Dixonary

New Weekly Comic Site and Moved Blog

2009-02-23T10:00:00.003+11:00

The title says nearly everything.

I've started a new weekly web comic site. I'll try to update it every Thursday. It will feature Sydney and a bunch of new never before seen characters .

This also marks the discontinuation of this blog. I've had it since the start of University (3 years ago!), and it's received probably 12 comments in it's long life. This page will remain guiding people to my new site, where any new blogging will take place.

Thanks so much for reading.

Sydney Tribute

2009-02-18T13:15:00.006+11:00

David Gale, pictured above, has returned the favour by drawing his own tribute to Sydney! If you're a little confused, please read my tribute one post below and make sure to read his hilarious series of Offal Funnies.

Offal Tribute

2009-02-12T17:47:00.003+11:00

Much to my disappointment David Gale decided to discontinue his Offal Funnies comic strip. I spent this afternoon doodling my own tribute to the great, late Offals.

Enjoy.

Happy Birthday Pom

2009-02-01T11:29:00.004+11:00

The above is a card I drew for an old friend. He recently jumped boats and started playing soccer for Taree instead of his native* Old Bar. I've found it in my heart to forgive him, because he's such a great keeper.

Also, below is some blue construction drawings of Daffy taken from the Great Piggy Bank Robbery. Love this scene.

*Note: I say native, but he is in fact a British expat (hence the nickname).

Constructing Mickey

2009-01-29T17:55:00.006+11:00

Here's a cover of a Mickey comic posted by John K. I used it to practice my skills at construction.

Here is my process:
1. Sketch the line of action.
2. Decipher the proportions of the larger forms paying close attention to the negative spaces.
3. Draw the medium forms and smaller details making sure that they wrap around the larger forms.

Here's the comparison. I think it looks pretty good. I've captured the line of action and my large forms sit nicely in place, but it's clear that the bodily parts that extend from the largest forms are not anchored correctly. They sort of float about the body.

PRACTICE.

PS. This weekend, expect to see some more Sydney on Dumm Comics!

Dumm struck!

2009-01-25T17:33:00.004+11:00

Sydney is guest starring on Dumm comics this weekend. Dumm Comics is a collaboration of some of the greatest talents in animation at the moment. Thank you Dummies for the chance to show the world my latest drawings.

Read it here!

Or just read it here:

I Yam and I Yam

2009-01-23T18:14:00.003+11:00

Here are some drawings of Popeye based on some toys posted by John K:

Mousefeld

2008-12-18T16:06:00.003+11:00

Featuring Mickey Mousefeld, Donald Duckstansa, Goofer, Minnie Mousez. Once again my new website is: http://ivandixon.com

Website, New Game and Degree

2008-11-20T10:34:00.003+11:00

Website

I've acquired some web space and I now have my own website:

www.ivandixon.com

My comic site isn't up yet, but it should be soon. In the meantime feel free to browse my design/illustration portfolio and check out the games section. Which brings me to my next point...

Loftus and the Sky Cap

Inessa is woken by the smell of smoke. She races down the stair case to discover the workshop torched and no trace of her Master Loftus.

The townsfolk are convinced that a dragon must be responsible or that the crazy inventor must simply have blown himself up- but Inessa believes otherwise.

Music and sound by Jake Craig.

Download from here.

Degree

Well, I've finished my three year Bachelor of Visual Communications/Design (provided I pass all my courses). What does this mean? I'm not sure, but I'm looking for work.

WORK!

2008-10-12T16:31:00.001+11:00

I think that this guy is right...

With my university experience coming to an end, and the impending launch of a couple or new websites (one being a portfolio), I feel it's time to get out there and find some paid work.

Justine Caricature

2008-10-06T18:51:00.003+11:00

Mr. Barista's Coffee House and Lounge

2008-08-25T19:54:00.001+10:00

This is a new character I'm working on for my new Sydney cartoons. He (with any luck) will also feature on some upcoming NUSA mugs.

Opus posters

2008-08-24T17:10:00.001+10:00

I've drawn four posters to encourage submissions to Opus. I'm making fun of stereotypes of the kinds that would least likely be caught reading Opus.

Weevils Over 35's Football team

2008-08-24T17:05:00.000+10:00

My father's rival over 35's football team at Old Bar. A sequel to this.

Mr. Lynch

2008-08-11T22:42:00.000+10:00

Sydney and the ReQuest for Eternal Enlightenment part 3

2008-08-07T16:44:00.000+10:00

Student Design Exhibition

2008-07-29T00:58:00.000+10:00

Concept for student design exhibition.

