Work in progress.

2010-07-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

and that's how I choose to remember it

Sometimes you just have to say fuck it, and begin afresh. New blog is over at please, bury me with it.

2010-03-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

ki

Finally got a hold of the album "Ki" by the Devin Townsend Project. Minus the distortion and metal trappings of his former band Strapping Young Lad, he put together a very compelling, powerful and intense listen. If you liked "Coast" give the rest of the album a try.

2010-02-09T15:39:00.000-08:00

pussy

Well...yeah. Turns out that I did not, in fact, react well to my artistic outing at work. I've never been lightning quick at the whole art thing, but the experience at work has made guitar my idle time avenue of choice. I'm coming around slowly, but for now, I can't say that drawing makes me happy anymore. I've pussed out, mostly.

I have, though, given in to the whole Facebook thing and have been uploading new artwork there every once in a blue moon.

For now, though, I am enjoying the netbook I got for Christmas. Since it is not buff enough to be a gaming machine, I have finally gotten the typewriter I wanted since I was little. I'm working on some short stories and taking baby steps at it. Also, I'm enjoying new and old music and trying my best to enjoy the time I have left before heading back to some sort of schooling come September. Hopefully, my ongoing efforts to secure a new job would have paid off by then.

Lastly, I know this blog receives a comically low visit rate and it may very well go the way of the dinosaur sometime. If anybody gives a shit enough to follow whatever art/writing I'll be doing (eventually/in the future), feel free to add me on Facebook if you have an account. I'm not sure if I relaxed my visibility options there, but if I can't be found by email search, leave a comment here and I'll look for you.

2010-01-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

island style

You know, with all this talk of vision 2020 and the associated/increased living pressure it can be very easy to forget that I live on a beautiful island. And island life is nice.

For instance, we don't have perfectly sunny days - we have beach weather. You can't help but think that the only thing that can make the perfect mix of dry weather, heat and breeze would make for a great day at the beach.

Such was the case yesterday. Headed up to Maracas beach and enjoyed the change of pace. I love the winding drive to get there, and the view from the lookouts on the way are exceptional. This is the stuff that tourists pay a lot of money to fly in and appreciate and all we have to do is fully or partially gas up the car and head out.

Someone cue the Baywatch theme here.

Here's the very much related first drawing of the year.

2009-12-31T17:09:00.000-08:00

another one gone

In less than three hours it shall be January 1, 2010. It's strange when I think about it like this: today makes it ten years since a lot of people, myself included, hoped against the Y2K bug boogeyman.

A lot of stuff has happened, changed, since then. Hell, a lot of things have changed since the last entry. This has been a pretty minging year art-wise, but the disappointment has been balanced by my progress with guitar playing. As the new year looms, I hope that the portable convenience of the netbook I got for Christmas provides an incentive to begin writing again, as well as focuses my net goof off time so that when I sit behind the PC to get work done,I actually get work done.

Anyway, today's been a good day because I managed to start and complete a year-end image. It's a personal accomplishment since the whole use it or lose it theory definitely applies to creative work and I felt very rusty when I started working on the piece.

Anyway, here's to hoping that whatever you want for yourself in 2010 comes true. Whether you want to be happier, healthier, more outgoing, lose your addiction(s) or just plain get off your ass and DO something...I hope you're successful at it.

Happy new year!

2009-11-18T08:23:00.000-08:00

10 years older than me

Ups and downs.
I've had a difficult time drawing for some time now. It's less of a slump and more of a block. Some weeks ago, I conceded defeat on the "work work" project and had to get back to my job's primary focus. Although I had a great time in researching the subject and stepping out of my comfort zone in order to cater to a particular target audience, I understand even further, now, why artists and illustrators seem so damn frustrated. Stereotypes really do exist for a reason.

Anyway, I felt I needed some time away from drawing after that failure. In the meantime, I've been spending more time on guitar practice, and gaming. The original plan was to play through the Crash Bandicoot PS1 trilogy but since the lack of a convenient saving option wasn't implemented until the sequel, I've skipped onto Crash Bandicoot 2. I feel 11 years younger already.

So anyway, here's a late timed piece. It was fun, was done in an uncharacteristically short time. I'd like to do others, seeing how I got a massive nostalgia attack during the process.

Can I do it? Wouldn't hold my breath, but I'll see.

2009-10-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

the Ventures live! 1966

I'm sorry, Joey Rivers. I bought your guitar method book when I gave guitar playing a first go in 1999 and while I have it to this day, I still cannot play Yellow Bird. This has a lot to do with the rock n' roll devil that's been living in my head since my brother and I first spun Bad Company's Feel Like Makin' Love single on my dad's record player when we were kids.

So really, who wants to play a light island standard after all that?

Anyway, here's some vintage rockin' by the way of The Ventures. Of this concert setlist, I am currently learning how to play Apache and Wipeout.

2009-10-15T16:04:00.000-07:00

edison & dina

Alright, it's done!

Oh no, no. That's not it. Perhaps a backstory is in order.

This is a relatively old drawing, done sometime around this time last year. I was in the mood of finishing a short story meant to introduce Edison to myself and get a good feel for the character as well as his girlfriend Dina, a supporting character. In the story he and Dina were watching a video given to Dina by a film student, a regular at her workplace (Joie De Cafe, a hip coffeehouse and fmarty-pantf gathering spot).

While Dina's trying to understand the random avant-garde imagery flashing across the TV screen, Edison is torn between being bored senseless and mocking what he sees as an attempt by a film geek to put the moves on his girlfriend. His ringing doorbell provides him an opportunity to get away for a moment. Some other supporting characters are introduced and a revelation is made about Edison. That's all I can share of that for now.

But looking at the drawing itself, I felt as if it was time the technique refinements and experiments conducted during my work project were put to work.

I think it worked quite well. Now on to the next project.

2009-10-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

pruthviraj patil is o.k. by me

So I took a break from finishing up the current colour job this weekend, but while I was working on it, was reminded of the ideas behind the piece. So...

Who's enjoying the vampire fad in pop culture these days? Besides True Blood on HBO, I can say with all certainty that I wish the fad would go away as quickly as it came. Vampires romancing teenaged girls is a concept as appealing as the middle aged dudes that hang around high schools for poon because they're completely unappealing to people in their age demographic. Unless Rocco and Kelly reunite for a vampire themed skin flick, I'll wait every "summer" season to catch True Blood.

What's wrong with werewolves? Werewolves ain't bad. They're tragic creatures of the night that are too busy woe is me-ing over their nocturnal snacking habits to woo jailbait with twat pout photos on their facebook. We need more werewolves, and if I'm able to stick to a train of thought long enough, I'll fucking make it happen!

Pruthviraj Patil is a boy from India with a rare condition that makes hair grow all over his body. Even though he wishes to be cured, his gentlemanly smile is an inspiration to us all.

2009-10-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

extremes

Two ladies that have made me shut up and listen repeatedly.

Jesy Fortino a.k.a Tiny Vipers. My wife takes hints very well since I have gotten Tiny Vipers albums for the past two birthdays. Despite the growth in her playing abilities between albums, Tiny Vipers is very simple music. Not Tila Tequila simple, mind you, but it evokes the saying still waters run deep and possesses strong dreamlike qualities.

Marnie Stern

This video came through in my BlankTV subscription at YouTube and after numerous views all I can manage is "Whoa". There's s decent amount of Marnie videos on YouTube so if you're like me and dig offbeat stuff, you should give Marnie a try.

So there's two extremes. One is a minimalist and the other taps the hell out of a fretboard. Check them out.

2009-10-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

rainy day

It's a heavily overcast day with every chance of rain. The rainy season hasn't been all that bad, but apparently someone felt the need to remind us that we are in the rainy season.

Slight landslide on Lady Young Road this morning, but the firemen had the cleanup pretty much taken care of by the time I passed the site. Traffic was merged into one lane, which explained the sudden pile up after we passed the Lady Young lookout. I just hope there's not an encore when it's time to head back home later.

Rain I mind, but not the overcast weather. It's making Dntel's Dumb Luck even more enjoyable.

2009-10-07T05:21:00.000-07:00

alas

Alright, heres's one of the things I've been working on while working on a few simultaneous projects. Another one shall be due shortly and another's lying on the kitchen/ding table, waiting to be scanned and processed.

I'm very happy with how the current piece is coming along. I am applying all the techniques I amassed during my work assignment and while time is my usual drawback on these things, I feel as if I have finally sccored that cliche, the next level.

You'll see soon enough.

2009-09-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

thousand mile journey/ideas as fruit

It begins with one step. The signpost ahead reads says You Are Here.

There is no end, I am told, but a marker at the thousand mile mark.

I've wasted the last five years on irrationality and knee jerk reactions. Now that I've hit thirty, married and hoping for a child in about two or three years, I have to do better. Changes have been put in motion for a while now and although the new way of thinking frowns on expectations, I hope that by the time forty rolls around, I am a husband, father and person to be proud of.

Oh yes, the experimental efforts conducted during my art projects for work have resulted in a new way of getting things done. Unfortunately, art needs to coexist with my (relatively) new love, the guitar. I'm also playing Final Fantasy VII at the moment, so there's a three way battle for time allocation to my interests, all of which come after quality time with the wife.

Still, I have two pieces that are being finished up for an imposed deadline and those will be shared when they are completed. Soon, since these deadlines are as much serious business as 3 Chord Charlie's E.P.

2009-09-09T05:12:00.000-07:00

northern range bush trek

Alright, so a little under a fortnight ago, we ventured up to Brasso Seco, Paria for a hike to Paria Bay. This hike was 16 miles in total, over some really proggy terrain. Here are some phone cam pics.

Off we go! We left the tour guides' HQ, headed a slight distance down the road, then turned off the paved road and into a well worn footpath. I really loved the stairs in the hillside and like all the things I saw and liked along the way, took a photo.

This here is the guide. He was pretty cool. And rootsy.

In front of the guide is the guide in training. She was also pretty cool, helpful and frighteningly fit. She appeared to be in the very early teens and unlike the bunch of city slickers she was leading to Paria Bay, she kept a brisk pace and didn't even break a sweat.
Oh yes, by the time we returned way later that day, I was very happy to see this bridge again.

Like I mentioned, this was some really proggy terrain. At first I was worried that we'd basically be walking on pleasant, picturesque terrain, having plants and animals pointed out to us by the guides. That did happen, of course, but from the fourth mile mark, taking photos became a terribly complicated act. Basically, some parts could only be crossed using both hands and feet. Added to these sections was the fact that we were a bunch of hikers that preferred to gingerly cross muddy sections so as not to get unnecessarily dirty.

In the last half mile, we were very happy and relieved to be hearing sounds of the ocean, but we still had to work for it. The terribly damp and muddy sections were traded for a steep decline full of thin trees. By the time I got down the decline, I was sure my toes were bleeding due to the force put on them by this section. Yet, were were glad that after a little under three hours and 20 minutes, we were finally at the beach. First, our parade was slightly rained upon. How else would a bunch of sweat drenched, mud spattered hikers feel upon arrival at their destination to meet a bunch of fresh faced tourists that just hopped out of a boat and waded ashore with their humongous hiking bags and cameras? Come on, we just passed through some serious jungle adventure shit, for christ sakes.

Anyway, all that was forgotten when we came upon the beach.

It was rather disappointing we only got a limited time there (1.5 hours) because we were really tired and hungry. The bathers ignored the one hour rule for going into the water and just enjoyed themselves. Fortunately, the beach action was limited because we had to make a ten minute journey over slippery, uneven territory to get to the waterfall.

Here's our junior guide again.

