Gosh this looks amazing. Glad the Berb is back *_*

Thank you, sweetie. *hugs*

That is one glorious dragon butt!

There ought to be no other kind of dragon butt. (Are there? There must be.)

I will be in touch with you forthwith, mien herr.

Everyone needs to view this in greyscale too. I want them to really appreciate it.

Greyscale to start will save your art from falling apart!

Goddamn this is fucking gorgeous.

*hugs* Thank you, Peggy! How the hell are you these days?

PRETTY GOOD, I am about 30 pages away from finishing the graphic novel I've been working on for four years. And taking a trapeze class. You?

ROCK ON, Peggy!! What a milestone! And trapeze classes? Are you thinking about getting into--what do they call it when you use a sheet of fabric hung from a ceiling as a performance tool? Or more "circus-style" stuff? I imagine burlesque is a puzzle-piece that fits into this picture, but I'm curious to learn how.

Me: coming out a year-and-a-half-long Blue Period, having learned a bunch of stuff in the process (aka "Life Stuff"). Doing personal art again. Making the final dash for the finish line of my novel, Rough Draft Phase, presently at about 80k, before I resume the concept art side of the project (while I await edits). Prepping to start a Patreon account. Gearing up for 2015. I am going to see what I can squeeze from this year.

Silks? Yeah, that's part of what I'm learning in class. It's definitely the same kind of urge that saw me dabbling in burlesque; I really don't know if I'll ever actually perform anything, but it's fun to be in the kind of SHAPE you have to have for these sorts of things.

Illustrated novel? Ooooh, I'm curious. My 2015 is mostly going to be spent finally starting my 20-year-old angst comic, and resuming the silly sexy fantasy comic I was doing before the breakup.

I both understand and approve. :D Being in shape does good things for your ego. Too easy to forget that.

I will share all the pertinent bits to do with the novel! There's a lot of art-making ahead.

I am very, very excited to see what's coming next from the Mind and Pen of Peg. The sexy fantasy comic is coming back to life, you say? I await further news with great curiosity. ;)

Man I'd love to live in an A-frame attic room like this. Your palettes continue to be awesome, also.

There was a time when I did, too, but then I stayed part of a summer at my Gran's, in her attic room, and let me tell you, hitting your head on the ceiling gets OLD. However--you are likely more coordinated than I. ;)

Thank you! Glad you dig it!

It looks wonderful, Berb. Amazing colors.

Thank you for dropping by and saying so! Getting the colors AND values right is an ongoing challenge.

ooooh you are back!

Sweet Baby Jebus I hope so, man.

Ahh, so pretty, so vibrant!

It's so good to see your work.

Hey there you!!

I want to talk with you one of these days, when you're willing. I've finally worked up the gumption to say so. Dunno why it took me so long. No worries if you're not interested, though, okay?

Hey, that'd be great. Sure we can talk! :]

I've just finished with a month long crunch at work, so the following couple of weeks should be mostly calm; we can have a chat anytime (as long as I'm awake).
Drop me a note, then we can arrange the how/when. : >

Deal!

I was just talking to someone about you yesterday and I had realized it had been a while since I had seen your work in my inbox. It's nice that it's there again.

Egad! How'd I come up in conversation? And why weren't my ears burning?? I'm getting old, man.

...so's everyone else, of course...


(I'm glad I gave you a reason to grin.)

All your strengths are on display here, dear sir! You're great with color, composition, place and person. It's rare that we see art on this site that does so well with setting and mood. Keep this kind of thing up and you won't be able to beat the crowds back! I love it all, but that amazingly solid dresser, the sheets and snowboards are my favorite background details. Awesome! And... page count? *pokepoke* :"D *hug*

You leave the most encouraging comments, my friend. *smotherhugs*

I had a goal with this piece: to create a setting that felt "lived in", and more than that, lived in by a specific person (I see Buck the gryphon as a guy who never grew out of his messy dorm days). I have even more admiration now for the folks who can do great comics. This kind of visual specificity is HARD.

Novel is up to 79k, 334 pages. I'll break the 80k line today.

Wonderful to see some new work from you Berb!
great colours and sense of solid form!

