a simple party invite

The phone just rang. My father, giggling and sounding very excited with a quick hello followed by a "guess what I recieved in the post on Friday?!" was on the other end.

I didn't attempt guessing as I knew he would tell me sooner than I'd have time to say anything.

"Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! The Andersson family would like to invite you to a pre-Christmas get together on the 7th of December. RSVP" he read out loud, giggling aloud.

"Sounds lovely" I said. "What a nice idea!"

"Nice?!" he hissed. "Sounds like they think they are the bloody Royal family! If they want me to come around for a cup of coffee they could quite easily have phoned me!"

I said I thought it was nice of the family to send out an combined invite/christmas card and make it a little extra special. It's the kind of thing I like to do too!

"Yeah, I bet you'd like to go to see if there was any gossip there, wouldn't you? Nose around a bit, eh?!" He continued - being his usual charming and loving self.

I told him it must be horrible being so suspicious, cynical and negative of everything, then explained I had lots to do and finished the phonecall.

Yep, good people, yet another anti-energy-kick from my father. Now I'm in a vile mood and hate myself for answering the phone.

Real Niko Bellic Art

There’s a comparably new artistic style of image manipulation that’s called untooning. In essence untooning is when an artist uses one or several photographs of real people (mostly faces) and manipulates them in a way to give the effect of realism to a cartoonish character.

The most well known artist for such photo manipulations is an artist called pixeloo (Jax Pixeloo). He started to attract more attention after untooning GTA IV’s main character Niko Bellic for the Official Playstation Magazine. The artistic piece received great feedback and a lot of recognition.

Not everyone was amazed by pixeloo’s creation and one Brazilian artist, who also did similar pieces in the past, decided to make even more realistic portrait of an Eastern European war veteran. mataleoneRJ used eight photographs of different people to get the best possible result. The artist added wrinkles, extra details around the eyes and one or two scars to get the true gangster look.

Both artists achieved incredible results, and both pieces look superb.

Source: pixeloo.deviantart.com, mataleonerj.deviantart.com

countdown in lights

It's four Sundays until Christmas.

And I love the first Sunday in Advent, when almost everybody in Sweden decorate their windows with lights in shapes of stars.

I cheated and put mine up one day too early. During the day it's just a star, but at night... Aaahhh, at night it gives the most wonderful glow.

How I love the build up to Christmas!

Christmas cards

It's that time of year again... The time of year when one should start thinking about Christmas cards.

A couple of years ago I made a Snow White inspired card (click on the pic below to see it in it's full size), which I thought was sooooo funny. But quite a few people didn't get the Snow White-Disney theme.


So last year I decided to keep away from Photoshop and just send a photo of me in the snow at my dad's. (Again - click on photo if etc) Strangely enough this Crimbo card got lots of praise. I guess it did so because it looks exotic to lots of people.

This year I want to include Kif and Tylor on the cards, of course. So Photoshop is inevitable. Hmmm, I really don't have any good ideas yet but luckily I do have a day off with nothing to do and can play around with my computer...
... Watch this space!

Pretty (Dangerous) in Pink

Hang on--here comes another convoluted nerdy ramble from yours truly. I like to make things complicated, don't I?

There's another re-design challenge at the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The subject this time is Teela, as she appeared in The New Adventures of He-Man. This version of Teela had almost no resemblance to previous versions--however, I liked the character design so much that I decided to just draw a straight-up interpretation rather than a re-design. Because I didn't change the design aside from a few details, I didn't enter her in the challenge, but I did give her a new name and persona, and post her in my variants thread instead. The post is here. And while I didn't enter the re-design challenge, there are some awesome entries, which you should definitely check out.

Less talking, more super-hott space-amazon with sword:

click above for larger view

I'm happy with how this one came out, especially her somewhat relaxed-yet-ready-to-kick-ass pose. The colors (which are loyal to the source material) are somewhat cliche in their "girliness," but ultimately I think it's a good color scheme. I can take no credit for the great details of the costume--the slick-looking sword, the arrowheaded scabbard, the multi-pronged helm--everything was present in the original design.

The new moniker, Leeta is an anagram of Teela. I do have a bit of a backstory thought up for her, but it requires me to reveal some other plot points of my own concoction, so presented below is a bare bones version of her bio. And just in case anyone is keeping score at home, in my interpretation of The New Adventures of He-Man, Primus is merely a distant planet, not a future locale requiring time travel.

