dude form candy man

Dude-form Candy-man. I think this happened after a friend mentioned something about Candy’s “dude form” or “guy form” being attractive. If you’re not familiar with Pandora, then you should know he generally dresses in drag. He’s also in a fake marriage in order to become a citizen, but the only person he could convince (blackmail) to marry him was also a guy, so he is in the guise of a woman. This sounds complicated but really it’s just stupid. Pandora does NOT take itself too seriously; it’s comedy. I don’t think what’s he’s done would ever truly work!

So anyway I had this insane desire to draw Candy some more in his dude form. You can see it’s from October. I don’t believe I ever posted it here.

Pandora is rough right now and I’ll admit I don’t know what to do with it. I want to continue it, but the the recurring webcomic has no homebase and it’s hard for people to find it. On the other hand, the redone format is not doing that well on its new host site, so I feel unmotivated. I am still uploading, but it can be discouraging. Furthermore, I am working on a new comic. I hope they can somehow support each other.

Enjoy the day!

love lyrics

My friend and I were having art day. We listened to cheesy love songs. I realized I had to draw this. You can insert your favorite lyric and it’s still funny no matter what!

Anyway, I have been uploading Pandora! on smackjeeves.com, but it’s not doing so hot in terms of fans. I even lost one today. I was a bit sad to see that! But I know people still read it, and I am so thankful for everyone who still reads and loves Pandora. Really. It means everything.

I hope you will enjoy je m’appelle, my new comic, as much.

Another start

Pandora’s back on a host site. Though if you already follow Pandora elsewhere, you’ll know this! When Pandora was on comicgenesis.com (at first keenspace.com), a lot of traffic came through the site. I knew Pandora would struggle without a host site, especially after all the problems with low amounts of updating while the site went down for a year, but I didn’t know where else to put it and had a go at a new homepage.

But…. I can’t judge how successful this is.

A webhost helps me track traffic, and people are here for comics so they are likely to look for them – I have already found many wonderful comics here, so I know the system works! I also want Pandora back out there and maybe it will get some new fans. I love that you still love Pandora, and I appreciate it! Newer webcomic updates appear on the old site and on deviantart. Hopefully new work will appear on the new Pandora – located at pandoracomic.smackjeeves.com – within 6 months.

 

Release the old site!

All right, I hate it, but if you have only read the graphic novel version and have desperately wondered what happens AFTER volume 1, then please go to my old site: pandoranohako.comicgenesis.com

It is kind of odd and hard to navigate. At some point a bunch of comics will simply not happen – when you feel like there was an awkward time flux, go to deviantart. pirate-king-syr.deviantart.com. That’s my old account. You can find any remaining comics there. Any updates will be posted in both locations, but the homepage is difficult to navigate.

Enjoy! And please be nice. Some of this is really old drawing, and a lot of times it was done just to be done to advance the story. I now give you the times when I did not use rulers and when the guys looked even more girly than they rightly should. Oh, the shame!

 

Self-possessed

Alice and Mandel image for Jenn of Kuocomics. (kuocomics.com)

Mandel is supposed to be very thin, and I think this is the first time I was able to get him this thin! It looks odd. I love drawing Alice and Mandel because I never have to bother really dressing them up – this is how they look. But dressing them up is fun, too. On the other hand, drawing Marquis or Madison in fancies usually looks odd.

Alice and Mandel are two of my first characters. You probably already know all there is to know about them.

pandoracomic.com

*PS* Still thinking about moving the old Pandora archives…. The webcomic is still getting updated. The graphic novel is simply a remake.

ice breaking

The ice-breaker exercises my university were … painful. I figured a similarly shy person, like Hiroshi, would have gone through the same  awkwardness. I also figured this was as good a time as any for him to meet Masa. I feel like the ice-breakers were always so shallow. I barely remember anyone in any of my intro classes. They weren’t in my department. They only talk to you for that one second to tick off the “meet someone who has played more than 500 hours of playstation games.” Yeah, that was me. I never considered myself much of a gamer; I love games, but I’m picky.

At any rate, even people I’d known previously some way or another weren’t very friendly. Either this is because they didn’t want to be ostracized – who’d want to be seen talking to the freak wearing ribbons in her hair? Or maybe I was giving off a strong “don’t talk to me” vibe for whatever reason. The fault is no one’s, but at that time, it was painful. I made friends slowly. And even though it sucked, Hiroshi has this experience with school. I will say that the teacher was great and the student aids (older students) were also great – it made me want to have their job in the future, in my later years at school, so that I could help the shy, awkward person sitting in the corner.

Anyway, I posted for a reason. Please watch my new comic in the making, je m’appelle. You can find the blog here: http://jemappellecomic.wordpress.com/

Pandora won’t stop. The graphic novel is in process, but I’m in Japan right now. I’m living in Japan for one year. Maybe when I return I’ll put the storyboard into action. It’s difficult to say. Pandora is my baby. It was created on my birthday and it took me nine months to get up the courage to put it online and present it to the world. I won’t just stop it. But I don’t know what is happening with it at the moment. So please take the time to aquaint yourself with je m’appelle.

take me there

Chevy x Cameron, Pandora! June 2011

An image I finished up somewhat recently; the penwork has been done for a long time, but I scanned it into the computer for further work. It was at first in color but it looked wretched. I think my best talent is at monochrome. It is wonderful therapy to draw such detailed images, and I want to do more. This particular image was a bit of play – I added filters and whatnot for fun. You can expect more work like this in the future … in fact, I might go and draw one now. But without filters.

