Inadaville

2011-06-21T15:39:00.001-07:00

Collaboration With Robert Arellano

2011-04-17T23:35:00.000-07:00

"The Soul's Mailbox" is a meditation on fathers and sons for the Lawson Inada and Friends Poetry Celebration at SOU. Bobby Arellano, Director for SOU's Center for Emerging Media and Digital Arts (EMDA) wrote and recorded the poem, and I did the chicken-scratchin'.

Wausau, Wisconsin is Where You Ought To Be

2010-11-10T06:32:00.000-08:00

I'm visiting University of Wisconsin, Marathon County under the auspices of the lovely and talented, Diana Budde. She's been taking her drawing and painting students to local elementary schools to work on comics and storyboards, and I've been lucky enough to tag along and do some demos. The kids are way cool and inspiring. The highlight so far has been drawing Kyklopean Lincoln at. . . Lincoln School. Here's a recreation. . .

Here's a local news story on the visit. Warning: includes scary video of a bald man with a giant head animatedly prattling on.

Back to The Hole

2010-10-17T15:52:00.001-07:00

New treatments for Happiness Hole Characters. Resemblances are obscure, but intentional.

New Comic of Sorts

2010-10-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

A new strip, but not in the 4-panel format which I've been working with the past few years. Looks like it'll go into a book at some point. I'll ruin the thrill of unveiling it in print by posting it here now. Bralgh. Click to jump out to a readable-sized image.

Inadaville is back open for bidnit

2010-10-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

Yay Man by Miles F. Inada

Behold.

Summer Drink and Draw T Shirt Preliminary Design

2010-07-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

A first draft of the commemorative Drink and Draw t-shirt. Enigmatic drunken artwork by Ian Chachere. Fin de Siecle font-werk by Ezra Butt. Ezra, did you ever get a copy of EzraBolde? I can still appropriately accidentally alliterate with the best of 'em.

Daily Sexy 80's Lady

2010-07-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

If you're not wearing a teal headband, what's the point really? I think this was inspired by Julie's sexy 80's high school tennis pic. Anyhow, this was done straight up in Photoshoppe, but who the hell cares??? I'll keep drawing until our new Xbox 360 arrives later this week. . . As per this recent run of figure drawings. . . Robert Conrad.

Summer Folk Daily

2010-07-12T00:41:00.000-07:00

I did some little figure sketches whilst coffee and baglin' at Key of C the other day. I did the top drawing in 40-shoppe by working from the pencil thumbnail below. I don't know if Robert Conrad ever drew, but if he did, I like to think these are the drawings he would make. That guy carrying the flag just might be me. But is he surrendering. . . or leadin' the charge???? You can click 'pon the damn things to make them bigger. Computers is like that.

Le Thumbnail

Le Robert Conrad

Daily Girls

2010-07-03T01:17:00.000-07:00

Working with femme faces and proportions. Baby steps.

Daily Head Studies

2010-07-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of sketch book pages of heads and skulls. I've been looking at oldie but goodie Burne Hogarth's Drawing the Human Head. I've never really cared for BH's work aesthetically, but the guy could draw til the cows came home and lays out some extremely good stuff about simplified forms and conceptualizing the head from a variety of angles. I'm finding that my biggest problem with drawing seems to be not having a solid enough conception of the basic forms in space. . . and sad things like proportion. I's trying to git in shape.

Daily Dinosaur Heads

2010-06-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

Gods. If you have ever felt the heart-rending truth that you will never see a living dinosaur, if you have ever fantasized about chucking it all to live in a natural history museum reading and doing studies of skeletons, or just wandering the desert looking for fossils, track this DVD down now: Dinosaur Drawing: Anatomy and Sketching. It almost brought tears to my eyes. Part of the Gnomon Workshop series, taught by the epically awesome David Krentz. Lovely stuff.

A daily - an infestation

2010-06-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

These things are all over my studio and in my office down at school. They're robust little suckers. I think they feed on squirrels and fungus. They're kind of nasty, but they're fun to snuggle up with at night when it's cold.

The Three D's

2010-06-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

What are they? Dick Bennett's, "Defense, Determination, & Dilettante'ry?" Or Mike Watt's, "No height, length, or width." Here's a crow-dog man I did last night. Or was it late December, back in '63? What a very special time for me. Minas Tirith, what a night.

Olden days - a punk-ass, Lisa Loeb-style post

2010-06-15T00:51:00.000-07:00

Francisco Pulpo in the Studio by a younger Miles, damnit. 1994/5!!!!!

So what the hell am I doing? Here's a mid 90's era drawing that I was thinking about tonight. I think I need to rebuild some concentration/focus and bring something bigger to the party. I did some drawing today (2010, people!) and found myself rusty as all get out. Muse, I invoke thee. Let's get it on. I don't want to kick off without having raised a bigger ruckus. Why am I adding up to less than the sum of my parts?

Arms & Ether - Number 55 - Invasion of the Women!

2010-06-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

It has begun. . . And the Arms and Ether-verse will never be the same. The women are coming. And hapless Blue Max experiences first contact! What the ramifications are for our adolescent testosterone-charged crew, we have no way of knowing. Get a harbinger and ring in the first days of summer with today's Arms and Ether!

p.s. yes a massive site redesign is still scheduled for the summer

p.p.s. yes, still going to be rolling in 3D as well. . . aieeee!

Polygon Girlfriend - Part Two

2010-06-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

First stab at the head and did some more work on the arms. I need to do some refinement on the back and feet as well as more on the hands. If you compare yesterday's image, somehow her butt became Sponge Bob muscly. It's called the Smooth Brush, Miles. Look into it. Okay, I will. Tomorrow.

Here's a close up of the face. The lips need smoothing and more form. Duh. I haven't worked much with super fine detail in ZBrush, so I'll do that tomorrow too. But first. . . the Drink and Draw!

