III – The End Complete

II – Radio Bye Bye

I – The Fall of House Atlantic

Mother Superior

Justice in Murder

Gravemakers and Gunslingers

I fucking hate color theory.

These past few pieces, as some astute readers may have noticed, all revolve around the latest coheed and cambria album.  A tutorial I read advised artists looking for their own styles to interpret songs that they liked.  I took it a step further by trying to interpret all the songs in an album, and giving myself the added task of finishing each artwork in less than an hour.  I’ve been spending so much time on things that took days on end, and I wanted to cut loose.  Unfortunayely this results in very poor output.

But I think I’m learning, or at least I’m forcing myself to think about certain things like layout and color theory that I didn’t really pay attention to before.

I fucking hate color theory.

Feathers

The Hound (of blood and rank)

No World For Tomorrow

The Running Free

The Reaping

Space Suit Martian Man

Experimented with pure paint today.  It’s not for me.  I really need my line art.  I may go back to this someday but right now I just like working with line art. I gave up on this after a few hours.

The space suit is based on the Estafandra Estranautica, and the gun from the Russian TP-82 space gun.

Steampunk City

Al Jazeera

I’ve taken to watching Al-Jazeera lately, and have been surprised at just how good their programs are.  I like the fact that they offer a slightly different perspective than CNN, the BBC, and *shudder* Fox news.

Steampunk Barbero v2

I wanted to finish this to get it out of the way and work on some new things.  Definitely needs a lot more polish, the colors I chose were kind of shit, and the basic drawing has some flaws in its posture.  Still, it’s time to move on.  Original drawing here.

The Art of

It’s surprisingly hard totrack down “The Art of” books.  These are books that detail the creation of a movie or animated film, from rough sketches to polished concept art to the final cell/image.  I’ve been interested with them ever since finishing “Dream Worlds” by Hans Bacher, and have been itching to get my hands on a new one to study.  Fully Booked at Bonifacio High Street had a good selection of film-based “Art of” books, but I was more interested in the animated ones like the Art of Kung-Fu Panda/Wall-e/Robots/The Invincibles.  I finally went home with a copy of The art and making of Star Wars: The Force unleashed, which appealed to me because a) I’m a Star Wars nerd and b) I’m looking to advance myself in the videogame industry.

So far the book’s been pretty awesome, and the amount of detail that goes into describing each concept art is mind boggling.  My one complaint with Dream Worlds was that Bacher could be very vague with describing certain things, so this is definitely a plus for me.  If you can get over the Hayden Christensen foreword and the ridiculously placed Trading cards (glued onto certain pages of the book), this is well worth the 1258 pesos.

The Junior Partner

There are days when I feel like the Mussolini to my more accomplished friends’ Hitler.  The Pippen to their Jordan, the Daffy Duck to their Bugs Bunny.  Case in point is my friend Chester Ocampo.  While talking to a fellow artist friend I mentioned Chester’s name and he said something like “ah oo kilala yun!” (oh yeah, he’s well well known), and now I find out that he’s broken into the comics biz with Freedom Formula #1.

What makes Chester even more awesome is that he does no marketing of any sort.  I mean, he’s not blatant about it like some other artists and media personalities are.  He’s just that good.  his art speaks for itself, as should any great artists’ work.

Off topic, I’ve never heard of Radical Comics before, but they have some very interesting titles.  I’ll have to ask local comic shops if they stock them.  I hope they do trades though, because I hate collecting singles.

Self-inflicted hickey

I have the bad habit of sucking the air out of Yakult bottles to that they stick to my lips.  Unfortunately, when I did that yesterday it seems like I sucked so much air out of the bottle that the intense vacuum created left a hickey on my upper lip.  True story.

Syndeo’s Toys and Twuzzer at the Olympics for you

Are you too poor to go to the Olympics?  Too lazy to get off your chair to stumble into the living room to watch non-stop 24 hour live Olympic coverage?  Fear not, computer chair sports fans, twuzzer is here to save the day!  Twuzzer aggregates Flickr and Twitter data pertaining to the Olympics to give you up to the minute Olympics pictures and thoughts from the man on the street.

