David Chelsea's Blog, page 28
August 12, 2015
Are You Being Watched? On The Radio
Heads up, comics fans- tomorrow, Wednesday August 13th, at 11:30am PDT, I will be discussing comics, and specifically my Patreon webcomic ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? with the cultured and literate S.W. Conser on the long-running radio talk show about comics, WORDS AND PICTURES, on Portland’s listener-supported station, KBOO-FM. I’ll bring along some appropriate music, and possibly act out a scene from the comic as well.
Portland area listeners can tune in at 90.7 FM, and the rest of the world can stream the signal at KBOO.com. If you missed it the first time, I’m pretty sure the show will be archived.
DAVID CHELSEA ON WORDS AND PICTURES
Wednesday August 13th
11:30am PDT
KBOO-FM
90.7 FM
August 7, 2015
Are You Being Watched? On Patreon: Mugg Goes West- In Sepia!
Another Thursday, another two pages of my new webcomic ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? on Patreon (actually, I missed this Thursday because I was at the beach. Friday’s close enough). This time, it’s a scene set in the Old West, where Mugg has gone to test his “Gookie Face”, the expression that will instantly take him out of his adventures if anything happens to go wrong. This particular adventure has gone somewhat wrong from the start, since Mugg appears in the guise of a horse thief about to be hanged; however Mugg cannot resist a kiss before dying from a rancher’s wife who looks like Mandy, the girl he’s obsessed with. Can Mugg pull a Gookie before winds up at the end of a rope?
David Chelsea Is Watching:
Napoleon Dynamite
with Jon Heder
What does all this have to do with Reality TV, the ostensible subject of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? Not much, it’s just a chance for me to try something a little different. My big inspirations for this sequence were the Western art of Frederic Remington, and the Western-themed comics drawn by National Lampoon cartoonist M.K. Brown, particularly the ones featuring her cowboy character Beans Morocco:
Drawing by Frederic Remington
BEANS MOROCCO panel by M.K. Brown
The look of “Calamandy Jane” was inspired by Robin Weigert’s portrayal of the Western character Calamity Jane, on the cable series DEADWOOD:
Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane on DEADWOOD
ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? is my first large-scale comics project done digitally from start to finish. Panels and balloons are laid out in Indesign, and the art and coloring are done in Photoshop. I originally did this sequence in grayscale, but afterwards I experimented with converting it to an overall sepia tone in keeping with the old-timey theme. I posted two versions of a single panel on Facebook and asked for comments; the overwhelming majority favored sepia. I’ll go back to grayscale once this scene is done, unless my support level rises above $400 a month, in which case the story switches to full color!
This and all previous installments of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? are free for anyone to look at, but if you like what you see, feel free to $how your $upport!
July 30, 2015
Are You Being Watched? On Patreon: Mugg Makes A Gookie
David Chelsea Is Reading:
The Art of Forgery: The Minds, Motives and Methods of the Master Forgers
by Noah Charney
Once again, it’s time for another two-page installment of my new webcomic, ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?, which I have been serializing on the reader-supported site Patreon. Part Five concludes an expositional scene set in the devil’s office. Mugg, the protagonist, is setting his “safe face”, which he can use to take himself out of any scene that is taking a turn he doesn’t like. Mugg picks a “Gookie”, a funny face that was originated by the silent Marx Brother, Harpo:
Harpo Marx making a “Gookie Face”.
(Harpo Marx on the origin of “The Gookie”)
In the original 24 hour comic version of this story (which is also on Patreon: Part One. Part Two. ), Mugg “blows a raspberry” to end a scene- this comes from the Peter Cook and Dudley Moore movie BEDAZZLED, from which I also borrowed the basic story (which, in turn, is an adaptation of the Faust legend). On this second go-round, I decided to go with a funny face, partly because it’s more visual, partly to remove it a bit from BEDAZZLED, and partly in homage to another classic comedy team.
The adventures riffing on popular Reality TV shows start very soon, but first Mugg goes on a side trip to test out the efficacy of his Gookie Face. Next week: The Old West!
This and all previous installments of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? are free for anyone to look at, but if you like what you see, feel free to $how your $upport!
July 23, 2015
Are You Being Watched? On Patreon: The Devil’s Office
This week’s two page installment of my new webcomic ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? gives us our first glimpse of the devils’ office that Mugg goes to in order to sell his soul. I meant to give it a shabby look reminiscent of Jimmy/Saul’s cramped workspace on BETTER CALL SAUL, as well as the dingy linoleum offices of Ben Katchor’s JULIUS KNIPL strip.
