Sketches: Adelaide Comic-Con

So, Adelaide Comic-Con has come and gone, and I spent the whole two days sitting at my booth and talking to people. Thanks to all the people who came by to talk to me, and especially a big thanks to people who brought books for me to sign. I managed to sign more than a few copies of each of my books, so that was really nice. Apart from that, I just mostly sat and did sketches I then sold, in-between talking to people (since I don’t go to conventions much, nor really sell art prints or anything there). This was the first convention where I’ve had a table to myself (previously I shared all my tables), so it’s also the first time I sketched much of anything in such an environment.

I took pictures of some of the art I did, thanks to the new iPhone I have. Since the convention went on for 2 days and was pretty tiring, you can kinda see the quality of the art (and the photography) dribble down through the sketches. Conventions are strange places to be drawing in… some people seem to do well in those kind of environments, whereas I found it overwhelming. There’s alwas people coming and going to talk to you, and generally it’s quite loud and noisy. Either way, I decided that drawing characters from The Legend of Zelda will make it easier for me, and so it was. Drawing Link always calms me down.

 

link1

Doodled this pic of Link on the back of one of those hotel writing pads...


 
zelda1

Zelda was also doodled on the back of a hotel pad... random pieces of paper, teehee.


 
mary2

A fan of "The Dreaming" asked me to draw Mary Spector! Now that was someone I haven't drawn for years!


 
pokemon

I was asked to draw two pokemon eating a mountain of food. Pokenmon experts should know who the stars of this picture is...


 
link2

People bought Link so I had to draw another Link.


 
zelda2

Zelda was bought up too, so I drew another Zelda.


 
pikachu

A french-themed Pikachu for someone's sketchbook


 
link3

Let me just say that Link was uber-popular... I had to finish this one quick because someone wanted it when they saw me drawing it.


 
bluebeetle

I think one of these guys is called the "Blue Beetle"? This was something about April Fool's Day?


 
boy

I drew this pic of a cute little blonde boy. I was so tired by then I could barely photograph this one properly.


 

Pokeball

I’ve finally finished chapter 3 inks, and will be starting chapter 4 inks soon. Don’t forget that I’ll be going to Adelaide Comic-Con this weekend, and that House of Odd came out last Tuesday!

This week I show you one of the first things I crocheted, since it was so easy. It’s a pokeball, and I got the free pattern from Wolfdreamer’s blog. This particular pattern makes a rather large ball (the size of your first) at 42 stitches, so for my version I decided to shrink it down to 30 stitches. I found that 30 stitches maximum produced a pokeball that is more like the size it’s supposed to be (ie. fits into the cup of your hands).

 

pokeball1

Step 1: Crochet the top half of the pokeball. I stopped at 30 stitches though, since I felt that was the "normal" size for a pokeball.


 
pokeball2

Step 2: Add the black parts then the white parts. You do this much in the same you chance colours during crocheting.


 
pokeball

Step 3: Crochet the little black and white buttons in the middle of the pokeball, then sew them onto the ball.


And here we have two pokeballs, one 42 stitches wide, and one 30 stitches wide. You can see the size difference.

 
pokeball

Kirby

Hi all! I am now updating Saturday morning instead of Thursday morning. Gives me Friday night to chill and write my blog posts. As for what I’ve been doing, I’ve been adding a whole bunch of Facebook options to my site these past few days, and also Amazon store links. I think it looks quite nice, and I’ll continue doing more of that as I go along.

I also just finished writing my short story for the Bento comics anthology, titled . The anthology has a Peter Pan theme, and the Pickwicks are the neighbours of Wendy Darling and her family. The story isn’t due until March 15th, in time for release at TCAF, a comics convention in Toronto held on May 5-6th each year, so you may not see it in print until then. It’s just as well – I’m trying something new with this story, so you’ll all see it online sometime after the 15th March.

Today, I get to show you something Nintendo-related I crocheted a while ago – Kirby.

 
Kirby
 


 

The star of his own Nintendo games, this Kirby is from a free pattern at iceblueberries’ blog, and I added 8mm safety eyes to him instead of crocheting the eyes. Amazingly, this seemed to suit Kirby a great deal, and he looks a dead ringer for the “real” McCoy!

 

Kirby1

Step 1: Crochet Kirby's body. This is only 30 stitches at its widest point, so it was done in no time.


 
Kirby2

Step 2: Added 8mm safety eyes, instead of crocheting the eyes. The eyes were a perfect fit for this size!


 
Kirby3

Step 3: Sew his little mouth, and give him rosy red cheeks!


 
Kirby4

Step 4: Crochet his hands and feet, and sew them onto his body. Straight-forward.

And here we have, THREE Kirbys…

 
threekirbys

White Angry Bird – Free Crochet Pattern

A whole bunch of stuff is happening this December, and I find myself quite busy this festive season. I’m working on the inks for Chapters 1-2 for Small Shen, so that’s the bulk of my main work. I’m also working on a music-art collaboration project with a musician friend, the first release of which is due Jan 31st 2012, so that has been penned in on my timetable. On top of that, I have a bunch of crochet stuff to do, and the kind of odds and ends that crop up at the end of the year. Will I accomplish anything by December 31st?!

I finally deleted my old Livejournal account. Managing it is a bit too much, since it’s no longer active.