And here is an amateur Spiderman, tempting good sense in a remote area.

And that's it, pretty much. Within minutes of our arrival at the falls and as we were all getting comfortable, the rain came down heavily. The very clean tourists we encountered earlier were terribly well prepared: they had heavy jackets and one droopy umbrella while the rest of us huddled soaking under a tree, making plans to GTFO before the river's level began to rise. The year before, I think, members of a hiking expedition died when a river overflowed its banks.

Our hike leader decided that we weren't going to wait for the rain to ease up, so we immediately left. It was a near religious every time we came upon a mile marker, but we are all very beat (except the leader and junior guide). Miles 8-3 were dreadful, especially after the heavy downpour and our spirits were mostly gone by 3. Fom 2, we were back on straightforward terrain and by the time we returned to guide HQ at 7, we were just happy to have a seat before we washed the muck off at a standpipe, changed into something drier, posed for an exhausted "after" group shot, then made our way back down the winding, narrow and extremely foggy Arima/Blanchisseuse road...back to our city slickin' lives.

Thankfully, the following day was Independence day, so we had a day of recuperation before heading off to work. The hike was very gruelling and I don't know about everybody else, but my wife and I were back in operable condition by mid week.

Sorry if this entry is TL;DR for some. We've got another outdoor expedition coming up in the next couple weeks, so I'll have some more pictures then.

2009-08-17T17:28:00.000-07:00

glacial movements

Man, this is still here? So neglectful...
Anyway, here's a photo from our recent hike to the Rio Seco waterfall. Katiepie's got this mission to get us out more often, so this was our inaugural hike, photo mission,friend get-together and reminder that we live on a Caribbean island. I ain't much of a photographer, but my Motorola RIZR's humble 2 megapixel camera is pretty decent when a photo needs to be shot.

It's been difficult to feel like doing or continuing any personal projects after getting home from a day of drawing at work. It also didn't help that I was in a heavy funk for quite a while, but things have been looking up quite a bit since I began reading up on Zen. Will it work? Will it just be a lot of fruitless reading and practice? We'll see.

My wife is up to some project hush-hush of her own, going through my art folders for specific pieces and noticing the overwhelming amount of unfinished stuff I've got. At present, I'm under cudgel and horsewhip while kneeling on a cheese grater, trying to finish a few of her unfinished favourites. It's put a hold on two projects I was attempting, but her jobs shall be completed by week's end.

Work is still in a state of limbo as far as the company's close goes. At times it's easy to wonder why the fuck bother pushing forward on any of my work projects, but since the whole zen thing began, those projects are beginning to feel as fun and no pressure as my early days of drawing. These projects are far outside my comfort zone, but I am learning a whole lot of new things as I go along, and am using all of these lessons on my personal efforts. Life is starting to feel like a mostly fun adventure again. Százszor ölelj még!

2009-06-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

:(

Personally, the only as seen on T.V product worth a damn is Krazy Glue. I'd be lying, however, if I never found Billy Mays to be a higly energetic, entertaining character.

I have a feeling the operators are going to receive a lot of calls from heaven for Ding King kits.

2009-06-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

because updates don't happen frequently round these parts

I really thought that with studies out of the way for the coming year, updates would have been less infrequent. I am working on things, but am distracted to the point where I can't make it to the PC to upload something.

Other than garden variety distraction, I've been deeply into guitar practice. After having a hard day chiseling away at work at my art projects, it's preferable to pick up the guitar when I get home instead. I've been getting way serious at it too, practicing exclusively with a clean tone, resisting the urge to turn on the distortion and make a thrashy three chord racket.

At the moment, I am waiting for the arrival of my Dan Electro Metal Effects pedal. It should be here by next week and I am as excited as the time I ordered Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition. It's a bit of a pricey hobby, but well worth it. Hopefully, I'll find a bargain on a new or decent condition acoustic by year's end.

Anyway, I was deeelighted to find out that Tiny Vipers has a new album out. I listened to the single from the last album Hands Across the Void for months before finally getting it as a birthday present and I don't intend to make that mistake with this new release. Dreamer, the single from the new album Life on Earth is available for listen or download on her Sub Pop artist's page.

Check it out.

2009-06-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

rest in peace, michael jackson

On the E! News coverage, Ryan Seacrest gave the opinion that because of the man's career and personality, damn near everyone has a Michael Jackson story. I don't know about you, but I have a few:

being excited to go see Moonwalker at Windsor Cinema and actually getting in despite the huge, frenzied crowd,

countless plays of the Moonwalker arcade game in the true three player experience,

never being able to moonwalk,

trying (and failing, even today) to get the mental image out of my head when my buddy wondered aloud in our Primary School days "Do you think that Michael Jackson has to shit, like the rest of us?"

making the Jackson 5 Christmas album part of my holiday tradition.

The man was wierd and talented and eventually I found his music terribly unlistenable after hearing his songs more times than I could count, but he never seemed like the type of person that would ever get sick, die, or fall off the face of the earth. The man was one of the few remaining widely recognizable characters in a world and music industry that destroyed the smoke and mirrors that made things larger than life.

Fuck, man.

Anyway, here's what I found to be the best portrayal of Michael Jackson in a comedy. While the majority of depictions stuck to the tight pantsed, high voiced, child fancying M.J, this episode took things in a very different direction.

R.I.P M.J

2009-06-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

rockin' the classics

I found some really rocking interpretations of some classic art pieces on Worth 1000. You don't necessarily have to be a fan of classic art or rock music to enjoy these images, but they pack a harder kick if you are.

Go see now!

2009-06-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

bleeding drum cam

There was a poster on Blabbermouth named Molotov that used to end his posts MESHUGGAH!!! After a while it drove people nuts, but the guy was so persistent in his thing, he was mentioned in an interview when the talk swung around to the hardcore crazy metal fans on the internet. I put it on the long list of bands I'd check sometime to see what the fuss was about and boy, do I feel silly for slipping on that one.

So far I managed to squeeze (album) "Catch Thirty Three" and (EP) "I" which are basically long tracks. While Catch Thirty Three sneakily cut a 47 minute long song into 13 tracks, I consoled buyers of a one song EP by being 21 minutes. Metal elitists can bicker till the cows come home about what makes this band so fucking kick ass, but for me it's two things:

1. They keep an extended composition interesting
2. Drummer Tomas Haake

Now lemme break it down.

1. Being a fan of 70's prog and art type bands, I'm no stranger to the long track. While it may sound intimidating to plop your ass down for nearly an hour to listen to two songs (say ELP's Tarkus and Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother suite), a long song done right does not feel all that long. From my limited understanding, for an extended composition to be successful it has to be a collection of related songs or suites linked together by skillful transitional pieces - not an extended drum improvisation.
While that drum or xylophone solo may work over well with enthusiastic (and probably stoned) live event attendees, the extended solo comes across as the tedious glue holding together a song that could be whittled down to radio format running time - plus a minute or two - without feeling as if anything special's missing (for example Key by The Guess Who).
Catch Thirty Three and I are no extended duel between a Moog synthesizer and a randomly tuned vibraphone. Even though Catch Thirty Three experimented with some very sparse, eerie sections, at no time during the runtime did I get the urge to hit fast forward, or whatever it's called in this age of mp3 players.

2. I don't give a fuck what the haters say; Tomas Haake is amazing. Although modern technology allows just about anybody's kick drum technique sound resemble a pair of firing Uzi's, you still need some talent for the program to amplify. Haake is about more than breaking the kick drum speed record. It has to be seen and heard to be believed.

Anyway, this post is about their most recent release, 2008's ObZen. Since I only got into the band early this year, this is still new news to me. I was blown away by the video for Bleed, which I am sharing. For me, it is rare for a metal video to live up to the song. sometimes, it's too cheesy, sometimes it has tiny budget stamped all over it and most times, it suffers from not matching the song's awesomeness.
Bleed's video, fucking kills. The art direction is fantastic, the threadkeeper was mundblowingly nuts and the Ben Kingsley-looking meditating man was creepy as all hell. But don't take my word for it; watch.

But wait, there's more. Like that Sebadoh Jam went " I love the drums. i fucking love the drums." Nothing makes my day more than drummer footage. Jimmy Chamberlain, Gene Hoglan, Frost, Doc (R.I.P), Phil Collins: I could watch footage of them doing their thing until my eyeballs go dry. They drum because I can't and it's okay since they are so interesting to watch. Here's drumcam of Tomas Haake playing Bleed live.

Sorry for the long post!

2009-05-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

dancing with the starr

Man, this has been in the doing for so long, I'm unsure if this qualifies as the first drawing for the year. It's not the one that's lying on my living room table; I remember thumbing through a Beatles photo book I bought from the Logos II and found a photo of Ringo dancing with a lady at a birthday party. I should have been working on an important course project, but I couldn't resist giving dancing Ringo a go.

The colour job was what took a long time, most notably the skin rendering. Thankfully, the Tew Witch left me feeling empowered, so here it is. Wish I thought of putting his dance partner in there as well, but say what, huh?

2009-05-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

frosty fun

The grades for the final semester have been received and it is official: I am done (for now). The research paper scored a B+ under a notoriously hard marking lecturer, so I am pretty much a happy man, free to explore the pleasures of leisurely leisures, for leisurely purposes.

Anyway, it's damn near the middle of 2009 and I have not posted even one original, so here's an ink an colour job on a piece by somebody that has similarly been scarce (where are you, Alan Tew?):

It's mostly done, but I can live with it. Originally, I was inspired by Samurai Shodown (and Captain Planet to a lesser extent) to build variant elemental-themed colour jobs around the same image - you know - fire, water, wind, earth, ice. I then remembered that the purpose of this ink and colour job was to have some fun and get some practice. So I wasted no time in giving this fearful momma some fun flip-flops. I think it was a very Tew thing to do.

Anyway, I still feel deflated as far as personal projects go, but I am peeking out of the doldrums fairly regularly. My officially first drawing for the year is on the living room table at the moment, waiting to be tightened up for scanning, so why knows, eh?

2009-05-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

one more

Good thing for layers or I would have been unable to show this one. It may be murder on the .psd's file size, but in instances where multiple characters appear in an illustration, it works best for me to have character inks and colours separated in different group folders.

I find having a character image aids immensely in dialogue scripting. As much as I like this guy though, my wife and others found that he had the potential to scare the shit out of children (the target audience). I begged to differ, of course, after having two Manicous (Opossums) as pets growing up. Despite being angular, jittery and prone to hissing, they are quite funny little guys.

Oh well.

2009-05-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

hai thar

The course of study has reached a very anticlimactic end and until the mind rot due to inactivity sets in, I am dedicating myself to the leisurely pursuit of leisure.
Here's three colour character designs for a project I opted out of.

2009-04-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

exhausted

Today I hand in my two assignments and check the student advisor to see if I am truly done for now. Then I'm gonna head home, and play sone Need For Speed Carbon until my eyes hurt and I am forced to bed by the wife.

The past few weeks have been full of research, typing, little sleep and lots of Red Bull.

Damn, I am tired.

2009-04-07T06:30:00.000-07:00

sching!

Some quick stuff:

1. The paper is coming along at a pretty good rate. The deadline is officially two weeks away and I'm 30% through (compared to Sunday's 12%). At this rate, I should be going through a draft by next week, running off a print and marvelling at how anticlimactic my program ended.

2. I saw the leaked Wolverine: Origins last night. You may want to read that linked article before continuing.
Right. Two points I'd like to comment on from that:

"The question is, is this really how anyone wants to watch a movie? Especially a movie that will be all about the special effects?"

