Panda rape. Many said it couldn't be done, but I'm proud to say that after more than 3 years of not actually doing any of this, I was finally able to train a panda to rape other pandas. That's right boys and girls, Pooftits the panda is now a registered sex offender. Yup, it seems that last week, Lingfuck the panda was suddenly pinned to the ground and violated by Pooftits while casually chewing bamboo by her favorite leaf/rock/kitten formation. When questioned about the incident the following morning, Pooftits denied the accusations but was quickly discredited when the authorities noticed that he was raping another large, hairy animal while being questioned about the previous night's panda raping. The police attempted to poke Pooftits with a stick multiple times in an attempt to force the bear off Rosie O'Donnell, but were unsuccessful in doing so and decided it was best to let him finish. Pooftits spent the night in jail but was released the next morning when police found that the panda had mutilated all the other prisoners in the jail cell they had stuck him in, claiming they had forgotten that "giant fucking bears don't belong in people prisons." Pooftits is now facing multiple charges of pandatory rape, as well as a possible jay walking violation. Our hearts go out to the family of Lingfuck the panda, who had reportedly hung herself after finding out she was also Rosie O'Donnell.

So, as you may remember from my last entry, I'm now living in sunny Florida working as a concept artist for a video game company called Ignition Entertainment... And man, I really can't express how much I'm diggin everything about it. The job is a blast and the location (minus the shit-awful traffic) is pretty badass. I think for the first time ever, I'm actually completely satisfied with every single aspect of my life. Follow your dreams kids, it's freaking worth it.

On a down side, you might not see any new work from me for quite a while. Unfortunately, for the time being, I'm forced to keep my Cintiq at my place of work as the higher ups are being pretty f'n slow about ordering me one so that I can take mine home. So, until that happens, the only art I'm gonna be creating will be work-related... and while I'm producing it in pretty large quantities, none of it is anything I'll be able to share with you guys until the game is released sometime in 2009. But uh, yeah, I'm REALLY hoping that they get me a Cintiq for that shit so that I can bring mine home and once again be able to create some personal, DA-friendly stuffs.

I'll keep you updated on any developments though... Peace out, babies! ^^

Happy New Year! XD

...And what a year this'll be. 2008 marks the beginning of a new life for me, guys. In every sense of the word. You see, I got a new job working as a concept artist at a video game company based out of Florida. Sweet? Absolutely. The company in question is Ignition Entertainment, a Japanese-based video game publisher that has very recently branched out into the U.S.

I've already had a chance to fly out to Florida to check out the studio I'll be working out of - as well as get a taste for the game I'll be working on - and I gotta say... I'm f'n excited! In a sense, it's like a dream job for me. I mean, my "job" will be to do what I love and am passionate about (drawing) mixed with one of my biggest hobbies (video games). Um, hell yes? And might I say, right on?

I'll mostly be in charge of character design, with a dash of story board and environment work. That totally works for me as character design is my strongest suite, and given my background in manga work I'd feel right at home drawing up story boards and whatnot. In a sense, there probably couldn't be a more perfect job for me out there than what's been presented to me by Ignition.

Another cool aspect of the job itself is that I'll have the pleasure of working with a group of really talented artists, such as Steven Stahlberg and Robin Chyo. I'm sure I'll be able to take away a lot from the experience and develop my own artistic skills as well.

As for the game I'll be working on... I can't really go into much detail (as it's as of yet unannounced), but it's a next-gen FPS for the 360/PS3 that will give the player the ability to use psi powers in addition to your standard projectile weaponry. From what I've seen of the game so far, they're really taking the whole dual-wielding, dual-trigger feature to the next level. I think the game has great potential to be something really special once finished.

But yeah, as I said earlier, 2008 marks the beginning of a new life for me. This will be the first time I'll be moving out of Illinois and away from my friends and family, so everything that I'm used to having and being around will no longer be accessible to me. In a sense, this will truly be the first time in my life that I'll be "on my own." At least until I get settled down, that is.

Still, I'm ready for it and I have no regrets.

So yeah, most of the preparations for my move have already been taken care of, and I'll be driving out to Florida either at the end of this week or the beginning of the next. Once out there, I'll be busy looking for a place to live before starting work by mid-January.

So, uh... you might see me gone from DA for a bit during the transition period.

Until next time, wish me luck. ^^

So I'm participating in Super Secret Santa extravaganza! As such...

Dear Secret Santa...

I'd like a bicycle.





...But since that ain't gonna happen, how about a piece depicting some of my characters?

I'd like you to draw a sword duel between either Ashen & Aureus, Ashen & Gage or Aureus & Gage...

Ref for Ashen: [link]
Ref for Aureus: [link]
Ref for Gage: [link]

...Or if sword fights ain't your shwang, something smexy involving Tessa, Saya and/or Lucia.

Ref for Tessa: [link]
Ref for Saya: [link]
Ref for Lucia: [link]

You can also go to my site to check out more reference art for all these characters, or read the episodes to get an idea of each character's personality.

ZOMG LUV U SANTA KTHNXBAI!

"Whhhaaaat is the deeeaaal with airline food?"

So I've been hitting up some open mike nights doing stand-up comedy for the past couple of months. God damn it if I'm not enjoying myself thoroughly doing it too.

Here's a vid of a set I did a couple of days ago.

Meow.

Oops, I forgot to feed my journal again.

Uh, I totally meant to update a couple of months ago but I got distracted by a sudden desire to eat a turkey sandwich and somehow lost track of time. Seriously not my fault. If you're gonna blame somebody, blame Turkey. The country, not the bird. If you ask me, there's something seriously wrong with a country named after a bird they don't even export! What do they export, you ask? Pickles!... Or babies or something. Whatever! I can't put babies on a sandwich, now can I? Not without pickles anyway.

So yeah, RSOM vol 7 is in stores now and I gotta say I'm disappointed with how dark and muddy Ares Maier ended up looking in print. A damned shame is what that is, I tell ya! Damned!

...But go pick up a copy anyway.

Ooh, I got my ear split in half about a month ago after taking a baseball bat to the head. That was exactly 40 stitches worth of fun and I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. There's barely a scar on the outside of the ear, too. Damn miracle workers them ER doctors are. Thank you George Clooney! Thank you for From Dusk 'til Dawn and Three Kings! But fuck you for Syriana. How are you gonna make a movie about 2 hours of nothing and fail?! You can have my ear back.

So what's ahead for Dan? Well, I was recently approached by Tokyopop with an offer to tackle a three volume manga project. It's yet to be green lit (the official pitch should be early August), so I won't discuss story details until I know the whole thing is a go. Still, things do look promising as of right now as the project has a nice buzz about it over at Tokyopop (or so I'm told). I'll keep you updated, but for the time being you can check out some recently uploaded sample pages I drew up for Tokyopop for demonstration/pitch purposes.

You're welcome, journal. You're welcome.