This week, I get to post up my free crochet pattern of the White Angry Bird. For those who are living underneath a rock, Angry Birds is a highly popular casual game that involves throwing a bunch of cute-but-furious cartoon birds at a bunch of greedy pigs, who have stolen the birds’ eggs. The “mascot” of the series is the Angry Red Bird, and this week he’s joined by his friend, the Angry White Bird.

 

Get the free Angry Red Bird crochet pattern here.

 
Important: People have asked me for more Angry Bird patterns, but I’m afraid I can’t promise anything, since these characters are copyrighted. I provide these patterns for free because it’s all in good fun, but the original copyright owners must be respected – and I don’t have any other Angry Bird patterns either. If you’re looking for the green bird, the black bomb bird, or the green pig, you can register on the site Ravelry.com and find them there. No word on the yellow or blue Angry Bird.

That said, if you like this pattern, please support Angry Birds and buy the game, or the game-related merchandise.

 

Angry White Bird
Here’s the Angry White Bird with the Angry Red Bird. Friends!

 

Angry White Bird Pattern

Here’s a list of what I used to make this crochet. It’s not a definite list, so feel free to use whatever you have, as long as it’s appropriate. It’s crocheted in the round, like most amigurumi, so only basic crochet skills are required.

NB. This pattern is created by me, so please give a link back to me if you want to use it or if you want to sell your crochet. Please give credit where it’s due.

  • White, dark yellow, light yellow, and black 8 ply yarn
  • 4mm crochet hook
  • 8mm black safety eyes – 6060 from Etsy is a good place to buy these
  • Large sewing needle, to sew the bits and pieces together

 

Crochet Abbreviations

Here are a list of the abbreviations I use, and what they mean. These are pretty standard, so if you know how to crochet, this won’t be hard to decipher:

  • ch – chain
  • sc – single chain
  • dec – decrease
  • * – beginning/end of a repeating part of the pattern

 

White Bird 1
The round, egg like appearance of the White Bird

 

Body (Make 1, white)

Rnd 1 – Ch 2, 6 single chain (sc) in 2nd chain away from hook (Magic Ring method)
Rnd 2 – 2 sc in each chain (12 stitches)
Rnd 3 – *2 sc in next single chain, 1 sc*, repeat 6 times (18 stitches)
Rnd 4-5 – sc
Rnd 6 – *2 sc in next single chain, 2 sc*, repeat 6 times (24 stitches)
Rnd 7-9 – sc
Rnd 10 – *2 sc in next single chain, 3 sc*, repeat 6 times (30 stitches)
Rnd 11-16 – sc
Rnd 17 – *decrease (dec) 1, 3 sc*, repeat 6 times (24 stitches)
Rnd 18 – sc

Start stuffing the body, and sew the eyes onto the face.
Rnd 19 – *dec 1 through back loops ONLY*, repeat 6 times (12 stitches)
Rnd 20 – *dec 1* repeat 6 times (6 stitches)

Fasten off, then use a needle to weave in loose ends.

 

White Bird 2
The eyes and the eyebrows… so different yet similar to the Red Bird’s.

 

Eyes and Eyebrows (Make 2 of each, black and white)

Make the two eyes with white yarn
Rnd 1 – Ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd chain away from hook (Magic Ring method)
Rnd 2 – 3 sc

Fasten off, then use an 8mm safety eye to pin it on the body, making sure the longer part is on the outside of the eyes.
Then use a sewing needle to sew the white eyes properly onto the body.

 

Make the two eyebrows with black yarn
Rnd 1 – Ch 6, turn
Rnd 2 – 4 sc

Fasten off, sew onto the body on top of the eyes.

 

White Bird 3
It has a significantly bigger beak than the Red Angry Bird.

 

Top Beak (Make 1, dark yellow)

Rnd 1 – Ch 2, 4 sc in 2nd chain away from hook (Magic Ring method)
Rnd 2 – *2 sc in next single chain*, repeat 4 times (8 stitches)
Rnd 3 – sc
Rnd 4 – *2 sc in next single chain, 3 sc*, repeat twice (10 stitches)
Rnd 5-7 – sc
Rnd 8 – *dec 1 through back loops ONLY*, repeat 5 times (5 stitches)

Fasten off, stuff and sew onto the body between the eyes, leaving space for the bottom half of the beak

 

Bottom Beak (Make 1, dark yellow)
Rnd 1 – Ch 2, 4 sc in 2nd chain away from hook (Magic Ring method)
Rnd 2 – *2 sc in next single chain*, repeat 4 times (8 stitches)
Rnd 3 – *2 sc in next single chain, 3 sc*, repeat twice (10 stitches)
Rnd 4 – *dec 1 through back loops ONLY*, repeat 5 times (5 stitches)

Fasten off, stuff and sew onto the body under the top beak.
Don’t sew the bottom and top beaks together since it’ll turn into a big yellow blob, so just sew the corners of the beaks together to get that slack-jawed look.

 

Whtie Bird 4
Where you add the rest of it on

 

Yellow Cheeks (Make 2, light yellow)
Rnd 1 – Ch 2, 6 single chain (sc) in 2nd chain away from hook (Magic Ring method)
Rnd 2 – 2 sc in each chain (12 stitches)

Fasten off, stuff and sew onto the cheeks, under the eyes

 

Black Hair (Make 3, black)

Rnd 1 – Ch 4, turn
Rnd 2 – 3 sc, turn
Rnd 3 – 3 sc

Fasten off, then sew into a small tube. Sew onto the top of the head.