Not much to talk about, I’m trying to get into the habit of posting at least one sketch a day. This is kinda cheating because this is about three months old, but this is the sketch that convinced a lot of people at HeroesCon to pay for sketches like it, so I figured it’d be worth it to show off.
I’ve been dabbling in the site’s backend between classes and working on art outside of school and work. Things are going tremendously well. I’ve even got two commissions that I’m working on that will see the light of day soon enough.
crews.
I meant to post immediately after the con or yesterday, but the instant I came home, I was thrust straight back into my hectic routine.
Here’s the short version of my HeroesCon 2009 experience:
But now, it’s on to business!
The site is going to get revamped on the backend. I’m going to lose the CUSP webcomic updating software in favor of Comicpress, and lose Movable Type altogether in favor of Wordpress. It’s just an easier utility to maintain and work on.
This may take about a week, but I am working on some other things at the same time.
In the meantime, here’s a sketch I did at the con:
argo. (mtc)
It’s been roughly three months since I last posted on the website. I figure: I’m paying for the motherfucker, might as well utilize it. So here we are… me. And like three of you who still check this site. I wish there were three of you.
Those of you ghosts who do follow my bits and pieces of art and life news will take clever note that my planned 100 Heroes marker sketch deal fell through TRIUMPHANTLY! Jesus, I need to get on goddamn track with disciplining myself for those things. Especially for yet another relaunch of the comic.
Yeah, another relaunch. Two updates last September aren’t going to measure up, especially if I’m trying for a scholarship with an incomplete portfolio when I try to get into SCAD for my major studies this fall. I have a lot of work ahead of me. I’m working on ideas for the comic, it’s format, it’s style. I think if I’m going to be serious about it, I just need to go ahead and post some pages and see what works versus what doesn’t. That’s going to be the make or break on this project of mine.
Meanwhile! I’ve got a con, a real, bona fide comic convention, HeroesCon. I’ve got a table at HeroesCon on June 19-21 up in Charlotte, North Carolina. I don’t have my table number yet, but I’m sure to get it soon, seeing as the con is just a hair over a month away. It’s one of my favorite cons each year and this is my first time attending as an artist.
I wanna have at least 15 new items done by the con gets here, at the very least penciled and inked, but colors would be even better. I’m gonna post them all before I go up to Charlotte. Here’s a quick run-down of whats on deck:
– Wolverine (looking fucked up and pissed, like he’s been thrown through an airplane engine)
– Master Chief (Halo)
– Deadpool (Namely, the real Deadpool, not that fucking joke that was in the Wolverine Origins movie)
– The no/fly/zone trio
– A new version of a Batman/Hellboy thing I’ve got
– Sonic the Hedgehog
– Team pic: Classic Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Wasp, Ant-Man)
– Team pic: JLA (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Zatanna)
– Team pic: X-Men (Cyclops, Storm… y’know what, you get the idea)
– And a couple others…
I’m thinking I may switch out the of the site from Movable Type to the far easier to maintain WordPress. The issue of course is when I’m going to do this since my track record for getting right on such things is fucking awesome.
I’ve got lots of work ahead of me, in addition to the massive amount of writing I’ve got on my plate thanks to my summer classes.
Speaking of which, last semester went swimmingly, and I should be done with FCCJ and Jacksonville by the end of the year. God willing, I’ll be transferring to SCAD by next spring and be well on my way to an animation or visual effects bachelor’s degree. I’m not sure yet, but I think I’ll minor in a literature degree as well.
Well, I’ve got homework to do, kids. Don’t worry, I’ll post another blog in well under three months from now. No need to hold your breath.
crews.
So, I’m all moved out of the ABC house and now am residing in the Walker Home for Displaced Back Porch Buddies. I regret losing out on a good thing with living with Zac and Jackie, but I know we’ll remain good friends for a long time. Hell, it’s gotta mean something when they asked me to be the best man at their wedding.
