Merry Christmas! And Wet Paint Signs!

Merry Christmas! It's about and hour and 25 minutes until Yuletide!

Like a previous post, one of the things I love about my job at Wet Paint is that I can make signs advertising the neat things we sell there. This is a small selection of some new ones!









(Ok, the second to the last one's a gift card we mailed off earlier this week- the people who'll get it will get another little surprise! And the last one wasn't seen by the public. But still!)



Well, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Eid Mubarak, Joyous Yuletide, and look forward to a Happy New Year!

TTYL!

Hoogie and Stiff Animatic #3!

Here's a third rough animatic- I'm rather fond of this one, and I think it's one of the more successful ones in terms of timing and humor.

TTYL!

Hoogie and Stiff Animatic: Bowling

Second animatic for a speculative portfolio piece!
Today I'm baking stollen with my Ma. Good work out for the shoulder muscles, as kneading this bread is a tough task!

TTYL!

Hoogie and Stiff Commercial Animatic

I spent a few hours working on this last night. I had recorded the voices and mixed the sounds a few months ago, but last night I composed this animatic. There's a few goofs (Hoogie, the fat one, has some wonky sleeves), and I'm not an animator, but the idea behind this is to show what these characters can do and would be used for.



I've spent a considerable time on the concept behind these characters, and even built a fake beer company around them:



So it's time to step it up a notch on this speculative branding concept!

TTYL!

Signs at Wet Paint

So why do I love my job? Cause I can make signs advertising the things I love to sell!
Here's some of the signs I've made in the last two months or so:



(Sharpies, obviously, and an obscure Scrooge McDuck quote, not so obviously)


(These are pretty neat- the same kind that astronauts take into space)


(Nice totes. I don't paint myself all that often, but still nice)


(These are fun for the recent college grad)


(Kookle! Fun to say out loud)


(These get really obnoxious really fast- I enjoy them very much)

More soon!

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 15

Last in the USSR LEGO Mans, Alexsey Pajitnov, the inventor of Tetris!

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 14

Red Square Guard circa mid-1980s.

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 13

Yuriy Norshteyn. Animator. Watch this YouTube Clip.



In the meantime, just in time for Chistmas/Chanukah/Eid ul-Adha/Yule:



We're selling these Essdee Baren Kits at Wet Paint. Do you do any linoleum block printing? If not, want to start? This neat little kit includes five blades, a smoothing baren (burnisher), and a handle. It also comes with two hard-rubber discs that can be cut and designed, but have a sticky back that allows them to be stuck to the bottom of the baren, making it a rubber stamp!
Buy one with us, and we throw it 10 of these sticky-backed discs!

All this for $9.99. Visit Wet Paint's Website and get one today!

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 12

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Falling (a week weeks later), I present to you: Günter Schabowski!
This fellow was a figurehead for the GDR (German Democratic Republic- EAST Germany), and basically said it was okay for people on the East to cross the wall. Probably could've been a slip-up, probably could've been actual policy, either way East Germany was not able to expect help from the USSR high command. Anyhow, Mikhail Gorbachev allowed it to happen, and Ronald Reagan took the credit.

In other news, I now use Indexhibit to power my website. They don't provide server space or domain names (I use InMotion for that), but rather provide a program and language to run and arrange one's work. Add in remote editing (eliminating the need for regular FTP applications), and you've got the perfect portfolio website! Visit these guys, they're absolutely brilliant.

TTYL!

New Colour Scheme?!

Yep, I've changed the colour scheme. I'll explain later in detail, but in the mean time, visit my website, and you might get an idea...

New Yorker Style!

Another post without LEGO mans. What's up, Steve?!

No real point to this comic- I was originally doing something similar to the illustrations from the Homer Price books, but took it into a different direction... Any suggestions for different punchlines?

TTYL!

Patent Medicine

Another post with no LEGOS. I've been busy, and I owe all y'all another LEGO mans. I'm thinking the DDR fellow (or GDR, if you immediately thought of the video game with the same initials) who let citizens of Berlin cross the sides without getting shot or arrested (probably accidently, but that will never be clear), or perhaps Alexsey Pajitnov, who invented Tetris, which lead to an incredibly intense IP suit... Hard to say.

Instead, I've posted a label I did for my Dad. He works for a major industrial company, and during a team-building exercise, brewed a batch of amber Oktoberfest ale.

TTYL!

Happy Halloween (again!)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
You like? Nikki came up with this idea- Franken-Fetus! Ain't he adorable?
(No LEGO man today- I just wanted to show this l'il stinker off!)

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 11

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, prolific Russian writer, was among the first to tell the world about the Gulags in Siberia. While speaking out against the USSR, he was not in favor of democracy as an alternative, as the Russian character is theoretically not suitable for Western-style republicanism. He died a few years ago.



Happy Halloween! Tomorrow, Nikki and I are going to a Halloween/Birthday party as Steam-Punk Pirates. I'll post pics soon after. Our costumes are pretty awesome.



Jp, his girlfriend Megan, and I've taken the plunge and bought studio space at the Steven's Square Center for the Arts, a Minneapolis arts organization. Rent's reasonable, distance not outrageous, and what I'm excited about is a space where if I get the floor a little messy, it won't be a big deal. I'm hoping to get back into painting and charcoal drawing!

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 10

A Russian Cosmonaut, roughly in the 1950's (getting a clean reference photo in colour is a whole lot harder than it should be). I could've done the first human in space (Yuri Gagarin), but I felt that this series has been dominated by specific people, and it's refreshing to not caricature-ize this minifig.



