Finished...

My imagination...

can be a pretty cool place sometimes.

Above is a sketch I worked on a little while ago. Recently I decided to try and move the illustration on from just a flat pencil drawing. So I'm doing this in small steps. Yesterday I started on digitising my sketch. Below is my initial outline vector illustration.

From here, I took the outline into Photoshop and began to work my magic to breath life into something that sprung from my imagination. It's going to be a bit of a slow process but the room is a very important element in this illustration. I'll begin to work on my character next. Apart from the TV I still need to create the furniture, but the TV was important. So enjoy looking into his room.


I love doing this sort of stuff. L.O.V.E. it!

Shhh... Genius at work...

I've been reading little tiny bits and pieces about Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland. True to Tim Burton's form he is not re-creating any previous version. It seems that his version is a combination of the original two books, "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass". From the small leaks of aspects of the screen play it seems that the story is told through an Alice who is slightly older than when she was in Wonderland. "In this film she’s dreaming of it at a somewhat later part of her life than in the books, so certain things are different." says Linda Woolverton who wrote the screen play that Burton's version is based on.

So any way, my daily search for just a little bit more info on this film must have filtered into my psyche and last night I dreamed of it. I was the King of Hearts in Wonderland and as my army of cards trumpeted my entrance I listened to the fanfare they were playing and decided it was not suitable enough for me. I wanted them to play The Imperial March from Star Wars. I walked the long red carpet laid out before me and when I reached my throne I doubled over with a maniacal laughter. Fun but weird huh?

A good ol' laugh...

So what did you do on Sunday? It was a beautiful day here in Sydney and I slept right through it. And guess what? For once, I didn't feel guilty for doing so. I enjoyed my Saturday night immensely.

Now, it's no secret that I like to shake my rump on the dancefloor every now and then. I do. Occasionally, I like a big night out and Saturday night I had every intention of bouncing up and down in my Nikes to some cool tunes spun by Sydney's finest. To add to the good vibe of the night I was catching up with Kookyknut before hand. He and I haven't been out together for a long time. Probably too long.

I arrived at Kookyknut's abode about an hour and a half before I had actually planned to get there because excitement got the better of me. One of his mates had also stopped by which was lucky for me as I've wanted to meet him. We cracked open a Coopers and settled down in his lounge for a few pre-night-out drinks.

Music played unobtrusively in the background as we chatted. Every now and then a song would catch my attention and I'd loose track of the conversation. With beer supplies running low we made a quick dash to the local bottle-o for more. Back in the comfort of the lounge the conversations continued... and continued.

What a fun night. I have not laughed so hard in ages. We never did end up going out. Before long the sun was rising. I haven't had a great night just hanging out in ages... Struggling to keep my eyes open I decided to shuffle off home. I made it into my own lounge at about 10am. I was smelling of Eucalyptus thanks to the odd spray of Fess that was often squirted in my direction during the night. I crawled into bed and that's where I was to remain for the day.

This morning I woke up wondering why I had a pain in my side. I guess it is from laughter. I had a great night, thanks Kookyknut.

More?

I heart this one.

Ferry ride this morning...

I love a rough ride...

Phwoar... He's got big guns!

I had a fantastic weekend. You know, it was one of those weekends where you get out and about and do stuff that you've wanted to do for a while, but haven't really wanted to do it by yourself.
Wandering around decommissioned Navy ships is always going to be a winner with me. I have no idea why, but I just love war ships. .. and submarines. Walking from bow to stern in the HMAS Onslow submarine was great and totally fascinating.

The Harbour Jet was another one of those experiences this weekend. I'd booked two seats for an early morning adventure. The wind was blowing strongly across the harbour so we were warned to prepare for a little spray. Don't go on one of these and expect to stay dry. It was fun though. I'd describe the experience as: lame bordering on exciting. I did enjoy it though and had many laughs.
And a weekend would not be complete without lots of fantastic food and eating it in great locations. I totally loved the company and eating breaky at "Splat". After breakfast then going climbing down the cliffs, over the boulders and through the caves along the coast at Queenscliff. I love hanging out and looking in rock pools. I also love the big rogue waves that catch you off guard and soak you to the bone. Once again, lots of laughs, a few scratches and the adventure of exploring the local coastline. I'm really loving the food and drink options at Manly Wharf. Above is lunch from the Manly Wharf Bar. The views are great and sitting enjoying a beer in the fresh sea air and sun out on the deck is a great way to spend any afternoon.