If you dig it, you an also check out Syndeolabs’ other toys like Octales (Real-time Collaborative Storytelling), Highfiber (Everything & Nothing, 24/7), Infinitube (Non-stop YouTube videos) and Guerilla (MP3 Hunter/Gatherer).

Indigo Prophecy on the cheap in datablitz

I picked up Indigo Prophecy for the PC for the ridiculously low price of 395 Pesos in datablitz megamall.  It looks like a rereleased copy under the “originals” label, but it’s still legit and a steal at that price.  Anyone who’s looking for a more mature, suspense/horror driven game should definitely pick this title up s it’s gotten terrific reviews.

Sexy Katana

I’m obviously not working very hard at these titles.  3 hours-ish Photoshop.

You don’t mess with the Zohatow

Fans of Judd Apatow who happen to walk into a screening of Zohan will be pleased that his writing makes the latest Adam Sandler vehicle just a little sharper than usual.  Also, people who know anything about world news, American politics, and tennis from the 80s (hello gaza strip, tapping Laura Bush, and John McEnroe!) will have a little extra something to enjoy.  I’m still a little embarassed/pleased that Aissa and I were the only ones in the cinema laughing at those moments.

Also, the Sulu is gay joke kinda flew over people’s heads.

Update: Dave Matthews is in the movie, as James.  No idea who that is, but I’m betting it’s one of the rednecks.

Sexy Chinese Spy

Not quite sure if this is ready yet, but I’m sufficiently proud of it to post it here.  4 hours-ish on photoshop.

Big Think: Like youtube for smart people

If the idiocy on youtube ever gets to you, bigthink is here to save the day.  It’s basically a bunch of talking heads musing about things like politics, art, media, and any other thing that doesn’t involve a man getting his balls kicked or a cat with a caption.

Philippine Gaming Journalism

“How many game developers do you left the country to work offshore?”

RangefinderFilipinas Closure

I’ve spent far too much time on this and stressed out too much over the perceptions of people who I will probably never see again.  I can’t help it.  I hate being painted as a controversy-whore.  Consider this my last statement on the matter.  I think I’ve fleshed out everything I have or need to say, and continuing this converstation can only be detrimental to my health.

If you are from RF and felt offended by what I said, I apologize for your hurt feelings.  I was merely reacting to what I thought was ridiculous and immature behaviour by people that I respected.  I held you to a higher standard, and I am always disappointed when people fail those standards.  I will not, however, apologize for seeking to start a discourse on a site which claims to be open to discussion.  I will not apologize for blogging about what I felt was crude and dismissive behaviour (ie banning me and leaving a flip remark instead of taking the time to talk to me).

I have a fucking life to live, and pieces of software that keep refusing to work (God damn you photoshop CS3, god damn you to hell).  If you’re gonna comment here at least try to make it original and for the love of god please man(or woman, as the case may be) the fuck up and use your real fucking names.

RangefinderFilipinas update

I thought I’d post my reply to the admin’s letter, and his reply to that as well, just to give things some closure.

Me:

Admin,

I was trying to open a discussion, as RFF claims to be fond of.  How was I supposed to close the door when I left the room exactly?  I wasn’t looking for a fight, or to draw attention to myself.  For christ’s sake I’ve a life off of the internet.  I didn’t know one had to speak to the Admins before posting a topic in an area of the forum where it says “when you feel you’re off topic already” or something like that.  I felt it was an issue that the whole group could discuss, and thus the topic.

I meant every single thing I said.  If you’d left the post open and not banned me, I would have looked at all the replies and taken everything with a grain of salt.  I wouldn’t have fought anyone.  The fact of the matter is that I saw something I was uncomfortable with, and I voiced it, thinking that this was a community where one is allowed to speak his mind.  I feel like if I was someone who’d been with the group longer, or a higher level member, that my views would have been taken more seriously.  I tried to explain my views in the most non aggressive manner in order to show that I wasn’t having a hissy fit, but I guess this didn’t work out.  In the end, perception does matter more than fact.

