So here’s a critter I drew at high speed with the WACOM. Did the whole thing in the computer. I think it tool less than 20. If you zoom in you can see all the scribbling… With some adjusting I think I could have drawn a Sleestack (hoever it’s spelled) from Land Of The Lost….
I’m busy coloring at the moment, so I don’t have time to make a ‘good post’. However, I do want to keep my streak going. So far I’ve posted EVERY single day this year. I even go a little further back than that.
So, here’s a few stickers I did, back when I worked at a sign shop. Most of these were of the ’10 minutes or less’ variety using FX and filters.
There were always motorcycle people coming in. I think this was for one. They didn’t care for subtle so I could be as loud as I wanted to be.
Here’s another (not for motorcycles. Both of these took about 15 minutes and most of that was waiting on the computer. PC’s just don’t run like Macs.
Here was something that was kind of fun for me, just because I rarely got to do something like this. The flames were the cheap FX variety. I wasn’t allowed any time to do my own fire (or find something better). The bill was one I think that I scanned. I could be wrong. I might have just downloaded it (both sides). Then I just warped in with the new at the time) ‘CS’ version of Photoshop. They thought it was better than what they were hoping for, but I don’t think it took any longer than 20-25 minutes.
And I just like the colors on this one. It was a sticker for a guy that obviously liked “huntin’”. It took me less than 10 minutes even with the camo.
Well, that’s all. Maybe I’ll have something better tomorrow.
Simple story: A friend let me borrow his WACOM tablet earlier… I installed it around 4PM and I just realized that it’s 2 AM… What the Hell?!
I started out drawing some chickety scratch lines. Gotta’ start somewhere, I guess…. Then, I followed along with Todd McFarlane’s videos on youTube. I actually learned some stuff. Thank you Todd. Sometimes it’s the stuff that may seem insignificant that you pick that actually has the biggest impact.
Here’s some of the silly results….
I actually did this one before viewing the TM vids…. I was still warming up. The stuff I did watching the videos I didn’t keep, but I should’ve. I’m not kidding when I say I drew a mass of drawings… I drew all of the stuff from Todd’s vids including the female profile 4 times… The eye 3 times… I drew four versions of the Savage Dragon because he’s fairly simple. Two headshots. One color, one black and white. One rough, one not so rough. Two full body cartoon versions with really tiny Yosemite Sam-like legs…
I drew 3 or 4 zombie headshots (and a ninja)… This one’s rough, but I just liked it for some reason… Watching Todd’s videos had me drawing a lot of headshots (and they’re quick and easy). I also drew a rough version of the Alien from the films of the same name (and erased it)… Then I drew 3 or 4 dinosaurs… They started out as random monsters but I started making them look more and more just like regular dinosaurs of the standard variety (T-Rex, duck billed, brontosaurus on its hindquarters). Erased them all.
Drew several more headshots. Here’s one that’s a little cleaner. With this one, I drew a Lex Luthor type villain, then gave him a Anton Chigurth-like hairdo. I was just playing with brushes at that point. I was going back ad forth between sketchy and not so sketchy. I drew a pretty good Thor torso and accidentally erased it (SAVE OFTEN KIDS!!!). I suck, what can I tell you? Then I did a couple of Cyclops and Captain America (one full body/one headshot. Both ‘toon style).
Here’s the Cap that I kept. He’s kind of an angry Cap. I picture Cap as a happy guy most of the time, so maybe this isn’t Steve Rogers, but some imposter (I won’t make a Chris Evans joke… maybe the movie won’t suck)…
And then I got carried away. What started out as a rough of the lovely and talented Audrey Tautou, the fine French actress, quickly became an attempt to draw something that looked a lot more polished. Maybe it was the subject matter, but I think I worked on this one about 3 hours.
I ended up kind of making a half @$$ movie poster. My own signature was ruining it so I just typed it out in a font that would go better with this. I liked it, though. I also realized how a certain artist from Zuda did a few of his tricks. I had asked if the boudewijn Pelt effect helped him any and he just said “I do it a different way…” I thought it was kind of snotty even if it was an internet response. He wanted to keep it a ‘secret’. Big secret, he used a WACOM. Doesn’t seem so impressive anymore.
Okay, so I’m being a little snotty myself, now. It’s closing in on 3 AM and I’ve been staring at a computer for nearly 11 hours. I think it’s understandable. I drew somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 drawings with the WACOM today, ranging from the Wolverine level of scratchiness to the (not quite looking like) Audrey Tautou pic.
I guess that may say something about what I think of the WACOM.
“In the world of words, the imagination is one of the forces of nature.” -Wallace Stevens, the guy who once got thrashed by Ernest Hemingway after breaking his hand on Hemingway’s jaw.
Am I making some kind of point?
No… Nope. Just sayin’.
That’s a good lookin’ bird though, ain’t it?
I saw this many years ago after seeing it on Siskel and Ebert. I didn’t feel like this was a horror film and I still don’t. Del Toro has a great imagination, but may lack the ability to create suspense like some of his contemporaries. His horror films are interesting visually, but most of them (with maybe one exception) are low in tension.
Cronos plays out like an extended Twilight Zone episode. It moves at a very deliberate pace. The film drags a little even coming in at about 87 minutes (without credits). Pacing and editing can definitely have an effect on humor. The attempts at black humor by American actor Ron Perlman mostly fall flat.
