I've had a Tumblr account for about a year now but I didn't really start using it until just last week

Given my lack of absence from DA recently because of the hiatus I'm on while I get my manga projets and new stuff sorted, you can follow me there if you'd like. I'm updating it regularly with my random sketches, tips, interesting things, progress updates and so on.

Also, Tumblr is a great place to ask me questions you may have about art in general given that it doesn't get buried alive in e-mails/notes/other comments and I will do my best to answer XD
[link]

It's my first time ever doing a valentine event... actually in general I'm very new to the secret events
<- I'm in this one XD

To my secret valentine:


I would like a picture of my OCs please
I have a few uploaded on my DA but I'd like to see one of these two the most.

Mikalo - the infamous white haired one plastered all over my gallery.
He is by nature a very kind person, always polite and has a calming presence but at the same time, he is also a very serious man and  can be quite strict depending on the degree of wrong done; is an experienced fighter and quite high ranked in the military.
He does have a fun side that only a rare few see (he is an excellent strategist and comes up with the most intelligent pranks ever ), loves books, sweet honey bread and swimming.

In general, despite his youthful appearance, he has a mature persona.




Paris - Brat of a vampire.
Paris appears in his early twenties but is about 400 years old. He is an extremely curious soul, loves life's adventures, is very charming, likes to follow fashion trends and is deeply passionate about everything he comes to do... also loves nothing more than getting away with breaking the rules if it's without too much trouble.
He fully embraces his vampire nature and isn't one of those that feels sad about having become one (in fact, he rather enjoys getting to see the world through the ages)

I always have this saying for describing Paris which pretty much sums him up perfectly: "He looks like an angel, smiles like a crook and acts like the devil."
If you were to draw him, I would only say that he does like his fashion so he does pay attention to looking good



If these guys are too hard/ you just don't want to for whatever reason, I would like any fanarts of the following characters:

Kiba from Wolf's Rain
Gintoki or Hijikata from Gintama
Edward Elric or Roy Mustang from Full Metal Alchemist
Ace or Luffy from One Piece
Squall Lionheart from Final Fantasy 8
Dante or Nero from Devil May Cry

I'll stop there else the list could go on and on

Thank you so very much

So far, I've had to refund 26 missing posters and their postage cost and I really apologise for it taking this long to do so... it was a substantial amount of money which has taken me a long period of time to pay individually.

Is there anyone still out there who has not had a full refund on their missing poster?

If so, PLEASE get in touch with me again, either through a note here or my e-mail (Negshin@mitra-media.com), just state the amount you had paid and provide me with your paypal contact details.
I will refund you ASAP.

I am not someone who'd take people's money and run with it, even if it wasn't my fault that the posters went missing in the mail, I said I would do a full refund so I will.  
It's been weighing a major guilt trip on my conscious for things going missing to begin with and it taking so long to sort through... I just want to put this whole mess behind me now.

So my final call out, please get in touch if you've yet to receive a full refund. I can't apologize enough for the delay.

With that done, this is a call out to all my commissioners.
I want to also thank you for your patience, now that I have a stable place to stay at and not move around hopefully for a few months to come, I'm going to do nothing but the back-log of commissions until they are all done so please just bear with me a little bit more.

And please don't think too badly of me, I really am trying to clear up all the mess and the delays

Please forgive my poor grammar/spelling in advance, I am currently very much sleep deprived after a long flight.
Given that I still have a four hour wait until the next flight of doom I thought I'd actually TRY and write a journal to wish everyone a VERY Happy New Year (and a very belated Merry Christmas )

2012 was absolutely crazy for me, settling into the studio, moving house four times, becoming a Senior... etc... etc... and 2013 looks to be very busy already

Regrettably, I won't be around much this year as well but it will be the good kind of busy XD

I briefly mentioned this in my last journal but I will announce it again here to make it more official:
Redemption, my old manga that got me started into doing illustration and sequential arts in the first place many years ago, WILL be back online again in January 2014!

Redemption had many ups and many downs but I wouldn't be here, doing what I do now, if it wasn't for that manga. I never gave up on Redemption despite taking it down, continuing to work away on it whenever possible and finally I feel like it is at a near complete stage.
I look forward to sharing it with you all again ^_^

Also, after taking a long break from conventions, I plan on being back with all new works and another manga that will go straight into print (entitled White Line) in May 2015.

That is not to say that I will be gone from DA completely, I plan on uploading as many new works as possible in the coming months until my return to the convention scene... just that I won't be around to answer notes/messages much.... LOL quite frankly I usually can't keep up with DA even when I do try

I am super excited about this year... and I am really looking forward to showing you all how much I have improved and how far I have come.
As always, thank you so much for your support, for always giving me that extra push when I need it and offering encouraging words when I am feeling down.

I hope to be back stronger and better than ever before... until then, I wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

Sorry for my lack of presence here, I have been having a roller coaster of a year, a bit more crazy than usual which is saying a lot <_<

I just want everyone to know that I will be attending London MCM this weekend (26th-28th Oct) along side some super awesome and talented people so it's alright if no one notices me

Rocking row B in the Comic Village:






This will be the last time pretty much everything in my gallery will be available to buy as a print as I am retiring all of these ancient designs. I may print some of them as postcards in the future depending on how I feel but yeah, I am retiring these oldies as prints for good XD

So for your last chance to own these designs please drop by, everything will be on sale (£3 each or 4 for £10) as only a few copies of each remain:




I am also going to be taking a long break from conventions, hoping to be back in the summer of 2014.
The hiatus from DA shall also continue... mostly in my lack of responses/journals, I am going to be around for posting new works and the commissions.

