Hello dear readers. The last week was quite weird for me, as I had to take care of my parents' cat and dog while they were gone for a few days. I also had some chores to do while there, including throwing out everything I won't need out of my former bedroom, shoveling the snow, feed and pet the animals, etc. At least I did get to have a few friends come over and play Rock Band. I have also started a new Final Fantasy VI game on the Super NES, and late last night I finished Rondo of Swords. Now I heard there are 39 stages but I got the (insulting) ending at stage 34. I'll give it another shot and see what kind of ending I'll get. I have received a few submissions lately, so instead of having only one half-column, you'll get two.

GlassShard is back this week with another Final Fantasy XII submission. If we've learned one thing about this artist through Fan Art, it is that GlassShard likes Balthier and Fran, and puts a lot of care and attention in her submissions. Depth of field is well-achieved here with an atmospheric perspective separating the different layers of the scene. Not only is Vaan smaller than the other characters, he is also fainter and painted with desaturated colors.

The following drawing features Wagner from Eternal Sonata. This is another colorful and interesting piece by Aurian, Fan Art's watercolor artist. The artist writes ''Unfortunately, the scan is a tad warped - the original buildings ARE straight!'' Let me correct that and say: Fortunately, the scan is a tad warped - the original buildings ARE straight!'' I haven't seen the original, but the whole picture is very dynamic with the buildings as they are, and I'm not sure it would still be as interesting if they were straight.

Closing the regular update is a drawing of Super Robot Taisen games by Red featuring Lamia and Manami, as the title clearly suggests. The picture is quite saturated in colors, just like most of Red's previous submissions. Ok, let it be known that I have never played any of these games. However, based on the description, I can guess who is Lamia and who is Manami, so the emotions are well-conveyed. The drawing gets a bit confusing, though, with all the lines being so close together and about half the picture, beside the background, being white.

This is it for this week's update. Make sure to read the comics, too. This week, Arvis wants Locke to go and save Terra. I absolutely love the third page. First, you can see Locke looking at himself in the tea cup, and then you have a beautiful, yet subtle silhouette of Terra in the middle of the page. I'll be waiting for more submissions for next week. Until then, have a good time!

Maxime Viventi