Hello Perfectionist-self, when the hell did you get back?

I enjoy a challenge, but I've redrawn my most recent commission about five separate times, and most of that was done today. I'm not sure when she showed up over break, but the perfectionist part of me is becoming a pain in my ass. It's been a slowly productive day. Well, it's been a hell of a lot better than the past week. Here, for you who are curious as to why I kinda vanished, is the shortened version:

Monday: try to install the video card in my computer. I epically fail'd getting the drivers to work. Had to get a local tech friend (and fellow STO-beta member) to help me install. I get it up and running, and play CoH on it for a few hours.

Tuesday: Beta Launch. I turn on my computer and it doesn't recognize the Ethernet port on the motherboard anymore. Much chaos ensues, more help from local tech friend and an NIC card later, and I'm skimming across the universe in a light cruiser-class ship.

Wednesday: Spent about an hour or two on the game before it shuts down for an epically LONG repair period. So far a hectic week, but an enjoyable week. I go to school to find out why I'm getting a refund on tuition (it turns out their website paying option for tuition is a bit buggy this semester, so they took that and the check I had written for them before realizing the mess up.)

Thursday: Turn on the computer, monitor stays in hibernate. By 8pm that night, find out it's my motherboard that decided to stop recognizing the PCI-E slot that the new video card was in. Freaking out for most of the rest of the night because I specifically preordered STO to get into the beta.

Friday: Preoccupied myself with everything but the whole computer thing. By the end of the night, I have a computer in mind to purchase. Okay it with the folks, who are helping me pay for it, and make an online transaction to have enough money in checking to buy it.

Saturday: I try to buy the computer, debit card is denied. I go and look at my statement and I'm $2000 in the hole. The bank has no idea why, and the Financial Aid office isn't open.

Monday: Get the runabout from Financial Aid saying that it's not their fault, and says that banks sometimes try to cash checks twice. I'm curious as to why, because this would mean someone would owe double if they ended up overdrawing twice. Get told politely that it's not their fault, and that I need to talk to my bank if the money doesn't show up in my account tomorrow. I tell them VERY firmly that they need to fix their online payment option, otherwise this wouldn't have happened in the first place.

Today: The money's in my account. I want to smack all of the people who were patient but condescending to me while I interacted with them. I'm a college student who gets epically huge projects that take up most of my free time, I can only do commissions and the odd sound tech gig to try to have money for things like food and occasional new pair of jeans. At the same time as all of this is happening, I'm trying to price out the next six months so I can make the security deposit on the house I'm moving into in June. Unlike the college students they might be used to dealing with, I'm REALLY concerned about my cash. I still have to call the bank to see if they took out any money because of the whole overdraft thing.

Okay, yeah. This week's been rough. Not trying to be whiny/needy/emo about it, it just has really been hard on my psyche.

*ahem* on to better things! I've got a lot of stuff to look forward to in the future. I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but I'm going to actually go to a convention this year. And no, it's not Anime Central, regardless of how fun it might be. No, I'm saving up for the Valhalla of geekdom - GENcon Indy. Two years ago I got to play a demo of Champions Online (despite how much the visuals made my eyes bleed, it was still a decent play. Still not gonna pay for it though.) and meet the guys at Cryptic. Now that I'm following a few of them on Twitter (and actually have names of some of them, too) I'm going to go see if I can chat art stuff with Matt Highison, aka the Lead Character Artist for Star Trek Online. I want to pick his brain about how he got to be where he's at - cuz from the interview on the site, this was his first job outside of college. Guys like him give me huge hope for my future. Plus the con's going to be filled with different gaming groups that will need artists down the road. I might still be in college for another year, but if they like my stuff now, they'll keep me in mind if I strike up a chord with 'em. The only thing that's not really decided on (well, the one thing that's kinda important in my head right now) is how the hell I'm going to dress. This is one of those places where if you come in a business suit, you're either cosplaying someone in a suit (MIB, Blues Brothers, Agent Smith.....list is endless) or you're hopelessly lost and trying to find your way to the bathroom. So yeah, that's a tough one to decide on. If you're going to GENcon, lemme know if you want to hook up.

Once the spring semester gets settled in, I'll start taking commissions (Well, actively whoring((*coughAdvertisingcough*)) for them). I'm serious! I've got a button that leads to paypal and everything. Ha.