There are a lot of things that I want to do and need to take the time off to finally get them done.
But I'll just say this here publicly so I will HAVE to keep to it, my old manga Redemption WILL be back online in 2014

For now, I really look forward to meeting you all at MCM    

As always, please forgive my absence, I am still very busy and the DA hiatus continues.
But I hope to be back really soon with tons of new stuff.

As you guys know, I am one of the in-house illustrators for Jagex Games Studio based in the UK now and once again we have a few freelance positions available for artists on one of our games.
This position could lead to long term contracts being sent out to you as we are looking for an artist (s) to have on board for the game and future jobs.

One of the most important things is that the quality and the look of the work must remain consistent throughout all of the images.
This is the style of the game you will be producing works for:

War of Legends







This position requires immediate start!
This job does NOT require you to be UK based, it is open to world wide applications ^__^

I will act as your initial contact point however I am not on board for this particular project, you will be dealing with my colleagues instead so a good understanding of English is a must

If you are interested and think yourself capable of integrating the required art style and look of the imagery while remaining consistent, I would appreciate it if you would please get back to me as soon as possible with the following information:

- Samples of your work via links [please do NOT send me attachments]

- Your availability and earliest start date

- The length of time you would need to produce a single, fully finished image upon receiving the full brief

- Your price quote per image given requirements such as roughly needed one or two review stages, high level of detail and separate layer integration of elements (for example we may ask that the object a character is holding to be drawn on a separate layer for animating at a later date)

- Do you know flash and can animate elements? This is not a requirement however a BIG bonus if you do know how to use flash and can produce animations for banners/headers and such.

I would also appreciate knowing if you are capable/willing to work on several images, and if so, do you offer a discount rate for multiple images?

Please E-MAIL me [no notes please as that can be hard for me to keep track of ] with the header "Jagex Game Studio - War of Legends Position" to : Negshin@mitra-media.com

PLEASE E-MAIL ME BY 13TH SEPTEMBER
The deadline for this whole project is extremely tight (we need this by end of September ) Any e-mails sent after the 13th will sadly be ignored.
If e-mails are missing the information requested they will not be taken into consideration so please make sure you've read through the things listed carefully and provide the necessary details. As your contact point, I am happy to answer any question you may have so don't hesitate to ask if you are unsure of something

Please do not apply if you think your style is not quite suitable for this project ^__^

Thank you so very much everyone.

Sorry to everyone who was expecting to see me over at MCM but I guess it just didn't work out with some of the things that went down today, resulting in me having to cancel the weekend.
The wonderful Lin-chan is still there at our tables so go over and show her love

I will update you all on Japan Expo which still remains solid but not fully confirmed

... aaaaand, I think I'm actually gonna go away and draw something for myself instead. So will be rising from an art grave with an update soon

Have a great weekend everyone

Please scroll down to the added dash lines to see the edit

LOL I can't believe it's been a year already... I can never grasp how time works, or where it all goes... just so crazy.

After getting to see my brother after so long yesterday, I had a quiet birthday to myself today which was actually exactly what I needed since I was exhausted
No cake and not many presents this year but I can sure tell you, nothing beats waking up to and receiving so many wonderful messages on the day
I want to thank everyone on here, those who watch me, those who comment, those who fave and everyone who have been wishing me a happy birthday, you all make me feel special and I am grateful for the time, the attention and the kind words you share with me
I love you and thank you all

Alright, that said, I usually try to write something interesting about the day just for fun... last year I listed some of the famous people that I share my birthday with, this year here are some totally random events that happened on the 14th of November XD:

1666 - Samuel Pepys reports on first blood transfusion (between dogs).
1851 - Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick was published.
1882 - Franklin Leslie kills Billy "The Kid" Claiborne.
1889 - Journalist Nellie Bly (aka Elizabeth Cochrane) sets of to travel around the world in less than 80 days. She completes the task in 72 days.
1969 - Apollo 12 launched for second manned Moon landing.
1922 - The British Broadcasting Company (aka BBC) begins radio broadcasting from Marconi House in London with the first newscast.
1908 - The Guangxu Emperor died on the 14th of November and Henry PuYi (Hsan Tung) was chosen by Empress Dowager Cixi at the age of 2 years and 10 months, the boy that would soon become the last Emperor of China.
1973 - Princess Anne married Captain Mark Phillips in Westminster Abbey . The marriage ceremony was televised around the world with an estimated 100 million viewers.
1991 - Michael Jackson's 11 minute long "Black or White" music video debuted on television, a video that was to generate a lot of controversy concerning its last four minutes.

---------------------------------------------------
EDIT: Dangerous Substances
---------------------------------------------------
LOL I just got yelled at for forgetting this... my bad since it's kinda late here.
This was the wonderful gift I got from an amazing friend, talented writer and all round evil demented bunny Kaze-chan , taking two of my characters and one of her own (I was commission to draw him and know the brat very well) and comparing them to... well suitable substances that actually fits their personalities SO WELL, it scares me.

Reading this is funny even if you don't know the characters because thinking about ANY person being compared to such things and it actually making sense is brilliant         

Dangerous Substances by
Here I have listed several of what I consider to be the most dangerous substances on the planet. Please read with care, and AVOID these poisons at ALL COSTS.

