Over the years I've been asked several times about how to draw, and have gotten even more comments and notes saying how great of an artist I am or how people wish they could draw like me. Although the comments don't go unappreciated, the matter of fact is that have no real foundation in drawing, and I take it more as a hobby than anything else. If you truly want to learn, no matter what style or content you wish to master, the correct path is always to learn the basics first. The alphabet does not start with the letter "z", so to speak.

Take for example a buddy of mine, recently enrolled in a game are degree program at a local collage. He may not have a lot of artwork in his gallery, but this is a guy who six months ago had pretty much never picked up a pencil to draw.

So, if you truly, truly want to learn to draw, don't ask me (or any other artist for that matter) to teach you. I feel that if I reply I am actually guiding you in the wrong direction. Unless the teacher is sitting right next to you and can give you some real guidance, its very hard to pass on any real knowledge.

My recommendation is to check out a school in your local area and sign up for a basic figure drawing class, then pick up a book or two on dynamic anatomy and character illustration. Ask your teacher for what titles he recommends.

Just saying no, and trying to go the stubborn/cheap route will cost you more in the end, mostly in time wasted reaching the artistic level you had hoped for. Not to mention that by the time you realize the value of my advice, breaking the "bad drawing habits" you acquired will just make it tougher for you to catch up.

Again, I'm no expert in the field, and truth be told, I should take my own advice. But while I'm just "cruising" this river of artistic improvement, those of you wishing to get ahead quickly should seek professional help (lol, but you know what I mean XD ).


p.s. as for the Monterrey thing, I realize its old news by now, but I still hope to post something about it later ^^'

I'm gonna type up a quick report here, once I get pictures and stuff uploaded I'll try and write a lot more XD

~So here it is: Monterrey Convention report; BETA VERSION!

Friday:
Arrived in Monterrey around 1PM local time, Avencri and a freind picked me up and we went straight to the convention grounds. At the enterence I met Chalo, Jeso, and MagoLobo who were also arriving at the event. After getting our wristbands we headed inside and set up out tables

As far as what the event was like, the physical setup reminded me a lot of megacon over in Orlando, only a bit smaller. Still, there was a lot of stuff going on, and the people were all very friendly.

In the evening we went back to our hotel, a pretty curious piece of work I can only acurately describe via pictures ^^'Which I will do so once I get them online, lol. For now [link] kinda transmits what it was like XD

Saturday:
A lot of action on that day, as I managed to get internet access and stream about an hour of the event before my laptop battery died. I honestly only thought I would get 10 min worth of airtime, so I only advertised it in the Katbox forums, sorry T_T. Next time I'll make sure to prepare myself better.

We switched to a more comfortable hotel and had a good rest in preparation for the final day.

Sunday:
The live transmission on the last day didn't pan out; we were unable to get more free net time like we did on Saturday. But plenty of pictures were taken, and I will post them as soon as I can. I bought a few items at stores, always wondering if I was getting a good deal considering the exchange rate XD At the end of the con there was this mad frenzy of gift exchanges among the artists, I gave away some of the prints that I had and collected a lot of stickers, prints, comics, etc...

Monday:
We all overslept, so I didn't have enough time to have one last lunch with the guys before I had to rush over to the airport. Arrived home around 1AM and went straight to bed, lol.

Result:
I had loads of fun, Avencri, Jeso, Chalo and Magolobo went above and beyond to make me feel welcome (and help me with translations XD). All the convention goers were extremely nice and very interested in our work, asking about the comic and our personal artworks. Awesome banner displays by both Jeso and Chalo helped call a lot of attention to our area (there was never a dull moment).

I met a ton of other artists and did a lot of trades at the convention. I didn't take anything to sell, but I did draw a handful of commissions (looking back I should have taken pictures of them, oh well).

To sum it up it was the most fun I have had in a long time XD. Reminded me of the days I used to be a convention organizer in Brazil, but a lot less stressful.

I want to extend my thanks to Avencri for the initial invite, to all those who helped me get there through their generous donations, also to Jess and Chalo for helping me advertise the drive. Also to the other artists and all the convention goers who were patient with me and my lack of proper Spanish ^^'.


(Version 1.0 coming soon!)

Ok, so its convention time! Very excited about the trip, I have to wake up in 5 hours to catch the plane and I haven't even packed yet T_T

Thanks again to all those of you who made it possible for me to go on this trip. I'll do my best to repay it somehow

I should be back on Tuesday, so expect me to begin posting again around that time!

Cya!

----Monterrey Convention, GOAL REACHED! ----

I just woke up and looked at the amount, overnight we passed our goal! I can't thank you all enough, we had a total of 116 people who contributed, and from all over the globe! I'm trying to hurry and post a note on the sites where I advertised the drive, and I will do a proper thank you as soon as I can.

Aside from all the people who donated, I would like to send a special thankyou to and for helping get the word out.

I have to get that Kimi done for you guys now XD I thought I would have had more time, heh... But I should have it up in a few hours! Check back in a bit :3

----Monterrey Convention, spare some change?----
I'm asking/begging/challenging each of my readers to donate $1, to sponsor a trip to an anime convention that will be held in Monterrey, Mexico late November. It will be a rare occasion where all the KB artists will be present, and I didn't want to miss out. Please don't skip this or wait till the last second; it will only work out if everyone helps out!

You can donate via paypal at: Goal reached!

Thanks so much for all your support, I can't express enough how much it means to me!

I'm going to be working overtime to get the CB manga ready for this convention, worst case it will be available by early December.

I hope you all enjoy this special treat from the KB crew!Make sure to visit the other portal webcomics to see more awesome posters

Status:


----Exciting new webcomic----
Check out the newest member of the Katbox comic team as he starts up his much anticipated comic; RUNNING WILD! Its up on [link] , and should update 3 times this special launch week, so make sure to visit often

----Caribbean Blue----
Check out this weeks Halloween fillers on the KB! [link]

----Commissions, gifts and Art Trades:----
I'm diverting my attention to completing the bikini calendar drive images, keeping up with the comic and the convention next month.

----Recently Completed----
Trade #2 [link]
Trade [link]

----Partially done----
7 page comic (He's still working on his)
4 char trade (He's still working on his: 2/4)
Trade (She's still working on hers)
Trade (She's still working on hers)

----New!----
Gift
Curran: Joy commission

----Exciting new webcomic----
Check out the newest member of the Katbox comic team as he starts up his much anticipated comic; RUNNING WILD! Its up on [link] , and should update 3 times this special launch week, so make sure to visit often

----Caribbean Blue----
We should se a new comic fairly soon, and I'll try to keep up with my update scedule this time ^_^'

----In the Movies----
Sourogates was ok, not anything groundbreaking though. I Sort of enjoyed Zombieland, considering that I don't really like gory movies, thats's saying a lot ^^' haven't watched much else, But since movies are $5 bfore noon (and I'm still looking for a job), I might catch some more movies these next few weeks.

----Coming up----
The bikini donation drive is all caught up, but now we are behind in donations :/ I ran out of girls to do the second half of the year, so I was hoping to do some alternative bikini action shots this time around XD Look at the lower right hand corner of [link] to see what I'm talking about.

----Commissions, gifts and Art Trades:----
Right now I'm trying to catch up with comics and other artworks, so I won't be taking anything besides what I already have on my plate. But there are some artists I would like to trade withm so I'll try to finish up as soon as I can ^^

----Recently Completed----
Trade #2 [link]
Trade [link]

----Partially done----
7 page comic (He's still working on his)
4 char trade (He's still working on his: 2/4)
Trade (She's still working on hers)

----New!----
Trade (She's still working on hers)
Gift
Emote set commish