David Chelsea is reading:
Olive Kitteridge
by Elizabeth Strout
(By the way, the “Taking It To Eleven Plan” refers to the number of wishes the devil grants Mugg. In the original 24 Hour Comic version of this story, the devil grants Mugg seven wishes, each of which puts Mugg on a different Reality TV show. I expanded it to eleven simply because I wanted to include more shows).
Scene from BETTER CALL SAUL
Panels from JULIUS KNIPL strip by Ben Katchor
Since I knew we would be spending a lot of time there, I built a CGI set of the office in Lightwave (mostly using furniture models downloaded from free sites), loaded placeholder models in position for Mugg and the devil, and traced over the renderings.
CGI rendering for office scene in ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?
Final panel
That CGI office comes in hardy for doing stunt shots like this overhead view:
This and all previous installments of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? are free for anyone to look at, but if you like what you see, feel free to $how your $upport!
Also today, since it’s the Fourth Thursday Of The Month, I’ll be doing another live video hangout at 3 pm PDT. I skipped May’s hangout because I had company in from out of town, and in June it was over 90° in the studio that day, way too hot to work, and I quit early. Today promises to be only in the low 80s, so I’m going to try again. I think I’ll do a demonstration of going from line art to full grayscale in PhotoShop:
Once more, I will be doing this through Google Hangouts, and sending invitations to people who are interested through Google plus. If you’d like to be part of it, get in touch with me through this website and let me know.
July 16, 2015
Third Thursday On Patreon: Mugg On The Move, And More Friends, Lovers & Family Envelopes
It’s the Third Thursday of the month, time to post Secret Stash material on Patreon, as well as two more pages of my new webcomic, ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?
David Chelsea is reading:
One Man Against the World: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon
by Tim Weiner
In this installment, Mugg is on his way to sell his soul to the devil. This gives me a chance to show him in transit by various methods, in a way that echoes the opening sequences from both of my perspective books:
Panel from ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?
Page from PERSPECTIVE!
Meanwhile, the Secret Stash this month is a continuation of a series I began a few months ago, decorated envelopes from five decades of correspondence, specifically portraits of those near and dear- friends, lovers and family I’ve known over the years (as opposed to portraits of celebrity strangers, which are a lot more numerous). Who knows, YOU may even be one of them:
Membership has its privileges; all Secret Stash material is viewable by Patreon sponsors at the $4.99 level and above. All comics are free for anyone to look at, but if you like what you see, feel free to $how your $upport!
July 9, 2015
Are You Being Watched? Times Two
David Chelsea is watching:
The Casual Vacancy
with Rory Kinnear
The second Thursday of the month is when I post comics from the archive on Patreon, and today it’s part two of my 24 Hour Comic from 2013, ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? Additionally, today is also the day I post the second two-page installment of the new, expanded and redrawn webcomic version of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?.
This sequence finds Mugg coming home after a disappointing phone conversation with Mandy, to find his television mysteriously switching on:
It also includes the first appearance of Diavolo Chelzapoppin, Consulting Demon. Check out the round black glasses!:
You can get ahead of the story by reading pages 9 through 16 of the 24 Hour Comic version. If you’re a Reality TV connoisseur, this section riffs on What Not To Wear, Survivor, and Storage Wars:
Panel from the 24-Hour comic version of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?
All my comics content on Patreon is absolutely free, but if you like what you see, please $how your $upport! At present the monthly take from Patreon is under a hundred dollars, but if it passes $400, I promise to put up future pages in full, glorious color!
July 2, 2015
Starting Today On Patreon: Are You Being Watched?, The Webcomic
First panel of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?
The long-awaited day has finally arrived, the launch of my new webcomic, ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? I have just posted the first two pages to Patreon. My plan is continue posting two new pages every Thursday, until the story is finished- or until I fall hopelessly behind on the schedule (at present I’m about five weeks ahead). I don’t have a firm idea of length at this point, but the full story is likely to be close to 100 pages.
David Chelsea is watching: Inside Amy Schumer: Seasons One & Two
starring Amy Schumer
First panel of 24 Hour Comic version.
This is an expanded revision of two 24 hour comics I drew in 2013, ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?, and ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT.
