Storybook Project... Take 2!?

So after seeing "Where the Wild Things Are" this past Monday (I really liked it by the way) I've been once again inspired to work on my storybook project from last year. Though I loved where the project was going, the images were a bit sloppy and generic (in my opinion) and the way everything unfolded deserved to be fine-tuned a bit. Anyway, it's been on my mind so today during painting class and drawing class I did a shit-ton of doodles, basically redesigning the main creatures. I liked all of their basic shapes (besides snake, which looked terrible imo), but the original impression I had of them was lost in the execution of the assignment. So, I tried my best to hold on to what I wanted them to be and then just experimented with different looks.

Bat was first. I always saw him as a more sleek creature then I originally designed him. I also figured he would be pretty shy, and would use his multiple wings to hide behind. I still wanted big ears though, and I wanted the mouth to still be huge when he actually opens it. (Think of those anime cats that have cute small faces, but when they yawn or whatever their mouth gets REALLY BIG! Like that.) I'm also thinking of changing it to a she... hmm.

Dog was second. I actually liked Dog's design a lot, but kind of wanted to incorporate a little bit of turtle onto him. I'm not sure why, I thought it'd make him even cuter or something. :) (Plus, people seemed to really like the first design so I didn't want to change it that much!) Anyway, now he'll have a spiky shell-butt for his lower body, think like a Map Turtle: http://www.redorbit.com/modules/reflib/article_images/11_6a7a9731fef1787b7556bf9fe3b301dc.jpg

I did a fair amount of work on Tiger (who might now be named Cat) but I couldn't quite get expression down I was trying to go for. The biggest thing about Tiger (Cat?) is that he has fingers that are constantly touching things, sort of pressing in to himself and twirling about themselves. That plus a lanky look was hard to pull off, but maybe I'll have more luck in a few days.

I also wrote a lot of stuff about what I find interesting in my own artwork, just so that I could understand why I like to draw I guess! I want to post that here too, but it'd make this blog too long so I'll just slap it up in a day or two instead. Otherwise, enjoy, and lemme know if you have any suggestions of your own.

Cockroaches. Yes, cockroaches.

So, you know that time in your life when you want to breed little insects as food? You know, like crickets? But, as you research what you have to do to make your own colony, you realize they're smelly, loud, and can escape their cage like no tomorrow? So then you go searching, trying to find if there is any alternative to crickets. Something meaty, not really tough, you know, something docile that won't do anything but sleep and eat and make babies?

Well, I've found it. Cockroaches. Tropical cockroaches. And after a month of troubles with ordering them (turns out it was just a simple misunderstanding), they've arrived. *deep breath*

THEY'RE CUUUUUTTTEEEE!!!

So the adults get about an inch to an inch and a fourth long; that's a picture of me holding a female while it just chills out on my hands. They remind me a lot of big fat ants to be honest; their head (which you can only see if you look underneath them) looks exactly like an ant head, although they lack any sort of little mandibles or anything. To be honest I don't know how they survive so well in the wild. They can't really climb, they can't bite, and they're afraid of pretty much everything including sunlight and slight movements. They also can't tolerate cold temperatures and if it gets below 70 degrees they refuse to make babies, so essentially if one gets loose it'll just scavenge around for a while and then die.

The males look a lot different then the females and they're not quite as fat; as you can see they have some big wings but no worries, they can't fly. In all truthfulness they are pretty much foolproof in terms of raising them, just keep them warm and give them food and they'll poop out babies with no trouble at all.

I hear that if you keep the conditions right they'll make more babies then you'll know what to do with, so maybe I can use that as an excuse to get another pet... *cough* beardeddragon *cough*

Oh gees, otherwise, a lot has been going on. School has been kicking my ass; I have a few cool art projects I want to get uploaded to DA though as a result so that should be popping up soon. I do have a few rough previews of what I have waiting, most of it is still in the works but here are a few crappy phone pictures anyway:

This guy is something I've been working on between painting projects; sometimes I think the assignments are retarded so to vent my frustration I work on this since I actually like it. Very controlled, pretty normal; for some reason a girl in my class really likes it, heh.

