deviantART: by:witching-hour

Devious Journal Entry

~witching-hour — Wed, 23 May 2007 19:52:15 PDT

As some of you may have noticed, I haven't updated in quite a while!! *cough*a year*cough*

Life and work got in the way and I just haven't been tending to my poor neglected DA page. ^_^;; Well, for everyone who left me comments and notes while I've been absent -- thank you soo much! I truly appreciate it and I've tried to respond to everyone who contacted me. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to respond, but I really do love hearing from you guys!! ^_^

So, since it's been a while here's a little on what's been going on, project-wise:

MANGAKA AMERICA

Mangaka America, the book I edited, came out last November and it's doing well! You can find it in your local bookstore, or buy it online at places like Amazon, ISBN: 0061137693

It features some great art and tutorials from some of North America's hottest emerging manga artists including some fellow DAers:

There is also a great forward by Adam Warren , American manga pioneer!

So check it out! It's a great book for anyone who loves manga-style art, and for all you aspiring artists out there!

SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH

I'm still writing and drawing Sabrina the Teenage Witch for Archie comics. It's out every month on your newsstand or comic store! I've been doing it for over 3 years now -- and it's NOT related to the TV show or any past incarnations. It's a NEW and exciting take on the classic character!

For those of you who haven't had a chance to pick it up, here's the story so far:

Sabrina thought her life was hard enough juggling between her mortal high school and her magical charm school. But when she starts discovering that she has unique powers, and that the Magic Council isn't too happy about the ways she's been using these new skills, things really start getting tough!

To add to the mix, there's two guys in her life who are as different as night and day: shy, serious mortal Harvey, and daring, bishonen wizard Shinji. Sabrina is currently with Harvey but can't help but feel jealous when Shinji shows up with a mysterious new girlfriend named Hemlock.

Meanwhile, Harvey has no idea Sabrina is a witch, while Shinji is currently planning a rebellion against the Queen of the magic realm to avenge his dead parents.

And even though she initially tries to stay out of it, Sabrina gets sucked into the political intrigue and realizes the Magic Realm Queen is hiding a terrible secret that will surely lead to the downfall of the entire Magic Realm.

But will helping Shinji with his cause betray Sabrina's own aunt who is a member of the Magic Council? And will Harvey ever realize Sabrina is a witch?

The answers may surprise you...

I really hope you guys will give it a chance - this is the story I've always wanted to tell and I'm now building the storyline up to a dramatic issue 100!!

And now it's easier than ever to see where it all began as the first four issues of the manga look have been released as a trade that you can buy online at Archie Comics or Amazon, ISBN: 1879794195

MY POORLY DRAWN LIFE

For those of you who don't know, I have a webcomic at:

My Poorly Drawn Life

Check it out! It's been going for over a year now, and there are plenty...

Mangaka America..getting closer!

~witching-hour — Fri, 19 May 2006 11:50:51 PDT

"Mangaka America" is almost done! For those who don't know, "Mangaka America" is a book I'm compiling and publishing through HarperCollins that features art and tutorials from these artists who represent a new wave of North American manga talent:

Ms,Shatia Hamilton
Christy Lijewski
M.Alice LeGrow
Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges
Svetlana Chmakova
Rivkah
Felipe Smith
Amy Kim Ganter
Corey Lewis
Jesse Philips
And yours truly!

There is also a great forward by Adam Warren, American manga pioneer!

It's been a loooong road since I started working on it and, finally, all the files and images from the participating artists are in. Now we're just tweaking the design and layout of the book. Everything looks sooo good. I'm really excited to see the final product.

Putting a book together like this has been quite a bit of stress, but it's also been an incredible learning experience. HarperCollins is already talking about doing #2, and at this point I'm not sure I have it in me (at least not yet). I'd rather just focus on the promotion for THIS one first and help it to succeed as much as possible. I'm hoping we'll have some preview copies available in time for San Diego Comic Con, but that's still up in the air.

I'm also hoping we'll be able to get the "official official" press release out there in the next couple weeks. I've been talking a lot about this on my various blogs, but I want it to be "official" dangit!!

In other art news, I'm sorta-kinda working on a mini comic that I may or may not print and sell at various cons. I don't have a lot of free time to work on it, but it makes me happy, so I guess that's all that matters. I'll be posting some images from it here on DA once I get further along with it. ^_^

Also, next month I'm teaching a week-long manga workshop at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design with Jeremy Ross, editorial director of TOKYOPOP. It should be fun! So if you're in the area, you should look into it! Here's the LINK!

June 12-16: MCAD Summer Manga Workshop in Minneapolis, MN

July 7-9: Connecticon, CT

July 21-23: San Diego Comic Con, CA

My blog, The Witching Hour
My webcomic My Poorly Drawn Life
My monthly manga column Read This Way

I'm new around here...

~witching-hour — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 12:48:12 PDT

So I've finally gotten around to putting some things on my Deviant Art site! There isn't much there at the moment, but I will adding more things before too long.

I actually don't do as much stand-alone/pin-up art as I would like, so that's something I'm commited to doing more of in the future. It's a nice change from all the sequential stuff I usually do.

Also, I appreciate all comments, but I'm sorry I don't have time to reply to them all! The internet is evil when you have work that needs to be done!!

May 13: Hawthorne High Con in Hawthorne, NJ

July 21-23: San Diego Comic Con, CA

My blog, The Witching Hour
My webcomic My Poorly Drawn Life
My monthly manga column Read This Way