Generally, no. It is interesting to see a special effects movie unplugged, though. The wife and I had some great laugh moments at the bare CG, exposed wirework and especially the people who wanted this unfinished movie to yell "I saw it before yoooohooooo". At many times, the movie looked more like a Sci-Fi channel original than a blockbuster but like I said, it was an interesting experience.

If I was excited when Wolverine was announced, I am holding my crotch and doing the peepee dance right about now.

"This wasn't a song downloaded from the 'Net, or a book read on a Kindle; "Wolverine" wasn't finished. If the new U2 song was available online without vocals, or the latest John Grisham thriller without verbs, would that be appealing?"

The un-Spectored release of the Beatles' Let It Be album had a buying audience, didn't it? Luis Royo's sketchbooks, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds Sessions and Gentle Giant's Under Construction as well. True, these things were commercially released well after the originals, but it is proof that there is an audience of people who geek out this kind of stuff. As much as I understand Fox Studio's large WTF moment, I think they would be surprised at the response they'd get when they ask "Hey, you wanna see this thing naked?"

My final say on the topic of Wolverine Origins: You bet your ass my wife and I will be at the cinema to see the final product.

3. Another Alan Tew colour job. It is as unfinished as the last one, but I still like it as much as I like seeing new updates at Alan's blogspot.

2009-04-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

oh hell

Can't say I wasn't warned a few times well: I'm in the final twenty days before this research paper is due and I've finally gotten over the introduction. This mean, imposing hurdle is usually the big yam and cheese meal that brings on a bout of mental constipation.

The research has been very fun and interesting and the paper's content has been gathering behind the dam that is the intro, building pressure, waiting for the crack to appear. It is time to fucking rock a keyboard like nobody's business.

So yeah, I have majorly neglected personal art and the resulting blogging since the whole paper bit got dropped in my hands but to be fair, the only aspect of life that has not been absolutely ignored while I'm in writing mode is my marriage (which is going great, by the way).

So...while I attend to this matter, you can head on over to manwithoutabody's youtube channel and follow his reading of Atlanta Nights, my favourite book ever.

So till I update again, it's back to this paper as well as my deliberation over this blog's future.

2009-03-04T04:28:00.000-08:00

interesting stuff

"About digital comics" from ~Balak01, a deviantART member. He/she makes reference to Scott McCloud, who I'm familiar with from my days or regularly reading Wizard magazine a lot of years ago but have never read his work.

This interesting presentation makes me want to remedy that.

about DIGITAL COMICS by ~Balak01 on deviant ART

2009-02-26T04:53:00.000-08:00

god song?

Bah. I am still in personal art drought and after all these weeks, still trying to start work on that research paper that's due at the end of April.

"All that you have has been due to my hands. Things can change; things can stay the same." I'm not religious in the least, but that seems like the type of thing God would pen if he had a sense of humour and a recording contract.

Proclamation - Gentle Giant

2009-02-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

rubbish makes it all better

See? The updates are becoming infrequent. That's because I gotta graduate, so I gotta work on my research paper like a beast. I feel pretty out of it as far as lots of things go lately but as I always say, this isn't the type of blog for that sort of thing.

I can say, though, that although my art gig at work is going rather well, I am experiencing a personal dry spell. To say it is frustrating would be putting it mildly, especially when it appears that I have a solid partition between the work and personal projects. It would be worse, I suppose, if the dry spell affected both. The "I can't talk about its" are fucking around with my drawing and I hate it.

But looky here: the silver above the dark cloud. While skulking about on YouTube I discovered first chapter reading from my two favourite books of all time (!)

The Aye of Argon (all chapters are available; do some digging)

and Atlanta Nights (first chapter for now, I hope).

If you go in for this sort of thing, I hope it brightened up your day as well.

2009-01-27T05:01:00.000-08:00

ugly women rock

These ugly women, anyway.

My ongoing mission to listen to the artists featured in channel 101's amazing Yacht Rock series continues. This time around: Daryl Hall & John Oates (the album). Don't be fooled by the glammish cover; this is some of the smoothest, grooviest, meant for the easy listening station rock you'll ever hear.

Here's the episode from which the ugly women reference came.

2009-01-15T11:26:00.000-08:00

one1exclamationmark!

It was inevitable that the festive season had to come to an end. As a result it's back to work as usual, under the shiny pretense of a new year. For me, it's back to school for my final two courses and, unfortunately, this final stretch is guaranteed to frustrate (But this isn't the type of blog for that kind of talk).

The wife and I enjoyed the heck out of our study breaks which explains why there's no new art to show. Ever since we dusted off the multimedia speakers and attached them to the PC, my leisurely work station has been functioning as her entertainment centre. Since I don't feel comfortable using her laptop for anything other than net surfing...there you go: no art. When her classes resume though, I'll be too busy hammering out a lengthy research paper to finish any of the projects that have been festering in the 'to do' folder.

But there's an upside to the time I spent away from the PC: I had time to practice my guitar playing and recent (two days ago) feedback is that I sound like a church choir guitarist. My mother would be proud. Now, my time in the land of self-taught guitar playing was pretty much a waste until I found the particular twang that pleased my ear. My appreciation for Dire Straits' body of work increases every time I give their Best Of and Brothers In Arms albums a spin, but one song in particular helped me personally get in touch, finally, with the omnipresent force that connects guitar players. Give it a listen:

There's a certain country twang embedded in the song, and it compelled me to give country a try. True, VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson and Michael Martin Murphey's Cowboy Songs are but two drops in the ocean sized genre that is country, but I'd recommend any person that has ever let the genre's stereotype prevent them from tuning in to relent. At least give those two albums a listen.

2009-01-06T03:47:00.000-08:00

a ship that's sailed

At the start of 2008 I was all hot for an opportunity to get on board an illustration project. I submitted three pieces:

the first was intentionally pandered to the project head's taste and was therefore middle of the road.

The second pandered to the project head's taste too much. I fucked up the construction and it turned out horribly.

The final was the result of panic related experimentation. I was not the only one who loved how it turned out.

Since I'm not swell-headed, I can see it for what worked, what did not, and what needed correcting, but I still think it's pretty good.

The opportunity has passed, but I am glad I actually responded and put some stuff together.

2008-12-31T12:21:00.000-08:00

i know it's over

It's unbelievable that the year is pretty much over with already. Of the few things I am willing to remember about my school days are the times I wished during a double period of Math or just the general awfulness of that place, that time would move faster so I could get to the better aspects of the day. It never happened, of course, but did it eventually work out that way? Where in the hell did the time go this year?

For example:

It's been over six months already. It's easy to keep track of the time since this served as our guestbook and is hanged, framed, in our living room.

We've got our little happy bubble going, which is always great to return to at the end of the day, after spending too much time out and about in a country that's becoming more of a hopeless, unhappy place.

In light of all that's going down in Trinidad and Tobago at the moment, I think the expected cheeriness of a year-end post would be unrealistic and ridiculously out of place here, so here's something nice and sober from Tiny Balloons.

The title for this final post of 2008 is a title of a Smiths song. I found it a fitting way to close the year because it contained these lines:

It's so easy to laugh
It's so easy to hate
It takes strength to be gentle and kind

That is something to ponder, whether or not you are a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago.

A safe and progressive new year to all of you! Death to Autotune vocals in 2009, please.

2008-12-19T03:48:00.000-08:00

:(

My home PC monitor gave out yesterday. All I know is the machine was powered off, then when it was powered on an hour later, the monitor was blank and the power button was flashing green.

This is great news, of course. Two weeks ago I had engine problems that my dad estimated to be fixable in the region of $1200. When he checked things out, it was a busted oil pump that was replaced free of charge by the one from my car's original engine.

So I guess the universe evened itself out. Determined to snatch exactly $1200 of my money, my monitor had to stop working. It doesn't stop there because after calling the Dell tech support line to find our WTF SRSLY (at TT$2 per minute on a toll free call), the technician went through all the diagnostics before informing me that I'm better off replacing it entirely. That's really nice to hear from a $40 call, isn't it? I mean I'm not Mr. International or anything, but I'd like to believe that most likely 40 is 40 no matter what type of currency you're dealing with. Except Zimbabwe, but I digress.

Long story short, no arting about for me until I get that monitor replaced, which should be (hopefully) before the weekend's out.

The upside to this is that I get to finish reading On The Road faster.

2008-12-16T04:37:00.000-08:00

a nation full of fucking assholes

Paradise hasn't been shot, it's been stabbed, beat, abducted, molested and had its photo displayed on missing person posters. With a few weeks till the end of 2008, Trinidadians should feel proud of our 520-plus murder toll. "WE" are getting dumber and violent, image centred and convinced that WE individually would never wind up part of the murder toll. Assholes were upset that the crime hotline's "Fix Me First" slogan implied that WE contributed to our society's descent into the toilet but honestly, what other inference can be drawn when you're dealing with a country where jaywalking is a norm, shoulder lanes are VIP expressways and where litter isn't something that should sit in your car until you reach your wastepaper basket equipped destination? At least Carnival's still on, amirite?

Happy fucking new year indeed.

Thanks to a few unforseen situations demanding money this month, the closest I can get to tonight's Jointpop performance is their "Bess of Jointpop" CD. It's a shame since other than putting on really ace shows, their crowd aren't the type that are found in the local scene.

So life feels so much better with exams out of the way. I start my final two courses in January then after that I get to wonder what I land myself into next. I have some art exercises in progress, including another Alan Tew colour treatment. In all of this, I am playing Rayman 2, a heckuva great 3D adventure platformer that was released about 10 years ago. Thanks to some frustrating loading error I never got the chance to finish it on the Dreamcast and since the PC version supported only one make of controller (from ten years ago), the emulated N64 version is filling the void nicely - and mapped onto a Playstation controller.

I'm hoping to get some fun art stuff done during my Christmas week off, as well as this year's poorly planned, last minute gift buying. Anyway, here's something nice to counter the opening paragraph. The anthology Nude on the Moon makes a better gift than the autotune nonsense that's been polluting our airwaves this year.

2008-12-09T06:15:00.000-08:00

now in colour, still not Susan

The new inking process has led to a new colour process as well, so I feel pretty happy about that. As happy as I am, though, I have a ways to go to dig myself out of my loss of drawing mojo. There is but one new drawing I can't wait to scan on Thursday night once finals are out of the way but until the mojo returns, I think I'll settle for going through my scans folder and applying some colour magic to what's already there.

I was completely floored over the weekend when I got an email from a blogger all the way out from Italy, asking that I make an exchange visit to his online effort. Thanks to the babelfish translator, the language barrier was mostly cleared so even if you know as much Italian as I do, you don't have any reason to not give Internapoli City a visit. Heck, you can even add it to your favourites.

2008-12-05T06:50:00.000-08:00

clash of the titans

Emperor - The Loss & Curse of Reverence.

I started listening to Opeth after reading too many Blabbermouth.net posts about "the mighty Opeth". No slight against Opeth or their fans, but nothing sounds mighty after you've listened to Emperor.
The album from which this track came, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk is a fine addition to a music fan's collection - even the Opeth bandwagoners whose undyrpantf go soggy at the mention of "melodic elements". Seriously, what the fuck is with that?

Immortal - Call of the Wintermoon

The jury is still out as to whether the video did a disservice to the song, but I goddamn well think it's one of the best videos ever. Rumour has it that plans are in the works to rerelease of the Lord of The Rings trilogy on Blu-Ray after the film has been processed to look as KVLT as Call of the Wintermoon.

There's an important lesson to be learned from the Sons of Northern Darkness: it is always important to have a sense of humour, especially in the things you are passionate about.

