Lost Artist

I used to know this artist on Deviantart called Killamangiro. Her signature is DRX though.

When I first saw her art I was skeptical. I mean, its all simple, and everyone has long arms and legs. But after looking at it for a while I realized that she had the makings of a really interesting style. It reminds me of some European illustrators I've seen. I managed to con her into an art trade, one of my characters for one of hers. I did Tobias and she did my character Euna. I would show you her version of Euna, but she deleted everything from her account. I blame the artist depression/modesty.

Artists come in two packages, those who are too modest and those that are too egotistical. Modest artists are usually good, or on their way to greatness, whereas egotists are either so good they know it or so in the dark that they don't know they are bad.

DRX was one of the modest ones however. In most of her posts she would grumble about how bad things looked, but I was always there to bring her up. It was really sad to see that she not only gave up on art, but took away all the art she had put up. I was tempted to post the two pieces I managed to keep before see deleted them all, but I figure it was her right as the artist to remove them so I shouldn't go against her wishes and post them.

That being said, I've decided that now that I have most of Brandon Graham's style, I think its time I added a new style. Since DRX is pretty much gone, its time I learned her style and implement in.

Graphic Designs

I'm working on making a few graphic design type illustrations into my portfolio. It is hard to apply to a job you think you can do when you don't have any examples that support it.

I have been obsessed with Godzilla lately so that's why I drew up Gigan. The text is 'kaiju' which is basically Japanese for giant monster. I really got into Godzilla after watching James Rolfe's "Monster Madness" videos that featured Godzilla (Which is here). Like all of his reviews he throws in a lot of humor, trivia, and history.

On the day-to-day scene I'm still applying to jobs. I have a few lined up that could go somewhere, and if they all work out I might actually have to quit a few to manage them all. Although, in this economy, that is highly doubtful. I wouldn't mind two part time jobs though.

As always I have some crazy stuff that I am into that I have to post up here. This time it involves Arnold Schwarzenegger. I found a band that does nothing but songs themed by the man himself. The band is called Austrian Death Machine. "Get to the Choppa", "Who is Your Daddy and What Does He Do?", and even "Jingle Bells". It is all heavy metal, or as Arnold calls it, brutal!

Old but New Stuff

Art from the student made game, Gold Rush. Well, pre-production made anyway. It should be in development right now though.

I liked how crazy our style guide was on this one. All it was, was a slanted ! shape and make everything worn. Those guns are an example of how crazy I got into making things old and squared off.

I had a blast working on that project. Working in a group makes your art explode ten fold from what it was before you started. Which is why I hope one day I might be working on another project.

Sadly, I haven't found that project yet, or maybe it hasn't found me? Either way I'm cutting back on my loftier goals of getting a awesome job and going for contract jobs and regular jobs like at Macy's.

Aside from that I'm working on a 2 minute animation of a bit by Nick Swardson. Its the dumbest two jokes I have ever heard, but that is why I wanted to animate them. Its all in flash and I'm trying to make it sort of like the show, Shorties Watching Shorties. That was a great show and I'm surprised that there aren't that many bits on youtube. The baby scenes were so-so, but when you take animation and the best comedians throw at you, its a great combination.

Manga of Mentionable Worth

I, like many people, am pretty tired of most Japanese art. It was cool for a while, but now everything is soaked in it. I haven't bought a manga in several years, but I found a few in the regular comics section one day that peaked my interest. They were by an artist by the name of Junko Mizuno and she doesn't deal in your average Japanese story or look. Most would say her style is like the Power Puff Girls, but eyes and round, simple shapes. But if you really read though a Mizuno book you'll see that the style is more like an illustrator, which she started out as. Most of her art is seen on t-shirts, stickers, and some figurines. Here is my top four Mizuno comics that need to be read:

4) Hanzel and Gretel



Part of Mizuno's fairy tales series of comics that feature old tales redone in a way that only Mizuno could do. What is cool for us westerners is when the publisher said they were going to take her stories over to the U.S. she requested that the comics be printed in that traditional comic book paper for that classic look and she would also redraw several panels. Now that's caring about your product. What makes a Junko Mizuno comic about Hazel and Gretel any different from any other story you ask? Basically its her main ingredients: problems involving food, unnecessary nudity, violence, her illustrative style, and a whacked out story that keeps you entertained.

