The Blue Pencil Bar

Emerald City ComiCon

2008-05-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

Hey all you my loyal 3 readers!..Been awhile since an update, but daddy-hood and work have been keeping me pretty busy lately. Sketch above ( and shitty color ) is one I did of The Green Lantern John Stewart..Lots of green which is a good segway to what me and the fam did Saturday.

We went to the Emerald City Comicon up here in Seattle, and I've gone the last 3 years and this year I have to say was the best by far. They moved the event from the Exhibition Hall at Qwest field ( think Comic convention set up in a school gym ) to the Washington State Convention center, and it's starting to feel like a major Con now.They had good giveaways and some talented artists. Unfortunately both Sean "Cheeks" Galloway and Alberto Ruiz couldn't make it, and I wanted to purchase some of their art books, but I did get to check out Phil Noto's work and Ethan Van Scriver's...I was really tempted to add a Noto Superman sketch to my collection, but he was charging 100 bucks per sketch and I had to look at my son in the Baby Bjorn we were toting him in and see that equaled 5 tubs of Similac...I know view Pampers and Similac like currency

Took Garrick booth to booth , and man did he dig on the Suicide Girls and these "goth french maids"....I think my son is gonna like his girls a little on the dirty side.

Other than that I wlaked away with a Justice League Batman maquette and a Superman beer stein, for when I wanna get Super-Blizted.

L8tr!

Oh Where, Oh Where.....

2008-04-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

Little sketch and color...The story is pretty much that the phone is ringing to tell "Junior" that ol Oscar had to be put down.

He's in a better place.

HAVE A GOOD ONE!

Martian Manhunter

2008-01-31T10:17:00.000-08:00

I did some superhero sketches awhile back and one of them was of the "Martian Manhunter" from the Justice League. He's fighting an OMAC and I just decided I'd do some pencil shading on it and thought it turned out pretty good.

The biggest pain in the ass with this drawing was getting the anatomy right on the OMAC, and it's a good thing I've started lifedrawing again because this is where it comes in handy!...And for drawing chicks!

I did do a coloring job on this and boy did it look like something I wiped my ass with, I'll probably post it up just so I can get some feedback on how to improve it.

Other than that my New York Football Giants will be in the big game this Sunday and even I didn't think they'd make it this far, but damn I hope the hotstreak continues and they send Tom Brady home crying to his multi-million dollar house where he can cry on Giselle Bundchen's breasts.................Hey, that actually doesn't sound too bad. When we lost in little league all we got was a scoop of Carvel ice cream.

Been awhile huh?

2008-01-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

Man, it has been forever since I posted, and I'm sure that you my loyal 3.5 readers have been wondering "What's up?"

Well a big part of my absence is due in large part to the picture above, which like my drawings I did have a little hand in creating, my son Garrick. He was born 3 months ago and has truly become the center of my wife and I's universe. Getting my "dad legs" underneath me has been one of the most challenging and amazing experiences of my life. Bill Murray said it best in "Lost In Translation"

Bob: It gets a whole lot more complicated when you have kids.

Charlotte: It's scary.

Bob: The most terrifying day of your life is the day the first one is born.

Charlotte: Nobody ever tells you that.

Bob: Your life, as you know it... is gone. Never to return. But they learn how to walk, and they learn how to talk... and you want to be with them. And they turn out to be the most delightful people you will ever meet in your life.

So with being a new dad and a pinch of procrastination I haven't been posting too much, but I am going to try and start back up at least on a semi-regular basis and see how that all goes.

Take It Easy and keep checking back!

Actual An-er-matin

2007-10-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

This blog has been called "Suspended Animation", but there has never been any, ya know ..Animation. Well looks like blogger went and got themselves a video posting tool, so I thought I'd post some animation. I did this 10 second sound clip for the Animation Beefcakes blog, but we were using YouTube to post them, and every time the lip-sync was off so it looked like some badly dubbed foreign film.

But go ahead and check it out.

L8t's

Blast From Da Past

2007-10-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, but professional and personal life are at a fever pitch!...And I've been a lazy f*ck.

So anyway, the above clip is from our student film that we had completed for our final year at "The Joe Kubert School" in 1995 and it was called "Cruel-Tea".

All 5 of us who were in the Animation class worked on it over the course of 5 months, inbetween our normal class load. The school "semi-supported" the production in that they allowed us class time and that was about it. Our ink and paint method was to print out backgrounds on a copier and then trace and use white-out over the characters, or cut them out and paste them onto the Xerox backgrounds. Now THAT's old school!.

One of our teachers Sal Mallimo, (who actually got it onto YouTube) encouraged us to enter it into the ASIFA-East film festival, so we then went into New York City ( the school is in Jersey) and had added film post and sound. The guy who did our sound had an entire library of BETA tapes which we went through to see what would work.

We entered our film into the student category and it was the first time any class from our school was entered. We had competing films from both CalArts and SVA, so we just didn't wanna get ripped apart. They had the viewing at NYU film school and we watched all the films, and then ours game up. As it played we heard laughs and at the end all of us had a sigh of relief and as we were talking amongst ourselves a dude who sat in the front of us turned and said " Was that your guys' film?"..My bussy Bill replied that it was and he said " That was a fun, little cartoon..Good Job"....We later found out that that dude was kick-ass animator Bill Plympton, so we were stoked.

In the end we actually got 2nd place ( the film from CalArts got first...who knew?)and were pretty happy, but now when watching it after 13 years, we cringe at some timing we get unsettled at some of our key poses...But we still laugh when the Bear digs into the kids skull to grab his tongue.

L8tr

Diminutive Dictator

2007-07-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

The sketch above I did was for a dictator like boss character, and they wanted him to have some "Kim Jong-Il and Castro"...Because the setting was sci-fi, I threw a little "ED-209" in there to help the lil' bastard get around...It runs on farts too.

This weekend I wanted to see "Ratatouille", but didn't get to go..But I will. I did however get to see "Surf's Up" the other weekend and I really enjoyed it. I mean, Penguins are played out, but then again I guess there's always room for more than one penguin film..I mean weren't there like 8 Vietnam flicks in the late 80's and early 90's?...Anyway, it was a better overall picture than Sony's last outing "Open Season", as it had more enjoyable characters and story. I will say this that I really do like Sony's overall art direction, both in "Open Season" and "Surf's Up". The environments and character designs in "Surf's Up" were really impressive, and damn did the water look amazing.

L8tr!

Don Bluth Interview

2007-06-27T09:53:00.001-07:00

Newsarama has posted a pretty good interview with "Secret of Nimh" and former Disney animator Don Bluth. He has kind of retired from animation after the debacle of " Titan A.E" that he headed up at the late Fox Animation. He has some interesting things to say:

About some of Disney's "9 Old Men"

"What we noticed that the 9 Old Men who were still there were instructed to teach us their techniques and different things they had learned over the years. That way we could continue the Disney way. Well, I’m not sure they really wanted to do that. Many times we would ask them questions and they ‘couldn't remember’ how they did it."

On the abundance of 3D animation

"It’s also caused a lot of people to enter the animation industry who can not draw. Now they’ve become puppeteers. With CGI it’s a puppet inside the machine. All you have to be able to do is move it. The curse is we are losing a beautiful art form that many people still love. "

It's a really great read, and he still has real passion for the business as an art form, although as a 3D animator who transitioned from 2D his whole " all ya gotta do is know how to move it around" atatement comes from someone who has never animated on a computer...Also he suggests the one "dream project" he'd come out of retirement for.

Read the article in it's entirety HERE

Mmmmm...Sketch and color him I will

2007-06-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Been heads down on our latest PSP title as well as ramping up for a new project, but I've been trying to get this lil' piece done in between. It's of course Yoda, and I haven't finished the full color, but wanted to post up the progress I've made...In reality just like Luke gave up trying to lift that X-Wing out of the Dagobah swamp, I might do the same with this.

OK, I've had discussions with my fellow geeks on this point, but didn't it seem that Today went from using his "backward speech" only slightly in "The Empire Strikes Back" to every single damn sentence in the prequels?

Peanuts & Crackerjacks

2007-06-12T14:36:00.001-07:00

This was a concept sketch I did for a baseball title, so being it's baseball season and it's in full swing, I threw some color in it and decided to throw it on up here. By the way, the inks done on this piece were by Jeff Willis, who is without doubt a 4-star kick ass artist.

I'm a pretty huge fan of baseball and my team in the Yankees..Yes, I've heard all the "big money" talk and everything, but it IS a Yankee-Nation and everyone else just lives in it. The Yanks are staring to turn things around it seems, and hopefully can get into the playoffs this year, Clemens is back, A-Rod is getting getting caught hitting on chicks, but he's also hitting balls outta the park, and Jeter just keeps increasing the value of that rookie card I own..Just need to know if I'm gonna fork over money for the kid's future college fund, or buy myself a trip to see the Yanks play in the World Series once.

I live in Seattle, but I was born and raised in Jersey so the Yankees are like religion. I light a votive candle for Saint Anthony and one for Lou Gherig ( Catholics know what I mean). Now anyone who knows baseball knows about the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, and that's why it darn near baffled me when Democratic Presidential hopeful, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico said on "Meet The Press" that he had loyalty to both the Yankees AND the Red Sox...?!?!..There are constants in the Universe, and that statement goes against the very sands of time. Only a politician trying to get every vote he can would even try to say that with a straight face..Oh he also said that he liked Pepsi AND Coke, Harley's AND Suzuki's as well as Sean Connery AND Roger Moore.

Look Ma...More Lifedrawing

2007-06-08T08:36:00.001-07:00

Here is another lifedrawing, and yes ladies we don't just draw nekkid women, but also dudes..And yes, they're nekkid too. . I had a male model in class who was a dead ringer for old Saint Nick, ( he didn't have a sack full o' toys, but indeed had a sack ) and I'll scan it in...Maybe even make it my Christmas card this year.

I know. " Too Much Info" but here is one of the sketches I scanned, I went with a more gestural sketch and actually used charcoal for this. I usually as an animator always use pencil, but once in a blue, I will try something new and get some nice results.

Have a good weekend!

Lil' Lifedrawing

2007-06-04T13:20:00.001-07:00

Went through and started to scan some of the lifedrawings from my portfolio and various sketch pads, so I'll start posting them up once in a blue.

I remember the first time I started doing life sketches in school and when I brought my sketchpad home, my uncle was like "They don't have any clothes" and I still hear that statement today whenever you talk about "nude" models.

I think the only other occupation that can relate to seeing a nekkid person in a professional context are doctors....I mean, don't get me wrong when an attractive girls walks in, your like "Wow, not bad" but then when that pencil hits the pad, your more concerned that you drew her feet like crap, then what her nipples look like.

Chick With Gloves

2007-05-29T16:42:00.001-07:00

Hope you all had a good Memorial Day weekend, filled with BBQ and cold beer!. It's been awhile since I've posted any sketches, so here is a chick...With gloves.

I decided to post the pencil sketch as well, because I ain't thrilled to death with the color, but in the pencil version I think I went a bit too forced ( perspective wise ) with the hands. As Jerry Seinfeld would say "She's got Man Hands!"

Was still good to get the pencil moving again.

Inspiration Monday: The Dover Boys

2007-05-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

The weekly "Inspiration Thurday" is hella late this week, so it got kicked to Monday..I don't think my 3 regular readers are in any uproar over it, but deadlines and such got in the way.

Anyway animation is such a quick process, and in animation there are many techniques that take place in that 1/24th of a second to fool that you never really notice..One of them is the Blur.

One of my animation teachers Doug Compton showed us this great Warner Brothers cartoon called the "Dover Boys Of Pimento University", check it out:

After watching it, we went back on a few scenes and he went frame-by-frame on the old 4 Head VCR ( we're talking 1993 here) and we saw some of the images below ( which happens at 3:29 in the cartoon)

We were all pretty awed, as you never really focused on these crazy frames, but they are all over the film, and in many other ( especially Warners) cartoons.

When I worked on 2D games, I would use blurs for toony action, as it gave a good look, and cut down on the number of frames you would have to draw, in the 3D games I've worked on, we were able to get this effect in some of the anims we did for "Over The Hedge" PSP, especially with the speedy hamster Hammy. So it is definitely something that can be used for animation of all mediums.

Spidey-Sketching

2007-05-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a lil bit since I've posted, and a weekend has come and gone. The big deal this weekend was that "Spider-Man 3" opened up, and it made ass-loads of cash. I haven't seen it yet, mainly because this weekend was also was Cinco De Mayo, so I was too busy drinking Tecate's and eating fried foods lathered in cheese, which made my Spidey-Sense tingle all the way to the Banjo!

Even though some friends of mine said it was "alright" I still plan on catching it next weekend, and hopefully at IMAX...But until then I did up a sketch of ol' Spidey, which was actually a lot of fun, as he lends himself to awesome animated poses..As much as Spidey has been in movies and media, my first and fondest memory of the "Wall Crawler" was when he appeared on "The Electric Company". Web sling your way down memory lane HERE

L8tr!

L8tr

2007-04-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry haven't posted in awhile, but been busy, busy. I am on a new project at work, and one of the reasons is because one talented animator and good friend of mine Jason Newkirk a.k.a "Notorious Newsquirt" is leaving Amaze after 10 years!

You can go ahead and read about the awesome opportunity he is leaving for at his blog by clicking HERE

As a proper sendoff we decided to do up a caricature as a CD cover, and frame it with a gold CD, like some big time recording artist. It is a great play, because Jason loves music, and he loves all types of hip-hop. So I went on ahead and drew him up, rocking the Mickey Mouse boxers and the animation disc chain.

Newk and I along with two other artists shared an office 10 years ago when Amaze first started, and it was a great time, we had one CD player in our office and we'd pick a CD and we'd all listen to it...Jason had eclectic tastes, from "Zony Mash" all the way to Michael Bolton's "Secret Passion" opera CD, and even throwing in "John Tesh" for a round ( and I think each of those CD's were only played once ). All in all, he is a good guy, and in 10 years there have been a hell of a lot of laughs, late night crunches, and good times.

Inspiration Thursday: History Of Computer Graphics

2007-04-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

The above clip is an early Disney CGI test directed by John Lasseter with characters from the "Where The Wild Things Are" children's book series. This came a year after the Jeff Bridge's masterpiece "TRON" ( remember the gridbugs?).

This test is one part of a great website that chronicles the history of computer graphics and animation. It's a great look back. Check it out HERE

Down On The Farm

2007-04-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well here are the background sketches I did using the Looney Tune backgrounds as a style reference. I know I said it would be a stylized Titty Bar, but at least you get "teets" on a farm...Oh and two penis shaped silos.

I've never been big on drawing backgrounds, I'm not an architectural whiz like Mike Brady or anything , and perspective is always a tricky deal. But when it's something less realistic and more stylized it is a bit more fun, almost like if the background itself was a character.

