I’m working on various concepts for a new graphic novel project tentatively called Seizon.

The Shinjin are a peace loving race that are completely in tune with nature and the planet, in more ways than they even know.  Their entire existence is tied to a giant sacred flower that sits at the base of the mountain plateau they call home.

The Fuzen, a race that’s grown to depend more on technology than nature, come to steal the sacred flower of the Shinjin to create an antidote for their own people’s ailments.  When a Fuzen raider steals a specimen from the Shinjin’s sacred flower and a young Shinjin woman’s lover coincidentally grows violently ill, sending her on a quest to heal him.  With the Shinjin’s true relationship to their sacred flower revealed to them, they must face the controversial idea that they may have to go to war if they want to survive.

This is Fuugu, one of the main characters that falls ill when the Sacred Flower is attacked.  Was a bit rougher on the linework with this guy, quite like how it turned out. I’m not sure if I’d mind too much if this was the style the book was colored in either, simple flat tones wherever needed.

So there’s a bunch of new work from me, mostly conceptual stuff for that new comic project I’m working on.  On that note I have also added a new section to the gallery for concepts.

For more view of the process on some of these pieces you can see here on the forum: Link

This is also one of the first hell weeks of the semester where we have 3 major projects due one after the other. Thankfully I’ve been working pretty speedy and efficiently this year though and have been on top of everything.

I’ve got to get ahead of everything though as I’m partaking in another art show this week, going to my hometown for Thanksgiving, submitting work for contests and submission to CMYK magazine, as well as trying to spend as much time as I can with my lovely girlfriend! So, wish me luck!

I’m also curious as to people’s opinions of what they are doing to make themselves stand out or seem unique to critics, employers, against the rest of the crowd, and so on. The conversation keeps coming up at my school about some people having a hard time developing their own artistic style or voice. We recently had a large review of our school and the critics mentioned in a dissatisfied tone how much eastern influence (manga, anime) they thought our drawing and illustration majors seemed to have and wondered why they weren’t developing their own artistic voices. I think its important, especially these days when the internet and e-mail have made art much more accessible, to stand out against the crowd. Any opinions?