The other week I ended up drawing scribbles in my notebook at random. I then saw a nose… and then a mouth… and after a bit of fleshing out things I had this disturbing artwork. Reminds me of gas prices.
I have become an exercise monster. I’m pretty sure it’s the direct result of my quitting soda. Apparently, drug addicts say that one addiction needs to be replaced with another. I place caffeine alongside heroin.
Along with training for the big race next month, I’ve been mixing in workouts from those P90X DVDs. Yesterday, I tried to do some one armed pushups and fell onto my face instantly. It was at that moment that I realized that I need a new vacuum cleaner.
This last month I did some concept work for a horror movie pitch. Kinda fun to work on “scary” stuff again. Also drove home late at night a few weeks ago and managed to come up with a whole new cartoon music video idea for the old Judas Priest song “Painkiller.” The thing I’m debating is whether or not I should actually make this one. It would be horribly complicated and filled with action… but it would take atleast a year of my life away. Think I may just need to continue my focus on Orky stuff a little longer. We’ll see…
Aside from that my personal work has slowed a bit because of extracurricular activities. Groupon is the Devil. So many stupidly random things to do seem oh so tempting now! Earlier this week I rented a segway and took a tour of downtown San Diego with a few friends. Loved every second of it and came to the realization that I knew little to nothing about the city itself. Did you know that prior to 1960 it was the fricken tuna capital of the world? True Story. I can’t wait till that question pops up on Jeopardy and I answer (in a godly pose) without hesitation, managing to impress everyone within the vicinity…
Hopefully…
…if it ends up being just me alone with the TV on in the background I’m going to be pissed.
-B
Yesterday, while at work I actually recieved a phone call from a guy named Cesar at my desk. Cesar is a really quiet guy who is a bit socially awkward (and ironically enough he feels the same way about me). For this reason, I thought it’d be hilarious to answer the phone very loudly and say “HELLO CESAHH!” in my Orky voice. Our whole team cracked up… and he sat back confused (and still socially awkward).
Today, I read that some people in Detroit want to erect a full body Robocop statue. They are attempting to get $50,000 in donations, and they are about halfway there. Gotta say… that’s the best/most important story I’ve read this year thus far.
I may have been a bit absent for the last couple of months, but it’s mainly been due to the fact that I’ve kept myself busy living life and being less of a hobbit. Over the last few months I have managed to:
- Show some Australian friends a good time in Vegas and Hollywood.
-Finish writing a script for a hilarious Ninja movie I’ve had in my head for awhile
- Join a Yoga class
- Celebrate my parents’ 40th anniversary with our whole family ( I did a slideshow thingy…ooooooooooooohhhhhh).
- Quit drinking soda.
-Train for a relay race
- Catch up on a disgusting amount of bad movies (and a couple good ones).
As far as my art is concerned, random things are happening that get me in a smiley mood. First, I have to thank all the mysterious youtube/metal fans for scoping out and spreading the Slayer cartoon. It somehow has managed to get over 10,000 views. It’s no chocolate rain, but that’s still pretty good in my book.
Second, I have managed to acquire myself a cool little side gig of working as a concept artist for puppets. That’s right. Puppets! Like, muppet style puppets. I’d love to tell you more, but I think I gotta keep quiet on this one for a little bit.
Finally, this last year I created a shirt for a rock climbing gym intended for children. Apparently, the guy that created the shirts really likes my style and is planning on putting together an art show to help out local artists (and he wants to feature me in it). How cool is that? I haven’t done the whole exhibition/art show thing yet…think it’d be pretty cool. We’ll see if it turns out well. Maybe if I’m lucky, they’ll hang my work next to a guy that flings dog feces against a canvass. In my head, it can’t possibly get any better.
Here’s a cowboy creature riding a shark that’s holding onto a rocket.
-B
This last weekend, I ended up filming a few commercial ideas for my brother’s brilliant Action/Puzzler video game “Perplaxis.” He has managed to keep himself busy converting the code and numbers to where it can work on home PC’s… so I figure I’d help him out by spreading the word (via funny commercials).
Check it out over at http://www.walknsqualk.com/
Anywho, the two commercials we filmed are fairly ridiculous. Think I’m going to work on them a bit this weekend and see if they come out acceptable. They both involve a ninja, a wizard, and a disagreement…but the one commercial might be so completely random that it doesn’t translate at all. It’s already going to be strange enough to most people (considering the game has nothing to do with wizards or ninjas), but I do think it’ll get a few laughs. My fingers are crossed…
Here is my doodle of the day. Amazing what the mind can come up with when your reality has grown stale.
I have a few days off this week to relax, play games, and possibly get started on some new cartoons (again). I spent the last month unwinding a bit from the Slayer cartoon, whilst simultaneously working non-stop at my day job. Good news is the insanity has finally halted a bit at work… so that means I’m ready to go nuts at night again 
I must say, the Slayer cartoon has reached over 3200 hits in about a month. Considering the fact I have never met that many people in my life and that I really didn’t promote it all that much, I think it’s a pretty cool thing. Many thanks to all you viewers out there. There is the possibility that it’s only one guy who decided to view it about 3000 times… but even if that’s the case, I’m stoked to have atleast one completely insane fan.