Slab n Ernie

2008-07-26T14:19:00.000+10:00

I cleaned up some more John K characters. Last time I used photoshop, this time I used illustrator. It can be separated into logical layers.

Jim Smith clean ups

2008-07-21T14:18:00.000+10:00

A task posted by John K.

Old Barbarian

2008-07-12T18:42:00.000+10:00

I decided to reinvent my local football teams mascot. The team colours are red, white and blue. I threw some yellow in there because we're a beach town.

I did one for the Women's team too. I tried as much as I could not to rip off Skadi, but I think I failed.

Terrence Teddy

2008-06-19T14:44:00.000+10:00

Would he make a cute teddy, or what?

Joker in the pack

2008-05-24T15:14:00.000+10:00

It's a lie. There isn't, or rather wasn't, always a joker in the pack. The joker was an American invention that came much later in the story that is the history of playing cards. That's why the joker is often neglected in most card games.

All that aside, the joker is a fun character and was my first choice for our latest assignment: design a playing card.

Sydney and the reQuest for Eternal Enlightenment... part 2

2008-05-13T20:28:00.000+10:00

Next for pages of my Sydney long comic. First part can be read here.

Sydney and Terrence 3D WIP 4

2008-05-08T13:09:00.000+10:00

I've started to work on some of Syd's friends. Mel will surely be next!

3D Sydney WIP 3

2008-05-02T22:11:00.000+10:00

More updates! I've starting building the set. You'll also notice I've added the braces to Syd's pants. I detest the generic brick texture so I plan to redo it with a more fitting cartoony feel. I will also subdivide the points on the rounded surfaces of Syd's body to remove the geometric feel to the edges.

3D Syd Update

2008-05-01T13:31:00.000+10:00

I've rendered the shadows and added a background, mouth, belly button and fingers. I'm really happy about how this is shaping up. This is the sort of 3D work I enjoy. Designs that aren't overly specular and could almost feel like they were made of clay.

I used a page from the first part of Sydney and the reQuest for Eternal Enlightenment as a background.

Wedgetail Vodka

2008-04-30T22:29:00.000+10:00

Uni assignment where we had to design a label for a fictional Vodka Distillery and render a mockup of it on a 3D bottle.

3D Sydney

2008-04-30T21:25:00.000+10:00

Okay. This is just a work in progress! don't bite my head off. I'm new to this world of 3D rendering!
UPDATE: I traced over the original 3D render with colours in photoshop to give an impressions of a finished 3D Sydney!

Single mum fun

2008-04-14T23:31:00.000+10:00

(happier version)

drawn by hand with ink. coloured with vectors.

Club V

2008-04-04T22:06:00.001+11:00

Tea-Riffic

2008-04-03T11:00:00.000+11:00

I designed the logo and mascot for the new Tea Club on campus. I might upload some of the original sketches to accompany it as well!

"Baby You Can Drive My Car" a Simpsons Fan Script

2008-03-25T21:31:00.000+11:00

I've been working on and off on a piece of fan-fiction involving everyone's favourite, four fingered, yellow family from Springfield.

"Baby You Can Drive My Car"

"After falsifying his gender on a state census form, Bart finds himself forced to babysit Maggie as homework. Meanwhile, Homer's new career as a sperm donor comes to a premature end when he discovers that his sperm count is dangerously low."

Read the script here, at NoHomers.net.

SQUARK!

2008-03-22T18:52:00.001+11:00

Lectures are fun. Taking notes, for me at least, is a much about doodling as it is writing. I inadvertently spend more time developing new cartoon characters than I do paying attention to the lecturer. Above is one of those characters. I took him from the humble pen drawn pages of my notebook to a fully fledged colour illustration.

I might even use him as background art for some layout in Opus.

I'm still finding problems with my tablet though. It seems to only give smooth lines when I move it swiftly, otherwise it creates a rippled and bumpy line quality. The only problem is, when I move the pen quickly I lose a lot of accuracy and I am unable to meet my desired start and end points.

Digital sketches

2008-03-22T11:31:00.000+11:00

(Steven is my co-editor. It's an ongoing rivalry)

I drew both of these straight into Illustrator using my tablet. Harrah for vector!

Dumpster Divin' Remastered

2008-03-21T19:42:00.000+11:00

I repainted my drawing of Sydney dumpster diving. I'd like to include this as a poster in the next Opus, with a detailed synopsis of what dumpster diving is and a map of dumpster hotspot locations on the reverse.