Polygon Girlfriend - Part One

2010-06-10T01:20:00.000-07:00

Here's girlfriend number one made today in ZBrush using BaseMeshBravo. I separated the head off, so that's why she looks like Maskatron¹. I'll work something up for her Fem Bot²face tomorrow. It'll be just great. I've been looking at some exaggerated female toys for inspiration hence the silly proportions. The arms and hands need some TLC.

End Notes
1. Maskatron. A powerful robot capable of mimicking the appearance of Oscar Goldman and others.

I, Maskatron

2. Fembots. A series of powerful and deadly life-like androids, designed and created by Dr. Franklin.

uh oh.

Grumble grumble

2010-06-07T04:59:00.000-07:00

Zallinger-inspired self-portrait. Now if I can just paint the damn thing. . .

detail of the Age of Reptiles Mural by Rudolph Zallinger

More ZBrushing

2010-06-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

I've been continuing to work in ZBrush, inspired by the excellent Gnomon tutorial by Scott Patton. I've refined my base mesh a bit and have been experimenting with how far I can push it into different forms quickly (10-20 minutes). I'm finding that having relatively expressive hands and feet that are easy to pose is a good thing in a base mesh, so I plan on going back and refining those later. I've also made the mesh less bulky than in the first pass (see last post -- ed.).

Here's the latest, Base Mesh Bravo:

And here are a few quick character sketches starting from the above base mesh.

self-portrait as bulb-headed carnivore. still working on this one. . .

Miles Make Base Mesh

2010-05-30T22:56:00.000-07:00

Me make base mesh in Maya for use in ZBrush. Me make characters, polygonal girlfriend next. Me not know for what deeper purpose me do this.

Making of Arms & Ether - Learning/Stealing From The Best - Dan Clowes

2010-04-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Shower Power: Arms & Ether (left) as cribbed from Dan Clowes' Ghost World (right).

In my first Arms and Ether comic I needed to draw a shower scene. To get a clue, I looked back at Dan Clowes' Ghost World. Ooh steamy. Here are a few of the many things I got from Clowes:

a. The tile pattern is not carried through the entire wall. If it did so, the tile would interfere with the shower curtain pattern.

b. That's a big expansive shower that they're in, and it's probably not a "realistic" depiction of what the shower in Enid's place would look like. The audience, however, won't notice this, and the bigger shower makes the shot easier to stage and "read." Clowes creates a shower that suits his visual narrative purpose without being distracting or cluttered.

c. The shower curtain reads very clearly as a shower curtain without being painstakingly rendered as a distracting, overly realistic shower curtain.

d. The water coming out of the shower head and onto the bodies is also very clearly and cleanly stylized.

e. If you look at the man's hands in Clowes' shot, they're surprisingly cartoony. I've looked at this panel hundreds of times and only notice it when I'm analyzing his drawing method. I didn't notice the goofy hands when I was reading the book straight through. It's a great example of economy and method in drawing comics--staging and clarity first. No need to go all Albrecht Durer on us!

If you look closely (Highlights magazine!) you'll see I left out several Clowes details in my version -- the shower curtain rings, the shading on the shower head, the left hand wall, etc. I did this because my panel was smaller and was feeling cluttered. Since I have a looser, rougher style than Clowes, I scuffed my drawing up a bit to match my overall approach.

Assignment 1: Self-Portrait

2010-03-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

Aye, mates. Avast. Etc.

A Couple of Interactive Items

2010-03-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with ideas for doing some "interactive" drawings. Here are a couple of small tests. I'm trying to beat some programming logic (Flash ActionScript 3.0) into my fuzzy brain. Ow. It hurts. I've been learning the code for this stuff from Foundation Game Design With Flash, by Rex van der Spuy.

Click on the image below and cruise around with Steak using the cursor keys.
Wow, it's parallax scrolling.

Steak appears courtesy of Sam D. Inada.

This is just an idiotic game where the computer guesses a number that you input. Hours of fun. See if you can fool the machine!

Har Har Tharsday (local edition) - Casey Pyke's Puppets

2010-03-11T13:16:00.000-08:00

Was well amused by this short puppet video that SOU students Casey Pyke and Alex Britton put together for the ArtH 330 Art, Culture, and Technology class. Check it out! Starring freakishly gifted cartoonist Ezra Butt in the human role!

Get Big

2010-03-07T23:18:00.000-08:00

A big person I started making in ZBrush. I done made me the base mesh in Maya.

Arms & Ether - Day 25 - The End Of The Trail (sure it is)

2010-02-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

Look at Molo in the midst of all that green! He must be idly unwinding in the wide-open possibilities of March! Better go and see if that's the case in today's Arms and Ether. Thanks to all of you who read and suffered through the 25-day Arms and Ether Marathon plus one. Hopefully we don't all regret it.

Arms & Ether - Day 24 - When Drawing Glands Deplete

2010-02-27T23:33:00.000-08:00

Weak tea? Sure, we've got that in abundance. And bugs. All in today's Arms and Ether!

Arms & Ether - Day 23 - Staggering To The Finish Line

2010-02-26T23:58:00.000-08:00

Grumble, grumble. Today's Arms & Ether. Grumble, grumble.

Arms & Ether - Day 22 - The Cent-ur Cain't Holde None!

2010-02-25T09:39:00.000-08:00

Look, you can eat a whole bag of Cool Ranch Doritos at midnight or go see today's Arms & Ether. It's really up to you. Either way, trust it'll be an insightful experience.

Arms & Ether - Day 21 - Historical Insignificance

2010-02-24T23:52:00.000-08:00

No words, no colors, no calories, just 100% of the great taste and satisfaction you've come to expect from today's Arms & Ether. Like the Vollard Suite. Yeah. Just like it. So cool. So good.

Arms & Ether - Day 20 - Who Loves The Sun?

