Finally finished the Runaways issue this morning. My finger tips are numb from gripping my ink pens too hard and my wrist is killing me. It was an extended holiday in Japan starting last Saturday but I didn’t get to see the light of day since I was so freakin’ busy. Think I’m gonna let off some steam by doing some shopping. I need some new clothes for the summer anyway.

I’ve booked my ticket backhome in August. Just for 2 weeks but I’ll be back in Toronto in time for the fan expo so I plan to check that out for a day. My sister’s wedding is on the same weekend so I’ll probably hit it on Friday all jetlagged. It’ll be good to see some old faces and see what’s new with comics. I haven’t really read any in a long time. In fact, come to think of it, I haven’t picked up anything here as well in a while. I used to pick up Afternoon every month but I found that I was only reading Blade of the Immortal and some random gag strips from it that I stopped. I flip through comic magazines at the local 7-11 cuz, y’know, that’s free but I feel like the dude at the register is always eyeing me to buy it so… haha.

What else have I been doing… Oh, I attended a friend’s wedding 2 weekends ago. Congrats, Matt!! I wore my spankin’ new suit to it which was kinda cool and different. It’s been about 3 years since wearing one and it felt kinda nice actually. The wedding was in the Grand Hyatt in Roppongi which is probably one of the nicest and classiest places to get hitched. My first time to see a shinto style wedding where the bride and groom were decked out in wedding kimono’s and a very foreign progression of events leading up to the exchange of rings. No kiss! Well, they made up for it at the after party.

Oh, crap. I just remembered I need to get my J-passport… Man, looking at all the documents I need it’s gonna be another marathon around Tokyo. Yay, me.

Tak

Butter shortage in Japan. I heard about this the other day and went to check at my local supermarket and, indeed, no butter. What am I supposed to put on my toast??

Racing to finish the first issue of Secret Invasion: Avengers/Runaways. I’ll have pencils done in the next coupla days and then it’s on to inks. I’ve never drawn so many skrulls in my life.
If you live in Tokyo, a friend of mine, Atsushi, is opening a bar later this month which I helped design the logo for. I’ll most likely be bar flying there in the next few weeks so drop by and spend your yen. Atsushi is a jewellery designer and has combined his love for bling and booze into a new concept bar. So, basically, you get drunk and then buy his gear that’s on display. You can find the link and a map here.

Oh, I turn 30 at the end of the week. It’s been rather depressing thinking about it actually. 26 hit me pretty hard and I’m mentally preparing for something similar on Saturday. Oh, man… 30!?

TAK

Yeah, yeah. I’m not around much right now. You’ll have to forgive me. Been working on a bunch of things that have kept me away from doing anything interesting to talk about.

Umm… It’s warm. Cherry blossoms are blooming all around Tokyo and I’m hitting a big party this weekend to soak it all in. Will have pictures of that. Maybe. If I’m not too drunk.

A test piece I did for the Fairy Tales thing that I’m half done. You can find the colour version in a recent issue of Previews so I figure it’s okay to post these. Both pencils and inks.

TAK

Made the trip to Ginza on Tuesday. I got off the wrong station so I had a bit of a hike to the gallery but it was a nice day so I wasn’t complaining. Found the gallery pretty easily and, since no one else was there, got to take it all in pretty much by myself. Ahh, the benefits of not having a real job.

Anyway, the gallery isn’t all that big but it’s a nice clean and open space. There were about 60 pieces in total, all in nice frames and sized at around B4. They were lined up tight together in 2 parallel rows across all 4 walls. All pieces were priced at 105,000 yen which is equal to about a grand US or Canadian. A steal if you ask me. Oh, not all. A handful were not for sale. I went on the second day and a third were already taken so I’m sure by the end of the week they’ll all be spoken for. I was tempted to purchase one but the subject matter was, well, not exactly user-friendly? I woulda jumped at the chance if any were from either his Blade or Ohikkoshi works. I was hoping they would have prints or some light items like that but nadda. They had the artbook though.

I’m pretty miminal in terms of mediums I use so seeing an entire gallery filled to the brim with nothing but pencil drawings was something quite special to me. I’ve had the fortune of seeing original pages from various artists over the last year but this stuff took detail and subtlety to the next level. Reproductions rarely do the actual work justice and this was an example, case and point. It’s quite something seeing erased lines covered with the final strokes and the problem solving process all right there happening in front of my face. The faces were so crisp and figures so well defined. The work was B4 sized, yes, but they came across much much bigger. Pretty outstanding. I wish I could describe it better to you but there’s just no way I’m afraid. I’m getting too emotional about this so I’ll stop…

All I know is, I’ll definitely be making another trip before the show ends.

TAK

Went out shoppin’ today. I needed to pick up some supplies like drafting pens and some ink for my nibs. If you know what Tokyu Hands is, I went there since they have pretty much anything you’d ever want in terms of stationary. Had a quick bowl of ramen afterwards, played some Tekken 6 and got my ass royally whooped (I need to play as someone other than Law for a change…) and, finally, made a trip to a bookstore for kicks. I ended up dropping about 70 bucks on impulse buys. Anyway, 4 books in total plus some posters:

First is William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition. I wanted to get his newest release Spook Country but the oversized softcover was around 40 bucks so I decided to get this instead since it was about a quarter the price. I have no idea what it’s about but the cover looked cool so…

The blueish book is Asano Inio’s 2nd and final book to Oyasumi Pun Pun. I got the special edition version so it came with 2 keychains. I dunno. I’m a sucker. My love for Asano Inio knows no bounds and any book by him will make me drop yen in a second. The first book was thoroughly amazing and I expect this second half to blow my mind in equal parts.