Inspiration Thursday:Warner Brothers Backgrounds

2007-04-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

all images are copyright of Warner Bros...So don't sue my ass, I did pay for the book!

Figured I'd start a new post called "Inspiration Thursday" where I'll post either examples of art, blogs, books or animation that I have used as reference and inspiration as an animator and artist.

Gonna kick it off with these amazing backgrounds from various Looney Tune cartoons. These images I have been studying these for some background sketches ( which I'll post soon) that I have been concepting out. They come from the "Draw the Looney Tunes" book, and believe me there are a tone more like it.

What I really liked about these pieces was how they follow all the perspective rules ( as seen in the 1st pic ), and yet they still added their own unique angles in the details to keep it from looking to rigid. Also the dimension that some elements have, mixed with flat almost billboard like objects as well. Also the colors to convey a mood, as seen in the 2nd pic is just like the artistic lighting that films use.

So enjoy the work of the "masters" and hopefully I'll post my stylized "titty bar" soon.

One Mo' with Fro

2007-03-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well the above character sketch was another concept I had done for an potential project. The basic gist was that all these characters all had to represent hip-hop and rap, and have some type of "future elements" as well.

Each link below is for each of the other characters I previously posted:

Beat Boy

Lil' Shorty

G-Chick

One funny thing is that in the post about the "Lil' Shorty" I linked to a pic of rapper "Lil, Kim" . I get at least 8 hits from image search hits to my site for that one pic. Most come from the UK, where it seems the Brits want a gander at her assets...Even if they are bought ( guessing from record sales)

Have a good weekend!

Milt Kahl Hands

2007-03-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

pics from Animationarchive.net click images to enlarge

I've been busy doing some animation for the Beefcakes blog, so I haven't been able to get a new sketch to post up. One of the toughest things about drawing characters has got to be hands, but luckily with all art, there is usually someone who kicked ass at it, and whose work can be learned from.

For animation the best reference for hands is found in the work from the artist above, Disney animator Milt Kahl. Kahl was considered one of the best draughtsman at the Disney studio, and in one instance "The Sword in the Stone" director Woolie Reitherman saw Milt's first rough drawings of Merlin the magician and Madame Medusa, he reportedly turned to Milt and said, "These things look so beautiful, they could hang in a museum" to which, Milt responded with a characteristic "Aw...You're full of it!"

So enjoy the above pics, save them and learn from them. I have the pencil versions, and am constantly using them for reference. Gotta learn from da Masters!

"Who You Callin' Scruffy Lookin?"

2007-03-22T13:52:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to get some animation to post through youtube, but I have been running into problems posting it. If anybody has a way of doing it, drop a comment by, because I'ts been a pain in da ass!

So you guys will have to just look at another drawrin' today, and this time I did a take on the man who shot Greedo first Han Solo. Overall I am pretty happy with it, but it still looks "off" from Harrison Ford, I think I probably should have gone more "toony" and less charicature, but I did like the pose and all, so I though I'd post it up anyways.

I found Star Wars actually done all in ascii text and for fun you can check it out HERE

Draw'n Chicks

2007-03-16T10:27:00.000-07:00

Got back to doing some sketching, and decided to make an attempt at a pinup gal ( which is based on a Rose McGowan photo). I always found getting the features of a chick's face ( unlike the obvious butt and boobs ) just right. I think the above was one of my better attempts.

Speaking of chicks, I had the displeasure of watching about 5 minutes of Halle Berry's "Catwoman" movie, and man was it beyond terrible. The direction and the acting, from both Berry and Sharon Stone was awful. I can honestly say that the best work each of the two actresses has done has been when they were nekkid ( and one even got an Oscar for it ).

I think the most awful thing was the network that had Catwoman on it was AMC which stands for "American Movie CLASSICS".

Good Beer+Good Tunes=Good Time

2007-03-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

photo by: Danny Ngan...and yes, those are panties

As posted earlier, our band the "Drunks Of Hazzard" had our show last Thursday and it was a hella good time! The Jewelbox Theatre was the perfect venue for us to spew our rude, filth ridden lyrics...All to a toe tapping beat!

We gotta thank everyone who came out on a school night, as the place was packed with family, friends and new fans of the Drunks, was awesome to see a full house of drunken folks. Gotta give big props to Chris Brockett and the Tweezer guys for helping put on a great show.

Fellow co-worker, and awesome photographer Danny Ngan took some great shots of the show and you can check them out at the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dn/sets/72157594582930246/

Also another co-worker and fellow blogger Jack Brummet wrote up a fun review of our show

"Chris Brockett and The Wasted Bullets opened up a show on Thursday night at The Rendezvous. Chris played a short set with some of his own tunes and some great covers, including a Johnny Cash cover in which he was joined by the Drunks of Hazzard. Brockett was nervous about his guitar playing, but it didn't matter. His voice sounded great, and he put on a moving, and oh so humble show. I hope I can see him perform a longer set soon. Keep it coming, Chris!

The Drunks of Hazzard are Fraser Thompson, Tony Ravo, Eric Gingrich, and Mike Chavez--artists, designers, and a programmer in the game world. You can find some posters of their gigs here. This band is a gas to watch and hear. And for some reason, you get thirsty listening. After their Thursday night gig, my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Each of their faces are a unique mirror of the music. Tony Ravo and Fraser Thompson mainly front the band. Fraser, in particular, is a joy to watch. His frantic facial expressions and wild limb movements while he plays and sings (most lead vocals and lead guitar) are worth the price of admission. His face can be puzzled, amused, and demonic all at the same time and watching him bounce around the stage only amplifies the music.

I have seen the Drunks play four or five times, but this time they were the most rehearsed I'd ever seen, and they broke out six or seven new songs--most as sick and hilarious as the great old tunes. The audience was convulsed in laughter. I want to try and post some of their lyrics in the near future. If you live in Seattle, try to show up at one of their sporadic gigs. And, hey, Drunks! Isn't it time to put out a CD? I could already name 12 songs that deserve inclusion. I have some low-quality boots of them, but I need an actual CD. Thanks, Drunks!"

Thanks Jack!

Meet Us At The Rendezvous!

2007-03-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

poster art by: Mike Chavez

Well it's been awhile, but our band "The Drunks Of Hazzard" are gonna be spewing our al-kee-hol inspired, sophomoric tunes this Thursday March 8th at the Rendezvous' Jewelbox Theatre.

We're gonna have two other bands, "Chris Brockett and the Wasted Bullets" is a solo act, and "El Scorcho" is a Weezer cover band.

We've had some great shows at the Rendezvous, which has been totally renovated, but I remember one time we played we saw this super hot chick nearly fall on her ass, but a bum had helped grabbed her arm right before she hit the ground and pulled her up. However she was totally blitzed and she acted as if the bum saved her from falling into a hole filled with starved Rottweilers, and actually exclaimed " You saved me". The best part was she totally full on frenched the hell outta the bum to repay him for his good deed..The Breathalyzer test between those two mouths was probably a "point 30"..good Times

So if you can stay up a bit late on a school night, then bring 3 bucks and your best drinking duds!

T-Run

2007-03-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

Been awhile since I've posted..Was gone all last week because I had a "lump" ( which turned out to be a cyst) removed from the top of my melon. It was the first real surgery I've ever had, was a definite experience. I am gonna have a pretty bad ass scar across the top of my head, so I'm gonna need a good story. Bar Fight? Pulling a "Busey" and falling off a motorcycle?..Who knows.

So the above sketch was a quick gesture drawing I did for a project..Just did a T-Rex running in a super loose manner. One of the guys I know had said " Ya know for years, from Fantasia to other movies T-Rex's ran like Godzilla, almost standing up. Then Steven Spielberg comes out with "Jurassic Park" and now every god damn T-Rex has to run all hunched over. What the Fuck is that about?"

All about the Benjamin's.....Or that they just looked cooler.

Giant Sketch

2007-02-16T14:55:00.000-08:00

Hope you kids had a pleasant Valentine's Day, hope that the flowers and candy got you a bit of "action"...And if you were alone, well hopefully you gave a final glance at the Anna Nicole Smith Playboy ( that one small term outta give me about 30 extra hits a week ) before you hermetically seal it to be preserved through the ages.

Well the sketch above was one of a few concepts I did of Giants a few years back..You can guess what he has in his hand, I'm sure that some of you will think of the cute, and others the obscene :)

Nother Supes drawrin'

2007-02-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

The website superman-with-chimps has shut down, so they stopped their online contests. But even though the contests are done, you can still go by and check out all the previous submissions.

I had started the above illo in case they were going to have another contest, I wanted to something a bit "toon-ier" with Supes. Of course it's the classic "shirt rip" and I dug my line art and pose, but I just kind of ran outta steam on the colors...and didn't even attempt a background.

If I ever get it going again I will do a re-post.

"The Duke" & Some Art Books

2007-01-29T14:38:00.000-08:00

So the above sketch is of "The Duke" John Wayne, nothing to meaningful here, I'm just trying to keep sketching away.

So within the last couple of weeks I've added to my art library with the following latest additions..Oh and by the way, I strongly suggest joining Barnes and Nobles' membership program. It's free and you get 20% off on all "Adult Hardcovers" which is pretty much what each "Art Of Book" usually is.

The Art of Open Season: Didn't like the movie as a whole very much, but I did like the style and this book is really packed with great sketches, especially character design. It's really inspiring, as they included various designs from different animators on each character, and the background paintings are very Warner Brothers in style. It is one of those new "interactive books" which means it contains lots of extras, and keepsakes. I have a Bruce Springsteen book, and it works for that, as they give you replicas of gig posters and backstage passes, but for this book, the most you get are cheesy postcards, and stickers based on the characters, so the format isn't that great for this book, unless your 5.

Draw The Looney Tunes: Not a bad book overall, it is supposedly the "bible" they gave all the character artists at Warner brothers studio.It's not so much an animation book, but an overall basic drawing manual. It describes proper layout and drawing theory, and as far as animation it covers the basic "Preston Blair" bases of line of action, dynamic posing etc. I know the title says draw the "Looney Tunes", but the basic character featured is Bugs Bunny, so it's a bit limited. The book does feature full color pull-outs of really nice Warner Brother back grounds, as well as velum cleanup overlays of some rough drawings. Overall if your a professional artist, you won't learn many new tricks, but as far a visual ref and inspiration, it's a pretty decent book.

The Art Of The Incredibles: I waited on this for awhile, but finally grabbed it at Barnes and Noble ( yup 20% off too ) and it's a really good book, full of pre-production art. Each character and main environment from the film has a series of sketches, and even paper collages that were used in the early design phase. Overall, it was a smaller representation character-wise than the Open Season book, but still very inspiring, and interesting to see the retro-style that went into the overall film.

L8tr!

3 Billy Goats Gruff

2007-01-22T10:20:00.000-08:00

*colors by Peter King

The above sketch was a character concept I did for a game a few years back. We wanted to portray the "3 Billy Goats Gruff" as the characters from the "3 Stooges". The game design changed in pre-production, and these 3 lil' bastards ended up getting cut, but it was still loads of fun to sketch.

On a side tangent, I guess the 3 Stooges were always found to be funnier by men than women, and Stanford University actually did a small study about it, (when they weren't busy finding cures for cancer and how to remedy global warming) and basically the summary of their findings was this:
"women were a lot faster to decide something wasn't funny in the first place. Too, the women's brains were more active in language processing and executive function than the men's were. This meant that women analyzed the joke more than men did. The scientists theorized this indicates men start out thinking a joke is going to be funny while women don't"

So there ya have it. Another mystery of the universe solved!

24 is Back, and so am I.

2007-01-16T13:35:00.000-08:00

Was back east for a week visiting my family back in "Joisey", where weirdly the weather was pretty nice...Funny enough it was 70 degrees when we landed last Saturday, and here today in Seattle my nuts have retreated into my small intestine, because it's been cold and snowing...Global Warming maybe?

But if it is Global warming the man who can stop it would be the dude I drew in the sketch above, "Jack Bauer" from the show "24" which had it's big 2 day-4 hour season premiere, and man was it ever kick ass! I have only a small selection of TV shows I check out religiously, one is "24" and the others are "Smallville", "House" and "Heroes". Problem is now both "24" and "Heroes" are both on Mondays @ 9, and I don't have Tivo or Digital Cable, so because "24" isn't big on re-runs during the season, I'm gonna tune in to see how Jack saves the world in one day yet again..This year he was released from a Chinese prison where he was tortured for 2 years to start his day.

Good thing he's the man to save the world, because if terrorists wanted to blow up a city on a day after I drank 8 car bombs the night before, I wouldn't be able to get my head off the pillow till bout 5PM.

Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic

2007-01-04T17:43:00.000-08:00

Quick sketch I did of Reed Richards the head honcho of the "Fantastic 4". Fun sketch because he can stretch himself crazy, which I bet keeps his wife Sue Richards ( the Invisible Girl ) pretty happy.

Speaking of Sue Richards, she is being played in the big screen sequel of the Fantastic 4 by Jessica Alba....She definitely gets at least one thing to stretch for me, which keeps me pretty happy.

The first movie had some serious flaws, but a new trailer for Fantastic 4: The Rise Of The Silver Surfer is now online, and this one actually has me interested, so we'll see.

Oh, and if you really wanna check out a ballz owt superhero flick trailer then click HERE

L8tr

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-22T13:50:00.000-08:00

Well tis' that time of year, so I thought I'd post a little Christmas sketch up before I head offline for the holidays.

Hope anyone who reads the site has a happy and healthy holiday, and has worked themselves off the "Naughty List" enough to get some goodies in your stockings. One of my resolutions in Da '07 is to try to keep up with this blog more often, and try to sketch more! I was gonna try to stop drinking and "be nice" more, but I gotta take baby steps and not throw too much on my plate at once.

Here are some quick links to great animated holiday specials to get you in the spirit:

"A Wish For Wings That Work"...featured Opus and Bill from "Bloom County" and was executive produced by Steven Spielberg: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

"Ziggy's Gift"...Featuring God loving midget "Ziggy" and directed by legendary animator Richard Williams: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Bout time

2006-12-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

I needed a small pic for myself in my profile, and this was probably the best one...Or the least offensive, or humiliating.

My Son.You Have Great Power....Unless Puget Sound Energy Hasn't Hooked You Up Yet.

2006-12-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

Well we had ourselves one hell of a wind storm last Thursday here in Washington. 70 mph winds ran through our neighborhood, and when we woke up our power was out and some of our neighbors had the lovely evergreens drop through their homes. As of today my neighborhood is still without power, and it looks like we may get some back before the weekend.

My wife and I decided to " fuck this shit" on Saturday after the last of our hot water ran out, so we are now staying with some good friends, but I do have to tell you that I have the greatest appreciation for the invention of the lightbulb. This week has seen Thomas Edison rise above Alyssa Milano, Walt Disney and The Green Lantern on my list of the "Coolest People EVAH" list.

