Sorta...-Mike
12.09.2010
Sketchy
Here's a fun samurai design...
And did I steal this layout from a movie poster or something? Someone call me on it. I recognize it's pretty cliché imagery, but still...
Oh, and a free Rooftops Recordings CD to the first person who tells me which movie I happened to be watching when I scribbled out this gem:
???
-Mike
And did I steal this layout from a movie poster or something? Someone call me on it. I recognize it's pretty cliché imagery, but still... 
Oh, and a free Rooftops Recordings CD to the first person who tells me which movie I happened to be watching when I scribbled out this gem:
???
-Mike
More old sketches
Had some fun looking through old sketchbooks recently. Here are three pen & ink sketches from Vincent's in Worcester. Nothing incredibly special about these images, now that I really think about it. Pure nostalgia. I used to visit the bar on a semi-regular basis and just sit there and draw, and have a meatball sandwich. Good times.
-Mike
10.25.2010
Rooftop Recordings on sale now!
Purchase Rooftop Recordings here
You must click "Calculate Shipping" to proceed to checkout. Enjoy!
-Mike
You must click "Calculate Shipping" to proceed to checkout. Enjoy!
-Mike
10.20.2010
Rooftop Recordings Update
Only a few days left until the Rooftop Recording's Release Party at Nick's Worcester! Getting pretty excited for it already, as people's interest seems to be gaining. Nothing outrageous, but something good seems to be happening. There will be an article about the Rooftops out in the upcoming issue of WoMag, and next month there will be a feature in Pulse Magazine. WCHC 88.1 should have a few tracks in their rotation at this point, and there might even be a radio interview in our future. Just wanted to post some photos of the CD case itself, and assure readers that they WILL be able to buy a CD through this blog if they can't make it to the release party! Come back to McNemesis.com for that page on the morning of Monday, the 25th of October. Anyway, here are some images from the CD case itself:
So again that's Nick's Restaurant & Bar, 124 Millbury St., Worcester, October 24th, at 7pm. The line-up should be pretty impressive, featuring the following performers: Scott Ricciuti, Nicole Langlois, Roger Lavallee, Niki Luparelli, Dan Burke, Todd Rawley, Israel Saldana, Ari Charbonneau, Bryan Bedard and Julius Jones. Still hopeful, but not confirmed are Andy Cummings and Stu Pynn. How could it be a bad night?
-Mike
So again that's Nick's Restaurant & Bar, 124 Millbury St., Worcester, October 24th, at 7pm. The line-up should be pretty impressive, featuring the following performers: Scott Ricciuti, Nicole Langlois, Roger Lavallee, Niki Luparelli, Dan Burke, Todd Rawley, Israel Saldana, Ari Charbonneau, Bryan Bedard and Julius Jones. Still hopeful, but not confirmed are Andy Cummings and Stu Pynn. How could it be a bad night?
-Mike
9.23.2010
Rooftop Recordings pt. 2 : Flyers
Here are a few promos I'm working on for the Rooftop Recordings release. Ahh, alliteration... Here ya go:
So far, so good? I thought this one was nice as a digital fake of what appears to be a double-exposure. While it's kind of interesting, I still have issues with it. It somewhat gives the impression that multiple recordings for this project might have been going on at the same time on separate rooftops... which was clearly not the case. That or Dan Burke's gigantic apparition is somehow haunting another musician...
And here are two in color, planning to do them in larger format and posting them up around Worcester. Still not at %100 but I think I like them. At this point I'm beginning to lose perspective and need to take a break! The subtlest of changes start to seem important, and I'm just nudging blocks of text around an image anyway. First one is of Stu:
And then there's this one of Scott and Nicole, not really different in layout:
Keeping info on the project to a minimum for the moment, thinking of adding information to promos as the date gets closer. All photos courtesy of Jonathan K. Sun. That's it for now!
-Mike
So far, so good? I thought this one was nice as a digital fake of what appears to be a double-exposure. While it's kind of interesting, I still have issues with it. It somewhat gives the impression that multiple recordings for this project might have been going on at the same time on separate rooftops... which was clearly not the case. That or Dan Burke's gigantic apparition is somehow haunting another musician...
And here are two in color, planning to do them in larger format and posting them up around Worcester. Still not at %100 but I think I like them. At this point I'm beginning to lose perspective and need to take a break! The subtlest of changes start to seem important, and I'm just nudging blocks of text around an image anyway. First one is of Stu:
And then there's this one of Scott and Nicole, not really different in layout:
Keeping info on the project to a minimum for the moment, thinking of adding information to promos as the date gets closer. All photos courtesy of Jonathan K. Sun. That's it for now!-Mike
9.15.2010
Rooftop Recordings pt. 1
A lot of people are probably still unaware of the existence of this project. Not posting any sound files yet, just wanted to show off a couple of behind-the-scenes photos taken during recording and contributed by my good friend, Jon Sun. (click on the title of this post to jump to Jon's flickr page)
This one was ultimately cropped and turned into the disc cover. I like how it almost appears as though you can see the curvature of the earth in it. Seems like it was a combination of a fish eye lens or just the shape of the hill that gave it that effect, Jon?
