(coming to London on the 9th August 2008 for a reminder! )

I shall do my best to honour this event with my artistic flair!


TGAF Projects

So far I've completed 4 sketched pages to the 5th Chapter to The Grand ASHWORTH Fortune comic series entitled: Ashworth The Wombat. This chapter will be projected to have at least 25-30 pages or so. I shall be working more on the pages to the chapter next week.

This week I have plans to complete at least 3 FORTUNE in COLOUR pieces to update the collection. So far I've finished 1 out of 3 and it's looking pretty sweet! Do look forward it when I come back from work tomorrow, I would have submitted it by then. = )






Thanks again for sharing with me your support and enthusiasm for the series! The fan arts I've been receiving have been a blessing, do continue to send in your TGAF fan arts on DA or via darkspeeds@hotmail.com so that I can have them published on the official website! Take care guys and have a lovely week!

Oh and of course, hope many of you have celebrated Mother's Day last Sunday and given thanks to them for their amazing love and support over the years of your growth from childhood to adulthood!

Mine has always been an awesome mom, if it weren't for her I wouldn't be here sharing my talent and hard work with my friends, fans and family from around the world. Thanks mom, with much love and respect from yours truly. *thumbs up*


04th May 2008:

Behind The Scenes Stuff

Secret project in the works? What could it be? Let the photos do all the talkin'!










Western Kingdom Challenge 03 Entries Ready For Voting!








All the very best to all of the entrants who have participated in this month's Western Kingdom Challenge of the TGAF Creative Campaign! So far I've received a total of 15 entries and they all look spankin' cool! ^^


^{A CHANGE OF RULES:}

I will not have any influence on the final decision of picking the winner! I have decided to let the public poll have full power to determine the winner! So please do what you can to spread the word to your friends, family and relatives on making their vote count towards your final score. ^^

The reason being - I liked all the entries! XD Most shared a very similar theme of a failed attempt of romantic love from Parmir to Ruby, however there were some that had something more unique than others in their dialogues/narrative of the comic piece. Nevertheless I appreciate the efforts put into each and every entry and I reckon each and everyone should have the same opportunity to win. *thumbs up*

Just a reminder VOTING is due in a weeks time which is 11th MAY 2008.

Have fun reading the entries in the GALLERY SECTION of the TGAF Official Website! ^^ Please be sure to notify to me if there are any problems loading any of the entries presented in the GALLERY! Thanks and good luck once again everyone!


Eastern Kingdom Challenge 03

So far I've received 2 entries for this part of the competition. Please be sure to submit something like the sample below you. That is a perfect example of an entry to this month's Eastern Kingdom Challenge.




There will be no voting or judging on this occasion. I will be picking out from the hat the winner to this challenge! XD Be sure to submit your entries! You've still got time till the announcement of the official RESULTS which is on the 11th MAY 2008.


TGAF Creative Campaign Winners!!

With much respect and appreciation I thank to the champs on submitting their photo shoot of their prize along with themselves (or in one case a group of friends!)

They totally deserve it and I continue to wish them all the best in their endeavors at school/college/work/life in general!

WESTERN KINGDOM CHALLENGE 01 WINNERS - ^{Stephanie, Elly & Joe}



EASTERN KINGDOM CHALLENGE 01 WINNERS - ^{Jenise Toney (aka) BlazeTBW}



WESTERN KINGDOM CHALLENGE 02 WINNER - ^{Mayra A Hernandez (aka Lildarkangel99)}



EASTERN KINGDOM CHALLENGE 02 WINNERS - ^{Ana Ilda (aka Knux-the-killer)}




Unlocking The Lost Art of World Tour Sketches!!

Well this image will pretty much explain it all. XD This time EVERYTHING REMAINING in the World Tour Sketches will be unlocked as soon as it reaches it's target. Be sure to keep an eye on it! ^_~




The Summer of Sonic

It has been a very long journey for a top bloke who lives with his parents and also his bro in the same room together in a small town called Southend-On-Sea in the United Kingdom... But before I continue on with the goods regarding this special upcoming event called 'The Summer of Sonic', that is possibly the first legitimate and biggest Sonic conventions ever held in the United Kingdom, I shall explain a little bit about the man behind this incredible concept.

This highly motivated man of prestige with his innovative approaches to market and promote activities beneficial to the Sonic online community is named Svend Joscelyne (also known as Dreadknux - founder of one of the coolest and well acclaimed Sonic the Hedgehog fan sites in the world called The Sonic Stadium). An interesting piece of history worthy of note is since it's official launch in 24th October 2000 the website has a million hits only four years down the track. This demonstrates his incredible potential and capability to run a website that is attractive and can bring significant influence to the world stage.

