:I'll Follow You Into The Dirt" pt I

Working on some ideas for the new main image for the Ghostco update. I keep saying that i am fucking tired of drawing skeletons, that i have milked it for all that is worth....and then i lose the battle and end up doing something like this and loving it. I'm weak, i know.

Speaking of the Ghostco update, it will probably be out early next week. There will be a good amount of stuff that people haven't seen...which is kind of exciting. I always feel like i am just showing people what they have already seen when I update. Hopefully this one will be a change from that.

After debating for a long time (years i guess) about dropping top dollar on a real legit human skull, i settled on a lame fake one from Dick Blick. But actually in reality it isn't lame, and i am pretty happy with it. It's got crazy strong jaw springs though, and has the ability to bite hard enough to knock its own teeth out. My only real complaint is how damn glossy it is...it's hard to use as reference when any light source just blinds you. Though, this thing is by no means as nice as the real skull I attempted to steal from SAIC (sorry again Loretta)....but you gotta admit, there aren't that many people out there who have rode the Chicago bus system for a couple of hours carrying a human skull in their backpack.

Thanks to a very friendly reader, i have learned that there are in fact os x drivers for this scanner. And for some reason i am still debating it...what the fuck is wrong with me?

Blockbuster online has totally screwed us. so far out of the 6 movies we have rented, 2 of the dvds were literally cracked in half when the got to us in the mail. all i wanted was to see a guy wearing a trashcan getting attacked by a bear...

Exquisite Idols pt III

Possibly the most taxing and time consuming drawing i have done in a very very long time. Nearly a week to draw and ink it, some 300 + layers of flat color, and another 50 or so layers of gradients. Tack onto the fact that the original drawing was like 14" X 26" scanned at 600 dpi...and well, needless to say i am glad i don't have to load this onto photoshop for a while. Though, i am definitely pleased with the results. The Ultra-Violet light worked out well, and the gradient vs flat is cleaner than i think i have ever done before. But you see that little red and yellow guy smoking a cigarette? I wish i could draw like that for the rest of my life.

So off that type cover boat, and onto the next. I have basically finished up 3-4 jobs in the last few days and am totally cruising here. I stayed up till 5 last night finishing one, which is something i haven't done since college...and not something i plan on doing a lot of in the future.

Blockbuster just wont stop sending 'em, good thing we have a lot of evening time on our hands. Project Grizzly was a bust though...opened up the DVD sleeve and the thing was basically broken in half. Whoever rented all the DVDs from the Logan Square Blockbuster from 2003 - 2005 and proceeded to scratch, burn, cover in gum/semen/spit/god knows every movie they came in contact with; apparently now works for the St Louis post office.

As of a few days ago, i will not be working on Dog's Day End with Brian for TopShelf. There are a lot of reasons why, 90% of them regrettable on my behalf. I am looking forward to see who picks up the book now that i am gone. I still adore everything those guys put their hands on. I don't know how soon in the future i will be doing any other long term projects...though, i have a few things cooking. But "cooking" means shit in the matthew world, considering i have been working on a comic idea for nearly 2 years now and i havent even jotted a single note down on it. Either way, i will keep everyone posted on if anything comes up.

Other Fun Facts:

- the new site update is slowly in the making. I am very very slowly relearning how to use IFrames (well)

- Rachel is taking glass-blowing classes, it is super fucking awesome. And as of yet she has not worn hemp, dreadlocked her hair, or anything of the sort.

- Lost is on tonight, dont forget.

- I finally beat Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. What a lame fucking ending.

- I need to buy some new button up (down) shirts. I really know how to destroy a nice shirt.

- I redid my tortoise's terrarium the other day, he seems pleased with these new changes.

- I may or may not buy a car. I am about 6 inches too tall for a 76' Chevy Nova.

- Pleasentville is pretty good, I was heart-warmed.

- These aren't really "fun" facts.

Exquisite Idols pt. II

So, after a lot of jobs and things cleared up i finally got a chance to finish the inks on the album cover i am doing for The North Sea. I have literally spent over a week on and off doing the inks on this, and then had to scan it in 16 different sections to get everything on. Needless to say, i am now glad to have it on photoshop. I am hoping to have the colors finished by tomorrow evening.

Speaking of pain staking scanning, i was recently informed by Brian Hurtt that there was a CHEAP a3 scanner on amazon. After doing a little research, i learned that it wouldn't work on anything past OS 9. To be quite honest, i was extremely disappointed. A large flatbed would make my life a whole lot easier these days. At some point i will probably convince that dropping 500+ on a large flatbed is well worth it...but until then i am stuck spending half an hour to scan ANYTHING.

Some of you may have noticed that someone has totally ass-raped ghostco.blogspot.org (i am not linking it for the safety of idiots). I reported it to blogger, but have heard no word as of yet. So my apologies to anyone who got screwed with because of this. Hopefully things will be fixed soon.

I am basically ready to start updating my site....i just have to figure out how to do it. Hopefully Dan Pierce will come to my rescue as always. My html skills circa 1996 don't do me too much good for the most part when it comes to making things work the way i want them to.

