Sean Rule

Here's another one of these

2012-01-29T10:42:00.003-04:00

I'm finding these are having a vaguely 80's kind of feel to them. If want to make it really 80's, I should use more pastel colours and arbitrarily placed geometric shapes. Maybe next time.

Here's another thing that happened today: I realized that "Frosty the Snowman" would work much better as an over-the-top metal song. So far:

The Helm was wrought with Dark Sorcery
The Golem of Ice stood tall
And once brought to hideous, unnatural Life
He pronounced the Kingdom's fall

Imagine that wailed over a heavy lightning fast guitar riff, and you'll know what it's like to live in my head. I'm sorry to have to put you through that.

Displacer Beast Rampant

2012-01-07T20:09:00.005-04:00

House Kraegurn all up in your grill.

So, I've started playing Pathfinder again, and inspired by the whole Game of Thrones thing, I decided my guy there needed a coat-of-arms like the Starks and the Lannisters and the rest of them. I think some good words would be "Over sea and Underdark", but I'm sure once the fever breaks it'll all be perfectly punctual apricot mittens.

And that was pretty much 2011

2011-12-30T20:40:00.014-04:00

Lots of people do "process posts" out there, but I never really have. Much of that has to do with the fact that many of the people who look at these things I have here are excellent artists to begin with, and are already perfectly aware of artistic "process" and don't need somebody like me to go "Ah, now, here is how we CREATE!" But in this case I actually have the various stages saved, largely by accident, so rather than just post the finished bit I thought I'd post all of it and so better better expose myself to the insults and derision of my enemies (You know who you are!) If you're learning to draw, well, maybe this'll help, maybe it won't, but if you read it at work it'll help kill some time.

First up is what we artists call the "gesture drawing", because calling them "scribbles" would be undignified. Most artists don't show their scribbles too much because they tend to look terrible, mine more so than most. It would be kind of like Rod Stewart recording and releasing that first tuneless hum in the shower that eventually became the full bodied "Da Ya think I'm Sexy". Picture Rod Stewart in the shower. PICTURE IT!

This is an important part of the whole process thing, because it's at this stage you're figuring out exactly what the hell it is you're drawing. You're trying to get the flow, form , structure and all those good things that will hopefully carry over to the end. If this were done on paper rather than in Flash, you'd see a ton of eraser marks in there and it would be really smudgy, as I tried to get something worth looking at. Some art school folks will tell you to avoid erasing at all, just let it all pour out onto the page. Screw 'em, I say. Use the eraser to try and sculpt what you're doing, don't just erase willy-nilly

Next we have the rough, or "ruff" for those of us who need to shave precious seconds by not writing an extra letter. This is usually the first stage most artists are willing to show anybody. "Yeah, I got some of my stuff right here. No big deal, just some ruffs. Y'know." Now you're picking some truth out of the scribbles, tightening things up while keeping in mind the shapes and forms (and hopefully some anatomy, if ya know any) This drawing is tighter than most of my roughs, 'cause once again I was erasing as I went. If it were pencil, there would likely be more construction lines and stuff in there. If you're drawing a formula or character you're familiar with you can likely come straight here without the scribbles, but you may find you get a stiffer drawing. I find I do, anyway.

Next, we clean! At this point I'm beginning to realize why I never do this, because as fun as it is to draw, I'm honestly starting to get a bit bored writing about it. How do those art book guys do this? That nutty Jack Hamm. Anyhoo, don't think of them as outlines so much as shapes, line weight can do a lot to keep it from getting flat, keep it loose, etc etc.

Colour! Never really got the hang of colour. I can see in colour, of course, I just have poor taste. I admire artists with good taste in colour a great deal, especially subtle, muted tones. I know the basic theory and all, but I always find myself slapping on big gobs of bright clashing pigment. For this I was kind of doing a trademark logo type of deal, so I mainly kept it minimal and striking, with an eye towards reduction and reproduction. Which is to say, her clothes are black, her book is red.

So that's my big process post. If you liked it, thanks! Your praise is gratifying, and shows your excellent taste in fine blogging! If you didn't, take solace that it's unlikely that I'll do another one soon.

Happy new year, hope 2012 is full of joy and happiness and fewer bacterial infections!

Werewolf, Knight, Elf, Tree

2011-12-16T19:44:00.009-04:00

This month I learned that you can treat a goldfish with swim bladder/buoyancy issues by feeding it a single pea. I'm still not sure why.

This month I learned that camels have "reversed genitals". They do not, however, have extra knees in their hind legs.

This month I learned that one of the reasons King James instituted his English translation of the Bible was because the Geneva Bible, which was the previous most popular translation, was seen as containing too much anti-royal sentiment. The "Bishops Bible" was decidedly pro-royal, but nobody liked it.

This month I learned that if you fell into lava, you wouldn't sink. Although lava is more or less a liquid, it's still much denser than a person, so you would just hit the top and burn.

Bonus:

"Werewolf, Knight, Tree" doesn't sound as good as "Werewolf, Knight, Elf, Tree", so that's why the elf is there. I also have this bonus elf:

Merry Christmas, see you in the New Year.

Hey, here's some things to look at in a hurry

2011-11-29T18:22:00.004-04:00

Whoops, quickly now, down this way, wotcherstep, here's one:

Bonus: Also this.

My Daughter is Nonplussed by Modok

2011-10-30T17:32:00.003-04:00

I made a Modok costume for Halloween. That is all.

A Boy And His Lizard

2011-10-20T18:41:00.002-04:00

The grease and salt at the bottom of the bag.

2011-09-24T12:22:00.004-04:00

Hey diddle diddle
I seem to lack spittle
I thus cannot blow my horn
I tried this here fiddle
But it ain't beer and skittles
As my rotator cuff is torn

He kept to himself
Ne'er a curse, cuss, nor holler
'Till the day he decided
To wear a ruffed collar

There were seven to start
But seven's too many
She got carried away
Now she hasn't got any

When you got way too much
You go through 'em to fast
When you had it was Now
But Now it's all Past

One got lost in a crowd
One got caught in a breeze
One was trapped, one was drowned
One was bled out by fleas

The last two left together
They ran for their lives
To escape the cruel fate
Of the unfortunate five

Under the sofa, behind the monopoly shoe

2011-08-28T16:54:00.008-04:00

Look, here it is again for the first time.

Back when I drew this, I said "She should have worn a shirt." It's as true now as it ever was, but the passage of time has revealed more layers, including the ones I can't remember.

