More Twitching. Less Scratching.

Hi folks. A small update here. Just a peek at the progress on the new piece. I've encountered some technical difficulties working through this, which have starkly reminded me of my vehement hatred for the Windows OS and all of its ridiculous neuroses. I love alot of things about it too, don't get me wrong. But damn was this evening frustrating or what. Like pulling teeth from a crocodile. Argh.

Anyway, the image below shows some of the playing around I've been doing with coloring. One thing I can definitely say for the Wacom pen, it allows alot of natural laydown from the pen to the screen. I went a tad color crazy on this young lady's hair, but I frankly don't give a shit. It is what it is, and I'm playing around with it in several ways.

When it's done, it will presumably be my last piece of 2008, so hopefully I can release it in time for the New Year celebrations. What little there is to celebrate... sorry, the cynical misanthrope in me was creeping up again.

Anyway, enjoy. Hopefully I can post another progress shot or two before year's end. Click the image to see the full size.

Bon soir. (I really have to stop ending my posts in foreign languages. It's not nearly as cool as it sounds.)

- Fred

Treasures and Lull.

Christmas came and went and I barely noticed. Between work and travel, I was able to procure gifts for precisely 2 people out of over 15 that I usually buy for each year. Not exactly happy about that. At least I'm back home for this week. NYC lounging and having time to breathe and actually spend more than 4 consecutive hours NOT stressing about something... It's uncanny, I know.

Nonetheless, my mom (who is awesome) blessed me with a sweet new Wacom tablet on Dec. 25th. I have been toying around with this thing ever since and it's pretty sweet. The first time I tried it out, I nearly creamed myself. I shit you not.

Despite having a house full of children ages 4 through 9-ish, and having zero time to dedicate to my creativity, plus having a rather shitty day in general, I was able to eke out a good chunk of graveyard shift time to give the Wacom a proper test drive. The result ...? Well so far, a working illustration of one of the characters from Gun, around which my creative life seems to revolve these days (apart from the occassional poem, that is). So far I've just done lines for her face and head. I'm expanding downward and then coloring and then doing background. I'll probably develop this into a full-fledged promo piece or something in a similar vein.


But that will be tomorrow. My black ass is tired. Enjoy a look at the work in progress by clicking the thumbnail.

Addio.

- Fred

Re-Discovery.

So last weekend in NYC was pretty interesting... apart from stressing myself beyond belief, yet again, I had a good time with the usual suspects and had far too many beers. However, I haven't jumped into this cab to share the details of my random journeys in my hometown. What I have come for, is to impart the sweet, sweet knowledge of my discoveries. Or actually rediscoveries.

I have finally... FINALLY managed to begin extracting some of my old, ancient and very priceless data from pre-2004. I'm talking about some of the most horrid creations that have never been released to the public. Well I finally have them at my disposal. Oh yes, there will be blood, ladies and gents. Cuz' frankly these ridiculously terrible old creations of mine will kill you.

I'm talking about some real old gems here people. For one, I found the first EVER flash animation I ever tried to produce. It is a godawful cartoon that really reflects just how stupid and ridiculous I was at the age of 18. It will embarrass me to no end to release it, and for that very reason I must. You will revel in it. Also accompanying it is another ridiculous and stupid animation that I made ages ago to poke fun at my buddy's obese and obnoxious ex-girlfriend, plus some shitty artwork that should be burned and shat upon.

Secondly, I found the first and only game I ever tried to create in Flash. This one actually went a bit further than I remembered. It too is terrible, but really interesting, as you can see little elements of Gun creeping into my subconscious, namely in the look of the main character. You'll see. Maybe one day I'll carry that one out to the end, but I sincerely doubt it. I love Gun too much to bother with anything else right now. Either way you'll get to see it.

Third and most important of all... I found the extended version of the OLD 2004 first run of Gun episode 1. It is baaaaad... so bad. I love it. It will be up soon for your viewing displeasure.

What all this amounts to is essentially the release of the following:

• New OLD art
• New OLD animations
• New OLD Gun!!!!
  

Trust me, after seeing the extended second scene, you'll really appreciate the fact that I lost this data ages ago and had to start from scratch with the current version. Wootalicious.

Prepare to be amazed, my dear friends. and yes, I do mean that in the worst way imaginable.

Te amo.

- Fred

Currently listening to: "Mirrored" by Battles