Comics, Comics Everywhere!

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So this week has certainly been a busy week! We had three events going on, one of which is still on running, in fact!

I mentioned in some of my previous blogs that the Degree Show called 'Show and Tell' is being held at Staffordshire University. Being that I am part of the graduating year in the Cartoon and Comic Arts Degree, I'm one of those taking part there, along with my partner in crime for TanraStudios, Nadia. We spent most of this week preparing for this, making adjustments as needed, waiting for the official print of Dreamwalkers to be delivered, but finally, the first day of the Degree Show arrived, and with it, the open night!

Sorry that the picture is a little bit dark. But can you spot us? Yup, there is Nadia and I in front of our displays, though mostly hidden by our heads and that of guests, unfortunately. Still, we met a lot of people, including the mayor, which was pretty cool. He seemed rather interested too! While the event was certainly an.....uh....interesting experience (though everyone in the class really pulled together! I know a few people were rather impressed by it) there was a lot of interest as well. It was really nice to speak with people about the work we have done.

Dreamwalkers is actually having its first run at the show as well, since the first chapter was also my main project (always good to pick something your passionate about for your final project, right?) so it seemed rather fitting that the Degree Show is where it makes its premiere. 

If any of you are in the Stoke-on-Trent area, the Degree Show lasts until Sunday 19th June, with the Wednesday and Friday of being the days that I'll be helping to run the Display area. It'll be cool to see you!

Still, that wasn't the only thing we've been up to, either! Yesterday we attended a mini convention in Gloucester called 'Mall Con', run by the same guys who ran True Believers that we attended earlier in the year. It was definitely a different experience, since it was actually run in a shopping Centre, so it was free for anyone to come and look around. There was even our very own Super Hero Mascot:

This photo was taken by one of the True Believers team. They were teasing us on Twitter. lol. It was actually kind of funny, as 'True Believer Man' kept making Nadia jump (which made me jump in turn - I don't mind too much though, since I did kind of laugh at Nadia too. lol) though I did kinda feel sorry for the guy, too - it was pretty warm that day!

Still, despite it being a small con, we still got interest. We even had a group that came back a few times to buy badges and our comics too. Not to mention we got to see a few pretty cool people and exchange business cards, funny stories and tips. We even got time to look around Gloucester, too, before we had to come home on the train again - it's a pretty nice area. And believe me, we got to see a lot of it, since google maps on both of our phones seemed insistent on taking us the scenic route back to the station. lol! But we'd love to come visit again! There were a few places we'd love to go.

Lastly, we had an event earlier today in Hanley Park for Big Read, where us at TanraStudios volunteered to help AwkwardBex with a workshop, where kids could come up with wacky comics. Basically, you had to pull out names from a hat - an object, a place and a person/job. These could be pretty silly. I even had a go too! I ended up with a skipping rope, a swimming pool and a wizard. It came out a little awkward (I mean, I've not used felt tip pens in years and will admit I've never been good at colouring with them - I'm better with digital colour. Plus it was a pretty quick thing (didn't take me too long), so excuse the roughness. But this was mine:

See what I mean by random, though? You do get some fun combinations. It reminded me of a project we had to do back in my first year on the Cartoon and Comic Arts Course where I had to do a one cut comic about a farmer, a hotel and a wrench lol. 

Either way, it was a lot of fun! We had a few people come, despite the weather, and they seemed like they were having fun, though! :)

So yes, we had comics galoure this week! And there is still more to come! Especially with the Degree Show still running, not to mention finding out my final mark soon as well! I'm really nervous! Still, I will report all that and more next time!

Until then!

Tara

Comic Con Leicester!!!

Hey guys! Welcome back!

So, I was over at Leicester this weekend (just got back home from there, in fact) as part of TanraStudios for the ComicCon there. It was our first time tabling there, but we had a pretty good weekend, despite a few hiccups along the way. 

Firstly, unfortunately we had to hold off on selling Dreamwalkers at this convention, as much as I really hoped that it would make its debut there. Basically there was some problems happening on the end of where we get our comics printed from. Its sad, but we've been informed those should be ready for next week, so they will appear at the Degree Show and at Mall Con. 

These things happen, unfortunately, where no one is really at any fault. Oh well. It seems somewhat fitting, actually, that Dreamwalkers should debut at the Degree Show, since it was started as part of my course (though admittedly I've wanted to start Dreamwalkers for years. lol)

Despite various technical difficulties, on the plus side, the con itself was a blast!