Soots the Rendered Man

2008-03-06T01:33:00.000+11:00

Practicing a more sophisticated rendering style. I'm now controlling the opacity of the stroke with my pen, rather than just the size.

Thanks to Katie Wang for suggestions.

Soots the Fireman

2008-03-04T10:35:00.000+11:00

Here is a character I have designed for a class. We were told to create a character that will sell fire safety awareness.

Pixel version:

Vector version:

Sydney and the reQuest for Eternal Enlightenment...part 1

2008-02-28T22:43:00.000+11:00

The first four pages of a long Sydney comic that is intended to span sixteen pages.

These have been printed in the Newcastle University Students Association's magazine, Opus, which I currently co-edit and design.

Response

2008-02-13T20:15:00.001+11:00

(Based background scene on a Road Runner cartoon featured on John K's blog. Cheating maybe)

Here's some nice things that have been said about Sydney Treads the Catwalk:

" The sequel to last year's Sydney Finds Employment, Sydney Treads the Catwalk is a new AGS adventure game by pixel artist extraordinaire Ivan Dixon. Eccentric humor is once again the main focus of this title, though the author has taken heed much of the feedback received by it's predecessor and implemented them into this release to please fans of the genre."
-IndieGames.com/blog/
"Yaaaaaay Sydney! This game is really great, the graphics and animations (especially the cutscenes) are cute, well done and entertaining. The puzzles aren't too hard to figure out, which is cool by me. And I discovered the Floating Sydney Head bug on the title page, woot for me! :) Terrific job, loved everything about it, play this game now! Now!"
-Strange Visitor, AGS member

If anyone can translate Czech to English, I'd love to know what some of the Czech sites that have review Syd 2 mean.

Lastly, for a comprehensive walk through go to Leon's website.

Sydney Treads the Catwalk

2008-02-11T18:35:00.000+11:00

The second Sydney adventure game is out!

DOWNLOAD IT FROM HERE!

"Sydney, a bum turned star, finds his new career in the media has hit a hiccup when his television show doesn’t receive the ratings it expected. Keith Corps (head of Business Corps) warns Syd that if he can’t even compete with the fashion channel he’ll be forced to axe the show and throw the lovable tramp back on to the streets.

After stumbling onto a string of suspicious accidents within the fashion industry Sydney and his friends uncover a mystery that could cost them their lives or worse- their limbs!"

Tablet

2008-02-09T16:56:00.000+11:00

I was finally able to install the software that compliments my tablet...which means the tablet wil actually feel the pressure I place on the pen, instead of just working like mouse!

To celebrate I sketched a picture of Sydney completely paper free.

PS. Sydney Treads the Catwalk should be out very soon. Music is done, I'm just waiting for some web hosting.

Plug

2008-01-25T21:52:00.000+11:00

Sydney Treads the Catwalk (the sequel to Sydney Finds Employment) is complete!...Well, nearly. I'm actually still awaiting the fabulous soundtrack from Steve. But other then that, the graphics, coding and stuff is all done.

So to promote the upcoming release of the game I decided to draw a little one page cartoon. If you haven't seen the show Dexter, I recommend it. Not really a comedy, but deathly addictive.

Dumpster Divin'

2008-01-16T15:33:00.000+11:00

A small taste of the new style for my Sydney 16 pager I'm working on for Opus.

Birdy

2007-11-23T15:45:00.000+11:00

Intended to loop indefinately- until the end of time.

Sydney the Flasher

2007-11-23T02:44:00.000+11:00

I'm so hopeless at flash. I have never taught myself to use it, so I tried fiddling around in it tonight. I can't even use the tweening tool properly.

Anyway, this was the best I could do in the limited time I could devote.

Heavy Workload

2007-10-25T16:51:00.000+10:00

Hello.

I've been working busily on three things.

1. University work.

2. OPUS.
I've just recently aquired the position of editor for a university magazine called OPUS. I've been fleshing out ideas for articles and designs. It's an exciting process.

I've been entertaining myself with concepts for articles. Here's just a couple.

Thanks to Justin for posing for the rock n roll photo.

I've also been editing a music video for one of my classes. It's a song by a local Newcastle band called James Dean. More about that when it's done.

3. Commercial Project.

Can't say much about this, but it's a game and I've been working on it for over six months. It should be complete and ready for release really soon.

Well, that's me.
Over and out.

More colour experiments

2007-09-09T23:50:00.000+10:00

These are intended for a print assignment for uni. I relished the chance to test more palettes from my book and decided to create art based on my lecture sketches.

