Junkyard Sam's Blog

A Long Good Road Ahead

2012-01-30T23:50:00.000-08:00

I took this photo today, thinking it represents where I'm at in life. I'll turn 37 this month, and I'm making some big, permanent changes to achieve my life goals. Like the photo, it'll be a long road taken one step at a time.

I've never held my side-projects to the same level of quality control as my professional work. That will change. I'm bringing my Tong Picnic world to life in a graphic novel. It'll take a long time to make since this is done outside of my game work obviously, in the scraps of time left after work & family time... But I'm committing to finishing it even if it takes 1 or 2 years. I'll post tests, sketches & process shots here as I go, for fun, so I don't feel hidden from the world for too long.

It's also time to get myself right physically. If I don't make some health changes in my life then my life may very well be half-over. At best...

At midnight tonight I'm beginning a 7 day water fast to reset my eating habits. After that, I'm taking a zero-tolerance total avoidance of all junk food and alcohol. And coffee! No moderation, nothing. Zero. My diet will be permanently vegetarian, following a strict acid/alkaline diet. Combined with moderate exercise, my weight will go down - my energy & vitality will go up - and I'll have the kind of energy, focus, and clarity it will take to be great at my job, for my family, and for my life goals as an artist.

Process Test #01

2012-01-29T21:37:00.000-08:00

If you've seen my Tong Picnic work, my best pieces use the following process:

Draw rough composition in Photoshop > Print it out > Draw over the printed comp & scan > Finalize line drawing > Add color > Final Touches.

The back & forth between computer & pencil takes time and it's not fun. I'm working on a graphic novel (!) and need a process that is 100% digital, so I'm beginning some tests I'll share here.

PROCESS TEST #01

Goal? A 100% digital process that's analog looking enough to be likable but is fast enough it works to illustrate a graphic novel. Also, in the past my work has been criticized for being too "young" so I need to age it up. A grungier, dirtier look.

I started with a Google image reference of a Wolverine, but I wanted something more ferocious and wolflike. Here's the finished piece & the steps leading up to it below.

STEP 4: FINAL COLOR

This is the finished piece. I still have a long way to go to find the style I plan to work in for the graphic novel, but the roughness of it definitely ages it up from how I usually work. I used a technique of putting the most detail around the focal point and then reducing complexity outward from there. That keeps this hybrid painterly/comic style quick to produce and again, ages it up a little by not "telling too much."

STEP 3: ROUGH COLOR

Here I roughed out the color and nearly abandoned it. Luckily I just kept moving forward. The most important thing here was that I didn't give up on it. I just kept asking "How could I make it better?" as I worked.

STEP 2: INK (digital)

During the ink process, I added some ferociousness. Bigger, pointed ears, increased the angularity, etc. I inked until any additions or cleanup I did started to detract from whatever "life" it had. Still, I wasn't confident it would work at this point.

STEP 1: PENCIL (digital)

I'm trying to develop a style for a graphic novel so I need to work fast. As soon as I had the sketch to a point I felt like I could ink it - I moved on.

Wacom Tablet vs. Wacom Cintiq

2012-01-27T23:33:00.000-08:00

The Wacom Cintiq is assumed to be every digital artist's dream machine. If you have one and love it, great! If you're an artist wishing you had this device & longing for it - read on.

I used a 21" Wacom Cintiq for 2 years while working on Free Realms at Sony. It's a great device, but it has enough issues that I prefer a Wacom Intuos4 Large Tablet ($450) over the Wacom Cintiq($2000+.)

One issue I never got over is - there's a 1/4 inch gap between the pen and the screen, so your pen isn't near the pixel you're drawing! It's like you have a 1/4 inch sheet of glass/plastic between you and your drawing (because you do.) There's a "calibration" feature, which helps, but you'll find as you get near the corners of the screen there's this gap that didn't exist in the center. This annoyed me from the first day to the last I used it.
Another deal-breaker is the glass-like drawing surface of the Cintiq. The texture of paper gives your hand control over your pen/pencil tip - new Wacom Intuos4 tablets coat the drawing surface with a texture to simulate this. Nice! But it rubs off. (See my blog post for how to address this.) On the Cintiq - there's no way to fix it. You're stuck drawing on glass forever, which is fatiguing on the hand due to relying on a tightened grip for control rather than the tooth of your drawing surface.
But you're not drawing on glass. You're drawing on plastic and it scratches! The scratches are subtle, but it mars the surface enough that the glare is somewhat irregular. It's not an issue if you're in a dim room, but surrounding office lights will help you notice the gradual degradation of your $2000 screen.
Your hand blocks the art & UI! I never realized how annoying this was until I switched from Wacom Tablet to the Cintiq. Suddenly my hand was over the areas I needed to draw. Also, the corners of the Cintiq were harder to draw on than the corners of my tablet due to the drawing angle.

