Archive for October 19th, 2011
2011 Challenger: Koko Sou
Hi everyone. I’m Koko Sou. I’m an Account Executive by day and artist by night. I live and work in NYC. I participated in the 30 Character Challenge last year, but didn’t come close to completing. Hopefully this year I will finish all 30 characters. I write and draw my own webcomic. Some of the characters in my webcomic were created in last year’s challenge. The first issue is available here, End Game or at Graphicly.com.
2011 Challenger: Josh Heusinkveld
Howdy to all, I’m really glad come back to do it again and hope can complete all thirty characters this year. I didn’t complete last year due a lot of stuff going on at work and home. I’m very busy family man, dad of two children, two golden retrievers River & Simon and husband to my beautiful wife. I work full time at State of Michigan and always find spare time to draw much as I can. I draw most time during a hour lunch break at work and sometime in evening after kids goes to bed.
And I finally found balance of time to work on my upcoming project graphic novel “Lucky Lady.” So I came up thirty characters need to create for my GN and goal is will to get published. Here is a hint what’s about – Lucky Lady = Men In Black + The Chr0nicles of Narnia + Wizard of Oz
You may find me at twitter – @JHeusinkveld79
Blogspot – Josh’s Another Day of Paradise
DeviantArt – http://www.joshheusinkveld.deviantart.com
Biggest highlight of me this year was I appeared in Aha Moments at Mutual of Omaha website and here is link of video – http://ahamoment.com/moments/2158
<– This is Superman as myself watercolor painting I did for Michael Meyer to cheer him and we care about him. Makes me feel good do something awesome to him.
See all of you on Nov 1st and let’s fun begins…. Josh
2011 Challenger: Emily R. Gillis
Em making faces at SPX 2011
Greetings! My name is Em (or M for the particularly lazy typist).  I work as a graphic designer by day and by night (and pretty much all time between work and sleeping) I work on my webcomic, Jikoshia, as half of comic creation team that is Wayward Studios.  I just published my first comic (chapter one of Jikoshia), which made its debut at Small Press Expo this year, and am working on getting my next one ready for Katsucon.  In addition to Jikoshia, I am developing two other  fantasy/adventure stories tentatively named Storm and The Game.
Last year, I thought I’d give this challenge a try, but flunked out. Â With two new stories in need of a cast, I have high hopes for this year’s challenge.
2011 Challenger: James Riot
Ahoy-hoy, I’m James Riot. I’m an illustrator and comic creator living in southern California. I founded a small press studio called Old Dying Kitty and currently self publish two of my own comics, The Path and Bastard Who. Most of my work is horror/sci-fi-related, and I rather like it that way. Never a dull moment and a wide berth of influences to draw from. I’ve had artwork published by both Marvel Comics and Dark Horse, and am currently doing sketch cards for The Avengers movie and Marvel Beginnings 2 through Upper Deck.
I found out about the 30 Character Challenge completely by chance, and I wish I’d known about it last year as well. It sounds like a great exercise, and a lot of fun to boot! I’ve successfully finished the last two 24hr Comic Day challenges, and I’m hoping to get through this one as well…though it definitely sounds a bit more daunting. Â Looks like a lot of talented small plress folks are entering, so the results should be pretty awesome all around.
That’s about it. I never know what to say in things like this, so good luck everyone!
-James Riot
 
 
2011 Challenger: Shannel Gaddy
Hello, I’m Shannel. I’m a recent graduate of The art Institute of Tampa, and I’m a storyboard artist and illustrator. I actually stumbled onto the 30 Day challenge a few months back when I saw a tumblr post of someone who completed all 30 drawing last year. It seems really fun and a greatway to get a few good (and bad XD) ideas out and on paper.
Here’s an old drawing of mine. I want to start doing a bit more characters since I mostly domore realistic drawings. I will also probably try out drawing these characters in different ways/styles; try to really loosen me up some.
2011 Challenger: Kristin Bowles
Hey there, people-who-are-reading-this!
