I'm celebrating Purim this year in Pittsburgh and you're all invited. I even made a flyer just so I'd have some new art to show on the blog :P
Purim is... well, its an obscure Jewish holiday based on the events of the book of Esther in the Bible. I'm sure you can google it if you need to know specifics, but the basic idea is that the Jews triumphed over their advesaries and in celebration of this event you are to get so intoxicated that you forget the difference between good and evil (that tickles me every time I say it).
Anyway, the details are on the flyer. As a side note, there's also supposed to be a Black Mass. Google it. If you think your personal JC hang-ups are gonna be a downer for anyone, stay yo ass home.
One more thing! There's a new art store in Philly called "Blick". It has sketchbooks with ACTUAL white paper AND .13 Rapidographs! I've been without those things for a long long time and it was really starting to effect my ginormous art ego... But now I got some good supplies I fel like the old Brian again :)
2008 Has come and gone and with the new year comes new motivation to pretend you can do things you couldn't do last year. Among the things I'm resolving to do this year, What's going to effect you most, America, is my daily blog posts. That's right, 365 posts to awe and inspire you. The guy from linesandcolors does it, so it must be possible. Anyway, I just came up with the idea (and I was hung over aaaaall day yesterday. No one ever stops me when I mix liquor into my beer...some friends, huh?) so today, I'll post twice.
Last night I finally got a hold of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom. For those of you who don't know, its a Nintendo Wii fighting game that crosses over characters of 70s anime production house Tatsunoko, with the cast of Capcom games (Capcom = the people who made streetfighter, resident evil, and megaman). Importing Japanese games is always sketchy because you never really know how much you can understand with your limited understanding of kanji/katakana/hiragana, but I really wanted to try this game because it looked like something fresh. I've been rehashing the same stale entertainment for about 10 years and I'm aching to be inspired by something new. Sure I had fun flirtations with Doctor Who, Firefly and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, but none of those lasted very long or even inspired a page of artwork. So I finally boot the game up and watched the little intro anime. It was very nostalgic even though I was never really into Gatchaman or other transforming hero characters of the 70s. My verdict is like this... The game is fun. I don't know if it has online play features or even how the multiplayer goes, but its very pretty from an animator's perspective. Particularly the Tatsunoko characters who haven't really been reinvented this century. They come out as crisp and inspired characatures of what they were like...Just like the Marvel Vs. Capcom games.
In addition, I picked up Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution 2. The Wii version of the gamecube Naruto fighting games. I've played this at Galaxy Video a few times and let me tell you, those kids make Naruto: CONR2 feel like Street Fighter. Amazingly fun multiplayer. Not so cool in single player mode, but the animations are so sweet. The way the animators translated the moves from the comics is brilliant. Check this one out if you are an artist with a wii.
All in all, good times with Wii fighting games. I've been thinking, if there's gonna be a 360 version of sf4, that means it can fit on a dvd, right? So why not a Wii port? Is that too much to ask?
Ok, of to the plantation for me. Draw lots of stuff today and post on concetpgoulash.blogspot.com
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
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/
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 :(
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?
