Haylo Deviants,

I'd like to say thanks for all the people adding some of my work to their favorites and collections.

I went to Anime Expo 2009 on Friday and Saturday and had a great time! My outfits I made stood up to the constant walking, photo-taking, and hugs.

My feet didn't though. I was walking around in 4 inch heels. Drag queen you say? No, NO...lol. A part of my outfits was to wear those 4 inch "hooker" boots. Help the overall visual kei/aristocratic look. Its not as great as I would have liked, photography wise, but i'm slowly getting better at the whole design process, making my designs and looks legit to the visual kei culture.

However it must not have been that bad. I did some interviews and exclusive photos from some websites with my friends I went with.

I'll post my images for you guys to see soon.

Your friendly pen and pixel pusher,
dannydarkmage

Hey Everyone,

Hope all are in good fortune and are doing well in their lives that occur here and outside the networld!

I'm happy to say that i've been much more artistic lately, thanks to my ritual of lugging my sketchbook around to work and everywhere else. Little sketches here and there but nothing big yet. However, my Smoking Loner image might be animated very soon, i'm currently breaking him down into animatable shapes, so stay tuned.

Oh yeah, a few weeks ago, I was kindly reminded by a friend of mine that Anime Expo 2008 is happening at the LA Convention Center in July. So I was all like "cool, i'd love to save up the 25 bucks to get in for a day and just soak in all the animeness."

So my buddy says I can tag along with him, but...

...

...

I must have a costume to cosplay.





I was like, oh...okay!? And after many days of trying to figure what character I really related with after not watching anime and being "out of the loop" so to speak...I was about to give up, when i thought, "why not cosplay one of my own characters?"

So, yes, I'm super stoked to go, especially since this is my first time going dressed in full cosplay. I'm currently pulling out the fabrics, threads, glues, and anything else I need to make my costume. Who, you might be wondering, will I be for AX2008. It'll be my Nameless Warrior character with some slight modifications...(which I believe I have posted on here somewhere...)

But yeah, I've already started making the necessary pieces for the costume! Big thanks for mom not cringing at my gayness and teaching me how to sew!!

Anyone else going? If you are, lemme know and don't be afraid to say hi to the guy in tights!

DannyDarkMage

HOLY MOLY its been a while! JEEZSUHS.

Well, I thought I would write a journal, for those who do read them, and give you guys a much needed update on my life, especially the artistic side of it. Lately, there has been a lot of change going on in my life, a lotta... reorganization going on. However, I think its all happening for a distinct reason.

To dive into my current state isn't much of undersea voyage, merely a swim. One of the biggest things that have changed amongst the constantly swirling waters is my attendance at the Art Institutes... Basically, its been put on a hiatus of sorts. I've been away from the dear campus for nearly two months now, and oh... how I miss having my artistic itch scratched. How I miss not learning... How I miss not drawing. WHAT, me not drawing? One who would be drawing, even in my general education classes? One who would always be doing something artistic? And now what... barely even picking up a pen to write out a check to pay a bill. How dissapointing!

I do plan to finish school, don't let that get you down... Its just right now staying afloat in these constantly changing waters is what matters first and foremost.

Gosh, I'm glad that i'm actually drawing in Flash today, because oy... it was going on a month since I had drawn last. And I was actually getting scared that I couldn't draw a cube, much less anything else.

Thankfully, after not having a job for a while, I finally have one. My freelance work is picking up, nothing more than a few logo designs and things of that nature... I still don't feel confident enough to walk into a studio, or a small animation house and ask for work with my skillset. I still have so much to learn. So, while I have much more time on my hands, I hope to really start studying on my own, really give my skills a look over, and ask others to see what I should be working on.

The beginning of this year has been tough. A lot of changes have happened, a lot of sad moments in our young lives have occurred for all of us... but its smoothing out, like the process they use to turn peanuts into smooth...or chunky...peanut butter. That is the way of life, like a metronome, our lives bob back an forth in an unseen rhythm of sadness and happiness. Sometimes its all up to us, all within our power so to speak, to stop, to act.

Return to education and my dry stint artistically... stop.

click...

Tears shed of loss and gain... stop.

click...

Breaking the rhythm so easily created by this life... stop.

All within time, to break time, for the sake of time.

-dannydarkmage

!!AH MEH GAWD!!

...As I scream at the top of my lungs...

As I catch my breath after looking at the avon calendar on the wall I realize something....

I should have been one month away from graduating by this time.

It is true, after looking at that cursed calendar and seeing other classmates from a sister AI campus keenly await that special day, I hang my head in shame...

Why in shame you ask? Because like my close friend and fellow classmate once said, "Don't be a baby, stick out the drive and don't transfer!! His words ring in my ear like a gong's chords through the air.

How long now, brown cow, I wonder...How many more years, how much more money must be spent towards my education; just to not have to worry about an hour and fifteen minute drive to the OC...

Perhaps it would be sound to say that, maybe me and my artistic skills are not ready to be thrust out into the working world that is... media arts. Perhaps its a way of a higher source saying, "Your not ready yet, wee one...

Odd complacency tells me, your good at what you do, but..ya shure can be better... Take the time to make it good whilst you have it in your arthritic crippled grasp! (yup an animator/illustrator with arthritis, i'm doomed) Take the time to animate some little shorts you've been conceptualizing, those kept hidden and stashed away in a folder in your room. Take on a project, like the Skin a Scion contest, and make something really great, get your name out there!!

Alas, I still feel a measure of depression. Yuckers.