WillMangin

So... As I've been posting more of my OC's, it has been brought to my attention that many of you might not be as familiar with them. So... I figured I'd link you all to some comics/stories that my characters have been featured in or even just made a guest appearance.

First off, these awesome fancomics by
Courage Under Fire - Full comic here: drivaaar.deviantart.com/galler…
Crisis of Conscience - Full comic here: drivaaar.deviantart.com/art/Cr…

Some awesome stories written by
Drive and Duty part 1Drive and Duty
by Sam Ford
"Touch down in three cycles. Prepare final checks for prisoner transport."
The loud speaker blared over head, alerting the security team of their imminent landing. Amateurs. Dart could tell they were landing, just by the pitch of the engines and the shimmy in the tail. These CDC Autoloopers knew nothing about speed, or machines, or what it meant to be free. Ironic that he was the one in binders right now.
The glowing rings sizzled against his wrists, not burning, just letting him know they were still there. Dart grinned at the black and white security trooper as he walked by, checking the binders on the other prisoners. As soon as he was past Dart rolled his optics. Idiot. If these frag jockeys thought some low grade security systems would keep him back they had another thing coming. He was The Dart. As soon as those doors opened he'd be gone.
The transport touched down with only a slight servo crunch. Whoever was in the cockpit might not have known how to fl Drive and Duty part 1 Drive and Duty part 2The Velocitron circuit was perhaps the most famous race in the galaxy. Thousands of beings from a myriad of worlds attended, and billions of cheering fans watched the televised results. The rules were known and abided on by all the racers, and each had the begrudging respect for the others. They were all the cream of the crop. It was the panicle of standardized racing, all atmosphere and pomp surrounding the sport. Money and fame flowed like water all around the track, bathing everyone it touched. It was a place Dart knew he would reach; some day.
The Pylon Driver, on the flip side, was a dirty alley race down deserted streets. The contestants were killers and thugs who were there for the thrill of murder more than the speed. The rules were virtually non-existent, and the only eyes watching the track were those betting. Gamblers, pushers and slaves outnumbered racers a hundred to one. Dirty cops turned out in droves, and not a single medic was to be found.
This was the bottom rung of r and part 2
Broken BladeBroken Blade
By Sam Ford
The door hissed open with a screech, struggling in its tracks against the old hydraulics. Like the rest of the outmoded war equipment, the base was falling apart. It might have been considered foreshadowing if Beamer had taken any notice; an allegory for his own place in the world. Instead, the Autobot simple strode through the faulty door, suppressing a sigh.
The sight greeting him upon entry filled him with both sadness and relief, with a strange twist of anger thrown in for good measure. In the hangar bay where the Valliant had once berthed now rested a recycled Decepticon relic. Rodeo's ship, albeit badly damaged, had been conscripted by Autobot High Command some months prior. The orange titan, expressing his displeasure in a less-than-constructive way, had spent the night in the brig. It had taken Beamer four megacycles to procure the proper paperwork, finally freeing his friend. Apparently Rodeo's outburst had not gone unnoticed, and some weeks lat Broken Blade
Verticon's Night OutVerticon scowled. The music was hot and grating, the squelch turned up too high, burning her audio receptors. The percussion played at a desperate 180 BPM tempo; not fast enough to be true Polyhex metal, instead keeping it slow enough for the few humans to follow. Not that the humans were listening. The two in the corner were stoned out of their minds on Durabyllium Rust and probably wouldn't survive the evening. The third sat across the bar and was currently swapping mandible juices with something one could only hope was mostly organic. Without care he might lose his head to the cross-species make out session.  
The songs changed again, and the treble player gyrated faster, doing his best to stab a burning poker right through her temple. That was the problem: this was just another Iacon pop speed cover, and the original wasn't even worthy to give her a processor ache. Her patience ran dangerously short. Only idiots could like this music.
"Good music, huh?"
Ladies and gentle bots, Verticon's Night Out

Transformers Generation None: The Signal by (and partially me): tfgnone.blogspot.com/p/generat… (external link! sorry!!)

