The Big Hook

In 10 Years.

2010-08-09T13:38:00.001-07:00

.. Everyone will probably know what this secret project is. But for now, YOU DON'T HA HA.
Doesn't mean you can't enjoy some sketches, though. I've never aged characters up before, so it was a fun challenge. I need to explore this kind of thing with Hooky, methinks.

A Long One.

2010-08-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

Long blog post, that is. Glad you came to this link now, aren'tcha?

Up first are some Hooky doodles. Boy, I had a day this week where I was channeling her enthusiasm, or something, I just couldn't stop.

Enthusiastic enough to use my markers, even!

At the bottom there, Hooky is exploring my
latest musical craze.

Fun stuff.

In other news, the results for the Leaving Cert are out in naught but two weeks. Shitting myself? Why yes, yes I am. I'm nice and screwed if I don't get the one and only course I want, I honestly don't know what to do! Oh well, time will reveal all.

Finally for now, my good friend Justin Jones, viking artist extrodinaire has set up his own website. Humourous and educational, I highly recommend a visit. Peace out y'all.

I am a Human Rocket.

2010-07-23T15:49:00.001-07:00

Just whipped up a new avatar for myself, thought it'd be fair to show the whole thing.
Hooky's on LSD, or something. I'm good to my fictional children. I was told the eyes were reminiscent of Ren and Stimpy, although I'm sure Katie Rice had much more to do with it.
Anyway, it's fun to draw Hooky again! I need to focus on her more. Or just focus, in general.

Charming the Ladies.

2010-07-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

First up, a beautiful young lady by the name of Anna Claydon. Anna Banana enquired about caricaturing her, and me being God's gift to women, I was simply delighted to oblige. And not just because I love my limey chum to bits, but because on top of being cute as the dickens, Anna has an interesting face to profile.

These are a few studies I did in getting accustomed to her features and cartooning them. I felt so pro doodling these up! As you can see I adore her beautiful big eyes.

This is my final sketch. Still lots of work... I tried my hardest to draw a Star Trek communicator to incorporate her, ahem, fetish with the original series. Alas. I am not nerd enough.

Finished piece!

Not as polished as I'd like, because GIMP has failed me yet again. My kingdom for Photoshop Elements!
Anyway, next foxy lady up on my hitlist is one Skylar Sunday. Here be some pencils. Accurate? I dunnoooooo. My art makes people wonky.

The Doctor is In.

2010-07-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

Dr. Klopftenstein, that is! A gift for my most curious of friends, Jo. Almost more importantly, this is one of the first drawings I've looked at in a while and said "Hey! This doesn't totally suck!". I'm hoping it's the start of a trend.

The Colours Red and Blue

2010-06-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

Uh...green and pink. So, I was initially just messing in OC, and this is was came out. Weird, huh? I mean, I love this painterly style, but so few others do. Not that I rely on the enthusiasm of others for motivation, but I'm just so down on my art lately. Like, daaang bro.
Trying to loosen up with sketches and such...we'll see how it goes. And if it doesn't work, I can always opt for a career change and work in an off-license. COOL.

Slient Era

2010-06-11T15:34:00.001-07:00

Hey, did you guys know how awesome the silent era of animation was? I meant to look it up forever, but only got around to it today, starting with Windsor McCay. What a delightful little film! That, along with the art of Oliver Contreras inspired the above piece.

Recent Arts

2010-06-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

Bloggers! I keep meaning to update this barren wasteland of artistic run-off with major arts I'm cramming into that one other website.

This was an idea I'd been playing with for about a week, then drew up in like, 15 minutes, which then proceeded to become insanely popular. Kids these days, huh? I was venting, as per usual with this. Some people just never get the comeuppance they deserve.

Ooooh, I'm so flexible and EXPERIMEEEENTAAAL. I do like being able to tackle practically any style I can think of...but boy, even I think I can be pretentious. I think over summer, with my (hopefully!) impending entry to animation college come October, I'll try stick to being as cartoony as I can. Within an artistic range, of course, but goddamn I need to loosen up! I EXPECT YOU PEOPLE TO HOLD ME TO THAT.

And this was for my BFF and future wife Julian, because I wuv him thaaaaat much. Much cartoonier, and hence, more likeable. COME ONE HANDS, TAKE A HINT.

Ground Control?

2010-05-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

Work for a short I thought of, in part inspired by a totally fucking amazing CalArts student film. DAMN I WANT TO MAKE FILMS LIKE THIS HHHNNNGH. Even listening to the soundtrack makes me feel inspired.
Anyway, my story is about a curious spaceman, a tired robot and a ticklish planet. I'll sketch some more stuff out and get it up soon!

