Ross Rojek, formerly of Another Universe, formerly of Comics and Comix, formerly the guy who served four years of a nearly 7 year sentence for screwing a bunch of investors who were fooled into believing he had created some kind of cool facial recognition technology that was going to keep the world safe from Al Queda, will be released on September 18 from Sacramento Community Corrections.
If you are one of the many self publishers who shipped Rojek product for which you were not paid (including me), don’t expect him to be making good on those debts any time soon, felonious scoundrel that he is.
Rojeck apologized to those people hurt by his actions on his personal web page. But that’s down, now. I’ll bet it was heartfelt. At least, heartfelt to people who fall for sappy crap.
Mattel, the world’s biggest toymaker, won the case in July after claiming that the name and design of Bratz dolls were based on drawings by Carter Bryant made while he was under a contract that entitled Mattel to his designs.
MGA had argued that although Mr Bryant worked for Mattel between 1995 and April 1998 and then again from January 1999 to September 2000, the idea had come to him in the gap between his two stints.
Mr Bryant himself reached a confidential settlement with Mattel on the eve of the trial.
I detest the Bratz dolls, and think they may be some of the most repulsive toys I have ever seen. That includes fake dog poo.
Much running around like chicken with head cut off, and nearly ran into wild turkey while rushing into town with package. Dang big turkey.
Got to say goodbye to job I was learning to hate very, very fast. Client claimed no email received back in July for assignment, so didn’t get in touch with me until 24 hours ago to ask where it was.
Hunh?
You know, If I needed something that fast, I wouldn’t wait six weeks to find out where it was. And call at 10 PM at night. Eastern time.
I had a scary evening unable to find it on my email SENT queue. Had I blown it? Had I forgotten to send?
I told the client I’d check, but just couldn’t find the data. I was beginning to sweat. Maybe I had meant to send it and just didn’t do it. July was kind of a weird month: lost my beloved kitty, and between that and San Diego…hoo boy, did I screw up?
But why did client wait so long to follow up?
Eventually, I remembered that the file HAD been sent, but on one of those days I had had to run into town and send from a remote server since I was on fair usage restriction. So, there it was on my external server. Sent. Just like I said.
Client was still pissed, and had asked for TWO FULL PAGES OF SINGLE SPACED TYPED CHANGES to one spread of layout sketches. I kid you not.
I can’t go into the details of this multimedia gig, but let’s just say the assignment wasn’t paying very well. I originally took it with the understanding I’d be doing the kind of work that would not pay great, but would be easy to fit in between other gigs. Next thing I know, the client was expanding the job - OK, I’m fine with that - but the pay wasn’t getting any better. I wasn’t fine with that.
I was doing roughly twice the work I normally do on a piece for a lot less money. I started adding up my hours, and the unpaid changes I was doing, and realized the fun gig to squeeze in between jobs was not only pushing better work back, but wasn’t fun anymore. No royalties, no residuals…what was I doing this for?
Bye, gig! Not comics gig, BTW.
Just in time, too, for me to get on these character sketches for the new GN project, and I can breathe much easier all around.
Let me tell you how bad the money had trickled down to: I would make almost the same dough per hour as working on A Distant Soil. Which is bad. Only I’d have more fun.
I was only going to put two hours a day into it, and then I was putting eight hours a day into it and making the same money in eight hours as I made in two.
For about a week’s work on that gig, I could do one or two decent paying commission sketches. And have more fun.
So, since all I need is a major paying gig (I have two), and something to squeeze in between (A Distant Soil), then I am cool and don’t need the other gig at all.
BYE BYE TWICE!
Someone out there will appreciate that job more than I will.
Never found out why client didn’t follow up in July. Not my problem now.
Trafficking is your friend, but no longer my concern.
I am keeping a bunch of sketches and whatnot from the job. I will be make more money by re-purposing them than by invoicing for them. MINE!
Oh yeah, found out client hasn’t been returning original art to artists, either. Not in contract. Major turn off.
Why am I typing sentence fragments like Rorschach?
Dunno.
Anyway, feel very liberated, but had to return all files to client (VERY NDA kind of gig) and that meant going back into city. Where I saw turkey on the way.
Dang big turkey.
Had huge amount of shopping to do, the kind of shopping that means “You are not going out again for AGES!” and all my plans to travel this fall have completely fizzled, for better or worse. It is down and hunker time. Draw something. A lot of something.
Shout out to J: hope your kitty gets better.
Got some pics of garden goodness I will post ASAP.
Found out weird hornet mass attack is some kind of Euro import bug, not native, that is. Lives in trees, swarms at night. It WAS nesting in the big tree that fell. It’s the only hornet attracted to light at night. So that’s why it is attacking the windows. Actually, it is attacking the moths and other critters that come to the windows at night. It’s the holocaust. It is absolutely GRUESOME to watch these inch-and-a-half long monsters tear moths to shreds.
