I decided to start the site revamp a little early, since NextGEN Gallery offered a favorable options palette. All of my previous entry’s images have been re-hosted, except for the Pop’n Music ASC project (and all other project photos in general). Some of my featured art is now up as well; just hit the Artwork link at the top of the page. Most of the pieces are fairly old except for the first 3D mecha design and the first sketchbook page, but new ones will come soon!
So…I ended up keeping my word in the previous entry: no updates to this blog during the convention. It turned out there were no free Internet connections at the Baltimore Marriot Waterfront hotel, and even the Wi-Fi access points weren’t strong enough to carry across the bay.
But all that aside, Otakon 2008 overall was a great way to close the summer before I head back to the dirge of classes. And as I’ll mention later, it was actually a good thing that there was no Internet available. With well over 25,000 registered attendees, this was the largest anime convention on the East coast that had become even bigger than last year. Now some may disagree, but it felt significantly less crowded than 2007’s con, likely because the Programming department shaped up and nailed most of the events down on schedule. Of course, with a gathering of this size, there’s the inevitable “There’s so much to do, but so little time!” syndrome: there were a total of six video anime viewings rooms, four panel locations, three workshops, two autograph rooms, an additional high-definition screenings room (changed from the 35mm screen of years past), a multipurpose concert/films hall, and for the first time ever, the usage of Baltimore’s 1st Mariner Arena for the most popular and crowd-drawing events (masquerade, JAM Project concert, and Sunday concerts). Almost all of the viewings and panel tracks were blocked in Friday through Sunday.
In spite of the massive event flood, there weren’t many that I considered going to. Besides, there was always video gaming, the dealers room, Artist Alley, cosplay photography, exploring Baltimore, getting food, socializing and meeting with friends, and so many other continuously-distracting events to attend. Here’s a rundown of what happened all three (four) days. Hit the “Read more” link!
So when I first wrote back in October 2007 that this site would be “mostly a slice of Kevin’s life again,” I forgot to mention how sparsely the weblog would be updated. What, it’s been since April 10, 2008 since the last bit? Ah, seems it’s time to give a rundown of what’s happened over these few months. Hit “Read more” if you’re interested, but pardon the disorganization ahead…there’s a lot to talk about.
It’s been a while since I’ve done anything related to tool-based/technical drawing and/or sci-fi weapon works. The last significant piece was the “Stationary Antiaircraft Railgun,” finished in 2005. I sure missed those days of eye-straining detailing…until now.
As of late, most of my drawing habits have been adapting to 3D sketching and mecha design (yes, anime has its major influences, especially the Full Metal Panic! and Mobile Suit Gundam series), but more recently I’ve been integrating experience derived from precision drawing into such new ideas. Even so, I’ve also been going “back to my roots,” in that I’m once again finding time to create 2-dimensional works of absurd mechanical devices. Sure, even one piece can take ages (days or “weeks”) to finish, but this is what God let me get better at; got to thank Him for it, indeed.
So, here’s a new piece that I’ve been working on over the past few days; for now, let’s call this an “Anti-Infantry Multiaxis Laser Turret.”
But wait, what ever happened to the “Large-Scale CO2 Light Cannon?” Eh, it might be a high-power laser as well, but consider it an abandoned piece; I realized that adding the long support arms and a geodesic output head caused the whole weapon to appear like a cross between a scorpion, china plate, and the Eye of Sauron – a combination which looked fairly unimposing. The arms also caused a large problem with integrating beam guides and amplifiers into the setup. On the other hand, the newer anti-infantry laser previously described “should” turn out much better, assuming everything on it stays tight and neat. At this time, the following image is the last iteration that I’ll put into the CO2 Light Cannon:
Kevin, also known as "PlasmaFire3000," is an electrical engineer who enjoys living for Jesus Christ, drawing, writing, reading, photography, music, video gaming, anime, manga, and sleepless attempts to build a death-ray laser cannon.
more about »