Thank you for taking the time to write to me and informing me why I’ve been banned.  I must confess the rather abrupt banning with no explanation disappointed me.  I really would have preferred a more mature discussion to have evolved from that post, but if that’s how the group feels, then I guess that’s all there is to it.  Thanks, and good luck with the forum (and no, I’m not being sarcastic when I say this).

Sincerely,
Ryan Sumo

Admin:

Ryan,

After 3 hours there was no replies!

After the shit fight last week nobody wanted to comment.

I seen your blog post on http://geekofalltrades.wordpress.com/

So I was as immature as you describe and deleted your account and your post.

Goodbye.

Me:

Admin,

Yes, I blogged about it.  I really wasn’t trying to hide it.  Do feel free to comment on the post whenever you feel up to it.  I promise I won’t ignore you or delete your comment.

Have a nice day!
Ryan

Well, that’s that I guess.

…

I suppose if I joined an MMA forum this might have ended up a bloodier affair.  As it is, I suppose the worst thing they could do to me is shoot my profile in the worst possible light known to man.

RangefinderFilipinas: The one and only Exclusive classic photography club in the Philippines

I used to be a member of RFF.  Well, I was a lurker on their forums who posted every now and then.  I thought I’d found a community where people with an interest in cameras could come together to discuss their love of old and functioning equipment.  Apparently I’d stumbled into an exclusive camera club that insists that you follow their rules or risk being banned.

I had merely written a letter to them, asking that they tone down their disdain of lomophiles.  I dislike lomo myself, and everything it stands for.   However, the way they were dealing with it belied any maturity on their part.  In one case, someone from lomo manila had joined under a pseudonym, and once the jig was up, they pounced on the poor fucker and made his username read “homolomo something or other”.  Sure he was a douchebag, but the way they dealt with it made them look like bigger douchebags for it.

They claimed they were open for discussion, so I wrote an open letter telling them how I felt about what they were doing.  I said that the way they were dealing with things was rather immature, and that they had a way of condescending towards newer members.  I told them that if they wanted an exclusive club, then they shouldn’t open the forum up to members.

So they banned me.

I imagine them patting themselves on the back and saying “well, you asked for it! Haha! High 5!” They left me with a lame parting message to boot:

Sorry Ryan Sumo, you are banned from using this forum!
At times like this the Japanese would fall on there(sic) sword but self deletion of accounts is not available anymore. So once you’ve read this, say Bye bye!

Christ, the immaturity level of people still amazes me at times.  It always irks me when people don’t bother to back up their actions with reason and logic, so maybe it’s best I wasn’t involved with them anyway.

Update: I have been sent a letter by the admin of rangefinderFilipinas, explaining why he banned me.  In it, he calims that I sounded like a lomomanila brat having a hissy fit.  I wish I could post my original letter, but since the thread has been locked and I’e been banned, I see no way for me to obtain a copy.  The following is the admin’s letter:

Ryan,

Let me get one thing straight, your post is unwelcome and consequently
I banned you so that another fight would not break out.

If you felt that way you should not have made a public statement
without first speaking to the Admins. If after you feel that it gave
you no satisfaction or you didn’t get your point across or you welt
you were still treated in the infantile manner you refer to in your
post then fine, you could have posted that and closed the door as you
left the room.

But, somehow I feel you are trying to draw attention to yourself, like
those spoilt children from Lomomanila your having a hissy fit and want
some attention.

You say you have thick skin but your post doesn’t not show this. Try
the Rangefinder Forum or APUG or DPR. There most fools don’t get to
make a second post and are eaten alive by the old twisted vultures
just waiting for some foolish comment or question to be asked. Here we
are actually quite civil though we do have an edge.

An edge that you know nothing about as you don’t know the history
between Lomomanila and the old TKP/RF Yahoo mailing list.

So in that aspect your post is a bit miss informed.

One guy has PM’d me to say you have some (SOME) valid points and he’s
been around long enough to know the history. However I had 10 other
people telling me to get rid off you.

Your post could not have come at a worse time, I don’t want anymore
fighting on this board. Thats why for now you are banned so that this
does not build into another full scale battle.

Rangefinder Filipinas

I’d make jokes here about the spelling of certain words, but maybe it’s best I do that stuff offline.