Porcupines & Myspace

So, i feel bad about posting this now...seems like there are a lot of new people reading the blog after i updated, and the first thing i have to say has nothing to do with my work in the least bit.

For the last few weeks, 99% of my free time is spent searching ebay for taxidermy. Somehow i find this relaxing and stress-relieving. I don't really bid on items very often, and when i do i am usually shot don at the last second by an ebay sniper.

I guess i am mostly interested in animals that i have just generally found fascinating my entire life. Sure, we have some deer, a fox, some ducks, a bear, etc, etc. And i love them, and stare at them for long periods of time...but i want something more interesting...where's my heron? my shrikes? my salmon? my European crows? my elk? These things show up, i bid pathetically, and am outbid immediately. For the most part i just search "newly posted", hoping to catch something and ride it all the way through....but today was different.

I logged in (this was about half an hour ago), and right off the back i saw this fucking ridiculous amazing Porcupine with 6 minutes to go and no real high bids. So i decided what the hell, and put a rather menial bid in with about 5 minutes to go....and what the fuck, i won it? I never win stuff like this. Needless to say, i have no idea what to do with a Porcupine or even where to put it (our mantel is all full up) though i am sure we will figure something out. And for those of you naturally inclined...i am assuming this is some sort of New World Porcupine? The color phase seems odd, so i cant really place it. Either way, i cant wait for this to arrive at my door...though god knows how i am going to get it out of the box.

And on another note, with the new website update i added my myspace profile into the information. Now, don't get me wrong....i absolutely hate myspace, but there is just something about it i find absolutely hilarious. Since posting my myspace profile on my site, i have gotten about 15 people trying to add me as their friend. But know this, it is highly highly unlikely i will add you if i don't know you....and that's even a shot in the dark. And i especially wont add you if you have my work as your god damned profile picture (you know who you are).

ghostco # 3423408-92345

I assume most people that read this would probably be aware of this but;

I have entirely overhauled Ghostco. Some new illustrations, some unseen comics, availability of selected prints, etc. Chances are any reader of this blog has seen 99% of this stuff, but none the less.

And Though You Have Loved A Thousand Men

So, as i said in an earlier post i find making an image for the main page of my site incredibly frustrating. I am so particular about everything, it takes me forever to finally settle on something. That being said, i have done 4 entirely finished different images for the new site update and ended up pretty damn happy with one of them.

I guess one of the problems i have been having recently is when i do work for myself i just end up bored half way through it. So instead of slapping some skeletons over people in positions that everyone has seen before, i decided to actually try and challenge myself. I set up some pretty basic rules:

• Don't draw hair or clothes, nothing that usually sticks out in my work.
• Draw a figure in a more natural position, so it doesn't just look like a pose.
• Draw the figure from a terribly difficult angle.
• Put enough detail into the pencils that inking will take at least 3 days.

and 4 days later, with a sore drawing hand, and a broken wacom i came up with this:

For some reason i always trick myself into thinking that doing faces at this angle will be fun, and it never is. I drew that head about 20 times until it looked even close to right, and still below the bottom lip looks a little off. Also in doing this i realized that there is in fact something i hate drawing more than corn stalks, and that's grass.

I laid the template in my magic "ink on the back of the paper" way. after scanning this and piecing it together i was really happy with the outcome, and thought about doing this in tone alone, or maybe just a few colors. I have also realized recently that the more simple the shading is in the initial inking on the back of the paper, the better and easier it is going to be later in the run. Adding splatters and disconnected lines really makes the job alot harder, and doesn't exactly add to the image.

Coloring as normal, added a bit more of a brush-like look to the separations. I was also trying to NOT kill myself with coloring the grass, so i really limited my palette there. I was really happy with how the lips came out...i usually stay away from adding lines and creases in the lips, for fear of making the figure look older than they should...but it really worked in this.

Started meshing the flat tones into each other. I was really worried that everything would end up getting too muddy, and was really hoping that the light gradients i was going to put in later was going to fix this. I also added some layers to show a bit of depth in the grass. Also, this is maybe the first time i have ever colored fingernails (let alone drew them). I thought that since i was trying to challenge myself, the least i could do was draw some fucking fingernails.

I wanted the colors to end up dusty looking and a bit weathered, while still showing warmth in the skin tones. Usually i lay a hue layer over the entire image, this time i put my light/dark gradients over the hue layer to really pull it forward. I think everything ended up working really well. I just wanted it to look pretty simple, while still taking a hell of alot of time to finish. I miss simplicity.

So now that this is finished i can get along with finishing the site update. All that is left is about 50 image description files...tedious, but at least its easy. I have been considering redesigning this blog as well, but i think at this point i will just stick with the main site.

As mentioned before, my wacom is totally fucking up...or to be more exact, my wacom mouse is. It either doesn't left click at all, or double-clicks when i click once. This is incredibly irritating, and has made laying gradients, deleting layers, and bidding on ebay extremely difficult and aggravating.

And speaking of ebay, a general fuck you to ebay snipers. That Spanish billy goat shoulder mount was totally mine! I didn't care that his ears were all messed up. Outbid in the last 2 seconds my ass.

But i shouldn't complain, considering Luby found us a Black Bear shoulder mount in Wentzville this morning for cheap cheap cheap. Now Rachel can pretend to be Timothy Treadwell every single minute of every single day. God help us all.

The Woes of The Caretaker

It's official, after a long long journey of file resizing and indecision it is good to see it all finally pay off.

The new site is basically ready to go. I have been drawing a redrawing the main image over and over again...the main image for the website is always one of those things that just wont stop kicking me in the face. after 2 days of inking grass, i think i finally have something i am happy with.

working on another Type cover, and doing some work for HighWire over in New Zealand. slow work, but at least it keeps me busy.

Teitur's cover of "Great Balls of Fire" is maybe one of the most amazing things i have ever heard.

I have bought a lot of taxidermy over the last week or so. other than that i am pretty fucking miserable.