The Watcher Watches

Does the watcher watch? Or is she pondering the fall? Hmmm... 
(digital collage) 

Diving for Dollars (IF - Water)

A recent morning collage incorporating hand-drawn, found and digital elements. Fitting for this week's Illustration Friday theme - Water.

Leap

Leap is a piece I did a while back,  maybe 6 months now. But it's appropos for where I find myself, and perhaps this was a bit of foretelling. Oh, and in case you're scratching your heads, yes, I find myself in the precarious position of leaping into a canyon and onto a passing hovering fish. And a less than ammenable one at that. ...It's all very surrealist. But then maybe that's giving myself too much credit. At the very least, it's all very absurd...

Pope Hugorwar

Another collage from the archives. Playing with composition and subject. You can see my forte is subtlety. If memory serves, when I put this together, I was playing with fast collages and reading the NY Times fairly regularly. I suppose  this could have been more heavy-handed...

PongMonster

PongMonster is a quick collage character sketch I did a while back, highlighting a pimpin' old pong-master in reclusion. I've been revisiting some old(ish) sketchbooks recently and came across some collage I'd almost forgotten about. There'll be more to follow.

Neil Gaiman Addresses the University of the Arts

I feel very fortunate to have found my way to this video. Though I was never a fan, per se, of Neil when Sandman was at its height, I find that I'm becoming increasingly more enamored of his work and this certainly boosts him in my esteem. 

His commencement address, if that's what they call it on the other side, is a must-see for anyone pursuing a career of life in the arts or any manner of creative endeavor. Enjoy: 

IF _ Faded

I started work on this piece last week for the "Faded" topic over at Illustration Friday though I obviously missed the deadline. That's OK. I wanted to finish this up before moving on to another illustration. 

This started off as little more than a scribble as I'm spending more time getting used to the tablet interface. The abstract in the background evolved from a couple of preliminary scribbles (I suppose I should call them "sketches" in the interest of conveying the character of a serious drawer, but really, let's be true to the truth...) and the figure in the foreground is a composite of several elements, heavily filtered/effected. The overall result being a semi-surreal depiction of a sun-faded and watchful loiter.

Skully Hat

So I found this great little app on iTunes called Procreate and have to say I love it! I've been looking for a great sketch/paint app that does it all and I have to say, right now, I'm deeply enamored. Layers, great brush customization, full range (well, fullish, anyway) of colors, patterns, plus blending tools...the list goes on. 

I suppose it's too bad that my skill doesn't quite match its range....

Anyhow, this is a sketch I was fooling around with the other night, a take on a figure from a game called Smallworld. I can't say I know, well, really anything about the game, but the cover illustration of it on the issue of Game Trade Magazine I picked up had a version of this guy in it. Looked like some great characters and the gesture and action was great practice, both for my skill, and for my use of the app.

Tryit

We've all heard "try it, you'll like it" before, generally as kids, usually in some relation to vegetables. So parents and babysitters everywhere should be ecstatic when they see Tryit coming. Tryit is a character devised for the packaging of Try It, You'll Like It, a new spice rub from Peter Dockendorf, mixed specifically for the vegetable-stubborn child in mind. For anyone unfamiliar with Pete, he's a retired chef and up and coming blogger who also happens to make the best general purpose hot sauce on the planet, Nogginflogger. I'm not sure what the long-term plans are for Try It, but you'll want to look for this character on the shelves. 

Incidentally, this piece also happens to fit with this week's Illustration Friday theme, "Jump". (Those wings don't give Tryit real flight, but more of an extended hop. Think of a chicken rather than a dove.) 

Diogi - a dragon-headed boy; plus Many Happy Returns

Good evening all. I'm back. Again. I realize how long it's been since last posting, as well as how often I've written these words, or eerily similar words, in any case. So, in realizing this, I'm going to choose to not justify my absence or make false promises about more regular posting (wow. that almost sounded like bowel humor, didn't it?). Instead, I think this would be a perfect time to embrace the title of an episode from one of my all time favorite television shows. Though The Prisoner epsiode, Many Happy Returns, is a darkly sarcastic turn on the phrase, I'll choose to evoke it here as a new mantra in the upkeep of this channel of media. In other words, I intend to fall off and pick up as the whim takes me. Perhaps some of you who are left will return with me.

And I will say, if you're unfamiliar with The Prisoner, specifically the good version from the late 60s starring Patrick McGoohan as opposed to the god-awful remake AMC tried to do last year, I suggest you run, don't walk to your nearest video rental worth its salt (for me, that would be the unequalled Videoport down in the Old Port) and pick up a couple episodes and strap in. 

Moving right along, this evening's post is a quick concept piece I did up the other night to get a character out of head. His name's Diogi, and yes, that's a dragon's head he's sporting. Diogi and his pal Eekay (keep an eye out for him soon-ish) are an idea for a story that's been mulling about for a few months and neither one of them have let up. 

So here's Diogi: 

If you've been hanging around, waiting for me to say something, I thank you and appreciate your patience. 


I hope you'll hang out a little longer, and perhaps even find something worth looking at enough that you'll be moved to share with your friends, family, colleagues, whoever. 


Signing off, 
rocketfuelsushi

Surreal Composite with Girl in Taffeta

Another photo manipulation, the result of a series of tutorials and a composite featuring elements taken from found images, put together in a collage. Not the end result I was hoping for, not quite as clean or seamless in some areas as I would have liked, but I think I've exhausted my patience with this piece. 


...at least for today. 