The film does have a good heart, though, and the core of the film is the relationship between the protagonist and the granddaughter. It is a clearly told story even if its not the most interesting take on vampires. It is somewhat original, though.
The story is not a traditional vampire story. This one involves an alchemist who creates a device to extend his life considerably, but there is a price as there always is. Eventually, by fate, the device ends up in the hands of an elderly man who almost immediately discovers the device’s hidden secret. The elderly man begins to regain some of youth’s vitality along with the slow realization that the device can bring him even bring him back from the dead.
The only others that are aware of this are his granddaughter and a dying man who has been searching for the device for quite some time. He sends his brutish nephew (Perlman) to retrieve the device for him. Hijinks ensue, but of the slow European style of storytelling (or is that Central American style?).
You can see Guillermo trying to tie some symbolic motifs into the story visually despite the budgetary limitations. The battle between Jesus and Perlman’s thug occurs in front of a giant clock. It’s not the most impressive clock design (or the most impressive fight choreography), but you see what the director is shooting for.
He is a director that seems to continue to get better with each film. This was a pretty good beginning. Not the most impressive directorial debut, but far from a failure, either.
I don’t think she turned out too bad for a character I had never heard of until now. And the exact request made it a little difficult. I won’t bore anyone with the details, though.
Here’s the lines to compare it with.
On to the next one!
Okay, it’s not the Easter Bunny… It’s Philip, my mom’s rabbit, but I think it works.
So, anyway…
I didn’t even know there was a character called She-Venom. Marvel is really pushing the envelope in originality, aren’t they?
Anyway, since I wasn’t even aware of this character, I don’t have the disdain for her as I do for the male version. It wasn’t so bad drawing her, but drawing her as requested was a little difficult. I don’t know if I drew her cartoony enough. But here she is to continue the posting streak (which I forgot to do last night…). I hope he wanted the Anne Weying version.The Invisible Woman’s next…
I’ve seen Jeanne-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie well into the double digits now and I think I like it more than when I first fell in love with the film (and the title character). This was Audrey Tautou’s international introduction. She is an electric onscreen presence.
Tautou gets more out of just opening her eyes wide and raising an eyebrow than maybe any other actress. Her playfully innocent waif dominates the screen. It makes a Jeunet film into a Tautou film.
Not to say that the director isn’t largely responsible for the success of Amelie. His films are all imaginative and driven by the visuals.He frames and lights some breathtakingly stunning shots but I guess that’s be expected filming in France and working with the angelic Tautou.
He shoots very small objects in extreme closeup. There are also a lot of extreme closeups of the ctors and actresses. He makes full us of Tautou’s beautiful visage, framing her face in countless reaction shots.
Jenuet’s style is easily recognizable even to the most casual of moviegoer. If you saw two of his films you’d know they were by the same director even if you weren’t familiar with his work. Or you might think those damn French just make moviess that all look alike.
His films are very French. The storytelling harkens back to past French directors. He seems to be the French Wes Anderson in terms of the look, tone and storybook style. Or maybe Anderson is the American Jenuet.
The soundtrack is very Parisian also. The accordion melodies create a French backdrop even with a black screen. Amelie’s soundtrack is quite enjoyable. I regularly listen to it or at least mix it in with other soundtracks.
Jenuet is one of those directors that prefer the imagination to reality. His films exist in a storybook. Things that usually would never happen in the real world, happen with regularity in a Jenuet movie.
He doesn’t just move the story from scene to scene. It’s like he thinks he’s telling the story to a child and has to be spontaneous to keep the child’s attention. Where the film is going is predicatable. How it gets there is a whole different animal.
The tale to be told here revolves around the title character Amelie. She is good natured and imaginative, but not entirely happy. Her world is changed when by fate she discovers a dusty covered box full of toys and photographs hidden in the wall. She wonders who it belongs to and it becomes a mystery to be solved that adds a little fulfillment to her life.
That leads to other little adventures into affecting others people’s lives. The movie goes from there. I wouldn’t want to spoil anything more for anyone. It’s a wonderful film, but any film is best when you don’t know anything about it.
With all that said, I think while Jenuet’s films are good, I don’t think his films worked as well until he found the proper muse. In the past that was Dominique Pinon (who also appears and is great here as he’s been in Jenuet’s other movies).
Audrey Tautou might be an upgrade in that department. It’s no contest. I think she’s the biggest reason for the film’s success (as well as A Very Long Engagement).
Tautou is a star and shines brightly here. There are other good performances in the film. There are a number of character actors that add to the quirkiness of the proceedings. Mathieu Kassovitz, has a smaller but important role.
He’s an actor of the international variety, also. I have seen him in American films and cmpletely did not recognize him from those or vice versa. He’s somewhat of a chameleon, looking completely different in films like Munich where he played the toy/bomb maker…
There are quite a few iconic scenes in the film. Better still, it does have an abundance of laughs. Maybe the lone drawback is that it goes a little long for a film that everyone knows where the destination will be.
Even so, there are still a number of surprises with the director texturing and detailing every scene with his artistic mind. Amelie made my Top 10 Films of 2001 and also my Best 100 of the 2000s list.
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