About Me
Contact: | FaceBook | DeviantArt | Twitter
- Resume - For people who want to pay me money.
- Favorite Quotes - A collection of quotes serious and funny, long and short, famous and not.
- Favorite Books - This is a short list of the books on my shelf which I read repeatedly.
- Favorite Movies - My favorite movies and tv shows. I pruned it as best I could, but it's a long list.
- Personal Dictionary - My own specialized vocabulary.
Bio
I am an artist and web developer living in Seattle with my Significant Other and two cats. I am an ex-mormon (since 1997). I dropped out of college two classes shy of a degree. I am socially maladjusted. People usually interpret this as misanthropic and depressed, but unfortunately I don't hate you all as much as I ought. :P
I've been online since 1996, with my first web page: "The Altar to the Computer Gods," which evolved into "Deal with the Devil," where you could sell your soul online. I got a lot of hate mail for that. This portfolio debuted in 2000 when I got the mleiv.com domain name as a birthday present from the S.O.
I tinker around this site, redesigning it every few years, and adding stuff when I have the time. I don't get a lot of visitors, but I am content just reading it myself when I am lonely or bored at work. It serves as a reminder of my past and (sometimes) an impetus to future ambitions. Since I don't keep a journal and I don't take a lot of photos and I don't have many long-term relationships, it's probably the only accurate timeline of my life to be found.
And for the curious, mleiv is not my online nom de plume, it is my real nickname. I've had it since I was twelve, so don't give me that funny look.
![[bluehost]](http://mleiv.com/wp-content/files/site_images/bluehost.gif)
i LOVED your comic about the womens version of armor in WoW. As a girl player I used to get so pissed off about the ridiculous armor chicks got.. now my main is a male char :) problem solved
I'll have to echo Lisa in that i really appreciated you comic about womens' apparel in WoW. Although i differ slightly in that i am a male player, but i play female characters. I admire strong, confident women, so i play as such, and i am lucky, IRL in that my own spouse is a bit of a tomboy, and possessed of the above-listed qualities i adore. Back to the main subject, i find wearing a surcoat or a nicely colored shirt at all times eliminates the goofy midriff armor look... although it would be nice to show of the texture maps of my chest piece, but *shrugs* oh well.
Haha. I used to think the guys who played female characters were just really weird. Or perverted. But recently one of my oldest male friends picked up a female Blood Elf so I guess I have to shut up now.
Or I can just taunt him more. Hear me Trevor? :P
My BF plays a female character. He feels that if he has to look at a character for hours on end, he'd rather watch a female ass any day. I don't know whether or not to be jealous of a bunch of polygons. I'm gonna stick with no.
I find it funny that everyone is commenting on *this* page regarding my WoW comic. The image in question is here. I don't want to think that this is the only important thing I've ever done, haha.
Your Sketches are unbelievable, if you devoted your spare time to that you could be one of the best. You are upset on a completed sketch that took 3 hours, some famous painters spend months. Look what you could do.
YOUR VERY GOOD, SKETCHES......
I thought your comic was cute. Keep up the sketches, you're getting pretty good. :)
"Getting pretty good"???? That's the understatement of the century. Have you looked over her page? Are you blind?
Awwww. You are both far too nice. :) Although I'm not sure that "cute" is the best term for my comic given its bleak and fatalistic theme. But I'm a Disney fan, so meh, whatever.
I gotta admit, it was your WoW comic that lead me to this site, and I think it's an awesome comic. I have checked out some of your other entries while I was here however, and enjoyed them quite a bit as well. I like the game "The Rapture" and I'm reading your graphic novel in progress, so keep it up. I also live in Salt Lake City, so I think it's cool that your novel takes place there. Good job :)
Thank you. :) I think the comic will be more fun for people who have lived in SLC - some inside jokes. Just don't be too critical if I get some places wrong - it's been a few years since I walked around there.
Hey, just saw that your other WOW comic (the one with the beach) is in the Blizzard comics section now. Gratz on that. Looks like you were in my hometown not too long ago too, yeah SLC's drinking laws are still pretty wierd lol.
