A Quick Peek, As of November 2011

As some of you might remember, I posted a blog a while ago (partially) revealing how my list of Designs that Need Doing was looking as of that time. Currently, it is looking something like this;

Designs that Need Doing:

* I saw a gun in her hand (LIGHTS)

* Food pyramid

* Devil dog beta type

* Next needs up (demon)

* Any backstabber

* Any blood burst

* (something with spiders!)

* A spider ate my homework!

* "SPIDER BOSS"

* 4 Horse Men

* Davilaisms

* *BIGGEST* FAN!

* REFRESH!

* Cupid Kills (Male/Female)

* [omitted] Ninja (!!)

* "The Creation of Next"

* "I'm [omitted]"

* [omitted] can be deceiving

* NEXT's face

* Next Needs Up spider's face

* Girl with headphones, and [omitted]

* NEXT NEEDS UP tribal

* "SPIDER"

* You can't [omitted]

...yeah. I know.

These are all either very general, or censored to the point of illegibility, but it's for a reason. As I mentioned in the previous "quick peek" post, I'm kind of protective of my ideas, and more so if I feel like they're pretty original, so that is what's behind the omissions. Sure, some are spelled out pretty clearly, but for those I believe that either no one would be able to figure out what I mean by that, or that no one would visualize it in the same manner, thus making them irrelevant to protect.

Something I feel I should note, is that I've created designs since that were never on this list. They were designs which I felt inspired to create right there and then, and literally did, so I had no reason to scribble them down on the list. Others, which are text based, I've already begun working on, and left saved for later. Their nature of starting out as lines of text made it so that I simply opened a new Illustrator file, pasted or wrote in the text, saved them, and closed them out for later.

I can't tell exactly what design my next blog will be going over, since....well, I'll have to look at the design creation chronology to figure out which is next in line, but I can say a little about the design I will be working on next, and the image to the right, used only for research (and not referencing) purposes, is one of the obscure hints that I am willing to give at this time. It's going to be a pain in the ass, and I don't know exactly when I will be done.

The reason being that I will be trying to make a very modular, almost global design. It's very obsessive, this idea, but I don't feel right making it otherwise. So, as you might know, the thing with modularity is that many parts have to be made in preparation, and just the thought of that is what I'm hung up on at the moment. I'll probably get over it once I actually start to crank it out. Currently, I'm still stuck in the drafting stage, concepting, brainstorming, researching, consulting with artist friends,and deciding what the best route forward will be.

(I write a lot, don't I?)

Anywho, that's about as much obscure nonsense as I feel like writing for today. Stay tuned. Things should get interesting! Carry on for now.

J, out...

RELOAD! Reactions

(Reactions besides immediately reloading...)

Click image for larger version

This is a family of designs that I feel gets...less reactions than I would like. As much as I might tout my obsession with my arachnophobia, RELOAD! is kind of my flagship design. And even when they do get reactions, I always get a sense that the people reacting to it are not fully aware of what it is that my designs are depicting. As some of you may know, the whole premise behind my RELOAD! designs—which up to this point include the GI1911 2.0, GI1911 1.0 (pictured here), and another which I've yet to present in a blog—feature semi automatic pistols with their slides locked open, signaling that they've run out of ammo. It's that little detail which I feel people don't quite understand, which is fine, but still an unfortunate wasted of human visual recognition capabilities. I think people would enjoy or appreciate it a little more if they were able to connect the text with the imagery.

I suppose that Hollywood is partly to thank for its continual depiction of pistols who only indicate that they are empty when the trigger is pulled and they go click. But mostly, it is the reality that most people don't have any real understanding of how firearms function. I mean, Hell, even during my time in service, a majority of us were taught only as much as we needed to know about the firearms that we handled on a daily basis. Even the manuals I read incorrectly stated that Condition Two "does not apply to the M9 Service Pistol". What?!


But, it's Ok. I understand that most people might never need, or care, to know all of these things. Like the cycles of operation (firing, unlocking, extracting, ejecting, cocking, feeding, chambering, locking), or the differences in between a recoil operated gun and a blowback operated gun, as examples. I get that not everyone's brains are sponges for information. But with that rant (and my revelation that I've got a bit of a hard-on for the guts and inner workings of firearms) out of the way, I think you might have a better understanding of some of the...validation that I felt when the following happened. These are the exact words that I posted as a status on Facebook on the 12th of this month, minutes after it happened:

"So, I'm walking to get my mail, and I notice two Sheriff's patrol cars parked up ahead. I notice that one of the deputies has his passenger side's door open, and he's pouring some kind of solution onto his hands and scrubbing away. (Probably just got done busting someone's head open or something.) Anyhow, as I get closer, he faces in my direction, and then keeps starring at me. I can see he's squinting his eyes even. So I'm thinking 'Grrrreat! What now?...', and right when I'm about 10 feet away he says 'Nice shirt!' So I respond 'Thanks!' while thinking 'Whew.' Figures though, that it would take someone who carries a pistol around all day to appreciate my 'RELOAD!' design..."

