Happy New Year!!!!

My new years resolution...

Do more drawing.

Readiness for that TAG table


2008!!!Yay!!!!

Thumbnailing Joy

Cracking my copy of Frazetta's Rough Work open to inspire thumbnails for prehistoric figure studies.
The first page shows my common mistake of starting too large. The big one in the middle, taking up almost all the 8 by 10 size of the sketchbook. In spite of all my practical experience that all my best drawings are done the size of a large post it. I'll post a couple more thumbnail series as I do them.

I deleted the first page for taking up too much space without adding much joy

Season's Greetins from Me and My Cretins

"EGG REVEALED"

Hiyas,

Here's another board for the "Kindle" story. This one I've done as a two-step sequence, so I present it in a comic page layout.

I'd gauge this 'un as being 70% done. I still want to bevel / detail out the triangluar doors so that more light can get reflected or caught. The upper version of this winged Imp needs more detail. The left wing in the lower panel needs work too.

What else would you suggest?

Elf

Merry Christmas!

"Imp"

This is also a part of the "Kindle" story. This is one possibility as the cover of my next self-published sketchbook. These Imp creatures are seemingly silent servant who cause a lot of havoc. Generally short in stature, very fit and very fond of mechnical things.

"Angel Hair Pasta with Sausages"

Forgot to mention the title of the previous one - it's a storyboard from my "Kindle" project. That's a story that Tom and Rick have long suffered my glacier slow development of. Anyway the storyboard above with the guy in the stocking cap is called "Kindle Storyboard Citywalk 001".

DOK DOK

Who's there? Dok. Dok!

It's come to my attention that my attention has been elsewhere. But now it's back as far as I can tell. How about you?

Got some show and tell. I show and you tell me where it all went tragically wrong. These are samples from my next sketchbook. I can really use some crits, please?

Not many are done, so there's still time to fix 'em. More to come over the next few days - fair warning. I hope to find one or two of these that might be worth working up further for a Spectrum submission. Deadline for which is January 25th, btw!

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Move Over Figgy Pudding...

はい、クリスマスはキリスト教の味のない日本で、ちょうど祝われる。ギフトは交換されるが、怠け者はまだならない第25 に取り組むことを行かなければである。

Added: Rough Translation:
It is, Christmas celebrates in Japan which does not have the taste of christianity, exactly. The gift is exchanged, but the idle fellow is if tackling 25th it does not become yet it does not go.

HONEY WEST – SEASON ONE coming to DVD

Beautiful Anne Francis starred in the title role of Honey West, the sexy head of a high-tech private detective firm. This has been rarely seen. I know Goodson has been over dosing on Perry MASON so this is mostly to inform him.

http://www.vcientertainment.com/SneakPeak.aspx

also other Cult shows coming too....

BURKE’S LAW - SEASON ONE (32 total episodes)

THE STARLOST: A cult TV series produced in Canada -- set in the year 2790, these are the adventures of the last survivors on earth. Star Trek and Dr. Who fans will love these quirky sci-fi adventures.
From the early 70's starring Keir Dullea (Dave Bowman of 2001 A Space Odyssey)

Get This

Frazetta Rough Work. It is now, of all my Frazetta books, and I have a lot, my favorite. It's only 6.5 by 9.5, hardcover but with a pillowy surface.
It doesn't do any side by sides , showiing you the finished painting you already have in another book. It's all just comps and early thumbnailing.
If you like Frazetta you can't help but get a charge out of this baby. 20 bucks.


Also. Continuing to play with youtube. I don't call you out by name on this snippet Rick. Thought you might enjoy this blast from Jeff's Cal Art Past

Halp!

I need some help from you guys... I have been thinking about doing this painting for a while, so I had what I thought was a pretty well form idea in my head as to what this would look like. Then I painted it and it doesn't really look like what I had in mind so it's hard for me to judge how this is going... I'm looking for some feedback as to what you guys think this painting might need, both from a content standpoint as well as from a technique standpoint. Thanks in advance!