Which brings me to:

Cintiq drawing fatigue! If you're used to painting on canvas for 8+ hours I suppose this isn't a big deal, but for me - holding my arm upward as a Cintiq requires never felt natural even after two years. It was doable but fatiguing. Other artists at Sony invested in these robot-looking ergonomic elbow supports. I never needed this with my tablet - I go for 10+ hours with no fatigue on my Intuos4.

And finally - for the money-conscious:

A Cintiq costs ~$2000 for the 21 inch and ~$2500 for the 24 inch. The Wacom Intuos4 Large is only $450. The smaller Cintiq isn't really usable for drawing IMHO. If your company is buying it or you're highly paid, cool. But most artists I know working outside the game industry aren't rolling in money, and a Cintiq is $1500-$2000 more than a large Intuos4 - and lasts half as long at best.

Don't get me wrong - I liked the Cintiq. If it was what I had, I guess I'd use it. The things I listed above would still annoy me. (Especially the glass-like drawing surface.) I turned it down at my current place of employment in favor of the Intuos4 Large.

Bottom line - I do pretty well with my "nice game industry salary" and I still wouldn't buy one. It's one of those things where you really want it and long for it, but once you get it it's like --- "Oh, this is cool but it's not quite what I expected."

It's a good device, but don't go beating yourself up if you don't have one. A tablet is just as good and better in some ways, even.

And if you do buy a Cintiq - lower your expectations before you get it and you'll probably be happier than I was. I expected too much. I was expecting a surface that really felt like drawing directly on a screen, but that weird 1/4 inch gap was more awkward than a tablet particularly since it changes according to where you are on the screen or where your head is.

Self-healing cutting mat makes your Wacom Tablet feel better than paper!

2012-01-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

The drawing surface of a new Wacom Intuos4 is coated with a textured surface that unfortunately rubs off quickly with use. Worst of all, it rubs off where you draw the most - so you get a glasslike smooth surface in the center and a resistive, paperlike surface as you draw further out. Inconsistent!

Texture is important because the slight resistance gives you control over your pen - like drawing on paper.

Here's a solution that makes your Wacom feel better than paper and even better than when it was new: Put a self-healing rubber cutting mat on top of your Wacom and draw through it!

The resulting surface feels great to draw on. It's smooth enough that it feels better than paper - yet you get the same level of control as if you were drawing with a pencil on paper!

Wacom Intuos4 Large

10x16 Green Self-Healing Cutting Mat

The self-healing cutting mat sits (upside down) atop my Wacom tablet for a better drawing surface.

Try it for a day and you'll never go back. It feels so good it's the reason choose a Wacom tablet over a Cintiq (which feels like drawing on glass.)

These cutting mats are $15-$20 and they last forever. I have an Intuos4 Large and the 10x16 self-healing mat fits perfectly (although it does obscure the buttons which I don't use. You could trim it if necessary.) Use the BACK side for drawing - you can feel the painted lines with your pen.

How To Fix Jagged Lines in Photoshop & Sketchbook Pro in Windows 7

2011-12-12T17:25:00.000-08:00

Many who use drawing tablets like Wacom / Intuos / Cintiq in Microsoft Windows (especially Windows 7) are having problems with "jagged lines" when drawing or sketching on their tablets. It can happen in Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, Corel Painter, etc. Sometimes it happens in one software but not the other...

Symptom:
When you draw a line slowly you get a jagged, stairstepped edge. These look like little stairstep glitches in your line, rather than the smooth continuous like you expect.

Problem:
The probem is Windows 7's native Tablet PC support. To get full professional results out of your tablet you need to completely remove this from Windows. (Disabling in services.msc isn't enough!)