2008-12-03T10:25:00.000-08:00

a wop bobbiloo bop, a wop bam boom

Zaibatsu Johnny, a Japanese asskicker-for-hire. Too wierd to even be a Tiny Balloons minor character, but I love drawing him. This was just me messing about sketchily in Corel paint yesterday afternoon.

Rock that hairdo, Johnny!

2008-12-02T04:45:00.000-08:00

money in the hat or gtfo

I wasn't aware of it until I logged on for this post, but this is update number 300! Being unaware of this minor milestone, I had no plans to do anything special...and still don't.

I have to admit though, as much as I'd like to think I've always been the same old schmoe, things sure have changed since I submitted to the 'why not' urge to start a blog in March 2004. If I was the same, I wouldn't be wrestling with the idea of performing an erase exercise in the archives. I acknowledge that I have posted some off-colour things in the name of irreverance and plain old mean-ness, but I like to delude myself every so often by thinking that more attentive visitors would have noticed a change over time. Vuhvuhvuhhh...

So anyway, some time ago a buddy asked me to whip up a t-shirt graphic to support a cause. One of his friends was tired of feeling fucked over by her bank, so she felt it was time to unite some like-minded individuals to let the bank know they're on the same level as a hugely endowed rapist in a nunnery.

And I came up with this:

White, blue and grey on a black tee. The image went through a few changes until the most important factor called for a simple approach: printing is expensive, colour printing has an expense level of over 9000, so don't be an ambitious fmarty pantf.

I dunno, even if it functions as a second job, I'd like to earn a living off art projects. If anybody would like to take a chance on this amateur enthusiast, holler at me after April 2009 when classes are done for the forseeable future.

2008-12-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

dina in colour

Here's something you've seen before, but in colour.

Dina's a minor character in Tiny Balloons. She's the girlfriend of Edison, another minor character. I originally wanted to complete this piece as a digital painting, but I'm tired of taking so long to update this place, tired of spending little time with my characters and especially tired of spending an eternity on one piece, then leaving it as an incomplete resident in my abomination bin.

This piece has benefitted from the inking experiments I've been conducting on my work assignment and thanks to that process, her inks were finished in a fraction on the time it took me to ink using the inefficient former technique.

As usual, I don't think the colours are 100% done, but practice will solve that.

Lastly, a word about my work assignment: I've been providing character designs and model sheets for a 3D project. I'm not a fan by any way of 3D art, but it feels really grand to see these characters go from my 2D designs and three point turnaround sheets to 3D. Unfortunately, since the 3D conversion is someone else's duty, I really can't show those models, even the rejected ones.

2008-11-18T04:59:00.000-08:00

redesign

I guess I've been in denial for a while, but I really am in a drawing rut as far as my personal projects go. Work work is going finer - I'm working on a new, more powerful machine so I am finally able to go about my duties without having to worry about an underpowered workstation corrupting a job that's had too many hours of work put into it.

Anyway, I finally overcame a huge problem I've been having with Tiny Balloons the other night. You can't comfortably approach an idea if you either have no idea what your main character looks like or don't care much for the design, and I haven't felt at all comfortable with Terry's design or had much fun drawing him.

I was flipping through my sketchbook one night when I came across an individual drawing of the surfer guy from the Michael Murphey Also beach scene and realised I really enjoyed drawing that guy. As well, I was getting really tired of people's remarks that there was a pretty decent resemblance between Terry and myself.

Strangers in Paradise creator Terry Moore said that Strangers in Paradise really didn't start miving until he could start to hear his characters and feel their history by looking at him. Until this redesign of my Terry I was starting to wonder if he was more of a supporting character since Arlowe seemed to be the focal point of the story. It wasn't until I was flipping through my sketchbook and found an individual sketch of the surfer guy from Michael Murphey Also's beach scene and remembered how much fun I had drawing him. A couple more practice tries later and I realised that I'd be stupid to not adapt him to Tiny Balloon's needs, so here's what I'll be going with eventually:

(if you click on it, it gets bigger, but you already know that)

Although the initial design has got to remain for the early bits of story, this made perfect sense, as well as gave a supporting character some page time. The inking was done in Photoshop using a technique with which I was messing about on a work assignment yesterday and I much rather prefer this technique over all the others I've tried thus far.

2008-10-31T11:56:00.000-07:00

hardcore redefined

Every motivational tool ever produced should be replaced with this video, effective immediately.

2008-10-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

archimedes' pain is my own

That's a nice name for an MTV band.
Speaking of nice, be nice and visit crying while eating (dot com). It's chock full of folks who are aware of the benefits of proper nutrition, as well as their individual shortcomings.

While I do understand Archimedes, I'm not much of a birdseed person. Just saying.

2008-10-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

here's to you, Alan Tew!

I've been mentioning a colour job to which I've been attending in my spare time and thanks to a mishap at the office today, I was able to finish it. First, the mishap:

I've been trying my best to embrace technology as far as my work projects go lately, so I've beem sketching in Corel Paint. It's going well enough, although I admit to being at the training wheels level. I dunno, I'm a paper addicted dinosaur.

So anyway, I was attempting yet another redesign when a coworker asked me to test a DVD on my workstation so I closed off all my applications and noticed Paint was taking much too long to save the document and close off. I figured it's been saved once every minute so far so what's the harm in canceling this one save, right?

Wrong. Seems like I corrupted the damn file, flushing a day's work down the drain. Yay!

In an effort to not go mad or destroy my employer's property, I decided to finish the long doing colour job. I wouldn't say it's finished but then again, i am a huge Brian Wilson fan.

The image is thanks to Alan Tew, one of my favourite artists, but if you ever bothered to click on my favourites links section, you'd already know this.

2008-10-14T04:43:00.000-07:00

well, frig.

Wow/Damn.

I remember reading a strip called Short Cuts in a manga anthology some years ago. It began with the premise of a bunny type character doing a tutorial on drawing a popular actress. When he realises he can't draw, he scrawls a note instead and disappears.

The note read "Mom & Dad, I have failed. Don't come looking for me."

I can so relate to that bunny right now.

2008-10-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

the year of the real gentlemen

So my character design gig has entered the finalization stage for all but one. It's been a real bugger to nail this particular design down, but I've been asked to give it an extra push - which I am doing.

During my research I came agross this antique print site selling illustrations of actual gentlemen. The kicker here is these illustrations were done more than 100 years ago!

Even if drawings of ancient users of moustache wax isn't your thing, give antique maps and prints (dot com) a visit!

2008-10-07T10:59:00.000-07:00

poking

As hard as I am trying to stifle the personal art in order to attend to schoolwork, I am a sucka. I have been messing around for wuite some time at the whole digital paint thing, working on something whenever I take a break from work work.

The whole process is made difficult by my inability to consistently render fleshtones, but that's what my work work agreement is helping me hammer out. I'm closing in of a personal colour job's completion but in order to get over the fleshtone problem I've been checking out speedpainting videos on youtube, as well as scrutinizing the work of professionals and amateur enthusiasts alike.

From the great Alan Tew's blog, I found a link to the site of someone who applied some colour to an Alan sketch.

While I putz about in my spare time and get my piece done, check out Steve James for fr'instances of what I aspire to do with enough practice.

2008-10-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

happy now?

Although I'm having a productive time doing artwork for my employers these days, 100% of my efforts can be categorized as "not mine", therefore cannot be displayed on the blog. Every once in a while, though, I can cheat and post something they completely disagreed with (like now).

At the moment, things are busy with the tribulations of schoolwork and this has considerably slowed down the pace on the personal for-your-viewing-pleasure items, as well as for-my-bank-account's-pleasure items.

Hell, I've got exams, mid-terms, research paper, tons of required reading and the ever-pleasant group projects to deal with, PLUS a fucking stupid sleep schedule that has me staying up till crime vigilante hours of the night and morning in a fevered state, hoping for time to slow down somehow.

Still, it is nice to receive the blue moon request for more content. I'll see what can be done.

2008-09-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

success

Short post to announce that I finally do not live in a dark hole because the high-speed internet connection has been installed at home.

Hopefully this'll mean more updates, even ones not restricted to art.

2008-09-22T05:17:00.000-07:00

enough already

With America facing historic debt, multiple war fronts, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, skyrocketing Federal spending, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc. etc., this is an unusually critical election year.

Let's look at the educational background of the candidates and see what they bring to the job:

Obama:
Occidental College - Two years.
Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

& Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 out of 899 (meaning that, like George Bush, McCain was at the bottom of his class)

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism

Now, which team are you going to hire to lead the most influential nation in the world?

I get how, since Trinidad is tied in many ways to North America, we're supposed to have a fair amount of interest in the upcoming elections. You don't have to be an America basher to see that the country is in a poor state at the moment and that the new guy in the oval office has a lot of critical items to address.

HOWever, what's the point of non-nationals sending stuff like this around in email forwards to each other? The most we can do is stroke our chins and mmhmmm, probably remind our american national pals to vote lest Diddy shows up to rough em up a bit, but otherwise, we can't find ourselves in a voting booth wheen election day draws around.

Honestly, where the fuck were these election enthusiasts last year for our own democratic sham? Enjoying literal party politics, making off with cases of Ruling Party brand bottled water or rocking/dancehalling it out at the many loud distractionfests held across the country?

In all seriousness, I hope the Americans turn out in record amounts to do their duty on election day. In the meantime, keep these petty jabs the fuck out of my inbox.

Politics aside, number 29 passed rather nicely. Having a birthday on a Friday (or a Monday, even) makes up for having to wait every seven years for it. The weekend was quiet and low key, which I hope sets the tone for the coming year. My first birthday as a married person, I got my present at the stroke of midnight on September 19. After making repeated requests to Mrs over the top to keep things simple, I got the usual birthday cake, plus Tiny Vipers' debut CD Hands Across the Void. Since it was bought of the Sub-Pop website, it arrived with a few band stickers (Wolf Parade, Foals, Wolf Eyes) - one of which is going on my guitar as soon as I can reach a decision.

The CD is great. Words can't do it justice but I'll try anyway: Jesy Fortino is in the posession of a very sweeet voice adds awkwardness, strength and hope to an eerie, deceptively simple musical landscape. It's unfortunate that albums like these are lost under the heap of offerings by me-too rap, R&B and tween groups.

2008-09-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

i'm robert fripp. someone's been digging my bones

Yes, yes, there's no art updates of late. This is partly because I am pooped after doodling all day at work and mostly because my lack of willpower to resume a normal sleep schedule. When I get home in the afternoon, I am too damn tired to motivate myself to the computer. When I do make it to the machine, the will to play Final Fight 3 is much greater than working out the fur on the Jerry Monster painting I began last weeek.

Some great news though: after being convinced for months by various misinformed CSR's at the cable company that I've been living in some sort of black hole as far as digital cable readiness is concerned, my household may finally get the hookup. Katiepie and I are taking the news cautiously so far since the last time we expected a visit from the phone company's broadband lackeys, no one ever showed. Still, if someone does show up this Wednesday and moves my apartment slightly into the future, it shall be a very much appreciated early present in honour of my number 29 next Friday. Apparently it's very much true: you're only as old as you feel, but you're fucking irrelevant after 25.

So until I finish Jerry Monster's fur, here's two videos I really dig.
The Bravery was started after their singer realized he had nothing to do after failing the audition for Psycho Paul in Ideal.

She & Him. Besides really loving the hell out of any Zooey Deschanel appearance, the video has a style reminiscent of John Allison's excellent Scary Go Round. She & Him may as well be Shelley & Ryan.

