Way to go, Brainiac!

It's been a while since I've picked up a pencil, or a pen, or a marker. To be honest, it was probably last October. It's been too long.

My son asked if we could sit down and sketch for a bit, so I broke out my sketch kit, and some cheap water colors to whip up this quick Brainiac sketch.

I've got one word... rusty.

I really need to get back into to doing a sketch for fun at least once a week, because this just won't fly.

That's the way it goes. When you lay something down for too long it's easy to get cold. You have to practice to get better.

Still, I think I'll start using the watercolors and the Pentel water brush more.

It's fun and real easy to bang out some color.

I've definitely got to get back in the sketch groove.

Posted via email from The Parker Brand Picture Post!

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American Graphitti: Hulk vs. Thing!

I'm driving my kids to work this morning, taking our usual route past the scenic refineries (pretty much exhaust, trains and big trucks), and my daughter shouts out, "Look, Dad!" I whip my head over and what a treat for the eyes!

There, painted on the side of a box-car, in super-bright colors, was the Incredible Hulk about to throw down with the ever-lovin' Thing! I thought you folks might dig on it, so I pulled over and snapped a few pics.

These refineries don't like for people to pull over and take pics so I have to be quick.

I tried to stop and snap a picture of a Louisiana habitat mural painted on the side of  an oil tank once and was quickly run off by Citgo security.

Driving by the refineries every morning is a big time bummer. Nothing nice to see there. A graphitti treat like this is kind of rare, but it's really nice to see. In fact, a while back I posted some cool Space Ghost art from the same rail-yard.

I always wonder how long it takes to pull something like this off. I don't know much about graphitti art, but I imagine that the artists would have to be really quick, or the box-car would need to be in one place for a really long time. If anyone has any info this then I'd love to hear from you.

Be Honest, Abe! (or "Why Being Authentic on Twitter is the Way to Go")

I was pretty stoked to get home from work and check the mail last night. You see, I was expecting a really cool Gama-go Yeti wallet and I couldn't wait to check it out. Honestly, it wasn't the wallet that got me stoked as much as it was what it represented.

You see, over a decade ago I pretty much laid down all of my hobbies, all of the cool things that I'd loved my whole life (comics, art, toys, sci-fi gizmos, etc.). I traded all that cool stuff to bury my head in the sand and become a "grown-up." I let some folks convince me that there was no time in the grown-up world for all those things. So, like a good little beat-bot, I did what I was told and sold my toys, my comic books, quit drawing and found a way to force my star-shaped life into a square hole and carry on. You know what? It wasn't all that great. Sure, it wasn't all bad, but during that time I'd get that little ping when I'd pass a comic book on the shelf, or walk down the toy isle at the department store. Something wasn't quite right, but I learned to ignore it.

The worst part was that I quit drawing, something I'd loved (and was decent at) since I was a small child. Somehow, all of that creativity was intertwined with my hobbies and interests. When I buried one, I buried them all.

REWIND to a couple of years ago...

Not to long ago I met a fella named Darren (@DarrenH1221, for all you Twitter-folk out there). We got to talking one night (for hours) about comic books, and MAN was it fun. That one conversation kinda rebooted my interest in comics, and reminded me of a part of myself that I'd turned my attention away from. It felt good, like coming back home. Not long after that conversation, I started frequenting the local comic book shop again, and damn if it didn't feel great!

Around the same time,  I stumbled on this really cool blog site called "Weirdo Toys" (seriously... they're really weird). What a great site! I dug around for quite a while. It was such a good time to see someone who really embraced their hobby, raising it to almost an art form (yes, collecting weirdo toys is an art form... just visit the site). Whoever was running that site wore their hobby on the outside for the world to see... proudly. That site, in particular, got me thinking about all of the toys I'd sold and given away, all in an attempt to "grow up" (blech!). I can't lie; I felt a lot of regret. The Weirdo Toys site helped me shake off some of that crazy, self-imposed brainwashing I'd been carrying around for so long.

FAST FORWARD to now...

I'm happy to say that today, I'm a full-grown man-child, that has a decent job in advertising and have raised two happy, healthy, creative children. I collect toys (I dug up that tiny Abe Lincoln at Goodwill this weekend; SCORE), read comics and spend at least 12 hours a week strengthening my illustration skills. I don't want to get all heavy (this whole post has been pretty heavy), but in a small way, Darren and Weirdo Toys changed my life (don't get the big head guys; I did some of the work myself).

BACK to my original point...

So, I was pretty stoked to get that wallet. Why? Well, the fella who created the Weirdo Toys website is a buddy of mine on Twitter and he was giving it away. He agreed to send it to me, and I thought that was a pretty cool thing. Considering how much I dig his site, I think it's mighty awesome to have something sitting on my shelf from the Weirdo Toys collection. I was also excited to get the wallet because it reaffirmed what my gut told me; Weirdo Toys was a trustworthy fella, honest & authentic. Have I ever met the guy face-to-face? Nope. Does it matter? Not one bit.

What I'm finding is that there is a whole world of trustworthy, authentic, honest folks out there in the online social networking world. They have interests similar to mine. They have lives that echo my own. Many of them put their true face out there each day. I appreciate the honesty. The truth is, I've met some folks through online social networking that I trust more than people I've been in face-to-face relationships with for years.

So, thanks Darren, Weirdo and all of the other honest folks I've met on Twitter. I count you folks as friends. Your authenticity is what makes that possible.

From Pencils, Inks & Digital in a Pinch! (or "Meet Tax Max")

If you've been following along for the past few days then you've seen my pencils & my inks on the "Tax Max" character.

From what I understand, Tax Max will be appearing in an auto dealership commercial. He was described to me as your typical, larger-than-life super-hero type with a big 'ol, proud, cheesy grin. I didn't get instructions on the Tax Max uniform except to make it red, yellow & blue (hmmm...I wonder why?). I recommended that we simply use a dollar sign for his emblem since it resembles an "S" because the whole point is that Tax Max will "saaaaave yooooou money!"

Drawing this one wasn't going to be enough, though. I needed to add digital color and set the character as a nice movable element in Photoshop that could be used in After Effects. I had to color the piece with a mouse (we don't have a pen tablet at our office and this is on a real tight deadline). I also had to add more cheese to it with a real simple, comic-book style "Tax Max" title.

I'm not sure how the finished spot will look (I'll post it once it's all put together so you can see what this will be used for), but either way...here's where Tax Max stands as he goes to video. Thanks for coming along for the ride.