Not that I'm sending this to my mom, 'cause she'd be all..."WTF??" I got her an ecard instead.

( Happy Mother's Day! )

Slight last minute change to the previous Water Tribe pages.

( I'm changing history!! )

...'cause I got to work on that storyboard! I must be finished before the end of the month. I want to be able to go to Montreal knowing it is all done (I'll be there for a few days: doctor visit, friends and family time...)

I did go see Iron Man this friday, at the Arclight theater in Hollywood (comfy seats!!). Really liked it, a super hero film that was lots of fun. I didn't know about Iron Man much (read a book or two), so maybe I was less critical than fans of the serie. I don't know, I'll see what some of the guys at work say tomorrow. But I'll keep on liking it anyway! Ha!
(I wanted to tell this bit of news to my friend in Montreal, but we ran out of phone call time...)

My roommate Phil needs to send his X-Box for repair- no Halo3 and no GTA4 for at least a month. Not that I play them, but I enjoy watching him play.

Got some more Water Tribe part 3 reworks- slight tweaks, expended one page to two pages. Not much has changed, so I'll put those on DA tonight (before we may get new Zhao contest entries)

...

I just realised: my whole page count is going to be soooooo off on LJ, as part 3 will not hook up with the page count of part 4, which is based on the old version of part 3.
Oh boy. This is going to get even more confusing...
( Water Tribe, pages 112-115 )

Silly idea, quickly sketched during lunchtime, inspired by a comment from buttfacemakani

( Zhao has choices...or does he )

Haven't done much this weekend (bliss!), just a bit of cleaning and loafing around. So not much to say.

Did some Water Tribe, part 3 page tweaks. That's all they are, just very small tweaks from version one. There will be more changes in the coming pages (I'll add more pictures to Nauja's retelling of Lao's attack), but in the meantime...

( Spit and polish, on pages 104-111 )
Since the changes are really minor, I'll post these on DA tonight.

It's Water Tribe time!
( Reworked part 3, pages 101-103 )

Back from NYCC- had an absolute lovely time with everyone!
Many thanks to Raina and Dave for the couch space and the great company. Hope I didn't make you stay up too too late last night.
Huge hello to Ali, Foxy, Rawles and all the other people with onscreen names I know but can't remember right now, Ha ha!

I will not repeat all the Avatar info that's swimming all over the web - they are all pretty easy to find now, especially if you visit the big fan sites like avatarspirit.net , DongBuFeng or the different Avatar LJ communities.

Many thanks to everyone who came to visit us at the Comics Bakery and came to the panel on Friday. Your presence and participation was extremely appreciated. It will be fun to keep celebrating fan creations, especially after the serie ends.
I mean, after that, that's pretty much the only Avatar thing that we are sure will keep going on at least until the movie. So if we want our dose of Avatar- yay fan creations!!

( little dose of Water Tribe things )

So many things to do:
I got the Water Tribe mini comics, and I have sent half the comp copies to people who participated for the gallery. I'll be sending the rest next week, if all goes well. I think I forgot to contact one person. Oops! That's my brains for you. I always always forget one thing.
Which I hope I don't do tonight, as I need to finish packing up for the trip to New York. Gotta bring some Avatar goodies, work, games (eh, it's a long flight).

Had to do overtime this weekend in the hopes of finishing the storyboard I was working on early this week- tough luck, I finished tonight at 7pm. Ah well, at least I finished it! Not that many corrections, but a lot of little time consuming details to add, including coloring some elements so they'll read better during the animatic.
The little heart skips were back- they are definitely more frequent around deadline time, so definitely stress related. And stupid me, I went and ate an espresso chocolate last night. Stupid! Chocolate, like caffeine, makes the heart more jumpy! Idiot idiot idiot!!

I hope all goes well at NYCC- I'm actually rather shy, and I hope I don't make a complete fool of myself at the panels on Friday and Sunday. Eeeep!!!

I just know I'm going to forget something...

( One quick doodly thing )

Getting slightly tired and overworked and slightly low, mood wise. I'm really falling behind in answering emails-letters-comments and I feel bad about it. Doing an experiment this weekend, seeing how fast I go trying to clean up storyboards on my computer at home. It's no Cintiq, but...*eyes little Wacom tablet*

Posting some more reworked pages for the Water Tribe AU. I'm starting to wonder if I should stop posting these here, especially since I am getting to a point where it's just some polishing (some new pages this time, for easier read).
Maybe I'll just upload them directly to DA, and keep the space on LJ for the final part 4 (which hopefully I'll continue soon- come on new episodes!!). It would confuse people less, instead of jumping back and forth between chapters.

( Water Tribe part 3 reworks, 095-100 )

Yesterday, this little exchange happen in the previous post:
It started with this comic:
http://amberguesa.deviantart.com/art/Water-tribe-games-81593136

amberguesa wrote:
Hot wintersports with furclad chubby girls can do that to a person :D
(edit)
...6 plus layers of fur, lining and um.. thermal underwear...? Just adds to their feminine mystery!
Try finding THAT in fire nation during the summer!

rufftoon wrote:
There's definitely enough layers to hide a LOT of feminine mysteries.
And men can be soooooo curious.

star_puppet wrote:
Ooooh...makes me wonder...
Nauja in the Fire Nation? :D

( How could I resist? )

Time to give a heads up on a few different items:

Flight Explorer is out! It is now available in stores. Many fun short stories for readers of all ages. My egyptian cat (see icon) has a story in it, slightly longer than in the previous Flight books.