I've started watching some old Johnny Quest episodes my brother-in-law gave to me along with a stack of other cartoons (again, many thanks Scott, if you're reading this, or even if you're not, in which case does my gratitude even exist? Is it like Schrodinger's Thank-you note?), and I noticed something that I never noticed before. You probably have, as it's pretty obvious: there's no women in that cartoon. Not one. Not even in the background. Now, it could be that it's because boys were the target audience. But it could also be that Joe and Bill just don't know how to make girl characters.
And once you start walking down that road, you kinda notice that most cartoons don't usually have a lot of women characters in them. And when they're there, they just kind of seem tacked on, with the same two or three personality types recycled through them. "This girl's SPUNKY! Such a thing has never been done before!"
It happened to me once in animation school. Both me and one of my classmates came up with two very different pitch ideas for cartoons independently. However, what the two pitches had in common was that they both had exactly ONE girl character, and they both had EXACTLY the same personality description. It was kinda sad.
Could I do better now? Am I older, wiser, with a more mature outlook? I dunno. I doubt that picture I just posted is helping my case very much, in any event.
Plus, we're making cartoons here. If someone describes a cartoon to you as "older, wiser, with a more mature outlook," they usually aren't going to add in "hilarious".
Fact is, most cartoons usually rely on stock character types for both genders. You don't need to know someone's deep dark character background to hit 'em with a hammer fer a laff. Still, I think it's worth thinking about, if only to recognize the limitations we place on ourselves because "That's how we've always done it."

Well, this post got way out of hand and wandered all over the landscape. I was originally going to bring up Johnny Quest because the other thing that struck me about the show was how it was parodied in Venture Brothers over forty years after it was on TV, and how everyone was giving Space Knights a hard time about being a parody of fifteen year old property.

Of course, those folks who cared about Space Knights at all stopped caring about it two years ago.

Man, I'm behind the times. Like, in cubesville, Daddio.

Traditional trraditionalist practices tradition

2011-07-30T18:03:00.003-04:00

Animating with actual paper and pencil, like granpa didn't. Look, actual wrinkles in the pages from flipping!

I've found that "CTRL Z" and "Q" have made me very lazy about keeping track of volumes and things. It makes me feel shame. Then remorse. Then a little hungry. So I had a snack, and now it's all OK again.

One drawing is all you get, because I'm also lazy about doing a line test. And lazy about figuring out how to set up a line tester. And lazy about posting more than once a month at the last second.

Or, I mean, I've been busy! Yes, that will do.

Pouring out my pain, my hopes, my fears.

2011-06-23T09:39:00.010-04:00

Mr. Zak Smith addresses a kobold:
"Listen, buddy, 'Kobold' is another one of those words that means something terribly specific to people who play D&D and means nothing at all to anybody else. (Except for maybe very old and very superstitious Germans.) The trouble with you people is the web of associations is very very small: I say 'kobold' and your average player thinks, at best, 'one of those usually very poorly drawn dogdragongoblinmidget things in D&D' or, at worst, (if you're new to the game) nothing at all....yes, I do have a job for you, little pike-wielding muppetmonster, though here at DnDWP Isle we're changing this fancy German name, got it?--from now on you're a Thorn Goblin or Scaled Goblin or Bastard Goblin. Welcome to America."

Saves me having to write something, and I doubt I could come up with anything better than that anyway.

Bee-Bar runs afoul of a Giant Phroyd. Get it? Sure you do.

Pull the string, the arrow spins 'round, and the muffled voice drones out, "The Grell says...Bam!"

'Cause why not?

I have the same birthday as Robert E. Howard.

2011-05-26T10:59:00.002-04:00

But he still forgets to send me a card.

I saw the best minds of my generation slain by kobolds...

Ketchup on Lunch Tray, Numbers 3 and 7

2011-05-24T09:18:00.003-04:00

Montague Graham, he sure loves his ham
But he finds it gets stuck in his teeth
It makes him glum, 'cause his gums become numb
From all the Ham that's crammed there underneath.

Also Starring: Galumph

And from the "This sounded better in my head before I wrote it down" department:

So there's these two guys, right? And they each have a map of France. And the first guy, he looks and he says "This doesn't make any sense. I've never seen any place with red roads. And look, the water in the rivers and stuff is way too blue. Also, a real place would have mountains and buildings. It's been translated, copied and distorted, and it's pretty obviously all nonsense. The only conclusion I can draw is that this drawing is completely useless, and that there's no such place as France."

Now the second guy, he looks at his map and he says, "Wow, France. I'm gonna go there some day. When I do, I'm gonna visit the giant 'E'."

Same mistake, right? But also opposite mistakes, somehow. These two guys are gonna argue themselves silly about it, too, I bet.

Objects on internet are in poorer taste than they appear.

2011-04-23T15:13:00.003-04:00

There once was a fellow named Bernie
An ambulance chasing attorney
He'd race down the street
On spat-adorned feet
But was killed by a runaway gurney.

One for the Whedon-fan-type-folk-people.

2011-04-16T19:15:00.004-04:00

A: Did you know the devil built a robot?

W: Ah, yes...El Robotico Diablo...

A: Nobody tells me anything.

I'm not exactly timely, I'm afraid, I tend to be about ten to fifteen years behind in my television viewing. It's best aged, don't you know, like fine wine. So I'm told, I just drink it, I don't compare where the grapes came from or when they were picked. Barely look at the label. Huh, look at that, it was gin all along. Explains why the room's angled that way, I suppose. Point is, old TV shows are like fine angled grapes. So get off my back.

Miss McGuffin, and Tea

2011-03-26T11:14:00.005-04:00

Minstrel! Sing us a song!

She can't hear you
She's in her tower
She can't see you
She's across the sea
She's the one that
The Heroes strive for
Villains scheme for
Yeah, but she's with me

Chorus:
She's Miss Mcguffin
She's the Maltese Falcon
She's the Ring of Power
She's the Death Star plans
She's Princess Peach
She's the Golden Fleece
She's the Sangreal
She's the Spice Melange

She's Terrific
She's monolithic
She's full of stars
Floating deep in space
Locked in a crate
Top Men sealed her fate
'Cause she's enough to
Melt a Nazi's face

Chorus

Someday I'll be able write something without it being mainly pop culture references. But not today.

Also, sometimes people give me a hard time because I drink a lot of tea.

That'll teach you.

Toy Practice

2011-02-28T22:56:00.003-04:00

I've read drawing your toys can be good practice. I did a pretty miserable job here, this is one of my favorite Popeye toys.

Rimshot!

In the year Twenty-eleven

2011-01-14T10:21:00.006-04:00

2011 is off to a weird start. I have a job that may or may not last another month, I've been crazy sick, it's hard to recuperate because my new hobby is shoveling all the snow the evil sky god keeps dumping on us (and floods before that), and a nice lady from the government called the other day and told me I owe them 2 grand.

On the bright side, tho, Cindy gave me this awesome Velvet Elvis for Christmas:

Yessir, the King takes away the pain.

But with all this, I haven't really been drawing much, which puts me on edge like nothing else does. Whatever, here's some stuff that was lying around.

Never got around to posting this Ugly Baby strip with the other ones. Probably because it's kinda dumb. I mean, any idiot can tell that's not Magic Missile he's casting.

La la la happy bunny la la

Hamstoro demands cardboard tubes to run in! Caaaardboooaaard Tuuuuubes!

At least they eventually took my old fridge away. After the plow buried it 3 times.

