Heath Ledger Died At 28

I received a text message from Pao and she informed me that Heath Ledger (who played the role of Joker in the upcoming movie "The Dark Knight") is dead. To know more about his death click on these link: OMG and Yahoo

News from OMG wrote:

NEW YORK - Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan apartment, naked in bed with sleeping pills nearby, police said. The Australian-born actor was 28. It wasn't immediately clear if Ledger had committed suicide.

He had an appointment for a massage at a residence in the tony neighborhood of SoHo, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. A housekeeper who went to let him know the massage therapist had arrived found him dead at 3:26 p.m. more...

News from Yahoo wrote:

Police sources said they believed Heath Ledger's death was an 'accidental' overdose.

A team of forensic officers were seen entering his apartment - one mysteriously carrying a large ladder.

Ledger spent most of his time in New York City, where he was often seen pushing Matilda around in her buggy.

In the last interview before his death, he said: "I kind of save the living for the time between action and cut. I'm pretty good at dropping a character once it's over for the day. Certainly once the film is over, I throw it all away. Your life is what matters." more...

Yahoo! Gerry? Is that you? Yohoo?

I am about to check my e-mail on Yahoo! when I noticed on the Video portion of the page is a photo of my friend and fellow Komikero Gerry. What?! What is he doing there? Hahaha. Sikat na talaga kaibigan ko. Pati sa Yahoo! nakapaskil na photo niya. Congrats!? Oo naman, sikat ka na kaya pwede na kita batiin ng: Congratulations!

Light My World

Aside from being an engineer, a programmer and an indie comic artist, I also work in 2D animation and some of the projects that I am part of are “I Got A Rocket,” “Land Before Time,” and “Fantastic Four.” One thing that is most important for us artists is light. Yes, the light. Without it, it would be hard, if not impossible, for us to draw. There are two basic lights that we use that without it we’re in big trouble. The first is the light under the table or the table lamp or what is commonly known is the light box. The second is the overhead lamp, the kid of lamps that you use when you are studying or lamps that you use on your bed side table or much commonly known as desk lamps. These two types or lighting or lamps are very important to us artists.

There are times that you have a lot of pages of drawings to create and you must go home to bath or eat, or whatever important reason why you must go home, you bring your drawings at home. Below this paragraph is a photo of mine, showing how I draw at home. Yes, I am having a very difficult time finishing all the drawings and not to mention that I must produced the best quality of drawing or else my drawing will all be rejected. Consequently, all my effort will end just for naught. The area where I draw is a big issue, though it would be great if I can have a drawing table of my own. But my problem is with the lighting. You see I am using two colors of light - the orange and the white colored lights. It sores my eyes and stressed my eyes so much that I am usually having migraines in between and after work. The result is that I won’t be able to work the next day.

There are actually a lot of lamps or lighting available on the store but it’s hard for me to look for the best quality at an affordable price that fits a small time artist like me. So I log online and search the web for advice on what light works best for me. I came across Farreys.com page on the net offers a wide range of type of lamps and lightings of almost all brands at a very affordable prices. You could simply pick and choose what you want. If that’s not enough there was a search bar there where you could type what kind of lamps you are looking for. Yes, very convenient indeed. It helps me a lot in finding the suitable lighting for me. The next time I might need a lamp or lighting like lamp shades perhaps, I will just visit Farreys.com for advice and inspiration on what to choose.

Part Two (The 2nd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards)

It's time once again for the The 2nd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards by Fully Booked and Neil Gaiman. The categories with its prizes accordingly are as follows:

Comic Book Writing Contest

1st Prize – Php 100,000.00

2nd Prize – Php 30,000.00

3rd Prize – Php 15,000.00

Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Writing Contest

1st Prize – Php 100,000.00

2nd Prize – Php 30,000.00

3rd Prize – Php 15,000.00

The contest starts on September 1, 2007 and deadline of submission of entries is on October 31, 2007. We only have less than a month to go before the deadline so for those who are interrested better turn on your light bulbs to spark ideas into your brains now.

You can download your application forms here and the contest guidelines here.

Goodluck!

My... How Big We've Grown

Got this photo from Ruel's (right-most in the picture) account on deviantart. This photo was taken last Toy-Con 2007 at the MegaMall. We all got fat. That's Elmer (left-most), Mylene, Me, and Ruel. Maybe it's because of the changes of our lifestyle and work. We seldom do physical activities like what we used to do in college. We all got too busy and preoccupied with work that we forgot to play. Well, we need to do something about it. What can you suggest?

How I draw at Home

I am renting a small space and all my tables are filled with so many things. When I draw, I usually sat down the floor and flex my knees so I could use my legs as a support for my drawing board. However, there was so much work at the office right now because we are targeting a timeframe to finish the animated series Fantastic Four ( for us to start with Spider-Man feature animation by mid June this year) so I have to bring a lot of drawings at home. Below is the innovative way on how I address my problem of not having a drawing table/light box.

I use my Harry Potter Book 5, the Witching Hour novel, M&M's bucket, P910i box and Laptop box as my stand. Then, I bought a glass to be my table top and use two lamps for the lights.

When the lights are turned on, an instant light box and a drawing table in one. It's hard to draw this way though but I get use to it after a while.

I am still drawing this way and I kind of liking it. But when I will be able to raise money, I would be able to have my drawing table with light box design created.

Sketch

Below are the sketches I got from:

Gerry

Carlo

I wasn't able to scan the sketches from Leinil and Wilson because they were borrowed by my officemate. I'll post them later.

Inspiring story from Sean Galloway

Click on this link: Sean Galloway


I find Sean's entry on DA very inspiring. Hope you do too.

Batman by Whilce

WOW!

7 Pencillers That I'm Currently Watching

1) Definetely Joshua Middleton... I like his linework... so clean, especially in his work on "Sky Between Branches" and "NYX." The emotions on each character and yeah perspective, he's good at it...

2) Olivier Coipel... His work on Avengers and House of M blows me away... He's a former animator so maybe that explains his consistency in every character he draws...

3) Jim Cheung of Scion and Young Avengers... I saw his work first on Scion... I was passing by Booksale and saw loads of comic books published by Crossgen and when I browse through Scion, I like his style instantly... The Scion books ranges from Php 5.00 to Php 15.00 so I bought loads of it... His linework is also clean... I like the details he put on the characters, especially on metals and clothes.. His work on Young Avengers #1 really inspires me... He's good also in creating loads of character in a page like Olivier Coipel...

4) Tony Harris of Ex-Machina... Wow!!! I love every panels... He's like Alex Ross who draws from picture... I just like how he interpret the script into art...

5) David Finch of Moon Knight... I've been checking his work since Ultimate X-Men but I was impressed on him in Moon Knight... Well, he's from Image so that's explains all the lines and hatches...

6) Steve Mcniven of Civil War... I don't really like his work on Meridian from Crossgen but when he draws the Fantastic Four, he just became a star

7) Carlo Pagulayan of Planet Hulk... Ever since Emma Frost, I've been collecting his art but Planet Hult blows me away... Especially the scene wherein Hulk fights with Silver Surfer...

So that comprises my list for now....