On a serious note, a friend of mine, Emru Townsend, has been diagnosed with leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. Finding a match is proving extremely hard, and he relies on the international donors list for bone marrow. For infos on bone marrow donation and how to help, you can visit Emru's page:
http://healemru.com/index-en.php

ASN http://www.avatarspirit.net/ have been advertising the TWO Avatar panels happening at the NYCC. The official programming will be online sometime this week on the NYCC site:
http://www.nycomiccon.com/App/homepage.cfm?moduleid=2577&appname=100453
I just want to give a quick heads up now, just because some people wishing to travel from out of town may wish to organize themselves.
Please note that these are TWO different panels: one focusing on the magazine and the fandom, and the other one on the show proper.
I'll be there all weekend, either at the Comics Bakery table with Dave Roman and friends, plus possibly at the Random House booth signing some Flight Explorer books.

( ok, a little Water Tribe thing )

More new pages, now with added Iroh!
(any reasons to draw more Iroh is a good one).

A bit tired, slight headache. I will go take a little break, and I promise I will answer anyone that has sent me a pm later today. I am running late on answering comments here and on DA. In fact, I don't think I'll manage to catch up on DA. I'll have to answer a few and delete the rest. *sigh*
Really getting more tired than I thought.

I should be getting the mini comics next week! Ali and Foxy, I think I'll mail you your copies when I get them, just so I end up carrying a bit less books for NYCC. Gotta think of my old back.
NYCC is as slow announcing their programming as Nick is in advertising the rest of season 3 of Avatar. I'll never understand...I know it is probably more complicated than it seems, so I refrain from growling too much.

In a last Water Tribe related news, yesterday I got hit on the head with a second, alternate ending for the last part...and I think I may go with that one. It's shorter, more concise, ties up a loose end or two better. I think.

( Water Tribe, revised pages part 2, 089 to 095 )

Posting more Water Tribe pages- updating the fourth part in which Azula tells Zhao a bit of his past.
It was hard to write- trying to find the right words, the right tone to convey the right ideas. Gah! It was a struggle on just a few comic pages, imagine if I ever was forced to write a novel!
Never ever. Couldn't do it properly.
I admire people who can write prose.
If you have suggestions on how to tweak-edit some of these, your opinions more than welcome, as always.

( Water Tribe, pages 199-204 )

Presenting...more Water Tribe Reworks!
(am I boring you yet?)
Nothing much else to mention, only that if you intend to go to NY comicon, check out the programming that will soon be posted online.


( Water Tribe Part 2, Pages 082 to 088 )

Updating Water Tribe, part 4.
Once again, jumping back and forth between re-works of older chapters and new one.
I'm actually having a bit of fun illustrating a bit that is basically just dialogue. I guess because it is finally laying down the cards for the last act.

( Water Tribe Part 4- 193-198 )

The files have been sent!
Some weird little problems have creeped up, like a strange change in page size. (wtf? I swear I put in the right page size, how the heck does that mysteriously change by fraction of inches??).
But no big, these are all things that can easily be fixed by the printer. They have all the necessary material.
Now I'll wait for the proofs, give approval, and wait for everything to come back.
Where the heck am I gonna put all these, I'll have to figure out.

In the meantime, back to Water Tribe reworks, yay!

( Reworked Water Tribe pages-078 to 081 )

I'm almost almost done preparing the files for Water Tribe, but in the process I have lost the information for two people who donated art for the guest gallery:

Tamylee, and AJ who did "Cold Night In Heaven"
PM me with these infos please:
How you want to be credited (real name or screen name)- a link to a gallery or blog should you wish to, and a mailing address so I can send you your comp copies when they are done.
Please respond asap, that would be greatly appreciated.

Gah, it's always like that: I always lose some infos right there at the very end.
Can't wait until it is over, so I can go back to drawing this insane story.
In the meantime, prepping the files...

Sorry, no doodles for tonight!

...to the Oscar.
Heh, I need to work! Them comics don't make themselves.
Uptil now, all the category I rooted for lost (well, except Sweeney Todd). Booooh! No Persepolis, no Madame Tutli Putli...*sigh*
Took some time to add new pages to Water Tribe, in between doing some colors for the cover.
Last stretch of preparing all that!

On a small victory note, I finally managed to fix the glitch on my computer, and now can connect wirelessly! Woot! Let's see how long that lasts.

( Water Tribe part 4, Pages 187-192 )

Still not finished with the board (almoooost there), and I already got the new script. Augh! Tomorrow, recording of the voices, friday a quick meeting.
I can finish this. Soon. Soonish.

Would you believe that drawing the Water Tribe pages is a form of stress relief? It feels like it anyway.


( Reworked and new pages- Water Tribe 072-077 )

Wanted to post loads of art tonight, but failed. Too tired, and too much to do. *sigh*. Tomorrow night then.
But today was still awesome (ok, the storyboard is not yet done, but still).
Just got a whole bunch of books from the french bookstore in Montreal- ah bliss! The joy of reading in french again! Two Tezuka books, including one hardcover Black Jack with colored pages! Also Zipang and Death Note. That's for the mangas.
In big european format, there is De Capes Et De Crocs- some of the best, wittiest writing in comics. Would love to share, but unless you do read french, a lot of its strenghts and beauty would be lost.
http://www.fantasy.fr/news/upload/actu/20071016-De-Cape-et-de-Crocs.jpg

Alim Le Tanneur (beautiful art and good story)
http://www.lambiek.net/artists/a/augustin_virginie/augustin_alim.jpg

And finally a new one, Les Aigles De Rome, drawn by Marini who does the beautiful book Scorpion. I'm giving this title a try because I liked his previous work so much:
http://www.krinein.com/img_oc/big/7947.jpg

( Just a dash of Water Tribe )