Old School Comics

2010-12-03T12:37:00.012-04:00

I miss those old school comics wherein just about anybody with a costume could become a hero. This was especially true of DC; for example, the original Red Tornado was a lady with a sauce pan on her head. Thus: Ajax is a guy who's a fan of the Iliad and happens to have some armor lying around. That's it. Instant superhero.

Marvel had some good stuff, too. They liked to take two seemingly disparate ideas and fuse them into wonderful nonsense, like a metallic alien who rides a cosmic surfboard. And so: a Voidac is an interstellar nosferatu that assumes the form of a cloud of cosmic dust until a ship blunders through it. The voidac then causes damage to the outside of the ship, prompting someone come out to fix the problem. Then it's lunch time.

Also like old comics, These drawings are plainly labeled for the reader's convenience. They just don't make 'em like that anymore, folks.

There's a Reason For This

2010-11-19T19:36:00.001-04:00

Just don't ask what it is.

Zahd

2010-10-15T09:53:00.002-04:00

Not Zod. But you can say "Kneel before Zahd!" if you want to.

And people wonder why I don't look rested.

2010-10-07T19:44:00.002-04:00

I had some messed up dreams last night. Hand-to-hand combat on a bridge. Mutant Disney characters in the jungle. Watching soft-core pornography in the company of Betty White.

But all through these dreams, there was this tiger that would show up and start killing people. We would all scatter, I'd move on to the next dream, and then the damn tiger would show up again.

That is, until I arrived in a dream where it was announced on the radio that the Tiger Problem was so bad that a State of Emergency had been declared, and various resources had been called forth to deal with it. Foremost among these was a monkey.

"Is it Monkey-With-A-Big-Gun?", I asked, hardly daring to hope.

They nodded solemnly."Yes, it is."

At which point I leaned in to the mic and said very earnestly, "I just want to say that I'm a fan of Monkey-With-A-Big-Gun. I believe in him. I think he can do this."
Then my alarm went off, and I woke up.

Alright psychoanalysts. Get to work on THAT one.

Holee Crap, What's That?!

2010-09-26T11:21:00.002-04:00

It's the end of the month! And it's COMING RIGHT FOR US!!

FLEEEEEEEEE!!!!

The pages crackled as they were turned.

2010-08-08T15:52:00.005-04:00

When Time's thin walls are overthrown
And seeds of death and madness sown
When all's unmade and backward hurled
When glimpsed as One, the Triple World
Then Truth shakes to it's very core
And What was Sundered, whole once more

-Excerpt from The Cipher of Phulthan the Inscrutable

Is it true...

2010-08-07T09:33:00.003-04:00

That people don't like white letters on black background? I read that recently. Who knew? All this time, I've been causing people undue eyestrain and disgust. Kinda makes me like a super villain.

Until now. I've reformed. Now, I'm perfectly sane and trustworthy.

Sane.

Trustworthy.

Scanner's Working Again

2010-07-23T17:50:00.005-04:00

...but I haven't found the time to scan more stuff in and it's almost the end of the month and I wanna change the design of the blog anyway but I haven't found the time for that either and the cat is leaking and the house has run away.

So here's some stuff that was already on my hard drive for almost a year. I never intended to post them, and they're sketchy-smudgerific.

The dancers want more money. I guess. She's clearly pissed about SOMETHING.

You ever like something, but you don't want to like it? You like it, but kind of against your better judgment? It's sort of a thing where you don't see yourself as the kind of person who would like that kind of stuff?

Not me. I only like awesome things.

So this one time I go into this gaming store, because I want to buy some dice. And I'm kind of wandering around a bit, because I've never been in there before, so the clerk sidles up to me and starts trying to make some sales. He shows me where the dice is, and he asks DND style questions like "What kind of character do you play?" To which I reply "Tiefling Warlock," 'cause that is, indeed, what I play. So he shows me where all the minis and books are too, and buggers off. All the books and minis are, of course, hilariously expensive, so I instead go to the comics. I select a "Hellboy" trade paperback, and saunter over to the counter to pay. As I'm paying, the clerk gives me this kind of odd little look and says "Hellboy fan, huh?" and I say "Yeah, Mignola's great," or something along those lines, and make my exit. On the way back to the car, I realize: That guy thinks I have some kind of crazy devil fetish.

I don't. But this picture does nothing to help my case, however unlikely the pose may be.

Here, at the end, you've no doubt noticed that if I hadn't written all that extra nonsense, I probably could have used the time to scan something. You really should have mentioned it sooner. We could have avoided all this.

Pal...buddy...chief...

2010-07-12T17:22:00.004-04:00

You ever write something, and think to yourself, "Ho ho, aren't I clever, funny kind of fellow," but then you read it again a little later, and you think, "Say, I'm kind of a tool"? Well, I recently looked back on some older posts, and came to just this conclusion. Most recently that one in May. "What am I writing here? I have no rules for my blog. I can barely function as an upright hominid, without making up weird arbitrary rules for myself." This is the kind of thing that happens when you write sometimes, you forget people can't hear your tone of voice.

So today I'm posting one of my favorite musical scenes from a modern cartoon, just to show ya. Also, my scanner isn't working, so I can't post drawings.

Wish the quality was better, but beggars can't be choosers.

Can't Stop

2010-06-26T13:33:00.003-04:00

They're foolish. They're juvenile. They cause a horrible rash.

I warned you, didn't I?

Funny funny funny, What money can do.

2010-06-19T16:52:00.005-04:00

Feelin' a bit Mignola-y, knowhaddamean? His work is deceptively simple looking...

Can't stop drawin' dat wacky goblin. Shoulda seen da one dat got away!

Annabelle de Plaingiere. She's just a femme fatale with a dark past and a shocking secret. OR IS SHE?! Regardless, should have left enough room to draw her hand. Rookie rookie rookie mistake.

And now, a Word from Our Sponsor:

You tell 'em, Captain.

Ugly Baby!

2010-06-13T18:27:00.008-04:00

Ugly Baby, Kids! YAAAAAAY!

Recently I showed these to my wife, Cindy, and she became very quiet.

"Oh. Uh, these are...well..."

She was obviously uncomfortable, so I kind of explained to her where they came from and what the idea behind them was. When I was finished, she was visibly relieved.

"Well, that makes sense, then. I was kinda worried you'd gone, y'know, insane."

Now, I've skimmed the surface on some of the darker corners of the internet (and I mean BARELY skimmed the surface. The internet truly scares me), so I was more concerned these would come across as self indulgent and boring. It didn't honestly occur to me they might seem worrying to family and loved ones.

So, maybe I'll write a little something about them, if I can figure out how to do that without sounding like a knob. 'Til then, enjoy.

P.S. Cindy also wished me to mention that the Gerussi Kraken looked more like Gabe Kaplan to her. Such are my caricature skills, I'm afraid. Although to be fair, the 'fro and mustache look was a popular one, back in the day.

Something Had Changed Them

2010-06-02T17:55:00.003-04:00

...they could scarcely be seen at all if the light was bad, and they went about their mysterious business in complete silence, uttering neither word nor sound to anyone. What the precise nature of that business was, none could discern.

