I don't really talk about this here as it's not 'art,' but this is one of the other things I do that I'm proud of. "Max, Mike; Movies" was a project I started with my best friend Max Levine over six years ago. It's a weekly podcast about, well, movies. We generally do eight episode series about specific topics or guidelines. We started with a series called, "I Can't Believe You Haven't Seen That." which was movies that one of us hadn't seen and the other, well, couldn't believe it. Other series have been things like guilty pleasures, remakes, James Bond and the like. We've been weekly for most of the run, only missing a handful of episodes here and there. There are marathon episodes where we discuss all the Star Wars movies, all the Batman movies and, most recently both Dune films.  We have a tiny audience but we're not doing this for fame or money (good thing), we're doing it because we love to. It's also flexed my film interests quite a bit here and there. It's about six hours' work a week between watching the movie, writing the script, recording the show and editing it. When all is said and done, I have something priceless; many many records of conversations with my best friend about one of our favorite subjects. And this is only one of two podcasts of which I'm a part.

"Cue Footsteps" is a project I got involved with about four years ago. It was the dawn of Covid and my sister, Valerie Kuhns was bored. She got a couple friends and I together over Zoom to read one act plays she'd written. I did not consider myself an actor so, at first, just watched or read stage directions. Soon, encouraged by Val, I did take a part or two. A few more folks were invited, a couple left and we started recording radio show type plays on a bi-weekly basis. She really stepped up, not only writing and directing and performing in each episode but she jumped into an unfamiliar operating system (Mac), learned a couple different apps as well as how to publish a podcast and made a show out of it. We might not have a large audience for this one, either, but we pretty faithfully get together every monday night to either rehearse or record. It's good fun and well worth listening to. I've certainly grown from this experience as well.

So these are reasons there isn't as much art posted as I might like. I don't regret that as I think both these things help round me out as a person. Now, hopefully, back to the art.

 Finished this tonight and also looked up her name so I can stop referring to her as "Lady Yucca Flats." Big surprise, she's the wife of the director, Coleman Francis, one of the absolute WORST the 50s and 60s had to offer. He often shot his movies without sound so the actors are either seen from the back, have their hands over their mouths or are just off screen. Brilliant. Did a lot of work on this, think it came out better than it started but it's still not a favorite. I think it needs a bit stronger support drawing underneath. I have another one of her I might do as well. There was some learning and exploring here, so I'll take that. So. Barbara Francis. Oh, and their two kids appear in the movie as well. It's really an incomprehensible mess. With Tor Johnson.

 Don't know if I've posted about this or not, but this is yet another thing I do when it's this time of year. My partner and I, probably about seven or eight years ago, noted that the few people that go in costume to the local Ren Faire do so either as knights or elves or some other obvious protagonist. I casually mentioned we should go as orcs and the next year, we did. The costumes have got more and more elaborate over time and weight between 40 and 60 pounds. This is my 'light' version. The masks are full head silicone and do move when we speak. They are HOT. The chain mail and gauntlets are steel, the rest is leather of some sort, the boots, on my costume (I'm on the right) are actually work boots from Japan. 

In this close-up, you can just make out the contacts I'm wearing and get a hint of the black makeup underneath. If things go well, it takes only about half an hour to get into this, much of the armor being put on in the parking lot at the last minute. We managed 2.5 hours and about as many miles this saturday. As is always the case, when we take the stuff off, we only then realize how damned hot we were. We give out little trinkets to kids and tell them they're brave, parents like to get photos with us and the kids. A lot of adults like to do so, too. It's all good fun and I get to be out and about pretending to be someone I'm not. There's actually a lot of relaxation in being anonymous like this. The only real downside is that we often get accosted by drunk, older women who want us to 'drag them off to our lair,' or some such. Last year, as we were posing for pictures with one, she slurred, "Watch out; I grope." Yah, watch out for drunk older women. They seem to like orcs. Still, all good fun and we look forward to it every year. I will continue to go as long as I'm able, but at 59, it takes a LOT out of me.

 Working on an experiment of sorts, using the WORST photo ref ever. It's a screen grab from a terrible MST3K movie, "The Beast of Yucca Flats." The director, Coleman Francis is horrible, to say the least. There are two shots of this woman that somehow struck me and I took two screenshots to use as reference later. They're low-res and out of focus. Still, I'm trying. And I wanted to do it without any shapes and only using tones to suggest the skin. So far, she looks a bit old so I'll have to work on it. It's more painting than usual so I will continue. Editing will make a huge difference.

Here's a version without the darker lines. I think I like it better. This still needs more work and observation.

 I was happy with the previous version of this last night. It looked ok. Today, it looked horribly wrong. And it was. So I started over. I have such little time for art these days that I don't have the patience I should. So, I admit, there was some tracing for the basic pencil sketch for this. Not proud of that. So I have to learn something from this and what I did is that if I'm having trouble with the likeness or if things feel oddly off, I should go back to the grid and THEN I should freehand on top of that to try and pull not only the lines of the piece but put some more of myself into it as well. So, this is finished, I can move on, but it's not my favorite.

 Two things tonight. Top is the WIP of the Buddy Sorell portrait. I'm going to sit at least another night on that one. I like it but I want to think about it a little more. Bottom is "The City Silent" page 200, which seems like a milestone though it isn't. Simple enough to do as I reused the background from the last two pages. For the next track, I want to change the palette completely. This one worked well, I think, but I want something a little more complex both to get away from those stark purples and oranges and also to reflect Silas getting a little more confident and experienced with his own art. No idea what it's going to be yet, but that's half the fun.

 Haven't had a ton of time for art lately. Too much work, the extra long episode of the podcast, being tired. I need to finish the track of City Silent. Sometimes a quick portrait can ease some artistic pangs I feel. I took a screen shot of a frame from the old "Dick Van Dyke" show where Morey Amsterdam was making a particularly energetic expression. So last night, I  did a quick sketch of it. It's close and done entirely freehand, something I don't tend to trust to enough, I think. I  need to just draw more, try and get away from the grid unless it's really needed. While this isn't perfect, it's only about a 40 minute sketch. Some refinement is done when digitally painting. Will I keep it in black and white? That remains to be seen.

 Was feeling not so well today; something I ate. Needed to be near a bathroom. Ended up not being nearly as bad, but I'm still a little shaky. So stayed home and finally lifted a pencil. Did a quick, dirty self portrait which I'll likely only leave here. It's not great, just a little exercise as I try and figure out how to mix my comic and portrait styles together. And then City Silent page 199 which ended up reusing the background from 198 when I figured out what I wanted. I've done this before to give a sense of movement and space. This alley will be prevalent in the current act; in fact it'll take place almost entirely there. I'll end the track with another page, Silas having walked further away. And then the color palette will shift. I've looked ahead and Silas sings the next two songs as well. He's building up his confidence and setting himself up for a big fall.