KelleyArline

Hello everyone!  This semester, I'm taking an Honors Professional Selling Class, and for a "Sales Apprentice" project, my group has to secure corporate sponsorships for a charitable organization.  My group chose "Best Buddies of Central Florida," which is part of the international Best Buddies organization.  So far, we've got one $3000 business sponsorship for the "Best Buddies Friendship Walk" event in May, and we're in the process of meeting with at least two more businesses.  However, the Best Buddies coordinator has asked our group to join the event and raise personal donations in addition to business donations.  So, I decided to open up commissions again!  

Best Buddies Information: www.bestbuddiesflorida.org/faf…
Friendship Walk Information: www.bestbuddiesflorida.org/faf…

Best Buddies is a wonderful organization and supports a great cause!  I really hope that, with your help, that I can personally raise $50 to $100 for the Walk.  This time, I'm offering two price categories: Standard Drawing and Chibi Drawing.  Remember, these are donations to Best Buddies, not payments to me.

Standard Drawing Price List (1-3 characters)
Sketch-- $3
Lineart-- $8
Flat coloring-- $10
Cell-shade coloring-- $15
Soft-shade coloring-- $20
Digital Painting-- $25

Chibi Drawing Price List</u> (1-2 characters)
Sketch-- $1
Lineart-- $2
Flat coloring-- $3
Cell-shade Coloring-- $5
Soft-shade coloring- $8

These prices are for digital media.  If you want traditional media, let me know.

If you want more than 3 characters, it'll be $1 for each additional characters on sketch, lineart, and flat color commissions, and $3 for each additional character on the other commissions. Also, it's an additional $5 for backgrounds.

Some samples of what you could expect:

Sketch-
Lineart- or (your pick)
Flat-
Cell-
Soft-
Painting-

I WILL DO:
Fanart (Pretty much any fandom is fine)
Original Characters
Real people
Pairings
Just about any style

I WILL NOT DO:
Hateful images
Porn/Hentai
Yaoi/Yuri
Anything that would require a Mature Filter

Please send me a note if you would like a commission, and I'll tell you how to make a donation!

