Hey everyone! I'm on the road to recovery!

Just wanted to share a few fun things with ya.


Firstly my horrible attempt at voicing some page samples from 's awesome comic - XDRAGOON series. You can check out the latest from his official website or DA club


I did the first take in Broken-Portuguese and the following in English. Good times man. I know some friends who know the language very well and I'm dying to hear how many times they laughed or giggled at the mispronunciation of almost 90% of the words!


Click on Rocky below to listen!





The most important thing was to be able to portray the characters and I think I did a decent job - well with the exception of the girls of course! I've known Felipe's XDRAGOON comic series ever since the day worked my way up on deviantART. He's talented and I'm very much looking forward to some exciting news to come of the series in future.





Secondly Vizardjeffhog from The Sonic Stadium posted some exciting news from the team of OverClockedRemix.com. They're about to release a brand new album dedicated to the SONIC CD video game entitled: TEMPORAL DUALITY: A Sonic CD ReMix Album (both the Japanese and US versions have been taken into consideration!)


This was truly awesome news to me since Sonic CD has been one of the earliest Sonic music tracks that I've listened to over and over again when I was a young teen (well to be more precise it was the Japanese official remix album that got me hooked, I listening to those tracks while I was drawing stuff like SA2 Fan-Comic, Tails Away and Picnic Heaven).


My favourites would have to be Dr. Jigglyman and Miracle Planet (tracks 3 and 6 from memory). Both of those amazing tracks will always remind me of the first impression I got of that unique 'SEGA' tune of the early 90's.





Anyways towards the very end of the video you'll hear a chilled out rap rendition of the Sonic CD theme - performed by DiGi Valentine (renown for his 'English chilled-out' rapping style and he's also one of the most proactive NiGHTs I know of ever since the days of the very first Summer of Sonic online). You can hear a reenactment of my first reaction when I heard the song by clicking on the image below.








Thirdly I want to give a shout out to the two hosts who ran a brilliant new podcast on the SEGASonic Radio network called: The Super Power Flower Hour. Hosts FTA (aka 'Find the Computer Room!') and SonicMovies managed to grab hold of Ian Flynn from Archie Publications for an interview that I found most entertaining, insightful and satisfying.


If you're a fan of the Sonic Archie comic book adventure series then look no further if you want to hear some really cool and fun stuff from the head writer of the series! The hosts asked a bunch of questions that were relevant, interesting and downright amusing - the answers and repercussions were pure joy. I especially liked how Ian maintained composure throughout the interview - whislt talking about business, work ethics of being a writer, his pastimes, his loves, his... Well I can't find anything the dude disliked! Uhm what else, ah yes, he also talked about upcoming projects (ala Sonic x Megaman Crossover) and answered most of the fan questions that the hosts gathered together prior to the interview.


To me I knew Ian (from my meeting with him at Comic Con 2011) as a humble, talented and fun guy, and this interview proved it - in fact it proved it right over the fence.


So here it is, listen to and learn from it the experience.





Once again props to the hosts for organising the show and interview. Great job guys!


Last but not least thanks to everyone who passed on their well wishes when I was recovering from my emotional state last week. Take care guys and gals, I've got lots planned in the coming week! Stay safe and stay cool! *thumbs up*

Hey ya'll...


It's been a strange week for me especially for the past few nights. I had mixed emotions about a few things and there, ha ha usually I'm quite the happy chap.


But yeah I'm going to take some time out from here and just get myself back on track - I really need to get over whatever it is that is in my current emotional state.


Anyways take care guys and gals.

I really am spoilt this week. I swear that I will do my homework tomorrow! TOMORROW! *SHOT* XD


Anyways you have no idea how much fun this was recording as the Werehog from the Sonic Unleashed video game. I played the game with my nephews years ago - it brings me back wonderful memories.


I threw in the Chip cuz it just ain't the same without him. What I love about this recording is the two contrasting voices - one really gruff and one really nasally. Enjoy! "Ahrrgwwwwoooooooooooooooooooooohh!!!"

Annnd here we go! All the latest voices with the fat cut out of it. Also complimenting the voice overs is the music - and on Shard's end an extra special addition of SFX's for dramatic effect. Enjoy!





Shard says... 'I love you'


Can you be my Nicole...?


Anyways I had a ton of fun recording these two characters. Guntiver gets a Russian accent (and even speaks some Russian!). Shard gets extra attention. He's been a hot topic as of late and I did the best I can to portray him based off the dramatic issue that is Sonic Universe #50. In this variation you get the whole lot (stuff that won't be fully used in the final Youtube compilation). In the Soundcloud version that you're about to hear, Shard really does say: "I love you"...


Have fun while I'm still finishing off the next Darkspeeds' Sonic Archie Voice-Overs!


[CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LISTEN]









Guntiver speaking Russian??


Oh yes, expect a Russian accent as I'm recording Guntiver's lines from StH #247!! This is so much fun! X3





Think you guys an pronounce these Russian words in my extended script?


GUNTIVER: Sonic! Silver, Tails! Amy!

Go ahead without us! We'll take care of the orcas and the eggswats

SONIC: Thanks buddy!

GUNTIVER: Not a problem, please go now. Save Princess Sally!

Arctic Freedom Fighters! Listen up! (Ssh-foo Shitz-shian)

Follow my lead! (Phsear-du-sam-moi!)

ATTACK!! (At-ta-kom-vrides!)



Let's Talk About StH#247 (featuring Evan Stanley!)


I laugh too much - my one weakness when doing talk shows and such.







Plus, My EngLish is pEr-fect. Really. Just see how many many mistakes I haven't made regarding grammar/pronunciation on some of the stuff I said. I guess I can blame the editing process - had to cut this down from one hour and ten minutes to about 50 minutes tops.


Still hope this was insightful for the fans who watch our stuff and are into the Sonic Archie comics!


Things you need to know in this episode: Darkspeeds likes sexy butts and is gay, and Evan Stanley loves drawing monsters and killer whales... Well maybe not the killer whales.


Special thanks once again to Evan Stanley for hoping on board for this fun little session talking about... Well Archie comics! Probably do another in future, perhaps get Kovabomb involved too!


Stay way past cool kiddies!


Oh and sorry about the echo on Evan's end! X_X; (secretly she's Tikal).


(Music (C) SEGA/Sonic Team)
 





I'M SO HAPPY!!! ^______^


DUDE! DUDES!! DUDETTES!!!


I went to school today, fully aware of what's ahead of me in terms of catching up with class assignments and getting feedback on them.


I arrived on campus... And it was almost deserted... Then it hit me.


I HAD TWO WEEKS BREAK! NOT ONE!!


WHOOPIE-DOOOO!! Or YABA DABA DOOOO!!! *Darkspeeds rushes off to his local comic book store and collects Sonic the Hedgehoge #247*


*Elson reads comic in the bus... Was very entertained and trying hard not to laugh out loud at some cool stuff*


*Elson reaches the end of his stop, just a mile away from his house... Walks in the park and thinks up of something --- DING DING!!*


Let's do a comic book review of the Sonic Archie series for once!


Guys be expecting a video soon.

I'm really proud of the artwork involved in this CD album cover project. The design used here were a combination of my intuition, experience of being a fan of the Sonic Archie comics and stuff I learnt from Graphic Design (principles of spacing, composition, colours, typography, harmony and balance, contrast, and logo design)


I'm also extremely pleased with how the audio production came out! It's the first of it's kind within the Sonic Archie comics fan community to be honest and I'm proud to have produced something pretty darn solid.


Below are a list of credits given where due. I personally haven't created the music (if I knew how I would have done it ages ago, but I'm more of an illustrator than a composer of music) so a big load of credit and appreciate goes to the individual artists/creators who made the sound that I was looking for during the compilation effort.


Hope you'll enjoy it!








______________________________________

[CREDITS]

• Sonic Universe and StH comics are trademarks of Archie Publications


• Sonic the Hedgehog is a trademark of SEGA/Sonic Team


• Music used in the compilation belong to: FALK, Kohei Tanaka & Shiro Hamaguchi (One Piece), SEGA/Sonic  Team, Tenpei Sato (Phantom Brave), Noriyuki Iwadare (Lunar: Eternal Blue),  Music of France (Mastersong), Tomohito Nishiura & Tsuneyoshi Saito (Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva), Konami (Suikoden III), & Nobuo Uematsu (FFIX)


• Mobian Theatre JINGLE voiced by Chris K. (aka Kovabomb)


• SFX  belong to: Sony Pictures, BBC and Darkspeeds & Kovabomb's personal collection


• Audio production, album artwork and track listing/compilation © Elson 'Darkspeeds' Wong 2013

______________________________________


'The Tails Adventure' Atmospheric Soundtrack Album Artwork


All in their individual pieces! Feel free to print them off - I'd love to see someone compile the actually physical album cover and take a photo of it! I'd give you 100 rings if you do!






















Coming soon...

Wee! I'm one going to level up to Lv28!! * Final Fantasy fanfare*





I grew up with Final Fantasy VI to X - I watched my brother play those games when I was a kid/teen and still remember the music well.

The only Final Fantasy that I really played (and I still haven't finished it yet) is Final Fantasy VIII - *hums Eyes on Me*


My favourite fanfare out of the lot? I like them all (the ones I've heard) but the one that left with me the strongest impression would be FFVIII (kick-ass warfare victory). So here we go once more - let's level up to Lv28!!





Oh and after this I'm going to be spending the next two nights preppin' something special for all of yas - especially to the Sonic Archie Comics fans! See you all on the flipside soon!


Oh and of course thanks for all the birthday well wishes! I've just received this nasty cool Darkspeeds from - thank you very much! ^^





In addition to that I would like to pass on my thanks to for donating 400 DA points as a B-day gift to me! That's very sweet of you Sammy!

A camera and a mini mirror stand can be some of the most useful tools you can use in your artwork.







Sylvanna Fan Art Contest Deadline Extended!


Hi guys and gals! If you haven't checked it out yet and you're into your anthro-cartoon comics go and give this fan art contest a go and win some really cool prizes!


So far here are my concepts.











Good luck to everyone who have participated and submitted in their entries so far. I'm looking forward to checking out all the fun and amazing entries that have been sent in!


