The Grove

I'm calling my new film The Grove. Here is a rough promo card.

And here is a semi-rough idea of what the inhabitants of the Grove look like. I'm not sure about the color. I think it kind of makes him look like a giant Goldfish cracker...

An official announcement

I'm starting a new film.

What the duck?

So about a week ago I noticed a duck laying dead on the side of the freeway. Unusual roadkill I thought, since whenever I see ducks they're either flying way above car level, or when they're on the ground it's next to, if not reasonably close to some sort of water source. But this was on the 91 freeway, about ten miles east of the 5. And unlike a crow or a turkey vulture or something, it's not like a duck would wander onto the road to get at a piece of food or something. So it struck me as being strange, but I didn't think much about it.
That is, not until early Sunday morning as I'm driving down the road and the car in front of me brakes suddenly and comes almost to a stop before finally veering to the left to reveal a male mallard. Yes, the same kind of duck I saw taking a nap on the shoulder of the 91 a few days earlier. So I took my turn passing the duck, making sure I was clear of him, but couldn't help cutting it really close, just to try to scare him out of the road. But the bird seemed completely oblivious to the cars speeding by it. Either oblivious or indifferent. But either way, that's weird, right?

Breakfast Machine

Unemployment Activites To Do List~
Electronic cover of Danny Elfman's "Breakfast Machine" from the Pee Wee's Big Adventure Soundtrack: Check.

Breakfast Machine by Wheres Boo?

Angel On My Shoulder

One of the great things that has happened in the last few months of unemployment is that I have not only had time to do art, but also follow up on a promise that I made a really long time ago. A few years ago my grandpa wrote a little memoir about his childhood and he asked me to design a cover for it "whenever I get around to it." Well, thanks to this whole jobless bum thing I finally got around to it and I'm so glad that I did. My grandpa has done so much for me throughout the years, not to mention all the things that he did for my dad and his other three kids, and I'm so glad that I finally got the chance to do something for him.

The original drawing was done in conte crayon and charcoal, then I brought it into photoshop for some light tweakage. I've always been inspired by Chris Van Allsburg's soft, tonal drawings and I thought that something like that would be appropriate for this project. Now that it's done I'm even more impressed by Van Allsburg's detail, as my stubby fingers and lack of practice left me miles from his level of finish. But at the same time, I'm pleased enough with the final product, and my grandparents both seem to love it, which is really what matters anyway.

Red Panda Valentine

This is a drawing that I made my wife for Valentine's Day. The original was done in Prismacolor, but before I colored it in I scanned it so I could use it to practice my digital painting. Looking at it now I see some things that could be fixed but over all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, especially since it's really the first painting I've done in Photoshop. Or, should I say, the first painting that I haven't given up on after a half an hour. Hopefully it will only get better from here.

SLOIFF Update

The schedule for the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival is officially up.
Furtissimo's schedule looks like this:

Sunday, March 14, 7:00pm Joe Momma's Cafe, Avila Beach
Wednesday, March 17, 7:00pm Palm Theatre,SLO
Thursday, March 18, 7:00pm Pavilion on the Lake, Atascadero

And the whole schedule looks like this:
http://www.slofilmfest.org/2010/films.shtml

I'm excited for the lineup, particularly Furtissimo's screen buddy on the 17th - John Carney's "Once". What, you say, you mean the Once that won the Academy Award for best original song? Yeah, that one! Nice.