Like a Podcast

Like a podcast except no Ellis, lots of dancing, and on you can see it on YouTube. See my daughter in the UCI Étude Ensemble tonight at 7:00.

Kunark Goblin

This one was done from scratch, but it's of an old EQ character that I'm particularly fond of.  I did a little sculpture of him, too, a few years back.  This is pretty much the same pose as the statue.

Quicktime Video Capture - Kinda excited by this-Dan Clowes article added for Marty

Marty- I'm finally equipped to feed 

Carlo art lessons.

It's funny because I had heard about quicktime's new screen/video capture. So right off the bat I bought quicktime pro for the new computer.

The video capture is not part of Pro, It came with the regular utility app of quicktime.

Pretty dang cool.

Now if I only had photoshop on the new box.

Don't press buttons.

Go to the link on youtube.

http://www.vulture.com/2015/05/daniel-clowes-shia-labeouf-eightball.html?mid=twitter_vulture

Giant!

This is a piece of concept art I did a couple of years ago at work that I decided to go back in and tinker with.

Rough Cut- I'll post the finish here as well

Gotta a lot of work yet. Wish I had shot a lot different. But I think I can make it work.

The last rough Cut before it gets After Effects spruce up.
Should be about this length. Cuts will be tidied. I'm cutting with Quicktime Pro which does a good job but has a micro glitch problem.

All finished. Shot yesterday. All edited and finished and on youtube the next day.
I want to do more.
I need better this-and-that if I want polish.
Not bad for what it is.

Ugly bits of this and that

Really digging the new macmini. BUT, I can't install photoshop CS2 on it. Agony

Preview shows this pencil art as being completely washed out. I adjusted it inside preview and it looks  too dark on the blog.

Scott Sackett is taking the picture. This is how the Better Than Fiction podcsats are done. Sitting around talking with an ipad recording sound in the middle of the table.
This will be the crew, plus Count Gregore / John Ferguson- that will be shooting my mini horror story tomorrow. We're all raring to go.

Our little shoot went fine. I should have something to show you on youtube in the next day or two.
Behind the scenes Tumblr post by Scott Sackett. 

Bad Lip Synch- Redneck Avengers 

Bonus Pinto

Drew this at a Coco's in Riverside this morning and took a photo of it with my phone to get it into the computer.... For the Firebird article. Hope it gets in....

Dudes, bug thanks for all the kind words and good suggestions on the previous piece. Now I'm fired up to make some more illustrations!!

Firebird Men

My pal Peet has written a few stories for Autoweek over the last few years, and for Father's Day this year he's submitted a little opus about the time his dad came home with a brand new Firebird...but sans the famous flaming chicken on the hood. Which struck 9 year old Peet as profoundly tragic. And 36 years later, worthy of comment.

UPDATED: redrew the hoods by hand, fine-tuned some stuff. Love to have done the whole thing on a gesso'ed board...Tommy, I'm striving to hit my Fuch'ing Peak, indeed!

Hercules, Samson and Ulysses!

Hercules, Samson and Ulysses - Sixties-Style Hero Fight

How could it get any better?

 Even better!

Another Youtube goodie from childhood- Mexican Puss N Boots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-ZQB-F6veI

I knew I would find it someday.

I was probably about 10 when I saw it at the Knob Hill theatre.

It could show today since the Knob Hill district might as well be Tijuana.

I wouldn't have been certain it was my Puss N Boots movie if I hadn't unerringly clicked on the youtube timeline to the part I remembered.

PussNBoots tricking a Sorceror into changing himself into a mouse so he could eat him.

I don't remember him being a solid white cat. Thought he was more the Morris cat coloration like the modern incarnation.

Make some faces

http://moldbreaker.blogspot.com/2015/05/flash-identi-kit.html

I tried to do my likeness. Looks more like Ronnie. Who I do resemble.

I gave up and did Teen Ellis instead

Did you see this much color?

This is a picture of a toy Vision (not the real vision). I did not see this vibrancy on the screen when I saw the movie. Did any of you see this much color at the Avengers?

I am having an Into Darkness experience with this movie. Loved it because of what it was and now have a growing antipathy as I think about it more. Anybody see it for second time?

A Late Post

Thanks to those of you who had the time and/or inclination to check out Scott McMahon's book.*

Something is better than nothing, even if it's late (as I used to tell my teachers).

*Tom Moon and Ellis!