I’m Kristin Bowles. I’ve got a fancy-schmancy website (www.kristinbowles.com), a fancy-schmancy blog (www.kristinkreates.wordpress.com), and a fancy-schmancy degree (BFA in Game Art & Design).
As a recent graduate from the Art Institute of Tampa, I’ve managed to network with a whole bunch of cool people, several of which showed this event to me, and at least one of which told me I’d better participate, or else.
That aside, I used to draw random characters all the time. Y’know, before I went to college, back in the days when I had time. And I’d like to get back to doing it, and having time.  And I need a huge kick in my drawing butt. So, here I am. Woo!
Tyler James instructed me to put up some pictures. So, here you go.
- Whoa, it’s my logo!Â
- Ugh, it’s me. Sums things up pretty well, anyway.
And here are some tiny thumbnails of some stuff that’s decent enough for me to share!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oh, and some stuff I plan to do, or at least I’m mulling over in my brain:
- using a random word generator
- revisiting old character designs and improving them
- using a predetermined list of theme words (including months, seasons, and holidays)
- drawing more men, because all I seem to draw are ladies!
2011 Challenger Dan Monroe
 Though most people know me as Dragonbrush, my real name is Dan Monroe.  I am the creator  of the webcomic Ye Gawds! which is about the adventures of Thor, Morrigan and Hercules who  are thrown across the Universe to a strange planet.  There they must unravel a mystery of epic  proportions.  I have been an artist my entire life, having been published by the age of twelve,  and attending art school, then teaching at a University, selling paintings in art galleries,  teaching some more, then drawing every day.  Along with drawing the adventures of a mythic  trio, I am also involved in illustrating a series of childrens books written by Dustin Warburton  and Kostya Tszyu, the former welterweight champion of the world.
I first heard about the thirty day challenge on twitter, I think I found out about it last year  after it was all over and thought to myself that it looked like great fun.  So, this year I made  sure to sign up as soon as I saw the opportunity.
I can be found on twitter: @dragonbrush
My webcomic Ye Gawds! can be found here: Ye Gawds!
2011 Challenger: Corey Davies
hey guys/gals/other,
I’m Corey, I’m 16 and English (I also enjoy long walks on the beach and having fun…sorry, couldn’t help myself), since May I’ve been posting a comic over at my site, the feedback I’ve got has been positive so far, so it looks like it’s going to be sticking around for the foreseeable future. I’ve started moving my comic from a random to a story based comic recently so I reckon this’ll be a good way of getting my creativity going. I’m also fairly new to drawing people (which has been annoying in the comic let me tell you) and my skills have improved massively since I started out but I’m thinking that this will help me work on improving myself further, hope to talk to some of you later
-Corey
2011 Challenger: Ben Ivey
Hi there. I’m a 27 year old graphic designer living and working in Mississippi. In addition to overseeing the graphic design needs of these guys, I also teach a weekly illustration class for these folks. Even though I’ve worked on a few publications and I dabble in fine art from time to time, I don’t consider myself an full-time illustrator. I just love art. I love making things and learning about the process along the way.
The first thing I teach my students is to practice what you love every day. I can’t teach something if I don’t do it myself. That’s what attracted me to the 30-Day Challenge. This will give me the opportunity to focus my skills on one task. Maybe, by the end, I’ll have learned something.
I’m a big fan of mixing digital with traditional techniques. So expect to see a variety of styles, software, and media used to create my characters. Along the way, I’ll try to document my process.
You can find me here. But I hang out here most often.
2011 Challenger: John Graham
Hi everyone, my name is John Graham and I live in central Pennsylvania. While I have a somewhat normal job, my true passion is writing in a variety of forms. I have published children’s books that I enjoy reading at local schools and organizations, I’ve written a couple of comic books that you haven’t heard of….yet, and I like writing short stories for the more mature folks out there.