Heroin:
[My OC Ha'ero ]

A highly addictive narcotic with lethal potential. It is best avoided when angry; otherwise, one runs the risk of suffering nightmarish experiences marred with flashing streaks of purple. It is highly volatile, and prone to incomprehensible outbursts that leave one with head-splitting migraines and an intense feeling of confusion. Nevertheless, it attracts many, and with good reason. Often giving the directionless a sense of fantastical purpose, Heroin as an independent has no regard for itself as anything of value. Heroin may be highly attractive—nay—irresistible, but it is also very abusive; it may leave one frustrated, emotionally crippled, and quite often trapped in a euphoric state from which there is no escape or catharsis.  

Alcohol:
[My OC Paris ]

While enjoyed by many in small doses, Alcohol has the potential to utterly destroy a person if over-consumed. A sip or two may warm you pleasantly, but having all of it is enough to burn you alive from the inside out. Although most are able to enjoy responsibly, there are a select few who unwittingly get drunk to the point of no return. Side effects usually include disorientation, flushed cheeks, increased confidence, and ultimately, addiction. Once separated from Alcohol, individuals may become highly depressed and agitated in their almost desperate longing to be reunited. Unfortunately, Alcohol manages to be highly available to these individuals, resulting in a downward spiral for both parties. Usually, the poor drunk ends up crying in a dark corner, and Alcohol ends up spilled on the kitchen tiles after having its container shattered. Nevertheless, Alcohol continues to steal the hearts of many, and is by far the most potent instigator of scandal. It really is the devil.

Cocoa-puffs:
[Kaze-chan's OC Kai ]

A dangerous junk food that may prove deadly to one's health. Although appearing to be sweet and delicious—in other words, eye candy—Cocoa puffs is not to be judged by appearances. Behind that stunning surface that makes you drool, Cocoa-puffs is loaded with unhealthy doses of all that isn't nice. Worst of all, Cocoa-puffs is a tease. It'll leave you feeling drained, unnerved, and unsatisfied. For all its tantalizing ways, it refuses to completely fulfill your needs—all for the sake of having you squirm. At heart, Cocoa-puffs is a sadist that enjoys watching you crawl back for more. Not only that, it flaunts its alluring appearance and sweet scent to those who wish to eat it most; and once tasted, it always, unfalteringly, makes you its slave. Cocoa-puffs is the embodiment of corruption.

----------------------------------------

Alright, that's more than enough randomness, enjoy and thank you so much! >w<

Wow, time flies... I've been super busy this year, more so than usual which is saying a lot given the often chaotic state of my life <__<;;;
I haven't even finished one of the collabs I wanted to do for the secret santa from last year T__T
But hopefully I will get down to doing a LOT of my own stuff soon now that moving and new job seem to be somewhat settled

So yosh, here we go again
----------------------------------------------------------

My wishlist for and
[I think I kinda joined two accidentally but oh well, twice the challenge and twice the fun XD]

Dear Secret Santa,

Thank you for another invitation this year, this time I would I like either:

A picture of my OC Kano Hayashi–Dumas.
<- he's the startled one on the right
Kano is half French-half Japanese, 17 years old, 5"9 dark blue-eyed grade A student, fun, hard-working and enduring but generally very shy about a lot of things. He does however have a very strong sense of self and is most certainly not a pushover... you'd regret ever going up against his stubbornness
His story is based in Japan, usually in a school or a street setting in case you are going to attempt a background with the picture ^^
Clothes wise, Kano is simple and comfortable, likes stylish items as long as they remain practical. His wardope is mostly B&W and greys.... something like the clothes in the picture below but minus a lot of the accessories and he'd not be caught dead in high boots/wellingtons or printed/really baggy jeans o__O;;


Or

Another OC but a personality that couldn't possibly be further away from the Kano, ze vampire Paris:


LOL I often say that Paris looks like an angel, smiles like a crook and acts like the devil... which is a pretty accurate way of describing him.
Look wise, he's around 23 years old though age wise he's around 400, 5"11 in height and has natural warm amber/honey coloured eyes. Paris' natural hair colour is a medium brown/auburn hair with some white streaks (LOL stress XD) but he's not shy when it comes to colouring his hair and has had every shade under the sun at some point (including neon-pink but he regretted that instantly and dyed it black after just 2 minutes)... as far as hair styles go, living a few centuries also means he's had a LOT of different styles.
In the contemporary setting, Paris usually has this hairstyle:

(LOL I just wanted an excuse to put a HUGE picture of Jaejoong in my journal ]

and clothes like these:



LOL lets just say Paris KNOWS he's good looking and quite enjoys rubbing it in your face XD

As far as settings and/or fashion/styles go, you have 400 years to pick from... Paris has been everywhere and given his troublesome curious exploring nature, has probably done everything... how's that for narrowing things down
Basically FREEDOM XD

Thank you so much! >w<

Hello again everyone,

I will keep this very brief as I have a billion and one things to do and have been poorly today too to beat so I'm not at my very best for proper updates on everything that has been going on... and am still on hiatus due to busyness until I settle in more, sorry

I just want to run this by again since it was brought to my attention recently. Is there anyone who didn't receive their limited edition print I put on sale quite a while back?

There was a very long postal strike here during that time and quite a few were reported missing/damaged so I sent out a replacement.
These posters are now completely sold out since I took the remaining ones to conventions with me.

