Illustration Friday: Clandestine

I hope you are enjoying your Holidays and have a wonderfully prosperous 2009.

Clandestine was created in Photoshop using my brand-spanking new Wacom Bamboo graphics tablet that I received for Christmas.

Your comments are encouraged.

Illustration Friday: Rambunctious

It's time for these guys again!

They are now placed at the spot of honor on my studio desk.
(Pic from cell phone)

Illustration Friday: Similar

Your comments are encouraged. Thanks for stopping by.

Sketchbook: Dump

Just some quick sketches from my notebooks--no order or reasons. Some are things I saw, some are just the things that live in my head. I'll let you figure out which is which. Feel free to comment.

Illustration Friday: Balloon

Another oldie but goodie.



Your comments are welcome and encouraged.

Puttin' On My Fanboy Hat

Doctor Who 2008 Christmas Special Trailer

Zombies, ghouls, and vampires, oh my!

And so it came to pass across the land that an election for the ruler of Halloween Town would take place.

Read the rest here....

Bob Barr and I

Note the halo-like glow over both of our heads.
This was shot at Kennesaw State University last week.

Illustration Friday: String

It’s an oldie but a goodie, and it ties in (get it—‘ties in’) with ‘String’ because Jim’s wife is wearing a g-string. Ten points for you if you knew I posted this for an I-Friday back in the darks ages of 2005 for the theme of ‘Surprised”.

String/Surprised was done in Corel Painter IX.

Your comments are encouraged.

The Whiteboard in my Cube

Pumpkin: Go ahead, try to carve me. I dare you.

Just getting into the season at the Corporate Behemoth.
Also displaying my inability to take a 'still' picture with my cell phone camera.

Illustration Friday: Clique

This is a logo for my new talkshow airing on www.ksuradio.com (8:30 pm Eastern Tuesday nights). It ties in with 'clique', because the cool kids and the enlightened clique all tune to listen :)

This was done in Illustrator CS. Your comments are always encouraged.

A New Post

Over at my talkshow blog. Click here.

This is wrong on so many levels

Want to make friends with him?



Wear these to my house:



Yes folk, those are actual beef jerky underwear or, as the creators call it, "meat haute couture".

For more information go here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6216878

Your Mother Won't Know You: Goodbye Mr. Bubble

Bad corporate decision making sends another childhood icon down the drain. From the New York Times Dealbook (http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/pop-goes-mr-bubble/?hp):

Ascendia Brands filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday evening, with hopes of finding a buyer for the company, whose brands include Mr. Bubble and the breath freshener Binaca.

The last time I used Mr. Bubble was sometime in the 60s, I would have been about 8 years old. I remember pleading with my mother for months to buy a box of Mr. Bubble. When she finally agreed I couldn't wait to get home and jump in the tub. And jump I did. And frolic. And play. And get a nose bleed and a skin rash. Whatever they were putting in this stuff in the late 60s was apparently too harsh for my still hairless and tender skin. I, of course, didn't want to believe it was Mr. Bubble--it was probably that stupid washcloth; maybe the tooth powder (yes, tooth powder). Yes, I was quite sure it was the tooth powder. I cried like a baby when my mother dumped the rest of the box of Mr. Bubble down the sink (I don't know why she didn't just toss it in the trash, but my mother was all about dumping things down the sink or the toliet--like my deceased pet turtle).

Anyway, here's to Mr. Bubble, we hardly knew ye....

Illustration Friday: Sail

I was on the phone with tech support while doodling. The sail boat came first--then the mountains. The clouds were the most fun.

This is an old school pencil sketch. I used a 0.5 mm Techniclick II mechanical pencil and a Pentel Clicks Eraser (for the clouds). It was draw on a page of my soft cover Moleskine notebook.

Your comments are appreciated. Click the image to see it larger.

Illustration Friday: Canned

Canned.

Canned?

Seriously?

Interesting word. It wasn't until I was driving to the Corporate Behemoth this morning that I thought about things in a can. My son's last band's tag line was 'better than sex in a can'. I thought about 'Whoop Ass Creative' in a can. But it wasn't until I was watching Senator Obama on some news show that I thought sheesh, this guy is a great speaker--dynamic, enthusiastic, quick on his feet. Essentially all the things Senator McCain is not. This isn't to say who is the better candidate, I don't like either of them for different reasons. But if the election comes down to personality, as they often do, Obama will win.

Anyway, this illustration is about the heretofore unknown secret weapon in Obama's medicine cabinet. The 3d can, background, and text, was created in Illustrator CS. The not-so-good likeness of Senator Obama was drawn in Flash.

As always, your comments are encouraged.

Tired of High Gas Prices, Call Nancy 202-225-4965

Progressive Democrat and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi refuses to allow a debate to expand offshore drilling to come up on the house floor. Pelosi and her equally partisan troll Harry Ried, (Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Leader) are ignoring the will of their party members (somewhat surprising), the Republican party (no surprise there) and the American people (again, no surprise there). Pelosi and Ried, would rather you and I continue to pay back breaking prices for fuel rather than reach across the aisle and work with the Republicans. She and Ried are invoking parliamentary procedures to avoid the discussion—much like spoilt birthday childen screaming ‘it’s our party and you have to do as we say’.

Read the rest here

A couple of new commentary pieces from moi

Shock Bracelets: Coming Soon To an Airline Near You?

Old and Qualified versus Change and Inexperience

at my Commentary blog located here T-files

Sara @ the mall

Illustration Friday: Fierce

Years ago when my daughter was about a year or so new, we moved to Ocala Florida courtesy of Time/Warner (this was the pre-AOL days). Having lived in metro areas most of my life, I was unaware of the dangers that lurked in the grass just outside my door.

