Pink is the new Black II

Well, I should first start off and say that the funeral service for Arthur Yeh was quite satisfying and very necessary. Although it saddens me to think of Arthur's untimely death, I can't help but smile when I think of all the times we hung out in the animation lab.

I should note that I'm leaving for panama tonight and will be back Jan. 11. I'll try to post in Panama but I'm not making any promises. I should also note that currently, the air in Panama is a balmy 88 degrees and the water, a relaxing 82 degrees; just making sure you guys understand the horrible conditions in which I will suffer for the next month or so...Aaand now for more random art that is unrelated to my previously unread rant.



And for those who don't know, this is what I look like now:

...

By now some of you have been informed of the recent tragic death of our fallen comrade, Arthur Yeh. He was slain in a car accident on Thursday morning. He was only 26 years old.

But what I somber over is not Arthur's death, but rather the absence of his life which has brought joy to so many around him, including myself. I hate to think that I will never see him or hear his voice ever again. When I think of him now, a smile envelopes my face, yet my heart weeps. My computer screen is a blur due to tears forming around my eyes...I still can't believe he's gone.

What I miss most about Arthur is his calm demeanor and whimsical humor amongst other things. You could be in a room with him and not even notice his presence...Just an aura of comfort that followed him everywhere he went. He was humble, and very private, but out of his own world he was possibly the kindest person I've ever met. I guess I'm trying to say that Arthur was nothing like me; and that's what I appreciated most about him.

Through many days and nights sullied away together within the animation department, I remember Arthur's favorite anecdote between us went as such:

I had taken Cartooning with Joe Forkan. Arthur wasn't in the class, but would constantly attend so we sat together as if he had been enrolled. One day a comic project was due and I realized that one of the panels had about 70% negative space. After laughing hysterically at my dilemma, Arthur suggested that I throw some kites in to take up the space. I figured it's probably better than nothing and did so...Joe ripped me a new ass hole on the project and actually commented on the kites saying "...and then you've got these kites over here and, uhh, I don't even know why they're there..."

I don't remember what the comic was about, I have no idea what grade I got, but I'll always remember looking at Arthur and blaming him for it all while we laughed uncontrollably as my project was verbally abused. Now I think back to that moment as another negative space fills my life; a void created due to a friend departed. And I keep hearing Arthur say "Just put some kites in there" as my eyes begin to well up once more..."Kites" he said.

I wish I had seen him once more before his death. I wish I had more time to know him better. But most of all I wish I had a chance to tell him exactly what I've just told you. It's unfortunate that one never really gets to express oneself to a friend until they've passed away. I offer my condolences to his family and close friends and anybody else that had the pleasure of knowing Arthur Yeh. I apologize for the lack of crude jokes and vulgar wit on this post. And if you have anything to share, please don't hesitate to leave a comment no matter how well you knew Arthur. Rest in Peace Arthur Yeh.

Matthyuki wed itself and John, Krisalufski?

So it's been a while, and I still don't have a scanner, and I'm totally flakey on this blog. On the bright side though I've moved to another place within San Diego and am now staying with a beloved, refugee Serbian family...Seriously.

And one more thing before we get to some Johnny K lovin'. Huge congrats to Matthyuki on their official unification in matrimony last week. I would have liked to be there but I had a prior engagement of sitting nude in front of the mirror (life drawing classes are a bitch to find). Anyways, may your newly found amorous devotion acquire you the heavenly joys not fathomed by those unloved.

Recently I made a trip out to LA for the First Annual Animation Festival. There, I finally met the wonderous character designer for Galaxy High School, John K...Oh, and he did some off beat thing with a dog and cat and, well, that's not really important right now. He did however check out my sketch book, but it was after our chance meeting though that I've realized that I made a huge ass of myself (perhaps not surprising to many of you). Judge for yourself:

Me love John K long time

I'm not Japanese, but I'll learn

You know, I woke about a month ago and I thought to myself, "if my Japanese ancestors were to see me today, it would bring great dishonor and misfortune to our family". And that's when it hit me: looking Japanese was much easier than actually, you know, "adhering to the culture" and so forth. Ahhhhh the looks I've received over the past month have been priceless; I walked past a little girl and her mom when the little girl looks up at me and screams out "WHOA!". Another time I visited my dad as he was reading the paper. He lowered it, took one glance and said "Heee's lost it." I'm sorry but the race a person imitates or how many personalities one has should not determine whether or not one be psychologically unstable...And now a word from my sponsor:

Playing in theatres nowhere: Her family killed by the mob; her life destroyed in 12/100th of a second. Iro Surasaki is..."Blood Geisha"


Let's see, what's in the news? Hey has anyone heard about those new scrolls they found in Japan? They're saying they're as long and as historically important as the Dead Sea Scrolls. It's an absolutely hypnotizing story really. I managed to find a piece of one of the scrolls online and thought I'd be cool to share.