If you did not get your print or it arrived damaged, e-mail me about it... no notes again please as I'm not on DA often enough to check through everything and notes have a bad habit of getting buried here... you can contact me on: negshin@mitra-media.com

Please put the header as "poster refund" and refer to your order number, the paypal name you had placed the order with and the total amount that was paid.
I will do my very best to refund the full amount back to everyone by the end of September/October at the very latest as that's when I get paid next

I'll put forward the charity amount from every single poster myself so don't feel bad about getting a refund.
I can only apologize for the hassle, quite a few things were out of my control... for one thing, I didn't expect a postal strike across the nation exactly during the weeks I was sending these out <__<;;;

On a more upbeat note before I disappear again, even though I've had to cancel pretty much all of the cons I had booked before getting this job, I will be at London MCM this October with and so it would be great to see you all there if you can come ^__^

I'm trying to get a few pictures finished in time so some new work coming up too soon hopefully

With love to you all,
Negshin

UPDATE
- Applications Are Now Closed

LOL wow, you guys are overwhelming as always
I've been completely swamped with e-mails for the past couple of days but have now managed to narrow down the list to a few applicants that I will be forwarding to my director.
Thank you so very much to everyone who applied and for all the comments being made, I really appriciate all of your help

*End of Update*

----------------------------------------------------------

Forgive my absence, as I am still on some what of a hiatus from DA.
There is so much I need to change/update/reply to on here but I simply don't have the time for the moment.

I am writing this journal because I am one of the full-time, in-house illustrators for Jagex Games Studio based in the UK now [WOOT ] and we have a few freelance position available for artists on a short-term project for one of their games.

One of the most important things is that the quality and the style of the work must remain consistent throughout all of the images. Here are some examples of the look, the feel and the level of details that the studio is looking to have produced:







You will be working very closely with me on this so I will be there to offer guidance/assistance throughout however the time schedule for this project is rather limited with a strict deadline of late October.

So if you are interested and think yourself capable of integrating the required semi-realism, concept art feel and look of the imagery while remaining consistent, I would appreciate it if you would please get back to me as soon as possible with the following information:

- Samples of your work via links [please do NOT send me attachments]

- Your availability and start date

- The length of time you would need to produce a single, fully finished image [on average as a rough guide, this can of course be changed upon receiving the full brief]

- Your price quote per image given requirements such as roughly needed three review stages, high level of detail and separate layer integration for possible future added elements

I would also appreciate knowing if you are capable/willing to work on several images, and if so, do you offer a discount rate for multiple images?

*UPDATE* This job does NOT require you to be UK based, it is open to world wide applications ^__^

Please E-MAIL me [no notes please as that can be hard for me to keep track of ] with the header "Jagex Game Studio - Freelance Concept Artist Position" to : Negshin@mitra-media.com

Please do not apply if you think your style is not quite suitable for this project ^__^

Thank you so very much everyone, I hope to be back with a proper life-update journal soon

... and planning never works.
Well not in my case anyway since either health or other issues get in the way that no matter how hard I try to work through them, sometimes it's just not possible.

Ever since graduation, I've faced so many problems that have made life perhaps a bit more difficult than usual <- lives a roller coaster life
But the past four or five months have been the most problematic as far as my work production goes, I've barely managed to get anything done because of either bad health or computer problems.
And finally, as of three days ago, my laptop died beyond any immediate repair, completely ruining all the initial plans I had for the next coming months.

There was so much I wanted to do, so much I still intent to do... but it's just been one disaster after another and I'm a bit drained ^_^;;;

I dunno, maybe this has come at a good time... I have been struggling to keep my enthusiasm about anything art related and have been feeling quite down about my own work.
LOL I hate to sound all emo and negative [am not really] but I'm kinda failing to see any improvements in my work recently. If anything, I think I'm getting worst <__<;;;
   
So I am going on a hiatus for a few months to rethink a lot of things through, it would be best to give myself that time to really evaluate everything and try to tackle them again with a more clear mind.
Somewhat of a shame that I can't physically get anything done for now since I had some really big plans for the summer... I wanted to get so much done but it's just not going to happen.

This is actually to everyone who knows about/is involved with some of the projects too [mainly DL and S], sorry guys, looks like I won't be able to get them going any time soon, I'd appreciate it if you could continue being patient with me ^^

I won't be online much again... I may upload some journals after conventions as I go along but forgive me if I really won't be around to reply to notes and comments.
I'm just going to take this time to get into grips with a few things that have been bothering me for a long time now. Usually that's a good thing, so far I've often come out of long breaks feeling a lot stronger and having gotten a lot better art wise ^^

Before I disappear here are a couple of important things:

The Special Limited Edition Poster will NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE TO BUY ONLINE!!!  
I apologise to those who wish to buy this poster from abroad however there have been so many problems with the post it's unreal. There have been a few strikes happening here which have resulted into massive delays in delivery times. I was told by the post office that some of the posters sent in March/April may take as long as mid-June to arrive o__O
That's just ridiculous -__-
And there have been so many cases of missing prints either in the post or the prints arriving damaged that I am just unwilling to risk it any more. I'm just going to sell the remaining posters at the conventions I'm going to be attending soon.
I'm really sorry about this but it's probably for the best as there are so many of these in existence that I could afford to send out as replacements.