Now, onto the new stuff.
The next few cartoons are going to be Orky related and faster (like 30 seconds or less). The animation will be limited, but my battle plan is to see if I can’t release one every couple of weeks. Not sure if this means I’ll turn into more of a hobbitish goblin man who never sees the light of day and eats rats for dinner… but I’m not above giving it a shot. I hear rats can be tasty if you cook out the rabies and black death.
Think I might just record some vocals and get to it this next holiday session. Might be able to get a new one out before Christmas! Wouldn’t that make for a jolly holiday and ensure my lump of coal in the stocking?
My co-worker wanted me to draw a worm named TuggleTuckamus. This is what I gave her.
-B
I’m kind of amazed. The slayer cartoon is doing really well online. Amidst a crazy week at work, I managed to get it up online… and came back to find it had already been viewed 300 times. So far it seems like everyone (even people who despise the metal genre) are digging it. Haven’t gotten a call from Slayer or Sony yet, so hopefully the numbers will continue to climb.
Funny enough, I can’t get onto the Slayer forums to spread the word to the “Slayer fans.” My registration just hasn’t gone through. Ended up learning that the forums aren’t run very well and that it’s actually a “ghost town” over there. I’m sure they’ll find it eventually… that’s what Slayer fans do. They drink, fight, kill, and find obscure cartoons online.
My notes today continue to show my minds descent into the abyss that I dub “Pretend-I’m-not-here-ville.” While visting P-ville, I think I stare into space a lot and look a few IQ points shy of a sign post.
-B
Just managed to throw the Slayer music video up late last night. Hope you all dig it. Turned out to be a pretty cool thing I think
I’m curious to see if this video gets pulled for “copyright infringement,” despite the extra sales it could potentially get Slayer over at Itunes. Hmm… we’ll see. Hopefully, nothing will happen.. or maybe… just maybe Kerry King will give me a call and chew me out for ruining their career with a two and a half minute cartoon. That would be amazing!
-B
The new “Slayer” cartoon is almost complete. I think this will have set a new personal record for fastest “finished” cartoon I have ever created. I did make a cartoon in college called “The Overwhelmingly Interesting Journey of Mr. Rabbit” (Or something like that… it was a while ago). That one I finished in a month… but it was black and white, and about 45 seconds.
All things considered, this one has come together really fast. I started it at the beginning of August… so a little over two months for a finished cartoon. Not bad considering all the other junk on my plate.
I found some of the original sketches I drew up a few years ago for this one (Tom and Kerry) and decided to put it together with some newer ones (Jeff and Lombardo). As you can see, I draw sloppily on whatever surface is closest to me ( in this instance a small spiral notebook amidst other notes ). To contrast my loose sketches, I’ve decided to put up a finished still from the upcoming “soon to be classic” music video
-B
Seems like a ton has been happening lately, and I’ve been too lame to update the blog about it. Rock Climbing t-shirts, Zombie pictures, and university logos in Canada.. the list goes on. However, I’m under the impression that 90% of you folks could give a shit less about that sort of thing… so I’m going to bore you with my more interesting creative endeavors.
First, I should start off by shamelessly promoting Perplaxis (action/puzzler game I did all the graphics and art direction for). I know I talked about it a little bit in earlier posts, but IT IS OFFICIAL now! The game is available through Xbox Indie Games, so feel free to go check out the free demo, or just buy it. According to the cover art (which I did), Abraham Lincoln seems to think it’s the greatest game ever. How could the president be wrong?
http://perplaxis.com/
Also, managed to get some old random sketches and artwork up on another site known as the “Cheer-Up Machine.” It’s actually a pretty funny website, where people submit random funny quotes… and an image pops up alongside it (that has nothing to do with the quote). Just, really… random. I like!
www.cheerupmachine.com
Now, as far as cartoons are concerned, I have started a new one entirely. Orky has been put on the backburner once again… but there’s a reason. I’ve had the idea for this music video in my head for the past 3 years or so, and every time I hear the song I wonder why I don’t just do it. Well, I’m just doing it. Just for the hell of it. Hope you kiddies like the melodic rhythms of SLAYER!
The good news is that it’s coming together really fast. I still have a little bit of actual drawing and animating to do… but I think I can bust this one out within the next month or two. The song is only 2 min and 20 seconds long, so it shouldn’t be too bad.
I know I said I was going to work on some quick Orky cartoons… and I still intend to. Right now, I’m in a good momentum so I want to finish this Slayer one off so I can fully focus on Orky again. Then… I will feel complete
Speaking of Slayer, I’m seeing them on Sunday along with Megadeth and Testament. It’s hard to get more metal than that!
-B