I’m going to be honest with you, I can’t draw. When I saw the post for this challenge, it didn’t occur to me that it would involve drawing of any type, so I’ll be a little behind the curve. I’ve decided to stick it out because the idea of creating 30 characters in 30 days intrigues me and I want to see if I can do it. I have recently come up with a cool idea for a Young Adult novel series and I will need characters galore, so what better way to start out than discovering a ton of characters hiding in my brain.
Another great reason for jumping at this challenge is to hang with a variety of great artists using a variety of styles, so I’m excited to see what comes from it. As a writer and self publisher, I am dependent on great artists to bring my visions to life, so I like to see what’s out there. I don’t want to bore you with a super long bio, so if you want to know a little more about me, my work, or how I try to help creative people, please leave a message on this post or visit my two websites: www.nosweetsforsanta.com and www.FIGIDPress.com.
Best of luck to you all!
2011 Challenger: Sarah Clark
Hi Guys!
My name is Sarah and I’m a professional illustrator and animator working in the Bay Area. I have a lot of artistic interests ranging from digital and traditional illustration, mask making, costume design, and sculpture, but the thread that holds as these interests together is my desire to create compelling and exciting stories and characters. I’m really excited about the 30 Characters Challenge because I’m looking for a good kick in the pants to jump start my personal practice, and I’m looking for an opportunity to start pumping out ideas for a children’s book that I’m developing. I’m also excited about getting to work in conjunction with a community of other passionate artists, and I’m interested in putting more of my work out online for the world to see. You find out more about me and see more of my work online at:
My personal website: www.sarahclarkart.com
My (currently on hold) 3D webcomic: www.robotsin3d.com
Twitter: @sjeanetteclark
2011 Challenger: Zoë Kirk-Robinson
Zoë and some of her characters
Greetings, mortals!
I am Zoë Kirk-Robinson, who some of you might know from my daily chats on Twitter; or maybe even from The Webcomics Company Podcast.
I draw two daily comics, The Life of Nob T. Mouse (which is 15 years old in December!) and All Over the House plus I will be re-launching Ink Proof Cannon as a third daily comic in November. It’s going to be an epic drawing fest!
I’ve been looking forward to this year’s 30 Characters Challenge because I haven’t drawn nearly enough wacky things this year and I need to beef up my quota. Last year I got about half way through the challenge before failing it but this year I want to push on, get to the finish line and do a funky dance of joy.
Oh, and I’m also doing NaNoWriMo this year, so expect a few of my drawings to be of characters I’m going to introduce in that novel. Yay for merging projects!
I’m going to stop writing now because if I don’t, I’ll end up ranting about stuff you don’t want to know about. I rant almost daily over at my blog, so if you really want to read this drivel, go there. 🙂
See you at the starting line with pencils at the ready! 😀
2011 Challenger: Jande Rowe
Hi all. I’m the author of the online graphic novel “Aedre’s Firefly“. This will be my second year of doing this challenge. On Twitter I’m @EccentricOrbits. Do say hello.
Of the thirty characters I created last year, I have only just introduced one of them to my storyline. But what the heck. The world always needs more characters, right?
Since having a medical problem with my eyes, I’ve started drawing in a more simplified style, sticking to black and white mostly except for covers. Also I won’t have time to do detailed storylines like last year.
Looking forward to seeing what everyone creates this year!
Colour Cover for "Aedre's Firefly Chapt. VI: Awakenings"
2011 Challenger – Jose A. Gonzalez
Hello. My name is Jose Gonzalez, and I’ve been drawing since I was a baby, but just got more serious with it, a two or three years ago. It is not what I do for a living, but you never know. I just let my passion for drawing take over some times. I like sharing with online art communities.
Last year I missed entering the 30 Character Challenge, but played along “underground”. Learned a lot, and had an excellent educational experience. More importantly, had loads of fun, and at the other end of the journey I feel like I stepped up a level.