is also taking commissions for Best Buddies.  Go here to see her price list.


~~~~~~~~~~

On another note, Kamden and I have gone to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure twice now.  Does anybody want to see what it's like?  We took a lot of pictures, and I'd be glad to post them up and describe the experience.  In short, it is AMAZING.

and I have bought the first DVD set of Soul Eater from Funimation.   Nothing beats watching it in Japanese (and on a tv!), but we've also watched the first 13 episodes in English too.   It's actually pretty good!  I normally stay far away from dubs, but I'm actually enjoying most of the English voices and interpretations.  And since I'm such a fan nut, I'm going to review them character by character in order of appearance (and I've omitted characters that aren't important imo).

Maka: 5/5  
I've got to say, she's better than the Japanese voice actor.  Her voice is fairly similar, and so far she's doing a better job portraying Maka (then again the Japanese VA was poor in the beginning of the series).  Best of the main characters!   I can't wait to see how she does when Maka goes crazy!

Soul: 4.5/5  
English Soul sounds more like a regular kid with a "smoother", more typical voice.  I honestly prefer the Japanese VA, but his English VA does a good job!

Shinigami-Sama: 4/5  
I don't blame Funimation for choosing a different interpretation of Shinigami, what the Japanese VA did was impossible to match.  English Shinigami's voice is silly in a more subtle way, in a kind-of Dr. Suess way (if that makes any sense... do kids outside of the US read Dr. Suess?).  I really like it, and I was pretty nervous about how they'd handle Shinigami.  Also, the students and people of Shibusen call him "Lord Death," which I believe works very well.  Death is his name after all.  The term "shinigami" has been replaced by "grim reaper" which makes sense for an American audience.

Spirit: 5/5  
Spirit is played by the only anime VA who seems to actually have a following of fans, Vic Mignogna (then again, he's in almost every freakin' dub).  Spirit is an over-the-top character who's probably very hard to pull off.  Funimation made the right choice by putting Vic up to the task.  He plays the part without having to draw heavily from the Japanese VA's performance.  Nobody can make such a ridiculous character believable, but at least Spirit is still enjoyable and NOT cringe-worthy as I worried that he might be.

Blair: 2.5/5
Meh, I don't even like Blair (not in the manga or the Japanese anime), so her new VA doesn't bother me so much.  Her voice is less cat-like and cute, and it is definitely more obnoxious.

Black*Star: ...Doesn't appear in this anime!

Black*Starlet: 1/5  
Another female plays "Black*Star", but her performance is... way too girly!  Many women are able to play the part of a boy well, but this actress CANNOT.  Augh, her acting is painful to listen to as well.  Her "Yahoo" is not convincing, her laugh sounds forced, and I wonder whether Black*Starlet is truly convinced that she can surpass death (the grim reapers so far are not referred to as gods, and I don't remember if Black*Starlet ever says "god" as opposed to "death" when boasting about herself).

Tsubaki: 3/5  
Passable.  The English VA seems to play Tsubaki with more assertiveness and a bit less shyness.  Doesn't bother me so much, but I do miss her cuter Japanese voice.

Death the Kid: 3.5/5  
Kamden and I were severely upset with Kid in his first episode (he's our favorite character and we REALLY wanted him done just right).  Thankfully, he gets better with each episode.  On the positive side, he sounds a lot younger and more spoiled.  The actor does his freakout scenes well enough, and he adds a quiet "_{please please please please please please please please please}" while begging at the end of his "SAY 8 NOT 7!" rant in episode 6, which was so freakin' cute!   On the negative side, he ignores the prim and proper side and the side of Kid.  Oh well, hopefully he'll continue getting better.

Liz: 0.5/5  
For a while, Kamden and I couldn't decide who was the bigger disappointment: Black*Starlet or Liz.  In the end, I've decided that Liz is the bigger disappointment, because Black*Starlet at least TRIES.  The VA for Liz sounds like she's just reading the script... I'm not exaggerating.  Really upsetting for both of us since her Japanese VA was outstanding and Liz is hilarious.

Patty: 5/5  
English Patty is, on the other hand, absolutely fantastic!  She still sounds like a little girl (but just a bit less so), and her pervasive, nonstop laugh is definitely better than the Japanese VA!  I'm excited for episode 14 (which is sadly on the next DVD set and not available yet).

Sid: 4/5  
There isn't much to say other than English Sid does a good job.  I'm certainly satisfied.

Dr. Stein: 3/5
Hmmm, his voice fits the character very well.  I do like it.  The problem is that the English VA gives a very lackluster performance.  Way too monotonous for the insane Dr. Stein.  He's passable for now, but his performance in the fight against Medusa and during the Brew arc will really decide whether he's fit to play Stein.

Medusa: 4/5  
I can't tell you how happy I am that Medusa is played well!  You should hear her evil cackle!  She doesn't sound as "sweet" as the Japanese VA when Medusa is playing the part of nurse, but she plays one sinister character.

Crona: 5/5  
CRONA IS A BOY!  Have to say that first.  Played by a girl, but Crona is officially a boy in the English dub.  Medusa explicitly refers to Crona using the pronouns "he" and "him" (and everyone else does too)  Unlike Black*Starlet, Crona sounds very boyish, but he also sounds as androgynous as he's supposed to.  Also, the English VA plays the part about as well as the Japanese VA did.  I'm very pleased.

Ragnarok: 4/5  
I was not expecting Ragnarok to be good at all!  His voice is not as high-pitched, but he still does a mean Screech Alpha (pretty close to the original).

Excalibur: 5/5  
Absolutely fantastic.  He sounds very regal and poise in the dub, which makes everything he says sound more ridiculous!  I love it!    FOOL!

