It has been an excellent year. Top notch.

I am so happy at where I am and where I am headed.

How about a life update.

So. Life rocks. Right now. Or at least, it's gonna all be rocking very shortly.

We moved to Burbank in January. Oh crazy, crazy, crazy January. I was finishing up a nasty deadline on top of moving and there was chaos in the air.

I love Burbank. It's a much friendlier neighborhood than our previous local. People smile and talk in our elevator. People smile at the grocery store. We still have everything pretty much within walking distance (take that car city) including the ever tasty Porto's Bakery. I daily wave to the WB water tower and get Animaniacs songs stuck in my head.

Our apartment is way nicer for the same price as our old one. Everything is in good condition, we have our own washer/dryer, and we painted the living room a rich pumpkin pie color. I know, sounds bizarre, but it's lovely.

I've been taking classes at the Concept Design Academy. I love learning and it's really nice to be able to get the opinions and teachings of some extremely talented professionals. I finally feel like I have a better grip on the human form thanks to Kevin Chen's class and my storyboarding class? I can't begin to state how awesome that one is.

I'm in between work right now, but I am. So. Very. Very. Excited. For the upcoming secret stuff. Can't talk about (sigh, never get to talk about anything). But. Everything on the horizon is amazing.

Ghostbusters has been out for a while now, there's a preview of Star Trek Next Generation (oh man, that feels like a life time ago) out in the Ultimate Edition. I think both the Star Trek book and Battlestar come out next month.

Okie, back to work animaticing.

EDIT: Right! I've been actually updating my drawing blog http://chrissydelk.blogspot.com/

I could tell ya all about that time I got paid to draw the Ghostbusters in drag, my new shiny recently announced project or the one I actually did first. I could tell ya all about the new digs we're moving to or my future robot minion. The adventure! The intrigue! My day to day life at the drawing board!

Instead- I leave you only my love for Fallout 3.

In gingerbread form.

( Our Post-Apocalyptic Gingerbread House )

Today is a breathing day. It's been crazy. I've been swamped with work, my mom and sister A were her last week (I miss you Andy!) and then there was more work.

I finished my pencils yesterday, turned them in and already have all the notes. Nicole made the BEST COOKIES EVER for me finishing my pages. I cheated and ate one before I was entirely done because they were daaaamn good. But so starts the twitchy period of doubt and anxiety. I want to go back, make moooore changes. I've removed them from the desk area for today and still my brain is absolutely one track. Not allowed to touch today! No digital fidgeting, no prepping for ink. No touching!

So I am writing this morning the loss of the ability to alter the pencils more and taking a bit of a breather before I dive into the inking stage and get loss again. I really try not to whine about my work, no matter what problems I see. But I've earned it today.

It's hard to know exactly how I feel about the work when I'm this close to it. On on hand, go me! I finally actually feel like I can draw my way out of a paper bag! I also feel like I made some sort of breakthrough on these pages and leveled up.

But that other hand, I don't really know what to work on next or where I'm going or what I'm quite doing. I could be better! Look at all those things I could improve! I miss critiques not because it pointed out things that I didn't know were wrong (I'm obnoxiously good at pointing out weaknesses), but because it gave me focus on what were the biggest problems. No such luck these days, I have to choose my own direction. Should I be finessing my backgrounds? My storytelling? My negative space? These pages feel overdrawn. Perhaps folds. Perhaps my clothing folds suck. My hand repertoire is starting to feel not big enough. I haven't even considered improving my inking yet! Aiiiieeee! Doubt! Worry!

I like that I really don't have much time to internally debate right now. I am a busy busy bee. I don't think I'm stagnating- I'm definitely too neurotic for that. I just get today to let all the feelings of OH GOD I SUCK that have been beaten down with a stick in order to get things done sorta do there own whining thing. It's nice to have temporary whining permission.

Then I have to get the portfolio out the doors in the hands of other companies, ink this story, finish inking that story, go to Anime Expo and pretend I might sneak something done for that, manage to fit in more costume drawing, line up the next wave of jobs. tone 90 pages, draw/ink/color a cover (go me!), start figuring out writing the rest of Wonderland, drawing Wonderland, deciding what to do with Wonderland and conquer San Diego Comic Con.

Phew. And see Wall-E tonight.

My mom and sister are in town this week and came with gifts. I have two fish tanks, a sewing machine and my piano now!

The piano especially makes me super happy. It's a Yamaha Clavinova that treated me kindly through my childhood years. Headphones rock for your information. Unfortunately, my fingers do not rock. They are weak! Weak, slow and sad! We are going on a strict regiment, my fingers and I. We will play lots of piano exercises until my fingers are ready to tackle Bach, Chopin and Gershwin once more. I WILL SUCCEED!

In another news- Gurren Lagann kicks as much ass as everyone promised. Kei, Zack and everyone else. You were right. I love it.

I can't stop giggling as I draw these pages I'm drawing. Oh my, oh me.

Dear Internet-
In the game of "Not It" how do you appropriately gesture that you are Not It?

Bonus points for those in New York or those who have ever been near those North Eastern states.

I'm running into some conflicting gestures so I'm polling you friends list. And more importantly, I'm not digging what I already drew and I erased it a few times already.

Exhibit A:
I'm GOING TO ATLANTA! WOOOHOOOO! I can't wait to see everyone again!
My plane gets in late on May 14 (Wednesday) and I leave on my birthday May 20 (Tuesday). There will be some Editor's Day in there hopefully and much hanging of the out.