Deadmau5

2010-05-15T04:38:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting to post stuff here, daggnabbit! I mean, I've been busy with school and exams and art relating to these as opposed to anything cool... I should still be posting occasionally, though.
A quick GIMP painting of Deadmau5. I am a techno geek at heart.

Portfolio.

2010-02-28T12:44:00.000-08:00

My portfolio is almost finished! Thank you jeebus.
Here'ssome life-drawing, because apparently people want to see it.

Charting Out a Life in Drawings.

2010-02-28T12:34:00.000-08:00

I've been considering it lately: In light of the fact most of my life is a foggy blur when it comes to reminiscing, my drawings and doodles in particular might be good road maps for my emotions at any given time. Not that that's their purpose, but it's a ulterior function they could possess, hm?

Like this one. This was a reflection on my strong and fucking OLD desire to visit Disneyland. Got grotesque only purely because, uh, that's how I draw. I suppose my subconscious anxieties about going to Los Angeles are present here too, though.

Was thinking about images of ripping, or morphing like clay through the frustrating inability to express myself otherwise.

And finally, letting a little boy's fragmented grasp reality affect me way too much.
BORING POST, HA HA.

An Undedicated Fan.

2010-02-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

An undedicated fan does not finish fanart. Case in point? Me.

Not that I'm particularly a fan of Spliced, a new show dropped onto the laps of kids this week by Nicktoons UK.

Pretty good idea for a show. Cute funny characters, with some hilarious dialogue and nice key poses. The one problem? Canadian Flash animation. God damn you Nelvana! But aside from eye-raping tweens, it's bearable as it gets. Love the two main characters, as indicated by my overzealous doodling.

Moving onto better animated things, went to see Disney's "The Princess and The Frog". To keep to a quick critique, it deserves 7/10. This discounting the nostalgia factor that made it seem SO UBER FANTASTIC. Which it did, this film could have been made 20 years ago. Pretty formulaic, and damn boring main characters. I'm beginning to think the long-lasting appeal of Disney is through characters with so little personality that they can't possibly offend anyone at any period of time. The supporting characters are what held the film together for me. I particularly enjoyed the cartoony motion on Louis, whose animation was supervised by the genius Eric Goldberg. Why can't all of the characters be as cartoony and fun? It'd be frantic. But it'd be good fun to look at.

"Who wants to toot my horn, ladies?"

Charlotte, another unimportant character story wise was who I wished the story revolved around. Much more interesting to look at than Tiana, and with the best slutty Southern accent you've ever heard. Because that was one of the main reasons I loved this movie. I love dirty Southern accents. Jim Cummings killed me, gentlemen. KILLED ME.
And a very obvious reason to love this film is the best Disney villian in forever. Broad claim, but I loved Dr. Facilier. Voodoo is such an awesome thing. Wish Celts had some pasty white equivilant. Gotta look into that.

Fanart ahoy! I wonder how Disney would react to art like this?

And some arbitrary gross Mickey Mouse fanart to end with. That's that wrapped up then.

Devilish Foreigners.

2010-01-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

Oh, the things me and Julian come up with.

Plugaroonee.

2009-12-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

So here's me rearing my ugly, holiday-swollen head to do something new: advertise someone very, very awesome.
Justin Lynn Jones is a boy sickeningly talented for his age. If you're a fellow artist, this can be a royal pain in the ass. But if you're an art collector, horror fan, or underground magazine editor, it's nothing but a wonderful opportunity! Why? He's taking comissions.
I could rant on about this ginger prodigy, but it'd be simpler to let your eyes do the flattering for you.

And imagine! Something of your own design rendered by such lovingly brutal talent! Like having an art zombie. I have goosebumps too.
This and much, much more gentlemen. Even being young myself, I can see the promise that Justin has, much more than that I, or many of my friends possess. Startling talent, devastating imagination, intense artistic sincerity. I'd be lying to say I didn't want this kid's hands.
Not gonna beg anyone to buy art, I'll just trust y'all got common sense.
And hey, even if you don't have deep pockets, spread his site around. Pretend it's a viral video of a kitten getting tickled, or something.

All art here is (C)2008-2009 Justin L. Jones.

Happy Campers

2009-12-11T08:53:00.000-08:00

Davin.

Morton.

Anders.
Bad photos, yikes. This was a pretty fun doodle though. Just felt very cartoony. I think I'd have a lot of fun just seeing this thing through to the end. And everyone else would too!

Stupid Maths.