- Dr. Archaimbaud Nero, Journals

WHAT did you just say?

2010-05-17T20:34:00.004-04:00

It usually happens at about twenty past or twenty to the hour, or so I'm told.

But that's not what it's for.

2010-05-14T12:45:00.004-04:00

When I started this blog, I specifically told my self that it would be only for art purposes. I'm a selfish bastard, it's my blog, so it's gonna be my stuff that goes on here. My writing, my drawings, my animation. And with a very few exceptions, I've stuck to that.

But today, I break my rule. And it sort of IS animation related, because it has to do with a friend I made back in animation school. I fell out of touch with him quite a while ago, and we haven't communicated in some time.

But Blair, if you're reading this, I have something I need to tell you:

I just hope to hell that you're attached to this somehow.

Edit: dammit, blogger is cutting off the edge. Well, click on it, and it'll go to youtube where you can see it properly.

Ahh, Love

2010-05-03T10:58:00.001-04:00

Their parents will never understand.

Mac Ool

2010-04-29T11:56:00.004-04:00

I wanted to have a giant,
But a giant's been done and done.
So I tried to be hip and defiant,
Dunno if I fooled any one.

Enjoying "the Hero of Ages".

2010-04-25T19:02:00.002-04:00

Here's a koloss.

Detective Snow is :

2010-04-16T18:20:00.003-04:00

a) Beginning to think that he is being "Set Up", and that The Chief may be "On the Take".

b) Beginning to think that there may have been "Something" to his ex-partner's "Wild Theories" after all.

c) Beginning to think that that it was a "Bad Idea" to use his belt rather than the provided holster to store his "Firearm", as it has slipped down the leg of his pants and he currently unable to recall if the "Safety" is "On".

Say, did you ever?

2010-03-06T07:04:00.001-04:00

What a swell party this is.

I have contrasted a bulkier figure with a relatively dainty pose. Such a thing has NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE!!! I yam so smirt.

These three drawings are from a story idea I have about Insanity, the Occult and Saturday morning cartoons. Chaos Star and Character of Aratron sold separately.

I'd never drawn Solomon Grundy before. Turns out, it's basically the Hulk with a different color scheme and slightly less rage. Try to ignore the hand and foot things happening.

Pow-pow-power Girl Power Makes it Go! Never drew her before, either. Tried to make her a bit more hero-y and bit less prostitute-y than we normally seem to see her these days.

Wizards are the Pimps of the fantasy genre. I think this is why we nerds like it so much; in that world, the guys who study the most get to be the Baddest in the Realm. Of course, even in that world, the barbarians always show up and give us noogies. We can't win.

In retrospect, should have spent more time on the actual drawing, less on the robe pattern.

The caption is a bit illegible, it says "When Gropmar is happy, he shimmers." Yeah, I don't know.

Sometimes it's fun to just start drawing shapes and see what happens to them. Granted, this thing would probably collapse under it's own weight, but so might you some day. Don't judge.

If I did some research on modern clothing and hairstyles, I would be able to draw stuff that didn't look like the Jetsons. On the other hand, I also believe that modern clothing and hairstyles should by all rights look a lot MORE like the Jetsons. Who will budge first, hmmm?

BAM!

This isn't a particularly good drawing, and there are only five people other than me who would know what it's a drawing of. Enjoy!

A caricature. Don't bother trying to figure out who it is, I've already forgotten.

Blind Dead McJones. He got da blues so bad, he don't even have guitar strings.

Make a hawk a dove! Stop a war with love! Make a liar tell the trooooth! Tried Frank Miller's nose piece thing, then regretted it.

What a Swell-egant, elegant Paaarty, this IIIIIS!

Eventually I'll Scan Some More Stuff In

2010-02-13T19:39:00.002-04:00

...but until then, I'll just post this thing. I've already posted it elsewhere on the webber-net, and normally I try to avoid double parking, but my ennui is starting to catch up with my paranoia, with the predictable result of me failing to contribute a rodent's hind-quarters.

Glorious Insights into the Human Condition

2010-01-05T21:25:00.007-04:00

The following scraps and sketches were made on my own free time, and NOT during some of the many hours I've spent sitting on the phone at my new job, on hold. It's very difficult to draw with a handset jammed up into your neck anyway, and I would recommend against it if I had ever done such a thing, which I have NOT. They are in no particular order.

I've read that in ancient times, warriors would often battle in the altogether. I imagine such a practice would make shield placement fairly vital.

My wee daughter. This is the face she makes when she's trying to wheedle some potato chips or extra minutes past bedtime.

I've recently started playing D and D, and found that I enjoy it quite a bit. I'm aware that only people who play D and D are interested in hearing about D and D, but I thought it was worth pointing out that an "Owl bear" is a pretty darn funny idea for a monster. I've been trying to figure out what noise it would make, and the best I've come up with is saying "whoo" in a growly Doctor Claw style voice. Try it, it's fun.

Another D and D inspired drawing. To avoid lengthy explanation, I'll merely say that in-party drama can sometimes end up with nosebleeds.

They do this. They make you sit and sit, and without warning, they hang up. Then Hulk smash.

I wanted to come up with a love interest/foil for Bee-bar. This is a very ruff Blue Betty. When I come up with a name that's less derivative, you'll be the first to know.

He's got a 1D8 mace! HAR! Did I mention I've been playing D and D?

More fat means more jolly. I hope everyone had a great holiday.

Midnight Monkey

2009-12-06T12:06:00.000-04:00

Really, it does make sense.

Bee-Bar, Page One, Turkey

2009-11-18T21:17:00.001-04:00

In which our hero recites his verse for an unappreciative audience.

Druid vs Lizard-man

2009-10-16T18:10:00.003-04:00

The scene illustrated below has been painstakingly reconstructed utilizing the best, most up to date scientific research available concerning Druid/Lizard-man conflicts.

Super Industrial Blues

2009-10-13T10:59:00.003-04:00

I can't be sure, but I don't think people often go to the internet to read poetry. I know I don't, and I quite like poetry. So in that spirit, I present another poem. Regular goofy drawing services will resume momentarily.

Super Industrial Blues

The plastic, the steel and
The strofoam shell
The aluminum foil
The styling gel
The cathode ray tube
That brand new car smell

Cracking scabs cover
The skin on my mind
Didn't even notice
I was already blind
Didn't even notice
What I'd left behind

And it eat me alive
It eat me alive
Gonna eat me alive
Oh, no

The newsman, spokesman
Man-on-the-street
Voices on the tee-vee
So soft and so sweet
I'm closest to the people
I'll never meet

We can talk all day
But ain't nothin' new
I shouldn't be here
But neither should you
Ship's full of stow-aways
There ain't no crew

And it eat me alive
It eat me alive
Gonna eat me alive
Oh, no

The stupid ones actually take longer.

2009-10-08T08:57:00.004-04:00

Haven't dropped a poem on here in a while, ya lucky buggers.