The Adventures of Knuckles! (Endangered Species)


I'm really starting to take a liking to how I'm portraying Knuckles, I never once imagined being able to do it.


Sure, it's far from perfect and nothing like the mainstream character voice in the video games but I'm happy with it because it's my own (*cough* I guess if you'd like a comparison maybe perhaps it's right in the middle of Michael McGaharn and Scott Dreier, Michael's lighter and Scott's more smoother - and sexier ha ha!)


Aww hell I think it'd rock if I could pull off a perfect Bill Wise's impression of Knuckles ("AHH! MY HAT'S ON FIRE!!" ~ I mean come on, who doesn't know that line??), perhaps a party trick I can do with Sonic fans in future?





Anyways I managed to finish some homework in the evening and I felt that I deserve to chill out some more to another round of voice acting (I'm currently on a one week break from school! Wee!). So what I did was... Well... Randomly picked out an issue from the Sonic the Hedgehog series (and no, not the Sonic Universe... We already did that this morning! A whole two hours too!!)


I decided to go for Endangered Species, a controversial four part arc in the fandom but hey I thoroughly enjoyed how Ian and Archie Publications team pulled it off so I share my applause on their incredible effort.


On this particular issue it had a lot of characters that I'm familiar with:

• Technically my strongest one would be Thrash the Tasmanian Devil (good ol' sexy Australian villain voice works every time *SHOT*)


• My Sonic's not too bad (I've always made a rule to never voice as Sonic in my own radio/comic dramas... Why me when I've got the awesome or to help me out?)


• Tails is just using my own normal good guy voice (so yeah no emphasis on accuracy, just playing according to how I feel Tails sounds like in general)


• T-pup was a lot of fun (YIP YIP!)


• Amy Rose (surprisingly turned out okay - embarrassed a little by the fact I sounded so out of whack when Amy got electrocuted)


• Julie-su... I don't even want to say how I went with that, and lastly we had


• Nicole (in which it would be have been 10 times better if did it, but hey I had to improvise somehow and Nicole was at least nowhere near as bad as... Julie-su... XD)

Wanna have a listen? Go click on the video link below!





Overall I had a great time recording this, voice acting is a lot of fun. It's a great way to express yourself and to feel positive. Acting gives you that confidence and satisfaction. I think it's a great and healthy thing to do in your lifetime - even as a hobby (a great stress reliever I tells ya!)


Anyways what's install for me in the coming weeks? Well I need to catch up on my Graphic Design homework,  I'm going to celebrate my 28th birthday in three nights time with the family - I'll be booking a nice restaurant to go to tomorrow morning (blimey! I'm turning 28 already...?), complete one Sylvanna fan art and finally finish off a 'The Tails Adventure' promo art that will compliment the special unofficial atmospheric soundtrack that I'll be posting on Youtube real soon (some of it can been heard during the Livestream this morning but core blimey, it was too silent! ;_; XD)


Last but not least I want to share a big thanks (and an apology) to my friends who did an amazing job voice acting their roles this morning, and also to the fans/listeners who made an incredible effort to stay on the program all the way through. We were experiencing technical difficulties regarding the connection of both the Skype call and Darkspeeds Livestream - and boy did it bring a major inconvenience (a major headache more like it!). Nevertheless what's great about what happened today was the fact that we now know what the cause of the problem is and also, more importantly, we got a bleedin' solution to the problem!! I promise that it won't happen again everyone.


So yeah I had a lot of fun with your guys and I do apologise again for the many interruptions from my end (I just hated it when they did so well in 'Forged in Fire' and it kept hanging up on my end when Chris hosted the calls).


Also, seriously, this guy doesn't get credited enough - he's always behind the scenes, always getting my back (and my friends' back) on anything IT/technologically related issues and crazily rare is the fact that is simply a humble guy in real life. Thanks to Jason (aka for helping us out this morning, bro you are a legend, thank you).


So yeah guys that's it for now! I can't wait to make full use of my week free from school! Here's to an excellent week everybody! Peace!

In One Hours time! [THE TAILS ADVENTURE Readout!!]





(live in one hours time! Feel free to mingle around in the chatroom with your friends to discuss about your weekend or even your favourite Sonic Comics!)






See ya'll in 2 Hours! [TAILS ADVENTURE Readout!!]


Confirmation! I can already see that my friends on Skype are ready to rock da place!

, , and


Will be meeting you in the chatroom in 2 hours time! As soon as the image below is green we're ready to go! Looking forward to your company this evening!






See ya'll in 12 Hours! THE TAILS ADVENTURE Readout!!


Confirmed! We've got our Tails voice actor for the evening.




Thank you to everyone who had auditioned and shared their interest in a spot for the live readout!


We'll see ya all soon tonight for the live broadcast of Mobian Theater LiVE!


'The Tails Adventure' soundtrack!


Gargh! Took me a whole day to work on this! I've compiled together a quick and efficient playlist of custom edited tracks containing a mix of SFXs and BGM to fit the narrative or scenes of each issue.


I've decided to take this approach of bringing live SFXs and BGM into the 'The Tails Adventure' rather than the 'Forged in Fire' issue.


We're going to treat 'Forged in Fire' as a completely acoustic in terms of SFXs and BGM during the readout.


Nevertheless I present to you what's lined up for the show on Saturday night!





It's about 24 minutes worth of atmospheric and story driven music. It's gonna sound epic, I promise! X3


Now then, time for bed! As soon as I wake up - I'm going to get straight into the promo art for this event! Goodnight folks!



Tails Voice Urgently needed for Saturday!


Say you a fan of the Sonic Archie series? Got yourself a good mic and anxious to pull of Tail's voice in a Sonic Archie Readout?





Fear not you still got time!


At this point of time there has been a slight change of circumstances - the original voice actor who was going to join us aka is regrettably unable to attend the session, which is all good and understandable. = )


I've posted to other Tails VAs that I know of who would fit the bill for a major role tomorrow since they'll be playing three parts to the arc that is TAILS ADVENTURE.


Send me a demo reel via PM or darkspeeds@hotmail.com - it doesn't have to be a lot of dialogue - just enough to give me a good idea of how ya sound like as Tails.

Worse comes to worse, we'll get to voice him (mua ha ha!), in fact we had the idea of taking turns to play as Tails (Chris, myself and Mike too!)



Mobian Theatre LiVE program


Okay so what's the scoop for Saturday this weekend? Well all you gotta know is that we'll be doing two Sonic Archie stories (based on the requests of a recent poll I've submitted - the fans have spoken on what they wanted!). Listed below is the order of what's to be expected:

• Mobian Theatre Live Intro


• SONIC UNIVERSE #50: Forged in Fire
  
  
  
  Approach: PURELY Acoustic vocals, SFXs and perhaps improvised music through humming... (XD), Bloopers?
  
  Starring:
  
  as Narrator, Metal Sonic
  as Orbot and Cubot
  as Nicole, Amy Rose
  as Shard and Dr. Eggman
  as Miles 'Tails' Prower
  
  _____________________________


• Break/Feedback Session
  
  _____________________________



• SONIC UNIVERSE #18: Trouble in Paradise: PART II - The Honeymoon's Over
  
  
  
  Approach: Improvised and acoustic SFXs, digitally prepared SFXs and BGM, Bloopers?
  
  Starring:
  
  as Narrator, Battlekuku XV, Dr.Fukurokov
  as Antoine D' Coolette
  as Bunnie Rabbot
  as Speedy
  as Miles 'Tails' Prower
  
  _____________________________



• SONIC UNIVERSE #19: Trouble in Paradise: PART III
  (same details as above)
  
  
  
  _____________________________


• Break/Feedback Session
  
  _____________________________



• SONIC UNIVERSE #20: Trouble in Paradise: THE FINALE
  (same details as above)
  
  
  
  _____________________________


• Encore & Final Feedback Session
  
  _____________________________


• Character Q & A!
  
  Here's an opportunity for your folks to ask questions to the characters who were involved in the SONIC UNIVERSE arcs we've covered for the evening! We'll do our best to imitate as closely as possible to the characters and events true to the canon Sonic Archie comics (just don't ask Shard if he has a crush on Nicole okay? You might make Nicole blush during the live broadcast!)
  
  _____________________________


• Denouncement - Thanks and Goodnight!

So yeah guys the program will run for about TWO HOURS at max.

You can listen to our live broadcast at   Darkspeeds LIVESTREAM

The time and date of this Mobian Theater LiVE program is as follows:

San Francisco (U.S.A. - California)   Saturday, 13 April 2013 at 8:00:00 PM

Need help on conversion? Use this site and input the above dates corresponding to the location of where you'll be listening to the program. 8- )


Looking forward to your company folks! Oh and please... SPREAD THE WORD OUT! XXXD Do let your friends know and other folks who are into this awesome comic series. The more the merrier no?

Guys and gals, I have exciting news to share with yas but first!


*drum roll followed by fan-fare*





Woo hoo! Score for my Art History essay and presentation! = ) I'm very pleased with the result!! And I sucked at writing essays when I was in uni. XD I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment - Kurt Schwitters was an interesting subject to research on!


Also, everyone in my class did great too. I'm really happy with my group of colleagues/mates. As I always say they're a cool and talented bunch.


Okay now then, the news... My PC is all fixed and good to go which meeeeans... The Sonic Archie Readout is very likely to run smoothly on the day.

I've also confirmed that will be joining us! Also we'll be having one more special guest to join our team of voice actors and Sonic Archie fans... Mwah ho ho ho hoooo!!


I'll be back tomorrow with FULL updates on the schedule and such! I'll be working on a promo art piece to dedicate this event. Please do me a favour guys and spread the word - especially to your friends who love the comic series!


PC Under Repair...?


Hey guys and gals,


Just when I was really excited to come back home after another hard day of finishing off assignments for this week at Graphic Design school (got just one more to go before I have a whole week off for break!) - THIS HAPPENS.


It seems like when I start up my operating system it crashes and it won't allow me to do anything like I usually would on a typical day.


I managed to backup all my stuff (thank god) but I'm still not very pleased with what's happenin' down here.


I will say this - the SONIC ARCHIE READOUT is set for this Saturday, 7PM Californian time.


I've confirmed that and will be making an effort to attend the session. I will also be introducing two more people into the mix for this epic read-out... We plan to do not just SONIC UNIVERSE #50... But almost the entirety to TAILS ADVENTURE (thanks to your votes on the poll!).