Beamer in an canon TF/GI Joe comic:
(which isn't a story... but figured I'd include it)

Also...some fun little side stories by
Battle Royale
Chibitron Christmas

The take away from this... other people like my characters more than I do! jk Trying to work on some stuff that I've been developing with TM2-Dinobot for awhile now. I'm slow to get it done. I figured that maybe posting about it would spark my motivation to finish some of my own stuff.

Enjoy!!

So... I'm still trying to make an effort to draw more. I think for a long time I made a conscious effort to draw less of what I wanted and more of what I thought people would want to see from me. Or what would get the attention of people that would hire me for professional work.

I've drawn "professional" art only a handful of times... pretty sure my deviantart gallery wasn't the reason I got any of those jobs.

The lesson learned there... I end up not-drawing because I get frustrated with trying to come up with stuff I don't want to draw. That makes sense right? I've been drawing a lot more fancharacters and OC's lately because that's something I enjoy. It's just more fun to me (most of the time).

Another thing that I'm trying to make an effort to do is to be more active around all you all. I lurk a lot on here. I see so much new and amazing art and artists and I always feel like I can't keep up. I don't know your stories or your characters or what motivates you to draw and to me that's just as important as what you're actually putting out there for everyone to look at. Every time I pop back on this site there are like a dozen new amazing artists (especially drawing just transformers stuff which I have always tended to gravitate toward) that I have never seen before. And then the artists that I used to enjoy and watch on here have moved on to bigger and better things or just don't post at all any more. The groups that I used to interact with most around DA are long gone now. I've been around this website for 15 years! (and drawing my goofy blue robot for 20).

Btw... you guys are amazing. :3

I've been on a bit of an inspiration wave lately (on and off) and hopefully I can keep up with y'all.

I think I have a post like this once every couple of years, but at least it gives me an excuse to update my journal. lol

Happy 2017, folks! 
So I'm going to try to make "focus" my theme for this year (as cheesy as that sounds). I've been all over the place with just... everything... and when I actually take time for my art lately (or in the past two years), I tend to sketch something as fast as I can, slap some sloppy colorwork on it, and get it out so I don't have to look at it anymore. It would give me a sort of quick fix and a slight feeling of accomplishment (I guess). In the end all I have is a gallery full of crappy unfinished looking stuff. I need to change that and actually focus on my work and finish it all the way through. I want to do the same thing for finishing my degree (non-art) this year as well as other aspects in my life. Lack of focus actually causes me to avoid anything that I think will be any sort of a time sink. It's been very frustrating. 

Anyway... I figured I'd share that. That and to update you all.

Does anyone else have any goals or resolutions for the new year? 

So... I know a lot of you folks out there have your art featured in multiple groups on deviantart. Out of curiousity... do you submit to the same groups (for similar artwork) every time? Do they come to you? Do people suggest group submissions for you?
For the most part, I always wait for the groups to ask me because I'm never quite sure how they work. I actually had a couple of drawings rejected one time though I wasn't sure why because they fit into the guidelines... so that was odd.

Anyhoo... I'm just curious as to how some of you out there do it.  

Just a silly random thought I had... I always think I know people really well. Like friends on deviantart or message boards... other artists that actually work in the business. In some cases I actually do, in others it's mostly like "... yeah. i totally replied to a couple of his/her drawings. we're totally best friends." Silly right? It kind of occurred to me at a couple of conventions recently (recent-ish I guess). I'd walk up to other artists and say "HEY! I know you!" and introduce myself. People would actually kinda sorta recognize me or my name, but I would have absolutely NOTHING to talk about with them... I tend never talk to talk to people online. I don't connect with other artists very well at all unless they reach out to me (it's hardly ever the other way around). I don't know where to start usually. I talk to maybe 3 or 4 people on a regular basis that I've met through art communities. If you met me in person, I can play the part of an outgoing person, but it's definitely not me... which is weird. to me. I dunno. 

Maybe I should try to fix it? This kinda ties into my last post about relying too much on validation. Sometimes I do things for people who I think hold me in the same regard I hold them and it often isn't quite the case. 

Does that happen to anyone else? It seems like a lot of people on here just come right out and say anything and everything that's on their mind (sometimes to a fault) but end up building stronger bonds because of it. I've never quite been able to do that. 

Not sure why this has been on my mind. 

Anyway... go back to what you were doing! go on! shoo!