Newkirk

True Trekker nerds click here.

Machine Girl has it ALL!!!

Thanks For Nothing

Bitter animation student reel

ELF YOURSELF

I've devised a special Holiday greeting for TAG. Click the headline to see it. This was going on at work Friday. It never got old.

Also, I've done the first step of getting the TAG table. The sellers permit part. I faxed in my info and the moment I get the number I'll send it on to the CON admin.

Vectorizing-Click Headline for a cool anime trailer

I used that link Rick gave out.

It's somthing that's easy to do with flash. You "trace bitmap"

I used it to simplify my online Zonzen comic book art. Great at cleaning up edges

Check out the headline. It will take you to a very Akira-like quality like anime coming soon. It's called Paprika. Krayonzilla claims it's already out.

The brothers Wachowski "Speed Racer"

Heard the trailer will air tonight on Entertainment Tonight tonight.
Will it be as bad as The Matrix trilogy and V for Vendetta? Time will tell.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-12-05-speed-racer_N.htm

ADDED 12/7/07 : THE TRAILER

http://movies.aol.com/movie/speed-racer-2008/28066/main

999 Mr Barker?

COME ON DOWN !!

Click headline for 12 inch cintiq price

2 items of interest

First one, an examination of Hitchcock... did he really do it all by himself?

http://www.slate.com/id/2178913/

And the other is a terrific little site where you can load up your bitmap art and it will turn it into vector art... be sure to watch the "how to use this site" video... it's very slick, easy to use and it has common sense functionality:

http://vectormagic.stanford.edu/

Cintiq Sketchbook!

For Krayonzilla with love:

This month, Wacom is releasing a “sketchbook” version of the critically-acclaimed Cintiq drawing tablet. Cintiqs are tablets with built-in LCD screens so you can draw directly on the image. This new 12WX model is only 26cm x 16cm and a full 8 kilograms lighter than its big-sister, the 21UX. In short, the new Cintiq is a lot more portable.

Here’s the catch: the Cintiq 12WX is only available in Europe for now. I notice it’s available on the Amazon.co.uk site, but apparently won’t ship before Christmas. Here’s a YouTube demo for the little beauty, so you can see it in action (crummy and lo-rez but exciting nonetheless):

Congrats Marty and Ellis!!

The Annie Awards (Animation's Oscar equivalent) has posted their nominations for 2007!

Best Animated Video Game:

Avatar: The Last Airbender "The Burning Earth" – THQ, Inc.

Bee Movie Game – Activision

Ratatouille – THQ, Inc.

Transformers: The Game – Blur Studios



Congrats Heavy Iron and especially Marty and Ellis! (but none to Scotty Buncake)

This Is....

I was actually looking for a Jan Claude Van Damme gif where he's Dancing from Breakin with King Leonidas head superimposed. I'll post it if I find it.

FILMAX?

Check the trailer out. It makes me think of my project Tog And Ti. Giant monster type cat character bound by magic to a child. Male child in this instance. Click Headline for the link

Illustration Magazine to spotlight Andrew Loomis

http://www.illustration-magazine.com/th20.html

I love this magazine. Full of great info on the Illustrators of the 20th Century. Superb color reproductions.

Vasquez Rocks reported to be in the new Trek movie

Many of us know this place...don't we.

http://trekmovie.com/2007/11/29/famous-location-standing-in-for-a-vulcan-birth-more-on-the-enterprise/

YOU ASKED FOR IT CHUMPS!!!!!!

I've never felt so smart being BEHIND a camera.

How Many Princess Leias Does It Take...?

Posted on Flickr - Note the toddler Princess Leia, and I think I spotted the Princess Leia that shows up at the Comic Con every year. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonniegrrl/515645459/

The Joker

Wadda ya think?

Italian Spiderman!

