High Rollers Part Two: Fan Art

I bet you weren't expecting Part Two so soon... Anyway, to continue on from the last post, another thing that I love about the High Rollers (and Yogscast in general) is that they encourage people to do fan art and fanfic of their characters. It not only shows support for the series but builds a community, as well. Already, only three episodes in, there is quite an abundance of work on Tumblr and Reddit. I did a little ink sketch I tweeted for Episode 3 during which Trott (aka Cam Buckland) was away at PAX South:

This little sketch started a landslide and I just kept doodling more and more High Rollers related goodies. I'm not the best artist, but I just had so much fun doing these, that I decided to share them!

Step of the Wind
Jiutou's special Ki Point that allows her to disengage with an enemy

The Power of Duracell
Cam Buckland's dagger Duracell which can cast Light

Arms of Hadar
Dark tendrils that lash out around Trellimar to push away foes

Shillelagh
Elora can focus the power of Nature through her quarterstaff

 

A vine zombie, the angry spirit of Queen Ayandris, & a will-o-wisp 

 

The Evil Tree of Golthian

I hope that you enjoy my fan art, but even more I hope you check out High Rollers. I'm hoping that this series continues on for a long, long time to come. Until next time!

High Rollers Part One: Characters

I'm a big fan of the Yogscast crew on YouTube - if you're not familiar, I suggest you give them a look. Recently, on Yogscast Live, which airs livestreams from Twitch, a new series started called High Rollers. Rather than streaming the team playing video games, it's a switch up to them doing a live D&D session. The nice thing is that, especially for a novice like myself that knows very little, they are starting from scratch with players who are relatively new to the game. I wasn't sure what to expect, but after the first episode I was hooked. The characters are just so much fun to watch and the storyline created by GM Mark Hulmes is just enchanting.

Above are the characters, as created by the Yogscast official artist, Nina Serena. Staring at left we have:

Elora Gelanodel, a High Elf Druid played by Katie. She's friendly and often the most judicious of the bunch, but she's not afraid to get in on the action, either.

Cam Arune Buckland, a human trickster Cleric played by Trott. An entertainer, he is the clown of the bunch and often plays things off as a joke. But there is a tragic side that he is trying to hide from the others.

Jiutou Zhiji Jing, a Teifling monk played by Kim. She's extremely driven in her quest to free other enslaved Teiflings - so much so that she cares little for anything else. Though she tries to keep an emotional distance, she's come to aid of her fellow travelers several times.

Trellimar Aleath, a Drow Warlock played by Matt. Quiet and mysterious, we know little of this character and his background. He seems a bit accident prone (due to poor rolling) and is often rescued from near-death by Elora.

I feel like I'm not doing them justice with these little blurbs, but you can see for yourself how much fun they are by watching them live on Twitch on Sundays at noon (EST) or the episode "rerun" on Yogscast Live any time once its been uploaded. As I had so much I wanted to post, I decided to break this into two sections, so stay tuned for Part Two, coming soon!

Friday Beefcake Bonus

I finally had time to sit down and read through over a week's worth of comics and I found a panel in the new issue of Grayson #16 that I just had to share.

DC should really think about doing a swimsuit issue like Marvel use to put out back in the 90s. And I would be totally fine with featuring only Agents 1 and 37 (aka: The Tiger and Dick Grayson). Enjoys this slice of winter-time beefcake.

Card Commission

As promised, I'm back! I thought that I would kick things off with a nice post showing a recent commission from one of my favorite artists, DeanDraws. This guy is amazingly talented and he's so much fun to work with on a project. He did a few other card sets for me in the past (which you can see here) and I was overwhelmed by both his talent and generosity with the swag.

This set is, again, incredible (as if I would expect less) but I will let you be the judge:

Apologies for the ugly quilt background, but I don't think it will distract from the amazing art. A few of the characters you will recognize as cannon DC Comics characters and there are a few you might notice as my OCs that have made appearances on this blog before. Here's a quick rundown of the characters:

Top (L-R): K-Pow, Shok, Honi, Brix
Middle (L-R): Chromatix, Match, Prince Volgir, Ilsa
Bottom (L-R): Alex and Harry, Krypto and Superboy, Simon Valentine, Blue Spirit

Dean is currently open for commissions (though he may not be available for more cards) so check out his Tumblr page for a list of prices. Some of his original pieces are also available to own as mugs, posters, pillows, and more from his Society6 page, too. Support this amazing artist to encourage him to create even more! Until next time!

*Superboy, Krypto, Simon, and Match are DC property and Blue Spirit is Nickelodeon property, the rest are owned by me.

Please Stand By

Wow! Has it really been almost a year since my last post!?! I can't believe that it took me this long to get back in the game. I've got some great ideas for upcoming posts - in fact, I'm planning on using my day off to "binge-write" a bunch so that I can do (at least) a weekly post for the next month.

Just a little update on the past year: I've just graduated and I'm looking for a career. I'm working another job to pay the bills until I find one in my field, but until then, I'm content. Now that the holidays are over, I've got a fairly regular schedule going forward so that I can try and operate a "normal" life. As for my New Year resolutions, I'm not attempting any life major changes. I could really use a stress-free year with friends and family. I'm hoping that the once weather calms down and I can start up game nights again with some old and new friends. I guess if there is a "big" focus for the new year (and one of the reasons I'm restarting my blog) it's to get back into writing. It's one of the things that makes me happiest and yet I've neglected doing it for soooo long. So, here is to a new year with infinitely new possibilities. Until next time!

Right To Love

If you haven't yet had a chance to watch the "Right To Love" video by Vinnie & Luke, better known on YouTube as V-Squared, here is you're chance. It's amazing to see them use their social media platform in such a socially responsible way and giving a voice to a topic that is often overlooked. Congrats, guys, and to all of those who sent in videos, thank you, too. And, though I didn't send in a video myself:

"I support your right to love!"

College Life

I recently had two great commissions completed, both of which were Christmas presents to myself, and thought that I would share them with my wonderful readers. Both of them involve my fanfic character Alex during his college years.

This first one is by my buddy Ichan-desu. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned him on here before, but he is amazingly talented. He's done a lot of pieces for me over the years and is the artist I've worked with the longest. (If you check out the link above, you can see a few of the pieces he's done for me in the past.)

The boys getting ready for class. 

This series was done by a new artist - at least new to me - named CluBear. She did the same 3 characters but fully dressed. I chose all of the outfits and she did an awesome job drawing the characters in them. Check out how detailed these are and yet she calls them sketches. She's incredible and I hope we can work together again.

 The boys looking stylish.

On the left we have Blaine (named for the Glee character and styled after Darren Criss). He's a Music Theater major with a minor in Public Relations. As you can guess, the posters on the wall are his. In the middle is Stuart (originally named Stanley). He's majoring in Computer Graphics and Programming. He's obsessed with technology, comic books, and videogames. On the right is a familiar face (if you follow me): Alex. He's a Creative Writing major.

I hope you enjoyed this peek at some of my characters and the awesome art of them. If you want to see more of them or my other characters, leave a comment or send me a message and I'll plan something. Until next time!