I really pray that my PC won't go bust... Otherwise I'll have to reinstall everything again... Including my Skype and Livestream, Audacity and Camtastia Studios programs essential for the live broadcasting and recording this weekend. ;_;


Be sure to help spread the word out when I have further confirmation on the event! It's a great time to just chill with like-minded Sonic Archie fans like yourself with our gang who know the series damn well (and can pull off a voice-over and much, much more!)... Man... Bloopers ahoy, I can't wait.



Elson voicing Knuckles? Finally an Asian accent?


Woo! Handed in my assignment today! And now... Another two more for the week. Bugger.


Hmm... How about I give myself a quick break? Let's have some fun and record more Sonic Archie character voices!


Let's start off with Lightning Lynx. For the first time you'll hear me (ironically) imitating an Asian accent... I picture LL with that kind of martial artist dude with an American Asian accent, who lived in the States long enough to maintain composure with his English but has that hint of oriental toungue in his voice... XXXD








This copy of dialogue was taken from the following scene in the comic. Remember this arc?





Next up we got the fighting freak Knuckles yo!! *SHOT*


Oh gawwd... Lemme tell you, I totally suck at Knuckles and I know some friends who can pull it off way better but hey I'm here to have fun. It doesn't hurt to give it a go, and to be honest I'm pretty pleased with the result! More hang time for the rad red - 5 minutes of recording!!


Sonic: "What a hog!!"
Darkspeeds: "Damn straight!"
*Knuckles knocks the lights out of the two of us*









And this copy of dialogue was taken from the following scene in the comic. See if you guys can recognise it.






Oh oh oh! I've got some fun and exciting news for ya'll this coming weekend.


Anybody interested in listening to , and perhaps some fine lady for another Sonic Archie Read-out session (via Darkspeeds Livestream)?


I'm thinkin' of doing the chapters in SONIC SUPER SPECIAL #6 (I want to listen to Espio again... We can explore the Dragon Kingdom too lol XXD).  If you're interested let us know and if we got the numbers I'll try and organise something with the good folks who know their Sonic Archie material and are bloody good voice actors - fun times ahead baby!


(Actually let us know WHAT SONIC ARCHIE ISSUE you'd like us to read out! How about that?)

Been working on my two assignments all day/night, I totally need another break - a power nap would be tempting!








Yay for progress~!


Anyways I must push on before the deadline in 12 hours... So let's keep fit and fresh with some exercise.


Find ways to motivate yourself folks, do your mind and body a favour especially if you're sitting on your butt all day (whether it be drawing, colouring or watchin' Youtube videos). For me I'm starting to admire a jog in the peaceful and quiet suburban park and river by my area.


I used to hate jogging/running (cuz I much preferred riding my bike) but now I like it a lot because you got more control and freedom on where you want to go - it's a different kind of feeling that I can't put my finger on it. It's exhilarating when you know you can travel the distance on your own without any contraption/vehicle, a very satisfying feeling that.


I especially love to jog in the early hours of the morning or really late in the night, and in this case it's 2:42AM. Makes me think about a lot of stuff (like perhaps my next grand idea for a graphic novel concept) and at the same time appreciate nature at it's best when it's not disturbed.


Also, it's pretty cool that you're all by yourself, ready to embrace and take in this peace in the night. Just make sure it's a safe neighbourhood though lol! It has been in my area for over 20 years and I know my way around from the back of my hand and eyes closed. Man how I'd love to jog in the middle of the forest or wilderness though... I actually did that when I went down South with my sister and friends to Margaret River (ie winery region in WA) - it was pure country bliss. But yeah it ain't exactly that right here. lol


Anyways always bring with you a good pair of sneakers, socks, good clothing (for your info the one I'm wearing on the photo are compression tights for what the pro athletes wear, Now I'm nowhere near their league but I bought these cuz they look darn cool, very comfy and durable too. They ain't cheap and I rarely buy top-end stuff unless I really like it!), water (optional), timer/mobile phone and a mini torchlight if you're going out in the night (just-in-case).


So yeah, here I go!








Off to the river really late in the night! Alan Wake style... Hope there ain't not Taken comin' after me!





*heads off*


Damn You Homewoooork!!


I got this Botanical Illustration of a beast to colour in and submit on Tuesday (it's still not finished yet! Now we're getting into the finer details).








I got this 5 page document that needs to be written, touched up and designed for Monday. And from that class I have the lecturer whom I'm in a class of her's on Wednesday and we've got a promotion to sell in front of the whole class! Aaaargh! That's three big assignments due this week! The pressure!!! ;___;








I just want to draw Shard fanart... That's why I'm a little frustrated that's all. Oh and Sylvanna fanart too... I want to chill out man! XD





Do your homework kiddies!!


(And yes, that's Ashworth right there... He's constantly being redesigned... Ham and eggs!!)

I want to give a shout-out to for his recent completion of a Sonic Archie comic drama that he has been working on for months.





I'd say it's a job well done, I thoroughly enjoyed the voice acting, the pacing and the choice of BGM used to enhance the mood of each scene.  


The drawback were the sudden and empowering sound effects that can be heard in some parts of the video and the BGM also could tone down just a tad to improve clarity on the voices that were trying to be heard. However he did listen to the advice I've passed on just before he completed the second part to this video and you'll notice that the music toned down and the volume boosted to the voices after 02:40. Much better right?


I absolutely love Mmichael's voice work (you can find him here ), his Guntiver was awesome and I'm really starting to take a liking to his Sonic voice alot.


Sonicpolo23 also did great with his voice work - he did something like me, as director of the comic drama, to voice act a lot of the other characters (whether it be minor or major role). It's not easy doing that and I give props to him for putting on a good performance - I especially liked his voice for Rotor and his surprising (and unexpected) role as Sealia (that was really good, sounded very French and fitting to Sealia's jovial personality).


Anyways keep up the awesome work dude, thanks for the entertainment!


Also a further shoutout to Mmichael154 (who brilliantly voiced Dr. Eggman, Snively and Shadow the Hedgehog on my previous videos) since he doesn't get enough recognition for his voice work - he's recently posted recordings of characters from Avatar, the Joker from the Dark Knight and that unmistakable character/rival from the Yugi-Oh series - Kaiba. He nails it man, I should help get him a much better mic - studio quality.





Re-relisting to Kaiba brings me back wonderful memories of my teen years watching many episodes during morning breakfast cartoon hour.



Sylvanna Fan Art Contest! Win the Ultimate Prize!


Hey there good folks, fan of the Sonic series? Have a strong lovin' for the upcoming Sylvanna series? Think you got what it takes to be creative this weekend and come up with a signature drawing for Sylvanna?


Dawn Best is hosting Sylvanna's first fan art contest and she will be donating this awesome exclusive, signed and sketched for you if you win top place!





Click on the image for more details on how to enter and how to win this really cool prize! So start crackin' kiddies!



Ailish's animated short (GotF Silver and Shadow!)


I just woken up, had my breakfast, watched some Youtube video highlights of 2012, and made preparations to complete an art history essay that's due this week.

This this pops up into my inbox.





Fans of 's Ghosts of the Future will instantly recognise this scene from Chapter 2.

Now I know I mentioned this before but I'd say it deserves another shout-out. made a motion video of the first two chapters to GotF if you haven't seen it already.





It features the following cast:

as Tikal
as Sonic
as Dr. Eggman
as Silver and Shadow
as Blaze and
as Mr. Cat.


He is in the process of completing Chapter 3 (which is also going to be in colour since that's when GotF started getting the colouring treatment. )


Now going back to that video I first mentioned it was made by the talented (her old account being ). For those who don't remember she also contributed to the Sonic Art Collection fan art contest that I just recently hosted. Ailish managed to win top prize! Check out this stunner!



Anyways when I saw her video the first time I was totally not expecting it. She felt that she kinda missed out on the VA role that I posted a couple days ago so decided to make it up with the video featuring GotF and my voice work that she admired. The smooth animation that complimented the narrative from the Evan's GotF series was incredible. Short but sweet, the way I like it!


Thanks for sharing that awesome animated short Ailish! It definitely put a smile to my face. *thumbs up*

Thanks to everyone who sent in their submissions, that was a good opportunity to give me an idea of who else I could use in my Mobian Theater advertistments. For now I've decided to stick to who I know could deliver the read I want - and with quality mics too.


Here it is folks, live and uncut, no special effects or music, just acoustic live recording online.


Oh of course, bloopers and fun times ahoy!






Advert Spot for Mobian Theater (TAKEN! Thanks!)


Hi folks! Here's an opportunity for any keen voice actor who would like to contribute to my first ever Mobian Theater episode!


How so? Get yourself featured in an ad that's what!


I'm looking for a good Mobian citizen male/husband driver and a female/wife passenger to role play the radio ad below.


Be sure to stick to the copy and most important of all is to have a GOOD mic to ensure clarity of your recording (ie. a recording with minimal static and BG noise). The most impressive copy read will be accepted.


Here is the ad that I've created which will feature Zonic the Hedgehog (who will be played talented voice-over )


_________________________________________________________________________________

<sub>MOBIAN THEATER Episode One: Covert Chaos
ADVERTISEMENT 01: Z-Tek Navigator
60-Second Radio Spot

SFX: out in the middle of the Mobian countryside, car pulling up
Johnathan: Honey I don't think this is the right address
Nancy: But it says here that we're on the right street, it should be somewhere around here
Johnathan: But we've been driving for two hours, we should have been there in 30 minutes!
SFX: knocking on the windscreen
Nancy: Oh John! Looks like the policeman can help us
SFX: windscreen unwinds in automatic fashion
Zonic: Excuse good folks, you seem to in a spot of trouble, lost your way right?
Johnathan: Hey! Aren't you that famous Zone Cop Zonic the Hedgehog?
Zonic: That's right
Johnathan: Wow! But how did you know that we're lost officer?
Zonic: Because you're in the wrong zone that's why
Nancy: The wrong zone?
Zonic: Yes in fact your licence plate tells me that your vehicle's registered in the No Zone, you're currently in Mobius Prime.
Johnathan: Oh my, how about that honey?
Nancy: Goodness we should have realised we were in the wrong place after not having to drive sideways
Zonic: It's okay, sometimes you take a wrong turn and you end up elsewhere by accident.
Listen how about I give you good folks this?
Johnathan: What is it?
Zonic: It's called a Z-Tec Navigator, a built in GPS system that'll also let you know if you're travelling outside of the No Zone
Nancy: Golly, thank you officer!  
Johnathan: I'm going to tell my cousin to get one of those, they travel around a lot! Thanks officer!
Zonic: Don't mention it, have a safe trip back home!
SFX: futuristic car warps back to No Zone
Zonic: Always be sure install a Z-Tec Navigator into your cosmic vehicle, though it's not compulsory you'll be able to save yourself a scenario just like this one.  
This advertisement was endorsed by the Cosmic Interstate Travel Bureau helping you getting to your destination and driving safely!</sub>

_________________________________________________________________________________


_{All your entries to be saved in MP3 or WAV format
All recordings must have at least TWO TAKES
Send your files to darkspeeds@hotmail.com}


Looking forward to your input! And if you don't get accepted for the part then don't get discouraged, at least you took initiative to make a recording and put it up for a demo reel in future!



