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<a href="http://www.unsummon.co.uk/index.html">www.unsummon.co.uk</a>//Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.comBlogger291125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-63591016866941959542011-11-04T03:33:00.000-07:002011-11-04T03:33:17.952-07:00FOLLOW MY NEW BLOG AT<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="http://omnipathy.blogspot.com/">OMNIPATHY.BLOGSPOT.COM</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="http://omnipathy.blogspot.com/">OMNIPATHY.BLOGSPOT.COM</a></b></span><br />Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-9939423829310722592011-11-03T11:21:00.001-07:002011-11-03T11:22:00.706-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-29507006961324346012011-11-02T13:17:00.001-07:002011-11-02T13:17:54.764-07:00fighting bird demon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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multiple arms inspired by asura's wrathJoe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-90763397813731570212011-11-02T05:43:00.000-07:002011-11-02T06:00:11.624-07:00inluenza map<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HiXd8HPt0YU/TrE2wZqOHRI/AAAAAAAABzc/D1NKTTwB0o4/s1600/influence_map_PSD.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HiXd8HPt0YU/TrE2wZqOHRI/AAAAAAAABzc/D1NKTTwB0o4/s640/influence_map_PSD.png" width="480" /></a></div>
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<li><i>Kaiba </i>(Madhouse, 2008) - One of several shows that serve to epitomise that "deep" (note quotation marks there) brand of anime that presumably gets produced when some experienced director with a few successful projects under his belt gets the urge to pitch a batshit crazy plot/art style and the execs just roll with it. Kaiba is difficult to explain, but I like it because a) it's set in space in an imaginatively altered future b) it seems to contain plot elements that in a vague way talk about loss, love and transience c) its art style is chubby and characterful, kind of like Wind Waker but a lot more organic. I'd like it a lot more if it was a bit more coherent, but it's relaxing to watch so you can just sort of zone out and concentrate on the overall mood rather than worrying about the incomprehensible story.</li>
<li><i>Final Fantasy IX </i>(Square, 2000) - When I was little I got bought the art book for <i>FFIX </i>by my mum (this was well before I ever even played the game), and I read and re-read the shit out of it. Even with only a cursory knowledge of the plot I found the characters and environments really interesting. I think it was my first defining example of the setup that a lot of shows use, that sort of magic-plus-steampunk vibe that means you can almost define it as both fantasy and science fiction simultaneously. It also has a nice balance between "cute" and "serious" design (the cute stuff isn't like <i>panderingly </i>cute and the serious stuff doesn't take itself so seriously that it's easy to parody). It's Final Fantasy and comes with all the setbacks of the series, but it's without a doubt my favourite one.</li>
<li>Dave Cooper - Dave Cooper crossed over this strange line in my mind a while ago where before I thought he was just one of those weird pervert cartoonists like Joe Matt or Dan Clowes (I'm still not massively keen on <i>Pip & Norton</i>, it seems like a comic to market vinyl toys), and then suddenly I read a few issues of <i>Weasel</i> and saw his more recent paintings and I realised he's actually an amazing artist. He takes this thing he's visually and psychologically fascinated with - the physical mass and volume of female anatomy - and has this amazing way of just building it up, sculpting his flabby pygmalion on every page with his tiny pen- or brush-strokes. It also feels like he's actually developed his approach to it, too - the paintings in his more recent book Bent often don't even look like women any more, lovingly caricatured beyond recognition as jelly-like, transluscent, almost <i>foetal </i>creatures. There's something primordial about it. I could look at them for hours.</li>
<li>Iain M. Banks - I'd read a few science fiction short stories in comics before but my first initiation in literary sci-fi was back in my foundation year when I spontaneously decided I wanted to read more. I read Dan Simmons' <i>Hyperion Cantos</i>, a huge space opera spanning several vast human empires and thousands of years, which for a long time was pretty much my favourite book. This sort of segued into me reading the books of some other famous SF authors - Peter F. Hamilton (overrated, trashy, prone to oversexual self-insert main characters) and Iain M. Banks. Banks has an incredible sense of scope and some fucking crazy ideas (for me the main thrill of good SF) and a penchant for weird, sudden, downer endings. Quite often characters will be faced with insurmountable odds - and then die. Sometimes it feels a little lazy, but there's a concession to realism in Banks' work that makes you feel like you're reading a historical account rather than a fiction sometimes. My favourite book so far is probably <i>Matter</i>.</li>
<li>Stanley Kubrick - particularly talking about <i>A Clockwork Orange </i>here. I love Kubrick's overall cinematography, his approach to the source text, his choice of music, pretty much everything. I know fans of the book are often irked by how much it's overshadowed by its filmic sibling in terms of a place in popular culture, but I think it's everything an adaption should be: an interesting and personal interpretation of a story. However, I share Burgess' frustration at the final chapter being cut from the film - I think it might have confused viewers a little, but it might have mitigated some of the fallout from the film's controversy as it sort of retroactively colours everything else that happens in the plot.</li>