* * *

PROFILE: An invaluable member of the Galactic Guardians of Primus, LEETA is a Paladin belonging to the order of an ancient warrior goddess. Having shed the headstrong recklessness of her youth, Leeta is a disciplined master warrior, with amazing sword skills, and strong leadership abilities. Her strength and speed appear to be significantly beyond 'normal' levels. Leeta is a friend and frequent sparring partner to Mara.

HISTORY: Not long after Leeta first joined the Galactic Guardians, He-Man and Master Sebrian were able to negotiate peace between Primus and Denebria. With true stability established, He-Man was finally able to begin his long journey back to Eternia. Years later, the people of Primus discovered that He-Man never made it back to his home. Indebted to the Eternian hero for bringing peace to their solar system, the leaders of Primus and Denebria assembled a joint task force to find the whereabouts of He-Man. Leeta was one of the first to volunteer, and acts as one of the top lieutenants, under the task force commander.

* * *

tomorrow tomorrow I love you tomorrow

Tomorrow I have a day off. A proper day off with nothing to do. It's been a long time since I had one of those.

Noone to meet for lunch, no errands to run, nothing that needs buying or baking. Just a proper day off. I plan to stay in my pyjamas all day. Maybe do a bit of ironing, but then again maybe not.

Watch day time telly. Cuddle my cats and read a magazine or a book. Mmmmm!

Oh, and don't bother calling me tomorrow. I've already switched my phone off. :-)

1UP Multiplayer Preview

The closer we get to the PC release, the more new information revealed. People at 1UP had a chance to play multiplayer on a PC version and reflect on it. They also confirmed a lot of rumors about the gameplay, so many of you will be pleased.

What happens when you throw 32 thugs into the same neighborhood? We find out ourselves during a PC multiplayer session.

If you've ever wondered what might happen if you dropped nearly three dozen people into a neighborhood in New York, gave them automatic weapons and vehicles, and left them to fend for themselves, well, Grand Theft Auto 4's multiplayer might prove to be a decent simulation. While the upcoming PC version sports the usual array of improvements (snazzy resolutions like 2560x1600, general visual polish, a new radio channel called Independence FM that lets players listen to their own music, and a new video editor), multiplayer's getting a significant improvement: 32-player support. Anthony Gallegos and Thierry "Scooter" Nguyen got to jump right into a multiplayer session with personnel from Rockstar Games' various studios (fun fact: Rockstar Lincoln is not located in Lincoln, Nebraska, but in Lincoln, England) to experience some 32-player hijinks. Here's what they had to say on the subject of multiplayer vehicular homicide.

Scooter: Turning a 16-player game into a 32-player one sounds like a dorky bullet point for the back of the box, but in the case of GTA4 multiplayer, it officially amps up a multiplayer session from "crazy" to "f***ing nuts" on the Scooter Intensity Dial. No matter which of the numerous modes you play (we checked out two of the 15 modes), the addition of more players -- plus the new keyboard/mouse controls and the accuracy they grant -- results in some interesting matches. I can say one thing for sure: Padawan Anthony is damn good with the mere pistol due to his superior keyboard/mouse skills.

Anthony: It's true -- a keyboard and mouse definitely makes the pistol a viable weapon. It wasn't terrible in the console version, but it works fantastically for headshots if you have a steady mouse hand. But even an awesome mouse hand doesn't mean that you're going to wipe the floor with your opponents, since there's little that mouse hand's going to do when 12 cars are barreling down the street at you while four thugs are popping shots off at your head. Scooter's right: It's accurately described as "f***ing nuts" most of the time. Whether it's a free-for-all match or a mode with four teams of eight, you can be pretty sure that something's always going down close to you.

Scooter: Yeah, our first 32-player match was in an 8v8v8v8 Team Deathmatch session in the Bohan borough (GTA-speak for "the Bronx"). Even before jumping in, we noticed that the developers added a custom match browser, where you can search for an online session that fulfills specific criteria (gameplay mode, number of players, and so forth). It's a small but welcome touch, considering how the console versions pretty much just put you in a random online match. Like in the console versions, you can tweak your character's appearance a bit; Anthony rolled with a team that coordinated their outfits to be the same color while I had a sort of "what if Santa Claus was younger and a registered sex offender" look. The matches were pretty damn straightforward: You spawn in, run (or drive) around for a weapon or two, and just shoot the guys sporting other colors. Kills earn money, and the team with the most cash wins. Despite being constantly lost, a crazy firefight was always nearby due to the sheer number of players. Heck, even though I was crouching to up my accuracy, my assault rifle wasn't enough when Anthony rolled up with his whole crew?.

