Meowth: a study in character design.

I wanted to keep as much of the stray
underlines as could with this.  You can
really see how this was extracted from its
original 3D model & design.

"That's right!"  I wanted to kick off this Pokémon-themed week with a little doodling.  And, who would be a better suit for that job than meowth?  He's a classic anime character and a well known species among Pokémon fans, so, I said to myself "Eh, why not?"  

I started off this week hoping that by the end of it (which is when I'm creating this) that I would have drawn my whole ideal Pokémon team, inked, coloured  and featuring me as a Pokémon trainer, the whole works, but as time went on and nothing started happening (yes, I know I was procrastinating), realistically, I knew that I would just have to settle with something like this.  

Meowth, believe it or not, really isn't my favourite Pokémon from the whole series.  It's actually one really obscure one, as far as fandome goes, that holds my vote, and, if you weren't into Pokémon as a child, or have stopped following it since generation two, you probably wouldn't even recognize its name.  Its Lombre.  

Meowth's so awsome! It was even featured on
a special collectors' coin on the island of Niue
in the mid-pacific! Official mint. No jokes! 

Traditionally, since the first North American games (Red and Blue) I liked grass Pokémon, and so today, I still like grass Pokémon.  So, it is unlikely that I will be changing any time soon.  I also grew to love psychic Pokémon as well when they became more obtainable in the later games.  However, the only psychic- and grass-type pokémon that exist in the series are two that are really rare and almost impossible to catch in the wild through normal means: Exeggcute, its evolved form, Exeggutor, and Celebi.

Not to be dissing Exeggcute fans or nothing, but I kind of hated that pokémon back when I was in elementary.  To tell you the truth, I thought it was pretty ugly... a downright disgrace to the first-gen world of Kanto.  But, its Pokémon Blue sprite didn't do it any justice.  (Since when did an Exeggcute have an egg that large? It's a good three to four times bigger than the rest!)  It's kind of funny now that I think of it, but I used to think that an Exeggcute was some kind of naked sumo wrestler with eyes all over its body and not just a group of eggs, that is, until I saw it on the show.  I was relieved to learn this because every time I would battle one I used to get scared that my parents would see it or something and then take my Game Boy away!  Ha ha!  I somehow kind of wish I had one now though, now that I know the difference.

I made this one by using my other images
as my only two references. It might be a bit miss-
proportionate, but I loved working with the base
'skeleton' of this character in producing my own
unique stance from a different level of perspective.

Now that its been made obvious to you why I did not choose Exeggcute as my favourite pokémon, you are probably wondering, why Lombre?  Lombre statistically is not chose by many Pokémon fans as being their favourite.  It is just not the lovable type; not one that most people would tend to gravitate towards, but I love him just the same.  To me, Lombre's rad!  Its colour scheme is great, and its just the right height of a Pokémon for me (3' 11'').  I know I have strange tastes, but come on!  Who wouldn't love a pokémon like that?  (It kind of reminds me of a DJing monkey-kappa with a sombrero hat on...) Okay, wait.  Never mind.  Only a face a mother would love. (sobs)  


Meowth is one we can all agree on though, am I right?  He may not be my absolute favourite, but he is my choice from the 151 pokémon of the first generation of games.  My love affair with Meowth goes beyond its prominent appearance in the anime, too.  (Truthfully, I feel he has more brains and soul than his two accompaniments put together.)  I loved to capture and raise a Meowth or two when playing Pokémon Blue, and I still wouldn't mind getting one on my team today.

Pictures of Meowth were based off the 3D models of the pokémon as it appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
for the Nintendo Wii gaming console. Credit to its original creator, and to the genius behind
many of the Pokémon Franchise's character and art designs, Ken Sugimori. 

His, stats are good (swift and powerful) and his original in-game sprites were awesome (except from behind; his back was just a mess of pixels.)  I could not wait until I had him leveled up to Lv.17 so that he could learn Payday.  It was such a sweet move.  Extra cash, what's not to like?!  I would also give him a wide range of TMs that included Swift, Thunder or Thunderbolt, Water Gun or BubbleBeam, and Toxic, just to keep things interesting.  I found it strange that a normal type could be taught such a large number of moves.  He is, and forever will be, my favourite character from my first video game I ever owned.  
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Sorry if the links are kind of confusing.  I decided to try incorporate more sources for people who want to learn more about what it is I'm talking about in my blog, by providing them a general direction for them to start their search.  Click away!  Let me know what you think?