Hobo Horror

Boards combined with script

Revised with roomy spacing, some painting clarity, renumbering

Horse invention

Liquify was used on each drawing
Changed the head. Still sux.
Went too far.

The old adage about futile polishing comes to mind.

REVIEWS NEEDED!!

Dudes,

Your help is needed. I have a big favor I'd like to ask of ANYONE that visits this site and has a little time on their hands: our friend and former co-worker Scott McMahon, son of our former co-worker Kevin "Crazy Legs" McMahon, has written a book. A book on how to make a film and SELL IT ONLINE. And during this very critical "launch window," he needs Amazon reviews. Why exactly? A bunch of reviews early on in a book's life-cycle gets the notice of Amazon's search ranking, and can help get the tome in question to the top of the relevant search requests.

Which is good. Critical, even.

Scott discussed a whole methodology for getting your book noticed on Amazon. It's something he's researched and it is very eye-opening to hear what he has to say. Lots of time spent discussing how to successfully launch a book to be found on his podcasts (available at his website). I think everyone here should listen to this. So much of the e-commerce experience can feel like tossing yr work into an abyss (or, as Blair likes to say, "...like pissin' up a tree...")(that's the southern girl coming out in her)...I've got comics and sketchbooks for sale on my website now, and I've been getting orders (GAWD BLESS ALL Y'ALL WHO'VE STEPPED UP),  but it's all very mysterious and so small bore that the idea of making money from it all seems a very distant mirage....

But I've been learning a lot reading Scott's book and listening to some of his great interviews on his podcast; fer instance, HERE where he talks to a woman who works as a social media marketer for indie filmmakers, or HERE where he talks with the Oren Peli, maker of "Paranormal Activity", or HERE where he talks to a filmmaking couple who developed their own popular & award-winning podcast called "Film Courage" (HINT: they find YouTube gives them MUCH greater exposure than mere podcasting).

So his book and website and podcast offer a lot of useful content. Definitely worth a look.

The book is called "How to Make and Sell Your Film ONLINE--and Survive the Hollywood IMPLOSION While Doing It."
 
Seems I recall a person or two on this site mentioning the desire to make a movie...?

Scott is hoping to hit 25 reviews for his new book by May 25th....he's halfway there as of today. 12 so far. And MORE than 25 would be great, too! 
It's got damn useful info in it--and some of the most interesting stuff isn't the actual movie-making bits. Some of the BEST stuff deals with the meta-task of discovering what sort of movie (or book, or comic, or webseries or podcast) you should be making--and most importantly who you should be making it for. Here's a random excerpt that I think is completely relevant to what most of us are trying to accomplish with our comics/art/stories: 

Remember this ... your film (OR COMIC OR DRAWING) product is part of the larger equation.
Your Film is an Advertisement ...
If our goal is to build a product worth $100 to sell to our 1,000 ideal fans, then how do we make our film product worth a $100?
 
You don’t. Your film is the catalyst, the advertisement for something bigger that is worth more than the $0.99 rental price of a single film product.

What is this “something bigger"?

The whole purpose of carefully analyzing and assessing whom your ideal fan might be ... and learning to listen to their fears and desires ... is to creatively figure out a way to either solve their problem, or spark their imagination.

Either way, the key ingredient is to provide your audience great VALUE. Everyday, you should be asking yourself, “How can I provide greater value to my fans?” It’s about them ... not you. Use your talents to serve them a delicious dish of VALUE.

What Can You Create That Is Worth $100 Every Year?
Let’s take a look at what we know so far ...

• Having a business system creates the structure to collect consistent

   revenue from this $100 product.

• Exploitation of your license diversifies your income streams. This
  provides added value.

• Being a good listener and pulling (extracting) the pain from your
  ideal fan/customer will provide a work order of what you need to
  build.

• If built correctly, you will provide great value to your ideal fan.

• If you listened well, and built your product(s) with quality, you should be able to sell that $100 product to your fans with ease.

This idea of figuring out who your ideal audience is, and what they want to "consume" (and are willing to pay cold hard cash for) is really the primary mission for all of us--at least for all of us wanting to MAKE a dollar or two from our creative exploits....

Click on this link and download the FREE PDF (and/or Kindle or audiobook, as you please). I will mention for those of a particularly supportive and charitable bent that the book is available NOW on Amazon FOR PURCHASE--it's available as either an eBook or audio book, and when you DO write your review, it will show up as a confirmed purchase, which must be to the good (you can see my review on the website HERE).

