[link] a contest by my friend
Nifty arts for prize!

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And finished with a contest for Top Cow, for which I'm crossing fingers. That's the reason I haven't been posting artwork for a while, and there's some stuff I did some time ago, so I'll be finally updating my gallery.
Also there's some kind people among you who were waiting for commissioned work and I'd like to assure them that I'm back to work and I'm grateful for your patience.

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[link]
Chapeau, Facebook. You violated human rights again.
The part where "the photo was pulled because it provoked misogynists and extremists" is what killed me. I don't need to make parallelisms with the plethora of possible situations where any group could be forced to shut up so that extremists aren't provoked.

I feel confident in deducing that ethics isn't exactly Facebook's forte but I've had plenty occasions to form that opinion even before this. Don't be surprised if you don't find me on Facebook. I'm not there.

On the other hand, Dana Bakdounes, you are a hero to me.

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...as nonsmoker.
Let's see. Yesterday it was hard not to smoke a single cigarette for an entire day. Stepping from twenty (sometimes more) a day to zero felt like a big jump and it is. Around 5pm or so my head was spinning due to neuroreceptors snapping and popping for lack of nicotine. And on a side note it also felt a little exhilarating. But anyways, it's true, it's easy to drop altogether than to decrease the number of cigarettes. The latter only equals to tantalizing oneself. The cigarette becomes a prize, something precious that you give yourself after resisting for an amount of time. If you drop it altogether, the cigarette doesn't become something that much desirable, it's just out of the equation.

So I woke up for the first time without any coughing, sore throat or phlegm in my bronchuses. My throat is just as sore as it is supposed to be when one snores, but they told me I didn't snore much tonight.
I thought I would have had to wait before feeling the benefits, but I already am. Fuck yeah willpower!

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Here: [link]
But I've just joined and I'm not much of a spammer really...

CSS Journal Coded by ~FleX177

The massacre where probably thousands of civilians, including children, were massacred between September 16 and September 18, 1982. We'll never know the exact number of people, but the photos should be enough to remind us of the horror of war.
[link]

A recommended watch is the movie Waltz with Bashir: [link]

CSS Journal Coded by ~FleX177

[link]
Let us not forget the man who had a vision and gave his life for it and the people he loved. May more men like him be born and lead us.

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[link]
Or how Europe saved the world from MPAA/RIAA's mind-bogging greediness, but a big merit in this silent war nobody speaks about, goes to Google and to Wikipedia for the critical contribution in bringing out of the dark this attempt at maximizing copyrights to the detriment of human rights (first and foremost the right of expression).
The world may have changed, and (at least in Italy) not a single journalist speaks about it.

For my fellow Europeans, July the 4th also marks a huge shift in the power balance of our Union, because for the first time our Parliament, democratically elected by us citizens, crushed the European Commission which was trying to force  ACTA to pass (they're still trying, the fight is not over unfortunately).
It's a big precedent towards the creation of a truly democratic union of our countries, and not merely an economical union ruled by banks and political lobbies, despite certain people who go as far as saying "We're supposeed to represent citizens, but since they are busy with other things, we are supposed to think for them!" (European Parliament member Marielle Gallo, [link] translated from the French here: [link] ).
I'm hugely simplifying, and I apologize for the heated tone. I hope it does not sound like demagoguery, because that's far from my intention. Here's an article that clarifies the second part of this journal: [link] (which has a lot of interesting articles, which I recommend reading).

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, a fellow member of a group I'm part of is in need of help and is offering commissions.
If you like her style please don't hesitate to commission her.

CSS Journal Coded by ~FleX177

Since the last time I wrote I stumbled in three items I found so interesting as to be worth mention in my journal.

The first is an article written by Michael Moorcock, the creator of the saga of Elric of Melniboné, one of the greatest epic fantasy stories of the previous century. Maybe many of you already know it but for those who don't:

The article is titled Epic Pooh, and can be read here: [link]
A description of the article can be found on Wikipedia here: [link]

Basically, Moorcock argues about the mediocrity of a group of celebrated writers, mainly C.S. Lewis and especially Tolkien through an analysis of their prose. I loved reading this article. It perfectly puts into words why I loathe the Lord of the Rings and all the derived garbage (I'm thinking of Terry Brooks).
I even used to detest fantasy as a genre before I started reading some seriously good fantasy author like Robert E. Howard or  George R.R. Martin. Or Moorcock himself.
There are many key points I strongly agree with. Of course it's just my opinion, and if you love LOTR, you shouldn't read further.