Another matter I'd like to mention are the conventions I will be attending to over the next few months.
LOL I'm putting myself through a convention crash course, going to as many as I could possible afford/have the time for and will be hosting a few panels and workshops in some of them for the first time in years <- nervous as hell

Here is the list that can also be found on my front page:

First one coming up is this weekend in Bristol, WOOT <3

We are in Hall 5, table 11. It would be awesome if you could drop by to say hi ^^
May 14th - 15th
Bristol International Comic & Small Press Expo
Confirmed
- With and


May 27th - 29th
London MCM Expo
Confirmed
- With and


July 8th - 10th
London Film and Comic Con
Confirmed


July 30th - 31st
London Anime Con III
Confirmed
- Will be holding workshops


September 8th - 11th
Leicester Alcon
Confirmed
- Will be holding panels and workshops


September 16th - 17th
Derby J-Con
Confirmed
- Will be holding workshops


October 29th - 31st
London MCM Expo
- To be Confirmed


November 13th
Doki Doki - The Manchester Japanese Festival
Confirmed
- With


November 26th - 27th
London Gaming Con
To be confirmed


November 2011
Dublin Eirtakon
Confirmed

I wanted to get some new stuff done for conventions but I won't rush now. I'm just going to find a way to get my commission done since they were commissioned with my semi-realism in mind before I go off exploring different things again

That is it from me everyone, I hope to be back with some new things to show and hopefully some finished projects after the hiatus.
My love and best wishes to you all, see you later

I'm escaping work... I have so much to do but I don't want to right now T__T
I'm sorry for my absence, I'm trying to catch up and get things done before all the conventions start [see the list on my profile page ^^] because I'm going to end up being even busier <__<;;;

I'm sure everyone is used to the random journals/pictures I post whenever I need an excuse to escape work for a while
Yup, this is another one of those moments.

Actually this first part is kinda important, it's about the limited edition posters that have been sent so far.
I'm really grateful to everyone for keeping me updated on the posters arrival however there have been a couple of missing cases.
I thought it was very odd that some people living outside of Europe had their posters earlier than those in Europe when they were sent at the same time o__O;;;
I was very worried about it until it was brought to my attention that there have been major staff cuts in the postal service recently which has resulted into strikes occurring in the postal departments over the past two months and are still continuing in different parts of the country.

*sigh* ... Can't say I'm that surprised, delays like this in the postal services are quite common here -__-
I can only apologise if you are experiencing delays, please don't worry if your poster hasn't come yet, it's probably still in a postage bag sitting on a shelf in the UK somewhere -__-   

I am very sorry, please just be a bit more patient for a while longer, thank you ^^

Ok now the actual important part over, let the random stuff begin.

I was tagged by to do this 10 facts thing about myself... and I saw Sah-chan do something like this [ [link] ]
LOL the PERFECT excuse to NOT work XD

The rules:

1. You must post these rules.
2. Each tagged person must post 10 things about themselves on their journal.
3. You have to choose and tag 10 people and post their icons on the same journal.
4. Go to their pages and tell them you tagged them.
5. No tag backs.

Ok here are my facts:

1. As much as I am an orderly person and quite like rules that will lead to making things easier and more organized, I'm also a well known rebel when it comes to little things and quite enjoy not doing what I'm told to do if I can get away with it.
I'm so not going do rules number 3 and 4 from the above list, I'll make it a "if you want to do this you're welcome to consider yourself tagged by me so please feel free to go ahead" option instead

2. I am, in fact, a girl.
LOL I find it quite amusing that a lot of people mistake me for being a guy and are even sometimes surprised to find out that I'm not one. Not sure how it happens but it makes me laugh every time that it does ^^

3. I have a very odd accent... a strange one given that it sounds familiar yet it's like nothing you've ever heard before.
I guess it kinda comes from a mixture of the American English, the UK English and the Persian accent being mixed with the odd and random moments of the way Birmingham [UK] and Japanese people pronounce vowels.
But I'm told it's pleasant and sweet but I think that may be mostly the tone of my voice and not the accent itself since I think I sound like a squeaky toy

4. I am 5"6 (so very close to 5"7) and wish to be taller since I can't walk in heels even if my life depended on it.

5. I have tiny feet for my height, a size 3 UK and 36 international.

6. Generally, I'm very easily distracted and excited. I'm often loud and hyper and am a well known ranter [I really pity the friends who have the same interests as me and am very grateful for their patience ]

7. As well as being a ranter, I've also earned myself the nickname "Evil Creator of DOOM" over the years of doing my old online manga [it's not there any more so please don't ask for link ^^].
LOL of all my nicknames, I guess this is kinda a befitting one since I was well known for dark plot twists and generally being quite unforgiving when it came to my own characters

8. I've never broken any bones but I've torn the ligaments to both of my ankles. One was a basketball injury from when I was in collage and the other was taking a bad step onto the train platform with my suitcase when I was moving back home after university.
The first time, I was given the wrong cast in the hospital and told to continue walking on it which made the doctor I went to in order to get it removed have an outraged rant about the incompetence of his staff.   
LOL the first cast led me to be swept off my feet and carried up the flight of stairs of a cinema screen in the arms of a complete stranger to watch X-Men which I will never forget since my knight in shinning armour was very handsome

The second time, after tearing my ligaments I actually continued walking on it without even noticing. I moved all my stuff back, caught the train again down to London to catch a nine-hours-delayed-nightmare of a flight home during which I was mostly too tired and sleep deprived to notice/care about the pain developing in my leg. Once slept for twelve hours straight [during which Michael Jackson passed away], when I woke up I realized my ankle had swollen to the size of a small melon and I couldn't stand.