Overall all of my neighbors have been great, and we've all checked on each other and have helped out where we can, in fact I think my neigbor Jack had one of the most memorable quotes thus far when he wife asked about his special forces training that he had recieved when he served with the Air Force he replied to her " I told you, I recieved my special forces training for the god damn JUNGLE! What damn good is that gonna do when I'm freezing my ass off!"

In a typical "Seattle moment" when our downtown area was up and running one of the first places to get busy was the Starbucks, so my wie and I grabbed a coffee on a supply run. When we returned to our neighborhood people were like " Where'd you get that coffee?!" when I said that the Starbucks downtown was open, they darted into their cars and headed out.

Everyone has a great story, and I even think some urban legends will grow about how knife fights broke out over the last latte' in the Wind Storm of 06.

Hope you dig the pic I did of Jor-El...I had completed the sketch, and tried to segway the art into the story, resulting in the drawn out header.

Sketchin' with Jeet Koon Doe

2006-11-10T14:55:00.000-08:00

Sketch of Bruce Lee for today, I got all "Rob Liefeld" and didn't wanna draw any anatomy or feet.

So Bruce is all dressed like he was when he kicked Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's ass in "Game Of Death"...Wonder if he could've kicked Larry Bird's ass? I'm guessing Larry would jump shoot a ninja star from 30 feet right into Bruce's skull.

Enjoi

Disney At The EMP

2006-11-08T16:52:00.000-08:00

Live in Seattle? Like Disney? Like Music?

Well the EMP ( Experience Music Project ) here in Seattle is running an exhibit called "The Music behind the Magic" from November 4th till September 9th.

I actually did some conceptual artwork with a creative company called Wonder Mine for some of the specific exhibits. A real talented ( and caffeinated ) guy named Ken Burns, was the man who created all the layouts and ideas for each area . You can actually see some of the concept drawings I drew on the website for the exhibit, which you can check out HERE

Credit for the coloring of the pics goes to fellow artist and blogger Jason Southwick, he really nailed a rough watercolor style using Photoshop.

I'm going to try and check it out sometime soon to see how much things look the way they were originally thought out...Plus I'm a sucker for Hillary Duff tunes ;)

Part III: From Sketch To Super ( I hope )

2006-10-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

Well here is the piece with the final character color and shading on it. Overall, it may not be "super" but I guess it "ain't too shabby" either.

Guess it is missing the ol' lensflare, but I decided to resist the cheesy temptation of adding it in, but if there are any suggestions of maybe what else can be added, or tweeked to punch it up then feel free to lemme know.

L8tr!

Part II: from Sketch To Super ( I Hope )

2006-10-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

I'm by no means a whiz at Photoshop, and I am still really unfamiliar with all the cool tricks and doo-hikkies that are involved with the program, so I knew the most challenging part would be painting in the sunset clouds for the background.

For this pic, I didn't ink my drawing, instead I went over my blue pencils with a regular Number 2 pencil ( adding a bit of line weight ) and then I photocopied the sketch. I use this because it still keeps the drawing looking "alive" and rough, but it does clean it up as well.

As for the coloring, in the picture above, in the smaller illo, that was a photo of a sunset that a buddy of mine had taken up in Alaska..I brought it in, bumped up the contrast and brightness, and I used that as my center, and my color template to build around.

As I said before, I ain't too good in the Photoshop, but luckily I am surrounded my talented co-workers who are always doing amazing things in photoshop. One of them is fellow blogger OK, who I asked " Dude how do you paint nice, fluffy clouds?" He showed me the "Wet Brush" pulldown in Photoshop and he said just to set my opacity low and to keep building up the color.

To be serious I had never even known about the wet brushed, but they definitely achieved the effect I wanted...So I kept building up my colors, and eventually wound up with the finished sunset sky that tyou see in the larger frame above.

next step I'll post is the character coloring and shading.

Part I :From Sketch To Super ( I hope )

2006-10-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

I've been seeing some cool posts showing all the different stages of a finished illustration, from the sketching to the finished color. I figured I'd jump on the wagon and give one a go with the latest full color drawing I'm working on.

The above is the latest Superman sketch I'm doing, and I am shooting for Supes hovering in a sunset sky, in a pose that's heroic/religious. I was partially inspired after watching "Superman returns" in 3D IMAX, which, by the way, kicked ass.

I'll post my rough color stage tomorrow.

Enjoi!

Just Another $0.02

2006-10-03T15:25:00.000-07:00

As an animator I frequent a bunch of animation sites and blogs. One I hit almost daily is "Cartoon Brew" which is hosted by Jerry Beck and Amid Amidi. It's a great site that has all sorts of great animation articles and links to all things animation.

Recently I read an article on Cartoon Brew called "Miyazki and Son" which was written by Mr. Amidi about the strained relationship between Japanese Animation icon Hayao Miyazaki and his son ( also an animator ) Goro. Here is the piece.

If anybody is in need of some tough love from Dr. Phil, it's probably Hayao Miyazaki and his eldest son Goro. This Reuters article about GEDO SENKI (TALES OF EARTHSEA), the first film by Goro Miyazaki, is quite revealing, sad and funny all at the same time. Among the details revealed in the piece:
Goro Miyazaki says, "For Hayao Miyazaki, now that I've made one movie, as far as he's concerned I've become a sort of rival."
The opening scene of Goro Miyazaki's film has a prince stabbing his father to death.
The elder Miyazaki didn't directly tell his son his thoughts about the film, but relayed them through a Studio Ghibli producer.
Goro Miyazaki wrote a blog entry about his father titled, "Zero Points as a Father, Top Points as a Director," and claims that "From the time I became aware of things up to the present, we have almost never talked."

Pretty sad, but what I found especially sad was Mr Amidi's summarizing paragraph

I must say though, in one sense it's refreshing to see somebody like Hayao Miyazaki who cares so much about his art that he's willing to put it above his family's happiness. Great works of animation like SPIRITED AWAY and PRINCESS MONONOKE certainly aren't made without sacrifice. Perhaps animation would be better in the States if more people were willing to make those type of sacrifices for their films ( READ UPDATE BELOW )

I honestly couldn't understand the opinion of how he thought that Miyazaki's neglect of his family was refreshing, and that by suggesting that if more American animators, and film makers sacrificed their familial happiness, it would produce better animated films.

Chuck Jones loved his children, as did Walt Disney...They may have had to come home for dinner late a few nights and possibly miss a ball game or two, but they didn't neglect their children. In fact unlike Miyazaki, their children recognized them both as great artists, AND great fathers.

If an individual cares for their art more than their children, why have children in the first place? Was it through sheer vanity? Or was it a mistake?

Again he's entitled to his opinion, but it's my opinion that when you die and your legacy is a broken child and a volume of regarded art, then your life has been a failure.

I believe Mr. Miyazaki should look at a small piece of cinema known as "Field Of Dreams" in which Ray Kinsella played by Kevin Costner builds a beautiful baseball diamond in his cornfield which allows all of his by-gone baseball heroes to appear and play in front of his eyes...All of which are a setup and pale in comparison to playing a game of catch with his deceased father, and finally put to rest all the pain he has suffered due to their strained relationship.

Then again, the people who made "Field Of Dreams" may have bitter and resentful kids that they neglected..Ah well.

UPDATE: Mr. Amidi was cool enough to stop by and leave a comment below to give me a heads up that he himself had updated his blog about the article above, and to let me know that he was tongue in cheek in the article.

So even though I would love emoticons to disappear, those little bastards always find examples of showing me how much I need them....:) or is it ;) or :p

The Fastest Man Alive

2006-09-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

click image to enlarge

The above pic is something I submitted to the website Superman-With-Chimps for their September gallery. If you like drawing comic characters ( especially DC ) then you should take a look at the site, they have a monthly contest, and some great Superman related prizes.

So the pic above is of "The Flash" against his enemy "Gorilla Grodd"..I wanted to do something more with it, but I eventually just hit a stopping/bored point with it and was all "Meh..It's good enough." I liked the composition, I think it's just the background and all.

Hopefully I'll start keeping up with my posts a bit more often..Take It Easy!

A Most Unfortunate Post

2006-08-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a long while since I posted anything, as I've been pretty busy trying to get the game I have been working on out the door. It's my first game as lead animator, and we've had a short production cycle ( 5 and a half months ) so it's been a good clip, but we're close to done.

Even though we've been pinched by a short schedule I think the small crew of animators I have had on this project have done some pretty kick ass work and when it's close to done I hope to share some little details here and there.

I did want to throw a post up, and I dug into the vault for this one, it's a box comp we did for a proposal in order to help get the license for the Lemony Snicket "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" PC game. Luckily we received the license and the company I work for Amaze Entertainment published the title.

The whole piece from concept to color took about a day and a half of work ..I sketched out the characters and background and an amazing artist by the name of Todd Lovering painted the whole piece up in Photoshop, thus making my pencils look 18 times more kickass then they had a right to be.

Hopefully, once we get our project shipped I can post some more stuff from the game, and some personal pieces...Until then..Enjoi Yo-selves!

Jesus Christ Superman

2006-06-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

"Many simply see the story of a hero sent to Earth by his father to serve mankind as having clear enough New Testament overtones. Others have taken the comparison even further, reading the "El" in Superman's original name "Kal-El" and that of his father "Jor-El" as the Hebrew word for "God," among other theological interpretations."

Read the entire article HERE at CNN.com

Animation Mistakes In Game Development pt.3

2006-02-28T13:07:00.000-08:00

Misappropriation Of Resources
Feature Creep: This is basically the tendency to continually add new things to the game even after your cut-off point for new features has passed. If left unchecked, this can lead to a nightmarish debugging and test cycle and invariably cause you to either push your release date or release a buggy game. While it is good to keep current with what is being released and maintain a competitive edge in the business, it's not good to continually backtrack in production every time a new game comes out with a "hot" new feature that you abolutely must have in your game.
-Cory Barlog, combat designer for Sony's God Of War

Avoid spending 8 weeks working on a feature that 1% of people will notice.
-Trey Ratcliff, CEO John Galt Games

It is fundamental to apply the golden rule of film production: Spend the money on the screen! Too often 3D assests are overserviced and too much work doesn't end up on screen (i.e, in the final shot and cut). Working closely from an early locked off animatic ( or 3D block ) is the best way to optimize your art budget. The simple philosophy should always be " less is more ". Whether it is animation, modeling, effects, etc., don't try to schieve too much ( so everything suffers ). Instead focus on fewer elements and get them right, whatever they may be.
-Thomas Schober, executive producer, Act3animation

Animation Mistakes In Game Development pt.2

2006-02-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

Underestimating The Scope Of The Project
Don't over-promise and under-deliver. This applies to everything in your animation studio-budgets, timelines and artist capability. Good studios should know their limits, and know what they can do in that timeframe.
-Mohammad Dovoudian, CEO, Brain Zoo

Everyone wants to make a great game, and at the beginning of a project the tendency is to go as big as you can imagine. But after the initial high-level wish list, you need to have a reality check and see what is really going to be possible within the time and budget constraints. Without this reality check, you could end up with a pitch for a game that sounds like this: " It takes the open-ended sandbox mentality of Grand Theft Auto mixed with the driving tuning and physics of Gran Turismo, all wrapped up in a visual presentation on par with Resident Evil4-all in 14 months". This is probably not very realistic.
-Cory Barlog, lead combat designer for Sony's God Of War

Animation Mistakes In Game Development

2006-02-24T09:50:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been awhile, but I am an animation lead on a new project at my job, and I've been keeping busy and learning a ton...In getting ready for my new found responsibility I read some articles, and a great one I found was in Animation Magazine and they listed mistakes made in Game Development/Animation. I thought I'd pull out the animation related ones and post them up, and see how universal some of these are:

BAD TIMING
" Timing is one of the main elements for appealing animation. Quite often, I notice animations could be faster, less lethargic and floaty."
-Bob Rafei, art director, Naughty Dog

This is often very true...It really does take that extra time to make things look like they have a great sense of weight in 3D...I think we sometimes have the tendency to rely to much on the program and if the animation doesn't " hitch" or look choppy, then it's good to go. I have also noticed that I sometimes make transition anims to long, and forget that for gaming they need to be quick and not interrupt the flow of the game.

A great example id that I needed to have a character grab an object to push and before I grabbed it, I wanted him to spit into each of his hands and then grab the object. Another one of the animators here ( and a HUGE gamer ) advised against it, saying that in games you just want to grab that object and get moving.

Another problem, is lack of polish and animation tweeking..Sometimes we have to rough an animation out to get to programmers and level designers so they can start testing their mechanics, and we continue to animate...With tight schedules, it is sometimes hard to go back and add that bit of love and add the little bits that keep it from being a " serviceable " animation.

Fun With Camera Phone

2006-02-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

Ahh memories... I was going through some old e-mails and found this comic strip that my buddy Pete had made from some pics he took on his camera phone from my 29th Birffday Drunk-Fest 2 years ago.

Eats, drinks, fancy cars and chicks who dance in front of Mad Max posters...That's how ya ring it in Baby!!

Plane Doodle..The Fuzz

2006-01-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

Last week I went on a lil' buisness trip to LA ( my first one ) and it was a two flight day, as we hopped down and then flew back later that afternoon...It was a lot of flying, and being that I read my entire magazine on the ay down, I thought I do a bit of sketching on the way back.

Most were bad, and this was by far the better of the bunch..Basically it's just one of them grizzled veteran detectives, who may be on his last 2 or 3 cases. He just got his 3rd cup of coffee as he's been interogating some nut job...He obviously thinks the story doesn't match the facts.

Maybe he'll throw the hot joe in the dirtbags face.

It's Good To Be The ( Burger ) King

2006-01-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

So here's a pic I found on the web that were some shots of the latest " Burger King " commercial, that they were filming in Cali. Looks like Da king is getting rubbing down model and all round hottie Brooke Burke, to shield her from the cancer rays.

I have enjoyed the commercials, especially the NFL ones with the King in them. I think he can have a Michael Myers affect on some people though, as this chick who works with my wife is actually afraid of him, and will instantly change the channel when she sees his Whopper sized melon on TV.

I wonder if the King is rubbing her down with his Special Sauce...I would've made some Fillet O' Fish joke, but realized that was McDonalds.

New Year's Round the World...In 360

2006-01-02T09:18:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year's to everyone, I hope all your hangovers have subsided, and I hope the parties that brought them on were filled with drunken merriment!

Myself, my wife and a bunch of our friends spent the New Year in a hotel in downtown Seattle complete with a great view of the Space Needle and a tub full of beer. It was a good time to spend with friends and family, and seeing the Needle's fireworks display in person was a pretty awesome sight ( I hadn't yet achieved blurred vision).