<li>Harvey Kurtzman - I haven't got a lot to say about Kurtzman other than that he was one of those cartoonists alive during a very interesting cultural and political period, and I think he's something of an unsung master of the medium. I really like that his capabilities included both the gritty, first-hand depictions of World War II and the crazy, spare-nobody parodies of MAD magazine, and the fact that he has this expressive, brushy style that spans both. Probably one of the best illustrators I'm aware of.</li>
<li>Alan Moore - Literary genius of our time. It's kind of a shame he seems to find it so easy to put across that "angry old man" image - if he eased back a little (and maybe one or two fewer magic lesbians per story) more people would like him. I think maybe twenty or thirty years after he dies people are going to realise how amazing he was.</li>
<li>Satoshi Kon - About two decades ago, if you were into japanese animated films, chances are you were probably either a fan of Hayao Miyazaki or Satoshi Kon, or both. Kon's first film that I remember people in the west becoming aware of was <i>Perfect Blue</i>, which I think grabbed people because the box described it as "Walt Disney does Alfred Hitchcock", which thrilled people because the west had never really gotten the hang of "adult" animated films. He later directed several other films and a television series, <i>Paranoia Agent</i>, which I think is my favourite out of all of them. Kon's stories really go for the notion of hyper-reality, of impossible things happening in a mundane, japanese world (often "bleeding in" from fiction or fantasy until the two become indivisible), and <i>Paranoia Agent </i>is a good example of this. Lots of crazy stuff in the directing, lots of fourth wall breaking, difficult to "get", but by the end of the series (in a bizarre climax that divides the fanbase a bit) you'll look back and have an overall "feel" of the kind of things Kon was trying to say. I find a lot of Kon's stuff pretty emotional, which is now compounded by the fact that he actually died of pancreatic cancer last year, his latest movie unfinished. You can read a letter he wrote shortly beforehand <a href="http://www.makikoitoh.com/journal/satoshi-kons-last-words">here</a>.</li>
<li>David Mazzucchelli - I'm putting Mazzucchelli here on the merit of just two books that I've read - his adaptation of <i>City of Glass </i>by Paul Auster, and his most recent standalone graphic novel, <i>Asterios Polyp</i>. The former is another great interpretation of an interesting story, and given the whole theme of isomorphisms and translations in Auster's work it seems curiously apt to try and make a comic out of it. The latter, however, is where Mazzucchelli really shines - the book is very obviously a labour of love, and if at the start you have any dislike for the curious approach to design or the rather luminous, screen-printed look, you'll have an appreciation for it by the end. It's one of those books that should be held up to demonstrate what a graphic novel should really aspire to be - it has a complex story, competently told, which exploits both the capability of language and abstract imagery to communicate with the reader in a unique way that marks Mazzucchelli out as a great author/artist.</li>
<li><i>FLCL </i>(Gainax, 2000) - As ubiquitous it may be, I'm surprised this anime isn't better known by more people. It's not as careful as <i>Kaiba </i>and not nearly as soulful as Kon, it's just loud, abrasive, beautiful fun, featuring a young, sexually neurotic male, a series of aggressive and often incomprehensible girls, horrifying giant mecha brought to earth through a portal to another galaxy, guitars (<i>lots </i>of guitars) and a yellow vespa. Describing it any more is pretty futile. Great design/animation, fun plot, around five half-hour episodes. What the fuck are you doing?! Google it right now!</li>
<li>Shintaro Kago - Kago would be just another <i>guro </i>manga artist if his comics weren't so darn <i>amazing</i>. The thumbnail shown above, from his story <i>Abstraction</i>, starts off as a banal six-panel romance story, when suddenly our point of view shifts and begins to turn <i>around </i>the comic, and we realise it's actually a sort of 3D shelf that we're looking at, with different panels revealed on each sides. We continue to orbit, our point-of-view revealing absurd shapes and creatures made up of different panels overlapping which begin tearing themselves out of their confining panels and running amok. Kago's work is disturbing and imaginative in the extreme (and there are far more shocking examples than this one). Again, google him if you don't know him.</li>
<li>Chris Ware - Pretty much the first comic book artist I properly fell in love with. <i>Jimmy Corrigan </i>is still one of the best books I've ever read and the <i>Acme Novelty Library </i>continues to spin a complex webs of misery among his characters. Especially interesting is his approach to time and generations, demonstrating a disdain for normal storytelling constraints and often leaving the reader with a bewildering feeling of almost zen-like holism. If you've ever read <i>Slaughterhouse Five</i>, Chris Ware's books seem very much the kind of thing Tralfamadorians would like to read; rather than being a succession of moments within a time-frame, each story is its own "giga-moment" to be understood as a whole though patient study.</li>
