How Do You Do That?

Today I was picking up some of the revisions that I have to do for the project I'm currently freelancing on. As the notes were handed to me, the supervising director said a baffling(to me)little fact. Not every storyboard person numbers their board pages or scenes.

What the..?!

How could that be? That can confuse the production assistant who has to xerox the boards and hand them off to the timers, animatic scanners, etc. if they drop the board and the pages go flying. Not to mention that even the artist themselves could get confused if they get the pages out of order. How do they do that and not get confused?!

This subject came up because I'm fairly rabid about numbering pages, scenes, etc. Not because I'm obsessive-compulsive, but just so that I can try to keep myself reasonably organized of what I already did and what I need to do. This attention to detail was noticed by the supervising director and production assistant of the project I'm currently on. They had some stories about certain board artists going off on production people when said production people asked the artist to at least number the board pages. Wow.

I wonder if those board people still get hired elsewhere.

Funny

Today I have a sense of accomplishment because I was able to mail off my artwork ahead of schedule. This is momentous, as I'm a fantastic procrastinator.

On my way out of the post office, I saw the funniest thing. A UPS guy making a delivery to someone working at the post office!

HA!

Pix

Here's some pix from last Saturday's game. This is the first time where there's good photographic evidence that I hit people while skating with my own team.

Above is the aftermath of me putting the smackdown on the Tough Cookies' Violet Fury. We both went flying, but it looked cool.

Below is a jam lineup ready to roll. I'm eyeing the off-screen Tough Cookies jammer. She's scared. Really.
















Here we have me taking Tough Cookies team captain Iron Maiven up to the rail. Haha, OW!
















Here's Maiven after I schmacked her. She was in the back of the pack, so I had to hit and run so that I wouldn't get a penalty for blocking outside of the pack. Yes, there are rules to this game. Who knew? Poor girl was pretty damn tired by this point. But I had a job to do. A violent, fun job.

















Right now I'm in the midst of figuring out how to pack up artwork to put in the mail. I bought bubble wrap and am trying to fenagle a way to shove one of the pieces into a just-barely-too-small box. Thank goodness I still have a week left to find a workable solution. Gosh, this being-an-artist stuff isn't easy!

Moving very slow today

I hurt.

A lot.

All because of Saturday night, where Fight Crew beat the living bejeezus out of the Tough Cookies 42-18(yeah I love my team right now!). The major stretch fest I had before the game thanks to the chiropractors that volunteer their time for us at every bout kicked my ass but good.

I asked for my legs and lower back to be stretched. The little guy who did it was very quiet, but damn, he was effective. I felt great during the game. I was feelin' fantastic and pumped full of adrenaline after the game. I drank an obscene amount of margaritas and Irish car bombs at the afterparty and was pleasantly hungover yesterday.

Today I woke up and thought I was gonna die.

My lower back is in pain. As are my triceps. I bruised the knuckle on my left ring finger. I have a strange, sharp bruise on my shoulder where the collarbone ends. My quads are beginning to scream at me. My stomach muscles are cramped. My ankles are sore. And this was from winning the damn game where I remember falling maybe about three times. Definitely a case of, "Wait 'til you see the other girl!"

Today I get to whine and mope because tomorrow I pick up revisions on the storyboard I'm working on. Woohoo! And then in three weeks I get to skate in this bout against our nemeses, the Sirens:

Expanding my Horizons

I can't believe I'm posting this, but what the hey, it's Friday and I'm in a mood.

This-here is a rough for a poster idea for the Derby Dolls championship bout in November. Because we're in new digs in Little Tokyo, several girls wanted a poster that's themed to the J-town atmosphere. So I decided to try out my anime hand. It's not as strong as my pimp hand, but I think when I add color to it it'll look more pro.

I hope.

Tonight I'm going to El Coyote for dinner with my team. I've never been there before, so it should be an adventure.

Tomorrow will be the first bout this season that is played without substitutes for my team...or any of the other teams for that matter. I'm proud of my team for that. They rock.

But for the moment it's back to work. I'm almost done roughing out the board. Thank goodness!

Test Etiquette

It's now the norm in the animation biz to have prospective artists take a test to get on a production.

I hate tests.

I'm not in school because I hate tests.

If they called tests "auditions", it'd at least sound a little bit better. As it is, whenever I hear an artist talk about the test they're taking for a particular job, I feel like their talent and integrity is being challenged.

Why?

Because most of these artists are experienced. It's one thing to give someone straight out of art school a test...hell, that's how I got my first job in the biz. It's another to have someone with 10+ years experience be handed a test for whatever their forte is. That's what a portfolio and a resume are for.

For a long time I wouldn't take a test, because in my experience with these tests I felt that if I'm asked to take a test, that means I'm not getting the job. I used to do storyboard tests and never got a job out of it. So why waste my time on something where I a) wouldn't get the job, and b)wouldn't even get a callback telling me that I didn't get the job.

That's just damn insulting.

Recently I had to start taking tests again. I've managed to get myself in a situation where I had to swallow my pride and do tests again. Both recent tests were for people with whom I've worked with before. Argh. Both tests were done in the alloted time I was given and I was in contact with the "right" people so that the process should've been as painless as possible. I got a callback on the second test right away. The first test? Still no word after me calling them for a couple weeks straight.

