Robin Williams "Until Next Week."

Godzilla & Dallas Comic-Con

April and May have been quite the busy months!  The day-job has kept me busy and exhausted. So, motivation to come home from doing work in front of a computer all day to do more work in front of a computer at home has been just short of nil.

Let's talk shortly about Godzilla.

As I've stated in earlier blog posts... I'm a fan.  So, the past May 16th, I took the day off to see Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards... for a second time! Yep, I caught the first showing the Thursday night before and I had to see it again!

See, I kept that short and sweet.  I could've gone on and on about it but I chose not to.

That same weekend was Dallas Comic-Con which had a long (make that "looooooooooong") list of guests from William Shatner and a large portion of the cast from Star Trek: TNG to an, almost, complete full cast reunion of Firefly to and major cast members of Walking Dead.  But my goal was to get two autographs from two guests that were also there...

The Master of all things Marvel, Stan Lee and Godzilla (1954) starring actor Akira Takarada...

Anything after that was bonus!

I'll start with what was the longest line and the longest wait, Stan Lee.  This would be my second signature from Stan (I can't find the first, it's on one of those old collector cards that's of a painting of his face melded into various Marvel characters) but I wanted this one in something special.

This book was given to me as a birthday/Christmas gift from one of my bestest (yeah, I said "bestest") friends.  I'd almost forgotten about it while searching for something "Spider-manish" to take with me for Stan Lee to sign. 

So, after a wait that me and my friend had smartly decided to NOT time once we got into the line I got mission #1 accomplished!

A perfect spot, I must say.

After that, it was off to find Akira Takarada who on the other side of the convention hall.  Once we got to the table at his booth we was leaving for his first break and then off to a Q&A session.  Since we had just gotten there right at the moment of him leaving we were told that we would be among the first group in line when he returned and the twenty of us there were given numbers for the line.

Two hours and many a mile walked in the convention hall and a complete scoping of booths to buy more cool, unneeded but, adamantly, wanted stuff, Mr. Takarada returned!

One of the things he did for fans was, on a blank, white ink board was write Gojira in Japanese (ゴジラ), with Japanese calligraphy brushes. Had I more money I would've purchased one of these pieces as well. I opted for a signed 8x10 as well as having another item I had brought with me... A copy of Gojira 50th Anniversary Special Edition DVD!

While most of the "big name" guests were charging extra for photos (or NOT allowing photos at all) Mr. Takarada insisted on having me take a picture with him, free of charge.  I posed for two photos with him and then he insisted that my friend Todd, that was there with me, had over his smartphone to his assistant and take a few pics with him in them as well!  (Dear other famous people... Take notes!)  "Thee gentlemen" he said just before the photo was taken!

After that I showed him my iPod case that I had had one of my Godzilla pencil sketches printed on.  He told me that he was very impressed by it and handed it over to one of his translators to look at.  Asked a few questions as to how I had it made and told me to "keep up the great work and thanked me for coming out to meet him!

"No, thank you for coming all the way here to Texas to meet your fans" and during opening weekend of the new Godzilla movie, no doubt!

This was, by far, one of the coolest moments of my 44 year life!

Darth Vader is a Texas Longhorns fan... Now I know what that "bad feeling" Luke was getting is all about.

That's it for now!  Had a great time out at Dallas Comic-Con spending an insane amount of money and reducing myself to consume baloney and cereal for the next four weeks... But it was well worth it!

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome & Skateboard Art Update

Yep, I've got the onset of it and I've got it pretty bad.  That's the reason I haven't posted any updates lately.  Right now, I'm just doing the exercises and wearing and just started wearing a wrist brace yesterday afternoon which seems to be doing the trick.  The pain and numbness was getting to the point where I just didn't want to do anything but stay home and do nothing.  I want to tell you that there are no pain killers, muscle relaxers or anti-inflammatories out there that will help... NONE.  I was prescribed some of each and none of them helped a damn.  So, if you're having the problem as well, hit Youtube and search for some exercises that may help and/or go out and by a wrist brace from your local pharmacy or whatnot.

