Third Superan for Weekly Drawing Jam

Third Superman drawing is complete done. Click image to enlarge the image and comments are welcome.

Fourth Superman drawing is under on way to here tomorrow evening. ABM Weekly Drawing Jam have two days left before ends on Friday midnight.

Book Signing at Clem's Collectibles

I went to Clem's Collectibles to pick up comics from pull and book signing by Eric Wilmoth. Eric was one of seven artists at 24HCD event there. It was nice meet you once again Eric. He signing and sketching my autograph book. Thank you Eric!

Also there was Jonathon Gordon who quick sketch of Spider-Man my autograph book. I have his autography back Free Comic Day in May of this year. Thank you Jonathon! We'll meet once again later future that you may can finish later.

Landau-Kleffner Syndrome

My childhood with LKS, starts in spring 1984 and worn out mid fall 1995. Just in time before goes to junior high school and learns to drive car. My communication skills are getting better one step at time since 1995 and will takes while to full recovery. I continues work hard on my best to gets grammer and communication better. I'm 29 year old, still have little trouble with grammer because people believes my grammer act likes third grade student. I can't help it, thats way I am but getting better at it anyway.

Understanding Landau-Kleffner Syndrome
by Timothy Lesaca, M.D.
January 2000, Vol. XVII, Issue 1

