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April 17th, 2007
pmbq
 | 10:30 am - "Funny Papers" Art Exhibit, APE
I'd like to invite everyone to an Artists' Reception on Friday, April 20 at the Olive Hyde Art Gallery in Fremont, CA.
I'm a part of a month-long exhibit called "Funny Papers," which features local and national comic-influenced and inspired artists. It's certainly an honor to have my work exhibit alongside more established cartoonists & artists, and to also be shown at all in the gallery format!
Here's a little more information about the Gallery and Location:
http://www.fremont.gov/Recreation/OliveHydeArtGallery/default.htm
Olive Hyde Art Gallery
123 Washington Blvd.
Fremont, CA 94537
(510) 791-4357
The reception on Friday April 20 is from 7pm - 9pm. I believe appetizers and some drinks will be served.
The "Funny Papers" exhibit will from April 20 - May 19; normal gallery Hours are Thursday - Sunday, 12pm - 5pm.
I also want to thank my faithful staff, Jay and Ryan, for pulling it together and helping me frame all my works at the last minute :) I learned of this exhibit opportunity rather late, and could not have done it without their help!
Additionally, for you SF'ers, I'll actually be exhibiting at the Alternative Press Expo this upcoming weekend. It'll be at the Concourse off 7th Street. Please visit http://www.comic-con.org/ape/ for more info!
Hope to see ya there :)
Current Mood: artistic
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February 22nd, 2007
pmbq
 | 04:44 pm - We'll be @ WONDERCON
Look for the postcards at the Wondercon Freebie Tables. It's good for ONE FREE SKETCH from the P.M.B.Q. Studios booth. We'll also have a limited supply available at our own booth.
We'll also be doing commissions, debuting some new t-shirt designs, and selling the usual comics and apparel.
Hope to see you there!
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December 25th, 2006
pmbq
| 06:01 pm - Wii Be Boxing
Now you know what Haneko & Mr. Bear have been up to recently... I don't have a Wii, but they do!! Go bug them for it!
Sorry for lack of updates. Life has been insanely busy. I had been hoping to update through the fall, but between work and life it just couldn't happen. I rarely have a moment to myself, but I've still been planning Tea Club.
Things are still going, and Tea Club is not dead (although it may seem like it ^_^;;). I'm considering a rebirth once I get a grip on what I can commit to (with that said, please understand if any "suggestions" on how I might do things will be ignored...just know that I am planning things).
At any rate, I hope you all are enjoying a great holiday season. It's the first time in a while that I've been able to have time to myself, so I'm enjoying it :)
best,
PMBQ
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September 16th, 2006
pmbq
 | 12:18 am - Mr. Bear Plush, Tea Club Graphic Novels On Sale!
It's been a long time coming, but they're finally available for sale online!
Check out the Mr. Bear Plushie (even Wallace & Gromit like him!), Tea Club Graphic Novel, and Tea Party Comic Anthology on sale at my online shop.
Still working on updating the summer t-shirt designs; those will probably be up next week.
I'm also shooting for finally continuing Tea Club updates. I'll have something for you guys next week, be it some new sketches or a continuation of Resident Tea-vil.
Thanks for your patience and support :) I'll be posting again soon....
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August 7th, 2006
pmbq
| 10:59 am - AODSF 2006 Wrap-Up; Convention Season is OVER!
I wrapped up my con season with AODSF last weekend...
It's a great show with a great vision. Their aim is to celebrate not only Japanese anime, but animation in all shapes, countries, and forms. It's really what the industry and con circuit needs, simply to breathe some new creativity into the world.
I had to pleasure of meeting many talented individuals. All of the Guests of Honor were amazing people, and I was honored myself to make their acquaintance. They were a fun, crazy group of people, and I had a lot of fun getting to know them :) Here's who went:
- Merlin Crossingham (Aardman Animations, WALLACE AND GROMIT BABY!)
- Greg & Liz Dean (Real Life, the online comic)
- Brad DeMoss (Renaissance Man)
- Vic Mignogna (Voice Actor/Ladies' Man)
- Gilles Poitras (Japanese Culture Writer/Authority)
- Ken Pontac (Happy Tree Friends!)
