Back-hoe operator

I did some sketching in Photoshop tonight, and I like what came out! These are some concepts for the supporting character in my backhoe story.

I really like the extreme characterization. I don't usually push things this far. If he stays this extreme, I'll have to re-work the dragon somewhat to fit this style. As I translate my characters into 3D, they invariably slide away from characterization into a more realistic style. I think this is an almost inevitable symptom of the "realness" of working in 3D. You can't cheat the same way as in a drawing--at least not without making your model a nightmare to work with!

The Frog is back

I am playing with the lighting on my frog. I constantly go back
and forth between a more "realistic" ray-traced look (example here) and a cartoony, flat shaded look.

Excuse the lable. This was a screen capture and I didn't notice it until after I had uploaded the image.

Ending Global Poverty

I don't usually get political on my blog, but this one annoyed me. The following is a letter I wrote to the Editor of our local newspaper. By the way, I forgot to mention that this bill was sponsored by our good friend Barak Obama. Kind of shows you where is priorities lie. (Drat! I forgot to mention Obama in the Editorial!)


Dear Editor:

I have just become aware of a bill passed by the U.S.House of Representatives, the Global Poverty Act (H.R. 1302).The lofty goal of this bill is to reduce world poverty 50% by 2015. Although the goal of reducing world poverty is a noble one,this bill is the wrong way to do it!

This bill is essentially a tax levied by the United Nations directly on U.S. citizens. The money will not be in our control, and it will not be benefitting our nation. The estimated cost of this bill is $845 billion by 2015--that is 0.7% of the national budget!

The bill passed by the House does not even solve the problem it addresses. This bill merely orders the president to find a way to end world poverty. This is absurd! Last I checked, congress was supposed to create legislation, not the president. Assuming this is even a wise course of action (which I doubt), the House should be doing it, not abandoning their responsiblities to the Executive branch.

Our economy is in bad enough shape witout giving hundreds of billions of dollars a year to the UN to spend as it sees fit. We are a compassionate nation, and reducing poverty is worthy goal. But the Global Poverty Act is NOT the way to do it!

I urge you to contact your U.S. Senator and the president and tell them to stop this bill.

I give you, O select few who read my blog, the same admonition: educate yourself and take action.

Joe's Goals

Joe's Goals is a nifty little on-line daily goal tracker. I am one of those people who need a way to make myself accountable, or I get very lazy. I just got an accoutn here, so I don't know how well I'll do at it. I haven't made all my goals public yet, but I added a widget to my sidebar so you can see how well I do in general. You can chart positve and negative habits and it keeps a graph. I only listed on negative habit, because I dont' have too many vices...other than being lazy!

Another New Project....

Yes, another new project. Sadly for Twitchicus the frog (see my last couple of posts) I have come up with another story. This one will hopefully be a graphic novel some day. I shall not reveal too much right now, but here is the sketch of the main character that inspired me to think up the plot. I have had two previous attempts to create animations involving samurai rabbits, and both failed for various reasons--the fact that they had no plot not being the least.

But this time I've got a plot--dozens of index cards full of plot. But what I don't have is time... :( So you may not see much of this lagomorphic Ronin for a while.

I'm afraid NaNoWriMo will not be part of my plans next month. The imminent arrival of my son will keep me very busy in November. I am trying to edit the novel I wrote last november, however. So maybe a few more of you will see that if I get it done.