Armageddon Again!

Had lots to get ready for today, Catching an early morning flight to Melbourne so must be prepared Besides attending Armageddon Expo (I don't like the word expo why cant they just call it a convention like everyone else?) this weekend I'm hoping to catch up with some people and to talk comics with numerous agencies. I doubt I will have a good a time as I did a few months ago at comic-con or even less so as I did last year at the same con. But who knows maybe suprising!

Good news today I spoke to the powers that be about my first comic book cover coming out and it looks like a definite December release only 3 months late but hey it wouldn't be 'Image' if they were on time! The website will finally be online at the same time Until then you have this Blog to stay in contact.

And now heres Something SCARY for Halloween the worst haircut in the world when I actually had hair that is..... Circa 1982. No thats not Cooties on my chin we never found out what it was it appeared then disappeared after the doctor made my mum put Hot salt water on it. Maybe it was a crustacion?
I hope to speak to you all on Hallows Eve!!

A Man Called Matt

I'm back after, a few weeks over on Bruny Island, Just google earth it if you have no idea where it is. Anyway besides having to come back midway to take the dog to the vet I enjoyed my stay even if I would have preferred to be gone for all an eternity.

I've been sorting out some problems I'd been having since returning from the US. Made decisions regarding the future of my career. Its been hard adjusting to the fact I will never be a character designer, never work for a big studio nor make my dreams come true. But I will have to adjust. I have no choice. Deciding what to do next has been even harder. I have no money. My funds have been exausted and I have not much to even live for. I have the Talent, the drive, the charisma but not the Means. But I will try not to get myself down about it.

So I'm gonna do something I've never done before, concentrate on just one certain thing and get it done. I've always wanted to do a complete comic so.....I'm gonna finally do MY graphic novel. I have no money to print it but with the contacts I'm getting in the comics field lately no seriously I was chatting to THE Steve Niles who likes my work just only a few weeks ago! Anyway if its good enough I'll seek a publisher if not no harm done and I'll post it here. As such my planned Logopolis has been backburned because I know this will be all worth it. It has too.

Some Inspiration I recieved recently was Sergio Leones 'Once Upon a Time in The West' I've had the collectors dvd for nearly two years now and never watched it. But I finally gave in and what I saw was an amazing film where characters are Three dimensional and where you really root for the anti-hero. I would happily watch this again and in fact I would dare say this is my favourite western EVER!.

Back a Bit Early!

I returned home a little early, as my dog had to visit the vet. We are not quite sure what the problem is if it continues then he will need to go in for further examination. My dog is my best pal and I really hate it when he gets sick which has happened a few times. He did have his booster shots today and was given some anti-infection medication so I hope it clears him up otherwise another visit next week.

We are going back to Bruny Island for the rest of the week want to finish a few more 'Logopolis' before I leave for Melbourne at the end of next week. Speaking of which expect another halloween themed cartoon next week.

So I will be attending Armageddon Expo next weekend I'm a bit disappointed by the line-up of guests this year not the golden choices they had last year. But who knows might be good to network with more talented artists than I.

Please enjoy the new art more to come soon.

Equal of Art

So there wont be a website for a couple of weeks more, I'm heading off to my Island paradise to do some necessary work in that time and no there wont be any blogging either. I really needed to finish the above artwork which was done for the Lovely mona who was gracious enough to look out for me for the few weeks in LA when I stayed there. Mona is a huge fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and movies and early in the ride theres a painting on the wall in the ghost pirates stage, mona wanted to have one for herself and wished herself in the picture. Disney artist Marc Davis was the designer of the original and I was able to find the color sketch he did for its design. Once I had that I used it as a template and then make my own homage to the great mans work. Mona wants it to go in her garden for Halloween pirate graveyard and I hope she likes it.