Hanzel and Gretel barely follows the original plot. Its Hanzel and Gretel...that's all that is from the original story. Hanzel and Gretel's parents run a grocery store (the only one in town) but soon their distributors turn evil and stop giving them food. My favorite distributor is the giant pig that cuts off the meat from himself to give to the store, but its okay because he's regenerative. Overall, not my favorite comic of hers, but its got a few twists that separate it from any other comic you'll read.

3) Cinderalla


Yes, that's CinderRALLA. Not Cinderella. This story is much more similar to the original than Hanzel and Gretel is. Only where Cinderella wanted to be rich, Cinderalla wants to be a zombie. Yes, a zombie. Cinderalla's father dies (he's a famous chef, yet another food related theme), and Cinderalla finds out that at night he is a zombie. He marries another zombie and they continue to run the restaurant. Problem is everyone wants Cinderalla to assist them in some way. Her new zombie step sisters are bothering her as well as her new mother who needs to be fed constantly. But soon she meets an attractive male zombie singer and she falls in love with him. Problem is, the only way to see him in concert is to become a zombie. Any plot where the character wishes they were a zombie is a great plot in my book. Of all her books, Cinderalla is the funniest.

2) Princess Mermaid



Yeah, it's the Little Mermaid, but like any Mizuno comic, it's not. It starts out with three mermaid sisters who lure sailors into the sea (I think this is actually a folk lore in Japanese culture). But like all Mizuno comics, it doesn't end well for the sailors. Tura, the evil sister, murders the sailors and they all feast on their bodies (the food related content of this book). Well, except for Julie, the hero. She wishes that they could just get along with the humans. Tura reminds her that her mother (and all the other mermaids) were murdered for their eyes and scales. This comic has so many things going on its crazy for how short it is. Tura's goal is the destruction of the human's specifically the ones that killed her mother. Julie ends up falling in love with a human who is related to the ones that killed her mother. As expected, chaos insues. Unlike Ariel, Julie gets an operation to be human, but its cut short halfway through leaving her partially mutilated. Tura's ending is very dramatic, I almost wished it would have been different but I guess that's what makes it so good.

1). Pure Trance


First off, this is the biggest book she ever made. It's huge by any graphic novel standards. This was Mizuno's first comic, and it was released originally with several techno cd's called, of course, Pure Trance. The compilation book is great because on several pages there are extra bits that tell about things you wouldn't know just by reading the comic, such as minor character back story and what the characters are watching on TV. I love this because it gets you one step closer into an already deeper story.

Some pages:
Nudity, but with an awesome chainsaw
Pill death, check out the info box on the bottom of the page
Violent death of a cute monster (however there are worse...)

And this story is DEEP. I mean, like a three hour movie that feels like its three hours, deep. Basically, its the future and everyone has moved underground to escape the radiation from some nuclear holocaust. People don't eat real food, they just take pills that are flavored like real food. Of course women are prone to overeating these pills and getting sick (yet again, this is the food related problem of this book). The story revolves around the nurses who work at a clinic where they treat these sick women. The head doctor is a whack job who is obsessed with eating real meat. She has her minion go out and get fake animals or real ones if she can find them. All the other nurses are level headed, but the doctor is so crazy that she abuses them all the time and at one point she kills one of the nurses. One of the main nurses takes the children of two sick women (who died), and they end up on the surface world. Everything up there is a drug trip and all the humans there are nothing but floating brains with eyes. Time passes and the nurse that brought them up there gets really sick because she isn't used to eating real things. She returns onyl to be be murdered by the vengeful doctor. So its up to the children to return and avenge the nurse.

I can't get across how great this graphic novel is. Its not only my favorite Junko Mizuno comic book, it's also in my top ten favorite graphic novels ever. Forget the Watchmen, read Pure Trance.

Silent Hill: AVGN

While checking out the art from the new Silent Hill game, Silent Hill Shattered Memories, I noticed that Harry looked a little familiar. A little photoshopping and there it is, the Angry Video Game Nerd in Silent Hill.