Solution:

Go to Control Panel and click on Pen and Touch settings. Disable both the Press and hold action and the Start Tablet PC Input Panel. Basically disable everything.
In the same window under the Flicks tab, uncheck the Use flicks to perform common actions quickly and easily. (Disable everything you can.) Press OK to save and close.
Next go to the Programs and Features option in the Control Panel. Select the Turn Windows feature on or off option on the left of the window. A new window will open with all the Windows features. Scroll down to Tablet PC Components and uncheck the option. Apply the changes. Windows will do some configuration and then ask you to restart for the changes to take effect. Restart. (Windows prompted me to restart twice, actually.)
Click the Start Button(Windows icon) and enter "services.msc". (Or use WindowsKey+R and type "services.msc.") The "Services" tool will pop up. Scroll down to Tablet PC Input Service. It should be disabled! If not, right click on it and select STOP. Oncedisabled, right click on it again & select Properties. Under General > Startup Type - make sure it says DISABLED. Click APPLY and reboot windows.

Tablet PC support (which interferes with Wacom's intuos/cintiq driver) will now be removed from your computer! This will also get rid of that annoying animated circle / radar animation that happens every time you click something using your tablet.

Results? You should now get a smooth, continuous line in your drawing software! No more "jagged edges." The problem was bad for me in Sketchbook Pro, but my line work in Photoshop improved, too, after doing these steps.

Thanks to Kris Robinson for this post at Oinkfu.com

OccupyLA October 15, 2011

2011-10-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

The mainstream news is misreporting the OccupyWallSt movement. Specifically, they downplay the turnout at OccupyLA, OccupySD, OccupyDenver, and other locations all over the world. I shot this photo today at OccupyLA:

HUGE turnout at OccupyLA, October 15,2011
(Click to enlarge. This is a panorama created with Photosynth, hence the seams/glitches)

It's not a protest, it's a movement.

Join us.

http://occupywallst.org/

http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

It's happening in your city, too.

Work in progress: Jax Rides A Hummingbird

2011-08-12T00:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't disappeared... I ran into problems coloring that last piece so I put it on hold. Lesson learned: If you aren't enjoying something and you don't HAVE to finish it - just move on.

Work In Progress: Jax Rides A Hummingbird

My dad used to get so concerned if I left a project unfinished... But if you're encumbered by something and it's bringing you down in life - it's not worth it. Start something new and finish THAT!

Besides, when it comes to art - if you have FUN it will show in your work!

A larger work in progress.

2011-07-27T00:03:00.000-07:00

This work-in-progress is a pencil drawing on two taped-together sheets of typing paper, the largest drawing I've done since art school. (I prefer 8.5x11.)

Next I'll scan it into my computer and color it in Photoshop by hand with my Wacom tablet. There's so much going on in this piece - I'm a little nervous about how to color it without taking too many hours. Also, will the detail get lost at screen resolution which is how most people will see it?

If it turns out nice I may use it to begin a Society6.com store. Society6 makes really high quality prints much more affordably than I could on my own, so I can actually sell nicer prints for less money than if I made them myself and sold them through Etsy.com.

How I Paint + Ghostriders FINAL!

2011-07-17T22:26:00.000-07:00

Here's the final illustration for Ghostriders!

How I "Paint":
Once I finish the final pencil drawing (see previous post), I scan it with a CanoScan LiDE 100 at 300 dpi for coloring in Photoshop. After scanning, I drew the environment in Photoshop using my Wacom tablet with a custom pencil style photoshop brush. The added ground, clouds, flowers & trees made it feel like more of a world. Time to color!

With my final-final line drawing finished, I used the free Flaming Pear "Ghost" plugin to quickly separate the line work from the background onto its own layer. This lets me paint the colors underneath the lines. Once the colors were finished on a layer underneath, I set the line drawing layer to "preserve transparency." Then I recolored the lines throughout the piece so they are darker versions of the colors they surround rather than being black.

The last pass was touchup - just looking around the piece and painting in some bits or details and cleanup where needed. Once the whole piece was in order, I pasted a grunge paper texture I created over the top as a multiply layer. (I adjusted this paper effect to be pretty subtle - adding just enough noise to add some analog imperfection to help reduce the cold digital feel of an otherwise flatcolored work.) Finally, I wrapped it up with a simple color/contrast adjustment to make it just right.

By keeping my process simple I'm able to work fairly quickly while ending up with works that are decently similar enough in style to all look like they came from the same artist.

How I Draw + New Ghost Drawing!!

2011-07-15T03:32:00.000-07:00

My art process is to sit down and start drawing on typing paper with no intentions or goals. (Something always comes out.) I use typing paper & pencils because it's low stress - I have limitless amounts of both. Also, it's small, which is how I like to work.

I specialized in pencil drawing because in high school I figured even if I end up homeless I can always find scraps of paper to draw on with free lottery pencils.

Here's a progress shot from tonight's Drawing Time.