2009-11-25T08:35:00.000-08:00

Totally did...not good in my Maths mock today. Then again, I only care because of that little part of me that says I'm obliged to. See, far I see it, there are a great many wonderful, inspiring, moving, subjective and significant things in life. Maths is not one of them.
On the plus side, I got this picture done with the 45 minutes I had left. Silver linings, eh?

I reckon staring at the squares of a sheet of graph paper for too long would drive you insane. Just say no to arithmetic, kids!

Unfinnish.

2009-11-22T12:54:00.000-08:00

So much potential: Died before their time. I'M OF COURSE TALKING ABOUT UNFINISHED PICTURES. And I have a lot of them. Time-consuming shading and studying all drive me away from finishing a lot of stuff. Here's a snippet.

This one was based on my surprising mental connection between the absence of love and the absence of faith. ARTSY.

Based of my growing interest in graffiti.

Sketchpaddling

2009-11-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

Ho yeah, this sketchpad is my bitch. Really though, I dunno the last time I've had just plain funn drawing as recently. The exhuastive cross-hatching allows you to just switch off. Thinking overly about the picture once I'm at shading stage really isn't necessary, and it's fantastic. They're really weird figured I'm drawing right now, and they'd be practically inanimatable, but they look fun, so.

UNF.

2009-11-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

Goat Man

2009-10-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

How can I draw like a girl?

2009-10-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

And not be stigmatised by the rest of the world?

Ed Helms

2009-10-18T11:04:00.001-07:00

He's one of these actors who I enjoy merely seeing. Not because he's dashing, or handsome or anything, but rather because he's just like....charming. He's got a funny li'l smile.
My drawing doesn't really look like him. :C

Nihilism

2009-10-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

Nihilism is a system of beliefs where you're too self-absorbed and spoilt to see that your life actually doesn't suck.

Irish Sketches.

2009-10-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

In Irish class, I do nothing but doodle. Not that learning a language I'll never use outside of school isn't great, but I got all this CREATIVE BLOOD HURRRRRRRRRGH.
Ballpoint pen's my current favorite medium.

So.

2009-10-11T06:04:00.000-07:00

Instead of detailing how my life has been and how marvellous/miserable/angry/homicidal I've been feeling, I'm just going to say this place needs more art. Like, more good art, like what them professionals done have. Maybe take a break from dA for a while, hmm? Gonna look up the blogs of my Boulder friends, and get inspired. K bye.

Edit: Oops, sit back down for a second. I've got a great way for you to part with any extra money weighing you down. My dear friend Julian Marcel finally published his excellent web comic Museum of the Wierd (mispelling intentional), and I highly it. Not just because he's my lesbian lover either. The book can be bought at the lulu site. Well worth it. Do it!

Cartoons.

2009-04-17T09:44:00.001-07:00

Practicing in a cartoony style. Why would I be concerned with my artistic flexibilty? Could it have anything to do with my (more than) possible Summer internship at Boulder Media animation studio, I wonder?

XD!

Two Thousand and Nine.

2009-01-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

Gaaaahhhh, another New Year. What's next, a 2010? Who came up with this bloody system, seriously?

Bad jokes aside, this year has been shaping up puhretty nicely in the past 23 days. The most significant event of the year so far (yeah, I know) was going to the Kerrang Relentless Tour 2009 on Amy's birthday, the 14th.

The bands featured were In Case Of Fire, Black Tide, Dir En Grey, Bring Me The Horizon, and the only band I actually wanted to see, Mindless Self Indulgence. We hadn't even intended to go to the gig, but we knew our Uncle was working at the venue (The Academy, Middle Abbey Street, for Dubliners), and was hoping, you know, for autographs or something. Instead we got V.I.P tickets to the balcony and free t-shirts. : D

The first band, In Case of Fire. They weren't great. The crowd seemed to share my views.

The Bassist from Black Tide. I had an obsession with his hair.

IT'S A MAXED OUT FRULLET. FOR REALS.

Dir En Grey; Crazy-Ass Japanese sreech metal band.The front man was amazing.

For a tiny guy, he had a HUGE voice.

Bring Me The Horizon. These guys had a better lit stage because they were the young, attractive band.

"Kill the English!"

My neck was stiff from head-banging the next day. By God, I've never felt so contructively ferocious. It's plain I don't go to gigs, right?
Well whatever, it was total fun.

Other than that, I've been storyboarding (with surprising success) and dr\awing quite an amount of RPG stuff. Hopefully I'll gert stuck into Corpus for definate soon. Again.
Also, February may be the best month of my life, depending. Not saying anything, but I'e got a lot of unjustified hope. : D

Kay Peace.

