Starcrossed

Dec21

Inspiration: CreatureBox Delivered

by Joel on December 21, 2011 at 4:41 pm

I’ve mentioned Greg and Dave from CreatureBox.com in inpsirational posts before. This time is a little different because rather than consuming their wonderful work online via Twitter or their website, I have a firm grip on a their latest sketch book Thoughts Scribbles + Madness Vol. 3. I picked it up as a little holiday gift for myself during a sale Greg and Dave had going on in their store earlier this month. ($10.00. After taxes and shipping to Canada it was $16 and change.)

I have to confess, at first I was a little disappointed. The book is smaller than I was expecting. It was my fault though, they clearly state the dimensions in their store. (5.5 x 8.5) When you’re thinking artwork and collectable books, generally your brain expects things to be a bit larger. However, this “sketch book” is heavily produced, designed and laid out with care, creativity and humor. A good chunk of the work was familiar to me where I follow CreatureBox online, but there were a lot of first-time-views as well. Thoughts Scribbles + Madness Vol 3 also comes with a 40 minute DVD of six time laps videos of Greg and Dave doing their thing, which is probably my favorite part of the whole package and easily makes the dollar value even at regular price well worth it.

If you’re a comic reader, fan boy, or just like really cool art, check out Greg and Daves work. If you’re a creator like me, your wheels are probably already turning on how on earth you can put together something as cool as this.

I need to draw more…

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Dec15

Inspiration: Art Auction for FrogPants Update

by Joel on December 15, 2011 at 12:18 pm

Posted In: Inspiration, Original Art

Success! I am happy to report that I just sent in the proceeds from my art auction to Scott Johnson of the FrogPants network. You can read about the art auction here. A big thank you out to those who joined in the bidding process on eBay, and of course to the winners my buddy Paton Francis here in Halifax, and Cory Latham in Gladewater,Texas. The auction raised a little over $100.00 for Scott’s sister Wendi!

Tune in to The Morning Stream Mondays through Thursdays at 11:00 AM AST and join in the fun. Wendi does her “Therapy Thursday” segment on… Well, on Thursdays at about 11:45AM or so.

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Dec07

Inspiration: Art Auction for FrogPants

by Joel on December 7, 2011 at 12:25 pm

Posted In: Inspiration

Last week I heard about a fantastic show of kindness from an online community. Scott Johnson from the FrogPants network asked The Tadpool (The group of people that follow his numerous podcasts.) for a little help. Scott’s sister Wendi is pregnant and due in the next few weeks. Unfortunately there is a complication that will make the delivery abnormal. There is no serious danger to Wendi or the baby, but the procedure is really expensive. Scott is constantly creating and giving to those of us that follow the giant wake of work he publishes online. He asked if those capable would make a small donation so that he can surprise his sister with a check over the holidays to help out with the financial burden of the delivery. Within a week he reported how incredibly thankful and grateful he was for the wonderful support from his fans.

And it’s not over yet!

I have been following the FrogPants network for quite some time. Heck, I even co-host Comics Coast to Coast which is part of the FrogPants lineup of shows. I thought this was a good opportunity to use my imagination and my pen to raise some money for Wendi and give back to the awesome community that I have been a part of for the last year or so.

These two original one of a kind watercolors are posted individually on eBay. (Click the images!) Both pieces are drawn in archival black ink and painted in watercolor on Strathmore 400 Series watercolor paper. They’re both 8.5 x 5.5 inches. You could take home your very own holiday alien and help out Wendi in the process!

So, go forth and bid!

If you’re an cartoonist, illustrator or visual artist of any sort, make something for charity this holiday season! Or, any time of year where your artwork could do some good!

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Nov25

New Chat Room

by Joel on November 25, 2011 at 9:00 am

Posted In: Blog

Thanks to some friendly folks from the FrogPants community and
The Morning Stream chat (jdhore, Malynor, & Kevin) and of course Thinstack.net, I have a new chat room! Previously, I had been using the default Ustream chat room. Lately I have been really frustrated with the need for multiple logins per session as well as missed messages.

If you’ve been in the chat and thought I was ignoring you, I’m sorry!

The new IRC chat room is accesible through the webchat client embeded on the LIVE Stream page. I simply replaced the old Ustream chat. Previously, only those with a Ustream account could log in and chat.
Now anyone can join in!

If you prefer you can use your own IRC client. I happen to use Colloquy for Mac. Here is the connection info and some basics for the chat.

Host (chat server): irc.thinstack.net
Channel (room): #animafax
If you log in through webchat, you will be given a random, numbered nickname starting with “STAR”
To change your nickname, type “/nick newnick” (replace ‘newnick‘ with your desired name)
To register your nickname (always have the same name) type, “/msg NickServ REGISTER password emailaddress” (replace ‘password’ and ‘emailaddress’ with appropriate info.)
The next time you log in, click the “Login to Services” box and fill in your login and password.
If you’re new to IRC (as I am) here are some basics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat

See you on the live stream!

Wondering, “Why animafax?” Animafax Entertainment happens to be the name of my company. Starcrossed, The Dating Digital Podcast and my illustration and design work all fall under that umbrella.

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Nov23

Inspiration: Muppabet

by Joel on November 23, 2011 at 8:45 am

Posted In: Illustration, Inspiration

Illustrator David Vordtriede has been posting a set of alphabet images based on The Muppets. He has been posting one per day up to the release (today) of the new movie The Muppets. David’s take on the classic characters are fantastic! I love the textures.

“The Muppabet is a small project and assignment that I have given myself as both a creative exercise and a straight up excuse to draw Muppets. After growing up on a steady diet of the Muppets and all things Jim Henson, I have been drawing inspiration from Kermit and the gang in one form or another in so much of what I do creatively every day.” - David Vordtriede

Here are a few of my favorites. You can see the full set of The Muppabet images (And you really really should!) on Flickr.