Yeah...right.

Ok, I don't know who the fuck I was kidding but between work and what little social life I have I haven't had time for much more than narrowing down a few minor character summaries or details. Occassionally while searching 4chan or something like deviantart I'll see something for inspiration or an example of which I save, but very little creativity is actually progressing. Sorry.

Praise Be A Wal-Mart Sale

Well with all the back-to-school price reductions and sales that have been going on, one in particular stood out for me. Spiral notebooks: 1 subject and 70 pages are on sale for 5-cents each. I've bought a few boxes of them just because I tend to go through them. Now I'll slowly go through all these torrid files and data on my computer and respective hard drives and try to figure out what is truly worth keeping and what' ready for the recycle bin. I'll probably grab another box or two on pay day if I find them still shelved. Basically the only use I've encouraged so far from myself is using one as a discipline guide in my classroom keeping track of who and how often I'm calling a student down. The other is as a deviantArt planning guide, giving each individual subject it's own page for the sake of descriptions, blocking, outlines, mock-ups, and general idea dumps.

Monthly Check-Up & Browncoat Players

Well I need to get something posted for August before it's over and done with. I am moved and very slowly unpacking. Expect to see more thought out ideas. At the moment I'm working on my own Bleach original characters and trying to design and lore them enough to be satisfied and start sketching them.

Finished LFG comics and most of GU Comics. Awesome, sadly this has only depressed me more for what little storylines I can place with my WOW characters. Speaking of, 2 70s to report now as well as started rolling Horde on Smolderthorn for the hell of it. I have a buddy with raid connections and such and after reading LFG I wanted to play a Tauren. :P

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Browncoat Players is something random my mother of all people suggested after I made a very politically-racist and snide comment during the olympics. Something along the American-Chinese cooperation or such, funny at the time but details are fuzzy. Anyway, while we were watching the Olympics this year (starting and first week of) we were re-watching Firefly/Serenity during the nights before my full-time job started. So what kind of insturments and outfits would a AmerChinese Folk band be and how would it sound? Basically consisting of folksy musical instruments and miscellaneous amalgamation of accompanyments.

America ==
Banjo, Guitar, Harmonica, Kazoo (only insturment universally agreed to originate in USA with no direct predecessors)

Chinese ==
Guzheng, Pipa, Yangqin, Koto

Heavy on the strings, but the accompanying pieces will vary the sounds more. Could be a very interesting ensemble given the right direction. Wish someone would take me up on it, lol.

Idea: AMV Music & Concepts

I know very loosely one or two AMV (Animated Music Video) artists. Generally they use anime or cartoons to compile or illustrate a point or theme.

Video #1
Anime: Bleach
Music: Three Days Grace - Animal I've Become
Concept: Alright, I know this song is over-used as it is but the lyrics fit the hollow transformation of Ichigo. I even successfully bounced this idea off a few of these AMV'ers but they didn't have the interest or time to devote to a project not of their origins (even for shared credit, go figure). Basically ONLY focus in on his transformations. There are three set repeats of the chorus: 1 for during the fight with Byukuya in Soul Society; 2 versus Koga the Bount; and 3 a rehashment of the Ichigo vs. H-Ichigo battles both within his soul and his hollowfication in the real world.

Video #2
Anime: Bleach
Music: Skillet - Falling Inside The Black
Concept: I'm not one to take sides in most of these shipper battles. I like them to be left open for the stories to develop and dictate the results as the artist(s) see fit. Not that I don't root for my favorites, but as some storylines go, their outcomes can influence choices and decisions. This one the lyrics really spoke to me from a standpoint of Orihime witnessing Ichigo's Vaizard mask and the fear, confusion, and angst her eyes very successfully express in the anime. The storyline is still ongoing, so there will be more to pull from as the Heuco Mundo arc concludes.

Idea: Horoscope Amalgamations

For those of you who can't seem to guess, let me break it down for you. I post SOME of my ideas on here. Of course anything I'm excited about and really think that it's uber-creative or orignal will not be posted here until I am satisfied with it. That won't stop me from still occassionally posting ideas. [When I get around to acting on them is another story entirely.]

Anyway this one's not a big one. I have a relative, distant mind you, who is deeply involved in numerology, astrology, etc. Anyway, she was blathering on this time about the planets and signs and trying to back it up with circumstancial historical context from different corners of the world when this little idea snuck up on me.

Take multiple zodiacs, believe me there are not that just the 2 everyone knows of (Roman, Chinese), and compbine the creatures of particular design. For example, I'm was born in early December. Meaning that on the Roman horoscope I am a Sagittarius, but on the Chinese calendar I'm a boar (before you jump in with jokes, that's a wild hog). So one possible permutation could be a centaur except with the body of a boar.

Idea: Hulking Peep

So I have a few friends on myspace. Some of them occassionally send me or post interesting videos, pictures and the what not. You know, the normal everyday spam of social networks. Not that it's annoying, when used in moderation I enjoy it, but some of them are forever burned into the insides of your retina and haunt you even today when you're alone in your room, late at night...

ANYWAY... One such picture was sent to me around Easter time. It was a link to a youtube video of a microwaved peep. Call me what you will, but I've never cared for the little guys. They're cutish I guess, but the colored sugar marshmallows never held a place in my Easters, and almost as rare in my stomach (maybe 3 in my lifetime). Getting back to the video, the peeps grew and expanded keeping a very bloated and rough definition of it's original form. So the idea is this: Green humanoid shaped one, swelling to the Hulk.

Ok, so the build up was more than the idea, but I'm reaching here folks. Expect a hiatus coming as I am moving around the first.

**UPDATE** (7/15/2008)
Per a friend's recommendation, the last frame could be the Hulk deflating from the air pressure within the marshmallow. Not sure, but something to toy with.

Idea: Death Note + McDonalds

Well I finally broke down and watched the Death Note series this past week or so. Very dark. I liked the live adaptation better I think, just because of the repetativeness of Kira's tactics in the second half of the anime. Anyway, I get done with that a decide to relax and watch some TV. When what should I see but a new McDonalds ad with a very different and yet similar flying clown, Ronald, flying through the air tossing apples at kids. So what would Ronald as Ryuk look like? Hmmm... this one sounds interesting.

Want Ad: General Artist/Collaborator

I've mentioned this a few times before. I'm big on development and mock-ups, edits, etc. and weak on my own follow through. In fact, I'm willing to bet I add many more "Work In Progress" pieces than I take off.

If anybody thinks their artworking skills rival my creativity I'd love to collaborate and work with you on almost any kind of project. If you're wanting a brainstorming partner I am willing to be an idea wall (to bounce ideas off) as well as a devining rod for workups.

I'm willing to work more or less for next to nothing. The one stipulation is some credit given (especially if commercial artwork, for my own portfolio, etc). The very limited general fee for such work I've done in the past was very cheap ($25 for an organizations convention logo, theme, and set-up) or exchangable for commissions of my own ideas, etc.

Want Ad: Sound-mixer, etc.

Alright, most people have heard or know something about a 'mash-up'. It's basically what DJs have been doing for years except they don't add their own strums or scratching. Basically its taking the recorded music and mixing only it create a new song or a compilation of an idea or feeling. One of the best ones I can reference if "Boulevard of Broken Songs" by a San Francisco DJ named Party Ben, which features Green Day, Oasis, Travis, Aerosmith as well as other acts.

Anyway, the point of this is to say that I am looking for a creative person proficient enough to attempt a mash-up. As I am flat broke at the moment, but may be able to scrounge up something for a completed product this has no due date, would remain the creator's property, etc.

The Idea: A combination of multiple songs that convey an ominous but active environment in the air. Specifically included tracks: "Flight of the Valkyries" and "Flying Blue Monkey Music from Wizard of Oz--Title Unknown atm". Addition possibilities include but are in no way limited to "Flight of the Bumblebee" "Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone", etc.

Fictional Fat-loss Series

So I'm on a self-imposed diet of kinds at the moment. Basically the hardest part is just finding something worthwhile to do. Exercising is great, but it's so boring doing it alone. Wouldn't it be so much easier if dieting had an easy button?

Well on one far-flung night when we were at college me and other 'fluffy' gents somehow got on the topic of easy ways to lose weight. Mind you these are all fictionous, but they were entertaining. Well, I'm going to attempt to write them down in some justifiable fashion and maybe sketch out some of the examples. Most of them are pulled from concepts we've seen elsewhere but very few were used for the desirable dietary purpose.

As such, I will most likely stop at general concept sketches. Providing references whenever possible, but enough to generally get the idea across.

Utilizing the blog-features.

Well I've since done some timkering with the blog and here's some new uses I'm applying.

I'll use the labels for any of the following genres. This way you'll know if I'm still looking for help, working on a current piece or just random blatherings.

Ideas - Blogs where I'm too busy or not in the right frame of mind to create a note or sketch off-handedly for whatever reason. More or less a placeholder I can refer back to when I have the time and initiative.

Read Me - Like this post, any of my previous logs that actually explain what's going on albiet temporarily or permanently.

Random - The catch all for anything ranging from a stupid question to intellectual humor.

Series - Only the Central Page will be tagged, but as pieces to the series are added, the links will be updated. Series include any theme work and may include multiple works in progress simultaneously.

Want Ad - This is a lable I will use when I am vastly out of my league on an idea I have. Either resources, know-how, etc.

Work In Progress - Not to be confused with 'Ideas' in that no sketch even exists. Just as the lable claims, the rough idea is in place, but I'm not entirely finished with the piece. Obviously this will be updated as I complete the work.

List will be updated as I figure out new tags.

to be continued...

Alright. Sorry to post more or less daily for this openning bid, but this is all I have scanned/photographed/prepared to discuss at the moment. As I complete more pieces or find them in housecleaning expect more.

As far as future posts go, expect to start seeing the brainstorming ideas start.

I invite you to view my new Multimedia Review blog if you're interested, no biggy only one post thus far.

#014 - World of Warcraft Buttons and Wallpapers

I don't real like the idea of rehashing this more than once, so I'm only putting the two completed designs on here for now. I'll add individual ones if I care to later. Basically the left one is the original guild my buddies and I started. The rightmost one was the one I saw the most potential in after the original folded. The second folded while I was away.

Don't actually like the blue one, but I was on a WoW hit at the time so it's there. If anyone is actually interested I found a nice little online tabbard creator. Natch I found it after who knows how many hundreds of screenshots trying to get the hammers right by hand in paint. The seoncd one and any future ones will be done with this creator.

Warcraft Patch 2.4 Bug

I know this isn't a true work of art, I just screenshotted and commented on a Warcraft moment. 2.4 was the buggiest patch I'd encountered. It repeatedly crashed and on this instance, didn't even register my alternate character was gone until ~5 minutes after I'd been on my other one! Posted on deviantart because everybody was pissed when the patch came out. Since then, Blizzard has gotten most of the major issues under control.

#013 - RHA Logo Designs

Ok, technically these are 3 different designs, but as simplistic as they are I grouped them together. The RHA (or Resident Hall Association) on our campus wanted a logo as an incentive or tool to attract new membership. They had virtually no funding so the requirements were:
1) to already have the design vectored in CorelDraw or to have the font package used.
2) simple, single colored design
3) logo lends itself to shirts and letterhead equally
4) simplistic design, go easy on details
5) the most predominant part must be the letters

Enough said, I could have made these in 5th grade on a p.o.s. mac. None of mine were chosen, but I really didn't care that much.

#012 - Simpson-ified Freinds

Well when the Simpson movie came out the Simpson character generator became all the rage. This was done at one of our LAN parties. If you're interested you can still find it here under 'Create your own Simpson Avatar."

#011 - Put 'em up...

I love this one. First off, you should know that I did not do this. My roommate at the time liked everybody messing with me and my long hair so he photoshopped me as the cowardly lion from OZ. This is posted with his blessing and for the longest time it was my avatar. A few of my friends in the society think I should cosplay this or dress up for Halloween. Maybe, who knows.

#010 - Hypnotoad: Version B (W.I.P.)

I drew this almost immediately after the first one. I went to the trouble to find a picture on the internet of decent quality to eye-ball from. This is Version B of the Hypnotoad design, the amalgamation of Michigan J. Frog & Futurama's Hypnotoad. Again, still refining before I put the completed stamp on this one.

My roommate Paul goes by "HypnoToad" or some variant of the name. I didn't like the Battletoad rendition, so I started looking for other reference. I was reminded of Toad Man from Megaman, but after a little image searching, I don't think It'd be a decent amalgamation. Reference is Warner Brother's Loony Toons.

Rights to Futurama's Matt Groening(?) & Warner Brothers where inspired.

#009 - Hypnotoad: Version A (W.I.P.)

The second piece from the video game avatar series (of the two currently on paper, four additional ones in development). This one I'm torn between two ideas, both of which internally funny amongst us friends even if not so much to you, the audience. Version A is the amalgamation of Battletoads & Futurama's Hypnotoad. I'm fairly disappointed in the current body: proportions, details, and overall tone. Again, still refining before I put the completed stamp on this one. I disliked it immediately after I'd finished so don't be worried at the self-notes I put on as well.

My roommate goes by "HypnoToad." Body type and coloring matches Pimple? more-or-less, the final addition of Hypnotoad's darker textures finally seperate them. Battle garb is a mixture of all three battletoads, save the necklace which is "Our Load and Master's." Will probably change his posture entirely unless I lose focus. Most likely will have something more suggestive of hypnotism like a b/w swirl coin, pendulum watch, or crystal ball hanging away from his body.

Rights to Futurama's Matt Groening(?) & Rare where inspired.

#008 - Mad Bomber (W.I.P.)

First from my video game avatar series aka a W.I.P. (work in progress). Nearly ironed out minor changes I want to make, but still refining my skills before I finish it. Hand's down the piece I'm most proud of. The idea came to me as I was bored out of my mind at work having been called away from a LAN party I had requested off for.

My buddy John goes by "Mad Bomber" so obviously this is Nintendo's Bomberman + Lewis Carrol's Mad Hatter. Only think I hate is the current TeaKettleBomb design. I may be twinking that for the final. Clothing is assumed to be wildy missmatched colors with the classic bomberman thread on our little hero. TeaKettleBombs are Purplish in tint.

Rights to Disney & Nintendo where inspired.

#007 - Cinco de Mayo Print Logo

Well this contest fell through but I liked the finished product. It was for a sorority's Cinco de Mayo festival. It had gained permission to use any of the university's logos (I was told) but needed to be a very simple design in a single color. What you see here is about 10 minuts of work using the school's lion head logo (very popular in similar university events' apparel). The phrase and such were my own creations and took the majority of the time lining up the text and the shape.

Copyright Texas A&M University System where applicable.

#006 - Dad's Glazed Noggin

This piece was also created back in 1999. It was originally a requirement for a merit badge (yes, I was in boy scouts--and cherrish many memories). It stipulated that it had to be a realistic depiction of a human head. Dad's birthday was coming up so I chose to make it a gift to him in the process. All shaped using everything I could grab from a single slab of clay. Original piece had glasses, but they didn't survive the first firing so they were removed. I love how it came out.

The glaze was pre-coated with iron-oxide* and them a reactive agent glaze over that to add definition to the lines and impurities on the surface.

* - It's been almost 10 years, so Ican't be 100% sure. I know I lost 3 of my favotire shirts to the dribbles of the stuff staining the fabric.

#005 - Kokopelli, flute player

I love this piece. I made this in 1999 in Mrs. Tschoerner's art class. I found that I loved sculpting, and not to shabby at it if I do say so myself. We had gone all over the four-corner's area the previous summer vacation and I was on a kokopelli trip as far as references (possible other artwork to be scanned and added in the future) were concerned.

One problem did arise in firing. The base was too thick even after scraping it and shaping it, so it swelled just enough to break the figure off his perch. Thus the work was glued on and painted instead of a glaze. The colors were based on a 'sunset vase' I had a clipart on: yellow on one side, red on the other, and equal fading through orange to connect them.

I have a rough outline for a follow-up piece in a different medium if I ever get around to it.

#004 - Warcraft: My Anti-Wallpaper

Well this one was a very quick, and surprisingly popular design that took all of 15 minutes. My college roommate had just gotten into the World of Warcraft and those blasted "...my anti-drug" commercials had invaded out theatre previews for the first (and sadly not last) time. He and I were making up our own anti-whatnots and this is one of the ones I came up with. Funny how verbally put he gave me the finger, but after I emailed him the desktop he loved it.

My only problem with it now is that it's about to hit 1000 views on deviantart, so I need to figure out a 'special edition' or updated verion soon. Come to think of it, I myself am about to hit 1000 profile page views too. Damn, more to do. ;)

#003 - February 2007 LAN Party Flyer

Not exactly a work of art, but I like it none-the-less. Screenshot is taken from Unreal Tournament, text is in normal fonts provided on any basic package or free site online*. A few of my friends of deviantArt browsers** asked about the lengthy name, well at the time we were planning on having large-scale LAN parties at the college campus on a monthly basis. Due to scheduling conflicts we had 2 more that semester, but not as many showed up for those. And class loads prevented me from making more to advertise. Maybe in the future I'll make more flyiers layouts for the future, but as I've since graduated, most LANS will be with friends only unless I visit the few collegiate friends I have left.

For the record we had a total of 54 people sign-in here, not counting the ones who skipped in, played the consoles, and left without signing in. All-in-all a very successful event!

* - I couldn't tell you which at the moment as I literally keep thousands of fonts at all times, some not so different than others
** - I would call them fans but I don't publish enough to consider them that, but these are the ones that troll my page occassionally.

Almost forgot, the Bleach-esque text was made using a textgenerator found:
Bleach Title Font Creator

#002 - TAMU-C Swap Shop

So this one all began when my campus, Texas A&M University - Commerce, finally got access to (pre-public domain) facebook.com. Lots of groups were starting up so I started one for a swap shop for college related materials. This was the 'unofficial' logo. Credit to the A&M school system and ebay where necessary, but I like my amalgamation of the two. Rudimentary in design and redundant in scope, but a quick job none the less. And besides no one made money from it, or on it thinking back to the group... hmmm...

#001 - Bostonian Moonanite

The first art I published online, this was in responce to the 'bomb scare' in Boston, Mass. over fairly cheap advertising signs lit up with mono-colored L.E.D. lights. Hundreds of calls were received about the street crew's marketing campaign, but it was blown out of proportion by Boston after repeatedly calling out the bomb squad and the mayor stating that it would henceforth be crimial to continue with these. Created in paint with the stamp tool and basic text. The humor says it all.

Artwork Presentation

Alright, so I already ran out of ideas. I also discovered that you can't just post a blog and (though people assume and threaten it happens) expect people to see it or seek it out unmitigated. Henceforth I will be posting, explaining, brainstorming, etc. Since I'm still working on ideas to actually work on, I'll start by posting my already published deviantart designs and discussing them. As I get other ideas and such, I'll mix and match the content as I go.

I've been intermittenly active on DeviantArt.com for a few years now, mainly as a source for clip-art for school projects or reference photos for my own ideas, though few have come to fruition. One of the more popular themes ideas on dA is the traditional "100 Picture Ideas" where pictures of a theme or not are published. So let's start this going.

"100 Picture Ideas" Artwork will be referenced: #000 - Artwork Name

Any other ideas/brainstorms will not have numbers preceeding the subject.

World of Warcraft: Inside Rogue Humor

I am a [computer] techie, geek, nerd, etc. Use whichever vernacular you prefer. As such, I have played the World of Warcraft somewhat extensively. Due to a comic from their official website:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/community/comics/gallery.html#30

and a similar forum dedicated to it a friend showed me:
http://forums.roguespot.com/viewtopic.php?p=19134

What are some other WoW jokes, humor, pranks, emotes, etc?
And I may add my own as we go, lol.
Oh and if you'd rather just see my very limited art page:
http://skelefish.deviantart.com

Example:
"The first Rule of Rogues is 'We do not talk about Ravenholdt'...
The second Rule of Rogues is 'We do not talk about Ravenholdt'... "

Greetings & Salutations!

Ok, first off I dread and downright loathe the "Who the f@#k I am..." or "Getting to know me..." bullshit that these things normally start with. As such, I'm completely bypassing that this time around. That said, I may delve into my own experiences or comments along the way. My *spider-sense* tells me I may touch on it before I even finish this first post. hmmm... Instead here's what I plan on doing here:

I'm a closet artist. By that I mean I don't always have the time to fully develop an idea, as such I have literally 1000s of post-it's, scraps of paper, or fully developed legal sheets of ideas or backstories for fan-art, original art, original characters (within pre-developed fandoms), fan-fic, etc. Here you can expect a melting pot of ideas, some that make absolutely no sense, some that do. I will most likely NOT post on any regular basis; for the time being at least. Moving, job hunting, and a dozen other 'what ifs' are circling me like carrion. However, whenever I do get to scanning or posting work on here please comment. I have very little actual experience drawing other than doodling. Schedules in school wouldn't allow for any art classes past 101. Otherwise, expect rants and questions (see 2nd blog posting for 1st topic up for discussion). Again: PLEASE COMMENT if you would like. I don't put things out for nothing, I'd like some feedback.

Also, a shameless plug I assure you. My corresponding deviantart account is:

http://skelefish.deviantart.com/

Again. Not a lot on there, but hopefully more eventually.