Life: It Happened

So for those of you that were reading regularly, I am sorry for the long absence.  Life struck and I have been nowhere close to a computer for quite some time.  The past two months have been absolutely inundated with large events.  So we'll start at the beginning.  This may be a pretty long blog post.  Just a warning. 

BABY NEWS!

Some of you may already know this bur for those of you who don't, here it is!  Around the same time as Otakon I found out some really important, and kind of unexpected news.  I'm pregnant!  My husband and I will be expecting our first child around the first of April next year.  That has definitely preoccupied my mind quite a bit.  Not that I'm panicking or that I don't want kids.  They were going to happen sooner or later.  While I say that this was a surprise, it wasn't exactly an accident. 

So far I'm around five months along and we already know the sex of the baby.  It's gonna be a girl!  We've got a first name picked out, the last name is obvious, but a middle name isn't really coming so easy.  My husband wants to use my middle name, but I don't like that idea.  I didn't like that both of my parents name me after themselves, I didn't want to do the same to my own child.  So the middle name is still up in the air.  (suggestions in the comments are greatly appreciated! I'd love to hear some!)

Little Alexandria Altenkirch

For a while I was also worried that I would be a detached parent.  I'm not sure if it's due to my upbringing or what, but I have a tendency to be very... distant.  I thought, "what if I see my baby as just a thing?  Not a tiny human, but a thing that simply cries, barfs, and poops everywhere?  Wouldn't that make me a terrible parent?  What if I'm just as awkward around my own child as I am other children and even adults?"

The last ultrasound definitely pushed me a little further over that hurdle, as well as the fact that I can feel her moving now.  I've become quite paranoid of anything happening to her, even if she does like to randomly assault my bladder.  Nothing quite compares to that  ultrasound where you can see your baby's little head, and her hands and feet.  You can see your baby in real time respond to things happening outside your belly and it really starts to put things into a different perspective for you.

Over all I am definitely excited, just a little anxious for the future.  I will do the best I can to be a good parent and I know my husband will too.  I couldn't be happier for the supportive friends and the few family members that I have that have been very supportive as well.

CAR ACCIDENT

Before....

Now this one is sort of embarrassing.  I wrecked my car.  It all happened in the dumbest way possible too.  I ran a red light and smacked another vehicle and to this day I couldn't tell you how in the hell I missed the fact that the light was red.

Luckily it wasn't a terrible accident.  The car is still drivable and shockingly everything on it still works even though it suffered frame damage.  The air bags didn't go off, I didn't even get a bruise from my seat belt and the baby is just fine.  I'll be forever grateful that the car has some amazingly strong brakes!

This happened at the beginning of September so I wasn't even pregnant enough to show yet, which is probably a good thing.  All in all it wasn't a super traumatizing experience and no one suffered any injury.

However I've been pretty damn depressed about it all.  This was my first ever vehicle and it was still functioning well and it still looked perfectly fine up until I wrecked it.  The car is nearly 16 years old and I've owned it for the past eight years.  I used to wash and wax this car at least once a month.  I could shine it to such a finish, that the sunlight reflecting off of it could blind you.  I was proud of my car and I had been through a lot with it.

Now it looks like it's had a stroke.  I bought a new bumper for it, which has no paint on it and it's lopsided due to the frame being twisted ever so slightly.  The hood, and the headlights are both transplants from junkyard vehicles, one of them is foggier than the other ... holy crap this poor vehicle!  I feel so terrible for having wrecked it.  Mechanically, the only thing that was wrong with it was a busted radiator, which was replaced.  I still drive it and I still talk to it and love it, but looking makes me feel so guilty!  The inside is also a mess now, and still filled car parts that have yet to be replaced...

I did take the time off to go get the parts from the junkyard myself.  I normally go to the junk yard with my husband but this time it was my mess and I didn't feel like dragging him with me.  Being a petite woman in a junk yard, alone, now that was an experience in itself, which I may post an entry about later.  The way some of the men there acted upon seeing me you'd think they had just found a unicorn.

JOB LEAVING SOONER THAN EXPECTED

Yep, it is sad, and it has some terrible timing considering the baby.  I somehow knew that this would happen though.  I didn't want to believe it but, as my grandmother always said, "that's the way the ball bounces."  Work was getting pretty slow.  We were supposed to focus on a new product this year.  So much counted on these new products, and they never worked.  Last year work was plentiful, sometimes almost too much to handle.  We worked overtime until we were sick of it.  There were days during the winter that we never saw sunlight because we quite literally worked from sun up, to sun down.

We were supposed to launch something like two completely new products to keep us busy up until the lease on our building was finished in August of 2015.  They had hired a large number of temps to deal with this ramp-up in production, which should have happened as early as last year.  To put it bluntly, it never even almost happened.  The products in question still don't work to this day.  In the course of a year, we went from making millions monthly, to losing hundreds of thousands every month.

Due to this massive, corporate failure to function, my job will not longer exist as of December 13th, 2014.  Yes folks, that's about two weeks from now.  I think someone needed to explain to some of these guys that "give or take a few months" shouldn't translate into "give or take nearly an entire year."  If these morons were competent enough to plan more than two weeks ahead, this could have been avoided and I wouldn't be looking for a new job while nearly six months pregnant.  Your actions sometimes have adverse effects on other people kids, remember that.

Even though I really want to wash my hands clean of this company forever, I did have an interview for a graphic design position with them and maybe I'll get it.  The opportunity is great.  I mean let's be honest here, I didn't even expect to get an interview.  With my lack of experience as well as the fact that I have no college degree I'm shocked that I'm even in the running.  The design team seem like very nice people, and the interview I had with them was a far cry from the stiff, stuck up, know-it-all attitudes of most of the corporate people I had dealt with already.  I had to give some real thought to answering questions and giving my take on the scenarios presented to me.  If that kind of critical thinking is involved for this job then I have a feeling that I would love it.

Unfortunately, as well as the negative connotation I already have for this company, moving six hours away doesn't appeal to me either.  I don't want to uproot my husband and make him start over.  Again.  He's not from here, he's only been living in this area for about eight years now, and now that he's established with friends and my family, I feel like it would be unfair to him to make him move.

Even with all the negatives, I don't want to let my fear of the unknown keep me from finally having something that could create a more stable and enjoyable future, not only for myself, but for my family.  If I could chase this opportunity, I could actively support myself, my upcoming child, possibly even my spouse too.  We wouldn't have to go without and I could finally break out of treading the poverty line.  There's also the hope that once the company consolidates, maybe they'll finally get their shit together and things will get better.  Seems like a win/win situation but there's always more to it isn't there?