Dyslexic Readers

Newly designed typeface could help dyslexic readers - CTV News

Dyslexie Font 


I saw this story in the feeds this morning and thought it was worth noting. First off, it should appeal to all you type geeks out there. I found it particularly interesting looking at the thought that went into why some of the choices were made. 

But it should also be noted that there was a study done on this font, showing slight improvement on reading accuracy with people with dyslexia. Although "slight" may not be a promising descriptor, I imagine any improvement would be welcome. 

IF _ Gesture

"I worship an elephant-headed god." - King Mob

The first in a series of applied skills taken from tutorials and demonstrations. I used a small image of a brass choki Ganesha to create this image for Illustration Friday. The font was ready-made and all effects were custom generated.

Newt Gingrinch Confirms Presidential Candidacy (via brandchannel)

Has it really come to this? As horrifying as the thought of Newt as President is, perhaps this is good news for the incumbent from a campaign strategy standpoint. I know Gingrich is a popular pundit with the other side (it took a massive effort not to state that as "wrong" side, by the way, but I'm trying to be at least marginally respectful...) but I have to wonder how much pull he has with the entire Conservative voting public. I feel that there's a certain prurient fascination with his stances in the media, but I have to wonder if that translates into real votes. As much as the left likes to lump Conservatives all together and view them as Palin-ites and zealots, there is still a pretty wide spectrum of loyalty to the party line among the voting public.

I'll be fascinated to see how this unfolds.

Google vs. Martha Graham (via Drawn Blog)

Google - Martha Graham from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.

I think from an illustration and animation standpoint, Google's animated logo doodle for Martha Graham's birthday (that would be yesterday, May 11) is worth pointing out, in case you missed it. Animated by Ryan Woodward, the gorgeous animation was a tribute to Ms. Graham's birthday and lasting legacy in dance.

And for those of you still on Microsoft Explorer that may have had your systems crash as a result of the animation and MSE's inability to handle it, well.... don't hate the player.

Rabbit Rabbit!

Rabbit rabbit ... although I realize it 's a little late. 

But figured this rough I've been working on was appropriate for the time of year and the beginning of the month and all. 

I was actually working this rough up as an element for the pre-Easter, but it didn't make it through. Keep an eye out for our friend here in the future, though. I think this one is worth working up further.  

Chocolate Pushpins?

Saw this brief post from the folks over at Design Sponge (http://designspongeonline.com) and initially misread it. I thought it said "Chocolate Pushpins" and thought, "Wow. That's a little twisted in an awesome kinda way isn't it? Push pin-shaped, candy-covered chocolate candies." Awesome and gut wrenching all at the same time, right? Too bad I misread this. They would've been much more awesomer my way...

Many Happy Returns

So, those of you who may have been following likely noticed that I sort of fell off the Project 365 there relatively quickly. Well, rest assured there was a reason for it, though perhaps not such a good reason for it. And now that we're moved and settled, I can let any and all know about it. As of Friday, T.Doc Creative became Pulp+Wire. And relocated from the Dana Warp Mill in Westbrook to Downtown Portland. 

Needless to say, we've been a little preoccupied around the office for the past month or so, making sure everything gets out on time, taking care of our own rebranding and packing things up and prepping the new office. Suffice it to say, things have been a little hectic. 

I am happy to say that the move went relatively smoothly, we are now settled in our new space (mostly) and things should begin to get back to ... well, not normal so much as get into a groove. 

I plan to resume my daily photo posts shortly, especially seeing as how now that I'm within walking distance of the new office, I plan to be walking each day which I'm hoping will present more opportune shots. In addition, I'll likely be posting some shots of the new space up here along with a couple of personal projects I've been working on. 

So, apologies for the break in posts and many thanks for continuing to pay attention!

Day 27 (through 31): Covet

So despite my being incommunicado for the past few days, rest assured that I have continued taking shots at least. Over the weekend, I was out touring some of the music stores in the area looking for inspiration and doing research for a logo project I'm helping a friend of mine out with. 

After several hours perusing the racks, I returned home with one burning desire: to learn how to play guitar for the sole reason that I want to be able to justify going out and buying one or more of the beautiful stringed machines I saw. 

Honestly, I don't think they could make some of these any more like candy. 

My favorite right now is a '67 replica that Danelectro makes that just makes me drooool...

Yeah, that would be them right here. It's unhealthy the craving they create. And it's not like I want just one of them, either. I want all three of these and all of the other colors they make. 

Like I said, not healthy. 

Most of the day, I spent shuffling around, shooting pics all guerrilla-stylee with my nifty phone mainly 'cuz it felt weird just out and out snapping off pictures in a store. It kinda felt like casing the joint. 

Which led me to thinking up answers to the questions the detectives would obviously ask when they came looking for me after all of the stores I'd visited got ripped off that night in a case of cosmic coincidence and mistaken identity a la My Cousin Vinny. 

...what can I say? I've got an over-active imagination that just kicks into overdrive when I'm out tripping out on visual stimuli. 

Here's a sweet little logo I saw. Pic's a little on the blurry side...

OK, it's a lot on the blurry side. Sue me. I already told you I was going all James Bond style stealthy. 

And here's a couple more. You'll have to forgive the lapse in posts, but these should make up the interim days anyhow. 

More tomorrow...

Day 26: More of the letter A

Obviously, this one turned out a little blurry, but I wanted to play a little more with the idea of collecting letterforms. Sort of a typography exercise in photography. I liked this for the pseudo-tiki/bennihana lounge feel of the letters combined with the outlined and then slapped onto some faux-wood grain.