I lived in New Jersey, a mere 15 minute drive from downtown Manhattan, but I never once waded into the sea of humanity to ring in the New year at Times Square, but this website gives you a complete panoramic view of what it looked like this year ( including a great view of Mariah Carey's sweater puppets )...You can also experience 360 views from other international cities...You'll need Quicktime, but check it out:

http://www.panoramas.dk/new-year-2006/new-years-eve-2005.html

A friend of mine actually did journey to Times Square and gave this description of it
" If you want to know what it's like, get 8 of your friends and stand shoulder to shoulder with each other in a bathtub filled with cold water, and pissing on each other for 3 hours...It's like that."

Another buddy of mine actually found a way around the bathroom thing as he rigged up a clever device with a small funnel, some duct tape and a rubber tube. He attached the pipe to the funnel, which he ducttaped onto his underwear with a pee hole cut out..He then ran the pipe down his pantleg, so that he would be able to drink and pee freely without having to push his way through the crowd to a porto-potty....MacGuyver would be proud!

Superman Lives ( but not for too long )

2005-12-19T18:32:00.000-08:00

As many of you may know next year is going to have the release of the Bryan Singer helmed " Superman Returns " . Expectations are high about the big screen return of the Man Of Steel. What many don't know is what a long process it has been.

The above drawing is a concept sketch that was done by Kerry Gamill for the aborted attempt at a Supes flick called " Superman Lives " , which was going to be directed by Tim Burton from a script by Kevin Smith, which was loosely based on the Death Of Superman story arc from the comics.

They even had the Man Of Steel cast..It was none other than......Nic Cage. Yup, Nic Cage, he of quirky characters and receding hairline was going to play Superman, and naturally it was ready for the suckage. I've read the Smith script and honestly I thought it was awful, filled with polar bears and gadgets for Superman to use ( he had claimed that most of this had come down from producer Jon Peters, who was more interested in merchandising than actual making a good movie ). I also think that Burton would have been horrible as a director..His directing style would not have worked for Superman, and we'd have to deal with a Danny Elfman score ( look I like the guy's work, but he's done like 3 comic movies, and the only standout was Batman )..But luckily a kryptonite truck smashed into this project, and it was dead.

However a site called Kal-El.org has a great page of all the conceptual artwork that had gone into the pre-production and you can check it out HERE

Also if you want to know more about all the behind the scenes craziness that went on with this production Cinescape has a great article and you can read it HERE

Sims 2 PSP Character Designs

2005-12-14T08:39:00.000-08:00

The most recent game which I worked on " The Sims 2 " for the PSP was released last week, just in time to be shoved in stockings or under the tree ( gotta shill the product ). It was the very first PSP title I have worked on and this one was thee largest game I worked on period. One of the coolest things about this project was that it wasn't a direct port of the PC game, our company was able to come up with a unique design, animations and characters.

Below, are some of the original concepts I sketched out. Our designer had given us a few lines on the character, and then my Animation Lead Andrew and I brainstormed about what we felt they should be like, and then the sketches ( and multiple revisions ) began.

It's been getting some good reviews , most critics are down on the constant load times, but it's a big ass game thrown onto a small ass disc. Overall though they have liked the art and design, so
if you like the Sims, go ahead and check it out.

Here are the sketches of some of the local residents and odd characters who reside in " Strangetown ", which is an Area 51/Roswell/Twin Peaks type of town. I'll post more when I can

*Hoot Howell color by Andrew Brinkworth

Which Superhero Are You ?

2005-12-12T09:04:00.000-08:00

art by George Perez

Found this lil' quiz that asks you a few questions to find out which Superhero you'd be.
http://www.seabreezecomputers.com/superhero/

I filled all the questions and was told I most resembled " The Flash " , I'm not a big runner, but when danger is coming, or it's last call at the bar, I can definitely get the short speed bursts going. Second on my list was " Superman ", but I'm guessing that my love of booze pushed me more towards the Scarlet Speedster, because current Flash, Wally West, loved the sauce.

Who'd you end up as?

All This Crap Happened On My Birthday

2005-12-08T08:51:00.000-08:00

So today is December 8th and 31 years ago I was brought forth into this world, and have since filled it with thousands of drawings, drank gallons upon gallons of cheap alchohol, made over a dozen videogames, and caused about 48 " uncomfortable silences " during a conversation.

But this day is rich in history and events, as I discovered:

-In musical tragedy both John Lennon ( 1980 ) and Pantera guitarist " Dimebag " Darrell were gunned down. ( Lennon killed the Beatles, but that wasn't on my birthday )

-In 1941 The U.S entered World War II when it declared war against Japan. The act came one day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Britain and Canada also declared war on Japan. ( After this we were able to see all the great propanganda cartoons as animated by both the Disney and Warner Brothers studios )

-In 1813 Beethoven's "Opus 92: Symphony No. 7 in A major" was performed for the first time.

-In 1968 Graham Nash announced the formation of Crosby, Stills and Nash three days after he quit the Hollies.

- In 1960 Fabian visited Elvis Presley at Graceland and lent him his pants when Elvis ripped his demonstrating karate.

-In 1987 U.S. President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a treaty agreeing to destroy their nations' arsenals of intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

- For Catholic folks, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The theory holds that Mary, mother of Jesus, was free of original sin from the moment she was conceived. ( This was a HUGE bonus for me, because we got December 8th off , EVERY year I was in Catholic school..So I had my birthday off every year...And I skipped Mass )

In 1990 "Wiseguy" was aired for the last time on CBS ( Man that sucked, if you've never seen it, this was an awesome show, it also was the start of B-Movie babe Joan Severance's career )

-In 1997 I got so drunk that I puked all over some chicks heating vent after discovering I can't hold down vodka at an early Christmas party..The impending smell angered the hostess and I was " ratted out " by a fellow party-goer as the culprit.. I immediately said the reason I had gotten sick was because I was allergic to dairy and was made un-aware that the finger food consisted of cheese...The hostess felt bad and apologized.

Here are some other known folks who also share today as their birthday:
Diego Rivera 1886
Sammy Davis, Jr. 1925
David Carradine 1936
Jim Morrison 1943
Kim Basinger 1953
Teri Hatcher 1964 ( Man two chicks who I had MAJOR b-Day wood over at some point )
Bushwick Bill of The Geto Boys 1966

facts by on-this-day.com

G-Chick

2005-12-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

Here is another character concept I did for an original game idea our company was developing. Without going into to much detail, it basically was about different groups ( based on musical genre's ) who would have battles based on music..I know it's all vague, but I can't giveaway to much.

I was assigned " Hip-Hop" so I came up with a bunch of different characters ( Here are my older posts of the HOMEBOY and HOMEGIRL ) and this was my Beyonce-type G-Chick.

These were fun, as it stretched my style a bit, and it's a bonus to have to look at Beyonce pics all day for inspiration..Ah, the grind!

Oh and as far as Hip-Hop and Rap, do yourselfs a favor and check out the Q-Unit....It's a " mash-up" of 50 Cent lyrics with the rock riffs of Queen...Check it owt HERE

Ya HURD ME!

Kick'N Back

2005-12-01T18:17:00.000-08:00

My Disney Cruise to the Bahamas was Gr8, it was the first time this Seattle transplant via Jersey had ever set foot in some blue water.. They say a picture is worth a thousand
words, and I thought this pic best summed up my trip.

Oh, and as I took this picture I was getting a shoulder massage from a beautiful Bahama mama..I also had two more flanking me on each side as they gently swayed palm leaves to fan my sweaty brow.

Seriously.

Loose Girl

2005-11-30T18:57:00.000-08:00

Just trying to get back to doing some sketching, so I thought I'd do a loose girl..Of course, by " loose" I mean, the way in which I drew her, and colored her up..By no means is it the type of " loose " that hangs out in bars, drinks a ton and then you find sleeping with your friends. Or need a get a shot after the first date.

Although being that it's a drawing, it can be loose, and she can be a loose woman..Yeah, I guess she does kinds have that look..well, so much for my innocent little sketch.

Have a Good One!

Spider-Man by Anthony Guttierrez

2005-11-29T19:09:00.000-08:00

Here is everyone's favorite web-crawler Spider-Man as drawn by my nephew Anthony Guttierrez ( Age 7 ).

My wife and I headed down to Texas for the holiday weekend, and my nephew and I sketched a few pics and I tell you being an animator/making video games has to rank right up there with Race-Car Driver, Fireman and being Chuck E. Cheese as one of the coolest occupations for telling kids. Once I told him what I did, he immediately grabbed a stack of paper and color pencils and we just got to drawing. He brought out his Spider-Man coloring book and started copying various pages with the above being the drawing he was most proud of ( I'm sure Stan Lee would be as well ).

He then asked if I had any superhero drawings, and I showed him some of the pics up here and he then asked if I could put his pic up..He also requested if anyone would like to buy his artwork, he could sell it to you for 50 cents..

Unda Da Sea'

2005-11-23T15:23:00.000-08:00

Starting getting some pics back from the Disney Cruise, so I figured I'd post a few here and there. This one is of course a statue of Ariel from " The Little Mermaid ".
This one statue was in the main hall outside one of the restuarants we ate ate called " Tritons ". They had an amazing mosaic which had all the various characters, and they also had the old phalic-shaped castle in the background..You can change a box for a videocassette, but just try to just rapidly change a mosaic that a bunch of artisans created in Milan Italy, from thousands of tiny tiles....The penis stays in the picture!

I always liked the character of Ariel, and it's probably do to the fact that she was partially inspired by the likeness of this gal right HERE

I'm Serious. Just ask Glen Keane

Thee Ol' Workspace ( and I do mean old )

2005-11-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

Been seeing some animator peeps throwing up pics of their workspaces..My fellow co-worker Newsquirt posted his awhile back..I had a roll of film to kill, so I decided to share the place where I make other people's dreams, a reality :)

As you can see I have quite a bit o' crap ( and this isn't all of it ) and it's taken 5 years to get this to maximum clut-age. Almost every artist and programmer has shifted offices, usually as we get new projects. I, through luck have had every team I've worked on be in my area of the building.

So to take you on a brief tour I numbered the pic and here we go:

1. Three different " degrees " which run from my bachelors in Animation from Harvard, to my Doctorate Of Animation from M.I.T , whish was signed by the Dean Of Arts Dr. Yougatta B. Kidding

2. The ol' art table, for those occasions where I take a break from the 3D realm, I have the usual assortment of animator/geek crap which adorn it's facade..Such as a broken Pinky & The Brain lamp, Mr. Incredible and Batman action figures, and a snowglobe with Red Hot riding Hood in it.

3. Gotta have toys, that range from high end Macfarlane toys to low-end Happy Meal swag..Also managed to win the WW European Title from back in my luche libre wrasslin' days

4. Wall O' Random..On here is a bulletin board with pics of hot chicks, characitures , pics of family and it's all topped off by the flag of the motherland..New Jersey

Well, there it is..If I ever move to a cubicle it'll be hell to move..Plus I can't fit it all in there, my office already looks like " Sanford and Son ".

Back To Bizzaro World

2005-11-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

Ah it's been awhile and I've finally gotten over my Caribbean hangover..I tell you being drunk and on a Disney cruise is an odd thing, and yet highly recommended.

Thought I'd get to posting again, so I startred off with a sketch of Superman villian " Bizzaro"...he actually looks like he's had a couple of cocktails. It was fun to get back to the sketching.

In Superman related stuff, the official " Superman Returns " movie site is up, and you can check it out HERE

Take it easy amigos, and I'll post some island pics when I get em' developed.. ( yup I'm old school..i still use a Kodak Disc camera )

L8tr

Kick'n Back

2005-10-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

Won't be posting anything the next week, because I'll be too busy get'n sunburnt and downing sugarry-foo foo girly drinks out of a coconut.

Gonna take a lil cruise to the Bahamas..I've never been, and it's a " Disney " cruise, so aside from it being a feast for my animator eyes, I may actually have to have all the 7 dwarfs carry my drunken ass back to my cabin...Or I may try to hit on "Tinkerbell", I can say " Why you wanna send the rest of your life with a boy...When you can have a MAN!..hiccup ( then followed by a slap from my wife )"

L8tr!

Batgirl

2005-10-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

So here's another comic character sketch, except this time I decided to go with the ass kick'n female kind, and I sketched out BATGIRL...The original, NOT that Alicia Silverstone " oh I'm Alfred's Niece " Batgirl, from the movie "Batman & Robin" ( Man it's amazing that Christopher Nolan was able to save the Bat-Film franchise after that Joel Schumacher debacle )

This is another sketch that I had decided to color up, but I had a tough time deciding if I should go with the dark background color, because it obscures the figure a bit. But I had a buddy of mine lay some eyes on it, and he said to run with it...Also wanted to throw up the pencils for it as well.

Well until next time...Same Bat-Time. Same Bat Channel.

Sharpie Sketchin'

2005-10-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

I decided to post another lifedrawing pic, as I have been getting back into it, within the last few weeks. My work offers a non-nude lifedrawing session once a week, and I've been going the last few weeks, with varied results.

Some of the drawings have been tedious and to me, look really flat..I have actually found the " quick sketches" those gesture skectches to be the biggest pain in da arse'.

The gesture skecth above though I really liked and I used a medium I never used before..A Sharpie Marker. I usually use a blue pencil to get my line of action, and basic skeleton down, and then go back with a darker pencil to fill in the details, but I just went staraight with the ol' Sharpie on this one...I found it really makes you concentrate on the lines, and it's hit or miss, but like Chuck Jones said

" Everyone has a thousand bad drawings in them, you just have to get them out of the way."

OWWWWWWWCH

2005-10-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

An email went around work last week which announced the news that Electronic Arts ( EA ) had signed non other than film director Steven Spielberg to game development deal which would see ol' Stevie develop 3 new video games. Big news indeed, because everyone in the industry says how the gaming biz is becoming more like " Hollywood " , sans the hookers , good-looking people and cocaine.

It's big news indeed, but it wasn't Spielbergs first foray into videogames, in fact the first time he was involved in any game was for the Atari 2600 and the game was based on the hit 1982 movie "E.T" and it pretty much led to the financial destruction of Atari as well as being considered one of the biggest commercial failings ( and suckiest games ) in video game history.

The story starts as such..Or in movie terms
SCENE 1 - INTERIOR ATARI OFFICES- DAY

Ray Kasser ( CEO of Atari ) "Steven Spielberg, it's great to see you, loved, just LOVED that 1941 picture you did!"

Spielberg " Thanks, I'm guessing you were one of the 12 people who saw it? "

Kassar " Hell I saw it 12 times...LOVE Belushi..Oh have you played any of our little videogames yet?"

Spielberg " Yeah, I really love Yars' Revenge...And Burger Time "

Kassar " Wow, that's just great, and that's why you're here. We wanna make a game based on your new movie about that cute kid with down syndrome and the extra vertebrae in his neck."

Spielberg " E.T ?"

Kassar " That's the one, so how much would it cost US, to make the game for YOU?"