So, naturally, I cannot stop looking.
Note to anyone who serves teriyaki chicken with rice smothered in cracked pepper.
Ditch the pepper. Really. It tastes nasty.
Sorry I am backed up on huge amounts of email. Again. I still haven’t caught up from San Diego. Or last winter.
In the meantime, thanks for all the notes of support. I appreciate VERY much, even if I can’t write to everyone individually.
Too much caffeine and sugar is obvious, as blog post is extremely bouncy and erratic.
Image Comics Shadowline launches I HATE GALAXY GIRL this November!
25 August 2008 (Berkeley, CA) - Every underdog gets their day this November as newcomer Kat Cahill and BRAT-HALLA’s Seth Damoose take a stand in Shadowline’s newest three issue superhero mini-series, I HATE GALAXY GIRL!
“While I HATE GALAXY GIRL was originally Kat Cahill’s runner-up for our ‘Who Wants To Create a Super Heroine Contest’, Shadowline Editor Kris Simon and I loved the concept so much we had to put it on the fast track to becoming its own series,” Shadowline Publisher Jim Valentino said. “When Kat saw Seth’s upcoming work on BRAT-HALLA, she knew he was the perfect artist to capture the mood she was going for. We really can’t help but agree!”
Based on skill alone, Renee Tempete should be the new Galaxy Girl. Instead, a buxom blonde with no actual powers holds the title. As events unfold, Renee struggles not only against monsters, criminals and giant robots, but also a society that desperately wants to keep her in her place.
Cahill added, “The core of I HATE GALAXY GIRL is Renee finding the self-confidence to achieve her dreams despite constantly being told to give up. The experience is something I think just about anybody can relate to while the overall story is still a heck of a lot of fun!”
I HATE GALAXY GIRL #1 (SEP082263), a 32-page full color mini-series for $3.50, will be available in-stores November 12th.
The final version of the Arwen and Aragorn commission for Zachary Kelsey.
I am sorry to have to load this at such a low res, since a lot of delicate detail is lost. I enjoyed working on this one for Zachary, and since I ran a bit late, I took some extra time to make it look the best I could manage.
This has been a very good work week, with lots of fun things to do. I went on a brutal cleaning binge and the offices look so nice, it’s a pleasure to work in here now. I should finish the final coats of paint next week.
I just realized most people wouldn’t be upbeat about a brutal cleaning binge, but every time I figure out things to ditch, organize, or rethink, it makes me terribly happy. Of course, there are these three boxes of stuff that are my secret shame, the piles of papers that never seem to go away. I never get to the bottom of them! And I never seem to get the art organized just the way I want it. But it’s all so much better than what I used to have in my old condo! It’s wonderful to have all this space.
Anyway, I am really glad I decided not to try to renovate the well house into a studio, because making better use of the space in what used to be the guest suite in the house gives me all the room I really need. And it has saved me a load of cash. It’s really comfy in here. Now we just use the well house for storage.
I will take pics of the new set up and get them up on the blog later this week, along with shots of more commissions.
I’m being a very good freelancer right now. Work is so smooth and pleasant. I am having no troubles with techniques or ideas. Had some wrangling with the old crowquill pen technique I haven’t used in ages, which a client wants me to adapt to a new book. But after a few days, I think I’m back on to it.
I wasn’t happy about having to return to that technique. I got a bit wrankled at having to go back to this technique when my editor first suggested it, but I decided to be open minded and give it a shot. It does seem to be the right way to go after all.
This very nice brush and ink drawing of Beys is by Terrie Smith.
Every Sunday, the spotlight is on you. Your fan art does not have to be A Distant Soil related. Please make sure your art is family friendly, because this is an all ages appropriate blog…most of the time.
The only requirement is that you be a genuine fan artist. That is, you are not making at LEAST half a living wage from your art. I will be happy to link to your website, your blog, your gallery. Show us what you can do.
A Distant Soil fan art will be placed in the permanent fan art gallery at the official A Distant Soil web page. Thanks SO MUCH for taking the time to draw my characters and share your visions with everyone.
Please contact me via email before sending scans of art. Limit your scans to jpegs at 150 dpi or less.
Aside from the odd hiccup in my comfortable life courtesy Scott G. from a couple of days ago (don’t come back, really, don’t come back, don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry), I am doing a good job of staying on course with all the work this week. This has been the best work week in two months. Convention season is always a huge interruption, and I didn’t realize how much time I lost to the Whooping Cough and ancillary lingering respiratory bugs. It never seems that bad, until you see how production is reduced to dribs and drabs of output, and this phenom stretches on day after day. I think everyone would benefit from keeping a diary to see what kind of effect going to conventions, or illness, or other events can have on work.