Now, back to drawing that @#%#$%# %ing juggler.......

Redbull and Mermaids

I'm sitting here, in the current CasketStudios (ie, my Apartment), with a red bull by my laptop. I'm watching Star Trek on my poor and crappy little TV, chuckling at the interactions between the "new" versions of Bones and Kirk. I can't watch the old series because I keep laughing at the special effects. We've honestly come a long way as far as special effects are concerned (surprise surprise), and it's amazing to see.

Where the fuck did Winter Break go? I've got two weeks and then I'm back in college for the spring semester. I'm not complaining entirely, just thought I'd have a longer chance to go and do stuff. ((random moment: watching the first red matter scene and going "Oooh! Shiny!!" and also giggling with glee at Spock's eyebrow raise)) I realize life is going to get 3x as busy. (still waiting for a paycheck to be involved with a lot of the stuff I do) I'm actually happy about that. The more active I am, the more creative I am, and the more chances I get to do some fun stuff.

((Random ST Moment: I want Sulu's Katana. Nuff said.))

Sorry, I should be more focused on my stuff, but the combination of the awesomeness of the movie and the fact that I'm going to be trying STO in a few weeks is making me giddy. I have been playing City of Heroes for nearly three years now, and while it's been fun, there's a substantial lack of any decent new content. The fact that the main brain behind "Going Rogue" is also the same brain behind the Cimerora zone does not give me any hope for the future of CoH. It doesn't help that much that I have been a part of a large and very structured Super Group (hero side) that does NOT want to participate in Villain activities at all - "Going Rogue" will obliterate any type of coherent single-side SG system that is in place when it drops. I've gotten a little used to intelligent, semi-militant - based group that has a bit of a crazy streak in them. We're all fun, really. It's going to be interesting in Star Trek Online.

Anyway, enough non-art stuff. Thanks to a few different discussions I've had over the break, I've been in the mood (though probably will be unable) to do some redesigns on a few well-known series. One as a possible commission, the other as stock for my portfolio. I've found out that Highlander is getting a reboot. How it's going to be scripted, I'm not entirely sure, except that the original producer/director team is going to be doing it, plus several of the writers from Iron Man have signed on to do the scriptwriting.

((Nother Random ST Moment: Kirk really sucks at hand to hand combat in the beginning. Either that or Vulcans become Vikings when angered. Hehe. Vulcan Vikings.))

I have been bouncing around ideas as to casting for the reboot of the Highlander series. So far, one of the forerunners is Karl Urban as Connor MacLeod. He's proven to be versatile (both as Eomer from LoTR and Bones from ST), has combat training, and for the love of the Celtic gods, he's Scottish! It'd probably be more accurate than Christopher Lambert, bless his heart for trying though. I've been putting together updated versions of all of the characters (Connor, Rameriez, the Kurgan) in my head to try to make them a little more appropriate for 2010. The original version kicked ass, but let's be honest, it'd be a little hard for Connor to blend in with his current look. He needs a little bit of work.

If I can, I'd love to be able to get character designs set up for that project. One of the things I've always loved about drawing was designing outfits. I've made a homecoming and prom dress that way, and I love to continually do these things. It's part of the fascination I also have with being a character conceptual artist. I would, in a very bizarre sense, years down the road, love to be attending a convention (either as a patron or a guest) and see someone in a cosplay of a character that I've created. Admittedly, I'd love to see it on a person of appropriate body type (ie, not several hundred pounds more than the actual character would weigh)

Wow. It's already the end of the movie. I thought it would last longer....Anyway. I guess that's enough rambling from me for now. I'll try to use this blog more as time goes on. I'm feeling talkative this semester anyway.

Artist's Block. Fun stuff.

Yeah, I still don't post in here as often as I do in other places. Also thinking about moving to wordpress, but that's another can of worms because I want to still be able to update here, and my current web host provider apparently isn't up to date with the ability to interface the two (something about php files that I'm going to have to figure out) plus I'm beginning to hate my current layout of my site so I have to redesign that (not getting enough inspiration atm...Grr...) Working on some concept art and running out of steam on the shading bit. That's usually the time where I punk out on stuff. I get a good chunk of it done, but if I'm not happy with how some of it turned out (the hands on this one, for example) I start trying to do 50 other things at once to take me away from what sucks about it.

