Runner sketch
It’s time to get moving on the next comic book Bloomsday ad, and today I’m working on the preliminary sketch. This is just one element of the piece, and there’s still plenty of stuff to add before moving on to final inking and colorization. Nevertheless, I’m excited about the direction the illustration is going, and I like the energy of this sketch. Just thought I’d share part of the process.
Incidentally, this was done on the computer using Corel Painter XI. I drew it just like I would on paper, instead using my Wacom Intuos 3 pressure sensitive pad.
Saturday, February 6th, 2010 | Art / Design and stuff | No Comments
Avatar – a 3D world populated by one-dimensional characters
I saw the film in 3D a couple weeks ago, and I must say that the technical achievements are impressive, but the story is completely underwhelming. I knew within the first 15 minutes exactly how the plot would play out, who would live, who would die, who would fall in love, and who would no longer care (that would be me). For a film offering a sweeping three-dimensional experience, it is ironic that the characters without exception are all one-dimensional and completely predictable. James Cameron has fallen into the same hole that swallowed George Lucas – an obsessive fascination with shiny new toys and a marked dis-interest in character development.
The following is my one-sentence review which I offered my friends on Facebook:
“Avatar 3D: Amazing multi-million dollar special effects wasted on a ten-cent script.”
Friday, February 5th, 2010 | Art / Design and stuff | No Comments
Welcome to the Idiocracy
Reggie was riding shotgun as I went to get my vehicle emissions test today. But I was denied a test due to Reggie’s presence.
Reggie is a 10-year old border collie mix. Today happened to be “Going to the Dump” Day and she generally accompanies me to the Transfer Station after I load the truck with trash cans and recyclables. In addition to our monthly garbage ritual, I thought it would be good to take care of the emissions test as well, since it’s just down the road from the garbage facility.
As I pulled into the testing facility, I noticed the absence of any other vehicles waiting. There were three testing bays, and only one was open. A single car was finishing up and just pulling out as I pulled in.
“Sweet!” I thought, “This is gonna go real fast.”
As I pulled up to the single on-duty state-worker. I greeted him and asked him what he needed from me as far as paperwork and fees.
He said, “Well, we can’t test your vehicle while there is a dog inside.”
“Why is that?” I asked, “You don’t have to sit inside the vehicle, so why is she a problem?”
“Well, it’s just a rule that we have.”
“Why that rule?” I persisted.
“Well, it’s pretty quiet now, but with all the usual activity in here,” he said as he swept his arm around the completely deserted and quiet facility, “some pets might get panicked and jump out of the vehicles. It’s a danger.”
While he was weaving this splendid tale of bureaucratic, ass-covering bullshit. I looked at Reggie, who was sitting calmly in the passenger seat. She weighs about 50 pounds and on trips in the truck, she splits her time between a doggie-bed in the storage space behind the seats, and the passenger seat where she can get a good view of the world passing by, and occasionally sample the smells by sticking her nose out the window that I leave cracked open by about four or five inches. Unless she suddenly evolved thumbs and the ability to crank a window lever, she wasn’t going anywhere. I knew it. She knew it. And anyone with an ounce of common sense (or, to put it another way, anyone not employed by the State) would see it as well. She returned my look with a blank and uncomprehending stare.
It’s the same look I adopt when confronted with asinine bureaucracy.
As long as everything is legal, it’s not the government’s business what or who I have in my vehicle.
No pets! What bullshit. I am so weary of bureaucratic, government regulated insanity that I can barely spit.
The state-worker added, I suppose in response to my blank and uncomprehending stare, “If you have a leash, you can take him out of the vehicle and tie him up to a post outside, then you can return and do the test.” (Aside: Why is it that everyone inevitably assumes a dog is male?)
Great. What a wonderful idea. Here is a dog who is calm, happy, and sitting with her master in a secure and safely enclosed environment. Enter the State, who, because it Knows Better and is afraid of What Might Happen, wants me to remove my dog from that environment, tie her to a post; leave her there; get back into my truck and drive into a testing facility; then, after a few minutes, drive out of the facility, and around the block to the entrance of said facility where I can put my dog back into that safe and secure environment.
All of this to prevent the animal from becoming excited and panicking in a noisy, busy and scary place.
Did I mention the facility was deserted?
Put another way, my dipshit, chickenshit, know-it-all, Nanny-Government wants to prevent my dog from panicking by creating the precise conditions that will guarantee an extremely agitated, frightened, and panicked dog.
This is how government works. It seeks to prevent Something Bad by creating stupid, asinine, and invasive rules that inevitably result in Something Worse. Whether it’s a dumb emissions test, corporate bailouts, idiotic drug laws, or government-run health care, there is no area of our lives that government will not touch and thereby transform into a shit-sandwich (with nuts).