This is extremely conflicting to me.  I'm really not sure what to do.  It's overwhelming at times and this would explain quite a lot why I've been lacking in motivation lately.  I've been quite depressed and conflicted and I haven't finished a single art piece since the beginning of August.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

I do have a few things to look forward to.  I had applied for MAGfest earlier in the year.  I was wait-listed but it seems that I may be going anyway!  A friend of mine scored a table and has offered to share that, as well as her hotel room.  I couldn't be happy enough to have such awesome friends!  I'll keep everyone updated as I get more info on this.

http://magfest.org/ visit it.

This is a bit of a pick-me-up since I'm excited to get back on the convention trail so early.  It's also a bit of a wake up call.  I need to get some more artwork done!  I still have a commission waiting in the wings to be finished and once I finish that I will be focusing on painting.  Actual painting, with acrylic paint on canvas.   I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do with them yet but I have a stock pile of traditional art supplies from the years of Christmas gifts I have yet to use.  I should really stop wasting it.

The originals will be available in art auctions at conventions this coming year!

I won't be attending any conventions, February through April, due to baby.  I've been advised not to travel past seven months.  This does leave me time to apply for Animazement again at the end of may and I would love nothing more than to do Artist Alley at Animazement for a fourth year in a row.  It is by far my favorite convention to attend.

Keep an eye out!  I plan to start live streaming again in the near future as well!  This will probably especially pick up after the holiday season once I'm out of this dreadful apartment and into something more spacious and better kept.

Once again, I'd like to thank anyone and everyone who reads, for reading.  It does feel better to get some of this stuff off my chest sometimes.

Hopefully my next entry will have some more artwork for you guys!

Until next week!

Spark, out.

Scatterbrained: The Mysterious Red-head

I think my biggest hurdle when it comes to anything creative, is the fact that I'm so ADD about... everything.  So far I have two completely separate story ideas that have completely different sets of characters.  (I've been trying to curb my character recycling habits.)  When I try to work on one, I only seem to come up with ideas for the other.  Then when I actually attempt to write anything, I end up staring at a blank page for an hour or two before doodling something that may or may not have anything to do with what I was just trying to write.

doodles

Take this picture for instance.  I doodled it because I wanted to show the difference in this character from the time the story starts until three years in.  I don't even think I really accomplished anything but at least I got a picture out of it?

I sat down and tried to write again.  Seems like I just got distracted by photoshop again and ended up slapping some color onto one of the sketches.  I even tried to cell shade but that totally didn't happen.  I'm not sure whether to call it a failure or a win.  I don't hate it but it really wasn't what I was aiming for.

Yep, my attempt at cell shading went horribly wrong.

Some of you already know this character.  She's come up in multiple drawings but she always seems to look different.  Probably a product of my ADD getting the better of me.  Her name's Kyna and she's been in about three different plots now.  I've also kidnapped her name and appearance for a multitude of online games. (Hello PWI peeps!  Now you know where the infamous Kyna comes from.)

She started out, first as a character in a high fantasy story I started way back in high school.  As a matter of fact her name wasn't even Kyna to begin with, it was Rika.  I was a total Anime nerd and I seriously thought I could get by, writing some drabble that resembled just about any feudal Japan manga in existence.

I pretty quickly saw the error in my ways and backed off the Japan thing.  (Weaboo status avoided.)  I started making up more on my own and trying to mimic less.  Her name eventually changed to what it is now and I never looked back.

Originally, she was supposed to be mysterious, bad ass, and only sort of a traitor.  She joined the enemy with every intention of ripping them apart from the inside, but fell in love with them instead.  That version of her character is still very much an entertaining design to work with.  As a matter of fact one of our prints for the convention rounds this year features this rendition of the character.

Rika Herp-a-derp

I've long since abandoned that old story and I no longer have any intention of writing her character in this manner.  Despite having changed it from a mock-Japan, to a more original setting, the old story was still just full of plot holes!  I mean, come on, it was pretty much what you'd expect from a seventeen-year-old author wannabe.  Better than the fifteen-year-old terrible fanfiction writer, but still not great.

The plot was seriously cliche and predictable, the characters were often cheesy and just hopeless.  Nearly the whole thing was hopeless but it was my baby at the time and for years I didn't let it go.  The only thing that really stood out was the world that I ended up constructing.

When I scrapped it, at least some of the characters survived in artwork, and a few of them ended up integrated into a new plot.  Something more adult and less hopeless-romantic-teenager.  I do believe I mentioned it before in a previous blog entry.

The Original Kyna (Pencils by Nga, colors by Michele)

The name of the story was E20XX, a post-apocalyptic fantasy in which the apocalypse was caused by magic.  This plot idea allowed me to keep a lot of my old character ideas.  Some of them changed drastically to fit a new setting, others didn't change much at all.  

Kyna was one that changed a lot.  Possibly the one that changed the most.  In the old plot, Kyna was the pretty usual, mysterious antihero.  Honestly I liked her design more than I liked her character, she was just missing something.  That whole story was just missing something.  The new one I started and sort of began molding her character to fit the current environment.

Things didn't really add up though and I tweaked her personality.  Even then, that didn't seem like enough to make her a survivor.  Normally she is, yes, but in a more modern setting she wouldn't have had the same situations growing up.  She wouldn't have had this urge for revenge to keep her going.  That was a terrible basis for a character anyway.

So what did I do to give her character that extra "oomph" to survive the apocalypse?  I did what anyone would have done!  I gave her a kid.  It just seemed like a good solution and a pretty solid way to turn a somewhat normal woman into a vicious, battle-scarred, ass-kicking survivor.  Momma bear syndrome.

Hopefully this version of the character and this story turns out more productive than previous versions.  I'm sticking to it until it's done, let's just hope I can find my focus this time.

Maybe this will explain the red-head that keeps popping up in a multitude of drawings.  She always has the same colors, the same hair, the same scar on her cheek, the same name, but a constantly changing setting.

Otakon: Con Report!

So as you guys know, I went to Otakon last week.  I must say that people had told me about how large it was, but nothing they said could have prepared me for just how many people I saw.  This convention was ginormous!  I had a great time with my husband, as well as hanging out with my good friend, Jen.

So the ride there, while long, was very scenic.  We drove from my home town of Charlotte, North Carolina, all the way to Baltimore, Maryland.  It took us about seven and a half hours, give or take a few minutes. 

