Happy New Year! Ring Those Cold Bells!

The great thing about me is that I have an unconventional sleep schedule, so you guys never actually know when I'm gonna post!
Anyway, Happy New Year to those of you I don't see this weekend.
About the video:
I thought it was time to move on. I didn't know at first that Zakk Wylde had actually done a video for "In This River", otherwise I would have posted it 12/8. Jason told me it was "haunting"--not the kind of word a big biker dude keeps much in his vocabulary much, so I had to check it out. Now it has the same effect the Johnny Cash version of "Hurt" has, so I can't really watch it much anymore. So on to new beginnings.
I was going to choose a Killswitch Engage song to post, but for some reason I ended up watching So Cold by Breaking Benjamin. I did not realize this song was on the Hellboy soundtrack, and therefore did not realize the video would be anything like that. The janitor in this video has some serious fantasy/reality issues, and I thought it was really cool seeing him geek out to a disturbing degree at work. I also had to check to see if they actually make a stone fist you can buy (cause you know I totally would), but the only one I found is being sold on eBay for over 200 US. Oh well.
The other night I got to watch one of my silent movies, called The Bells. It's not too bad, but only called a "horror" movie because Boris Karloff was in it. But this was his pre-Frankenstein days, so back then, I doubt this movie was dubbed as such. It is supposed to be based on a Poe story, and some of the elements of the story really bring it out. You never really know if the ghost he encounters is real or a figment of his imagination--he's alone whenever he sees him. And there isn't really a "moral to the story" ending. Another thing I liked was the appearance of the Mesmerist. He is one of the many aspects of the movie that make everyone compare it to the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
I've got more, but I have to get Is up for the day.

Beware the Pigtail Maniac...

Christmahanekwanzika With a Russian Ending (Virgin Mobile Thought it Was Correct Enough, So Do I)

Christmas was a blast. I finished Kevin & April's present during the night shift, got packed as soon as we got home, let Isabella take a nap (as did I), then hit the road for DL.
The first 2 days were spent mainly just hanging out at home, then Saturday came, and we tore into the presents like wolverines. Karissa was kind of surprised to see such a chaotic mess of wrapping paper and food. We got some really cool presents, and Is got a LOT.
I got a mic stand w/boom extension from Jas--also a new microphone that came with the package! Now I don't have to bump my mic stand with my guitar!
My dad got me a Naval Pea Coat, which I've wanted for quite a while now. When I tried it on, my mom made some comment about how I can finally wear something other than long black coats. My ass! I love my pea coat, but my back will always know the comfort of a long black coat. It's part of who I am, everyone knows that.
Sunday, we hit the road early in the a.m. to Mayville. Karissa's family provides a stark contrast to mine when it comes to Christmas behavior. My family gathers at least 10 to a herd, snacks & tears into gifts all at once. It's over in about 20 minutes-half hour, and we sit back and shoot the shit while playing with our loot. Karissa's family consists of her mom & sister. We eat a nice dinner at the table, then wait until early evening to take turns opening gifts one at a time.
Again, some very cool gifts. A Jack Daniel's tin (complete with a full bottle inside), a Batman Begins DVD, the Jan Svankmeier collection (he's an early animator, I'm a big fan, all you need to know), among others.
All in all, I'm really glad it's all over. The traveling wasn't so bad, but I've never slept so badly. We had to temporarily convert from queen bed to full to futon, and Karissa is a notorious covers hog. I'm still waiting for my neck & shoulders to recover.
Last night was the first night in a loooong time that I didn't have a looming deadline for an assignment or reading that had to be done. It was so nice to have the night to myself (with the exception of my work duties). I finally got the chance to watch Agony, a Russian movie about Rasputin. If you ever get the chance (or are just that bored), I would definitely recommend taking in a Russian movie. For any of their other faults, they can shoot the loving hell out of a movie. Watch this movie, Solaris (pre-Clooney version), or Ivan the Terrible, and you can see the attention they pay to their movies. The actor who played Rasputin even had his hairstyle down pat. An American version was made in 1992 called Rasputin, but I haven't seen it yet.

Kevin & April

Graphite Days Revisited

I found my old sketchbook! It was actually just sitting where I put my feet when I draw.
There's a backstory on some of these, so I'll summarize:
-I meant to put more background on the Spider pic, but it was kind of one of those moments of spontaneous inspiration things. Jory & I were sitting in Amadon's old den about 5 years ago in late Spring, and we were bored & listening to "Spiders". This was back in the days when I would bring my sketch pad to Amadon's.
-I was reading the Weekly World News once (I used to love reading it in grade school, but it scared me), and saw a story about a demon who had hung himself froma tree in South America or some place. He was tired of existing as something evil and impure and decided to end it. Put aside the whole "But I'm a fucking demon!" bit (Dogma) and the concept that if demons existed they probably wouldn't be able to kill themselves (wouldn't they theoretically go back to Hell?). I just thought this was such a cool concept, like the exact opposite of a fallen angel.
-The pic with Amadon was back when he was trying to grow out his hair.
-The pic on the very bottom was a visualization of a concert Kevin, Amadon and I thought up once, called "Metallurgy". I think the name has since been taken and used for some concert with shitty bands. Anyway, I was really into the whole hidden messages thing. I was reading Aleister Crowley stuff around that time, so that could be a reason. But I tried putting a picture inside the shitty rock formation. Looking back, it's an inadvertantly good lesson in linear gesture, straight lines acting to strengthen the figure, and proportion. Good job, Doug. But I also managed to slip in some initials, and a date.

This one is one of my favorites! I used to think how ironically tragic it would be for a demon to exist and not accept what he was.  

