Yesh Yesh I Know Well I'm Back!!

Wow.
Whooda thunk it that Senior Year would be so busy?
Even busy for someone such as I, Kayla, drawer of doodles and sayer of sayings, to be so engrossed in various activities. Including:


-Fighting ninjas
-Doing homework for every class which takes 30-60 min long EACH
-Managing the Anime Club as the Presidente
-Co-creating a self published magazine
-Getting over "stuff"
-Work
-Chores
-Art projects
-Scholarships/college applications
-Whatever else that ate up time but neglected to label itself


Well, you get the drift. Never fear, as I have gotten a new present (psssst it starts with m and ends with c) that can enable me to post more. 


But, if anyone really is following me at all, they should know that my posts will be spontaneous.


To start off here's a lovely sketch of Lily.

Shorry for my lateness... :(

Also, did I forget to mention that I had to also take a month-long break due to my mother's and doctor's worry of tendonitis? Well the scare is over but I still need to take breaks and refrain from all-nighters and "craziness", which may or may not involve penciling and inking ten pages in a row.


So yes, that is the main reason.


I'll post some of my sketchbook pages from the beginning of my senior year to now to make up for lost time, but I'll notify of any new developments.


Like this one!!!

I love sketching in pen!!! <3

UPDATE!!!


1. Okay, well, first off I'm working hard towards attending a college, specifically an INSTITUTE (oh fancy!) in Santa Fe, so I'll post some of my portfolio work and preparation and whatever news I have regarding this...stuff. I wish me luck in my costly college endeavors!


2. Homework SUUUUUUCKS

oh dagnabit my intelligence was thwarted 

3. The Anime Club is currently racking up some money in order to raise funds for our summer trip. As the President and as a Senior AND as a foundation member of the Anime Club, they wanted to throw me a little trip before I go into the fun but busy (read:chaotic but hellish) warp hole that is college life. We've been doing the usual, selling candy and asking for donations, but I felt the best way to use our skills was to create our own comic-zine. So, until the week before graduation, we'll be creating and producing biweekly issues for 3.50 a pop along with anything else we can do to raise 700 dollars for the trip. If anyone is at all curious (read:"I want that!") then shoot me an email and we can talk. Of course I'll post whatever I'll put in so look forward to that!

!!!coming soon to a comic-zine near you!!!
GRAPE NINJA, BEECHES!!!
(LOL that's not school appropriate)

4. At my school we have an annual tradition of attending the New Mexico English Expo, a sort of competition/get-together for students that like literature, writing, and all that good junk. Anywhoo we get together in a Death Star-esque high school in Albuquerque, stay there practically all day, and students can participate in two different contests while teachers judge the finished work. Mind you its very scholary and a little sketchy but its great for meeting people of like minds. Between the two contests (which vary from Short Story, Formal Notes, Social Letters, Literature Quiz, Shakespearian Monologue, etc.) there is a quick lunch, another contest, final judging, a Poetry Slam, a spelling bee (which my friend Derek won, the second time in a row WHOOP WHOOP) AAAAAAAND the ever delightful, ever long and tiring, Awards Ceremony. Your dear little artist competed in 


BOOK COVER
(I read Everyone Dies by Micheal McGarrity, a pretty good crime/mystery novel that takes place in Santa Fe and involves all sorts of delightful dismemberments and investigation)
(If anyone's curious as to what it looked like, I'll post it tomorrow along with my explanation and the judges' notes but NO PROMISES!!!)


CHILDREN'S BOOK
(In which I submitted the prologue to Come&Sleep, my own comic which has been on the blog before in a nice little preview which you have not or have read...meaning GO READ IT ALREADY~~!!!)

read it now! i command thee to do so atop my hipster duck!

So, there I was, seated with my fellow underclassmen (I hate the people in my class they are ABHORRENT) and fellow teacher (who shares a name with a certain bumbling doctor privy to a super savvy detective with extreme OCD) waiting to go home on a bus to badly sing pop songs.


My teacher encouraged me to do the Expo, as she had seen my work and well, loved it. I agreed but secretly I was worried--I've been to the Expo since I was a freshman, and always did horrible. Sure it was a fun trip filled with friends but you know how competitions work--winners win and losers get horribly depressed and whatnot.


Henceforth I was completely caught unawares when the speaker called my name, announcing:


KAYLA SHAGGY! SECOND PLACE FOR BOOK COVER!


Stunned I ran downstairs and bowed my head, full of blush by now, to accept the red-ribboned and surprisingly heavy medal proclaiming my prize.


I also got Second Place for Children's Book as well.


:)


Anywhoo, just something I wanted to say. 


I'm back, baybeh!!!!! >:D


ps. if it seems i'm a tad bit sarcastic, its due to the members of the club that overestimate my abilities thinking i can do anything but i can't :( so thank you to the followers that still come by, whoever you are out there, and thank you for waiting for little ol' impudent me.


pss. I'm really sorry. It won't happen again!


psss. Prepare to have your MIND BLOWN!!!

Methinks someone had a lot of sugar today O.O

Thirty Day Project!!!

I AM DONE.

I finally copied/scanned/took pictures of all the things I've done, and here I show you my hard work -- the completion of the Thirty Day Project. I know it's already the middle of July, but I haven't had access in a while, so here it is, not in order.

Thanks to the people who have waited so far, who've helped, and who provided inspiration.

:D

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. (Not pictured are 10 pages for 10 days for Chapter Three of Come&Sleep for obvious reasons.)

11. The Mother Hubbard story, illustrated by me for my mother's class--there's so many of them but one day I'll put them all up and make a proper blog, and even include the lyrics to the actual song, which is very long.