We almost sold out of comics, having only 4 left out of 22 that had come with us, we managed to give out fliers that advertised our upcoming website and sold quite a few commissions between us. The ones I got were certainly fun to draw. I got an interesting selection, from portraits to an Original Character, to Tracer from Overwatch.

I have to admit, I think Tracer was my favourite to draw, but I had fun with all of them, and everyone seemed pleased with them as well, which I'm happy about. Nadia also got a few Digital commissions as well, though we did have an unfortunate computer crash. Still, while a little delayed, those should be headed off to their respective owners tomorrow.

All in all, we did pretty well! The money we earned will be going towards our website that we're building right now. We're looking forwards to that!

Oh, we also found this awesome place after the first day of the con, since we stayed over in Leicester for the night.

We got this delicious BubbleTea from Taste of China, and, let me tell you, it was 100% better than the BubbleTea we tried elsewhere. And with tons of flavours too. I had a rose one and it really was good. We purposefully tracked it down before we came home, too, for another. I think I'm going to miss that BubbleTea...

Anyway, we had a ton of fun. If the opportunity crops up again, we'll certainly be going back, both for the Con and for BubbleTea :)

Hopefully, the Degree Show and Mall Con will also offer a good success.

Until Next time!

Tara

Awesome Upcoming Events!

Hello Everyone! Welcome Back!

Well, hand in is finally cover, so how good or bad I do is now all up to the markers. I hope I do well, though! So my main worries are over. There is still a few things that are coming up, however, that means I'm not free of all responsibility or something though.

University wise, I have a presentation to do, concerning what I handed in, though I'm fairly confident with that, unless I missed out something I forgotten about. But as we wont be using a PowerPoint, I'm a little unsure what kind of presentation they will want. I do know it will take place in the Degree Show Room

Speaking of the Degree Show, the open night for that is 10th of June, with the Cartoon and Comic Arts show found in the Life Drawing Room of the Henrion Building, Collage Road Campus of Staffordshire University. The Degree Show itself them takes place for the entire week. So, if you're in the area, come check us out!

Nadia and I, as part of TanraStudios, will also be at a couple of Conventions, with the first being Comic Con Leicester on the 4th and 5th of June. If all goes well, Dreamwalkers part one will be on sale for the first time! We'll also be selling Susanoo and Unbound, as well as prints and badges, commissions and a lucky dip as well, with the chance to win one of everything off the table! But with a prize each time even if you dont hit the jackpot. I'll be live tweeting from the event, so keep an eye out for those on either my Twitter @chosha_kurenai, or on the TanraStudios Twitter @Tanra626. I'm really looking forwards to it, so if you're in the area, come say hi!

I'll be giving a full report on the Con next time.

Until then!

Tara

It's The Final Count Down!

Hey guys! Welcome Back!

Well, its almost the deadline for hand in of our work now! We have until 5pm on Tuesday 24th to have everything hung up or in folders ready to be presented in the Degree Show room, Its kinda nerve wracking, especially considering this is the final marked work for the Degree. Assuming my tester copy of Dreamwalkers is done on time and looks alright and I finish off the write ups of the Degree Show Diary and my external work then I should be on top of things.

...

...I hope to god I didn't just jinx myself.

Still, I did get my show pieces printed and mounted, ready to be hung up on the wall, so that's always good to know! I really want to show you guys! But considering that would show you all way before the show takes place it might be a bit spoilerish. lol. Not to worry, I will make sure to take pictures of the display to show everyone who isn't able to go to the show.

On a slightly less nerve wracking point, the interview that Nadia and I did for the degree show is up on vimeo now! Here is a link if you want to see it:

https://vimeo.com/167120968

I'm not particularly a good public speaker. You could probably make a drinking game out of how many times I said 'Um'. lol. Anyway, make sure to show some love for Moritz Hummelsheim as well, who organised the interviews and put it together Thanks, Moritz!

A bit of a short one this time, since I've been mainly focused on getting ready for hand in, but I hope to let you guys see more next time.

Until then, wish me luck!

Tara

Lookie Lookie!!!

Hey everyone, welcome back!

Hey, what do you think of my new logo? As you guys may have seen if you follow my DeviantArt especially, I tend to draw my little mascot characters a lot, so I thought 'hey, maybe I should just make a logo with one of these guys? I need to make a logo for my Online Portfolio anyway'. So, I ended up making two versions of the logo and a little icon as well.

As you may or may not know, my Username online is Chosha Kurenai (or some variant of, if I can't use a space in the username). Since practically everything I do online uses that name, I thought why not continue with the theme?

Oh yeah, sort of mentioned it in passing, but yeah! I made an online portfolio!