Also unfinished, and I'm not sure what I think about this guy yet. I'm not going to lie, it's like 90% taken from that flying machine monster in the movie "9." That bad guy made the movie worth seeing in my opinion... but you all know me and flying critters.

This one is actually complete, just not properly scanned or anything. Very different then my normal stuff, and I did a ton of color layering. I tried to do that thing where you slap on a lot of different colors and have the end result actually look cool, and I personally think it worked out. The picture obviously does not do it justice, but hopefully my final DA scan will be closer to what it actually looks like.

I have more stuff I could say, and I could go on another thought rant no problem, but I'll save that and maybe update again next week sometime. For now, I'm gunna go play with my buggies!

Bearded Dragons and Normality

So, over the past month or so I've been doing a lot of research on different types of pets. Once I started learning about all the people who keep salamanders, I've been looking into different types of amphibians and reptiles just for fun. But, there is one type of reptile I keep coming back to... the bearded dragon. They're these desert lizards from Australia, really docile, easy to breed, and get to about 1 1/2 - 2 feet long. So, naturally, now I really want one... and absolutely can't afford one. Damn! They just eat too much and need a fairly large cage, and the animal itself (especially the color morphs) is not cheap. If I did get one it'd probably be a black and red male if possible. Man, if only I had unlimited money... oh well. :)

This little guy is available right now, and exactly the color I want... wow, I wish I could afford one!

In other news, I've been working a lot on t-shirt designs lately as I'm sure some of you have noticed. I've been motivated to try to get my work out there and maybe get a few dollars for it in the meantime. The problem is making a design that people would want to wear. O.O I'm not the best at anticipating what people like, but I'm gunna keep trying. I figure, eventually one of my ideas has to get through, right? I guess some people might think that mentality is dumb (I'm not really doing the "normal" thing, a.k.a. getting a job, but instead am making t-shirt designs to get money) but I enjoy it a lot so I don't mind. :)

Which kinda brings me to another thing I've been thinking about lately. "The normal thing." We all judge people according to what we think is normal. For example, when you hear about a 40 year old guy who is still living at home, or a person who drops out of high school or doesn't want to attend college, or maybe someone who has some crazy idea, like they're going to write music and be famous someday. That is when "the normal thing" rears its ugly head. I mean, lets be honest, all of us look down on people who aren't "normal" every once in a while. It's largely subconscious I think. You see it on TV a lot, on the internet ALL the time (trolls love this), and even when we're interacting with each other face-to-face. Sometimes, it's warranted. I mean, a 50 year old drug addict who lives on the street? That really is pretty gross and not normal or healthy.

But what about the people who are actually going for something that hasn't been done before? Something that isn't normal precisely because it is beyond normal, because it's new, it's exciting, it's different. Sometimes those new and different things seem weird. They aren't always amazing right off the bat, and they often go down in quality before they go up. And how do we as people treat those ideas? Basically, like shit. "Oh, you're trying to do what? That's not normal. That's weird. You're stupid, why aren't you doing something that's normal? Why don't you get a real job? Why don't you get a girlfriend? Give up your stupid dream, it's worthless." We aren't that harsh about it, but we all feel it. That awkward twisting in the gut, the sudden rush of anger or discomfort, the desire to say something lashing or demeaning for reasons we don't really understand. Why to people do that? Why do they feel the need to tell other people what they should be doing? Why do we all need to stick to what has been done before? What's wrong with a little bit of difference? A little bit of something new? And most of all, why do people even care what someone else is doing with their life? At some point you just have to give someone the authority to live how they want to live, for good or bad.

I personally am terrible at all this. But it doesn't stop me from thinking about it and being effected by it. (You're an art major? Have fun living in a box for the rest of your life. Oh, you want to do what? Write a book? Make shirt designs? And how many people are successful at that? That's right, no one you can think of. Why don't you go to college for a real reason, like being a nurse? Or maybe, I don't know, getting a job or something?) And I'm not even trying to do anything super weird or exciting! The world is a very strange place sometimes.

