February 2012
51 posts
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For the moment, I'm satisfied with the background...
I spent many, many hours fiddling around in Corel Painter to figure out exactly how I wanted to make my background, then many more hours actually painting it. I probably did a few things in a more difficult way than necessary, but I’m pretty satisfied with the end product.
This will be the main background for the series, and I gave myself some room to play around with some stuff later on.
...
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A quick test.
I wanted to see if a character with solid outlines would look out of place in front of a painted background.
I think with some shading on the character, the painted background will work just fine.
This is a very quick sketch of one of the other characters in the series: Spamina.
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Skipping out on tonight's open mic.
But, I’ll be doing the one tomorrow night. So, I’ll still get my third one in this week.
The reason for this is that I haven’t polished my act up at all from Tuesday, and it would be wasteful for me to pay the $8 to do the exact same material again tonight without tweaking it. I’ll have a little time tomorrow to do some tweaks. Plus, tomorrow’s open mic is free. So,...
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Well, I sort of worked for six hours.
Though, it doesn’t seem like I’ve been very productive. For the last couple of hours, I’ve just been fiddling around with Corel Painter X, figuring out what the different mediums look like (various canvas textures, brushes, etc.). It’s a really extensive program that I’ve had for a long time but haven’t really delved into, yet.
After dinner, I’m going to...
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I'm such a child.
I just have to show my creative endeavors right as they’re finished.
Here’s a first look at Bosephus.
And, here are some mouth shapes for syncing the dialogue.
Oh, the work of the animator. It’s ridiculously intensive while still being a heck of a lot of fun and incredibly creative.
I intend for the animation in this short to be very simple, but I always end up doing more...
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Late start today...
I had a voice gig this morning, and when I got home, I ended up doing nonsense online. Time to close out web stuff and do some animation work.
I think I’ll still get my 6 hours in.
Treating creativity like it’s a job is very strange when:
No one is currently paying you to do it.
There are no deadlines.
You have a variety of creative outlets.
There are no social obligations for...
Kimbra is performing in NYC March 27th in support... →
I might have to go to that…
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At least 50 times today, no exaggeration...
I felt myself move to press Ctrl+Z to undo a line I made with paper and pencil. I hadn’t realized how accustomed I’d become to drawing on the computer. It was really weird to draw extensively with pencil and paper.
I’m switching up to digital again now. I think most of tomorrow will be spent re-learning Toon Boom. There are things about it that I always forget when I go back to...
I think I'm going to skip out on watching improv...
I want to do more work on my animation design stuff.
I found all of my sketches for the characters.
I’ve got sketches from 2004 and some redesigns from 2007. I went through a lot of versions of these characters, trying to decide what art style the series was going to be.
The stuff from 2007 seems to be going in the right direction for animation, but the designs need to be tweaked.
So, my “writing” today has now turned into sketching.
I love drawing. I’ve missed it.
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I think some of the "writing" that I do today will...
Back in either 2003 or 2004, I wrote the first episode of what was supposed to be a series of cartoon shorts. A few years back, I even went so far as to record and edit the voices for it. I haven’t listened to this recording in years, but thinking back on it, I know it’s going to need some tightening up. Awkward silences can be funny, but only when used sparingly. This three minute...
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I decided to do some late night writing.
I just felt like doing some work on Dive into the Dark this norning, but I think it’s time to go to bed. I’ll get back to work tomorrow morning or afternoon…whenever I get up…
I’ll count this towards today’s hours since the sun is coming up.
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Bombs away!
Even if you are a ridiculously talented comedian, you will always bomb in front of comedians. Sure, you might get a few chuckles here and there but nowhere near the response you’d get from a regular crowd.
I’m in no way saying that I’m a ridiculously talented comedian. Thus, I bombed pretty hard tonight. I’m not saying I was booed off the stage, but you’ve never...
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Overhaul complete!
My 5 minutes of stand-up is very different now. I’m excited to see how it plays in front of the audience tonight.
I’ve fulfilled my minimum 6 hours of writing, but I think I might do a little comic book work now, since I have the time. My brain hasn’t gone to mush, yet. So, I’m good to go.
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Time to get back to work.
I need to give my stand-up set a bit of an overhaul. I’ve got tons of time to do stuff today because the open mic isn’t until 11:30pm at UCB East.
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::WARNING - LOUD NOISES::
So, I made this today....
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Finished the part I was working on just in time to...
I wonder how the new material will play…
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My throat is getting a little sore from reciting...
I’m going to switch to a different kind of writing for the next hour-and-a-half so that my voice will be solid for the open mic at 5:30pm.
I think I’ll move on to some comic book writing. It should be fun!
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As The Guru recommended...
…I went outside during my break. The dog needed walking. So, it was a perfect excuse. Thanks, Guru!
Now, back to work! Minute-and-a-half, you shall be conquered!