It sure would be nice to have cable broadband by Wednesday. Thanks to these embedded videos and dial-up, I can't view my blog page at home that well.

2008-09-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

jerry's got a point

So here's a short tale about a monster named Jerry.

Before being kicked in the ribs, shins, guts and groin by life one time too many, Jerry was optimistic and actually could imagine wishing to live past 30.

Now, however, Jerry realized that life was nothing more than an endless stream of disappointing situations, disappointing relationships, disappointing people and disappointing mood disorder medications. Fed up with the prospect that life was nothing more than a guarantee of happiness to the other guy, Jerry walked around with his hands on his hips in a totally woe is me manner.

One day, Jerry evolved.

Because his stance defaulted to being hunched over with his hands on his hips, Jerry developed natural pockets, trouser-style, at his waist. This made him slightly happy - he finally had a convenient place to store his lighter and cigarettes. He knew better than to be elated for too long since he was accustomed to life taking its usual course of action.

Being a very recent example of evolution, it wasn't too long until Jerry's condition came to the attention of the scientific community who in turn, turned Jerry into a major celebrity. Jerry's image was everywhere - magazines, blogs, entertainment news and cartoons. Dubbed by E! television as "the original pocket monster", Jerry was not surprised when he and not E! received a cease and desist letter from Nintendo who wished to make it clear that Bulbasaur was the first pocket monster.

Shortly after being sued by the Jim Henson Creature Company for "being a natural creature with facial and body features infringing upon common Henson designs", Jerry was quoted by Newsweek as hoping that "if whoever's responsible for keeping this bowl of shit spinning has been entertained by my life so far, they're going to TiVO the fuck out of this cancer that's coming my way."

Then a lighter malfunction occured while he was attempting to smoke his usual ten at a time, and he suffered third degree burns over 95% of his body.

END.

2008-09-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

p.s: find some other sucker to destroy

Not only is this song 100% relatable, I am going to learn to play it once I'm done with the very fun, very easy 'Feasting on the blood of the insane' (by Six Feet Under).

'Ocean' - Sebadoh

So you think you're in the middle of the ocean
Stranded on an island of your own
Or stuck in the top of a mountain
Either way you're gonna say you're all alone
And I hesitate to say that you're a liar
I never tell the truth myself
But I tried to chase you down and I got tired
So I'm leaving you to you or someone else
''cause you never wanna hook up in the middle
And I'd meet you there to talk if you would show
But you answer every question with a riddle
And refuse to even choose to let me go
It used to be I'd tell you all my secrets
Giving you the credit you deserve
I guess you didn't care to lose or keep it
And we never quite connected from the first
And I wish I had a way to make it better
To rearrange the world and make you smile
But it's dumb to even think I had that power
And we haven't been that close in a while
And I don't even wanna try to name it
Explain it for the one who couldn't care
''cause all that matters is the way you choose to frame it
And I hesitate to say that you're a liar
I never tell the truth myself
But I tried to chase you down and I got tired
So I'm leaving you to you or someone else
''cause you never wanna hook up in the middle
And I'd meet you there to talk if you would show
But you answer every question with a riddle
And refuse to even choose to let me go

2008-08-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

what's the date on this thing say?

I've been told many times by my wife that life would be a lot more bearable if we tried our hardest to make the best of any shitty situation life sends us with varying frequency. As a result, I devoted a small amount of time during my honeymoon/vacation thinking how to make the best of the drought I've been experiencing in the writing trenches at work. The most I could come up with was to either submit future work in text message lingo or pitch my usefulness in an entirely different area that had nothing to do with writing.

As a result, I've found myself on two projects that required an artistic eye and they have been keeping me pretty busy as well in practice. Because of this practice, I've been trying a lot of new things as far as figure construction, inking and colouring techniques go. It's pretty much for "thanks" in a purely theoretical manner, but when taken into consideration that my work week is 40 hours guaranteed practice time, it makes being broke two days after the monthly budget is catered to less a miserable experience.

At long last, I have access again at work to Flash and Photoshop. Things should pick up even more when the drawing tablet I ordered arrives, since tablet use has made mouse usage a slow, unfamiliar task. Inking in Flash makes me wish I attempted it way sooner and here's a plus: I have a steady supply of new drawings to ink.

Maybe I'm too hard on myself or really am poor at this whole drawing thing, but I really don't like working on my stuff in the same way that people are hesitant to eat leftovers that have been in the fridge for a certain amount of time. This explains both why my finished art folder is dwarfed by my scans folder and I am hesitant to commit pieces to an art portfolio just yet.

Since my colouring technique isn't hampered by the lack of a tablet, I think I'll commit some free time to that restoration project I put on hold in order to tend to a friend's art request. Not only will it get me warmed up for when the tablet arrives, it will get me reacquainted with the CS2 workspace layout since I upgraded to CS3 at home for quite a while now.

2008-08-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

wow

When I was way younger, I used to look forward to when my dad brought home another auto mechanic instruction manual. The technical illustrations were so amazing, especially the cutaway views. They may not look like much to folks that expect to be blown away by flashy art elements, but to folks like me they are absolutely mind blowing and represent professional talent of the highest degree.

If you're like me, head on over to K Hulsey.com. You may have seen his work already on various product manuals since for the past 28 years he has worked for quite a lot of large name corporations. His site is very much worth a check, and even has tutorials for the aspiring technical illustrator. Go see!

2008-08-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

rinky inky

"Email forwards used to annoy me greatly until I realized that you can't really fault the sender for using a very minimalist method of keeping in contact when time renders traditional communication dang near impossible." -Me

Still, it is very frustrating when people send misleading shit like
Maya Angelou's FUBU endorsement and people who died after mocking the bible. It's even more annoying when the senders are journalism students. Truth and accuracy are more than just dictionary entries, you know.

But today I got a forward that actually had something funnyish.

I found it funny, anyway.

On the topic of anyway, project restoration is in the early colour stage but has been put on hold while I work on a request. At the rate I'm going, I should be finished with the request and back on project restore by the end of the week.

As much as I like the speed inking that Flash affords, it still feels as if I'm doing something wrong, although I'm keeping track of how I go about things.

On the topic of something wrong, the creepy commentors on Shawn Johnson's blog and Flickr really, really, really need to go outside and do something not creepy for a while. Sure, she's as cute as a button and has a really amazing smile, but if someone living in a cave for the past few years were to read all those comments, they'd get the impression that she's not a ridiculously talented gymnast, but perv bait in a wedgie proof bathing suit.

The gymnastic performances are really top notch so far in the Olympics, but those wipeouts look pretty painful. So far the worst I saw was in the vault where a member of the Chinese (i think) team landed on her back. The ridiculous thing about it was her expression after she got up: "Oh shit, I didn't nail it." Man, gymnasts are hardcore, as well as highdivers. Wonder when that event's on?

2008-08-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

flashing the past

So some months back there was an incident at my apartment involving a rat that thought my old art portfolio would have made an effective hiding place. After stashing said portfolio in multiple garbage bags and flattening it out for an extended period with a hammer, I ruined everything in the portfolio and committed it to fire, save for a few pieces. One of these pieces was one I was particularly proud of, even considering that it was done during my anime influence with which I am now terribly ashamed.

It's unfinished (naturally!) in a mix of colour pencil and watercolour paint and I always intended to finish it someday (as in the 8th day of the week). This was made difficult as I fell out of touch with manual colouring techniques and the real possibility of freaking the fuck out if I messed the original up, after aaaalllllll this time.

The only hope of ever finishing the piece lay in digital restoration, an endeavour that never got anywhere on previous attempts, mainly due to my main digital inking technique at the time. This is set to change, as I have recently been messing around with Adobe Flash as an inking tool. Putting in spare-study-break-time-work over the past 3 days I have managed to ink 80% of the piece. Once my exam is out of the way on Saturday, it's full steam ahead on project restore.

I am so excited about this! I'd like to post the original, but I'll save that for when the restore is complete, for fuller effect.

2008-07-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

king of the road extra

Don't adjust your eyeballs just yet. Here's the image I started with for the King of the Road piece.

The scan's pretty bad because that's what you get when your scanner accomodates documents as large as 8.5 x 11. Fortunately, I'm mastering the technique of jammming the focal point as much to the page's centre as posssible.

2008-07-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

it lives!

So yesterday I managed to limp from my poor external hard drive to my work PC most of the files which I procrastinated to back up. Later at home, the drive was formatted and restocked.

Good thing about this (other than not having to replace the drive) was that I am able to store my stuff exclusively, since a few items (Mariah Carey, Ufucking2 and Bon Jovi) belonged to Katie and were there long before she bought her laptop. I swear, that's the only reason I'd have anything from Ufucking2 and Bon Jovi with me.

Of course with events like these there must be the possibility for bad, right? Until I can locate my backup discs that mysteriously vanished under the guard of my desk watchcup,

I am without my Pink Floyd, prog-Genesis and Opeth albums, vital supplies during the end semester shuffle.

Switching the topic, one thing that makes me feel better about my doodlin' ability is when I go into my scans folder, sort the files by date, then note the gradual improvements made with every newer piece. Here's the most recent:

It's part of something I'm assisting with these days and if it ever sees the light of day, all I can say is I tried my damndest to deliver quality to my part.

That's quality I'd consistently deliver on my personal projects were it not for a white powdery substance disguised as virtual Corolla customization.

Man, I'd do anything for a listen of Atom Heart Mother right now.

2008-07-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

shit shit shit

I love my external hard drive even, apparently, in death. After serving me well for over a year after my brother passed it on to me, some total mystery bullshit occured while transferring a downloaded file on Friday. Adding, removing and editing files have since become a hassle and while I'm hoping that formatting is the way to restore its clean bill of health, four tech knowledgeable folks have informed me that this may be the end.

Since I can't afford to replace it at the moment, I'm hoping the format works for it as well as it has for my mp3 player in the past.

The moral of this story is that you shouldn't fucking procrastinate when it comes to backing up your electronic documents.

2008-07-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

the musical box

Instead of working on my individual project for the sole course I am attempting this semester, I've been doing things that make me feel happy, like messing about in Photoshop, learning to ink in Flash, and learning the first solo from the Genesis song, The Musical Box.

Hands down, it's the most blistering guitar solo ever laid upon vinyl. Hopefully by the time I've gotten it down, I'd have found that the mysterious guitar honor council have left my free wizard's hat and poet's ruffled night-shirt on my front step.

And who oh who is that shaggy, unkempt young meng on drums?

2008-07-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

no discrimination

I really detest people who use the comment function to place links to their stuff, but I'm making an exception for the link below. Thanks to comment moderation, my comments field can continue to enjoy its blue moon status.

http://nodiscrimine.blogspot.com/

2008-07-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

friday, friday

Let's hear it for technology! I was checking out some Flickr albums of hipster chicas while doing some pencil warm-ups this morning, and this happened:

For a pencil warm-up mishap, it ain't half bad so I thought I should share it, see? Not having access at work to a scanner anymore, I remembered that my phone can take "pitt-yeahs" so there! Technology at work.

And I know things don't happen for my personal happiness, but it would make me happy if somehow Trinidad's population of trend whores and clothes horses got traded for some pretty hipster chicas. Just saying.

2008-07-14T08:22:00.001-07:00

still modest, now married

Man, five weeks just wasn’t enough.

It was a grand time. The wedding came off great on the final Sunday of sunny weather, which was highly important as it was an outdoor ceremony. We honeymooned in Tobago, which may not be much of a big deal for most Trinidadians (or Tobagonians for that matter), but it was pretty much a big deal for us. For her, it was her first visit to Tobago. For me, it was my first trip out of Trinidad. We hope now to make this a regular thing, since the change of pace, change of traffic, decrease of stress levels were all welcome. Had we more time, we’d have covered every inch of Tobago that did not have the associated risk of turning out like that movie Turistas.