The loss of language in childhood, particularly when verbal comprehension is affected, creates a catastrophic barrier to normal development. One uncommon yet debilitating language disorder is Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS), also known as acquired epileptiform aphasia. There have been over 160 cases of LKS reported in the medical literature (Tuchman, 1997).
Landau-Kleffner syndrome is associated with epileptic manifestations and electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities. LKS's epileptic nature may not be apparent unless an EEG is performed; consequently, many children with LKS will present initially to providers of psychiatric care due to language and behavioral difficulties. Behavioral problems such as hyperkinesis and aggressiveness have been associated with LKS, but are thought to be secondary to the child's frustrations in dealing with the loss of communication skills.
The history of LKS began in 1957 when Landau and Kleffner described six children with unusual aphasia without a definitive etiology. In most LKS cases, the aphasia appears after normal language development, with auditory verbal agnosia and reduction of spontaneous speech developing between 3 and 7 years of age. Children exhibit progressively decreased responsiveness to verbal language and eventually become unresponsive to verbal communication. This loss of language can occur abruptly or insidiously, and it can be marked with remissions and exacerbations.
Many children with LKS use gestures and other forms of nonverbal communication to effectively express their needs (Deonna, 1991). Those children with LKS who do not lose all verbal communication skills are able to use very simple sentences, but sometimes will manifest complete aphasia. Older children with reading and writing skills who develop LKS have sometimes been shown to lose these skills as well. LKS initially presents after 9 years of age in only 5% of cases, and only very rarely does it present after 12 years of age. Males are affected twice as often as females.
While LKS is, by definition, always associated with an abnormal EEG, it is important to note that 25% of children with LKS do not have seizures (Tuchman, 1997). It is unclear if there is a causal relationship between the aphasia of LKS and the associated EEG abnormalities and seizures (Gordon, 1997; Nass et al., 1998).
The EEG abnormalities seen in LKS are nonspecific and consist of a variety of epileptiform patterns, including continuous spike waves during slow sleep, focal sharp waves with spikes and centrotemporal spikes (Nass et al., 1998). At some time during LKS development, all patients have bilateral spike waves for more than 85% of the sleep period (Deonna, 1991). Although there is variation in the topography of the main discharge focus, most studies find predominance in the temporal or parietal regions. A single normal tracing, particularly during wakefulness, does not rule out the diagnosis, since discharges are not always present or might occur only during sleep (Paquier et al., 1992).
The clinical seizure activity associated with LKS is heterogeneous and seizure frequency is quite variable. Generalized tonic-clonic, focal motor, nocturnal simple partial motor, atypical absence, myoclonic-astatic and atonic seizures have been reported. It is unusual for the seizures to become difficult to control, and they usually resolve by 15 years of age. A family history of epilepsy is found in 12% of LKS cases (Gordon, 1990).
The precise etiology of LKS is not well understood. No demonstrable structural pathology has been consistently seen in children with LKS. Audiography, auditory evoked potentials and neuroimaging studies are typically normal, although studies using positron emission tomography have revealed metabolic abnormalities in the temporal lobes (da Silva et al., 1997).
It is thought that the aphasia of LKS might be caused by demyelinating or encephalopathic processes, infectious or inflammatory illnesses, unilateral brain lesions, or autoimmune diseases. The most compelling etiologic theory, however, relates back to Landau and Kleffner's original article. In it, they advanced the notion that persistent abnormal electrical discharges in brain areas associated with linguistic communication result in the functional ablation of those areas (Landau and Kleffner, 1957). As a consequence, recently acquired language skills that have not yet become fully impressed into long-term memory can be lost, leading to impaired or regressed language abilities. This might explain why children who develop LKS after 5 or 6 years of age have a better prognosis than those who acquire it at a younger age.
EEG and other clinical similarities between LKS and epilepsy with continuous spike waves during slow sleep (CSWS) are further evidence of an epileptogenic etiology for LKS. These disorders differ, however, in that CSWS is associated with behavioral, intellectual and learning difficulties rather than with language disturbances. Also, the characteristic EEG of CSWS has a predominantly frontal focus.
Although the diagnosis of LKS should be considered in cases of arrested or regressed language development associated with EEG abnormalities or seizures, it must be differentiated from other more common disorders that are also identified with communication problems. For example, audiometric testing can rule out hearing loss and deafness. Selective mutism would manifest only in particular social situations rather than globally. Children with autism or autistic spectrum disorders do not demonstrate the sociability and proficiency at nonverbal communication seen in children with LKS. Finally, developmental language disorders and mental retardation do not generally present after the loss of previously acquired functioning.
If epileptic activity is accepted as a probable etiology for LKS, then there are strong reasons to advocate antiepileptic medication for its treatment (Gordon, 1997). These agents have disappointing results, however, as they often alleviate the seizures but not the aphasia (Paquier et al., 1992).
The lack of efficacy of antiepileptic medication has led to antidotal trials of numerous other treatments, including corticosteroids, subpial resection, calcium channel agents and adrenocorticotropic hormone (Gordon, 1997; Paquier et al., 1992). These treatments also have mixed results, yet they appear to be more effective than the antiepileptics. Most recently, the use of intravenous immunoglobulins has demonstrated some promise in improving both the clinical and EEG abnormalities of LKS and will likely be a direction for future research (Lagae et al., 1998).
The prognosis for children with LKS is quite varied and is probably related to age of onset. Early age of onset, particularly prior to 5 years of age, implies a more severe epileptic tendency, a longer duration of symptoms and a more guarded prognosis for recovery of language. Some affected children never fully recover, while others completely regain speech over the course of months or years. Improvement, when it does occur, typically is seen toward late childhood or early adolescence. About one-third of children with LKS make a good recovery. Early recognition and intervention yield the best hope for a favorable prognosis.
Dr. Lesaca is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with Heritage Valley Healthcare Systems in Sewickley, Penn.

ABM Weekly Draw Jam #1: Superman

In the Art Unleashed forum, I created weekly draw jam for few good reasons. Most members are too busy over weekend have things to do or stuff gets done and spend time with family. Also I know some of member have been works on important projects to get done before deadline. Here is a link gets to ABM Weekly Draw Jam. And ABM Weekend Draw-Off Contest getting slow down and wants take break about couple weekend. Which end up few members are not satsifed. So I'm one of them that I too busy over weekend because I spend a lot of time with my family together.

During weekdays, I pretty much free on my lunch hour and coffee break at work. So why not to have weekly draw jam!!

Here are couple drawings I draw today for weekly draw jam and have more to post somtime tomorrow. Frist one I draw for my daughter and she loves it. Click the image to enlarge image.

Slow develop of updates

There are not very much going on me lately. I have been really busy at work and home well. Mostly cleaning at home for gets ready for winter and upcoming holidays. Soon as I gets more free time in evening and next weekend. Then I gets back to drawing table and starts something.