Haha - you know, I submitted that in December. That's some backlog they have over at WoW headquarters, LOL. But glad to see it was noticed - I had long since given up on it. :)
I love Holly's expression in page 15 of "The Locked Maze" can't wait to read more. Are you planning on releasing it in actual book format when done?
Well... ummm... maybe for myself! I guess I could put it on Lulu or something, depending on the effort involved. Or I could mail a xerox to the handful of people who might want one, ha. It is a different experience, printed. More the way I intended it, strangely enough.
I was talking with my bro about some old co-workers and we wondered where MLEIV ended up. I said "I'll bet she has a website" and waalaa.
I see you haven't lost your talents. Nice work!
Hope all is well.
This is Carson from IBM? One of "the twins"? OMG that was ages ago. I was such a whiny little prick back then that it's very kind that you looked me up, at least not just to check whether I am unemployed and tole-painting "Jesus Bless This House" plaques out of my basement. LOL.
I am doing great: I love Seattle (apart from the allergies) and my techie job leaves me plenty of "me" time to paint. What's up with you two? And d'ya know anything about the other "EduQuest" alumni? (haha) Looked up Chris B. once but saw no sign of him.
Yes, Carson one of the twins.
I'm glad you are doing well and happy in Seattle.
Cam and I are both art directors at different companys now. I have spent the last 15 years in the video game industry corrupting kids world wide and then decided it was time to grow up so now I do a lot of boring stuff. I still try to keep up with the sculpting and painting though.
As far as the others - I think that Suzi is at BYU and Chris B is out in Boston. His website is http://www.beckerstudio.com - I think he is doing well.
I don't know what ever happened to Jen or the others though.
Damn, everyone sounds so... successful. :P But we all know I was the poser in that group, so it's only what I expected. I have a late-H.S. niece that wants to get into gaming art. I dunno whether to encourage that or not, ha. I myself prefer to stay on the consumer side of that business. :)
I love your all your art. You have an adorable and unique style. You should be making loads of money with your sketches :o
Awww, thanks! I feel the same way about Barbara Hambly and her books, but - alas - the world don't work that way. :P But maybe someday...
Grats on finishing the book!
How can anyone who watches too much Doctor Who be "not a very nice person"? Come to think of it, how can someone watch too much Doctor Who? Too much Doctor Who is still not enough Doctor Who in my book. :)
Well, I hardly think there is a causal relationship between one's own moral or social state and a TV show. But I'm open to mathematical proofs to the contrary. :P As for my fandom and how fanatic it is, well, it's all relative, I'm sure (which one would expect, when time travel is involved). When one's family and friends either A) avoid science fiction altogether or B) prefer Star Trek, then even being able to humm the theme is enough to incite mockery and (from the latter group) unflattering remarks regarding one's intelligence. And, consequently, it has just occurred to me that there IS a causal relationship between watching Doctor Who and my low self esteem.
And, hello! I am very flattered to hear from someone not only in the biz, but in the Doctor Who biz. Envy => you. :)
This page needs more cowbell. 'Nough said.
:P
I just came across your site yesterday cruising the internet for good web comics. While there is a huge amount of web comics out there, there are really only a few that are worth reading, and of course, yours is definitely one! I am an artist also although not near the level of skill as you, though I hope to do a web comic myself someday. Oh and I might add I'm formerly from Seattle, Now on the East Coast. Sure miss it. :) Thanks for the entertainment so far, I look forward to more!
Well, I'm always saying to the people on deviantArt, everyone should make a webcomic! If you wait until you think you are good enough, you will never do it. Just do it now! :)
Thanks. You're truly an inspiration. :)
Just finished reading the first two books of The Locked Maze. Came across them by accident (or was it fate... da da DUM) on indyplanet. Anyway thought you might like to know that two of your books made it 'across the water' to the UK. Don't take this the wrong way, but it strikes me that your style (of drawing, of storytelling, of character) feels more European than American – I'm thinking of artists like Claire Wendling and Tony Sandoval. Anyhoo, looking forward to reading more (and more and more)
Well, I can hardly be offended at being compared to such amazing artists! :) It may just be that US comics are dominated by the traditional superhero/Marvel/DC styles (although there are other, less-well-known styles circulating). Myself, I think my stuff is mostly Disney-derivitive (seriously - in How to Tame Your Dragon, Hiccup looks like a weird cross between Disney's Taran and my Holly, IMO. :P ).
