Valen from Breath and Bone by Carol Berg

Last weekend, I found myself procrastinating the completion of my second round of edits on my master's applied project (like a thesis, only better!), and drew a bunch of pictures instead. Go figure.

Some of them are mangas to be used in a YouTube book advertisement for Master of Emotion by D. Ogden Huff. I have completed 6 of the 10 planned scenes from the book so far. Note: It takes me 4 to 6 hours per drawing, so this is a decent accomplishment over the last 3 weekends. The last 4 scenes are roughly penciled out, but need to be finalized, inked, and then colored. I will post when the book advertisement is up on YouTube.

BUT...I was still feeling weirdly unsatisfied (from an artistic frenzy standpoint) when I finished the Master of Emotion mangas.

So I drew my favorite character from Carol Berg's Lighthouse Duet (Flesh and Spirit + Breath and Bone).

Meet Valen (as I imagine him):

a.k.a Magnus Valentia de Cartamandua-Celestine

I will have the opportunity to attend Ms. Berg's book signing this Saturday at The Reader's Cove in Fort Collins, Colorado. I am thrilled to be able to meet her and buy my copy of The Daemon Prism, her latest work. Since I discovered the Rai-Kirah novels in 2004, I have been a dedicated fan of her writing, world-building, and excellent characterization.

So wish me luck in Colorado, and look for more mangas in February. I hope you like my rendition of Valen.

Sometimes I miss my rabbits

Okay, I lied, I miss them all the time. I keep looking at the cage and it takes me a second to realize I am down to 2 rabbits from the 5 I used to have. So in loving memory...



Pebblesaurus Rex, a Mini Rex (softest fur in the world) - died 2/2011 at 8 years old

Cocoa Rex, the sister to Pebbles Rex - died 1/2010 at 7 years old

Miss Peanut, a rescue from California - died 11/2011 at unknown age, but estimated to be 8 years

Miss Precious (gray) and Mr. Scrap (black, and the sister to Precious), Dutch rabbits - still alive and well at 6.5 years!

Cocoa and Pebbles both died around Martin Luther King Jr Day, hence the timing for the post. And no, Shadow did not eat any of the bunnies - they all died of natural causes/old age. Rabbits are the greatest pets!

The Industrious Hygienist's brother-in-law built this out of dominoes after we gave up trying to play a game. Pretty spiffy!