The whole situation was silly. I could have avoided it by leaving Reggie home, of course. But I’m tired of having to accommodate stupidity in the form of bureaucratic ass-covering, especially from my government. The reason I took Reggie was because I am an adult and in my adult opinion the inclusion of the dog was not a threat in any way to myself, others, or the State. These are the sorts of judgments one is supposed to make as an adult, and yet these judgments are being slowly superseded by a controlling, intrusive, and imbecilic bureaucracy at all levels of our lives.
I hate my government.
Of course, I left the emissions testing facility without a test. I’m thinking I might return next week with Reggie again. When they hassle me, I’ll tell them she’s my seeing-eye dog and threaten a lawsuit if they try to separate us. They’re so stupid, they might just believe me.
Thursday, February 4th, 2010 | Politics, etc. | 2 Comments
New Product from Apple
Clearly, I am not part of the intended market…
Thursday, January 28th, 2010 | Art / Design and stuff | No Comments
A dog’s life
We try to teach our dogs their proper place in the hierarchy around here, but mostly we just end up sitting on the floor.
The old gal on the right is Reggie. She’s 10 years old and a real sweetie at 50 lbs.
The youngster on the left is Boris. He’s 18 weeks and 50 lbs. at least. Looking at the size of his feet, he’s got a bit more growing to do.
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 | Art / Design and stuff | No Comments
It’s dead
That’s what it really means when the President says he’ll “never stop fighting” for healthcare reform.
Hoo-Effing-Ray!
Like most politicians, Obama has a congenital inability to admit he was wrong. Vowing to “fight on” is the closest he’ll ever come to publicly saying he made a mistake. Cloaking his surrender in words of resolution is all he’s left with, because he knows damn-well that many in his party are now petrified with fear at an angry electorate and won’t imperil their cushy seats of power by supporting Obama-care in the future.
Trust me. It ain’t happening. Obama-care is dead.
Friday, January 22nd, 2010 | Politics, etc. | No Comments
Tree hugger taps knot-hole, forced to leaf
William Shaw rapped for alleged try for a tree bonk – Scottish News
A MAN has been banned from a public park – after he allegedly tried to have sex with a TREE.William Shaw, 21, has been ordered by a court not to enter Central Park in Airdrie after claims he attempted to bonk the plant.
It is alleged he dropped his trousers and underpants and exposed himself while in the visitor attraction in September last year.
It is claimed he then tried to have simulated sex with the tree while his trousers were around his ankles.
Thursday, January 21st, 2010 | General | No Comments
Bloomsday ad art #6
I recently finished the artwork for the second 2010 Bloomsday ad. This is the 6th piece of artwork created for the Bloomsday ad series going back to last year’s ads. Only two left and this series will be put to bed.
For the record, I think this is the best one yet.
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 | Art / Design and stuff | No Comments
Felix for five!
Allow me to break into the extended Almost Daily vacation to pass on some news from Geoff Baker at the Seattle Times who reports that the Mariners will be signing Felix Hernandez to a five-year deal amounting to $78 million.
This is very good news, as there was a real danger of losing him after this season to free agency.
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 | Sports | No Comments
How government helps you…
..in a metaphorical video.
Monday, January 4th, 2010 | Politics, etc. | No Comments
First Christmas for Boris
This pretty much says it all…
Friday, December 25th, 2009 | General | No Comments
14 weeks
Boris is getting bigger. He’s over 30 pounds now, and about 17 inches at the shoulder.
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 | General | No Comments
If it lasts for four hours, he’ll need a doctor
As I was visiting National Review Online’s web site today, I came across the following curious juxtaposition of ad and headline. It gave me a much needed chuckle.
Monday, December 21st, 2009 | General | No Comments
Well, that settles it
I think I’m going to have to suspend my ban on watching comic-book based movies and rent Iron Man. I’ve had several people tell me that it is one of the best of the genre, and, frankly, I’ll need a little background information at some point, because the trailer for Iron Man 2 looks… freakin’ awesome.
Thursday, December 17th, 2009 | General | 1 Comment
Clients from Heck
Some designers have bad clients, or so I have heard. And these clients apparently are often the source of great hilarity and frustration. Not surprisingly, some of the stories arising from these awkward encounters between designers and clients have found their way into a web site.
The site is actually called “Clients from Hell“, and there are quite a few hilarious gems listed, though many are simply amusing revelations of client ignorance and/or innocence, and not really deserving of banishment to Satan’s Lair.
Here’s one of my favorites:
After developing a custom e-commerce site we received an irate phone call from the client on the day of the launch…
“We’ve been hacked!” he shouted down the phone, “How could you let this happen?”
“Why do you think you’ve been hacked?”
“There’s an order right here and no payment!”
“Who’s the customer?”
“It says ‘Mr Testy Tester, 1 Test Street, Testville’… It’s clearly a hoax order!”
“Do you think we might have been testing the site?”
“Oh, I see…”
That cracked me up.
For the record, none of my clients, who are all, without exception, well-informed, super-intelligent, supremely tasteful, and good-looking, would ever find stories about them on such a site.
Friday, December 4th, 2009 | Art / Design and stuff | No Comments
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