Disrupting the food chain

Look what I caught! That doesn't look like the sketch at all!

Last night, after celebrating a glorious day of football (FINALLY), I settled into my bed to read a bit before falling into the cylon-powered sleep cycle. (Three Battlestar Galactica dreams so far - all of which either had me helping the cylons or discovering I was a cylon. My subconscious is a villain.) Around 1am, the rustling began again. How cute!

But what followed the rustling was a loud crash and scrambling. My cats had been downstairs earlier, but I thought I'd sent them all back up to the surface before shutting myself off for the night. Clearly, I was wrong. A certain black cat of destruction - the hunter in the house - was down here and had found some prey.

The mouse made a valiant effort and escaped three attacks. The fourth, however, caught her trying to cut across open area. I jumped out of bed to find the mouse bouncing towards cover (cute) only to have the cat circle around and swat her back. My arrival distracted the kitty long enough for the mouse to break for the unsure cover of the Mario Kart Wii Wheel box. As the cat waited on one side, I watched the mouse poke her head out from the other... right next to the bag holding the digital camera accessories. I slid the bag over slightly and lifted the box. The mouse had no choice but to jump in as the cat lunged. Mwa ha ha!

Mousie looked a bit worse for wear, but seemed to have suffered more psychological damage than physical. I let her go outside. Sure, she's likely already back in the house - but for now I HAVE DISRUPTED NATURAL ORDER! Sorry, kittie, but I'd much rather have a live mouse running around than a dead one with parts spread to places unknown.

So, wait, how does the Ducky handle again?

So much life lost to playing Mario Kart...

But, hey, I've almost triple starred everything! I'll get geek cred!

I'd love to post something more, but work is not cooperating. (I have to work at work? I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THAT!) As a filler post, here's a shot of the fearsome foursome made from sketches I drew while watching There Will Be Blood. (A phenomenal movie that made No Country For Old Men - another great film - look like Gigli.)



Ooh...tonight is R.E.M. night! Form of....NEW WAVE MUSIC FANBOY!

Someday this will be a t-shirt!

Ahh, such an inspirational message for the children...




It's a variation on a tried and true theme, which has been broached in both The Incredibles and in my rationale for not driving medium-weight racers in Mario Kart.

If Roddy wasn't such a jerk, you'd almost feel bad for him. See, Roddy is one of those well-rounded geniuses. He's the guy who scores evenly in all standardized testing and has a knack for several of life's disciplines. Problem is, in a world of geniuses and prodigies, there's lots of specialization. (Heck, even the dreaded normals can have one attribute that is excellent!) No matter the competition, Roddy will always be trumped by a specialist in the field. His awards wall may be larger than anyone else's, but there are precious few #1 honors hanging. As Roddy is ultra-competitive by nature, this leads to inevitable frustration.

As all characters are a reflection of their creator, Roddy's struggle is my own. In art school, I hated the idea of specializing and suffered the consequences for it. See, you need to establish a stylistic identity to make an impression on people, and if you spend your time showing off how you can work in several styles - guess what? NO ONE CARES!

I eventually found my compromise. I have my own style that is present in all my work, making all of my pieces recognizably mine. With that identity, I can use my style as a base on which to expand to suit my need for variety. The major I chose, printmaking, is more of a consolidation of skills. It can incorporate drawing, painting, photography - any combination of techniques can be used to produce a print. For graduate work, I'm focusing on illustration - a discipline where versatility is key! It's a balance in life that keeps on moving forward. It took me until 25 to learn this. Roddy's 10, so he's screwed.

Contrition

"Was that wrong? Should we not have done that?"

I have to pry myself away from Mario Kart (I've unlocked everything!!) and get back to work! It's about time to get back to producing strips again and it's very scary.

To keep this blog moving along, it's time to share more sketches. Here we have Autumn, Bud and Tiffany (whose left ear isn't properly shaded) getting in trouble. We go from "I'm very sorry," to "I am shocked at this accusation," to "That was wrong? Huh?" Why I didn't draw a sorry Jacob - the only one of them who genuinely feels sorry in these situations - is beyond me. Oh well.

It was the manual transmission that held me back!

So what have I been up to while my internet was down this past week? Mario Kart! Turns out that by switching to automatic, I suddenly got WAY better! And now it's fun, which might be the worst thing that could happen to me!

It's not like I could have dabbled online anyway...but when the internet returned what did I do? ONLINE MARIO KART! Not good.

Here is my attempt to make up for it... (click for the large version)



Bud (in his Dr. Oven supervillain goggles) is driving the ducky...whatever it's actually called. It's ultra maneuverable, and thus handy for twisty tracks! Tiffany seemed perfect for the cloud-flying Latiku. Autumn and Roddy are driving whatevermobiles. This is not an accurate recreation.

Oh yeah, that's Roddy Finnegan - the one non-Gemstone kid who my kids will recognize. This was accomplished by brute force, antagonism, pestering and general annoyance. Roddy is frustrated by the insular group, and it is his purpose to make them face the world. Good luck, Roddy. You're doomed!