"MAYBE IT WAS THE TROUSERS!"

This post has a couple of things...

I have neglected everything lately BECAUSE for the last few weeks I've been slaving over a contribution to Cloudscape's anthology 22 Journeys [Edit:] 21 Journeys. The comic's finally done! (Although I'm still working on the speech bubbles, digitally...) Here's a little sneak peek.



I'm not sure what the collective policy is about artists giving sneak peeks about comics that are going to be published and hopefully bought, so for now, I just thought I'd put up this collage of how the art came out. It's like a WIP from pencils to inks to colours. (Omitting a huge amount of thumbnails, sorry... Those were the crucial step.) Although the colours still need some tweaking of curves and levels and whatnot before printing. Anyway, bear with me.

I find inking just nerve-wracking. What is wrong with me that my hands start to sweat incessantly as soon as I've inked a couple of lines?! I never have that problem with animating and definitely not with life drawing. The colouring was a blast, though, and I'll elaborate on that later. There was a theme with the contributions that they had to look like they were done with natural media AND a limited colour palette -- I coloured it with watersoluble markers.

The story was written by another Cloudscape member, Bevan. I felt incredibly lucky that during my very first Cloudscape meeting (wow, it's already been like a year) I ran into a writer looking for an artist. I have such a hard time coming up with stories, that it was staggering to have him hammer out countless scripts and stories in such a short time. Without a writer I simply wouldn't have a story in this anthology, plus he gave me free reign in the visual storytelling side of things --for better or for worse ;)
Still, I have to say I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. And with everything I've taken note of, the next one's going to be ten times better!

I had The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch just on a loop for pretty much the whole time I was working on the comic... Go ****ing figure.

I really love it though (everything except Robin Williams). Jimmy Fallon is actually hilarious there, delivers probably my favourite line reading in the whole thing. Neil Innes is awesomeawesomeawesome. It's less of a sequel than a very eclectic bunch of 00's celebrity interviews, and deleted scenes from the first movie, and Force knows why they were deleted in the first place, because they're equally funny. You can't watch just one Rutle movie, they're a package deal.

* * *

HAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAH SHASHHDHASDFCHFJGKHLJ
CONAN, Thank you for the jeggins

Kind of a funny coincidence considering Conan's "testimonial" in The Rutles 2, about how he buttered his legs to be able to wear women's extra small trousers.
And, I loved the band's expressions. Between this and Broadway-Spidey spraying Green Goblin's crotch, this may be my favourite episode so far ...Who'da thunk it about an episode with the Kardashians as first guests?! :l

* * *

By the way, thanks to all three who voted in the poll :P The public has spoken! The old crap is staying!

A case of the movies

I can't whine unless I post drawings -- hence, three pre-whine comic strips that I haven't posted before.




(^ Is Stephen peeing or is he not? You decide)

Sooo, I almost want to take back my recommendation of Nowhere Boy. It is a marvellous movie, but it directly started this weeks-long chain of thoughts that left me uncharacteristically depressed. I know, I'm lightyears away from actual clinical depression (I have to make that distinction since I have friends and loved ones who have suffered from it, and, these guys -- talk about not being able to take a joke *|), but the fact remains that for a week now I have not left home for anything other than my part-time job, and to me that's a first. I couldn't even get myself up for life drawing.
In other words, do go see Nowhere Boy, just maybe not if you're at a stage in your life where you have way too much time to think about s**t. I hope it's over now, though. I hope my brain flushes again.

*| :P ♥

Conan, POLL, and Muddy Colors

Like the title says, three things are on my mind.

1. CONAAAAAAAANNNNANANANANA! CONANCONANCONANCONANCONANCONAN CONANCONANCONANCONAN! Back for his "2nd Annual First Show" (---heartheartheart)
   *INCOHERENT*
   
   
   
2. I have been thinking about throwing some of my more embarrassing old drawings out of this blog. Should they stay or should they go? If you have an opinion please vote in the poll in the sidebar (below my profile).
   I wouldn't be asking if I knew which I wanted, so you truly have a chance to make a difference *srsbsness*
   
   
   
3. Oh... my god. Look at what these people can do. *speechless*

Surprise, nudes

Surprise surprise surprise.

