3/5/2010 - More Toy Shelf Progress
As promised here are some more photos of the foam core toy shelf I've been working on. It's still not totally complete but getting there.
Here I have finished cutting the front and inserted a string of holiday lights. The lights may be replaced with a light rope like you would see lining the steps in a movie theater.
Another Figure test
And here it is in the basement.
Sorry for the blur on that last photo, but as I said the basement has some pretty terrible lighting. You can also see that I've started to fill up the space with other toys. Soon that whole wall will be filled to the brim with awesome sauce. I'm also thinking about replacing actual shelf part of the foam core with glass. I'm not sure how well it would hold up though. |
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3/1/2010 - My Weekend With Foam Core
I've been doing stuff. Stuff that I've been putting off for far too long. This includes both creative projects and home projects. My wife mentioned that I seem to have more drive these past few weeks and because of that I seem to be in a better mood. This all relates to my previous post.
So what exactly have I been doing? Well first off, I've been drawing at night. Here are some sketches which were produced recently. Please forgive the second scan. I was drawing with a blue pencil which my scanner doesn't like.
Both images relate to ideas that have sat in my head for a great many years. If things keep up the way they have been going, these may eventually become more than just ideas.
Secondly I've been thinking a lot about what makes me happy. I used to be a toy collector and amassed a decent sized collection.... all of which sits in plastic bins in a storage room in my basement. That just seems wrong and pointless to me. Now I have a fairly nice finished basement, which is typically used to hide things when we have company coming over. It could easily be turned into a "man cave." Seeing as I am not a typical man, I'd rather turn it into a nerd cave.
There are a few things I need for this to happen.
1. Better lighting
2. Poster Frames
3. Shelves
And because I'm all sorts of backwards, I began working on shelves this weekend. I was inspired by this. I can just hear the other geeks out there, "Whoa, I want one of those!" Me too friends, me too. I however don't have that sort of disposable income. What is a guy to do then? I'm not handy enough, nor do I own any woodworking tools. If I could afford woodworking tools, well I could probably afford to just buy the cabinet.
Those sorts of thoughts are all the negatives that I'm used to taking up room in my head. I decided to approach the problem not from my usual what I can't do frame of reference, but from a would could I actually do to make something happen. By the time the weekend hit I had a plan which just might work, though the wife looked at me pretty strange when I tried to explain it.
The idea was a foam core cabinet for my figures. I won't bore you with the details of me struggling with math to figure out how much board I needed from the local hobby store, but instead give you some pictures of the project in process.
First Cut
Here we see all the pieces cut and sorted into piles.
(The secret to cutting foam core is a very sharp exacto blade and cutting once.)
 Assembly begins!
 Getting closer
 There is the basic self with some Super Powers figures for scale.
I still have to make the front facade and decide if I'm going to string some lights on the inside so it's easier to see the actual figures. You'll recall from earlier in this post lighting is a problem in the basement. Thoughts: It's not perfect, but it will definitely serve it's purpose. Using a hot glue gun can be very tricky as the glue dries so quickly. If I were to do this again (which I may) I would make the shelves a little shallower. All in all I feel rather accomplished. I'll post a picture of the complete piece as soon as it's done.
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2/24/2010 - My Lizard Brain
Here I am about to write a post about how my brain keeps me from achieving or even attempting to achieve and already it has gone into panic mode. "You're an art guy, not a word guy. You shouldn't try to cross over. Someone already wrote about this much better anyway. It's not like anyone ever reads this blog anyway." I am faced with thoughts like this almost every day whether I am trying to create something or just going over to a friends house for a party. I even get nervous when I order pizza. The reason I am plugging on is that I now have a name for this enemy, the Lizard Brain.
Wil Wheaton posted a link over on his blog which I will re-post here. It contains an interview with Seth Godin and a video of same man giving a speech. In both he discusses the primitive part of our brain that protects us from things like sabertooth tiger attacks. After listening and watching I have come to the realization that this part of my brain, the Lizard Brain, has had a strangle hold over me for most of my life.
So what you say? (Or is that my brain just telling me that the above writings well be met with skepticism.) Well I now have a certain understanding of what is going on in my head. With this knowledge, I hope to learn to work around the Lizard and actually start creating.... well rather "shipping" things. This blog post is the first step in that direction.
I intend to start using this blog as a means of getting comfortable with putting thoughts and ideas out for the world to consume. These exercises will hopefully lead to greater things. Only time will tell if this is just momentary inspiration or the moment of true change.
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5/18/2009 - Mini Paintings
Here are a bunch of mini paintings which I've done over the past few months. They are all roughly 4" x 4" and done on illustration board. "Hi" was done in acrylic paint while "Sub" and "The Bird Exclaimed" were done in gouache. I am trying to teach myself how to use gouache. It really is a very different medium than watercolor or acrylic. It almost feels more like oils, but not really. I plan to do more of these in the future and as I get more comfortable with the medium maybe I'll start working bigger. With all of these pieces there is no pre-sketching. I'm just throwing paint down and seeing where it takes me.