Some of you may already have seen it - heck, you might even be here on this blog having come from that site (if you are, hello!) - but for those who haven't, the online portfolio is currently in its early, but functioning form, where you can now look up some of my artwork, get some clips of both Dreamwalkers and Susanoo, my two comics, find out about me and even contact me. Eventually, I'll also be adding to it with more artwork, extra comic information, a shop area and info the studio that I'm part of as well, especially once TanraStudios webpage is up and running, so there will be lots more interesting things to check out. I'm considering at some point doing an ask the character thing too? If nothing else it might be fun. :)

For those of you that haven't gone through the website to get to this blog, here's is the link:

choshakurenai.weebly.com

I'd love to hear what people think, if there's anything you would like added or improved upon I'll admit, I'm pretty much a novice at website building, so any kind of help or constructive criticism would be great!

I hope that you'll enjoy the site and will enjoy what's to come!

Until next time!

Tara (aka Chosha Kurenai)

Degree Show - It's Coming Soon!!!

Hey guys! Welcome back!

Not much to show you in way of pics today (sorry about that) but many an update to share.

Firstly, a Dreamwalkers update! Sketch work on part two is coming along well, but oh boy! I've already hit 40 pages and its not done. Part two looks like it'll certainly be longer than part one. I'm estimating it to be about 60 or so pages, depending on how the fight scenes go. Still, having fun with it. Would love to show you some, but at the moment its a bit spoilery - you would only see small thumbnails. But suffice to say, its coming along well.

Part One will be making its first appearance during the Degree Show at Staffordshire University.

Yes, the Degree Show is coming up really soon now (Our hand in is the end of this month, with the show coming up in June and Graduation coming up in July!) and we've all been helping towards it this week. We've cleared out the room we'll be using in preparation, and soon we'll be setting the whole place up for our things to be displayed.

Its a scary thought! Where has all the time gone!? I guess time must be as they say - it grows wings and flies off just to give people with deadlines things to worry about. lol

Still, I'm looking forwards to it as well. I'm currently having a think of what pages I want to show on the wall. Most of them I have in mind, but I just need to shorten my short list.

I'll be mostly covering how things are going with the degree show on the build up, and talking about a couple of cons we have lined up the next few weeks, but I'm hoping to give more lovely pictures in those times too, rather than only reading me ramble. We have brochures being made and posters being put together after all!

I'm also hoping to be setting up a online profile soon, too. I'm hoping to give you all links to that when its finished.

So, busy times currently and to come! I hope you all keep supporting me! :)

Until next time!

Tara

May....be getting nervous?

Hey guys! Welcome back!

So, we've hit May. Its a bit of a scary thought as deadlines are starting to come up. Not to mention that it'll be really soon that the Degree Show will be on us as well. May is going to be busy for all of us, especially since as well as our deadlines we also have to help clear out the space we'll be using for our show and help build it up, too. I'm hoping to take pictures as we go along, so you can see what we're up to.

But that will be then, and this is now. So! What I've been up to this passed week.

Well....admittedly less drawing than I would like. I haven't really done much more on the comic, mainly as I've been working on some little things like trees for backgrounds, mainly to be used in Pandora, but I'll likely use them in Dreamwalkers at some point. I'm rather proud of those background trees.

Most of the week has been spent on advertising. In one of my posts last month I showed the poster that Nadia and I worked on together. Basically we went to various places to see if they would stock them for us. We've had agreements so far from an Art shop, a Forbidden Planet store and a branch of Waterstones. We just have to get more of them printed. We ended up getting some quotes and found a place that, as well as being able to print our comics professionally, will also print of fliers as well, which would be mega useful to us. Once we got those printed out again, we'll be going on a flier spree, so to speak. lol

One thing I have been working on is a new poster/print for Dreamwalkers. It's currently still being done, so its not finished just yet (I need to mess with the colours a little to be sure that everything stands out from the background. But, if you'd like a preview of the print so far, then here is a screenshot of it!

So, similar to one of my last prints, this one is of one of the Dreamwalkers cast - this time, Somnus. Is it odd that I both enjoyed drawing, yet despised doing his hair? weird, huh? Still, I do like how its coming out so far, but there is still a lot of room to play with this, parts to finish so the lightning is correct, lights and shadows to play with a bit more. If there's no major interruptions, I should be able to finish it next week and hopefully get more thumbnails done for Dreamwalkers 2.

In the words of Undertale, enclosing deadlines fill you with determination!

As such, I should hopefully have a lot more to tell you when we see each other next.

But, until next time!

Tara