Nintendo DS Digital Painting

I just picked up a DS a couple of weeks ago and this looks cool. Click on the link for the full article.
DS Painting

Childrens Book Illustration Slideshow

Click the header to find a nifty little slideshow with little seen sketches made for the creation of children’s books. Among the treats are 2 Sendak drawings, one of which is from a proposed but never published version of the Hobbit. This slideshow is based on a neat looking book that traces the origins of children's books from classroom textbooks of the 19th century to lively entertainment of the 20th century.

New Cloverfield trailer

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/11808/medium.html
So, it looks to be exactly what it's been speculated to be... Godzilla meets Blair Witch. And the movie appears to actually be called Cloverfield.... a name of a character, perhaps?

Ellis here. I added a frame grab. Looks like Godzilla in a platypus kinda way. I'm going to give it a miss if it's 90 percent shakey cam. I can't imagine a worst type of movie experience. Someone will have to convince me it's a must see story.

This Stuff Stinks!

Cintiq Sketch

Robot Farmer with pet goat

Look!

I found a picture of his secret headquarters!

... and of his faithful companion ...

Rick: And this is what he likes to eat...

Tom: Ha ha ha! Great Rick! Nature copied you; what a rip-off.

Hey, I didn't know we could modify each other's posts. Cool.

Here's another old portfolio piece that I have revisited.

Chicks and Neon!

Here's a piece I just finished after working on it piecemeal for awhile. For ten free "Ellis bucks" does anyone get the title "Tyger! Tyger! Burning Bright"? Certainly some of my learned compatriots in TAG know the answer. I sure as hell don't.

Counting Backwards from 100: Movie Style

Smoke 'em if you got 'em

Quickie

A very quick study

I'm still a little unclear as to what we should/need to do to get the TAG table going... namely,
1. Do we all need to be "producers" of a single product in order to sell at the Small publisher table?
2. If so, is that the only thing we can sell or do we can we sell individual sketchbooks, con sketches, pre-drawn sketches, etc?
3. If only one of us can "man" the table a a time, can we still sell the wares of everyone involved?
4. Do we all need to get CA seller's licenses?

I have one other question... Jeff, have you been effected by the writer's strike?

In other news, the drawing is a re-paint of an a old portfolio piece.

My First Cintiq Sketch!

Ugh. Still getting the hang of it. I still don't like how the stylus slides on the screen.

NY Jedi Lightsaber Classes

Heard Anything About the Golden Compass?

Has everyone else heard about this controversy? Am I always the last to know? I recently started reading about the flap over the controversial themes of the Golden Compass. Some people are saying the books that the film is based on are anti-religious; others, (including the Archbishop of Canterbury), saying they are just "an attack on dogmatism and the use of religion to oppress, not on Christianity itself." Meanwhile, the Catholic League has called for a boycott of the film.

Now I want to read the books. Has anyone else read them?

Sony for Sale: Bad News for Me

Does anybody have any extra cash laying around???
----------------------------------------------------
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 30 — Sony Pictures Entertainment is considering selling half of its fledgling animation studio, maker of the films “Surf’s Up” and “Open Season,” and even more of its thriving 15-year-old digital visual-effects company, which pioneered computer-generated imaging techniques in films like “Stuart Little,” “The Polar Express” and the “Spider-Man” movies.

Sony Pictures, a unit of the Sony Corporation, has hired the investment bank Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin to assess the value of the two divisions. An outright sale of both, which is possible, could bring around $500 million, according to people involved in the discussions.

All told, Sony has invested more than $400 million in the animation and effects businesses over the years.

One person involved in the talks, who spoke anonymously because the matter is still at an early stage, said the company intended to sell no more than a 50 percent stake in the five-year-old Sony Pictures Animation, which had modest success with “Open Season” last year.

The studio does not have an animated feature scheduled until “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” in March 2009 and “Hotel Transylvania” six months later.

A sale of the animation business would resemble a slate financing deal, in which a studio sells a stake in a fixed number of movies, except it would be open-ended, the person said.

The person said Sony planned to retain at least some interest in its special-effects company, Sony Pictures Imageworks. Though Imageworks is a lower-margin business, it makes the animation studio far more cost-effective.