We left at around six in the morning just to make sure we could beat the traffic getting into the city and then went through the mountains on Highway 81 as opposed to fighting to get through Richmond and D.C. on Highway 95 like some people suggested.  I'm kinda glad we picked the less direct route, we hit very little to no traffic just as we planned.

Our Table!  Prints belong to myself and Nga Nguyen, perler Bead artwork and Origami earrings belong to Jen Austin.  Links at the end of the post.

Ah yes, planning, how often does that ever go right?  I'd say we were pretty darn lucky all things considered.  This was the first time any of us had gone to Baltimore, let alone Otakon.  We stayed with a friend who lived close to downtown.  She was super amazing to let us do that and I will

forever be grateful for it!  Hotel costs in downtown Baltimore are insane.

So we got to the convention, got our badges, set the table up and the rest of the convention was a total blur.  I'm so sad that my phone was perpetually dying!  I should have brought my camera to get more photos but I don't even know that I would have had much time!  I saw so many good cosplays! I've posted a few of them, the few I could get and I stole a few from Jen's Facebook page too.

So far as selling goes.  Friday was kinda depressing.  It usually is though, since most people are window shopping.

Half way through Saturday it was like the bottom dropped out.  I had a few people come by and spend a good $80 Just at our table!  I was pleasantly surprised by the attention that our artwork was getting!

I only made it away from the table a few times and that was in order to get food usually.  We didn't take very many breaks.  I got to explore a little bit.  I ventured around the dealer's room some, and I also found the game room and played a bit of Super Smash Brothers Melee. 

My only complaint was that things were difficult to find.  They seemed obsessed with having a designated entrance and exit to the dealer's room and to Artist alley and it wasn't really clearly marked as such.  You just had to go there and ask which one it was.  Quite irritating.  Once you were in only two feet they wouldn't let you back out either. 

Needless to say, I did a lot of circles.

I'm still kind of recovering from the whole thing, I have yet to figure out exactly what I have to split of the profits.  I do know that it was a profitable trip though, and if the taxes don't hit me too hard I will definitely be trying for it again next year!

We also made friends with the table next to us.  They were very nice people!  Also ran into a few online friends.  One was a pretty cool blast from the past.  She actually knew me from my time playing the MMO, Perfect World International.  I've long since quit but former guild members didn't forget the artwork!  

I am so thankful to everyone so far that has supported our artwork and to everyone that helped me along at Otakon this year.

You guys rock.

I may have to update my schedule soon since I signed up for a few more next year.  For now it's back to more artwork and more frequent updates.

Spark, Out!

LINKS

For Jen's Deviant Art page you can click here: OrigamiCrane12 She's starting to post more than she used to, which is totally a good thing!  Check her out!

Making Progress: Otakon 2014 and a Colorist Gig!

Hey guys!  Long time no see.

It's gotten super busy for me!  (not necessarily a bad thing.) which is why I've only been able to update the blog sparingly lately.  I don't really want to end up with a bunch of itty bitty short blog posts.  That can get rather boring I'd imagine.

Anyway, the map for Otakon's Artist Alley has been released at last!  With only a few short weeks to go I can tell you guys where we're going to be located!  Luckily, it looks like I won't have to try and shout at people from a desolate corner this time!  I'm actually decently close to the doors, which is a good thing I hope.  Click HERE for the map!

The print line up is pretty well the same as Animazement.  I think I'm going to add a few things though.  Tinkerbell will no longer be available.  For some reason she never really sold well, it took three conventions to get rid of twenty Tinkerbell prints!  I'd say that's not really worth doing over.  I have a few works in progress that I really hope to have finished by the time I make it to the convention!

That Daenerys print I was working on is still making progress.  Since I don't think there's much point in keeping around two prints of the same character, I plan to replace one with the other.  So Otakon will more than likely be the last place that you can get my old Daenerys portrait.


As you can see here, the old one is a little boring.  Very stylized, supposed to look sort of water color.  I mean let's be honest here, it was the best I could do with a cell phone picture of a sketch that I did a while back.

I was at least happy that the character was recognizable.  It made me happy that people loved it so much.  I have a feeling that the new picture is going to blow it out of the water.  I showed a small preview before and this is the only place online that I'm going to show a bigger one.

I am very out of my element with the newest painting.  I don't paint dragons well.  Or hands.  So far I'm pretty satisfied with how it's coming out.  It won't stay in black and white, but, unlike the other Daenerys print, this one will not come in an 8x10.  It is formatted for 11x17 and that's that.

I'll also be sharing my table space with a good friend of mine.  She won't have any prints, but she will have some really adorable origami crane earrings as well as some perler bead artwork!  I don't really have any pictures of the perler beads but here's a few of her earrings sets for those who'd like to see!

On top of everything here I've also been signed on to participate in a comic anthology.  I'll have more on that later, once we're further along.  Seems that there will be a Kickstarter for it soon, so not to worry!  You'll definitely hear all about it!

I'm excited about it since it is my first sorta serious job in comic books.  I can't recall ever having to sign a contract at least!  I was asked to color two, but between everything I have going on with my convention schedule, I could really only promise to color one.

Speaking of which, it's now time to stop writing.  I need to check on my e-mail.

I want to take a little bit of time first, though, to say thank you so much to those who follow my blog, whether it be on blogger, or on the numerous other sites that I post updates on.  I appreciate every +1 and comment that I receive!  Thank you also with being patient with me. I know that I was planning to update twice a week but my schedule isn't really allowing for it right now.  Trying to keep it to at least one random update every week.

Spark, Out.  Until next time!

Back on Track: More Artwork!

So, let's get back on track here with some art.

I finally finished the Punisher, Descent into Darkness piece!  Just in time too!  It seems that it can still be used for the Capitol City Comic Con, taking place in the middle of July.  Hooray!  I'm going to be honest, I thought that I was just going to fail this one and let down my client.  Which would have really sucked.  It was already long overdue and that alone made me feel terrible

Pencils by: Ace Continuado

I had some issues with it, one of those issues being how black everything was.  It was so heavily inked and I have never worked with anything like that before, it was definitely a learning experience.  I still kinda feel like I made a huge mess out of it.  The colors are bright, which is odd for me anyway.  Especially since the subject matter is so dark.  I guess at the very least it'll get someone's attention right?

On top of the colors, I've also been trying very hard to brush up on my own pencils and solo projects.  There were a couple that came out of boredom since work had slowed to a crawl for a week or two.  I'll admit, I may have drawn a few silly pictures and wrote some really nerdy things in box lids while I was doing inventory.  At least anyone who finds these boxes might get a laugh if they understand the references.