"Len-Komix is blasting off again~!!" 

My Themed Life

"Inked sketch of a Pikachu" made using a set of
STAEDTLER: pigment liners & a SAKURA: pigma brush,
created by me back in grade 9. Early (2010)

Last weekend, I had the most brilliant idea ever!  I'm not joking either.  I mean like, the most amazing, light-bulb-springing-up-above-my-head idea, had just showered down upon me like an epiphany of all-knowing knowledge and I was enlightened!

Do any of you people still remember that post I did back about a month and a half ago?  I really hope that you didn't because it was just one of those weird post that had no direction and was made just out of the spur of the moment, however, if you did (and you can click here if you missed it), this is the solution to my problem I was talking about.  I searched and searched for it, and now it's finally here!  I know how I'm going to expand out the usage of my blog while keeping it simple and still end up drawing in a bigger audience in the process.  

I am going to live a themed life.  

And I know that that means nothing to you now, but it will in just a minute when I explain things to you.

You see, I have many interests... and when I say many interests, I mean many interests.  I like everything from skiing to quantum mechanics to learning Japanese (and that's just the start!)  So, I decided, "hey, why not spice up my life a little by going pro-interest every week with my blog?"  And so, at that moment, I made a pact with myself to devote each week of my high school life to one specific interest, paralleling it with my blog and its posts.  Sounds great, huh?  Well, I can tell you from experimenting with it this week, it's not so easy to stick with the schedule I put in place, but it is challenging, and a lot of fun.

Here's the concept:

• "Every week must have a theme." One that is both challenging and skill developing; it must equate to some growth for me by the week's end.  
• The theme must be purpose driven: for example... "This week I want to study the composition of a Zelda game, so that I can learn how to build a solid, fictional world for my comic." {I want to verb noun, so that I can verb noun.} Simple.
• Lastly, it must fit, realistically, into the format of my week.  (I've been meaning to show you guys my latest, full-proof, weekly, schedule-planning template... ugh thing, but I haven't gotten around to it yet, and I suppose that now's just as good of a time as ever.):  

Me and my messy writing... It can be worse, though.  I swear!  (This isn't as neat as it gets.)

When I have an interest in something, I really like to envelope myself in it.  By surrounding myself with something, I feel that I get more out of it somehow.  Like a heightened experience of sorts.  I think that's how the concept of doing something like this came about.  Through this desire to learn and educate myself.
I'd encourage you to try it too, if you'd like?  
Just follow the outline given above, and you should notice a change in the amount of knowledge you have about the subject you are most interest in.  The important thing is to have a desire to learn and obtain something from your week's efforts.  If you do, you can go far!

*This week's theme was centered around the Pokémon franchise & it's series of games.  Expect content to begin appearing on my home page sometime next week!  (I'm revving off posts like the dickens!) 

Starting the year off RIGHT.

Wow... I have gotten just this massive explosion of views in the past couple of days.  I mean like... "Kaboom!"

    

  ~I wonder where they are all coming from?

Lately it seems that things have changed, perhaps for the better.  I know that Christmas has worn me down and all, but still... I feel like I'm on the verge of something amazing!

I decided that I would make this post a commemorative one; a post commemorating the passing of 2011 and the birth of 2012.  As the year begins its first stance by popping out of the soil in its stretching towards the sun, so am I.  My mood is a seedling now, small and unsure of itself, but as time passes I will find myself budding anew and flourishing as I grow.  For now, I just have to wait.  Nourish myself and my artistic creativity, but wait.

Some of you may be wondering, as many of you in person do ask, do I have a favourite piece of artwork?  This type of question for an artist of any kind is mostly interpreted in the same way.  It is like asking a parent "Who of yours is your favourite child?" and in order to answer the question justly, the response usually tends to be something along the lines of "I love them all equally; each individual I love the same."  But I'm going to go a little on the contrary here and lie to you all saying that I do have a particular piece that stands out above the rest, and I am going to praise it by showing it to you all right now:

This is my absolute favourite piece of artwork I have done in the year 2011!  It embodies everything I have done, all the achievements I have made, my blog, the whole 'shabang' (as we say here in parts of the Maritime's) in one, single, condensed visual form. [And, above all that, I love it!]  ~This is my version of the favourite child. 
Okay, so... I'm not sure how long it took me to make this or when I made it for that matter, but I'm guessing that it was sometime during the spring of grade 10 (which is still within 2011.)  There were reference images that I used for both pictures featuring the lovely lady that you see here, but I lost them all somewhere on my computer between then and now, so, my bad! :(  However, I do want to give credit to whoever originally took the shot, so if any of you remember seeing the pictures I am talking about or perhaps know the photographer (which I know is an unlikely thing, really) either personally or on the net, then you can send me the links to any of the two pictures and I will edit them into here for you.

