Oi! So about this time last week I started my week-and-a-half “VacationCon” experience. I drove up to Indianapolis, Indiana to attend GenCon, which was as awesome and exhausting as always, came back last Sunday with a ton of schwag (paid-for schwag, the Good Stuff), and immediately got attacked by some supercold or superflu or something.

Yeah, at 8pm I was fine. By 10pm I was sneezing and coughing like no tomorrow. I’ve been down and out ever since…

And to top it off, tomorrow I fly out to Anaheim, California for BlizzCon! Yay? Indeed, yay. Although I fear how the flight will go with my sinuses treating me like they are. Regardless, this is BlizzCon, folks: a new potential World of Warcraft expansion, another chance to speak directly with the Blizzard recruiters, and another attempt to get my iPhone signed by Chris Metzen himself this time (last year I successfully snagged Samise’s sig).

For those interested in BlizzCon, but can’t make it out to Anaheim, there’s always TwizzCon! TwizzCon is the virtual convention I set up for the World of Warcraft Twitter community. It’s a way for many of us to connect virtually, over Ventrilo, webchat, and Twitter to chat up the events of BlizzCon and the like. I’ll be live blogging the show as much as I can, but I need to rely on the community members to keep up the basic activity as well. So if you’re interested, feel free to stop by the site!

Speaking of Warcraft (since that’s currently where my focus remains at this point in time), a new lore speculation article will go up on LoreCrafted in a few hours of this posting. It covers the “leaks” about Expansion 3, and has some simple justification for the potential choices made.

I’m keeping Rusted rolling, although I fear that BlizzCon may interfere with Page 4’s release next week, but we’ll see. I’ll also be developing some characters and a short story framework for BattleCorps, since I spoke with some of the Catalyst Game Labs crew at GenCon and discovered that one of my most favorite settings is in dire need of short fiction authors. That potential opportunity has me truly excited!

As it stands, though, there hasn’t been too much new on the artwork front outside of my web comics (Rusted and Madness and Insanity). Hopefully I can slide back into the groove once again when these conventions (and a move from an apartment to a house) are all settled and done.

Until then, folks, be well!

Tags: battlecorps, battletech, blizzcon, comic, gencon, lorecrafted, madness and insanity, rusted, twitter, twizzcon, warcraft

As most of you know, Raptor13.com was created in order to be a place where I can upload my artwork and display it. It’s great to have a place where I can showcase these one-off experiments and sketches. However, this is NOT the only purpose for this site.  Behind the scenes I’ve laid the foundation for a new project. This weekend saw me build the backend necessities to see this thing forward, and I hope to make consistent progress on this as the weeks pass.

What is this new project? Well, I’ll refrain from announcing it for now, but I can tell you that there are enough hints scattered throughout this site to tip off the observant visitor. Also, those who know me personally will have a better idea of what I’m thinking.

Don’t worry, though, as soon as there’s something to see, I’ll put it on display. Until then, though, we’ll call this the “Super Secret Project.” Sounds good to me!

-Richard Powell

Tags: super secret project

So, today I turn 30 years old. It seemed somewhat poetic for me to relaunch Raptor13.com on my 30th birthday, as one rebirth parallels another.  This site was born in a crucible of both high and low emotion, and I consider its completion to be a personal victory. It may only be one battle, but it’s something I can use to lay the foundation for my future. And today I begin once again to walk forward…

That said, this would not have been completed without the help and support of some important people. I know the concept of a “special thanks” has been watered down and mass produced in this day and age of award shows and shallow recognition blurbs, but I’d like to take the time to truly express my appreciation to the following people.  Without these folks, I’m uncertain where I’d be today:

Maria and Kevin Clark. Your unwavering support, both in the serious and the silly, is unfathomably appreciated. Rarely do I see you all truly “take” for yourselves, and this is a trait for which I have nothing but respect. In the most recent weeks, you two have been anchors to help me work through that which has shaken my previous calm. Maria, the words “thank you” are far insufficient to express my appreciation for having you as an ear to listen to my broken ramblings. And Kevin, the burdens you have been willing to take upon yourself have lightened my day-to-day load significantly, and I refuse to ignore that contribution. To both of you, I give my sincere thanks.

To my parents and family, who will probably never actually see this site, I thank you. Times haven’t always been great, but you’ve given me a home… a true home… to which I can retreat if I feel the need. That which you give, not just to me, but to everyone you encounter, has never been overlooked. I thank you all deeply.

Suzanna Reeves, I also wish to express my sincerest thanks to you. For the past few years you have served as one of the few people within whom I felt I could truly confide. The long talks we have are always comforting and commonly inspiring. There have been ups and downs, but none of it would I choose to trade away. You have helped keep me on my path, and for this, you have my deepest gratitude.

To Kelly Aarons, knowing what I believe I know about your personality, you most likely don’t think you belong on this list. However, you have been a source of great emotion in these recent months. I consider you, like the rest of those mentioned here, to be an important person in my life, and for acting with more maturity and level-headedness than many I’ve known, you have my greatest appreciation. You have been creatively inspiring, emotionally grounding, and a true joy to know. Thank you.

These are not the only people in my life, but these have been the most influential in recent months. I love you all (whether you’re listed or not), with everything I can muster in my soul. Without any of you, I would not be who I am.

To all of you, I dedicate this site–this home of creativity and imagination, this place of of storytelling…

-Richard Powell

P.S.

I cannot end this post without at least promoting the creative works of those mentioned above. So here is a list of where these special people can be found on the internet (assuming they have a presence, which not all do).

Maria Clark can be found at Warpriestess, her website dedicated to roleplaying in the World of Warcraft and other games. She is also a cast member on Hearthstone Tavern, our twice-a-month RP focused World of Warcraft podcast, and can be found on Twitter as @Arcania.  Her husband, Kevin, chooses to keep a low profile, but can almost always be found at her side (even if he’s unseen).

Suzanna Reeves is a wonderful musician and vocalist, and she can be found at Stardancer’s Off the Beaten Path. She also produces an audio segment of the same name for the Epic Dolls World of Warcraft podcast, and is a cast member, hostess, and producer for the Hearthstone Tavern podcast as well. She can be found on Twitter as @Stardancerelf.

Kelly Aarons is currently best known as the artist for World of Warcraft, Eh? She spends her days and nights working herself beyond mortal limits, and bleeds off some of her stress by enjoying the World of Warcraft community on Twitter, where she’s known as @Cadistra. Her comic and Deviant Art site are included in my links section. I was a fan before I became a friend.

Tags: arcania, birthday, cadistra, relaunch, stardancer, twitter

I’ve already written my opening launch day post and scheduled it for 6am tomorrow morning (in about 25 hours). I’ve also added titles and captions to every image currently in the Sketch Work Portfolio. Later today I plan to do the same for the Color and Craft Work Portfolios.

As it stands, I’m currently on track to relaunch the page officially tomorrow!

Tags: portfolio, relaunch

I’ve cleared out all the old test posts and galleries, and I’ve rearranged my work portfolios with my best works from the past and present. As it stands, this site will go live on my birthday, June 18th. Fitting, I think, to relaunch my portfolio on my 30th, yes?

Stay tuned, as I still have a few captions to add to my artwork portfolios and some last minute tweaks to perform. To all who gave their opinions on this site and made this possible, I humbly thank you.

Tags: birthday, portfolio, relaunch