So.

2008-12-25T14:01:00.000-08:00

It's been an utmost nasty amount of time since I've posted here, huh. There've been ups, there've been downs, there's amazingly, even been some drawing in betwen.
But seeing as only one person watches the blog anyway, mostly MERRY CHRISTMAS. the best to you and your families, yo.

Crawling the Learning Curve.

2008-11-04T09:54:00.001-08:00

I purchased a fantastic book on the production of comics last weekend, Making Comics by Scott McCloud. WOW. What an insightful book! It's done by a man who is what I'd consider THE top authority on comics theory, and presented in comic book format, so it's far from boring. The narrative isn't very formal either, which achieves the goal of making the entirety of the notes seem like one big (VERY big) conversation between you and the man.
I'm not hear to plug the book, however (not really, that is), just to make the point that he covers things that say, I might already know, but he would go on to explain why. Why a particular facial expression may convey something you never expected it to, through the simle way that your readers, as humans, register it. Why symmetry, or the lack thereof, speaks volumes about status, emotion or personality through the posing of a character alone, irregardless of the face (mostly). These things can be mostly related to simply human biology, and how the cognitive faculties relate and break down information. It's like science, only better!
I'll be sketching and experimenting, hopefully, so I'll be sure to post them.
Regarding comics, I'm currently stuck with the second arc of Corpus. It being a shorter thing, there was only ever going to be 2 arcs, and while I like what I have in mind, it doesn't seem to fit in with the first perfectly. I'll try rejig it and pray for success.

Is it Luck?

2008-10-27T02:29:00.001-07:00

That I had such a lovely birthday weekend, is it luck? IS IT LUCK WELL IS IIIIT?
Yeah, bought Primus with the wonderfully and unexpectedly large amount of money I got for the ol' 17th, and I'd have been a thoroughly uncreative individual to not quote or be inspired by it. So hang around for works.
I must admit I cant help feel guilty wanting to talk about what a nice time I had knowing what a bad time people had on their respective birthdays, or what nasty weekends friends are having. Wonder if that's luck too. Maybe it's just a hat trick.
Anyway, on Friday we got pizza and rented "Lars and The Real Girl", a really amazing movie. Sure, my parents only got it because it had "Lars" in the title...but it was really spectacular. I'd recommend it to any woman without a doubt. Then I dunno whether men would like it, but irregardless, it's awesome.
Then on Saturday, we went shopping, bought lovely things, got sushi, went to see "Igor". It was no where near as shit as people were saying. I liked the animation (mostly), the designs and some of the dialogue. The plot was bland and predictable, but everything else made it easy to overlook.
My friends also got Amy to draw a picture and got it printed on a t-shirt, it was so thoughtful. I'll get a photo soon. Or something.
Um, boastful...feeling. Yeah, I'll keep drawing over the mid term.

A Big Club Sandwich of Negative Emotion.

2008-10-13T05:03:00.000-07:00

So the cycle goes like this: jealousy, which turns to anger, which turns to guilt, which becomes sadness which transforms into lonliness which turns back to jealousy.
*facepalms* I'm such a thoughtless bitch, stewing like a big shitfaced strudel. I could make myself puke were it not for the ersatz justification I seem to believe in.

Example Dialogue: World Without End.

2008-10-11T12:49:00.003-07:00

I find one of the best ways to get a great idea of a character's personality is to write dialogue, even if you don't use it. Going through it your head as if you are the character is very effective. I'm not sure how it works outside of my imagination though, so plox to be critiqueing. This scene includes Ramone, his ex-step sister, Nancy, and his mother, Bella. (whos name may yet be revised.) Nancy has just told Bella about Ramone's suspension from school.

Bella: (disbelief) Suspended? Ramone, what on Earth were you--
Ramone: (interrupting) You have no idea how much of a tool that principal is, mom. He cowtows to the will of the affluent and the powerful.
Bella: (attempting to interrupt) Ramone.
Ramone: (gesturing) HOW can a man be a respected leader when he so blatantly refuses to listen to his people? He's a joke!
Bella: Ramone?
Ramone: He SAID I had TEMPER ISSUES.
Bella: For Christ's sake.
Nancy: (aside, intending not to be heard) You do.
Ramone: (very suddenly, angrily) NO I DON'T.
Bella: RAMONE, this is serious, a suspension? What were you thinking, this is going to go on your permanant record.
Ramone: (frustrated) Who cares?
Bella: No, no, no, don't even THINK that, mister. Don't you DARE pretend this will just wash with me. (sighs) We'll deal with this somehow. (returns to reading suspension note in dismay)
Ramone: (to Nancy, with malice) YOU did this to me, I could've had a nice relaxing week off from school, you tart.
Nancy: Well someone has to look after your mother, Lord knows you won't do it. I happen to have a fondness for her.
Ramone: Yeah, REAL fondness you have, packing up and leaving with that SHITFACED BASTARD, taking EVERYTHING WE GOT.
Nancy: (turning red) I don't agree with any decision my dad made.
Ramone: (to Bella) This is your golden girl, huh mom? There's been MUTINY aboard this ship, (with extreme dramatic sarcasm) you must have MISSED it, Cap'n! A foul rattin' bitch like her.
Bella: Watch that damn mouth, Ramone Antonio.