You can usually find me on twitter, as @gonzalexx. The Mad Scientist’s Art Laboratory, Impulsive Sketching Journal, and most of your common haunts (using gonzalexx as a handle most everwhere online)..
hello cyber world
My name is Derail Howery. I love to draw. I enjoy trying to tell a story when I have a chance. I’m so happy and thrill to be in this wonderful fun event. I did the 24 hour comic this year and it was a blast. This is my first time doing the 30 character challenge and it want be the last with the grace of god. I want to keep this creative energy going and keep challenging myself. I really hope to meet so cool people and see some wonderful art work. I’m ready to get this party started. one….
2011 Challenger: Carlos Cuesta Dolz
Hey there! I’m Carlos Cuesta, a comic artist and illustrator from Valencia, Spain. My main webcomic is Odiolitos (in Spanish, mind…), which stars my two cats Musi and Nina and myself. I have been meaning to enter 30 characters for a couple years, but never got the confidence to go for it, so I’m really excited to get started this year.
I’m a huge fan of drawing animals, so you can expect plenty of animal- based designs from me. I’m also thinking of organizing my characters into groups to make things easier in case I run out of ideas. 
2011 Challenger:Travis Surber
I’m Travis Surber,Creator of the webcomic Hainted Holler which updates 5 days a week,and follows Southern Geeks in a Redneck town.I was attracted to the Challenge because I’m constantly drawing or writing down strange little characters and ideas.Since I started the webcomic a lot of these ideas have made their way into various strips,but more than a few still rattle around in my head.For me this is a chance to give them physical form while stretching my abilities as a self-taught cartoonist.My style tends to be loose and cartoony,but I’m going to be trying out some new ideas,giving people a first look at NEW characters for the strip,and just random general silliness.
And as if maintaining a M-F webcomic and the challenge wasn’t enough,my first child was born recently as well,so extra challenge as well.
Webcomic:Â http://www.haintedholler.com/
DeviantArt:Â http://hainted.deviantart.com/
2011 Challenger: David R. Vallejo
Hello
My name is David, aka graphiteman. Â I am an artist who is interested in way too many things. Â My current art projects are portrait commissions, religious paintings and pursuing illustration (mostly editorial). Â I’m also kicking around several graphic novel ideas. Â To supplement my income, I also do a bit of art instruction with grade schools.
I’m not sure where I fist heard of the 30 Characters Challenge, but I recently came across it on Twitter and thought it would be a good feat to take on. Â I’m always looking into challenging myself and have participated in several online challenges, such as Illustration Friday, 30 Days of Creativity, and Everyday in May. Â I find these challenges get my creative juices going and help build my portfolio. Â The kind of stuff you might expect from me will be characters that will be used in a novel writing contest challenge http://www.nanowrimo.org/Â that I will be taking on at the same time during the month of November. Â So as if designing 30 characters wasn’t enough, I will be writing an at least 50,000 word novel by November 30th that uses all 30 characters. Â I don’t think I’ll be getting much sleep in November.
You can find my work on my website:
and my very current art projects on my blog:
http://tactilblog.blogspot.com/
While you’re at it, you can also ‘LIKE’ my fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/davidrvallejoillustration
Look forward to seeing all the interesting characters for this year’s challenge.
Peace!
2011 Challenger – Ran Brown
Hello! My name is Ran Brown, and I am a freelance Illustrator/Graphic Designer/Cartoonist working out of my home in Ontario, Canada.
I’m the illustrator and webmaster behind the webcomic The End (currently on hiatus for the next week and a half while I am deeply involved in  making one of my best friends’ weddings awesome), the illustrator/writer for Strike The Earth!, which is a webcomic about Dwarf Fortress, and a member of the fairly new (but still awesome) collective called Open Fire!. You can also find my portfolio here, or follow me on Google+ or Twitter.
Last year I participated in this challenge, but only made it 14 characters in. I think my main issue, aside from time, was that I was focusing on making quality pieces and getting lost in that versus focusing on the actual design aspect of the challenge. I hope to remedy this and actually finish this year by doing most (if not all) of my entries in the style of the self-portrait to the left of this text. Yeah, they’re muppet-tastic, but I’ve used this method to redesign a bunch of characters for later chapters of The End with some pretty great success so far. There’s something about the simplicity and lack of lines that’s let me put together some really neat designs and focus on colours and shapes and asymmetry that how I traditionally work just can’t do.