Someone's going to be so confused.

Hey, look!  Sarlacc barf!

Along with video game references, there were movie lines, silly "Confucius" jokes, an inside joke, which I'm sure no one will even understand but it sounded like a good idea at the time.  One said "Han shot first!" Another had a picture of a stop sign and then "Hammer time" down below it.  I think the "arrow to the knee" joke made it in there somewhere too.  

I even drew a De Lorean in one of them.  Yes, THE De Lorean from Back to the future.  Unfortunately I don't have a picture of it.  All I had to screw around with was a single black sharpie, I made the most of it.

Only YOU can prevent range fires

As you can see here, I do have a Star Trek reference, a Portal reference, Boba Fett, Smokey the Bear, and if you can't read the one with the itty bitty writing in the corner of the first picture, it says "Let the Wookie Win."

I'll probably get in trouble for it, but it's totally worth it.

As for some even more recent sketches... well..  They haven't been many and they haven't been easy either.

I know I want to put an owl on this next one below.  I wanted to do some crazy fancy owl makeup too, but I wasn't too thrilled with her neck.  I attempted to add a different angle than usual and some movement to my sketch but I sorta failed.

I'll fix it later I suppose.  It should be fun to paint over and I may actually have some nice original work to add to my prints before I head off to Otakon in the next few weeks.

Oh yeah that.

I'm so freaked out about going right now.  I have never been to Baltimore in my entire life and I have only ever passed through Maryland to visit my in-laws in Jersey.  Hooray for being scared shitless!

This next sketch of Daenerys from Game of Thrones I did with every intention of practicing with my greyscale markers. I ended up caving into the pencil in the end.  I wasn't even happy with the way her face turned out, not to mention her wonky boobies.  And what's with that hair?  It's all floaty and all over the place.

This is because I'm a total amateur and I was going to attempt making it look like a fancy portrait because I can't draw arms, hands, or anything else for that matter.

I really did have a vision for this one and I'm slowly completing it with the help of Photoshop.  It's proving to be very difficult but I need to challenge myself.  Most of my best paintings start out as sketches I didn't even like. 

I do have a work in progress shot for you guys.  It's only a very small portion of the overall piece.  I'm saving all of that for the big reveal.  I also want to finish this with enough time to print it out for Otakon.  It would be replacing my old Daenerys piece.

Everything I have been doing lately is an experiment.  As of right now I'm not even sure that I like her skin tones.  Perhaps it's a little too dull.  I jumped ahead of myself and started adding color before I was really done laying out the whole thing.

This means I'll probably be taking a few steps backward on this one.  But no worries!  I have a feeling I can finish it and that this will be one of my best works to date!  There will be dragons, and fire, and so much stuff that I'm pretty sure I can't draw.

I'm gonna do it anyway!  Onward with the artwork!

Also, for those of you who are interested, I would really like to do a Q & A blog entry.  One with illustrations.  I'd like to practice some expressions and this seems like a fun way to do it.  If you're curious about anything at all, feel free to ask!  There's a little box to contact the author on the side of the page.  Use it to ask whatever you'd like and I'll answer all the questions in a blog post within the next few weeks!  You can also comment on this blog post to ask your question!  It doesn't even have to be art related :3

Fire away!

Guns in Coimcs: You're Doing it Wrong!

Alright fellow comic book artists!  Let's talk guns!

*Also, a quick disclaimer.  Since I don't feel like rummaging through my house to find all the necessary items to take pictures of, most of these pictures are from google and are not mine.  (Except for the one below, Bad Company is mine.)

His and Hers.  Mine and my Husband's 1911s

I know how popular guns are in comic books and in movies.  They're everywhere.  You draw your crazy vigilante hanging out with his guns, you draw them being fired, you draw them being pointed at things, yadda, yadda, so on and so forth.  I'm not sure some people know just how wrong they're depicting it.

As some of you may, or may not know, I am not only a comic book colorist, but I work in a factory that manufactures handguns.  I know a thing or two about the real function of guns and how the comic books and movies get them wrong EVERY TIME.  For years Hollywood has been teaching people the weirdest crap about firearms and I'm going to debunk a few of them for you so that your comic book characters can handle a gun in a much more realistic sense and I can stop beating my head on the table when I see it.  

Some of these are just super nit picky and you can ignore them for style reasons (stuff like bullets sparking and all that.) I'm not going to go into tremendous detail, you have Google for that.

1. THE CUP AND SAUCER GRIP

Yer doin' it wrong Jack!

Yes you guys, Jack Bauer here is doing it wrong.  And you guys thought he knew how to handle a gun. Pfff.

This is probably the most common mistake I see, well, everywhere.  In comics, in movies, at the gun range with newbie shooters.  If they don't try to shoot like a thug, with the gun turned sideways, this "cup and saucer" grip is generally their first instinct.

While you should hold your pistol with both hands, this isn't the way to go about it.  If any of you have ever shot this way before, you know from experience that this is a very unstable way to hold a handgun.  I'm actually not even sure what possessed Hollywood to find this okay in the first place.

This guy does a pretty good job of showing you how to hold the gun correctly and why you should hold it that way.

 

2. BULLETS DON'T SPARK OR EXPLODE ON IMPACT

No, just no.  If you're in the process of drawing a comic frame right now, where there's a big bright poof of light where the bullet strikes, stop drawing.  Stop right now and back away.  Bullets just don't do that!  In reality they don't even spark.  

I would say it's okay to use sparks since comics are very visual, but it all depends on how realistic you want to be.  There IS a round that flares out, called Dragons Breath.  It's just a novelty item and I wouldn't even consider it for anything other than shits and giggles.  It does make a really cool picture but it's super impractical.  I think it's also only made for shotguns.

*Disclaimer: I don't own this picture.

There is also a such thing as incendiary rounds but, again, they're not going to make a super opaque explosion looking thing if it just hits a person.  Just something to think about.

3. RELOAD!

So I was watching The Walking Dead and I realized a number of things that they got wrong when it comes to guns.  There was the usual "cup and saucer" grip, there was also exaggerated recoil, and someone being told to take the safety off a Glock, which doesn't come with a manual safety unless you put one on it. I figure.  Alright, that's excusable.

Then this happened.

How many shots does that thing hold!?  If you want to do something at least half way accurate please do a little research on the gun you're planning for your characters to use and how many shots they hold.  Counting the number of bullets can even be used as a very effective way of building suspense.