Ow.

2008-10-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

My joints, I've discovered, have begun to swell with the cold. Those in my fingers seem the most effected. Yuuuupp.
I have the worst curculation, always had. I used to go fully blue as a kid. It's pretty annoying and painful, but it's not affecting my ability to hold a pencil, so I'm not really complaining. But I've taken to wearing fingerless gloves everywhere I can.
Also, I've heard this piece by Vivaldi I simply NEED to learn to play. Winter(Largo) , from The Four Seasons concerto, eet's beeyootifuuull. Hope my playing won't be affected by the cold though, damn.
Kay peace.

That even Death may Die.

2008-10-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

Woooo, dramatic title. A useless title now, really, seeing as my new thing is hardly referencing Lovecraft anymore. BUT THATS NO REASON NOT TO ILLUMINATE YOU ON IT'S PREMISE, EH?

So my first idea was about Cthulhu, and a kid interested in the occult who thinks he's summoned him, and thus he has to do whatever he wishes. That is, of course, bullshit to Cthulhu, he rose of his own volition because the stars were right.
The problem with that, thoguh, was the immense amount of comics already based on Cthulhu. I kid you not, there are....loads. It wasn't even encouraging how many Lovecraft comics exist. It's just plain depressing, especially seeing as none of them capture anything I imagine from Lovecraft stories.
Drawing on that, I disregarded any previous work, and started by scratch.
Our main character is Ramone (to the right), a 19 year old slacker living in the town of Ambrose South, a secular community, a town as coldly logical as the Alaskan penninsula on which it's located. Ramone doesn't have a lot. He's not too good in school, he has no really discernable talents, and he's pretty far removed from the regular lives of most teenagers. And he hates the cold.
He does have one thing though, one thing that makes up for the entire bland gloop his life seems to be turning into. He has an unfathomably deep belief in the occult. Not just a belief; a conviciton. I've once again made sure the character is a logical product of his past. His interest would have stemmed form the fatc, despite Ambrose South being a very secular town, his mother is a pretty religious person. His ex step-father and her would argue over this fact. This would have made religion not only a tense, but a prevailent subject in his growing up. He also works in the town ancient library he used to love visiting as a child, and no doubt the books and stories he found there had a hand in the turning of his mind. I was orignally making him to be likened to Charles Dexter Ward, but I've still not finished that story, and Ward has developed into a characert I couldn't make Ramone resemble anyway.
I have more sketches, but I'll talk about them later. Use your imaginations for the moment.

Themes to come.

2008-10-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

So here's one for all them artists out there. Your projects, your stories, your comics, ask yourself this about them.

Do they have a theme?
Because I've found out, all of mine most certainly do.
Great thing is, I can liken them all to something relevant or of importance to me, and that would be appreciated by other people. They're pretty universal themes, so they're bound to appeal to anyone, you know?
Here's the run-down.

Hooky: There's two possibly to be included here, first of which being ostracism. Basic fact is, almost of of the characters in the story (and definitely all the main ones) have been ostracized throughout their lives. Hooky will be in school, Laurie has been, Cathy, to a lesser extent, has been too, and, most obviously all the freaks have. This is really the baseline for everything that happens in the story. Why the freaks are so colletcively violent, why Hooky meetes Laurie, why Laurie is so intent to form a bond with Hooky, why Catherine hates Hooky so very much, it all comes down with the simple human refusal to fully accept what goes beyond the normality we'd all like in our lives. And who can't identify with this? Chances are, if you're even reading a comic, or animaiton (the latter being more likely for Hooky) you're more then likely ostracized by someone. I mean, realistically, someone thinks you're a loser. It even works for me on a personal level as well, so I think this angle would really give Hooky a lot more direction and meaning than just LOL SHE'S AN OKAY GUY WITH HOOKS AND DOESN'T AFRAID OF ANYTHING.
The second theme is to be a point on the futility of violence. Look t it in this light. The freaks, feeling rejected, betrayed and ostracized (gratuitous word use is fun), they go and commit acts of violence. And they go home, and they still rejected, betrayed and ostracized. They haven't gotten revenge, they haven't justififed anyway they feel or relieved themselves. Much like real life, really. Is violence an answer to anything? Do the ends ever really justfy the means? This is what the undercurrent of this theme is there for, to present questions for the audience, and maybe for them to even examine their own views of global violence. In the story, most people react to unprovoked violence with nothing more then vague interest and even apathy. This mirrors the real world, unfortunately. I've seen this apathy. This apathy is in me too, and I recognise that, but I want to make the audience recognise it in themselves too.