On to other stuff, When I went to Comic-Con I got a heap of books, unfortunately between there and LA some were 'mislaid' to be honest I'm not sure if they were stolen or what all I know is I was missing some and I'd rather forget about that part of the Holiday. The Two major books I really wanted to find replacements for were Bill Presings. I had actually brought back over the Rex Steele I had gotten a long time ago just to have him sign it for me.

I had kept one of Bills business cards so I contacted him to see if it was possible to get some replacements. Bill was so nice and understanding, he put aside the two books and I waited until I had enough money to pay for them again. Our Dollar has Dropped due to the latest world finance crisis but I grabbed them before it plummeted even further so I wasn't out of pocket too much.

These art books are so beautifully bound and presented each page is just cover to cover gorgeous cheesecakes. Totally Inspiring! Go Buy your own at his blog billpresing.blogspot.com
I receieved them today in the mail with a few suprises inside some original Bill Presing sketches and I just had to share them with you.
Aye Carumba she is so Beautiful!
Gotta Love Librarians
Scary Godmother was created by Jill Thompson whom I saw only once at Comic-Con but never met her as we were in a hurry for something. Anyway I was talking to my pal martin on saturday and I was discussing how I saw her and Martin had no Idea who she was. I thought maybe he had seen the Scary Godmother movie since he had a child but NOPE!! Actually I hadnt seen it either and as I left Martin that afternoon I headed into the really cheapy store and guess what I found for two bucks!!! Yep I also had no idea there was a sequal either and I now have that too though through other means 'cough' Anyway I'm sure I'm going to enjoy it when I watchit on Bruny Island. Sorry to leave again so soon but well things are ramping up to the big reveal of my Cover for Todds Book. So I'll see you all in a couple of weeks and then I'm off to Melbourne again! Yay!!

Back to the StoneAge

Some of my growing up entailed watching the Flintstones Comedy Hour with Captain Caveman and the Schmoo. So heres my take on the Family that beats the pants off the Simpsons anyday! Bring them Back I say!

So my site isnt up yet but it will be sometime this week. Lots of things going on in my life right now that I dont really want to discuss. Met my friend Martin on Saturday and it was a Blast. Lots of Great emails I recieved on myspace this weekend too thanks to everyone for that!

Upside and Down!!

I need to clear some confusion thats occurred regarding the reasons I went to America. It was a Vacation of sorts I was travelling under a Tourist Visa and the main goal was to go to Comic-Con and see if there were any opportunities for a guy from the backwoods of Tasmania. I succeeded in everything I set out to do, under this visa a Successful Portfolio review and making High End Connections within the industry while staying around in LA and doing Everything I just CANNOT do HERE. I was never going to get a job in the USA at THAT time atleast under those conditions.

Now I am home I am trying to get a work visa to go back and work in the USA which is very problematic especially in this day an age of those 'abnormally gay cave dwelling bin laden terrorist cells' making everything difficult for us EveryMen/Women. Also I dont have a job in the animation field which doesn't help. The thing is I can fly back there Next week if I had a Job so Unless some divine intervention occurs and I get offered something I am stuck here in this corrupt sh*thole. I want to go back to where I felt at home with people just like me back to America!

Onto something nice...... So I'm leaving for Melbourne yet again for the 3rd and final time for this year anyway. At the end of October. Booked a cheap flight as it was only $42 with just carrybags. I haven't booked a return ticket as yet I'll probably stay a couple of weeks before heading back to dullsville Tasmania. So it looks very likely I will be attending the Armageddon Convention yet again this year. I really hope to get some reduced sideshow figures like I got last year. My favorite was the Han Solo in his Bespin outfit it so totally Rocks!
My post yesterday needs some further discussion I didnt want to give the impression I was pissed off about 'Aqua Leung' nothing could be further from the truth. No, me and the writer Mark Smith have been pals for ages and remain so. I prefer honesty and I just put this story out there as something to look at and show that you learn from every job you do! The Book itself is really fun and has great art by Paul Maybury so do yourself a favour and go buy it.