Well, for some reason Blogger's not cooperating this morning. At all. I plan to do more posts about this subject, soon, so I'll just have to leave it as this for now.
-Mike
This one was ultimately cropped and turned into the disc cover. I like how it almost appears as though you can see the curvature of the earth in it. Seems like it was a combination of a fish eye lens or just the shape of the hill that gave it that effect, Jon?
Well, for some reason Blogger's not cooperating this morning. At all. I plan to do more posts about this subject, soon, so I'll just have to leave it as this for now.
-Mike
9.06.2010
Alien sketches
Finally working on the comic I did these preliminary sketches for, things are moving right along for a change and I just wanted to put these up. It was necessary to me that this time around I don't wind up designing background characters while drawing the page. It's easier to just grab a few ideas from a sketchbook and drop them in rather than making myself come up with them on the spot. I suppose these guys have more of a star wars / men-in-black feel than I was going for, and even though the main characters are all human (pretty much) I just wanted to be sure that crowd shots in the book have an otherworldly feel.
You may notice that occasionally my sketches talk to me. Don't be alarmed.
Hey now, weird tentacle-headed-flip-flop-and-sundress-wearing-blob-lady! Settle down!
-Mike
You may notice that occasionally my sketches talk to me. Don't be alarmed.
Hey now, weird tentacle-headed-flip-flop-and-sundress-wearing-blob-lady! Settle down!
-Mike
9.02.2010
What's this?? Two posts in one day?
Still looking at some design stuff! Here are some logos from my time at Pagio Inc.:
(also that top one is for Image Production Services, Worcester, MA)
It's sort of funny to see how my penchant for comic art forces its way into my design process. Rather than attempting to collage things together, it tends to make more sense to me to just lay them out like panels:
Not very funny. Just sorta.
(also that top one is for Image Production Services, Worcester, MA)It's sort of funny to see how my penchant for comic art forces its way into my design process. Rather than attempting to collage things together, it tends to make more sense to me to just lay them out like panels:
Not very funny. Just sorta.
Worcester Movies Weekly
Well, it's been a while since I posted something on McNemesis... Going through my back-up drive and a few old graphic design projects, I realized how much fun I had working on Worcester Movies, an ill-fated 8-pager put out by Pagio Inc. (publishers of the Pulse Magazine) which, after six or so months, just didn't garner enough advertising sales to support it.
Not sure if that really gives the full effect of it, but there it is! Head writer and driving force behind the project was Rob Newton, whose knack for movie-title puns rivals my own.
Not sure if that really gives the full effect of it, but there it is! Head writer and driving force behind the project was Rob Newton, whose knack for movie-title puns rivals my own.
2.09.2010
Dr. Gonzo's Wild Beaver Rub
Here's another wacky/fun project! "Dr. Gonzo," of Dr. Gonzo's Uncommon Condiments, Worcester, Ma., (click title of this post for a link to his site) contacted me to do a tee-shirt design to celebrate the release of another one of his uncommon condiments. In this case, he'd been developing something called a "Wild Beaver Rub" and wanted some art that might also make sense as a product label. For some reason, I figured he wanted something that straddled the line between tasteful and tawdry, which people wouldn't be ashamed to wear around town. Below are some examples of things I sketched out for him before arriving at what we ultimately used:
As you can see, I wasn't quite sure which one of these would hit the right note for this client. But then again, my process for a project like this is seldom a straight shot. Simple graphic? Cartoon? Detailed pen & ink? What's the printing process involve, how detailed can you get, anyway? I just showed the good doctor everything and let his apparent reaction decide a winner. That, infused with the good sense of humor of my friend, Derek Ring (a talented illustrator also from Worcester), plus Dr. Gonzo's original tagline, "Every wild beaver needs a good rub," We wound up with this for a final:
I think it looks pretty good! Currently working towards (eventually) doing one of the other sketches as a limited edition print, but these tee-shirts are currently available at Dr. Gonzo's Spicy Comestible Emporium, located on Main St., Worcester, not too far from the Armsby Abbey.
Speaking of the Armsby Abbey, and to wrap up this post, here's a promotional illustration I did for them prior to their opening. A drawing selected from their primary round of sketches (pats self on back).
-Kung Fu Mike
As you can see, I wasn't quite sure which one of these would hit the right note for this client. But then again, my process for a project like this is seldom a straight shot. Simple graphic? Cartoon? Detailed pen & ink? What's the printing process involve, how detailed can you get, anyway? I just showed the good doctor everything and let his apparent reaction decide a winner. That, infused with the good sense of humor of my friend, Derek Ring (a talented illustrator also from Worcester), plus Dr. Gonzo's original tagline, "Every wild beaver needs a good rub," We wound up with this for a final:
I think it looks pretty good! Currently working towards (eventually) doing one of the other sketches as a limited edition print, but these tee-shirts are currently available at Dr. Gonzo's Spicy Comestible Emporium, located on Main St., Worcester, not too far from the Armsby Abbey.