On this particular day I was sunning in the back yard, minding my own business when I noticed an ant on the filter of my cigarette (hey, it was 90s, everyone smoked). I crushed the filter and the ant, lit a cigarette and didn’t give it another thought. A short time later the girl child starting fussing about something so I stood up to bring her in the house. In the process of walking towards her, I felt something sting my toe.

When I put her down in the house my toe was throbbing and my face felt like it was swelling. A quick check in the mirror showed that ‘swelling’ was an understatement—I looked like an Italian blowfish. Things happened fast after that--it was painful to move my foot and my eyes were swelling shut. I remembered putting up the child gate so Sara couldn’t get too close—I still didn’t know what was happening—for all I knew, this was some strange Florida disease. I called my wife and suggested she come home from work if she wanted to see me before I blew up.

The doctor in the emergency room said I had a ‘reaction’ to a fire ant bite. A reaction? Seriously, a reaction is the scream you get when you jump out of a closet and shout ‘booga booga’ at someone. I was well beyond reaction and into terminal response. Anyway, I’ve been bitten since then but I’ve never had a ‘reaction’ as severe as that first incident. I’ve also wondered what possible evolutionary purpose could these little bringers of pain serve? I am still waiting for a satisfactory answer.

Based on this experience, I think fire ants are fierce little monsters and therefore qualify for my Illustration Friday entry this week. I realize that the scale in the picture above would make the fire ants the size a small dog or a large rodent—a Fire Chihuahua perhaps—but, if you’ve ever been bitten by one of them, you know that the scale is psychically correct.

I did this piece completely in Illustrator. I used several different reference pieces as models for the ants and drew the body using a standard brush. Then I filled the bodies using the mesh tool, copied them, and created a red transparency (multiply) over the original body. I created the grass using a custom brush generated from 3 pieces (I read about this process in the Illustrator Wow Book). The sun is a yellow circle with a flare placed over it.

Your comments are encouraged.

Sketchbook: Things I Saw on the Internet

Less Than Jake in Atlanta

Start at the bottom and work your way up....

Suburban Legends

Bryna and Nick

Posting from Mobile Phone

How freaking cool is this? Who knew you could post directly from a mobile device? Well, ok, I did--but I never really saw a practical reason to do so. I may update from the 'Less than Jake' concert tonight.

Creative Writing Revelations

James Moran, writer of horror flick Severence, several episodes of Doctor Who, as well scripts for the closest thing to the X-Files since Season 7 of the X-Files, Torchwood has published a list of revelations about writing and the writing business that he wished he had known five years ago. Part practical--

Yes, most people/companies will probably only read the first ten pages (of your script) or so. Yes, this is unfair. Tough shit. Get over it. No, "the system" is not trying to keep you out, or crush aspiring writers, or give jobs to the chosen few.

and part inspirational,

They need you more than you need them. Movie and TV companies need writers, they need stories, they need scripts. They can't do anything without you. You generate your own scripts, you create stuff from nothing, out of your head. It all comes from you. Yes, the finished product is a collaboration. But you can't collaborate on a fucking blank page.

this is a highly recommended read for anyone considering a screenwriting/creative writing career. You should go read it here, now.

As an aside--if you've ever been forced to endure an 'off-site' team-building event, you will find Severance a slashing good time.

OMG: X-Files

How did I not hear about this?



July 27, I am so there. Yeah--I will gladly put on my fanboy hat for this movie.

Classic Animation: Minnie the Moocher

Is it just me, or does it appear that Cab Calloway invented the moonwalk sometime in the 1930s? Thanks to YouTube user GraemeW for posting this gem.

Illustration Friday: Punchline

It would be funnier if it weren't so true. Illustrated in Flash 7 with a background created in Corel PainterX all from a pencil sketch.

Original Animation: Halloween Greeting

I know, Halloween isn't until October, but I was playing around with an old project and decided to make it a regular animation instead of click through type thing. Have your sound on when you watch.

Illustration Friday: Forgotten Part 2

Ok, this is a little more like my usual stuff. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: Forgotten

A little different from my usual style/tone. "Forgotten" was composed in Corel Painter X.

Here is a link to my usual style.

Retro Sketches

I really like the 'retro' look of The Fairly Odd Parents, Dexter's Lab, and similar, so I picked up Cartoon Cool by Christopher Hart and started practicing. Here are some sketches based on the exercises in the book (except for the water bottle and that first one in the upper left corner :) ).

Illustration Friday: Baby

I drew/composed "Babies Got The Blues" in Flash MX Professional with a little help on the background from Photoshop CS.

Your comments are appreciated.

Illustration Friday: Worry

Hello IFriday Folks--long time no see. Enjoy this weeks offering. Your comments are appreciated.

The Original Paradise By The Dashboard Lights

Meat Loaf rocked back in the day.

Paradise By the GoPhone Lights

This is the full length version of the ATT/Meat Loaf commercial. The mom is 80s pop princess Tiffany and the son (who is NOT Meat Loaf's real son) is played by Adam Cagley.



Adam is a spunky young man. Check out this link to see how he responded to some snarky blogger's comment about him.

Nick's Birthday at the Warehouse

Video from one of Nick's friends. About midway through, the little rock star crowd surfs while one of the other bands plays the Beatles birthday song for him. Somewhere along the way he lost his shirt.

Dr. Who Season 4 Trailer

Apparently this is what is playing in cinemas in the UK. From what I can gather, the 4th series starts in the US sometime in April.

Comic Relief - Catherine Tate & David Tennant

Ok, it helps if you watch Dr. Who and read Shakespeare.

ALB Live

Nick's first gig in front of a live audience (as opposed to the dead audiences he has been playing in front of) is tonight at the Warehouse (2790 North Cobb Pkway NW). It is $7.00 to get in, and tell them you are there to see ALB.