Anthony: It's true -- more so than when I played on console, I felt the need to run around with a posse. Being accurate is good, but having a group spray a wave of bullets is even better! And thanks to the spawning system that keeps placing you near your surviving teammates, I generally found that I was never far from friends or from the action -- despite playing in a large chunk of the city.
And while my teammates coordinated their outfits, I certainly never felt like it was a necessity. Between the minimap and the tags above players' heads, I never had trouble sorting out who deserved a bullet in the brain; in fact, besides the time when we played Team Deathmatch, this was never even a thought that crossed my mind, as everyone was a target in most of the other modes. I don't know about you, but when we tried out the GTA Race mode, the last thing I was concerned with was driving the proper course on the track.

Scooter: Oh, yeah, you want to talk craziness -- how about GTA Race mode? What's hilarious about GTA Race mode is how quickly it devolves into zany free-for-alls. It's actually kind of cool to be in a real, legit vehicle race with 31 (GTA Race also has a 32-player limit) other dudes, but cramming 32 people on a stretch of highway usually turns even a well-intentioned race into a bunch of guys hopping in and out of cars while trying to cap each other. Actually, since everyone starts out in a similar car, GTA Race mode ends up playing a bit better than Team Deathmatch for me. While it took me forever to find a car in Team Deathmatch, in GTA Race, because people kept on ditching their rides in an effort to take out other players, you have a lot of abandoned cars to choose from. Also, since each player in GTA Race respawns in a Faggio (the GTA name for Vespa scooters), you can see which spot is a warzone due to how many discarded Faggios litter the street.

Anthony: Yeah, I appreciated the craziness of GTA Race mode, but I worry that some people online will take it too seriously and end it within a few moments of when it starts. I guess, if nothing else, people who love to torment others can take pleasure in trying to derail those players from achieving a swift victory. And I completely agree with you that GTA Race mode is a great, as it not only still tracks your kills, but it also constantly gives people new vehicles when they respawn. Fighting on foot is fun and all, but there's something to be said about dropping grenades off the back off a scooter. GTA4 PC's multiplayer proved to me that, as far as the amount of players in a match, more truly can be better.

Source: 1up.com

New R* Social Club v1.1

Rockstar Games decided to refurbish their entire Social Club website before the PC release of Grand Theft Auto IV. First, the news on the ‘Video Editor’, then the announcement of the new ‘R* Social Club TV’ service to host all the GTA IV fan-made movies and now this. Rockstar Games obviously made all the preparations to make sure that PC release of the most wanted game in the world will be as sweet as possible.

Welcome to the New and Improved Rockstar Games Social Club.

You may notice a few changes around the house today - just a few elements redesigned to create a smoother user experience. Rest assured that all the original features you liked are still here - just a tad easier to reach now.

You can now access the Grand Theft Auto IV and Midnight Club Los Angeles areas through the Games section, available on the top navigation menu. Our News section has also been revamped and given a dedicated area, allowing for more in-depth coverage when called for.

Stay tuned for much more to come over the next few months - including unique community features like the Social Club Friends system and the Message Wall. More on that to be announced soon. Keep checking back for all the latest and greatest updates to the Social Club and make sure to stop by Social Club TV when it launches on December 2nd.

a bit of bragging

As a Northerner I've been brought up with Jantelagen. For you who don't speak Swedish it's "the Northerner's law", which translates to something like this:

You’re a nobody.
You’re not as good as us.
You’re not as smart as us.
You’re not to believe that you are better than us.
You’re not to believe that you know more than us.
You’re not to believe that you are superiour to us..
You’re not to believe that you are worth anything.
You’re not to laugh at us.
You’re not cared for by anyone.
You’re not capable of teaching us anything.
(very quickly and freely translated from "En flykting korsar sitt spår")


To sum all of the above up - it is bad to brag. It is bad to tell people of your knowledge. This explains my father's reaction to my staff training days (see my previous blog). I bragged. And he just couldn't stand it so he was quick to tell me I had nothing to be proud of.


But you know - I'm sick of not being able to tell the world of good days! Days that turn out nice because of me and my actions. What's so wrong about feeling proud of somthing you feel you've achieved?

So here's my bragging of today:

I facilitated a staff conference from hell today. There were arguments and accusations and petty bickering. But I stood my ground and sorted it all. And by cry am I proud of it! I rocked!

Mutant Zoo! Pug + Shark!

For this week's Mutant Zoo jam, held by Dreamwolf and Super-Munkyboy at Deviantart--here's a hybrid between a Pug + Shark:

... tenacious and affectionate, the Shug is often kept as a pet by aristocratic mermaids.

It took me a stupidly long time to color this... not sure the time taken is reflected in the end product. Bah!

