It’s not everyday I draw and color pin-ups, so I figured this was worth posting. In fact, I’m usually asked to do some sort of romantic piece, featuring some girl’s boyfriend—-portrait work or sometimes she wants him shirtless like an R&B singer. The kicker is that he’s usually the kind of guy I want to punch in the face. This is why I want more comic work, thank you very much.

Anyway, this right here… this was fun!

Stop and Go. Written by the lovely Jesse Snavlin with sequentials by Dan Schkade.

It was a little scary too because I was on autopilot with the broken glass, but with names like “Stop and Go”, I wanted to make it more dynamic than my usual antics. The dark background was totally a happy accident, too. I was changing the layer to favor a gradient and it was set to black and white by default. The colors on the costume just popped and trumped my original plan for a white background.

~KG

Currently Midnight Boom By The Kills see related

I think I'm starting to catch that animation bug that's been going around. I hate feeling like this because I know how difficult it's going to be, but I want to continue my studies. Not by enrolling in school (been there, done that), but on a personal level. Lately, traditional hand-drawn animation has been a recurring subject inside my head. I think with the right amount of tutorials and books, I could pull off something neat---even if it's only a minute or two.

For all I know, this urge just might fade away in a few days. It seriously needs to. I have some things I really need to focus on. Samples for the upcoming Wizard World Convention is top priority. Overall, comics and screenwriting seem to be saving my life right now.

If anything, I would like to schedule some time later in the year to re-familiarize myself with animation. I'm rusty. Hell, according to one particular instructor at the Art Institute of Philly, I suck at animation. Well, in so many words.

In fact, she failed me in a course that didn't even require any instruction whatsoever. Minimal observation with the occasional roll call---simple shit. It was a glorified free period to work on your portfolio/demo reel. All the students walked out of the course with works in progress---literal WIPS! I suppose she didn't like the direction I was going in... Maybe it was rough around the edges, but it was a freakin' work in progress! Does that constitute failing a student? Hell no, but I dropped out of the course to save my GPA. Unfortunately, the damage was done.

I think a huge portion of this urge is fueled by her opinion of me. Even if it's true, I want to produce something that will symbolize a giant "Fuck You" to her. Teacher/instructors should never rip out the hearts of their students... and piss on it.

Never.

She damaged me on so many levels. Mentally, physically, even financially... I couldn't even think about animating without wanting a drink or two. Suddenly, I want to animate and that scares me.

Maybe this is the road to recovery?

~ KG

A few years ago, a good friend of mine introduced me to Dr. Sketchy's and I'm forever grateful. After a shameful (financial) discharge from the Art Institute, I thought I would be short of life models forever. Thankfully, I was mistaken. As it turns out, Dr. Sketchy's is a million times better than what the scraps you'd get in art school. It's like comparing toilet paper to silk. Hell, it's cheaper too, but we'll talk about that later. So, I saw a flyer on Facebook that featured a session with the lovely Stoya, posing as Death from Neil Gaiman's Sandman. After a quick google image search, I dragged my fat, raggedy ass out of the house for a rare public appearance.

I even got a haircut.

There was a few misconceptions I had prior to seeing her in person. For one, she's taller than I imagined. You have to understand, I'm a fuckin' Mastodon. Most people are ants to me, so women who are above average height get etched into my memory banks. Two, she's a good writer. For a while, I denied the shit out of it because I thought her talent was just my "unmentionables" scrambling signals to my brain (a problem most of the male population can attest to). Yes, her blogs are good reads. She's one of the main reasons why I joined Tumblr. An added bonus, she speaks geek fluently. It's almost is if she weren't a porn star, but she is... and that bothers me.

Despite all the adoration I have for this woman, my Christian upbringing is in the back of my head, reminding me that she's...uhhhh...breaking the rules. Stoya, of all people, initiated a battle inside my consciousness. I suppose I would have to lean towards how I feel about the industry she's in. 

I'm pretty sure her mind is being wasted there. Intelligence, sharpness or what have you, isn't really commonplace while getting pounded on camera. I honestly think she's better off outside the industry rather than in it. If it were up to me, I'd kick down the doors to whichever studio that has her under contract just to let 'em know that she's retiring early. Hell, I'd even cut off a few dicks while I'm at it. I'd uppercut those bastards and clothesline those sons of--- whoa. Maybe that's it.

Maybe I just want to rescue her.     

Maybe it's not the Sunday School shtick that's giving me issues. Maybe I just see a woman that's enjoying herself in the snake pit and my arm is too short to pull her out. I had a rare opportunity to see Stoya outside her normal stomping grounds and she was... Dammit, she was brilliant. As selfish as this may sound, I just want to keep her away from roaming dicks. I think she deserves to be in a place where she's not a piece of meat, but rather a work of art.  

Rescue fantasy or not, the porn industry doesn't deserve her.    

Currently watching: Breakout Kings: The Complete First Season By Jimmi Simpson, Laz Alonso, Domenick Lombardozzi, Malcolm Goodwin see related