It's conservative and antiromantic. LOTR gives us a terribly anticlimatic happy ending which undignifies death and sacrifice -which are the essence of epic as you can find in all greek epic, but also in Beowulf or in Sigfried's saga: you won't find happy endings or consolation. After the adventure everyone goes home, back to their routine, everything as it was before, just slightly changed by the events but in its roots, immutable. And it shows Tolkien's misanthropic, conservativist idea of a bucolic idyll which is anti-urban, anti-progressivist. In Moorcock words, "he sees the petit bourgeoisie, the honest artisans and peasants, as the bulwark against Chaos. These people are always sentimentalized in such fiction because traditionally, they are always the last to complain about any deficiencies in the social status quo." The status quo to which characters go back after the adventure.
Another great passage: "The little hills and woods of that Surrey of the mind, the Shire, are "safe", but the wild landscapes everywhere beyond the Shire are "dangerous". Experience of life itself is dangerous. The Lord of the Rings is a pernicious confirmation of the values of a declining nation with a morally bankrupt class whose cowardly self-protection is primarily responsible for the problems England answered with the ruthless logic of Thatcherism."

Lastly, and that is what I agree most with. In Tolkien, evil is undefined. It is its own explanation, a shallow tautology. Sauron is an abstract, absolute evil. So are all his minions. I always found that distasteful, even when I was a little kid. There was no depth in that evil. I wanted a real badass enemy. I was disappointed.
So a great article for me.

The other two items are free music again! No metal this time, oddly enough you may think.
[link]
[link]
It's ambient music which blends soothing and haunting sounds that gives me new sensations. I'm playing these albums sometimes while I draw. Both are quite great in my opinion.

CSS Journal Coded by ~FleX177

I'm available for some commissions if anyone's interested.
Here are the rates:

$50 One character, portrait or full body, inked (lineart only)
$70 One character, portrait or full body, inked and colored
Payment via PayPal
Samples of previous works can be found here: [link]

Limitations: due to legal issues, I cannot accept to portray characters protected by a copyright you don't own. Also, no furries and no porn. In other words, if you have characters you created and want to give a face to, I'm in!

(You may notice that I'm not taking commissions for full scenes with detailed backgrounds, and that is because of the scarce amount of time at my disposal currently. Apologies for that.)

So if you want to commission a picture, please write here so that I can keep track of your pecedence. We will  discuss further details via private messages if you prefer.
After we've had our agreement, I'll prepare and send you a low res pencil sketch via email, then you will kindly let me know if everything is ok. You'll be kindly asked to send the payment, and I'll finish the picture up. Finished pictures are at 600 dpi, but if you prefer a smaller resolution, I can do a 300 dpi file, just please let me know. Unless you specify otherwise, you will receive a compressed tiff file.

For completeness and clarity's sake, a clause about corrections or tweaking: I can only accept them at the sketch's stage, and then after the coloring (but only if it is about changing colors at that stage). Please do not ask for corrections of the lineart after I've inked the picture.
Thanks in advance!

EDIT:
Currently accepted commissions:

one lineart and one full color picture. Finished.
two full color pictures plus one lineart. Finished.
one full color picture. Finished.
two full color pictures. Finished.
one full color picture. Finished.
one lineart picture. Finished.
one full color picture. Finished.
one black and white picture. Finished.
six linearts. Finished.

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Last time I told you about Gru and Thrown To The Sun (Polish progressive metal and Turkish Death Metal respectively).
Time to tell you about Al Qaynah, my recent discovery. This is a folk metal band from Afghanistan and let me tell you, their songs left me speechless.
This is their myspace page: [link]
From here, if you scroll down a bit, you can download the songs of their demo for free. The link redirects you here [link]

I love contaminations in metal. It's why I like groups like Eluveitie from Switzerland, or Melechesh from Israel. But Al Qaynah takes the beauty of the contamination to eleven in my opinion.

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Hi folks. Let's talk about something I don't mention often. Music.
I've recently stumbled into two groups whom I feel like publicizing for two reasons. First, both are great groups, with a high technical level and passion in what they do. Second, both had a beautiful idea: having their debut album downloadable for free from their own websites. And boys, what a debut in both cases!
I think this idea is noble, courageous, and deserves endorsement. So let me proceed.

First, Gru. [link]
Gru is a Polish progressive metal band. If I were to draw a comparison, I'd say that they remind me of Dream Theatre, only much better and without a singer. Their album, Cosmogenesis, is beautiful beyond my ability to describe. I can't get tired of listening to it, and progressive metal wouldn't even be my genre, usually. But these guys seriously rock.
The link above is a Myspace site, so you can hear samples of their songs before deciding whether to download or not the album. I'm sure it will be enough to convince you.

Second, Thrown to the Sun [link]
This is a Turkish death metal band. Here we're closer to home, 'cause death metal is what I listen to most often. and I just love discovering new or unknown groups. It's not easy to find many who also have a good technical level. When I first listened to Allegaeon and Ouroboros in the past I was simply delighted. Now I also discovered Thrown to the Sun and I hope that they'll tour in Italy soon. If you like death metal, I recommend these guys.

CSS Journal Coded by ~FleX177