I'm back?

Am I really? Umm, maybe... I don't have a steady web connection at the moment, but I'll try to start posting more often, includng my trials and tribulations on starting a project.

I'll post what story ideas I have, and include some conceptual sketches while I learn how to use Photoshop.

In the meantime, here's a couple of sketches to start us off:

This is Pal Joey, a gunslinger from my Terminal City storyline. He's an ex-pat Brit living in Terminus (called Terminal City by its inhabitants). He smokes, drinks, is tattooed and likes going around without a shirt most of the time (not sure why).

Terminal City is a crime noir story in the vein of Frank Miller's Sin City and Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto.

This group shot is of a group of people (durr) who are paranormal investigators. I haven`t fleshed out many details about them or their storyline, except one or a couple of them will be psychics of varying degrees, and the world they live in will be dark and foreboding, in the vein of H.P.Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, possibly the same world, but in modern times.

Finally, this is Matthew Ketzer, a sorcerer in the modern day world. I'm still debating whether to make this story a dark fantasy with vampires, werewolves and the like, or to set it in a more fantasy-heavy setting in the modern day, a là Wizards of the Coasts' Urban Arcana RPG setting.

As you can see (maybe), Ketzer is tattooed with mystical symbols of protection, like the Egyptian ankh, the Hand of Fatima, and the pentagram with two crescents, which in my research I discovered is a Wiccan symbol of protection (the pentagram and two crescents representing the waxing and waning of the Moon. I never saw the symbol myself, so I designed this one, at the bottom right of the sketch).

Okay, that's all for now. Hopefully, it won't be another two years before I write again. Maybe just one year (just kidding... maybe).

Later, y'all!

6 Months Later

Oy. It's like I'm counting down towards something, but I'm not. I just don't really have the time to put anything really important down on this olde blog. This is just a quick little update to keep my account alive. I'll write more later. But right now it's 4:30 in the a.m. and I gotta work tonight. So... l8r, kiddies.

P.S. the artwork on display is just a couple of pictures I drew using my new laptop tablet pc and MS Paint.

7 Months Later...

Wow. Seven months since I've posted anything, and nothing has changed, really. Still living my so-called life, still working in Hell's Kitchen.

Movie Reviews (because you care about what I think):

Cloverfield: Killer movie. A rejuvenation to the giant monster movie genre. With early trailers making me think "Gojira" the movie itself, as well as Clover him/herself, had me on the edge of my seat, sometimes literally. Just ask Stan. *****

Iron Man: Sweet movie. Back in the day, the number one name being thrown about for the leading role of Tony Stark/Iron Man was Tom Cruise. I'm SO glad someone in Hollywood has half a brain to get Robert Downey Jr. for the lead instead. Visual effects were killer, as was the practical suit created by special effects wizard, the late, great Stan Winston. *****

The Incredible Hulk: "You are the all-seeing, all-dancing Hulk of the world." Visions of Fight Club dancing in my head, I went to see Hulk with high expectations (one of them being "I hope this is better than the Ang Lee film") and was not disappointed. Especially satisfying was the cameos of Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno (Big Lou also did the voice of the Hulk in this movie: "Hulk Smash!"). Also the actual look of the Hulk was better than the first movie: in the first, he was a light green and looked... soft; in this movie he was a darker green (straight out of the graphic novels) and looked harder and stronger, each muscle standing out in high-def detail. *****

The Dark Knight: This was the most recent movie I've seen so it's still fresh in my mind and it's still great. I can't think of anything else to say. ****** (out of five)

I've seen other movies, but can't remember any right now.


Other things that got my attention:


UFC: Anderson Silva moving up in weight class. His first match against James "The Dirtman" (or whatever) Irvin tells me Silva found a new playground to dominate.

The Watchmen Trailer: Holy shit! Each scene in this trailer looks like a panel taken right out of the graphic novel. The next can't wait for movie, probably the first can't miss movie of 2009.

The Day the Earth Stood Still trailer: Keanu Reeves "kinda" looks like a good choice for the alien Klaatu, but the moviemakers completely missed the point of the original. Of course with today's movie audiences, the original would be considered a "snore fest" with it's slow pace and lack of action. At least Gort will be showing up (if you watch the last couple of seconds closely).

Heroes Volume Three - Villians: The commercials currently showing on NBC show a lot, but yet not enough. But of course, I'll be there to see what happens. Nathan and Niki/Jessica still alive? Gotta wait and see.


Well, the time on the wall tells me it's now past 5 in the morning, and I have to work tonight, which means it's time for bed... later.

Catch y'all on tha flypp syde, yo.

-Bigg D

Drunken Sketch Monkey Kung-Fu

All right y'all. I apologize for the super-serious and depressing blog last time. I'll try to make things a little lighter, starting right now.

A couple of times in the past month Stan and I have gone out after work, and after a couple of drinks, I opened the sketchbook and this is the result.


These were done with a simple .5mm mechanical pencil with HB leads. The first is a jam Stan & I did. He then followed up with a Reaper Goddess. The rest was kind of a blur. More next time.

-Dane

Life is Killing Me

My last post was in August. I'll try to explain what happened in the past four months as briefly as possible.

Well, I worked. A lot. My mom left for vacation, when somewhere in Alberta, her spleen ruptured and she was rushed to the hospital in Edmonton.

She was released a couple of days later and brought home to Prince George. She looked so weak, so frail. I had never seen her like that before. I was scared. I knew what was coming.

Then the third week of August I worked six days in a row. August 21st, I was looking forward to my one day off before working a swing shift the next night. I was planning to go out, go to a movie, that sort of shit, when I came home, my aunt, who was staying with us at the time, told me my mom had been taken to the hospital. She was in the ER, waiting for a bed in the Hospice House. I was also told my brother was on his way.

So I stayed home all day, waiting for someone to come take me to the hospital. No one came.

I fell asleep in my big comfy chair, and was woken up around 11PM. It was my brother and his family. He had just come from the hospital. He was too late.

Our mother has died, a half hour before.

The next few weeks were a blur. I was barely alive, just going through the motions of my life.

Wow, this is depressing. Needless to say, I'm still here.

No new art. Maybe later.

Well... Now What?

It's been a long time since I've updated the old blog. Well, I really haven't had anything to say.

My vacation in Victoria was fun. But I really didn't do any "touristy" things. I hung out, visited a couple of shops, saw a movie (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer! Woo!), then came home after running out of money. 'Well,' I hear you saying, 'why bother travelling 15 hours each way when you could have done all that at home?' 'Well,' you hear me replying, 'everyone needs to get out of their town for at least a couple of days.' I'm definitely gonna do it again, and soon hopefully. Maybe Christmas.

When I got back home and to work at Hell's Kitchen (AKA Denny's), my worst fears were realized. Before I left, I saw I was scheduled for that Sunday of my return, followed by Mon., Tues., and Wed., which is when the schedule week ends. Normally Monday and Tuesday are my nights off, and they need at least two people in the kitchen on late nights on Thurs., Fri., and Sat., so I just knew when I was getting back, they (the Powers that Be) would have me scheduled for seven nights in a row, at least. But I was wrong.

IT WAS EIGHT FUCKING NIGHTS IN A ROW!! AND AFTER MY FUCKING VACATION!! So I wasn't used to standing on my feet for eight hours in a row. Needless to say, after my third night (Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning), I was begging to be put down. But it never happened. So I fought my way through it, survived, and here I am.

Now what?

I thought I had finally decided on my first webcomic, an anthology-style (read: rotating cast, various stories) action series but, par usual, I got bored with it. I'm flirting with a fantasy comic right now, but even as I type these words, I find myself wanting to move on to something else. Again!

So... now what?

-Dane

P.S. No sketches this time. I ran out. Give me time to scan in some of my new shiznit.

Gone

Howdy, y'all. Well, as the title of this entry suggests, I'm leaving. But I'm only leaving town, and it's only for a week. I'm heading south to Victoria, just because I can. I went there a few times and just fell in love with the city, so I go back whenever I can. The last time was a year ago. So, I'll leave you with some art, and when I come back, some new stuff along with (hopefully) some news of an upcoming webcomic. So, art.


Damon von Teufel. Not sure where to put him (as in, "what genre?") , but I like drawing him.

LOGAN!

Being bored at work sometimes brings up stuff like this: the "Righteous Sword of the Name" and the "Faith of the Fallen". And I'm fully aware that that is a title of one of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series (my favorite book in the series actually).


Throwback. My Dogg Trevor wanted me to do this one.


Short but sweet.


Aiight, I'll see y'all in a week.

-Dane