Zub Tales

Samantha wrote a fantastic guest article for the One Step column… check it out!

One Step 13: Talking With a Submissions Editor

Tough schedule today… relaxing is hard work! 😉

The flight and arrival in Cuba went just fine. We got into the actual hotel at around 10pm, so the sky was already dark and we couldn’t tell exactly what our surroundings looked like. Waking up this morning to grab breakfast, it felt like we’d stepped out into some kind of tropical paradise. Unbelievable sights here.

I think it’s going to take me a day or two to fully realize that I don’t have to be doing anything in particular… that there’s nothing pressing I have to work on or schedule I have to keep this week. Once that really sinks in… oh man, I don’t even know how that’ll feel.

The internet is unfortunately a bit slow and on the limited side, so I’ll have to keep this brief for now. I’ll have a swack of photos and a full run through when I get back, possibly puntuated by a tiny post or two this coming week.

I just wanted everyone to know that I’m in Cuba, safe and having a blast so far. Many more drinks await… in fact I think one’s calling to me now… 🙂

Looks like I’m not the only one updating things, heh.

After a few months of organizing and making tweaks, the Udon company website has finally woken up again. It’s a portfolio site showing samples of the studio’s artwork as well as our extensive client list.

Exalted #4 is in stores next Wednesday, but it’s available now as an official PDF at Drive Thru RPG. Now that Drive Thru has D&D products available as PDFs they’ve truly become the site for electronic RPG releases.

It’s been just over a month since I made a commitment to generate more art for myself and get back in touch with my own creativity.

I’ve done digital mini paintings about every other day and attended one life drawing session per week.

Looking at it now, it was absolutely the right decision.

I feel better and am more excited about my art than I have been in years. I can see improvement in my work and the enthusiasm from it is spilling over into other parts of my life, both personal and professional.

Tying it all together, last night I updated my personal art site for the first time since November 2004:
Zubkavision

I have some other artwork to still add to the site this week. Even still, I’m much more happy with the work there and the new material that’s been generated in the past month.

I’ve had long stretches where I felt like I could only administrate, manage or schmooze; that my artwork was worthless compared to other working professionals I know and that I wasn’t cut out for doing the actual art end of things. The latest stretch of creative doubt was probably the worst I’ve ever had since I first decided to become an artist for a living. Breaking free of that drought this past month has been absolutely amazing.

There will always be stronger artists and people with talent that blows me away. I know that. But for the first time in a long time I feel like I can hit a new plateau and do the kind of creative work that makes me happy. The critic and the creator inside me are actually working together instead of cancelling each other out.

Tonight’s another figure drawing session. More paintings are coming this week and development on my stories continues. I’m determined to have a kick ass creative summer.

Thank you all for your enthusiasm and feedback. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.

Thanks to those who have drawn cereal mascots so far. Fun stuff. I hope some more roll in over the next few days.

The weekend went pretty well. A decent mix of work and play methinks.

On one of the forums I frequent I received a private post asking me to check out an artist’s website and give critique on the work there. After a couple weeks of it on the backburner I finally wrote some thoughts down about what I saw. After I finished it I realized that most of the feedback I was typing up would be helpful for other people to see as well.

Here’s some of that feedback which applies to a lot of art student work:

The general posing and rendering is good. She’s obviously enjoying herself and the subjects she’s working on, which is a big plus and shows through in the work.

I hope that’s helpful as a starting point.

The Cap’n’s Soldiers So Far: Ocarina Scarfman Scribe Insect Andreas Vitamin Jay Frankie Kyohazard Doc. Fennopolis Mercuryshade Damonk Troutman jamesstubbs Kywyn HellzGranny Brunorubio

The Cap’n is enlisting YOU. He’s calling forth all the cereal mascots of old, resurrecting their spirits ready to tackle a new generation of milk soaked goodness.

Will you answer the call?

The answer is ‘Yes’! Nothing else makes sense. He’s the Cap’n, for crying out loud!

Draw a cereal mascot. Do it today or this weekend. It’s Friday anyways. Grab all your old sugary memories and bring them forth in your art. You’ve been drafted by the Cap’n!

Any art medium, any style, any quality… just DRAW!

Link your artwork or cereal mascot art threads here. Tell other people about the art theme! Begin the cereal revolution NOW!

Can’t think of any cereal mascots? Here’s some ideas:
Boo Berry
Cap’n Crunch
Cheerios Bee
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cooks
Cocoa Bird
Cookie Crook
Cornelius Rooster
Count Chocula
Dig’em Frog
Frankenberry
Lucky Leprechaun
Mr. Mini Wheats
Shreddie and Eddie
Snap, Crackle and Pop
Sugar Bear
Sugar Pops Pete
Tony the Tiger
Toucan Sam
Trix Rabbit