- Marv Wolfman (Comic/Entertainment Writer of Teen Titans, Blade, and Superman, to name just a few)
- Tommy Yune (Creative Director for Harmony Gold, Robotech)
Even though they weren't guests, I also got to hang out with Jess from MacHall and Megatokyo's very own Dom. At the last minute, they stuck me, Dom, Greg, and Jess in a room, where we held an extended silly conversation amongst ourselves (and the 10 or so audience members) and called it a "webcomics panel." (We were the "replacement panel" for the Introduction to Clamp panel, which got cancelled for some reason.) It was very fun, especially when we decided to take the last 5 minutes of our room time to make our own version of "Create That Anime" (that was the name of the panel following ours). Basically, people ended up shouting out the cliche anime-stereotype characters they wanted to see, and I did my best to put their thoughts into a rough Sharpie sketch. Someone's got the pic I drew somewhere, so maybe it will resurface on MT or somewhere else eventually ;)
Most notably, it was pretty awesome to meet Merlin Crossingham from Aardman Animations. Merlin is an Animation Director, and worked as a key animator on Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (just to name a few). He was an incredibly nice guy, and was friendly to guests, staff, and attendees alike. I had a great time exchanging ideas with him on the industry as well as artistic purpose. Hopefully our paths will cross again someday.
I had several panels...a P.M.B.Q. Studios panel, Self-Publishing (co-produced with BAAU and Brown Bag Press, and Business Basics. Although turnout was pretty low, I believe I was still able to reach people and hopefully give them a good exchange in ideas. It was nice to meet and make some new fans, too!
I'd also like to thank Rob, Hank, Branden, Jenny, Albert and the rest of the AODSF staff for putting on an awesome show. They were generous, considerate and thoughtful hosts. I wish the best to all of them, and will continue to support their show as much as I can. I had a great time, and it was the perfect way to end my convention year.
As for what's next...well, there's a lot of work to be done between now and next April. I'll have a lot of new projects and ideas to share next year, and there will be a lot of changes for myself and my company.
As for Tea Club, you can expect updates to resume starting SEPTEMBER. That is exciting within itself!!!
All righty, enough with this stuff. Catch you guys later!
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July 27th, 2006
pmbq
| 11:29 pm - Why you should never stay at the Quality Inn Harborview in Downtown San Diego
So, Day 1 of SDCC was quite stressful for me due to some hotel issues I was having. I was in a pretty bad mood for Preview night. You can check out what happened under the cut.
( Here's the email that I wrote to Choice Hotels and the Quality Inn regarding my hotel stay for SDCC... )
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July 26th, 2006
pmbq
| 07:25 pm - If you do the MySpace Thang...
Feel free to join the Tea Club MySpace group at:
http://groups.myspace.com/teaclubcomic
Do you guys think Mr. Bear should create a Tea Club profile instead? He's not sure what would be best...
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pmbq
| 07:50 am - Tea Club on Rotten Tomatoes
Check it out! (Scroll down a bit and you'll see the Hana Neko banner...)
Small, I know, but hey! Rotten Tomatoes! :D
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July 14th, 2006
July 10th, 2006
pmbq
| 10:59 pm - Announcing TEA PARTY @ San Diego Comic Con
Yes, folks, we are at the home stretch of Convention Season 2006!! I just gotta survive these next two weeks!!!
After much battling, I finally secured a booth at Comic Con International: San Diego (aka SDCC). You can find P.M.B.Q. Studios at BOOTH#5034.
I know it's been super-quiet here on the website, but I wanted to announce a project I've been stealthily working on for the past 8 months. That, dear friends, is Tea Party, the first Tea Club comic anthology.
At 56 pages, it's jam packed full of Tea Club art and stories. Here's a list of contributors (in the order that their work appears in the book):
PMBQ
Kyle Carrozza
Ian Sy
Bryan Wong
Lorelai Wu
Jay Samson
Jill/Peipa & Evon/Cheshire
Saka
Amie Dovinh
Jen Chan
Ben Seto
Josh Spaulding
Steven Tze
Jeannie Lee
Long Vo
Chun
Many of the contributors will be at SDCC for an Official Tea Party Book Signing. Please stop by the booth to find out what time everyone will be there!