     All the information I know about the photos:

1. The second one was found on deviantART's homepage.
2. They were done by the same photographer & feature the same model.
3. Both pictures were in Sepia or Grayscale. 
4. The Titles were: The Violinist and Equilibrium. 
5. Some comments said the model was good looking, most tend to agree. :) 

The hunt is on!

On another note, I have surpassed some of my expectations for this year by getting 500+ views by December's end, and I am proud.  There are many things that I didn't get checked off my list this year that I would have liked to have done, but realistically I know that this is enough.  Any progress at all is good in my eyes and I certainly have progressed a lot this year, both on a personally level and a level that all of you can follow here on the net.  I won't go in too deep with all the achievements I have managed to cram into the year of 2011, but I will have you know that this year will be remembered by me as a year of Action and Change.

Aside from the resent changes in my life, there have also been noticeable adjustments that I have made to my blog:

• A 2011 arrow has appeared on my "Blog Archive" gadget (as all Blogger blogs do in the transition into the new year)
• New Tabs have now been placed along the top: 

         Weekly Posts: My homepage. Contains all my posts, two newest appear first. You can
                                  access older posts by going to the sidebar and selecting different moths.
         The Legend: A new feature I added to my blog. There is nothing much to see here yet,
                               but sooner or later I will provide an overview of the story in general and its
                               major conflict.
         Meet the Characters: New! Will be updated and filled with fresh content as characters
                               are developed. First installment to this Tab is coming after *two posts form
                               now.

• My website now has a Favicon! it's been there for a while but I haven't mentioned it in a post until now. You may have a hard time viewing this in 'Internet Explorer'; I suggest using Google chrome to view blogs in general. Created using this site, Following these instructions.  Image is an all original Origami design I made. [That's right, you won't find it anyplace else on the net!] If you plead on me long enough to do it, I may do a tutorial later. Its importance will become clearer in first chapter.  

Swapped images with this post.

• I now have a © Copyright statement at the bottom of all my blog's pages.  Beware!
• Lonely Totem Pole now has a new follower! Pleased welcome my first member, my cousin Maddie, to my growing group of Lenwatchers.  I haven't had a chance to thank her in person yet, so (thank you!) Please visit her blog for me to show her how much I care! <3

• And last, but not at all least... (can I get a drum roll, please)... I JOINED 'deviantART' !!!  Yeah, I know "WHAT?!"  I told my friends that I wouldn't join until after the prologue to my graphic novel was complete, but I just couldn't help myself.  I figured "now's as good as ever" and so, just like that, I joined!  I don't think it would be wise for me to give you my deviantART name just yet, for the reason that I don't have any content uploaded to the new site at all.  But just you wait! because in a moths time or so, after I've gotten the hang of using it and navigating its pages myself, I will open the doors to it for all my blog readers.  Its nothing really, I just don't want you all flooding into there with nothing to see.  So, rather than have you disappointed, I'd prefer that you get excited as you wait. (But don't worry! It won't be so long that you'll get board waiting!) That's just not my style... Haha! Bonus points to those who can find my deviantART name!  Hint: it's written somewhere on this site! :) 

How am I rate now? Good, I guess.  Although I was getting my days and nights a little mixed up for a while after New Years, I am starting to level out some now as the time for me to get back to school approaches.  I recently had a birthday, if that really matters to you at all, so I guess that makes me 17 now. (Yippy?)

Guessing I will post about that one next.

Story of my 3DS: (Part 3) A Trip to Town!

     It was Thanksgiving Sunday (October 9th) when we decided to make a special trip into town to buy the 3DS.  Of course that wasn't the only reason that we went to town on a usually quiet and respectful holiday, my mother had forgotten something very important that she had left at the grocery store and couldn't wait until Tuesday to make sure that it was safe.  It somehow didn't feel like a typical Thanksgiving to me this year, but it is probably because my sister wasn't home to have dinner at my grandmother's this time around.