Spielberg " 20 Million "

And that's how it started.. And yes that price was true, Kassar went and bought the rights for $ 20 million bucks, and this was in 1983...You figure that most games now, high end 3D games don't come close to 20 mil...Wanna see what 20 Million got you? Just look at that screen shot.

E.T was then programmed by Howard Scott Warshaw, who actually did Yars' revenge, which was a kick ass Atari 2600 game, but he was saddled with a 6 week production schedule, from start to finish in order to hit the Christmas retail season. Warshaw had confidence and much like those who proclaimed that " nothing could sink the Titanic ", he actually introduced the game to Spielberg as " the game that would make the movie famous " ..This man is still shitting out rubber soles from sticking his foot so far down his throat.

I usually don't need to sit at
a computer to make a turd

Atari was expecting huge sales for "E.T", in fact Atari had told all of their game distributors to place their orders for the 1982 year all at once. The distributors expecting a big sales year ( at this time Atari had a mark on 80% of the home video game market ) and ordered a shitload of the little cartridges, expecting the release of the movie, along with the cartridge release of arcade hit Pac-Man to make money hand over fist. But what they didn't expect or figure out was how they got such a tub of shit, into such a small little cartridge.

The game was HORRIBLE, it played poorly, it had no resolve, and in general people hated spending their time as E.T consistently falling down little holes and figuring out exactly what the fuck you were supposed to do, while Elliot would occasionally show up and run right past you...I remember chasing Elliot through about 17 games screens, which were the same 4 screens, but withy different colors....In the words of E.T himself "Owwwwwwch"

INT - CHRISTMAS DAY
A mother enters hoping to see the excited look on her son's face as he plays his newest game from Santa

Mom " Merry Christmas my baby!!!...Do you like the new game that Santa brought for you?"

the child looks at his mother, both confused and angry

Child " Jeez if this is what I get when I'm good, what does Santa do if I'm bad? Fuck me in the ass and pour sugar into my gas tank?"

Needless to say it was not well received and 5 million units of the game were returned or never sold, which the distributors returned in droves back to Atari. Atari, who had produced MORE of the cartridges than they had sold of actual game systems found themselves with tons of cartridges.

So what did Atari do with them all ? The same thing the mob did with Jimmy Hoffa..They buried them. Atari sent 14 truckloads of unsold and returned cartridges ( to be fair they weren't all E.T, some were Pac-Man who people equally despised ) to a city landfill in the desert town of Alamogordo, New Mexico. To keep from people digging them up ( why? ) a concrete slab was placed over the fill site.

That year Warner Brothers, who owned Atari saw their stock plummet two-thirds of their previous value, and Warners had reached the end of it's quarter with profits down 56%...Atari had lost a half a billion dollars ( $ 536 million ) in 1983, and led to the sale by Warners in 1984.
But to be fair Spielberg, just sold the rights and didn't produce the actual game. So this time around everything could work out great, because the man really has no failures when he is the driving force..Especially when you look at his movie.....Oh, except for "A.I" , oh and " Joe Versus The Volcano "..And I almost forgot about " batteries not included "

But if worst comes to worst EA can always make another Madden game.

The U.S Army VS The RED Rock Em' Sock Em' Robot

2005-10-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

Grandpa's Collection: The Juice

2005-10-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

click image to enlarge

I recently started to scan in more sports photos from my grandfather's collection. For those of you that don't know I've been posting ( sporadically ) old sports photos from the 60's that my grandfather had gotten when he worked at the " Daily News "

As you can see in this one we have " The Juice" a.k.a " the most Guilty Man in America" Orenthal James " O.J" Simpson. Way before this guy was running from the law, he was running into offensive lines for the Buffalo Bills, and is among the greatest running backs in football history ( he's also quite skilled in knife play as well ).

The Juice also had a mildy successful movie career as well..In fact my one friend holds onto the belief that O.J didn't hack up his wife based on the fact that " Jeez..He was in The Towering Inferno!...If you saw him in that movie, there is NO WAY you could believe he murdered anybody.".....As for me, I look towards the " Naked Gun" movies

Enjoi

Bo-Peep...Da Last One

2005-10-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

Here is the final of the 3 concept sketches I did of " Lil' Bo-Peep" for the " Shrek 2 PC " Game.

For this sketch I just drew someone who is completely neurotic and forgetful. This chick is consistently loosing her sheep, and forgetting everything else in her life.

I used the old cliche' of tying a bow around your finger to remind you of something you're not supposed to forget..Much like the Uncle Billy character from " It's A Wonderful Life "....So as you can see she has a view of those bows tied round her fingers.

This was my favorite of the 3, but as I said they decided to limit the scope of the game to the movie plotline, so all these extra characters were never used.

I still like them and now that most of my animation is done in 3D, it's always good to pick up the pencil to do some pencil and paper work.

Enjoi!

Bo-Peep #2

2005-10-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

Here is another version I did of the " Bo-Peep " character concepts for the " Shrek 2" PC Game.

Where the first one was all voluptuous, I decided to go with the complete opposite as an alternate..So here you have a version of Bo-Peep that I envisioned as one of those haggard " Mall Moms" who are always losing their kids in stores. I was also thinking that maybe she'd be someone who the sheep actually ran from and you'd find out later that the sheep were never lost at all.

I will post the 3rd ( and last version ) of the Bo-Peep character up later on.

Enjoi!

Marriage and Baseball

2005-10-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

F*ck You, F*ck You, And F*ck You!

Marriage. It's something to work at. It's a compromise, and in order to make things work, we married folks most have a give and take in all areas of married life, in order for two separate lives to join as one in harmony. This is true of all things, except when your talking Sports.
I am lucky that my wife loves sports. She follows her teams, and has a good all round sports knowledge..It just so happens that one of the teams that she likes, eliminated MY team from the playoffs the other night, and man was I pissed.

My team is the New York Yankees, one of thee most recognized brands in sports, with a rich history and wrought with legends.. Hers is the "Los Angles Angels Of Anaheim", who are such a "prissy" team that they have to put every city in their name, so they won't make anybody mad..I mean seriously, have you ever heard of a more fucking politically correct name than that...Shit I'm surprised they didn't go and fit in the surrounding towns, so they'd be the "Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim, Once You Pass Santa Ana and Irvine"

But aside from all that the biggest hero from the Angels has been Tony Danza when he played a pitcher in " Angels In The Outfield", but it seems old Christopher Llyod came down from the heavens the other night and bitch slapped Alex Rodriguez in the face, because the Yankees have been eliminated by the "Orange County Of California Angels".

Most couples follow the same team, making it a fun " couple" thing..Just like holding hands on the beach and all that other jerky fun stuff that has couples smiling together and exchanging longing glances at one another. My one friend, both he and his wife love the Boston Red Sox, and when they play and win they celebrate together, and when they lose they console each other...Some may make brownies or a back rub, but they each share that. Most couples have grown up near each other and have the same " home team "...My wife and I are from to separate coasts, I'm New Yawk, she's LA LA Land.

My wife and I watched, and she cheered and yelled at the Yankees, telling them to " Shut Up" or pumping her fist while saying "Yes!" to every god dang pop-up the Yankees made..But I sat there, thinking that my team would come back, and make the Angel fans tuck away their "Thunder Sticks" for the winter..Oh? What is a Thunder Stick? Well they are two penis shaped plastic tubes that people bang together because their hands are too fragile and soft to clap, so they need little sticks to bang together.
I sat and watched as the Yankees rallied and my wife started to calm down, knowing that the Yankees may pull this out, like they have many times before...But then Alex Rodriguez hit into a double play and Hideki Matsui plopped an out to end the game...The Yankees were done and I was PISSED!...I went on a full tirade saying " Yeah Clap, you jerk-off's" and then they panned the crowd and I started saying " Fuck that lady, and that one. Oh and Fuck You Mr. I Gotta Be On My Cellphone....And your midget assed Kid TOO!"...My wife was of course celebrating but then she did absolute worst..Watch the Post Game report.

This is where they interview the winning team and they thank God and say how they " just did what they had to"...They never thank the Ump who made the bad call or the 4 guys who choked on the other team..AT LEAST GIVE PROPS!..I mean the guy who you hit 4 homers off of in two innings actually helped you more than God did.

To compund it, my extended family called from California to gloat..They don't call on Birthdays. occasionally on Christmas, but damned if they don't have me on speed dial when the Yankees lose to their team.

Ah, Marriage.

Bo-Peep

2005-10-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here is another concept sketch I had done for the PC version of "Shrek 2", and this time it was of "Little Bo Peep".

When I first concept I usually like to do 3 rough sketches of each character, I did that with Bo Peep and this one I tried to go with the Tex Avery style, curvy sexpot.

I just thought of the stereotypical hot chick, who maybe can do things on her own, but knows she can get a dumb guy to do it for her with a glimpse of cleevage and the batting of eyelashes.

I will try to post the other 2 versions of the character later on.

Enjoi!

Super Baby?...Or Not.

2005-10-04T13:18:00.000-07:00

Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage and his wife, Alice Kim Cage(21), welcomed son Kal-el Coppola Cage into the world Monday morning, Cage's publicist, Annett Wolf, confirmed.
"They are healthy and happy and it's quite lovely," Wolf said in a statement.
Cage's new superboy was born in New York City. None of his vital statistics were released...or word on any potential superpowers: The tyke's unusual moniker, Kal-el, is also the birth name of Superman.
story courtesy of The Superman Homepage

Sooo Nic Cage went off and named his kid after the Last Son Of Krypton..Oddly enough there was a period of time when Tim Burton was attached to a Super flick that he had Nic Cage cast to play the Man Of Steel. And as you can see by the phot-chop above how ell that would've worked out.

Now I'm all for naming your child after cmic book or real life heroes, but KAL-EL?! And I'm a huge Supes fan!!! I mean you can name your dog Krypto or Kal-El, but your kid?..What the hell is wrong with naming him, oh I dunno?..Clark?

I even suggested possibly naming our child Clark Kent , ya know what?...The wife shot me down. Then again, she's not a 21 year old, and I don't make a shitload of money..I guess if she was living in my mansion and buying Louis Vitton handbags on my dime, I'd name the boy " Sue " or whatever hell else I wanted to.

I just hope the little f#cker dosen't run into another kid named ZOD in the schoolyard, or prison. "KNEEL BEFORE ME!"

Cool MuthaF*ckah This Weekend

2005-10-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

Being an Irish/Italian the religion I was baptized into and still follow is that of Roman Catholicism. I went 12 years to Catholic schools, and even though I haven't gone to Mass regularly in 9 years, I still know the whole thing by heart ( even the parts where they need $$ for the new Bingo boards ) because I went to Mass so much during school.

But being Catholic, aside from being whacked by nuns and groped by priests is also about Notre Dame Football.

I've been a Notre Dame fan, and know the history from Knute, to Montana all the way to Samwise Gamgy being taken off the field on the shoulders of his fellow teamates, while the guy from "Roc" looked on. It's all there, tons of history and moments.

Which brings us to this year and how coach Charlie Weis has created his own special moment and became the " Cool MuthaFuckah This Weekend."

A brief history is that Charlie Weis was an offensive coordinator last season for the New England Patriots and took the head coaching job at Notre Dame for this year( he was also the roomate of Joe Montana, when they both attended Notre Dame ). Charlie has led the Irish to a 4-1 record so far, but this story is really what this article is about:

Sometime early last week, Weis heard of the a sick, young Notre Dame fan and went to visit him at his home near South Bend, IN, where Notre Dame is located. The boy was 10 year old Montana Mazurkiewicz.

According to an ESPN story, Weis spent several hours with the boy at his home sharing stories, especially about Joe Montana, the quarterback who the boy was named after.

The boy told Weis about his love for Notre Dame football, and said he was just trying to make it through the weekend to see the Irish play one more game. He knew he didn't have long to live, as the tumor had cause paralysis from the waist down a day before the coach's visit. Weis signed a football for the child, sat with him and helped him throw it, and then Montana made a request. He asked to be allowed to call the first play in last Saturday's game against Washington.

Weis agreed to turn the playbook over to the boy and he picked a play called " Pass Right".

Sadly, Montana died Friday of an inoperable brain tumor. When Weis heard of the death Friday night, he called Montana's mother, and told her not to worry; the play still stands.

Unfortunately, Notre Dame's first offensive possession occured after a fumble recovery. They were on their own 1-yard line. Not the best of circumstances for a pass play. Notre Dame's quarterback, Brady Quinn, asked Weis, "What are we going to do?" Weis' response? "We have no choice. We're throwing it to the right."

When Montana's mother saw the situation she thought there was no way the pass was going to be made. They were too deep in their own territory, and she envisioned a sack for a safety resulting in 2 points for Washington. Quinn, however, rolled right while sending all of his receivers left, except for one. Anthony Fasano caught a pass in traffic on the right side, leapt over a defender, and ended up with a 13-yard gain. After the game, the team signed the game ball and presented it to Montans's mother. "It was an amazing play. Montana would have been very pleased. I was very pleased," she said. "I was just so overwhelmed. I couldn't watch much more."

Charlie Weis is a class act for doing this, I respect the hell out of him for keeping his promise to that young kid, even though conventional coaching wisdom would side against it. Some may think a story like this is sappy etc..Well, tough shit, because the guy gave a dying boy a few hours of pure bliss, and gave a family the greatest closure they could ask for.

Captain Marvel

2005-09-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

The wisdom of Solomon
The strength of Hercules
The stamina of Atlas
The power of Zeus
The courage of Achilles
The speed of Mercury

So above is my sketch of " Captain Marvel" aka SHAZAM!..This was another I had decided to do the full ink and Photoshop treatment on, and I was pretty happy with the way the Big Red Cheese came out.
I always liked the character of Shazam ( and yes even the 70's TV show, although I dare not watch it again ), mainly because his alter ego was a kid..He wasn't a billionaire, or a newspaper reporter, he was just a kid , doing kid stuff till he uttered the words " SHAZAM!" and then became The World's Mightiest Mortal...I mean plus Shazam is a cool word to utter whenever you do something really cool, or need it to explain to your buddy's how cool your night out went .." Man this girl was hot and then she took that top off and SHAZAM!"

As an artist fact, the supposed inspiration for Captain Marvels face was that of "My Three Sons" star Fred McMurray..Alex Ross used that when he did his take on Captain Marvel as well.

I put a little of that in, but I also wanted to keep him almost "kid" looking in the face.

Enjoi!

Rid Your Junk...With Junk Mail

2005-09-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, you have probably gotten tons of these in your mailbox for all types of giveaways, magazine subscriptions and credit cards throughout the years..The Buisness Reply Envelope.

Unsolicited junk mail. It's annoying but I found a site that really lets you put that postage-paid envelope to good use.

http://www.vertical-visions.com/_temp/postagepaid/index2.html

I love the fact that he is getting rid of all the crap in his garage that the curbside pickup just won't take.

The question is, what would you send?