Darkspeeds' Sonic Archie Voice-Overs [SET 1]

Hope everyone is having an awesome Easter!


Anyways what an awesome Good Friday it is - cuz I've managed to finish a set of six voices from the Sonic Archie Comic series! Time to work on another set, but only after I'm done with those bloomin' assignments from Graphic Design school! X_X; lol XD


Enjoy my range of different voices! From an old grump man to a slithering villain of a snake!






Darkspeeds' Soundcloud


I finally got one setup! This will be the perfect place for people who want to hear quick samples of my voice work.


Over the coming months I'll be adding in characters from the Sonic Archie universe. From time to time I'll perhaps be adding other characters that I highly admire from a cartoon/comic/graphic novel series. On occasion if somebody gives me request and I dig the character they've requested me to voice as I'll throw that in as well.


Just completed these two today!




NEW!


Also I've got some photos to share with you all! Enjoy and have a lovely Easter Holiday!

[UPDATE] Thanks for the awesome two and a half hour session guys! Been lots of fun talkin' about Sonic music, college, travelling, economic crisis, voice acting, comics and loads of other stuff! Wait... Did I say economic crisis? lol

Anyways it was also cool to do some voice impressions on the spot and based off listener request! Once again I share my thanks to people and friends who have attended the session, couldn't have had a show without yas.


Hi guys! Just posting this for kicks. I really need a break from all of these crazy assignments due at School of Design. I'll be doing some vocal recordings based off the Sonic Archie characters that I'll be using for my latest voice demo reel.


When I'm done we can have a catch and just talk about stuff! I'll try to keep it to an hour since it's 1AM atm... lol See you there.






SONIC UNIVERSE #47 Readout! (Program and Feedback)


Holy Walkers!! The entire live recording was just an experiment that came out of the hat but it turned out to be ALOT of fun! I couldn't have done this without and without you guys who were most cool to tune in, give us feedback and see how much fun it is to do read-outs of the Sonic Archie comic series!

For your convenience I've made a list of what was crammed into 1 hour and 35 minutes of epic recording carnage!





[UPDATE] I had a re-listen to this and boy did I screw up/LOLs/interrupt several times! X_X;; I'll take note not to be too giddy next time if I were ever to do one again. Sorry guys (and Kovabomb - who maintained composure throughout the live recording).


I also gotta fix the volume settings, make it a little more louder on Kovabomb's end. Also didn't like the fact that it gets cut sometimes while we're delivering the lines - probably it's preventable if I shut the webcam off. Some things to consider for next time.



PROGRAM -  _{[CHAOTIX QUEST Live Recording (feat. Darkspeeds & Kovabomb)]} - PROGRAM

1. Just Me and Chris talkin' bout stuff ~ Posting announcement of our exercise, preppin' up for the performance, Scourge's kick-ass voice! [00:00 - 12:30]
 

2. CHAOTIX QUEST #47 (Live-Read out begins) [12:37 - 30:12]
 

3. FEEDBACK to SonicPolo23! [30:15 - 31:12]


4. KOVABOMB Suggests Feedback from Viewers: [31:15 - 33:00]


5. Post this at Bumbleking forums? Darkspeeds takes a Break and KOVABOMB talks to Viewers [33:20 - 34:50]
 

6. "Don't you DARE STEAL MY SHARD!!" [34:52 - 35:30]
 

7. KOVABOMB as Shard and Sonic  [35:50 - 36:18]


8. Darkspeeds desperate to do SHARD's voice (AND CHEATING!) [36:20 - 38:10]


9. Q & A with Kovabomb (Who's your favourite Sonic Archie character to VA?) [38:12]


10. Q & A with Kovabomb (Does Your Voice Get Hoarse When you VA frequently?) [38:46]


11. Q & A with Kovabomb (Who would you voice in Sonic x Megaman?) [39:30]


12. Q & A with Kovabomb (Kovabomb does the JOKER from Dark Knight!!) [41:00]


13. Darkspeeds talks about Performance enhancement when reading out dialogue [43:55]


14. Darkspeeds and Kovabomb (as SHARD and SONIC ~ bloopers!) [44:00]


15. CHAOTIX QUEST #48 (Live-Read out begins) [46:50 - 1:07:00]
 

16. FEEDBACK TIME! [1:07:15]


17. Who has seen Wreck-it-Ralph? [1:09:20]
 

18. Kovabomb does impression of TURBO? [1:09:35]
   

19. CHAOTIX QUEST #49 (Live-Read out begins) [1:11:16]
 

20. This is getting tense!!  [1:19:25]


21. MIGHTY UNLEASHED??!? [1:20:03]


22. CHAOTIX QUEST #49 (End!) [1:24:40]
 

23. LIVE AND LEAAARRRN!!! [1:24:42]


24. FEEDBACK 2.0 [1:25:04]


25. Meet Tails! [1:30:00]


26. Encore [1:33:30]

It's a shame that wasn't on Skype, but it's all good - Kovabomb managed to brilliantly pull off all of the girl's voices (ie. Matilda and Thorn the Lop!).


Thanks again for being such a wonderful audience! Perhaps one day I'll we can do another - just for kicks.



FEEDBACK - _{[CHAOTIX QUEST Live Recording (feat. Darkspeeds & Kovabomb)]} -   FEEDBACK


Ashley : OMG
Joanna : ...NO
Amaya : Woohoo!
KirbyChan : Oh wow, that is spot on O_O;
Ashley : You, my good man, ARE TURBO
shadowknux516 : YEAH!
Amaya : lol
TylerVA : *dies of happiness*
CHICAGOPDSTARS : Never n the red box!
Ashley : That was just EPIC
Vincent : MY GAWD!!!
ShadeKetchum1 : He's going Turbo!
Sen : That was... TURBOTASTIC!
SilverZeo88 : Can you do a Kamina scene?
DTrain2695 : Damn
Ashley : o.o Elson, you've not seen it?
Nightwing178 : OH MY GARD!
Ashley : You HAVE to see it!
KirbyChan : Can you do some King Candy?
RJManatsu629 : How... in mobius... DUDE ThAT WAS SPOT ON!!!
shadowknux516 : You haven't seen it yet!? D=
NankoYukiHaruno : that was great Kovabomb! 8D
Ashley : Honestly, the guy reminds me of the Mad Hatter
ShadeKetchum1 : SPOILERS!
Ashley : Even down to the voice
Nightwing178 : XD I get it
Ashley : You better XD
RJManatsu629 : That was a perfect terbo!
Nightwing178 : XD Come the NY
RJManatsu629 : I watched that today
Sonicpolo23 : We should when you come!
KirbyChan : I totally should be asleep by now. But this is just too fun.
Joanna : Yay!
Vincent : Is it bad that I practically hear a Country Scourge somewhere in there?
Vincent : O.o
Nightwing178 : I know My mom will kill me if she finds me awake XD
TylerVA : lol Vince
Nightwing178 : j
Nightwing178 : Epic music
CHICAGOPDSTARS : You're no Chrush 40 Elson! LOL!
Nightwing178 : XD
KirbyChan : I love your Mighty voice <3
Nightwing178 : For hr~
Ashley : His Mighty voice is pretty good ^^
Nightwing178 : FOR THE GIRL!
ShadeKetchum1 : I'm suddenly imagining Baron as a southern wardern with that voice.
CHICAGOPDSTARS : agreed
WeridoKid : favortie voice to do ?
NankoYukiHaruno : hey Elson I gotta brb, but I'll be back ^u^
Nightwing178 : WHOA! He just sound like a die dog D:
Nightwing178 : [link]
ShadeKetchum1 : Stuff just got real!
TylerVA : These are the Best Sound Effects
Nightwing178 : I KR
RJManatsu629 : Yes
Joanna : Awesome
Ashley : And things just got intense~
Amaya : this is so great <3
ShadeKetchum1 : Sappy memories and emotions time!
WeridoKid : i'm yelling !
Ashley : Now things got emotional~
Joanna : T_T
Nightwing178 : did you run away elson?
RJManatsu629 : Wow... That's good TT_TT
Nightwing178 : T~T
Amaya :
shadowknux516 : So Emotional
Nightwing178 : TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT~TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Nightwing178 : TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT~TTTTTTTTTT
ShadeKetchum1 : *tearing u*
KirbyChan : So many feels...
ShadeKetchum1 : *up
Nightwing178 : Pain without love
Nightwing178 : Pain can`t get enoughj
Nightwing178 : XD I found epic musc for you Elson!  [link]
Ashley : And things are about to get reallly intense...brace yourselves folks
Nightwing178 : DEATHJ
KirbyChan : We're blasting off again!
Ashley : *braces* o.o;
Nightwing178 : FATITLY
ShadeKetchum1 : Uh oh. Prepare for the Mighty......to be UNLEASHED!
KirbyChan : FALCON PUNCH A FREAKIN MISSLE
TylerVA : MIGHTY RAGE!!!!!!
CHICAGOPDSTARS : The collar is off!
Nightwing178 : RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH *Mighty flips the Universe*
shadowknux516 : MIGHTY used OUTRAGE! It was Super Effective! XD
Nightwing178 : XD Elson
KirbyChan : I'm kinda disappointed that there was no Mighty throwing tanks at people...
Sonicpolo23 : loving it
CHICAGOPDSTARS : If only we could sick mighty on Ken Penders!
Nightwing178 :