One thing I don't think I've ever seen used in a comic is the quick and easy way to reload a revolver. 
For revolvers there's this thing called a speed loader.  You just pop the cylinder open, empty the old shells, put the new bullets in, twist and close the cylinder and you're ready to go for another round.  I personally have one of these myself for my little five shot revolver.  Just keep in mind that these things didn't exist back in the cowboy days.

There's also a such thing as a  moon clip which may, in fact, be even faster than a speed loader.  Not all revolvers are made to use these so I'd suggest looking up which revolvers do.  Some even require moon clips to function.

Moon clips with ammo

The Oh-So-Convenient speed-loader

Another thing I would like to touch on briefly, is the difference between a magazine, and a clip. (Speaking of moon clips and all)  People get them confused very often.  Since I was harping on The Walking Dead earlier, I'll get them on this one too.  I do believe it's the second episode of the series, maybe the first, Rick calls his magazine a clip.  

If you have a character that you really want to know guns, and who really should know guns, impress your gun-loving reader base with this little detail.

Notice something?

A lot of people that refer to a magazine as a clip have probably never actually seen a clip.  A clip is used to put bullets into a magazine.  Some guns have magazines that aren't removable and you can use a clip to load them.  Most modern guns have magazines like the ones shown above that can be attached and detached.  Not to mention the visual difference.  That's a super simplified explanation, but with a little visual aid, at least some people won't confuse the two now!

4. OTHER NITPICKS

Now we're just going to go through some of the smaller, lesser known gripes. 

The right way

*Gun safety!  That's actually a big one. When your character is handling a gun without intending on shooting someone, the gun-loving reader base will love to see your character practicing proper safety.  This means keeping their finger off the trigger until ready to fire, making sure that the gun does not point at someone that isn't an intended target, whether or not the gun is empty.  Maybe even scolding another character for the improper handling of a firearm. 

Unless your character truly is crazy, they should never be pointing a gun at their own head and smiling... like the character below.  We all know Revy is totally crazy but this is ... well... a little too much.

Revy from Black Lagoon.  One of my personal favorite Anime shows.

That picture makes me cringe every time I see it.  I'm pretty darn sure it's just fan art since the actual series does a pretty good job of accurately portraying guns.  With the exception of some dual wielding and all that.  In real life dual wielding isn't really practical as I'm sure some of you may have figured out.  It's just one of those things that looks cool, therefore, even most gun lovers will let that slide.

*Revolver Flubs. Another nitpick comes yet again from the series, The Walking Dead.  I forget which season, but it's the season finale episode.  I'm going to avoid spoilers here buy just saying that Rick's Colt Python was fired.  You never see the shot fired, but you hear it, and you also hear a clink of an empty casing hitting the floor.  Guys, revolvers don't have an extractor.  They do not spit out shells.  If you watch the show, some of you may know the scene I'm speaking of. 

*Firing.  Guns being drawn, firing while the hammer is back.  If the gun has gone off that means the hammer has hit the firing pin. This means that the hammer is down in the case of a revolver, or it means that the slide is flying back over the hammer and ejecting a shell in a semi-auto pistol.  In some cases I've even seen people draw the hammer following the slide backward.  If the gun has a slide on it and it is being fired, the slide pushes the hammer back as it flies backward, re-cocking the hammer for the next round.

 

*Silencers.  Contrary to popular belief, silencers aren't completely quiet.  They don't make that noise you hear on TV.  As someone who has fired a suppressed handgun before, I can tell you the movies really exaggerate this one.  While it does make it quiet enough that you may not have to wear hearing protection, it can still be pretty loud.  You would have to be a considerable distance away before having a suppressor would really keep your position hidden.  

Sometimes silencers can be filled with something to dampen the noise even further.  The one that I fired I'm pretty sure was filled with a little water.  It keeps the suppressor from getting hot as quickly,  and it also makes a mess.  It was still loud enough to hurt my ears just a little, granted the range I was in wasn't exactly spacious, just to give you an idea of what it's really like.  I also came out of the range with specks of grime all over from it.  Not something they show you in the movies, that's for sure.

Pillows also don't really help.  I've never shot through a pillow before, but if an actual suppressor can't make a gunshot completely silent, a pillow is certainly never going to do the trick.

 

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

 Like I said, some of these are small nit picks that can be ignored in favor of style and this was only meant to be informational.  I hope you guys learned something and I really hope this helps in your action comic endeavors!

And now I leave you with multiple types of guns firing in slow motion. 

Research! Slasher Movie Binge

What an appropriate day for a picture full of slasher villains!  I am still working on this Punisher piece for a comic convention.  I plan to have it done sometime this weekend because it really needs to be finished!  Ugh, me and deadlines don't mix.  I really need to get a handle on my procrastination.  I could have this piece done in just a matter of hours if I could only get up the inspiration to do it.  I've even gone on a slasher film kick just to get a good idea of what I'm supposed to do with the rest of the picture!

I think I'm looking perhaps a little too colorful for something that's supposed to be ... gritty.  They actually chose me to do this picture because of the whole grit factor.  I don't know what I'm doin' here!  I do know who ALL of the characters are now and hopefully that will help me along so I can his my goal of finishing it tomorrow. 

Livestreaming, as odd as this sounds, seems to keep me focused on artwork better than anything so I may stream the rest of this work tomorrow.  I guess I feel like I have to be doing something interesting for viewers to want to watch.  This way I'm obligated to keep working and I don't get as easily distracted by--

Ohh shiny internet...

Anyway, going on a slasher film binge also may have inspired something.  I just might have a short story on my hands.  I never do short stories, this stuff is pretty freakin' rare.  I know how I want it to start and I know how I want it to end and I can't tell you much about it.  If I gave you a summary I'd have to kill you.  There is almost no way I could give some kind of summary that wouldn't spoil it in some way.  And yes... it's kind of a slasher.  Can't wait to get it on paper it'll be awesome.

I'm certainly not going to have my heroine (if there is one) keep thinking that she's killed the psycho and then keep dropping the knife right next to his pseudo dead body!!  *cough* Halloween *cough* I've also come to the conclusion, after multiple slasher films, that some slasher film antagonists are scared of sex and that's why they feel the need to kill every character that gets some.  Even if that's totally not true, I did find that to be an odd correlation there.  In any case, I plan to write and whatever comes out, is what comes out.  It might go into the direction of a thriller more than a slasher, who knows.

