Fresh Ink. Fresh Perspective.

So... you might have noticed that today Heretik Studios has a very different facade on it.

Indeed.

I got so sick of visitors being bombarded with that plethora of shit-and-mustard colored goodness that is my old homepage, that I decided to craft a quick facelift for the opening page. It also gave me yet another excuse to rock the Wacom tablet, in tandem with the Mac. Bliss.

I must say, that the two tools are absolute bliss. They were made for each other. I've never had such fun creating digital work before. I cannot wait to hit Gun full throttle with these bad boys. Woot.

The funky new homepage features none other than Alexandra of Gun fame (or lack thereof, lol) doing her best impression of a courtesan in training. Yes I defiled one of my characters to make the site seem sexier. So fucking what? It's my character and I can do whatever I want with her or any of the other ones, OK?

Besides, it was a blast to create. Hope you enjoy the fresh ink. :)

I'm off to sleep, then work, then NY for a 3-day weekend.

See ya when I see ya. Addio.

- Fred

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

Gun Blogcast #2 - "Fan Service"

Hola,

Bienvenido al segundo Blogcast de Gun the Animated Series.

OK enough of that. Today I'm giving you an inside look at the process of crafting a small but scintillating shot. Or actually titillating would be a better word. Yes.

I explain here the steps that I took in creating a small part of an animated sequence involving Alex (again). In it, I show the various techniques I employed in animating a shot of Alex closing up her stealth suit as she puts it on in the final scene. She was naked before, but now her clothes are on, and we get to see how that happens. I talk about my use of varying layers in the creation of the shot, and the additions I had to make based on the needs of the storyboards I created. I also talk briefly about my use of graphic symbols and provide a little insight into the direction in which I tend to approach my animation.

Plus we get to stare at boobies for ten minutes. (somewhere, a man is smiling right now... no, not me. Pervert.)

This was a fun blogcast to create, simply because this time I wasn't completely underwhelmed by my work, unlike with my running water sequence (see blogcast #1). Also, I'm running a bunch of other programs at the same time, as evidenced by my buddy Matt popping up on my MSN Messenger, which made me laugh in retrospect. I also noticed that I tend to suck my teeth a lot when I have no idea what to say next. It's an unconscious habit, so you're just gonna have to deal with it and learn to laugh at it. One of my many quirks.

Anyways, I also decided to make this one a little more presentable (and probably will do so with all future blogcasts as well) by providing titles and some sweet, mellow background music by Tortoise, which I mixed myself (poorly). The song is called Djed and if you don't know Tortoise, I'd suggest you go get to know them, cuz they're great, really relaxing, chilled out music.


So pop some corn, or corn some beef, or beef some... nevermind. Just watch and enjoy.

Also today is Artboy's birthday, so happy birthday to him (again).

Peace and Hair Grease.

Gun Blogcast 2 - Fan Service