Feature
Kadajo
=Kadajo has a really unique and stylized form of art that I can't get enough of! Her art is vibrant and refreshing, almost a marriage of anime and traditional styles. Of course, I had to include the fact that she drew my beloved Fauchevont as part of the feature! Tinkerbell because I love her; Mario killing Yoshi because I find it hilarious; the jewelry to show off her artisan crafts skills; and Sephiroth just because he's hot and awesome.


Foxvolta
*Foxvolta is simultaneously a great artist and fellow FFXI fan! How cool is that?! His art is lavished with detail, which makes for spectacular viewing pleasure. Every time I look in his gallery at the pictures I've seen before, I can find something new. Couldn't resist, of course, showcasing the corsair picture; a beautiful digital picture of Star Trek characters, gotta admit--I've never been a fan of the series, but this picture makes me intrigued; the awesome lineart depicting the paladin ability "Cover" (would love to see this colored, Fox!); a beautiful contest entry that I can't believe didn't win of two Mithra lovers; and last but certainly not least, a stellar example of both his literary prowess and humor.


Commission Info

I am ONLY accepting written commissions (no crappy drawings, sorry), but they can be ANYthing written. I have no scruples about this, if you need a poem or term paper written for a class and you have no ideas or no time or just plain don't feel like doing it, contact me. We'll work something out.

Poems: $10 flat rate, any style or form, with the exception of
Haiku: $5 single haiku
Short Story: $25, five to twenty pages
Novelette: $50, twenty-five to seventy-five pages
Novel: $250, eighty to one hundred and fifty pages
(Anything beyond is up for negotiation)
Term Papers
Type A: All research/notes are completed by the commissioner. $5 per page.
Type B: Research/notes are done by me. $15 per page.

Any and all other types of writing assignments/projects will be considered upon discussion with me.

PayPal is my preferred method of payment. PayPal e-mail is jmcgrainer@yahoo.com. Please note me your DA name.
I also accept cash, check, and money order via mail (at your own risk).
Checks will need to clear before services rendered.



The kiriban is won! If no one comes forward to claim the 10k (with photo-evidence!) then it goes to =Kadajo who snagged 10,001.

But let's talk about...

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Action:
Drama:
Suspense:
Comedy:
Acting:
Integrity:
Best Actor Award: Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy)

Action: The actual scenes of action in the movie were rather tripe, a flash of overdone smoke-and-mirrors that ended so quickly you were left wondering what the point of the scene had been. More will come on the "action" (or lack thereof) in the pivotal climax (or...lack thereof).

Drama: Very well done. The acting, direction, and (of course) writing all contributed to make a really strong feeling of reality as well; J.K. Rowling was always good at staying true to teenage/young adult feelings and emotions, and HBP really shines in that department.

Suspense: Even if you haven't read the books, you should have a pretty clear idea of what's going on by about the...third scene. It's kind of unfortunate, because Rowling is such a master of "show-not-tell" throughout the books but the directors felt the need to make certain things that should have come to light at the end painfully and blatantly clear throughout the movie. It's like someone was coming on screen and pointing a giant finger at the crux of the plot and shouting, "Look! There it is!"

Comedy: Two words: Hi-larious. What the film lacked in certain substance it really did make up for with style, and the comedic scenes were very well-timed, impeccably acted, and thoroughly enjoyable to lighten up what was otherwise a very dark film.

Acting: Stellar by most of the cast, as usual. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson were at an all-time high, but everyone's acting was thoroughly eclipsed and outshone by Tom Felton (about whom more will be said later). Docked half a star because I still can't help but feel that Michael Gambon's acting is incredibly lackluster to have cast him in the role of Dumbledore; granted, whoever filled the role of Dumbledore had a tough act to follow when Richard Harris died, but I'm left wondering if Sir Ian McKellan wouldn't have been a much better choice after all, despite all his work with LotR.

Integrity: I suppose director David Yates has to be given some credit for the elephant-in-the-room suspense foible, because without it, the strictly-film-goers would have no idea what the hell was going on (then again, I'm of the ilk that if you can't be bothered to read the books, you shouldn't have the privilege of understanding what's going anyway, but I suppose that's not why I'm making billions of dollars in the film industry). Seriously--NO climactic battle scene at all? I was on the edge of my seat throughout the movie waiting for that scene, only to be blue-balled by what felt like a rushed attempt to get to the end. Did the producer go, "Oh, hey guys...wow, we only have twenty dollars left in the budget, so we need to wrap this up in like...five minutes." I wouldn't be as upset at what was cut if the movie wasn't littered with superfluous scenes of nothing that weren't even from the book to begin with. Without giving away spoilers, like the chick in the diner. Or the Death Eaters in the field. Come on. If you need filler, fill with what's already been given to you, don't strive for something that's only going to make half-sense anyway. Another point I argue is the film's insistence on making changes that had no reason to be changed. Again, sans-spoilers, Luna finding Harry instead of Tonks. I didn't think it worked as well. Granted, HBP had more integrity to its original than POA, but I still feel they could have been truer to the book if they'd just cut the crap.

Best Actor Award: Tom Felton has been an amazing actor since he was 10, and seriously? He leveled up just before this movie. I was saying to *Rya-kun just last night, it's rare to see men cry convincingly in a movie. Sorry, gentlemen, but when the majority of male actors cry, it's like they're trying to portray what they think crying aught to look like. Even all the crying in LotR was a bit off-putting by the third movie. Rarely do I use the phrase, but Tom Felton's acting literally took my breath away; he is going to enjoy a long, wonderful career, gods-willing, and it's refreshing to know that in the wake of so many talented yet older actors shuffling off their mortal coil and leaving us, there will at least remain one actor of their caliber, and that actor is Tom Felton.



Commissions
commissioned story

Art Trades
Taru BLM in relic (done! [link])

Kiribans
4,444 kiriban
5,025 kiriban
7,683 kiriban

Chain Sketches
1. white tiger (done! [link])
2. Alais and Kayrah (done! [link])
3. Tho and Rhylan
4. portrait of herself (done! [link])
5. Tiane

Contests
Palin Majere casting an elemental spell for (done! [link])
Dressed-up character(s) for (October 31st)
Avatar for (done! [link] [link] [link])
DevID for (October 7th)
Story for (August 31st)

Other Stuff
July month GCP (done! [link] and [link])
FFXI character portrait
Epic Dragon's Aery poem
Drow brother and sister story
Iyadaethras story
Krystel Carmichael sketch
"Let Chivalry Ne'er Die" poem



Bestest friend/hubby EVAH!


My DA soul brother


Awesome Artists and Friends



Proud member of: