Mother, Maiden, and Crone...

Lately, I've been discussing deconstructive symbolisms in character design with various friends. The idea of breaking down female characters into the three categories (mother/maiden/crone) probably came from ancient Greece. The Fates, Muses and their ilk...Gorgon Sisters...They did it all the time. Anyway, A long time ago, I shipped these drawings to Sean Tate for his cel coloring touch. He recently sent them back and just by coincidence, there's a crone, a maiden, and...well Lara Croft isn't exactly a mother, but she WOULD be if I were writing her :P

Artstream: Hank Ketchum

So, I was sifting through old comics at a used bookstore and I came across this gem! A Dennis the Menace compilation from 1966 :) Note the cold war flavor of the title.

Now, I've always bee a fan of comic strip art, but not enough to try it. This makes me want to, though. Its so subtle, but very precise. Ketchum doesn't use a lot of lines to portray something, but its like you can't even ask for more than what's on the page. I may post my pale imitations of his style using brush pens in the near future, but if you're interested, go to the official site http://www.dennisthemenace.com/

Street Fighter II: Turbo

I was pleasantly surprised to see the artwork in this new Udon Street Fighter comic series. Some dood called Chamba Cruz really went all out in the first issue. Its very creative and energetic. I reccomend it to those of you who like to draw...Those of you who think of comics as novels with pictures or movies with no sound, however should totally skip it.

The comic got my blood flowing and I quickly doodled this Sagat on one of my lunch breaks. No sign of SF4 around here, though :(

Ponyo on the cliff by the sea...

Trailer

So...I was a Miyazaki fanboy. In animation school, I got my hands on a box set of the Ghibli movies from Nausicaa to Mononoke. The man could do no wrong...until I saw Howl's Moving Castle. I didn't think it was rubbish, but it wasn't good enough to watch twice :(

Tales from Earthseas IS rubbish. So my once immovable faith in the studio faltered. But at Otakon, there was a screening of this Madhouse movie called The Girl Who Lept Through Time (brilliant btw), and afterwards there was mention of a new Hayao Miyazaki film "Ponyo on the cliff by the sea".

I gave it a shot. Let me tell you guys, its amazing. A huge step backwards to touch the roots...like Lilo & Stitch or Metal Gear Solid 3.

Hit china town, guys! Its worth buying twice, imho! ...Is Disney gonna Dub this one?

Gettin' political...

This is pretty funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxpXAmn-wgQ&NR=1

And here's a treat for all you nerdbait fans
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=171493&title=sexism

conceptgoulash and other stories

So, recently, a couple of friends from college started a group art blog called conceptgoulash. For the most part, we do this thing called "Sketch Battle" where someone chooses a topic and two or more people interpret the that topic. The drawings are judged by everyone and the winner gets bragging rights. This drawing is for one such duel. The topic was design an original character to fit into a Capcom game. My design was a Rival Schools character. An ace pitcher to go against the exhisting slugger.

Sunday, 3/9/08...

So, I went in for a second interview at Custom Graphix in Neshaminy mall today. It was fun. Basically, I had to show that I know how to use illustrator, flexisign, and some other software. I made a Nerv logo decal and a Superman/Batman Licenseplate (geeking out)! I start next week, so I'm excited and hopefully I'll get the other graphic design job downtown...80 hour work-weeks, explode!!!After the interview, I went out to wait for the bus. There was a gorgeous girl sitting on the bus smoking. She had hazel colored eyes, but they kind of look like a gold or yellow...it was weird and interesting, so my sharingan kicked in and my eyes started to recording information for later drawing. Basically, I drew the pose. The true magic of the way this girl looked is beyond what I can do with a pencil in my sketchbook five hours later :( I noticed that her shoes and the bottoms of her pants were dirty. Logically, she'd walked through the mud to get home from work last night (it was pouring outside last night), but in my mind while avoiding eye contact with her and getting on the bus, I'd imagined that she works really hard after hours at the restaurant she waits tables at to feed her lazy older brother... I haven't written any fiction in quite some time, so I'm bursting with sappy cliche's.

Just by pure coincidence, Henry and I were talking about overweight rappers. I told him that I think there should be more because Fat Joe and Rick Ross don't cut it. He said "Why do we need 'fat' rappers?" I told him it was because rappers have to supplement their incomes with clothing lines. Do you guys remember Biggie Smalls? Aside from being an amazing rapper, he looked cool. We need fat rappers to innovate fat fashion. I mean to say "I" need them to do that. I'd like to draw more big people, but I don't know what they should wear :(

-B

I fall in love three times a day...

Being single for about the last year, I've become very perceptive. I notice everyone, Particularly college-aged females. Sometimes, while riding on the train or sitting in a coffee shop, one will strike me. For a brief period of time, I become smitten by a total stranger. Happens a lot more than three times a day, but I usually can't crank out more than three drawings in a day.

So, yesterday I was at Bonte' again. I sat by the window (The waffle iron was on the fritz, so there weren't many people there and I could choose my seat more carefully). There was a girl cleaning up because it was the end of her shift. I took it all in. She was maybe 5'7" and slender, but with wide hips (the good kind). As she was changing the trash bags, she looked over her shoulder to notice me examining her. Now, I don't know if any of you have noticed the face you make when you're examining something for artistic refference, but I've become painfully aware of how strang I look in those instances. Lots of times, I'll even have to avert my attention to make it seem like I'm not looking at someone. Strangly, she actually smiled at me over her shoulder. Smote! Later, I'd settled into my usual cafe mode; refilling coffee, listening to itunes, and running internet errands. The mood in Bonte' was the usual hip cheerful feeling with people momenterily noticing each other and the baristas joking around. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. A small thin figure charged in. At first, I couldn't pin it down, but there was something different about her. I kept thinking "Jeez, she's so serious!". After she sat down, I noticed she had some kind of note book. She took a sip of her tea and started writing furiously. I assume it was a journal. Once she'd settled into a comfortable position, I started drawing (lower left). The girl noticed that I'd been looking at her, but it was obvious that she didn't know I was drawing her. For a while we were alternating between trying not to meet eyes and pounding away in our books. Afterwards, I felt disappointed that she didn't get to see the drawing...

Henry tried to battle me in a drawing contest... He got served up something aweful. I refuse to pay the hospital bill. He knew what he was getting into.

-B

Friday, 3/7/08...

Back at Bonte' today. People keep smiling at me... I think its my hat. Anyway, here are a few concepts for this Sci Fi space opera I've been working on called "Duel Edge". The first guy is a Wolverine-type assassin. I'm really happy with the way this one's coming out... just lack experience designing space suits (lqtm). To the right is another character for DE. She's like a really tough commando type who uses a spear. This time, I wanted a sort of bottom-heavy look, so I tried to design a kilt for fighting. At the bottom is a quick drawing I did at the first Dr. Sketchy in Pittsburgh. Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School is a monthly life drawing class held in most major cities. They usually have costumed models, and really cheap bear (called "liquid inspiration"). Its a blast, really. You should all look up your local Dr. Skethy's.

Thursday, 3/6/08....

I've been combing the city for a nice spot to have a coffee (or 20) and write my blog entry for the day. Finally settled into this "Bonte" cafe off of Walnut on 17th. I love the atmosphere. Its feels like its alive. Y'see, the place is below ground level, so looking out the window, you see all these busy feet darting past. Inside, the customers are very relaxed, creaming their coffees and spreading jam on their waffles. Oh, did I mention that the specialty of Bonte is gourmet waffles? Not really interested in that sort of thing, my self. I'm here for a small coffee and a bagel with lite cream cheese (Which came to $3.10...and free refills!).

Just came from another graphic design interview. It was awesome. That place was so busy. It was like a clockwork with humans instead of cogs. People bustling around with stacks of uncut business card, passing CDs around, and juggling three conversations at once (on the phone with random client, telling other employees what needs to be done on that particular job, and "Oh, hello Brian, nice to meet you"). While taking the tour, I kept thinking "I feel at home". It was like the constant buzzing of people trying to perfect artwork AND debating whether or not the Clash is the greatest band ever, has been the soundtrack to my life up to this point. Well...point being, the interview went well. They really seemed to like me, so unless they find out about the whole Infinity Gems fiasco, I think i've got this one.

Some time to kill in center city now. Franck and I have been discussing the whole idea of "blogging". I've come to the conclusion that its an incredible vain thing to do.. No bones about it. But its really fun. My only problem with blogging is that I write for this huge audience ("America" or the "Briamaniacs out there") that doesn't really exhist. I've decided that to build my reader-base, I need to write more interesting enries. Also, I'm going to try to update daily. Before, I'd only update when I had new artwork to discuss, but now, who knows what we'll be talking about...

-B

[If you don't play mtg, don't read this part - Grand Prix is in Philly next weekend! Who's coming? $3500 to the winner and everyone gets a foil Call of the Herd! Wow! I probably won't have the money, or a deck to play unless SOMEONE finds my TEPS deck... Its nice to dream sometimes]

Finished Pepper pic...

This is me, breaking my neck for three hours on trying to make halfway decent colors with a beat up Graphire2... Digital paint really isn't my bag, but all of my friends were too lame to take this project on. So there you have it, America.

Windwaker Link

Link and his sister from Legend of Zelda: Windwaker.I did this a few years ago, but my friend Sean Tate just colored it for me (he does this thing where he traces a drawing in flash with an Intuos3 to get this really solid cartoon look).

Does anyone have Superman: For All Seasons? I feel as though I need to reread it, but Philly doesn't have the awesome libraries that Pittsburgs does.

Tried the Fifa08 demo on XBox360....Its gonna be so great!