In art school one of the rules is DRAW BIG. They're probably right. But by their rules I would also need to study a lot more life drawing, use perspective lines, and generally over-complicate the art until it's not fun to make anymore. I like to draw small. I like to draw strange unsellable things. On cheap paper with cheap pencils.

They also say, "Draw what you SEE, not what you THINK you see." I draw what I think I see. Exclusively.

How I Draw:
I use Ticonderoga #2 pencils and a 0.5mm Pentel P205 mechanical pencil loaded with "B" lead. (And a kneaded eraser since I make constant mistakes.) After the rough sketch is done, I draw finished line work over the sketch.

Executing the final line work is my favorite part. It's relaxing - the hard part is over. I just start working out the dark lines over the piece moving around to whichever part stresses me out the least at that moment. Until it's done! Then I go to sleep and save coloring for ... tomorrow. =)

Fishing For Goons With Nubs

2011-07-14T01:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends & insect eaters. Please allow me to introduce to you my latest illustration for the book "Fishing For Goons With Nubs, How To Use Small Strange Looking Men To Attract Larger Strange Looking Men."

North Hollywood is my home. This city is infested with all kinds of horrifying people ranging from toothless bulk-chinned hiv-women to 7-feet-tall anorexic models with incredibly short torsos on heroin-fueled photoshoots in the park. There are armless people living out of trash filled vans and some of the more normal people look like odd neckless birds from another planet. (Certainly I'm included in the latter.)

I love these people, for they are the inspiration behind my work.

Work In Progress Shot. Goons Line Drawing.

2011-07-12T02:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a preview of the line drawing from my newest work: "Fishing For Goons With Nubs."

There you see my trusty Pentel P205 0.5mm pencil, loaded with B lead. HB is a no-go... B is just right. I use a kneaded eraser, a retractable eraser stick, and the tiny eraser under the capped pencil end for real small things.

This is my entire work area. I used to have a whole entire room, art studio style... It looked neat, but I've found a simple, plain, orderly work environment to be most inspiring in terms of productivity.

There in the background you'll see a PUNKS GIT CUT zine on top of a Winsor McCay LITTLE NEMO book for two bits of big inspiration... Tomorrow night I'll color this new piece up!

Heisuke Kitazawa (PCP) at Giant Robot in LA!

2011-07-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

Heads up, Heisuke Kitazawa a.k.a. PCP from HypeHopeWonderland.com has an art show at Giant Robot GR2 in LA. Saturday, July 30 6:30-10pm.

I'll be there to check it out for sure... I saw a piece of PCP's work once before at Giant Robot in San Francisco... It was a hybrid digital/traditional piece. Super-colorful and fun, like his images below!

From the email he sent out, PCP must be a pretty down-to-earth guy so it'll be cool to meet him:

"i will be having a solo art show in Los Angeles at GIant Robot/GR2
starting July 30th, 2011 (sat). the opening reception will be held on 6:30-10 p.m. on that night, and i will be there to smile, chat, hand shake, hug, and any other things you might want to do with me.
this show will have 2 years worth of new stuff, (about 20 or so paintings) both digital and analogue
that has never been shown at previous shows." -PCP

A huge gallery of PCP's work is at HypeHopeWonderland.com

Also see Giant Robot GR2 (Art/Book/Toy gallery where his show is.)
And say HI! to me if you see me at the show!

Fecal Face Swag for Free Fridayz Winnings

2011-07-06T00:41:00.000-07:00

If you don't already know, FecalFace.com is a really cool website. It's a great site if you like street art, cool phototography, "low brow" art, pop surrealism, graffiti, etc. They also have a hot art gallery: FFDG.

Every week Ashley Taylor (check out her photography!) hosts a fun drawing contest called Free Fridayz. It's a social thing... draw from the theme, submit your drawing, and get a chance to win swag people send them for promotion. Superfun, supercool.

Remember my Michael Jackson drawing? I won and got neat stuff in the mail!

The red FFDG stickers are for FecalFace's gallery, FFDG. See the pink note? It's a handwritten congratulations note from John Trippe. He's the guy behind the empire.

This is a "Blood Is The New Black" with Travis Millard from Fudge Factory Comics. One of my favorite artists - how cool! Blood Is The New Black makes T-Shirts with cool underground artists like Travis Millard. It's a nice shirt! My iPhone photos don't do any of this stuff justice.

Here's a 666 DIE shirt from Team Print Shop! They're a small, independently owned screen printing company in Oakland, CA. (It's a good print job on a 50/50 American Apparel shirt. Nice! Check them out for your printing needs!) You can actually order this shirt from their online store HERE.