Be sure to check out Dreamwolf's Deviantart page for links to other participants!

winter is here

I found this photo in today's newspaper (photographer Epstein):

The snow has arrived in Stockholm, and in the middle of a square in the city centre a couple of people made a snowman today. How wonderful! We should all give ourselves time to make snowmen. I think it would make the world a happier place.

new glasses

The other day I broke my glasses in two. Just like that. I didn't get too upset as I've been thinking about getting a new pair anyway, but all of a sudden I HAD to go to the opticians.

I went into the practice today to book an appointment. The woman at the till told me the opticians had drop in on Saturdays and asked if I wanted to come back in 15 minutes for an eye examination, which I did.

The optician asked a few questions, and I told her I had problems focusing sometimes. She asked more questions. She put loads of things in front of my eyes and asked more questions.

Then she said "I've only read about this, but never actually seen a case of this before. You have a very rare type of hidden squint".

Turns out one of my eyes go slightly up when I read/write (whereas squinting usually is one eye going towards a corner of the eye).

So thank God the glasses broke and I ended up getting a drop in appointment with this very optician. Because this hidden squint is the appearantly the cause of my many headaches, my tiredness when working in front of the computer etc. There was a meaning with me breaking my glasses in two after all!

Mutant Zoo! Bat + Deer!

Dreamwolf and Super-Munkyboy are holding a jam over at Deviantart called Mutant Zoo. The basic idea is to draw a hybrid of two animals--this week's challenge was Deer + Bat:

click above for larger view

... the Ba'eer is known to commonly appear shortly before the birth or after the death of a great hero or hunter. A Ba'eer with a flame above its antlers is carrying the soul of a fallen hero or hunter to the afterworld; an unadorned Ba'eer heralds the birth of such a hunter or hero...

The horns and face markings are based loosely on the muntjac, and the tusks are based on the muntjac, as well as the more exaggerated tusks of a water deer or musk deer. The ears and nose are loosely based on a leaf-nosed bat. I wanted to try a drawing with super-thin lines (pass), and had a certain look in mind for the colors, but it really didn't quite work out (fail).

Be sure to check out Dreamwolf's Deviantart page for links to other participants!

Exclusive PC Gamer Review

UK based magazine PC GAMER has reviewed GTA IV and it has received a score of 92% and been awarded their 'Must Buy' badge. The game looks great and the keyboard and mouse combination is effortless to use. Make sure to pick up a copy in your nearest shop.

Keyboard and Mouse feels effortless to drive with, there seems no issues with this combo in general (mouse obviously being brilliant to aim with).

Wall hugging bugs from console has made it to PC - When up against certain walls or cars you still sometimes can’t always peak around to shoot which causes some frustration to the player.

Bizarre decision has been made regarding multiplayer - You need to log into Rockstar’s Social club AND Windows Live to be be able to log into the game online.

Game looks amazing with a Dual Core and a 8800 card. It did have some major framerate wobbles, “nothing fatal though” insists the reviewer.

Source: gtaforums.com

The Lost And Damned

Looks like all the waiting and speculations for Xbox 360 owners are finally over as the very first installment of DLC has finally arrived.

Rockstar Games is proud to announce that the eagerly anticipated first episode of downloadable content, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, will be coming to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system via Xbox LIVE online entertainment network. Available exclusively on Xbox LIVE worldwide on February 17th 2009, The Lost and Damned will feature all new content and is the first of two episodes announced for Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360.

Developed by Rockstar North and set in Liberty City, The Lost and Damned features a new main character and plot that intersects with the storyline of Grand Theft Auto IV; new missions that offer an entirely fresh way to explore Liberty City with new multiplayer modes, weapons and vehicles; and a diverse soundtrack with additional music - all with the incredible production values that are the trademarks of Grand Theft Auto.

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned requires players to have the full version of Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE membership to download.

Dan Houser, vice president of creative development for Rockstar Games, gave some inside information about the main character in the upcoming episode.

Johnny is a very different character than Niko, with a very different background. I can't go into too much detail on the story, because we try not to give away too much plot before the game is released. But I can say that the story will show you a different side of Liberty City.

Source: rockstargames.com/IV, usatoday.com

We just wrapped up the last semester of my character design by Silver course at www.schoolism.com and I wanted to share with you a couple of the students work. I give my students an assignment on week one before I teach them anything and then by week nine they take another stab of it with the knowledge they have acquired. the image on the left is from week one and the one on the right is from week nine. If you are interested in taking the course, the next semester begins Jan.5th 2009. Also here are a couple comments my students have made from the last semester.