Tea Party is going to have a limited print run of 550 copies. After SDCC, it will be available for sale at the P.M.B.Q. Online Shop, along with the newly released Tea Club Graphic Novel, Vol. 1 (yeap, it debuted at Anime Expo!).
Additionally, the Mr. Bear Plush will be available at SDCC. (Sorry, I don't have a picture yet; been too busy to take one!! Just believe me when I say that he's CUTE!!!) Also, I will have a new SCREENPRINTED Limited Edition Tea Club t-shirt for sale, in fitted girl t-shirts and guy t-shirts. If there are any left, these will be available on the P.M.B.Q. Online Shop after SDCC as well.
After the convention madness is over, I should be able to finish up Resident Tea-vil @_@ Like so many of my other stories, it's been plotted to the end, but I haven't had time to work on Tea Club since March!
OK, time to rest up for the big week ahead...hope to see some of you at SDCC!
Current Mood: productive
Current Music: My boy, 50 cent...G-UNIT!
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June 30th, 2006
pmbq
| 10:50 pm - Visit us at ANIME EXPO, Booth 577
Honestly, I haven't had much time to myself these past few months @_@
For those of you going to Anime Expo this upcoming weekend, we have some surprises to debut :) Well, not completely surprises, but you will be the first to see the projects that we've been talking about all year...I'll just leave it at that!
If you miss us there, you can catch us a few weeks later at San Diego Comic Con International.
Gotta run, still working :P
Current Mood: insanely busy
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May 26th, 2006
pmbq
| 06:04 am - Tea Club @ Fanime 2006
EDIT! PMBQ Studios PANEL TIME UPDATED BELOW. Oh, heck, it's on SUNDAY MAY 28 @11AM IN BALLROOM C!
Sorry for the dearth in updates...life is so crazy right now...
At any rate, if you're in the Bay Area, P.M.B.Q. Studios and Tea Club are paying a visit to Fanime Con this weekend!
I'll be showcasing a new Mr. Bear t-shirt design, plus a lot of other new goodies that you'll just have to come check out ^_-
I'll be doing a panel called (what else) PMBQ Studios: Tea, Pandas and Bears, Oh My! on Sunday, May 29th @ 11am in Ballroom C. I'll be sharing my experiences, from starting out at convention Artists' Alleys, to how I transitioned into a business, and sharing the latest news and grooves in P.M.B.Q. Studios and Tea Club. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly sure where it is (all the schedule says is "Panel 1-3"), but when I find out I'll update my LJ community.
Hope to see you there!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/energetic.gif) frazzled
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May 9th, 2006
pmbq
| 05:24 pm - It's that time of year again
Hi all,
Just wanted to drop a line to let everyone know what's been going on.
For the past few years of my life, March through August has been dubbed "convention season." This year is no different. I had been hoping to be more productive during the non-convention season months, but unfortunately I was bitten by the big lazy winter bear bug and did not get enough done ^_^;
Although there have not been any Tea Club updates for a little over a month, rest assured that I still have been working on Tea Club-related things. The big one is the Tea Club Graphic Novel, which has been sitting in the hands of the printer for quite some time now. I believe it is finally being prepared for the printing press as we speak.
Unfortunately, the graphic novel will NOT be ready for Fanime Con, but it will be ready for Anime Expo. The same goes for the Mr. Bear Plushie project that I announced at Anime L.A....he is still being perfected. Both of these projects will be well-worth the wait!
There will be some new Tea Club t-shirts available at Fanime and Anime Expo.
I'm also exhibiting at Comic Con International in San Diego, which is not too long after AX.
Finally, in August, I will be back in the Bay Area with most of my new goodies at AODSF in early August.
Other than Tea Club/P.M.B.Q. Studios projects, I've been pretty insanely busy with a few new freelance gigs. It's almost like working two full-time jobs!
