Posted by Derek | Posted in Chit Chat | Posted on 02-02-2010
I been neglecting the rabbit for a bit but it was for a good cause. I re-did my portfolio website, DereksPortfolio.com. It’s way awesome-ish now! I still have a bunch of work to add but hey that’s why I don’t sleep right?
A friend looked at the new site and said I need to add more paintings/drawings to the art pages. I agree, but its hard to find the time/motivation given that I am not an artist, I’m a Flash Developer. Therefore, I don’t really “need” more mediocre paintings to get work. I would like to do it though so we’ll have to see.
Anyway if you’d like to check out my new site its up and running.
I hate Manga as a style. I think its a paint by numbers way of cartooning. The lack of lip sync and volumetric construction is just lazyness, but like so many other “cartoons” its called a style to exempt it from standards.
That being said I figured I draw a Manga style zombie. I don’t know why. I didn’t have enough interest to take it very far so its not finished.
This is a self portrait from this morning. Having to get up at 5am to drive my kid to Hockey practice takes a toll. Technically this is, in reality, another zombie sketch. They are one in the same really. I think most of my drawing have some hint of me in them. Notice the striking jaw line and muscular physique. That’s all me.
His hair and clothes might be a little neat for a zombie but I figure since no ones actually seen a zombie, its entirely possible that they are both image conscious Hollister fans as well as brain eaters.
I’m not sure what I want the Plaid Zombie.com mascot to look like so I am just going to experiment for a while. I don’t really have a style of my own worth pursuing so I will probably just keep trying different styles until I find one I like.
On a side note. This is one the of the first sketches in really long time that I’ve done in red. I usually work in blue colored pencil but, I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and her sketches were all done in red. I thought since hers stuff looked better than mine a color change couldn’t hurt right? So there it is in red. Turns out her work is still better than mine. Who’d have thought! I was thinkin’ I was really on to something with that color stuff.
I went to the Comic-Con in July. It was my first one. I did go to Wonder-Con which was fun but nothing compared to Comic-Con. I was in SoCal for 2 weeks on vacation. I stayed at Disneyland for a week and went to the San Diego zoo while I was there. I figured (back in May,) that since I was going to be down there anyway I would go to the Con too. It was hands down the best part of the trip. I’m going for all 4 days next year!
I will also be wearing a long sleeved shirt because there are a lot of fat sweaty nerds that bump into with their B.O. laden glandular problems. Not COOL. Comic-Con 2010 needs a Purell booth.
I got to meet John K. the creator of Ren and Stimpy.
I don't think I would want a picture with any other celeb.
He did this drawing for me. Awesome!
I hung it above my animation desk to remind me I'm not that good.
Here are some more photos from the best day of my year.
Not a big Trek fan but the new movie was cool and I couldn't resist doing the Kirk lean.
Everyone got a free 15 foot statue but I accidentaly left mine by the pretzel cart. Damn their salty goodness!
Oh and the Twilight movie sucked ass. So lets hope they don’t make the trip next year.
I mentioned in my last post that it was a long story and here it is…..
There was point in college for me (and I’m sure for a lot of people,) where after having gone against the recommendations of professors, I took several higher level classes at once. At the time you feel it will be worth it in the end, and for most of the semester it seems that way. But then, at the end of the semester you get these massive final projects. Now individually, each project is big but doable. Collectively though, they become an insurmountable behemoth seemingly fabricated to kill you. So naturally I put them off as long as possible because…..well, that’s what I do. Until then there comes a week where this horrifying cascade of project due dates comes streaming at you one after another.
Thus began a four day stretch where sleeping was just not gonna happen. On the 4th day I had to make an animation with the robot I created for 3D modeling class the day before. As I said before I did not have too much time due to other classes so I started it the night before it was due. Not smart at all. I stayed up all night making a half-assed rig that was little more than parenting a few parts together. Then after I “finished” (if you can call it that,) the animation I rendered it in pieces so I could sleep on the floor next to the computer for 20 to40 minute intervals before starting the next render. It was terrible and the work one turns out in that condition is atrocious. It’s a hard way to learn a lesson. In fact, I’m not sure what the lesson is or if I even learned it. I do remember sleeping for almost 18 hours straight when I got home after class that day.
Anyway, I turned it in and got a B+. (Either because of the shear charisma I bring to a class or just out of pity. )
