hellomightydog

The shows went pretty well. I even got time to make a custom cassette case for my mix!



I'm riding a surge of productivity. Got a new drawing buddy AND yesterday Ryan and I just sat and talked about some ideas that I was fond of. Tonight I'm going to participate in my first comic jam with more than 2 other people, including strangers! YEAH!

I find this video inspiring:

Rejected book cover.

I'm sad to say that art has taken a back seat to everything else recently. I'm still working, but I know I could be working harder. I don't know. I have a lot to do and none of the motivation to do it. I feel like I'm going through the motions.

I've been working on some pieces for a really fun show for November's First Friday. I'm also going to have a painting in the 621 auction AND I'm doing a collaborative performance with Jose and Tamar at the BFA Gallery. Tonight I need to finish painting a sculpture for a Boy's and Girl's Club fundraiser auction…and I need to start / finish 10 illustrations for a client this week. Couple my lack of motivation with the fact that there's a show I want to go to tonight, my Mom's house for dinner tomorrow, Breann coming in to visit on Friday, getting the house together for a Halloween party on Saturday…I'll probably have to cancel my Thursday attendance to the weekly video game session I've been having with some people. It's a loaded week.

I finally got to participate in a Tallahassee bike race this past weekend. Tons of awesome memories. It was Halloween themed, so I had a costume and shit. You know. There were a few keen checkpoints (such as the Zombie Apocalypse Obstacle Course, and this reverse bobbing for apples thing that Ouikut had.) There was a "Skaryoke" checkpoint where you had to sing Halloween/Punk songs while a live band played. Creeping through a graveyard looking for candy. And oh! Krank It Up (our bike co-op) had a couple of bikes to ride, one of which was a tall, fixed gear. I'd never ridden a tall bike or a fixed gear, but I owned that shit. I spent most of my time in the race with Aaron Amodt and Mike Harrington, but we called it a wash early on account of Aaron's busted tire. I think we still did about 10 miles, which felt good.

I am pretty stoked to be throwing a Halloween party.

New show flyer:



Tonight should be fun. Hanging out with Bayou then comedy open mic on campus then to a party? Justin Peterson?!?! Maybe.

So yesterday me and a few others took a few hours in the afternoon to just ride around and take some photos. We ended up snagging a private tour of a local book printing company and checking out the state capitol (something I haven't done, even though I've lived here for over five years.) I came across some neat stuff / found type. I'm also moving away from flickr and using my own website to try and host/organize files, since I'm paying for it anyway.

I was talking with wankingwombats this morning about photography and, as much as I like it, how it's not really my bag. I feel like good photography is just really, really intimidating...when I look at professional photography in a gallery setting, I feel like my stuff could never hold up against it...mainly because I know so little about it. She stressed that I'd feel more comfortable if I just gave it some time, but I'd like to keep focussing on my drawing. Even though I'm nowhere near where I want to be with that, I still feel like my drawing work is fun and interesting at least. That doesn't mean I can't keep photography as a hobby, though.

Here's some photos from yesterday.


I think this would make a decent album cover.

( Tons in here. )

Also, I made this for Shannon a few weeks ago when one of her teeth was not treating her well.

Amidst a flurry of August Birthday's, I made this for my friend/roommate Mallory. I went to Micahel's to shop for a fram and low and behold, a lot of their large, ornate frames were on clearance. I grabbed pretty much every one I could find. Now to populate them with things.

Went to Tampa this weekend for one of Shannon's derby bouts. They lost, but by so little they might as well have won. Saw some friends I haven't seen in a while. Broke in the GPS pretty hard. I pretty much just wandered around Tampa/Brandon on Saturday evening.

Also, found this awesome/beautiful song/video on BOOOOOOOM!

I started this with no intentions of having it become a show flyer, but the opportunity presented itself and I was able to use this as a layering exercise of sorts...how can I incorporate text into this design when the original image does not lend itself to do so? I was successful, I think.

I talked with Ryan the other night about my jealousy of other artist's capabilities of seeing a final image in their head and "tracing" it. It happens when you have a lot of drawing experience under your belt. Very few times have I forgone the pencil in lieu of the pen. ANYWAY with this drawing, I spent a lot of time thinking about the colors I was going to use later. Then, when I scanned it and started coloring, the whole thing became a mess. A monochromatic color scheme made the whole thing digestible. Ryan said there's "something to be said about an organic process," which I kind of shrugged off at the time, but he's right. Really, there is. I just want to get to where I want to be quicker, I guess.

nedroidcomics started a create-your-own-pokemon meme. Here's mine:

---

First day as a full-time employee.

THINGS TO DO TODAY:

1. Acquire submarine sandwich for lunch.
2. Go to gym after work.
3. Make headway on one of the bajillion art projects I've started this year.

Things are good. I'd say "same old, same old," but the phrase represents a boredom or stagnation that doesn't exist in my life right now.