Fe-Fi-Fo-Fizzle

2005-09-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

The above sketch was one I had done for the " Shrek 2" PC game and this was when the design was a bit more "loose" in the way it wasn't going to adhere as close to the movie, and we were going to include other fairy tale characters ( like some of the others I have previously posted ), and one was the "Giant" from Jack And The Beanstalk.

Being that Shrek is such a play on pop-culture I wanted to do the same with the Giant, I had done several other more traditional sketches and then decided to go Thugg'n' & Bugg'n with him and give him a Gangsta/ Mr T look.

I went ahead and gave him the big knuck rings complete with "Fe Fi" and "Fo Fum" all bling'n. I really wanted him to have a tricked out pad at the top of the beanstalk as well, it would've been fun, man would Jack drop a magic bean filled turd, when he made it to the top of that beanstalk.

EnJoi

5 Worst Soccer Mom Vehicles

2005-09-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

I wanted to touch on what I believe to be one of the true menaces on the American roadway today, and that my friends is the "Soccer Mom".. I live in a very close proximity to a large area of soccer fields, and let me tell you driving along this stretch when games are beginning or ending is worse than anything Dante had described for the 7th Circle of Hell. These women ( and in some cases men ) are some of the worst drivers on the planet and to top it off they drive some of the largest vehicles on the road today...I give you this list so that if you see one, get ready for one of the most harrowing and frustrating vehicular experiences you will ever have

Top 5 worst Soccer Mom Vehicles

1) Chevy Suburban - One of the largest god damn vehicles for the soccer mom, the shame of it is that these women usually have one spoiled kid, and as far as I know don't haul anything that would require this much cargo area. I mean unless your family is something from " The Brady Bunch " or " Cheaper By the Dozen" there is no reason for you to have a rig this large. Watching a soccer mom park this at a local food parking lot or try to take a corner is either an amusing display at inaptitude or a vehicular homicide waiting to happen

2) Lincoln Navigator- Another big rig that you can usually find parked at malls tilted across two parking spaces at a 45 degree angle. This is for the soccer mom who likes to tote around their ankle bruised gremlins in luxury..The days of keeping your kid occupied with a Han Solo action figure and a zip lock bag of Cheerios are done now that the kids can watch Spongbob on the in board DVD player or play " Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" on the PS2..Yup usually these parents are just as oblivious to what there child is doing in their car, as the pedestrian they just introduced into their frint grill.

3) Ford Explorer-Why do these soccer moms get 4X4's ? They don't have to bring there children to the mountains to play soccer, I'm guessing it's for when they accidentally smash into curbs or when they go "off road" because they are too busy talking on their friggin cell phones, to tell Muffy that she should have Junior over for another "play date"...Did I mention they are usually doing their makeup and chugging down a latte' as well?

4) Dodge Caravan- Ah the grandfather of them all..Remember in some movie, these two gentlemen were discussing about if they had the ability to time travel if the would kill Adolf Hitler and prevent the holocaust? Well if I had a time machine I'd go back and burn the engineering plans to this car, to prevent the evolution of the soccer mom vehicles...Oh and then I'd go back and kill Hitler..Priorities man...priorities

5)Hummer/Cadillac SRX- I lumped these two together as they are for the richest of the rich soccer moms..Look unless your hunting down Osama Bin Laden or fighting off insurgents in Baghdad, you really shouldn't be in a Hummer...And as far as the Cadillac goes these soccer moms must be uptight as hell, because they are probably constantly tellling there kids not to get there dirty cleats all over the leather while they climb into the car.

The Green Lantern: Hal Jordan

2005-09-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

"In brightest day, in blackest night
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power, Green Lantern's light! "

The above oath is that of the Green Lantern Corps ( which was actually written by science fiction author Alfred Bester), I went ahead and sketched up my version of my favorite Green Lantern Hal Jordan.

I always liked the concept of the Green Lantern's, in that they are basically a bunch of hand picked individuals who police individual parts of space..Plus you get a ring that essentially makes you a bad ass, and can do anything your imagination wants.

I decided to go all out with this sketch and actually ink it up and do the full color job, and I think it came out alright, still have to work on the coloring aspect more ( I actually FAILED color theory in high school, and art school ), but that's what practice is for.

Enjoi Yo-Selves!

Cover Context

2005-09-10T22:37:00.000-07:00

I was going through a box of my old comics the other day and I came across this "Justice League America" comic from November of '91.

Of course the events of 9/11 weren't even a factor in the cover art, but it seemed that after all of that the cover actually looked like it was a reflection of those events. To see the towers as the centerpiece in the sunset and to have the Martian Manhunter gazing on them, the cover just took on a different context altogether.

The Greatest Stories I've Been Told: Cousin Jimmy Goes To Philly

2005-09-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

Many great stories that I have been told come from my Uncle C..This entry happened to be told at Christmas time by Uncle C. Most families on Christmas Eve sit around the tree and tell the story of " A Night Before Christmas " or other assorted tales of Yuletide glee..But my family told this story around the Old Yule Log and it is called
" Cousin Jimmy Goes To Philly "

My Uncle is a full blooded, New Jersey Italian, so what that means is that he almost acts some of the scenarios out. This story began as my Uncle stood slightly out of his seat and asked my cousin " Hey, Gayle you remember da time those 3 jerk-offs took your brother Jimmy to Philly?" Cousin Gayle turned with her dyed red hair and teetered as she said " Oh I remember what you did!". My brother asking " Unc, what happened?" So my uncle started off " You know cousin Jimmy? Yeah, well one day when we were about 17 years old dese neighborhood kids thought it'd be funny to pull a joke on em."

My cousin Jimmy is my GREAT Uncle's son, and he was born mentally handicapped, he is able to work a small job and have basic conversation and able to live on his own now...Now back to Christmas Eve:
" So dese 3 jerk-offs decided to befriend you cousin Jimmy, and as a gag they ask him if he wanted to go for a ride in the car down to Philly wit em'..So your cousin of course thinks their being sincere and jumps in the car." The story had added commentary from my grandmother who chimed in at this time to give us more background into the three hooligans by saying " No good god-damn sons-a-bitches"

My uncle then proceeds to say that the three guys after getting to Philly dropped my cousin Jimmy off and then proceeded back to Jersey, leaving him in the middle of the City Of Brotherly Love. It's at this part of the story where my uncle stands and say " So your cousin calls Gayle and tells her where he is, she calls me up hysterical, and asks if your father and I can drive down to get him, so me and your dad, drive the hour to Philly..We get there and Jimmy, that poor bastard, is standin right nect to the phone booth when I ask...Who the fuck did this?....Jimmy tells me that Ralph Dellarosa.." He then turns to Gayle and said " It was Dellarosa who drove right?" Gayle took a sip of zambuca and said " yup that's the jerk-off!"

With our jerk off fully recognized my uncle continued " Now I knew this kid from the neighborhood so, we drive back to Newark and we make a bee-line straight to his house. I get out of the car and walk up and knock on the door, and who answers?..The kids mother and she's all " Oh hello boys" and right behind her is Ralph, hiding right behind his mothers Sticchiu ( Italian for pussy )...So I'm trying to say hello to the mother and this fuckin' Puttana ( Italian for bitch ) is making faces at me!"

My uncle is now acting like he is standing in a doorway as he acts out how, as he was talking to the mother he purposefully dropped the keys to the car that he just drove my cousin Jimmy back from Philly in. He then says " So she says oh let me get those" she then bends down to get them and I now I see Ralph and BAM! I punch that cock sucker right in his friggin nose." My Uncle and Gayle are now in hysterics as he finishes the story " So his mother gives me the keys, while her son is bleeding out of his nose and I say " Thank you" and she closes the god damn door."

My uncle actually acted out how she bent down and delivered the final blow, and needless to say that everyone in the house was laughing at this Christmas tale, as thoughts of sugarplums were replaced by the vision of Ralph getting socked, but good in the nose..

God Bless Us. Everyone!

Beers Into The Ballgame

2005-09-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

Football Season is fast approaching, and soon fans will be filling stadiums in bright colors ready to root on their respective teams..They are ready to hear the crunch of a hard hit or the graceful athleticism of an incredible catch, and to pay upwards of 6 bucks for a small cup of Bud Light.
That's right 6 bucks for a tiny cup of the most watered down beer available at a sporting event, you will literally be pissing away your money before half time. These stadiums need their money and they are cracking down on water as if it were beer, you aren't allowed to bring it into the venue, this is after you've paid good money for yourself or family to get into the game.
I used to work security, and one of my main goals while working was to make sure that no one snuck beer in through the front gates. It became an evolutionary game of hide and seek with the fans, each year someone would invent a new creative way to get their favorite brew into the game..Some would be ultra pissed when we caught them and others had that " It's cool, but I'll get it next time" swagger.

There are methods like the " Bar-Noculars" pictured above, where you can buy a little novelty item to get your booze in, but there are many free ways to get your booze in, and here were some of the more creative ways I discovered.

Tube Socks- Number of Beers 2-4 : This is a great use for those old high tube socks that are tucked away in the back of your sock drawer, and the higher, the better. Most security/police personnel usually don't look much further down the waist than the pockets, so placing 1 to 2 beers in each sock ( depending on sock height ) is perfect. Placed in beck agaisnt your calf with some baggy jeans, makes thise way really hard to detect....It also works great in movie theatres.

The Hood-Number Of Beers 1-3: This lil method almost got by me because you mostly are eyballing someone from the front as they walk in, you rarely notice the back. In the winter this works well especially with parkas, you can put up to 3 beers in your hood ( while it's down ) and usually walk right in, this works best if your 6'1 or taller because security won't be able to see down into your hood for any reason, plus hoods on parkas work well to keep the cold ones, cold.

Sub Sandwich- Number of Beers 3-4: Some venues allow people to bring in food, and back at the Meadowlands, some folks brought actual picnic baskets, so we;d usually check them for booze. One time I was searching through and brushed up against a guys sub sandwich, and it just felt a little unusual, the reason was is because he had made a hoagie, and the main ingredient was Pabst Blue Ribbon. What he had done was pack 3 beers into a hoagie roll and then covered them with lettuce, he also wrapped them in deli style paper and wrote " Cold Cut Combo" on it..I'm sure others have tried this and succeeded and it's a good way to get a good number of brewski's in.

Mr Pringle- Number of Beers 1-2 ( full size ) 3 ( mini's or "nips ): Again this relies on the fact that your venue of choice allows snacks, but this is really simple . A man had emptied a Pringles can and placed 3 nips of Bud into the Pringles can and then placed 6 Pringle chips on top so that they were visible through the see-through top..Security looks and they just see Pringles..This is a bit riskier if they handle the can, as the weight will give it away, but if they just look through your bag, then it's time to pop em' open , and you'll even have a couple of chips as a snack!

Boxes of Pretzels/Bugles- Number of Beers 1-4 Another big snack related sneek here, it works a lot like the Pringles can except with pretzels just place some cans in a pretzel box and throw pretzels on the top.

These are a couple of the more creative ways that I found people sneaking beers into the games, yes I did catch them, but where I worked we were extremely aggressive about getting them.Not to knock cops, but you actually have a better chance of getting beer into a game when the gate security is handled by police. They are mainly getting a nice overtime check and are usually looking in the obvious places. If you do get caught, just do the ol "Ya got me" and get ready for the next time, and have some spare cash!

Serbian Superman?

2005-08-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

From the Ananova newsite:

Superman spotted in Serbia
Serbian authorities are investigating reports of a real-life Superman after people claimed to have seen a cloaked figure flying over their houses.
Hundreds of residents in Ljubovija described seeing a cloaked person flying above buildings "as if he had an invisible engine on his back" and changing directions while in mid-air, local daily Blic reported.
One local said: "It was like something out of Superman or Batman. No one has any rational explanation for what we all saw."
Police in the town have refused to comment.

If there's one thing I'm an expert on, it's Superman and I have my own theory about this. I work with a programmer who was born and lived in Russia for a period of time in his life, and Serbia is very close to the former nation known as the Soviet Union and the one thing they can do is drink vodka..And from listening to my co-worker, a lot of it. He said that most Russian men would consume a bottle a DAY....Now that's your normal day, it ain't Christmas or a birthday, just your average day. I'm guessing these folks has a bit too much of the ol' Russian funny water and started seeing things.

Besides if this dude was Superman, don't you think he'd stop and check out every decent looking Serb woman and use his X-Ray vision?

Lil Bit O' Lifedrawing

2005-08-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

Lifedrawing is one of those "essentials" you must master if one hopes to achieve the glamorous life of an arteest...The Glamorous life pretty much involves wearing shorts to work and being allowed to have a "toy budget".
Lifedrawing is actually one of the most worthwhile skills you need, it is one of the first things any company looks at in your portfolio. I remember when submitting my portfolio to Disney, all they wanted to see was life sketches, they didn't give two Mickey Mouse shits about looking at your animation, they wanted to see if you could draw.
I know that most non-artists ( at least my friends ) think that it's all about seeing nekkid ladies and boobies, and even though I'll admire it when it's there, drawing the human figure, is really much different then going to strip joints. You really get into the form of a body the pose it makes and get caught up in the details of a face or hands.
We have non-nude lifedrawing at my work, to keep us sketching, especially since most game ( hell and now feature ) animation work is done through computer, and taking it back to the basics of pencil and paper really does help, just in terms of pose, gesture and attitude...Gotta kick it "old school" every now and then!
The sketch above is from one of the first lifedrawing sessions I had gone to after taking a long hiatus..I like the pose and the emotion on her face, but her arm is a bit "rubbery" almost like Olive Oyls, but that's more reason for me to keep up with the sketching.

L8r

Walken '08..You Know

2005-08-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

The big website that has been going around work is the supposed website for the inevitable run of actor Christoher Walken for President of the United States in 2008. The two websites are http://www.walkenforpres.com/ and http://www.walken2008.com/

They claim that the wild haired actor says it's "It's time to get America back on track."

Snopes.com has claimed the whole thing a hoax, as has Walken's publicist who told Entertainment Tonight that the site is "100 percent not true." "(It) sounds like someone got a little too excited over his role as secretary of the Treasury in 'The Wedding Crashers' and now they want to make him president," the rep said.

DAMN! I kind of wish this were true, I had a feeling that it was bogus because the quote " It's time to get America back on track " was missing " You know."

If this was true and the man got elected, he would definitely have the craziest hair since Andrew Jackson and the State Of The Union Speech would have been must see TV. Plus if he ever needed to hide anything for National Security purposes, he could just put them up his ass.

I also think the first thing he'd do is change the National Anthem to include " More cowbell "

The Boss

2005-08-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!
Last week was my 3rd wedding anniversary ( Not an eternity, but hey I've been married longer than all of J-Lo's marriages combined, if you want you can even throw in Affleck engagement time too ) and my wife's gift to me was 2 tickets to my favorite musician Bruce Springsteen.