Hahaha. I'm such a little kid, huh? The specific design I had on was the one pictured above, in all white and on a black t-shirt, so it's what I'd call high visibility. Speaking of, I've actually been thinking of updating the 1.0 design, since it was one of the very first for Flex printing vector designs that I've made. I've gotten working within the restrictions down to more of  a science now, so feel like I could do a better job. I'll probably leave it alone until I've cranked out several more of the designs on my list though. I've got enough on my plate just with those as it stand. Well, that's about all I have or this update. Be sure to swing by the shop if you want any of these designs for yourself, and to see what's new. (I'll probably get around to updating the look in that place soon here as well.) So, until the next time, y'all get out here!

J, out...

Sex Sells

(But is that what I'm selling?)

Been a while since my last post. I'm, like, Opposite of what I say-Man. When I'm all, like, "I'll try to post more often!", I definitely do not. And then, when I'm all, like, "I'm gonna be falling off of the face of the Earth for a bit" I come back and post something the very next day. How about I just don't comment on when I will and will not be able to post more? Sound good? Great. Moving on...

About the title of this post; I've noticed that my girls (including the singles) have been selling pretty regularly. That makes me think about how some of the future designs that I'm planning to add to my "Davilaisms" section also have to do with the, um...gender. They'll be fun, so stand by for those!

I'm also thinking about (it's more, like, I've already made up my mind, and am thinking about when to sit down and crank it out) redesigning the brand. I predict that it won't be the last time, either. Anywho, I feel like what I have in mind will look pretty fucking wicked... I just have to get to it.

That's about all I wanted to say for now, I think. So yeah, until the next time (which I refuse to predict when it'll be), y'all carry on!


J, out...

Never Take Your Eyes Off the Goal

(And whatever you do, don't look down!)

It's been a while. Actually, I'm pretty sure this has been the longest lapse of time in between posts yet. I'd apologize, but I've never promised frequency or volume. Plus, it isn't like I've been lounging around this whole time, either...well, not all of it.

I've probably said it before, but my social life and school work take precedence, and the latter kept me very busy during the final weeks of this past quarter. Enough, in fact, to make me want to take a real break from anything art or design related for that whole week that I had off. And yeah, that included posting anything here. And, actually, the last design I uploaded to Spreadshirt was on the 19th of August, and it is the design directly related to this post, so yeah, it's been a while since I've designed anything.

And then, there's today! I recently learned that that "11.8inch x 11.8inch" size limitation only applies to flex printing. The size limit for digital direct printing is closer to 15inch x 15inch (or "3,000pixels x 3,000pixels" at 200dpi)! What this knowledge has done, is open the floodgates of my imagination, and I've got all sorts of crazy ideas spilling out. BUT!...that's an issue because I'm far from catching up on my "design journal" posts on here for what's already available.

So, I'm kinda having to rededicate myself to this blog again. As I've explained before, I'd rather be making designs than sitting and writing about them. But...it's why I started this blog, so I migth as well. Can't be going and half-assing things, it ain't my style. I'll start as soon as I can work up the motivation to. Until then, carry on...

J, out!

Variations and Deviations

(but aren't they all deviations?)

This is just a quick update. So, I feel like I am at a point (as far as catching my design blogs up to the available designs) in which I can start rolling out some of the alternate versions of some of my main designs. Less of a variation from RELOAD! 2.0 to 1.0, and more like the difference in between the KA-BAR Backstabber, and a Backstabber featuring a different knife. And then, some of these are combinations of elements from other, multi-part designs.

I'll be starting to post some of those soon, so be on the look out for them! That is all. Carry on.

J, out!

Spiders Gotta Eat Too!

(...and I'm fine with that, s'long as it ain't me!)

Another quick update, since I'm still too busy to sit and prepare a full on blog post. Been really busy, too busy, to bother paying attention to the priorities in my life lower down on the list (sorry, but this is definitely nowhere near the top). School has kept me busy enough this quarter, and a lil' someone (the same lil' someone who thought this design needed more cock) has been occupying more of my time.

Anywho, I paid my eldest sister a visit about a week ago, wearing one of my t-shirts (with a design I've yet to blog about) so the conversation headed in that direction and I was reminded that I had promised my nephew one. Specifically the [...] t-shirt, which was one of my very first ideas (and the first I attempted, before realizing that it didn't fall within the strict standards for vector designs on Spreadshirt). So, with that brought to my attention (I have a hard time with letting kids down) I've rededicated myself to getting the design to work, so that I can get him the t-shirt that I promised!