Exhibit B:
This is a shiny contract and a shiny script. All Non-Disclosure Stuff, but all good, all good. I'm posting this to avoid working on a Problem Page, but it's going well enough that I have the luxury of typing this, walking to the library, getting weekends off and still get everything in before the deadline so I can go to Atlanta.

Exhibit C:
Silence. Damn. Really?

Exhibit D:
LALA land is still nice this time of year. We went to the Sherman Oaks Festival thingy and ate street food and I watched dogs be adorable! I was a bit over the target audience, not being ten, and thus unable to partake in the glee of carnival rides, super slides and petting zoos.

RARG! I am on page 25 of the First Rule of Fight Club is Don't Talk About Fight Club!
I am absolutely insufferable as I can only talk/think/eat/breath Fight Club.

I wanna play on Deviant Art and update blogs and I decided to forgo Cowboy Costume Drawing because I have a fire burning in my soul. It's hot, but I'm motivated and pumped!

I'll get back to everyone this weekend! Ta ta!

There is nothing as amazing as dreading going to sleep because I'm drawing comics.
And then waking up with a giant smile because I still get to draw comics.

Need to get caught up with the online stuff tomorrow, though. It's beginning to pile up. No drawing comics all day and night. Darn.

Once upon a time I was part of what is still referred to the "Worst Class Ever." This was a class everyone raved about, a class taught by a professor I liked and had a good rapport with (and who made me cry with tears of happiness at the end of that miserable class). It was still the Worst Class Ever for a myriad of horrible reasons.

This was a class where I had a stalker.

True stalker. She was a girl, about half my size and I still tried not to be alone in the places she crept. Followed me about the campus (luckily I lived off campus and drove, but STILL!) stared at me across rooms, looking for a moment when my bodyguards Nicole and Elan weren't about so she could harass me. If I was in the building and there she was, suddenly I'd be trying desperately to not stop talking to ANYBODY else until she finally conceded to leaving and I could exit in peace.

If she could only be near me, talk to me, I don't want to know to me- all the awesome would rub off.

Which is why I suspect, I blocked out when my stalker apparently asked me IN CLASS, "Would you like a massage?" Nicole remembers it as the CREEPIEST MOMENT ever. Apparently I said something along the no no, that's ok lines. But that's been totally blocked. A hundred percent repressed. I think my relative sanity is saved only by this block.


In the Chrissy News: EVERYTHING IS AWESOME! More developing news when I can.

So, updates. I have some role playing work (nice but Not Comics) and a lot of leads into comic land (nice but Not Comics Yet).

Let me count how many things I have but I don't know if I got yet.
One, two, three, four, five! FIVE Anthologies I want to draw for.

Other pitchy stuff in works- THREE! One in works, one in legal tap dance lessons, one on backburner without a home.

Wonderland. Yes. The webcomic Wonderland will return. I'm starting that sucker back up veeeery soon. No. Nothing is solved. No. Nothing will stop me. NOTHING I SAY. NOTHING. Yes, this is a super secret update for those who read my livejournal.

Contracts, deals and so on: ZERO! Yeeeeaaaaaaah!

Today both kicked ass and took names.
Then arranged them alphabetically by height.

It rocked.

Is anyone already planning to go to San Diego Comic Con?

And more importantly does anyone
A) have a hotel and not mind one more warm body (me)?
B) want to go and plot a hotel together?

and SKETCHBLOG!
I just started a fresh new sketchblog. I'll be updating every day or so, already have a backlog scanned of costume drawing from the drawing club. Might start adding sketches of WonderLand soon (because of I have stacks of drawings from WonderLand sitting about). Not sure what else will make it up there.

I went to The Drawing Club for the first time tonight and had fun drawing cheesecake. I'll be updating DA prolly tomorrow with some highlights of pin up sailor girl (not sailor moon sailor girl).

Anyway, as I'm moving to the refreshment fridge I happen upon a man who strangely looks like Ted Stern. For those of you not in the know, Ted Stern once upon a time taught at SCAD where I once upon a time took Intro to Comics from him. I probably looked at him funny. But he walked off (in a very Ted Stern manner) and I got my diet coke and went back to drawing and promptly forgot about it.

At the end of the day, taking pictures for the blog Bob Kato asked what I did. And I proudly announced comics! I was informed there was not one, but two comic artist there that day and the other was indeed Ted Stern! Alas by the time he'd been identified he was no where to be seen so I couldn't go harass him as one of his former students. Damn.

I am IN LOS ANGELES! I AM IN LOS ANGELES!
And I am liiiiiiiiiving here, with the awesome Josh and awesome Nicole! The apartment is also awesome, located in Sherman Oaks which means I can see Beverly Hills on that hill over there. Heeello big houses.

Sorry I couldn't say anything earlier. I'm a bit superstitious now anytime I finally told about well, anything going through it would promptly fail to materialize. And that last thing I want is my clunker of a car to fail in Utah and California to promptly sink into the ocean.

But it is indeed awesome and my studio is set and adventures await!

This is promising to be the most promising MLK weekend ever spent in a car.

I'm so EXCITED right now.

Talk to ya on the other side of Monday. Even egasp online.

I AM IN ATLANTA.


That is all.

Being a free agent is not nearly as awesome as it sounds like it should be.

I'm definitely restless and I hope something will get going sooner rather than later. There's been much walking into walls that I swear weren't there five minutes ago. My nose is starting to hurt a bit from it all.

Good news: Flying into Atlanta on Wed 19th for AWA though.

Thanks for everyone's help on the Return to Labyrinth pinup. You all rock!

It be on DA now.
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/59799014/