Tamquam parvuli

We walk, and prod at things
That catch our attention
Destroying, rescuing
On a whim, on a chance
On how we feel we were treated that morning
We will invent our reasons
This afternoon

Tamquam parvuli

We laugh, and find joy
In things they won't understand
Nor will we understand theirs
And what do they know
Anyway?
Dancing in a spinning circle
Feeling the cold sky on our faces
Shouting our delight heavenwards

Tamquam parvuli

We claim whatever we can pick up
Unearned, undeserved
Dropping things
Our arms are too full
This is mine, I found it, I was here First
Not Fair, not Nice, I will run home
And tell
And we fight

Tamquam parvuli

If you got through that, here's a bonus one, with a slightly different tone.

(Sung to the tune of "California Girls". The David Lee Roth version.)

Well, Halfling girls are cute,
You know they stand the perfect height,
Eladrin chicks are the best of two worlds,
And they work it when you dim the lights,

Those Dwarvish girls are burly,
And they're always in the mood,
Dragon Born girls are pretty cool, I guess,
But it's tough to tell 'em from the dudes,

Well I've seen a hundred campaigns,
Met a thousand En-Pee-Sees,
But horns and a tail and fiery eyes,
will always knock me to my knees,

I wish they all could be Tiefling Warlock
I wish they all could be Tiefling Warlock
I wish they all could be Tiefling Warlock
Giiiirrrrlllls

Well, now that I've re-established myself as both arrogant and a nerd (not that the two are mutually exclusive, no sir), I bid you good day.

I'm not the man they think I am at home.

2009-09-16T19:31:00.002-04:00

Oh no.
No, no.
I'm a Rocket Man.

Fall's Coming

2009-09-06T18:46:00.002-04:00

Sometimes stuff will end up looking like other stuff, even though when you started the stuff it looked like other stuff that was different from the stuff you ended up with.

It's getting dark earlier, these days.

Good Evening, Luthadel!

2009-08-23T16:04:00.004-04:00

I just finished reading Brandon Sanderson's "Mistborn", and boy are my arms tired!

No, wait...

Sleep Well

2009-08-17T19:06:00.002-04:00

So, few nights ago I'm trying to sleep, except it's not working out so well because my stupid subconscious is having me running around an abandoned railway station under a building full of these:

They're all raw pinks and reds and yellows, so it looks like an animal turned inside out. Which is very appealing. I figured I was better off out of there, so I got on an elevator, going up. Good idea, except I suppose one must have been in the shaft, since it started to tear out the floor to try and get at me. I was obliged to hang from the ceiling by my hook-hand (hook-hand? what?) and empty the clip from my handgun ( of COURSE I was armed. Dur.) into the things pseudo-head-thing to put it down.
Now, I'm law-abiding citizen. I pay my taxes. Do really deserve having to put up with this kind of shite while I'm trying to sleep? I ask you.

The sketch below is completely unrelated to any of that.

FOCUS, Dammit.

2009-08-06T18:15:00.002-04:00

If you like a bunch of wandering-mind sketches all in one spot, then here you go. Something for everyone. Bring Grandma.

Stool and Snickers

2009-07-10T09:03:00.007-04:00

Now, I'm perfectly aware this isn't the direction they're going in down at ol' Loogaroo when it comes to Logo Design. I like the logo they're doing a lot, actually, but I had doodled this little line drawing thing at lunch the other day, and I thought just for poop and laughter I'd clean it up all pretty. Maybe it could get used for Artsy-black-and-white-scrappy-independant-films. Or if Clan Gangrel ever starts up a Fitness Club.

And here's an alternate colouring, for feces and guffaws.

Cindy Watches CSI

2009-07-05T16:25:00.002-04:00

This would also work for "Cindy Watches the Office". Michael Scott's tom-foolery or bits of brain in a tray?

Finally! Someone to poison!

2009-06-17T19:46:00.001-04:00

Who are you, though?

Gotta Start

2009-06-14T15:19:00.001-04:00

Somewhere.

Frankly, destruction is best left to the professionals.

2009-05-29T18:47:00.002-04:00

Non-Nerd Caption:

I drew this character once about a year ago. Too stiff and flat. This one's better, hopefully. Ruffed it on the back of a Mill Test Report Document Summary, inked it with a black ballpoint. I'm all about Quality. I think I may try re-inking her face, I feel like I lost something from the ruff.

Nerd Caption:

Drew Jaya Ballard, Task Mage again. If I could put it on a card, I would ask for "Pyroblast", even if I've put the flavor text for "Gorilla Shaman". I'll grant you, she looks a bit more like Chandra Nalaar than Jaya, but I'm gonna give her Jaya's coloring if I ever get off my lazy butt to paint it.

Jaya Ballard is most likely copyright Wizards of the Coast, I'm thinkin'.

Supernormal Represent

2009-05-23T14:12:00.013-04:00

What with the recent demise of Fatkat and all, I've been thinking about the past and getting all nostalgic lately. For example, there was the time I had to take my own cat, Minnow (who was an actual cat and not a studio), to be euthanized. I was working for PCO at the time, so my vehicle was a medium sized pickup truck. I put her on the seat beside me in her pet carrier, and we drove off in solemn silence to the vet's. However, Minnow was not to go quietly into the night, and fought back the only way she knew how: by taking a huge, gross crap inside her pet carrier. I mean, it was really bad. It couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 degrees outside, but I had to roll down the window and stick my head out to drive. It was horrifying. Then we got to the vet's office, and I crouched down and looked in the pet carrier to say goodbye to the poor creature, but she's OH MY GOD SHE'S STARTED TO EAT HER HORRIBLE FECES, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY!! It really, really sucked.

I'd planned to write a post about some of the projects I'd worked on at the studio, and how Supernormal was special to me because I learned so much on the show, and that it was my first time being a Director and all. But I kind of feel like I've set the wrong tone at this point.

Just roll the clips.

After working with Flash on many projects, this was one of the first times I didn't feel like I was fighting with the program.

He falls down. Funny, hee hee...

I should probably mention that Supernormal and the characters therein are copyright World Leaders Entertainment, CITV I think, and probably other people who aren't me.

Beatnik Barbarian

2009-05-16T21:00:00.003-04:00

Sure, He's just standing there now. But he'll be reciting poetry and stabbing people before you know it.

Story? What's a Story?

2009-05-10T11:57:00.001-04:00

Never eat the Dark Lord's lunch.

Gra-fear

2009-05-01T18:42:00.003-04:00

Ugh, so sick can barely form a coherent thought. Best time for a post, I find.
Got so used to the sweet, sweet Cintiq at the studio, wasn't sure I'd be able to go back. This is my first kick at the cat, pooped it out on my old Grapphire I bought four years ago. I've drawn this Goblin about six billion times before, he's fun to draw and I know what he looks like. Wanted something easy, and y'know, this guy typing, not exactly lucid, what with hearing angels singing and all. What's that? Towards the light?

Bzuuhhh.