Eruka: 2.5/5  
Another lackluster performance.   I really like Eruka too (also, it's not "Elka" as has been translated sometimes).  What's even worse is her "ribbit." She says it the same way she says anything else.  It just sounds silly.  They should have just thrown out making frog noises for the dub...

Free: 4.5/5  
As hilarious as always.   He sounds very good too.  Yay!

Sarah (Kamden) and I have been working on our Liz and Patty costumes (they're from the manga/anime Soul Eater) for a couple months, and we managed to finish in time for Halloween!   asked for pictures, so here we go!



I'm Liz (left) and Sarah is Patty (right).  Only Sarah needed a wig, since our hair color is practically identical to Liz's.  Does anybody recognize that wig?  Those of you who also watch Sarah might remember this: .



Yeah, same wig.  Missy pulls it off a lot better than Sarah.



Our last-minute Death the Kid!  Daniel! ()  We got him the wig since he's bald, and he provided the suit.  And, errr, we taped the squares on and drew a skull on a piece of paper and taped it on as well.  Predictably, his costume fell apart at the party, but he at least still had the wig.



KIDLIZ!   (Daniel sucks at role-playing as you can see )



Sarah being Patty.  It may be hard to see, but we put heavy blush on her face so that she'd have Patty's trademark "blush spots."



See?  We share some semblance...



The manga needs more Liz.  She rocks, and is sadly underrated.  I was surprised at how low she ranked on that popularity poll a while back.



Me with my rat, Charlie!   I love him so much!  He's my baby!
_{And before someone freaks out, domestic rats are clean.  We clean our ratties' cage regularly with dish soap and bleach (in VERY small amounts), and we give them a bath once a month.  They spend half their day grooming themselves and each other anyway.  They're clean.}



A photoshop sketch I drew of my Charlie boy a while back.

Back to the costumes, we actually found those shirts at the Burlington Coat Factory at which we work.  Turtleneck, sleeveless, major midriff... PERFECT!  We thought that we would have to make them on our own.  (I have no idea what shirts like those were doing at our store or what purpose they're supposed to serve in any sort of attire other than costume).  We also bought both pairs of boots from Burlington, and we got white boys' ties from Amazon.com.  We've had that wig for years, since our freshman year in high school (lol, and we're juniors in college now).  It was a Roxie Hart wig, and we dressed as Roxie (me) and Velma Kelly (Sarah) that year.  We tried finding a wig that would match Patty's hair better, but none were short enough.  We got the hats at Party City (they were labeled "Gangster Hat", lol) and painted them ourselves.  Patty's shorts were the trickiest part, but we eventually found a good pattern that was similar to her shorts.

So how were your Halloweens (for those that do celebrate it)?





COMMISSIONS FOR CHARITY

1. COMPLETED
2. PENDING PAYMENT
3. PAID
4. Open
5. Open

Hey guys, I've been absent from dA for quite a long time, haven't I?   I'm very sorry! School coupled with work has really been draining my free time, but hopefully I'll be able to make some more time for dA.  I have drawn a few things (mostly unfinished drawings) and I have started the next Akatsuki at Arby's.  I'll post a couple sketches soon.  

Anyway, Kamden and I have decided to start accepting commissions for a class project.   For our UCF Business Cornerstone class, I, :devkamden, and three others in our group Twelfth Knight (it's a pun on both the UCF Knights and the Shakespeare play) have to organize projects to raise at least $1200 for a particular charity. Our group is raising money for Shakespeare With Heart, which is an organization that integrates special needs children (typically those with cerebral palsy, autisim, and down syndrome) with general population children for a summer drama camp. At the end of the program, the children put on a Shakespheare play at the Orlando Shakespheare Theater (a professional theater).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaIKv5…

Last year, the children performed Taming of the Shrew, with a Western twist.   The two leads were played by teens with autism.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZumAJH…

I've volunteered for a program like this when I was in high school, called Freedom Ride. I assisted with therapeutic horseback riding lessons for special needs children, and I've seen first hand how programs such as Shakespheare With Heart really impact lives. And that's why I'm motivated to raise not only the $1200, but go beyond that (our group is shooting for $1500).

And so I've decided to draw commissions to raise extra funds for Shakespheare With Heart. Our group has already raised over $800, and we have a few more fundraisers planned. Would anyone be interested in commissioning me for charity? All proceeds will go to Shakespheare With Heart, and I'll put the commission rates relatively low, since this is not for profit in any way (and I don't think my art's worth much anyway).

COMMISSION INFORMATION(1-3 characters)
Sketch-- $3
Lineart-- $8
Flat coloring-- $10
Cell-shade coloring-- $15
Marker coloring-- $18
Soft-shading-- $20

If you want more than 3 characters, it'll be $0.50 for each additional characters on sketch, lineart, and flat color commissions, and $1 for each additional character on the other commissions.  Also, it's an additional $5 for backgrounds.

I WILL DO:
Fanart (Pretty much any fandom is fine)
Original Characters
Real people
Pairings
Just about anything and any style (let your imagination go wild!)

I WILL NOT DO:
Hateful images
Porn/Hentai
Yaoi/Yuri
Anything that would require a Mature Filter


Payment will be sent and collected through Paypal. My Cornerstone team has an established Paypal account and separate bank account, so the money will be going directly to the charity without me as a middleman. To commission me, you must send me a note. Requests for a commission on my journal or anywhere else won't be considered. I'll start with 5 commissions for now.