The Summer Snowman is easily my favourite so far.

Colours and Vectors

2007-09-06T01:58:00.000+10:00

While researching for an essay on digital design and colours I came across this really helpful book called The Designer's Guide to Color Combinations, by Leslie Cabarga.

It documents a wide range of successful colour combinations from historic to modern, and gives you each colour in CMYK.

I couldn't help but indulge in a palette by Vernon Grant (the creater of the cereal characters Snap, Crackle and Pop). It was a cover for a children's book called Tinker Tim the Toy Maker.

I honestly think it's the best vector illustration I've achieved- although I must admit to spending more time on it than any other. Let me know what you think.

Busy Bus Boys

2007-08-28T01:18:00.000+10:00

Kyle Threlfo (a fellow design student and unfellow public transport enthusiast) collaborated with me on a series of illustrations we produced during our lectures.

He drew the buses with his black pen and I filled in the characters with my blue pen. I hope to have more to show soon.

LIMP!

2007-08-23T19:12:00.000+10:00

A title page for an original short story and/or flash game I wouldn't mind working on one day. Colours need a bit of work, but I thought I'd post it all the same.

The Black Fella

2007-08-23T13:51:00.000+10:00

CLICK HERE TO
WATCH IT!

An animated continuation of a character I have previously mentioned.

This was for the Pixel Joint weekly art competition a few weeks back. The theme was 'Aussie Aussie Aussie.'

It's also had a pretty good run at DeviantArt.

Wank

2007-08-21T19:07:00.000+10:00

Two stupid little designs based around the same 3 colour palette.

An insight into decision making

2007-08-07T23:12:00.000+10:00

A photo of a big A3 watercolour cartoon.

It's Syd-en-ey

2007-07-20T10:51:00.000+10:00

Drawn for a friend. If you don't know who John Howard is than you must not be Australian.

Kid Ninja!

2007-07-12T17:19:00.000+10:00

Just another vector sketch. It was inspired by the Samurai, a black and white Japanese tv show from the 50's-60s.

I've been working hard on two adventure games, Sydney Treads the Catwalk and another secret project.

Vectorific

2007-06-20T18:53:00.000+10:00

The truth is out there...

2007-06-12T16:41:00.000+10:00

Moon Face McGee

2007-06-07T17:18:00.000+10:00

Sometimes I get carried away with writing a comic and forget the real reason I'm doing it all- for the funny drawings.

Aztecian coloured

2007-05-29T00:55:00.001+10:00

Browsing through DRAWN!.ca made me really want to colour something. So I did.

Was inspired by this guy. But there's so much eyecandy on Drawn that I'd probably have to credit a thousand other people as well! I might think of colouring her in a number of different styles...hmmm.

Aztec and Fool Inspired...

2007-05-28T22:10:00.000+10:00

Just a drawing.

I also drew this piece of pixel art inspired by Fool's gallery, particuarly his recent 'Rider' sprite.

Ode to Justine

2007-05-16T13:12:00.000+10:00

She makes me a Sydney doll, I make her a card. She makes gives me kisses and hugs, I give her a card. It's a very convenient arrangement.
EDITORIAL: I think I might start doing more vector drawings. They're lots of fun and really quick to make.

Smooth encounter

2007-05-14T23:13:00.000+10:00

Appearing in probably his Smoothest looking outing to date, I bring you Smooth strip no. 5

Unfortunately neither Mr. Smooth nor Black Hole will be appearing in the next Sydney game.

Meaningful and stupid

2007-05-13T22:13:00.000+10:00

And on a less poignant note:

In the long tradition of retarded cartoon dogs (Goofy, Stimpy, Scooby etc) I bring you...Bito!

"He may not be man's best friend, but soon enough you won't be a man to even notice anyway!"

The best toy a kid could ever have...

2007-04-30T15:42:00.000+10:00

Sydney was created by the beautiful Justine.

Sydney Treads the Catwalk

2007-04-30T00:36:00.000+10:00

Poster for the upcoming second Sydney game Sydney Treads the Catwalk. Read more about the game in the official AGS production thread.

More to come I'm sure, so stay tuned!

Mucha style poster complete

2007-04-24T22:17:00.000+10:00

I've mentioned this poster in a couple of posts already. But now it's finally complete!

Hooray for Sydney

2007-04-06T20:35:00.000+10:00

The game has managed to get pick of the month for April on the AGS website. SSH says,

"

Another game that was nominated in a few categories, but just missed out in them all was Sydney Finds Employment. The Independent Gaming bloglisted it as "narrowly missed it" on its top 20 adventures list, so it seems that its always a bridesmaid, never a bride! But Pick of The Month will be its dashing suitor this month...

