music and nature wads

First, here's a way for me to share music, because I miss doing radio.



hopefully I can do these mixes on a semi regular basis. Also, I'm frantically working on comics, prints, and gardening. So far I haven't killed anything. The last few weeks have been EXTREMELY busy, so its a little weird to have some down time, but of course I'm using it to draw comics and procrastinate and learn esperanto.

here is one of the nature wad prints i'm working on...

I.Am.Your.Grandmamama.

First off, I got a late start to my day because I stayed up too late reading Dune and being a neeeeeeerd. drawing comics and things. Today I went to farmers market and got some new loverly plants! Some fancy basil(it's purple!) and some mint (it smells good!) and I replanted some older plants that looked very unhappy in their old pots. So now I have a whole little spot in my room for happy non-succulent plants. hopefully I don't kill them. I am also working on Tip Top(I know, I always say I'm working on shit and never have anything to show for it. it's because I'm afraid of my scanner(It requires sacrificial goats. very messy) anyways, I'm actually almost done scripting, character designs are mostly done, and I have two full days with nothing planned ahead of me. I AM GOING TO DRAW LIKE A MAD WOMAN.

Now for the real business:

this has been floating around the internets like internet herpes, and I'm doing my part to keep spreading it. It also keeps being described as nightmare inducing, but the tune is REALLY catchy. I mean, I wish it was longer. Anyways, I've already caught myself at work socking apples singing "I am your grandma ma ma! I am your grandma!" Not creepy, i swear.

Edit: oops, forgot to post this last night. oh well, not much has changed.

man man comics comics prints prints

And here we have the second installment of our comic. I'll try to get the next part up on friday, kinda rushed the colors, I might be experimenting with that later, but for now this will do.

Also! one of my favorite bands is coming out with a new album! WAHOO! Man Man is full of crazy and awesome, and they put on one hell of a live show. Anyways, it comes out May 10th, which is a little bit of a wait. But also not, since they haven't had anything new since 2008. Anyways, there's that.

In other news, I went on a bit of a Lithography adventure, trying to get a lo-shu wash to work. A lo-shu wash is when you suspend gum arabic into water, paint it on the stone, then wait for it to dry. Once this is done, you rub it up with greasy ink and if all goes well (and this is a BIG If) they you get this really lovely effect:

This image is a test done by one of my compadres from Tamarind. Anyways, let's just say my tests were not as successful. I had a bit of a mad scientist moment, and tried 3 times to get the damn thing to work. In all fairness, I've never actually done a lo-shu wash myself, and I was going completely from memory of a demo of it I saw maybe three years ago, so I was a little rusty on the specifics. I tried all of my sneaky printmaker tricks to get the damn thing to work, and I got pretty close a couple times, but ultimately ended in failure. Sad face. So I looked it up and realized I had made some key mistakes, and I plan on going back to the studio tonight and giving it another try. Also, I finished my drawing for the Tiniest Print Exchange. It's a fun little thing, and I'll probably proof it tonight. I still need to add two more rund to it at least, but the key is pretty nice, exactly what I had in mind. If Im feeling particularly ambitious, I might also proof the large fungus tree, which is ready to go. I will most likely need to add another run to it to make it look the way I imagine, but the hard part is done. Hopefully I'll start getting some pictures of all my printmaking adventures.

Secret of the Incas

What Seven Samurai was to Star Wars, Secret of the Inca is to Indiana Jones. The description on the video says it all:

Harry Steele (Charlton Heston) is the smart, two-fisted relic hunter who has found the secret hiding place of ancient Inca gold, high in the Peruvian Andes at fabled Machu Picchu, and is willing to use anyone or anything to get there; Dr. Stanley Moorehead (Robert Young) is the idealistic archeologist who wants to give the long-lost treasure back to the Peruvian people; Elena Atonescu (Nicole Maury) is the beautiful and seductive refugee they both fall for, and who will stop at nothing to stay out from behind the Iron Curtain; Kori-Tika (Yma Sumac) is the exotic Inca priestess, whose otherworldly singing is the only way to pacify the restless Peruvian natives; Ed Morgan (Thomas Mitchell) is the murderous thief, driven by a lifetime of greed, who is trying to steal the treasure for a last great score. Harry must race them all to find the treasure, using a secret of his own - only Harry knows the ancient ritual which will reveal the hidden gold in the tomb of the last Inca King, in a stunning scene that influenced the Well of Souls from "Raiders Of The Lost Ark".

A lot of attention is given about how this is so influential to Indiana Hones, but the thing that makes me nerd out the most is that this is the only movie Yma Sumac ever made. For those of you unfamiliar, Yma Sumac was a Peruvian Singer with an incredible vocal range of five octaves. That's only the beginning of how awesome she was.

Anyways, enjoy the movie. I've been trying to watch it for ages, and only recently has the whole thing become accessible, as it is now public domain.