A House Frank Lloyd Wright Didn't Design

Yay, there have been some developments! More than anything. I want THIS year to be the year I start my webcomic.

I have to thank Matthew Bishop (on Twitter) and Eric for helping me flesh out the ideas that will be the big beginning story, which is the Beatles move into this (shown above) Victorian-style house. For some reason I was stuck on the bulk of the comics and the "domestic humor" taking place in either the Beatles' fictional flat in the movie "Help!" (shown here) or a Victorian mansion. WHY those two choices, I don't know. Then I worked myself into a big snit about if I stuck with the "Help!" flat ("They have no bathroom!" "Their rooms aren't seperated!" "I can't draw that!") so the more I talked with Matthew about it, the more I got the gears in my head turning. Maybe I needed a fresh perspective on it.

Pfft, 'fresh perspective', I've been BUGGING people about it for a little over a year. It's not their fault I over think things so much I end up not following through with my ideas.

ANYWAY. So yeah, I talked to Matthew about it and he gave me a lot of ideas. I mean, honestly, he knows a lot more about webcomics than I do and this is my first venture into it. Plus a lot of little things like embracing the absurdity of the source material.  I mean, yeah I guess some of it can be normal stuff like insomnia and touring but why not have ghosts and leprechauns and cat burglars and dream sequences?

I mean...I don't know if I should SPOIL the plot workings of the first story.

...it involves ghosts. Or A ghost. That's all I can say for now :)

That is the crappy sketchy house layout. I actually got a lot of help from my Dad with this and Eric.

Far left: An early version of the house from the outside

Top middle: A Japanese folding changing screen with random notes on the materials

Far right: Layout of the attic bedroom

The two rectangles are the first (left) and second (right) floors.

"P" stands for parlor, "LR" for living room, and "K" for kitchen, FYI.

Hell, I don't even know if I should spoil what the rooms look like right now. I haven't fully drawn them yet, just bits and pieces. Some furniture I know in my mind what it looks like but some I'd have to look at different styles of furnishings before deciding "Yeah, this is exactly what it looks like."

I think what I need to do now is actually go room by room and just draw them. I kind of want to start on what is going to be John's room, which is a converted trophy room full of taxidermy eagles and dark wood paneling.

Oh yeah, and there's a globe bar. ;)

So I'm going to be doing that....AND making a Thank You card...AND a drawing for my friend Chelsey. My immediate future is going to be busy :)

Model Cheats

Yay! I found it! My friend Christine (I hope she's okay with me referencing her as my 'friend' :)) had this posted about a year ago and I saved on my other computer (long story, it doesn't work) so I can at least know where it is and savor its goofy cartoony goodness.
You're probably asking "But WHAT is it?"
It is the model sheets for the Beatles cartoon by Al Brodax...even though on the sheet itself it says "Blueprint". Whatever. Its a MODEL SHEET.

I'm wondering what they (the writers, animators, Al Brodax himself, etc.) watched to come to the conclusion that this is how the Beatles act, walk, and carry themselves. Did they just watch "A Hard Day's Night" and go "Welp, that's all we need to know about that! Start drawing!"?

I get the feeling this "blueprint" was lost repeatedly because the quality of the Beatle cartoons tends to fluctuate.




Notice how Paul is drawn in a different way than in the first video? See, its aggravating for me drawing the Beatles in this style copying from the cartoons because I watch one of the cartoons and realize that I've been them WRONG. I had to change and rework Paul alone about three or four times. These model sheets are the closest thing they had and they don't even had the center lines on the head or the standard 'pears and balls' body construction. (See here) If I was going to describe these Beatle 'toons in anyway, I would say they're made up of 'sticks and rectangles'.
Legs-straight sticks
Bodies-boxy shapes or rectangles

That is a big reason why I didn't copy the Beatle cartoons EXACTLY. I mean, early on, I tried but it got to be a pain in the ass when the finished product didn't look a thing like the thing I was copying. So I just took what I knew the cartoons where trying to convey about how they looked (John has a boxy jaw and an arrow-shaped nose, etc.) and adapted that using my own style, which I don't know how you would describe it.
That's why its been an uphill struggle with these 'studies'. My way of doing things is to copy things best I can and do things my way, which is apparently wrong. (at least when it comes to copying the Preston Blair studies.)

There's a Place

This is a blog for my artwerks, mostly BUT



OMG, guys, you have NO idea how much this song makes me feel better. This might not even be my favorite Beatles song (that goes to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") but...I don't know.
Even though I have mucho amor for all the Beatles' phases, there's something about their '63 "Please Please Me" era that just strikes me in that place. (no, not THAT place...think somewhere in the cockle region) Their haircut is in the definite mop-top but it hasn't grown out yet and they're teetering on the cusp of stardom and they seem so eager and unspoiled and enthusiastic. It's really endearing and infectious. And cute :P

It's well conveyed in this video with footage from the Dezo Hoffman photoshoot. I love how when the camera is turned on the Beatles, they'll just spring up like wind-up toys, both in this footage and in other footage like it.

In the bridge to that song, where John goes: "In my mind there's no sorrow/don't you know that it's so?" I don't know WHAT it is about that part but it makes my heartbeat quicken and my face feel hot, which is a weird reaction to have to that ONE part.

That is all. We'll now return to my depressing drawings.