The doctor put me in a hard cast twice and banned me from walking all together for two and a half months during which, being confined to a chair, I lost quite a large chunk of my sanity

9. I'm slightly light sensitive so I get to use the ever amusing phrase "my eyes have Photophobia"
I always wear sunglasses when the sun is out and avoid camera flashes like a plague... YAY for over usage of animation light boxes and computers XD

10. Given that I tend to find most chocolates and sweets to be too strong, I'm definitely more of a savoury favoured kind of person with the exception of ice cream being a "will devour no matter what the season" choice XD

LOL well it's too late now and I feel accomplished having done my randomness... I'm going to go watch Gintama and sleep ^^
Goodnight everyone

I seriously live under a rock... I'm such a newbie to conventions it's scary. I didn't even KNOW Kapow was happening and now it's too late to book a table since they are all sold out T__T

So I was wondering if there was anyone who already had a table booked and wouldn't mind sharing it with me?
I know its very short notice but I would be really grateful if anyone was willing to do that. I will of course happily split the costs ^^

Thank you very much <3

I'm a week behind on updating on the Memorabilia convention I was at over last weekend but still, better late than never

So where to start?... well, it was actually quieter than expected but I'm still really glad I went because it was a lot of fun meeting so many AWESOME artists there
I didn't take many pictures this time [which is a shame I know] so you'll just have to put up with me ranting I'm afraid <__<;;;
I was joined by the awesome Min-chan [] and Toonikun [] and these were our tables looking all shinny with so many colourful prints *u*:

[we each had our own Pokemon mascot at our tables ]

Really COOL Dr Jones [senior and Junior] cosplayers... I had my trilby hat on which senior Dr Jones tried to swap with his own... LOL I ran away


Honesty, what made Memorabilia great was the people there
I TOTALLY Hocas-chan []
She is so adorable and lovely and has seriously enviable traditional skills, she was sat a couple of rows behind me and was so busy drawing T__T
Not to mention I got to meet the wonderful Kat-chan [] and some of the team who are just beyond amazing with what they do. They have my deepest respect... and I'm sorry for killing your auction sketchbook by drawing so badly in it <- should have practiced my lines more before hand >__<
Di-san [] and Huy-san [] sat just a couple of tables behind me and they were just so nice and friendly and needless to say AMAZING artists [Di-san draws such cute guys and Huy-san draws a LOT of cute girls XD]... and I kidnapped  Laura- OMG- I - CAN'T- BELIEVE- HOW - AMAZING - YOU - ARE -chan [] and wouldn't let her go home <- is not joking about that, really did make her stay

LOL me, Di-san, Huy-san and Laura-chan were totally up to no good. It was generally really quite on Sunday but all you could hear over the random noises being made by the wrestling match going on somewhere near us, was the four of us being super loud laughing over prints.
At one point, Huy-san said he couldn't buy any of my prints... he wanted to... but he just couldn't. LOL he said they were all super girly-guys... so I challenged him to draw a MANLY guy
AND THIS WAS THE RESULT:

[Huy-san hiding behind his SUPER manly, yet SUPER girly faced dude XD]

*pout* Laura-chan nabbed that drawing... in fact, LOL, there is a second figure drawn by Laura-chan that accompanies it... I'll try to get my hands on a picture of it if I can [a little help please Huy-san since you're the one who took it home?]

There were so many other amazing and lovely people there who I just don't have DA names from T__T
So for now, here's my awesome loot of the convention... got so many signed prints and pictures


aaaaand to end the completely random rant on an equally suitable random note, here's an utterly irrelevant chibi Naruto sketch which I drew in like 20 seconds on the way back:


Love you all

------------------------------------------------
A reminder that the Guardian picture is still being sold as a limited edition print with $6.50 of each print being donated to help the earthquake and tsunami charity:

Journal Entry: [link]
Shop:


Thank you for all of your support ^^

--------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Back from Memorabilia and taking a small break from the general chaos of trying to sort everything out to update on the special limited edition sales ^^

72 gone, $468 raised for Japan... YAY

ALL the posters already purchased have been posted [except for one or two special cases who I've been in touch with]. Please bear in mind that International orders take much longer to arrive but please keep me updated by leaving a message here when they do; it would put my mind at ease knowing that they aren't lost in space or at the bottom of the sea somewhere

I've been taking them to conventions to sell with me... and actually sold 7 within an hour there [should have taken more ]... I already have a few booked conventions to go to in the next couple months [I want to get a table for London's Kapow this coming weekend too], so yeah, hopefully these will sell even quicker now ^^

Please help in anyway that you can, be it by buying or spreading the word, I would really appreciate all the support.
Thank you so much, you are all very awesome

And here's the updated chart... I'm not sure what Paris is doing, I think this is like a gentle tap to make the bar move quicker, two steps before he probably breaks the chart completely


Sadly I can't do commissions nor do I have anything else to sell so this is my way of helping. Here are others who are being SUPER AWESOME and doing what they can so please go check them out too:



Groups:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Update - Limited Edition Poster Purchase Details Below:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I apologize for my absence, I've been quite ill recently and really busy with new year coming up [yup, my new year is in spring, I'll write a journal all about that later ^^]

I've been meaning to do this for ages ago but it couldn't be helped with me falling ill and the usual chaos that is life
In fact the "Guardian" picture of Mikalo was designed from the start with the intention of it being a very exclusive limited edition print to help raise funds for a lot of really amazing projects and collaborations I have lined up. I've tried very hard to make it my very best to date, pushing my self as much as I could ^^


Please find the full details here:



Limited edition signed poster of only 300 prints worldwide.
Certificate of authenticity sticker with print number is on the back.

Price: 16.50 USD
Size: 48.3cm x 33cm [19" x 13"]

Heavy weight 280gsm satin pearl resin coated paper for good light fastness that will keep the image from fading for a longer time and has good water resistance.The back is UV coated and the sticker is acid free which prevents it yellowing with age.