<li>Bone (Jeff Smith, 1991-2004) - Bone, again, strikes that great balance between cutesyness and seriousness, starring these amorphic 1940s blob characters cavorting around in a world likenable to something like <i>Lord of the Rings</i>. It's telling this epic story so it has direction (it's not just a gag comic) but at the same time it's got Fone Bone and his cousins to show that it's not to be taken too seriously. This to-and-fro is something I really like in fiction - light-heartedness really increases the punch of serious stuff, and vice versa. Plus, Jeff Smith can really, y'know, <i>draw</i>. Which (not to get on a high horse or anything) is something that's maybe a little rarer these days than it should be.</li>
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Good job if you read the whole thing. A little self-indulgent, I know. Original template <a href="http://fox-orian.deviantart.com/art/Influence-Map-Template-174550753">here</a>. You should do it too!<br />
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</ol>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-19397687965767006672011-10-31T15:03:00.000-07:002011-10-31T15:05:10.267-07:00noche de brujas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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beware the chupacabras tonight</div>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-69072585724300224542011-10-25T10:23:00.000-07:002011-10-25T10:23:57.332-07:00league of league of league of league of legendsSo now that my interest in playing SC2 beyond something like a gold level has waned like the tide (although recently piqued by the new announced units/features for the upcoming <i>Heart of the Swarm</i> expansion) the game I have been mostly playing is League of Legends, or LoL for short (a weird acronym at first, but you get used to it). I just wanted to mention it because it's developed quite a following in several online communities I frequent.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The distinctive MOBA-style map used in LoL (get used to the acronyms, gentlemen)</td></tr>
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I actually don't think LoL is much to write home about gameplay-wise. Starcraft I can pretty honestly describe to non-videogamey friends as "fast-paced chess" because at competitive levels it's as much about using your brain as your hands, and there's a lot of theory. It has a rich metagame which has evolved over a long time, and I think this separates it from a lot of other games.<br />
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LoL also has an established metagame, but the incredibly long game length (20 minutes is considered a short game) means that for a lot of the time it's just "push-button-recieve-pleasure" gameplay as you sit there "farming" (an actual game term) vast swathes of enemy minions, who explode with a satisfying chink of coins as they die. I have less respect for this kind of game than I do for, say Starcraft, or something more immediately cerebral like Portal - it's a style of play that's knowingly addictive and the reason <i>World of Warcraft </i>still imprisons millions daily.<br />
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But it <i>is </i>fun, so I play it with friends most days. It's also free, and a quick google will let you download it should you be the proud owner of a windows-running computer. What I have more of a gripe with is the artwork of the game; literally <i><a href="http://itsnothax.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Mordekaiser_Splash.jpg">every</a> <a href="http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/8/88468/1334875-312e302e302e38322d3330_large.jpg">single</a> <a href="http://edge2.mobafire.com/images/champion/portrait/veigar.jpg">character</a> </i>is a second-rate knockoff of an established fantasy/scifi icon (or if you're unfamiliar with the originals, they're just painfully uninspiring and often revoltingly coloured). The worst possible one, though (which almost makes me want to hit up <a href="http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com/">YouThoughtWeWouldntNotice.com</a>) is this demon called Cho'Gath:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GV-h1Eu6y84/TqbsFXVb_3I/AAAAAAAAByA/crHh25WpyJs/s1600/chobleuehgudfif.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GV-h1Eu6y84/TqbsFXVb_3I/AAAAAAAAByA/crHh25WpyJs/s400/chobleuehgudfif.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I mean, this is probably only a personal thing, but when I was twelve I used to really like <i>Spawn</i>, and this thing just looks like the fucking Violator:<br />
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<a href="http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/40/786236-spawn_originsvol1_violator_super.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/40/786236-spawn_originsvol1_violator_super.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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And look at this artwork of one of Cho'Gath's alt costumes! Have you no shame, Riot Games designers?!<br />
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That's bullshit. Anyway, to end this tirade, this character is actually really fun to play and has a neat mechanic where he can literally eat other player characters and grows bigger and bigger every time he does so. He also has a bunch of spike-related abilities, none of which are reflected in his design at all. So lazy! I wanted to try out some digital painting (partially inspired by <a href="http://obsessedkitten.deviantart.com/">a recent acquaintance</a> who is very good at that sort of thing) so I thought I'd do some more fanart: <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RjRYBNUzZQQ/Tqbk2AJI3OI/AAAAAAAABx4/g2msaUNJt7M/s1600/cho02linework.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RjRYBNUzZQQ/Tqbk2AJI3OI/AAAAAAAABx4/g2msaUNJt7M/s400/cho02linework.png" width="393" /></a></div>
