Salutations to you, 2015

And in what seemed like a blink of an eye, Christmas and 2014 have alas passed into memory and we are now here at the brink of a brand new year. I could lament on the fact that 2014 may not have quite gone the way I wanted, with no real completed piece to help me evolve as an artist and a number of concepts that I started but never got past the initial sketch or first wip (bar of course "Waiting for the Sun"), but that would also mean lamenting on the past and things I can't change, something my life has taught me I need to accept, grow stronger and move on.

As I mentioned in my original plan for a NY journal, I want to take a moment to thank a number of great artists who've either supported and/or inspired me in some way over the last year. Since I started drawing back in 2008 I've really come to believe that the best way to grow on this site is by networking. I believe I've improved more, especially in the last few years by trying to meet new people, supporting their work and engaging in conversations. I feel there are so many interesting things to learn about what inspired them to create their characters, evolve them in the way they have, share tips that can help you etc. I really feel I owe a lot to these guys so without further adieu:

Galvathom - It would be impossible for me to do a feature of my friends and NOT include Galvathom. Hell, summer 2016 will mark the tenth anniversary of our friendship! Much like myself, Galvathom has spent many years perfecting, adapting and evolving not only his art style but also the content of his artwork. When we met both of us were big into the Sonic fan community and had turned our own characters into Sonic inspired ones but eventually grew out of that phase and allowed ourselves to really grow, as well as helping to cement a real friendship that has lasted. He was also the one who helped get me into drawing, offering tips on how best to get started with Flash and while I'll admit it did also lead to a number of bad habbits (i.e. the usage of various tweaking tools to help correct mistakes), well, I'll get to that . Finally in 2014 Galvathom decided to retire some of his old OCs, feeling he could no longer tell the story he wanted with them. However rather than lock them in a vault and send it to the bottom of the earth he instead turned their "rights" over to me, believing I could do more for them and to say I'm honoured with his choice is an understatement. For reasons I'd rather not go into, 2014 wasn't a good year for my friend so I'm hoping 2015 will allow him to continue his amazing artistic growth
<da:thumb id="500203700"/><da:thumb id="494854117"/><da:thumb id="458122877"/><da:thumb id="457602785"/><da:thumb id="454436292"/>

CMBaggs - Put simply, she is an amazing person. She's an extremely skilled traditional artist (I'll get more onto that in a minute), a writer who's work I'll admit I've yet to properly sample but from what little snippets I've seen is excellent and manages to balance that around a job AND a family. And yet, as I mentioned, she manages to reach a level of artistic accomplishments that truly astonish me. She manages to reach a level of attention to detail that covers even some of the most minute things like clothing folds or individual hairs, as well as achieving so much with such a limited use of colours or lines. It's truly breathtaking, almost wizardry to see some of the things she's accomplished as an artist.

Not only is she an amazing artist and writer, but she's also an excellent critic. In my eyes it's easy for someone to come along, bleep out half a dozen flaws in a piece like an emotionless robot, then walk away with a smug smile on their face thinking they're helping. Now maybe for some people that works but I find personally it's not effective, unless your intention is to tear down someone's time, effort and hard work and spit on something they may have poured their blood, sweat and tears into. However CMBaggs is a different kind of critic; sure there are times when she gets to the point and those points may be a hard pill to swallow. However she does so in a compassionate fashion, understanding and appreciating that the person on the other end is trying their hardest and it isn't something they can fix overnight. I can't even begin to imagine what kind of student I must be in her eyes, as I know there are numerious times when my creative well runs dry or I blert out something about a character in a "telling instead of showing" fashion or a narrow minded "I don't see my idea as being anything like this thing I don't like" view point. However I feel I've grown more as an artist because of her more compassionate, understanding way of handing criticism. Sometimes what she says may be a hard pill to swallow, but she'll also be there to offer a glass of water to make it a little easier. And what makes it even more awesome is, she's Canadian (there's a reason I call myself pawcanada, aka my initials and where I was born ) . I look forward to seeing what visual treats she has in store for us in 2015.



User-2018225d - I think the quote on his home page is a great way to describe him as an artist "I'll surpass you - count on it". In many ways he remindes me of the anime archetype of the person training for half a day, until their body is surrounded in a small lake of sweat from all their hard work, and boy does this hard work pay off. On top of that he's doing all of this whilst also attending medical school! If my years of watching TV series like Scrubs, Dr House and ER has told me anything, is just how much time, effort and energy goes into studying and making sure you're up to the bar. So do to all of that and still maintain a constantly improving art style is truly applaud worthy. And on top of that he's even attempting to produce his own manga! As someone who's wanted to make his own comic for ages I can truly appreciate just how amazing it is to say that . I think it's fair to say he surpassed me many a moon ago but much like with CMBaggs the idea of trying to catch up gives me something to aim for. I hope for him 2015 is a great year, not just with his studies (for if I remember correctly, he's entered into the dreaded "final year) but also with the constant improvement in his own artistic capabilities, as well as the direction this manga will go in.

<da:thumb id="503522345"/><da:thumb id="503041071"/><da:thumb id="500216459"/><da:thumb id="496628936"/><da:thumb id="477003706"/>

toonartist - The beauty of art is the fact so many different people can come up with their own unique styles, ones that reflect who they are and what they're into. Like CMBaggs, toonartist is a traditional artist and manages to achieve a level of detail and excellent usage of colouring with a comic and cartoon inspired style that I truly love. I really think it's one he's managed to make his own and greatly evolved over the years I've been following him and like with Galvathom, I've gotten to see his style, colouring, detailing and concepts evolve over the years. Which also brings me onto another thing I love; his ideas. Whether it's his own unique and different take on existing characters and concepts (such as his own versions of the Ninja Turtles or the various Sentai teams he's created (especially when he often tries to defy tropes and preexisting concepts)), my own characters (to say I owe a lot to him for the work he's done on Snow, Noir/Norika and Mewrah is an understatement) or it's his own unique projects like the "Global Knuckle" fighting game roster. I really feel his current project is where his creativity has really shined through. Whether it's characters he's created to honour the memory of a former master or celebrity, an old sparring partner or trying to do something different with an established concept. Heck, his own take on the Jeet Kune Do fighter is one of my all time favourites, especially as unlike characters like Fei-Long from Street Fighter or Marshall and Forest Law from Tekken, she isn't a Bruce Lee clone! Some of his art work, including pieces of my own characters, are currently laid out in front of me as I can write this and honestly I have to say they look so much better in the flesh. Sadly 2014 wasn't a good year for him due to overtime at work, health issues (which thankfully he was recovering from when last we spoke) and problems with his computer so I hope 2015 allows him to overcome these and continue to provide his own fresh and unique spin on things, as well as wishing him good health in the new year.


I'll admit there were a few more people I wanted to cover in this so I may do an updated version that shines some spotlight onto them.