*** $6.50 of every poster sale is donated to raise funds for the earthquake and tsunami charities. ***




Postage and Packaging:
International:
1 print = $7.00
2 prints = $8.50
3 prints = $9.00

Europe:
1 print = $5.00
2 Prints = $5.60
3 prints = $6.00

**** PLEASE NOTE****
Due to the thickness of the paper only up to three posters can be combined together for reduced shipping costs. Any additional poster[s] will be charged as new shipping since it will be posted in a separate tube.

And this is just something on the shop's shopping cart to bear in mind please :


LOL and just to say, this is NOT a pre-order, they are here:


------------------------------------------
In response to the poll [thank you to all who answered], this poster is on amazing quality paper and it is a bit bigger than my usual posters.
I've already donated the $65 that would have been raised from the posters I'm reserving for myself so please help out if you can. I've really tired to make this special since sadly since I can't really accept any new commissions to help out with the earthquake this is my way of offering support. If all sell, that would be $1950 raised to be donated to Global Giving [link].
And the rest covers the printing costs and it is also to fund collaborations that are already on the go with some really great DA artists and to help me publish my first manga book [yes, I am really making one for real ^^]

This picture will NEVER appear in print again [except for maybe in an art book collection of my all works right at the end of my career ]
I would really, greatly appreciate all the support you can show, thank you very much

HAPPY PERSIAN NEW YEAR EVERYONE

In Persia we celebrate the first day of spring as our New Year. New Year in Persian is called "Noruz" which means "New Day". It was originally a Zoroasterian festival and it dates back to about 3,000 years [but they restarted the calender 1390 years ago]
The Persian calender is one of the oldest calendars in the world as well as the most accurate solar calendar in use today.

Still, the restarted calendar makes me around 650 years old which is always fun to say

I would like to take the opportunity to talk a little bit about the customs behind the New Year because I am pretty sure that unless you are Persian or have lived very closely with Persians, you wouldn't know much about it

The Persian culture is very much nature linked and kinda in a similar way that on Christmas the custom is to put up a Christmas tree, on Persian New Year it is custom to collect what is called a "haftsin" ["Seven S"... the "S" in Persian is pronounced "seen"]
These are few Haftsin samples:







This is my Haftsin this year:


You have about 9 choices for the seven S' so you could substitute one for another if you don't have access to them:

1. sabzeh(سبزه) - wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish - symbolizing rebirth
2. samanu (سمنو)- a sweet pudding made from wheat - symbolizing affluence
3. senjed (سنجد)- the dried fruit of the oleaster tree - symbolizing love
4. sîr (سیر)- garlic - symbolizing medicine
5. sîb (سیب)- apples - symbolizing beauty and health
6. somaq (سماق)- sumac berries - symbolizing (the color of) sunrise
7. serkeh (سرکه)- vinegar - symbolizing age and patience
8. sonbol (سنبل)- the fragrant hyacinth flower (the coming of spring)
9. sekkeh (سکه)- coins - symbolizing prosperity and wealth

Additional items which will be placed on the table are also:

* lit candles (enlightenment and happiness)
* a mirror (reflect upon the old year)
* decorated eggs (fertility)
* a bowl with goldfish (life and luck... also I think it has something to do with the star sign of Pisces because of signifying the spring equinox)
- In the old days they used to put a poetry book, such as the Shahnameh or the Divan of Hafez but now it is more common to place the Quran on the table. Some put both ^^

More traditional symbols/items such as Sekanjabin (sweet mint syrup), a bowl of water with an orange in it, traditional pastries such as baghlava, naan-nokhodchi, dried nuts, berries and raisins that is called "Aajeel" and/or rose water can also be added too but they are a matter of personal choice and depend more on the individual city customs.

It is customary must to clean the WHOLE house from top to bottom to welcome the new year with a clean heart and a fresh start. I am fairly certain that the term "Spring Cleaning" comes from this tradition ^^
LOL I feel SO DEAD TIRED right now... it was a big rush to clean everything for this New Year at my end since we had a huge leak in the kitchen suddenly >__<

It is also a customary must to have at least one new item of clothing on you. Usually lots of flowers are also placed everywhere to really give the house the spring feel ^^

A few minutes before the clock strikes at the New Year, all the lights in the house are lit and/or the curtains are drawn back to allow light inside.
New Years are a BIG family thing in Persian culture, much like Christmas, every one tries to be together. It is tradition for the youngest member of the family, refereed to as "one with the good hand", to walk around the house and the garden just minutes after the New Year [either holding the Quran or the poetry book] and walk to the front door, step out and step back in again.
This symbolizes walking the old year out and welcoming the new one, it's done for good luck ^^

The traditional food to have on the New Year is "Sabzi Polo Ba Mahi" which means "herb rice with fish", it is so nice I would eat it happily any time of the year *u*
And naturally there are always tons of food and snacks placed around the house for New Year.
*ish stuffed full of yummy food and happy XD*

Oh and we don't really give/receive gifts on New Year... oh no, it's all MONEY XD
The older people have to give money to all the younger people in the family (the amount varies, usually really young children get less).
If you are younger than someone, you don't have to give anything out.
This works very well for someone like me because I'm one of the youngest members of my family so WOOT

Well, there you are... I hope this was at least interesting to know ^^

Again, I wish you all A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR
May it be filled with joy and success for you all xxx

