Day One

Ar, I apologize for the lack of updates x_x I've been very, very busy recently, mostly due to Finals. But! I am working. There will soon be things upon which to feast the eyes; character designs, other concept pictures, and perhaps even a little rotoscoping venture of mine.

Today was the first day of second semester, including a period of independent study. This means that, every other day, I will have just over two free hours in which to animate to my heart's content :D Be expecting great things from me! I'm excited and optimistic.

So, I don't really have anything relating to my story(ies) ready to show you, but I guess I can post some sketches I have done of my friend's novel. Apparently, I've been imagining most of her characters completely wrong, though. It's her fault anyway, for not describing them, so there. Anyway, enjoy, even if you have no idea what these sketches are of:

I hate drawing stacks of books. They are obscenely hard, and not all that satisfying at times. They're all... skew. Ah well. That's what that thing is by the door, by the way (with the triangular prism floating over it)

Also, I'm now obsessed with the show with Zefrank.

Snow Day and Storyboarding

Snow pours down over the whole area, and school is canceled--Meaning, a four-day weekend (thanks to MLK) .

Perhaps its because I'm worried I'll just let this blog die that I feel very anxious to update again... Afterall, it has onlhy been three days since my first post. Nonetheless, I wouldn't post if I didn't have some sort of news, and here it is:


Although hard to see at that size (click for bigger size), as well as very rough and by no means finished, this is the opening sequence (or at least, what is currently planned to be the first sequence) for an animation I hope to do in the near future. In all honesty, I didn't know what was happening in the scene when I wrote/drew it for this--I don't really know what all I'm going to animate. Ah well, it seemed natural. Plus, I do really like the second and third frames... especially for the small amount of time in which I sketched them. I should work with my tablet more often.

Azeri Itsas

This particular blog, in essence, exists to track a creative journey. How cliché sounding, eh? It's true, though-- Would I lie to the general public? ~_^ As my first post, this is also my Artist's Statement. I will be learning to animate, hopefully, as well as improve my general drawing, HTML/CSS/web design, and writing skills. I've got a lot to learn, but I think I have a good start and a great amount of ambition. And so, I begin, with my new website, AzeriItsas. [Which has not yet been published, but will be up soon, hopefully]

The name Azeri Itsas is from Basque: "Sea Fox" (or, word-for-word, "Fox Sea"...). You see, the original name was intended to be Navy [blue] Fox. However, I prefered the sound of "Azeri Itsas" to "Azeri Itsasurdin"... less long-winded, as well as less intimidating. I do have to admit that I don't speak Basque... I merely wanted something that meant "Fox," but had a better sound. I went through a lot of languages... Zorro, Renarde, Volpo, Volp, Vulp, etc (many stemmed from "Vulpes," the scientific name for foxes) And why "Sea Fox"? [or originally, why "Navy Fox"?] A lengthy dissertation, for which I apologize:

My online alias is Konayashi, given to me by friends who needed a better name than my real one to call me when speaking Japanese (my real name has an incredible number of sounds difficult to pronounce in Japanese) . It stems from "kon," the Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound a fox makes, if I am correct. Also "hayai," meaning agile, clever, nimble, or something to that effect (or possibly that is only the name for the kanji... 捷い Unfortunately, I do not possess a great knowledge of the Japaneses' kanji system) My new blog has maintained this name. This was perverted by bad memory, and became "ayashi." So essentially, and by exceedingly manipulated translation, my name is "clever fox" [more accurately, it'd be something like "yip swift" Hohoho XD ] "Kon," as a kanji, can also mean "now," "spirit," or "navy blue." Thus, I have played on "fox" and "navy" from the same word to get Azeri Itsas.
[Edit] After additional research, fueled by the title "Ayashi no Ceres" (a manga series by Yuu Watase, by the way) I discovered that "ayashi" was indeed the word my friend had suggested; however, it is occasionally spelled with an extra "i" at the end (something to do with adjectives? Just a guess at Japanese grammar) thus my difficulty in finding the word using a translator. I still believe that she was mistaken in suggesting it--rather than the intended meaning, "mysterious," the kanji 怪しい is usually translated, "dubious," "suspicious," or "doubtful." Though there is a different kanji with the same meaning, but with a root that can mean "attractive," "bewitching," and "calamity" : 妖しい . To my amusement, the same root is used in 妖艶 (youen), translating, as I understand, "fascinating," and "voluptuous" as well as another word, 妖術 (youjutsu) : "black magic," "black art," "witchcraft," "sorcery." And other words, of course... (youkai). Ah, fun with language. However, I like "hayai." I know what I want it to mean, and how it best translates. [/Edit] Quite incidentally, (although it seems as though they would be connected, the two reasons are unconnected except by this website's name) myself and my fellow artist Koru created a manga / graphic novel named "Sea Fox"... another reason for me to settle on "Azeri Itsas" versus "Azeri Itsasurdin."

Undoubtedly, I will discuss this book later, as well as many other current projects. However, it occurs to me that this particular entry has gone a bit long... I don't want to drive people away by sheer length. For now, know that I have a deviantArt account, on which I have posted much of my art: http://konayashi.deviantart.com Please check that out ^_^

As a last note, please feel free to correct me on any of my language mistakes, by the way. Language is another subject I find interesting, and I'm always interested to learn more, about just about any language.