Link: http://gizmodo.com/5380711/crazy-headsploding-animation-defies-any-classification

A friend at work posted a link to this video on Facebook, and I thought it was too interesting not to re-post here. Beware though of lurking adult content (lots of violence and mild sexual references) within:

What has me so awestruck about this piece is in the elaborate planning required to pull it off. Not only is there a lot of artwork involved before even turning the camera on, but I'm sure the planning and storyboarding process alone took up a significant portion of the entire production time.

For something so complicated and well developed, it's amazing how the creator was able to give the piece an overall feeling of spontaneity and simplicity!

As if you needed me to explain why I consider Jim Lee the greatest comic artist working today:

Even the pieces he does quickly like this one are amazing.

I wanted to write a post today sharing what I've found in my search of the internet for information and resources to help make me a better artist. Many of these resources are web forums, which I find to be excellent for inspiration, developing fresh ideas and soliciting advice where you may be stuck in a rut. And while many think of forums in terms of text-heavy bore-fests that require a ton of reading, these are quite the opposite and thrive because of their users' visual participation.

So without further ado, here they are (in no particular order):

1)Deviantart (http://www.deviantart.com)

Arguably the best creative resource on the web, period. Basically a user-driven community of creatives, Deviantart showcases user work ranging from traditional to digital media, and includes everything from fine art to photography. The site also contains a treasure trove of tutorials, stock images and tools for users to experiment with.

2)Conceptart.org (http://www.conceptart.org/)

If deviantart is the best 'general' art resource on the web, then conceptart.org is probably the best 'specialized' one. Featuring the talents of the Massive Black team, this site is ripe with creativity that appeals to both 2d and 3d artists. Although the site focuses on concept art specifically, the forums are bursting with all kinds of artistic inspiration and resources. I also highly recommend checking out the monthly challenges they run on the forums, which can be an excellent way to jumpstart your creativity engine!

3)Fineart.sk (http://fineart.sk/)

As far as free anatomical reference material goes, this is probably the best site on the internet. Featuring the work of Andrew Loomis and others, this site provides visitors with a wealth of free anatomy resources. Although there are a few pay sites out there offering more, you can't beat the price for what this site offers.

4)The Flight Forums (http://www.flightcomics.com/forum/)

For those focusing more on sequential art, the Flight Comic forums offer an excellent place to discuss work, receive critique and be inspired. Although the community here goes through hot and cold periods (like most any long-history web forum), there is still a very active core group that welcomes new users willing to contribute.

5)Gnomon Workshop (http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/)

One of the best resources available for digital artists. While mostly focusing on 3d subjects, Gnomon still has an excellent catalog of instructional videos catering to everyone from comic book people to tattoo artists. If you don't mind spending a few bucks and/or prefer video instruction, Gnomon is the place to go!

Other worthy resources:

Shutterstock.com
Penciljack Forums
Drawingboard.org
Blambot Fonts

Link: http://www.24hourcomicsday.com/

On October 2nd and 3rd last week, I participated for the first time in the 24 Hour Comics Day Challenge at ACME Comics in Longwood, FL. It turned out to be one of the most awesome things I've done for myself in recent memory, and I met a bunch of super-talented and cool-to-talk-to artists that live in the area. Several of those attending such as Ron Salas and Derrick Fish are published artists with face-melting talent. At first I was extremely intimidated (you have no idea...), but these guys were all class and not once did anyone make me feel like I was out of my league. To my honest disbelief, I actually received several compliments and statements of encouragement.

Just to back up a minute, for those actually reading this that have no idea what the '24 hour comics day challenge' is, let me elaborate. The challenge originally started several years ago like many things do: Small. Artist Scott McCloud challenged his friend and fellow artist Steve Bissette to create a 24-page finished comic book in 24 hours. Both of them tried to do it, and thus the challenge was born on a dare. Since that small beginning, the challenge mutated into an international event, with thousands of artists participating at hundreds of locations across the globe.

I went into the challenge knowing that I was ill-prepared and not exactly skilled enough yet for something of this intensity. But it's in my nature to fling full-force at a thing even if I'm not prepared, or know it will burn me out or kick my butt. To add more difficulty to my own situation though, Cate had a death in the family last week that left me very nearly dropping my plans for the event so that I could be there for her. I underestimated my wife though, and she insisted that this was something that was too important to pass up. In hindsight, I totally agree with her.

I arrived at the event at around 11:45pm on Friday night, just as the rest of the guys were getting all the tables set up and ready. After this, everyone got their materials ready and Marc at ACME gave us the short 'good luck' pep speech as we began. I ended up choosing to do a comic that is basically an autobiography, with a focus on how my friends, family and past relationships are shaping my thoughts and feelings as I prepare to become a dad. It was apparent to me before I started that this was tremendously over-ambitious from a drawing standpoint, but I figured it would at least be something easy for me to write since it is already in me.