Imageworks — which handles special effects for Sony live-action films and films from rival movie studios — generates work for hundreds of Sony animation workers between feature films, times when they would otherwise have to be laid off. Saving money on downsizing and ramping up between animated films means those films can be made at two-thirds the cost of films by rivals like Pixar and DreamWorks Animation, the company says.

Potential buyers of Imageworks, people involved in the talks said, include investors who believe the company could expand by getting into the production of computer games and television advertisements, which rely heavily on the kinds of effects the company has become known for. But Sony is likely to seek one transaction with an investor in both Imageworks and the animation side, given the degree to which the two businesses are intertwined.

Not included in the sale discussions is Sony Online Entertainment, the maker of multiplayer interactive computer games like Everquest.

In a statement, a Sony Pictures spokesman, Jim Kennedy, said the company was “open to exploring equity partnerships, and it’s no surprise that there is market interest in our visual effects and animation businesses,” but stressed that “we continue to maintain a strong commitment to making animated movies going forward.”

Imageworks, which now rivals George Lucas’s Industrial Light and Magic and Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital as one of the biggest effects houses, has been expanding lately. It bought 50 percent of what now is Imageworks India, where it employs about 85 workers, and is to open a new plant in Albuquerque next year.

What became Imageworks began at Sony Pictures in 1992 with five people using computers to help plan complicated live-action scenes — a practice that has since become known as previsualization. It quickly became an in-house special-effects shop with credits on Sony movies like “In the Line of Fire” (1993) and other studios’ films like 20th Century Fox’s “Speed” (1994).

In April, Sony Pictures signed a three-year deal with Aardman Animations, a British studio known for the “Wallace & Gromit” films. That deal would not be affected by a sale.

David M. Halbfinger reported from Los Angeles and Andrew Ross Sorkin from New York.

test

Let Marty Speak the Truth!

Heyas,

I am not Tom, nor am I Patty. Which is a great relief to Tom, ya betcha sure! I am Dok. But I could not post immediately as such, due to some problem with internet tubes and trucks no doubt.

The image above may only mean something to Mr. Ellis. I wonder if he can remember the name of the three characters featured? "Asylum" was a cabinet type video game that we both worked on about 167 years ago. Back when pixels were as big as your thumb and only came in 8 colors.

But all that means nothing. Dust in the winds my friends. "The Earth is Hard and the Heavens Far", as they say in Central Asia. Here in my head they say, "Eh" instead.

Instead... ah. Yes. Instead.. I'd like to give forum to Marty's idea about a TAG table at the next Con. I like that idea tons.

ok.

DokNOTtom

Sloppy Style

A timeless look.

From My W.I.P. Comic

So Ellis, each of these two pictures is exactly 6x9 now. If I have Lulu print them, do I need to center the images differently such that the inner borders are a bit thicker to account for some image being cut off by the binding? Or does that depend on if you are getting perfect binding vs. just staples down the center? And what about bleed around the other edges? Do they want that included in the picture as well? I just don't know the rules for this post-computer-printing revolution stuff.

Table Read Sketches

Did these whilst being entertained by the table readers.

1-18-08

So a very brief ad has aired during the playoffs (and I think during the first Series game) that appears to be linked to 1-18-08/Cloverfield/Slusho thing. It is a human face that sort of morphs into some kind of machine face and then it shows the all important date. I think there was some sort of tag line as well, but I don't recall what it is. What does it mean? I dunno...

Has anyone else seen this ad?

Go Sox!

The Artist Within

Something to put on your Christmas wishlist!

The Artist Within

Amazon - See Inside

Cintiq Sketch Pad

The title is a link to this news coming from Wacom. Just the past weekend I'm joking if they come down 1500 bucks I'll want a cintiq. This might make that price. Speculation is this might sell for 750 to 1500.

I could budget that.

Found another page with a price extimate. About 1600 bucks they think. And a little time to save for it since it releases in November in England, not the States.


Price

on another note

Anyone interested in a mini cintiq? You can turn a DS lite into a little thumbnail sketch pad. Total cost about two hundred bucks. Echoform (Yongwoo) at work is using his to do some cool stuff.