Took last Friday off and hung out with Shannon. We slept in and went mini-golfing on a course that demanded a 32 for par. We both left the course with over 50 strokes a piece. But I totally won. We also had lunch with the LGE guys. Decent Pizza FTW.

Away We Go: 3/5.

I put some stuff in a show on Sunday; it's mostly old stuff (and the same stuff I sent to the_woodshed for his show) but it's all part of a larger project that I have been working on, I just didn't get anything new done by the time the show started. I also talked to a former professor about graduate schools, and he was discouraging about FSU because a lot of the faculty doesn't see cartoons or comics as art. HAHA NICE TRY. I let that mindset trick me once, damn it, and I'm not going to let it happen again. But before I even think about applying I need to finish these things. These...things...

Here's the color version of that flyer I posted last week:



I think I like it better in black and white. Ah well.

But let's talk about something more important. The sluggy vs. chicken man contest! Here are the entries / winners:

1. i_boy gets the Collaborative Sequential Art award! Why, together we've practically made a damn comic. Here's his entry:


2. holly_bees gets the Best Interpretive Character Design award! FUCK THE SOURCE MATERIAL. MAKE IT YOUR OWN.


3. 8bit gets the Beverage Out of Nose award! It should be of note the piece is called Battleground: Prom.


I love em. What do you guys want as prizes?

Here's a show flyer I've been working on. They wanted black and white ('cause that's how metal bands do, I guess) but I'm making a pretty rad color version of it right now! Ha! Metal. They wanted monsters attacking a city. I'll bet they weren't expecting Sluggy and Chicken Man!

SLUGGY VS. CHICKEN MAN

Draw your own sluggy vs. chicken man battle and post it here! Winner gets...something! Go!

I sometimes wonder if I'm "hurting" myself by being selective of the technologies I use. If I'm denying myspace and twitter in favor of facebook / livejournal, am I, as an artist, hurting my chances of establishing notoriety? Plenty of successful artists have censured publicity / promotion, but I am not J.D. Salinger. Especially since I am using one over the other. Also: why fight the trend? What is the benefit of fighting the current? Some kind of imaginary cool that I've invented?

Last night at midnight I was jussssssssssst about to sleep when I was woken with the request of going to 80s night at the Engine Room. Ain't gonna say no to a girl on her birthday. So we headed out. I ran into a bunch of cool people. You know. Old friends from college. Danced a little. Drank two cokes. Talked about the business of art. Ran into a friend / "client" and happened to have a logo I'd been working on earlier.

I also did a little bit of drawing this weekend. The tiniest bit of pen work. Fuck. On average, I worked on art waaaaaaaaay more than usual this weekend, but it's not enough. I've got al ot of stuff I want to work on but I'm having a hard tiem cementing the order. The longer I wait for a lot of it, the better it will be because (let's face it) experience compounds.

I met up with an old professor this morning on campus. He really liked me, I guess. He told me I had the best paper in the class, which is hilarious, because I essentially just wrote him a letter about why he'd be interested in Daniel Johnston. I read my friends papers and they were all official papers with MLA CITATIONS and PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE. Art school. Funny.

I gave him a comic and paid him for a DVD of his work that he sold me. I felt kind of weird buying it...I guess it's probably how my friends feel when I try to hawk my art / centaurs t-shirts on them. He told me that he wants to give me a bunch of other DVD's of his stuff and that'd be free...one of which I've seen, "Why We Must Vote For Bush," which he recorded before the 2004 election. It's a brilliantly sarcastic 15 minute satire which he recorded solely to drop off at the GOP. I wish I could've seen their faces.

Here's a video of his (Jim Roche). I'm afraid his work gets lost in the doldrums of youTube, but keep in mind this is from the late 80s.



Towards the end of our talk, he lamented that he was there to meet with the department chair, and that there were questions of his value as an instructor to students. Friends that took his sculpture class described it to me as a "disaster", but I can tell you that Jim Roche was incredibly motivational to me. For the two years I was at FSU, I was discouraged from making comics or even cultivating a style. A lot of art teachers tell you that you have to learn the tenants of drawing before you can even think about style. I think this is an important thing to hear, yes, but it's never, ever, ever all you need to know about improving yourself as an artist. Style is voice. If your voice is boring and monotonous no one is going to bother to listen to your fucking message. Even an awkward, misformed, unfinished voice is going to be interesting.

I guess it's a good thing I got some Jim Roche time when I did. I had a lot of questions about the business of art, the artist's intention, etc. and he answered them all. It really bums me out that someone who has the same questions next semester might not get the kick they need to work with the confidence that I have now.

Also, I tried showing Wizard People, Dear Reader to Shannon last night and she couldn't appreciate it because she doesn't know anything about Harry Potter. I was reeeeeeeeeally hoping this would actually help. I mean, come on!

"Harry prepared breakfast magic free and labor intensive."

How is that not goddamn hilarious.