I'm meeting my friend Martin on Saturday its been almost three months since I saw him last. Hes an awesome guy and he also enjoyed Indiana Jones 4 talking about indy I just watched the movie again. The logopolis cartoon I quickly did is posted above the page as a little joke I thought up!

What's Happened to Heroes? I still watch and enjoy but well can somebody please remain dead? Theres no Peril in this show it seems that the actors have such egos they dont want to leave a hit show so they die and come back the next week. Every character has died atleast once! Jeph Loeb you should be Ashamed!

Also did I mention I'm working on my own comic book? yep thats right, no further details yet don't want to jinx it!

As Aussie As

Before I get into todays blog, I was recently asked what Vegemite tasted like, its very Savoury, Very Salty and mostly you have to be raised with it from childhood to truly appreciate it. I took some over to the US with me and nobody wanted to touch it. But I was feeding it to Monas Dog who loved it gee does that sound bad?? That dogs especially like it. The common mistake people make is to spread it very thick this is the WRONG way. Very lightly spread it on toast and you'll love it. Little side note is it is now american owned and thats so sad as it was such an aussie icon.

I used to be a comic book freak, absolute. There was nothing like being 12 years old and saving my lunch money to go buy a comic to read from the newsagent. Eventually I discovered comic book stores and well spent alot of money through them. Now though I'm over comic books I hardly read them anymore. The last few I read was Extraordinary League and The Perhapanauts. But since they are either not available here locally or no longer published anymore even they have suffered.

So I used to want to be a comic book artist I had my own superhero league 'The Argonauts' under the pretend Marvel banner. I was gonna make a mint. Leader 'Dynaman' with his sticks of dynamite, cyborg 'Hunter One' and the power of the 'Cosmic Clue' would always kick avengers ass. But it was not to be and my comics sucked. They were the type where I would put my ideas on scrap computer paper my mum would give me from her work and then I would colour it all in with pencils. This was also my Todd McFarlane faze where I learnt to draw from anatomically incorrect people so Classy!

2008 has been the year of the comic art for me as you know I have already done a pin-up this year as well as the soon to be released flip cover for Images The Perhapanauts. I want to begin trying to do comics again, and by that I dont mean aim for image or Marvel or any of those people but I want to make my own stuff. I'm slowly learning about this business from doing those small jobs.

I have to admit to being disappointed with my Aqua Leung Pin-Up that was published back in April of this year it was work I did and then half finished a couple of years ago cause the book was delayed into comic book hell for awhile. I did something new in the meantime and I was told it......and I quote 'Looked Crap and stuck together in 10 minutes'. So of course I was crushed! So they wanted the 2 year old original and I gave it to them. I should have stood my ground and said this new one or nothing but I didn't. I wanted to get published and thats how it ended. Even though I was to get a free book even that never eventuated due to some infighting.

And so I bought the book a month ago to see how it turned out and am still so ashamed I succumbed to the pressure of giving what they wanted. I was still in love with that other 'Crap' design and had actually put it in as part of my portfolio there was something about it that shouted DO IT. So when it was put in front of the Cartoon Network review and it turned out Rob Renzetti wanted to keep it I felt well Vindicated. I even went so far as to say are you sure I was told it was crap. But Rob just smiled and packed it away. So well this Upcoming Cover I am almost 99% happy with compared to all the other ideas I had so I hope you like it too. As soon as I get the okay from Todd Dezago I'll share it with you all. But yeah I guess this is an apology for not giving you my best work. But then I am never happy with my stuff.

Before I left america my friend Mona gave me a penny at Disneylands California Adventure that had been squashed to imprint a small quote. It has Jimminy Cricket on it and underneath "Animation Can Explain Whatever the Mind of Man Can Concieve" Walt Disney. I like to keep it with me and look at it from time to time when I get down about stuff like whats going to happen next in my career path, I tried to take a photo but it came out so blurry.

As you can see still no logopolis I did do one, but it was just not funny. So it will have to wait. Anyway everybody take care and I will speak to you again tomorrow.