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Me, Toonikun and Minyi are attending the Birmingham's Memorabilia this coming weekend, more details to be added later during the week as soon as I know where our table is <__<;;;  

And please note that the Guardian picture is still being sold as a limited edition print with $6.50 of each print being donated to help the earthquake and tsunami crisis:


Journal Entry: [link]
Shop:


Thank you for all of your support ^^

I want to wish everyone a VERY Happy Valentine's Day

I always miss updating a nice romantic picture for the day even though I really want to... oh well, maybe next year
I wish you and your loved ones a wonderful and happy day ^^

Now some major thanks are due... I'm kinda digging through through my journals/messages and it occurred to me that I never got around to say thank you for all of the birthday wishes way back in November o__O;;;
Wow, I was so sure I had written something somewhere but looking through things, nope, nothing. I am very sorry for epically failing on my behalf to say A BIG THANK YOU for all of the birthday wishes/cakes/Illamas that I got
I didn't have much of a birthday this year as I was at the airport for half of it and asleep for the rest [no cake either T__T] so I remember reading through everything and feeling very grateful and happy. Thank you so much
Now another couple of due thanks are to Maria-san for her request in the Secret Santa project and the amazing for drawing me this awesome picture of Genesis :

And a BIG thank you to Vania-san who drew me this adorable picture of Mikalo as well:


LOL I am so spoiled on here, thank you very much

Ok now onto some exciting news, WOOT I will be attending MCM Midlands in Telford next week XD
And not only that, I am sharing the table with the amazing Toonikun and Minyi . How lucky am I ?

We will be there in Telford on Saturday 19th of February on table BB1 so please come and look for us, it would be great to see some of you there <3


The International Centre, St Quentin Gate, Telford, Shropshire, TF3 4JH on Saturday 19th of February 2011, for full details of the convention please visit the main site: [link]

Me and Toonikun will also be attending Memorabilia at Birmingham's NEC in March... AND we'll be there at London's MCM in May with the ever lovely Sah-chan and Ali-chan

I will update more on those as the dates draw closer [and I kinda have a better idea of what will be going on]... until then, much love to all you lovely people

P.s. the Question and Answer session still continues here, so if you have a question please come and ask me I will do my best to answer it: [link]

I never got to say this on time but Happy Chinese New Year to everyone who celebrates it

And now, since I get a lot of e-mails and notes these days asking me questions, I think it will be a LOT easier for everyone if I just did a FAQ section and posted it on DA somewhere visible for anyone who wishes to read through it.

So yes, I'm going to answer everything asked in this journal and the most common questions will get placed in the FAQ.

Here are a few things I KNOW I will be asked so I'll answer them here briefly:

- My works are created in Photoshop CS4 as that is my main working platform. I also use Painter XI and Paint Tool Sai occasionally but mostly everything you see here is created in Photoshop.

- I have a small A5 Intuos 3 tablet, my first and the current tablet that I use with my Sony Vaio laptop for everything ^^

- Despite how my work may look, I actually use only one or two custom made textures:

1. A Coffee stained paper I made years ago and scanned at a very high resolution [A4 size, 600 DPI] and keep on storage. I use this for pretty much eveeeeerything, from the obvious like getting the old paper parchment look to the less obvious such as creating marble effects, natural wood patterns or even use in metal works [I use it to get great iron/steel looks on fences]. This is really my main texture for everything, it is just a matter of being creative with it ^^

2. Another high resolution scanned image of a torn/crinkled/hatched paper which is great for adding extra life to cracks/stone/ground/walls/old looking things in general like old leather suitcases [also good for clothes sometimes]. Again custom made, very easy to do and with a bit of imagination, can be very versatile.

Everything else you see in the pictures are created using different brush strokes and different layer settings.

- Yes I will make a tutorial one day. I have been promising one forever and I WILL make one. I tried doing a livestream of some of my works but it failed epically so I will just make a video tutorial and post it somewhere. I want to make a pretty complete tutorial so it will take some time to organize one and since I don't really have much of that recently, I can only apologize for the wait

- I am closed for commissions at the moment as I have a huge and very belated waiting list to still work through so please do not ask me for information on that
Once I am able to do new commissions again, I will update a section here somewhere with all of the necessary information.

- I don't do requests so please don't ask me

- I rarely do trades and/or collaborations and mostly it's me who prompts another artist/creator myself on projects I'd really like to work on.
Please feel free to contact me for collaborations on projects involving other creators [like an anthology or an artbook] that you may think me suitable for but I apologize in advance if I may have to turn you down due to lack of time.

----------------

And that's it I guess, those are the most common ones that I can think of off the top of my head... I'm looking forward to/am kinda curious to see what you guys will ask -__^
[LOL and needless to say please keep it professional, friendly and appropriate XD]

YAY, Christmas 2010, the first year that I have participated in any Secret Santa projects XD
And I was so happy that I just accepted the very first invitation I got, which happened to be from
I actually got my amazing Secret Santa picture a few days ago but I thought I'd wait till around Christmas to write a journal.
My Secret Santa was the awesome and she drew me this amazing picture of my OC Mikalo:

Ah I can't say enough how much I love this, it's so gorgeous... THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the lovely gift

But not only that, I got these pictures too:
The awesome Min-chan also drew me a sketch to go with this crazy bunch


There's a coloured version of this that I am working on

I feel so spoiled and deeply touched, thank you everyone

Wishing You All a Very Merry Christmas
From me:

and the demented snowman that still sits outside in the garden after a week, only getting bigger as more snow falls down on his head