New Projects

Got a couple of new things on the burner, and continuations of old things....no pics I can post yet, but I have to put something up here once in a while or I feel like a neglectful father....

-The Journals of Simon Pariah relaunch creeps along at a snail's pace, which is frankly still better than the glacial pace it's had for the past few years.  As always, studio time is at a premium until you lot start pouring gobs of money my way to prevent me from having to work for a living.  See to that, please.
-I've just finished a piece of episode art for the "Drabblecast Art Reclamation Project", an updating of archive episoded for the Drabblecast podcast.  I've done episode 84, "Michael Swanwick Doubleheader", with a digital painting based on his story "Hush and Hark".  This raises the count by one of popular authors I get to namedrop as having illustrated, so there's that.  I'll post the pic here eventually, but I want them to have the exclusive on it for a while.
If you're not listening to Drabblecast, you're doing yourself a disservice, as it's one of the best fiction podcasts on the web, and helps me kill many half hours spent walking the dog.  One day, I'll have to do a long post on the podcasts to which I currently subscribe.
-Looks like I'll be doing a cover later this year for an issue of "Sky Pirates of Valendor".   If you'll recall, I did a pinup page for one of their previous issues, and I recently auditioned to do a cover for them.  It's a fun bunch of characters to work with, and a good book to read, with some serious sci-fi swashes being buckled.  Check them out.
-Pinup submissions for the second volume of "Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit" are trickling in, with some interesting results.  If you're interested in having a kick at the cat, find details at the AIM Comics site.

That's it for now...as my hero Mel Brooks said....

Raven Lunatic...

Here's a thing I'm testing.  Testing this thing I am.

Here's a thing I made.  Purty, ain't it?

Things Rank and Gross in Nature Possess it Merely...

Just for grins, I've added a widget that tracks my Alexa ranking; you can see it at the lower left.  As of this writing, I'm at 6,731,802, meaning that far from being a star of the internet, I'm ranked well below pretty much any furry message boards and sites for Star Trek slashfic. 
This is not an important number to me....I would rather a dozen important people (e.g. close friends, known associates and paying customers) read this blog on a regular basis than any million people give it three seconds worth of their attention, but I think this will be a fun little game to play, to see how low I can make that number go this year.  If anyone can make suggestions as to how to improve my ranking, please send them my way, and if they do not involve a massive outlay of cash or the sacrifice of a small animal, I'll take them into consideration.


In other news, who does NOT know about the situation in Haiti right now?  Take a country that's already been through a social, political and economic collapse, stir in the most powerful earthquake in 200 years and add a death toll to match many genocides, and you've got a recipe for disaster at its worst...and that's exactly what millions of people are living through right now.  Sometimes you've just got to set aside your political disagreements and realize that people need help. 
I'm not bragging when I say I've just made a donation to the Canadian Red Cross specifically for disaster relief in Haiti.  In lieu of actually being able to go and start cleaning up the mess myself, I can't think of a better way to help, and I strongly urge any reader to go and do the same.  You can go to the Canadian Red Cross donation page by clicking the Haitian crest below, or do a quick Google search for the Red Cross in your own country and make your donation there.  If you're like me, it's the best thing you'll do today.

Looking Ahead, Odds and Ends

It's been a busy time, folks. I've recently finished up a set of illustrations for a CD project that won't see the light of day until the new year, but I'll post some samples here as soon as I can get permission. Also, I've just finished up a little project for the Canada Revenue Agency...a little thing known as a tax audit. Yeah. Fun.
In the new year, I'm looking forward to doing less commission work, focusing instead on bringing some of my own projects to the point where I can start selling them in various forms. That's not to say that I won't take a commission if it comes along, but it won't be my main interest like it was in the past year.
I'm still doing odd sketches and whatnot that I'll be posting here soon, just to keep building this blog as my online portfolio. A lot of my hits seem to be coming from people who want to see the tattoo flash I've posted, so maybe I'll put up some more of those, just to keep the punters happy.

In other news around the web, I see that Leo Baubata has posted a new, free ebook over at Zen Habits that will probably be useful to people getting by in today's economy - Thriving on Less - Simplifying in a Tough Economy. I generally stay away from the doom and gloom pundits who talk about how bad things are getting worse, and I haven't read this book yet (hey Leo...pay for some more bandwidth, why doncha!), but I've found Leo's advice to be the sort that's helpful at any time, and if nothing else, this book should provide more food for thought.

Another sign of the times was brought to my attention this morning from one of my favorite horror and science fiction publishers, Apex Publishing. Apex briefly published Apex Digest, which was the only magazine I've subscribed to in the past ten years. For better or worse, it's since gone digital and they have been giving more attention to book sales. They publish books by such notable writers as Jennifer Pelland, Matt Wallace and Lavie Tidhar. I've not read anything offered by them that's not pleased me.
Publishing being the mercurial business that it is right now, Apex is finding itself in need of cash, but quick. They figure about $2500 in revenue in the next two weeks to stay afloat. So if you've got a few post-Xmas dollars to spend and are an avid reader or would like to discover a new author, now's a perfect time to head over to the Apex store and try one of their books.
Myself, I prefer their ebook offerings from Fictionwise - the only source from which I actually buy ebooks - and from recent reading can personally recommend Matt Wallace's "The Next Fix", Fran Friel's "Mama's Boy", and Jennifer Pelland's "Unwelcome Bodies". You can also get back issues of their magazine through the site, and each is guaranteed to have something to please the sci-fi and/or horror fan. I've been nagging editor/publisher Jason Sizemore to offer more items through Fictionwise, and maybe if that wing of their store gets enough attention, they'll actually do it. At an average price of just below 4 bucks, it's probably the best bang for your fiction buck, and it will help keep a worthwhile publisher in business.

But enough begging...here's a glass raised to the new year, with a wish for health, wealth and happiness. Keep the good times rolling, and ride it til the wheels fall off!

I'm Only Human!

Apropos of nearly nothing, and irrelevant to the main subject of this blog, but I saw this at Kottke.org today and thought it was too good to let slip by. This is a quote from Robert A. Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love":

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

Damn straight.

Gettin' Love From KATG!

Just for fun, check out this episode of Keith and the Girl to hear Keith Malley tear me a new one for comments I've made on their forum. Look at me, Ma! I'm pissing off Noo Yahkers!

Days of Pork and Snuffles....

I really did mean to have some drawings to post today, but I've been behind the eightball all week, largely as a result of having to spend last weekend dealing with four kids, two cats, a dog, a hurricane and the resulting power outage, some amateur lumberjacking, and a wayward pig. I shit you not. Then of course, there's the cold that came about as a result of it all, which means that not only am I behind on my current project, but I had to miss a day's work at the office as well...which always puts me behind there too.
Anyway, there's a long weekend coming up, which will hopefully let me catch up on some of my art chores and let me find something entertaining to post in the coming week. Meantime, I can only offer this by way of explanation....

I HAZ LOLCAT!

I'm in ur internetz...


...participatin' in ur memes.