Also I been write mini scripts and thumbnails to draw mini comic base on young teen female biker enjoys her freedom. I should have sketches of her and her chopper in couple weeks or sooner. So stay tune for more updates.

Take care,
Josh

My daughter's drawings

My daughter is four half year old and begins develop draw people lately. She spend a lot of time at art table in her daycare/preschool and she loves it. I haven't scan all her drawing, just few and rest of them will keeps in the specil box I save all her artworks. Here are drawings she drew, in the second drawing she draw me with red crayon. I'm very proud of her and will try post some more of her artworks here soon...
Click the image to enlarge image.

24 Hour Comics Day aka 24HCD

I swing by 24HCD event at my local comic shop over past weekend and to see how artists doing and how far they are. It was very fun to watch them draw and chat with them too. They're so glad to have stop by to check them out and all of them signed my postcard the Ryan made.




Here is a article I copy/paste from "State News" from Michigan State University

Comic quest
Local artists compete in competition to create original comic book in 24 hours
By Pat Evans
The State News
Published: October 21, 2008
Lansing — In the back of Clem’s Collectibles, 212 S. Washington Square, in Lansing, where classic Batman and Super Friends action figures adorn the walls, seven self-proclaimed “comic studs” worked hard to create seven original comic books in 24 hours. Artist Dean Stahl explained the artists were fueled by “enough caffeine to kill a charging bull elephant.”

The challenge

Stahl, along with Ryan Claytor, Jonathon Gordon, Dan Harris, Jason Howard, Jay Jacot and Eric Wilmoth, participated in the worldwide 24 Hour Comics Days, or 24 HCD, from 10 a.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday.

Most of the artists sell their work at Clem’s and hang out at the store regularly.

The concept of the 24-hour comic was created in 1990 by Scott McCloud as a challenge to artists to create a 24-page comic book — a work of art that normally takes months — in a matter of hours.

This marks the first year Clem’s has hosted 24 HCD, the only store in Michigan to take part in the event. All the participating artists are local and were personally invited by store manager Tom Flammer to take part in the contest that has been an annual event in the comic book world since 2004.

“There were a lot of customers and artists interested in the 24-hour concept,” Flammer said. “Lansing is a pocket of artists and is just a good place for the event, it was just a matter of money, so once some local businesses pitched in it was a go.”

Despite the daunting task, the artists stayed focused.

“When they came in there were a few jokes to get started, then they got to work and it was silent for a while,” said Willy Santos, a store clerk at Clem’s. “But after a few hours you could definitely tell they were getting comfortable with each other, getting kind of rowdy.”

The artistic method

Each of the artists brought different approaches, including sketching and computers to the project, also helping each other.

Claytor kept to a page-an-hour tempo. Stahl finished each page one at a time as well, but didn’t stick to the page-an-hour time frame.

Despite hours of work, the artists only experienced a few hiccups in their journey to create their final product, namely tired hands. Gordon was forced to stop at 1 a.m. due to a prior shoulder injury.

The artists had unlimited breaks and plenty of food and drinks provided by local businesses, wives and girlfriends.

The public was encouraged to come in while the store was open during the day.

“There was a good, steady flow of people coming in and out,” Howard said, “enough not to make us bored and keep us company.”

The final product

Working through the night, only Flammer, who wasn’t participating in the event, gave in to sleep. He dozed off at 4 a.m. and was out for 3 hours.

Four of the original seven artists were able to finish their books by 10 a.m. Sunday — Claytor, Harris, Jacot and Stahl.

Claytor, who was creating a page an hour, miscounted his pages during the night and ended up creating an extra page, the other artists said. Still, he was the first artist to complete a comic.

Stahl was done by 6:30 a.m., but his narration came up short and the comic only had 19 pages. He stuck around until 10 a.m. to offer his support to the remaining artists.

Harris came in with six minutes remaining as Jacot scrambled to complete his final page.

“Someone tell me my hand doesn’t hurt,” Jacot asked.

“Your hand doesn’t hurt,” they answered in unison.

Jacot finished at 9:59 a.m.

Once Wilmoth is able to finish his comic, Flammer will try to include it with the four that were finished on time in a published paperback book. Ohio State University maintains a collection of created comics in their Cartoon Research Library and encourages 24 HCD participants to submit their work.