My sleep cycle is thoroughly fucked at the moment (thanks to the same aforementioned things that have been keeping me occupied), so I planned to come home and pass out, last night after class, but instead I sat and started roughing out some ideas on paper. I felt like I had it down, after 7 or 8 sketches, so I got it scanned, digitized, and dropped into Photoshop for a quick crop of the specific rough that I wanted to work on top of, in Illustrator. And then...something happened.

Basically, I'd recently updated my touchpad (Yes, I'm seriously working off of a laptop touchpad. Will purchase my own tablet later) driver, and it reset all of my settings, so I went through, quickly, and set everything as it was before (I HATE IT when a touchpad can be used to click. I cannot stand that!). Or, so I thought.

So, with the freshly cropped image dropped into Illustrator to work over, I zoomed in and attempted to move the image around to survey the landscape and get a good idea for how I would do this, and to find a good spot to start off on....but it wasn't moving. Now, I don't like having to press "H" to choose the "Hand tool". I prefer having whatever tool it is that I'm using and holding the space bar to quickly switch it to the hand tool, and then letting go of the space bar when I'm done to have it revert back to my previous tool. But when I would go about it in that manner, it wasn't working. Holding the space bar caused the pointer to freeze in place. I fought with it for a while, going through tool settings to try to resolve the issue myself among other things, to no avail. So after much frustration I gave Adobe a call...

WELL...after a total of 63 minutes and 27 seconds (I wish I was lying, this is so embarrassing), the nice Adobe support specialist, after telling me shut down Illustrator and having me attempt to move the mouse around while holding down any  key, and making me realize that it wasn't the program, kindly directed me to call my computer's manufacturer, as this seemed like an issue with the computer itself, completely unrelated to Illustrator. Well, after 32 minutes on the phone with them, I learned about a little option, called "TouchCheck" (something I'm sure Bobby Boucher's mother would rightly refer to as The Devil), which locks the pointer from being moved while any key is held down. Yep... That's all it was. Nice, huh? By the time I got done with all of that being put on hold, troubleshooting, and direct-connecting through the internet I was freaking done, so I called it a night.

Still, I'm kinda excited about getting this design done. It will actually be my first (public, these don't count!) spider design, and with a shop named "Tarantulas" I probably need about 20 more of those!

(*reads back over blog*...)

Wwww-OW! Some much for that "quick update", huh? That's why I gotta try to stay off of these rants that I jump into. It's not good, in the interest of time. Well, that's about as much as I should have written for that one. So with that, I leave you. Carry on.

J, out

"Beautiful Strokes"

(I just like that name, I don't know why...)

So I just upgraded to CS5 last night, but I've been too busy to try playing with any of these new things yet. My school is still on CS4, and was on CS3 when I started there in the Summer of '08. I can't say I ever took the time to learn what was new from CS3 to CS4, but I'm taking a little more care to find out about some of these things now. I figure knowing about these could open the door to many new possibilities in my head, at the least, and with just about everything I do starting there, that would be optimal.

I still remember how my imagination exploded with ideas and possibilities when I first learned about and began to understand the concept of "layers". It may sound silly, but I didn't sleep much that night. My mind just kept cranking out idea after idea after idea and I couldn't get it to shut up!

Folk who know how I go about creating digital art (which, admittedly, I don't create enough of and working within the restrictions of Spreadshirt greatly tones down some of these ideas I have. BUT!...that stuff is for a later time) know I'm BIG on layers. Like...BIG! They just make things so much easier! But...I'll leave it there. I gotta watch myself, lest I got off on some random rant. I don't really have time for that today. I'll try to drop by soon to post some more t-shirt design process blogs. But until then, feel free to visit my designer profile and look through my shop and designs from there. Y'all carry on now...

J, out.

LYPHE

(Also known as "life")

So!...things like school (and the beach, and drinking fishbowls full of alcoholic beverages, and discussing art with friends) have kept me more that just a little busy these past few weeks.

(*checking out when my last post was made*)

Holy Hindu cows! June 30th, huh? (*cringe*) O.K. so maybe it's been a little more than just a few weeks. But, what can I say? I like for these design posts to be nice, clean, and well put together. So while I could just drop in, post a bunch of images and say "There ya go!" it would be incongruent with my M.O. Half ass-ing (stuff I'm into) is definitely not my thing.

You could say that I've gone a bit art heavy on my chosen courses this school quarter, so I will be busier with that stuff regardless. But also, the first few weeks are busier to boot. It's the time when I have to make several adjustments to my schedule, acquire books and supplies, and get my mind in the game.

So with all out there, I think it's safe to say that I won't be making any significant posts for at least a few more weeks. I don't like leaving a two part post all alone by itself like that, but it is what it is!