In other news:

So we all know about how I went on a very large rant yesterday.  One point of my rant was my crappy apartment and how much is broken and wrong with it.  I appreciate that the maintenance staff really did try to fix the old unit, the problem was that it was just too small and the complex itself didn't want to shovel out the money to fix the problem.  Our AC never turned off because it never reached the temperature it was set on so our power bills were insane.  All just to keep the temperature below eighty degrees.

The AC at work is broken too and the last thing I wanted to do is come home to a hot, musty apartment.  I finally had enough and I sent them an ultimatum last night.  I must be a more intimidating person than I thought.  Today I came home to a nice, shiny new air conditioning unit.

 Victory is MINE!

Student Loans: Satan's Idea

Hello again everyone and sorry for the long absence.  I recently had a sort of heartbreak.  If you're no interested at all in a rant, I'd suggest not reading this particular entry.  I'll probably have another entry this weekend to get things back on track.  For now though, I need to get this off my chest.

So, I decided to start looking for a house to buy but it turned out to just be a terrible idea.  After being turned down by numerous lenders I was very depressed.

I haven't completely recovered and I haven't completely given up.  I really want a house of my own.  Renting is almost just like tossing money into a dumpster and I really don't want to continue to rent apartments like this.  These disappointingly small, run down apartments that go for as much money as it would be for me to pay a mortgage on a decent house.  I mean, it is absolutely disgusting the shape this apartment is in.  I pay more for this two bedroom piece of crap than my friends do for their three bedroom brick house.  We've had so many bad experiences with this apartment that I never want to rent again.

(boring alert!  If you don't care about our crappy apartment, which you probably don't, you can skip this.)

The neighbor, he's a nice guy, nothing against him, but he smokes and we can smell it in our apartment.  It's not his fault, it's the shoddy construction of this building.  The floors are uneven, the windows are drafty, there were squirrels living in the ceiling (I'm honestly not sure if they left of their own accord or if they died up there.) and the air conditioner doesn't work as well as it should.  Heck, I found even more wrong when I was hanging up curtains the other day.  While I was making measurements to make sure I got the curtain rod straight, I discovered that the ceiling is actually not level.  I thought the molding around the top of the walls looked off, now I know it's off.  No matter what I do, that damn curtain doesn't look like it's hanging straight.  I knew that I should have backed out when they showed us the model and then wouldn't let us see our actual unit until only two days before we were set to move in.

(End of apartment rant.)

I'm still saving money but now I'm trying extra hard to build credit.  Why is the credit system so stupid anyway?  So many ways to screw it up, but so few ways to actually build it.  I have this dumb secured credit card that is supposed to report like a normal credit card.  I've been using it for seven months, to no actual avail.  I still have a credit score of zero.  I didn't think that it would be quick but I also didn't think that my score would still be non existent by now.  We're working on converting other bills to my name since that seems to help at least somewhat.

I'm actually really irritated that they never taught any of this crap while we were in school.  I mean seriously, a little head's up would have been nice!  Like hey, this is how you write a resume, this is how you go to an interview, this is what credit is and how it can royally screw up your life if you don't know what to do with it.  What did I learn instead?  Thanks for the course in calculus, I've totally been using that. (note the sarcasm.)

Not that I scoff at knowing calculus, just that it's amazing how it doesn't matter once you get into college.  I mean, the first thing they do for your core classes is take you back five years.  Seriously.  Algebra I, again?  I took that in the seventh grade and passed!  Why in the hell would you make me pay for a class that I took and passed when I was twelve?!?

Anyway, back on track here.

Why not work with my husband to get a loan?  Well, we can't use his credit score at all, even though he has a good one.  Three words: defaulted student loans.  His loans went into default when he was nineteen and since we've been together, we've made attempts to settle his debt and start making payments on it again.

We tried anyway.

What it really means when your student loans go into default is that they give your debt to some dickhead collection agency that works for the government.  If it works for the government you can expect it to make very little to no sense and you can also bet that everyone you talk to in that agency is an asshole.  They will not bargain with you.  Especially not this one in New Jersey apparently.

They want far too much money a month in order to get back into good standing.  Twice our rent payment a month for six months?  $1400 a MONTH just go get back in good standing with them?  Excuse my language, but they can go fuck themselves.  I'm not interested in running myself into the ground to pay off a debt that isn't even mine to begin with.  I swear, this isn't student aid, this is the goddamn mafia.  They have to take small payments if we throw it at them, this is true.  The catch is that if we were to make payments of anything less than the outrageous amount they want, it won't even go toward fixing his credit.  It would be all for nothing and the interest stacks up faster than this shit gets paid.

I would love to know who it was that decided that loaning money out to dumb kids was a good idea.  Especially when there's no real collateral for it.  For any other loan you have something of value you could lose.  You don't pay your mortgage, you lose your house; don't pay your car payments and they repo your car.  There's nothing of value that they can take back from you if you fail to pay a student loan.  Their solution to this?  I guess some asshole was like, "Oh I have it!  The collateral for the loan will be their quality of life!"   For those of you that don't know just how badly student loans can screw you over, they are the ONLY debt that will never leave your credit until you pay it off.  You either pay it off or you die, those are the only two ways out of it.  Not even filing for bankruptcy will get rid of it.

It's absolutely ridiculous.

It will keep you from getting anything in the future.  It will keep you from getting a home, it will keep you from getting just a small loan for anything, it can even keep you from getting a job. (Apparently you have to have squeaky clean credit in order to be a cop.  Didn't know that until recently myself.)

All things considered, I'd think twice before signing those FAFSA forms if I were you.  This day and age it's almost more likely to hurt you than help you.

So... is America still sounding like land of the free to you guys?  More like land where everyone is expected to start life $20,000 in debt.

Well now that that's off my chest, the next entry will get us back on track.  Back to art and writing and away from the doom and gloom!

May the next blog post actually be happy!  May it also actually be about art or writing.

Animazement 2014 Con Report!

Well that was fast!

The convention came and went a lot quicker than I imagined it would.  A lot of work went into this and I'm happy to say that we did manage to pull it off.  It was a lot of hard work and plenty of frustration at first but by the time we finished setting up on Thursday night I was feeling a little better about the whole thing. 

Open For Business!

The stand looked awesome and went together very well.  By far it was the best set up I had ever had for an artist alley.  Things weren't really easy though and I didn't do as well as I did last year.  I feel like this mostly had to do with my location.  Artist alley was very, very large this year.  That alone didn't bode well for some artists.  A lot of competition, albeit friendly.