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO   THE WEIRDNESS
Ashley : This is still pretty good all the same ^_^
Nightwing178 : NOOOOOOO
ShadeKetchum1 : He kinda needed to get to his sister Kirby. I mean she just lost an arm to a missile.
KirbyChan : Yeah, but he was enraged. Plus he was using a tank on the cover. But I guess throwing engines at people is good enough
ShadeKetchum1 : And plus covers aren't always accurate.
KirbyChan : I can dream xD
Ashley : Sonic Unleashed theme~
ShadeKetchum1 : Yup.
CHICAGOPDSTARS : Elson humming. Did not expect this when I created an account to be here! LOL!
KirbyChan : I will be mad if Bunnie is legionized :I
Nightwing178 : [link] Your depressing music Elson XD
Amaya : lol
Ashley : Nice work guys XD
CHICAGOPDSTARS : Me too. i like her back to normal!
WeridoKid : loads of fun
RJManatsu629 : LIVE AND LEARN YES!
Sen : AMAZING job!
Ashley : You two had all kinds of fun XD
Amaya : You guys did a fantastic job
CHICAGOPDSTARS : Fun stuff!
Nightwing178 : [link] For the sad part T~T
Hedgehogtwins : Hi all!
ShadeKetchum1 : I know what happens with Metal Sonic. But no spoilers. Awesome Job!
MarriNoelle : My gosh. I loved that. It was amazing guys! ^-^
GartDelta : wOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOt!
Sen : I came for the Mighty and stayed for the great voices. :'3
TylerVA : Again, pure genuis!
Nightwing178 : [link]
Joanna : Wonderful!
shadowknux516 : You guys did Awesome! *claps*
Vincent : Good work dudes. ^-^ Hope to keep hearing more!
Hedgehogtwins : its over...
RJManatsu629 : Your Ray is epic
Hedgehogtwins :
WeridoKid : this feels like YGS
Nightwing178 : The amazing ness of life
Nightwing178 : Cookies X3
Nightwing178 : Mighty flipped the universe
CHICAGOPDSTARS ban: SU 50, why not!
Nightwing178 : ROLF
KirbyChan : Can you do SU 50?
CHICAGOPDSTARS : Your good stuff?
KirbyChan : Aw man! D:
CHICAGOPDSTARS : I DO!!
WeridoKid : any comic besides so long sally
CHICAGOPDSTARS : MUHAHAH!
Nightwing178 : Depression *tear drop
Hedgehogtwins : secret freedom fighters?
Hedgehogtwins :
Ashley : nHmm.. guess I'm gonna be trying my hand at Aurora for 162
Nightwing178 : An eye for an eye mate
Ashley : Gotta wonder how I'm gonna pull her off...
ShadeKetchum1 : Whoa! I'm suddenly scared of a plant.
Nightwing178 : Thats a good thing
Nightwing178 : How do you apply for the acting?
Ashley : Me?
Nightwing178 : In general
TylerVA : ^^^ same question
Ashley : Well, I found someone doing some Sonic Comic dramas and I did some practice voice acting on some characters
Nightwing178 : Yeah
Hedgehogtwins : sounds great
CHICAGOPDSTARS : Very Sonic X'ish
Ashley : Namely Nicole, Mina, Hope...
Nightwing178 : Nice
Ashley : I earned the part of Nicole for the drama, and Hope too
Nightwing178 : WOOF
ShadeKetchum1 : Sounds good.
Ashley : But I;ve gotta work on my Hope
Ashley : Aurora's gonna be different
Nightwing178 : I always wanted to act as nicole ever so badly!
shadowknux516 : Nice Tails voice, whoever voiced him!
Ashley : Nicole's really not that hard
WeridoKid : any idea for haveing someone proved a Mecha Sally in a Comic Dub ?
Ashley : I kept in mind that she often remains calm and, in turn, I kept my voice just as calm
Nightwing178 : If only I had the stuff to try out
Hedgehogtwins : yay!
Ashley : Not that I know of
Nightwing178 : [link] XD My character of many accents
SilverZeo88 : Didn't know Ratchet from TF was in Sonic?
Ashley : Right now, the director's gathering lives for 161 and 162
Ashley : And since he needs someone for Aurora I stepped up. I think I may have lines for Hope soon, I dunno for sure
KirbyChan : I thought Shard only had one boss. Harvey. Who's his second boss?
CHICAGOPDSTARS : I did that in my fanfic. Now there discussing it in the comic.
Hedgehogtwins : cool!
Nightwing178 : I wish I could, but I don`t hove the equiment to do this.
CHICAGOPDSTARS : I like being ahead of the curve
CHICAGOPDSTARS : Great voice work
WeridoKid : see ya...
SilverZeo88 : Thanks
Ashley : Good to know we were great ^^
SilverZeo88 : Awesome.
WeridoKid : and to see you in live action
Sen : Thanks for the fun time!
ShadeKetchum1 : Cool.
Nightwing178 : I`M 14 AND I LIVE IN NEW YORK! I`M AMERICAN GUATEMALA AND ELSALVADOR!
KirbyChan : You guys were great!
Ashley : Nice to finally see the face behind the voice~
CHICAGOPDSTARS : Made my early morning entertaining.
shadowknux516 : Thanx Kova! You're so Awesome!
Amaya : Thanks guys. It was really fun
SilverZeo88 : Gotta juice!
Hedgehogtwins : thank you!
Ashley : Buy guys ^_^
Ashley : * Bue
Amaya : Night guys
SilverZeo88 : Night.
ShadeKetchum1 : Ok then. Goodnight!
Nightwing178 : NIGHT!!!!!!!
CHICAGOPDSTARS : Later!



Live Recording of SONIC UNIVERSE #47 Readout!


I was in the middle of colouring the latest drawing that I'll be posting up soon (one that features Mighty, Matilda and Ray)


However my good friend Kovabomb happened to pop up on Skype and instantly I had the urge to take a break and have a fun session doing a mock recording of SONIC UNIVERSE #47.


Wanna have a listen?


Click on the image below and expect some bloopers waiting to happen!





And if :iconevanstamley: happens to drop by we'll get her to tag along and do the girls voices!


= Mighty The Armadillo, Alan Quail, Munch Rat, The Baron (aka Uncle Beaureguard), Lord Mordred Hood
= Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, Bow Sparrow, Friar Buck, Jack Rabbit
(when she's available XD) = Charmy Bee and Ray Squirrel, Thorn the Lop


See you guys at the box.

Hello everyone, thank you for being patient with me! I'm going to get the show rollin' whilst Silver, Larry and Shard are helping me out re-sorting entries to be presented here!


It's been a real pleasure hosting this contest made especially for the magazine in which I have plans to print off for the Sonic Archie panel to receive as a portfolio submission at Comic Con International 2013 in San Diego, but also, to the 8 winners of this contest and Featured Artists who will be contributing towards the book.


Before I have the privilege of commencing the awards ceremony I'd like to point out FOUR IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. To the 8 winners: You will not only have your entry featured predominantly in the Fan Art Contest section of the magazine but also be given the opportunity to give me a UNIQUE TITLE and a RATIONALE for your submission (MUST BE 100 words or less for the rationale), both of which will be printed next to your drawing with your name and city/country of residence.
   
   You will also be receiving ONE copy of the magazine - be sure to PM/email me your FULL NAME and valid POSTAL ADDRESS (a contact number is required - United States Postal Service requires this detail if you live in America or overseas) in order for me to send the magazine successfully.


2. To the 7 honourable mentions: You will have your entry featured in large format with the given space in the Fan Art Contest section. You will also be given an opportunity to submit a UNIQUE TITLE and a RATIONALE for your submission (MUST BE 60 words or less for the rationale), both of which will be printed next to your drawing with your name and city/country of residence.


3. To the rest of the fantastic entrants: You will have your entry featured among all entries to the contest with the limited given space in the Fan Art Contest section. You will also have a chance to provide me a UNIQUE TITLE and a RATIONALE for your submission (MUST BE 30 words or less for the rationale), both of which will be printed next to your drawing with your name and city/country of residence.


All rationales to be sent by Private Message or e-mail via darkspeeds@hotmail.com

A good example of a rationale came from Euan Kennedy (aka ) who states:

Title: Team Dark to Egg Pawn 5
Description: Pawns are the weakest pieces in the game of Chess. So, for Team Dark, Egg Pawns are nothing more than a warm-up session for them.

Here's another from Michele (aka ) who writes:

Title – We All Danced in Fire
Rationale - "All hail Shadow"? It's not just him anymore! I drew this piece to show my appreciation of the character development Mr. Flynn has put Team Dark through. They've gone from wussy angst to aggressively true and strong, disbanding justice in places others can't reach. Rock on, Team Dark! You now have a special place in my heart.




4. To ALL Sonic Archie fans (including the ones who entered this contest: Here is a chance to get yourself featured in print! How? You know the FAN MAIL/LETTERS section at the end of every Sonic comic book? And how about that SUPER SHOUT-OUTS column that appear in the Sonic Super Special magazine?
   
   I would like to get the best responses from you guys regarding the latest from the Sonic Archie series! The area of focus include: the epic journey that is CHAOTIX SAGA and the incredibly gut-wrenching adventure of ENDANGERED SPECIES.
   
   Tell me how much you loved the fact that Mighty finally got his family back or tell us about how you feel for both Thrash and Knuckles' situation. Or you could tell us how awesome Team Fighters are (or not!) and the fact that Shard just recently made a very cool entrance and joined forces to kick evil butt? Or how about telling us when Sally is coming back!!? What about making mention of perhaps spotting Bivalve in one of the issues? Will Silver ever find the traitor?!?
   
   Best to stick to the suggested topics but if you're itching to send me something else that relates to other Sonic Archie stuff I wouldn't mind listenin'!
   