     We spent a while searching around for the right place to but the thing, but in the end, we figured EB Games was our best bet.  I was a little worried that they might not of had the one in red because Staples didn't have any left when my mother checked, perhaps they just didn't have any in stock, but it turned out that EB Games did and I was very glad.
     I bought the system myself while my dad was out in the car.  I had told him that I was just going in to check to see if they had it in red, but where they had it rate there, I decided to buy it myself.  I personally think that it was better that way, for it is a great source of empowerment to know that you have gotten something so valuable to yourself on your own.  The only thing was, I was 25 cents short!  (Apparently I had miscalculated the cost before I left the house, but you have to admit, I was pretty close.)  I stood there half-embarrassed for a couple of moments while I witnessed the numbers ringing through.  "Umm... I don't quite have enough" were the only words I could manage to say.  Needless to say, I was a little nervous.  My next words were "My parents are just outside, do you mind?"
     I was lucky that the cashier was good humored and only grind at me when I said this.  "No, not at all!" was his response.  It only then occurred to me as I walk out the door, I have no idea where dad parked the car!  I managed to somehow spot our vehicle out and brisk-fully made my way toward it.  "You got a quarter?... Thanks!"  My father had the window rolled down, so the process went fairly smooth.  Only a couple of moments latter was I back in the car with my long awaited prize resting on my lap.  Inside, I was as glee as a hunter after getting their first catch of the season.  Success! 

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3DS: Progress? (Part 2)

I am a lot better today, and am feeling generous enough to give you Part 2 of my ongoing story about my quest in obtaining the 3DS.  Enjoy!
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And so, the inquiring of my parents began.  I say inquiring with a purpose, because, unlike most children, I do not interrogate my parents when there is something I am asking of them.  For me, that is far too bold and way out of my style.  I merely mention in to them, you know, as a simple passing thought, one that just crossed my mind.  I rarely ever want something so bad that I will ask for it, but I guess the 3DS was pretty high up there on my list.
When it gets to this point, I usually go out and get the thing myself, but I really wanted my parents to know what it was I was purchasing before I did.  And so, after a quick visit to the Nintendo's main website, and a couple of videos shown to them on YouTube, my parents were convinced that it would be a good buy and that it was indeed time to upgrade from my graying DS lite.

Over the past few months and after carefully thought sorting and planing, I have managed to accumulate a hefty stack of video games that I see little point in keeping and need to pass on.  I think I would feel much better if I knew they were in the hands of some little child who actually had the time to play them.  Most of them are DS games that I sorta' bought on impulse, the rest are for the Game Cube and two-three are for the Wii.
Also, being the frugal Canadian that I am, I collect Canadian Tire money form my parents every time they buy something from the hardware store.  (If you are American and don't know what Tire money money is, you should! Because it's Canada's official currency, don't you know?... eh, I can't even attempt to be funny tonight for some odd reason.)  Over time, the wad of CT money I possessed had grown to the point where it almost reached the full size and circumference of the cylindrical case I had stored it in.  My father, remembering this, decided to strike up a deal with me, a trade; 'all the money in that jar, for its actual worth in cash' my father said.  He was planning on buying a small saw from Canadian Tire some time soon, and he really wanted to see me get that game system.  Sadly though, CT money is hard to judge.  It comes in frequency ranging from 5cents to 2dollars, and all of them in bills!  It makes you think that you have more money than you actually do, and that seemed to be the case with dad.  I counted:

     ($3.50 worth in 50cents, $1 in 1dollars, $3.00 in 25cents, $5.60 in 10cents and $1.35 in 5cents.)

I was totaling all of this up while sitting on my stair steps, and by the time I was finished, a good three rows were covered in various sheets of coloured paper, all arranged in their individual piles based on value alone.
All of this, and only $14.45 ?
My father, being very generous as he is, still gave me twenty dollars for the little amount that I gave him.  I protested, saying that he should not have to give me more than I gave him, but there was just no chance in me ever swaying him any other way.

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Part 3- Coming your way this weekend!


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3DS: Now that's Progress?

Last week had really been a rocky week.  I had kept coming down hard on myself for being so hesitant with getting work done and I almost felt as though I wasn't the one in control.
"Control" had been the central thing I was trying to achieve this past summer.  Control of myself and my life.
 Telling myself "no more taking the back seat", that kind of thing, you know? And I had actually managed to reach my goal of self control by the end of the summer, but this week, it had somehow started to creep back up on me.  (Although not to the full extent that it had been before.)