Go to my blog and from there to his Blog to see some of his "floaties" he did with the DS lite.

Here's the link he supplied me for getting everything one needs...

DS Lite Sketch Pad

Well, I just looked at that page. This is for the card you need to make it a sketchpad. I'll make sure I'm clear on what you need on that page by Tuesday.

Space Wolf

You guys okay down there?

How's everyone doing down there? Does anyone need a place to hang their hat while waiting out the fires?

Gore Hole, Now Available

Click the Title to take you to the preview / order page.

70 pages. Almost no text. The photos on back just have dates. You can read what little descriptive text there is in the DESCRIPTION. I thought the text here in the last page, shown in this post, would be enough. Now someone has to do a Gore Hole post to the Blog that describes TAG and gives copius details about the group.

I've already ordered two. Unlike my book, it has no profit. So it's 5 bucks and change. But they get you on shipping.

Check it out. It will be 6 by 9. I liked the format so much when I saw mine I felt it would be perfect for sharpening up our little Jams.

Enjoy

I thought I'd add, the above is not the back cover. It's the last page. The back cover has the picture from '91 of all of us at the Con. Then the picture across the street from the Con in 2006. Then the pictuure at Tom Moon's spaghetti dinner in 2007

LuLu Rocks

Just got my Sketchbook from Lulu. I was very prepared to be disappointed. Man, it came out slick. Maybe it's the cream color paper stock. It's just no longer a bunch of kinko bound laser printed sheets. It's a honest to gosh book. I'm very pleased.

My enthusiasm will take me far this weekend into completing a lot of work on the Tag Jam book.

We'll need a full color back cover. Any favorites come to mind. Go Tell The Homo Vikings? Destroy All Monsters? Nightmare on Sesame Street? GOSH? UltraDog vs CornDog? Please Lord, Let Me Die a Woman? The Day Dave's Head Caught Fire!?

Lots of good stuff.


The second image is a painting/drawing I whipped up in my OTIS concept art class. Using the cintiq. I might buy one of those when they come down in price about 1500 bucks.

I got rid of the art rage painting. I discovered while looking for tag photos that I had posted it before.

Read comments for Tag sketchbook updates

Wedding Bells

So...Rick suggested I should break the big news here on this board and I concur with his suggestion. I will soon be married to my girlfriend of four years, Hiromi Saitoh. I met her when I was in San Diego working on EQ and she was in Irvine attending an English as a Second Language school. We met through an internet pen pals website. We exchanged emails for a week or two and then I drove to Irvine one Saturday to meet her in person. Our first date consisted of lunch at Claim Jumper and then "Finding Nemo" at the Irvine Spectrum. I knew I had someone special when I looked next to me and saw her totally captivated by those animated fish - she had the world's biggest smile. The following summer, I found myself visiting her homeland, Japan. I'll never forget walking in the rain to the Studio Ghibli museum, having Mongolian barbecue on the rooftop in Ginza and seeing the Japanese countryside with Romi and her friends. I celebrated my 34th birthday holding her hand watching the sun rise on the summit of Mt. Fuji. She was able to show me a world I would have never been able to enter any other way and has enriched my existence completely. She is my best friend and continually surprises me with her upbeat attitude and sweetly innocent perspective on life. So, after Thanksgiving, I will be flying down to L.A. to pick her up so we can start our new life together.

FYI

I just wanted to give you guys a heads up that Jeff Jonas' wife, Barbara Jonas, passed away yesterday after a long fight with cancer. I don't have any contact info for Jeff right now as he has gone to Barbara's home town for the services. I will let you know more when I have more info to give.

Barbara was a bright soul and she will be missed. Please keep Barbara and Jeff in your thoughts and prayers.

Steam Trek

Kinda longish... but great production values!

Vader Blues

GoreHole in Color

Here's my color pass for the cover of Gore Hole. Blogger didn't seem to care for the TIF file, so it's a JPG.

Take it away Ellis!