This course was a great experience! I think any one who draws characters can benefit from it. It was packed with exercises and lessons to help push my drafting skills. It also was very encouraging to have a Skilled professional go over my own drawings, giving helpful advice along the way. This was money well spent!

-Alan Stewart

I'm very grateful to have learned so many things from this class. I really do not think I would've learned many of these things anywhere else. This course has opened my eyes to many aspects of art in general, including rhythm, balance, appeal, and breathing life into characters through shapes, poses, line art, and much more. I can safely say that these lessons have indeed improved my drawing abilities, and given me a different outlook when it comes to designing characters. All of the lessons, great tips and advice you gave have a permanent place in my mind, a database if you will, of information that I refer to whenever I am drawing characters. What I'm most happy about is the fact that I am now able to bring more life into my characters. And although, I'm not quite as good as I'd like to be yet, I have a better design sense than I did before, and I know this will help me grow. Thanks for all the awesome lessons and fun course Stephen!

- Dave Han

Vicky of Little Britain

One of my favourite scenes of all times!

Social Club TV

Rockstar Games finally realized how beneficial YouTube became to them and released the similar service called Social Club TV. There is an enormous amount of GTA fan made videos out there, and most of them are hosted on YouTube. Those videos get immense amount of hits and perhaps Rockstar Games decided to be in a center of that creativity. The new service will allow gamers to record edit and host their videos online for everyone to see and judge. It’s exclusively for PC owners and only for GTA IV.

Grand Theft Auto returns to the platform that birthed it this December 2nd - with the fully-enhanced Games for Windows release of Grand Theft Auto IV.

Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC will feature exclusive details such as stunningly detailed, high-resolution graphics; 32-person multiplayer with Custom Matching for an optimized experience; and the ability to customize a radio station using your personal mp3s via the new radio station, Independence FM on the Liberty City radio dial.

Most excitingly, Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC offers players the chance to become the Cecil B. Demille of Liberty City via the all new Video Editor feature. Capture in-game footage (whether from single-player or multiplayer gameplay) and make real-time edits using a built-in suite of tools that can change the camera angle, audio, speed and depth-of-field or apply special effects to alter colors and add filters. Add in-game music, custom titling and transitions to polish off your masterpiece.

After you're done editing, you'll be able to share your video online by posting it to Rockstar Games Social Club TV, the all new user-video section of Rockstar Games Social Club.

Social Club TV will launch with Grand Theft Auto IV PC on December 2nd, and will be the exclusive place to upload videos direct from the game (while connected online). Note that Social Club membership will be required to post videos, but non-members will be able to freely visit to watch any and all posted videos.

Social Club members will be able to manage their own profile pages to track videos they've posted, as well as participate in ongoing special contests and video-based competitions.

vintage clothing

I would like a whole new wardrobe. Shoes, trousers, dresses, tops... You name it - I want to throw all my stuff out and replace it with new stuff!

Today I looked into that damn wardrobe of mine and despite it being full of clothes I found nothing - and I mean NOTHING - to wear.

So I ended up putting on this top/tunic that I bought 1995 in Benetton (I remember it vividly as I was working there at the time). As soon I walked to work I felt a bit uncomfortable. And in the first meeting of the day one girl said something about me wearing an "unusual top".

In the second meeting for the day (oh and there were plenty of those today) my boss said "you look rather funky today" and when I laughed she said "funky like a shild minder" with a big smile on her face. And I tell you - she nailed it! Absolutely! I looked like a funky childminder, ha ha!

So now that top is going. I've cleared out loads of old clothes that I've kept for sentimental reasons or for the simple fact that they still fit and look in good condition.

So please Santa - can I have a new wardrobe for Christmas, or at least the money to buy myself one?

Oh, and Tylor loves the baby pram by the way. Bless him.

Don't Be Such A Crab (part 2 of 2)

As promised in my last post, here's the toy version of Clawful, probably considered to be the standard version by most:

click above for larger view

It always struck me as odd that the Clawful action figure looked like a tan guy in a crab costume, so I colored Clawful's flesh like crab meat. Corny, yes, but I think it works. His bewitched, flaming green mace is a nod to the action figure's neon green weapon. The drawing itself is nothing to write home about... on the other hand, I'm very satisfied with how the colors came out.

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. My post is here, the entire thread (including some of my previous sketches) is here.

suppleness

Kif fast asleep in the settee...

New Chinatown Wars Info

Member Valay at Nintendo Everything translated an article from the Spanish games magazine, which reveals some new information regarding Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. It was the same magazine that originally announced that Chinatown Wars will be using almost entire Liberty City from GTA IV.

• Camera can swivel 360 degrees.
• Trains will pass overhead in the city, cars will circle, pedestrians will be walking, etc.
• GPS seen on the touch screen while you move through the city.
• PDA allows you to gain access to the map with more details as well as the goals of missions.
• You can mark points that you want and the GPS will always tell you the shortest legal route to the destination with yellow or blue arrows.
• New discoveries (such as gas stations) are added to the map.
• Top screen brings you all the action, while the lower screen will let you control elements like the PDA, GPS, the radio, access to the people on the map, or using Motolov cocktails and grenades.
• Drugs have a big importance in the game.
• Drug system can be compared to Drugwars.
• You have to control the stock of drugs, buy them in one neighbourhood and sell them in another • Good way to make money in the game.
• You are given a map so that you know what people demand and at what prices.
• Like other GTA games, in Chinatown Wars, you can catch a taxi - whistle into the microphone so the taxi will stop.

Source: nintendoeverything.com

How to Talk to Girls

A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of illustrating this really cute and funny book called "How to Talk to Girls" by 9 year old author, Alec Greven (and published by the wonderful people at Harper Collins!). Just to show you how adorable and charming this kid is, here is a clip of his interview with Ellen DeGeneres.



It's amazing that it all started from a school project!
I'm also thrilled to say I'll be illustrating 3 more books of his...so keep an eye out! They're definitely nice books that not only kids, but adults should read.

I was so excited to receive the books..here are some photos!








These are the earliest concepts I showed the publishers and editors at Harper Collins:





This is the final look they chose..

and some of my rough sketches..


I'm very happy about how the book turned out. HUGE thanks to the Harper Collins team for making a wonderful book! If you're interested in purchasing it, you can pre-order a copy at Harper Collins or Amazon. The book will be in stores on Nov. 25th.

<3Kei

GTA IV Paper Craft

If you love arts and crafts then you lovemaking dioramas. Nico Bellic already ravashed Liberty City, time to steal cardboard cars and shoot papercraft prostitutes.

Presenting a new happy 3d papercraft tribute to the new game with cars and people walking about IV. It has pigeons in this one but I couldn’t fit them on my papercraft because the scale would go under even my tolerance levels for making small things.

You can get the template here. Print it, carefully cut out all the bits out and glue all pieces together. Make sure to follow the instructions written on the template in order to get the best result. You now the proud owner of a unique GTA IV memorabilia.

Source: tubbypaws.blogspot.com

another reason to long

Sometimes it’s more obvious than others what it is I really miss about Jersey. This weekend (amongst other times) I have really missed the kindness in people which I have never received in the same way over here.

I am highly disappointed in some people here in Stockholm at the moment. I shan’t go into it too much because I don’t believe any good would come out of it, but disappointed I am. Very.

How I miss you all over there! How I miss the lifestyle and the spontaneity. How I miss hanging out with a friend just reading a book side by side or go for a cup of tea and talk. And the kindness showed to the common man.

repotting

Today I repotted my plants. I don't really know why, because I wasn't at all planning to.

I simply started to collect the plants to give them a good shower in the bathroom and noticed some of them didn't seem to feel very well... So one thing lead to antoher. But it is a messy buissness:

The sink wasn't too bad... But the bin! And the floor!!

But eventually they were repotted and were given a good old rinse down.

And now I'm pleased with myself and the plants look happy.

Christmas pressies

Last year I bought some Christmas pressies over the internet. I found some fab sites and saved them on "my favourites" on my laptop.

But as you know my laptop died in the summer (only to be brought back to life after I bought a new laptop of course - but that's a different story all together), and with it dissapeared all "my favourites". And I can't seem to find any good sites now.

So:

please give me some ideas of good links where I can buy Christmas presents!

Don't Be Such A Crab (part 1 of 2)

Okay, this is a little confusing--Skeletor had a henchman named Clawful, who was a crab-like humanoid in toy form, but was depicted as a sea serpent-like humanoid with crab claws in the cartoon. Naturally, I decided both versions could co-exist, and renamed the cartoon version after a crab-themed Transformers character. Huh? Oh well, here he is, cartoon-Clawful, rechristened Squeezeplay:

click above for larger view

This one has its awkward points... the right leg is stupidly wrong, and the claws are pretty clunky looking. But I like how the gem and the gold armor turned out. Tune in next time for the other Clawful.

Also posted here on my variants thread on the He-Man.org fan-art forum.

