Monday, December 20, 2010

Happy (Rainy) Holidays


Just fooling around with the Cintiq. It's raining cats and dogs here in LA, and I'm loving it. Hey, at least it's precipitation!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

The long road...

Well, the publishers I've shown my book project to have both passed on it. I had a strange sense of relief when I got the news. At least it was progress! But now it means I'm back to the writing desk to improve my manuscript and my delivery.

Kazu and I had a long story meeting several nights ago, and I decided to completely change the beginning of the story. It makes the rest of the story much more satisfying, but it will be a lot of work. The character's voice has changed, which is big since the story is told in first person. This means the entire book will have to be re-written.

So far the chapters I've written have been deceptively easy and full of mystery, which I think is good. I just have a mountain of pages ahead of me, but I'm really looking forward to it. It's been exciting to see the pieces I set up in the previous versions snap together so nicely with the new material. I feel very very lucky to have this opportunity to write and rewrite my story without any deadline. I have so many people to be grateful to (hubby! mom! bro!). I have to make this book as good as possible.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

New Blog, New Projects



The old felaxx.com blog has become an impenetrable layer-cake of confusion, so I've ported all of the archives here to blogger. It's something I've been meaning to do for months, but it wasn't a priority. The book series I've been trying to get started has finally reached a stage where I can send it to some publishers, but it is still a long shot, and a long process. I have no idea when or if my little middle grade fiction series will ever get off the ground, but in the mean time I'm having a blast working on it.

Above is my favorite illustration from the book so far. Drawing these characters has been so much fun, and I love writing them. With book 1 at a presentable stage, I've already starting outlining book 2 while it gets passed around. I can't wait to get writing on it! The Reman Novel is still on hold, even though I still want to work on it. My mind is currently filled with magical girl adventure, however.

Speaking of which, it was interesting going through my old blog archives. I got to relive some painful memories -- staying up 'til sunrise inking Sorcerers & Secretaries, for example. It also made me feel really bad for never having finished Reman Mythology and giving people's hopes up. Everyone has been so patient with my work over the years, and I'm so incredibly lucky to be surrounded by so much support. Sometimes I feel like I've invited a bunch of people to my house promising a delicious pot roast, only to have the pot roast get burned and I had to feed them old crackers.

Needless to say, anyone who's ever supported me and my work in the past, you have my gratitude. I'm working on another pot roast, but I'll be honest with you this time... I have no idea if you'll ever get to eat it.

For now, I must go pack. Tomorrow I'll be leaving for Providence with Kazu and our little boy. It'll be his first airplane trip, and I'm super excited! Also, some crisp autumnal air will do our bodies good. :)

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Strange.

Two -- count 'em -- TWO art posts in a row! ... Don't worry. I won't make this a habit.

This is straight up 2B pencil on smooth bristol. Chapter one sample illustration for the book I'm working on:

Also, a photo of me and my l'il bumpkin from a day ago:


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Sure is dusty in here. Phew! Hi, whoever is poking their heads in here. I am still alive, actively updating my twitter account (of course!). Don't worry, you haven't missed much. I only started tweeting a couple weeks ago.

I have finally gotten around to uploading a drawing, and here it is! It is a china marker study for a larger piece I plan on doing. I really enjoyed using the china marker, it is very forgiving. :)

Those are all characters in my latest book project (except the demons are kind of random). Yes, the dolphin is included! I really love drawing them and they're so much fun to write. I'm still tweaking and perfecting my manuscript before sending it anywhere, so don't hold your breath! It'll still be a long while before it sees the light of day.

In other news, our son Juni is doing great. He is now 4.5 months old, and his personality is really starting to show. He's curious, very observant, and likes to be with people. Maybe all babies are like that, but this is what I've noticed about him! You can see recent pictures of him on the flickr account I share with Kazu, if you'd like.

Obviously, I won't be updating this website all too often. I still want to give the whole thing an overhaul. I even have a design set up! But finding the time between writing my book project and taking care of Juni in order to update my website is unrealistic.

For now, please add me if you use twitter (username: @Merofi), and I will continue to post sketches when available. See you there!