Also involved in the SoS is his bro Roarey Joscelyne who can sometimes be seen as a counter part to Svend or a complete opposite in terms of personality and visions of the video gaming industry. In many cases he annoys the hell out of Svend in the most uncanny manner during their infamous and immensely entertaining SEGA Sonic radio show entitled 'The Sonic Hour' (every Sunday, 7:30PM GMT).

However don't let Roarey's rather silly and troublesome nature fool you, in reality he is one of the more mature, intelligent and talented people amongst the Sonic online community (check out his dedicated Pixel Artwork resource, his own games radio show - The Tiger's Eye (every Friday, 8:30PM GMT) and vocal recordings for proof). His creativity and hint of innovation are also qualities that is share with his bro.

Here is an photo that was taken during my World Tour in 2007. It was my visit to London for one of it's earlier Sonic meet-ups. Pictured below your left to right are Svend, myself and Roarey.




So now you have an idea of who the brothers are and how they have built their reputation amongst the Sonic online community you will start to get a better picture of why they are involved in a totally new and exciting prospect that is coming this summer in London, United Kingdom.

Do you remember way back in 2006 I made journal updates about a special event called the Summer of Sonic 2006 that marked a celebration of Sonic the Hedgehog's 15th Birthday? Many people from around the world, communities and fan sites of the blue blur and even the talented artists of deviantART who had admired the hedgehog for so long had an opportunity to pay tribute to Sonic's 15th Anniversary by taking a proactive approach with the guidance of the SoS event.




And just to be clear what I meant by a proactive approach can include: taking photos with you and your favourite Sonic memorabilia (such as your very first Dr. Eggman plushie); drawing Sonic fan art; writing Sonic fan-fictions; recording remixed music tracks that is attributed to the already large and diverse Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack and sharing it with other like-minded Sonic fans by uploading it to the SoS server.

Being proactive also includes participating in competitions that won rare and noteworthy Sonic merchandise, reading special articles of Sonic's history and publications and also unique interviews conducted by dedicated fans (such as Adam 'T-Bird' Tuff of Newcastle) with key people in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise (that could range from the music industry - Jun Senoue for instance - to the games makers themselves - Masahiro Kumono, Shun Nakamura and more...)

SoS was loads of fun, full of interactivity and an experience to remember by. It was also the idea of connecting with a like-minded and mature audience that admired the fastest thing alive as if it was only yesterday. SoS was a very important event that can be learnt from and treasured for years to come. Heck it made me become closer to my friends in the Sonic community, including the ones mentioned earlier in my article.

This reminds me also that because of SoS I wouldn't have been in touch with a talented and passionate friend of the blue blur named Adam Tuff (well known as the 'Man With The Hat' who is knows his heavy metal music more than anyone else in the planet or T-Bird - you can see a photo of myself and Adam during my visit to the town of York where he studied in one of their prestige universities), and I wouldn't have known the J Bros. any more better without experiencing their amazing journeys through the Sonic fandom.




Of course it hasn't always been the best of times during the struggle to make a positive outcome out of a recent releases of the games from the Sonic franchise. There had been sweat, blood and tears trying to withstand the repercussions of SEGA/Sonic Team's mistakes but it is because of a few mature minded and proactive people in this vast world we live in that make the difference.


And so it leads me to an exciting point about the new and upcoming event called The Summer of Sonic. Keep in mind that everything that was done during the year 2006 was purely online and the result of the concept was extremely successful. Now is the time that the SoS event was taken to the next stage.

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The event that is now officially confirmed of it's venue and dates will be real and it will be one of it's first in it's kind in Sonic fandom history. Like I mentioned earlier it will be a Sonic convention where real people will meet up and spend a quality day together celebrating the best things of our interests in the Sonic community. This year's SoS event will take place on a Saturday 9th August 2008 at the Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust. Again as a reminder of the full details on this event it can be all found here (or by clicking on the image below you).




And so I shall end my discussion about the event and leave you with a strong recommendation.

If you have been a respectable fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog series (whether it be the game, music, toys, comics, artwork, story... etc), whatever your sexual orientation, age and your whereabouts, if you have the will, time and hard earned cash to travel make London city your next stop on the 9th August 2008, because I'll be there - whether you like it or not.