Monthly Archives: June 2009

A Much Needed Update

by in brain matter, People I Know, Work and tagged , , , , | Permalink

Things have been kind of crazy here on the compound. Within a couple of days of putting out the call out for Notebookery contributors, 70 people in 11 countries threw their hats in.   A web site was quickly formed and a domain name was generously donated by Melissa Dowell. And well, now we have notebookery.org up and running. I’ve already bought the notebook, made my contribution and sent it off. The next artist sent me an e-mail this morning saying that he has it. Just…wow.

I think it’s time that I talk a bit about Kyle Gallant. Kyle’s a graphic and web designer who is the biggest typography nerd I know. He is also a person who, probably more than I care to admit, has had a really positive influence on how I deal with things. You see, Kyle loves being productive. THRIVES on it. But something he also loves is getting others to be just as productive and healthy as he is. So he always sends an occasional tweet, text or e-mail my way with some handy hints and when I do eventually see him in person he is NEVER short on advice. At times it can be a bit overbearing but you start to realize that his advice is really damn sound and his links are all inspiring. So nowadays when I have that great epic battle inside my head between the voice that wants to slack off and watch Bullwinkle and the voice that wants me to seize the day by getting on the computer and producing something…It’s usually Kyle’s voice doing the latter and I always end up doing it because as he himself says, you get an incredible rush from being productive. There are some other influences he’s responsible for…It’s because of him that I’ve developed a habit of judging stores based on the typeface used in their logo (very similar to this PvP strip), but it’s a small price to pay for the productivity his words bring forth. I’m not saying he’s a guru or anything silly like that, but I think he should grow a beard, lift up his shirt sleeves and do some talks with a head mic while doing enthusiastic arm pumps now and then.  Or at the very least set up a blog of some sort.

Now with that said, I did a few things with my computer that made me happy. I discovered a web site of the Top 100 Essential Mac Applications and managed to clean up my computer considerably with some of the programs. The big task was finding space hogs and deleting them. I managed to get 20GB out of that witch hunt. Also for some variety I downloaded a program that changes my desktop every three hours to something it finds on flickr. Pretty handy because it gives me new photos to look at. I also cleared up my dock and installed an RSS reader to put some work related blogs into it and read it over a morning coffee.

Well, this post was part of my break.  Now I’m going to have some lunch and continue to get cracking on some writing (and yes, Kyle I’ll be working on the crab!).

On-The-Move Notebook Idea…

by in art, brain matter and tagged , , , | Permalink

So I had a bit of a brainstorm tonight.  I’m not going to pretend it’s original (in fact after writing this I discovered that something similar has been done before) but I think it would be a lot of fun and what the hell, it’s not as if the result will be the same. With projects like this it never is.  Plus this could all be part of a project for one site…

So, say I buy a small notebook. Like, a medium sized moleskine. I write my mailing address inside the cover and then write or draw something on the first page. I then put the notebook in an envelope and mail it to someone I know (I’m thinking on a set mailing list of volunteers with a person picked at random on that list). They contribute 1-2 pages with anything they want be it a drawing, a painting, a poem, a story, pasting a picture. ANYTHING. Then they put it in an envelope and send it off to someone.  This process continues until the notebook is filled. It’s then sent back to the original sender (in this case me) where it will be scanned and put up on a blog. OR it could be scanned by each contributor as it makes it’s way and put up on the blog.  At the end of it the scans can be put together (or the whole thing can be rescanned) and a free pdf will be offered.  Then a call for other contributors would be held and someone else will but a small notebook and start the process all over again.

Also as an aside someone can buy a cheap little notebook, write the instructions on the inside and mail it to total strangers or a single friend who would in turn send it to their single friend.  When they start to come in, pdfs can be offered up on the blog.  So while the one big project is going on, several little ones will be happening at the same time.

Would this interest anyone?  Let me know.  If enough people want in, I see no reason why we can’t start it up.

EDIT: all interested parties e-mail notebookery@gmail.com with your snail mail address.

Actually, War DOES Change

by in art, comics, Work, Writing and tagged , , , , , | Permalink

I got my copy of Dose issue one in the mail today from Brendan McGinley along with two sketches I requested of characters from a post-apocalyptic comic project that kind of went south.  I have to say, he did an amazing job.  Especially on Sidney (pictured right, click for fullview).  He really captured her demeanor well in this pic.  A mix of boredom and begrudging duty.  Lovely.

But looking at these pictures made me realize just how much I missed that project and how much it’s haunted me when it became clear that it might not see the light of day.  It was such a great world and had some amazing fucking characters in it.  Primarily the two leads Edward and Sidney.  Edward was a quirky dude who sported a gas mask, duster jacket and a bowler hat.  He loved life and loved plantlife even more.  Sidney belonged to one of the tribes out of California and was a great hunter/warrior.  She has some BEAUTIFUL tribal/futuristic tattoos and is incredibly skilled with weapons both simple and complex.  She’s a smartass and likes things like porn and old music.

That’s all I can reveal at the moment.  I don’t want to give their origins away or what kind of quest if any they are on.  This is because well, something might be in the works for this.  I’ve started typing more and more and looking at the specs and I think, with the right artist, there might be life in the old bastard yet.  I’m thinking web comic and eventual publishing.  This thing WILL make it.  It’s too good not to.

The problem is, as always, finding an artist.  I’ve dealt with a couple on this, but life got in the way and things just drifted.  I’m not angry about it since this is what happens when a bunch of people get together and do stuff for free.  Paid work and life in general take priority over the free work.  It happens.  But if there are any artists out there who are reading this who are interested, let me know.  I know a couple artists who read this, the rest of you SPREAD THE WORD PLEASE!!!

My e-mail is wornoldhat@gmail.com Let’s make this work.

Dumpster Brown Wine.

by in art, People I Know, Personal | Permalink

My boyfriend Tyson’s roommate Shawn, a man who was one of the first nude fab magazine men and had once climbed the bridged concrete structure over the fountain at City Hall while drunk during Nuit Blanche (while holding his travel mug of wine) amongst MANY other things makes beer.  Although I haven’t tasted it I’ve been assured that it’s damn good beer.  But this year he decided to make something different.  After finding a huge bag full of grapes and other fruits in a dumpster, he decided to attempt wine coolers.  I was around for the initial boiling and witnessed the batch in it’s airtight bucker (yes, bucket).  I even tasted it on the two month mark (it tasted like vinegar).  But now it’s finally done and I managed to get a bottle to try.  I’ve had it for a week or two and the very LOOK of it is sketchy.  It’s just a blank bottle.  But there was talk about putting a label on it and I volunteered.  It required me to open up illustrator for the first time in a LONG time and I found a really nifty tutorial on making labels of the drink variety.  The important thing was to make it look official while maintaining it’s sketchiness.  And in the end I came up with something like this:

The quote on the top is something he actually said when talking to Tyson about the bottling process.  The figure in the middle i, of course, Shawn.  The label looks pretty awesome and I’m now on to making a beer label for him.  Hopefully this and some cooing will inspire him to make me some raspberry beer..mmm…

I’m drinking the wine right now and…Jesus.  it kicks like a mule.  I’m almost done my first mug and already I’m getting pretty drunk.  it tastes really nice though…grapes, apples and that little stab of flavor that reminds you that this is booze.  I may add a little bit of sugar to see what it’s like with that.  One thing’s for sure.  If there’s another bottle lying around his place I’m going to snag it.

Trees!

by in art | Permalink


treeees, originally uploaded by Wornoldhat.

So I’ve started learning how to use Adobe Illustrator…some of the tutorials have been great and I think I’m really starting to improve my skills. Hopefully in time I’ll be able to do something simple instantly instead of all day. But that’s the dream, anyways.

This is my first solo attempt.