Still, there are new designs available beyond what I have featured in this blog, so feel free to check out my Spreadshirt designer profile, or my designer shop, for peeks at those. I know, I know! The designs are not as pleasing to view in their small size on there (which is kind of the whole point of this blog!), but it'll have to do in the meantime. That's about all I had for that. I have a lot of drawing to do for class! So, until next time, carry on!


J, out!

A Few Thoughts

I like to sit down to re-read through my posts a few days after I've written them. It gives me a "fresh eyes" kind of perspective, and I am able to catch little mistakes or to cut some stuff out (for the sake of brevity). I noticed something different though...

I stated in my first blog that I would do my best to either explain any of the jargon that I might use, or to leave it out all together if possible. With that in mind though, some "jargon" is necessary for the sake of brevity. For example, when concerned with brevity, "slide" is better than "that top, long, horizontal piece of metal that moves back and forth to aid in the ejecting of spent bullet casings and in the feeding of fresh rounds into the chamber of the barrel".... See?

I mean, I know not everyone reading this will know what the Hell I'm talking about when I'm describing gun parts, and I don't expect them to. I don't expect that very many of you would know how to take an M16A2 service rifle apart and put it back together in seconds while blindfolded (I'm mentioning that, of course, because I could). Not very many of you visiting what is, essentially, an art blog will know your way around firearms. So with that in mind, I put the following together:

(Click image for larger view)

I put this together for the sake of brevity, readability, and understandability in my Reload! 2.0 and Reload! 1.0 blog post. It contains just about everything essential to cosmetically describing a 1911 type pistol. So if you go back and read those, you'll notice that I've edited this image into them. This should allow me to cut some of extra fat off from the sides.

In other news! I was speaking with a friend of mine recently and he was telling me that he's interest in acquiring a Beretta 92fs. The 92 is basically the civilian version of the M9 which, if you didn't know, is the current standard issue service pistol of the U.S. Military's conventional units. The switch from the M1911A1 to the M9 is considered controversial to some (I know some old timers that still think the M9 is shit and that it was a mistake downgrading from the .45 caliber round to the 9mm), but that's a discussion for a whole different day!

My interest in my friend's interest in acquiring a 92fs is that I want to do my next "RELOAD!" designs based on the M9. I personally never cared for the M9 while I was in either, but I know a lot of folk who like it plenty (*cough!* probably because they've never held a 1911 *cough!*). If he owned one himself, I could get some great reference photos to match my vision as much as virtually possible!

...I have a funny story, related to this. So, several years ago I convinced this same friend to buy "Super Dragon Ball Z". He wasn't interested, and felt disappointed enough about most attempts made to turn DBZ into a solid fighting game not to want to try it, but I persisted! "Dude, it's from the makers of Street Fighter II! How could they mess it up?!" Well, he gave in, we drove to Wal-mart, picked it up, went back to his place, booted it up and.....an hour later we were at Gamestop trading it in because Wal-mart wouldn't give him a refund.

So, with that bit of history on my mind, I feel a little guilty when I consider egging him onto buying a 92fs of his own (when I wouldn't buy one myself). An alternative is renting one to shoot at a local gun range and taking pictures of it there, on the low (they don't "allow" photography there, and the shooting area doesn't have the best lighting in the world, so it's an undesirable alternative). The third alternative is searching for some good images online, but if my search results for the prior two "RELOAD!" projects were any indication, that will take me a few days and the results might not be worth it (no offense, but gun owners make really bad photographers).

Man...having a consciousness sucks sometimes! Well, that's all I had for that one, I suppose. Don't forget to swing by my shop sometime! New designs will keep popping in, unannounced, until I can catch my blogs up. So, until next time, carry on.

J, out...

Like I Cracked My Head Open, and Ideas Are Spilling All Over the Place

(that's gonna leave a stain...)

This is kind of funny. You might not be aware of this, but I've been trying really hard to catch my blogs up with the designs that I have made. Like, I want all of my designs to have a coinciding post of their own, y'know? I've been getting around to that, but there is a phenomenon that has occurred now that I have free time in my warm little hands; I've received an influx of creativity and the motivation to do something about it.

Just last night I ended up creating a new "Backstabber" design, another all new design, and by midnight I had revised and tweaked the KA-BAR Backstabber design! What does that all mean? Simply put, that I'm churning out designs faster than I am posting blogs to detail their conceptions and gestations. Of course, if you faulted me, a visually creative person, for this, I would disagree with you in a strongly worded fashion. But, still, I feel like at least some sort of explanation is needed. Why?

Because my designer shop is open for business! Now, any design that I have available there is, more or less, open to public viewing. I guess you could say that I like to give everything a little bit of context, lest I feel a bit naked. But feel free to peruse all you wish, and keep an eye out for any additions. Meanwhile, I'll continue my efforts to get my posts caught up to my designs. Until next time, carry on.

J, out!