Meet the Working Girls...

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so let me share a few of my pinups, which previously have only been available at WonderCon or APE.

Meet the Working Girls: They all have less-than-glamorous jobs, but look good in spite of (or because of?) it!

There's the sassy postgirl...

...the brassy telephone line repairgirl...

and the darling diner waitress!

More kooky cuties to come in the near future!

Going with the Floe...

About time I posted something (been sick in bed most of the week.) I've been working on a few odds and ends, including a splash screen test for a mobile gaming company. Not sure if it'll lead to an offer, but I like how it came out!

(Never mind that yetis and penguins are unlikely to cross paths for a multitude of reasons...)

Sayonara to the Space Shuttle

Today was the final launch of the Space Shuttle. As shuttle Atlantis rose into the cloudy Florida sky, the line of continuity from the earliest days of the NASA also came to a close. It saddens me that, try as I might, I never got to see a Space Shuttle take off, though it was a great experience to tour the Kennedy Space Center and see the shuttle, tank and booster rockets mounted at the launch pad.

The Space Shuttle was new & exciting when I was a little kid, it was to be the "next step" after the Apollo moon missions. I was intrigued by all things aviation and rocket-related, and was excited by Space Shuttle missions even after the tragedy of Challenger. The Space Shuttle, the Hubble telescope, the Mars rovers, it was and remains today amazing to me what we've managed to achieve.

I understand that the shuttle is outdated, and that with the space station complete, it's usefulness is outweighed by its cost. I hope that NASA doesn't give up on reaching the Moon again or Mars within my lifetime. The delay in developing a next-generation craft, or a clear mission plan, worries me. But even with all of the crises America and the world are facing today, I believe it's important to humanity to continue to explore space and other moons, asteroids, planets, and beyond. Even if it stayed in Earth orbit, the Space Shuttle represented to me the commitment to exploration and adaptation to living in space that is vital as we all advance into our future.

(My illustration above was done to commemorate the true story of a small bat that latched itself onto the tank of the Shuttle Discovery as it took of on a mission in 2009. He hung on as the Shuttle launched, as long as the camera was able to track him!)

Rainy days...

Today seems like a good time to post one of my newest illustrations, seeing as how "winter" seems to have made a comeback in the middle of May here in S.F. Hoping all this drizzle burns away soon, I hate having to remember my umbrella!

The Funkybat Store launches today!

Huzzah! Today I wish to invite everyone to check out my latest online creation, The Funkybat Store! This is my (for now) modest storefront on the web, offering some of my more popular merchandise which was once available only at WonderCon and APE. Now my creations are available for sale 24/7/365! I've got my T-shirts and stickers and some magnets right now, and I plan to offer prints of my illustrations in the future.

Go to funkybat.bigcartel.com to pick up what you missed from the cons! I'd love to hear feedback from customers & potential customers on what they'd like to see added, after all this store is for all of you as well. I'll be revising it as I go along, as I'm new to the online retail scene.

Next thing on the horizon will be an *all new* Funkybat.com. I'll be launching a revamped version of my site later this month, I'll keep everyone posted via this blog and my Facey Spaces and other social media. I'll also be uploading a lot of new stuff I haven't put out anywhere online as well. In the meantime, check out the store:

funkybat.bigcartel.com

Wondercon - it's that time again...

Spring is here, and as often follows here in San Francisco, Wondercon is soon to follow. I will once again be selling my wares in the Small Press section, table number SP50. Come by to see my newest work, as well as a chance to pick up that favorite print or T-shirt that you spotted after you ran out of cash last time. I'll be premiering a new series of themed prints, as well as some new standalone creations. I'm looking forward to showing my stuff and picking up some new work by the multitude of artists I both already know & discover anew each time I go to one of these gigs. Hope to see you there!

Digging D.C.

Enjoying the familiar sights and seeing old friends back in D.C. One thing I always miss out in S.F. is the multitude of *free* museums that Washington has to offer. One particular item I've wanted to see for a while is up in the Smithsonian's American History Museum:

























Yes. The "painting within a painting within in a painting" of one Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A. that once hung over his TV show "fireplace." I was psyched that a phony painting of a phony pundit would actually make it into the Smithsonian, especially since he's one of my favorite humorists. (The "painting" was actually created via digitally photo alteration - I was hoping for at least acrylic.)

Aside from that, there were lots of other new exhibits that I'd been looking forward to, including a big section on the history of various forms of transportation and highways/railways, and a coin and bill exhibit that included an actual $100,000 bill. I suppose before reliable wire transfers, you had to shuffle your promised "gold" around one way or another. Oddly enough, in the transport exhibit I learned a lot about the history of the Port of Oakland and its transition from longshoremen to containerization.

Anyhow, I love D.C. and miss my friends here, but after a couple of weeks I'm looking forward to getting back home (though not to the rain.)

Thoughts on CTN Expo

This past weekend, I attended my first CTN Expo down in Burbank. For those of you who may not know, CTN is a three-day animation-focused convention, mainly for animation professionals & students (though there seemed to be a fair around of just plain fans there, too.) It's what I imagine Comic Con was about 15-20 years ago. Just artists meeting and sharing their work and having the kinds of discussions many of us just never have the time or opportunity for.

