Old Sketches

New Idea

Since the last few weeks and until the next few, I have been and will be busy with packing and getting ready for my long trip back to the US... home at last (after three long years)
So, where is this bring us to with any relevance... well, I haven't posted any of the sketches of the book that I promised I would because I accidentally left all my work at a friends house when I was working on with her and since, I haven't been able to get to her place to get them back (she lives far away and I am no longer able to use a car). Therefore, this leaves me with trying to figure out how to get them back.

Meanwhile however, I have been working on some other pieces with a friend on revisiting some stories and working on the glitches and gooey work that needs the attention for revamping and editing. I'm hoping to finish this in the next few weeks, and I will be very happy to say that there should be my three stories finally finalized with not much more need for attention on the writing part (maybe in the future some little things here and there). So, more on that when the time comes.

Finally, I'd like to share with you a new project that I'll be working on (this one probably for a real long time). The idea is that this is going to be a full story (book) with many chapters and including a world of crazy and interesting phenomenons, places, characters and a glimpse of what really goes on in my head. This is going to be a very challenging project for me for a few reasons: first the writing will take a long time as I am working out how to just get some of the ideas out. Second, I'm working on a style that will be more appropriate and fitting to this type of work (I'm going to move away from the cartoony look and try out a bit more illustrative with an older style look). Actually, I'm playing with Chris Riddel's line work and hoping to develop the style from there. So, I've thrown in here a sketch of Twig, a character from Chris, and would like to introduce you to my newest character (first sketches), Alice Portales (should rhyme).


This story might have many parallel's to the Alice in Wonderland story, however, I'm not sure yet what exactly that means. The idea came to me about trying to write a story about 'reality' and identifying or finding its clarity. This is much more difficult than I thought it would be, however, I do have many interesting thoughts and ideas that I'd like to find a way onto pages and see where this little girl might go. So, for those who are interested in participating with me on this voyage, please feel free to share with me any ideas, thoughts, experiences, view points, critiques, or whatever you might feel up to about your own beliefs of 'reality'. (Some quick thoughts if you may: What is reality? What is real vs. what is not? How can we capture what it is or is it something not meant to be? Who are we? What makes us us? Basically, try this one out: if you are the only one on this earth that happens to know yourself the best (thoughts, feelings, vices, dreams, nightmares, secrets - that includes skeletons in your closest!, traumas, etc.) how good do you really know yourself? If you find that this is not as easy as you think, if you are the only one who should know yourself the best, and you really don't, than what can you say that you really do know?)

Somethings fishy...

So, played with the Silver Moon Fish story again... left the first draft completely and tried with a new and fresh approach. Went away from the Japanese theme and played more with the idea of chasing the dragon instead. I'm not sure exactly how to I want this all to work out just yet, but I thought of this second story working more like an animation (similiar to the concept idea like in Umbra). Now, if I can find a way to animate, maybe I can make it work a bit better. Anywho, here's the second story first draft... read story

The Silvermoon Fish

Once every thousand years a special phenomenon occurs over the sea. This magical moment has only been seen by very few, since it not only happens so often but it barely lasts for an instant.

On this most rarest and exceptional of nights, when the moon pulls the farthest from the sun, she rises to her full to cast a brilliant flash of silver-blue light. Now, this flash of light only lasts for a few seconds, but throughout its duration, if one looks close enough, one may see the event take at hand.

As a moon beam stares down at its own reflection it causes the water to spread. Small ripples begin to sparkle and dazzle dancing like the scales from a fish's tail. The height of the water begins to rise creating such a shallow tide that it is as if it were being sucked back by a magnificent force. Then, suddenly, a blue moon drop floats softly down into the sea, where it continues its descent, following the moon's ray under the water, sinking to the bottom floor.

But the moon drop never reaches the bottom floor, because it becomes more distant from the light, fading into the darkness of the depths. And just before it reaches the consummation of being engulfed by the gloom, a slight transformation occurs. Stretching from this shadowy abyss a fish can be seen, in place of the drop, swimming up to the surface. It ascends into the light of the moon beam, metallic scales flutter and flicker. The higher the fish climbs, the brighter the scales shine. It reaches the surface and with a great big splash it emerges forth into the air. But it does not stop there. As if the moon beam holds it afloat in the sky, it continues to follow the path of light pulled by the magnetic charm of the moon. The fish continues to swim up towards the moon herself and just as it approaches this white orb it opens its mouth and swallows her whole. All of a sudden, the fish bursts with a radiant light of silver.

And then, an abrupt emptiness is filled by the dark. The thrust of water falls back down pushing the tide back to rise. The silver fish glows amongst this darkness and then falls. It drops down returning to the ocean in a veil of shadows. Another splash occurs as it enters the water, although this time into a black and murky void. Slowly it enters the shadows of the dark. And just when it is about to be fully enclosed by pitch blackness, there occurs another transformation. A soft glowing sphere begins to float upwardly. And as had happened earlier with the fish before, the higher the orb climbed the brighter it shined. It too breached the surface with a splash and continued its mesmeric flight back into the sky.

Now, this instance happens so instantaneously that the moon returns to her path in orbit as if nothing ever happened the seconds before. And the silver moon fish remains nothing more than a flicker of a magnificent moment beginning with an end and ending with a beginning. [So, we may learn: the ending and starting of things have no limit from which they began. The start of one thing is the end of another, in so as the end of one is the start of another.]

Moishe Pipik © 2011

The Legend of Mizukasami (Water Mirror) a.k.a. The Silver Moon Fish

This is a legend that was told to me while I was in Sinai by the Reed Sea. Looking out into the gulf, I saw the moon in the sky like an eye and the reflection wavered and stretched from the horizon to the shoreline before me. While looking upon this natural image I noticed how there was a gestalt of a fish connected from head (the moon) to tail (the shoreline). What was the most amazing part was watching how the light danced and swiveled off the water making it look like a fish with scales swimming to the heavens.