I have a short list of favorite artists, and Jay Howell is one of them! (He plays a big art role in Bob's Burgers, the best cartoon EVER.) This is a PUNKS GIT CUT zine by Jay Howell!!! It's wild & wacky drawings from cover to cover - hilarious, neat, and totally fun! You must get this! Order it from UNPIANO by clicking HERE. It's just $6! Your smiles will be worth 20 times that.

For real - Jay Howell's Punks Git Cut zine is now one of my most prized possessions. See the book titles? They say things like: "Hand Jobs For Women," "Close Up Hooo Haaas," "Expensive Shit To Look At Magazine," "Graphic Design And Other Dumb Ass Jobs," etc... HILARIOUS.

LOL - I love you Jay Howell! Huge thanks to FecalFace and everyone who's swag I got. And Ashley Taylor for hosting the drawing contest. This made my night!

Follow these people on Twitter! I do!
@fecalface = FecalFace.com
@johntrippe2010 = The guy behind FecalFace!
@4blankwalls = Ashley Taylor, host of Free Fridayz
@BloodyBlack = Blood Is The New Black ("See You In The Comment Section" shirt!)
@TeamPrintShop = Team Print Shop (666 DIE shirt!)
@PunksGitCut = Jay Howell (the cool ZINE!!)
@theotherfudge = Travis Millard (Artist from the See You shirt.)

PS. Want to promote your stuff? Send it to FecalFace and they'll mention it in their Free Fridayz contest and send it out to the winner. I had four of my small prints given away as a winnings once and I got some good promotion out of it.

Laughing With The Bald Man

2011-07-02T05:17:00.000-07:00

Got home late. Suddenly I had to draw and painted up my newest piece, "Laughing With The Bald Man." I have no idea why I draw these things.

When I draw it's 100% stream of consciousness. I move the pen and this is what comes out. Minimal inspiration, minimal reference - just the splintered pieces of a broken imagination from 16 scarred years as a game industry artist.

PS. I tried to diffuse the subject matter here by painting this up as a children's book illustration. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

Hamburgers, Hotdogs & Other Stressful Meats

2011-07-01T02:18:00.001-07:00

Remember the sketch from the previous post? It's finished and delivered fresh here just for you. It's called "Hamburgers, Hotdogs & Other Stressful Meats"

New art in progress: Hotdogs, Hamburgers & Weiners Oh My!

2011-06-29T01:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a new pencil drawing, "Hotdogs, Hamburgers & Weiners Oh My!" - I'll be coloring this up this week!

Sad Ghost and the Adoptaknob Family

2011-06-24T02:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight I continue to change the world and touch people with heartfelt warmth and love by presenting this incredibly important new art piece, "Sad Ghost & The Adoptaknob Family."

My parents would be proud of this.

Progress on a new piece.

2011-06-23T03:33:00.000-07:00

Quick photo of my desk. New work in progress... This one's going to be super mad fun & cool. =) Can't wait to color it!

Thanks to Tim Maclean, Deth P. Sun, Michael Hsiung, Pish Posh Art, Jenkins2d, and Tessar Lo for recent inspiration. Knowing or otherwise. =)

Rejected Ghost Concepts for Nintendo Pac-Man

2011-06-17T02:30:00.000-07:00

Here's an incredibly important new artwork of some rejected ghost concepts for Nintendo's Pac-Man!

Actually I just realized Pac-Man is a NAMCO game! No wonder they were rejected. Ah well, I shouldn't drink before arting I guess. But what fun would art be without beer?

"Name Tag Lager" was the beer of the night, and I'll blame my strangely shaped thumb for the results of this art tonight... BUT --- it seems my hate affair with art is almost over. I'm actually having fun with this stuff. (Again, I blame the beer.)

"Friggin' Fraggen"

2011-06-14T01:28:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I won the Free Fridayz thing at FecalFace.com. Thanks to anyone who voted for me! Click HERE if you want to see the entries. Mine was the Michael Jackson piece.

This weeks Free Fridayz FecalFace.com theme is: "When I think of the words "friggen fraggen" this happens to come to mind." And here's my entry:

It turned out a bit ghastly, yeah, but what can I do? I don't have a lot of control over what I draw. Just just kinda move the pen and this is what comes out. I guess you could say it's kinda a "self portrait."

Art Of The Day: Jenkins2d

2011-06-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

So there's this artist: Jenkins2d ... I caught a twitter tweet he sent out tonight of this superfun art installation at his... house? Look. All I know is I have to cook breakfast for the family tomorrow and I wish I was serving them up authentic Jenkins2d SuperDope Pancakes. Yes.

SuperDope Breakfast by Jenkins2d

Check out Jenkins2d's Tumblr blog or follow him on Twitter for more fun!

Snail Karma

2011-06-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

I love animals. I'm not so into insects though... or whatever a snail is. But this one was pretty big and had giant antennae. He was right there in the apartment walkway - certain doom for a snail! (There are bad people in this complex that just live for that satisfying snail-under-boot crunch.)

So I shot a photo.

Since Mr. Snail was nice enough to let me take his photo, I carefully moved him into the safe dirt area he was trying to get to before I bothered him.

Deth P. Sun Update. New show, new print

2011-06-09T02:32:00.000-07:00

Deth P. Sun has an art show opening tomorrow called "Get Lost!" Northampton, Massachusetts. At Foe Store & Gallery.

Tea Drinker by Deth P. Sun

Link to the event: http://blog.shopfoe.com/events/2011/03/10/deth-p-sun/
His stuff will be available online at shopfoe.com if you you can't make it to the show.

Apparently he has ~150 works ready for this... Wow! Check them out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcianddeth/sets/72157624608336290/

I hope to one day be so prolific... It may be after I am old and retire from the game industry though. =)

PS. Oh yeah, he's got a screen print here for just $10. That's a must-get!

Real Love

2011-06-09T01:36:00.000-07:00

"An important piece about Real Love and how people like you can find it." -Junkyard Sam

Tim Maclean, Artist

2011-06-09T01:23:00.000-07:00

1. Tim Maclean is a UK based artist/illustrator and his work is totally worth checking out because it's awesome.

2. He might look like he would beat you up in real life, but online he's really cool to people who like his work. Be sure to follow him on his TWITTER and "like" him on his FACEBOOK!

3. I think he's probably about my age because I see influences in his work from an era of music I grew up listening to... like Suicidal Tendencies. I bet he likes The Misfits, too.

4. He has an impressive goattee. See that? I can't grow anything like that... All I get is this stuff that makes me look like I could be homeless.

5. His sketches are as cool as his paintings!! He keeps a lot of life in his sketches even though they're fully rendered pencil drawings.

A Demon that would be fun to sick on your ex-wife.

Coolest dog ever. I bet this dog could teach my beagle a lesson.

This Frog Guy is the jovial big brother I never had.
He looks like the kinda frog that would say,
"Yeah I don't eat meat, man, but that's cool if you do."

Check out Tim Maclean's website. It's good. And stop by his Society6 art store, too - affordable art prints & iPhone cases, etc.! Check it out: http://www.society6.com/studio/timmacleanart/store

New Art: Together, They Sleep

2011-06-05T01:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a new piece called "Together, They Sleep." It's a new technique and I may do more like this. I kinda like how it turned out.

Mouthbird Facebeak

2011-06-02T00:43:00.000-07:00

Here's my latest piece... "Mouthbird Facebeak: It takes great courage to create art with such important cultural significance."

Happy Heads, Lopped & Chopped!

2011-05-31T02:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a new piece: "Happy Heads, Lopped & Chopped!" I don't know why I draw things like this, but someday it will all make sense.

Giant Robot Drawing Club at GR2 in Los Angeles

2011-05-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

I attended Giant Robot Drawing Club at GR2 (Giant Robot 2) in Los Angeles Saturday Night, 11.05.26. I was real nervous and uncomfortable so my drawings were abominable, but it didn't matter - Everyone there was welcoming and nice.

Artist Jeni Yang & Jeremy Azzari

Jeni Yang had her art showing there. Amazing stuff - really neat color palettes and really nicely crafted art. I didn't see the price list, but art at Giant Robot is almost always surprisingly affordable for the quality you get. Highly recommended for art collectors.

Art by Jeni Yang @ Giant Robot 2

It was cool of Eric Nakamura to set up this event. He's the co-mastermind behind the Giant Robot empire.You never know what to expect when you meet someone kinda famous, and he was exactly how you'd hope someone would be: just real "down-to-Earth" and normal and friendly, etc.

Eric Nakamura & Friends at the Giant Robot Drawing Club

Oh yeah, check out Jeni Yang's art website too. She was also super friendly. Jeni didn't have an "annoying artist personality" or anything like that. And big thanks to Jeremy Azzari for joining the table I was at and making me feel like I had a pal there.

