Pinky the Cat

This is at least 10 years old and still hilarious for so many reasons. Might be my first and favorite viral video. Happy Halloween, everybody!

Shameless Self-Promotion

I'll be at Meltdown this Saturday 2pm having fun drawing heads and things- come say hi of you're in the area!

Click the title-link for a commercial by my pal Nico of John K.'s political toys.

Tuesday Doo-Dul

I did this

I bought This

I saw the Watching the Watchmen at Borders. Looked through it. Got it cheaper through Amazon.

What sold me is just about every page of the comic book is shown in thumbnail form where Gibbons spots his blacks over his rough gesture sketch. It's just an inspiring clinic on composition and appealing shapes. I've been trying to slow down on book buying but had to have this one.

Then Yongwoo brought Shadowline by Ian McCaig to work. I'd seen it previewed at the Gnomon seminar. Had to have that as well. 80 bucks for more raw tonnage of books.

Nextengine 3D Scanner 4 Sale ...

FYI: I'm selling a NextEngine 3D scanner. Nice machine. Makes quality 3D scans of 3D objects. If you know of anyone who is interested (or any company that routinely sculpts things and wants to turn them into polygonal objects), send 'em to the Ebay auction ... this kind of thing is rarely seen on Ebay. Should be fun to watch what it does ...

Drawing on the Bus

I did this on the way to work and on the way home today... another Creeple character.

Tuesday Doodle

I need to draw something worthwhile someday.

Added digital lunch's ROBOT CHICKEN topic in a worthwhile moment

A is for ACKBAR

Some cute Star Wars alphabet character designs. The title is a link.

A. Wasil, 1951 - 2008

Sculptor A. Wasil took his own life last Sunday. Those of you who knew A. will find this as impossible to believe as I do. A., (yes, just the letter "A."), was the most upbeat, generous, and supportive person I think I have ever known. He was a great teacher, profoundly helpful to all, and it was through his support that I became a full-time artist. He was my employer for almost five years, and during that time we worked very closely together on a variety of his large commissions. You really get to know someone when you are trying to make art together. I'd already been taking his classes and just hanging out and working together with him for fun for five years before he took me on as an assistant.

A. was a great employer. He used to say, "You've only got six really good, productive hours in the day. Don't over-work." More generosity: he paid for me and one other assistant to fly to Rome for four days just so we could see the art (my first trip abroad). He sent me and two assistants and our significant others up to San Francisco for a three-day weekend "just to see the art and relax." This was not a guy getting rich, mind you--not a guy like Richard MacDonald raking in money. He lost money on at least half of the pieces he and I worked on together--but they had to be "just right," before he could say they were finished.

He was a noted teacher and when I was broke and desperate he helped get me started as a teacher of sculpture by convincing the Athenaeum to take a chance on me and let me co-teach a class with him. After we taught one successful class together, he right away went back to the Ath. and started agitating for them to give me my own class. Without teaching I never would have been able to survive as an artist. In all that time of working together, of taking his classes as a student and assistant, of hanging out with him, etc., I only ever saw A. get angry once, and it wasn't even at a person--it was at the VCR for failing to tape Seinfeld. He was a truly first-class temperament.

You can see more of A's work (some of which I worked on as an assistant) HERE.

I think all of us on this board are particularly aware of how difficult it is to make a living as an independent artist. I don't know how many of us are able to really do it, to make a living by just selling fine-art pieces, (I have for a little while, but right now I'm not), but A. did it without any safety net for over thirty years. That's an amazing accomplishment. With regard to making lots of money, A. used to say, "If you're an artist, and you are making a living--enough of a living that you are able to make ART--then you are a success. That's all you need."

This photo I'm posting is of a piece that I think represented our best work together. A. directed the whole thing, and concentrated on sculpting the heads, while I worked mainly on the bodies (sculpting both figures nude, then sculpting the clothing onto them). We had some great times and a lot of laughs, and I think we made some pretty good sculptures together.

He was truly one of the greats, and Blair and I will really, really miss him.

More Cork!

Until we get that, Sanders has about 3 Kiskaloos I haven't seen. Title is a link to the web page

Secret Science Society logo ... courtesy of R. Schmitz

So ... Here it is for all to see!!