Okaaay....

The game is funny and satirical, but the satire has a serious side and does actually look at the issue of homelessness. On top of that, excellent graphics make this a noteworthy debut for author Ivan Dixon

Monkey on my back

2007-04-05T02:31:00.000+10:00

NEW! Three page comic with cover featuring Femme and the Monkey.

I could have been a real prick and released these systematically over several weeks if not for two reasons...

There's currently not enough interest floating around my blog for people to care and

I'm not good at releasing things unfinished.

Visual tributes (Fan art from you to me)

2007-03-30T19:16:00.000+10:00

A big thank you to to Ensellitis, who has recently created a visual tribute to me in the form of pixel art. It features Black Hole and Sydney hanging out in Syd's alley.

He also has an unfinished piece of vector fan art I'd like to share with you.

Finally, I dug up a pixel sketch that legendary indie gamer Bernie drew for some time ago:

Thanks y'all!

Mucha do about nothing

2007-03-28T02:42:00.000+10:00

Updated Mucha project for Uni. Yet to place the type, so it's still a work in progress.

Read this post for more info.

Bastardly Brother Pranks

2007-03-26T19:04:00.000+10:00

The colour of Smooth

2007-03-23T15:12:00.000+11:00

LINK TO ET!

A return to an older character, brought to you by Dixi-color.

Mucha Lucha

2007-03-22T01:21:00.000+11:00

I don't normally show off my university work, but I'm really inspired by this typography project.

We are given the task of recreating an Art Nouveau period poster, namely the work of Alphonse Mucha. I found this gallery extremely helpful in drawing inspiration.

I will be required to see this poster through to completion- in full colour. I'll keep you updated. Here's a larger sketch of my lead up linework.

Worker hole lick

2007-03-19T23:23:00.000+11:00

New years resolution: Stop using exclammation marks in all my headings and upload more content.

Covering all bases

2007-03-18T23:56:00.000+11:00

Part of the reason I haven't posted for a while is that I've been working on some published works. You may have seen Better Homeless Living in the Newcastle Uni magezine, OPUS. This'll be a regular thing. They also want me to do a cover...

What do you think? It hasn't been confirmed by the editor yet, this is a world exclusive!

I also drew a cover based on the mascot for the International House 2006 year book:

Bad Blogger

2007-03-18T23:23:00.000+11:00

Once again I've been neglecting my web log. I apologise.

As usual, though, my absense hasn't been fruitless. Heres a bunch of watercolours and comics I've worked on lately:

Click here for better view: http://www.pixeljoint.com/istvan/Nakeddaysmaller.jpg

SFE: The Original Soundtrack

2007-01-30T23:13:00.000+11:00

All the music PB created for my indie game, Sydney Finds Employment, is now available and uncut for your listening pleasure over at SoundClick. Kudos to PB for writing up this list of songs which will eventually be printed out as a cd envelope to be distributed as promotional offerings, gifts for friends, and whatnot.

Check eet!

PS. I totally ripped this whole news write up from the man PB himself. Read his blog, it is great.

Concept art and other stuff

2007-01-20T18:32:00.000+11:00

I've been doing a lot of water colour drawings lately. I scanned a couple of the best for y'all to see.

The next guy is a piece of concept art for a new comic I'd like to do. You might notice that I've drawn a lot of inspiration from actor David Gulpil.

Finally, here's a piece of art I drew by hand and coloured in photoshop a long while ago. It's based on the main character from the delightfully creepy TV series 'Funland.'

Bum embraced, nice things said

2007-01-08T14:45:00.001+11:00

Downloads of Sydney Finds Employment are currently nearing the thousand mark. Not that numbers are the most important thing to me.

It is nice, however, when people write positive things about the game.

-Adventure Gamer has a very pleasant review of the game in an underground news post. Read it here!

-Moby Games also has a decent write up about the game, with many screenshots. Check it here!

-These crazy Czech guys seem to have been following the game for a while, and despite not understanding their language, it's still worth linking to them. They've got quite a thorough set up here, screenshots, news archives and what not. Go go boots!

Thats all for now, let me know if I've missed anything.

Sydney Finds Employment RELEASED!

2006-12-29T13:07:00.000+11:00

Sydney Claywood wakes in his alley one day to discover a new policy set in place by a joint venture between the political parties, churches and big businesses to rid the streets of homelessness and unemployment. There solution is a ‘final solution,’ of sorts.