Well, that's about all I have for now. Thanks for reading guys. :)

Worm Hunting

Sometimes, you just gotta go do something ridiculous. It might have a purpose, maybe not, but if one day you wake up, look outside, and decide you want to gather up a large quantity of worms, well, this is the blog post for you.

First of all, go barefoot. Why? Because everyone needs an excuse to go romping around in the mud, and worm hunting is one of those reasons.

Second of all, go after a rainfall. Why? Well, apparently worms come crawling out of the ground after a rain. I've never really seen it myself, but you might get lucky. And hey, you need after-rain mud to squish inbetween your toes, right?

Now, if you seriously want to go digging for these crawly critters (maybe for fish bait, maybe for animal food, maybe just for fun) digging around in the ground is a sure-fire solution. Just as long as you have some dirt you're sure to find some worms as well, assuming you dig around long enough. But the problem is, you don't get very many little creepy crawlies this way, and most of them aren't really big either. So, how can you improve your worm hunting skills? Well look for fallen branches and logs, silly!

In all seriousness, any object that has been plastered onto the ground (you can tell because the bottom bits will be sunk into the dirt a little) is what you're looking for. Warm up those muscles and push whatever you find aside, and sure enough you'll see tons of worms nestled underneath! Other critters, such as centipedes, slugs, and ants are also common, but whether or not you want to collect those too is purely optional.

Now this is when you have to be fast. The little worms aren't all that worried about what you just did, but the big fat ones (like nightcrawlers) get pretty scared pretty fast. Though you'd assume that the smaller worms would be the faster worms, this unfortunately is not the case. So if you're hunting for large prey rather then mere numbers, you have to be quick. Having a garden scoop is handy here; though worms quickly slide down into the dirt if you're careful you can dig them out before they crawl too far out of sight. Inevitably, you're going to lose some of them. But, how fun would this hunting experience be if you caught everything you were searching for?

And, well, that's all there is to it! Worm hunting might not be the msot exciting of sports, but lack of complexity is not directly proportional to lack of fun. However, an enjoyment of slimy things definitely helps.

Pictures are not related, but definitely hilarious. (Thanks to my dad for finding this in the first place.)

Dungeons and Dragons Strikes Again

You know, D&D is one of those nerdy things that never seems to get anywhere, but never really goes away either. It's different, fun, and always hilarious, but in terms of actual plot and normal RPG style progression, nothing really happens. You kill some baddies, sometimes you die, every session comes with a slew of witty jokes, bathroom humor, and awkward roleplay. And, nearly every campaign has a fight that ends in a truely awesome way. But, eventually, people get busy or lose interest or something goes wrong, and the campaign drops off at a strange spot and

never is picked up again. However, sure enough, a month or two or three later someone says "HAY GUYS, lets play D&D, I got some suh-weet ideas!" and the process starts all over again.

It occurs to me that there are a few things that have taken on this "on-off" cycle throughout the years. Starcraft, obviously the best game ever (in my opinion), is one that always seems to make a comeback and delivers fun times. Diablo 2 appears now and again, and usually we'll all play halfway through Nightmare or a little bit into Hell before we realize how much of a pain in the ass the game is and move on. Magic has swelled and receeded, never really dissapearing completely but always sort of in the background; the game that fills up the boring times between other events. And, of course, World of Warcraft, a game that sticks around primarily because it is so damn addictive. There are other things too, like Smash Bros and nightly walks and other (less nerdy) things that come and go as well.

It makes me wonder what it is about these activities that makes them cycle in and out. They are all extremely fun, but I suppose that without variety even the most refreshing of activities can quickly become stale. So you need to boot them out and then bring them back in order to keep getting enjoyment out of them. I guess this is a pretty obvious conclusion... but it was on my mind. I think there would be a lot more activities that would take on this nature if people were able to participate in them. Especially "kid things" if you know what I mean, like playing at a park or who knows what. (Not that you can't play at a park now, but people would look at you pretty wierd if you did.)