Huh, that finely tuned courageous samurai warrior, practically bursting at the seams with masculinity, looks awfully familiar


Finally I'd like to say, Merry Halloween everyone!! Tal's Halloween Safety Tip #43: And remeber kids, if a strange man (especially one pretending to be Japanese) offers you some candy, take it. One can never have too much candy on Halloween night!

Mighty Aphrodite (Miramax, please don't sue)

Well, this past weekend was pretty fun...I drove up to LA to see my parents and attended a couple of shindigs. First off, congrats to Trey Hodges for a fine gallery opening. Kick ass work, at an affordable price. It also helped that his mom wouldn't stop feeding me...How did she know that I can't say "no" to anything edible?

On Sunday I also participated in the 1st Annual LA Animation Festival with such special guests such as John K aaand, uhhhh, John K. Oh joy was it killer meeting the man behind Spumco. We laughed, we cried, we had only 4 awkward pauses within the entire conversation. I hope I didn't make too much of an ass of myself, what with the constant salivation and silent, soul piercing admiration. He did however check out my sketchbook after which he quietly took out a lighter and set it ablaze. He then cautiously stomped out the fire, spit on the ashes, and said "Uh, I have to go over here now." Best afternoon ever.

Over the past year, some of you may have wondered "who has Tal met and befriended." I know I have. Since I covered the a dream in the last post I figured I'd cover real life character initiation in this one. What I mean is finding people who are so unique from your current perspective that hanging out with them almost colapses the universe on itself. Welcome to "Character 453" (prereq's are required). Let's call her Aphrodite for symbolic sake.

I first saw mighty Aphrodite when I passed her apartment and her door had been open. Inside, she lay nude with another girl on top of her as a young man, perhaps 18-25, was getting dressed. She casually said "hi" within all this melee and we somehow started hanging out for the next few months. She did any drug except for Marijuana and Alcohol and would instigate an orgy (which I would attend but take no part in) at her place almost on a nightly basis. I should add that she was 17 and her parents (in LA) had no idea of her whereabouts.


I got the chance to draw her a few times in a couple of styles (although unfortunately not in the nude; what's better than a free model?) She moved out is why. While she was here though I thought it'd be cool to change her and get her to quit all of the shit she had gotten herself into. It's not just an arc for her, but a saintly "big brother" arc for myself ('cause as we all know I'm far from it). I learned that we can also force story to occur within our daily lives. To manipulate people to feel and choose to do, whatever we want from them. Playing God you say? Whoever said anything about "playing"?

Dreams and Urine are excellent sources of Vitamin B12

Oh God it's been a while, what with the unemployment and harvesting my own urine for future consumption as the result of financial uncertainty and what not. Acually I just ordered a new scanner from Amazon but the damn thing hasn't arrived yet. I did finally manage to scan some things the other day so I'm going to post as quick-like as I can to make up for that lost time. And for the record, yes, chilled urine tastes just as good as it does warm.

Well as most of you know my inspiration comes various chronological obsessions, whether they be a D-Movie containing a sex scene involving popcorn or pin up models from the 50s. I had a dream ladies and gentlemen, and if you would be so kind, allow me to impart:

The dream began with a vigalante named Fork walking alongside a cliff in the pale moonlight. Only a blood stained fork rested in his right palm. A minivan approached and as it came to a halt a smelly, ghoul of a man stepped out. He advanced towards Fork and asked him to near the back of the van for a "delightful proposition". As Fork did so, the mystery man flung the back doors of the van wide open. Fork grimaced at what lay inside. Sitting within the van were seven, oubviously underaged and half nude kids, all sitting with their heads down and their hands in their laps.
The word "choose" echoed in Fork's mind like a broken record. The man took his newly found client to the side to discuss business when all of a sudden his legs gave out from under him. He looked up just in time to see a silver fork come jamming into his right eye before his vision was forcefully taken away.


Stumbling around in sheer agony the man felt Fork tug at his collar. With a final push the man went flying over the edge of the cliff and into the dark water below...Then the setting changed and Fork finds himself within a government lab. He was there to set free his ally, the entity known as Ultra Violet. As Fork crept into his friends' holding cell, the wall burst open and through emerged the mystery man from the cliffs alongside a giant of a man. Reacting quickly, Fork threw his utinsil of choice at the man and hit the giant square in the face instead. The man lunged at Fork when he realized he had stopped in mid air. Ultra Violet had emerged out of his shackles and using his mental powers, threw the perverted nemesis through 2 walls within the structure.