Simply put, this is a version of the Faust legend, in which Mugg (the interlocutor in my perspective books), sells his soul to the Devil in order to pursue Mandy (co–protagonist of the story SANDY & MANDY, which is due to appear in DARK HORSE PRESENTS this fall). Since Mandy is obsessed with reality television, each of the 11 wishes the Devil grants Mugg place him in a different reality TV show, including versions of Survivor, Hoarders, What Not To Wear, and Honey Boo-Boo. I make a guest appearance as the Devil– classic typecasting.
This is the first comics project I’ve done with all-digital art (The current series of SNOW ANGEL stories I’m working on were inked on paper but colored digitally, while parts of the SANDY & MANDY story were just the reverse). It is also my first graphic novel-length comics story since WELCOME TO THE ZONE, in 1995 (assuming the two instructional comics about perspective don’t count).
All my comics content on Patreon is absolutely free, but if you like what you see, please $how your $upport! At present the monthly take from Patreon is under a hundred dollars, but if it passes $400, I promise to put up new pages in full, glorious color!
Get ahead of the story! Read the first eight pages of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? the 24 hour comic, on Patreon.
Panels from the 24-Hour comic version of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?
June 29, 2015
Starting This Week on Patreon: Are You Being Watched?- The Webcomic
The First Thursday of July is fast approaching, and with it the long-awaited first installment of my new webcomic on Patreon, ARE YOU BEING WATCHED?
David Chelsea is reading:Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs
by Sally Mann
Mugg
This is an expanded revision of two 24 hour comics I drew in 2013, ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? , and ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT. My plan is to post two pages of the story every Thursday, until further notice, or for as long as I stay on top of the schedule. I don’t have a firm idea of length at this point, but the full story is likely to be close to 100 pages.
Mandy
Simply put, this is a version of the Faust legend, in which Mugg (the interlocutor in my perspective books), sells his soul to the Devil in order to pursue Mandy (co–protagonist of the story SANDY & MANDY, which is due to appear in DARK HORSE PRESENTS this fall). Since Mandy is obsessed with reality television, each of the 11 wishes the Devil grants Mugg place him in a different reality TV show, including versions of Survivor, Hoarders, What Not To Wear, and Honey Boo-Boo. I make a guest appearance as the Devil– classic typecasting.
That’s Me!
I’ll post again on Thursday when the first two pages launch.
A blog post about Patreon.
Read the first eight pages of ARE YOU BEING WATCHED? the 24 hour comic, on Patreon.
June 18, 2015
The Secret Stash: Kaleidoscope Looping Gifs On Patreon
It’s the third Thursday of the month, and time for me to post a selection from My Secret Stash– sketchbook drawings, comics roughs, reference photos, and other marginal stuff– on Patreon.
David Chelsea is listening to:
On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller
by Richard Norton Smith
This month, it’s a selection of pieces from one of my side preoccupations, kaleidoscopic designs created in Photoshop. My usual practice is to scour the Internet for images that promise to generate interesting patterns when repeated infinitely in kaleidoscopic symmetry. I posted some examples of NSFW designs on Patreon a few months ago. This post tells you a little bit about my interest in these kind of designs, and my method for creating them.
This latest batch takes the idea a step further. Instead of still kaleidoscope images, these are infinitely repeating animations (the animations were rendered in the 3D application Lightwave, then converted to looping gifs on the free site Bloggif).
To create the videos, I have selected a number of my favorite origins images from the still series and given them the animation treatment, including this floral scene:
Creating a kaleidoscope video in Lightwave
Here are some of the patterns I just posted. The subjects include gummy worms, an abstract painting by Jackson Pollock, a news photo from Abu Ghraib, and Paris Hilton’s sex video. A number of them are NSFW, so don’t tell your boss!:
Membership has its privileges; all Secret Stash material is viewable by Patreon sponsors at the $4.99 level and above. Here’s a free sample, an animated version of the ice crystal image that started it all for me:
June 12, 2015
New from Rebecca: The Summer Dragons
View the highly awaited new animation from Rebecca Celsi’s StudioAttic Productions on YouTube. A story of the secret world in one child’s garden- and how she discovered it. Music by the infinitely talented recent high school graduate Ben Celsi. Here are some screen captures to give you a taste:
David Chelsea is watching: Fargo: Season 1
with Martin Freeman
Previous blog post about Rebecca’s animation.
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