the "shiny" flesh is pretty simple to render and it doesn't have too many colours/layers, but one must start somewhere. Also the composition is a bit rubbish. Oh well at least i did something fuck you.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5vmOHZgp0Mc/Tqbwft7COWI/AAAAAAAAByI/DxeZbvCve2w/s1600/cho02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5vmOHZgp0Mc/Tqbwft7COWI/AAAAAAAAByI/DxeZbvCve2w/s640/cho02.png" width="628" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QO-W_rm_g3Y/Tqbk1Og1VrI/AAAAAAAABxw/cN_B44DTytk/s1600/cho02.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-62402477732067263342011-10-20T16:23:00.000-07:002011-10-20T16:24:44.076-07:00qwatz qwatz qwatz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyxsNkBJwxYNBUvb2cRRM8zVCoXThkhTRTqVEY3K2x5bxZzxxY0fOQ_xD-6F84avLq5swiv8Eb8oRtbrHriRA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Also this video has been breaking my heart recently:<br />
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<span style="color: red;">nsfw</span>, obviouslyJoe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-52855856960854726692011-10-14T13:09:00.000-07:002011-10-15T08:59:28.561-07:00it's like... marjane satrapi meets junji ito and the two are fused in a mass of writhing horrific faces communicating profound fundamental truths about the human spirit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A panel from a four-page comic I submitted to the <a href="http://www.vintage-books.co.uk/about-us/jonathan-cape/Graphicshortstoryprize/">Jonathan Cape Graphic Short Story</a> competition. It was really fun to just churn out a story in a week, it felt like I was back at uni (in a good way, short creative projects kick ass). I should try and do this kind of thing more, yadda yadda yaddaJoe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-55740880310176278512011-10-05T06:23:00.000-07:002011-10-05T06:25:29.625-07:00i dont want to live on this planet anymore<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KS7EtQZTzAM/ToxaBNRqhHI/AAAAAAAABxE/3YlpPLfPRAk/s1600/02.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KS7EtQZTzAM/ToxaBNRqhHI/AAAAAAAABxE/3YlpPLfPRAk/s400/02.png" width="155" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MxmVvzxlbZU/ToxaAlJKdrI/AAAAAAAABxA/W56ZfuTnIq4/s1600/01.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MxmVvzxlbZU/ToxaAlJKdrI/AAAAAAAABxA/W56ZfuTnIq4/s400/01.png" width="214" /></a></div>
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<br />Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-82711623358597017342011-09-12T08:27:00.000-07:002011-09-12T13:49:44.954-07:00billions and billions of fuck<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qaSwOdG2_vI/Tm4lPrHWXMI/AAAAAAAABwo/Nc8dz45Fgxs/s1600/03v2.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qaSwOdG2_vI/Tm4lPrHWXMI/AAAAAAAABwo/Nc8dz45Fgxs/s400/03v2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651495533598366914" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hh-jeuF-FaA/Tm4lPXt6-HI/AAAAAAAABwg/r8ECtLKixYY/s1600/02v2.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hh-jeuF-FaA/Tm4lPXt6-HI/AAAAAAAABwg/r8ECtLKixYY/s400/02v2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651495528391440498" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yw7QtlTdOcA/Tm4lPNeHJAI/AAAAAAAABwY/XT1dXHDw1g4/s1600/01v2.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yw7QtlTdOcA/Tm4lPNeHJAI/AAAAAAAABwY/XT1dXHDw1g4/s400/01v2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651495525640774658" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rL06yfZOr38/Tm4lP-iXmXI/AAAAAAAABww/e3hc60VdYzY/s1600/04v2.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rL06yfZOr38/Tm4lP-iXmXI/AAAAAAAABww/e3hc60VdYzY/s400/04v2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651495538811967858" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxXFDY0wzQUyyD8-GL0rb4MQTCFut6GZ_W-zudtEvdA8_u9Hghz5nLOX8mEorjo9oHoaSskFZv7XKS2RWPWPw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />some stuff for a music video I hastily dipped my artistic proboscis in today.<br /></div>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-64600833560714935082011-09-11T11:51:00.000-07:002011-09-12T02:17:03.816-07:00odolwa: masked jungle warrior<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0bTHGcZRYGs/Tm0R8rJptzI/AAAAAAAABwQ/LO7ph2VqHyU/s1600/odolwa.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 363px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0bTHGcZRYGs/Tm0R8rJptzI/AAAAAAAABwQ/LO7ph2VqHyU/s400/odolwa.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651192841492870962" border="0" /></a>Inspired by my friend's recent <a href="http://flashbros.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d48jspp"><span style="font-style: italic;">Majora's Mask</span> fanart</a> and my girlfriend playing the game for the first time. Might do some more, the bosses in this game are pretty and I feel like doing more fanart.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=user5343125_pic3973_1214940975.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/user5343125_pic3973_1214940975.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />I used to give <span style="font-style: italic;">Majora's Mask </span>a lot of props over its elder, more mainstream sibling <span style="font-style: italic;">Ocarina of Time </span>(that name sounds more stupid every time I read it), but I think after a while I started worrying that my rabid appreciation for the notably "edgier" <span style="font-style: italic;">MM</span> was probably just a contrary sort of nostalgia. However! I'm watching Blanca play it now and it's been just long enough that a lot of the character design (and the design of the story in general) is actually really appealing to me.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=zmm-linkdeku.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/zmm-linkdeku.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=zmm-kafei2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/zmm-kafei2.