Opinions can change...

I had a very low opinion of this song a few weeks ago. I had La Roux pegged as another all hype no real substance act. The lead singer's voice wasn't really doing it for me. However, I'm now finding myself playing this song a few times a day. It also has a great video with fantastic CGI perspective. It's like walking into an 80's Smash Hit's magazine.

I didn't mean to publish that last post...

SO, anyone who's RSS feed or bloglines links to it, I want you to know I haven't finished with that post. I'm not talking about the Ute post, but the one that was between it and this one. You can't see it? Good.
There's a little more I need to add to it and re-write in some form of logical English. And I'd love to know if you did see it. I would love to find out if switching a post back into "edit" mode blocks people from reading it after it was published.

"Uhm......what's a ute?"...

So this post is for D. in Texas.
The Ute is an Aussie invention and icon. It was invented by Ford way back in the olden days (1930's) for farmers. It has the front of a normal sedan and a tray for the rear. Utes have transformed themselves from being a farm vehicle to a modern day muscle car. There is huge rivalry between the two brands of ute: Holden and Ford. Both companies build V6 and V8 versions. Naturally, V8's are the sexiest. The car is one of the most practical vehicle's around (unless you require a family vehicle). They are most popular with tradesmen and sportsmen (and women with blond spiral perms who's names are usually Kazza or Shazza). There is even a HUGE Ute festival:
http://www.deniutemuster.com.au/

The above pic a picture I took up at North Head of Judo's Ute for a ute forum. You can throw all sorts of gear in the back including dive gear, mountain bikes, camping gear, the odd dirt bike and so much more. It's a lad's car.

To answer WCS's comment from last post...

I went diving tonight and no I didn't have any problems with my heel while I was in the water.

It was a great dive for many reasons. Mostly because it was one of those dives where a couple of things happened that had not been planned for and we had to improvise. I won't go into details but the dive turned out to be a good opportunity to practice the NEVER used (unless during an emergency) buddy breathing.

The underwater world is so amazing at night. You just don't know what is out there. It is pitch black down there apart from the beam of light from your torch. We were informed that there have been a number of shark sightings due to increased numbers of fish. This both thrills me and scares the shit out of me... I didn't see any sharks. Kind of disappointing, but also a relief. Maybe next time the dive will be more successful but probably not as much fun.

Sometimes you need to take risks... calculated or not. I love how just before we agreed to go ahead with the dive Judo and I looked at each other with a cheeky grin and said "Should we?"... "Yeah, c'mon. We'll take it easy" Meanwhile I was wondering "I wonder how dangerous this is?" I love random nights like tonight.

I have an owie...

This injury has really upset my jogging routine. Am I happy about it? Hell no! I'm down right cranky about it. Apparently this type of injury is common for people who jog on sand. Bah! I never jog on sand.
Actually, the injury did happen while I was on the sand, but I was swimming. I felt a small pinch on my left ankle and thought I had been bitten or stung by something. The pain soon subsided so I ignored it... for weeks. However, jogging and certain positions that my foot went into still caused great pain. So I had it checked out recently and there you have it. A stupid annoying tear in the Achilles tendon on my left ankle. Maybe I'll spend this winter growing fat and ugly from no exercise. Sob sob...

A great weekend so far

Started early Saturday with a ride through the Royal National Park. I always love the view at the other end.

See my above comment about the views... Bikes bikes bikes! :)

I hung my bathroom door this morning. It's been leaning against my bedroom wall for far too long, so I bit the bullet and went all "handy-man" and now it's firmly in place... AND it's perfect! I'll have to paint it next because that salmon colour is just the primer coat.

And a walk on the beach this morning. It was cold and wet, but the colours in the ocean were just spectacular. I sat on the wet rocks watching the surfers bob up and down over the very small swell as I sipped a rather hot and nice cup of coffee. All this and it's not even lunchtime Sunday. I'm a very happy lad right now.

This is my art...

I'm loving this right now...

These two tunes are currently burning a hole in my headphones as they are on very high rotation at the moment. Something old and something new. Firstly the new:

Basement Jaxx - Raindrops (Original Mix)

And the old:

Kleerup Feat Titiyo - Longing For Lullabies (Joakim Remix)