For those that got stuck in the little alcove off to the side, that location was simply awful for business.  With that location people had to actually seek you out in order to really find you.  It wasn't just me it was everyone unfortunate enough to be stuck in this barren corner.

I don't really have a picture to accurately display my frustration at being stuck here.  This was taken before things really got busy.  From the balcony, after things picked up, you could really tell that most of the traffic was through the middle and the little alcove I was stuck in got very heavily ignored.

In a lot of cases, there were people that came by my table that wanted to buy prints, but they had no more money to do so.  They often told me that we were the last table that they saw in the alley, and they had spent their budget elsewhere before even noticing that this little cubby hole even existed.

My very lonely table in BFE

As you can see in this next picture here, this is my table from the entrance to the alley.  I had to zoom in on it.  You can kinda see my husband sitting there, conversing with an off duty police officer that had been paid to provide more security for the convention.

I resorted to a few semi-desperate tactics to up foot traffic in the area.  At some point on Saturday I got so frustrated with the lack of attention that I left my husband to watch the table, and I went half way up the stairs in between the escalators to yell at people coming down into the alley.

When I say yell I don't mean angrily.  It was something to the effect of "Hello everyone!  Artist alley is really big this year please don't leave until you've visited everyone, including that dark corner over there!  I know it's scary looking, but be brave!"  I even asked a couple of Jedi if I could borrow their mind tricks to sell prints.  I'm usually not that outgoing so I surprised myself a little with how much nerve I managed to get up to draw attention to myself.

Table Graffiti

People didn't really react terribly to me, most of them were intent on giving me a high five while they rode down the escalator.  As luck would have it, this bold move did increase foot traffic to the area and I sold to quite a number of people that I specifically remember seeing on the staircase.  Things picked up Saturday and even more on Sunday so not all hope was lost.

Another trick that I employed again this year that worked well last year, was the table graffiti.  I got a number of metallic pens and a black table cloth and let people go at it. This time it didn't get quite as full but there were more colors to play with.  It was pretty colorful by the time we left but that was the plan.  No one drew anything offensive on it, so all's well that ends well.
 
As for the art auction, the two pieces I submitted did pretty well!  They were both collaborative works, the lines were by my good friend, Nga Nguyen, and the colors were by yours truly.  You know, the usual stuff.  Upon entering your works into the auction they are subjected to a competition.  We've had pieces that placed every single year, whether it be second or third place.  This year, though, we finally got first!  It was a pretty big shocker too!

Of the two posters I put in auction, I expected the Sailor Moon piece to go for more than the original character.  After all, fan art does usually do better than anything else.  Apparently I'm just a backwards sort of person.  The auction piece that made the most money and won the prizes was actually the original that was submitted.  The winner of the auction for the print of "Angelic" purchased the print for his mother and had me sign it "to a loving mom."

He seemed very pleased with it and that made me happy.  It's always nice to know when someone really appreciates the work you do!  That's why, despite the bad location, despite the long days involved, I found it nearly impossible to have a bad time.  Even when I thought that I might not break even and after I realized that I left all of my 8x10 prints at home, I couldn't help but to enjoy myself.  I even did a few sketches for people.  I had two people at least buy four prints or more in a shot.  I also did an art trade with an artist I watch on DeviantArt.

Hopefully next year will be a little better.  From what I've heard it seems like they're going to do all they can to avoid the cubby hole next year, and maybe even open up a door in between the alley and the dealer room so that the artist alley can get more traffic and not be quite so isolated.

Despite our awful location and little traffic, we still managed to turn a profit and for that I'm pretty darn grateful. I was also grateful that my husband went with me.  He was very supportive through the whole thing, even when I was beginning to doubt myself, and I really enjoyed hanging out with him the whole weekend.  We made a great team of course!  We are married after all.

Now to get ready for Otakon and hope for better luck there.

Spark, out.

Riled: Chapter One Preview

Posting a little early this week.  I already had something planned for Tuesday and then I got to work on this.  I also may not be posting on Thursday since I will be making the trip to Raleigh for Animazement.

Well I've been actually doing some work on my comic script, finally.  I guess having the hubby work third shift isn't so bad since I can use the time he's sleeping on the weekends to do some uninterrupted work.  I will warn you that I'm not really good at this.  I don't really expect to ever be able to work professionally as a writer.  This is probably just a giant sloppy mess to anyone that IS professional or even close to it.

But hey, at least I'm getting some of it down on paper.

We had some stuff story-boarded for this before.  I've since changed a few things and the story board itself is quite old just like a lot of the finished images for this comic.  I'll include a few cuts from the story board that are still mostly relevant.  They are sloppy since it IS just planning and it's not representative of the final product. Nga really does an amazing job working with me on this and I could not have asked for a better artist and friend to help me out!

Well without further stalling, here it is.  I just hope I don't embarrass myself (I probably will.)

an old frame.

RILED
Chapter 1 preview

The sun shines down brightly on a beach setting.  The beach looks somewhat lonely except for a single beach umbrella and a person lounging  in a chair.  Beside her is a martini glass and a plate with a sandwich which sit atop a small cooler.  On the other side of her is a beach bag.  The sounds of the ocean and seagulls can be heard while the birds circle up above.

Riley: (She wears sunglasses and a small smile as she relaxes, her hand resting around the base of the martini glass.) (Thinking to herself, not aloud.) Bertana Palm Beach!  Just like I thought it would be… Perfect! (She lifts the martini glass and takes a sip.)  There doesn't seem to be a lot of people out here, Wonder where they are.  (sets the glass back down with a thoughtful expression before she seems to totally dismiss the thought.) Eh, they're probably working and have kids in school.  Who cares anyway?

View from above with shadows from seagulls.

Riley: (thinking) This feels great... I needed a vacation.

A seagull lands close by the cooler and lets out a squawk.

Riley: (She lifts her sunglasses, giving the bird a questioning look.)  Well you're brave aren't you?

The seagull inches closer and lets out another squawk.

Riley: (She tries to ignore it but soon grows irritated at the noise as it continues to squawk.  She picks
up a hand full of sand and throws it at the bird.) Shoo!   Ugh how can something make so much friggin' noise!

The seagull jumps backward, but it doesn't leave, instead it  makes a lunge for her sandwich and grabs it.

Riley: (Surprised) What the--!  Hey!(She quickly grabs for the sandwich in an attempt to save it, knocking over her martini in the process.)