Back at the folks' place for Christmas. I'm thinking about trying to work on Christmas gifts - ie gift art - a hell of a lot earlier this year, cuz with taking a few days sabbatical to some friends' house, I'm behind on what I wanted to do. I didn't promise some specific people art (per se), but I want to get it done for a few of them, cuz they're awesome people.

Ah, maybe I'll go back to redesigning my website again. If I can put together a two column page that doesn't make me grimace, I'll be happy.

Rant time...

Wow, I haven't done a rant in ages. I try not to just because most folks don't like listening to/reading em, but this is both a review and a rant. Well, psuedo-review, because I heard one of the tracks on the radio.

Let me start the whole thing out by saying I am a HARDCORE Motley Crue fan. I own most, if not all of their studio albums. I started reading The Dirt at age 12, and it's probably part of the reason I'm so twisted. I was one of the 70 people featured in the Chronological Crue compilation of "What Motley Means to Me." I think I was one of the youngest people featured as well. (I lost my book, and I'm very heartbroken about this.) With all of these things in mind, I feel a great sense of disillusionment as I found out about the recent release of yet ANOTHER Motley Crue "Greatest Hits" album. Not only is this riding on the coattails of the last one (Remember Red, White & Crue? The anthology that effectively reunited the band? Yeah. That was in 2005. ) but there is an overwhelming lack of any real thought into this project altogether. Even with Nikki in charge of the company's label (Eleven Seven records, if I'm not mistaken) this doesn't look like something the guys had any thought/hand in.

Let's take a look: We'll start with the cover art.

This is the album art for Motley Crue: Greatest Hits 1998. New art, still kind of messily done, but not much thought into it. Had two remixes on there: A remix of Glitter (not seen on the original Generation Swine album) and a remix of Shout at the Devil (the same one they recorded around the Generation Swine album).

Aaannd here is our new beauty. Same logo for the Greatest Hits part, reusing a promo photo from a Paul Brown shoot for Saints of Los Angles (If you're going to have someone do a photoshoot, might as well use ALL the photos, right?). It's a great photo, but the logo for Greatest Hits just seems completely off with the overly Gothic Script of the MC logo. Maybe it's just the graphic design student in me, but reusing of past elements in this manner just makes it seem more slapped together than the 1998 Greatest Hits album (which was apparently slapped together in the first place.)

This album features three new-ish songs: If I Die Tomorrow (off of Red, White & Crue - honestly, does that count?), Saints of Los Angles, and a remix of Animal In Me. I use the term "remix" lightly. I managed to catch Animal in Me on the radio and nearly cried. They added effects and called it a remix. Sure, there were some extra strings in multiple parts, but no new verses, and it was the same length as the previous version. Was it a great song? YES. But to call it a remix? Please. The guys would have been better off releasing THIS version of it on Saints of Los Angles and calling it a day.

In the end, this really has to make me wonder what the hell is going on. Cruefest has been a success both on its inaugural year and this one. Sixx has more projects going than he can shake a stick at, and I'm pretty sure some of the others do as well. Does the release of an album such as this disappoint me? You bet your ass. Not only is it poorly timed, but the "pitch" of the album (ie, the reason you'd want to go and even BUY the damn thing) isn't even worth it. Do I have less of a high regard for the boys? kinda. and you bet your ass I'm not going to buy it.

This thing had been bugging me for the past couple of months, so I just had to get it off of my chest. Let me know what you think.

Will have more on actual ART stuff later. Thanks for being patient.

- NG

Holy Crap.

It's been two months since I posted something in here. Goes to show you how much school can drive you nuts and keep you busy. Here's what I've been up to on the internet.

A very disoriented and poorly made version of my website is up right now - CasketStudios.com is where I'm hosting one of my online portfolios along with my schoolwork for two of my classes: IM 285 (Intro to Video Production) and IM 365 (Designing for the WWW). I'm retooling the CSS on a semi-regular basis in my nonexistant spare time.

That's right boys and girls, I finally broke down and got a twitter account. It's actually been somewhat useful to have, considering over half the instructors in my major (and the head of the major, and the college itself) all have accounts.

I still have the deviantART account (about the only thing I update regularly), and the dA funded Portfolio, of course. I've also applied to be a Gallery Moderator on deviantART. I think it'd be a cool attempt at being a Psuedo-Intern. And something else to add to my overflooded schedule.