Barbarous Barbarian is Barbaric

2009-04-20T19:58:00.002-04:00

WHO SHALL WIN?!

2009-04-18T18:50:00.002-04:00

VS

FIIIGHT!

'Cause graph paper is what I got, that's why.

2009-04-14T19:49:00.000-04:00

Two Clips

2009-04-07T20:03:00.009-04:00

So, I saw Jon Lambe linked to a TD clip on Youtube that had some of his animation in it, and I thought, "I can get on board with stealing an idea like that." Except this one has some of my animation in it. Jon can post his own stuff. Two fun points:

1. Only the first little chunk of this is actually mine, about to the point where he says "laugh it up", give or take. It's not what I'd call my best stuff, but it's what I can show.

2. Take note that Barney seems to have no legs as he levitates out the door. I honestly thought the crowd of kids would do a better job of covering his lower half, so I didn't draw it. Fantastic stuff.

I also have here a clip of Sonny Boy Williamson II, for no other reason than that it's incredible.

How to baffle a trout.

2009-03-24T17:59:00.003-04:00

All this time as an artist, and I've never done a Sad Clown! Face Palm.

Rectified, muchacho.

Rough Layout

2009-03-09T10:37:00.003-04:00

Y: So why do you draw trees so damn much?
X: Vell, dey ain't a-gonna draw demselves, are dey?

Duddles. Deedles. Dawdles.

2009-03-02T19:37:00.005-04:00

More scraps and castoffs!

Rabbit! I need to hand this to a designer to take a shot at!

Some lady!

Me! Kinda!

Some Girl!

Damned if I know! This is why meetings are bad for you!

Tiger! Pointing! Possibly to accent dialogue! Which I find sort of irritating!

Enjoy! Why am I screaming ?!! My dosage is too high! Or possibly not high enough! Ha Ha! (sob)

Etativel.

2009-02-16T18:26:00.002-04:00

Yeah, so I drew Zatanna again. Big Deal. What about all the weird stuff YOU get up to when no one's around? Huh?

Thought so.

Goblinarium

2009-02-06T19:14:00.003-04:00

Hoy, yeah, already posted this on the Krew blog, but honestly don't know if anyone other than me looks at the Krew blog, so here it is again. Drawing and character are mine, design is mostly Mick's, the bits that work anyway. My favorite version of this character so far, I think I'll stick with it.

Three Delivery

2009-02-05T18:31:00.003-04:00

Goofy Three Delivery doodle. You could call it "fan art" but then you would have to say I was a fan (as opposed to some guy working on the show), and then you'd have to say this was art (as opposed to whatever this is). Mr Wu and Barney are copyright a pile of people other than me.

Archive Post

2009-01-27T21:58:00.005-04:00

An odd re-design of Big Blue, and my daughter in a tutu.

Also, I thought I should make clear what I mean when I say a drawing is "from the Archives". It's not particularly interesting, so feel free to skip it, if you want.

Some time after I finished animation school but before I was poisoning rats, I had a job in a warehouse as the sole member of the Repairs and Returns department. I was the only person in the building who knew how to do the job, as the person who had trained me had left on mat leave and never returned. Much of the job involved paperwork and finding ancient spider carcasses in electronics devices, and I was pretty much left on my own. The upshot was, as long I acted somewhat competent and mildly annoyed, people assumed I was busy and allowed me plenty of time to draw. I drew mainly on the back of RMA request forms and on post-it notes, inked stuff with sharpies and coloured stuff with hi-liters. I glued the drawings into a scrap book after I left, and now I don't really know what to do with them, which is why they trickle onto the blog when I don't have anything else to post. They're getting on 3 or 4 (5?) years old now, so of course I see plenty of problems with them, but if they didn't go on the blog, they would just sit in a book in my basement.

And thats how I became Lord of the Diminutive Grassland People.

Morny warmy uppy gobbeldy

2009-01-08T13:56:00.002-04:00

So like, what's HER deal? Is she surprised? Is she whistling? Is she a superhero? A dominatrix? Is there really a difference? Zuh? Whuh? Forget it.

Slimy Snail

2009-01-03T16:57:00.004-04:00

Been playing the "Toon" RPG at lunch lately. This is my character, Hubert S. Cargo. The name was Dave Rigely's idea, he rolled up the character for me. Making him a scumbag just came out of playing him. If you're into RPG's and you've never played the game I highly recommend it, it's a hoot.

It's Alright Now.

2008-12-14T16:52:00.003-04:00

In fact, it's a gas.

Rude Gestures

2008-12-07T22:18:00.004-04:00

Lately I've been trying to get in the habit of carrying a sketchbook around and drawing little thumbnail gestures of people around me. Thing is, I'm usually at work if I'm not at home, so I end up with a bunch of tiny scribbles of people staring at monitors. But this weekend, I helped Cindy at her booth at the Gretna Green Craft Show. So I got some scribbles of people staring off into space, instead.

Then I got bored of that, and drew a rabbit pointing at something you can't see.

And, unrelated to all that, here's a marker portrait of Batgirl.

I'm going to try to keep it up, so theoretically, you should see these scribbles start to become better in quality, should I choose to continue posting them.

From the Tablet of Mick Harrison

2008-11-27T16:59:00.006-04:00

This is a caricature of me done by Mr. Mick Harrision, a fantastic artist and dandy fellow whose blog you can find in my links, or just click HERE

I'm posting it here today because I decided to replace my old profile picture with it, and thought it would be a decent thing to credit the actual artist who drew it, and not pretend it's mine.

Also wanted to say thanks again to Beans; the Shenanisignal had a good long run, and if I was that kind of guy, I would write a little gag of the sort where I pretend I was in a relationship or something with the picture, but I feel I need to start seeing other pictures, and so on. Maybe I'll make one up for later.

And before you ask, no, I'm not really sure what I'm cooking there. Looks to be a crepe of some sort.

EDIT:

Hey, cool, I found this other drawing he did of me during the brief period I had a full beard. I can't remember what the joke is referencing, though.

yeah

2008-11-18T17:24:00.002-04:00

Dryad

2008-11-06T20:36:00.003-04:00

Skin once supple, smooth and fair,
Now be coarse and thick!
Arms once held aloft in prayer,
Now be branch and stick!
Feet that danced 'round autumn glade,
Now deep begin to dig!
Hair that fell in dark cascade,
Now be leaf and twig!

Thy roots now clothed in twilight mist,
Thy leaves rattle their sad tune,
Thy branches by cold starlight kissed,
Beneath a Hunter's Moon.

Something a little more illustrative than usual, complete with over-the-top-fantasy spell/curse thing. I've said it before, I'll say it again: I happen to LIKE over-the-top-fantasy, dammit!

Qapla'

2008-11-02T15:30:00.004-04:00

Rocked it Original Series Klingon for Halloween this year. Y'know, back before they had head bumps and were basically just guys with weird beards and eyebrows. Taking a real chance putting this on the internet. It's just the kind of image that will eventually come back to haunt me....

