#8 | Lance L’Amour
LANCE L’AMOUR: Entertainer; Club Owner; Information broker
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I got behind by several days, but have managed to catch back up for today.
#2 | Red Bat
RED BAT: Xiao Fang; Former circus acrobat; Patrols Portland’s “Asia Minor” neighborhood (formerly Chinatown); No known meta saipen traits.
Media: watercolor pencils, India ink & brush
#1 | Reset
RESET: Connor Kagiyama; Superhuman regenerative ability; Degrees in criminology, forensic science, and criminal psychology; Trained in various marital arts, including Jeet Kun Do, Kendo, and Brazilian kickboxing; Known by 16 different aliases; Recently returned to hometown of Portland, OR, at the behest of Marlon Crandall, COO of NEOGene’s local research facility; Proponent of meta saipen (i.e. superhuman) rights, and of superhuman vigilantism.
Media: watercolor pencils, India ink & brush
Kaebel JK Hashitani – 30 Characters in 30 Days
I completed the 30 Characters in 30 Days Challenge!
I honestly don’t recall how I found out about the 30Characters challenge in the first place. From a friend, most likely, but that’s just a guess. I do know that two things influenced my decision to take on the challenge. Well, two people, actually. 1) My friend Todd Brabander and I had been talking recently about feeling stagnant artistically, and this challenge seemed tailor-made for us. But when it came time to sign-up, I dragged my feet while Todd jumped right in. Spurred on by his action, I decided it was better to try than not. 2) My girlfriend Merrick has been a sounding board for my artistic issues for months. She’s been supportive before, during, and after taking on the challenge, and that’s made a world of difference.
I still haven’t figured out what exactly to do with these characters yet. Everything about them, and the world they live in is still so much framework and not enough substance. I know it’s a fantasy world, where education combined with practical experience is prized, encouraged, and widespread. The bulk of the story centers around three students (Jasper, Kemmek & Landon), and their adventures in and around their school, Thorsveldt Grand Academy (all schools are Grand Academies). I’ll keep working on it until I get something interesting.
Thanks to Tyler James for organizing this challenge, and to Daniel Govar for the templates. I look forward to participating next year. And thanks/well done to Dennis Culver andEthan Slayton, fellow Portlanders and friends who also participated this year.
#30 – Char Etheria
THE SISTERS ETHERIA – Char, a senior Academy student, soon to be a graduating guardian mage. Her twin sister Crux is also a student.
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The second sister, and my 30th & final character! Now for the hard part — writing stories for all these characters. 😛
#29 – Crux Etheria
THE SISTERS ETHERIA – Crux, a senior Academy student, soon to be a graduating warrior/scholar. Her twin sister Char is also a student.
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I was running on empty, creatively. Merrick saved the day again by suggesting twins for my last two characters. Here’s the first of them.
#24 – Xehalora
XEHALORA, warrior queen of the undead legions in Ãœllendor. The great colossus, NECRONAUGHT, answers only to her commands.
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The leather armor worn by the undead queen is modeled after & inspired by the designs of Mildred von Hildegard, for her label Mother of London.
I went out-of-town for the holidays, and couldn’t post any of my characters. I did manage to keep mostly on schedule; I’ve fallen behind by a day.
30 Characters Challenger: Kaebel JK Hashitani
Greetings and salutations.
I’m a curator, artist, event coordinator, and Time Lord living in Portland, OR. I tend to favor illustration, but also work in acrylics, found object sculpture, clay, and broken toys.
Since I’ve spent the past five years defined as a curator or a coordinator, and less as an artist, I find this “About Me” is somewhat daunting to write. I’m in the process of clarifying what being an artist means to me, and if I’m still interested in identifying myself as such . Which is part of what drove me to participate in the 30 Characters challenge.
In 2005, I founded Sequential Art Gallery + Studio, specializing in comic book & graphic novel artwork. Additionally, I am:
- A monthly contributor to Geek in the City Radio, a weekly podcast focusing on comics, movies, toys, and games.