There’s still work to be done in my room as far as space management goes. I’ve gotta do some work involving building bookshelves along the top of the room. The day I put that shit up is gonna suck, I just know it. But afterward, I’ll be happy to have all of my books out and easy to get to. Plus, the bookshelves will give me a great opportunity on space for my figures and statues. I’ve just gotta live like a koi in a goldfish bowl for a while.
I’m also working on building a new light box desktop for my drafting table. Basically, it’ll make the entire surface of the desk into a giant light box. It’s gonna be a little expensive, but totally worth it in the long run. I’m also working on a bunch of stuff that I’m gonna have out for show and sale at MegaCon down in Orlando at the end of February. I can’t fucking wait.
Until next time, kids.
argo. (mtc)
Y’know, if someone had told me that this was how 2008 was going to turn out for me, I’d have fucking freaked out. Since January of this year I have…
And here’s the thing I’ve always wanted to see and never imagined it’d take place in my lifetime let alone on this very oddball year I’ve had:
Unfortunately, that last one actually happened to my friend Michele. She and her boyfriend were about to leave when her Elantra wagon wouldn’t start, and then there was an eerie glow and smoke flavored smell coming from her center console. Flames began emanating from out of the console and quickly spread about the cabin. Literally, within minutes, her car was blazing in it’s parking spot in front of her apartment building. Her tires exploded, the interior scorched away, and most of the back half of the car melted away.
Luckily, none of her expensive belongings were in the car and no one was hurt. I just wish I had a better camera on me at the time than the shitty lens on my phone because this fire was fucking sweet.
The best part is that there’s still a few more months to go in the year. Maybe, I’ll bear witness to my store being hit by a fucking comet and watch God wipe its existence from this earth. Maybe, while on my way down to Tampa, a bus full of nuns and orphans will crash into a chicken truck and explode. I admit, I’m a bit of a pyro, and even though it was my friend’s car, and I feel terrible that it was hers and not someone else’s, I need to admit the fact that what I witnessed last night was one f the coolest and scariest things I may never get to see save random chance again.
Sorry, Michele. And I’m looking forward to your new Christmas present from your car insurance company. Just don’t go allowing that one to spontaneously combust and you’ll be just fine.
argo. (mtc)
I know it’s been a little while since I’ve blogged anything. Shit, it’s been a while since I’ve really done anything, period. Ever since the whole business with my brothers dog, I guess I just dropped down into a really freakish depression. Not long after we had Pellet put down, I turned 23 and that’s when shit started going downhill. Mostly, the depression revolved around nightmares centering on death, the deaths of those close to me as well as my own. Freaky, right? See, the dog was pretty far along
with her tumors on her body, and along with everything else, I was in the room with my mom when they put the dog down. Before that, I had never been there when a living being passed on, but that singular event suddenly gave me the terrifying knowledge that I am, indeed, not invincible and everyone’s time is limited. From there, I just became, for the lack of a better word, numb. I didn’t want to work, draw, or really do anything other than sit around and play video games between my zombie droning about at
work and school.
If there is anything about the situation that I can come away with that I’m thankful for, it’d have to be a definitive lock on what I want to do with my life. After years of uncertainty, it took the death of my brother’s dog to really snap me into a solid idea of where I want this life of mine to lead. Short term and long term. Ideally, a degree in animation and visual effects and going on to work in the video game or film industry for the short term, and I’d like to go for a PhD in literature and become
a college professor. I’d say that’s a good plan, right? Pretty fucking far from working at a goddamn Best Buy, huh? Suck on that, Will!
Back to the short term, I’m working on getting my ass on Artist’s Alley at MegaCon. I’m well into layouts on some new prints and I want to make a good impression at this con. I plan making more con appearances and I do hope this will spearhead a nice big move into doing so. Concordantly, the updates to the comic need to continue as well. I’m angry that I haven’t done any comics since I went to AWA, but you have to admit that shit I went through after the dog was quite the mind fuck.