2010-02-23T13:07:00.000-08:00

Anyone out there need gradients? Like, four solid panels full of 'em? Good, because we've gradients to spare in today's sunrise-oriented Arms & Ether.

ARmS & eThER - Day 19 - Complain, Complain, Me is a Grizzly Drama Queen

2010-02-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

Apologies, but I'm sinking to self-referential 3D humor, and that's a sorry, sad thing. What can I say, I'm as misguided as THE MAKER in tonight's Arms & Ether.

Arms & Ether - Day 18 - Huff Puff, Huff Puff

2010-02-21T23:59:00.001-08:00

It's up, it's up. With a minute to spare. Today's Arms and Ether. Now, let's all get some sleep. Come on, people. It's good for you.

Arms & Ether - Day 17 - Wrath of The Lich King

2010-02-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

What messages do the dead send us from beyond the grave??? More self-obsessed crap it turns out. Shoot. Listen in anyway at today's Arms N' Ether.

Arms & Ether - Day 16 - With All of its Attendant Sweetness

2010-02-19T23:59:00.000-08:00

I need to get me a corncob pipe. Kind of like the guy in today's Arms & Ether. How y'all doin, tonight?

Arms & Ether - James At 15

2010-02-18T23:40:00.000-08:00

Anyone for glorious experiences? I'm for it. I'm all for it. Just take a look at today's Arms and Ether, and see what it did for me!

Arms & Ether - Day 14 - But Who's Counting?

2010-02-17T23:31:00.000-08:00

Me n' Grant Hart collaborated on this one. Or was it Bob Mould?? Hmmm, come to think of it, it was Gregg Norton. Definitely. I remember the mustache. No, no, wait, this is just another one of my "episodes," kind of like today's episode of Arms and Ether.

And because embedding rollicking rock songs on the web is the 21st equivalent of writing lyrics on one's Pee Chee folder. . .

Arms & Ether - Day 13 - Over The Hump, But To What End?

2010-02-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

Sensitive, mournful eyes. It can only mean one thing. A messed-up Redon drawing, or a lovingly painted portrait of, "Our Founder." See today's Arms & Ether and be spurred to greater profitability and sacrifice for the company.

Arms & Ether - Day 12 - Snakes, Not On A Plane

2010-02-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

Oh, what the hell. Why not? Don't lament lost chances. Live for the now over at aujourd'hui's Arms N' Ether. And, as we've said here before, "Me and Caravaggio, playin' our guitars."

Arms & Ether - Day 11 - I've Got Some Ideas. Take 'Em Down.

2010-02-14T22:58:00.000-08:00

Look at this. Look at this. Look what you made me do. At Sunday's Valentine's Arms & Ether!!!
:)

Arms & Ether - Day 10 - I miss my dog

2010-02-13T23:58:00.000-08:00

Today's Arms and Ether is about an aspiration any self-respecting melancholy sap has had time and time again. So here's to cold February everywhere. I've internal grumbling and fatigue about this strip, hence the midnight posting. Ballz.

Arms & Ether Day 9 - Maker's Mark

2010-02-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

Hmmm. Looks like a giant glowing head in the sky. Could those be The Three Wisemen? Not likely, but I'm sure they have something to say. What might that be? See today's Arms & Ether. . . and believe.

Arms & Ether - Day 8 - House Beautiful

2010-02-11T13:17:00.000-08:00

Dang, this floral wallpaper is pretty. Seriously. Go see it on display at today's Arms and Ether.

I feel this damn decade congealing around me, already. Cripes.

Arms & Ether Day 7 - Heed The Words of Aesop

2010-02-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

Having an off day? Well, Aesop had 'em too--especially in his later years. Get a first-hand look into his creative decline as today's Arms and Ether illuminates Aesop's justly despised and obscure fable, "The Ape and The Doorman."

Arms & Ether - Day 6 - Now With Coat Pockets!

2010-02-09T13:40:00.000-08:00

Kyklopean Miles returns enjoining you to eat at your local Subway and enjoy their fine selection of healthy sandwiches at affordable prices. Pick up some napkins while you're there. They could prove handy at triggering a low-cal bit of self-reflection. At least that's what's on the menu at today's Arms & Ether.

Arms & Ether - Day 5 - Whew That Was Close!

2010-02-08T23:50:00.000-08:00

Oh no! Is Kyklopean Miles having a De Quincey moment and freaking out about that rapping sound in Macbeth? No, don't worry, he's just dickin' about on a winter Monday looking out the window at squirrels. Now that's entertainment. If you don't believe me, go see today's Arms and Ether.
It's 11:46, so. . . 14 minutes to spare in the great February experiment.

Arms & Ether - Day 4 - Happy Day

2010-02-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

A momentary break from decay, because we've all felt good at some time or another. Isn't it right there somewhere now? Hmmm. That one guy's colors are too spazzy. Criticize his innocent joy here, in Sunday's Arms and Ether.

Arms & Ether - Day 3 of the March to March.

2010-02-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

Uh oh. Looks like someone's in trouble. But maybe it's a personal growth experience?? Probably not. It's up and at 'em in today's new Arms and Ether.

Second Arms and Ether of Fabulous February

2010-02-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

The Man of Science is here. See, he's talking about space as evidenced by this wonderful illustration of a ringed planet; it's green too! But hey, by the final panel he's wearing overalls. What gives? Slink over to today's economy-grade Arms and Ether to find out.

Dullards' side note:
I actually began the day with an entirely different strip and ran into drawing disaster, perspective peril, proportion pile-up, etc. Instead of trying to fight through the pain, I said, "f*#k it" and started with plan B. "Lower your standards," said William Stafford. And I say, "Aye aye, Cap'n. Aye aye."

So here's the work log:
8:25 - 8:48 Rough in first strip, then take a break
8:57 - 9:25 Start 2nd pass. Uh oh. This isn't going well. Go read the paper for an hour.
10:21 - 12:00 Start a new strip and finish it. Much better.

First Arms and Ether of the February Blitz is Up

2010-02-04T11:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, one down and 24 to go. Arms and Ether Feb 02, 2010 is up and at 'em. The color is lame. I think I might be dropping color this month.
Yes. Back to the austere no-nonsense approach of line. Har har. Today's has color, however, and it's ugly without being ugly enough. Cherish is the word I use to describe. . .

Oh, and because I recommend my students do this all the time--here's a work log for this strip.
The idea had already been sketched out in my sketch book. Appropriate.

9:45 open up the template and start drawing (and adjusting the template).
10:09 Line in Flash is done. Exported to png and opened in Forty-Shoppe. (ooh, new approach.)
10:57 Exporting final web file from PS. Oops correction needed.
11:03 Corrected.
11:18 Uploaded to site and blog post done.
11:21 Work log added to blog. Oh, it's now 11:22.

So. . .
25 minutes for line work
54 minutes for color and clean up
15 minutes for upload and blogue

Hmmmm.

Screw It

2010-02-03T22:11:00.000-08:00

Time to instigate a new low. One Arms and Ether per day for the remainder of February. But with 0 percent artistic aspiration, 0 percent quality, 0 percent human insight. Lots of complaining, pointless vulgarity, and overall shoddiness. This is going to fail miserably.

In other insights.

1. Time to update/rethink this whole web thing. I'd like to integrate all of my class websites with this site andArms and Ether. Will also include online work and animation. It'll probably look like a scummy "e-zine" or something. It'll be pedestrian and un-revolutionary. Too bad. Love and adulation will not follow from it, nor will self-respect and joy. It won't be a "blog, " but rather a "thing available to the good people of this world through the mighty, yet little understood power of electricity."

2. Samuel Palmer? Samuel Palmer. Props to Linus Meldrum for pointing him out to me as a young man. Crap, I've probably squandered what should have been my Shoreham period. Oops. Fucked that up good and proper, but at least I know how to do roll-over buttons in Flash instead.

Samuel Palmer, Cornfield by Moonlight, c1830

So, look for the first "low quality" daily Arms and Ether beginning tomorrow. My rule will be to post whatever I have 'fore sundown. No late night vision quests for me. Just uptight horror in the full light of day.

Concept for conceptual art

2010-01-23T10:40:00.000-08:00

version 7

version 3

version 1

Not really.
One quick observation. I think I like the earlier versions a bit better than the more "finished" one.

Emptiness In Inadaville

2010-01-21T09:36:00.000-08:00

Cripes. I want to get primitive. Tired of being so self-conscious, so screw it. Back to basics. "Lower your standards," said William Stafford. Raise the Titanic said some 70's fucker. Back to the clunky awkward thrills of drawing.

Standards dropped to a laundry list. Who makes lists for laundry? Laundry, as we know well, leads to Landry. I've a Tom Landry hat, now that I'm over 40. I do. Shall I now espouse a Texas-based Christianity? Perhaps one day, it will come to that. But what about now? What about now? A new site built up to withstand the rigors and demands of 2010? All sites in one? An inn'er net rapture? Certainly. It's for certain, as I phase out the phrase, "blog" and replace it with the older, but more incisive, "site."

Taking 5 days off, but here's another Arms and Ether to tide us all over

2009-12-24T00:10:00.000-08:00

Heading to the happiest place on earth in the early morn, but here's an autobiographical Arms and Ether a'fore I get to gettin' to califerny. Isn't it lovely? (Hint, to unlock the complex allegory, substitute Miles Inada for "Miles of Moria" - ed.)I plan on returning relaxed and happy, so look for more flowers and loveliness to bedeck the strip in the new year. I do have the sublime in me, damn it, I do!

Arms and Ether -- Oh No! It's Nakes!

2009-12-22T01:14:00.000-08:00

Meet Nakes, the latest melancholy denizen of the Arms and Ether-verse. He's been hard at it, climbing the ladder of worldly success. You could call him over-exposed, but . . . he's got a helmet and spear. What could possibly go wrong??? Find out if you dare, in this week's Arms and Ether!

While we ponder the Arms and Ether-verse--might the New Year bring a female character or two to visit endless night/sweet delight upon all of these lonely souls? Is it possible? Sounds good, but if some ladies do show up, I'm sure it'll be trouble. Here's to a splendid, non-apocalyptic 2010.

Arms and Ether Strip no. 27

2009-12-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

So it's just about the one year anniversary of the Arms and Ether online strip, and I've just posted number 27. That comes out to one every other week or so. That's actually not too bad considering I'm also a full time exorcist and railroad man. In this episode we meet a fascinating new character, Ghosthead. An incredible character. Absolutely incredible. Wow. Wow. wow. . . whoa. woe. . . woe.

Arms and Ether - Herodotus Toy now available for download!

2009-11-30T00:43:00.000-08:00

Uh oh, there's a wordless panel in this week's Arms and Ether. As we well know from years consuming "the funnies," a wordless panel is often the set up for a joke of some sort in the very next panel!!!! Imagine the potential hilarity. The mirth. No, don't tax yourself with that kind of trivia, just head over to armsandether.com and see the strip in all of its fullness. Also, make sure to download the eagerly anticipated 3D Herodotus Toy by clicking on the strip's 4th panel. Print and cut it out. Stick it on your Christmas tree. Stuff one in a stocking. Stick or stuff one up your @#$%^&. We live in a free world. It's okay to do that kind of thing now. You won't (or at least shouldn't be) judged.

Arms and Ether - Nu 2 U

2009-11-17T12:06:00.000-08:00

Hateball emerges from his basement staycation and back into the dark moldy dankness of everyday life--and dang-nabbit, he's got bills to pay! Find out what he has to say about it all in this week's magical Arms n' Ether.

Is "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas a song full of almost unbearable cosmic sorrow? The melancholy seems damn heavy in that sucker.

In other news, I really really miss my dog.

And finally, Montaigne probably had the right idea: sit around in a castle in pantaloons and just go off about stuff all the time. And get a stache. When my son Sam saw me with it as I picked him up from school, he burst into a big smile, started laughing and exclaimed, "Awesome!" Julie was less impressed. I think it was too much too soon in our relationship.

"But it's Movember!" said Scott before Christy handed him the razor and pointed him to the bathroom.

Legends From Camp - online, but not on-time

2009-11-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

Way back in the good old days of 2004, I partnered with Sherrif Evan Carroll (Seth Bullard) to set some of father-figure Lawson Inada's (Al Swearengen's) poetry to animation. Todd Barton (Cy Tolliver) did the score. Anyhow, it's now available in the modern fashion, that is to say, "online" and in the "high definition" format that I keep hearing so much about.

Other quick thoughts.
1. Arms and Ether should be up later today.
2. At the very beginning stages of looking into Word Press and developing a more comprehensive approach to this blog thing.
3. I already need more coffee.

Forty Three

2009-11-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

1. Lordy, here it is. I'm 43. It's not an age you really think about much, so I guess I won't.

2. Since I'm doing a lot of online demo videos this quarter, I feel like Bob Ross.

3. I spent a lot of yesterday with my pal, Warren Hedges, whose birthday is also November 9. We are team-teaching a class, had lunch, and then he came and gave a talk to my comic book/picture book class. We said that it's our birthday tradition to celebrate by going around together and lecturing to people.

4. Should have an Arms and Ether up by Friday. Looks like the Herodotus toy will be coming at you live.

5. Yeah, numbered lists. Quality meats. I'll try catching up with everything today. AND I MEAN EVERYTHING. As it turns out, there's a whole lot of rhythm going 'round. There will be links. There will be a spiritual and artistic awakenings. There will be naps too. And tasty snacks.

New Arms and Ether with Download-able 3D Molo Toy

2009-11-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

Uh oh. Molo's up late, eating Cheetos, and turning to . . . the internet. It doesn't work out for him, but maybe it will work out for you! This week's strip features a download-able 3D paper toy, perfect for cutting out 'round the fire. . . Whatever. Anyhow, read it, click it, and weep in this week's Arms and Ether. And damnit, can't we be Germanic and make "downloadable" an official word? The hyphen thing is really pretty weak.

Arms and Ether is a bit late, but

2009-11-04T13:46:00.000-08:00

. . . in the meantime, celebrate the free lovin' with an image from a Digital Media Foundations demo I did today! A new Arms and Ether should be up tomorrow, so plan your day accordingly.

Walking Down The King's Road

2009-10-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

Oh my. Walk cycle. Moving background. Sleaze.

New Arms & Ether - Romantic Comedy

2009-10-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

It's non-stop action when the Mighty (mightily sensitive) Majax returns to reclaim what's rightfully his - - his naked trembling in the face of the majesty of the existential sublime! Also. . . Pikelhaube camouflages his body with the sky(?)

So, head over to Arms & Ether to get the 4 panels that'll help you get over the #$%^ing bull@#$^ of that @#$%^ing Arsenal v. West Ham game. @#$%^

Majax on Deck

2009-10-23T02:32:00.001-07:00

Majax is on his way with a new sword based on the mercifully simple-to-draw Roman gladius. Anyhow, Majax, the sensitive family-man star of the first Arms and Ether comic book, is loosening up for his debut in this week's Arms and Ether strip. If you're lucky, it'll be up by tomorrow evening. Imagine the betterment of your weekend!

UPDATE FRIDAY NIGHT 12:30 A.M. Well it's "tomorrow evening" and I'm getting my ass kicked by this strip. !@#$. I've lost the simple structural understanding of the characters I thought I'd finally grasped. !@#$%. Tired. Cranky. Complain.

UPDATE FRIDAY NIGHT 1:30 A.M. !#$%^. I think I have to give up for the night. I've got the black and white line work more or less done. Grrrrrr. Not happy. But, I'll @#$ around with color tomorrow, hopefully with a bit more intelligence and perspective.

#@$%^@ it. Here's some more 2nd Generation Mod music.

Hommage to An Obscure Japanese Picture Book

2009-10-21T23:14:00.000-07:00

Working through some Flash stuff for my Art 351 class next quarter so I made a cat. I envy that cat.

Publicity Photo Redux

2009-10-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

Always keep an artist photo handy.

New Arms & Ether with Downloadable 3D Hateball!

2009-10-19T00:19:00.001-07:00

Megaleos is back and he's created a 3D Hateball toy for you to download. What are you waiting for? Head over to Arms and Ether to see the latest strip and to download your very own little black ball of hate. Therapeutic rainy day fun for nimble-handed obsessive-compulsives.

Megaleos Sketchbook Thrills

2009-10-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

I'm doing lots of other junk (video demos for my classes over at the Comics and Animation blog) but here's some sketch-funk just the same. Trying to internalize the fundamental aspects of Megaleos via short crappy sketches.

Chugging Around

2009-10-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

A beautiful, beautiful day in Ashland town. Still haven't hit my full stride, but things are going in a good direction. I can live happily with all of that, thanks for asking. Here's David Simon on The Wire in the London Times. (below) And, here's something out of the daily pile. (above)
p.s. From the "Why 42-year old men (almost 43!) shouldn't play console games" file. I got spanked by Meta Ridley (???) last night after a ludicrous 30 minutes of pushing a little button in front of a television set. If I'm going to dick around on the Wii, I should at least be able to beat up on some bosses. Spiritual poverty.

Hateball enters the 3D realm!

2009-10-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's Hateball! Now I can use these to help compose my carefully crafted strips. Har har.

Hateball 3D Mock-up

2009-10-12T13:03:00.001-07:00

I'll print him out and do a test assemble today. I will, gol-darnit.

Ludicrousness

2009-10-12T00:03:00.000-07:00

Things have been busy on the school front, so the Comics & Animation Blog I keep for my classes has been a bustlin' -- so has the Digital Media Foundations Wiki I work on with Dennis & Warren. Clap clap. So to show I haven't been a complete failure in doing some of my own work, here are some sketchbook scans from last Thursday's Drink n' Draw. Yay. Then to bed with me. Right. Sure.

UPDATE: Actually, it's 3:30 now, but I just finished the Hateball toy. I'm going to have the first three toys to download over at Arms and Ether by the end of the week.

Sketchinesse -- Papercraft Charles Burns-Style! -- Hignite's In The Studio

2009-10-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

Above are some sketches I did at the opening campus meetings last week. Exciting stuff! It is nice to draw from observation, though. Must do more.

More inspirational TNT from Charles Burns, courtesy of Todd Hignite's outstanding book, In The Studio which features extensive interviews with Brunetti, Burns, Clowes, Crumb, Jaime Hernandez, Panter, Seth, Spiegelman, and Ware. For anyone interested in these artists, In The Studio is a must read.

Charles Burns, Paper Theater, c 1990
from In The Studio, by Todd Hignite, 2006 Yale University Press

The book gives fantastic insight on the creative process and how each artists' work is formed by specific influences. It's nice to see how varied and wacky artists' inspirational sources are. Check out Clowes' response to Basil Gogos' cover for Screen Thrills Illustrated below. If you click on the image you can read Clowes' description of the massive impact Gogos' illustration had on his creative psyche. Buy Hignite's book, you won't be sorry.

Page from, In The Studio, by Todd Hignite, 2006 Yale University Press

Jefferson Treatment Notes

2009-10-02T22:50:00.001-07:00

Chris Ware, Rocket Sam Paper Toy, 1996

Jefferson theater
paper toys containing Mulder's ashes for people to release
guns of the dead (toy armada)
A paper theater
sculpture
wistful
high school football lights at night - full moon
the fleeting world
yay

Chris Ware, how did you know that I'd name my son Sam? Get out of my head, you bastard.

Arms & Ether is BACK!

2009-10-02T02:30:00.000-07:00

After a 3.5 month hiatus, this week's Arms and Ether features an in-depth consideration of the role of FreeCell in any thinking artist's life. !@#$ it's 2:30. Awesome. @!#$% you, world.

Also, I added one of those url redirect pages to the old jeffnet url. I'm so proud of myself. (not really--that's the sarcasm) But if you ever need to do a redirect page, here's some code that seems to work okay.

Alexis Time

2009-09-28T23:59:00.001-07:00

Alexis de Tocqueville's Tenfold Emanation by Miles

Collage concept art for the State of Jefferson project I'm working on with Evan Carroll and Warren Hedges.

Arms & Ether Figures! Collect Them All!

2009-09-28T00:53:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't need a 3D Herodotus? Now to finish the dang Arms & Ether strip I started last week. Embarrassing. No. Need to sleep a bit before first day of class. . . shucks.

Gods! Finally! Herodotus Toy First Draft!

2009-09-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

Here's the Herodotus toy. I'm going to print out the beta tonight. As I said, I'll make high res versions for the web site after they've "gone gold."
I think this Papercraft stuff is that "supplementary dimension of folding" that Deleuze and Guattari were talking about.
For folks in the class, it took me 1 hour 20 minutes to cut this thing out. Crank up Pandora, or get some friends and sit around and gossip while you do it. T'is fun.

Herodotus Papercraft & Ware vs. Clowes Depress-Off

2009-09-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

Well, here's Arms & Ether's Herodotus. . . as a paper toy design. Still haven't put it into an actual template yet. Tomorrow, I suppose. Also, who's the more depressed comic artist Ware or Clowes?

Punk-assed Perspective Procrastination

2009-09-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Miles Inada, Portrait d'un Punkass de Perspective, c 1763

Because I'm not Piranesi or Jack Kirby, perspective can get me down--especially when I'm not in proper fighting trim. It's called being a perspective punk-ass. So, I'm still not done with the latest Arms and Ether. I have to draw a. . . table. . . and . . . a computer. . . impossible! Weak. Fail. Etc.
Oh, and I also don't want to pay the @#$%ing bills which I've been putting off. !@#$%

Saw Derf on a documentary about Jeffery Dahmer with whom Derf went to Jr. High and High School. Crazy. I'm going to check out the comic he did on his experience with Dahmer, My Friend Dahmer. You should probably check it out too.

Papercraft Realized--Molo to the Fore

2009-09-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

Here's 3D Molo--off the page and . . . into your hearts? No, no. I'm sure that's not it.

Papercraft First Stab

2009-09-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at this Papercraft bidnit. We'll be using this as an assignment in our Digital Media Foundations class this fall. The above is a lo-res version, I'll make a high-res available when I refine the design. Here's a link to the blank template at cubeecraft. And here's a link to 8-Bit Ghost's post on Papercraft.

Dan Clowes

2009-09-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

panels excerpted from Dan Clowes, The Happy Fisherman

Read Dan Clowes' stuff again last night. I'd kind of forgotten how good he is. Jeez. Depressing for me, but good for you. Pick up anything of his you can get your hands on. The more the merrier. "The Happy Fisherman" (see image above) changed me forever and is available in the Twentieth Century Eightball collection. He's just pure quality.

On a stupid note, here he is doing a commercial for Apple that is actually pretty damn funny if you are condemned to making comics.

Bad Ratio

2009-09-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, drew on Arms & Ether for 8 minutes, then spent 21 minutes scanning and writing followed by a one hour break to take coffee to my lady and play Freecell. Work to GoofOff ratio = 29/60 or about 1:2. Well, you have to start someplace.

And let's not get into the "work" vs. hard-core work distinction.

On the up side, though, feel a new project coming on. . .

Through The Leaden Atmosphere

2009-09-18T02:04:00.000-07:00

It's slow, painful going getting back to makin' stuff. Ugh. I'm very quick to give up, no clear focus, and my concentration is way, way down. Boo hoo. Whinge. I've put in a grand total of 36 minutes (over the last 2 days) on the latest Arms and Ether. Yes!

Yay For Squire

2009-09-16T23:13:00.000-07:00

Shouldn't we all be Mods?

and here are the lyrics if you get obsessed with this song as I did. Damn, those guys were really freaking good. Just bought l'album. How had I not heard of them? They even did a cover of September Gurls. Weird.

Squire
WALKING DOWN THE KINGS ROAD

Walking down the King's Road with some friends of mine
The streets are crowded, its a sign of the times
Walking down the King's Road with some friends of mine
The shops are busy, they've got Saturday on their mind

Well I was just thinking how it used to be...
I'm gonna take a look at Carnaby Street!

Well I was walking down the King's Road
Just about to turn around
Well I was walking down the King's Road
Just about to turn around

In The Chelsea Drugstore with some friends of mine
Saw Mr. Jimmy still standing in line
In The Chelsea Drugstore with some friends of mine
Mini skirts, dolly birds and Radio Caroline

Well I was just thinking how it used to be...
I'm gonna take a look at Carnaby Street!

Well I was walking down The King's Road
Just about to turn around

BTW, Chords are: A G for the verses and D E for the chorus-y bits

Pinball, Comics, Deleuze, Hedges

2009-09-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

This olden 6 Million Dollar Man pinball playfield I bought offa' e-bay arrived today. I wonder how long I'll be able to enjoy it before someone makes a crappy remake of the show. Time to draw an Arms and Ether and work my way out of my summer funk and estivation.

As part of the end of summer, I've been reading through Jessica Abel and Matt Madden's Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, which I'll use as an optional text for the comics class this fall. The book is well written and smartly organized with many practical steps and suggestions. Abel & Madden are strong but not hopelessly intimidating comic draftsmen (do you hear me, Zombie Winsor McKay?) So, it's a nice book--lots of information in one place. Hats off, you two.

Until, I get something going, check out Warren's post on the Sokal hoax, if you dare.

Sad Sack, Misreading, and The Anxiety of Influence

2009-09-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

After reading Derf's swell Punk Rock and Trailer Parks (here's a link to my post, and another link to a nice interview), I started thinking about why I was drawn to his work. I mentioned the Don Martin vibe, but the more I thought, the more I found myself thinking about the Sad Sack work of Fred Rhoads and George Baker. Derf's work definitely has a 'Sack vibe, and so I got to thinking about how much I loved those Sad Sack comics in the 70's. I haven's seen any since then, as they don't seem to have gotten the glamorous retro love as of yet. I will posit Sad Sack as an eery harbinger of Arms and Ether. Weird military types, and lots of beat-downs. Compare the above strip by Fred Rhoads with my 21st century effort. (I know, Rhoads kicks my ass.)
Anyhow, hooray, and here's a link to a blog that gets into some of the deeper nuances of Sad Sack. Okay, back to work.

Dig Some Derf

2009-09-10T02:25:00.001-07:00

Just finished Derf's Punk Rock and Trailer Parks which I thoroughly enjoyed. Here's Derf's website: derfcity.com. (Hey, kinda like Inadaville!). Thoroughly dig his Don Martin-inspired visual style. The writing is also top notch as is his musical taste. And finally. . . OHIO. Check out his weekly strip, The City.

Football: The Song

2009-09-10T00:05:00.001-07:00

God, I cannot get this out of my head. Damn you, Matt Lucas (Arsenal fan, btw). Apparently, I have an endless hunger for literal songs about sports. "Another time, a player got fouled, and everybody booed very loud."

A few more Matt Lucas turns as George Dawes, the drumming baby.

Pop Muzak

2009-09-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

I want music to lift me up into shimmering veils of electric Godhead so that I feel like a cross between Liberace and Thor. Some of my friends go in for a dark, heavy gothic trance, but not me. I'm already inclined to dank, moronic funks, so I don't really need that tendency reinforced by my music. So, when Third Eye Blind's hatefully popular Semi-Charmed Kind of Life came up on Pandora while Sam and I were listening, I had that, "Oh, hell yeah, turn it up" reaction. I then taught it to him on the guitar (3 chords!), and when we went to get the lyrics I had that, "Oh yeah, the song is entirely about getting all kinds of @#$%ed up on crystal meth and having all kinds of spectacular, explicitly described sex," reaction. So I did the, "yeah, I'm not really sure what that means. . . hmmm" and then we went back to "Swing Swing" by the All American Rejects. I know, I know, but Sam listens to Husker Du and the Ramones as well as 4th-generation bubble gum punk. I've always believed you can like The Beatles and The Monkees.

For kids music the way it actually should be done, check dis ultra-hip early 70's Sesame Street Roosevelt Franklin. I had this album as a young 'un, and darned if it didn't give me soul.

"A-B, you know I got that together." RF, y'all's just a stone-cold bad-ass.

Got to get with it

2009-09-08T01:09:00.001-07:00

A New Season

2009-08-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

Denilson, keep on livin' the dream, baby. . .

Arsenal with a 6-1 demolition of Everton at Goodison Park. Wow.

Before today's kick-off, I'd decided to carry a new attitude into this season's football spectating. Influenced by many hours of off-season "research" (bottom-feeding web surfing after 1:00 a.m.), and this magnificent interview with "The Professor," I propose the following spectating manifesto:

1. Dare to dream and let the agony fall where it may. The fun in watching is in not knowing what's going to happen on any given day and giving in to that excitement. Turn the t.v. on early, get some snacks, put on the over-priced team gear, and yell at flickering images of people far, far away from you.

2. Denilson. I'm into you, now. My main issues with him last season were a) his lack of defensive aggression (craziness, intensity, desperation, bite), b) his non-imposing physical stature on a team that could use a bit of it here and there, and c) he didn't seem to offer too much going forward to make up for his lack of defensive splendor. In other words, he felt like a space-waster. Not necessarily negative, but not anything positive either. This excellent post from Untold Arsenal helped me get a clue, filling in some holes in my tactical understanding, and answering the "Why on earth, would Wenger play this guy?" question, that I knew had to have a clear answer. Of course, Denilson ends up scoring a beautiful goal to open the scoring today. Luckily, I had made a public declaration of my revised attitude to my family before kickoff. Sam will vouch for this. Julie didn't really care what I was on about at that moment (rightfully so, of course), so she may or may not.

3. Last year, I had a romantic belief in what Arsenal could do. I was fired-up by the youth movement, and thought, "Yeah, screw all those cranks. Prove them wrong. Win with kids." My optimism was remorselessly torn down by the reality of the season, but this summer, I found that optimism creeping back up again, with the added "ahh, but they're also a year-better!" Several have also pointed out that the season just wasn't even close to being "bad" as far as bad seasons go. This wasn't Newcastle or Tottenham. . . This ties into 4.

4. Arsenal has fucking good-ass, miraculous soccer players playing for the best manager in the world. A nice quote from a column in the Guardian via Arseblog,
". . . you want me to tear my hair out now, when I've got Fábregas and Arshavin in front of me; and Wilshere and Vela sitting in the wings?"
I've been having a blast playing parents vs kids soccer on Sundays with Sam and his buddies from the Ashland Soccer Club. The experience of actually playing the game again is always humbling (even against 9 year olds). When I came back from the game last week, I saw checked out the Emirates Cup Arsenal vs. Rangers highlights and had to pick my jaw off the floor. Those guys are unbelievable.

5. Arsene Wenger is the man. From the Daily News interview:

What is difficult for me is not that clubs have more money. We try to go a different way that, for me, is respectable. Briefly, these are the basics. I thought: ‘We are building a stadium, so I will get young players in early so I do not find myself exposed on the transfer market without the money to compete with the others. I build a team, and we compensate by creating a style of play, by creating a culture at the club because the boy comes in at 16 or 17 and when they go out they have a supplement of soul, of love for the club, because they have been educated together.

The people you meet at college from 16 to 20, often those are the relationships in life that keep going. That, I think, will give us strength that other clubs will not have.’ And, so far, we have flirted with success. Not last year because we were never in the race for the championship, but before and certainly in 2006 when we were in the Champions League final. The team looks to me to be growing and gelling and being close to it, but at the moment they do not get credit for what they produce and like every team who has not won they still doubt whether they can win.

Inada's Interviews with Professional Athletes, Coaches and Managers - Part I: Pitino

2009-08-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

I've been taking a break from the daily summer grind of drawing and "creativity" to conduct a series of interviews with professional sports figures regarding the difficulties they experience off the field, away from the white-hot glare of the madding public. In this first conversation, Rick Pitino opens up about his recent explorations of sexual relationships outside of the church-sanctioned limitations of marriage and the imperfect ironic choices facing middle aged men in the public sphere. I found much to admire in his frank articulation of the poignant conflict between desire and responsibility. Here's Pitino, unedited and from the heart:

"I'd like to say I regret my sexual encounters, but in all honesty, how could I? They are so much the color and apex of my life's experience. And yet, I do feel regret at times for being so caught up in the maelstrom of a public life and the broad sweep of popular athletics. In contrast to the noisy pageantry of big-time college basketball, I've also experienced clear moments of understanding and peace spontaneously emerging from solitude and reflection. I long for more of those experiences, but of course, such moments are as transitory as any others, aren't they? So you may criticize my sexual explorations, but I would ask, if we're not living to better answer our deepest questions as fully as we can, what are we really doing with our short time on this earth? If I have any true regrets, they center around failing to live unconditionally in that un-graspable vivid vibration between past and future, all and nothing, heaven and hell. So, if you must judge me harshly in order to take some meager pleasure from your own untested fidelity to family, morals, and domestic bonds, don't forget to shed a tear and raise a glass to the distant memory of how the sun blazed brightly in your very soul when once you met the eyes and felt the secret touch of a beautiful stranger."

slow magic returning

2009-08-02T19:59:00.001-07:00

hot clouds in the summer sky

Back to School

2009-07-20T01:22:00.000-07:00

Urkh. Me go teach in morning. Me make self portrait as beast in Maya. Here design.

Lay it down, Professor

2009-07-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

If I were a football manager, I'd like to be able to say this kind of thing:

The sums can appear shocking, but they are the result of a calculation carried out by the investor. It is necessary to disregard moral judgment and to question the profitability of the operation.

This was Wenger's take on the recent spate of Real Madrid signings. Hell yeah.

Okay. I'll start putting up some actual stuff instead of more Arsene Wenger pictures. He just fits a certain angle of my Super Ego so well. That could be a key to watching sports, actually. It's a chance for that judgmental, Nobodaddy in your head to run wild. "That was a horrible play." "How did you let that guy get past you?" etc. etc. And managers are fantastic manifestations of people you try to impress in your mind. Jose Mourinho showed up in my brother's dreams. I imagine Sir Alex, Tom Landry, and Joe Torre are out maurading the dreamscape as well.

Summertime Blues

2009-06-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

Took a vacation to Saint Francisco's town in the state of California. I have become obsessed with Plants vs. Zombies. It's only $10 and will entertain you (in the way that a heroin coma "entertains you") for hours on end. Good for a summer fling--I like the idea of "casual" games. Here's an interview with one of the programmers for Pop Cap.