That's when the dream had abruptly ended. Some dream, huh? It's like a nightly matinee within the comfort of your own mind. I can see the DVD release now. Alternate ending: Fork begins to laugh histerically when he sees the kids in the van, because as we all know, nothing is funnier than child abuse!

What?...Oh yeah, and the soul of Kubrick says that sitting nude in front of the mirror for hours at a time can increase creative flow...Who am I to argue with the greatest visionary genius of our time?

Tigers, Unicorns, and Fat, German Cross-Dressers

I'm still working on this piece; basically just trying to figure out how I want to do it. I'll probably go painterly on it with a "Starry Night" feel. Hopefully it'll turn out pretty good.





And some good shit is on the way including my next obsessive fixture; Did it originate in a dream? Had I seen it on TV? Could it top a fat, German cross-dresser in outer space? Stay tuned and find out kiddies. Oh, and for those who don't know, this is what I look like now:

I got a job not working and looking for work

Well I was thinking of something witty to say, but I just don't feel like being funny and suave and intelligent and good looking and godly today. Even God needed some rest; I mean, granted he created the universe and all, and I continue to struggle tying my shoes, but my brain needs a vacation. And you gotta' admit, those cylindrical shoe laces are hard to tie, damn it! It's like they want you to fail.

But here's the art. First off, I figured that I hadn't colored anything in a while so I said what the heck-gee-golly-gosh-darn and done up Bettie all nice and perty like. I think it turned out pretty good.



Oh and for the record, it'll be a long time before I clean anything, so get used to it. It's funny because most people say they love seeing the construction and lines and so on, yet everybody continues cleaning up their work. When 2D comes back I hope to see more rough colored animation. Line economy work is great, though. Here's one of my many rare (wait, many rare?) attempts to limit my line:

Sexyyyy; I've obviously got a saggy calf fetish

I'm not dead, and my corpse not ripped apart by tal-hungry, Austrian supermodels...yet

Holy Jesus on a stick this last month has been hectic!!! For those of you who don't know, we now reside in San Diego and we just came back from a week in Cabo San Lucas and I is now we beacuse multiple personalities are people too! Well, we don't really have access to Internet any longer but we'll try to figure out something soon.

Anyways, I'll begin with the topic of my Cabo trip. Let me first say that airports are the best for cafe sketches; a more varied and numerous gathering of eclectic and screwed up souls in one place could never be found. It's absolutely ideal to people watch. Airports aside, the trip was, uh, how do the "normies" put it? Fun? I mean just look at this picture for example. The joy, the laughter...apparently my brother who took the picture found the background far more interesting than the rather breathtaking subject of choice. Even the camera strap got more play than I.



So now to the art of Cabo and the various inquiries of life. Inquiry of Life #237: Since my 6th and 16th personalities are chicks, does that make me part lesbo? Confucius Say: That one dilly of a pickle. Now on to the weirdo freaks of the airport...

I need some whores and a large, murky river STAT!

So I haven't yet found some random couch within a studio where I can sleep, and tell stories, and have people asking "who the fuck is that guy!?! SECURITY!!!!" and what have you. Well, gotta keep hope alive. Stanley Kubrick tells me that when life got him down he just screwed some prostitutes and tossed their bodies into the Hudson...Ahhhh, the 'ol screw and toss. Classic.

Also, some congrats are in order for those of you whom just graduated. So congratulations to Sal, Anri-uru (HAI!!!), Trey, John Cahoon, Miyuki, Mikey ("Master" of my universe) Williams, Mike Nassar, and Ryan Kramer. And if I didn't mention you, well, who am I kidding, I just don't fuckin' like you. Welcome to post-graduate hell my friends; population: you.

Well, I have been drawing a little more recently and created a new character. I'm so excited that I'm as giddy as a school girl (which would explain the rapid increase in masturbation over the past week). I call her Orbit! She's an anti-hero and I'm still fine tuning her back story to include her into one of my sagas. Her creation was funny because I was out driving around and thought to myself that I no longer posses the ability of creativity and that I suck as an artist; and then her image just popped in my head. No inspiration, no nothing. Big thanks to the "Stanley Kubrick for Tal" Foundation, I guess.

I think she needs a little Jenna Elfman

Weapons. Gotta have weapons.

That's a lotta balls!

Strike a pose.

Comic Mode (and yes she's nude under the straps)

ORBIT!!!