His website is quite informative with lots of free content (gear lists for the aspiring filmmakers among us *cough* Ellis *cough*). Very interesting to peruse for those of us trying to build out our own sites.

25 reviews by the 25th. We can all help stick it to "The Man" (a.k.a. "Scamazon"). You DON'T need to give the book 5 stars--or any stars. It's the review itself that helps--be honest in your assessment.

And remember--you'll be helping a brother-in-arms!

We just got back from staying in Joshua Tree for a couple of days. Went on day hikes in the park. Have you been there? Wonderful rock formations everywhere. Came back feeling all nature-y and felt like doodling.

I'm Learning to do GIF's....

...let the whole world shiver in dread--and anticipation!

Does this work?

These are revisions to the first pass...they wanted more close ups. Rough stuff just to get started on the scene...they were not impressed.

I knew I was doomed on this project from the start. Oh, well...back to the pavement.

Scripts

http://www.comicbookscriptarchive.com/archive/the-scripts/

Comic book script archive is the link.

The photo is Count Gregore / John Ferguson.

I'm going to ask him to be 'the Hobo."

I think I'll board it today.

The story has changed. No eyes in the sack. Just horror reaction shots. Gregore looking evil as the last shot when the man on the street looks up from the sack.
Edit
 Didn't board it because I had no script. Now I have a script. And shots. Now I could board it.
Script in comments

 Black Bolt on my index card. Came out alright.
I should be the Hobo. It's obvious to me now.

Timothy Carey Never Gets Old

He's an old Ellis Fave...I remember Ellis bringing over a bootleg copy of "World's Greatest Sinner" to Blair and my tiny North Hollywood apartment...we all sat on the edge of our bed and watched it on our new big screen TV.

Lots of laughs (and a few uncomfortable moments!).

Kubrik's "The Killing" was on tonight. Had to take a break and watch Timothy do his thing. The whole parking lot attendant vignette...so poignant. Most memorable thing about the movie. James Edwards played the attendant.

Carey's character name was Nikki Arcane--!!

(I'm making a GIF of my last round of boards...planning to post it here. I got bounced from the project, so fuck 'em. Look for it tomorrow.)

Tuck Me In

I want to do a little movie making. Going to start small. Youtube size. Inspired by this 2 sentence horror story. Here's the sentences for the one pictured

I begin tucking him into bed and he tells me, “Daddy check for monsters under my bed.” I look underneath for his amusement and see him, another him, under the bed, staring back at me quivering and whispering, “Daddy there’s somebody on my bed.”

the youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNQIdEv-Emo

Here are my two sentence "stories."

1. I see the happy hobo, a dingy Santa Claus, swing his sack from his shoulder, maybe expecting a sale instead of a hand out. I smile back into his childish face before looking into the sack of eyes that look back at my frozen face.

2. I jerked awake on the couch, slapping my area for the TV remote to quiet the blaring volume. The sound suddenly lowered, enough for me to hear the tap and see the hand holding the remote outside the window.

3. I steadied my right hand with my left as I brushed detail enamel onto my dummy's mobile eyes. The eyes turned into slot-pull blurs and crashed to a stop on two graphic death heads.

NWCC high rez Me

The new Chuck Jones edition Blackwing pencils sing like the magic flute when a drawing is going right.

 More Me. From Jackson Compton's FB.
The fellow in the picture with She Hulk- his wife.

Tuesday Sketches

The color wheel is an arrangement you can import into photoshop. But it has to be the right window dimensions to show up properly. I decided to bring it into photoshop and leave it on a layer to do color picks.

The Unicorn is for a Make A Wish project.

Final- I think

Came out like this. Better than it started for sure.

I've been watching ImageFX tutorials. 

I really want to do a couple of digital paintings I can be proud off.

Digital Comics Museum

I suppose it was you guys who turned me on to this site in the first place. Nonetheless, the DCM is having a fundraising drive whereby they give you a bunch of downloads for a donation.

This page from a 1940s Phantom Lady comic was kind of tame, but I was amused by the dialog and thought the bubble bath would give the anti-Frank Cho-Milo Minera neo-Werthamites who sprinkle my Facebook news page something to chew on.

Ellis DCM browsing...

 ARRR. Maybe I should ware me slendarizin' vertical stripe shirts.