Barbarian and Couch-less Guy

2008-10-22T08:16:00.002-04:00

Didn't really forget the couch. I drew him without the couch, but the character within the picture breaks the fourth wall and expresses his belief that I did. It's called LAYERS people! It's that kind of thing that creates GREAT ART with a MESSAGE!!!

Huh. Philistines.

Barzai

2008-10-09T08:05:00.005-04:00

***NERD ALERT!!!***

So, I rolled a character for a D & D 4th ed. campaign we were supposed to get goin' at work. I haven't heard about it in a while, though, so it may have gone to the wayside. I doodled up a portrait of my character in flash anyway: He's a Tiefling Fey Pact Warlock, and I ripped a name off of Lovecraft and called him Barzai. Done in something of a hurry over lunch, and no, I don't know what that BG is all about. I just thought the colours looked nice.

Robot

2008-09-25T17:36:00.004-04:00

He is a Robot!
I build your cars!
He is a Robot!
Exploring Mars!
Maybe I'm not exactly flesh and bone!
I am a robot, leave me alone!

"I am a Robot", The Phenomenauts

And I'll bet you thought I'd miss August.

2008-08-30T12:12:00.014-04:00

Well, I came close, but I haven't missed a month since I started posting so figured I'd better put something up here. Gotta keep up the streak. Of course, now I've probably gone and jinxed it. Damn.

As usual, got a mix of new and old and in between, much of it rough story art from a couple of the side projects I've been toying with.

Another design idea for Magic Al, except now I think I'll call him Harry Who. Wanted to give him a kinda retro thing, rubber hose arms and such. He's fun to draw.

Was drawing from a photo, got distracted by other matters, and when I came back to it I noticed the big rookie mistake. Can you spot it? Hmmm, how about NO HANDS? I was going to add them in, but then decided to keep it as a grand lesson:
Artists, remember feet and hands! focus on the forms! I don't know if it's just me, but I think it's a lot easier to make those kind of mistakes than you would expect. I've seen some doozies...

Some board panels; it's not Batman, it's someone far more terrifying. Also, she's not bald, nor is she an alien ( as my daughter suggested ). She's just wearing a ninja catsuit thing, and I couldn't get the expressions I wanted with slit eyes and no mouth. So there.

Ooooo, sassy pixie! Boots courtesy Sheila the Thief....

Ah, the ol' spear-in-the-butt crack gag...

Orville gets his revenge.

Much later, Orville is startled to the point of wetting his armor.

Just the kind of thing Gordon finds hysterical ( he's such a jerk...)

That's it for now. Keep it real, and such like.

Doodles From Every Corner of the Desk!

2008-07-16T17:16:00.009-04:00

Once again, the time has come for me gather up all the loose scraps of paper around my desk and scan in the drawings that I did when warming up, waiting for renders, sitting in meetings, and generally supposed to be working. As always , they come freshly packaged with small blurbs of text chock full if insights which you may ignore at your leisure.

Couple of wee warm ups done in flash one morning. They're not anyone in particular, but the lady looks similar to the style of a guy I went to school with. Mike M., but not Mueller; the other Mike M.

Evil Sue! This is a character from the show I'm working on, except she doesn't go evil like that; at least, I don't think she does. The character is copyright Animation Collective, Nick, probably Fatkat, I guess, and likely about a dozen other folks. God bless Sharpies and Kirby Crackle.(Krackle?)

I end up drawing a lot of Goblins. It's probably something wrong with me."Goblins! Yaaagh!" Yay for sharpies again.

She's either yawning, or screaming "Why is my left arm so huge?!!" Let that be a lesson to ya, kiddies: when you draw in flash a lot (like I do) you can get lazy about proportions. "Hell, if the arm/leg/head/whatever's too big, I'll just lasso and scale it!" A useful tool to be sure, but if you make it a crutch, it'll f**k you up when you go back to paper. If you let it. As I seem to have.

Did I mention I like Sharpies? I like to think of this as the moment right before the very first scene in Episode IV : "Aw Snap, is that a huge Star Destroyer? Dammit!" The illegible scratched out word above her head is my wicked awesome idea for a sit-com. See, a young family disguises themselves as elderly people so they can pay cheap rent in a retirement community. The 6-year-old daughter dresses up as a REALLY old lady and pretends to be the mother's mother, her crazy kid behavior being passed off as senility. The title? "Geria-Tricks!" Keep the exclamation point, it's part of the title. Producers, contact me thru my comments, we'll get this gold mine diggin'.

Oh, yeah.

G.A.R.T.H.I.M.

2008-07-10T20:25:00.004-04:00

Well, ladies, gentlemen, and transdimensional beings torn asunder by arcane forces, if you have a pesky infestation of Gelfoids threatening to shatter your Evil Empire, we here at General Advance Robotics have got your back! Yes, come on up here and orient an optical organ or appendage to our brand spankin' new Tactical Hunter/Invader Module! All ya gotta do is grab yourself a legion or two of these suckers and solidify your stranglehold on any newly conquered populace! (Giant control crystal not included. Product may be subject to falling to bits at the worst possible time.)

So, yeah, found a scan of a two year old drawing kicking around my hard drive, and it still looked pretty decent to me, so I decided to colour it.

Some of you may notice it's kinda based on the Dark Crystal, and kinda not. To you I say: WHAT'S THAT BEHIND YOU?!

(sound of rapidly receding footsteps. pause . fade out.)

What We Been Workin' On.

2008-06-26T07:43:00.008-04:00

Hey folks,

The show we been chuggin' away at for the past while is airing in the States on Friday, so I figured I'd stick the link to the website on here. I think you'll probably need the flash player to view it, and you can stop the theme song from playing constantly by clicking the little red sound icon in the bottom right. Click below to get there.

Three Delivery

Eehhhh, Weird Bug Guy

2008-05-30T11:42:00.002-04:00

He looks a bit miffed...

Of course you should fight fire with fire...you should fight everything with fire.

2008-05-22T16:54:00.003-04:00

MTG Nerds only may apply on this one. Yessiree, I went ahead and drew Jaya Ballard, Task Mage! Wheeeee! I actually drew it a little while ago, and hadn't posted it because I was going to ink and paint it. But this time, I didn't lack time or energy or anything. I'm just not happy enough with it to give it the full treatment. I got to the clean-up stage on it, but now I feel the whole thing needs re-thinking. So, enjoy Ver. 1.0 !

Off To See The World

2008-05-20T11:56:00.004-04:00

Most nights we sing Sorcha a little song before she goes to sleep, and one of her favorites for Cindy to sing her is "Moon River". Recently she told Cindy that the line "two drifters off to see the world" made her think of The Hulk in a rowboat. You may think it odd that a six year old girl might think that, but the Hulk, Spider-Man, Batman, and many others are regular topics of conversation at our house, so while it may SEEM odd, it's actually...well, it's still kinda weird, but definitely fun. Cindy requested the drawing, and though the sketch is pretty rough, it gives you the basic idea of where I'm a-gonna go with it.