   So come on fans, you know the drill. Send your letters to darkspeeds@hotmail.com with the given tag-line and rules (IMPORTANT - make sure you forward your mail with the tag-line or they'll be dismissed/ignored!):
   
   
   1. [Tag-line] Dear 'Curator of Sonic Arts'
   2. [insert content/question/discussion/praise/feedback/criticism here] Only a maximum of 150 WORDS. Nothing more than that please!!
   3. [insert details] Your Name and City/Country of Residence
   4. A good example has been provided courteousy of Kirby M. (aka ) who writes:
      
      Dear 'Curator of Sonic Arts'
      
      Just wanted to say how great it was to see Shard again in Endangered Species. He's always a pleasure to see. Team Freedom reactions towards him weren't what I was expecting but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. Him and Sonic against the K.H.H. was really fun to read. And I really like how Shard handled himself too against Team Freedom. Almost like he was walking on eggshells.
      
      Keep it up guys! And keep on juicin'!
      - Kirby M.
       Ohio, USA
      
   
   Send your Super Shout-Outs to either darkspeeds@hotmail.com or Darkspeeds@Twitter with the following rules:
   
   1. If sending by e-mail - [Tag-line] Super Shout-Out to 'Curator of Sonic Arts'
   2. [insert content/question/discussion/praise/feedback/criticism here] Only a maximum of 140 CHARACTERS (equivalent to a Twitter message). Nothing more than that please!!
   3. [insert details] Your Name and City/Country of Residence
   
   

Now without further ado let's begin the awards ceremony! Silver, Larry and Shard, if you would kindly pass me the entries for the presentation! Drum roll please!


THE WINNERS



<sub>"The thing that stood out to me the most was the unique anthro-cartoon design that Lord-Kiyo has applied to three very familiar faces of Mobius Prime. It was great to see them in their beach wear. I was probably mesmerized by the stunning coastline and exotic waves cascading the sands. Great colours all round, fantastic shading work and finally the realistic aesthetics of their anatomy matched beautifully with the realistic backdrop."




"This is an example of a Team Dark entry done with bad-ass detail. From the crumbling debris to the fiery city skyscrapers in the background to the flying Death Egg Mark II floating close to Mobius' atmosphere. It's almost like an Armageddon setting which is no stranger to G.U.N's top ops unit. The expressions coming from Shadow and Rogue desire for some room for improvement but it still captures that feeling of 'curiosity' which is something they often encounter during more complicated missions. Oh and Shadow's bike, killer (so is the arsenal that is Omega!)"</sub>




Ivette <sub>"Ivette is one of twin sisters that I knew of who admires Sonic the Hedgehog and have done many wonderful cartoon drawings way back in the day. And now to have witnessed the evolution of her art is such a privilege. The kind of entries I'm looking for are the ones that tell a story. This one does it graciously and with great respect to the amazing Team Chaotix. Classic badniks, kick-ass Chaotix and the hunt for the Yellow Chaos Emerald is such an engaging combination."




"I can't help admire Saphfire's opening gambit to capture my attention - Sonic's stare. I can't explain it... He looks too darn, sexy. (A-hem). Anyway the predominant feature of her submission is the intense mood and atmosphere created from the combination of strong green highlights, shadowy background for contrast and the drama created from what looks like Team Fighters completely dominating Dr. Eggman's robotic minions. I love everyone's expressions and Tails' way past cool satellite device in hand - clever bit of detail!"




"I can't believe the number of Secret Freedom Fighter entries that I have been receiving for this contest - these guys sure became very popular real fast with the fans! However this entry, among all the clutter, stood out to be an exceptional one. Why? Well once again it's telling me an engaing story - there's plenty of action and drama to be experienced (ie their fight for survival and victory against the Metal series). The intensity of the drama was highlighted from the clever colouring and shading work. The blurring effects was also utilised really well for balance. A great entry"




"Even when I asked for Evan Stanley's opinion she agreed this was an exceptional entry and one that had a unique style not seen before. When I first received this in my inbox I just knew that this was too good not to be in the top spot. Koda-Soda applied some wonderful composition throughout the piece - it flows beautifully. The slightly desaturated and washed acrylic styled painting looks complex yet very inviting to the eyes because of atmospheric value from the mountain setting (ala snow & mist). The only thing missing is Shard - perhaps he was on holiday!"




"McKimson originally had a poster style entry done that was based off the Chaotix Journey (specifically focusing on Mighty the Armadillo) and was already worthy for a top spot (check it out on the list below). This entry was still an exceptional piece because of it's narrative complexity, technical application of 3D effects and highly engaging composition. Some might argue that there is too much happening but I think McKimson did a great job keeping things balanced by playing around with space and positioning each character using the space available. At the end it was an economically produced masterpiece. Also the logo 'Flex' looks amazing."




"This entry totally blew my mind away. First it's a group that not many people would usually go for - The Wolf Pack. And secondly it's a frickin' masterpiece, I mean look at the details! RTb had the patience to draw almost every single member of the Wolf Pack and to fit so many characters so well takes a lot of planning, a bit of risk taking, and plenty of talent. I love the 'feel' of this piece, could it be the majestic sunsrise over the Highland mountains of the Mystic Ruins? Or perhaps the incredible leadership of Lupe and her family rising above all odds? Whatever it is I congratulate RTb for producing an award winning entry."</sub>



THE HONOURABLE MENTIONS



<sub>"This one came close to a winning entry. The merits of this submission include the fact that she not only drew Team Dark in perfect aggressive harmony but also the fact that she included one other vital member - Hope Kintobor! It's not often that you see artists that take initiative of thinking critically what additional element would make their artwork not fall into the category of the 'norm'.




"This was the first entries that featured one of my favourite bad-guy-yet-good-guy groups in the Sonic Archie series - the Sand Blasters. The group pose may be generic but it's done well. I can feel menace written all over their faces and poses (except for Jot, he seems too happy to be in the picture! Ha ha, but that's canon though because that's his personality even in gang mode) just how those dirty Sand-blasters would like it."




"This was a unique entry because of the fact that it starred two characters that come from the Eastern Kingdom! Again this is a concept that is not often explored and some are brave enough to demonstrate that there is something to be admired in the East end Mobius. There is a lot of tension to be felt when surrounded by a battalion of enemy ninjas who can (and will) end you in more ways than one - Xaolin26 captured this pretty well. Still are a bunch of bat-ninjas going to stop the almighty Monkey Kahn and the formidable Espio the Chameleon? I don't think so."




"ShadowKnux's concept piece came pretty close to gaining a top spot in the competition - the merit truly lies in her incredibly clever idea of The Secret Freedom Fighters being trapped under a sinister spell from their arch nemesis and threat - Ixis Naugus. She went as far as to add more depth to the concept by taking advantage of the code-names of each of the SFFs and turned them into the metaphor of card signs - literally! The technical aspect of her submission was also pretty well done! An amazing effort nevertheless."




"Oh goodness me, this was also another very close call to be considered a winner. What I loved most about this Secret Freedom Fighter piece as compared to the other ones is the fact that MorayK included the other important players in the organisation such as Nicole, Uncle Chuck and, of course, Director Harvey Who. Everyone was well drawn, well coloured, had great poses and convincing expressions and the overall design looked clean and simple which is very pleasing to see. The white space balanced brilliantly with the super details at the center stage of this wonderful entry."




"How I wished there were more Mercian Freedom Fighter tributes! This one is no exception though, Sky did a brilliant job keeping it in theme with the Robin-hood and his band of Merry Men mentality for this gang from Deerwood Forest. It was pleasant to see another entry that fully utilised traditional mediums to finish off their artwork - the coloured texters/marker pens do give it that added layer of complexity in the colouring work. A flamboyant and robust entry!"</sub>




Marilu _{"Marilu, who is one of the twin sisters I've mentioned earlier in the winners category, she is also a capable contender in the competition but didn't quite make it to the top tier - she almost got there though (I was rooting for you!). What I love most about her entry is the introduction of the classics with a contemporary twist added to it. This is probably the very first fan art of Dulcy I've ever seen and I'm glad to have witnessed and embraced an entry that paid tribute to a character never forgotten in the Sonic SatAM/Archie Comic series. I enjoyed the amusing expressions on everyone and the composition is well done. Overall a fantastic effort!"}


THE REMAINING & AMAZING ENTRANTS!


<sub>[Note: I'm going to come back tomorrow evening to update the full list here - I need to sleep! X_X; For those who are not in the list here please post my your link on this journal and I'll get it up here for presentation. Thanks!]


("It's super neat how CandiPheonixes actually drew the Bride and Clan of Constant Vigil! Chameleon Ninjas rock!")









("Sorry but I can help but say: 'Elias looks so darn sexy here!'. That is all!")</sub>




&

_{("I actually would like to make mention of this entry - a great effort to Fruitso for doing a piece not many would usually go for - The Downunda Freedom Fighters! Good on ya mate!")}

Hey there ladies and gentlemen! I've already expressed my keen interest on the latest project from Dawn Best & Ian Flynn involving anthro-cartoon styled bats and avians set in a fantasy adventure epic.


They have done an astonishing job getting way past their original goal of $3,000 USD for the project but now they have set the bar even higher in hopes to achieve not only a while heap more of awesome but also this one last initiative to reach the pen-ultimate goal: a 80 Page Graphic Novel of SYLVANNA.


Yes that's right folks, 80 pages of Sylvanna epicness in one beautiful book. How can you help?


Well for starters donate or spread the word! They've only go 36 more hours to pull this off and they can't do it without your help.


Go to their Kickstarter page by clicking on the link to find out more details on how you can help.


They actually made it more convenient now by providing a PAYPAL option - sweet.


I already chipped in my hundred bucks, I consider it an investment in my love for cartoons/comics (ESPECIALLY the anthro-cartoon kind), my entertainment, my education and also to support some very cool people in the comics industry.


So then, what are you gonna do? Go and support these guys before it's too late!! We don't want to miss out on getting a potentially awesome book right?

Wait what? Did you just say 8 winners?? Yup and I don't want those outstanding artist's entries to go away unrewarded. Each of the winners will be receiving one copy of the magazine in PRINT when it is finished and ready in July 2013.


Honourable mentions have been included when I announce the winners who have been competing for a top spot out of the 46 valid entries that I've received in total.


You guys and gals did an amazing job and I thank you for your time, patience and effort put into each winning entry. To everyone who have participated, please do me a kind favour and post your entries on deviantART and LINK them here so that I can refer to them when I update this journal.