Now, for the artwork update.

As mentioned above, the wrist pain has kept me sidelined from doing any artwork outside of the regularly scheduled day job.  Now that I've got some sort of relief, I've got back on it!  So, here are a few screen caps of my latest skateboard art.

That's it for now.  I'm aiming to have this one done and ready for purchase on Zazzle by the end of the week.  Stay tuned!

Cubeecraft Godzilla!

Today I was clearing out old files out of my computer at work, a sort of new year's cleaning, and found this cubeecraft file that I'd started and never finished.  As I'd stated in an earlier post, I'm a fan of, almost, everything Godzilla and four years ago I set out to make a Godzilla cubeecraft figure during some office down time.

Here's a good look at all the parts to make this figure.

I you would like to print out and build one, you can click on the link to my devianART page below and download a hi-res version.  Print it out, cut it out, put it together!

Cubeecraft Godzilla by Kryptoniteking on deviantART

While You Were Watching The Game...

Today was a day full of NFL Conference Championship games and weren't they doozies!  Congrats to the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks!

Well, during all that time I did a little work on the first skateboard design and completed the finishing line work.

Hopefully, this design will be popular.  Then I can get a TV to put in the room where I do all this work.  I'm pretty sure the neighbors are sick of me blasting the television surround loud enough for me to hear it from the other room.

Until next time!

Godzilla!

The next project is going and I haven't finish the previous one yet.  All my close friends know how much of a fan I am of "The Big G" and with the new movie coming out soon I'm overly excited!  So, here's a peek at the next skateboard design.

To further prove my love for all things Godzilla.  Take a look at the front plate of my car.

Inspirational Boredom

It's that time of the year when the workload at the day job is very low until time for production of the next 1600 page catalog. So, between now and then, there are a few small items here and there that need to be done for the online version of the catalog. In between those there's a lot of time just trying to keep my eyes open. It's at this time I was slapped in the face with inspiration:

I got to staring at the 2014 calendar poster that was produced for one of the 5 catalogs we produce annually that's pinned up on the wall in my cubicle and was motivated to draw.

I'd been trying to create an image for a skateboard design and this was it!  I quickly opened up Adobe Illustrator and created a scaled down skateboard template and printed it out.  Pulled out my mechanical pencil and began sketching.

Next, hurry home and scan it for digital inking in Manga Studio and coloring in Photoshop.

Stay tuned for the final result.  Looks like I'm on great start to keeping my 2014 goals.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!!!

Here we are at that time that we all make our lists of goals for the the new year.  About 90% of us never follow through with them and about 8% of us manage to accomplish some of the goals.  An even smaller percent complete them all.

So, on that note, here are my goals for 2014!

1. I want to weigh 145 lbs.  This will, by far be the hardest one for me to accomplish.  Why, you ask?  I'm not trying to lose weight... I'm trying to gain!  Yes, you read that right... I'm trying to gain weight.  I'll let you think guess as to how much I currently weigh.
2. Make some money!  This is just as hard as me gaining weight.  LOL!
3. Save some money.  You'd think this would be my number one but this one is quite easy to pull off.  I've been doing this one for the past 2 years with slight ease.  Here's a hint as to you as to how YOU can pull this off too, if this is one of your goals.  If you're just trying to save up for Christmas shopping, then all you need do is put away, at least, $10 a week.  I'll let you do the math and then you'll understand.  Just think if you put away more than $10 a week what you'd have at the end of the year.
4. Draw, paint, draw, paint and draw and paint more!  I want to produce, at least, one illustration a month.  That will give me incentive to...
5. Blog more

And there's my list of things I want to accomplish for 2014!  Of course there are many other smaller goals I'd like to get done but in order for those to be achieved these main 5 have to get done.

Let me know what your goals are for 2014.

And as for that "make some money" part, I've got my new logo tee up for sale now!

2014 WHAT!? Studio Art Logo Tee by WHAT_Studio_Art
Make a t shirt online at zazzle.com