The seagull darts out of her reach in a flourish of feathers.  It seems to stare right at her, letting out a muffled squawk before it quickly devours her sandwich in an odd, cartoonish, and very non seagull-like fashion. Then it squawks more.

Riley: (after recovering from a brief moment of shock) Alright so that's how you wanna play huh?! (She reaches into the bag next to her and pulls out her gun as if she fully intends to shoot a gull over a sandwich.

Seagull: (In a thick Spanish accent and broken English.) Miss McGummery!

Riley: (Gives the bird a disturbed look.) What the hell...

Seagull: McGummery!  Time is up!  You have to leave!

The sound of pounding on a door becomes more clear and distinct. 

The scene is now not a beach, but a small somewhat low budget motel room.  Riley lays sprawled out across a bed in the middle of the room, the covers thrown every which way and her head not even lying on a pillow.  Next to the bed is a bag with her clothing items haphazardly stuffed in and laying around it.

Mrs. Rosa: (Thick Spanish accent, no longer squawky) Miss McGummery!  Boss man say you have ten minutes! 

Riley: (Groggy) fine-- (She is cut off by more pounding at the door) (Shouting) FINE!  I'm awake I'll be out in a minute! (She lets out a groan, grabbing a pillow and putting it over her face.)

Riley: (Narrating) This… would be me.  The name's Riley and apparently I'm not on vacation.

Cue getting dressed and packing up montage! :)

Riley: (Narrating) No, no this motel isn't on a beach.  Not even close to one really.  I'm here on business.

Riley: (Now fully dressed.  She walks down the hallway and up to the counter where there is a man sitting behind it at a computer.) Hey, Mr. Escobar. (She rubs an eye in a sleepy manner.)

Mr. Escobar: (Smiling) Good morning, Riley, I see that you got your wake-up call from Mrs. Rosa.

Riley: (She shoots him an annoyed look) Yeah, yeah I did.  Couldn't miss it. (She fishes her key card out of her backpack and puts it on the counter.)

Riley: (Narrating.) I know what you're thinking. "Business?  You don't look like a business woman."  Yeah well that's because I'm not some executive.  I'm a bounty hunter.

Mr. Escobar: (He lets out a chuckle as he takes the card.) Ah yes, she is a wonderful lady but that voice could wake the dead.  (He looks up the room on the computer.) Just double checking, I seem to remember you prepaid... and it looks like I was right. (He turns his attention back to Riley giving her a big and friendly smile) Have a nice day, if you're ever back in town, just remember, our rates don't really change!

Riley: (She shifts her pack around on her back to be more comfortable) I'll keep that in mind.

Riley: (She makes her way out of the motel.  She opens the lobby doors only to find that it is pouring down rain outside.  She lets out a sigh.) (sarcastic and unenthusiastic) Today's gonna be great, I can tell. (She ducks her head and makes her way out onto the sidewalk, crossing a street to get to the parking deck where her car is parked.)

Riley: (Narrating) With this profession, you go where the work is.  Which means I travel.  A lot.    Hell,  I don't even have a real place to call home. 

Riley: (She opens the trunk of her older model car which seems to be very neatly organized and places her bag in the corner of it.  She shuts it and gets into the driver's seat of her car.  She pets the steering wheel fondly.) Well baby, time to put this place in the dust. I don't think this city has anything else for us. (She turns the key in the ignition and the car starts up with a loud roar.)

Riley: (Narrating) I don't have some stationary plot somewhere with my name on it.  Not a house, not an apartment, not even a cardboard box. 

She drives the car to the exit of the parking deck, the brakes letting out a light squeal as she comes to a stop.  She waits patiently for an opening to pull out onto the road. 

Riley: (Narrating) Some people would call that, "homelessness."  I call it, "freedom."

The loud sound of the car echoes through the city streets as she leaves the parking deck and shifts through the gears to get up to speed.

(cue a short traveling montage.  Need to show that she's traveled all day and is now in a different location.)

Riley: (Narration) This life has a culture all it's own. It also takes a special kind of person to do this job.  Someone with nerves of steel and an immunity to disappointment.

Scene change to a dimly lit bar.  Riley sits at the bar with a drink, looking through something that looks like a newspaper.  She rests her head in one hand in a bored manner while holding a lit cigarette with the other.  The paper that she is looking at is shown, on it are the mug shots of quite a few felons, under each is the reward for them stated in dollars and the crimes they are wanted for.  She turns the page and the next seems to be dedicated to one picture and details on the convict.  The paper states in bold letters that this man's name is Jacob Ferguson.  

Riley: (Narrating)  You're probably not going to become famous or even well known.  Mostly you'll catch small fry.  The big names are big names for a reason: they are dangerous and hard to catch.

As she skims the page attention it drawn to particular parts of the page where the felon pictured is described as very dangerous.  There are also a few lines visible that describe his crimes.
Riley smirks after zeroing in on the figure for the reward which is clearly shown as $750,000.  She snuffs her cigarette out on the felon's picture.

Riley: (Narrating) But big risks, come with big rewards.

More traveling montage!  (Yes, non professional script writer here) Riley questions people on the street.  She seems to be following leads and getting more frustrated every frame.

Riley: (Narrating) I won't lie… it can be frustrating.  You might not answer to a boss like a nine-to-five-er but that don't mean it's easy.

Scene change to outside, Riley is parallel parked on a  lightly congested city street.  She studies a paper map with markings all over it, seemingly beyond frustrated and ready to give up.  She crumples up the map and tosses it behind her shoulder.

Riley: (grumbling) So much for that idea. (She turns the key and starts her car.)

A man runs down the sidewalk outside, trying to escape from something, his face isn't shown.

Riley: (Narrating) This hunting thing can be very hit or miss.  Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't, and sometimes…

Riley has shifted the car into gear and is waiting for an opportunity to pull back onto the street. She seems focused on this until the sound of her car door opening  is heard off screen and her attention is drawn that way.  Camera pans over a bit to show her unwanted passenger.

Ferguson: (Clutching a back pack.  He points a pistol at Riley.) You! Drive!

Riley: (Narrating) … Sometimes it just falls right into your lap.

Riley: (She raises her eyebrows upon realizing who had just run right to her and her expression is one of total disbelief.)

Ferguson: (frantically shouting, brandishing his weapon menacingly.)  What the hell are you waiting for!?  GO!

Riley: (She seems to snap out of her daze.)  Okay!  Okay jeeze, I'm movin' (she takes off, squealing the tires a bit as she does so.  Car horns blare as she cuts a few cars off in the process.)