500 000 Hits!

I am slammed with work for the next month or so, but i might try and post up some stuff later on this week.

Calgary was a lot of fun, i met quite a few industry professionals that made me rethink a lot of what i am working on.

I really have to do a lot of improving is all i can say.

Con Season is afoot.

Anime North in Toronto has invited me as a guest, so you will be able to see me there in about 3 weeks!


Cherry blossoms are finally out, we have what they call seasonal lag here in Mississauga because of the lakes. So our fall usually starts later and ends later as well.

Thanks for visiting people, I will try to have something up even if it is just photos lol.

Asalaamalaikum = Peace be upon you!

500 000 Hits!

This is a major checkpoint for this site, and I didnt think it would come this soon! I just want to say thanks for looking at al my art and commenting. I really hope I have improved over the last year, and I am trying to get better.

I have read all of your comments, and try to keep them in mind when I am drawing and colouring.

There is no Kiriban, just to be clear, and sice I am slammed with work and a convention coming up, I don't have an epic piece to post, but I will try to make something nice for you soon!

Thanks again for visiting me, and may God Bless you all and give you pleasant surprizes and long healthy life!

OMAR

----------------------


Calgary Comic Expo Website
April 26-27
Round Up Centre at Stampede Park

We were there in '06 and '07 and had a blast so we're back again in
2008. One of our favourite shows, the Calgary Comic Expo is a fantastic
comic, animation and pop culture convention.

Our booth will be selling UDON Sketchbooks, art prints, posters, trade
paperbacks and manga. Our artists will be signing autographs, sketching
and doing commissions. We'll also be signing copies of the <a
href="http://www.calgaryexpo.com/artbook.php">2008 Calgary Expo Charity
Artbook on sale at the con.

Alvin Lee
(Artist: Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Heroes For Hire, Deadpool/Agent-X)
Jim
Zubkavich (UDON Project Manager, Artist: Makeshift Miracle)
Jo Chen
(Cover Artist: Street Fighter, Buffy Season 8, Runaways)
Omar
Dogan (Artist: Street Fighter, SFLegends: Sakura, Darkstalkers,
Robotech)

Unfortunately, UDON penciler Joe Ng has had to back out of attending the
show at the last minute, but will be at other cons this summer.

Calgary is going to be a great show and we hope to see you there!

Asalaamalaikum = Peace be upon you!

475 oo Hits!

Thanks for visiting, and thanks for your support for over a year!

Surprize surprize, looks like i will be at a con this weekend in Toronto at the convention centre by the CN Tower for the fans. Well, they call it a 'Fan Appreciation Con' anyway. Here are some more details:

[link]

Here are the times and places:

Toronto ComiCON
April 12-13, 2008
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
255 Front Street. West

Hours
Saturday: 11:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday: 11:00am - 5:00pm

So if you want some commissions, or to buy some original artwork of mine, or even just to chat and ask questions come on down and pay us a visit, i will be at the UDON booth as always.

See you there!

Asalaamalaikum = Peace be upon you!





Create your own visitor map!

475 oo Hits!

Thanks for visiting, and thanks for your support for over a year!

I know you guys like these type of things, and for all the new watchers it will answer some questions they might not have seen answered in past posts.

This was an interview for Renezuo :





-General-


Birth Date: December 18 1976
Birth Place: Hamilton Ontario Canada
Married?: Happily married
Any Siblings?: One younger brother



-Art Based-


When did you first get in to Art?

A= I have drawn since I cannot remember. My mom is an artist, and my brother and I were given drawing utensils at a young age and encouraged to pass the time by drawing.


Did you have formal Schooling for art? Where?

A= I never had any art schooling until college. After I finished high school, I went to a prestigious Animation School, Sheridan College in Oakville Ontario Canada, and I am a trained animator and background/layout designer.


What artists do you draw influence or inspiration from?

A= For the most part, if not totally, I draw huge influence from Japanese art, namely Anime and Manga. As for specific artist, I learned a lot from the Design team at Capcom Japan, artists like Bengus, Kinu, and Ikeno, some of which I have had the honour to meet.


Did you Attend College for Art? (kinda different from formal schooling, just more specific)

A= See above.


What are your preferred methods? Digital? Traditional?

A= I started drawing and colouring before I used computers, so I can do both. In fact a lot of the things you learn in traditional media you can transfer into digital. Scanning your traditional work is the ultimate hurdle.