==
I’m sitting here in the den of my aunt and uncle’s huge house in Atlanta, happily away from Jacksonville and my job at Best Buy. Somehow I’ve lucked out and got out of working on Black Friday at Best Buy. It’s so fucking awesome that I could get away from Jacksonville and spend some time with members of my family that I don’t normally get to see. My sister came with her family up here and, my dear sweet lord, I don’t know how they could control their daughter. She’s already fallen into the fucking pool, and with
the temperature up here at the low 50s, falling face first into a pool when the pool heater isn’t working, isn’t a good goddamn idea.
I have to go back Saturday because I’m scheduled Sunday morning. I’d love to stay longer, but a few more days with my family can be happily sacrificed in lieu of needing to search for a fucking job. Especially now. I may hate my job, but at least I recognize that I need to keep that fucking time waster until I’m ready to move into the next phase of my education.
All in all, I’m glad I got out and lived outside of my usual shell. It’s refreshing. I hope everyone else has a great Thanksgiving.
argo. (mtc)
I’d been so busy lately with churning out comics and artwork, going to two different cons, and school that I’d totally forgotten to update the old blog. It seems perfectly reasonable that I should do so today of all days, seeing as I turn the big 2-3 today.
I remember getting super stoked about birthdays, but I think that this year is the first year that I really haven’t put that much excitement into it. 21, sure. I had my first alcoholic beverage on my 21st birthday. 22 was enjoyable, though I don’t really remember what I did, but I do remember that I looked forward to it. I think that the whole living in poverty and back in school thing coupled with the fact that I;m back where I was two years ago and should’ve been further along. I wasted two years thinking that Best Buy was the real thing for me only to realize that I was fooling myself. I had a free ride before, now everything pertaining to my future falls on my unsure shoulders.
Fuck. The birthday only solidifies my youth slowly slipping away and being a dreaded adult draws ever closer.
I just wanna be a toys r us kid.
==
As I said, the comic is updating now. You should check it out, tell your friends, send me cash, throw hotel room keys at my feet, whatever. I don’t tell you what to do to the people making your life more interesting, just so long as cash or (hetero) sex is involved.
later, you fuckin rascals.
argo. (mtc)
I posted some pictures already on my MySpace page of some of the shit that took place at DragonCon. Once again, Dragon did not disappoint.
The wrestling did, though, but putting a hole in the wall with a chair tends to make con organizers rethink inviting them back again. Maybe, if they replace the piss-poor wrestling assholes with someone else, it’ll be some small time assholes with maybe, I don’t know, talent? And what the fuck does it take to use some goddamn props for these assholes? The best they can do is a box of Lucky Charms and a table that falls apart before they can pile someone through it? I am not impressed. Next year, I’m taking nerf bats, baking pans, and fucking cheese-graters.
Aside from that, and the fact that we weren’t able to get a room at the hotels where the con was held, forcing us to drive from a hotel by Turner Field to the con every morning through Atlanta freeway traffic. Always fun.
==
Two pages for no/fly/zone are penciled and one more inked. I want maybe five in all online before I go to AWA. AWA is an interesting con because I can no longer say that I’m really an avid anime watcher or manga reader. I just don’t anymore. Maybe I grew out of it? I still watch and read some stuff sometimes, but not to the level that I see some people go to when I’m there.
Nevertheless, I’ve been going to AWA since high school, and tradition is hard to break. I don’t get to see my pal Angel that often, so an excuse to go see her and check out some cool art is always a good reason for attending a con.
==
School’s well underway this semester. I’ve got three classes this time, and then with its successful completion, I’ll be free to take however many classes I wish. I expect to get my AA by the end of next year, if not sooner. After that, it’s all about moving on to an art school.
My friend Angel who’s pretty far along at SCAD tells me that, if I’m to go there, Visual Effects would be the prime major to go for, mixing art and programming and allowing an easier insertion into visual effects houses in either the video games or film industries. I am thoroughly intrigued. Gives me something to work toward.
stay dry in the storm season, kids.
argo. (mtc)
My skin has taken on the red characteristic of a lobster, and accompanying the change in hue, is a delightful, scratch that, unhindered burning sensation that can be described as painful among other things.