Now Bruce is an odd musical conundrum, he is either met with " COOL!...You're gonna see the BOSS!" or " Oh, that's cool" ( notice the emphasis on how the word "cool" is used ), my one buddy after I told him where I was gonna be on Thursday night was " Oh, I'm sorry." Springsteen is either someone a person can connect with or can't, I wonder if it has to do from where I grew up. I was born and raised in the Boss' home state of New Jersey, and I notice that many of Springsteen's true fans are either from the East Coast or Mid-America, and you'll find that most West Coasters who like him are transplants from the previous two regions...So bottom line is I think the Boss kicks ass and I still defy anyone who doesn't either sing along or bob their head when a bar plays "Glory Days" before closing. However, even though I own most every album, and am one of the only people here at work who has a Springsteen song on my I-Tunes, I had never seen him in concert...I had heard the tales of the 4 hour shows at Meadowlands Areana, and how he can do up to six encores, but I had never seen it, much like Bigfoot or that chick in high school who everyone said was a "crazy lay"......I had heard the tales, but never got to go...Till last night.

Most people identify Springsteen with the "Born In the USA" album, it had 4 number 1 hits and sold enough for him to buy 3 mansions, or whatever the hell else he wanted...Most people see the image of Bruce doing the white man shuffle with Courtney Cox after he pulled her on stage in the "Dancing in the Dark" video..But he is much more and my favorite album is actually Nebraska where it was just him, a guitar, and a harmonica, all done on a 4 track recorder. I t is one of the most haunting and story rich albums you will ever hear. The reason I bring this up, is because the concert I went to last night was an acoustic performance. Just Bruce. No E-Street. No Lil' Stevie. No Max. No Clarence. Only, The Boss.

We arrived at the Seattle center early to find parking and already saw a van full of people who had driven out all the way from New Jersey, from hearing them, this was an "added" show that was never on the tour list, and a rare acoustic set. We had gone in and our usher informed us, that only the lower deck was open, to keep an intimate feel and that because of the theatre like setting we wouldn't be able to get up after the first song started..."What?".....So this guy was saying that once the set starts I can't even take a piss?, obviously this guy hadn't heard about the 4 fuckin hours shows and 80 encores..How am I supposed to keep from pissing my pants, like a 3 year old?...So before I went to my seat I had to clear all this up with the head usher, because I didn't want to cause a fiasco, because this guy is reading the rules wrong...In the end we were allowed up after a song ends, but had to wait to be seated until the song ended..Cool.
My wife and I went to our seats ,which was the 3rd row from the floor, dead center and already you could hear it " bruuuuuuce" it is a chant that goes on at every Springsteen show and it just got louder "BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE" and then the lights dimmed and the Boss walked out, and what proeded was 2 and a half hours of musical genius. The man is without a doubt, one of the greatest PURE musicians in the world today, he played 4 different instruments, including guitar, harmonica, piano and harpsicord. I forget what an amazing guitarist he is, until you see him in this type of setting, where all he has is his voice and his guitar. The sight of him with his guitar is iconic, and the man WRITES good songs, they actually tell STORIES. Stories of death, redemption or family, of religion and with the acoustic set, you were really able to hear ever word.

An acoustic set is a novelty, and the man pulled it off for 2 and a half hours, there were times he strummed and beat on a guitar to add percussion, it was something to see, because not many professional musicians can get that basic and raw and be entertaining. He had taken a request from a fan that has followed him for years, she actually provided him with the damn sheet music, and it was a song he had never played before. I haven't seen many artists willing to expose themselves like that, and he played it on the piano. Before he started he said " Now, bear with me cause, I'm a bit rusty, and the chords change real fast"..The Boss even screwed up on a single note and said "oops" and just kept going, he actually then later did another song where a father of someone he knew, requested a song.

He is an entertaining musician, and I found out he's a pretty funny fuck as well..All through the set he'd occasionally stop and tell stories and jokes...He told a story of how the nuns at the convent in Freehold, NJ used to make him clean up there as detention, and now they invite him in for beer and to watch the ballgames, when he goes back..He said " Ahhh the perks of celebrity"......One part of the night a woman gave Bruce a mardi-gras type necklace and asked him to put it on because it was her birthday..bruce held it, looked at it and said " Happy Birthday, but this ain't no Jimmy Buffet concert, I'm not that relaxed."...He also told stories about his family and experiences.

Bruce finished his set and then answered the standing O and the BRUUUUUUUUUCE chants with 2 encores..the first one was awesome, the second....wellllllll let's just say that was the one flaw of the show, it was about a 10 minute song with the same 3 lyrics, at some point I was like " Shit, he could've fit Born To Run and I'm on Fire in here, fuck, he even could've sang that shit song from the Jerry Maguire soundtrack."...But he left shaking hands and my wife who's not a huge fan by any means, actually left a fan..She even chanted BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE in the end.

"When I go to these towns, I usually like to walk around and people who recognize me always come up and ask this question the most..What's it like to be the Boss?..I usually try to be humble and answer with some bullshit humility answer like, Oh it's just a job, or it's just fine...But just between you and me...It's great."
-Bruce Springsteen

Embarrassing Obituary

2005-08-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

From Yahoo News:

SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean man who played computer games for 50 hours almost non-stop died of heart failure minutes after finishing his mammoth session in an Internet cafe, authorities said Tuesday.
The 28-year-old man, identified only by his family name Lee, had been playing on-line battle simulation games at the cybercafe in the southeastern city of Taegu, police said.
Lee had planted himself in front of a computer monitor to play on-line games on Aug. 3. He only left the spot over the next three days to go to the toilet and take brief naps on a makeshift bed, they said.
"We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion," a Taegu provincial police official said by telephone.
Lee had recently quit his job to spend more time playing games, the daily JoongAng Ilbo reported after interviewing former work colleagues and staff at the Internet cafe.
After he failed to return home, Lee's mother asked his former colleagues to find him. When they reached the cafe, Lee said he would finish the game and then go home, the paper reported.
He died a few minutes later, it said

The saddest part of the story is that the man probably died, never knowing the touch of a woman.
Dying playing a videogame....In terms of geek deaths, that ranks right below, dropping dead while at the midnight screening of TRON, and dying while having a lightsaber duel in full Jedi regalia outside of a Star Wars premiere.
Well, I guess his mom will have that spare room now.

But like a buddy of mine had said "I'm sure it was the games that killed him. All the smoke in the cafe, the 23 cups of coffee, the 7 red bulls he drank and all the greasy fried rice a man can choke down between respawns surely had nothing to do with his heart problem. ;)"

Shorty

2005-08-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

The above is a character concept skecth I had done, which had characters based on different genres of music..I was given Hip-Hop.
I had posted a previous sketch of a Beat Boy and here was one of the girls I had done, or "Shorty" ( I brushed up on my rap terms, thanks to the D O Double G ).
I looked at two models for her, and they were female rap artists "Lil' Kim" and "Missy Elliot". I tok the attitude and stature of Lil Kim and took the clothing styles of Missy..Cause I really can't have leather straps holding gigantic boobs down, like Lil Kim likes to do ( but don't take that as I don't like it ) so in the end, I really liked the way the sketch came out.
I have about 3 other characters that go with the two I have already done, I hope to get them all up here sooner or later.

Enjoi YO-selves

Gig Posters

2005-08-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know that I'm not just an animator, and blogger, but I also moonlight as a drummer for THEE most rockingly obnoxious band..THE DRUNKS OF HAZZARD!!!

Creating such "hits" as Gansta' Bitch Girlfriend , 6,000,000 Grubs , B.T.O.F and Grab Another Beer in the basement, we decided that we had to take our music to the WORLD...Or maybe just a couple of people who'd maybe pay like 3 bucks to see us.

Luckily we have 3 artists in the band, so we were able to make the all important sheet of paper
that describes your band , and what people may be in for when they enter through the doors..The GIG POSTER!!!

Our main poster guy is our bass player Chavez Y Chavez, and he actually designed the above poster for a gig which we actually never got to play..Due to the fact our lead gutarist broke his knee! But we've had some cool flyers done for some of our other shows.

I found a site called GIGPOSTERS.COM and they have TONS of gig posters from all types of bands R.E.M, Social Distortion and even The Drunks Of Hazzard! So check it out by clicking on the hotlink.

A fellow co-worker and great artist Jamie Burton has his own section of amazing posters he has done for a variety of bands..The man KICKS ASS.. Check em all out!!

Ya! Animated Robots!

2005-08-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

I came across a really well made, and very short, animated short recently called "Geweldenaren Van Ver " . As you can guess by the title it was animated in Holland by 3 different teams of animators basically to prove that small animation houses ( like their own ) were able to do kick ass effects on a small budget.

One of the amazing things is that they put this together in two and a half weeks! It's an impressive undertaking for that small a period of time, one of the ways they were able to do this is to cut out all voice recording. In animation voice recording, and animating to that recording is what takes up the most time.

The subject was very " War of The Worlds ", but they also wanted to send up the American disaster blockbusters like "Independance Day" and "Armageddon".

So check out the site and the film at this link http://www.nomads.nl/geweldenaren/main.php

Eye-Spy ( insert caption here )

2005-07-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

I feel I just can't do this enough justice, with some witty banter...So looks like we have a Caption Contest..So go ahead and put your best caption in the talkbacks.

I am guessing that this guy however is the reason that " A Love Song For Bobby Long" is always rented out at his local Blockbuster...Plus he's the reason Kleenex stock jumped up 2 points.

The Greatest Stories I've Been Told: The Starbucks Fiasco

2005-07-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

I've been told a lot of great stories, by many people. Some stories are humorous, some depict images of violence, but I've found each one of them amusing and I thought I'd share some of the better ones.

This first story I''l call "The Starbucks Fiasco" and it was told to me by an old co-worker by the name of Bill Sears. Bill is a great guy and artist, and he used to come into my office most every morning and tell me some great story that he knew I'd appreciate. This was mainly due to the fact that I'm a sick fuck, with just a hint of political correctness.

"NEW YORK!"...That is what Bill usually used as a nickname for me, because I am a huge Yankees fan and lived back east. "NEW YORK" he said as he entered into my office with his fedora hat and his thermos of coffee " Man, do I have a story that you of all people are going to appreciate." Bill then sat back in the little guest chair I have in my office and cracked a grin so that his white teeth separated the sea of red that was his beard, as he began his story:

" So here I am at Starbucks, same as I do every fuckin' morning to get my coffee and I get to the front of the line. This young girl asks me what I wanted and I said just fill my thermos up with a latte...So she goes to rinse my thermos out, and I stopped her before she pours the coffee in and I said Do you mind just rinsing it out one more time?....So she stops, and gives me this smart look and says all with a prissy attitude..What do you want me to do? CLEAN IT for you!?!?!!.....So I just boil over and grab my thermos out of her hand and say..And man you're gonna love this..I said NO I don't want you to CLEAN IT!!! I want you TO FUCK IT!!!!!...and here I am waving this penis shaped thermos in her face, as her mouth is open from shock, and everyone just stops in the Starbucks and stares at me...I hear the little ladies behind me whispering about what a dick I must me...So I just took off and went to Tully's to get my coffee."

Bill then took a sip from his thermos, I could tell he was pleased that he just told some barista to shove his coffee thermos up her junk. So he took another sip and continued with his story.

" So last night the wife and I have some friends over for dinner, and after dinner my wife says..Oh let's all go to Starbucks for some coffee...The same fuckin' Starbucks where I just told some chick to go fuck herself with my coffee thermos, so I say...Ummm we can't go to Starbuck's, can't we go to Tullys?....No my wife said, why can't we go to Starbucks?...So I told her the whole story and man was she pissed and scolded me like I was some fuckin 5 year old kid, she said..I want you to go down there and apologize to her, because there is no damn way I'm going to Tullys everyday!."

Bill stopped and took another sip from his thermos and I said
" So did you apologize?"

Bill looked and said " I'm drinking fuckin' Starbucks ain't I?"...He then laughed and went back to his office to work.

Sketchin' With Kryptonite

2005-07-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

This was a sketch I did of the Man Of Steel the other day and added some quick color last night. I usually post just the color, but I liked the pencil sketch, so I figured " Ah what the Hell..." and posted them both up. I have always liked the character of Superman...I think it mainly started when my Grandfather brought me to go see "Superman: The Movie". My grandfather loved movies and this was the first film I had ever seen. I don't remeber too many vivid memories from childhood...Shit, I didn't even remember I left my car keys in the ignition, running mind you, as I locked my car door, but I remeber so much from that experience. I remeber the silver \S/ on the black background for the poster and I remeber the scene when Lois Lane was dangling from the helicopter on the roof og the Daily planet when she fell and Superman swooped up to get her..Then the helicopter fell towards them and he caught it with one arm..slowed ever so slightly from the weight and then proceeded upwards..A-Freakin-MAZING!
After the movie my grandfather brought me to Toys R' Us and bought me a 10 inch Superman figure, which is now gone...The damn thing is probably worth about 300 bucks now, but the memories were gold.

"Beam Me Up Scotty"

2005-07-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

James Doohan
1920-2005

I was sad to hear that James Doohan, Scotty of Star Trek fame had passed away this morning after a battle with Alzheimer's Disease and pneumonia. He was actually a local guy as he died in his home in Redmond, WA living here most of his life, after being born in Vancouver B.C.

I am a Star Trek fan, and the Scotty character was an integral part of the original series, about his casting for the role he said "The producers asked me which one I preferred," Doohan recalled 30 years later. "I believed the Scot voice was the most commanding. So I told them, 'If this character is going to be an engineer, you'd better make him a Scotsman."

We never know these actors outside of their characters, but this guy seemsed like a real class act and is actually a hero in real life as he was a veteran of the D-Day Normandy invasion, where he was actually shot at with a machine gun, being hit 6 times and losing his right middle finger. He also caught a bullet in the chest, which was actually stopped by a metal cigarette case ( in that case smoking, was definitely a good thing for him ).

He may have felt type cast, but he enjoyed and appreciated the recognition he received for playing such an iconic character, especially after he complained to his dentist after the series ended.
"Jimmy, you're going to be Scotty long after you're dead. If I were you, I'd go with the flow." his dentist had said, to which Doohan later replied "I took his advice," said Doohan, "and since then everything's been just lovely."

One of my favorite Scotty moments was actually when he guest starred on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Scotty had been rescued by the new crew of the Enterprise after they had found his wrecked ship. Scotty managed to survive by placing himself in a transporter beam loop. Needless to say far removed from his own day he felt helpless and unimportant. Depressed and after drinking a bottle of Romulan Ale Scotty approached the Holo-Deck and the computer asked him which hologram he would like to enter into. Scotty replied
"The USS Enterprise..No bloody A...B..C..OR D!" ( speaking in regards to all the incarnations of the Enterprise)
The holodeck then opened to reveal the bridge of the original Enterprise from the old series.He sat in Kirk's chair and finally felt he belonged somewhere again.

