A quick update on this. Put in a few hours yesterday though it probably doesn't look it. There were some readjustments all around as well as some building. Just trying to keep the documentation on this going, for what it's worth.

Haven't had a chance to work on this lately because of the video. That being said, I put a few hours into it today though it's not so obvious. It's all in the background. Notice, perhaps, that butcher shop with the sign for steak on sale in the window. Oh sure, you can't see it from here, but if you zoom in 3-400% it's obvious! Will this matter? Dunno, but since I want to make the final print perhaps as big as 16x20, it might. This means slow progress. Also might mean a better print. Moving forward...

Well, this time it's a non-art entry, though there was art made specifically for this project. It's another episode of my movie/rant blog, "The Movie Wrench." I decided to use green screen stuff this time around instead of moving around the house for every shot. I think I like it better this way, and it certainly makes shooting it easier, even if the editing is more complicated. I took on "Avengers: Age of Ultron" this time around. It's the fourth episode and it took far too long to get around to it. I wrote the script at the end of October and then, what with holidays and all, never got around to the next step. Editing of the script happened while shooting and a whole section that was shot was accidentally left out in editing. When I noticed the mistake, I decided that the missing section didn't really add that much and, since there was a problem with the mic, I'd just leave it out. That being said, this is the longest episode by far. I'm trying to make them shorter and failing miserably. Ah, well, I think the performance is a lot better in this one; I'm far goofier and outgoing, which is something I wanted to work on. So watch, and despair! "Movie Wrench Age of Ultron!"

Update on this image. I think when all is said and done, I will like this. I'm decently happy with it as it's coming along, though I think that I didn't make the background enough 'mine' in this one. I found an artist via CartoonBrew today that does a similar thing with watercolor and with a much more cartoony approach but he makes the backgrounds really HIS. So the next one will be a bit more me, I think. Still, it's coming along. Was able to add a bunch more this morning after not having been able to work on it all weekend. Should have some more time today, but for now, I'm off to run an errand or two. When I get back, I have to build a cardboard and tin foil robot costume. Shooting Movie Wrench tomorrow.

Ok, this is just a bit of geekery. I hope to start filming the new Movie Wrench in the next couple of days (I've only had the script written for like three months). It's been suggested that I use backdrops and green screen techniques instead of needing to wander around as much as I do. So I thought, why not use the Newsroom backdrops from the Mary Tyler Moore show? Almost no one will get it. And that's fine. They're just for me to giggle at. Still, it was a quick bit of work to adapt all three of those I could find via Illustrator. So there you go.

It's been slow going on this. If you look closely at the sign, it's obvious that I started over again with the graphics. It's a matter of not only redrawing what's in the photo so that it's no longer Japanese but Lucco-speak but that it's my style and not just trying to be photographic as well. Sometimes this takes me awhile. At least the cobblestones are done and now I have a better handle on what needs to be done. Weekends are bad times for art. I usually have to work straight through and this one was no exception. Should have more time this week to work on this.

Here's a 2x version of the current version of the image. Finished all the cobblestones today. Here's a lesson; next image will NOT have cobblestones in it. I like their look, the organic quality, but they were a pain in the ass. Now I've started constructing the signs. There are going to be many layers to this. There's already like 11 and I've just started. There's also a lot more uses of things like gradients and other types of transparency in this than I've ever used in an illustration. I think, though that the level of detail will match and enhance the characters, or at least I would hope so. Anyway, this is where I am.

Ok, so this is kind of cheap for another entry, but the image from the last one was made a few hours' work before this one. I still have a lot of cobblestones to go. And even when I finish the background, there's going to be a lot of color balancing to do. Still, this is progress.

So this is the next step in the illustration I'm working on. The last few days have been spent drawing little squares, cobblestones. There are tons of them. But if I did this any other way, it wouldn't feel as organic. I'm using a screen capture of a 4k video of Tokyo as my background and wanted very much to make a very detailed illustration. This means lots of tedious though rather enjoyable work. Ok, the cobblestones are a bitch but making all the signs and storefronts are tasks I look forward to. At this point, we can see the characters (I traded out the second monkey's head for the original as I liked it better) with their colors, before adjustment and the shadows atop the cobblestones as I have them now. This is going to take awhile, and that's ok. I want this to be something that really catches the eye and also takes some time to look at. I've never made giclee prints before and if I plan to try and sell them, I think they should be something worth looking at. When I'm done, I'll try and post as much of a flow of assembly as possible. For those interested.

Well, here it is, the first post of year ten of this blog. A lot of people have left theirs behind. I still see the value in them, especially for being able to take down and record thoughts of the moment, of having to do with the art posted. Sadly, everyone seems to prefer things like tumblr which is nice in its way, but has no real way of communicating and is, by its very nature, something that almost requires short posts. I plan to continue this one as I've done for as long as I can. Might well be that Blogspot eventually just closes down, which would be a shame. I think there's still very much a reason to have long form blogs. Anyway.

I've been reading a very cool, huge book on Chuck Close that I got for Xmas. While there might not seem to be a connection between his work and this, there is. Close deals in details, lots of them and, pretty much through his entire career, has been obsessed with them. I have numerous styles. The heavily detailed, more 'realistic' one is one that I haven't played with much lately. So as is often the case, when I start looking at art books, I get inspired and move in a specific direction. I plan to redraw these two and place them in Tokyo as I recently came across some stunning 4k video of that city and want to get lots of detail and rendering in. I probably will always love ink and should stick with my loves. So, this.