We kept pretty active upon return to Trinidad as well, enjoying our time away from work. Married life is damn great – not much of a change since we’d been living like newlyweds for seven years prior – but damn great nonetheless. We’ve already been ordered to spread the word when the babymaking commences and I swear, some people are so eager for the babies to start rolling out that I wouldn’t be surprised if they ask to be invited to the conception festivities.

So! With all that time away, an actual art person would have a decent amount of work to show, right? Unfortunately, I had so much fun I only have one thing to show for it. Other than enjoying my newly granted relationship status, I spent my time reading and going to the movies.

See, I’ve always wanted to read Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise and finally has the opportunity so I did - all three volumes and 105 issues, to be exact. I also devoted time to DC’s 52, DC/Cliffhanger’s Steampunk and the Akira Manga, which is a fucking masterpiece.

Wasn’t all reading, though. I did a lot of warm-up and Tiny Balloons related sketches in my huge Strathmore sketchbook, one of which made it into this update. Lastly, I finally got my hands on NFS: Underground 2 and while it suffers from the lack of post completion replayability that plagues most games these days, it gets serious cred from me for featuring a Toyota Corolla.

Katie’s the movie person in our household and despite our lacklustre experiences at Caribbean Cinemas and their worsening patrons, we managed to score three decent movies in a row with well-behaved audiences. Although I found the Hulk’s character animation from Ang Lee’s snoozefest to be the better screen representation, The Incredible Hulk was great. Not as great as the Hulk vs. Juggernaut movie I’m gonna start harassing Marvel’s film division about, but it was a decent apology for the “first” movie.

The Happening, starring Marky Mark was a definite head messer, although the ending was equivalent to a seminar facilitator taking a break for a drink of water during a riveting presentation, then calmly exiting the building.

I don’t care what anyone else says, I enjoyed Hancock. Maybe it’s because I couldn’t pay attention whenever Charlize Theron was onscreen because Andrew W.K would show up and start performing “She is Beautiful”. She looks good and it's true: the girl is beautiful; she is beautiful. Maybe its because I more appreciated the non-superhero aspects of the story. I’ll have to watch it again to make sure.

The gem of it all, however, wasn't found in the cineplex, but at one of the DVD stores making attempts at going legit. Do yourself a favour and see Bella. Nuff said.

Since all good things must end some time or other, I’m back at work. I hear that may not be for long, but severance packages are severance packages and I really can’t see myself being motivated to take part of this situation for much longer, so it's pretty much a mercy shot and wake up call, all in one.

Here’s something nice, for you Michael Murphey Also lovers! In the Strangers in Paradise Treasury Edition, Terry Moore said his characters had been floating around in his head for a long time, but it was pretty much useless until he began to see and hear them. I'm getting there slowly with Tiny Balloons; this was inspired from the opening paragraphs of Michael Murphey's role in the world of TB (and tubercolosis. uh... "lol"...get it?)

King of the road says you move too slow!

2008-06-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

and awaaay i go

Wedding day! The days in the past few weeks leading up to today have been incredibly hectic. Nevertheless, by next post, I'll be a married modest man who does what he does.

2008-06-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

as if anyone gives...

What I'm listening to lately:
Old stuff. Lots of Pink Floyd, especially Atom Heart Mother and Animals;

Genesis. Both Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins' versions. I also have Calling all Stations, but I really have no interest in any song but the title track.

The Crow Soundtrack (which, in my mind, isn't all that old.); The Guess Who, especially Wheatfield Soul and American Woman;

whatever new mp3 that's put up on the Sub Pop media page.

What I'm reading:
DC's Vertigo stuff. Been through the Death miniseries, which is what really interested me in the first place. Currently working through the Sandman books;

Blade of the Immortal. It's the kind of stuff that non-Japanese manga/anime creators (retards) should have looked at first, so they would have been discouraged from unleashing their derivative shit-fests upon the world. Some may say to expect the shit-fests to smell more pleasant and contain less corn and peanuts now that these retards can incorporate storytelling and artistic elements of Naruto into their existing Dragonball Z/Pokemon vomitorium, but to these people I say go suck a dirty one;

Atlanta Nights. It's a piece of shit that's made enjoyable by the thought that the contributing writers were planning something very wicked while hammering away at their word processors, or whatever it is they used. I have no idea how many times I've read it and it's starting to qualify as a bit of a style guide. Basically, if your paragraphs read like something out of Atlanta Nights, save your document, close it off, then delete the fucking thing from your machine. Worth its weight in Titanium!

What I'm watching: Yacht Rock, an eleven episode series that aired on tv101.com. It sure is amazing what people can do with a five minute episode, because that shit is damn funny, especiallly the episode where Michael Jackson got his 'smooth' back. On the same note, though, Trinidad (and Tobago's) got Westwood Park to mention whenever foreigners ask us what else are we good for, since mastering the art of fire creation and monkey/elephant grooming isn't all that interesting to the 1st world.

What I'm working on:
Wrapping up stuff at work before I disappear for a month. I ran out of gas yesterday while attempting wrap-up and remembered the Hindu book illustration job i was so hot for at the beginning of the year. Then:

Doesn't look like much, but let's see you do better with a fountain ink pen, huh;

Under orders of the little woman, I'm working on an illustration that would be featured as table centrepieces at our wedding that'll be taking place June 16th. It's shaping up great so far and unlike 99% of the work I do, that one has got to be in before the deadline.

Also, guitar practice is coming along great, although the six year old child in my mind is still disappointed the give-away package under the christmas tree wasn't a cleverly wrapped PS3.

2008-05-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

she's got to learn to do without jim. or do without me, me, me...

Much as I pat myself on the back for thinking up Jim Also, I have neglected for years that his appearance would not have been possible for a short story featuring a damsel in distress by the name of Susan.

Unfortunately, Jim's lanky awesomeness made it difficult for me to wonder just what the hell Susan looked like so I made exactly one attempt after using Rupert Holmes' classic tune "Him" as inspiration. I based my vision on what I thought Susan would look like if she was the one he was singing about and Jim was "Him".

Needless to say, replacing "Him" with "Jim" makes the song even better!

And no, no...that's not Susan, sadly. Guess I'll have to try again.

2008-05-27T04:27:00.000-07:00

more

My scanner accomodates documents as large as 8.5 by 11 inches. As much as I'm enjoying the freedeom the large Strathmore sketchbook provides, it can't begin to dream of fitting my scanner's maximum dimensions, which explains the drunken photograph quality of these images.

I'm always up to something, I guess. I'm having a time doing some character designs in the hopes of expanding an unfinished story idea. I'd pretty much forgotten about it, but those two paragraphs grabbed my attention so much i figured what the hell, give it a try. Exhibit 1:

Surprise, surprise, it's not finished yet, but that's the waiter's fault. By now I have lost count of how many times I have read Atlanta Nights, the intentionally worst novel ever written. It's just that bad, you can't help coming back for more.

Anyway, the werewolf having morning coffee while reading a paper seemed to beg for a background, so I figured outdoor café - throw in a waiter. But as I said, many readings of Atlanta Nights prompted me to add Frederick, a throwaway background character who had a pencil-thin moustache and was in the habit of "studiously jotting orders down", and "smirking with disdain".

Then I remembered how much the Frederick character annoyed me with a vengeance, so I went back, re-read Atlanta Nights and felt extremely irritated. Which is why the drawing's unfinished. But it will be, soon.

Exhibit 2: Another character from my two paragraph unfinished story.

It's kinda strange, my reaction to things like these. I really love it when I do a drawing then when I check it out some time afterwards, it looks like I either totally got lucky in the technique, or am looking at someone else's work.

Exhibit 3: Post-it Sketch

Saw a pose in a group photo of the band CSS that I liked and did something real quick. I was on a roll scanning the other two, and neglected to scan the Post-it as a colour document, which is why you're looking at a grey 4 by six Post-it.

While doing this quick sketch I realised another thing: it's about time the ladies of CSS realise they're adults. If you want me to come over to Brazil so you can have your way with me, just ask. It's not like I'll say no or anything.

Finally, I just love getting ahead of myself. Would you believe that the first two characters, plus the previous photoshop paint post (alliteration!!) plus Michael Murphey Also are Tiny Balloons characters? Yeah, that project will never get off the ground...

2008-05-26T04:36:00.000-07:00

paint attempt

I have things to show, but instead of blaming laziness for the no-show, I'll blame the wondrous bottle of cold molasses that is dial-up internet. That may be resolved soon as digital cable has reached my area; it's just that high-speed internet isn't a top priority right now.

Here's an attempt at painting in Photoshop. I think it turned out pretty decent.

2008-05-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

his name's gordon

I really hate colour jobs now. But first:

This has been a really heavy school trimester, but it's over and I am on the short 'tween-trimester break. I've only got one class for the upcoming one and it's on a Saturday so in theory it should allow for me to clear up a lot of outstanding promises during the week.

At the moment, the company's big event is going on and although personally it's a huge bust, artistically it is a great experience. With ll those adults, teens, tweens, children, toddlers and babies flowing through our space, it's provided me with a great opportunity to pay attention to their differences. Children aren't miniature humans in their facial features and movements, neither are babies miniature children. It would have been an excellent opportunity to bring along the sketchpad for the slow periods, but that would be a mistaken opportunity for someone to strike up a conversation. Still, the artistic eye is making a lot of lemonade from the company's big event.

I am currently using the large Strathmore sketchpad Katie gave me over two years ago. It rarely gets used due to its size, but I am trying a thing which is turning out quite nice if I do say so myself. I'll post it when it's done and since it's intended to be a pencil project, that's not a familiar, empty promise.

So like I began this update, I really hate the colour stage now. Try as I may, I always end up over-thinking during this stage and things usually grind to a halt as I stubbornly pick at the piece. I am currently in the colour stage for this piece I sketched from a Flash Gordon photo, and as a result am firing on no cylinders:

If I get fed up of it, I'll just stick with the pencil projects until I feel like colouring again.

2008-04-15T04:52:00.000-07:00

we can take a day, maybe go to the beach

It's taken me nearly four years, but here's the companion piece to Michael Murphey Also's short story.

2008-04-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

well…dang

In keeping with my tradition of being excited whenever movies featuring or starring Jodie Foster get released, I’m making rabid plans to check out Nim’s Island when it gets released. Feeling in the mood to do some sketching exercises using photo reference, my randomly related internet searches led me to the Nim’s Island movie poster. Then it hit me. "Look at that, won’t you…"

A short bit ago, I got drawn (ha ha) into a project for the purpose of character design. The person originally responsible for it was experiencing difficulty with it so he asked if I could lend a quick hand and, in the grip of writer’s block at the time with lots of free time on my hands, I agreed. I knocked something out real loose and quick based on the overall idea that was related to me and I handed it to him the next day. It wasn’t much to look at, but from his reaction, that was purely my opinion. He took it to a project session and although it was appreciated, the key person already was set on what they wanted to see, which was not what I had thrown together.

Long story short: the designs I’ve produced so far have received a mostly positive response from the project members and a totally positive response from the friends and relatives that have seen them, so this isn’t a tooth gnashing session or a claim that the costumers on this movie ripped me off (check the dating on the sketch!). It’s just that when I saw the movie poster and a few stills from Nim’s Island, I was convinced even more that my idea would have connected really well with the target audience and saved the animator a lot of headache.