Phew. I'm all tired now. I'll discuss the others tomorrow.

Connivin' about Ivan and other short stories.

2008-09-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

Yeesh. Somebody stop me before I make another post with another horrible title.

Anyway, I've been trying to flesh out my freak characters this week, just so I have a more 3-dimensional. I think a lot about my characters. I try to form them as close to real people as I can. What's the point of having an entirely 2-D cartoon, yanno?
This week I was thinking about Ivan. You know, the bug guy no-one knows about. One of the main aspects of his character is that he's the biggest bastard ever. He cannot speak a sentence without using an expletive. But that's part of his character, it's as much a protection from the big world that never gave him a chance as his disguise is. He's probably a very scared individual, for how much of a jackass he is. Here's some sketches.

I need to practice him, really, my drawing skills of him are HORRIBLE. It's sort of a shame I have to hide his cool design all the time. Especially his wings. i was drawing this, and I was imagining all the things I could do with his cool wings. I'll probably save it for a fight scene or some jazz.

I also doodled this Vinnie. Face it. if any of you were faced with your choice of mate from the freaks, you'd all choose this black Adonis. I fucking would. The tattoo's possibly from prison. I'll work on developing Vinnie this week, and then I'll post my findings. I want to do out a proper version of this doodle, I'll totally look up some anatomy for it though. Eugh, my drawings suck. And yes, Paco is totally gay. I'll explain that when I get around to him too.

In other news, I had my first paid art job today. My parents laughably called it a commission. I was doing face-painting at this promotion at a butcher's. But it was fine, if tiring. 4 HOURS OF SITTING IN A CHAIR PAINTING KIDS JUST DRAAAAAAAAGS BY. I got 50 euro for my troubles though, so I guess it's okay. Some kid wanted, like, the Aresenal crest though It was a real "YOU STUPID KID" moment. I did anyway though. It was horrible.

Aaaaaand my head hurts, so good night.

Edit: Ooooooooh shit. I'm listening to "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails, and it's totally reminding me of Vinnie. Here's an example of the lyrics I wanna to fuck you like an animal/I want to feel you from the inside/I wanna fuck you like an animal/mywhole existance is flawed/you bring me CLOSER TO GOD It's actualy a pretty fucking sexy song, but....JEEZ. It's amusing though. I'm getting a picture out of this.

Sketches, schmetches.

2008-09-10T08:05:00.001-07:00

Ignore that title. I've ben sketching a little bit in the last few days. Nothing relevant to anything, actually, but I dunno. Maybe you'd wanna see 'em.

First up, just a doodle of a rudeboy. Funnily enough, my Specials buzz of the last few days has started to wear down. I've been listening to some trance instead, which is a horrific crime and a sin against my nature and blah blah blah. I was going to draw another rudy next to this fella, one a little more 2nd wave (t-shirt and tie combo, yo) but never got around to it. WEEP.

I've been looking up the Aztecs a lot recently, this coloured sketch should let you know who influenced me into doing so (AND GEE I WONDER HOW). So yeah. Coloured doodle of Xilxa. She's actually a very pretty character to draw, too bad I did her no justice.

And thus, while reasearching Aztecs I came across their ever so wonderful mythology and religion. I was then spurred to draw Coaltlicue, the cuddliest one of them all. This sketch isn't any good though. I'll be trying again from scratch, maybe in a little bit of more of a "me" style. I JUST WANT TO MAKE YOU MEXICANS HAPPY.

AND THEN, I started looking up the Celts too, and now when I'm done that, I wish to work on Cernunnos, the Lord of the Stags. He had antlers, you expect me to not draw him?