Third is Hiroyuki Samura’s Blood Hurley’s Carriage. He’s another creator I have no qualms about giving money to. It’s a one-off book about an orphan girl who is sold into sexual slavery… or something to that effect. I haven’t read it yet but, uh, it’s kinda messed up. I’m gonna use this as a segway for something else below. One second…

And lastly, is a ref book on factories, pipes and all things industrial. This was the best find of the day for me. I can stop scouring the net for shitty low-rez images now. Yay.

A quiet Sunday night. About to juggle 2 projects at once plus a third on the side for good measure. I think I needed deadlines again to kick my ass into gear since I spent the last year doing things purely on my own time and in my own way. I’m finding I’ve been sorta lethargic about drawing since the new year started and been focusing on other things to keep my mind occupied. I can’t multi-task so it’s been a choice of either work or life but not at the same time. Which doesn’t really work when you’re a freelancer…

Short post. Mosre soonish.

TAK

My ipod headphones finally bit the dust. After close to 4 years of use I’ve gotten ample milage out of them so it was about time I get some new ones anyway. My ipod itself is still running strong which is good. I have one of the old models with the play and menu buttons seperate from the clicker wheel. Seems like a dinosaur compared to the new video pods and all the fancy colours. I was tempted to replace it but I hate replacing things that aren’t broken :p

I’m off to do some skiing in Niigata this weekend. Pretty stoked about it. Going out to the country is always a nice change of pace from the concrete jungle that is Tokyo. Sometimes I need to go somewhere with no people to keep my sanity.

Oh, my upcoming issue of Avengers Fairy Tales from Marvel has been solicited with a kickass Claire Wendling cover.

She never disappoints does she? Amazing. Even better was that she based the character designs off of ones I cooked up for the issue.

It’s always nice to be humbled…

TAK

I just watched a bunch of new UK episodes of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Season 5, I believe. They probably aren’t new but it was news to me when I fell upon them on youtube. He’s just as inspirational and awesome as I last saw him in the US version of the show. Granted, the UK shows are far superior and involving. Probably cuz you get Ramsay himself doing the narrating and none of the cussing is taken out. Just how it should be!

Things have changed a bit on the work front for me this year. Along with some Marvel work I’ve taken which I’m really excited to be apart of, the project I’ve been slaving over for the past 6 months has sorta fallen through. I don’t feel like giving details since it’s been rather lamenting but, at the same time, it’s helped me get focused and slapped me out of relying on people too much. I learned a lot throughout the process regardless so it hasn’t gone all to waste. I’m currently in the process of editing some breakdowns for something I’ve concocted myself so, for better or worse, it’s all me. It’s along the lines of where I feel my strengths lie so it’s been much more satisfying and entertaining. Anyway, that’s that.

The last of the commissions from last year:TAK

Found that ST:TNG episode I was looking for. My life has been fulfilled.

I went to the gym today. There’s nothing notable in just that but there was this guy on a cycling machine and no one was using any of the machines next to or remotely close to him and it took me only half a second to realize why. He freakin’ stank! A good 5m radius around him was a dead zone. Seriously. I couldn’t believe it. Okay, it’s a gym. People sweat and people stink. It’s part of nature. But, man… This dude was unREAL. But the worst thing about it was I was at a total loss to do anything about it. If someone doesn’t wipe sweat off a machine after use, okay, that’s grounds for an “ahem” but this?? I still haven’t thought of a solution…

Oh, I did a quick interview for a site called Blazedent. I talk about Marvel, Japan and some other stuff. You can find it here.

TAK

Sorry for the long absence, all. Been busy with an array of things over the holidays that continued into the new year. I haven’t even gone to see relatives in Tokyo yet. Dammit…

I’m enjoying the first big snowfall in Tokyo right now. Well, I mean, it melts as soon as it hits the ground but it’s nice to get some of the white stuff for a change. Come to think of it, I haven’t experienced plowing a sidewalk or driveway in quite a long time. I suppose there’s merit in that for a Canadian.

I’ve picked up some Marvel work for the coming months. Don’t fret. It’s cuz I’m broke and need some cash to keep me here. I’ve still got projects for Japan in the works but it’s just gonna take a bit longer.

I’ve been watching old Star Trek: TNG episodes online recently. It’s something I used to do back in Vancouver since it was on, like, 3 times a day. And with the new movie set for release in about a year, I figure it’s a good a time as any to re-aquaint myself again with klingon cleavage and super stiff karate moves. Nah, I loves it. Oh, I’ve been trying to find the show-ender entitled “All good things”. It was a 2 parter. If you know where to find it online give me a shout. It would be much appreciated.

Anyway, some more commissions I sent out last year:

TAK