Didn't notice it before, I think that's a hair in the bottom left of the scan....nice.

Weather Balloons

2008-04-18T19:44:00.002-04:00

...or possibly swamp gas. Venus through the clouds....

Ticked Off Bear and Very Quick Monkey

2008-03-25T20:27:00.002-04:00

What the title sez. Plus cute clouds.

Wandering Mind , Wandering Pencil, Or Whatever You Call The Damn Pen Thing On a Tablet

2008-03-15T20:46:00.003-04:00

A good artist studies art books, with pictures of breathtaking works from across the history of drawing and painting. He will think about life and the world around him, and try to observe things in all their beauty, subtlety, and complexity. He must think about the deeper meanings of a work of art, try to pick apart the subtext hidden in a given subject, composition, and colour. Put simply, he must learn, and seek Truth. Then, and only then, can he sit down and produce something that looks, in terms of taste, like it came from the mind of an enthusiastic but only marginally talented twelve year old. But that's just the kind of dedicated guy I am.

I was going to have some proper colour and BG this time, but I just got NO feckin' time fer nothin'. Yeah, yeah, cry some more, why dontcha...

Pin Up

2008-02-26T21:18:00.007-04:00

I admit, I do enjoy the ol' pin up drawing. If you wanna see some real nifty ones, check out Justin Coffee's blog, you can see the link down the side there. He's got a book out and everything. I like to draw 'em on occasion, when the mood strikes, but for some reason they come out less like "Pin Ups" and more like "Durty Pitchers" when I do 'em. I try for "Lookit me! I'm a nice girl who just happens to like hanging around in her underwear!" But it looks more like "Lookit me! I'm a skank who'll steal your wallet when your back is turned!" I dunno, wrong expression or something.

Both my mom and my daughter sometimes see this blog, so that's why the discrete and tasteful black bars. If you wanna see the full image, just click on it. Crits and comments are welcome, as always.

Also, just want to say thanks to those of you who've taken the time to post your comments in the past. I really do appreciate it , even if I'm bad at saying so, and it's always nice to hear from you fine folks.

Not My Work, But Now On My Blog

2008-02-22T18:54:00.005-04:00

I always kind of intended this blog as a place to put some of my stuff. But TODAY I make an exception, for two little things which I thought were pretty cool:

1. I remember seeing the Chipmunks animated movie when I was a young 'un, and I remember enjoying this particular sequence. I never really knew why. But now that I'm a wise animator (HA!), and I watch it again for the first time in a long while, I see that this bit contains some right kick-ass animation. It's all just so damn....FUN. Some of it isn't great, I'll grant you, but most of it's just terrific...they hit some really nice poses in there. Make sure you watch 'till the dancing bits, thats when it gets good.

2. On a completely different note, I saw this one last year, and I forgot about it 'till recently. It's little animation about Time, Space, and the Dimensions therein, and it's darn cool. Oh, yeah, and it'll twist yo widdle bwain.

Another Old Crap Post

2008-02-12T13:12:00.000-04:00

So, I've figured out there's 3 levels of activity at work: "Insane", "Chaos", and "That last amorphous blight of nether-most confusion where bubbles and blasphemes at infinity’s centre the mindless daemon-sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud."
Lately, it's been the last one. As a result, I have absolutely no recent drawings that aren't directly related to show I'm working on, and drawings that are related to the show I'm working on, I can't post. I haven't posted in almost a month, though, so I've dredged through ancient drawings I've done in the past, and scraps of junk I have lying around my desk. I gotta bunch, with the theory that they may not be good, but at least there's a lot of them. So with out further ado , I give you the bottom of the barrel.

This one is a rejected concept from an idea of mine thats going nowhere fast. Folks don't like it, too complicated or something.

This one is a very rough scrap from a different idea, also going nowhere.

This one is special: it's a rejected design for a deleted character from an idea that's going nowhere. Also, I drew it like, 3 years ago or something, on the back of an inventory sheet.

This one is a half-finished drawing of a secondary character for an idea I'm still working on, but I'm not gonna use this design. Maybe something similar though.

This is the only HP picture I've ever done, which I doodled on the back of some revisions while waiting for a render. It's supposed to be the kids facing Fluffy, see, they're each looking at a different head. Note Harry's thick neck, Ron's demented head, and Hermione still in colerase. Abandoned work at it's best.

This is something akin to a life drawing. They have sessions at the studio sometimes, but it's on a bad night for me, so I don't go. This is drawn from a postage stamp size photo from a Muybridge book.

I'm sure you recognize these: thats right, direct copies from Preston Blair!I sometimes copy his stuff for practice, but not in anything like a dedicated manner, so I really don't don't know if it's making a difference. It's fun though, which is the main thing.Check out the poor composition planning on the top one.

Last but not least, a drawing I did for a Drawing Jam, hmmm, gotta be two summers ago. I've never posted it here, though, so it's good as new, darn it.

If you're still reading at this point, whaddaya think of that banner drawing? I feel like it's missing something...a border? Maybe I'll try a border at some point.

Reading back, the tone of this post is kinda negative. Don't worry, I'm not gonna go buy a firearm and a ski mask or anything, just wish I had something new to show ya. Maybe soon. Right now, lunch is almost done, so that's it, I'm afraid.

Magic Al

2008-01-17T17:16:00.000-04:00

The death from disease in 951 of Gofraid mac Sitriuc, King of Dublin, was described as divine vengeance for his attack on the Abbey of Kells earlier in the year.

Old Pic, Changed a Bit

2007-12-21T13:22:00.000-04:00

Did this one for Halloween and posted it on the Krew Blog, and it was pointed out (rightly) that the arm was messed up. Had some time today, so I fixed it. More or less.

Pep Rally Terror

2007-12-16T14:11:00.001-04:00

Workin' a thought out. "Pep Rally Terror" ain't really such a great name, was thinking of "Howlin' High". "Teen Wolf", tragically, is already taken. I think "Teenwulf" would be good film; Michael J. Fox could fight the jock "Grind Al" for dominance of Heorot High. Angelina Jolie could be in it , as the "Stiffler's Mom" character. It wouldn't even matter that Fox is like, what, sixty or something, 'cause we could motion capture the whole thing. Good Lord, get Zemeckis on the phone.

That Goblin Again

2007-12-12T14:06:00.000-04:00

Quick doodle, decided to make him a bit nuttier this time.

For Sale

2007-12-07T19:35:00.000-04:00

I just watched a trailer for a documentary about abstract art, about a 4 year old kid who paints and makes big bucks. So, I'm officially done with animation. The above piece is called "the Garden Path", and was painted in Flash by my toaster. I'll sell you the original fla for 15 K, or best offer.

Hoo-yeh

2007-11-28T19:58:00.000-04:00

Said Father Michael to the Fly,
"Yer outta order, mate,
Mass be o'er two hours past
How dare ye be so late?

Says the Fly to Father Mike,
"I could na' take to flight,
Me breakfast was so very large,
In fact, I'm full o' shite."