After all that claptrap, I'm thinking I want to enter the Schizophrenia contest on dA too. This'd be a grand opportunity for me to expand with the concepts of Rowan's schizophrenia I've been toying with lately. The auditory hallucination aspect of the disorder fits in more with how he's "communicating" with the dead, as opposed to say, a personality disorder, like DID (which schizophrenia is often mistaken for, which has nothnig to do with multiple personailities). It'd also give me a chance to explore his disorder in a negative way, make it an actual blight on his life. I know it's site-wide, and I don't have much of a chance to win or anything, but I still think it'd be interesting. I'll be messing with outlines on PS, so if they get donw, I can post them.
I'll be finishing up Erica's contest entry this week. too. YOU HAVE THE PATIENCE OF A SAINT. I'M SO SORRY.

On a final note, I had a dream about Flanders having sex last night. It was as horrible as it sounds.

Feeling Poetic.

2008-09-03T10:53:00.001-07:00

Which is weird, because normally I find poetry pretentious or over-rated. I normally prefer prose, at any rate. But my interest in writing was peaked this week with a lot of emotion, so let's see if I'm any good at this.
Note, I AM embarrassed to be posting poetry, for several reasons, so give me an opinion, but don't be too harsh, yes? That's a good dear.

"Take heart, you youth"
We who have been entwined by the veins,
Or who take life by the hand and
Lead it down the path
Which less chose.
"Why I think we're the first to be here"
Should be what we say, underneath
Boughs of sweeping gold.

For I have grown sore of the Emerald,
Dim and dull in the light.
And the Saints and Scholars could never
Catch my soul in their hands,
So grey and unlike His.

The will sits with me but the way is yet
Far, far removed,
Probably on the plane we never got,
The Earth as a mile would be all we had,
And for all the grief,
I'd want you to think;
A minor knows,
The smallest gem is worth the means.

Sweet Maloney, I feel foolish. It's either going to be too ambiguous to enjoy or be far more transparent then what I wanted.
Oh well.

-EDEET- Forgot to mention, I've been concerned with my comics lately, most specifically Corpus. Hopefully with all my thinking and conceptualising I'll get good art done, pages too. Who knew thinking could be so beneficial?

Faeries and Fays and Phookas, oh my.

2008-08-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

I don't have a fondness for living in Ireland, not much of one anyway. However, I can appreciate the benefits of being Irish. Most of all the tripped out mythology we get.
I liked all manner of fairy tales when i was a kid, but the Irish ones interested me the most. And out of all those ones, I liked the ones about the wee folk and faeries most of all. As I child I had an unshakable belief the faeries exist (and while it's waned, I'm certainly not saying they don't), and I'd go exploring to see if I could find any, in locations typically listed in the many books I had, although in a pinch, I'd check peculiar trees in the park too. I even got letters from faeries, which would be left under my pillow as I slept. Obviously, it was my parents, and while I was crushed, I still wrote those letters, imploring the faeries to show themselves, and confirm my faith was anything but misguided.
And so, I went and designed my own little faerie. I never believed in the butterfly-winged, dainty dress wearing faerie, even as a kid (blame Brian Froud), so my little chick is a bit less imaginary, probably closer to what evolution would dictate....maaaaaybe. She has no need for any legs, really, just one long appendage with a joint in the middle, seeing as she'd merely fly everywhere, or hover or something. I also like the thought of faeries being primitive little things, more sad, slow little remnants of the ancient race of mythical beings which existed on Earth before the humans (according to the Celts. I would like to think of them as placid though, more like a deer or a squirrel in personality, probably scared of humans, but offer them something nice, and their instincts might be clouded out of curiosity. I guess I'm thinking of them in more terms of animals then little people.
I'd like to use this design someday, in a movie or something, if I ever got that opportunity.
The sketch at the side is one coming out of an egg, rather like a reptile, for as you can see, my little faerie has no crotch. Poor love.

Now I'm off to paint.

Brain Spittle.

2008-08-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Exactly. Stuff churning around my brain, being spat out onto unfortunate pages. This first fella is what I call "Contemporary Death". Please, I beg of you, full view the damn thing. I don't like archetypes of characters in design, so I took my own spin on the ever feared physical manifestation of death. Why people would create such a thing to purely frighten themselves, is beyond me, but how and ever.
Walking through the design, he has the stereotypical skull head. He lacks a mouth however, because obviously, death cannot talk, and will not negotiate or reply to anything you have to say. Also, beyond the base of his neck is skin, but that of a dead person, as indicated by his pathologists tattoo (I believe that's the right term), the scar from what would have been his autopsy. And the suit has no significance, I just really think suits are the shit. His hourglass would be replaced by a digital readout too, only I haven't drawn it here. Maybe it could be sitting in the skin at his stomach, or something. At any rate, I'll need to paint him. he might even manifest in Corpus if I can make it happen. He's Rowan's employer, after all.