Godspeed to a Good Man, whose character will always be immortal.

Some Big Dude

2005-07-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

click image to enlarge

This was a rough character sketch I had done for a project where we would have all of these characters in an urban setting. One of the settings was a "Monster Garage" style car shop and we wanted to fill it in with mechanics and fabricators that would look like they'd belong in a Southern Cali chop-shop.

So I sketched up "The Big Dude". He was one of a couple of sketches I worked on. I usually try all body types when I'm concepting and just try to pound out 3 to 4 versions of any character, so the client or art team can look and see what they like...Sometimes you have some "creative" people who just don't get it and would think that the guy in this drawing should be wearing some slacks and a shirt from "The Gap".

But overall, I liked this drawing, and I wanted to add some sketchy colors to it, so here he is, ready to fix a car, pound some cold ones or kick some ass to get the bill paid.

Enjoy

The Space Monkey

2005-07-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

This is a character sketch of "Chuck the Space Monkey" from an idea I had called "Mission M.A.D". The M stood for Monkey ( pictured above ) A for Amoeba and D for Droid. It basically followed their mis-adventures through space, with some adult humor thrown in...Ya know like fart jokes and anal probes.

Chuck was sold to science by his owner after he dicovered his ability to talk...Which consisted mostly of criticisms and sacasm. Once in the realm of science an agent for a "Top Secret Government Agency" fills the monkey with great expectations and says he'll be a hero and loved by millions and will finally have a test for his great intellect.The monkey being extremely pompous anyway, is carried away by delusions of grandeur and goes off to participate in the secret space project.

One of Chucks many personality traits, other than being pompous and ego-centric is that he gets paranoid when anyone stands behind him...Mostly because of all the anal probing they gave him during his training.

Wrestling With Controversy

2005-07-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

I know many folks think that wrestling is " low brow" and for hicks, but I actually find it entertaining. I of course don't think it's "real", but then again neither is any big blockbuster, and sometimes they have an entertaining storyline, unlike some films like say, the Fantastic 4.

Some wrestling storylines have stirred the pot wrong for some people, and the wrestling business has been known to parade around stereotypes as characters, especially when reflecting the tone of the social landscape..In the 80's with the whole Iran kidnapping we were given The Iron Sheik. During the Cold War we were given Nikoli Volkoff. In the post 9-11 world where Arab Americans are sometimes prejudged and where other extremists are strapping themselves with bombs the WWE ( formerly the WWF ) gave us a new racially painted character by the name of Muhammad Hassan.

Hassan's character is an Arab-American who originally spoke out about the prejudices he faced because of his heritage. He spoke of how he never got a fair shake and pointed out the hypocrisies of America..In other words he had a bit more depth than the Iron Sheik of the early 80's who would just parade around an Iranian flag and we'd be pissed.

As for Hassan, he was involved in a match that has garned a lot of media attention and controversy, especially since it aired the same day as the bus bombings in London..It aired last Thursday On the WWE program "SmackDown" on UPN and it involved fan favorite " The Undertaker"..Here was the transcript from Variety:

The episode aired the same day as the subway and bus bombings in London; UPN ran a crawl on its screen four times through the broadcast, noting that, "In light of today's tragic events in London, parental discretion is advised in viewing this episode."
That wasn't enough of a warning for some viewers, who took offense at the depiction of Arab-American wrestlers Daivari and Muhammad Hassan -- who was shown in the episode praying while five men wearing ski masks rushed the ring and choked the "good guy," longtime WWE wrestler the Undertaker.
UPN spokeswoman Joanna Lowry said the network reserves the right to preempt "Smackdown" but didn't think it was necessary last Thursday.
"Due to the tragic events in London, we took the added measure of running an advisory four times throughout the broadcast so that viewers could make the appropriate viewing decision for their household," the network said in a statement. "We will continue to monitor the situation involving this character and storyline."

So there it was an Arab character having a man choked out in the middle of the ring after being beaten down by 5 "militants" wearing ski masks, who then prayed while Hassan character held the Undertaker in a Camel Clutch.

I actually watched this episode, and I'm not a guy that gets offended easily, but I did feel this was a bit wrong, and it probably had to do with the whole timing of the show, which in fairness was taped at least 2 days in advance, so it wasn't as if they thought it up that day.

But it begs the question, should wrestling be any more at fault than a show like "24", where they show Arab-Americans plotting and even killing innocent people? Is wrestling more to blame than any movie or book that paints Arab-Americans in that light?

I wonder if it's because we were told it was "real" for so long that we don't look at it the same we do any other TV show, or maybe because it is viewed as a sideshow, and for rednecks.
I do feel that they should have cut this segment, but I don't feel they should be judged for the content that they placed in, more than any other show that shows any horrible act...But they definitely get more criticism....I'm thinking they'll need to dust the "Hulkster" off for one last time to fight the "evil Arab" yet again.

My Encounter With...White Trash

2005-07-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

Had an unexpected "encounter" with the neighborhood White Trash last night on my way home from work..In fact I almost smashed into one of them with my car.

How'd it happen you ask ? Well here it is...I live in a suburb of Seattle which is pretty much yuppie-ized and filled with Microsoft money, shitty driving soccer moms, and racially diverse couples...So, how could I have an encounter with white trash in an area like that? It's quite simple actually, Seattle is a large city, but unlike the urban sprawl of Los Angeles or New York, Seattle's urban sprawl is mostly relegated to town within a 20 minute to half hour drive from the Emerald City. But you start driving outside of that "20 minute zone" and man you are in some shit kick'n parts of the state..We're talking tractor drivin' , wife beater wearin' , one tooth flossin HILLBILLYS!.

Ya see most of the surrounding area, including where I live was probably all like that, but as Bill Gates got richer more people moved, and they bring things like " bodily cleanliness " and dare we say it.." gay people "...So naturally they sort of moved out slowly, but you occasionally stumble upon a pocket of white trash, a veritable oasis of the absurd and boy did I almost run smack dab into it with the front grill of my rig.

I was driving home late last night, and I got some of our highly priced gas, thanks to those "no good AL-Quieda lovin A-Rabs" as the white trash would say, and I took one of the side streets home...Now off to the right there is an apartment complex, that I did know housed a "sleeper cell" of white trash, but they usually remain inside the confines of the complex, but last night was a different story. As I approached the complex a truck at a good rate of speed shot out of the complex, with a woman hanging onto the outside of the truck using the side view mirror and running board.

As I approached the truck STOPS SHORT sending the woman, who was dressed in a shirt and pants that was 2 sizes too small was forced off...She didn't fly or fall, but instead did the "fast, wobbly run" as if someone pushed you....My lights reflected off the bright white of her pale belly ( which flapped about because it was the only free piece of flesh that wasn't pinned down by a size medium shirt and short shorts )...So I brake a few feet from her, and I kid you not it was if they didn't see me...She just glanced, composed and went and yelled " NOW DON'T YOU GO ON LEAVIN!!!!" and ran back towards the truck.

At this point I did a parade route speed pass them, as I just watched them bicker and then as I had finally soaked it all in and got a few yards away I heard the truck tires screech, as the boyfriend took off leaving his damsel sobbing in her flip flops.

The Great EYE

2005-07-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

This is an image that the Hubble Space Telescope captured of a star being formed, or circled, or whatever the hell scientific thingy-ma-bob they had said..The cool thing is that this looks like the EYE OF SAURON from Lord Of the Rings!

But if science is your thing, and believe me your not gonna find anything about them firing midgets with hairy feet into space, then you can read the article HERE

About Your Credit Limit, Mr. Wayne....

2005-07-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

Forbes.com did an itemization on exactly how much it would cost to be Batman...Turns out it's a Batsh!t-load of money...Around $3,365,449

I guess if you needed to you can cut down on the Batcave ( 24,00 per year) and Butler costs (200,000 per year ) by decking out your garage with a police scanner and living at home, so your mom can bring you a tuna sandwich when your busy trying to figure out baffling riddles with a prepubescent boy dressed in bright red and yellow.

The Training Cost: $30,000
You'd better be ready to defend yourself if you plan to take on all the thugs and super-villains that call Gotham home. In the new movie, young Bruce Wayne goes to Tibet on the mother of all study-abroad trips and ends up learning the martial arts from a group of vigilante ninjas called the League of Shadows. But similar training is available to those not lucky enough to get plucked out of obscurity by Liam Neeson. A good place to start would be an internship at the birthplace of kung fu, the Shaolin Temple in Henan, China. One month of training at the prestigious Tagou school costs about $740, including a private room and training with a personal coach. It'll take a while to get good enough to stop the Joker's worst thugs, though, so count on spending at least three years and about 30 grand for the trip.

The Suit Cost: $1,585 They say the suit makes the man, and Batman's no exception. Without his outfit, it'd just be Bruce Wayne running around out there, and there's nothing particularly scary about a billionaire playboy in his underpants. Batman's suit is a modified piece of infantry armor built by the applied sciences division of Wayne Enterprises. It's waterproof, bulletproof, knife-proof and temperature-regulating. Paired with an impact-resistant, graphite-composite cowl and spiked ninja-style gauntlets, it allows Batman to protect himself against everything from swords to machine guns. Wayne Enterprises also supplies Batman with his cape, a specially designed nylon-derivative fabric that stiffens when hit with an electric charge, allowing Batman to use it as a glider. All this doesn't come cheap. In the new movie, Wayne's told that the armor alone costs $300,000. Real-world superhero wanna-bes will have to go with a much more prosaic solution. We recommend a lightweight ProMAX OTV bulletproof jacket, which will cover your arms and torso for only $1,085. A decent Kevlar helmet will run about $500. Of course, if you don't want to lug around all that stuff, you could forgo the armor and just buy yourself a collectors-grade Batman movie costume for about $430. It won't provide any protection, but at least you'll look cool.

The Belt Cost: $290 Batman's utility belt was a recurring gag in the old 1960s TV show; every time the caped crusader got into a jam, he'd find the perfect deus ex machina right on his hip. Mister Freeze imprisoned him in an icy jail cell? Good thing he brought along the old Bat-defroster. Getting eaten by a giant carnivorous plant? Whip out the old Bat-defoliant. Needless to say, that's a source of never-ending angst for his enemies. In Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie, after Jack Nicholson's Joker watches the Dark Knight fire wires out of a grappling gun and escape from his clutches by flying through the air, he asks the question on all our minds: "Where does he get all those wonderful toys?" The answer, unfortunately, is from Wayne Enterprises. Batman's utility belt is a one-of-a kind prototype climbing harness, paired with a magnetic grappling gun with a monofilament decelerator climbing line. Fortunately, you've got other options. A decent nylon utility belt can be procured for about $10 from any martial arts supply store. You can also equip yourself with: Climbing spikes: $70 (Black Diamond Spectre Ice Beak Ice Piton) Small digital cell phone: $150 (Motorola RAZR, with cellular contract) Ninja spikes: $10 (Set of three) Throwing stars: $30 (Set of four) Medical kit: $20

The Car Cost: $2,000,000
Forget sports utility vehicles--what you need is a "sports tank." That's what the producers of Batman Begins call the Caped Crusader's new ride, a repurposed military vehicle that can leap buildings and go from 0 to 60 in five seconds. Built by the Applied Sciences division of Wayne Enterprises, the "Tumbler" is meant to move soldiers through hostile territory--which explains the armor plating, jet engine and front-mounted dual .50-caliber machine guns. Unfortunately, most aspiring crime fighters don't have access to prototype military hardware, so you'll have to armor up a Hummer. But don't despair; Fred Khoroushi, president of Alpine Armoring, says there's plenty you can do with a stock car. For armor plating, you could use a composite material like silicon carbide, which will stop bullets but not weigh the vehicle down too much. Add all the electronics and gadgetry you want, including devices that will sense chemical, biological and radiological weapons. And the security system for this car won't just chirp and annoy the neighbors--how about delivering an electric shock to anyone who tries to open the door? Many of the coolest modifications--like oil slicks and built-in machine guns--are totally illegal in the U.S. But if you didn't care about the law, a fully pimped-out gunboat could be obtained for around $2 million, says Khoroushi, though you might not get it past your first speed trap. Keeping the Batmobile street-legal would run you only about $200,000. But where's the fun in that?

The Cave Cost: $24,000 (for one year) Now that you've got all the cool gear, you need somewhere to stash it. Bruce Wayne once again lucks out by advantage of his birth. Stately Wayne Manor just happens to be atop a huge network of caves, accessible to the outside world through a hidden entrance behind a waterfall. Regular folks don't have access to that sort of resource. Besides, according to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, there are no natural caves or caverns of any size in New York City, the real-world "Gotham." So what's a budget-minded vigilante to do? We recommend you find yourself a nice out-of-the-way warehouse. In the outer boroughs of New York City, a decent-sized ground-floor commercial space can be leased for as low as $2,000 a month, particularly in isolated, questionably safe neighborhoods, exactly the kind of place the Bat would fly.

The Alter Ego Cost: $1,109,574
Bruce Wayne was born into money and the social elite, so he's no stranger to huge homes, fancy cars, nice clothes and splashy parties. But this conspicuous consumption serves a purpose, too. Wayne lives the high life as cover for his life as Batman. He goes to big parties, dates models and swigs champagne so people will think of him as a playboy, not as the kind of guy who hangs out in a cave, dresses like a bat and beats up muggers. To pull off a Wayne-style alter ego, your expenses would include the following, based on the Forbes Cost of Living Extremely Well Index: Clothing and accessories, including bespoke suits and shoes, Patek Phillippe watches and Tiffany platinum cuff links, would run $434,230. Food and dining, including regular doses of filet mignon, lobster and meals at the city's finest restaurants, would clock in at $233,844 a year. Entertainment, including tickets to all the city's best events, would run $144,000 a year. And count on forking over $297,000 a year on gifts, including Tiffany diamond earrings and necklaces for your lady friends.

The Butler Cost: $200,000
a year Batman's secret weapon isn't a gun, Bat-arang or even the car. It's his faithful servant Alfred. Born in England, Alfred Pennyworth was hired by Bruce Wayne's parents to serve as Wayne Manor's butler. Upon their death, he raised Bruce on his own and today remains his closest friend, confidant and ally. Sure, he cooks, cleans and keeps appointments. But he also maintains the Batcave, helps build and repair Batman's gadgets and vehicles, and even tends to the crime fighter's wounds. So what would it cost to get help like this? "You can buy a Chevy Chevette or a Rolls-Royce, and either one will get you from A to B," says Charles McPherson, vice chairman of the International Guild of Professional Butlers. "The cost depends on the lifestyle of the family." Inexperienced butlers just out of school earn annual salaries of around $50,000 to $60,000, says McPherson. But experienced help can easily pull in $125,000 to $150,000 a year, and a gentleman's gentleman like Alfred might earn $200,000 or more.