Sydney decides that the only way to save himself and his friends is to go directly to the heart of the plan, the CBD, and argue his case. However, in the back of Syd’s mind is the constant idea that ‘Maybe I could, you know, just find a REAL job.

There is some suggestive and slightly rude content here. I'd only really recommend it for mature audiences.

Download Now(if the download doesn't work, try Right Click, Save Target As)

NOTE: I know I haven't posted in a while, but I've been working on the finishing touches to the game and doing some paintings and having a break!

Read up more on the game here!

EDIT: LOOKY what I found! It's a foriegn page devoted to my game and comics. It seems to be a reaction to the production thread I posted on the AGS boards.
Pretty cool, although I'd like to know what they're saying and it would be nice if they let me know when they're writing about my stuff- just so I don't have to google it!

BHL#3 in colour!

2006-11-08T15:41:00.000+11:00

This will be printed in next month's Reverb magazine.

P.S. The Sydney Finds Employment game is very almost nearly complete!

EDIT: I've had to introduce new security measures as I've had a crap load of spam advertisement being posted on my blog. Happy posting!

BH1 Cover

2006-10-31T19:59:00.000+11:00

Here's a cover I drew for the new re-drawn aaand colour version of The Black Hole I've been working on. If I don't end up using this as a cover, I'll atleast be able to use it for promotional stuff.

Let me know what you thinketh!

And don't forget, Black Hole has a mega role in the new game Sydney Finds Employment, coming soon.

Sydney Play-Testing

2006-10-30T14:18:00.000+11:00

Well, beta or play testing for Sydney Finds Employment has officially begun. The lovely and supporting Justine ran through the game to check for any embarrassing plot holes or spelling mistakes, and now its off to the lads to play it for me.

Testers are Buloght, Bernie, pixel guru Ensellitis and musician Pixel Blink. Round of applause for them so far!

Thought I'd mention that Buloght and Bernie also create fantastic games. Buloght's website is currently down, but Bernie's stuff can be viewed here. He even creates great comics as well! So read them!

BHL2 in colour!

2006-10-16T23:06:00.000+10:00

Better Homeless Living two, in colour! This will be printed in next month's issue of Reverb.

Sydney Thread!

2006-10-16T11:29:00.000+10:00

Check out the thread I started on the Adventure Game Studio forum. It features exclusive screenies and some very positive responses!

http://americangirlscouts.org/bbc.com/yabb/index.php?topic=28684.0

In other news, I've recieved a few more pixel art jobs so I'll be working hard come uni break.

Sydney Progress!

2006-10-10T12:38:00.000+10:00

I've come a long way with production on my game Sydney finds Employment. I thought I put together a list with perecentages and stuff, because everyone loves statistics!

Story_____________________100%
Puzzles___________________100%
Background graphics__________100%
Character graphics____________95%
Coding____________________50%
Music and sound______________0%

Please excuse my inability to line up the percentages. This has been another pointless post!

Sydney in COLOUR!

2006-09-24T00:38:00.000+10:00

Syd's never looked so good! He comes to you in full colour, the sharpest lines and spiffy new bubble and background effects. Enjoy this, the first episode of Better Homeless Living in full colour- FOR FREE!

CLICK HERE!

In other big news, this episode will be featured in a music street press magazine named Reverb. If you live in the mid-north coast region of Australia pick a copy of it up!

Rise from the gutter this summer

2006-09-22T10:08:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post.

I don't mean to over hype (well...maybe a little bit), but heres the new promotional poster I drew for my Better Homeless Living game:

Back to school

2006-09-17T23:40:00.000+10:00

Last week I had the pleasure of hosting two days worth of drawing lessons at a primary school near my hometown. I travelled back there specifically to teach some kids how fun drawing and cartoons can be- and boy did I have fun!

With some help from my uncle Wallace I was able to go through some of the fundementals of drawing with every class in the school and with particular focus on 'fun.'

The kids got to draw caricatures of themselves, have 'relay' racing drawing contests, learn how to hold a pencil properly, learn how to use coloured pencils properly, use charcoal, draw from life (including a dead duck) , use ink and brush and watch a true pro at work.

As you can see, I was able to exploit the kids by forcing my characters on to them. Black Hole and Sydney were drawn any chance I could. I also let the kids yell out their favourite cartoon characters and I tried my best to draw them.

During my two days there I was also asked to produce three works that the school could hang in the office in memy of my holy visit. I based my drawings on the two simple shapely characters (a mouse and clown) that we taught the kids to draw, as well as the stuffed duck I mentioned earlier.

