"CAN YOU FEEL ME?"

So, I've missed some time. But it's a new year now. There have been some tough times but I've been able to tighten my focus on the things that matter more. I'm going to bring this guy around a lot more often. Just a tight sketch, playing with different things, from my sketchbook.

Gad-Darmit Varmit: Rough & Dirty

HEY!


Attitudes...


Sheesh! More attitudes...!


Obstacles... I mean, "supporting cast".


Out for a stroll.


More to it. More or less.


"HOW-DEE-DOO?!!?

Gad Darmit Varmit

I've had this little guy for almost a decade. He's been through a lot of changes and I've just about got him nailed down. Nobody wants this guy but me...

Genzo & Kanzaburo

These are character design tests I worked up for my Pirate Ninja Yarrri-Kari comic.

Yarrri-Kari Pirate Ninja!!!

These headturns are the latest character designs for my Yarrri-Kari Pirate Ninja character.

"Not As Brightly Lit..."

Well, I revamped the logo layout for the album. My 'negaforest', as I call it, is more of a photographic film negative than a screen negative. It feels better that way. Can't be a complete rip, eh? It makes more sense this way and is more in keeping with the homage to Tales from the Darkside that I'm referencing.

Speaking of which, I've always been completely ensorcelled (believe it...!) by the opening title sequence for this show that I watched as a wee runt. It's completely creepy and chills my blood beautifully. A while back I sought out a possible dvd set of the complete series. I found a bootleg set and when I got it delivered, home and put into my player I was wicked bummed. Not one episode had the opening title sequence!!!

Well, Cthulhu bless the interwebs, because on the old YouTube I found it. And, man, does it still give me the willies...

Tales from the Darkside Intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnE3-0X-174

LONG TIME COMING or "get off your ass, you worthless bum!"

So, I've been in this terrific slump of not creating artwork, really not even drawing anything at all. Not even sketches too much. I couldn't tell you why for that matter. Just a general ennui and a desire to place myself in a new environment.

Aside from my day job I've really only got 2 major things going for me that are rather encompassing on which I'm focusing my energies.

Firstly, I've decided to move to Austin, TX in about six months. And so I'm putting my plan into effect of all the usual: saving money, figuring out a job, finding a place to live, downsizing possessions, thinking about the move, etc.

Secondly, I'm seriously writing music again for the first time in 10 or so years. I've got a

 garage punk project called Drop Dead, Johnny!

This is starting out as some equal parts "Static

 Age" Misfits, "Psychedelic Jungle" Cramps, and "Experiment Zero" Man or Astro-Man? with a smattering of Tom Waits for seasoning.

The self-published debut disc will be a 7 song e.p. titled Other Side.

I might surmise that, in the past, I hadn't written any music for so long because I'd been focusing on artwork for so long. And now that I'm writing music again the flow has been redirected from the artwork to composition. Is that safe to assume?

In any case, I'm frequently guilty of 'spending too much time upstairs.' As the gears turn, the hours burn. Whether I can count the mental gestation of ideas any sort of accomplishment is probably suspect, but that's where I've been. I'd like to think they'll pay off in the future, hopefully soon enough.

bluebeak the quadropus

I had to break away from other people's projects to just mess around with a creature I'm having fun beating to death. I haven't posted any of the other pics of this guy but I've been messing around with it for a while. Some call it obsessive, I call it love.

PIRATE NINJA YARRRI-KARI COMIC

A few things really... 

Tonight I was working on art & design for the Ft. Myers, FL roller derby bout in June. I'd only had a bowl of oatmeal for breggies and was loopy-famished. My plan was to hit the vegetarian buffet at Panda Veg at 5pm and go to figure drawing afterward.

I crushed 3 fat plates at the buffet with serious diet soda 

washdowns. Just as I was thinking I was the champ, the radio played the Rocky theme just for me, no lie.

I got to figure drawing an hour late because I thought it was later than sooner. Cue Redd Foxx, "You big dummy!" I got 2 decent sketches in.

Then Patrick Godfrey and I went to pick up Tom and go to the Team 8 Designs meeting for the Creator Showcase comics they're publishing.

I've hinted at my project previously, but here's the actual working material. Team 8 is screen printing covers with 3 color ink and color bristol cover with offset press b/w interiors. I've breathed enough life into my lark character, Pirate Ninja Yarrri-Kari, to be satisfied presenting an initial public offering. I'll be illustrating a 21 line poem penned by an anonymous 14th century samurai that is commonly known as the "Warrior's Creed." My biggest influences for this project are ukiyo-e prints and the beloved Samurai Jack. Stop me if you've heard this one...

So here you go. A peek of the character design (probably still in development) and I'll be finishing the cover in a few days. Feedback more than welcome. Cheers.

old art series - b/c I'm way wicked busy...

So it's a cop out. I've been very busy with many tasks, activities, situations. I've been very tired. I will be kicking some A before long though. Speaking of which, look at these guys getting ready to do just that.

old art series - I WANT YOUR SKULLS!

Kiiiii-yaaarrrrrr!!!!!

This glorious monstrosity was slapped together as a lark during my Fall '06 semester. The premise being that certain things that were played-out would be rolled up into mock-cover chimeraes.

Here's a pirate that's a ninja! He's riding a unicorn that's a zombie! They're being attacked by penguins that are robots! Glory be! How pandemonius!!!

Well, I started my last semester (Fall '07) wanting to jam out some material to satisfy my creative urges. I started with a keen project, which you'll see more of in the future (tease), but its scope exceeded my capabilities as the semester then picked up steam.

I throttled back by putting that (mystery) project on the back burner and decided to breathe some life into my absurd little pirate-ninja. As I'd continued to be inspired by Samurai Jack, with its wonderful background art and character designs (by such ass-kickers as Genndy Tartakovsky, Lynne Naylor, Bill Wray, to name but a few), I started salivating obscenely to apply this to said project. Those abstractions and palettes were the perfect approaches to take with my scurvy-assassin!

Well, things got retarded early on that semester. Life destabilized with unemployment and soon enough I could barely pull sufficient creativity off for my classes, much less a comicky book. The initial thought was that I would just throw together some ramshackle character designs and bg's and let it fly. I jumped in.

But, I couldn't do it. I became disenchanted with my sloppy designs and really felt the need to develop some characters, environments, and storytelling. Even though this would be haphazard action and violence I wanted it to be more dynamic than what I was putting into it.

So, here's the first inspirational panel I'd generated on a whim that gave me the idea to revive this keelhauled-killer. And as part of my list of resolutions for 2008, I'm going to crank out some Pirate-Ninja Yarrri Kari comix (along with developing other projects) to be self-published and for public consumption. Kanpai, me mateys!