I can't make comics club meeting today -- AGAIN :/ and that's sad, but I'm kind of in the middle of something. I'm trying to paint with watercolours and too wrapped up in that to leave the house.

Real Unreal

"Right -- everyone stop f**king crying, this is supposed to be a rock'n'roll band for chrissakes."

The short post:

I saw Nowhere Boy and then absolutely had to try to draw some early Lennon-McCartney. The suits are not stage garb but funeral garb. Enough spoilers (LOL SPOILERS FOR LENNON'S LIFE), The End.

THE LONG POST (skippable:)

Yay, I finally got to see Nowhere Boy *yeee!* I was eager for this movie because a] like approximately 3/4 of Earthlings I am a Beatles fan, and b] I especially love early Beatles history. Somehow it just can't seem to get old no matter how many times I read about it :) (...Which is a good thing for this movie considering that nothing about it can really surprise the viewer.) They are a unique ...um, myth. A world unto themselves.

Nowhere Boy is more about Lennon's relationship with his mother Julia and his aunt Mimi than forming the band, but that stuff is equally fascinating, and a perfect vehicle for the type of life-affirming drama that the Brits whip up in their sleep. Nowhere Boy didn't disappoint.

Very few movies other than the "actual Beatles-movies" have been made about the band, but the one Nowhere Boy can be compared to -- favourably, I'm glad to say! -- is Backbeat.
What Backbeat has going for it, is that it focuses on Stuart Sutcliffe, whose mannerisms and appearance have not become part of the public consciousness like The Beatles themselves have, so the viewer can enjoy Stephen Dorff's very capable performance without being distracted by an inner voice nagging "this is so far from the real thing."
Since the same is true of Mimi and Julia, who are the two most important characters of Nowhere Boy next to Lennon, and since the script's dramatizations of oft-documented events from Lennon's boyhood are very confident and unflourished, there's hardly anything to make you doubt it could all have happened exactly in the manner that the film portrays.

Inevitably, the kids portraying the young Beatles don't look or sound like the originals, but they are excellent actors -- and if the movie is more about finding your mom than finding your future rock icon buddies, what matters is whether you have the emotional acting chops. In that respect the whole cast delivers. Some reviews had claimed that the other cast members can't keep up with Kristin Scott Thomas, but I thought the performances were amazing throughout. I confess that when I first heard about the film I was confused about why they had cast Aaron Johnson as Lennon, because -- shame on me! -- I mistook him for an American since he'd been chosen for Kick-Ass!
Johnson was actually the film's surprise, because even though it's a little hard to imagine him as Lennon, the compact, charming script combined with his moving performance makes you buy him as simply an (for all intents and purposes) orphaned, insecure kid.

Of course knowing about the future ahead spices up the experience considerably, but still, I'm willing to bet that even if you don't know a thing about The Beatles (in which case, Congratulations on your first day back from cryo-freeze!) or don't find the band interesting, you will still think "What a relatable and captivating story" after watching this. Made me cry a ton too. OK, so I cry at many movies, but this was the biggest cry-fest since Toy Story 3.

In fact the quote at the beginning of this post came right on the heels of a big upheaval in the movie, where a couple of the characters teared up as well (with me leaking silently in the audience). Johnson ordered everybody to "stop f**king crying", which was one of the most characteristic moments about this movie: laughter through tears (oooh dammit I'm sorry about the cliche!) and all such...

I will so see it again and am recommending it to you. :)

Pimpin' Pimentel

(...not that he needs it)

I love life drawing, but whenever people ask me for tips on it (yeah, it happens, I'm as surprised as you) I'm completely useless.

That's where Dave Pimentel's latest post comes in! I know he's not talking about life drawing per se, more like posing in general, but his post pretty much covers my life drawing approach, if you were wondering. The only tip I feel confident in giving is "you gotta enjoy it!"