Man, I have been having an awful time drawing lately. I don't know if it's a lack of practice thing or just a funk...but my lines are all wrong! I'm supposed to have been DONE with a logo for a local infoshop WEEKS ago. I crapped out this little sketch (which I like):



but i'm having a really hard time translating it into an actual drawing. I've tried everything! Pencil! Paper! Pen! Photoshop! Nothin's stickin'.

BOOM! ORBISON!



What a talented guy. SUCK IT AMERICAN IDOL. YOU CAN'T MESS.

I bought a gym membership tonight. I used to be able to ride 10 miles / no problem. Tonight, 5. What gives, body? You act like I've neglected you for three months.

Artwork for the Let's Go Exploring! / The Random Notes of Decay 12" split.

Man. Man oh man.

The weekend passed quickly. It was packed to the brim with hanging out, pretty much. I graduated; I have no art obligations except for a short comic for a friend's zine. It feels pretty good! People keep saying "Welcome to the real world." I don't know what that means. I'm going to be doing the same things I've been doing...just on my own terms now.

I have a lot of ideas that I now have time to act on. One of them is very small, just for me. The other one is big. B I G. I've talked to a bunch of my art friends about collaborating on. I want to maintain a ridiculous amount of control on it; when I've told some people this fact, they're like, "well, why? why do you get to be the fuckin' boss?" I don't know. I just know that that's how I want it.

That's pretty selfish, I guess. But I'm excited. I've met a lot of talented people over the last year or so. I WILL UTILIZE THEM.

Here's part of the letter I'm going to post for actors:

Exceptionally attractive as well as exceptionally unattractive applicants are encouraged to keep applying. Actors who are "average" or "mediocre" looking will be accepted, but we won't be happy about it. Similarly, individuals who are really fucking good actors and those who are really bad actors will be met with open arms, but in this case "average" or "mediocre" individuals will be turned away, harshly. Individuals with unique voices are also encouraged to apply.

It is important to note that you will not make any money from this project. This goal of this project is not to make it big by selling web advertising or submitting it to [adult swim]!!!!111. Your involvement is predicated on the fact that you have a strong work ethic with a love for acting. If you ever wanted to find out where your acting limits are, this is the job for you, because we are going to push you to them. Nothing crazy, though. Just hard acting.

I watched Let The Right One In and Wolverine last night. One of these was a pile of shit. Guess which onnnnnnnnnnnnnnne....

Here's some songs I've been digging lately (I just like these songs ok this is not me coming out of the closet):

I'm quiet because I hate updating without art. I need your opinion again. Also, this is not done (there are entire elements missing), but I need some help.

What time of day is this?


I am having a real problem working on school work. Not art so much, but I'm taking a speech class and I just cannot get motivated to write my next speech. My goal is to have it done by the time I go to bed tonight, but that was my goal yesterday as well. Wish me luck.

I had a date this week. It wasn't really a traditional date, I guess, but it felt like one so that's how I'm playing it. I've been really, really edgy lately and I almost totally ruined it right out of the gates by bitching about the unfairness of the world or something. I don't even know what the hell I was talking about. ANYWAY i/we turned it around, and it was nice to not have to think about work or school, two things that have been a constant concern lately. And she's sweet.

I am going to be so pleased when this semester is over. Kevin and Holly are probably throwing a party the weekend after graduation, and the following weekend (barring work responsibilities) I'm going to try and go camping, probably at St. Joe again. I want to swim in the ocean.

I got to see Alec Soth speak on campus last night. It was a treat.



Not only did he validate my position in a discussion I had with my painting teacher last week (about whether or not nonrepresentational art can be successful if it's about small things), he also echoed things that I've been thinking about lately. I asked a friend if she could attribute parts of his lecture to her work, and she didn't really see how because she's not a photographer. I don't know what to make about that. Becoming inspired by a photographer doesn't make me want to take photographs; it just makes me want to draw more comics. Since school started, I haven't drawn any comics, and yet I feel like I'm learning more about it than ever. And I'm building new appreciations for contemporary comics that I already love. Speaking of which, there's a meme going around the comic LJ's where we talk post the twelve comics that inspire us. I guess this is as good a place as any to throw those in.



1. Very Near Mint by Justin Peterson
2. The Best American Comics Series
3. Y the Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra
4. Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik
5. Runaways by Brian K. Vaughn and Adrian Alphona
6. Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley
7. Clumsy by Jeffrey Brown
8. Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson
9. Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed
10. PVP by Scott Kurtz
11. Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez
12. 40 oz/Stupid Comics/Anything by Jim Mahfood

So there's that. I've been working to keep my brain in order lately. I sent a very, very snide text message this week, and that doesn't feel good. I can't elaborate.

I've also stopped going to the gym. But I really want to start again.

Also, Let's Go Exploring! are coming in to town tonight! This, as well as this trailer for the new Charlie Kaufman movie, is awesome.