So I feel a little guilty doing two non-art-related posts, so here is what I was working on last night, the pencils for the last panel of the first page and yes, I both ink and pencil a page at the same time, it’s a benefit of being all digital.

This is the first time I’ve done a drawing of this character that I’m mostly happy with.  I’ve been trying to find a look for her face using various actresses and models as reference.  Funny enough, I get a look I’m happy with when I’m not using any ref, go figure.  This, by the way, is one of the three main characters, the other two are introduced in subsequent pages.

I learned a lot just doing this first page, first, that I can get away with just doing loose sketches for backgrounds before going to the “ink” step but for characters I definitely need to do tighter “pencils”.  This drawing resulted from an aborted attempt to do my inks over a very rough sketch of the character.  Maybe after I’ve drawn her a couple hundred times, and I’m better at getting ink strokes I’m happy with I’ll be able to do that, but not while I’m still figuring both her and that process out.  Second, don’t be afraid to scrap work and start a section over, thats the glory of layers, I can hide a layer of work I don’t like and try again, and choose which one I think is better.  Third, sometimes it’s just better to move on and call something good enough.

And for those going “Wait, you are still working on the first page!?”  Yes, I’ve had a bad bout of migraines lately (that’s where the Pained Brain moniker came from), and the last thing I want to do at the end of a day of toiling on a computer with a migraine is to get back on another computer to draw.  It’s also why I want to build up a good buffer, just for times like these when it’s just physically impossible for me to work on it.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks.

Where to begin?  A book of fiction that reads like really well written non-fiction.  Written in the style of personal interviews, sewn together to provide a narrative from the beginning of the war to it’s end, where the main character is the war itself rather than any single character.  Or, alternatively, you can think of it as a bunch of well fleshed out pitch stories for a mass of zombie movies, varying in locale and scope, with a variety of character types from homemakers to politicians to soldiers.

Now, did I like it?  Yes I did, it reads smoothly, was enjoyable and was for the most part, and most importantly it was hard to put down a lot of the time.  There are times an interview ends with me wanting more of that person’s story, but Brooks moves onto the next interview to keep things rolling along.  Interviews range from several pages to one sentence.

A dark sense of humor pervades, allusions to modern day people without naming names leaves much to your imagination.  A hefty dose of political and social commentary is present, as often is in works involving the big Z, but it’s not heavy handed.

I’d recommend it to anyone with of love of the undead shuffling masses, and even those that just need something good to read!

This years E3 has come and gone and after watching all the videos and the coverage on G4 here are the things that are coming out that I’m excited about:

• Assassin’s Creed II: If they truly have cleaned up some of the repetitive game play, I will be losing some productivity time to it, definitely looks cool; plus who doesn’t want to traipse around renaissance Italy?
• Castlevania Lords of Shadow:  I loved the original Castlevania all those many years ago when it came out.  This game looks fantastic, if it can deliver, I might just love it as much as the first.  Plus, hello, Patrick Stewart doing voice work!
• Brutal Legend: Jack Black and a bevy of metal gods… ’nuff said.
• Dragon Age Origins:  I love me the BioWare guys and I don’t know about this spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate but if they get me fun gameplay, they can call it whatever the hell they want.

Now you say, what about Mass Effect II, or Left 4 Dead 2 or Halo ODST?… yes, they look cool, but I never played the first ones. shocking, I know, but I have limited time and budget… I’m not some lazy bones 20 something with nothing to do and their parents money to blow, and if I’m going to blow my money and time, it’s gotta buy me dinner and tell me I’m pretty!  I’m also looking forward to how Natal develops but I’m remaining skeptical until I see an actual game I want to play that uses it as a control mechanism.

Now, did Sony come out with anything that would make me buy a PS3 for something other than being an overpowered BluRay player?  God of War 3 and Uncharted 2 were the only things to really catch my eye… enough to make me buy a PS3?, only if they drop the damn price.

That leaves Nintendo.  Oh big N, you only had Super Mario Wii and that isn’t going to make me drop one cent for your console.

I’m not usually one to give a crap when some Hollywood celeb dies tragically.  It’s not that I don’t care that a life has ended but it’s more that I just don’t form personal connections to celebrity, I just have trouble being a rabid fan of anyone or anything.  I was never really a huge admirer of David Carradine’s other works, the Kill Bill movies being an exception, but I have a real soft spot in my heart for the Kung Fu tv show, due mainly to it’s connection with my childhood.

When I was young, read grade school age, in the summer my brother and I would spend the mornings at my grandparents house, watching cartoons in the morning while we had our coffee (milk with a splash of coffee and a lot of sugar) and then things like Bonanza and Kung Fu until grandma’s soaps came on.  It’s hard to find that kind of programming anymore without sitting on TVLand, but that’s a different rant.

So you see, I associate David Carradine with a very happy time of my life and for that, I will miss him, and every cheesy Kung Fu typecast, martial arts related piece of poo he has done since.  With that I say, rest in peace grasshopper, thanks for the good times.