocals with "emptier" songs (more treble, less bass sound).  Telomere is...odd. Mechanical and desperate and maybe a bit electronic and experimental in places. Or sometimes, I just add songs that scream out a certain character.

I love collecting unusual sounds.  When I start making a paycheck again, remind me to peruse the less-loved areas in the music store.  The cultural, the classical, the international, the just plain quirky. Different languages are awesome, too. Please recommend something to me if you're thinking of it right now. I might eventually post some songs I have on my playlists, and tell you about why it relates to a certain story. But alas, my Internet runs slow like cold syrup right now.

--Erin


Doodle of the Moment:

Scraps of notebook paper, indeed. Drew this one in class, probably history, because my history teacher used to be awful. (My new one is cool, though - I can listen and get story ideas from him, thank God.)  This is Seria (SAY-LEE-AH) from Rainsahdow. She's a central character in the second part, but I like drawing her now because her design has a lot of impish movement. It's fun. Plus, she's small, so she fits well in the margins of notes.

--Taylor

Announcements:

Most of our posts will be friend-locked due to the nature of the material. Most of the drawings herein are (c) Raze, and since many of our stories are as of yet not off the ground, we'd like to reduce the possibility of theft.  To be friended, though, simply reply on any post you see. We'll most likely friend you promptly.



Free Talk:

Ah, the obligatory first post.  There will be several people posting here, as I am only 1 of 3 members, but I think I'll start us off. My name is Erin, part of the group called Raze. In the near future, we hope to work on a few one-shots to gain some much-needed experience. Also, I want to hone our skills before attempting the weighty load of one of our three main series: Shoki, Rainshadow, or Telomere. 

I think comic-making studies should involve much the same as what a director would study. Effective shots, emotion, flow, etc. I myself adore conceptual work, so that is mostly what I do. I have little patience, I'm afraid, for the fine detail work the Taylor does. (No matter what, I just can't get those darn rocks she does to seem interesting to draw!) Above all else, the works I love most of all master the task of portraying emotion.  If the faces don't portray emotion, but instead screw up into stiff imitations of it, no matter how good the background art is, it won't hold my attention.  Rapidly changing the subject in true conversational manner, I love to write. If I weren't in the medical field, I know I could actually write for a living. I just love stories. There are endless possibilities.

What do I want from this account? Honestly, I want a scrapbook. I want a review base. I want a specific area to interact with other creators. I want a forum to ask, receive, and provide.

--Erin



What I Want Right Now:

1. I want to learn how to put together a website. Though, it may have to wait until after I graduate from college, so I have time to take a few novelty classes. On my agenda is the mastery of CSS and PHP, both of which would greatly aid in the design I have in mind.

2. I want to buy more memory for my computer, so I can run Photoshop more effectively! (512 just doesn't do it for me.)

3. I want to learn what resolution is best for scanning comic pages, and from there how to effectively deal with it both for printing high quality AND display on the web. (For instance, should I make two copies, one for web display and another for printing quality?) We ink traditionally, so high quality scanning is a must.

4. I want to try binding a book. (See below.) x3



Recommendations/Reviews/Links:

I found this neat post by tobycraig the other day, which talks aout how he binds little booklets of his work. Such an interesting read, and really gives you the courage to perhaps try to do it yourself!



Doodle of the Moment: