WELL WHO’S MAD NOW? Tomorrow I’m going for a wardrobe fitting for a role in a commercial. Yes – an ad for the television. It’s for a board game. It’s for a well known game company. I am playing a mad scientist. I am looking forward to it.
If you are all into comics, here is my ComicSpace profile. It’s like myspace but just for comics.
This morning Brodie and I took the bus out to the institute where he teaches in Burnaby, for to be usink the studio. We recorded vocals for A Marine Biologist, Strange, No Way, and (We’re Gonna) Kill the Chupacabra (Tonight). And that wen’t reasonably well. Reminder to self: no more curry chicken wraps during the break. This cold weather is making things annoying re: runny nose. I don’t know if I have a miniscule cold or if it’s just the frigid weather causing me to over-mucousize. I couldn’t take photos because my battery was empty. But I’ll be going back there for the next couple of Mondays.
My Monday evenings are now taken up with the comic book production course, the first class of which I just got back from. The class is a little weird in that none of the four other students read comic books – I can’t fathom that. So Steve was going through the comics he brought and talking about styles and discussing different names that clearly they wouldn’t have heard of. Thank gord that so many comics have been turned into movies (Mike Mignola/Hellboy, Frank Miller/Sin City for starters) or they would have been completely lost. The course is being taught in a room full of animation work stations, so the drawing desks all have rotating light tables set into them, which is kind of annoying. But the important thing is that Steve knows his stuff and the course itinerary looks solid. So I’ll keep things updated for you, my loyal readers. All three of you.
Last night Joy-Joy and I went over to Sher-Sher and Steph-Steph’s and played some Wii on their big fat TV, which was great fun. We also had…pulled pork. And by ‘had’ I mean ‘ate.’ They have a slow cooker and it does wonderful things. Then we watched the “Ocean Deep” episode of BBC’s Planet Earth for which I’ve been waiting for some time. Joyce had it on her computer but there’s just no way that a computer monitor could do justice to the freaky monsters of the abyss the way that Sherane’s 40 incher can. I was gratified to see they included a bit on vampyroteuthis infernalis, AKA the vampire squid from hell!
If you’re like me, you’re looking for a scanner that can accommodate 11×17 pages (original comic book art size). And you will find two options: a $200 model available only in the US, and a $2000 model available in Canada. PISS ME OFF.
Meanwhile I also need a colour printer and a flash drive, if anyone has any leads before I head down to FutureShop/Best Buy.
Wish List:
TOTALLY
Count Chocula’s lesser known buddies.
Shut up, Mom. I’m SUPPOSED to play with my food!
It occurs to me that now that I have my improved blog with easy to insert graphics, I can move my cereals page into a post.
I got tickets to Tenacious D! They’re playing on Feb 20 at the QET and I’ll be there with Chris W and Stephane and…. YOU?
February 20th – Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theater
Exclusive Presale starts Thursday, 1/11 at 10am here
Password: DESTINY
Tickets go on sale to the public this Friday, 1/12 at 10am here
Joe (looking a little Hugh Jackson Wolverini in the second one):
Graeme (looking a little piratey in number 3):
Duncan:
(UPDATE 2018 – topic was Mind Games)
SMCP X: The Search for Frankenberry
General Mills Canada Inc doesn’t have a website, as such. And no emails to be found. But I called the sales office in Surrey and left a message. My mission: to have Frankenberry and Booberry at the SMCP. I’m thinking of having it either on Feb 24 or March 10. That gives me almost 2 months. If I don’t hear back from the company soon, it’s off to eBay for me. Last year there was quite a debacle over the stuff – it never made it over the border – but I’m willing to give it another shot if I have to.
POTENTIAL THEMES:
UNDERGROUND
PLANTS
SIZE
PIRATES
MUSIC
TIME
MIND GAMES
WATER
TENTACLES
BUGS
UNMASKED
MIRROR UNIVERSES
CONTESTS
CARTOONS ON TRIAL
Feedback, comments, ideas all welcome!
Here, once again, is a link to my CEREALS I’D LIKE TO EAT site
Announcing the GLAND OPENING of The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets official online store – DEAD SPACE GOD CENTRAL.
Now you can get Thickets vestments, CDs and periphery all in one place.
AND
We’re kicking it off with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: The Thickets One-Of-A-Kind, Artsy-Fartsy Charity Prize Pack (TTOOAKAFCPP) which contains:
* (released in Spring 2007)
** (no black or dark shirts; Toren will work with you to design the shirt of your dreams/nightmares!)
All proceeds go to Vancouver’s Heart of the World multi-disciplinary arts facility – trying to raise half a million bucks for a down payment on the theater! – www.foxtongue.com
GO GET IT! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170068682216
(package may be delivered in conjunction with the release of the CD, depending on your location or shipping choice).
visit the online store at http://stores.ebay.com/Dead-Space-God
I’m trying to think of some way I can better help out than just forwarding messages. Throw in a free Thickets mp3 to anyone who buys a share? Donate a dollar from each T-Shirt sale to the Heart of the World? An impromptu birthday auction without the birthday? Or I could donate some art? I wish I knew what happened to my 1001 Fundraising Ideas book. Must have traded it in.
An impromptu evening of acoustic music with a multimedia showcase of locally shot concert footage by Joel Flynn from the Vancouver indie media collective “the karmafia”. First acoustic set at 8pm followed by a video presentation in support of featuring concert footage from The National, Joseph Arthur, and The Tragically Hip. A second acoustic set will follow at 10 pm, and a potential open acoustic jam for any interested players.
The evening will be in support of “The Heart of the World Theatre” project, see www.foxtongue.com for more info on HotW. Cost $5 or cash donation at the door.
AND THE ONLY WAY IT GETS BUILT IS YOU! (who else is gonna bother? The government? Starbucks? Oprah?) Join us! The Heart of the World is waiting!
———-Somet
To Build it a Theatre
To Give it an Arts Scene
TO SAVE IT FROM ITSELF
We Have One Week Left.
Time is running out! Join the good fight with local hero Jhayne Holmes as she and her band of rebels, miscreants and true believers take on the forces of apathy, real estate and city hall to build this city a future! There’s an old theatre on commercial drive: it can be torn down to make another parking garage, a self-help day retreat for middle managers, or even more housing for the rich. . .
OR IT COULD BE SOMETHING YOU ACTUALLY WANT.
THE HEART OF THE WORLD will be a place where any old artist, actor, film maker, hip kid, kindred spirit, and idea monger can find an outlet (and, more importantly, audience) for the creative endeavour of their choice! There is only one week left to make this idea a reality. Thousands of dollars are being committed and even that may not be enough! Spread the word! Buy shares! Nag your rich friends! Make the city scream for it! The Heart of The World arts centre is a place by the people, of the people and for the people.
AND THE ONLY WAY IT GETS BUILT IS YOU!
(who else is gonna bother? The government? Starbucks? Oprah?)
A little while later, I got the call from Dan on my answering machine asking to call him back. I kind of figured I was the Chosen One – if he was calling to say he gave the job to somebody else he surely would have said as much on the machine rather than ask for a callback.
The always awkward question of monetary remuneration came up, as it should. I never know what to charge for these sorts of things, and I always undercharge because I never think it’s going to take as much time and work as it does. And I find non-artists think that artists are superhuman–that it doesn’t take any amount of time or effort to create a masterpiece–and since what they produce is (traditionally) not something they can drive around in or watch movies on, it can’t be worth more than a couple of bucks. I’m not saying that Dan is one of those people–in fact Dan’s day job keeps him immersed in both art and music–but it’s one of those things that as an artist you have to keep in mind when you decide what jobs you will take for the budget that is offered. In this case, I am not only excited about the project, but I also view it as a stepping stone to larger things. It’s kind of nice to have, as my so-called cherry, this low-budget, two-man project, because there isn’t a ton of pressure with deadlines and unrealistic expectations. So now that I knew that Dan wanted to hire me, I had to decide once and for all if I wanted to be hired and under what terms and conditions. How much work would I be doing? What was the time frame? Would there be royalties? What if he pitches the book to a publishing outfit and they hire their own artist to do the illos based on my previous work? I set out to do some internet research on that front, which led me to buy the following books:
Graphic Artist’s Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines and Business and Legal Forms for Illustrators. (if you don’t have those, try this site for some downloadable pdfs:
http://www.sessions.edu/career_center/design_tools/freelance_templates/index.asp)
keeping in mind these are no doubt in US prices) All the things like royalties and whatnot are things I won’t get into here, but I will say that Dan had a set budget that, if broken down onto a per-page basis was a little light compared to what my research garnered. But then again – I don’t think I have ever been paid as much for a job as these books said I should be getting! And as I mentioned, I didn’t consider this a straightforward illustration job like the work-for-hires I did for D&D books for so many years. This was a book that I had a vested interest in as a portfolio piece, as a stepping stone into a larger industry, and also a learning experience.
Nevertheless, given the unique nature of the project, we agreed to divide the project into separate phases and write up contracts for each phase. The first phase would be, essentially, designing the characters and producing one splash page that Dan could show to prospective publishing companies.
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