But that's not why I posted. I wanted to plug some really wicked animation and stuff that's going on in the world lately. I wasn't a big fan of the series, but damn the Astro Boy movie looks like it's going to be a cool one. I think I've been watching too many movies with the same actors, because I caught Nicolas Cage's voice within three seconds of voice track. I know it's also about a year or so late, but I've just started playing Xbox360 (a loan from my folks because I need to be more familiar with the video game industry since that's my intended job area) and my first game that I opened was Devil May Cry 4. I know the series has both good and bad mojo going for it, but I'm enjoying it thoroughly so far, even despite the fact that the voice actor for the main character (Nero) is the same voice actor for at least half of the popular anime series on TV in the US right now (and a few that aren't - remember Keneda from Akira? That's the one.). I just need an Ethernet cable to set up Xbox live and I'm all set.

Well, that's it for now...better get back to work....

Headdesk

While working the other day, I came to the realization that I haven't made a colored version of Nightblade since this one about two and half years ago. I've scribbled him in various different places (a few in chibi form), but of late I've been trying to hammer down designs for each of the characters for an attempt at a comic. Possibly. It wouldn't be put together till ACen 2011, but I've got ideas for how I'd put it together. The first book would be purely an "origin" book, showing the beginnings of Nightblade, Raven, and possibly Bloodspire if I decide to revamp her character to that extent. The stories won't change too terribly much from what's up in my gallery, but different things will be added in (including the actual origin story for Nightblade that sets off the whole friggin thing...) I've been using the whole thing as an excuse to do character concept sheets. Because I know I'm going to be doing a TON of those once I get a job "in the biz."  

I was working on colors for Nightblade's cursed form as a warm-up today and ended up spending the whole day on it after one of the peeps that had commissioned me for stuff decided against the whole deal. I am REALLY liking how one of the faces turned out: I drew two shots, one of his "normal" state and one of him in "full demon" mode. Basically, the full demon mode is for when he uses magic, gets really pissed off, and....well, you'll have to wait for the comic for the rest of it. He has about three other forms throughout the storyline aside from that version. I'm kinda looking forward to drawing the full demon form. I haven't done much with the humanoid-monstrous forms yet. I also realize after working on this that I REALLY need to work on my hands and feet. At least I've got head/hair shading down pretty well. Just need to get it down to something quicker. Without further ado, here's one of the heads from my Nightblade Cursed Character Sheet: I like the idea of the hair flaring up as he gets pissed. Kinda like those lizards that have the ability to make themselves look bigger when they're scared.

and on another completely random note: Photobucket's image hosting is bugged. It forgets to add a < /img > tag in its "HTML Code" ability. Never noticed that.

Blast from the Past

I've been sick all day, so I haven't been able to do jack but read manga on the internet. I forgot that not all anime sucks because of the editing that they do in order to get it on TV. I'd go into a rant about how horrible censorship gets at times, but now's not really the time for that. 

I dug around in my photobucket account and found a picture from around the time I did this pic. It was based on an old photo of a friend of mine, Amanda, when she did a photoshoot for a small-time clothing designer in Canada: 

 I was attempting to put together a female character design for my story Requiem that I started putting together in high school. At the point that I put this drawing together, her name was Toki, and I believe she was supposed to be some sort aof angel. I was trying to go with the classics in the story: demons, angels, vampires, werewolves, and the like. However, I was also trying to come up with a way to incorporate multiple religions and try to organize them into a group that coexisted and cooperated with one another harmoniously. However, the traditional (or stereotypical) angel-type found in the judeo-christian background wouldn't tolerate working in hand with my two main characters (a demon and a vampire) however good their intentions may be to the angel. So, she got put on hold while I looked up different versions of angels. I had a really nice character design for her too. She was very punk. You can *kinda* see it from the drawing.

About two weeks or so ago I went and hung out with a friend who has to move back to her folks' place. She allowed me to take a couple of shots of her beautiful asian ball-jointed dolls, Soo Lae and Fuuyuki. I apologize for the large sizeness of the pictures. 

 There's one more shot that worked out on my deviantART account as well.

More stuff in the works when I'm feeling better. Stay tuned faithful reader(s)!