Throughout the event, the staff at ACME (mostly Marc, because he was with us most of the 24 hours) were fantastic and extremely supportive. They even went as far as to setup an art table in the main area of the store so that we could rotate over there where customers could see our work as we did it. Too cool! We were also catered for breakfast, lunch and dinner by both the store and local businesses that are friends of the store, which was super awesome as well.

By the time the event had formally ended at midnight on Saturday, nearly all of us that had started the event had also finished it. In the end, I only actually completed three full pages. But I (hopefully) ended up making a few great new friends and found new energy in all the fantastic art that was being created around me.

This was definitely the spark I needed to revive my efforts at becoming a successful sequential artist, and I have no doubt now that I can make it happen.

Next stop, biweekly drawing sessions at ACME and live model sketching on the Sundays at Crealde...

Link: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/get-ready-for-html-5/

I do love the website A list Apart. One of the many reasons why is because they keep me up on the latest web design geek news, even if I'm not intimately engaged with other in-the-know creatives on a daily basis.

So I was extremely happy to see that ALA contributers J. David Eisenberg and Lachlan Hunt did some awesome in-depth articles on the upcoming HTML 5 specification, which I am of course very excited about. But like I feared, IE is lagging behind in it's support of some key features like the new CANVAS element. Disappointing, but not too surprising.

In any event, it's time for me to start playing around with the spec so that I'll be ready to use it immediately for new customer content!

In the next month or so, I intend on launching my new webcomic site that is currently under development!

I've already made a half-hearted attempt at creating a webcomic (Gitzo), but I wasn't at all happy with the quality or direction I was going in with it. Maybe I'll come back to it at a later time, but for now Gitzo is on permanent hiatus. My rekindled interest in comic books, however, is growing by the minute, as is my desire to write and draw them again. I haven't actually worked towards creating a comic book for over 13 years, but I feel like now is the time for me to get back on the horse and head towards the sound of the guns...

For my return to comics, I chose to go the route of the webcomic, mainly because of the advantages of cost and ease of access to readers. It also gives me the ability to post up each page of the book as I finish it, instead of having to be saddled with the pressure of completing an entire book before I can show it. For the subject matter, I'm returning to one of the original characters I created while in middle school called Captain Cataclysm. A kind of 90s cross between Superman, Batman and Dee Snyder, Captain Cataclysm is the superhero name of Robert James Watts. A wunderkind born in fictional 1950s Merrit City, he experiences a lab accident (in true comic book form) that transforms him into the superhero protector of his city and country.

My recent artwork that features depictions of 'Cap' have mainly focused on how he would look now, a sort-of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns take on his character that shows an older, retired and melancholy man struggling with the process of finding a purpose to his post-superhero life. Very much liking this approach, I've decided to call the new comic The Last Ten Years, and the series will focus on that period of Captain Cataclysm's life from 1998 to 2008. Besides exploring the problem of finding one's place in life once older age hits, I also intend to touch on topics important to me like patriotism in the post-911 world, environmentalism, and the greed that drives American politics.

I'm planning The Last Ten Years as a six book, 28 page-per-book series that will be published in webcomic format. Each book will encompass a specific, unified story that forms part of the ten year period. Depending on my success getting through it and the level of readership, I may eventually put out the series in a limited print run.

But those are long terms goals/intentions, and for now I'm going to focus on one page at a time. Once the site and first few pages are ready in the next week or so, I'll post up the URL to the site. So STAY TUNED!!!

Click on the image for a full-res version

I've been struggling a lot with my redesign of the ajtone.com website redesign. Initially, I was thinking of a very minimalistic website that would sink into the white background of the browser, using a very conventional page structure. The more I worked on this the more I realized just how disgusted I was with the thing as it just seemed to be a shoddy and bland version of too many other sites on the web.

But the other day while driving with Cate I had an idea flash into my head for something a little more unique, and so luckily I had a pen and an old envelope handy with which to secure my vision onto paper. (lest it be forgotten!) Today, finally, I had a chance to complete the above Photoshop mockup of my idea and Amanda at AJTone has seen it and is very enthusiastic about my 'version 2' interpretation of the site.

Although this new design would be an ideal candidate to take advantage of Flash, I am going to code it up as straight XHTML/CSS to save time and achieve the required animation affects with the use of some neat Javascript code I've been eyeballing like JonDesign's SmoothGallery. The flourishes are basically placeholders, as these came from tutorials I had on hand to quickly knock out the mockup. So while those will change, the general look will be quite the same.

What do you think?

Link: http://www.ajtone.com

Here is a mockup for my latest project, a complete redesign of AJTone.com:

To view at full size, click here.

Photography by Mandi Jane, new logo, layout, etc. by me.

Comments?