Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Praying for Time


Spotted while out in the Yard at work.

Although I often feel like I'm moving from one task to the next with my head down, I'm glad to know I still stop to look around me every once in a while. I never know what I'll see. This was amongst our racks of our barstock inventory. He was very patient with me.

Sorry nothing's getting posted with any regularity or clarity. Especially as to the lack of anything 'artsy' on here. It's not for lack of ideas, or even lack of work (though that's been suffering, I have some stuff I'd like to get posted by 2010). However, life has just been beating me severely about the head and shoulders. Nothing horrific, mind you- just life. Hopefully I'll be able to get some semblance of control to it, and will be able to get to work on some (hopefully) cool artwork. Anyway, thanks for stopping by. See you soon.

Music: "Hallelujah" - either Leonard Cohen or Jeff Buckley; they're both amazing.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

And you thought YOUR job was scary...


Yes, I actually took this picture at work.

No, those aren't my pants.

Might not be a post until next week- big-time fun this weekend means much running around this week. Hopefully something fun to post when next I post again!

Music: "Dirty Deeds" - AC/DC

Thursday, September 18, 2008

... In Darkest Night


In Hopeless Day In Endless Night
No Victim Shall Be Lost From Sight
Let Those Who Fear Death's Dark Blight
Embrace My Power, Gray Lantern's Light


In case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit of a comic book geek. I make no apologies for it- I love my comic books, they've been a great source of joy for me, they've taught me a lot (introduced me to both art and science, so how bad can that be?), and, as the rest of the world flocks to see comic-book movies, I can be one of those guys who sits there and says "told ya so". I've even gotten a job based on my love and knowledge of comics. Okay, it was with a comic book store, but so what?

Back in 1997, I was finishing my 5-year 4-year plan, and earning a B.S. in Biology. Of course, being the genius that I am, I never found a job in the field. However, rather than moving on and away from State College then, I decided to stick around (I had a number of good reasons for doing so). So I was staying, but I'd need some more scratch to make ends meet. Strangely enough, about that time, I was offered a job at the Comic Swap, State College's Premier Comic Book Store since 1976. Well, who was I to say no to that? I even offered to work for comics, but Kris, being a smart guy, offered me money instead.

While there, I met a great assortment of folks; people of all walks of life, of all stripes, comic fans all. We talked about all sorts of things, politics to the environment, music to movies, and above all, comic books. Of course, no one talked about it as much as the guys who worked there. I worked with some great guys; from Kris, my boss, to Randy, who came up with the funniest sayings ever ('it blew a hole in him the size of a lobster!" being but one of them), to Thad, who's now one of my oldest friends and fellow Hellboy devotee.

As I've mentioned in the past, one of the things I like best about comics is worldbuilding. Well, that's not just me- that's most comic fans. We love imagining "what if" in the existing comic book universes. If only we could make our versions...

Well, one day, that's just what Thad, Randy, and I did. We came up with an entire alternate take on the DC universe (home to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, for you uninitiated out there). We had some pretty smart ideas, I thought- interesting takes on the world of the DCU, things like using real-time for the characters, rather than that static comic-book time (don't bother trying to make sense of that; you had to be there).

And then, we had some... more interesting ideas.

Green Lantern is one of the more popular DC heroes- he's essentially a space cop with a ring that makes anything he can imagine real, as long as he has the willpower to do it. Every 24 hours, the Lantern rechares his ring with a Power Battery (shaped like a lantern) and recites his oath. And he's part of a galactic police force, populated by bunches of aliens. We wanted to revisit that concept, and so came up with some different ideas for them. Thad came up with this one (which I'm further elaborating on here), a horror-styled Green Lantern, which was a far cry from the other characters we'd seen. This guy was a Green Lantern, but also a doctor. While on a mission, he was attacked, mostly annihilated, and left for dead. They ripped out his heart, for Oa's sake. But, as I said, the rings are powered by will. And this guy is one willful SOB. So, with his last firing synapses, he actually wills a new heart into existence. Of course, that's only a stop-gap measure, so he takes his power battery and embeds it into his chest. But he's messed up pretty badly, so he uses his ring to will himself new body parts, most visibly an eye. (I know, messed up, isn't it great?) The hook being, he's insanely powerful, but just surviving requires so much of his willpower, he's at best an average Lantern. Plus, his 'death' and subsequent resurrection have changed his perspective on what it means to serve and protect. He's no longer a Green Lantern, punishing the bad guys. Being a doctor, I thought it would be interesting to take his dedication to life to a more extreme conclusion. He stands between the living and the dead; death is his enemy.

God, it's good to be a geek.
---
Slight weapons malfunction, so I'll be back with more info about the above later.

Cheers!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008


cloud mirrors my mindscape
shape, reshape, cirrus to stormcloud
flows like my feelings



See you soon.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Magic Hour


Nope, not what I planned on putting up here, but when Nature presents such a scene, who am I to refuse?

This was taken last Friday, when the family and I went out to celebrate my niece Emily's 16th birthday- woohoo! A good time was had by all, even though her silly uncle destroyed her musical birthday candle contraption. Seriously, the thing was all clever, playing music and sparkling and burning, but the damn thing would not shut up... at first...

Today was my Mom's 72nd birthday, and though there was no big party, I left work a little early and took her and the ubiquitous Emily to dinner at 'The Park', a 50's-style Eat 'n' Park. Good stuff, and nice to see them, as I won't be able to for the next two weeks or so (nothing bad, just lots of stuff going on). For 72, Mom's doing really well- though, as she tells me, "it's hell getting old". (That's also the first time I ever heard my mom swear!) Of course, she's also the one who tells me she's a "tough old bird", so I think she's doing just fine.

No promises as to when the art-type thing will get posted, but hopefully soon. There's some technical issues I need to work out, and some general tinkering. But we'll see.

Music: "Happy Birthday" - The Beatles (though neither Emily nor my Mom like them)

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

2k1cen digital boy


Sunset


Nope, no drawing today. The long weekend made for a short week... so to speak. It was a fun and eventful weekend, with plenty of twists and turns. Mainly, I was able to spend plenty of time with my family AND my other family, the Weavers. Best of all, on Monday both families got together for some good food, fun games, and great company, courtesy of Clan Weaver. My nephew Kevin dropped by Saturday night (from 6 hours away) to spend a little time with the family and to pick up some equipment: He's studying to become a diesel mechanic, just like his grandfather. Needless to say, we're all very pleased and proud of him. No doubt Dad is smiling down on him... Also, I was able to help out my niece Emily with some drawing tips. Drawing runs in the family! It's only a matter of time before she's set up on DeviantArt!

Oh yeah- I got myself an HDTV.

And a PS3.

It's good to be gainfully employed ;)

One of the things I'm really looking forward to is hooking up the computer to the TV, so I can finally work in a scale large enough so I don't have to keep zooming in and out to look at the picture in Photoshop. Well, that's the plan, at least.

Anyway, that's my weekend. And, that's why there's no drawings to post here today. That doesn't mean there are no drawings coming, though. Thanks to some drawing time during the weekend, I hope to have something posted mmmaybe this Friday. We'll see.
Here's a hint:

"In Blackest Night".

I know- what a rubbish hint ;)

Music: "Analog Kid" - Rush