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Most of the character design in <span style="font-style: italic;">OoT </span>is simple and recogniseable (princess looks like a princess, bad guy looks like a bad guy, Link looks like... Link), but the incidental characters you meet just around in towns and stuff could sometimes be pretty funny (<a href="http://totallylookslike.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/c08dda75-0742-44bd-b673-999c46a1a0a0.jpg">or creepy</a>) in a way that makes them stick out a little bit. Majora's is a famously sidequest-heavy game, and what's more it doesn't have the standard fairy tale Princess/Hero/Bad Guy triad (which the other games go so far as to fucking <a href="http://images.wikia.com/zelda/images/3/39/Triforce_%28Ocarina_of_Time%29.png">canonise</a>), which essentially removes all of the boring characters (except Link, who is well-known to be a characterless player vehicle). They take some of these weird little side characters who would usually stand around forever in town X continuously repeating the same line (then they go and design a lot of new ones) and then give them this amazing groundhog day cycle to play around in.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=zmm-misc2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/zmm-misc2.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=zmm-masksalesman.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/zmm-masksalesman.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=zmm-tingle.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/zmm-tingle.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div>I can't really stress how good an idea this is - by simply adding a <span style="font-style: italic;">restriction </span>to the timespan of the game, by putting it in parentheses, this actually gives the characters such a vast amount of life, it allows them to move and change and fight and trade and get married and do a lot of the things people actually do. It doesn't matter that the whole story is only three days long - it rids the game of that weirdest of tropes that almost all videogames by necessity fall prey to - the paradox of infinite time, something that I feel is possibly one of the most well established and subtlest ways to kill peoples' immersion.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=zmm-misc4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/zmm-misc4.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=goht.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/goht.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />But yeah, the character design is also fucking amazing, the lack of pressure in this obviously being a B team title completely freed up whatever artists worked on it and they just went crazy and it's just beautiful to watch. And it's funny how much the gamecube incarnation rips it off, especially since <span style="font-style: italic;">Wind Waker </span>pretty much holds the sole status of "artsy game" among the Zelda brethren.Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-85477275556987116642011-07-27T14:16:00.000-07:002011-07-27T14:42:03.646-07:00some amazing videogame sprites from blazblueThese are from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlazBlue:_Calamity_Trigger">Blazblue</a>, a current-gen game available on PS3 and XBOX. I think you can buy it for your computer, too. Anyway, its main claim to fame is that its an HD descendant of 2d sprite-based fighters, most notably Street Fighter 3 and Guilty Gear (it's known as a "spiritual successor" to the latter).<br /><br />These days the majority of fighting games (and big-budget videogames in general) tend to be rendered in 3D (makes sense to make use of the entirety of processing power and your disposal) which may label games such as Blazblue as something of a novelty. However, it's not like Braid or Super Meat Boy where the use of 2D mercifully limits the amount of art and tech that go into its creation, this is a big game designed by a big Japanese studio. And I mean, literally, BIG. Look at the sprites below - full sized they probably take up a sizeable portion of your computer screen (for contrast, have a look at the resolution on <a href="http://images.wikia.com/streetfighter/images/5/52/Makoto-stance.gif">this sprite from the last popular 2d fighter, SF3</a> - pretty astonishing when you compare the two). The whole idea with sprite art is to be completely economic with the resolution you have, you never want to squander it needlessly. Blazblue takes the (huge) resolutions of modern TVs and monitors and uses every pixel it can to give you a crisp image of a character that might have come straight from your favourite anime (which is, of course, what this kind of game strives to emulate).<br /><br />The ordinary character sprites and animations are already luscious enough, and you can search youtube for some very pretty fight videos with all the characters. However, being the stickler for details that I'd like to think I am, I was looking at some sprite sheets of the characters and noticed how beautiful the "electrified" frames are - these are frames of the character that will flash up intermittently for no more than a few fps when the character is struck by an attack that's designated "electric" in nature. The skeletons are knowingly cartoony and often include details that you maybe wouldn't notice in the ordinary pace of play - take a look at the weird little idol inside Colin's top hat, or the unhappy fish apparently secreted in Taokaka's claw-sleeves. Besides that, the poses are nice and the general design of them (outline, form, colour) I find really appealing. See what you think.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Litchi_electr.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Litchi_electr.