(and gosh ... I hope Rick really does remember doing this ... A mind is a terrible thing to waste).

Norbert and Billy 17

Marginal legal advice.

IDW Went Well (Wildstorm Tomorrow) ...

Hi, folks.

Last week's pitch session went well at IDW, though Scott Dunbier has one of the best poker faces. My friend, artist / inker Johnny B., got more feedback in five minutes than I got in my entire ten (which is to say I got none ...). But we had a good time and I put a face to a name for future reference, if nothing else.

But the new news is that tomorrow at 4pm I will be in Wildstorm's offices pitching two I.P.s to Hank Kanalz, Eric Denton, Ben Abernathy, and Scott Peterson (another Scott!!). I'm pitching Obsidian, an idea shared between myself, Ben Hererra, and Roger Robinson, and The Secret Science Society, shared between myself and Ben H. I have artwork for both, not sequential pages, but concepts, etc. The SSS has a title logo designed by Rick Schmitz way, way back in the day ....

And my patented single page pitch doc, complete with logline ...

Anyone with specific info on any of the professionals listed above should post so I can be forewarned. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression ... As always, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Norbert and Billy 16

Legal counsel for the incarcerated duck.

Norbert and Billy 15

I'm really thinking of revamping this strip and trying to start it as a legit webcomic. While I have toyed with the idea of making it a comic book, I think the web has the lowest level of risk. Ideally, I'd like to do something like three dailies a week and one, bigger, Sunday-funnies size endeavor. If I could get a good head of steam on these and keep it up for a while, I think I could collect it in a book, either a traditional comic book or a more traditional strip collection. Thoughts?

Norbert and Billy 14

Just have time for a single strip today.

Alien Doodle

I may ink this tomorrow with some new flexi nib pens.

Digital inking. Flow set to 100 percent seems the best idea

Norbert & Billy 12 and 13

Sorry for the layoff in updates. No really good excuses for it, just let myself get derailed. Always takes an extra bit of effort to get back on track.

Inked?

So the other week I get an e-mail out of the blue from a woman with this text:

I am writing this email about your artwork! I was wondering if you have any issues with people getting your artwork tattoed on them?? I was thinking of getting the robot manta ray that you drew as a tattoo.... I actually have one of the robot octopi that you drew tattooed on my leg. I am sorry that I never asked for your permission! I first found the art on a pichaus site (I believe it was called that) when I google image searched 'octopus'. Then months later, when I was searching for the art to show to my friends, I discovered your blog with the original art. And also, I was wondering, since you love robots so much, if you had ever run into some good robot t-rex art?? Oh, and if you want to see, I can send a picture of the tattoo. :)

Thanks so much!

So I emailed her back saying that it was her body and I would be flattered if anybody wanted my art on their body forever. She sent back these pics:



So I guess I'm flattered....It's a little weird having your art on somebody's thigh. But then I got to thinking, hey maybe I'm getting "Punk'd' by somebody here....hmmm my first guess would be MR. BUNCAKE!!! Those look like his legs!! I swear!! And that skirt!! OMG I've seen him wear that skirt before!! and besides, he can use Photoshop....

Any thoughts?? (blogging from Paris!)

Don Rosa Interview

Mr. Moon, you will probably really enjoy this interview. I'm about half-way through it (eleven parts takes time). What is really sad is how Disney has completely gutted and destroyed the legacy that Carl Barks created and Don Rosa helped sustain. It saddens me to no end, actually, to realize there will likely never be another run of Donald and Uncle Scrooge comics in America the way they should be seen. Tragic.

The Wikipedia entry on Rosa states he has retired from the Duck stories as of this year. Eye surgery, poor treatment by his European publisher and countless copyright infringements have discouraged him from continuing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Rosa

Sad.

BON VOYAGE

Jeff, have a great trip.

IDW Pitch Session Scheduled for Friday ...

Last week I emailed Ted Adams of IDW Publishing to request a shot at a short pitch session. He passed it to Editor in Chief Scott Dunbier and we scheduled it for this Friday, Oct. 3, at 3pm.

My question for TAGgers is this: Do you have first (or second ... heh heh) hand experience with IDW, and if so can you share with me/us? Knowledge is power in a pitch session, so I want to be as knowledgeable as I can be as I enter the room to begin pitching.

;-)