Federation Follies

A few months ago, a good friend of mine launched TrekNews.net, a great site for Star Trek news, trivia, and fun. I've had the pleasure of writing a few humor pieces for the "Federation Follies" feature each Friday (*phew*) and my latest went up today. Check out one insane writer's pitch for a new Star Trek series here... if you dare.

Rollin' Down a Rooftop

This is a character design I did as a commission, but the client didn't end up using it so I'm going to post it here. I'll be doing other work for them (which, with their permission, I may also eventually post) but for now I'll stick with what didn't quite suit their needs (click for a larger view):





The color scheme I picked was a little muted, but otherwise I like this design. I'm trying to experiment with different looks and styles, to try to find some that still look like my work while being unique and unusual. As always, it's an ongoing process.

A Slimy One-Hundredth Post

This is a (slightly more detailed version) of a character I used to draw in elementary school. He was a shape-changing villain for a masked vigilante character I'd created. Looking at this walking tar pit now, it looks kind of like Clayface if he was running around with the Venom symbiote.

It may not have been my most creative or original work, but Tarr was sure fun to draw; I was glad to find that he still is. Click for a larger view:




... also, it seems like I should have reached 100 Posts quite some time ago. Fingers are crossed that 200 will come a lot quicker.

"You've always had the power..."

... to use Photoshop to make goofy animated GIFs, apparently. I've always wanted to make the silly things, but never knew that I could use programs I ALREADY HAD to do it.

Plus a brief tutorial I apparently downloaded two years ago.

Sigh.

Today on Comics Alliance I found a fun article showcasing an artist who draws some pretty wicked Hero Dance Parties, and I was inspired to try some really simple animatin'. Here is the result (thank you to Jesse Lonergan, whose fantastic art I "borrowed" for this):





This is a first effort, and it ain't great. It syncs up pretty well to "I'd Do Anything For Love," though. It would seem all things are better with Meat Loaf.

... and now, IN COLOR.

Finally got around to coloring this, after doing a couple quick commission sketches. I've been trying a slightly different method for coloring in Photoshop and it's been taking me some time to get used to; I think I'm liking the results now.

Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Friend or Foe?

This is a character design I've been kicking around (mentally and in the sketch book) for a while now; wanted to try to get a nicely inked & colored version done to see how he looks. For now, the colors will apparently have to wait. Ideally I'd like him to be a main character in another comic series I want to experiment with. My hope was that he would have a morally ambiguous look to him... not as overtly GOOD or EVIL as some of the characters I draw.

(... those things on his face looking like tiny smiles may be hurting that or helping it, depending on where I go with the character...)

As always, click for a better look:

Not "So Bad It's Good..." Just Bad. But Good.

I was listening to The Geekbox yesterday on my drive back home from San Diego, and (as is often the case) there were some interesting discussions about geek culture and other nerdy things. It was an older episode, so the guys were talking about Tron: Legacy. One of the podcasters (is that a word? What is the term for that?) basically came on and dropped a few "colorful metaphors" about how terrible he thought this flick was. He then proceeded to go on for a good deal of the session talking about all the things he liked about it. I thought that was pretty interesting: He HATED this movie, yet had a long list of enjoyable moments from it.

Certainly this isn't a new concept, but I've been thinking more and more lately about movies that are clearly not very good, yet are still a heckuva lot of fun. I think sometimes folks get so into picking apart a film and finding its flaws (or having a bad movie shove those flaws directly into their SOULS) that sometimes the question "yeah, but am I having fun?" never comes up. The film is poorly made, and thus TERRIBAD.

This idea was bouncing around in my brain, so I thought I'd ramble about it for a bit and see if any discussion popped up about it. Also, I wanted an excuse to post this awesome essay about the 1980 Popeye live-action film. I think that author details this idea better than I ever could.

... I still really liked Tron, too. Cheezy as it was.

Yet Another "New Era" For Brand X Creations

So a new year is here, and (like so many folks) I figured I'd take stock of things and make some BIG PLANS for the new year. First up: What to do with Brand X Creations?

The website that hosted my comics, an expense I could no longer justify, is now gone... which is why Brand X Creations now links to this very blog. Someday I may return to a site specifically for my comics... but for now, the plan is to focus on updating HERE. We'll see how it goes.

No new sketches to post today... just the hope that this Statement of Intent will motivate me to get back to the drawing table in the coming weeks. We shall see...