But I will definitely concur that the plotline of TLM is NOT... ermmm... *representative* of the USA. :P
I just started reading this webcomic and think it's pretty good, but I have one complaint. I am Mormon and proud to say that I would never associate myself with those bigoted dicks I see in this comic. One of the things we are often taught, important enough to show up in almost all the books we use, is the tenet to not judge others for their choices. A bunch of my friends are non-Mormons who the Mormons I've seen in your webcomic wouldn't give a moment of their time. And to show I'm not alone, most of my Ward are some of the friendliest, most accepting people I know.
Dear Mleiv,
I have taken some of your advice in your writing section. I am an aspiring artist and I LOVE to write novels and draw. I have just recently broke into the field of digital illustration.
I greatly admire your art and because of such am trying to emulate your art style in the hopes that I might learn some of your amazing tricks with making beautiful facial features and more. But just when I think I've understood something, I just seem to get into a rut again. I draw every day and yet I still find myself unsatisfied with my progress.
Did you do it all on your own? Did you become so skilled on a self-taught basis alone? How did you learn about proportions for people and the tricks to folds and curls...
I guess I just want to know how YOU learned to do these things. I see other people's art and watch tutorials and practice so much....
And yet it seems near impossible to get those nice, crisp, clean lines that you have in your comic panels as well. I draw in photoshop and all of that, I even use a tablet, and yet my lines are never beautifully smooth like yours - even if I go over my rough drafts in second layers.
Did you learn to do all your amazing artwork by simply taking notes from others, or have you been taught by sources?
Self-taught. I've read a fair number of books on painting and figure drawing/comics, though. I practice a lot. I copy comics I like in order to learn which lines they include, and which they ignore (I remember a fantasy artist from the 80s - Darryl K Sweet - used to always draw the *worst* women: he always gave them wrinkles and muscle definition, so I figured out early on that not drawing everything you see was a good thing to learn). I draw from movies and TV and catalogs pretty much every chance I get.
I kinda laugh at the things you like about my art - I hate the line work in my comic! I wish it were more fluid and sketchy, like my life drawings. I make up the folds and hair and most of the time I think they look so wrong. This comes back to the point I made about styles in Motivation II: this is just the way I draw. Maybe you won't ever draw this way, and maybe your way is better.
And also: TIME. It takes time. I have been drawing for so many decades. Only recently, after spending every spare second of my life for four years on my comic, have I even approached a level of competence where I feel comfortable drawing from my head without a ton of reference photos. There are tricks you can learn, and I bet art school is full of them (I never went, so I am just inferring from people I know who did), but mostly you just have to put in the years.
Yeah, I totally understand. I've been drawing for a long time as well, but I think my main problem is that I really am my worst critic. I get easily daunted when I see other people's art and it seems so much better than my own.
But I should probably stop wasting time beating myself up over things and just keep practicing! :) Thanks so much for the response!
"David Bowie" link is dead. FYI. No reply needed
You are awesome. That is my comment about you!
:D
P.s.- you're amazing at expressing facial expression.
Thank you. :)
I've followed this from when i was on dA, an how you've grown! Your work has grown exponentially, from this to that, and emotions are so - raw, - and alive, real, NOW, you don't get that in many online comics. Your personal issues are your own, and they colour everything you do up 'till now. They are what made the locked maze a part of my heart. Now you do ... what? Very well done on a work of art that is ... beyond my compare. I can't think of how to congratulate you, this is such a wonderful whole-thing to make. It captures - well, it holds moments that must be much. I thank you, very, very much, for making this a part of me
Wow - thank you so much. I can't believe it had such an impact on someone. *sniff* I dunno what anyone will think of the Next Project (it is very different), but I hope it measures up, at least a little bit. And thanks for being so supportive on dA. The early readers like you were few and hugely responsible for me sticking to it and finishing.
I want to say thank you. You are an inspiration to me and I hope I can accomplish some of the things you have already accomplished.
Well, at 38 I don't think I accomplished this with any enviable speed, ha. And I'm sure if you put in the work and stick with it, you can totally do everything I've done! :)