*edit* I have inadvertently collected opinions on this piece. Most people agreed it was difficult to see, and half thought this was excellent while the other half thought that this quality made it a failure of sorts. I looked at this as an experiment, as play. The interesting part is that the people who liked this hold art degrees or are close to it; the ones who did not do not hold degrees or are early in their program – that means they haven’t been drilled in critiquing 2,000 years of art. It makes me wonder if art school changed how I look at art. Most definitely, for better or for worse.

I think art should draw you in, want to make you want to look closer.

You know it. pandoracomic.com

Old Archives

I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I have decided (maybe) to post the old Pandora! archives elsewhere so that you can access them through the new site, pandoracomic.com. I’ll organize them so that familiar readers can get to the comics they want to see again, and so that new readers won’t be totally baffled.

Like any net artist, I’ve reached that maturity where I am no longer embarrassed by my old work. No, I didn’t use rulers. Yes, the guys often looked like girls. Yes, sometimes Mandel walked like a zombie. But No, I’m not embarrassed to show you this shoddy work. Afterall, the webcomic version that corresponds to Volume 1 was written and drawn nearly eight years ago.

When I go back and look at my old comics I laugh and cry. Sometimes because it’s really that funny. Sometimes because it’s just that awful-looking.

Here’s one of the newer webcomic versions

If you’re not confused right now, I’d have to give you an award.

Pandoracomic.com features the GRAPHIC NOVEL. It is the redone version of the webcomic. It utilizes the technique and style I’ve been honing for years and years writing the webcomic. The original story is preserved, and bonus content is added in order to flesh out the world and characters. This didn’t happen so much in the first book since the doll saga, as it has become known, is fairly solid.

I am still going along with the WEB COMIC version, which I used to update on the old host site (until it went down and stayed down for a year…. and now it’s decided to be faulty again…). If you’re current with the webcomic version, it’s best to keep reading it through my first deviantart account. If you’re not current, and are curious, you can check it out when I get the archives to pandoracomic.com. I update the current (webcomic version) every other month or so – I’m serious! – but I look at it as a fun respite. I get to use traditional media, work with more characters, and get a single idea down per page. It’s really nice. I do want to update more of them.

kiitos!*

*guess who’s learning Finnish again?

Marion Hwang

Marion is one of those characters I created with what I felt were positive traits. Many characters share a bit of my personality, but many have traits I admired or even hated – you have got to have comic gold and conflict! One of Marion’s least desirable traits, I think, is that he is quite forward and pushy – but it fits in with his approach to life. And it certainly can be funny.

Here is why I heart Marion.

Marion is merciless: He loves and hates passionately without excuse. He’s 100% in the game. He’s expressive and emotional. He is capable of feeling guilt or remorse, but tends to not wallow in self-pity or hatred. However, he is so honest to who he is that it can cloud him to noticing that he needs to tone it down in the interest of compromise (ie in relationships). He takes little offense. He’s usually smiling. He is nice – to a point – even to jerks like Masa. Overall he is a positive person so when life is not agreeable for too long he starts slowing down and it can be difficult for him to crawl forward. Unusual people often come to his rescue when he’s too mopey, but more likely, one of his best friends sees him through it.

Even when sad, he remembers to smile now and again. I’ve been through tragedy and trauma and I can’t imagine for a second how I would’ve gotten through it had I not remembered to look up once and awhile. Writing a character like Marion probably helped. I suspect I would’ve gotten through it by virtue of time and time alone – but that’s another story. And perhaps another character.

pandoracomic.com

Publishing?

Short story – I am going to be approaching a few publishing houses with Pandora!

To that end, I am collecting a very specific sort of data – how many people read Pandora? And what also could be helpful is how long those readers have been reading. Whether or not you have been reading Pandora for seven years or one month does not matter to me; I appreciate all of my fans! I draw Pandora! as entertainment, both for myself and for the readers I know I have.

So now’s your chance to help me – yeah, even you quiet ones who never posted on the tagboard!

Go to my website, pandoracomic.com. Right on the front page there is a link that will direct you to an information page about publishing Pandora. Or click here.

Alternatively, you could email me: clockwork_fairy@hotmail.com

Or you can comment me here.

What I need: A confirmation that you read and like Pandora, whether casually or obsessively, and that you’d be interested in seeing it published. If you like, include how long you have been following it.

I’ll be collecting this data for one month. By then I will have my dummy book back and corrected, ready for serious submission. If that does not work, I will self-publish and it will be available through the site I use to make my dummy books. More information on that, later. However, getting it published officially would be wonderful. Below is the first dummy copy; the second one is forthcoming. I’ll be editing it one last time.