check out Duncan’s blog for behind the scenes pix from the finale episode sets he worked on.

http://skulboy6.blogspot.com/2010/05/lost-finale.html

at Laguna beach

nice to see in Los Angeles

Watched some old Russian Animation – some kinda boring, but mostly very inspirational.  Some of my favorites were :

- Ball of Wool

– Film Film Film

and my favorite from this DVD was -

-Passion of Spies

Awesome show at Santa Monica pier.

I make lots of fun plans for Halloween every year, but rarely get to take part in the festivities.  This year.. I worked.!

bob Peak show at Nucleus

UP in 3D

Atlantis landed at Edwards AFB this morning.  Gosh I wish I had gotten up early like usual, then I could’ve driven out there!  followed the landing online with Nasa TV instead.  Only a little sonic boom this time.  Last time the shuttle landed at Edwards was in Nov. 2008.  next time I really want to make it out there.

I am stuck in a creative “low”.. i can’t draw, I can’t paint, can’t read more than a page of a book, wah wah wah.  kinda like stuck in muddy water instead of being in a rapid stream.

so instead of my blog being a “sketch blog”, here are some rants and what I’ve been up to.

5/9 – Went to see the California art club show at PMCA.  But I was more impressed with the works at Michael Hollis gallery.  Really nice works from Robert Watts and John Budicin to name a few. We went there as a part of South Pasadena art festival.
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5/10 – It’s been a while since we went to a theater to watch a movie instead of a DVD at home.  startrek was definitely something that should be watched on a big screen.  I’ve never been a treckie, but really enjoyed the movie.
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5/12 – watched “space shuttle disaster” on PBS nova.  As we speak, the real astronauts are in space fixing the Hubble.  yyuep. I was suppose to be one of them.  How I ended up down on earth creating crappy art, I don’t know..
NASA Astronaut Watches New Star Trek Movie in Space

The Science of Star Trek
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5/15 -  went to Skirball to see

“ZAP! POW! BAM! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938–1950″ .  Duncan also signed up for a special screening of Solomon Kane.  I didn’t know anything about it, but it’s another creation by the conan guy Robert E Howard.
Saw this house in BeveryHills

I’ve been involved in feline rescue for a while. Sometimes it takes over my time more than it should and results in my art / work being neglected. Well, this was another such case. “Trap/Neuter/Return” is a very important most effective way to control feral colonies and hence reducing the unwanted kitten births and reduces euthanization and suffering animals. Stray cat Allience website has all the details for those interested. Anyway, I knew it is a lot of work, and I had no intension of getting involved with TNR.  but you do this kind of work and sooner or later it will come knocking on your door.  With the help of experienced fellow volunteer, I did my very first TNR.

You use an animal trap that looks like this:

The mom and dad were easy to trap.  We got them right away and went to Fix nation to get them spayed and neutered.  After the procedure, we release them back to their neighborhood.

However, the kittens were very feral. Not having human contact at all, they were very cautious and food didn’t do the trick.  It took us 2 days to trap all 5 of the litter.

There was one:

Then there were 2:

And eventual got the rest.

the kittens appeared to be about 6 weeks old and they are now in foster care.

– early flight from the brand new Terminal 5 at JFK

– we are on mars..

New York changed a lot since back in the days we lived there.  Ave. A, B, C used to be a place you’d never come back alive if you wandered in by mistake.  Now it’s such a sought after area where the studios costs a million.  The meat packing area on the lower West is also the hippest place to be. You see a lot of fancy mom’ pushing baby carts in shadey areas.  In the morning, it’s not just commuters in business suits, but also kids going to school that crowds the streets.  I used to rush through smelly Penn station but now it’s like a happy indoor mall.  Grand Central Station has a market place on top of the dining concourse.  I remember Zaro’s bakery being the only cool stop where you can get things like chocolate covered crossants on your way home.

I miss living in the east coast.  and especially the seasons. That includes snow and below 0 degrees weather.  I had 3 layers of clothing,  and 2 layers of winter jackets on at all times.  But that’s part of the experience.  I won’t complain being back in the 80F weather in LA.

It was foggy all day.  At the Pasadena city hall fisrt thing in the morning to take care of some biz..

the floats for the Rose Parade starts lining up late the night before.  As we do every year, we walked out to check them out .

On New Years day, we just watch the parade on TV since it gets pretty mad out there.

(copy right – NASA)

The landing was diverted to Edwards Air Force Base due to marginal weather at the Kennedy Space Center. We felt the sonic boom as it entered the atmosphere and our 2 cats both perked up with ears pointed back.

reminds me of my long lost dream of becoming an astronaut..

Wrap parties for big productions like Transformers 2 is always fun. It’s also one of the few times we actually go on a night out in Hollywood.

check out Duncan’s entry

recently watched

the “Orphanage” and “let the right one in”

mom sent me a package the other day.  She used all these really cool stamps!

Here is our new guy – Gizmo!

Our cat Phantom is checking him out.

Gizmo likes to stretch out his legs all the time.

They are getting along just fine.

After staking his usual spot, Phantom is pooped out

How will I ever get any work done.. ?

Our studio had the 2nd major benefit event on one of the hottest Sunday.  Despite no AC in the main hall, we had a good turn out and everyone stayed till the end.  We premiered 3 new trailers along with “making of” and some animatics.  Also in the gallery were paintings for sale and awesome artwork of characters by Ezmeralda.

See Duncan’s work on the final episode of LOST!!

http://skulboy6.blogspot.com/2008/05/lost.html

Phoenix lands on Mars!

more images from NASA

After watching “Lost Building”, I got interested in this Richard Nickel guy and read this book from the library. It’s about a photographer who tried to save Louis Sullivan’s architecture from demolition during the modernization of Chicago. He died in the rubbles of the Stock Exchange building while trying to salvage ornamental details. Preservation of landmarks today is possible due to efforts and passion from people like him. It’s so typical of profit oriented, politically stained society that it takes one’s death for a voice to be heard. I think I want to buy this book.

I’ve been working at Fugitive Studios for over a year now.  I’ve worked on several different projects, but I was originally hired to work on East of Byzantium.  It’s an Armenian epic story of Vartan Mamigonian.  Through this project, I’ve been exposed to their rich cultural heritage that I would never have known just by walking the streets of Glendale.  We had a fund raiser event and the teaser was premiered for the first time to the public.  Everyone worked so hard from every angle, that when it all came together, there was a great sense of accomplishment.   However, this is still just the beginning.

Helicopters and cop sirens are not unusual in LA. Today, I heard more than usual, so went out to see what was going on. Lots of heli were swarming in the sky, and sounded like the entire LAPD was out there. Traffic diverted. Later found out that there was a shooting in the neighborhood not too far from work. Actually it was VERY close to work. What gives me the chills is that in the past, I had driven around the gang’s operational base to sketch. There’s a history of passer byers like me getting shot. I consider myself lucky.

here is the sketch I did last April right where this shooting occured. – On Weldon ave.