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Bang_electr.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Bang_electr.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Tager_sprite.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Tager_sprite.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Tager_electr.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Tager_electr.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Makoto_electr.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Makoto_electr.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Carl_sprite.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Carl_sprite.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Carl_electr.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Carl_electr.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Lambda_nu_electr-1.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Lambda_nu_electr-1.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Hazama_electr.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Hazama_electr.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Arakune_electr.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Arakune_electr.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Taokaka_sprite.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Taokaka_sprite.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=Tk082_00.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/Tk082_00.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-26573268374819421902011-07-22T03:45:00.000-07:002011-07-22T03:52:47.834-07:00einar<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MCYbnmwigOg/TilWezSLSBI/AAAAAAAABuc/HieVFqqAwAs/s1600/einar.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MCYbnmwigOg/TilWezSLSBI/AAAAAAAABuc/HieVFqqAwAs/s400/einar.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632127896166025234" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sf0MEatHJyE/TilWTgYVCxI/AAAAAAAABuU/I0aSWXV22DQ/s1600/einar.png"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tacrv_RaUDA/TilV9m5rmZI/AAAAAAAABuM/pqPuk9mYLA8/s1600/einar.png"><br /></a>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-70471030874211625532011-07-21T06:11:00.000-07:002011-07-22T03:53:17.586-07:00espen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7irOhppgoj4/TilWlAleqcI/AAAAAAAABuk/VYuI8PRSv54/s1600/espen.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 278px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7irOhppgoj4/TilWlAleqcI/AAAAAAAABuk/VYuI8PRSv54/s400/espen.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632128002815863234" border="0" /></a>character from a story i'm trying to write. trying to get comfortable with linework again, lazily I either make it really fat and vague or I just resort to the pixel-wide thing. also trying a bit harder with character design. lazy lazy lazy.Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-10779298343445150982011-07-06T06:39:00.000-07:002011-09-12T02:17:34.054-07:00cartoons<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=wubba.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/wubba.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /></div>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-85417734664592987682011-06-22T15:48:00.001-07:002011-06-22T16:03:50.743-07:00I even do fanart<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3fZOM-P3KW8/TgJxOUmtTfI/AAAAAAAABrk/2LsTCiUdcmQ/s1600/psgpixelsketch.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 333px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3fZOM-P3KW8/TgJxOUmtTfI/AAAAAAAABrk/2LsTCiUdcmQ/s400/psgpixelsketch.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621179775774969330" border="0" /></a><br />I never do fanart but here's some sketches for a couple of drawings of the main characters of <span style="font-style: italic;">Panty & Stocking</span>, a bizzarely drawn and incredibly lewd anime I happen to like.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nEpy0znKHWs" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />The basic premise of the show is that there are these superhero angel girls whose undergarments can turn into divine weapons, which they use to fight legions of ghosts. If you're not too embarrassed to sit to the end of the above scene there's actually some satisfying animation, too.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3-piQyNSI8U/TgJy3TFFYdI/AAAAAAAABrs/5lC2hamoYhs/s1600/OP_00-18_running.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3-piQyNSI8U/TgJy3TFFYdI/AAAAAAAABrs/5lC2hamoYhs/s400/OP_00-18_running.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621181579251769810" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RjXiom9mXVo/TgJ0Hxsn_TI/AAAAAAAABr0/IfWElBifaR0/s1600/01_10-44_BLAM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RjXiom9mXVo/TgJ0Hxsn_TI/AAAAAAAABr0/IfWElBifaR0/s400/01_10-44_BLAM.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621182961860214066" border="0" /></a><br /><br />it got kinda famous because it uses this weird style that reminds people of famous "western" animations by people like Craig McCracken (Powerpuff Girls, that sorta thing), the kind of "apple core" character design that John K bitches about (where most of the lines in the character are concave, making them look flat and angular). It's crazy and irreverent and it looks as though it was a lot of fun to make, and although nine shots out of ten it's a complete visual clusterfuck it's still strangely watchable.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Also apologies to jonathan for nicking pictures from his post about this from last year because I am too lazy to take my own caps</span><br /><br /><br /></div>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-68792007210108120912011-06-09T16:38:00.000-07:002011-06-09T16:39:53.238-07:00it's the chase that I love<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lMTDqCUcFR0/TfFZrunsMHI/AAAAAAAABrc/ymNO-95Q8Eo/s1600/ALL%2BCOMP%2B%25280-01-14-10%2529_1.