Hittin’it Old School!

Well it’s been busy getting back to work, hitting the ground running and trying not to trip! Things are going pretty well, even though we nearly killed ourselves re-skinning the site, I feel pretty refreshed and am excited to get back to a normal schedule. I haven’t had too much time to fill the moleskin these days though. That’s one thing I will find a way to squeeze back into life. I picked it up this morning and was re-inspired to hit the ink again and see what not having “undo” can unleash! I’m back to being scared.

On another note, I’m about to submit this snapshot I took this weekend of our dear friend Thorndyke for the contest! Without any other postings of him on the flickr site, I think I’m gonna win! Who’s gonna stop me? Let’s see ‘em!

Thorndyke Photo Contest!

We hope you guys have had a chance to peruse the site and check out all the new nooks and crannies. Over in the updated Extras page, we have our first paper toy, Thorndyke. He’s your typical maniacally motivated desk mate dead set on eating the pens and post-it pads from your desk…so when they go missing, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

As a little incentive to see just how crafty all you CreatureBoxers are out there, we wanted to throw out a little contest. We want to see just where in the world our boy Thorndyke can end up. If you have the gumption to build yourself your own personal Thorndyke, take a picture of him in the craziest place you can think of and upload it to our Throndyke Flickr page (if you don’t have an account and want to play, go to the Flickr main page and set up an account).

On February 28th, 2010 we’re gonna narrow the submission to our favorite 5 photos and post them up on the site for everyone to take one last gander at. We’ll have a vote, we’ll all pick the best together family style. And there will be prizes, oh yes.

Prizes

1st place receives an original drawing by both Dave and I for your refrigerator.

2nd place receives 2 mini prints from the CreatureBox archives.

3rd place will receive a signed copy of 2009’s sold out Palindrone Robot Supply book from our personal stash.

Sound good? Get them scissors out and get crackin’! And no eating the glue guys.

RustBucket & Rose: Episode 1

RustBucket & Rose has been banging around inside my head for going on 8 months now. It’s one of those match ups that just creates itself. I had a lot of fun coming up with all the possible shenanigans these two could get into, and even some back story. But when it came to putting a face to them…well, my skills as a character designer really came into question. But with a little perseverance and a self-imposed deadline, they came through. So here they are in their comic debut: RustBucket & Rose!

Messenger

About this time last year I was making my way to the new office here in North Carolina for the first time and was aghast (a descriptive term circa 1920) at the number of deceased animals littering the sides of the road. There were five deer on one road during my 15 minute commute! I immediately imagined the messenger of the woodland critters whose job it was to report the news of the fallen beasts to their loved ones.

Right? I mean, how else would they find out? As the year wore on, the frequency seemed to dissipate to a more typical, dare I say palatable amount of unfortunate critters.

This past week, the phenomenon repeated itself, only this time the final of the fallen beasts had only just departed this existence and I was again aghast at the site of it as was the woman driving the vehicle involved. I was instantly reminded of the messenger and his awful burden of terrible news. I’m not used to it, and I hope to never be. So, this is the Messenger, the forest’s most haunted creature.

StoryTeller 02 & PSCafe Interview

I wanted to continue on with the StoryTeller that I posted earlier. It’s impossible to not imagine some ludicrous back-story when you’re knuckle deep in the drawing. My daughter made me tell her a story off the cuff tonight. It was pretty terrible; she even looked a bit disappointed. But it conjured up all these memories of my parent’s friends telling me wild tales as a kid. If there were moments I could revisit at my will, I think it would be those moments.

I also wanted to throw a little ode to my new kitten who sits on the back of my chair howling incessantly at the escaping sounds of my decrepit headphones. She is very judgmental of my musical taste. I’m big into Pink Floyd right now, she is not.

Photoshop Cafe Interview

On another note: Dave and I were lucky enough to be interviewed over at Photoshop Cafe! For all you hounds looking for a little process, it’s there! But don’t get yourself too worked up; we hold no secrets to the kingdom of great art! But, if anyone finds them, we want!!!

Atonement

I think it’s safe to say that we have the utmost respect for anyone able to handle traditional media and do it with confidence. We were both trained traditionally, but working in a production environment has its demands, and working traditionally is not a good idea. Plus, computers are frickin’ cool!! Then Jake Parker goes and does Inktober! I mean really?! It’s amazing! Practically a call to arms!

So we did some reading, some digging through our old supply drawers and some spending. What we came out with was some Moleskin sketchbooks, a Col-Erase blue pencil and a Pentel Pocket Brush. So fun; absolutely the most fun drawing I’ve had in a long time. I am certainly not giving up digital, but I am addicted to this little brush pen like nothing else. Thank you Jake! Also, a big thanks to Skottie Young for spilling the beans about the brush pen. Nothing says inspiration then feeling that big kick in the ass!

Also…drum roll…We are officially sold out of Thoughts, Scribbles + Madness: Volume 2 and a Propaganda Packs! There is a small stack of Palindrone Robot Supply books left, so get them while they last. But big thanks to all who have supported us and written such great things about this year’s books. If you still want on, Stuart Ng and Labyrinth still have a few left each, but even they said they were running low. On to the next one!!! Don’t tell Dave I said that. He’ll pop.