Linendoll's Beer, Job Hunting, and Billy Mays: Three Aggressive Things

Cool, huh? This beer doesn't exist. I mean, it's real in the sense that I've constructed these labels, and took photographs, and designed a logo to go with them, but this beer doesn't exist as an actual beer you can buy.



I've designed this beer to have Hoogie and Stiff sell it, and I've been learning Flash to make commercials to show off their antics. I'm pretty please how this is looking so far!

I've been job-hunting again, as well.

I want to find a job in character design, product design, comics, storyboarding, and illustration. I'm looking for non-internship entry-level positions.
I offer my ability to quickly absorb the important features of a project, and then use my years of geeky experience and passion for detail to develop and strengthen the finished result.


RIP, Billy Mays. Your loud, direct, husky voice was fun to impersonate, and I've spent many a sleepless night contemplating whether or not to shell out the dough to buy a Quick Chop™- it does look like it would save me time when I need to dice ice... :)
(photo from www.greenfaucet.com)

TTYL!

Book Review = mascots!

I picked this book up not too long ago, a week or two before the time of this writing. I love it, and I felt like saying my piece about it. But before I can gas on and on about Ad Boy (AB), I need to preface this review with the previous book by Warren Dotz and Masud Husain:



I first encountered Meet Mr. Product (MMP) in a museum gift shop in Chicago, probably 4-5 years ago. I was compelled by this thick little book, because it had page after page of cartoon characters. Bizarre, funny, and compelling, sweeping a wide dearth of topics from spark plugs to defunct fast food chains to slush drinks. I fell in love with the strangeness of it all, since, as a product of direct marketing using mascots, these... creatures (for lack of a better word) were at once familiar, and shocking in the alienness of it all (and I say it in such a good way).



AB and MMP feature wonderfully spotlighted mascots- here's a few:

(sexy)

(grim)

(popular with boomers)

(also sexy)

(no comment)

(unfairly killed before his time...)

(believe it or not, Pizza Hut has a mascot, too!)

(poor fella- this one isn't from the book, but I wouldn't have known about with out MMP. Awww...)

Each page has great, detailed images and a brief description of the origin of that image (such as a hand puppet or promotional pin). And really, it's a wonderful way to show off what we buy this book for. Dotz and Husain deliver the mascot, and don't clutter it up with unnecessary copy or (heh) the product itself.


The layout of AB is very different from MMP. Since the book is bigger, it allows for more room for "longer" images (such as that corn dog ad). Bigger gives it more detail. It's also broken down into categories, not by general products selling (such as maintenance, food, public services), but by mascot types (cows, dogs, Indian Maidens, snowmen). I found this to be a better way of finding what you're looking for.


However, I what I don't like about AB is what they nail down with MMP, which is a sense of style in their layouts. Not that I think that everything should be boxed up, but a grid does keep the pages cleaner, and reduces negative space, which pops up more than once in AB.

MMP also includes a very informative and long-ish essay on mascots and their importance in America, something that is lacking in AB (the long and informative, in-depthness. There is an intro, though, don't get me wrong on that!). But since I recommend you read both, is more of a personal preference than an criticism.


To tell you how much these books have influenced me, I've started work on a portfolio piece- sort of an homage to limited animation characters of the 50's-60's, selling with relatable cartoony characters. All that's keeping me back is that I'm still learning Adobe Flash.

Thank god for Lynda.

TTYL!

Website update, Video Game Concept, and Flash

I've updated my website (http://www.comicartiststeve.com/) it is a lot more cleaner and organized- go check it out!



I've decided to show off the cast list for a graphic adventure concept I've been developing for a while (or at least a a partial view of the cast!).



I show this off to announce that I've gotten my hands on a copy of Adobe CS4, which includes Flash. I've got some ideas of what I want to use it for, the above game concept included, but now I need to learn how to use it!



Not long ago, I finished reading The Belgariad and The Melorean series by David Eddings. Great books. My dad read them to me when I was a wee lad, and I've read them as an adult. If I have kids, I'll read these to them.
Anyway, I've thought about what a comic-book treatment would be of these books, and jotted some sketches down. I'm pleased with how Beldin came out (the one on the bottom of the left).

NEXT UPDATE:
"Ad Boy," a book of advertising mascots, came out recently, and I'm going to write a review. Keep your eyes peeled!

TTYL!

Addendum with Simpsons!

I wanted to include this from the lectures the other day.

I had included a famous Charles Adams comic:

: as an example of other comic-making/showing-off opportunities. Isn't that awesome? Look at Fester's face! Disgusting glee with insatiably irresistible charisma! What the hell are they watching?

Anyway, one of the kids goes on to correctly identify that comic as being the inspiration for this scene:






"It's funny 'cause I don't know them!"

This kid listens to Simpsons commentary tracks! A 6th grader so geeky he listens to commentary tracks! I love it! Someone to keep the faith alive that one day, the show will return to it's former glory!

So, Kid, I salute you.

TTYL!

Lecture/Going Back

I more or less just woke up after taking a nap, after speaking to three classes of 6th graders about comics.

The media specialist at Parkview Center School, my elementary alma matter, has been very proactive about exposing the kids there to graphic novels and comics, and has been very successful. She introduced me to one of the teachers, and we agreed on having me lecture about what I do, and to help impart useful tips in a unit they've been working on about comics.

I spent each hour explaining why "Nancy" and "Archie" (more on him later) are the essence of comics, exposed them to some awesome European artists, showed off some examples of my work, and gave a layman's explanation of composition, negative/positive space, and what happens in the gutter between the panels.

One of the things I enjoyed was randomly calling on students (especially the bored looking ones- though I tried to avoid being boring!) to explain why a page worked, or what drew their eye where. Some of the kids got it right away, others... didn't. But it was good fun.



In the middle, I had them do one of these (blank ones can be found at my website, www.comicartiststeve.com/). This one was actually drawn in by Don Rosa, who did the wonderful series, "The Life and Times of Uncle $crooge."

In Short, It was a blast!

On the other hand, I had not been in that building since 1998 (or so)(Parkview is a K-8 school). While most things look the same, the things that had changed were really apparent. The lectures were given in my old 3rd-grade homeroom, and in addition to the old Apple ][ and Lisa's being gone, the chalk board was covered by a SmartBoard. So basically, I could draw on top of my powerpoint presentation! How cool is that?

But what got to me emotionally was the trees.

In 1996 or so, the school made a big deal about planting various trees (Earth Day/Arbor Day/Peace Day...). These little saplings, which were tiny when I was a lad, have grown very tall, and very beautiful, in the many years since. It made me feel old, but in a good way.

OH! In other news, the Hudson book is done. Done-done. I finished and delivered it last Monday. Excitement...

TTYL!