* * *

Beneath O'sky so blue and embedded with white wisps

In waters cool and deep

Where the glass eye reflects her magnificent beauty

Tsyukuyomi, goddess of tsuki (moon), stares into the depths of umi (sea)

Caught by rays of metallic allure, a sparkle beneath the mizu (water)

Kinginrin, with silver scales radiant from golden flecks, swims with kinkou (balance)/kaikatsu (cheerful)

Here, a call(ing) to the tsuki hikari (light)

Kinjareta ai (forbidden love)

A fish ascends from depths above

Uniting illumination with luminance

* * *

Tho, halt, for treacherous times brought perilous winds – the Senka Shiryu had soon begun (Dragon Wars)

As Ao Guang from the East, whirled past cold and bitterly

And of the South, Ao Qin's fangs bit tenderly and sharply

Smacked malevolently blow after blast Ao Run, of the West

While the Northern Ao Shun hurled heavy gusts that tore/ tearing through the air

* * *

So, up came the winds rage and the rushing of storm-waves rolls

A torturous swirl of a waterspout; forks of lightning flashing

The present uprising quickly engulfed Ginrin

By hurricane belching forth terrific kazi (winds) and foreboding clouds

Now preventing him to further his reach to the sora (skies)

* * *

Lo, Tsyukuyomi not once brooded over the restless seas

From lute and flute, (floated) faint harmonies float

From out of the lowering sky

Inspiring song through a grim and somber scene

A melody breaks through sinking to the blue of the deep

Not one, but two, drops of tears

To break through the behemoth breaths of the Shiryu

One Shinju Manju (Pearl of Flow) to climb to tengoku

The other; Shinju Kanju (Pearl of Ebb) to return to umi

For waves are tides and shall either fall or grow

But forewarning takes comfort to the dangers if they may unite

Terrible chaos would bring pain, suffering and fright

* * *

Tis the black dragon breathing pearls

Looming out of the darkness from the halls of Ryugu-jo (Dragon Palace/Bottom of the Sea)

Ryujin catches the secrets that whisper, trickling down through the currents

And with heart full of envy, heavy with spite

Unwinds himself straight to arise

Directly mounting the veiled and somber skies

Triumphant he bears the celestial treasures

Through treachery and stealth of the Akai Sazanami (Scarlet Waves)

Unbeknown to the effects of combining the separate shinju's

Ryujin causes a sudden imbalance of the manakan (high and low tides)

While Ginrin is left caught above the surface/on the nami (waves);

Flipping and flopping, slipping and sloshing on the rise and fall of mizu (water)

* * *

Despair pulls at Tsukuyomi's heart watching Ginrin's last attempts for air

Tho his spirit strong, as he stands firm in the shifting tides of change

Time pulls the teeth

In so, she brings forth her tsukinowa (ring about the moon)

And as a calm eminates from around her corona

So too slips back the water to an eventide

Moishe Pipik © 2011

This Weeks Post - Second Spread

Second spread teaser... I was planning on working on this a little bit more and fixing it up before sending it out, but thought maybe first to show what the hard parts are and the playing around process. So for this week, I'm giving you this spread as is but it shall be revisited and fixed up... Everything regarding placement and ideas are there, I just need the turtles on the sand to have better gestures, the little girl turtle hiding in her shell to come out more sharp, and I've been playing around with the setting and the crab...

I'm most happiest, as far, with the scene between the seagull and the turtle under the shrubs and tree... as well as the designing and layout of the text.

But nevertheless, for now, enjoy, comment or critique...

Deeper into the Deep Blue

For those wondering, yes... I've still been working on this project...

I noticed as I began working on the layout and thumbnails, I encountered some problems with the text. How much text do I want on each page? Does the illustration I want fit with the text on the page? How do I want to pace the pictures, layouts, and text? (Heavy with text and light with pictures, or full spread with text, or one side text and the other picture, etc.?) This part of the process, mainly the design, takes lots of time. There is thinking, laying out, sketching, playing with all of these in and out, trying this, or that, and reworking things. This can lead to many a nights of frustration and feelings of futile. Eventually, I found myself sprung into a dead halt. I felt like I smashed into a wall. That was a month and a half recuperation.
Then, I started just jumping ahead of myself. Since I'm still playing with the style, though I feel that its moving along nicely on its own and developing into itself now, suddenly things started fitting together and working out with other ideas. I've now been able to jump back into the design and layout and really work more straight and focused on these. This change in attitude and still persisting with work really opened my eyes to the process. What I learned: Don't get caught in tunnel vision!

So, now that I've jumped back on the saddle and am cruising along, I thought I'd share some of this process I'm going through. Basically, I took the text and started chopping it up (and I'm still going back to it now and then and fiddling with it here and there). Then I did a one page layout to help divide the text on each page and see how it would look. I then began thumbnails and sketches for the layouts. This was constantly edited, changed, rechanged, and still is.

After I get the preliminary ideas out, I will be reworking on character designing, making everything more perfect and then beginning into the coloring. Need to find the type of color schematics I want by first playing with the thumbnails and also coloring the characters so everything will connect and flow.









Finally, I worked off of the thumbnails and layouts and played with the sketches. (Actually, sometimes I did things the other way round because of certain ideas or pictures that I thought were more powerful in the mood or message). So, as I continue, I will start sending one sketch a week as you join me along this adventure. This is the first sketch of the turtle meeting the laid back fish in the kelp forest.