You know, if adults were allowed to play in playgrounds, I think there would be a lot less fat people in the world. And why can't they? I mean, playgrounds are fun, and healthy! But think about it, if you saw some 30 year old man crawling around on top of the monkey bars (yes, you're not supposed to be on top, but everyone did it!) it would probably wierd you out a bit. There are a lot of things in the world that are like that. I mean, I'd love to go and play pretend out in the woods with some toys like I did as a kid. But it's just... not acceptable I guess. And because of that I'd feel wierd doing it too. I really think if there wasn't such a stigma attached to

adulthood, where you "need to grow up" and "stop doing kid things" people would be a lot healthier in general. They could just go play pretend and enjoy simple things sometimes, and you know, that makes people feel good. Sometimes you just have to go play pretend, or climb on top of the monkey bars.

Uuuh, wow. This post got out of hand.

Anyway, I've had the next panel of Adventures in D&D nearly finished for a few months now, so I should probably get on that and continue with it. It really was a great fight, and extremely hilarious at the time, so I should finish what I started! Here is a teaser in the meantime:

This time the Ent is the one freaking out....

The main reason why I should finish this strip is to make way for future strips. D&D always has funny moments just begging to be illustrated, you know? :)

10 things about ND that are different than MN

1.) "Can I have a sack?"

I'm not really sure where this came from, but at least fifty percent of the people who come into my work a call bags "sacks." It is more common among older folk then younger, and definitely more common among people from other states like Texas and Montana. I just wonder where the name came from, because "bag" seems to make so much more sense to me then "sack." Oh well!

2.) Fat Chicks

This is probably more of an area thing then a problem with all of North Dakota, but the percent of fat chicks is much larger here then it is in Minnesota. (Male obesity rates seem to be about the same.) I'd say about nine out of every ten women are very large, which seems wierd because most of the people around here are involved in farming and oil working. Perhaps oil workers make so much that their wives can just sit at home and get fat? I'm not even trying to be mean here, it's just true!

3.) Box Burning

In Minnesota, most cardboard boxes are unrecycleable or else they need to got through an entirely different system in order to be re-used. In North Dakota? Just burn those sons-of-bitches! I guess in Minnesota it is illegal to burn boxes, which is absurd (in my opinion) because they burn clean and stores get so many of them, and it's not like they're hard to make. Oh well!

4.) Gun Laws

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the gun laws in Minnesota, but when transporting a firearm in a car you must have it unloaded and in a gun case. North Dakota is almost completely opposite. If you have your guns cased, they have to be in a place in the car that is easily visible. And, it is not illegal to have them uncased and loaded. Shooting prairie dogs out of the window of your car is probably one of the most hilarious things I've done while I've been up here, and in Minnesota it would be completely impossible.

5.) Cowboys

I'm going to be competely honest here; I really didn't think cowboys existed anymore. Not in terms of the profession, because there is obviously enough free-range cows around to warrent the existance of cowboys. I'm talking the dress style. Tall leather boots, the signature cowboy hat, plaid shirts nestled underneath a stylish, fringed leather jacket? Oh how wrong I was. On a side note, however, it is a pretty attractive style on skinny young guys, so I suppose the fact that it still exists isn't really a bad thing. :)

6.) White Trucks

Is white a very interesting car color to you? I didn't think so! But I guess in North Dakota it is. Again, this could be just a regional difference, but the amount of white trucks in this place compared to other colored trucks is at least 2:1. Why are there so many!? I really have no idea. One day I held a count of how many white trucks I saw while going about my normal business, and I made it well up into the forties. I just don't get it!

7.) Montana Tax

"Uhm, yeah, I'm from Montana but I'm in North Dakota so can I just skip your tax and have mine instead?" Yeah, I know it sounds dumb, enough that when someone asked for it for the first time I just laughed at him. (Not a very good idea for a cashier to do, and he wasn't very happy about it.) But, apparently, in North Dakota this is actually possible! If you're from Montana and you buy over $50 of anything, you can take off the North Dakota tax and have Montana tax instead. What the hell? Too bad I'm from Minnesota I guess....