Speaking of the Armsby Abbey, and to wrap up this post, here's a promotional illustration I did for them prior to their opening. A drawing selected from their primary round of sketches (pats self on back).
-Kung Fu Mike
2.05.2010
I, Zombie part 2
Hmm... So, after posting the first half yesterday I found out that last summer Vertigo (DC) put out a book called I, Zombie. I guess it's not that interesting of a title, either. *sigh* Oh well. In any case because I'm not quite sure what to write about today of the high demand for closure to the compelling story, here's the rest of my 24 hour comic for all you readers waiting with bated breath. I love serials!
I haven't done a 24 hour comic since this, but it was a great time. My drawing hand was quite cramped by the end, and I faintly remember having a tough time writing dialogue (last step in the process) by the time I got there. A lot of the quips I'd thought of early on in the process were completely lost by the end, and had been sapped of a lot of their gusto when my poor, tired brain tried to arrange words in any way clever. Must've been all of those marker fumes.
I like some of the layouts (i.e. the demise of the main character's wife leading up to the BLAM! on page 15) and felt like I was doing a pretty good job telling a story when a visitor to the event read what I'd drawn up to at one point (page 9) asked me, "where's he going!?" in a way that seemed genuinely interested.
The entirely black page in the middle was not only a good way to get an extra page done, but a nod to Frank Miller's story telling trick to showing the reader a passage of time, or a character slowly coming back to consciousness.
The twist of the story (if you can call it that) is that the zombie character isn't really trying to save humanity at all, and that despite being a re-animated corpse, he's still driven by base human (in this case sexual) desires and due to the breakdown of society in a post-apocalyptic world, he's acting it out in a more caveman kind of way (knocking the girl unconscious and dragging her to his "cave"). The readers are supposed to put this together because of those images of the mercenary girl strapped to the table, close up of her biting her lip, et cetera. Also, when the other surviving member of the apocalypse, Chet, barges in on the two of them at the lab, the zombie was supposed to say, "it's not what it looks like!" as though he'd been caught having an actual romantic affair, not as though he was a zombie about to eat a human. Stupid marker fumes.
Anyway, the resolution to the story (if you can call it that) is that the scientist winds up trapped in his own mind... trapping the truth behind his own intentions moreso than the solution to saving humanity, as he persists. Too heavy? Yeah, a little. But this is what happens when you let geeks read philosophy!
Special thanks to Vincent Price, and whoever wrote The Last Man On Earth, which was the initial inspiration for the comic, not The Omega Man, I Am Legend or, of course, Fangoria's I, Zombie.
-Kung Fu Mike
I haven't done a 24 hour comic since this, but it was a great time. My drawing hand was quite cramped by the end, and I faintly remember having a tough time writing dialogue (last step in the process) by the time I got there. A lot of the quips I'd thought of early on in the process were completely lost by the end, and had been sapped of a lot of their gusto when my poor, tired brain tried to arrange words in any way clever. Must've been all of those marker fumes.
I like some of the layouts (i.e. the demise of the main character's wife leading up to the BLAM! on page 15) and felt like I was doing a pretty good job telling a story when a visitor to the event read what I'd drawn up to at one point (page 9) asked me, "where's he going!?" in a way that seemed genuinely interested.
The entirely black page in the middle was not only a good way to get an extra page done, but a nod to Frank Miller's story telling trick to showing the reader a passage of time, or a character slowly coming back to consciousness.
The twist of the story (if you can call it that) is that the zombie character isn't really trying to save humanity at all, and that despite being a re-animated corpse, he's still driven by base human (in this case sexual) desires and due to the breakdown of society in a post-apocalyptic world, he's acting it out in a more caveman kind of way (knocking the girl unconscious and dragging her to his "cave"). The readers are supposed to put this together because of those images of the mercenary girl strapped to the table, close up of her biting her lip, et cetera. Also, when the other surviving member of the apocalypse, Chet, barges in on the two of them at the lab, the zombie was supposed to say, "it's not what it looks like!" as though he'd been caught having an actual romantic affair, not as though he was a zombie about to eat a human. Stupid marker fumes.
Anyway, the resolution to the story (if you can call it that) is that the scientist winds up trapped in his own mind... trapping the truth behind his own intentions moreso than the solution to saving humanity, as he persists. Too heavy? Yeah, a little. But this is what happens when you let geeks read philosophy!
Special thanks to Vincent Price, and whoever wrote The Last Man On Earth, which was the initial inspiration for the comic, not The Omega Man, I Am Legend or, of course, Fangoria's I, Zombie.
-Kung Fu Mike
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