Cumulative

So the semester has come to an end and the grades I have received harken back to my senior year of high school: It basically looks like I stopped trying.

I can fortunately live with myself, for to the untrained eye, it may APPEAR as though I gave up, but on the contrary! I worked my bum off this semester and my work shall blow the socks off of my teachers...when it actually gets done.

Yes, the major issue of my descending grades was that I didn't finish anything. I just completed my website, and now need only to upload it to the world wide webz, and Pizza Jockeys II has become the world's biggest time suck, but I have a feeling it will be well worth it.

I'm delaying the website because, for now, this blog is hard enough for a man of my attention span to update on a semi-regular basis and also because I'm poor but ALSO...(drumroll)

I have just become an intern at Biggs-Gilmore in Kalamazoo!

I am beyond stoked for this and I can't wait to learn a crap-load of stuff from professionals in the field.

The City That Ate Me is still in the works, but the biggest problem has been manipulating ComicPress so that I can make it look like something other than a toilet bowl after a New Year's party.

More to come!

-Matty

Hell, MI Fan art stuff

So I did this for mister Workhorse Illustration himself, Mr. Scott E Fresh, and his stellar comic Hell, MI.

Sorry it took so long, yo.

Better late than never, I say!



-Matty

Taking on another epic endeavor...

I've decided it's time.

If you've ever had it in your head to start a new project, or you've had an idea floating around in your head for so long you think it's just another ghostly haunting of a pipe dream that will never come to fruition, then you know that there are times when inspiration comes from the strangest sources.

My friend and ex-gradeschool "cartoonist" rival Megan Gedris has a couple of stunningly well-written webcomics (also in print) that keep that small hope in me of making it big in the art industry while still hailing from Grand Rapids a reality.

Her comic that I follow most religiously, YU+ME,  in my opinion, has "cult-phenomenon" written all over it. Given that she has printed editions and shirts and all that available, I'd say she's definitely giving her fans what they want. Were I a rich man, I'd buy some myself; but I DO have a commemoritive autographed edition of Lesbian Pirates from Outerspace, so when the shit hits the fan and she's making millions and being stalked by fanatics the world over

, I shall reap the benefits of having been her arch-rival in 5th grade.

She sent out a letter on DeviantArt notifying everyone that she would publish their illustrated stories under her company's name if they met the given criteria. This is where the aforementioned inspiration/kick in the pants came from. I said to myself, "Good grief! This girl's got three comics that I KNOW about and now she's helping other people kickstart THEIR dreams with her award-winning good fortune? I am a pathetic excuse for a working artist."

Such is the nature of art; you surround yourself with creative people not to compare yourself and feel like crap about your own work, but to feed off eachother's drive and energy and always strive for self-betterment.

And that's it! I'm making a comic of my own; or "graphic novella" if you will. And here's the logo!

That's all you get.

Until next time.

-Matt G

Getting Animated

I'm trying to use the old method of drawing distorted images to achieve motion without having to draw a crap-ton of frames. This is a 'meh' example of high distortion, but it works pretty well in full motion. Trouble is, it goes by so fast, you barely see it; so here it is...in STILLFRAME.


Oh Tundra; what have you gotten yourself into THIS time?

Here goes nothing...

I'm goin' for the gusto. I just made the decision to do all backgrounds for episode II in Photoshop. Here is my first attempt.

I imported it into my Flash storyboard, and it actually looked alright.

One small step to upping the game, people! One small step at a time!

-Matt G

Many Things

First things first; if you haven't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog, you totally need to. It's a web series made by Joss Whedon, who happens to be the man.

As usual, I'm still going a little nuts because of schoolwork, but there are more silver linings to these dark, ominous clouds than there is actual ...dark cloud. Hmm... What I mean to say is that things are working out in spite of themselves.

For instance, my digital portfolio class (the product of which shall become the big brother of this trusty blog) is basically causing me to reinvent the entire image of ArtWeapon.com, but like a sword being tempered in the hottest of infernos, my creativity merely gets stronger and sharper with trial and experience.

The storyboards for PJ Ep II are done and divided into their proper scenes, and only now do I realize I forgot to record several lines of crucial yelps and screams. It's always the little stuff that slips by.


Work all day and ya work all night
Work ma fingers to tha bone and whuddya git?

Boney fingers...

-Matt G

Sinners

I just watched this.

Lord have mercy.

...sweet divine mercy.

-Matt G