Exalted Pancakes

"What can I do with all this [250 Piles of Auric Dust]?"

"Sniff it, snort it."

"Put them in your food, and eat it."

"Ah, yes, Exalted pancakes, my favorite meal for breakfast."

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It's been a while since I drew the Exalted and the skritt from Guild Wars 2. This came out as a result of being inspired by a convo that went along the lines of what I wrote above (I couldn't find the screenshot I saved of it, sadly). 🥞 I think there needs to be more interaction between these two races, given that the town of New Skrittington isn't likely to go anywhere any time soon after the events of Heart of Thorns.

This was meant to be posted on my birthday. I had not expected to be so detailed with the armor, but my mind went there and I was using an Exalted Bastion potion in-game as a reference. Then I tried using a technique with the lasso tool after watching Mohammed Agbadi over in his YouTube channel. What I did wasn't exactly the same as the one shown in the video; I went straight into colors rather than making the grayscaled base first. I rarely used the lasso tool for anything but after a few tries with it, I found myself enjoying this technique and the Exalted came out with a sharper, cleaner look. This also felt more appropriate for the detail I painstakingly added into the Exalted's design.

I also really like the sheer contrast of coloring techniques I used for both the Exalted and the skritt. 😋 Kinda wanted to showcase the differences side by side in this photo. Me very very likey.

Cake Day 2021

Hah, I had planned to post art for today to commemorate my birthday, but my work kept me busy, and the evening dinner with my fam and extended fam really took a lot of my time... Heck, I haven't even colored the whole art piece I planned for today yet either. 😅 So I'll just settle for showing y'all what neat thing my brother got for me:

Yep, my brother gave me his PS4 because he was using his Xbox One a lot more these days and he figured this would be the best thing to give me. And I'm not one to say no to be honest. Why would I, especially after I learned that Ape Escape 2 is available on the PS4 and holy shit I can finally play my copy of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 which has been unopened for literal years because I was too lazy to save up for a PS3. I'm just massively hyped to try playing games on this thing in the near future.

But yeah. Happy cake day to me. 🍰 Twenty-seven (oh my god) years of being alive, that's one hell of an achievement. I'm grateful for all the greets everyone's given me, and for all the support people have been pouring towards my work--from the people I've met over other people's Twitch streams, to the people who have been donating recently to my Ko-fi tip jar, to those who have expressed praise for my art, to my girlfriend of four years, my closest friends and--while it still surprises me to admit--even from my own family.

I look forward to another year of life, this time with me working harder than I did on my art more than ever for this year and beyond. My craft as an artist gives me meaning; I had been unknowingly (and at times, knowingly) avoiding it for all sorts of reasons, but now I know what I want out of my art career, and I want to pursue it. I genuinely believe in my vision of my artistic ventures continuing on to full-time. I want people to see my work and enjoy what art and stories I have to share.

Cheers to another year ahead! 🍻

-Zip

Mussel Stew

I often look back on the days when used to be a Japanese language teacher. My work required me to drive out of town and I would teach my class of engineers at one of the offices beside their factory. It was tough writing their lesson plans but it was one of my more wholesome careers. Looking back, I miss being able to be in a classroom and just sharing with my students what I knew. I tried not to give them anything too overly complicated and taught them a lot of essential Japan-related things they needed to know.

Anyway, as I would drive home from work, my route going to and from that facility took me past a scenic route of southern Manila Bay, where some fisherfolk and their families made a living selling freshly caught mussels and watermelons on the side of the roads. I could easily pay as much as Php 300.00 (around $6 USD) for a kilo of mussels. Sometimes they'd even be generous about it too and add a couple more in the plastic bag it came with. Turns out, most days they get a lot of mussels left over.

One day, I just craved for some. On my way home after one of my classes, I stopped by a stall, bought like two kilos worth, and asked my mother if she would teach me how to cook her homemade mussel stew. She kindly obliged.

There's a secret to this stew. It's rather simple, really: it's Sprite. Sprite not only gives the stew a sweet and savory flavor, but it also manages to draw out that natural mussel-ey flavor. Or something along those lines. Look, it just tastes good, m'kay? Think of it as one of those "don't ask questions" kinds of things.

Long Ago in Gatorville (Part 5)

Nonononononono, don't do it, Pudgy's dad! 😫

More updates! I'm just happy I'm still able to keep the story rolling!

It's also birthday week, so I'll be spending the week doing a couple more artsy things--a few quick doodles on the tablet, a sketch dump or two, and a thing for my birthday... And maybe working on a few not-so-short short stories. We'll see! But this week is definitely not going by without me posting something besides a comic update! 🍰

Also, I finally received my first tip on my Ko-fi tip jar! 🎉 I'm so happy someone showed support for my work! If you like what I do, please consider leaving me a tip on the Ko-fi button below! Every little bit counts! ✨

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🐊 Gator Buddies 🐊

Long Ago in Gatorville
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