At any rate, I am still alive and kicking around. Thanks for being patient :)
best,
PMBQ
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April 10th, 2006
pmbq
| 11:32 am - Post-A.P.E.
A.P.E. was pretty darn rockin'.
It was great to share a table with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) bryanyw and see friends Ben Seto, Planet Tokki, Poketo, Frank @ Media Blasters and BAAU. Also made some new friendly acquaintances with curious_zoology + cool creative friends, Giant Robot, Gama-Go, Uno, Creature Co-op, Chibi Comics and Red Eye Press. It was an INCREDIBLY creative show, filled with awesome and talented exhibitors and unique projects/products. I will definitely be returning next year.
There's no post-show rest for me, though, because tomorrow morning I'm heading out for KawaiiKon. I'm spending today gathering my bearings, checking in with my freelance projects, checking my t-shirt inventory, printing posters, and hopefully getting some kind of mini-update scanned in that I can work on while I'm in Hawaii. Definitely a full day @_@
On the upside, I think I'm not sick anymore (which is also why there was no update last week ^_^;), but I still have a pesky cough. (I hate it when it's like that.)
Must finish oatmeal and finish taking shirt inventory....
Current Mood: busy
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March 31st, 2006
pmbq
| 11:47 am - Delayed updates, but APE is coming!
Sorry there hasn't been an update for a while ^_^;
I got back from SakuraCon earlier this week. It was GREAT to be there and meet old and new fans :) You guys were really nice; it was a pleasure!
I was impressed at how SakuraCon has grown over the years. The Washington State Convention Center is HUGE! I didn't really wander around much, but the Dealer's Room was pretty well run. All the staff and convention center workers I encountered were friendly and helpful. I will try to be there again next year, but if it conflicts with APE I might not be able to make it.
This week, I'm starting to get busy with convention prep as well as various freelance work (bills, bills bills). I'll probably have some time over the weekend to work on an update. I'm shooting for a few more pages than normal...I really want to get Tea-Vil finished!
Unfortunately, the Tea Club Graphic Novel has hit some snags at the printer and won't be available for APE. It looks like it will now be available in May, just in time for Fanime Con.
Finally (with all this talk of APE), just a reminder that I WILL be at APE at the San Francisco Concourse on April 8-9. Bryan Wong from Seasons of Constancy will be sharing the table with me. There will be a lot of really creative talent there, including my friends Ben Seto, Planet Tokki and Poketo.
I'm trying to hand-sew some Mr. Bear plushies by then, but we'll see how that goes between all my freelancing next week @_@
P.S. Happy Birthday to my big brother, Phong!
Current Mood: caffeinated
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March 15th, 2006
pmbq
| 09:33 am - It's coming
Yesterday, I sent the final files off to the printer for this:
It's 160 pages of old and new stuff (a little more than the previously mentioned 152 pages). I think it'll have something to please both my online and print fans, as there's a good mix of different stories and storylines in there.
Now, I'm anxiously awaiting the proofs, which will hopefully come next week or so. After that, it goes to print, and should be available for sale by the end of April 2006. (Small chance I might have some copies for APE, but it depends on how quickly things go at the printer.)
It was definitely a GREAT experience taking this self-publishing route. I went back to my pre-press graphic design training and put it all together myself, using Adobe InDesign and Acrobat to make print-ready PDF's. I also had to re-size all my pages and think about things like bleeds and gutters and all those fun book-y things. I spent many a late-night this past week going over files....over and over again...until it was finally ready. It made me appreciate yet another role that a publisher plays in getting a book out, and my level of respect for publishers shoot up even way higher than it already was.
It also made me think a lot about my journey as an artist. It's hard to believe that Tea Club has been around for almost 5 years now, and that there is a good amount of content that's been produced over that time. I look back on my early art, and sure, it was rough, but I'm proud of the fact that it's out there for everyone to see. I'm glad to finally get over the typical artist's "perfectionist" hangup and become more concerned about producing work rather than nitpicking over details.
