Ween those Hallos!

WOFE cover sketch again

WOFE Sketch and 1950's References

Here's a revised cover sketch:

And here are some great 1950's sci-fi posters that I've been using for inspiration:

And a neat little 1950's town I liked:

Bunny Realises Self-Worth

"Lucy's Crown" Poster Concept

Here's a concept of a poster for local band Lucy's Crown:

Illustrators Australia "Connected" Seminar and Business Plans

So a good friend Steve put me onto Illustrators Australia a while back, and last week I finally got around to checking it out and eventually becoming a member. I joined up just in time for a seminar they were holding over the weekend called "Connected". Unfortunately I could only make it to the first day, but I still got lots out of it.

Basically there were a few industry professionals giving talks that went for about 60 minutes each, including question time. There were about 50-60 illustrators there, less than I expected, but I wasn't complaining. The highlights for me were Andrea Innocent, an illustrator who talked in detail about using the Web to the full advantage of your illustrating business, and Nigel Buchanan, one of the "big name" illustrators that spoke over the weekend about their work, influences and thoughts on the industry at large.

I came away from the seminar with a lot of ideas and "things to do" swimming around my head. I let them simmer for an evening and a day and now I'm gonna put some plans into motion. That's right! I'm actually doing something!

One goal is to integrate my various web presences under the banner of "Lucy's Balloon", which is the business name I chose a few months ago but never really applied. I've got the domain and the server space and I'm looking forward to getting the website under way. The goal is to have a "one-stop-shop" sort of website, where my blog, gallery, etc. are all integrated into a single web presence.

One thing I'm planning to do, which is kind of an ongoing endeavour, is to use my new Flickr! account (nothing there yet), my Facebook, and other web communities (forums, blog networks, etc.) to promote my work and business, and to converse with my peers, etc, etc. I already put a fair amount of time into this stuff, so I'll just be "refocussing" my efforts to be more business-minded.

I'm also looking into getting limited edition archival prints made of my work for the purpose of selling online. I'm currently investigating the Giclée printing process.

On the non-Web side of things, I'm building a professional folio of work to present to various Art Directors, Agencies, Editors, etc, etc. I'm not gonna finalise this until I feel like I've got a professional body of work to show. I'm getting closer. I've got a few projects in the works at the moment so that will surely help.

So there you have it! I feel like after a couple of weeks of debilitating de-motivation, I'm finally getting my shit back on track.

*think successful thoughts*

*think successful thoughts*

No new images to show, but here are some sketches from last week:

WOFE cover sketch

Cello, is it me you're lookin' for?

More "Watch Out For Earthlings!" Stuff

"Watch Out For Earthlings!" sketches

Finally back to working on this project after too long.

Zombie Birthday Bunny

Midget Bullying with the Marx Brothers

No drawings today, but here's a sweet Marx Brothers clip from "At the Circus":

Monster Concept and Pixar Show

Here's something for a possible future project. Click the image for a larger version:

Yesterday I decided to get off my ass and go to the Pixar Exhibition at ACMI. It's finishing up tomorrow and I would have kicked myself if I didn't get a chance to see it. Boy, am I glad I did.

Unfortunately photography wasn't allowed in the exhibition, but I managed to sneak a few:

The show was just pure awesome. There was a shitload of original artwork from concept sketches to sculpts to beautiful colour scripts. Tomorrow is the last day. If you're in Melbourne, and you haven't seen it yet, please do.

Gratitude

I finally knuckled the fuck down tonight and drew something for the first time in over a week. It's a little "thankyou" pic that I'm sending to my previous client.

Nothing much, but it beats NOT drawing, I guess.

Sick, bored and tired.

I'm sick and bored and tired.

I'm sick because of Saturday night. It was freezing. We went to Louie and Leigh's local pub "The Tramway" for a few cold ones, then stupidly went for walksies around the football oval near there before going back to Louie's to watch Home Alone (still excellent). Now I've got a stuffed nose, headaches most of the day (and night), and a scratchy throat.

I'm bored because I have a bunch of things to work on, and don't know where to start, so instead I spend the day listening to podcasts and playing video games. I lose at life. The problem here is that I have no deadlines, which is just about the only thing that motivates me to get anything done (that and money). I don't even want to list the things waiting for me to work on them because it means I'll have to think about them and prioritise their importance, which means I might actually get to work on something. These video games don't just play themselves, you know.

I'm tired because, well... I dunno. I haven't been sleeping well for the past couple of weeks. It's strange and annoying. A good night's sleep has always been the one thing I can count on, but lately I wake up tired and want to go to bed earlier than ever. I'm actually thinking of hopping into bed now, and it's only 7pm.

Actually, thinking about it now, the tiredness might be because I've lapsed with my gym again. It's been a couple of weeks. I'm such a tard when it comes to getting back into gym. For some reason (laziness), whenever I miss a session (usually Monday morning) I convince myself not to go for the rest of the week and resume on the following Monday. But what usually ends up happening is I go out Saturday night, have a shitty, hungover sleep on Sunday morning and then finally a decent sleep on Sunday night, which means I wake up Monday morning in severe love with my bed and don't want to leave, which means I don't make it to gym in time to beat the lunch-time rush (I hate going to gym when it's busy - 10am-12pm is the best time), which means the whole damned comedy perpetuates itself. Fuck it. I'm going tomorrow morning. Don't look at me like that. I'm doing it, okay?

There. That's one problem out of the three solved. It's been a good day.

Oh wait, I've got this damned cold. Let's leave gym until Monday, shall we?

It's in your head, Zombie.

Farm Guy