Thanks to Ed for the guest strip. He put it together so that Pie2k would have an update even though I hadn't touched it for a month. He got it done just after I put up my update. D'oh! And I again have to appologize for the immense download size. I've reduced the quality a lot to get it to fit, but it probably won't hurt much since it's at such a high resolution.
     Not much to report on... it's only been a few days since last post. I know I bitched about the state of games journalism (especially for people who placate publishers under threat of never receiving an "exclusive"), I figure I should hit the other side of the issue. This article over at Ludonauts made it up onto Slashdot today, and it's about what industry insiders consider the best game-oriented writing of 2004. And, before you think I'm a racist for linking to an article which in turn links to an article titled "Bow, Nigger," please understand that the name of the article comes from a slur targeted at the author of the article. It's actually a good read, though I really don't have the Jedi Knight II frame of reference for it.
     We've totally shelved Halo 2 for now. Other than it being an overall unenjoyable game, we have so many other games to play that we don't feel like setting aside time to play something we don't really enjoy. Commie has moved on (or rather regressed) to Aerobiz Supersonic for the SNES. He was playing it on the living room computer in ZSNES so that he could hold "~" and speed it up. It takes him about 20 minutes to complete a game and gain total control of the global airways. Granted, he mumbles to himself the entire time he's playing it, but that's ignorable after a while. I myself will probably get back into Gran Turismo 3 with some help from GameFAQs. There are some things I simply haven't figured out yet (like, when there are 4 cars I can win from completing a series, why do I get the same car every time I beat it?), and I'd like to get some practice in before GT4 "drops" (as the homies say).
     Today was mine and Beth's 2nd anniversary. We celebrated over the weekend, but went back out again tonight since it's the official day. These last 2 years have been incredible, and I hope we have many more to come. :)
     Those of you keeping track will remember that I posted this image last time. As much as I like the image overall, I realized while drawing it that I've gotten too much into the groove of drawing in anime/manga shorthand. Simplified cartooning is one thing, but I was finding it difficult to draw even a semi-realistically proportioned body, and especially difficult to draw it with any sort of shade or depth.
     Nevertheless, I remembered an old book I used to have (if you can consider having a photocopy of each page the same as "having" a book) that tought me a lot about human proportion, perspective, and shading. The book is How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema. For anybody who's thought of picking up one of those "How to Draw Manga" books, I say get this first. "How to Draw Manga" books are more or less procedural manuals. They give you step-by-step formulaec ways to draw various manga parts, like eyes, noses, hair, etc... "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" is a broader overview and it teaches you a ton about how to draw a figure from the ground up. There are 2 copies left at the Barnes & Noble on Rt. 17 South near Ramapo. I'm looking at you, Rovner, as you will benefit from the last 3 chapters which will teach you art within the scope of a comic book page.
     At any rate, I bought my copy today, and I've been drawing while watching The West Wing tonight. I came up with a sketch of Rogue (which uses a practical cross-hatching shading style) and a sketch of Psyloche (which uses a traditional style pencil shading method) from the X-Men. Both are the versions from Jim Lee's 2nd series. I think they came out well after only one night of trying to get back into the swing of American-style comic art.