I drew this one at Amadon's once when we were listening to "Spiders" by System of a Down. Jory was there. 

I really don't know if there was a central theme to this one... 

This was supposed to be Amadon, back in the pre-beer-belly days. 

TEE-HEE, TEE-HEE... 

This is Death. I didn't like it when I first did it (virgin attempt at charcoal back in '93 or '94--how precious!), and used it later to test a marker. A couple years later, I looked at it again, and thought I did a pretty good job on the pose and the fluidness of the grass, but look! What did I do? I wrote "Hello" under his arm. Damnit... 

His name is Angus, I drew him one day about 5 years ago, and yes, those are prosthetics...see if you can crack open a beer with a hoof! 

That thing on the left is a rock formation. Look hard, you can find my initials & date. 

The second picture I ever did of this guy...the first is still somewhere in my garage. 

Final Project Touch-up

It might not look too different, but I've made the cast shadows more distinct, plus I've added more core shadow to the objects at the suggestion of my instructor. We'll see if he likes it.

My name is Doug...

I'm silly and I wear pink panties to bed. I also like to eat banana splits while taking a buble bath. Oh, I almost forgot, I also like to hug puppies and read romance novels.

Just Skip the Title and Read the Damned Post!

I'm posting just long enough to let you guys in on the two websites I've become a bit obsessed with this past month or so.
www.imdb.com
I'm becoming quite versed in actor/movie trivia, and could pretty much tell you anything about shows like Roseanne and Spongebob, and about noteable people like Ron Perlman and Mike Judge. I'm not informed on current celebrity gossip like Karissa (although I know about Britney & Kevin), but I've learned about all the little minutia of their histories. And it's not just actors, they are people involved in movies, music, etc. I even queried Hetfield.

Okay, so the next site I've only stumbled upon today. Sue me. I was trying to find vintage pics of Crystal, ND on google, and found the map option. It wouldn't be a big deal, but it's not only a map. You can look at satellite photos! And you can zoom! We looked up GF & EGF and found both our houses--well, the tiny rectangles that are our houses. When we looked real hard, we even found the little red vehicle parked in our yard at the time the pic was taken. You can find it if you go to Google, then click on local. If you've already known about it then screw you. I just found it and I think it's the coolest thing. We looked up New Orleans, and they even have a red button labeled Katrina, though it didn't do anything when we clicked it.

Anyway, that's all for now, go check the websites.

Analysis of Form Final

Well, I got one class completely out of the way. My composition was supposed to consist of about 5 objects, and show examples of things like foreshortening & overlap. I also finally learned how to get comfortable with a white pencil.

This is the assignment I posted below, but done by a classmate. I was pleased with my job on it, but this rendering is damned good. Just thought I'd show you how it's supposed to be done.

Art...and Learn!

Statement made by Ben Klipfel, GGF Marketing Services Partnership Director at the Entrepeneurship and Arts Conference in Grand Forks Oct. 22:
"Grand Forks has a higher percentage of arts and culture organizations per capita than any comparison area in the country, but the majority of our residents believe that there's noting to do here."
Kinda surprising, huh? So if I was the membership type, this town would be right up my alley. Some of that isn't so surprising when you think of it. I mean, UND has so many culture-based on-campus clubs (I'm not even talking about non-active clubs), I couldn't begin to count them. To complicate it further, they even have a "culture night", where they focus on a country & serve foods native to that country in an effort to teach people about diversity.
It also goes to show that a town doesn't have to be crammed with Art museums to be artistically advantaged. One of our most popular galleries resides in a coffee shop and prides itself on being the smallest art gallery in the world.
But go into any dept. store around town, especially the downtown area. Many of them have paintings or pictures done by local/regional artists. Some of these artists teach at UND.
One type of artist I'm not seeing so prominently? The comic book artist. The way I figure it, there's a first time for everything, right? I just have to play my cards right and keep time with other artistic goings on around here, and I might pioneer something! Or, I might just make mediocre comics that don't sell in small towns...eh, either way, most of the neighborhood kids will think I'm GOD.

R.I.P. Dime: One Year

One year ago, today.

Full Moon

The second of my two long-standing poses (I don't know why they called them that, they were photos). This one turned out a little less smooth, but overall a lot better with the midtones & highlights than the previous one. No, Kevin, that's not me.

Yes, Santa left a little gift for you to see between the cheeks. Grow up!! 

Another Nude...

Yet another in a line of nudes. If the quality doesn't look so great, it's because I took the pic with a webcam instead of our digital.

Drawing Naked Chicks, Step-By-Step

And I'm done! The girl in the reference photo is posing on carpet, so I thought I'd refrain from smearing the floor. It does make it look a bit like carpet, plus I think the roughness of its look brings out more smoothness in the shading of her skin.

That's a dirty girl!
I made the mistake of using too much compressed charcoal, and my highlights aren't coming out as well...

This is basically where I began. I had already penciled it, then gave it a little vine charcoal outlining
--In case you guys don't know, vine charcoal is much easier to erase than compressed, but ends up coming in too light, so for my drawings to turn out right, I really need both.

A collection of figures done by some of my classmates.

From Someone Else's Inkwell...

Let me first say, the 3 ink drawings below are NOT mine. These are examples of what students have done in last year's class, just to give you a little hint as to why I'm not 100% impressed with my own. The top one, especially, I think was done really well with some very difficult detail pulled off.

Great Northern Building

This is my Pen & ink assignment for Analysis of Form. We were supposed to go out and draw a city scene from life, but it's fucking cold out, so I did mine from a photo. I could have done a little better, but I'm not gonna beat myself up too much about it.