We signed up for blockbuster online, and i am just in heaven. Dead Alive was everything i have been hoping for for years and more. We may be watching Project Grizzly tonight with some people, fueled by Rachel's love for Timothy Treadwell and everything bears. Maybe i will finally get a chance to see Hellraiser and all those other awful movies that i never happened to see at 3 in the morning on WGN.

And speaking of, what the fuck is up with all the "amazing" movies coming out? Ghost Rider? The Host? Transformers? Zodiac? Grindhouse? Fantastic Four: Rise of Silver Surfer? Spider-man 3? 300? TMNT? It's like all my childhood fantasies coming through...mixed with zombies and bronze age warfare.

Goodbye Blogspot

Today, ole' boy Harper mentioned to me that he was changing servers, and that Ghostco would be moved along with it. Not that anyone cares about that part, but the big plus in my book is that now this blog is through my website and not through blogspot. I don't really know why i care that much...just neatly packs things together. But what this will greatly help is intertwining the blog with the new upcoming ghostco rehab, which is a great weight off my back.

the new blog url (unless you haven't already figured it out):

http://www.ghostco.org/blog/

Along with this change, I have also seriously updated the RSS feed, so if you subscribe make sure to update that as well.

All of these changes, plus me finale giving in to pushing my email into a gmail account and then back onto Thunderbird have really simplified everything.....for now at least. Not to even mention the fact that the classic controllers for the wii have highly increased my chances of beating the every loving shit out of Ludwig Von Koopa.

Orange County is not funny, I don't care what anyone says. Fuck you IMDB for making me think that Martin Starr had some menial part in it.

And on a side note, why the hell doesnt the blogger spellcheck recognize the word "blog"?

Exquisite Idols

- A somewhat quick preliminary "digital sketch" for an album cover I am doing with my old friends over at Type for The North Sea's new album. No matter what hell of a job I am in, I can always look forward to the shear joy of doing Type covers. I wish I had more initiative to do crazy cluttered images more often...Unfortunately there is this thing called my sanity that I have to watch out for. And speaking of, special thanks to Kozy and Dan for their amazing generosity.

Luby is right though, I should be doing these things 30 feet long.

Dead dad day / anniversary week went down in flames amazingly quickly.

The Silversun Pickup's new album isn't half bad.

Beehive & Hornet's Nest

As of yesterday afternoon, there were 3 copies of a 40 page portfolio flying magically through the air to a destination in New York. I ended up going with a local print shop...that was certainly cheap, but i cant say i was SUPER happy with the results. It seems almost as if they attempted to "color correct" some of my pieces....not understanding that "no, the sky is supposed to be grey". But hopefully everything will work out...i wasn't TOO disappointed with it. If anything ends up happening where i would need to redo it, i will definitely be buying computer ink online and just printing it myself...the results were outstanding that way.

On Tuesday night i was suposed to go to a local community art figure drawing class thing. I have been really hurting for figure drawing recently. Unfortunately things fell through and i wasn't able to go. In preparation for the class i ended up buying a HUGE sketch book...we're talking 18X24. I used to use these a lot in school for figure drawing...but half the time they would get stolen from me. I am hoping this wont be the case in a community art class. I am really looking forward to going to a figure drawing session...but even more so i think i am looking forward to my giant sketch book.

Things are going pretty well i guess. Last summer i had a phase called "summer of fun matthew" where i actually put myself out there and tried to enjoy myself...this involved videogame parties, SuperDog, riding bikes to bars, actually forcing myself to drink beer, hanging out in garages and looking at scooters. Unfortunately this was a short lived lifestyle, and i quickly slid into my usual funk. But now i am really pushing myself to enjoy everything...and i think it has made a considerable difference, though Rachel may be the one to argue that. I have been more decisive, making friends, ENJOYING driving, and just generally not being so freaked out about everything. I am going to try my hardest to make this last.

This week is the tentative "anniversary week" for Rachel and i. Neither of use have any definite memory of when we first got together, so we just lump it into "the end of January / beginning of February". Not very sentimental, but it's pretty good for us. And for once in my life i will b e driving when i take the little lady out on the town.

On top of being anniversary week, today is also the 6th anniversary of my dad's death. Maybe now after everything i have been through, and all of my accomplishments, and all my success...maybe now, he could finally shut the fuck up.

While digging through old work to put into my portfolio i ran into an unfinished comic i was working on for Flight 3 called "Beehive & Hornet's Nest". As far as i can remember it was the last thing i did that i was genuinely REALLY excited about....but i guess, not excited enough to finish it. So here for the first time for public viewing is a shitty 2 year old unfinished comic that makes no sense to anyone other than myself.

It was basically just a guy playing a guitar and a girl dancing around to it in a freezing cold empty apartment for 11 pages. Neither of their faces are every shown in entirety. Somehow this was related to the activity of bees and hornets in their hives/nest during the winter months...but i don't really remember how. The last page you see there is maybe my favorite thing i have ever done.