PlasmaFire.org

Well, when I can, that is. It seems that ever since DreamHost e-mailed me about moving my server data to a new machine, the old image gallery GridLine.PlasmaFire.org has been on the fritz with 404/database errors and is having issues with my logon information. Oh well, that’s what I get for not updating absolute paths in time; it’ll be coming down very soon anyway. The Tesla Coil Graduation Project photos need to be re-posted at a slightly-higher resolution, since many modern laptops have a standard 1280×800 resolution. No changes to Abuse.PlasmaFire.org or PSAOM.org yet due to finals week coming soon, as much as I’d want to.

Time for a non-engineering talk: there’s a lot of new artwork currently backlogged for posting, especially traditional studies, in light of a figure drawing class that myself and Catherine Lu have been taking this semester. The course has been a wonderful experience, save for a couple of assignments (collages and chalk pastel, grr), and definitely helped a lot with my mecha drawing. Looking back on how my engineering-influenced art has changed since switching from 2D schematic-style designs two years ago, it’s actually pretty reassuring: more curves, organic features, expressive lines, and a greater understanding of perspective, while depending less on tools in lieu of simpler things; I still find it far easier to generate ideas with a sketchbook, mechanical pencil, and eraser than having to pull out the drawing board or laptop and tablet. True, in reality it’s a matter of practicing, interest, trust (in the Lord, of course), and simply putting the tools to the media. This is the gist about any kind of original art, whether it’s creating from observation or delineating with no active references.

And back to reality: 4 credits of figure drawing only counts as a General Education arts course, and that’s all I can take ’till graduation! There’s a looming cloud of challenging core electrical engineering courses about to descend upon me come Fall 2009. I can feel it…the sufferings of previous EE students under Fourier Transforms, partial differential equations, and advanced electromagnetics. If this were a work of B-grade sci-fi, I’d probably write about it: “One Student In His Puny Mecha Versus Legions Of Gigantic EE Automatons Bent On Utterly Destroying Him. Year #4.” -_-‘

In other news, Tekkoshocon 2009 was fantastic (far better than last year…except for the Game Room, unfortunately), Pandora Radio is awesome (especially since Tim Westergren spoke to PSU’s Audio Engineering Society last week), and Folding for Penn State is superb (join team #1805!). What’s with me and abusing the English language using a passive voice, anyway?

On a final note: if you can, please pray for my parents, as they are currently in Taiwan for the next couple of weeks visiting friends and relatives. Returning to their home country might not be awkward even after spending several decades in the States, but in light of this my immediate family is now scattered all over the world (yes, even my sister living in NYC counts as “scattered”). Do pray that my mom and dad may enjoy their time off there and will have a safe trip home.

I decided to start the site revamp a little early, since NextGEN Gallery offered a favorable options palette. All of my previous entry’s images have been re-hosted, except for the Pop’n Music ASC project (and all other project photos in general). Some of my featured art is now up as well; just hit the Artwork link at the top of the page. Most of the pieces are fairly old except for the first 3D mecha design and the first sketchbook page, but new ones will come soon!

So…I ended up keeping my word in the previous entry: no updates to this blog during the convention. It turned out there were no free Internet connections at the Baltimore Marriot Waterfront hotel, and even the Wi-Fi access points weren’t strong enough to carry across the bay.

But all that aside, Otakon 2008 overall was a great way to close the summer before I head back to the dirge of classes. And as I’ll mention later, it was actually a good thing that there was no Internet available. With well over 25,000 registered attendees, this was the largest anime convention on the East coast that had become even bigger than last year. Now some may disagree, but it felt significantly less crowded than 2007’s con, likely because the Programming department shaped up and nailed most of the events down on schedule. Of course, with a gathering of this size, there’s the inevitable “There’s so much to do, but so little time!” syndrome: there were a total of six video anime viewings rooms, four panel locations, three workshops, two autograph rooms, an additional high-definition screenings room (changed from the 35mm screen of years past), a multipurpose concert/films hall, and for the first time ever, the usage of Baltimore’s 1st Mariner Arena for the most popular and crowd-drawing events (masquerade, JAM Project concert, and Sunday concerts). Almost all of the viewings and panel tracks were blocked in Friday through Sunday.

In spite of the massive event flood, there weren’t many that I considered going to. Besides, there was always video gaming, the dealers room, Artist Alley, cosplay photography, exploring Baltimore, getting food, socializing and meeting with friends, and so many other continuously-distracting events to attend. Here’s a rundown of what happened all three (four) days. Hit the “Read more” link!

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So when I first wrote back in October 2007 that this site would be “mostly a slice of Kevin’s life again,” I forgot to mention how sparsely the weblog would be updated. What, it’s been since April 10, 2008 since the last bit? Ah, seems it’s time to give a rundown of what’s happened over these few months. Hit “Read more” if you’re interested, but pardon the disorganization ahead…there’s a lot to talk about.

Read more »

It’s been a while since I’ve done anything related to tool-based/technical drawing and/or sci-fi weapon works. The last significant piece was the “Stationary Antiaircraft Railgun,” finished in 2005. I sure missed those days of eye-straining detailing…until now.

As of late, most of my drawing habits have been adapting to 3D sketching and mecha design (yes, anime has its major influences, especially the Full Metal Panic! and Mobile Suit Gundam series), but more recently I’ve been integrating experience derived from precision drawing into such new ideas. Even so, I’ve also been going “back to my roots,” in that I’m once again finding time to create 2-dimensional works of absurd mechanical devices. Sure, even one piece can take ages (days or “weeks”) to finish, but this is what God let me get better at; got to thank Him for it, indeed.

So, here’s a new piece that I’ve been working on over the past few days; for now, let’s call this an “Anti-Infantry Multiaxis Laser Turret.”

But wait, what ever happened to the “Large-Scale CO2 Light Cannon?” Eh, it might be a high-power laser as well, but consider it an abandoned piece; I realized that adding the long support arms and a geodesic output head caused the whole weapon to appear like a cross between a scorpion, china plate, and the Eye of Sauron – a combination which looked fairly unimposing. The arms also caused a large problem with integrating beam guides and amplifiers into the setup. On the other hand, the newer anti-infantry laser previously described “should” turn out much better, assuming everything on it stays tight and neat. At this time, the following image is the last iteration that I’ll put into the CO2 Light Cannon: