Dallas!

This weekend Michelle & I went to Dallas for her to take a test to be a Certified Lighting Consultant. Actually, we went to Arlington, but to me the whole Dallas/Fort Worth area is Dallas.

On the way down we stopped at the Gainsville mall and I saw this:

Marvel Team-Up with Superman and Batman? Wonder if this is a counterfeit?

Then we went to the Grapevine Mills Mall and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. I'm not a huge fan of their food, but I love the theming. I love eating in a fake jungle!

The one in Orlando really puts this one to shame, but hey I was in Dallas, not Florida!

Before Michelle took her test, we went and ate at a Chinese Buffet. Actually it was the Jumbo Super Buffet. It was a HUGE buffet.

They even had octopus!

And I did not try it! I try and be careful what I eat when I'm traveling, but to be honest, I'm not sure i would have tryed it at home.

I saw them building the new stadium for the Cowboys. I'm not a NFL fan, but the construction was pretty cool. The photos don't show it, but it was HUGE!

I also hit a few half price books & a comic shop down there. I got a books on Googie, Milton Caniff and Chris Ware. I also went to an art store in Arlington where I hung out and shot the breeze for a while; everybody there was pretty cool & I bought a couple of pencils.

300 mph

I've been lazy about posting art, but here's the first 2 panels of 300 mph.


I had some luck in Chicago (Read about it here) and I am hoping to capitalize on it with 300 mph.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

These days with union wages, insurance costs and litigation risks it seems like few movies are shot on location. Now days we tend to rave about the realism when a movie is shot on greenscreen and the CGI backdrop of New York City looks 'just like the Real Thing."

It wasn't always like that.

Back in the '70s, a movie like Serpico or The French Connection would be shot in the streets of NYC, in all the grit and peeling paint of the real thing.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three was shot in (and under) the streets of New York.

(The Pelham 123 refers to a subway train that left the Pelham station at 1:23. Cars are assigned the name of the station they left that morning)

Four heavily armed men has hijacked the Pelham 123 train. They have 18 hostages and will start killing them if they don't have one million dollars in an hour.

Yeah, I know one million isn't a lot nowadays (I think that's my credit card limit) this was '74, so go with it.

The transit authorities are puzzled. Why would anyone hijack a subway train? And how do they plan to get away? As pointed out several times, they're on a train, in a tunnel, underground. But one of the cool aspects of this movie is seeing the criminals plot play out and how the various criminal personalities interact.

If this sounds like a Quentin Tarantino film, it was an influence on him. The gang goes by color names (Mr. Grey, Mr. Brown, etc.) and while it's never explored, they don't know each other, both of which are similar to Reservoir Dogs.

The Transit Authority Police Chief is played by Walter Matthau, who does a great job as a harried bureaucrat who's really over his head.

If you're looking for something beyond CGI sets, kung-fu wire tricks and hair gel heros, something with a real plot, real story and yes, real locations, I suggest you seek out "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three." I give it 2 thumbs up!

p.s. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is rated R. As far as I can tell its for profanity; the was no nudity or gore. Nobody got their ear cut off.

p.s.s. As I was stealing er, gathering graphics for this review, I read they are remaking this movie. I'd see this before watching the new version. I hate remakes!

1:47 a.m.

Late night shot of my studio.

Nawlins!

I just found out we're going to New Orleans!

Michelle is going for a meeting of the Illuminating Engineering Society and of course I'm going along.

The down side is this is the same weekend as Wizard World Texas which means I'm going to one less convention this year.

Still I've talked to the people I know and it seems none of the publishers I want to talk to are going to be there. Besides, I owe Michelle since she didn't go to Chicago with me.

I've only been through New Orleans a few times & I've never stayed there.

I'm looking forward to going to New Orleans. One of my favorite books, A Confederacy of Dunces, takes place there and I'm hoping to check out some of the locations from the book.

There is even a statue of the main character and I think it's not to far from our hotel.

We're staying in the French Quarter and from what I've seen online there is a lot to see nearby, we'll see.

I wish I didn't have to miss a comic convention to go, but I'm hoping to make the big NYC con next year so that should make up for missing this one.

The End!

Today I watched the final episodes of 'The Structure of Man'. I've learned a ton of things, I am 100% confident with drawing the figure.

To test myself, I went through some old drawings in my sketchbook and 'fixed' them. Drawing over the top, I fixed the figures. And I could see my problems, what I was doing wrong and more importantly, how to fix it.

I would recommend 'The Structure of Man' video series to anyone struggling with the figure. I'll be honest, it's long and the instructor has kind of a flat tone that can be tiring to listen to. The series is WMV format, so you'll have to watch it on your computer. Also, since the series build on top of itself, if you don't watch all 43 hours, you won't get the full benefit.

But if you're to commit the time and do the work you will learn the figure from this series. I think I leaned more from this then I would from a college figure drawing course.

If you are commited to learning to draw the figure, have exhausted all the books and are still lacking something, give 'The Structure of Man' a shot. You can watch the first few videos online and pretty quick you'll know if this is for you.

300MPH rough sketch

Another drawing in the new sketchbook.

This is a rough sketch I did to prepare for 300MPH. What does this have to do with 300MPH? Well, if you live in NYC you may recognize this scene and the file name is a clue.

More soon!

New Sketchbook

I bought me a new sketchbook. I think it's 3 x 5, about the size of a Moleskine, but it cost $2, has a hard cover and a pencil loop.
Here's the first drawing. I grew up on route 66 and I love old cheesy motels with neon and wood paneling. Well, at least I love drawing old motels.

Figure Drawing Studies

Here's the torso muscles section of "Structure of Man' (the figure drawing videos I am going through).

Basically, I drew a skeleton and we went through and layered on the muscles in 4 views.

However the coolest thing is the drawing on the lower right.

Starting with a flow line, we roughed in a figure, no real measuring. This was cool because at this point I felt line my head was ready to explode from all the muscles.

But when I started drawing, everything kinda fell into place. This shows me I am heading in the right direction and all this time I am spending are going to payoff.

House of Pain

Where I work. My desk is in the center , behind the fan.



Speaking of work, today at break there were a bunch of emergency vehicles in front of the other building.

A lady in the other building stopped breathing. A co-worker administered CPR and saved her life. They think she may have had a heart attack, passed out and hit her head.

Not trying to make light of her situation, but this is a reminder that we never know how much time we have. I doubt she left for work thinking she would end up in such dire straights.

As a Christian, I would urge you to consider this in a spritual light. However even if you have no spiritual beliefs, you should still consider the fact that the end can come sudden. Life is very precious. Are you spending it well? Are there unsettled issues in your life?

Structure of Man update

More stuff from my studies.

End of an Era

They are tearing down the 7-11 by my parents house and replacing it with one of those shiney corner ones across the street. This is kinda sad because I have been to that 7-11 thousands of times.

All the late night Icy's after cruising around with D. L. or countless hours playing video games.

I know there is a brand new one across the street, but it's not the same!

King of Kong:A Fistful of Quarters

Don't Get Chumpatized!

I am a video game kid. When I was a kid we had a Pong game (battery operated!) for our TV. I clearly remember when my brother and I saved up our half to buy an Atari 2600 (it was $150, Mom and Dad paid half) . I was a teenager in the heights of the '80s videogame boom.

The King of Kong is the documentary of the rivaly between two men over the title of world champion of Donkey Kong.

Owning the world record in Donkey Kong may seem like a trivial 'geek culture' goal, but The King of Kong is more than that.

The story starts off with Billy Mitchell, current holder of the Donkey Kong record and undisputed 'Gamer of the Century'. Confident and successful, the mullet-wearing Billy has it all. He even has his own brand of hot sauce!

"If all this can happen to me," says Billy "I know some poor bastard out there is getting shafted!"

Enter Steve Wiebe! Steve is a guy who just never got a break, always came up a little short. When Steve was laid off his job, he turned to video games, specifically Donkey Kong. When he heard of Billy Mitchell's 20 year old record score, he thought, "I can beat that!"

So He bought a Donkey Kong machine and started to practice. And practice. Until he beats it!

But that is just the start, this film has so many twists in it you will be constantly suprised. This is a rivalry story on par with any Rocky or Karate Kid. You will find yourself enjoying an interesting cast of characters, including someone called 'Mr. Awesome'.

And in the end you'll have to remind yourself 'This is a documentary.' You couldn't make this stuff up!

So if you're a video game kid or just someone who enjoy a good rivalry, my suggestion is to save up your quarters and go see The King of Kongs!

http://www.billyvssteve.com/

Monster Hunters

Got the cover back from the colorist. He did an awesome job!

The colorist is Mykal Adams and you can check out his web page here: http://geckodojo.com

What is 300 MPH?

Coming Soon!

Structure of Man update

Hey guys, I'm not going to post any images right now, but I thought I'd post an update.

Yesterday I finished lesson 74 of the Structure of man series. This is significant because this is the final lesson on the skeletal structure.

This is a huge milestone for me. Already, when looking at other artist's work, I can see guys who know their skeletons and guys who don't. Looking at my own work I can see problems. Mostly little things like not knowing exactly where bones stick out.

I have just started the muscles sessions and I am very excited to see where this leads me!

I'll scan some images soon!

D. L. Nelson's Blog

My good buddy and writer of 'I am Domino' from http://www.firstplanetcomics.com/, Dave "D. L." Nelson has finally started a blog. You can check it out here: http://heydlnelson.blogspot.com/

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Dave's first post is interesting because it involves our trip to Chicago and just how cheap we really are!

More Structure of Man

Here's some more Structure of Man lessons.

This isn't everything, just some of the more interesting stuff. I am currently on 53 of 227.

More life drawing

My weekly life drawing sessions are through the Oklahom Art Guild. The guild rents a building on the Oklahoma fairgrounds. Since the fair is in September, the guild cannot use their 'headquarters' during sept.

So for september there is no figure drawing classes. This will give me time to work on my Structure of Man lessons.

Meanwhile here are some more life drawings.

At one point I left the room during the session. As I was leaving, a lady asked me if she could look at my sketchpad. When I came back, about half the group was gathered around my pad, raving about my art.

I hadn't really show the other artists too much of my work. They are all either Fine Artists or Art instructors, I don't really feel I'm in the same boat as them. Plus, it's not like I'm going to hold out my pad and say "Look at this!"

Maybe I should because I was pretty stoked that everybody liked my art!

I am reading a book "Talent is Never Enough" and the first chapter is about belief in yourself.

I can feel my confidence growing daily!