I guess that the whole thing started on Thanksgiving weekend, when the final plans for one of my projects came into play.  I'm not talking about my comic project here, this is more of an example of a life project,and something that I had been readying myself for since the summer.  I had decide that I wanted to purchase a 3DS, and not just any kind of a 3DS, I had my eyes set on the sleek, new flame red 3DS, and in my opinion, the good kind; and so, I did.
My first interest in Nintendo's latest hardware peeked the moment it was announced.  Being the HUGE Nintendo fan I am (and a bit of a nerd), I was watching the live-streamed video of that years E3 conference via the internet when Nintendo made its first announced step into the world of 3D gaming, and I have to say, my jaw dropped when I heard the big news.  The first thought that ran through my head after that started me laughing inside.  Seeing the 3DS brought me back only but a couple of months earlier to when I was having a conversation with my friends about the controversy that had begun to spread about the existence of a new portable gaming console, shortly after the release of the Nintendo DSi.  I could remember bits of the conversation where I said "How could Nintendo possibly go any higher? What more can they add to gaming than cameras?" and we all agreed that Nintendo was stalling time by just releasing a bigger version of the DSi in order to satisfy their consumers with a new product.
One of my friends, who is a big PlayStation fan by the way, and is by no-means caught up in the whole Nintendo fandom realm of gaming, had jokingly said "What next, gaming in the 3rd dimension?" and we all laughed at such a ludicrous idea.  "What would that even be called? the 3DS?" "No way, man! How would that even be possible?" ...It was as though we thought the whole thing up ourselves, and the first words from my lips as I sat at my computer watching Mr. Iwata speak, was "How is this even possible...?" the same words spoken by my friends a few months back.  Crazy, right?
(Did I just get goosebumps?  I think I just got goosebumps?)
...
Sorry guys for not posting anything in a while.  I know that technically they say that it isn't very professional to inform everyone that you are sorry for not posting anything because it only annoys your viewers, but I got to say, I really am sorry.  If not to you, than at least to myself.

As I watch this blog post grow and morph, I see it becoming a longer story than what I had anticipated.  So, seeing how it is as lengthy as it is, I have made the decision to break it up into a couple of posts that will appear on my blog spanning the period of the next 7-8days.
This has really been a rotten couple week for me, my apologies for not being so active and cheerful as I usually am.

Part 2 coming soon!~

Next

Harvest Moon Boosts Production! -100%!!!! (not really)

  As I sat working at my desk the other night, I couldn't help but feel inspired.  My bedroom (which has now been converted into my own personal office and work-space) is situated at the back side of my house, and its window faces the Eastern portion of the sky.  On a normal night, the view from my second story window provides an excellent view of the celestial bodies (a perfect atmosphere for inventive and creative thinking), but this night was an extra special night, and I couldn't miss a chance like that to get my creative juices flowing.

  For those of you that don't know very much about the moon or it's fazes, us space-savvy people could tell you that the moon of two nights ago was more than just the full moon, it was also a very special kind of moon, the harvest moon, and a beautiful one at that! 

  As a self-taught, young, aspiring artists, I tend to seek inspiration in the simplest of things.  From the way that a leaf floats across a gentle moving stream, to the shadow that is created by a tree in a park; true artists must come to identify the simple mechanics and principles that make our world tick, and one of the biggest of those inspirations for me is the night sky! 

  As you tour around my site, I am sure you will find that my love of space sometimes shines through in my artwork, and I am positive that this won't be the last time I mention of this.  Anyway, the whole purpose of me telling you this is so that I could convey to you just how inspired I am, and to tell you that future work to my comic is underway!  My second page is looking considerably better than my first and I would like to have it posted somewhere towards the end of this weekend.  On average, I want to rev-up my production to one page-per-week, but still no promises on that.  I am beginning to gauge my own production speed for the time being, so that I can learn how to increase it as I move along.  You can also expect to see my blog get a well-deserved face lift in the next couple of days, probably after my second page is posted, so there are lots of stuff going-on here indeed!  I'm sorry that I couldn't post my 2nd page sooner than what you would be hoping for, but for now you are just going to have to deal with my lengthy and long-winded pages of text.  

  But,Cheer Up! (there's more to come.)

(Yes, I am well aware that the image I used in this post comes from Akira Himekawa's manga adaptation of 'The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask', but it is my own version of her drawing and it was the only image that I found on my computer that best fits the content of this page.  PLEASE FORGIVE ME NINTENDO! I mean you no harm...-.-")