Storyboarding with Kris Pearn on Schoolism.com

One of the finest teacher/artist/person I know. Here's a sneak peek of 'Storyboarding with Kris Pearn'.

Kris has worked for many years as a Storyboard artist in Television and Feature Animation in both the United States and Canada. Born on a farm in Southwestern Ontario, Kris attended Sheridan College and studied Classical Animation, graduating in 1996. From there he worked in Toronto and Ottawa as a freelance Animator, Layout Artist, Background and Character Designer. Moving to Phoenix Arizona, Kris worked for 20th Century Fox Feature Animation studios on projects such as Anastasia, Bartok the Magnificent, and Titan A.E. While living in the desert, he trained as an Animator but eventually made the switch to preproduction to follow his life long ambition to become a Story Artist. Following the career of a Story Board artist, he moved back to Toronto after the studio in Phonex was closed, and worked on many TV productions such as Rescue Heroes, Jacob Two Two, Franklin, Braceface, 6Teen, Handy Manny, Hoze Houndz, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, King Weirdo, and The Ripping Friends to name a few. In 2003 Kris moved back to the States to work at Sony Pictures Animation studios in Culver City California (where he is currently employed). During his time at Sony he has worked as a Story Artist on Open Season and Surf's Up. He is presently Head Of Story on Sony's upcoming Feature, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs which is slated to hit the screens some time in 2009. As well as working professionally in the Animation industry for over ten years, he has also taught at Sheridan College in the Classical Animation program (and had a lot of fun while being on the other side of the desk). In 2006 Kris was nominated for an Annie Award for his work on Open Season, and was also featured in the 2007 Hollywood Reporter magazine's Crafts issue, highlighting up and coming talent working in the industry behind the scenes (as all storyboard artists are definitely "behind the scenes").
Kris lives with his Wife and two loud Children in a wooden box near a beach in Southern California. He has a German Shepherd and is often found rollerblading with the slobbering beast late at night in the general proximity of LAX.
He likes Cowboy Movies and good Zombie flicks.

Early Bird Promo Code on Schoolism.com for Storyboarding with Kris Pearn!

Hey all,

Since there's been such a great response to the last promo code, Schoolism.com is doing a special promotion for 'Storyboarding with Kris Pearn!' There is a 10% off promo code for early bird registered students ending on November the 30th, 2008.

Just enter the code: S76R48

Sign up now at Schoolism as spots are filling up and Kris Pearn will only be taking 15 students for the course on January 26, 2009!

Register at Schoolism.com

Grand Theft Auto IV Icons

Since Grand Theft Auto IV for PC is almost here, even though with a slight delay, deviantART’s member firba1 released four glossy icons for the game. They probably the best ones out there, so make sure to get them.

I also would suggest to visit artist’s deviantART gallery, where you’ll find many other well made icons for your favourite games.

Click here to download these GTA IV icons.

Source: firba1.deviantart.com

madness on the subway

What a productive day!

I got up early and went straight to pick up a baby pram that I bought on eBay for next to nothing. It took me an hour there and back, and back home again I had a lovely breakfast with two cats on my shoulders.

Then I started chasing the handy man who promised to come last Thursday. And then last Friday. And when he still hadn't showed up he promised to come on Monday. But he didn't...

... Needless to say this man hasn't met me. If he had, he would be very aware that I do not take no for an answer, and kind of enjoy fighting for my rights. And so today I tracked him down after a numerous amount of phone calls, and after a couple of hours he stood outside my front door and apologized for the "misunderstanding" and that I have had to wait for him.

Another hour later and he had fixed my bathroom pipes, gotten me a bedroom door (which was previously missing) and done quite a few jobs around the house. I was happy.

Came 3 o'clock I took the baby pram and went into town. Needless to say I was given a few strange looks for wheeling around an empty pram, and quite frankly I felt a bit stupid too. But there was a reason for it, you see:

I bought a telly on eBay too - for £5 (alltså 50.-), and without the pram I wouldn't have managed to get the thing home. And so I plonked the telly in the pram, plonked a few shopping bags underneath it and then hung a chassis on the side of the pram and started my journey home.

Oh my god, is all I can say. Rush hour. On the subway. And Dana with a humongous tv balancing badly in a humoungus baby pram. I felt such an idiot. And it was heavy. Oh and did I mention it was humongous?!

Ha ha, I managed to get home with all my newly invested belongings. Now I have a telly for the bedroom and a baby pram for transporting the cats easy. Great! What a productive day!

Weird little creatures

I'm making a series of these weird little creatures for the Pet Monsters book.
I wish I had a magic brush so after I painted this little guy, he would come to life. He would be my little buddy and we'd watch tv together.

Today's numbers

Cups of tea drunk: 6

Meetings attended: 1

Staff in tears in above meeting: 2

Hours worked overtime: 2

Handyman-visit as promised: 0

Hours of sleep after work: 3

All in all an exhausting day as you can see. Day off tomorrow and God knows I need it!

Whip-Smart

Getting back to some basic He-Man drawings, after an extended break from it. Here's Skeletor's henchman, Whiplash:

click above for larger view

Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. My post is here, the entire thread (including some of my previous sketches) is here.

back to reality

So the holiday ended without me having done half the things I planned to.

Today it was back to work and quite frankly I am far too tired to feel up for working for another long period of time... I wish I could have another week off. Just sleep. Perhaps read a book. Or watch a movie. Or both!

Oh well. C'est la vie, as they say. But if anyone knows of a millionaire who would like to financially support me for the rest of my life so that I could become a lady of leisure - please let me know!

Jason Seiler wins the Gold Nosey Award!

Guest of Honor Award for Outstanding Work. Awarded by Ismael Roldan
2nd Place Outstanding Digital Technique

1st Place Caricature of the year!
4th Place Caricature of the year
8th Place Caricature of the year

1st Place for Most Outstanding Portfolio
1st Place for Best Studio Caricature

And finally the big Sha-Bang . . .

He won the 2008 17th Annual International Competition. Gold Nosey Award
Caricaturist of the Year Competition. This puts Jason in the Master Caricaturist category.

Congratulations Jason! err.. I mean Master Seiler :)

----------------------------------
Awesome link --> Joe Vriens

Early Bird Promo Code on Schoolism.com!

Hey all,

Just wanted to inform you all that Schoolism.com is doing a special promotion for Building a Powerful Comic Book Portfolio with Alvin Lee! There will be a 10% off promo code for early bird registered students ending on November the 30th.

Just enter the code: AL3R7

Sign up now at Schoolism as spots are filling up and Alvin Lee will only be taking 15 students worldwide for the course in Febuary!

For those who do not know, Alvin has been a comic book professional for over ten years now and will be passing on my industry knowledge to students who are willing to learn. It will be a unique learning experience as you will be taking a private online course from Alvin Lee and completing class assignments. Alvin will be grading all of your assignments, critiquing them and also screen capturing the corrections over your own work! It will be an exciting experience to see all of your progress and growth in creating a powerful comic book portfolio. If you are willing to learn, Alvin is willing to teach you!

Check it out at Schoolism

a nice cuppa

There is nothing like a cup of tea before bed!

GTA IV Style Fan Art

Another fan artwork done in GTA IV style but this time it’s from a female fan, Lizzie. Lizzie has many other portraits done in similar style in her deviantART gallery. I really like this piece, but I would enjoy it even more if that was a portrait of a femail.

There’s also Lizzie’s progress step by step.

Source: xxblackmagicxx.deviantart.com

It's slowly coming together

The living room is slowely coming together. In the opposite corner there'll be the dining area, but at the moment mainly filled with boxes.

The bedroom is finished. Well, apart from some boxes in the opposite side of the room.

lovely lazy

I am having the most wonderfully lazy day.

Kif got fed up with cuddling around 10 am, and started to do everything in his power to get me to get up. But Tylor and I stayed in bed for another half an hour. Pure bliss!

Yesterday I met up with some friends for an after work beer or two at 3 pm. It was a great evening but came 8 pm I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open and went home to have a cup of tea before bed.

And so I have had a good 12 hours sleep! Fantastic. I'm still in my pyjamas and am planning to do as little as possible today. Perhaps make a big pot of leek and potatoe soup, but that 'll be all.

Oh how I love a lazy Saturday!

DO EET.

Been chaining myself to the drawing table and/or wacom tablet lately. DRAWING GIVES ME POWERRRRRRRRRRR...

GTA IV 100% Key To The City

Looks like Rockstar Games decided to please everyone this Christmas even if with some delays. PC owners will finally get to play GTA IV and console owners are started to get their 100% keys. Majority already forgot about Grand Theft Auto IV 100% Club Contest, so you can imagine the surprise of those who received them. Gamers began to post the photos of their newly arrived keys on many public forums to show everyone the proof of their great achievement.

Be among the first to join Grand Theft Auto IV's 100% Club, a members-only distinguishment for Liberty City's most elite players. The one-week challenge begins with Grand Theft Auto IV's official release on April 29th. Eligible Rockstar Games Social Club members who complete 100% of the game will have their achievement commemorated by being awarded the coveted "key to the city".