I draw all my art by hand, and ink by hand, but for the last 10 years I have been 90% colouring on computer. For fun I do a marker/pencil crayon sketch, but it is more of a novelty and just to make sure I didn’t lose it. Professionally, Digital cannot be beat especially with fickle minded editors.


What tools do you implement in your work?

A= Simply a 2H pencil, kneaded eraser and traditional eraser, as well as tech pencil, micron pens, and ball pen. I colour with Corel Photopaint 8 which is an ancient program, but does the job without the memory hogging pretty interface and multiple crashes.



-Professional-


When did you get your first professional art job? What was this job? Who was it for? Who did you work for before Udon? Around when?

A= I would have to say it was with the now defunct Dreamwave Studios working on Warlands and Darkminds back in 1999. I started as a background penciller on Pat Lee’s pages, and then was lead penciller on Darkminds for about 5 issues.


Do you work directly for Udon now or freelance? When did you start?

A=No one in UDON works for UDON, we are all freelancer, and UDON acts as a type of agent that finds us projects. I have been with UDON right from the start ,which was back in 2001 July.


What other artists have you worked with? Or do you work alone?

A= Normally I work alone, I don’t like to work with other artists if I can be honest. If I must work with other artist, I am usually highly involved in what they do as well if I am in charge. But I also colour other peoples work, but not as much nowadays.


Is there a general estimate of how much each piece takes?

A= It pays the bills nicely, but I am not rich and I still work very hard.


Who is your favorite character you have worked on for Udon? Did you like this character prior to working with them?

A= I have always like Sakura from Capcom’c Street Fighter series, and drew her often many years before UDON. Actually, I never thought I would be able to do official Capcom stuff in my life, so it is quite and honour.


Do you have to "go to work" or do you work from home?

A= I work in my pajammas. But when we have children I will move my work to an office so it doesn’t take away from my private home life.


How much roughly does this kind of work pay you? Is it higher or lower than a given "Standard"?

A= A lot more than the average paper pusher type job, but not doctor salary. It really depends on the demand for your art style, and the projects. Some years are better than others, but if you are smart with money and business it will support you.


What piece have you done that is your favorite?

A= Actually it is a piece that I have just finished for this years artbook, I really am happy with how it turned out, which is rare. I can’t show that one yet, but Country Charger is one of my favs too.


-Other-


What advice would you give to someone looking to get in to the biz?

A= Work hard and practice. This business has a lot of competition even though there is a lot of work out there. Comics is a slowly dying industry in my experience, and you have to be careful, but video game design has a lot of money and plenty of jobs.

If you like to get drunk/high often, be lazy or lax, or generally slack off playing video games 24/7, don’t even waste your time, you will are not cut out for this job and you will fail eventually or just barely get by. I have seen these things destroy many good artists or keep them from becoming something truly great.

Work ethic rules, and the hardworkers do prevail over the long run. There is no backdoor, you must pay your dues.


Any general comments for artists just getting started?

A= Take criticism from anywhere, and chase down your instructors and make the best use of them. Honest opinions actually help you more than someone blowing sunshine up your butt as to how good your art looks, so don’t get defensive. If you think your art is good, show it in a mirror, you will see mistakes.


What do you plan to do next? Whats the next stage of "Omar"?

A= I am working on my own project, but I have a lot of work for this summer coming up and conventions as well.


Any other Sage words of advice?

Whether you like or believe it or not, God is actually the only One who gives you ability, and all of my success has been due to Him.

The only real art you do is for yourself, everything else is for everyone else.

A professional job demands professional behaviour.

Commercial art is a type of prostitution, so if you like having control over your art, it is best kept as a hobby.

Asalaamalaikum = Peace be upon you!





Create your own visitor map!

475 oo Hits!

Thanks for visiting, and thanks for your support for over a year!

Well it is finally warming up, I don't know about you guys, but here has been below seasonal and exceptionally snowy. But my palm tree survived! I might be the first person in Mississauga to overwinter a palm tree outside in the cold. When I actually get a house I will be able to plant it in the ground.

I also have to change the snow tires, boy did they come in handy.

Othere than that I cannot believe con season is around the corner, and the next one i will be at is in Calgary. The plus side to this con is that all guests get an additional 3 - 7 days up in the mountains in a beautiful condo/townhouse like cabin. I have pictures of that from last year on my cel phone, and it was fun.

I also have to make some posters for the summer as well as print out that country charger pic too.

Fell like drawing some Rival Schools, I migh open for some commissons in the next month, so if you are interested just let me know.

[link]

OMAR

Asalaamalaikum = Peace be upon you!





Create your own visitor map!