A Ninja Riding a T-Rex

Yesterday I was hanging out with a good friend of mine who is a very talented artist. We were both sketching as we chatted, and this is one of the things I came up with. It was a lot of fun as I haven't really drawn anything in a while.

I actually surprised myself with the linework - I'm pretty pleased with it. I'll probably end up inking and at least trying to color it. Well, a copy anyway. Working on the original is not the best idea for me. I usually mess up somewhere along the line with more permanent media.

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Now playing: Aqua - Cartoon Heroes
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Photo 7-9-08

Every once in a while, I'll come across a cloud formation or sunset that is really awesome, and I'll want to take a picture, but I won't have a camera with me. That's probably the main reason I've started the habit of carrying one with me whenever possible. This picture is from one of the few times I happened to have a camera with me, though it's taken with a disposable through the window of a moving vehicle. Even so, I still really like it.

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Now playing: Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - Misirlou
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Fourth of July

I hope everyone had a safe Fourth of July!


I spent the day at my parents' house, and we shot off some fireworks after it got dark. I brought my camera, which actually has a "fireworks" setting, so I took a bunch of pictures. The setting has a long exposure time though, and I didn't bring my tripod, so some of them look a little shaky. I'll have to remember that for next time.

I think the fountains look really cool as photographs since it shows them over time.

We had a total of four sets of artillery shells that we screwed down to a board. We were able to light all four at once, which was really neat. The photo at the top shows three of them exploding at the same time.

This last picture was kind of cool; my mom, dad, brother, and I all lit a roman candle at the same time and stood next to each other. I took a picture with my free hand (you can see my other hand holding the roman candle on the left side).

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Now playing: ai otsuka - Smily
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Photo 7-3-08

A few years ago, we had a huge snowstorm (this was before we upgraded to ice only). I took my trusty disposable camera and went for a walk through the woods behind my house. What I considered to be the best photo was given to a friend of mine as a birthday present (only had one set of prints developed), but this one came in at a close second.

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Now playing: Bedlam Bards - Sail the Sky
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Minus Comic Ending

One of my favorite webcomics ever ended today. "Minus" was a magnificent tale about a magical little girl, written and illustrated beautifully by Ryan Armand. Here's the description from the site:

Each minus strip is painted on a 15x20" piece of Illustration board. With this comic I am pretending I am making a comic strip for a newspaper in the early 20th century. A special newspaper that lets me use as much color as I want. I'm not much for comic strips so I don't know how long I'll be doing this one, so enjoy it while it lasts, I guess? It'll be updating every thursday until I suddenly stop! Making comics on giant paper is pretty neat though.

I strongly encourage you to read it from the beginning. Stick through until the end; you'll be glad you did.

Wow... This really makes me sad. I ordered a print of my favorite strip, #37. I really hope he turns it into a book, but until then, it was the least I could do for all the joy and entertainment this comic has given me. Thank you, Mr. Armand.

Minus will be missed, but never forgotten.

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Now playing: Bedlam Bards - Leaf On the Wind
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Photo 7-2-08

This is a photo from my trip to France. Sadly, I can't remember the name of this particular chateau. It was really neat and connected to a small island in the middle of the river. We were able to go through it and walk around freely, so I wandered off a bit and took this picture. I love the storybook feel it's got going on.

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Now playing: The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 2
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Photo 7-1-08

This is the Colosseum in Rome from my trip to Europe a couple years ago. It was truly a magnificent thing to behold, and was probably the highlight of my trip. I've always been fascinated by ancient Rome, and to actually go inside some of the places I had only dreamed of visiting was an awesome experience.

I love the angle I was able to capture for this photo. We were taking a guided tour, so most of my pictures were either rushed, or had scores of people in them. This one is mostly empty, except for the tops of two peoples' heads off to the right and an arm jutting out toward the bottom. Still, I can't complain; this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

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Now playing: Beirut - Scenic world (Version)
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