I keep diaries and work output schedules, and June and July look like I may very well have been kidnapped by pirates, because not a lot of art gone done.
Sitting here starting up new projects and doing short ones (several covers, a few trading card paintings, etc) made me realize why doing commissions has always been so difficult for me.
I am used to working on long term projects that allow me to concentrate for months - or even years - at a time on one major thing. I get totally immersed into the process and the world I am working on.
When I am doing private commissions, or a short work such as a trading card painting, I have the same impulse to research and go into total project immersion as I do when I do a major project. I like to think it makes me good at my job, being willing to go the extra mile and give the client everything I have, research and time, and effort, but it’s not always a good thing
Take this simple drawing of a wookie from Star Wars I should have had finished last month. Now, this is a private commission, so deadline isn’t a major problem. But dang, shoulda had it done weeks ago.
I can’t just draw the wookie. I have to research the wookie. I have to know the wookie. I have to spend hours running around the internet lookie at wookie pictures. I practically have to watch the entire Star Wars saga all over again before I can allow myself to sit down and finish the damned wookie pic. It’s like method art or something…
“FEEL THE WOOKIE! KNOW THE WOOKIE! YOU ARE THE WOOKIE!”
The other day, I was drawing this perfectly simple picture of Galahad for a fan who has been waiting for it since the last millennium, and since I designed the guy in the first place, you’d think I’d just sit down and draw him off the top of my head. Instead, I got into this whole Galahad Space and went through his files, and reread his bio, and reread part of the A Distant Soil series all over again. It was ridiculous.
I’d like to think this is all part of some grand plan to Be All The Artist I Can Be, but sometimes I think it’s just my own, personal, special brand of procrastination.
I am famous for starting projects off very, very slowly and making my clients sweat, and then suddenly producing a huge volume of work in a short time because I have everything worked out in my head so meticulously that actually sitting down to draw and write the work is just labor. All the thinking’s been done, I know the job inside out.
This works to my advantage on some projects, because when you have a lot of technical work to do, such as on something like Orbiter, I need to know the material to bring a sense of verisimilitude to the project.
But I really don’t need to be putting all that effort into a sketch of a wookie. I need to be more discriminating about this sort of thing, and watch how I use my time. I guess it’s time to go over that Time Management course I took awhile back.
The other day, I had to draw a freighter from 1870. Took me 3 hours to find just the right freighter. Then I reread the one panel shot in which the freighter appeared, and realized I could not use a long shot of the freighter anyway. It had to be close in. So, I had to ditch all the research and start over.
Well, if I ever need another picture of a freighter from 1870, it’s in my files.
There’s a part of me that just loves doing research. I worked as an assistant librarian when I was in college, which to any book geek is an ideal job. I just can’t seem to resist the impulse to browse and read and file. It is a compulsion. Now that I have set up a little library of my own, perhaps the only thing keeping me from abandoning the whole world and disappearing into it is the fact that it does not yet have a comfortable chair. It even has a popcorn machine (!) but no decent chair.
At least I can listen to books while I work, and almost all of my audio library has been transfered to my IPod. I want to get an IPod deck and player at some point. The ear phones hurt after a bit.
Oh yeah, someone asked me about the guy I knew who had two IPods and never used them. Most people who have IPods consider them essentials. Who would have an IPod they never used?
Well, in my case, I had an IPod for over a year and barely touched it simply because I was too wedded to my stereo, and too lazy to dupe all my discs to the IPod. Once I began the process, and started carrying it with me while hiking or traveling, I just loved it. So, chalk me up as an IPod owner who went for a whole year while barely touching it.
The guy I used to know who had many a gadget he barely touched: frankly, I think the guy was addicted to shopping. He bought the IPod, supposedly to be used while working out or fiddling in his home office. Except he always ended up using the enormous expensive stereo, and I know he never worked out. I know he never worked out because he always complained bitterly that he was out of shape (yes, he was) and never used the expensive exercise equipment he bought. This suited me, because I got some great bargains buying his barely used exercise equipment for my family. We used the treadmill so much it eventually burnt itself out. Wish I had another. It was great.
Shortly after getting his first IPod, the manufacturers came out with a better IPod that had lots more memory. So, he had to have the new IPod. Therefore, he had two IPods he never really used.
If he eventually ever began working out and using his IPods, I’ll never know, because I haven’t seen the guy in years.
Anyway, about my other work: there’s a lot of stuff to do on the farm, what with all the crops coming in, so I am cooking, canning, baking and harvesting.