 Hi - Acrylic on board
 Sub - Gouache on Board
 The Bird Exclaimed - Gouache on Board
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5/18/2009 - Project Rooftop Submission
So being the slacker that I am, I missed the deadline to submit to the Wolverine Look Sharp contest over at Project Rooftop. Seeing as I finished the piece and I don't hate it, I thought I would post it here. The idea that Logan runs around in a "super suit" and wears a mask seems a little weird to me. Is his identity a secret anymore? Wearing war paint on the other hand seems right up the ally of the feral Canadian. I used Weapon Alpha's (Vindicator, Guardian, etc.) look as a jumping off point. I did the piece in brush and ink and colored it in watercolor. Enjoy.
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3/9/2009 - Random CD Covers
I don't know if any of you have seen this or not, but there is a currently little game going around the social networking sites on creating random CD covers using wikipedia, quotes and flickr. I found doing them to be highly entertaining and a good way to warm up the brain for the day. So here are some of my results.
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2/4/2009 - That Time Already?!?!
Is it really February already? I guess it's time for my yearly blog post. Here are a bunch of random images.
  
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2/13/2008 - Happy Valentine's Day Internets!!
Hopefully Cupid will empty his quiver and not his bladder on you.
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8/15/2007 - Big Robot Little Bear Painting
My wife and children are out of town this week and I figured that this would be a fantastic time to do some old fashioned painting. It's pretty rare that I pick up a real paint brush and usually when I do it's only to make a small little piece. I decided to go big this time and that really the only thing I decided before I started painting. I'm one of those guys that ususally does a ton of sketches but this time nothing was done before the paint brush touched the board. I decided to take pictures of the process too. I started with a simple background and added a tree line. 
Things were going well at this point so I decided to add more trees and a foreground. I then decided that I wanted a big robot in the background. At this point I realized I had made a mistake as trying to paint in something behind the trees was rather difficult and the robot shape I chose looked like a big phalic symbol. I nearly gave up at this point, but I decided to press on. After fleshing out the robot a bit more, I started to feel okay with the piece. I was having fun so that seemed more important than what I was actually producing. 
At this point it became clear that the robot needed something to do so why not have it destroying things with it's lazer eyebeams. I also needed someone or something running in terror, so I painted in Angry Bear. Bear is a character for a comic strip I have been working on for a while. He instantly became my favorite part of the piece. 
I finally added arms and tightened up some things and decided it was "done." 
I don't consider myself a serious painter nor is this a serious painting, but it was a lot of fun. I have mixed feelings about the results, but hopefully this will lead to something more in the future. For those curious, I used acrylic paints on illustration board. I have a ton of brushes and it took me a while to find which ones were working for me. This final picture is of my tools. The tupperware thing has been with me for a long time and there are layers and layers of paint in that thing going back to 1993. It's one of those comforting things to have around when creating. 
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6/6/2007 - Messing With Perspective
Okay it's become very rare when I post on this blog. Truthfully it's been awhile since I've had anything to post. Half of my current job is doing marketing and the other half deals with document imaging. Well the latter half is really taking up most of my time these days. The image above was started quite a while ago but I was only able to put in a few minutes here and there on it. It is finally finished and I am pleased. This image is taking a step in the right direction for my style. For a while I've been illustrating in the cartoony/retro?/flat style. There are plenty of illustrators who look similar to that, so I've been trying to really push the perspective recently. I'm still using flat characters, but I'm trying to put them in extreme views. It isn't perfect yet but I'm finding it interesting and hopefully so will you.
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3/23/2007 - Fan Art: Order of the Stick
Back in college I played a few games of Dungeons & Dragons. I had never played before, but had a grand time and made some good friends through the experience. One of those friends introduced me to the Order of the Stick by Rick Burlew about a year ago and I have been hooked ever since. Though I don't play D&D anymore, the strip brings me back to that fun time. One doesn't need to understand the game to enjoy the strip, but it does help especially in the earlier strips. The link there will take you to the first strip.
The above picture is of the leader of the Order, Roy Greenhilt. For those not familiar with the strip, yes everyone is a stick figure. I've attempted to follow the design of the character yet still throw my style of doing things in there. I don't think any of the characters would translate into non-stick form, at least in my mind.
I am still trying to decide where I am taking this blog and it's lack of posts. I really like to do more with it. Originally I started it so I could participate Illustration Friday, but that has really fallen by the wayside. I'm a big blog reader and most that I enjoy seem to run one or two major themes. I have yet to focus on what those themes are for me, so things will continue to remain random for awhile.
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2/15/2007 - Be Mine?
Happy Valentines Day all you people out there on the interwebs.
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2/1/2007 - Updates to the website!
I recently updated my website. I cleaned up the design and flow and added some new images and a new section featuring my design work. Please drop by and let me know what you think. I've also added a random image code to the index page so feel free to refresh a few times to see what pops up. 
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11/14/2006 - Loose Ends
I'm just wrapping up some loose ends. This will probably be my last entry for the year. I have plans for the blog and my website for next year and I want to get a jump on them now. It's not like I posted with any regular consistancy anyway.
First up is the completed family tree. I finished this a couple of weekends ago and passed along to the eldest sister who is having it printed. My parents anniversary is only a week and change away.
Next up is a belated Happy Halloween to everyone. Halloween is my favorite holiday. This was a warm-up sketch I did around that day that I never got around to posting. Always remember Wolfman's got Nards.
And finally another recent sketch that is not related to anything. Cheers.
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10/28/2006 - Almost Done
So close to being done. I only have one couple left and a banner. This thing is truely taking it's tool on me but now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I feel so much better.
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