Thank you for dropping by and saying so, Master Stu. I am sorry I didn't get to see you on your zip through Our Fair State. Fingers crossed that I'm in a better position the next time you come to the US. Or maybe I'll be lucky enough to meet you In Situ, NZ. I hope you had a good time gadding about!

all good, these things happen and sure we'll meet up sometime in the future!
and yeah it was sweet having a look about there :]

We will, by crackey, we will, or my name's not Berbalang. Which it isn't, not in real life, but who the fuck cares, anyway? I'm glad you had a good vacation.

Oh! It's great to see you back! <3

Thank you, hun bun. I am trying to figure out how I can STAY back this time.

Really? We should catch up or something! ; w ; <3

Yes we should! Name a time, lady, I'll set the space aside for some gabbing.

Yay, Berb! <3 This is so fab. I love your colors.

Hey there critter! *hugs*

(It's nice to see you on Twitter. You always seem to have a kind word to say. I love that.)

^//^ -hugs!-

I'm not on twitter as much as I used to be so I try to make my appearances worthwhile hehe. Hope life is being kind.

Life got kicky-punchy for a stretch. I am exploring the territory on the far side. How about you?

I'm doing a lot better. Between my partners and my friend Silv I get to spend every day head over heels so that helps me bounce back up when stuff knocks me down.

It's good to be surrounded by love. :D

Yus!

May this blessing lift you up for many many years to come. I am more than a touch envious.

Aw..
Well I love you to pieces if that's any consolation. I think you're awesome and kinda wished we talked more but I understand that life gets busy sometimes. I hope maybe a little of the love I try to send out into the universe helps something come your way.

That is such a kind and gracious thing to say, Zidders, and it leaves me fumbling for a proper reply. I think we are going to talk more this year, you and I. Thank you for the positive vibes, too. I sent out my own request over the holidays. Maybe that energy is cumulative? I can hope! *hugs* You are a sweet critter.

Hey I'm so glad you're still kicking! I like the cartoony style or this piece. It almost looks like a screenshot from a classic adventure game. Please keep up the good work!

Thank you so much for dropping by and giving me a friendly halloo!

I've been looking at a lot of Evynd Earle, Maurice Noble and Mary Blair, not to mention Neil Campbell Ross and Tadahiro Uesugi, Jack Potter, Bernie Fuchs, Robert McGinnis and Fred Pfieffer. HUGELY inspiring stuff. They are so crazy good with flat colors!!

Wow, lotta names! I especially liked Neil Campbell Ross. The impressionism, the ability to express more with less. Do you like Craig Mullins? I think he's amazing in a similar way but with modern media.

Believe it or not, Ross works mostly in Photoshop. He's a beast with watercolor to be sure, but he's a PS guy first and foremost, like Craig Mullins.

Two of my PS faves: Moby Franke and Jaime Jones. Have you seen their stuff?

Holy moly! Those guys... No I didn't. Well I kinda did, Moby Francke designed the absolutely amazing Team Fortress 2 characters. Thank you a lot for the pointers!

I really need to watch more art outside FA. Thanks to you I just discovered Maciej Kuciara, another terrific guy who turns out to be behind the The Last of Us game design.

Masters like these inspire and depress me at the same time. Inspire because I would really love to paint like this. Depress because I'll never spend enough time to learn the necessary skills, even assuming I potentially can. Because there are so many other interesting things to do! And a day job. And one also needs to browse FA and to watch Youtube sometimes. So dreams stay dreams, for better or worse.

Yep, that's Mr. Francke (sp! Thank you for spelling it properly for me, I forgot all about that c), master artist of TF2 and now the Lion running the den at Riot. He's as sweet and genuine a gent as he is a monster artist. The same goes for Jaime Jones. They're both present very honest faces to the world. Some artists develop a very thick veneer as the years go by; not them.

Don't let yourself get too down. Skills can be learned. It's 85% sweat when you're talking about technique. There's no magic to it. Who says you have to learn everything now, now, now? Fuck, fuck, fuck that.

Glad to see you are still with us! Keep up the fantastic work <3

Thank you, kind one! I am sure as hell gonna try.

Love the colour work. Wow...

Thank you kindly for saying so. :D

ahhhh this is so great, berby! I want to post my furoticon paintings but I don't think I can yet @_@

Hey there, you sweet man, thank you. I can't wait to see your paintings for the set!