- Operations Manager for the Alter Egos Society, a superhero costume enthusiast organization working to better the community, in spandex.
- Event coordinator for Drunken Rampage Events, a managing group for various costumed pubcrawls.
- Cast member of Atomic Arts, a theater troupe that performs Trek in the Park.
- Exhibitions Coordinator for the Stumptown Comics Fest, Portland’s creator- and artist-focused comic book show.
- Coordinator of the Portland Zombie Walk.
Oh, and in the midst of all these activities, I’ve managed to misplace my TARDIS.
#23 – Woekine Grimoi
WOEKINE GRIMOI, master magistral, former mentor to the Academic (I need a proper name for him now), and wandering warrior-scholar. Presumed dead, though no one knows for sure.
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This character is something of an homage to an artist that I greatly admired: Mike “Ringo” Wieringo. Mike was a comic book artist and co-creator of the fantasy series Tellos. He passed away in August 2007, and the comics industry was the worse for it. While I never met him, he and I had friends in common. They speak highly of him and miss him to this day.
Tellos is a wonderful story about overcoming tragedy, artfully disguised as a thrilling wizards-and-warriors fantasy series, and one of my favorites. It was instrumental in my decision to create fantasy-themed characters.
The character’s name is an anagram of Mike Wieringo.
#21 – Ural Kraek
URAL KRAEK, master sorcerer, legendary scholar, a bit of a bastard, and possibly evil.
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Went with what feels to me like just a run-of-the-mill sinister sorcerer type.
#20 – Typhoon Teddy
Theodore “TYPHOON TEDDY” Hobbes, Captain of the Verdant Horizon. A well known, well respected swashbuckling buccaneer. Father of Jasper Hobbes, the story’s protagonist.
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I had been thinking about Jasper, my protagonist, over the past few days and realized that I didn’t want him to be an orphan. Specifically, I didn’t want a lack of a family to be part of his backstory nor his motivation to do anything. So I knew I would be including his parents in the challenge at some point. As I started today’s drawing, I had a couple things in mind already. One was a name, Theodore, which was suggested by Merrick. The other was my want to do a pirate-themed character, in honor of the Swashbuckler’s Ball going on tonight in Portland. As I started sketching out Theodore the Pirate, I realized I wanted this character to be Jasper’s father. Someone courageous and intriguing, yet removed from his son geographically. That seems like a good recipe for creating an adventurous and inquisitive spirit in Jasper.
Expect to see Jasper’s mother somewhere in the next ten characters.
#18 – Raskin
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Ultimately, today’s character was born from my sudden wish to draw a bear. I went with a Sun Bear as my model, as I liked how they look when standing, and of the coloration of their fur.
#17 – Quill
QUILL, an Avian, and professor of languages. Unlike other Avians, Quill eschews dressing like his fellow professors (i.e. human attire & trappings), but does favor his smoking pipe.
#15 – Opal Vale
OPAL VALE – enigmatic rogue, mercenary, (alleged) assassin, and former adventuring companion to the Academic and Bookewyrm. One of the few remaining Veseians, an elder, nearly-extinct race.
#13 – Magistrivore
The pursuit of knowledge isn’t without its perils. Exhibit A: the MAGISTRIVORE, devourer of knowledge, and eater of brains. A combination of psychic vampire, zombie, and Lovecraftian horror, the Magistrivore feeds upon the wealth of knowledge, experience, and wisdom found only in the Academy’s professors. After feeding psychically, it feeds physically, devouring the victims brain.
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The Magistrivore is another Merrick-inspired character. As my characters are alphabetical, she suggested the word MAGISTRICIDE (the killing of a teacher or professor) for my M character, as it would be a good villainous character in a world of educators.
I also point to my D&D past, since there’s a huge likeness to the Mind Flayer from the Monster Manual.
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I plan on revisiting my earlier posts this weekend, adding backstory to my characters as I’m *this* close to coming up with a name for the fantasy world they inhabit.
#10 – Jasper
Still working out the general plot, but I’ve found my story protagonist: Jasper, the latest addition to the Academy.
#30Characters Chatter…