okay so this has been bugging me for the past few weeks. it involves the street fighter tribute contest that Udon was holding. i've recently seen all the entries that got in and i have to say i'm really impressed by the awesome submissions people have sent in. obviously not everyone could get in so i'm sure there were some that were on the bubble but just didn't make the cut. of course that's not the issue that i have a problem with. the thing that really bugged me was the amount of people that whined and complained about not getting in. i admit there weren't a lot of people that acted this way. for the most part the people who didn't get in acted very professionally, respectfully and maturely. they understood that perhaps the talent level in this competition was very high and a lot of them even took this as a motivational experience to only get better at their skill. but then there were the people that couldn't believe that they didn't get in and resorted to conspiracy theories! this sort of stuff makes me a little angry because i know for a fact that udon really tried it's best to make this competition as fair and open as possible, even letting in 3d entries and sculptures. then there were people who stated that only the friends of udon got in. of course these people didn't really read the contest description because it clearly stated that the friends of udon got their own pages already reserved and are not part of the competition section. and then there are those who feel the need to bash their fellow deviant artist's entries because they thought their entry was better.

it's unfortunate that some people have to act so immaturely and put a slight damper on an otherwise successful contest. but then again, this is the internet and stuff like this is a given. i understand everyone has an opinion, i just wish everyone stated those opinions in a little less whiney fashion.

oh and one more thing that i wanted to mention, but mr. dogan worded it so well i'll have to quote him on this:

"Anything worthwhile takes effort, and not every piece you do is your best.

For those of you that didnt get in, it doesn't necessarily mean you are not good. Just keep trying and do what you love to do.

Ask any professional how many revisions they go through and how many pieces don't make it."

-joe

Hey guys,

Due to a pretty big, yet last minute project popping up, i'm unfortunately canceling my appearance at the Calgary Expo this year. while the convention is great and the organizers there treat the guests really really well, the turn around for this project is pretty tight, even for comics, and the convention would take too many of my work days away during the middle of this project. so for those who were planning on stopping by and saying hi, my apologies and maybe i'll see you guys next year!

in the mean time, a friend of mine and an awesome artist that i actually met at last year's calgary convention, Francis Manapul, just joined deviant art! make sure you check out his page and give him some love!

click here ----->

-joe

so i think the snow is gone for good over here. i don't think i could have taken much more of it. hopefully the coming of the spring will get me rejuvenated work wise. lately i've been feeling like i've hit a bit of a wall creatively. hating everything i do and all that jazz. every artist goes through phases like this and i know it will pass. i've been starting to work on some projects that i'm really excited about so hopefully that will get me going a bit more.

i've been checking out some of the entries to the street fighter tribute contest and i have to say, there are some really kick ass looking pieces being submitted by pros and fans alike! i'm still working on my submission unfortunately. it's been slowly dragging for a couple weeks now. doing a little here and there but it should be done by the deadline.

i find it a bit amusing just by doing a quick search for "street fighter contest" how many people have put up their entries on dA. wasn't it recommended that people NOT do that?

that's all i have to report for now.

-joe

This past Monday I flew to Edmonton Alberta to meet up with a young boy named Jayce. Jayce has T-cell leukemia, which is a form of blood cancer.

Last Thursday i got an email from Jay Bardyla, owner of the award winning Happy Harbor Comics shop in Edmonton. He told me that Make-A-Wish Foundation contacted him about Jayce and that one of his wishes is to go on a shopping spree which included coming to the best comic store in Canada. He was told that Jayce was a really big Transformers fan, and that's when Jay got the idea to contact me about flying up to Edmonton and meet the boy in person and do a sketch or two for him. After a day of changing around my weekend schedule, I packed the few things I needed for the trip and flew to Edmonton Monday morning.



-joe

I've been really sick the past 4...5...6...9 days so i haven't checked back here very often. I'm feeling a lot better now, but now i have to catch up on work! So other than that, nothing really new to report.

I recently got the Justice League New Frontier animated movie the other day. I actually enjoyed it a lot. I'm told the comic is much better and more fleshed out though, so i'll have to check that out if i ever see it in stores. What really interested me though was the little Batman: Gotham Knight sneak peak in the special features. It looks fantastic! 6 different Japanese animated styles for 6 different Batman stories. From the looks of it they're all pretty well known japanese animation houses too!

Anyways, a lot of projects have been popping up lately so i'll probably be MIA again haha... I'll try to respond to comments and notes when i can.

EDIT: in case you haven't already checked it out, UDON is having a Street Fighter art contest for it's upcoming tribute book! check out all the details here: [link]

-joe