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lMTDqCUcFR0/TfFZrunsMHI/AAAAAAAABrc/ymNO-95Q8Eo/s400/ALL%2BCOMP%2B%25280-01-14-10%2529_1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616368818091470962" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dGQRH-0ZEvY/TfFZf_zBK-I/AAAAAAAABrU/SdYB3IZdRqk/s1600/ALL%2BCOMP%2B%25280-01-14-10%2529.png"><br /></a>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-23737568267713906032011-05-24T16:31:00.000-07:002011-05-24T16:35:23.154-07:00a billion miles from here<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=espen1.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/espen1.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-27049574721316346032011-05-15T16:24:00.000-07:002011-05-15T16:29:07.875-07:00urg<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/?action=view&current=herf.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/the_human_stereotype/herf.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />poor little blog, I haven't abandoned you....<br />actually seriously I'm working on something pretty cool right now, something comic-related, something I wrote (I think I just gave it away huh) which will be up soon. but not on this blog. hrm.<br /></div>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-5604629101504290042011-05-04T16:30:00.000-07:002011-05-05T03:54:00.614-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D6PpUbdk8S0/TcHoNVk-oDI/AAAAAAAABo4/GIqJC9WTXJA/s1600/triumph.screen.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D6PpUbdk8S0/TcHoNVk-oDI/AAAAAAAABo4/GIqJC9WTXJA/s400/triumph.screen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603014727253794866" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mDdWWxOwQi0/TcHnX5M8KUI/AAAAAAAABow/zdC09HWRrr0/s1600/bubblegum_crisis.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 254px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mDdWWxOwQi0/TcHnX5M8KUI/AAAAAAAABow/zdC09HWRrr0/s400/bubblegum_crisis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603013809103710530" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g1XQrSZrqKs/TcHnPlmlaZI/AAAAAAAABoo/k7K1p-ESt9Y/s1600/1361856-super_maze_wars_super.png"><br /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SrwCnuRItE4/TcHtldST9mI/AAAAAAAABp4/T8Ins6Vr96w/s1600/Nausicaa%2Bv07p185.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SrwCnuRItE4/TcHtldST9mI/AAAAAAAABp4/T8Ins6Vr96w/s400/Nausicaa%2Bv07p185.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603020639197984354" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iWZ6uGoQO2U/TcHm2ocZbXI/AAAAAAAABog/y6z-DfN9Uwk/s1600/marathon_bungie.jpg"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1D03PjgmnBc/TcHlj15DT2I/AAAAAAAABoY/l7Sa1khPRIE/s1600/ot_bw_049.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1D03PjgmnBc/TcHlj15DT2I/AAAAAAAABoY/l7Sa1khPRIE/s400/ot_bw_049.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603011815350161250" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M-1GGSiVF_w/TcHkcHjBUgI/AAAAAAAABoQ/a4gdtNIaL7Y/s1600/Avatar.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M-1GGSiVF_w/TcHkcHjBUgI/AAAAAAAABoQ/a4gdtNIaL7Y/s400/Avatar.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603010583139013122" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ef6u0oK-s0g/TcHkKF5heDI/AAAAAAAABoI/-MPooN2orwg/s1600/gunsmith_cats_gunsmith_cats-13331.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ef6u0oK-s0g/TcHkKF5heDI/AAAAAAAABoI/-MPooN2orwg/s400/gunsmith_cats_gunsmith_cats-13331.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603010273458878514" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qIIYEDBxCAA/TcHjqaWX9GI/AAAAAAAABoA/Oj2cZuUoQoQ/s1600/2h6wsxg.jpg"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I9iln7UoYgM/TcHjATYomgI/AAAAAAAABn4/g60wa5tOilI/s1600/Final_Fantasy_IX%252C_FF9.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I9iln7UoYgM/TcHjATYomgI/AAAAAAAABn4/g60wa5tOilI/s400/Final_Fantasy_IX%252C_FF9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603009005768710658" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X8djQ09LsUs/TcHiPMgcjKI/AAAAAAAABnw/kIf39cNHtQQ/s1600/kotobuki-000450L.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 314px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X8djQ09LsUs/TcHiPMgcjKI/AAAAAAAABnw/kIf39cNHtQQ/s400/kotobuki-000450L.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603008162108837026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qIIYEDBxCAA/TcHjqaWX9GI/AAAAAAAABoA/Oj2cZuUoQoQ/s1600/2h6wsxg.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qIIYEDBxCAA/TcHjqaWX9GI/AAAAAAAABoA/Oj2cZuUoQoQ/s400/2h6wsxg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603009729192784994" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g1XQrSZrqKs/TcHnPlmlaZI/AAAAAAAABoo/k7K1p-ESt9Y/s1600/1361856-super_maze_wars_super.png"><br /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uimSq6_QrEo/TcHpQTZFJtI/AAAAAAAABpQ/pn8oHwzxgFo/s1600/Ulysses.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 307px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uimSq6_QrEo/TcHpQTZFJtI/AAAAAAAABpQ/pn8oHwzxgFo/s400/Ulysses.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603015877718255314" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p1m-SBl-HMY/TcHpGoXhBmI/AAAAAAAABpI/64WXZWIIPls/s1600/ulysses31_shirka.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p1m-SBl-HMY/TcHpGoXhBmI/AAAAAAAABpI/64WXZWIIPls/s400/ulysses31_shirka.