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3 solid hours of comedy writing...done.
I’m digging this new bit that I’ve worked up. I’ve got a solid 3.5 minutes. Now, I just need to figure out what to do with the other minute-and-a-half. I’ve got lots of material, but I just need to figure out what bit to slide in there that might go along with the other bit.
Now, though, it’s time for an hour lunch break. After lunch, I’ll figure that last...
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Morning web goof off...done.
Time to clock in on my “writing job”. I’m 3 minutes late on my first day. I hope my boss doesn’t fire me. He seems like a pretty cool guy. So, I should be okay.
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Tomorrow starts the "treat writing like it's my...
I’m going to spend at least 6 hours a day, 5 days a week not scrolling through Tumblr or watching Netflix or Hulu or YouTube or TV or my DVDs or playing video games or reading comics and just stinkin’ write.
What will I be writing? The time will be split up between writing stand-up, comics, music, and web videos. Because of the diversity of the creative activities, I doubt that...
There were three times today that the Super Bowl...
…and I’d completely forgotten about it each time.
I just don’t care about sports.
I don’t know that any artistic effort I make will ever appeal to the general masses, and I’m kinda okay with that.
My end goal is not to be a millionaire. My goal is to live comfortably doing what I love to do. In that, I will have satisfaction.
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I did a Star Wars toy commercial!
Now that it’s out, I can tell you about it!
I was watching Cartoon Network, as I often do, and I spotted my commercial. It’s for the “new Star Wars Darth Maul double-bladed lightsaber and electronic helmet”. I did all of the super-fast narration for the commercial.
Hooray! I’m now part of the Star Wars universe, even though it is just a small part.
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Tonight's open mic went pretty well.
I tested something out tonight for the third time, and now, I know it definitely doesn’t work. I’m going to change tactics a bit now and focus on other bits of my material.
I did, however, slow down, and that helped me get more laughs. So, baby steps to world domination.
Oh, for heaven's sake!
I’m hooked on “The IT Crowd”. I plowed through Series 3 tonight, and I’m already half-way finished with Series 4.
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I think I'm only going to do two paid open mics a...
Doing more than that would drain my already limited food budget far too quickly, relegating me to oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and beans and rice for a while.
As far as I can see, this is going to be my open mic schedule:
Mondays, 5:30pm, Broadway Comedy Club, 318 W. 53rd St., New York, NY 10019
Tuesdays, 11:30pm, UCB East, 153 E. 3rd St., New York, NY 10019
or
...
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Slow down.
Tonight’s set was okay. For a bunch of mostly up-and-coming (or completely green) comedians, the crowd was pretty supportive.
I bungled the wording on one of my early jokes and just ended up doing a speed run through the rest of my act. The emcee told me that my stuff was funny, but just as people were starting to laugh, I moved on to the next bit, cutting off their laughter. He said, if I...
Time to shower and get ready for another open mic.
Look, Mom! I’m doing it!
(I’m not sure what “it” is, but it’s getting done!)
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Doing some crazy accents today.
I love voice-over work, even though these are just auditions. (I can’t legally tell you anything about the companies or content. So, don’t ask.)
Here’s hoping I get one of them!
One down, a million to go!
My set went well tonight. This was a really good first open mic to get back into doing stand-up. The crowd was really supportive of all of the performers. I was the only one doing stand-up. Most of the rest were acoustic performers, half of which wore flannel and a beanie and had some form of facial hair. I guess I didn’t get the memo.
I realize, though, that I have to be prepared to be...
It turns out
that the trains were running super smooth. So, I’m sitting in a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts, burning my tongue on some hot chocolate, using somebody’s unprotected wifi to play Words with Friends and running over my set a few times, before I take the minute-long walk back to the bar.
Hooray for being early!
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Alrighty, I've found the open mic I'll be going...
L.P. & Harmony 683 Grand Street Brooklyn, NY 11211
Sign-up starts at 8:30pm, and the show begins at 9pm. It’ll be a mixed bag of musicians and comedians and such.
The two trains I’ll be taking (the N/Q and the L) have all kinds of crazy delays right now. So, I’ll probably be leaving my house at around 6:30pm to be sure I’m there in time to sign up.
I haven’t...
5 solid minutes of comedy...done.
Now, to choose which open mic to bombard with the funny…
Alright...
Time to stop goofing off online, and time to start putting the final polish on a solid 5 minutes of stand-up comedy.
Look out, random open mic in NYC, I’m comin’ for ya tonight!
Neil Gaiman: Off to Write.... →
neil-gaiman:
I’m going off to write. Right now I’ve started a massive road trip, that should end up with my hiding out and writing. This is good news.
I’ve promised myself that I’m going to be in places off the internet. This is a good thing if you’re a writer who wants to write. It’s less good if you’re…
Gaiman’s got his ducks in a row.
Also…TARDIS.
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