Check up on the results next week! Also...


There is going to be two GRAND PRIZE winners out of the eight that will be chosen to have an opportunity to be tasked an additional assignment to be showcasing in the FEATURED ARTISTS section of the magazine (so far I have Evan Stanley, Adamis, Ziggyfin and Lamar to help me out).


And lastly there will be an opportunity for those who are fans of the Archie Comic series to contribute towards the magazine (and you don't have to be an artist to do so!). Find out next week on how that can happen!


Stay tuned folks and once again a big thank you to all of the artists who have sent in their entries!

Mua ha ha ha! Fear thy silliness of mine thou art thee recording session!





And beware of Shadow Chao, Silver's banana and Sonic's tears! That is all.


Oh, oh and ooooooh! Keep those submissions coming! I've been receiving some AMAZING entries in the last couple of days approaching the fan art contest deadline! You guys and girls rock! Oh and stop making my job harder to pick a winner! Geez!



Ghosts of the Future: The Motion-Comic


Hey guys and gals!
Have you lot been keeping track of Evan Stanley's (via ) excellent Ghost of the Future comic series? You bet your gold rings you have. But have you seen that motion-comic drama recently produced by a friend of hers named Koji Okida (via )? Well if you haven't already seen it check it out - it features not only the creators voicing characters (Evan as Tikal and Koji as Dr. Eggman) but also our talented voice over (and fantastic mate of mine) Kovabomb (via ) as Sonic the Hedgehog and yours truly (via ) as Shadow and Silver the Hedgehog.





I had a blast voicing the two hedgehogs and right now as we speak I'm recording lines for Koji's next project - Issue #3 of GOFT motion-comic drama!


Just giving you guys a heads up on the project, he should have it done as soon as he get's all the voices he needs.


Right now I'm re-watching the video to prep myself for issue three. I find Blaze's dad amusing! Anyways till next time - don't forget to wear your pants (unlike a certain hedgehog!).


Oh and also! So far after posting my latest update on the SONIC ART COLLECTION Fan Art Contest I've been receiving another bucket-load of fantastic entries! Keep them coming! You only have a couple days left before the official deadline! Good luck!! *thumbs up*



LAST CHANCE!! Sonic Art Collection Fan-Art Contest






I've extended the contest submissions deadline by a few more days - the third day of the third month of the thirteenth year of the new century sounds pretty cool to me.


So far I've received a total of 20 fantastic entries and some of you guys and gals have requested to have the deadline extended just a little more so consider your request granted!


Remember this is a unique opportunity to have your artwork printed and also get seen by the Archie Comics team who are attending International Comic Con in San Diego this year - every year it's like the holy grail for comic book lovers, creators and seniors who run the business of sequential art in print. This is also the place to be for fans of their favourite TV shows/movie/film/anime; avid video gamers; and totally dedicated cosplayers who go to no end to showcase themselves dressed up with some amazing costumes (ala playing as their favourite characer)!


Nevertheless for more details on the rules and such please consult this link.




Good luck everyone - and also feel free to do yourself a favour and start posting your entries on your deviantART account so that I link them here on this page!


On top of the announced changes to the rules everyone who have submitted to this contest will have their work featured in the magazine (not just the winners).


Winners of this contest (three very lucky winners that is) will win themselves a copy of the magazine when it's all formatted ready for print! Now that's an awesome prize worth seizing for cuz I'm only going to print them ONCE.


So go on, what are you waiting for? Starting drawing your totally way past cool masterpiece and have a shot at winning something very unique to keep - at the very least you'll have your contributions published in the book! *thumbs up*

DREAMKEEPERS - Bast: 'Neon Knives' Street Clan





This I would have to say - in terms of audio production and vocal performance, it's one of my best so far. I've really improved in terms of balancing the right amount of audio (including the sound effects, voice overs and BGM) to match the narrative.


I've been waiting a long time to voice as Bast properly and I finally got a chance to do it in style. I'm really pleased with his parts. What makes this project extra fun was the introduction of Vox - who is a clan member of the Neon Knives, he's one of my newest favourites in the DK graphic novel saga!


This also marks the first comic drama that I've ever done that contains a mature disclaimer/rating. All that swearing/profanity and sexual references at the end really gave me a new challenge to make it all work like it's a proper film adaptation from a graphic novel. Overall I'm very pleased with the final product - the voice acting, the audio production and throwing in some bonus scenes.


I would like to give my thanks to David and Liz Lillie for once again creating such a magnificent series. Fan for life (I'm gonna write an e-mail reply soon to David who just recently wrote back to me!).


Also a special thanks to two of the female voice actors (Nicole and Hunni) who helped me out with the female roles (Lilith and newcomer Vanth). Both of you girls did a great job, thank you very much for your contribution towards this fun project.


Anyways, if you haven't pressed the play button yet, do so now, turn up the volume and enjoy!








Oh and one last thing! Yes I was both the Cowboy and SHEEP! Meeeeehh! lol


[EDIT]

...... WTF???! How da hell did I miss out on the MUSIC/SFX credits!?!?! Shit! lol

I hate it when there's that little something you forget to add in at the very last minute - there was a white flash effect that I wanted to throw in when Vox smashes away Scythe's blade ring... ;_; Anyways here are the credits!! My bad!

[Music] Seatbelts (Cowboy Bebop, Harry Gregson-Williams (MGS2),  Armory Massive,
& Jason Graves (Dead Space)

[SFX] Sony Pictures Sound Effects Series, SEGA/Sonic Team



60 minutes Till Premiere! Vox Also Says...!


Vox says: "When watching this Dreamkeepers comic drama I want you to turn up the volume and..."






SNAP! 7 Hours Till the Premiere!





One of my favourite moments in the video... See you guys in 7 hours!


Make it the Thursday Actually!


Actually change of plans.l Seems like I overestimated my workload at school and commission work for the week. Dreamkeepers have been keeping me off track of my priorities ha ha...! Not to worry the comic drama will come within the week so stay tuned till then! I will use the extra time to put in the extra effort of adding some additional art/audio to compliment scene not featured in the book.



My Best Comic Drama Yet...!


Omg... I've done it guys... I know I keep saying this but... This is probably the best comic drama yet in terms of audio production quality. _{(I'm really getting better at this)}


I had IMMENSE fun recording all the male voices including:


Bast _{(such a cool bad-ass this guy);}
Vox _{(holy shit! My most favourite Dark Dreamkeeper!! Unpredictable, psychotic and in-ya-face!!);}
Scythe _{(lizardeeeeee-haaaarrrr-sssss!); and the}
Neon Knives Street Gang/punks in the crowd _{(I love recording crowds with just one voice!!).}


If you want to preview some of the pre-production stuff, check out the videos below -





_{WARNING: Viewer discretion advised for video below! Contains a lot of profanity!}




I got two girls helping me out with the female roles on this comic drama and they include:


as Lilith (flask back voice) and;
as Vanth (newcomer to DK Vol 3 - she's part of the Neon Knives Street Gang!)


These girls did a terrific job and I thank them for their help with the female voices, I certainly couldn't pull those off (for obvious reasons, lol)!


Now then, when will I be premiering the video? Well first of all the audio production is COMPLETE. All I gotta do is piece the scenes together to form the visual to audio narrative via Camtasia Studios 8 (good bless this program, and Audacity too!).


I should be able to get it done by tomorrow Monday evening. Check back for the update!


Also, many of you who watch me know that I've done PG/kid friendly comic dramas in the past... I'm breaking the rules now and show you how far I can go in terms of the high level of maturity in the themes I can potentially portray. In fact I've been waiting for something like this in AGES.


I couldn't thank David and Liz Lillie enough for the inspiration and for granting me permission to work on a comic drama adaptation of their story. Their graphic novel is THE BEST.


Btw DIGITAL COPIES of this book is now available! Come on... Seriously. 5 bucks? It's like 2 Starbucks coffee, or some incredibly SERIOUS QUALITY stuff coming from these two talented graphic novel artists/writers Dave and Liz. I promise you, you won't regret buying it. Even better if you get the PHYSICAL COPY of their book (I personally got both Limited and Standard editions!)


Without further ado I will leave with one warning to everyone who will be watching the comic drama that is soon to be released.









Until then! Enjoy your weekend! And oh, thanks to WFengs for drawing me at the studios recording voices! So cute!

Sonic Art Collection: Art Contest UPDATE





Howdy! I've recently hosted a fan art contest for ya'll here on deviantART and so far I've received some pretty promising entries!


You guys and gals have till:

1 s t - M A R C H - 2 0 1 3

to submit your original Sonic Archie related fan art and have the chance to win not only some cool prizes but also an opportunity to have your work published & printed in the 50 page Sonic Art Collection magazine that I'll be submitting to Archie Comics booth at the International Comic Con San Diego.

For more details go to this image or the following journal.


Please submit your entries to darkspeeds@hotmail.com


Entries will not be accepted by means other than the e-mail provided. Please also entitled it 'Sonic Art Collection Fan Art Contest' and include your name and country/city of residence! Good luck!


If you got any questions or you are unsure about the rules of the contest please don't hesitate to PM/e-mail/comment here.



Sonic Art Collection: Featured Artists UPDATE

To my team whose art will be featured in the Sonic Art Collection magazine (they include & ) I'll keep you posted on what's to come and what's to be expected from you guys. If you have any doubts please refer to the outlines below



And if you got any questions or inquiries about your assignment please don't hesitate to contact me via darkspeeds@hotmail.com. So far Ziggy and Evan Stanley has given me an idea of what they'd like to do with their given themes, I'd love to hear what you (ie Adamis and Lamar) are going to do with your proposed themes.


Just a reminder you have till 1 s t - A P R I L - 2 0 1 3 for submission deadline. Cheers!



Diploma in Graphic Design: Studying at Central TAFE





What more can I say everyone? I had my first week of classes in the city and I'm lovin' it.


I've learnt a lot from each class attended, made new friends and got my first set of assignments to do already. I'm pumped and prepped to learn everything I can from this course. Basically for those who graduate from a diploma level at this vocational school means that you are 'job-ready' for the industry you've chosen - in my case it's Graphic Design.


Anyways I strongly believe that the skills, knowledge and techniques learnt at Central TAFE will make me a better publication artist - hence this will better prepare me for what I can offer to Archie Comics in future. Designing logos, typography and branded products is a lot of fun. So lovin' it!


