2004 - The Good, The Bad and the Stupid

Seems like after high school, the flood gates of time were left open and time slips by so quickly! Thinking about it earlier today and 2005 will be a 10 year high school reunion (although I'm not sure it will actually happen).

So, every year seems to slip into a category, and for me, 2004 was the year of :"The Good, The Bad and the Stupid".

The Good - All the 'lessons' from art that I've learned over the years seemed to come together and just 'gel'. It made sense and was a productive year. I keep a rough number system on the 'finished' pieces and a good year normally has about '20' of these. This year it was around '60'. So a goal has always been to increase speed, which is getting better. Now to work on the 'quality' aspect.

The Bad - were to begin with this one? Probably best not to and leave things in 2004. Also something about the respective parties in Australia and US having control over both levels of goverment with increased majority ... where is that igloo in Northern Canada I always wanted to buy.

and the Stupid - I hate shopping with a vengence, under-staffed, under trainned and making it as difficult as possible to give them money. It occurred to my economics founding was at a time when the latest and greatest buzz words were "Just in Time" method and employee "Empowerment". Now I think we are "Just out of time" and employee "Empowered to Make excuses". Cyncial I know but when I had my best shopping experience with amazon.com (product was lost and with a simple email, they sent me out replacement product no questions asked), long term this can't be good.

So to everyone out there, Happy New Year and I'll see you some time in it!

"The Boat" is in The Can

For those who have been reading for awhile now, I posted Page 1 and Page 2 of my short story for a Horror Anthology to be released some time in March 2005 (Watch this space for more details). Just finished it off yesterday, sent it to the editor and he is happy with the results.

I put a couple of the better pages up on my website at http://www.mattelder.com/seqTheBoat.php so check it out and always welcome feedback. Reminds me somewhat of what I've heard a couple of directors say after they have wrapped up a movie:

"We now know how to make the movie, shame we didn't before hand"

Much the same thought now. It is what it is - a beginning.

Sapphire Princess

When I first got the script for "The Boat", (see "Page 1" and "Page 2" for details), I thought it would only be a matter of time before one rolled into Sydney Harbour so I could have a good look. I always get a better feel for what I'm drawing if I've seen it. I don't really like to slavishly copy from photographs, don't see the point (they are good for reference however).

Anyhow, 3 months later, this one finally comes into Sydney Harbour - Sapphire Princess.


What can I say, it is a monster! 18 Stories tall, it won't even fit under the Sydney Harbour Bridge (off to the right). It pulled into Sydney Harbour this morning and was leaving for Melbourne this afternoon. I quickly flew out the door and got about 250 high quality reference photos.

One thing occurred to me was the logistical nightmare while I was watching forklifts load the thing. They have less than a business day to resupply the ship with food for thousands of people. Then I was think, what about water? You'd need plenty of that for drinking, showers and toilets. Ah too much engineering with critical paths and time management.

From a drawing point of view, generally you can draw a large looking type of vessel and so long as you stick a smoke stack on it, you have an ocean liner. So I was surprised to note the lack of one here. Although from a design point of view, I much prefer the curves and subtly here.



When I first caught the train, this was the indicator board



For those not from Sydney, it isn't possible to have a "1 Car Train". Would almost be like having a "1 Axel Car". Would somebody please fix our trains!

Sad But True

I was just handed a bag of old cassettes that I haven't seen since the end of high school. A little trippy to see the contents and what I was listening to - Oasis, Nirvana, Phil Collins, Guns'n'Roses, Live, Smashing Pumpkins, Hits 4U 92 and I'm afraid to admit it - Mariah Carey (how the hell did that get in there :P ) Must have been Sandy!

Just about all of these I've subsequently repurchased on CDs and have now been transferred to MP3. One cassette is larger than my wonderful iPod. So a whole bunch of CDs in storage. Oh when oh when will the Australian iTunes store open (I know Telstra and Ninemsn have stores but not a big fan of either company)?

"We are going to the Funhouse"

A classic tagline from a show that I use to watch as a kid. Yesterday, after being on waiting lists for flights to Paris for months, I finally got a seat. Booked and paid for it today. So in 12 more sleeps I will be on a plane to Europe :D

Primarily this blog was created as an easy way to update what I'll be up to while on the road - rather than sending everyone bulk emails. So hopefully people will check back every couple of days and feel free to post any comments!! My website www.mattelder.com is a little too formal and doesn't have the posting ability!

Should be an absolutely amazing trip and can't wait to catch up with old friends in Canada that I haven't seen in over a decade! Also visiting Europe should be fantastic now I have a little better idea of what I'm going to be staring at (massive thanks to Chris, Jethro, Alex and the rest of the NAS Art History department!).

Page 2

Somehow I managed to get this page finished a couple of days ahead of schedule. After the problems with the first page, I really tried to get a hold of using blacks. While not perfect, a step in the right direciton.

Page 1

Ok, been working on a comic and after all the concept designs, page breakdowns and so forth, here is the first page with captions. There are some minor issues with the art but I'll learn from this page and push forward.



If you want to check out the art without captions, and some comments go:

http://forums.pulpfaction.net/viewtopic.php?t=79

Jason Mundane - Worlds Dullest Secret Agent

Just a little bit of fun and done as part of an ongoing comic at an
Aussie Comics forum. Enjoy

And the website....

For those who don't know, I have my own website with some recent
artworks at:

http://www.mattelder.com

Check it out and would love to hear comments/feedback/crits

Welcome to the World of Matt's Blog

I actually came through this site looking at Jim Lee's vid's on how he creates a piece (comic book artist whose style I've always liked - reminds me of a couple of Ruben's ink studies in terms of style).

http://gelatometti.blogspot.com/

After a couple of really hot days here in Sydney (40+ degrees), I ventured outwards to do some 'chores'. Australian business' drive me nuts some times. My local art supplier who, I spend a truck load of cash I don't have, is stuffing me around over $1.60.

Also bought a new piece of electronics a couple of weeks ago and it doesn't work. Can I take it back to the shop directly? No! I have to do it over the internet - a total voliation of the Trade Practices Act but who cares - its business in Australia.

I will post more details as the situation progresses. In the mean time, if anyone knows of good art stores in /around Sydney CBD, I would love to hear.