8.) "Sorry, you're not old enough to look at booze."

In North Dakota, liquor stores tend to be in places that you don't really expect them to be. Like, latched on the side of a Wal-mart, or nestled in the back of a convenience store. But, what's even more surprising is that you can't enter one unless you're 21. Period. I found this out the hard way, by following my dad into one after a day of shopping. Once I told the lady at the counter my age she gave me a huge buggy-eyed stare and pointed towards the door, complete with incoherent babbling that I didn't quite understand. What I want to know is why? "Oh no, I've been in a beer store! I'M GOING TO DRINK AND HAVE LOTS OF SEX NOW!" It's just wierd, I guess this is a law I don't quite understand.

9.) 24-Hour Stores

You know those stores that are open 24/7, like Walmart or Cub Foods? In North Dakota there is a law that says that every 24-hour store must be closed for at least 8 hours a week. This kind of defeats the purpose of the 24 hour label wouldn't you say? At least they close Sunday mornings most of the time. Who would want to go to Walmart that early in the morning anyway?

10.) Drive-Through Subways

This is something I've never seen before until I came here. Maybe they exist in Minnesota, but if not, I wonder, why not!? Subways in North Dakota have a drive through option! It'd be a little more complicated then ordering a burger at Hardies, but also a lot more convenient for people on the go! I was pretty surprised when I found out about it myself, and my coworkers seemed pretty amused by my excitement. I suppose I'm just easily entertained or something. :)

Also, here is a WTF doodle that is not related to this post at all:

Aaand, me and Chad beat Diablo 2 last night. I took a screenshot as proof! Pretty cool huh? (My character was a summoning druid that attacked with a bow [hence the name PewPewDrood] and his was a concentrate barb that used a lot of warcries. Kind of a wierd combo but we ended up kicking ass.)

A Confession

So I have a confession to make. I've never been a huge fan of music. I like music, it's not something I dislike, but keeping up with it and learning about it and collecting it has never been something I've been interested in or have wanted to spend my time on. I also love silence. When I go for too long of a time with constant noise, I just get irritated! I need time where I can just listen to the normal sounds around me, devoid of music and TV and other inturruptions. I don't know why this is... I never made the choice to detatch myself from music and the music community. It's just an interest that never really developed within me, and continues to be low-key and uninterested.

Anyway, that said, I have a very interesting dilemma. As many of you know, the only thing I can multitask with (as far as I know) is drawing. I love drawing and painting in silence, or having a TV playing in the background, or talking with someone while I draw; it's like while my eyes are focused on creating my ears and mouth are free to focus on other things. While working on traditional peices I can sit for hours and hours just drawing and listening, whether there is silence around me or otherwise. However, when I'm on the computer this focus for some reason crumbles. I have such a strong desire to create digital work, but I just can't keep up the focus for it to happen. The internet distracts me, or my mind wanders to a thought so interesting that I break from my work; often times I can only draw for a mere 15 minutes before dropping it altogether. That is, unless...

You guessed it. Unless I'm listening to music.

There is this artist that goes by the internet name "Neon Dragon." She often does live streams of herself drawing in photoshop, complete with a musical track to suppliment her work. Her stuff is popular and decent but not fantastic; she created the common "How to Draw Dragons" artbook that I'm sure you guys have seen at Borders and Barnes and Noble. Anyway, whenever I find her streaming I often don't even watch her; instead after five minutes I really want to draw so I open up photoshop and get to work while her music streams in the background. Guess what happens? Well shit, I can't stop drawing! My mind is satisfied listening to her music while my eyes and hands are busy creating.

This leaves me in an interesting predicament. Do I go through the trouble of collecting a music library for my own artistic purposes when my actual interest in the process is low? Or do I just keep on doing what I'm doing? Hmm.

Anyway, this is a lot of text and no pictures. Here, have a dinosaur update: (Bigger image here: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y120/Rikkoshaye/Rex-Half-Color.jpg )

Not so sure about the collar, but I'm afraid people might be too daft to get the connection without it. Also not so sure on the tree coloring yet. Any input?