That's crap.

If I ever find myself in a position where I'm giving others a freakin' test for a position(the thought makes me retch), the least I'd insist upon is them getting a freakin' call afterwards. Especially if I know them. Is it really that difficult to pick up a phone and make up some stupid lie as to why you didn't hire someone? Jeez, we'd appreciate the effort. Miss Manners would have something to say to you, that's for sure.

Edit: guess what? I got a call this afternoon from the folks with whom I turned in the first test. I didn't get the job.

I never thought I'd say this...

...but I'm beginning to miss spinach.

As a kid the only spinach I was exposed to was the usual cooked goo in a can. I hated it. Putrid, awful stuff. As an adult, I came across uncooked spinach, and my world brightened. It was delicious and nutritious. A bonus on the iron, since I have the Red Cross crawling up my telephonic ass every couple of months for blood donations.

I was in heaven a couple of months ago when I discovered that one of the local Whole Foods markets had spinach caesar salad at their salad bar. Throw some chicken on that and it's the perfect light lunch.

But now, my world has gone gray again because of the E coli spinach scare. I tried to get some fresh spinach at the store last night and was severely SOL. I had to settle for romaine lettuce. It's nice, but it isn't the same.

Stoopid E coli!

Boardin' it up...

The skateboard deck I did a couple months back for a skatepark in Missoula is up. It doesn't hold a candle compared to what other people did, but I'm glad I did it anyway. Check it out!

Huell Houser - SoCal GOD

Yeah, you read that right.

I stumbled across this today and laughed until I coughed up a lung. Which is interesting since I'm not smoking nor do I have a cold.

For those not in SoCal, Huell Houser is something of a local celebrity. He hosts a show on the local PBS affiliate called California Gold. It's actually kinda cool...Huell goes around checking out weird out-of-the-way stuff in California. Just when you think you've seen it all, Huell finds something else to top it.

The best part of the show is the man himself. He has the interviewing skills of a five year autistic child on LSD. Well, alright, the kid could do better. Huell also has a fun southern accent, which of course just adds to the lack of interviewing skills.

To top it all off, his fashion sense is distracting, in a fun way. Not that he's over the top in his wardrobe choices...it just adds the proverbial cherry to the whole California Gold experience.

To those in SoCal...if anyone actually tried the Huell Houser drinking game, we could set up a betting pool of how fast the participants would die of alcohol poisoning.

Sat. Sept. 23

I'm going to be a busy little booger for the next month and a half. Work and roller derby. Work and roller derby where I'm skating in the damn games.

See flyer.

Sat. Sept. 23 is the next game. It's gonna be a nasty, brutal game. You'll love it.

We seem to have a new space for ourselves, too. It's in Little Tokyo, which is about two miles from our current Chinatown location. It's indoors. It's in a mall. It's in an old bowling alley that's been turned into a dojo. It's next to a bunch of tasty-looking sushi bar establishments. It's looking to be pretty danged awesome.

So if you're in LA, come see me and my team skate.

Finally!

I went and got myself some work. Union work, even. Hey, I might be able to keep my medical insurance now! Woohoo! Unfortunately I start today and will be busy through the next couple of derby matches. Stress, anyone?

Here's an updated Hillbilly Hula Gal. I have yet to hear from my friend about whether she likes it or not. She'd better, if she knows what's good for her. Just looking at it makes me wanna have a drink, that's for sure.

Tonight I may be going to an art opening after derby practice. I usually don't go to art show openings because the husband hates them and I don't have any one else to go with and I hate going by myself. So why the exception? Because I might stand a chance to actually meet fellow artists with whom I've been chatting online recently. Good thing this was planned so that I'll be showing up all gross and sweaty from skating for two hours. Way to make a good first impression!

In other art news, I have a bout poster and ad to do ASAP. I didn't want to do said poster and ad, so my enthusiasm level is in the toilet and I can't get the damn things done. Creative block, I guess. Persevere, I must.

Coming to a t-shirt near you...

Here's a sneak peek at a shirt design that I'm doing for a friend's yearly get-together in October. "S.N.I.F.F." stands for "Sierra Nevada Invitational Foothill Follies" and it's the California party of the year amongst our group of biker friends. The dog is this artist's representation of the afore-mentioned friend's pet; now deceased, unfortunately. The dog's name was Blitz and he was a patient fellow when the likes of us were stumbling around his yard.

Of course, I don't think I'll be making this year's festivities because I have a freakin' derby match over the weekend that this other event is happening. It would be a veryveryvery bad idea to blow off the derby crap for this since my team is skating in the October bout. Dammit.

I'd better see some great photos of happy people wearing the damn shirt as a consolation prize.

I'm so mad I'm gonna kick the air!

Here's an old LA T-Birds clip from 1978. I post it not only because it's roller derby, not only because the catty commentary makes me laugh, but the blond guy in jersey #5 looks suspiciously like one of the Derby Dolls assistant coaches, California Mike. Not like you'd know from this clip, but he's actually a helluva great skater.

Enjoy!