The second piece is just me messing with a logo. A lot of young artists I know have optimistically decided to jump the gun and assume they'll all have their own studios someday. Not that I genuinely believe I'll have a publishing firm/animation studio/awesome factory, but it's still nice to imagine. Versa? Maybe not. The title was obviously originally "Vice Versa" but I think this has a better chance of not being done before. Maybe. I dunno.

That was way too long. Back to your stations, men.

Important Corpus planning information, y'all.

2008-08-22T13:30:00.001-07:00

I've been planning out Corpus issues and came to the deciding of who's cameo stories get told in which order. I went by the fairest method I could, and chose the names randomly out of a bag.
The list in order of release is;

1- Justin, Decay.
2- Julian, Death.
3- Circe, Insanity.
4- Erica & Kevin, Love.
5- Lars, Life.
6- Anna, Fear.

Everyone has been given a theme central to their story, which reflects the message they are trying to portray to Rowan, and it also has some bearing on the actual person in some way, in something I noticed in some aspect of their personalities or attitudes. I may need to talk to people to pin down their stories better (I have nothing against writing being collaborative), and if anyone has objections or queries, ya know where to contact me.
Some people who wanted cameos aren't included in this list because I need help settling things and getting information. So comply plz.

Sorta exciting, innit?

SERGE

2008-08-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

A watercolour present for my boyfriend's birthday. I REALLY REALLY LIKE IT.

EVERYBODY GET DANGEROUS.

2008-08-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, I used to go and tip cows for fun, yeah.....

This frankly epic piece features a character of mine, and those of my two best friends, Lars and Julian riding a motorcycle and...being plain badasses. Seeing as these two guys are the two most badass people I know, I thought WHY THE HELL NOT. Also, both their respective birthdays are this month, and while I need to arrange packages and such (that'll be LATE, sorry lads) I thoghut I may as well get something else done. Uhyup. Can't wait to finish painting it.

"I don't want the World, I just want your half"

2008-08-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

Listening to They Might Be Giants, hence the title. "Ana Ng" always reminds me of long-distance relationships, which brings me to some stuff I did for the anniversary of two very dear friends of mine, Erica and Kevin. Kevin is travelling down from New York to Florida as I type, so they're bound to have a ton o' fun. HAVE A LOVELY TIME, GAIZ.

"Here Come The Bastards" WIP

2008-08-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

Does exactly what it says on the tin.

Nonsense about Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

2008-08-02T05:01:00.000-07:00

Visited Saint Patrick's Cathedral for the first time with the family yesterday. It's a little ridiculous, of course, never visiting these places in your own city, but whatever.

I'm not going to explain much about the church, looking it up here is easier. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Patrick

No, this post is reserved for some photos I got. I like photography a bit, and the church could be used for some great inspiration, so.

This was a cool inscription. It started with "Underneath this earth is interred the last mortal remains of...". That's the way to die, I'm telling ya. I liked the skull at the top most, seeing as no other inscriptions had any signs of death on them. There was lots of Latin floating around, which was helpful for "Corpus".

HOW PATRIOTIC. This has nothing to do with anything, I just liked the shadows on it.

I've always wanted to depict angels. I thought that despite not being a Catholic cathedral (It was Church of Ireland) it was still pretty decorated. That may of course have just been to show off all the historical stuff, but it was still curious to me.

The altar was well-kept. Again, this could easily be inspiration for something.

This was over the Virgin altar.

And this was a war memorial, for the Crimean War, and the two World Wars. There were fresh wreaths laid out by someone.

Also went to see "The Dark Knight" this week. I'd do it no justice by trying to praise it, but wow. I normally hate Batman's guts, not after that delicious romp. That's right, I said romp.

~Louise

The Big Start Up.

2008-08-02T02:20:00.000-07:00

Let's get something started, yeah?

First off, I'm new to blogging, so don't be hating on my ignorance, yo.

So now, most important thing to know is I'm an artist. Know that and you know pretty much everything about me. That's what I was planning this blog for, a space to collect the bull-wacky thoughts about what I do and what other people do, as well as being able to post different, new work, to chart whatever progress I may be making, if any. I also have a theory that having people await work like this would keep me more motivated, but I'm not sure about that yet. Fingers crossed.

Things posted would include some sketches,

Works in progress,

Or character designs and unfinished work.

Finished work as well, naturally.

Uploading pictures is getting a little cumbersome rights now, so I think I'll stop. You get the idea anyway.

This is a lot of fun though, and I can't wait to get properly started.

Thanks for dropping by.

~Louise