Above: The finished mouse character, based on a student's ideas and using the coloured pencil layering technique.

Special thanks to Wallace for making this all possible, and the school for inviting me with open arms. I hope to return to the school again one day, and maybe even make a habit of school visits elsewhere.

Long time, no shit (it's a play on words)

2006-09-11T21:12:00.000+10:00

Hey blogwatcher!
A lot has happened since last we spoke, but I won't bore you with the details. I've got a couple of things to show off anyway. The first is a rather special little episode of My Femme Inside (I know, it's been a while!). The second thing I'd like to share with you is some production shots of the new game I'm working on- hopefully this one'll get finished!

Let's waste no time. This short strip is a lead up to Femme's first real adventure. Enjoy!

Click here!

Now I'd like to talk briefly about the new game I'm working on. It's an all adventure, no action game starring everyone's favourite bum Sydney Claywood. Control the lifestyle hostess with the leastest through numorous scenes and collect strange and wierd items to complete your various objectives. I've tried to go for a LucasArts style here and I'm using the program Adventure Game Studio to code it all.

The story you ask? Well, here it is:

"Sydney wakes one day to discover a new policy set in place by a joint venture between the political parties, churches and big business to rid the streets of homelessness and unemployment. There solution is a 'final solution,' of sorts.

Sydney decides that the only way to save himself and his friends is to go directly to the heart of the plan, the CBD, and argue his case. However, in the back of Syd's mind is the constant idea that 'Maybe I could, you know, just find a REAL job."

I suppose you'll be wanting to see something then?!
Okay, here's some mock-ups (mock screen shots that display graphics):

Syd's Alley

The Runny Inn
http://www.pixeljoint.com/istvan/therunnyinn3.png

Warfside Warf
http://www.pixeljoint.com/istvan/warf2.png

Expect special appearances from the likes of Black Hole and Mr. Smooth!

Better Homeless Living...Episode 5

2006-07-25T22:05:00.000+10:00

Yeah, I know, I should be updating my other cartoons...or doing something 'productive for society,' but in the popular fashion of doing whatever the hell I want, I bring you the latest 'Better Homeless Living.'

For a better, less jaggy look, click here!

I really love making these cartoons, only wished that they paid. Well, seeya next time!

Black Hole News

2006-07-22T14:36:00.000+10:00

Well, haven't I been Mr. Neglectarooney?
I've been away on holidays from University life which meant for some time I was completely with or with limited internet access. But fear not! I didn't stop drawing.

I have for you two items of Black Hole artwork. One is a promotional poster I drew and coloured with the hope of using it to find any interested publishers.

CLICK HERE FOR A BETTER LOOK!

The second item of interest requires a little more back story. I've decided to completely redraw the first episode of Black Hole. Redraw you say? Yes, it's something I've thought about ever since episode 3. I really want to make the first episode look as appealing as possible. That's why I'm proud to announce that the revision will also include FULL COLOUR pages and ADDITIONAL PAGES and much of the dialogue and story REWRITTEN.

Currently I've completely completed the first 7 pages. I won't overwhelm my already alienated audience, so I'll only show one page now. It's probably my favourite one so far so I hope you enjoy it!

LINK TO IT HERE!

Thanks for your time.

3 Bits of News!

2006-06-05T14:16:00.000+10:00

Hey guys, haven't updated in a while because it was my 18th birthday on the 31st of May and I've been away.

Three bits of news! Thats right!

NEW Black Hole Game in Production!
I've restarted work on an official Black Hole game titled, 'Black Hole: The Game that Sucks.' The platformer will see you take control of BH and his amazing sucky handed abilities. A video game production team named BlueStar Games has offered to program the game, with the pixel art provided by non other than yours trully. You can see a mockup (a fake screenshot that demonstrates the artwork) to the right. For more info and updates check out the official work in progress thread.

SYDNEY CLAYWOOD FIGURINE!
In other news my girlfriend has started working on a figurine of your favourite Better Homeless Living host, Sydney Claywood. Justine plans on giving it to me as a birthday gift and she insisted I should make work in progress post to show you all how it's coming along! She's looking pretty dang sexy if you ask me, and the figurine looks pretty good too! I'll keep you posted on the progress, and I'll make sure to show it off properly once it's done!

BETTER HOMELESS LIVING EPISODE FOUR!

CLICK HERE to read it!

Two New Coloured Drawings!