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603015711550146146" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c7p6noWQzR4/TcHo6LLDAQI/AAAAAAAABpA/uVIqs8NBL5M/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c7p6noWQzR4/TcHo6LLDAQI/AAAAAAAABpA/uVIqs8NBL5M/s400/Untitled-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603015497554788610" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w5_VbHB2f0g/TcHppmNzyeI/AAAAAAAABpY/6fJWiVJvy_w/s1600/Rebirth_3_Earth_Cybertron.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 305px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w5_VbHB2f0g/TcHppmNzyeI/AAAAAAAABpY/6fJWiVJvy_w/s400/Rebirth_3_Earth_Cybertron.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603016312267983330" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TxUESAl0vM8/TcHsDSuEe2I/AAAAAAAABpw/pKMC9oc_FiQ/s1600/quantum_leap3-03.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TxUESAl0vM8/TcHsDSuEe2I/AAAAAAAABpw/pKMC9oc_FiQ/s400/quantum_leap3-03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603018952734440290" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CpKMl4dKyyk/TcHr32sT3WI/AAAAAAAABpo/BCuWKIe9EYc/s1600/neverreturned.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CpKMl4dKyyk/TcHr32sT3WI/AAAAAAAABpo/BCuWKIe9EYc/s400/neverreturned.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603018756232306018" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qv1jhk5IXgI/TcHrDFOhZPI/AAAAAAAABpg/nQLWyCWDcb8/s1600/luckymoneyclub.jpg"><br /></a><br /><br />"In speaking of this desire for our own faroff country, which we find in ourselves even now, I feel a certain shyness. I am almost committing an indecency. I am trying to rip open the inconsolable secret in each one of you—the secret which hurts so much that you take your revenge on it by calling it names like Nostalgia and Romanticism and Adolescence; the secret also which pierces with such sweetness that when, in very intimate conversation, the mention of it becomes imminent, we grow awkward and affect to laugh at ourselves; the secret we cannot hide and cannot tell, though we desire to do both. We cannot tell it because it is a desire for something that has never actually appeared in our experience. We cannot hide it because our experience is constantly suggesting it, and we betray ourselves like lovers at the mention of a name. Our commonest expedient is to call it beauty and behave as if that had settled the matter. Wordsworth’s expedient was to identify it with certain moments in his own past. But all this is a cheat. If Wordsworth had gone back to those moments in the past, he would not have found the thing itself, but only the reminder of it; what he remembered would turn out to be itself a remembering. The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not <span style="font-style: italic;">in </span>them, it only came <span style="font-style: italic;">through </span>them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited."<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fx3voBJZLns" allowfullscreen="" width="560" frameborder="0" height="349"></iframe>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-88810336673775092162011-05-04T06:08:00.000-07:002011-05-04T06:16:34.658-07:00OH SHI-<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g0rgJC_8U4U/TcFQB03SSlI/AAAAAAAABno/YlT7-mCjJjA/s1600/littlewizardguyv3.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g0rgJC_8U4U/TcFQB03SSlI/AAAAAAAABno/YlT7-mCjJjA/s400/littlewizardguyv3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602847403726228050" border="0" /></a>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-7451133113366200892011-04-29T14:55:00.000-07:002011-04-29T15:00:43.703-07:00hanging golem<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-meuL1CveGXA/Tbs0M05nABI/AAAAAAAABnI/9D8t36KthRM/s1600/hanging_golem_by_facesfilledwithflies-d3f5rtd.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 296px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-meuL1CveGXA/Tbs0M05nABI/AAAAAAAABnI/9D8t36KthRM/s400/hanging_golem_by_facesfilledwithflies-d3f5rtd.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601127956528693266" border="0" /></a>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-43872467568719074602011-03-31T06:26:00.000-07:002011-03-31T06:29:28.498-07:00kidda visuals animation tests<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xcXkcvr1MTM" allowfullscreen="" width="640" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe><br /><br />currently working on some live visuals for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/6fba3339-e6e1-43c8-a365-624d6ea6e1ba">kidda</a>, along with the rest of colour club. have some animation tests all thrown together!Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-86843835031269526752011-03-25T17:14:00.000-07:002011-03-25T17:17:10.520-07:00house<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K9AUbP4Qux8/TY0wNzaeWLI/AAAAAAAABmQ/0ShnJOoUHrE/s1600/house.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K9AUbP4Qux8/TY0wNzaeWLI/AAAAAAAABmQ/0ShnJOoUHrE/s400/house.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588175726334335154" border="0" /></a><br />one of those evenings where i just gotta post something before i go to bed or else i'll feel lazy... this is some art from a little point and click thing I was working on a while back...Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480963939943262442.post-76236307866480804322011-03-24T04:18:00.000-07:002011-03-24T04:25:00.538-07:00ragnarok<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h5Y1CwYqSkU/TYsp7faHSFI/AAAAAAAABmA/9jsdp6txUpE/s1600/giantwalkcycle02.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h5Y1CwYqSkU/TYsp7faHSFI/AAAAAAAABmA/9jsdp6txUpE/s400/giantwalkcycle02.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587605864703281234" border="0" /></a>Joe Sparrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15067296085618354721noreply@blogger.com1