With the fact that I'm already into week 2 of classes I'm already hands full with assignments to complete - bummer! lol I would love to have more time for my hobbies but from here forth my priorities will go towards my studies (and also art commissions - more on that later). Wish me luck in class! Hope to take some photos of my campus and my computer labs (all Mac computers btw, equipped with the latest Adobe Creative Suite programs and WACOM tablets - sweet!). Oh and one last thing - the lecturers are great! Lots of interest individuals to learn and admire. Great stuff.



Art Commissions: Current Status

Here are the current people that I've got lined up for an art commission spot this February/March:

&


Recently I had a very pleased client who was the first to order an actual PRINT, SIGNED & LAMINATED version of his art commission. Here's how it looks like:





As a bonus I'm throwing in the ORIGINAL SKETCH as a thank you for the initiative. If you're interested it'll cost ya an extra $20 USD (Australia-wide) or $25 USD (International) to cover the printing, postage and handling costs (and bonus sketch version - what a bargain mate!).


For more information and updates on my art commission offerings (which btw has an updated price change - check it out!) go here or click on the photo above!



Dreamkeepers Comic Drama: Female voice actors URGENTLY!

DUDE! You guys!! I'm on fire at this very minute... I made these DK comic dramas in less than 3 days... I've gone mad... Why?


CUZ DREAMKEEPERS IS SOOOOOOOO AWESOMEEEEE!!!!!





I just got Volume 03: Intentions Entwined (both the original and Limited Edition versions) and omg... These guys... David Lillie and Liz Thomas... They are absolute GENIUSES of their craft. Such amazing story tellers that hold true to the core of what a graphic novel is all about and SHOULD BE. I'm going to go nuts and say that the visuals have been kicked up another 10 notches in terms of intricate detail - every single page is JAM-PACKED with... With... STUFF (my jaw just literally dropped at some of the pages, the amount of thought put into each setting... I'm gob-smacked I really am)!


I mean as an illustrator myself I'm in awe of their VISUAL LIBRARY and experiences... They must have traveled to many awesome places to make Aunduruna (the main premise of the story, and it's divided further into districts) so real and believable.


Look I can honestly go on and on and on about Dreamkeeprs and their current book - Intentions Entwined - but really I can't do any proper justice just rambling on like Randy does in the book! I will probably do a proper review of this via Youtube, it'll be an interesting project to work on.


Nevertheless I got so excited about their latest installment that I couldn't help but whip up some comic dramas - check them out!







Now then here's the thing...


I'm currently in a little bit of a pinch. While I'm on fire (and this kind of creative fire doesn't last too long - gotta make the most of it as they say!) I NEED A GIRL'S VOICE - URGENTLY!!
_{UPDATE: Vanth's part taken! Thanks!}


See the image below? Do you think you can voice act as the bat-winged girl with the beanie character? Think of her as a street-smart teen girl who lives in the ghetto - cool, collective and has dangerous side to her if you are not careful. Her name is VANTH.





If you got what it takes SEND ME AN E-MAIL via darkspeeds@hotmail.com


I'm not interested in time-wasters who just gag on about 'oh it would be cool if I could voice-act!' or 'well I'm not so sure if I'm that good'. That kind of attitude won't get you anyway, take some initiative! Send me some links, an audition piece or something that will convince me to add you into the comic drama. Sound good? Cool. Now get crackin'! I must have those lines before the end of this week!

Introduction to Force: The Ideas behind the Line with MICHAEL MATTESI

Hi guys and gals. About a couple of nights ago I decided to delve into the archive of Guest Speakers Videos via School of Illustration at Academy of Arts for my personal studies prior to next year's enrollment (btw I've just paid the course fees to my Diploma Graphic Design course in the my home city - costs around $2200 AUD for the whole year. It's cheap as chips when you compare to what I'll be paying for in the Academy of Arts next year ~ $42,000 USD annually including living expenses).


Anyways beside the point I'm here to share with you my experience proactively watching the lecture/video tutorial that was recorded way back in 2010 at the AAU campus in the city (the lecture hall looks beautiful - Bradley Hall, San Francisco, California if you're curious).


I want to tell you right now that Michael Mattesi has given me a whole new perspective in drawing. It doesn't mean the methods I've learnt will completely change how I'll draw however it will definitely refine my drawing fundamentals, it'll influence my approach to drawing, and perhaps create more opportunities in improving my drawing of the human anatomy.

My friends and mentioned to me about this guy a couple of years ago - they highly recommended that I should check him out and his book entitled: 'Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators'


After watching his lecture I'm convinced that this guy is a genius. I also think that his lectures are super cool, I love his philosophies, he's never boring (very animated and speaks with a strong interest in the subject that he is teaching to his students), he swears in good taste, his love for drawing is infectious, and the passion and energy he delivers really makes me feel immersed in everything he is about to teach on the day. The video can be found below - do give it a watch for those who are serious about improving on their drawing.





"Make every stroke count, it is an idea from start to finish"

"The stresses of the human body... Feel it, immerse yourself into it."

"Force is an idea, you are a human being, use force as a leverage in your drawings and life experience"


Those are definitely some of the things that I will take with me from his lecture. Applying the principles above can really motivate you to improve on your drawing technique, and it can also make the whole drawing experience a lot more fun!

What I'm going to do is share with you photos I've taken during my drawing session at home. I watched the entire video from start to finish (about 1 hour and 15 minutes long) but I'll tell you now that it's worth every moment. I've learnt something new and I just can't wait to have a class with Michael Mattesi at AAU next year. Hope you'll learn something useful kids!



Introduction to Force: Studying with MICHAEL MATTESI

This was actually live footage of their first class to a unit at AAU in 2012 called 'Introduction to Force'. In the three hour seminar students were engaged in a new approach to drawing of the human anatomy with their lecturer Michael Mattesi. I've decided to invest my hour into learning as much as I could and sure nuff' I did!


Check out the sketches I did - they were all done in just 2-3 minutes! I didn't realise how much potential I can tap into my drawing technique by studying more about Professor Mattesi's methods. Here are some photos I've taken during my study at my home studios - keep in mind it's Summer in Australia - bloody hot as, so no doubt I'll be in my shorts... Or boxers... Ha ha.







<sup>It's amazing with what you can do in 2 or 3 minutes for an observational sketch (per figure that is!)






Terry was an excellent model for the day. Every pose he did was something different and unique.



A nice cup of tea with my Sonic mug. Ha!






I was mesmerized every time Michael was doing his thing - with just some lead and sketch paper he can whip up a drawing of a living and breathing human being right in front of you literally in just minutes.






This was a very interesting exercise. Let me explain. Michael got all of his students (including myself - ha!) to stand up, pose like Terry, close your eyes and be in that pose for about a minute.

Next you wake up, feel the 'experience' you've gone through posing and sit back down to draw what that 'experience' was.

On top of that you are to come with a two word description explaining that 'experience' you felt. On my sketch book you can see my own two words describing each exercise. This was most insightful as it really got me thinking about the mechanics of the pose and how to flesh it out when I'm drawing.

Michael encouraged his students to use arrows if necessary to dictate the amount of force used to move or pull the body towards gravity. Hence you can see the arrows I've used on my sketch book to help describe the amount of force behind that particular pose.



These were the other students who attended Michael's lecture on the day. I really wish I started my classes now, but alas, Elson, you must be patient!









And here we have Te... Err... Elson! The rather fat looking kid... From Peter Pan! *SHOT* (damn my flabbiness near the gut, I don't like it! X_X;;... Ha ha...) Okay anyways let me explain. I couldn't resist attempting my own initiative to pose, feel and draw what I had experienced. You can check out the results below - again each sketch were done in 2-3 minutes. Even faster than the five minute Sonic ones I did years ago - (then again how does that count when the style is completely different...? Cartoon vs. realism/anatomical?)</sup>





Introduction to Force: In Conclusion...?

So yeah I seriously encourage those who would really like to improve on their drawing technique or approach to drawing human anatomy (even the slightest of improvements) by watching, learning and drawing using the video that Michael Mattesi and the Academy of Arts (School of Illustration) kindly shared with us as an artist's resource.


Forget about drawing Sonic, cartoons and such, the reality is this - you can't get any form of character/human anatomy to look right without forging those fundamentals down to your brain and hand.


I really wish I had started drawing basic human anatomy before I got into drawing Sonic cuz I know for sure that I would have had a vast improvement in posing characters in the comics or concept arts that I did way back when was a kid, teen and up till now. Think about it - cartoon drawing is very loose, yeah sure you can get away with an unusually bent arm or leg, or you can get certain proportions of the head, hands and feet to look disproportionate to the entire torso, because Sonic style is stretchy and cartoony.

_{(look at this drawing I did in 2006, the proportions look completely wrong!! How da hell did it get so many favs too!? lol)}

I guess the good things about starting out with cartoon style drawing is that you can exercise your imagination of creating something unique and unforeseen in form due to your ability to bend the rules a little.

_{(my latest drawing here illustrates my improvement in coming up with a concept, incorporating several elements in a picture, and in my color coordination, but there is still a perspective error - Silver and Blaze should be smaller in proportion because they are more distant than the other three characters featured in foreground)}


It's no wonder why there are so many fan artists out there on deviantART (that I've watched) over the years that have such awesome drawings of Sonic the Hedgehog. And it's no wonder why there are also many anthro-cartoon styled artists who continue to impress me till this day. I couldn't understand why they stood out when I was still in the process of understanding what makes a drawing look 'good', but the more I learn about human anatomy the more I'm starting to understand the answer to that question. It's just like how Michael concluded in his video: drawing is part of the experience - you are drawing humans and at the end of the day you are reflecting humanity in the drawings you do.





From what I can understand one can appreciate one's art when certain elements look more accurate in real life (like the form and proportions of the anatomical structure of a character when posing) - the observer is able to understand immediately that this artist has gotten down the fundamentals of drawing what encompasses 'humanity'. To take it to the next level an artist who had already mastered the fundamentals THEN can bend the rules and create something abstract.


Anyways hope you guys and gals can learn something from this experience of mine. I certainly had an excellent time writing this up and also taking the time to do the exercise on my own.