Fuckin’ ow.
Tuesday, my dad, my nephew, and I went out all day on a deep sea fishing boat… I don’t know why I went in particular because I could think of a million more entertaining things to me than fucking fishing. I just don’t draw any entertainment from dropping a hook, baiting some dumbass fish, and then bringing it on board for a photo op. I build computers, I read, write, and draw comics, fishing doesn’t rank up there in interesting shit to me. Nevertheless, I did enjoy hanging out with Dad and Jacob.
==
Calling my boss out on some bullshit has had some adverse effects on my status at work. The inventory manager at work has this new policy on working truck nights. His policy states that if you are going to work the trucks, you need to stay until the final box is put up on the shelf, even if it means you have to stay until god knows when in the morning. If you can’t stay until then, if you have to leave early, or say at your scheduled off time, you can’t work trucks.
This policy poses a problem for a couple of guys, including myself. I have school Monday through Thursday, a couple of the other guys have full-time jobs during the weeks, which makes staying until God knows when in the morning on the Wednesday night trucks isn’t really an option. We have other things to do with the daylight hours. Best Buy is not what pays the bills for those of us who are, apparently, unable to conform to Rick’s standards.
The fucked up part is that this isn’t the only item pf concern that lists Rick in the section that labels certain people as batshit fucking loco. He’s had this inventory setup throughout the store that had, until recently when someone higher up than he is told him to change it, made the store look like fucking Wal-Mart. THe nice thing about Wal-Mart is that there’s lots of room for the giant bulk-stacks of product in the store so that you may see the eyesore, but you can easily move around it, even when it’s crowded. Not so at Best Buy. There’s hardly any room to maneuver with a shopping cat, much less pallets of new product that needs to go out on truck night. But that stock plan is over, however, and when it changed, he didn’t so much as fix all the problems, he just swapped out one problem for another, taking every single item of merchandise sold in appliances (i.e. refrigerators) out to the floor where there’s no goddamn room for them. When the plan changed to this, I called Rick out on it telling him that come Thanksgiving time, for holiday prep and Black Friday, he’s gonna fuck himself for space. And he was overwhelmed by the truth of my words… so much so that he rejected all of my time-off requests and gave me 9 hours for this upcoming week, five hours on Sunday, and another 4 on Saturday.
Here’s the part where I just dive into a little bit of venting. Anger is my forte, so here goes. I’ll start off with a stark “What the fuck?” and proceed from there.
What the fuck!? Doesn’t this seem a little juvenile to you? I know some of you who read this who know me know that sometimes I may not have a very genteel way of telling someone they’ve got shit for brains, but believe me when I say that I handled telling him how I felt about his plan with the utmost discretion and care. I don’t think Rick gave a shit. But it’s been trending this way for a while now. First Will comes in and he’s a total asshole, but at least he had the balls to be an asshole to your face and actually listened maybe 20% of the time. But Rick’s passive aggressive horseshit is getting pretty tiring. Taking me off the trucks is fine, I’m not gonna lose sleep over it, even though I know I’ll probably be back on that truck schedule within three weeks. But rejecting my time-off requests, even the ones for the cons I go to every year when time and time again I take it off without any problems.
I don’t want to quit, especially with the job environment being what it is right now. But the environment being what it is at work, quitting doesn’t seem like too bad of an idea. Rick has driven off over half of the inventory team that was in place when he came back there and has routinely given hours to his little Nazi slave who works day shifts, overpays his crackhead inventory supervisor who doesn’t really do much more than walk around the store, clapping his hands, and talks crazy all day. Meanwhile, the hard working guys, like Steve, the Inventory Senior, Chris, Mike, and some others get their asses ridden all day and not shit to show for it. I don’t think morale could get any lower in this goddamn store.
Fuck it. This story isn’t over yet. However this plays out, whether it be for good or ill… good times.
Until next time, kids.
argo. (mtc)
