Star Trek the Travelling Circus

I went to Star Trek the Tour last weekend in Long Beach. It's housed in the dome that formerly housed the "Spruce Goose". If you're a TRUE Trekker then you should definitely check it out. I didn't even know about it until a friend of mine who is actually managing the food part of the tour told me about it. I went at the last moment during the SuperBowl. That might have explained the thin crowds but I don't really watch football so it was fine with me. Here are a few of my hilights:

1.Me jumping throught the "Guardian of Forever"
2.Schematic used on Star Trek the Next Generation set complete with duck, hamster, and Porsche.
3. Shuttle trainer model with GI Joe Cobra decal on the cockpit.
4. I actually got to sit in the Kirk's original bridge chair. It is VERY cheesy AND they didn't allow pics while you were on the set. Boo Hoo.
5. There were a few hardcore fans there dressed up in costume and a Vulcan walked by and gave us the Superbowl score.
6. Ate at "10 Forward" where they have the actual "Quark's Bar" set. Very uncomfortable.
7. Saw Hirschfeld crew caricatures from all of the shows. He's awesome!

The tour has been extended through March I think and they have no plans to go to San Diego or San Francisco. So go to Long Beach for it's only California stop!

Congrats Heavy Iron!

I went to the Annies this past Friday night and THQ (Heavy Iron) won best animation for a video game!! Congrats Ellis and Marty!

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

Actually Ratatouille walked away with 10 awards. You can see the full results here.

Shadowrun is Beloved

So is Vectorman for that matter. Look at the end of this clip. It brought back memories..Go to youtube and make your search for sega genesis. All you Blue Skyers will see your place in history.




Check out the credit roll at the end off this one.






Thank God I kept all the art from the first one. Made Rampage Edition a lot smoother. Dok Whitson being Lead also made it smooth. They have a special award after the dumb critique at the end of this clip. Put it on puase so it's all loaded and you can speed through some of the freeze frame "humour" moments.

But don't miss the comment about the " dumb black outlined Dr Grant" That black outline was all me. i fought for it and now I admit, it looks pretty cheezey.


OK, I'll quit now. Makes you miss Dana doesn't it?

Robat!

Ha! I have posted the first Robat! And I drew it with the nifty free PS brushes that Ellis pointed us to!

Skewlewags by Chewie

Click on the title to see more cool work by this guy Chewie. Apparently he draws these on photos of walls, sidewalks and curbs. Rick, I thought you might be especially interested in this stuff. Looks like there are lots of links to other illustrators and concept artists on this page too.

Gators

Good Character Blog and Photoshop Brushes

Click the title for link.

The illo shows a character design assignment of Stephen Silver's fashioning.

Do a attention to detail portrait study noting important feature details and then force those details onto new geometry. Square, round, triangular.

The blog also has great links. I bought a couple of his book recommendations

But especially get the photoshop brushes he links to.

I was tickled with how much the charcoal 1 he recommends feels like a real honest to god pencil.
Stick it in your photoshop presets , load it and try it.

(added a couple of hours later) And he reviews the 12 inch cintiq ( doesn't like the number of cables)

Star Wars