2006-05-24T22:59:00.000+10:00

Hey folks,
I've got two new coloured drawings for you. For the first I had to adopt the style of a particular artist and recreate an image based on our life drawing class. So I chose John Kricfalusi (the guy behind The Ren and Stimpy Show).

Click here to see it PROPERLY, incase the links arent working!

The second drawing is a promotional poster for my Mr. Smoooth character. I expect I'll be popping these out for my other characters pretty soon aswell.

Click here, you dirty dog!

I'm relatively new to photoshop colouring (these are my only finished images) so I appreciate any comments or critisisms!

Black Hole- Finally a doll that sucks!

2006-05-23T17:52:00.000+10:00

I can't believe it has taken me so long to upload these pictures of my Black Hole doll. He's fully poseable with a metal wire skeleton, and soft outer limbs. His clothes, including his cape, mask and undies can all be removed and attached using the velcro stitching. Awesome, eh? Here's the beautiful girlfriend of mine who made him for me:

Watch my muscular hand grasp his neck gently like a goose!

Whoops, looks like the camera cord ruined that pic!

Cheesy grin galore

What this? A detachable mask! Bargain!

A little too close

Not close enough!

After a long day of posing Black Hole must rest his weary head on my pillow bed

This is a good a time as any to give a bit of back story to my Black Hole character. I created him with a friend at highschool by the name of Mat Lay. I had the original idea and Mat helped develop the character, his powers, a few future plot pieces as well as co-wrote the first episode. After that he left me to my own devices and ended up handing over all responsiblity to me by episode three. I had been drawing the entire thing from the start, but by episode three my style had progressed further into something I am happy with.

Black Hole is a cynical super hero with the brilliant ability to suck things into his vacuum like hands. He can choose to store these items, or simply repel them straight out the other hand. His origins and identity have yet to be examined, further than his failed magic career and best friend Clint. So far he's had four adventures. I am currently working on the mega long fifth episode,'Inward Thinking: A Neccessary Emo/The Adventures of ManMan.'

I'll also take advantage of this situation by announcing a slight name change in order to avoid confusion with Charles Burns Black Hole comic. You shall now know my comic as "The Black Hole."

Click HERE to go to the official 'The Black Hole' website!

Mr. Smoooth in...The Crowd Sleazer

2006-05-23T00:29:00.000+10:00

Back from my short break from comics with a brand new Mr. Smoooth. I know, its about time to do a new 'My Femme Inside,' but this cartoon was just too fun to ignore.

Click here to view it!

Hope you likey.

Drawing Lesson One- Update

2006-05-12T17:45:00.000+10:00

See previous post to know what this is all about.

My original lines suffered because I was drawing with a 2B pencil, and I was keen to darken the lines so that they'd show up when scanned. This next scan shows a few smaller drawings, as well as another dog, with mistakes indicated, and those mistakes fixed below using a more natural pencil flow.

I now know that it really is important to keep physically comparing (holding up to, or using the tracing technique) to Blair's original work.

Unfortunetly my scanner tends to blur the image slightly.

Click here to be linked to it!

John K's Drawing: Lesson One

2006-05-12T15:46:00.000+10:00

"You can go to animation school, spend a $100,000 and not learn a damn thing
about the basics of good animation drawing- OR you can buy a Preston Blair book
for $8 and learn it all in a couple months. You pick.If you learn the principles
correctly, you will be able to draw in any style today. You'll be miserable
having to dumb down your abilities- but you will be in demand. --John
Kricfalusi

INTRODUCTION

The internet offers animation students opportunities that
have never existed before. The one I'm about to tell you about is the chance of
a lifetime. How would you like to learn to draw for animation from one of the
greatest cartoonists of the golden age, and one of the greatest current
cartoonists? Here's your chance...Read this important note from John Kricfalusi before reading any
further."

Here's my drawings for lesson one. I might add some more egg drawings, but I'm especially pleased with my second page of characters.

My links never work, please click here for page1! please click here for page2!

Better Homeless Living Episode 3

2006-05-10T23:42:00.000+10:00

No fannying about this time, just a cartoon update.

Click here to read it!

And if you haven't already done so, check out my long running comic 'The Black Hole.' I will write a serious blog entry about this soon.

Mr. Smoooth in..."Love Father, Love Son"

2006-05-09T20:17:00.000+10:00

New Mr. Smoooth comes one WHOLE day early. Lucky you.

Click HERE to be linked to it!

That's right, Mr. Smoooth learnt all of life's important lessons, like the art of tongue kissing, from his old man. The plot thickens- er-sickens!