12. A friend of mine, who is also an avid drawer of all things comic-booky, asked for my help in character design; I made some based on the traits she gave me, which were an evil femme fatale, main antagonist, a cross dressing ninja who works for said antagonist, and a really tall but really nice guy. Not pictured is the cross dressing ninja. :( Sorry

13. Some monsters/yokai I came up with--I was mostly thinking something that would lurk in a forest, a sort of amalgamation of animals from the forest, although I like the idea of tree branches being antlers or horns.

14. This is more of a info sketch rather than a joy one--in the comic there's a character much older than she seems and I wanted to show how old rather than tell--as the story takes place in New York City, I thought of the Flatiron building. So I tried to research it and it was one of the first skyscrapers in the city, and once was the tallest building during the early 1900's. In the story, said character sees this building and says so to other character. Thus, you find out she really is an old lady.

15. Storyboard for Chapter Four--I know, I know, finish Chapter Three, but the idea came so I scribbled it down in an itty-bitty Steno Book I love to draw in.

16. During June I woke up to the sound of one of our cats crying; I crawled over to her and tried to coax her out. Upon this, she lifted her head and underneath chin was blood. Freaking out like any cat lover would, I rushed downstairs and told my mom. I had a cat before that disappeared for weeks and came back bloody, and as a result she had her leg and tail amputated. So, of course, I didn't want the same for "Baby Kitty" (she's a girl and her real name is Oscar). Turns out it was an abscess and she is now fully recovered. I made this joke cartoon for the Vets to put on their "Happy Stories" board.

Seriously.

They have one.

17. During June I was working on a mini comic for my friend that was more of a doujinshi (Japanese fan comic as it contained characters from CLAMP series such as xxxHolic, Tsubasa, and others. She's a big fan. :D) of course, it has some of my characters as well. A cute little gag with plenty of Yuri insinuations and excuses for more sake.

18. Another cover for the mini comic series, which is four books in all with about an average of 20-30 pages for each, titled, "The Houseguests". The last book ends with them going to a beach house and going to the ocean. High-jinks, fan service, and more galore for the gang. Done in ink, watercolor, and colored pencil on Bristol paper.

(If any one's interested in buying and wanting copies, please email me.)

19. A father's day present for my dad--he had three Chevy's actually, but the two pictured are my maternal grandfather's and his own. Painted from my little clubhouse while it was pouring buckets.

20. (NO WORDS NEEDED)

21. The "p" is missing but who cares :P I have to read the Metamorphosis for my English class as Summer Homework, and as I tried with difficulty to delve into Franz Kafka's messed up melancholy head, I made a cover instead.

22. Some notes for the Kistune Sisters, of which the middle should be kept a secret right now, as she is literally, The Black Sheep.

Its blurry on purpose.

23. Another favor done for my mom as she needed a big dog and doghouse for her class since they were studying animals that week. I absolutely LOVE!!! German Shepard's so that's why Bingo is a German Shepard.

24. I made a little poetry book for myself from magazine clippings and reprintings from books by my favorite poets, such as Walt Whitman, Daryl Hine, and much more. As a bonus I put one I made myself at the end. The whole theme was, "Nature". It was originally supposed to be done as a school assignment, but summer vacation started before I finished, so I mostly did it for myself. I think it's safe to say i won't turn it in.

Calm before the Storm

Still

Quiet

Far too much

Death seems to linger in the details

Trees are but bare skeletons

The earth is bitter and rigid

Even the golden-haired grass has given up

I welcome the storm

the clouds

the thunder

the lighting

the big sha-bang

just to rid

this cloying emptiness that refuses to leave

As if at my suggestion

the wind starts to howl

Lovely

Now things are getting interesting

I want to scream at the sun

to stop shining

so

it can finally rain

25. A picture I forgot to do a long time ago and finally finished a while ago :D Momo (or Mamori) looks very much a mischievous kitsune as she flees from an angry dragon mother who wants her egg back (now). Momo can only smile and say that she hears they're delicious. XD Check out her shoes. Oh, and my younger sister, upon seeing this, thinks I should do album or cover art.

If so, please contact: I'd be more than happy to.

26. Another one of Momo (that's her in her fox form) and Lily from Chapter Two. Maybe someday this can be the cover for the issue, or the Title page.

I wanted to experiment with ink rather than rely on color all the time, and liked the result.

27. Lily and her twin. This is far in the future of Come&Sleep (or should I say past???) so it was mostly done as something to refer to when I do DO IT. I usually use symbols in pictures to remember things, so, try to see if you can find them. :P

28. Lily and her twin AGAIN! Her hair is black because I needed contrast between the two. The sad thing is I have short shorts that are almost the same as Lily's. I don't usually draw these sort of things, as I like to concentrate on more story-driven illustrations than "pin-ups" (such as certain anime omakes. I used this as inspiration). So, to try to make it more interesting I put in different patterns and symbolism as well, and I ended up having trouble with their clothes.

Did you know there are SOOOOOO many types of lingerie in this world?!

(does this remind you of anything???)

29. Some characters from Come&Sleep that aren't introduced yet--a Japanese family living in NYC with the head father as the corporate leader in a micro-processor company, with three sons and one daughter that eeriely resembles her deceased mother.

30. I was trying to find an approiate outfit for a character introduced in Chapter Three,  and came up with this. It's a dress that has Country-Lolita influence with some extra stuff I put in.

And whoo!!! that is it!!! thanks for everything!!! this was a great thing to do!!!

My next big project will be....

(dun dun dunn!!!)

.....

THE TWENTY FOUR HOUR COMIC!

(details)