Good lord, we could really use some of that rain you are dumping on Florida.
We have at least ten rain barrels and have recycled over 2,000 gallons of water, and we are down to the last. We can barely get water out of the stream.
Even so, we are fortunate because most of our neighbors and friends do not recycle water or have rain barrels. I can’t fathom why, because until recently we have barely made use of the well water for the gardens and crops. Many wells around here have gone dry, but we are fine. With a few more rain barrels just acquired, we think we can gather 10,000 gallons next year.
But no significant rain in weeks, and we have empty barrels.
We recycle the brown water from dishes and washing, and it is a pain hauling it out, though we do have some pumps for big loads. You can’t let the water sit for too long, otherwise it gets stinky. Plants love yucky brown water, so it’s good for them, with all the soap and minor kitchen debris. It’s a gourmet meal for plants. But it sure gets foul.
And now that I have shared with you the unpleasant truth about our water, now I will tell you of the goodness that comes of all of that skanky mess.
It looks like today will be another day for making a big pot of tomato sauce. Nothing tastes better than tomato sauce made with all fresh ingredients from heirloom tomatoes just picked. Yum Yum. It takes as long as 8 or 10 hours to boil it all down, and I freeze it in batches. I like chunky sauce, but most people prefer smooth, so the other day I was running a batch through the blender, and the lid fell in and smashed to bits, so we had to dump the entire load of sauce.
With the prices on heirloom tomatoes, I figure we had to toss about $80 worth of tomatoes! I had 20 lbs of tomatoes at $3.99 a pound! Of course, growing them ourselves costs almost nothing, but it has been so long since I had to buy produce I almost fainted looking at the prices in the store. We give away cucumbers by the basketful since we can’t can or preserve as many as we grow, and they were asking $3.74 for a packet of only 4 small pickling cucumbers at the store! Holy cow!
Unless you live in an apartment, there’s no reason to be buying cucumbers. They are so easy to grow, you can even grow them on a tiny porch in a pot, and they are very attractive plants. You could grow all the cucumbers you can eat in a year off one plant. I think it’s a shame more people don’t try to grow their own food. It’s good economy and it’s good for the environment. Think about all the wasted resources shipping produce from one side of the country to the other!
There’s the possibility of rain next week, so we are hopeful. It would be good for the beans which are crying out for mercy. I will try to get some more photos of the gardens posted next week. They look a little peaked. The deer have been wandering in, and even the row covers haven’t entirely discouraged them. Some critter left a dump on one last night. Looks like skunk poo.
Yes, folks, after awhile you get to recognize an animal by its poo.
The skunks are handy, as they keep the yellowjackets away. Skunks like to eat tasty bug nests, but dang, there has been many a night when a skunk got startled and let loose a whiff. I had to quit work early the other day because some skunk let fly a load of skunk smell, and it stank up the whole bottom floor of the house.
We have a major hornet problem, too. They swarm at the windows at night, throwing themselves at the lights. The sound is disconcerting. It looks like a horror movie.
A tree fell next to the house, and inside the trunk was a huge hornet nest. I guess they are looking for new digs now.
c
PS: All this baking and freezing of fresh goods has necessitated the acquisition of a new freezer. The truck just drove up with our delivery. YAY!
This is the sort of thing all the geeks used to filk about when I was a kid going to science fiction conventions.
There is something strange and charming - the kind of phraseology I like to use around scientists because it makes them think I’m all smart for my sly aside to the terms for quarks, uhhunh, uhhunh - about watching scientists dance and sing and try to get down with their homies, while making those, I dunno, sideways Mr Spock shape things with their hands.
Yo. Fo Shizzle.
Here’s the fun times at the home page for the Large Hadron Collider. Because I know you are going to enjoy reading every word there. I think this video may be part of that outreach super smart people are always trying to do. So they’ll seem accessible and cuddly, see. And sexy.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is being built in a circular tunnel 27 km in circumference. The tunnel is buried around 50 to 175 m. underground. It straddles the Swiss and French borders on the outskirts of Geneva.
It planned to circulate the first beams in May 2008. First collisions at high energy are expected mid-2008 with the first results from the experiments soon after.
The LHC is designed to collide two counter rotating beams of protons or heavy ions. Proton-proton collisions are foreseen at an energy of 7 TeV per beam.
The beams move around the LHC ring inside a continuous vacuum guided by magnets.
The magnets are superconducting and are cooled by a huge cryogenics system. The cables conduct current without resistance in their superconducting state.
The beams will be stored at high energy for hours. During this time collisions take place inside the four main LHC experiments.
Well dang, that explains everything.
Anyway, don’t blink or you’ll miss the special appearance by the Amazing Spiderman.