Art by Jesse Fillingham

Giant Robot = Giant Awesome. :)

11pm. New pens. TIME TO DRAW!

2011-05-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

It's 11pm and time to draw. I picked up these pens from Target. Sharpie Fine "Pen." Doesn't bleed through paper. We'll see how they do!!!

PS. Integrated photo-editing within Google's Blogger is awesome.

Break time.

2011-05-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hard at work, I took a quick break over to Donut Prince for coffee.

Michael Jackson, Man Of Action

2011-05-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

Here's an incredibly important drawing of Michael Jackson made for FecalFace.com's Free Fridayz thing. The theme was "Favorite Band or Musician."

Making Fun Of The Fat Bulb

2011-05-16T01:18:00.000-07:00

"Making Fun Of The Fat Bulb"

Silly goons make fun of the pear-shaped Fat Bulb's plan to lose weight by "turning on & strobing out."

It's #003 (Light) in the "100 Things" series. Next up is "Dark." I'm having a lot of fun with this. =)

Bonjour, Y'all

2011-05-09T00:23:00.000-07:00

"Bonjour, Y'all"
The Yellow People introduce themselves to G'not Tooley, a French Texan who has driven up in a cheap suit with a plastic flower. Animals look on, mildy amused in anticipation of Tooley's unusual hybrid accent. "Bonjour, y'all.

I found a list of "100 things to draw" and this is #1, "Introduction."

Sad Robot And The Beautiful People Of The Wal-Mart Parking Lot

2011-04-15T02:28:00.000-07:00

I shop at Wal-Mart only on occasion, and only for one reason: source material. Please allow me to introduce to you my latest work: "Sad Robot & The Beautiful People of the Wal-Mart Parking Lot." Thanks for looking.

CLICK IMAGE to view without nasty JPG compression.

Sad Robot And The Incredible Power Of The People Flower

2011-04-11T02:06:00.000-07:00

Here's my newest work. It's called "Sad Robot And The Incredible Power Of The People Flower."

I might make prints available on Etsy.com again. I met some neat people when I was selling my work there, from the other artists/craftpeople to those kind enough to buy some of my work. Etsy.com is a really neat community and kinda miss it.

This was fun. Maybe I'll do a whole series of Sad Robots.

99designs.com website review

2011-04-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

99designs.com is a website where people create "design contests" with real money paid to the lucky artist who wins.

By real money I mean about $150 to $1250 for the winner. That means the "losers" work hard without getting paid. The website is great for a business that needs art or graphic design: Imagine 20 people creating art for your business, and you only have to pay the best artist!

Here's one example of work acquired through the site:

Gorgeous logo! The company paid $709 and this was the best of 202 submissions from 53 artists. Not bad for the winner (although I wonder how much % 99designs took?) Maybe not so good for the 52 "losers."

Wow. In this economy some people are so desperate they'll work for free if they even stand a chance of getting paid.

Patty Wagon = LA's lunch truck horrorshow.

2011-04-08T00:31:00.000-07:00

Every day, Jess and my boys Mylo & Jax meet up with me for lunch. Today we saw a neat lunch truck called "Patty Wagon." Delicious gourmet burgers!!! No.

The truck looks nice, doesn't it? Beware. It's not a truck, it's a trick. If you see this thing RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.

See how incredibly small the burgers are? This photo isn't an exaggeration - they really are this tiny. Don't expect a discount either - this cost me $9.50 (including a Coke not shown.)

The lunch truck says, "Organic Grass-fed Beef!" But what they don't tell you is they serve it RAW. You drive away to a park to have a picnic with your family only for them to discover the meat is PINK. Not "rare," I mean pink. As in oozing. What were they doing?! It took almost 30 minutes to prepare my burgers.

How about that order of fries? Those are miniature fries, and you get only get half a handful. You could eat all those fries in a single bite.

See the pickle missing on the right? I ate it. It was rotten. No exaggeration - the pickle was rotting. It tasted like sperm. (!?)

Thanks a lot, Patty Wagon. Thanks a lot.

Tong Picnic : aeGenesis Collection

2011-04-05T02:57:00.001-07:00

EDIT: These links are broken - I will update this gallery tonight at my Flickr page.

Tonight I posted my last completed body of work: "Tong Picnic: aeGenesis Collection." These paintings follow T'nip Whirl and his Quaggles through the strange land of Tong Picnic, with a new adventure in every piece.

