Tron and Other Stuff/Whatnot

Yes! It has become a recent attempt of mine to write a 'what's going on' at least once a week and hopefully have some new artwork to talk about. If not new art, for the sake of writing, I'll post something old and discuss that.

To the left we have a Tron inspired self-portrait. My buddy Dave Piper was kind enough to jog my juices and give me the challenge. I really do love the original movie and was highly anticipating the long awaited sequel. This became a fun little project.

The figure and the background were inked on paper separately, then merged via computer. All the color was done using Photoshop. Doing this helped me figure out a few neat things about computer coloring, such as the nice little lettering effect in the bottom right corner of the picture.

By the way, Tron Legacy was a fun movie. I'd like to see it again, but I'll most likely wait until a home viewing release has been made available. I can't tell you clearly whether or not it was a 'good' movie due to my affection for the original. There were many scenes of exposition which seemed a bit shoddy, but not as horrible as that other movie people seem to be comparing it to.

The Daft Punk soundtrack is getting mixed reviews. Music people seem to be disappointed while Movie people seem to praise it. I fall in the latter category, being that I see a really solid film score that's all over the place with its inspiration and homage. From Vangelis to 8-bit consoles to the scores of epic films such as Lawrence of Arabia, many things will come to mind when listening to this score. Daft Punk really does put together a nice vehicle to help us drift through this transient film.


Other stuff, below is a meme called an 'influence map' which has been floating around Deviant Art for the past few months. Because a few of my friends put one together, I was motivated to do one as well.

First, my friends are more inspiration to me than the above. So this happens to be a collage of crap I like... thus influencing me.

Second, I cheated. This was only 5x6 and I made it 6x9. There are just so many amazing artist and different works out there I had to make it a little bigger, otherwise I'd just fill up every little square with a different picture and leave nothing to composition.

This is probably not complete/inaccurate, but I put a grip of time into it so I'm sure it's approximate. You can try and make your own by downloading the meme here.


Finally, the whatnot is my collection of unfinished projects. Below is a preview pic of the 10 pages I'm making for my fiancee, Rie. It's simply titled "Rie Kills a Ghost". It's, however, still being penciled.

So, the list of projects in progress by priority:

1. Rie Kills a Ghost
2. Place in the Sun (with Phoenix)
3. dπ's 5-track Challenge
4. Untitled Blarg! Script
5. Oni Land Comic
6. Untitled Zombie Comic
7. Possibly Others that I forgot about

Ok, so now this is where you bombard me with musings, inspiration, strategy, and motivation!

Thanks all. This entry took me way too long to write and it's a bit wordy, so here's to my attempts at making better/more entertaining bolg entries.

Rock on!

Of course I'm Yakko!

So I've been distracted by another Facebook trend. People have been asking each other to make their profile picture a cartoon character from your childhood. There were several characters I could have chosen but I feel Yakko Warner is the perfect character to serve as my profile.

That is until I finish my recent (quickly) dπ challenge!

Actually this post is in attempts of making posting a better habit of mine. I've some meager work I've been producing since I've last updated this site. Should be putting up some 'in progress' sketches or my random doodles just for the sake of it.

Anyway, here's some news:
Planet Eigo is finally finished and if you'd like a copy go here.

It was an interesting experience, and I hope I didn't f-up my chances as helping out A-Jet with future publications.

Thanks to everyone who helped out in the making of this book!

Below are a few samples of my art submissions:

Ok, Blogger is starting to piss me off because of its incredibly shitty interface so...

On an end note, I just bought two sand timers. A 5 minute one and a 3 minute one. The five minute one is for gesture drawing warm-ups in the morning before I leave for work. The 3 minute one is for brushing my teeth. It's amazing how quickly the 5 minute one finishes and how
the 3 minute one takes forever.

Ok folks, I'm outta here! See ya next time!

Pop Idol

Honestly, I haven't been making new comics these past few weeks. My free time has been spend watching shows like Futurama and the IT Crowd, then passing out in my chair.

The other day I was talking to some Mormon missionaries. I randomly bumped into them at the post office and figured I'd welcome another foreigner to town with a pleasant minded hello.

After chatting, the conversation in my head began while I walked home. It was along the terms of people and their religions and their devout faith to them. Anything you devout yourself too will certainly take an investment of your life and time.

Sometimes I am envious of those who have found that faith in something. A calling from inside their hearts telling them what they do is right. I've tried Christianity and that feeling was not there, so I don't think Mormonism is for me.

That's when I thought: could art be my religion?
I'd certainly have to devote more of my life and time to it, but it does kinda feel right.

Ok, enough of that! Here's a comic for you to enjoy while I attempt to make new ones.

Click on the picture to enlarge it:

This comic was made in 2007 for my friend, Dave DeRue's comic thing. Not sure if I made the cut, but I really like how it turned out.

This was inspired by watching TV as well as my current roommates' obsession with watching American Idol every week.

Side note: I don't watch TV. I quit witching TV in 2004. I actually removed the cable from the back of my TV set. Granted, I still watch some shows, but never when they're originally aired. Therefore, when I'm in a household that watches TV all the time I become very mesmerized by it (in an objective manor). It's all noise and visual garbage... it's similar to gawking at a car wreck.

Mantra of the Corporate Slave

“WE” – the collective, pledge to follow, serve
and worship the ominous superiors – “THEY”

JEEZE AND GOSH DARN!!!

(A.K.A. WHAT THE FUCK!!!)

Did I mention my career of being a tortured artist?!

Of course, I am not one to call myself and artist. More so, I have my-self convinced to be an aspiring one.

"If I already thought myself an artist, then how could I improve?"

So, as I push myself away from my drawing table, in bitter despise over my inability to draw... I look at my desk and see nothing but attempts to draw. To the wondering eye, they might actually be decent.



Of course I tear pages from my sketch book, enraged that I can not satisfy my biggest critique...



...Myself.





Am I unmotivated, uninspired, depressed, or just lazy?


Sure... I wish I could shit out a book on demand.


Maybe I will... when I'm ready