Tea Club continues to evolve and grown over time. I hope people continue to enjoy it along with me :)
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March 7th, 2006
pmbq
| 05:01 am - Tea-Vil Brews
The next two pages are finally up!
Resident Tea-vil has been a funny story. Originally, it was just supposed to be a the Halloween story for 2003, parodying Capcom's Resident Evil/Biohazard series, and tying in to the costumes that the characters wore in the Birthday Story. It was also supposed to be no more than 16 pages.
Well, I guess since writing and drawing Tea Club is kind of organic in itself, here we are, 3 years later, Tea-vil's still not done (mostly due to the print comic getting in the way back in 2003), and stretching many more pages beyond the original 16-cap. This particular update underwent at least three rewrites and storyboards. What can I say, I still like to put out as good work as I can, given the timeframe ^_^; (and I am pleased with the end result.)
I think Tea-vil's still got about 8 pages left. I've plotted it out, but haven't storyboarded it yet.
Anyways, there might not be another update later this week, because I'm still in the process of putting the graphic novel together...by the time I'm done with that I'll be pretty burned out :P
Time to crash! Have a great week, everyone!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif) exhausted
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March 3rd, 2006
pmbq
| 03:45 pm - Update over the weekend
Just letting y'all know that my next Tea-vil update will most likely be over the weekend.
I've spent a good part of this past week working out the admin to the Tea Club graphic novel...finding a printer (much thanks to Harold at Acredale Media, all-ages printing specialist), planning page layouts and content, figuring out what new designs and illustrations I have to create, etc. It's coming along nicely (and is surprisingly draining!), and I hope to get it off to the printer by mid-March.
There's a small chance I might have it ready for APE, but it might not happen if I can't get the files to the printer soon enough.
Anyways, I've been staring at all the old files on my computer for a long time, so I'm a little burned out and need some time before I start the next Tea-Vil page.
Current Mood: drained
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February 27th, 2006
pmbq
| 09:26 pm - More Tea-Vil, Graphic Novel details
Sorry this update took so long. I was pretty busy with freelance work last week, and over the weekend I had some unexpected family business to take care of. (Nothing serious, don't worry.)
Even though it's just one page, this one took me a while to do. Sometimes it's hard to motivate yourself.
Well, I'm shooting for another update later this week. I'm going to work on the website some more...still a work in progress (in terms of coding, that is).
Oh, the graphic novel is about 90% ready for the printer. Right now, I'm still exploring some distribution options. It will most definitely be available at my online shop, but it would be nice if some stores carried it, too. If I can get some help with the distribution, that would be great! Otherwise I'll be distributing it almost completely by myself ^_^;
The graphic novel contains Tea Club comic issues #1-#4 (YES, the strangely rare story from issue#4!), some of the online content, a new short story, and some new illustrations. There will be a full-color cover, and it is 152 pages long. I plan on continuing to release graphic novels as long as I have enough content to fill them. The Tea Club story is very far from finishing; I would like to finish it within my lifetime :)
That's all the news for now! Stay toasty this winter, drink tea!
Current Mood: busy
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February 23rd, 2006
pmbq
| 11:20 pm - Been a Long Week
Just keeping everyone posted...
There will be an update this week, but it won't go up until later Friday night or Saturday.
I've been busy working on a lot of freelance work this week, so it didn't leave that much room for Tea Club. Nevertheless, I want to keep the updates coming and the next one is planned.
Also, the Tea Club graphic novel is being planned. I'm probably going to go to print in March and am trying to have it available for the Alternative Press Expo on April 8-9 in San Francisco, CA. The graphic novel collects the comic issues #1-#4, some of the online content, and also new content. It'll be around 152 pages. Until further notice, I think I will be self-publishing Tea Club into graphic novels once I get enough content for it. I'd like to have the next volume out next year (but let me get through the first one first ^_^).
I'll post again when the update goes up. Thanks for hanging in there!
EDIT: Still lagging. Had a lot of family stuff that came up this weekend, sorry ^_^; The update is half-inked, though, and it'll probably go up later tonight after I get back from my freelance job.
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