October 25th was Boo Bash, a halloween celebration hosted by many, many businesses all along Saint Paul's Grand Avenue, and Wet Paint wasn't an exception. For our part, we offered free face painting. The above picture was a group of kids and their mom/friend's mom, of whom I drew a third eye on their foreheads. I'm pleased with the one on the mom.

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 9

Kolkhoznitsa, or a peasant/farmer woman, often depicted as the young, vaginal, virtuous, and idyllic Soviet ideal of communal farm living.

I'm planning on throwing some ideas for my halloween card later today or tomorrow. Keep your eyes peeled!

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 8

Vladimir Putin, in his KGB days. This, if my research isn't totally bogus, is what a KGB's Class-A looked like. I gave him a AK-47 cause Putin looks badass with heavy artillery.

I've gotten the next few of these lined up, and I'm close to finishing this series. The next one I'm plotting is "Indigenous Peoples," focusing on minority ethnic groups, such as the Sami (Lapp), Utari (Ainu), Khakassians, Hmong/Mong/Miao, and Australian Aboriginal. I'll include a few Native Americans for good measure.
You might notice multiple versions of the groups names, including ones they might take exception to, but I'm including them to help people who might be more familiar with that name, and encourage them to use the preferred nomenclature.
In choosing, I'm going to only include groups that still exist, have a distinctive cultural costume or flourish, and at least one from each continent.

More to come!

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 7

Gorby!
Quick- what do you remember about this man: his freeing up of the media and more or less bringing communism to an end in the USSR, or that birthmark? If you picked the latter, then Wiki this guy (and [tongue-in-cheek] shame on you!).

Somewhere online, there's a picture of Gorbechev and Obama meeting in the white house a few months ago. It's pretty awesome!







Cool, huh? Jp and I've been getting into Godzilla big time for the last couple of weeks. I'm most pleased with the Gigan, but I think the traditional Godzilla (as opposed to Space Godzilla) is a better crowd pleaser.



Despite it barely becoming the middle of October, we're getting ready for Christmas here at Wet Paint. We had this shipment of this utterly charming German paper activity kit, a Bastelbox by Folia. Really cute, but determining it as a regular stock or a holiday stock has been a talking point of cultural philosophy.

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 6

Joseph Stalin! The big guy in Double Yew Double Yew Two! I had fun with this piece of work's mustache...
Sorry for getting out of the daily/near-daily update scheme. I'm working full time now (as I've mentioned), which makes things difficult when it comes to this...



I'm a Moleskine sketchbook fan myself, but at Wet Paint, we've been having fun with this sketchbook by Clairefontaine.



Here's what I've contributed to this community project. If you're in the Twin Cities, Saint Paul especially, drop by the store to contribute to this project! More at Wet Paint's website.



I'm going to try not to turn this blog into a venue to pimp art supplies I sell at Wet Paint, but this one is pretty cool: Yasutomo Hi-Glider. This is like a yellow-gel crayon that extends like a lip-stick stick, writes like a felt-tipped highlighter, can shade like a charcoal pencil, and get this: will not bleed or smudge. I'm just... wow, this thing is soooo cool!



On the 17th, my friends Jp, Andrew, Jason, and I went to the State Theatre in Minneapolis to see a live Kevin Smith Q&A. It was a blast, but I never got a chance to ask my question(s). If I had the chance, I would ask:

1) Desert island top five DVDs; You only get five discs, so choose wisely! If you want all four discs of the fourth season of The Simpsons,, then you get only one more disc. A collector's set or multi-disc don't count as one.
2) Who would play you in a bio-pic of your life; has to be an actor who's still alive, and at least 20 years within your actual age. For me? I'd love for Kevin Smith to play me.
3) Can you give me some advice on podcasting?

I had tons of fun, and watching Smith work the crowd was mesmerizing. Dick and fart jokes are better with a mixed group!

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 5

Nikita Khrushchev; despite his calming effect and significant departure from the policies of Stalin, this guy was pretty wacky. He's an interesting icon, because all we remember of him for the most part is Bay of Pigs, and his famous lines at the United Nations of "Мы вас похороним!", or "We will bury you!" while banging his shoe on the desk. Further research says he had a lot more to say, and that the quote was poorly transliterated, but...



Job at Wet Paint is going great- what's funny is that I've been dropped into Back To School season, which is making the air charged with excitement and kinetic energy. Very stimulating, but also making me realize I need a new pair of shoes. Oof!



We recently picked this up at the store- Yoropen. We've had for a while the more expensive versions of this ergonomic pen, but now we've got the Yoropen pen and pencil for the masses. This things are great at $3.00 a pop.

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 4

Sorry for the lack of daily updates- work and MN state fair, and Labor Day... Sigh... excuses excuses excuses!
Here's a Soviet soldier, circa WWII. His gun is an AVS-36.

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 3

CCCP Olympic hockey player, circa 1980. Inspired by the movie "Miracle," you just have to be impressed by the Russian national team and their tactics. Some amazing skating.

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 2

Brezhnev!

TTYL!

LEGO USSR 1

To kick off the LEGO USSR series, I've decided to stat with the man who kicked off the actual USSR, Lenin!

TTYL!

LEGO Zulu-Anglo War 15

Last of the LEGO Zulu/Anglo War! Here we have a Boer!

TTYL!

LEGO Zulu-Anglo War 14

Coming up to the end of LEGO Zulu/Anglo War series- I like this volunteer's hat...
After a while, I decided to expand on this feller. He's most likely not a Zulu (like the previous one), and works as something similar to a deputy to the local police force/sherif force.

TTYL!