Click for a more detailed view!
Anyhow, I’m really excited about the challenge this year. I’ve got a lot of ideas that I’ve done precisely no design work for, as well as characters for The End that I need to design but haven’t even started on as of yet. Â I very rarely get to work on things that aren’t The End, and the thought of being able to do some work on some ideas that have really taken the back-burner in my brain sounds so, so awesome.
Good luck, all! Can’t wait to see your entries!
2011 Challenger: Melanie Dawn McGreevey
Hello! My Name is Melanie Dawn McGreevey, and i am so excited to actually give another shot at the 30 in 30 challenge, I didn’t quite make it last year. 🙁  I did enjoy every minute of the creative process, and seeing what other people have come up with.  This promises to be (at least for for me a self exploration).
  You see, since last year i have been creating and “publishing” my own webcomic; Beautiful Tragedy.  While not completely autobiographical, it has helped me as Tyler helped me grasp many moons ago, “The story i HAD to tell”.  In the interest of full disclosure, and the fact that i am an open book, you see, I am a male to female transsexual.  Two years in to transition,a nd have been living full time as the person i was supposed to be born as for well over a year.  The life i live, and the predjudices people like me face is not easy, and very few understand what it’s like.  I won’t get all preachy here, i do that enough on my FB page.
Anyway, I look forward to the 30 in 30 challenge, and can’t wait to get started! Â Good luck to all of you. Â And to anyone reading this who is not in the challenge… what wrong with you!? just try it!
Melanie Dawn
2011 Challenger Barry Linck
Barry Linck has been producing and publishing comic books for 3 decades. As writer, artist and creator, he has continued to produce his fan favorite Phineus: Magician for Hire and Gil: The Walking Dead (or Vampires Suck), a monthly comic strip. Barry served as artist on Khozyain Protocol, and contributed artwork for The Creators and Reverie. Barry collaborated with Brian Babyok on such titles as Pan, Phineus: The Glamour, and Dark Time. An avid fan of role playing games, Barry co-created Backwaters of Mysticism with John Burris. Barry currently is doing the art chores on the webcomic Weirdlings and working on his third volume of Phineus: Magician for Hire and Creephunter & The Pocket Pulp Project with Mike Wood all while raising a family in Pittsburgh. I hope to some day sell out and have really bad Saturday morning cartoons of my stuff.
I was attracted to the challenge because of how much comics I do. With that many comics, you need a lot of characters!
2011 Challenger: Tyler James
Hey everyone. My name is Tyler James, and I’m the originator of this whole crazy endeavor. What started as a fun little project to get me out of a creative rut in 2009 has turned into an annual event that many, many people look forward to each year. So here we go! #30Characters 2011, I’m ready for you!
Me hanging out at the ComixTribe booth at New York Comic Con last weekend.
A bit more about me, I am a serious/ educational game designer by day, and a comic writer/artist and publisher by night. (And early morning. And weekends.) I’m currently working on the all-ages swords and sorcery fantasy webcomic TEARS of the DRAGON, a story I’m writing with gorgeous art from Koko Amboro and Miguel Marques. I’m also developing two super hero projects: a superteen action comedy EPIC with Matt Zolman, and a superhero murder mystery THE RED TEN with Cesar Feliciano. Fun facts…most of the main characters in THE RED TEN were developed during last year’s 30 Characters Challenge, and several EPIC characters were created during the 2009 Challenge.
I’m also the publisher of ComixTribe.com, a site with the mission statement of “Creators helping creators make better comics.” If you’re a writer or artist, I hope you’ll check out ComixTribe, as I think we have a ton to offer you over there.
While I’ve completed the past two Challenges successfully, I have a feeling this year’s will be the most challenging yet. Still, I have a few series that I’m interested in developing characters for, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what inspiration November brings.
Can’t wait!
#30Characters Chatter…