Oh well, then…

2008-04-01T05:23:00.000-07:00

a cartoonin’ man is what I am…

It’s really difficult getting back to work after having a great weekend, far less a great long weekend, but I’m gonna try.

After possessing a valid driver’s permit for over seven years now and having a fairly clean run at operating a vehicle, I finally got into my first minor accident that’s a major shame for an experienced driver. Basically, I reversed into a wall. Not too fast, mind you. Just fast enough to warrant a trip to the straightener’s and the Bamboo to find replacement tail lights.

Although I could have used some plastic weld to seal the damage the not too subtle thump caused, I felt like replacing my tail lights anyway. After all, original tail lights on a 1991 Corolla should have a fair amount of stress lines on them and my Corolla is no exception. The straightening/painting estimate is for way less than I anticipated, which is a welcome thing in light of the recent engine replacement. It’s just another in a long string of incidents that happen every time Katie and I decide to venture out with company.
So we went to Mosh Mania at Tsunami on Saturday and when the night was over I was convinced of five things:

1. I’ll always fly the metal flag wherever I go, but

2. I’m getting too old for the local rock scene.

3. As much as I dig the live performances being a newbie guitar player and all,
I feel compelled to strangle 95.1% the crowd at these shows with guitar wire. Or piano string so…

4. I’ll stick to the occasional Jointpop or Orange Sky shows,

5. But you’ll have to convince me away from my workspace for those because from now on, I’m a cartoonin’ man.

Still, I had a good time until I became exhausted and sat out the rest of the performances. It was strange but not surprising watching Taking Down Ivory’s drummer go at it because I remember him best as the wild and strange younger brother of one of the few people from my Primary School days with whom I'm still in contact. A straight pro, he kept on playing even when the Pete Wentz-style jackasserry of their bassist knocked a microphone stand down and took his cymbals with it.

It was after Everything Is Eventual’s performance, which followed Taking Down Ivory, that I felt in the need for a walking stick or better yet, a walker. Everything Is Eventual was pretty funny. Probably for geriatrics like myself who’d never heard of them, they introduced themselves as a bunch of guys that took things lightly, then launched into a set that would make the earlier efforts of GWAR and Green Jello Proud. The high point of their set was the Betty Crocker song.

I woke up around eleven on Sunday and continued the pleasant long weekend festivities. Too bad I didn’t allocate any time for art, but I did manage to buy and read Sin City: The Big Fat Kill, get in some guitar practice, show off the not-for-me artwork as well as turn someone on to John Allison’s freakishly amazing Scary Go Round (www.scarygoround.com go there now).

…and now I’m back at work, wishing for the weekend.

2008-03-26T05:18:00.000-07:00

dance music for unhappy people

Satyricon have gotten a lot of shit for the Now, Diabolical album. After being responsible for Mother North, however, they can do whatever the fuck they want.

Like motivate goths to dance. I'd pay to see that.

2008-03-20T12:44:00.000-07:00

fire it up

I finally got around to getting the new Modest Mouse album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank over the weekend. It's interesting how despite tightening up their sound with every release since This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About, plus successfully coming into mainstream awareness with Float On (Good News For People Who Love Bad News) how they haven't succumbed to success' temptation to water themselves down as many other bands have done.

I miss what I called their untuned, sloppy progressive sound, but that's of no concern when you have all their albums. Plus, this one is more dancy, even with Isaac Brock's themes of "Aw goddammit". I'm surprised that in many of the album reviews I've read, they left out my favourite track Fire It Up. It's nothing short of amazing, as is the rest of the album.

2008-03-18T15:07:00.004-07:00

familiar yet?/memories of old days

Look familiar yet? I used to drive one of these a very short while ago and I miss it. Rear wheel drive with an 18R engine from a Toyota Mark II. A side by side comparison of a Corolla station wagon and a Cressida sedan would reveal how small the Corolla is and by extension, just how fun it was to drive one with an 18R engine.

I still drive a Corolla but front wheel drive, modestly powered vehicles just aren't the same.

But that isn't why it should look familiar. The tease'll be over soon, provided that I don't put out another related sketch before the colour job is done (that's shaping up nicely in the midst of midterm assignment period, by the way).

2008-03-14T04:44:00.000-07:00

fight! fight! fight! fight

Look familiar yet? He's usually mild mannered, but I guess that's another case against those long haired, troublemakin' rock and/or rollers. You'll see where this is leading soon enough.

2008-03-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

fuc fuc, fuckin' the dog

Children of 80'ss T.V would know what I'm talking about when I say I am seriously Stephen J. Cannell-ing it these days.
tappity tap tap taptap *shrippp*
tappity tap tap taptap *shrippp*
tappity tap tap taptap *shrippp* ... "Hahaha.Writing sure is fun. It just pours out of me as I sit in front my typewriter, wearing this cool.as.all.hell jacket."
*sighs*
tappity tap tap taptap *shrippp*
tappity tap tap taptap *shrippp*
tappity tap tap taptap *shrippp*

I write for work (it's unfulfilling!). I write for class(it's as sympathetic in it's sheer volume much in the way that serial rapists are to their victims!). I write for Tiny Balloons (in a sense of near abandonment!). Here's my third GG Allin related post:

I think it's clossing in on one year since the colour job started on this, so what the hell, here's the pencils.

2008-03-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

rrrryyyyyooooooozaaannnpaaaaakuuuuuuuu!

So there I was last night thinking that as soon as things slow down I have to re-watch Giant Robo: The Day The Earth Stood Still, as well as my Monty Python movies. I was so excited about Giant Robo that I tried to do a sketch of Chief Chujo a.k.a Silent Chujo the Ryozanpaku, wielder of the Big Bang Punch.

I just had the chance to make a quick check on episode 7 to see how good my memory was. Once that was done, I had to add his moustache and beard. While adding in those facial decorations, I remembered Katie telling me some months into our relationship that she didn't notice I had a moustache. She saw the weak attempt at the goatee (which, according to perception has been beefed up since then) but no moustache.

I'm attending to midterm responsibilities at the moment and so am on a break from my outside projects. As a result, I am working feverishly to get something personal done. Can't wait to finish it and add it to the approved pieces for my portfolio, as well as post it here.

2008-02-27T17:40:00.000-08:00

look familiar?

Oc course it shouldn't look familiar... I did this real quick this afternoon as proof that yes, I am still drawing. This here's one of the background characters from the piece that I'm burning to put in inks and colours as soon as the other not-for-me projects are done. I'd like to say that I can't wait for that to happen, but the not-for-me projects have had me rather inspired these days.

Speaking of not for me: I've been doing a bit of character designs lately for another project that's also not mine. Not sure when the committee meeting is taking place to pick out what works for them but at the rate I'm going, there'll be a lot of stuff that I'm going to be free to show off once the selection process is complete.

2008-02-20T06:01:00.000-08:00

new digs

Working on art these days, but it's not for me and by extension, you unfortunately. There's one planned update for whom the name Michael Murphey Also sounds familiar and I can't wait to get it inked and coloured, but the current project must be wrapped up before I attend to my own things.

Katiepie found that a clutter prone person like myself should have a larger space at which to work, so...

If you look closely, you'll see my new Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet lying in front of the monitor.

Here's a stupid doodle I came up with at work when I was frustrated after having to do an nth rewrite, after an editing session of depressingly murky quality.

The little sign says "The End is Nigh".

2008-02-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

g.g allin

I'm hoping to wrap work on Young Hanuman tonight, but i couldn't resist attempting a colour job on this loose sketch of G.G Allin i did at work today. Drawing it with a fountain pen saved me the time of inking it in Photoshop, a real momentum killer as I await my Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet and am kicking it old school with a regular PC mouse in the meantime.

Took me in the vicinity of an hour to finish this.

Back to work on Young Hanuman.

2008-01-31T17:22:00.000-08:00

9:23 p.m

My landlady's installing a banister. Right now. Isn't that great? At 9:22 p.m!

2008-01-28T09:46:00.000-08:00

of bad and good

My starter pen tablet has been messing up for some months now. It's managed to slow the momentum on a lot of projects I started so naturally, it's a no-brainer that it got in the way of the Young Hanuman as well.

To its credit, it did manage to function like new for two day, only to resume being totally problematic when I was rounding the home stretch on that piece.

That's the bad news. The momentum as well as the starter pen tablet, is dead.

The good news is that an order was placed last Friday for a replacement: I'm ready to step up to a Wacom pen tablet. The Bamboo Fun, to be exact. I'll post pics of the new and old tablet when i get it, as well as a finished Young Hanuman.

2008-01-15T16:56:00.000-08:00

atom heart clucker

Normally it takes me forever to get stuff done, but while Katie and I were watching Juno just now, I filled in the rough lines I started at work this morning.

I went a little nuts on the sketching pencils I bought last week; Derwent HB, 2B, 4B and 8B pencils to be exact...on a Strathmore 5.5 by 8.5 inch skechpad... to be more exact.

2008-01-14T07:47:00.000-08:00

you gotta be crazy...

Bad news first: it's not as if I was sitting aroung waiting for things to happen, but the conveniently effective team of managerial henchmen have begun their machinations to make life irritating for us in what's become the company's equivalent of the broom closet.

I fully expect them to send a representative bearing their half assed optimism in a fortnight or so to officially break the news to us. Work wise, it's bad news but considering that I've been happier and considerably less stressed since transferring out of the salt pit, I'm at a point where I can say that I don't care what happens, so long as I'm still collecting my package of peanuts at the end of the month. I'll just listen to Pink Floyd's Animals in the meantime and fool myself into believing that the pigs and their dogs shall get theirs someday.

Good news: I've been contacted by the person in charge of the project on which I'm dying to get on board. It pretty much killed the test piece's purpose, but seeing how I'm well into the color stage, I'll post it as soon as I'm done.

The Tiny Ballons script is coming along well and it has helped solve some problems I had with regards to character design and story direction, by the way...

2008-01-10T06:18:00.000-08:00

illustrator job pitch

New Year Resolution: Pay attention to art projects.

Tiny Balloons was supposed to be off the ground by the end of 2007 but that never happened. I no longer have to vie for PC time since Katie got her laptop, so 2008 is the year of devotion to my projects, especially Tiny Balloons.

Speaking of projects, an opportunity arose and I'm in the process of putting together a pitch piece, since I have nothing at the moment that fits in with the project theme. Here's the pencils.

For those of you who don't know, young Hanuman frequently teased meditating saints. Quite a cheeky little menace, the saints put a teeny, tiny curse on him so that he would forget just how powerful he was. Can't imagine how many beards were lost as the result of a playful tug. Quite an interesting Hindu figure, Hanuman is.
I wish this would serve as my return to manual inking, but the schedule doesn't allow for it, unfortunately.

And here's another photo of my parents' tame rooster, because he can't resist a camera.

2007-12-31T18:55:00.000-08:00

well damn, that's it

It's a bit difficult to accept that 2007 is over, considering how the 1999 into 2000 freakout, what with the Y2K bug and all is still fresh in my mind. It was a weird and at times trying year, but 2008...well...let's wait and see what happens with that.

Although there are a few important things on my mind on which to place priority for the new year, I'm officially resolving to usher in 2009 in a manner that isn't usually reserved for the "Another Fucking Tuesday Night" celebration.

Happy New Year!

2007-12-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

storm over the shoulder

Katiepie and I have been on a roll as far as good weekends are concerned. It’s a nice way to balance out things as the year draws to a close, especially how the year, thanks to me, did not start well at all. Things progressed as the year wore on: we moved into a larger apartment, accumulated a lot of stuff, maximised our together time and settled well into the role as two young adults.