Howard, a professional artist, most likely will end up getting his finished product published nationally, Flammer said.

In January, Claytor will begin teaching a class called Comics and Visual Narratives at MSU through the Residential College of Arts and Humanities.

Despite the challenges, the artists said they were all happy in the end.

“It has been cool watching the supporters (of the artists) and people I’ve never seen in the store before,” Santos said. “It’s been great to see all these new people excited about comics. They may not have been comic fans before, but to come in and see the artists draw — it hopefully will attach them to (the comic world) and bring them back.”

Published on Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Mini Studio

Past couple evenings, I have been cleaning, rearrange and reorganize my mini studio. I decide wants to more drawing space and feel comfortable to draw while working on projects.




Also I made homemade pencils tray holder from scratch that pencil or pen won’t roll off the drawing table. I was looking one likes John Howe have in this studio and couldn’t find anywhere on online or at stores to purchase one.

I use 19”x19” clip drawing (remove the clips was broken and Blue Line Pro sent me new for no cost) board and leftover square balsa woods from was to build homemade radio control 33” PT-109 JFK boat.

24 hour comic day, Halloween and studies of hands

I tests myself to draw something ten minutes or less per square to see I can draw a page per hour. I decided to draw Halloween stuff because its October and did for my daughter. So I passed the page per hour test and satisfied. But not really 100% satisfied because I could draw little better than what I draw. Way I look drawing I did looks like five year old can do that. However my daughter love it, she wants me draw more and teach her to draw Halloween characters. I was planning goes to 24 Hour Comics Day event at my local comic shop Clem's Collectible. I couldn't go because I needs let store manager know about month half ago. Well I just find out about it last week and felt little disappointment. I though was open for everyone come down to try out but I guess store manager doing different way than others. Oh well, there is next year and I have whole year of practices for 2009. Also they added my name into list and that makes little better...


I doodle of hands into my red hardcover sketchbook and studied from "How to draw X-Men animation style" by Steven E. Gordon. Seen pretty easy to draw but I needs a lot of practices to get better and feels comfortable to draw them. I'll develop my own character as same type style of X Men: Evolution or even cooler. I going to try post some drawings here very soon. So I'll be ready for 24 Hour Comics Day 2009 at my local comic shop Clem's Collectible.

Inked Galactus & Terrax

Galactus & Terrax, penciled by Mike from Digital Webbing community forum and inked by me. I printed his work on copypaper, then ink over with sharpies and pitt artist pen brush. I did it for practices and fun. I'm getting better on inking with brush maker and will try real inking with brush someday.

Salmon Fishing 2008

I went out to salmon fishing at Pere Marquette river in the Ludington, Michigan on last week of Septmeber with my dad and his friends Steve and Rick. My dad, his friend Steve, Rick and I have really good time fishing this year. we have decent nice weather whole time we there. I caught four, my dad caught five and Steve caught four. It was not so bad but we did very good caught that many salmon during warm weather whole time we there. Here more pictures of me with salmon I caught. I didn't take picture of me small salmon because I likes bigger better.

Day 1 - Evening at Lake Michigan in Ludington State Park, my dad caught one and rest of us none. Also we found couple caches on way up to Ludington.

Day 2 - Early morning at Lake Michigan, Steve caught one and thats it for whole morning. In the evening at Pere Marquette river, I land a decent size salmon before dusk.

Day 3 - Back to P.M. early nice quite breeze morning. I land two salmons, Rick land one and also my dad land one. Steve didn't land any salmon and sure was pretty heavy to carry four salmon all way to car about half mile walk. We didn't land any salmon in evening.

Day 4 - Very quite day, we gets a lot of hits but didn't any salmon.


Day 5 - A short morning fishing before heading back home, it was very thick foggy standing in the calm river waist up. I think its around nine clock morning have fish on and drag my line out reel like no one business. Salmon was pretty darn far distance away from me and great fighter. After while hard work of reeling in, I land fresh bright silver salmon the one takes me about half hour to reel in. Salmon length same as length as my arm and weight pretty heavy probaly around 25 lbs more/less.