I completed this set in 2009, so it's nothing new... But for anyone new to my blog, have a look! =)

How To Steal Like An Artist

2011-04-05T02:40:00.000-07:00

Austin Kleon (author of Newspaper Blackout) has a blog post spreading like wildfire in the creative community called "How To Steal Like An Artist (And 9 Things Nobody Ever Told Me)" and it's a must read for ~~all artists, writers, musicians~~ everyone. :-)

This blog post rocks a you right out of a block and leaves you itching to create! 50k+ "likes" can't be wrong. Check it out!, and don't forget to look at his book... Poetry boring? Not when it's the negative space blocked out of newspare articles. What?! Just watch:

Gearing up for new art!!

2011-04-03T01:08:00.000-07:00

New art is in the works! :-) Here you see a bunch of paper I've aged with coffee & scouring brush. These will become the backgrounds in my new work that I'll start posting soon!

Art Tip:
INSTANT coffee works great for aging paper because it dissolves so easily in water. This means you can make it really THICK for maximum effects. Try staining both sides of the paper to minimize paper curl.

Jack's Classic Hamburgers, North Hollywood

2011-04-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

Amazing burgers just 200 yards from our apartment: Jack's Classic Hamburgers. This is a real, geniune classic American burger shack:

Jess & my boys eagerly await our classic burger meal.

Affordable and delicious, diner style cooked-to-order... Superfresh lettuce, onions, and tomatoes with a "just right" chunk o' beef... This is not "gourmet," this is street food. Great street food.

I'll eat here every weekend 'til I get a heart attack from all the burgers.

PS. The onion rings were nice & bready, so you don't get the "sucking tapeworm out of a bread tube" effect.

"The Diet"

2011-04-02T04:19:00.000-07:00

Ah, yes, dear friends... There comes a time when every American looks down at his belly and realizes, "Oh oh. Time to stop eating Bad Food By The Barrel."

Some of us have the willpower to resist the plentiful deliciousness by which we're surrounded, but most of us go on failed diets and end up feeling much like the people in "The Diet," my newest painting:

I quite like these Yellow People in Red Shirts. I may use them again in future works. (That's a problem with being an artist. Every time you draw a new character - if you don't draw him again it means you've effectively killed him. These Yellow People don't deserve that.)

PS. Yes, that's my family up there in the clouds. To be honest, though - I feel more like the guy looking down at the edge of the world. And that, my friends, means it's Time To Sleep. Goodnight.

Carrot time.

"Oh, The Things You Can Find In Daniel's Mind"

2011-04-01T04:12:00.000-07:00

This piece was inspired by interactions with Daniel A., the producer at my last place of employment. (Good guy. I wouldn't be here in LA if he hadn't recruited me a half year ago.)

Daniel is an incredibly normal guy - (an IKEA kinda guy) - but he says things now and then that make you wonder about the sprockets and pistons turning up there in his head. (He's about 9 feet tall.)

I'm mildly intoxicated, so I can't recall details with any specificity - aside from his unusual use of the word "sexy" now and then. That and the look in his eyes whenever he'd take issue with something you said (see his eyes in the painting.)

I never had the opportunity to ride on his back or pull a bird out of his head, but that might have been possible if I hadn't left to team up with Mr. V at Candescent Games. So long, Daniel... Be well, Nordic friend.

5 Reasons Deth P. Sun Is Awesome

2011-03-31T03:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings! Let's open my new blog with a tribute to Deth P. Sun with "5 Reasons Deth P. Sun is Awesome."

#1 Deth's paintings are epic. This piece for example: A giant wolf looks upon The Cat with curiosity... The cat raises a knife in defense, but his guide (in a ghost sheet) tells the cat, "Don't panic." Awesome.

#2 Deth draws random things. Who else could make a myriad of random objects cool?

#3 Deth is prolific. This image below is from just one of his shows... He paints hundreds of paintings, and people gobble them up. (Buy them, I mean.)

#4 Deth paints whatever he wants. Check out The Cat ketchupping the hotdog. Brilliant.

#5 Deth fears nothing... including painting with glow-in-the-dark paint. How better to fall asleep at night than to have The Cat looking down at you saying, "Whatever."

This assortment doesn't do Deth P. Sun's work justice... Be sure to check out:
Deth P. Sun's website, blog, and Flickr page. He archives hundreds of drawings, paintings, and zines for people to browse...

PS. Give his girl Marci Washington's website a view, too. Her paintings are all kinds of spooky coolness.. I should email them to make some awesome artist babies, but I suppose that would be awkward and somewhat inappropriate.