On the downside, appearances by close or special friends have been reduced and futile relationships have disappeared abruptly, in a manner befitting the original writers of the Gilmore Girls, but that’s been chalked up to life being life. Katiepie and I agree though, that life lately has been great.

There was a story arc from Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise which began with a character’s dream of her being on a perfect beach, watching as a storm crept surely towards her idyllic beachfront spot. Sure, she could have taken one for the spirit of optimism and turned around to appreciate the way the sun fell on her perfect bungalow, but that wouldn’t have done anything to keep the storm at bay.

It reminded me of my current situation, which is tied in with my usual year-end January dread. See, as much as I appreciate being employed, every year begins with some form or the other of change but most times, it’s bad news. Sometimes it’s so bad, it’s downright hideous. It’s going on two years since we’ve gotten the news that things are going to be shaken up considerably at work. Some say it’s absorption, some say it’s a big fuss over nothing and many say it’s the end. I’ve tried hard to be optimistic about this news, but it became overwhelming to the point where, among other reasons, I had to get out of my previous department just to be part of the ignorant, blissful masses.

It’s worked thus far. I’m ignorant, blissful and my current job has provided me with a frightful amount of free time, which I have been able to put to mostly constructive use. I try not to think about my previous department as it’s pretty easy to get bitter over a lot that transpired, but it’s funny in a shallow, bitter way to think that I’m being paid to do very little now, as opposed to being paid to be the stone that produces blood as well as offer shit-eating grins when receiving flack for not performing other people’s duties efficiently.

It’s a vacation where work and meetings still allow for reading and creative space-out sessions, but in all of this, all it takes is one doom & gloom conspiracy theory to remind me that a storm still lurks at my back while I marvel at my beach bungalow while sipping coconut water from a hollowed pineapple. And while I do feel a sense of dread at being out of a job for a short or uncertain period, it’s not because I give a crap about the job or the company’s bigger picture. It’s the downtime and lack of earnings, y’see.

Because when I look at the bungalow, I see Katiepie with Booboo Bobobo in her arms. Katie’s urging me to come inside so we could be nice and cozy while the storm could go fuck itself.

My lack of organization may very well prevent me from putting anything up to communicate the wishes of the season, so I may as well get it out o the way: best wishes to you and yours from me and mine. Thanks for visiting and keep doing so for as long as you can. Have an enjoyable and practical 2008!

2007-12-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

got...to...concentrate

Because if this stupid events Management project isn't finished by bedtime, I'm fucked.

2007-12-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

update:two down, one to go
Here's how the hair on the shampoo ad girl finished up.

two down, one to go

My final Critical Analysis project is complete and ready for presentation to the lecturer this afternoon. All that remains are two Event Management projects due Thursday; one to be proofread but ready to go otherwise, and the other is to organize and put (slap) together tonight.

Other than that, I feel tired and burnt out. I'll be glad when this and a lot of other things have run their course.

ehhh...who gives, anyway? Here are two Post-It sketches I did today.

A redesign of Terry from Tiny Balloons. I'm not happy with it because he looks as he should after a few story arcs. He's supposed to be awkward, but I'm just not seeing it here.

There was a really nice shampoo ad on Page 15, Section A of today's Newsday. The model's smile was so pretty I couldn't resist attempting to recreate the ad. I probably failed, but that's the breaks, ay?

2007-11-27T11:32:00.000-08:00

news flash

Nick Pickles, why can't you give me the timely news I need? Instead I have to rely on the internet to find out what my supposedly good buddy is up too.

2007-11-26T15:34:00.000-08:00

comments are disabled

here's why:

Oi, achei seu blog pelo google estÃ¡ bem interessante gostei desse post. Gostaria de falar sobre o CresceNet. O CresceNet Ã© um provedor de internet discada que remunera seus usuÃ¡rios pelo tempo conectado. Exatamente isso que vocÃª leu, estÃ£o pagando para vocÃª conectar. O provedor paga 20 centavos por hora de conexÃ£o discada com ligaÃ§Ã£o local para mais de 2100 cidades do Brasil. O CresceNet tem um acelerador de conexÃ£o, que deixa sua conexÃ£o atÃ© 10 vezes mais rÃ¡pida. Quem utiliza banda larga pode lucrar tambÃ©m, basta se cadastrar no CresceNet e quando for dormir conectar por discada, Ã© possÃvel pagar a ADSL sÃ³ com o dinheiro da discada. Nos horÃ¡rios de minuto Ãºnico o gasto com telefone Ã© mÃnimo e a remuneraÃ§Ã£o do CresceNet generosa. Se vocÃª quiser linkar o Cresce.Net(www. .com) no seu blog eu ficaria agradecido, atÃ© mais e sucesso. If is possible add the CresceNet(www. .com) in your blogroll, I thank. Good bye friend.

You can go fuck yourself, CresceNet. An organized person would simply activate the comment moderation feature to prevent a recurrence of spam, but other than not having the time, I don't give a shit. Go suck a cock.

2007-11-21T16:07:00.000-08:00

"it makes my head look fat, doesn't it?"

Heya! In an effort to cut down the time I spend at work fucking about on the internet, I've been using the Powermac G4 in my workspace to get some artwork done. Ta-da!

Look familiar? Scroll down a bit and you'll see the original sketch I did on a 6x3 Post-It note.

One thing that floored me was the work on the eyes. Here's a closer view.

When I was convinced I could do no more on the eyes, stepped back and examined the work...I nearly wet myself.

Since I have access to a machine with Photoshop at work now, I'm hoping to update a bit more regularly. Who knows?

2007-11-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

three friends

Three friends are made, three lives are laughs and tears
Through years of school and play they share
As time stands still the days change into years
And future comes without a care.
But fate and skill and chances play their part
The wind of change leaves no good-bye
Three boys are men their ways have drawn apart
They tell their tales to justify.

Three friends, a 1972 concept album by progressive rock band Gentle Giant tells the story of three schoolmates. Three good friends who, over time, turn into three very different men.

One becomes a labourer. A practical, simple road digger who lives for the reward of pay day.
The other becomes an artist who agonizes and labours needlessly on his work, seeing flaws where others do not.
The last becomes the respected man in charge - he who gives the orders.

Three friends, now changed men, have nothing left in common and never meet again. Sounds sad, but the astonishingly beautiful title track which brings the story to an end somehow assures that although the story of the three friends has ended, the story of the labourer, the artist and the man of class and quality is far from done.

I love this album.

2007-11-13T05:14:00.000-08:00

another recommendation

My feature's done until the writer's meeting scheduled for later today demands that it gets fattened/tightened. I'm really happy to have this weight offf my shoulders, so I think I'm going to work on some art stuff today. I finally got over my hesitation to use the office Mac yesterday, but it had Photoshop and I couldn't resist. It might piss the folks on either side of the PC/Mac wall to know, but aside from the single button mouse and keyboard commands, a computer's a computer.

Anyway, here's another recommendation to add to your favourites. Scary go round. All I've read so far is one strip and the cast page, but as always, it's off to the archives to begin from strip one.

I can say, though, that I love the character designs. So refreshing to see cartoonists doing anything else outside of the anime derivative.

2007-11-12T05:50:00.000-08:00

cock on the roof

Isn't he charming? He was so tame, he sauntered up to me and I tested my luck by offering him half a chocolate chip cookie. That was a first for me - watching a rooster eat a cookie. It must have opened up his appetite because he went after a banana my dad put on the garage roof for the birds. But hey, a chicken's a bird, right?

It's been a week already, I know, but I went to my parents' place last Sunday to retrieve some stuff from the rat package. Katie was beginning to doubt that the little sucker was there to begin with, but that fear was put aside when we retrieved Ratatouille all mashed flat from one of the old sketchpads.

Sad to say, it was pretty easy going through what didn't smell like days-old rat carcass in order to retrieve what I wasn't fucking ashamed of. I only got five sheets worth of stuff that Katie wants me to scan/photograph and get rid of. I'm pretty sure they aren't going anywhere, no matter how much she complains about the lingering rat stench that I sure as hell haven't smelt.

So Divali weekend came and went and I didn't feel a thing. Strange, but Divali and Eid used to feel like real big stuff back in the day but maybe it's because I'm way too comfortable under my bridge or because people aren't trusting anymore, but those two religious holidays feel pretty low-key now. Didn't see much Deya displays set up either. Still, it was a pretty nice long weekend. I mostly felt like I ran into a wall during the Lazarus attempt on many in progress Photoshop colour jobs and fucked about playing God of War while Katiepie and her mom put up Christmas decorations. I'm getting really slack now with the art stuff because I'm actually pausing during colour jobs, trying to remember a keyboard shortcut or which menu gives me what. True, i'm not proud of it at all because I'm trying for some fun, quick colour jobs on some throwaway bored office sketches.

It definitely felt great to be away from work and not have to be hurrying down a class project though...although I have three outstanding at the moment.

2007-11-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

washday

Working from home sure felt nice on Friday. Nobody came to open up the building, so instead of sitting there and complain about the whole damn thing, I came home and continued working on my feature. Despite the comfortable temptations to slack off, i managed an additional fifty percent wordcount from the previous afternoon's version of the document. I'm splitting time between that and my C.A project this weekend because frankly, I'm damn tired of the both of them. Artwork needs to be resumed!

I managed to get the weekly wash done in a record four hours. Now I'm going to finally start on my Critical Assignment project that's been lying unattended for the past five weeks and is due this Tuesday.
The bedroom's kinda stuffy and I'm tempted to install Photoshop CS3, so I'm gonna be working out of the living room thanks to Katie's new laptop.
The day has been full of crazies and their blaring political jingles, I tell you. I'm going to stay indoors where it's nice and quiet.

2007-11-01T05:24:00.000-07:00

ratting out

I should have been working feverishly on my quickly running out off time Critical Analysis project, but rat duty got in the way. See, a tiny rat must have gotten into the apartment via the space under the front door and Katie was adamant that I got rid of it. Wasn’t anything I could really do, since the little guy ran into our place when we were getting ready for work. He was considerate enough to dart into our spare room, which was considerately supplied with an insect spray-soaked slice of bread and considerately locked shut so as to give him all the privacy he needed for the day.
I got home early and despite what I told Katie when she called repeatedly to track my progress, I needed an hour to prepare myself to take Ratatouille (Katie named him. Surprisingly, she’s terrified of rats). After taking the room apart, emptying drawers, moving wardrobes and dressers, rifling through the laundry basket and reassembling a stack rack that collapsed as I nervously searched for our four legged intruder, I remembered that rats love making nests out of paper. Again, I checked my portfolio of old stuff, only to see this ridiculously long tail wiggle and disappear within the pages of a badly water damaged sketchbook.
At the time, I thought it would be best of I multi-bagged the entire thing, take it outside and beat it with a hammer for a while, which I did. For ten minutes, more or less.
It was only after this that I remembered there was one piece from 1997, my all-time favourite that I decided to store until the day I could have it somewhat professionally completed, was still in the bag. Now, my philosophy for disposal is that when you’re done with something, that’s it. If it’s not going to charity, it shouldn’t be in any use to anyone else. The whole damn parcel’s going with me when I visit my parents on Sunday so I can treat it to an honorable disposal in fire. It’s the end of an era, I tell you.

There's at most fifteen years of memories in there.

Fifteen years and hopefully a very dead rat.

So I guess the people who've kept the art they've gotten from me over the years really have something special now (well, the guy who has the one with the X-Men's Jubilee masturbating always thought it was something, lemme tell you).

btw...Calamity Jon Morris's 2007 installation of Boo! Halloween Stories are up and runnin'. Check 'em out while you can.