Since this was only the second CTN Expo ever, it was cool to see it in its early stages, without all the corporate hype that surrounds Comic-Con and WonderCon. (However, GM apparently wanted to be first on what they think will be the next bandwagon, and had costumed elves handing out T-shirts. They were the only people in costume and completely stuck out of the crowd.)

Even though I could only make it fro Friday, it was still well worth it. Ran into several old buddies I hadn't seen in a while, and got some good info from people at Disney (both TV and feature) and Sony animation. There was a pretty interesting talk given by Sergo Pablos, the creator of the characters and initial story that would become "Despicable Me." He had some great 2D concept art that he'd created to pitch what he called "Evil Me" to the studio, and while a lot was changed from his initial version, the core of everything was there. Funny to see it in 2D, and in a somewhat different art style than what showed up in theaters.

I also saw a talk about the new "The Looney Tunes Show" series, which was enlightening if not somewhat dismaying. I understand that the Looney Tunes characters are WB's "evergreens" and that they don't want to let go of them, the fact is there have not been too many truly great iterations of those characters since Termite Terrace shut down (and even in the waning days of TT, things were going downhill.) I do think that this show has the potential to be the best "spinoff" of those characters since Tiny Toons, but we're not talking about related "children" of the classic characters, but the characters themselves. What gives me any hope is that the crew spend 2-3 years going through several iterations that probably wouldn't have worked before arriving at what they have now, and that they purposely moved away from cutefying or kiddifying them, but instead grounded them firmly in adulthood. I remember avoiding "Baby Looney Tunes" like the plague, and this show seems to swing almost entirely away from that approach. I do like the character designs, they make the characters look distinct from the originals, without bastardizing them like.......well, we won't even bring *that* up!

So, CTN; it was a blast, gotta do the whole three days next year. Here's hoping it stays popular within the animation community, without becoming a lookie-loo show overloaded with vaguely-related things like Comic-Con, which is at this point, frankly, a beast. CTN Expo is a great place to just network and buy cool art and hear what's going on in our industry, and I for one couldn't be happier that it's taken off!

Destination: APE

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I've been pretty busy with my latest art gig, as well as completing my multitude of new pieces in time for APE. Yes, it's that time again! Alternative Press Expo is back at the Concourse Exhibition Center in S.F. Come out to see me and lots of other fantastic comic and animation artists October 16th and 17th. I love APE because it's way less crowded or intense than Comic Con or even WonderCon, and it doesn't have all of the pop-culture/Hollywood stuff that has increasingly become the focus of the other two shows. It's all about the art!

I'll be at Table #539, toward the middle of the exhibit hall. I've got a lot of new stuff, including greeting cards, magnets, T-shirts, and a bunch of new art prints. Just look for the purple table and big black Funkybat sign! See you there!

The Secrets of the Transbay Terminal!

As many of you may know, I'm something of a history buff, especially when it comes to 20th Century commercial or public architecture. So you can imagine how excited I was when i stumbled upon a news story detailing the "hidden history" of San Francisco's Transbay Terminal.

Originally built in the Depression, as a kind of Grand Central Station for buses and trains crossing the new Bay Bridge, in recent decades it has become a run-down blight, serving just as much as a homeless shelter as a bus terminal. It's slated to close down in a few days, and as part of the preparations for its demolition, CalTrans crews have uncovered some of the long-lost amenities of what was supposed to be a vibrant crossroads for commuters and travelers.

CalTrans workers gave a one-day-only tour of these "secret" spots, and I made sure to make it over there despite short notice! The tour started off in the old bar, a throwback to the 50s if ever I've seen one. Most of the furnishings had been removed, but you could feel the "spirit" of a bygone age coursing through it. The low lighting helped add to the spooky mood, leavened only by the crowds of living people now poking their heads in for the first time in three decades.

Next we saw the old jail, originally intended to hold train robbers (!) and other troublemakers until SFPD could come collect them. Seemed more like something out of the Old West than the 1930s...

After that, we saw a number of photos of the terminal in it's "glory days," complete with newsstand, shoe-shine station (which was there but I sadly missed) and train after train pouring into and out of the upper level. Yes, what many folks know only as an epically creepy and loud bus depot was once intended for both commuter trolleys like the Key System and Southern Pacific's electric trolley systems. WWII, and then, scheming by the automakers, tire & oil companies managed to do away with that. (Within 5 years of the end of the Key System, people began clamoring for a replacement, thus, we got BART. Might have been easier to leave the original rails alone, eh?)

The tour ended at the old diner, a wonderful, authentic time capsule of an old-fashioned greasy spoon. The tour organizers had set up a projector, playing on loop an old movie from the 40s talking about the history of California, and how it has now led to this "wonderful new terminal!" The end featured a bit of animation (from I believe Warner Bros. "Termite Terrace.") with the apparent mascot of the Key System talking about the glorious present and future of the system. Had some great retro-future concept art for luxurious trolleys to come, ideas I'm sure that had more to do with the imaginations of the animators than anything concrete that the Key System ever planned to do! More pics are below...

Overall it was a fascinating glimpse of what the Transbay Terminal was *supposed to be* and was all the more sad seeing from this day and age how much it failed to serve it's intended function, though not entirely by fault of its own. I hope the new Transbay Terminal serves as a better "Grand Central" to San Francisco and the region.