Jawbone Radio: March 2009

Show notes, whimsy and more that make up the Jawbone Radio Show, a humble podcast produced from the attic of a home in Cleveland, Ohio.

I Don't Know What To Say

Published Tuesday, March 31, 2009 by Len.

I had this link forwarded to me from a Coulton fan. Seems a little weird. Maybe you can let me know what you guys think. Could this really be true?

ON EDIT: Did a little google search. Seems this guy did a little research. All I can say is "huh".

EDIT 2: People on Twitter are claiming it's a hoax. It's hard to confirm, since the site is down now. The dude also started a Twitter account to complain. Weirdness continues.

ON EDIT: All explained here.

Labels: jonathan coulton, weird

Caption This: 3-30-09

Published Monday, March 30, 2009 by Len.

Labels: caption

Department of Geek Affairs

Published Sunday, March 29, 2009 by Len.

One of my recent triumphs was to be tapped to design the official seal for the Department of Geek Affairs, an office that is currently occupied by Wil Wheaton and bestowed upon him by none other than Paul and Storm. My hope is that the seal brings hope to all those geeks among us, and that hopefully a t-shirt will be made of it one day. Only time will tell.

Labels: cool

LED Sheep Art

Published Friday, March 27, 2009 by Len.

I guess I'm a little behind the times since I just saw this today. But that doesn't make this video any less amazing. Thanks to Monica for the link.

Labels: video

Jawbone #241: One Jelly Belly Lane

Published Thursday, March 26, 2009 by Len.

Yet another solocast, full of Jelly Bellies, Cracker Barrel, Bob Evans and anger, just below the surface. Join the fun!

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Labels: podcast

Caption This: 3-23-09

Published Monday, March 23, 2009 by Len.

Labels: caption

Starter Sketches

Published Tuesday, March 17, 2009 by Len.

I don't know if anyone will have any interest in this besides me, but I thought I'd post it for posterity anyway. It might be too inside baseball, but for some artists, it might serve as helpful.

Whenever I start working on a new image, especially if it's a more involved image, I like to do a little "starter sketch" to get me rolling. Basically, the starter sketch is just a blueprint for me that I can refer to as I'm working on the finished image. I started noticing that my desk and floor has become littered with this little scraps of drawings, so I thought I would post a few. If people find this interesting, I may post more.

This is a starter sketch that I used for some art I did for Paul and Storm. The only direction Paul gave me was that he wanted to give an illustration to Mythbusters host Adam Savage. "Maybe handing him something," I think was the idea. So in about 30 seconds I sketched this:

I originally wanted to do something fully digital, with some basic shapes to represent Paul and Storm and Adam. After a few tries, I realized I was losing Adam's personality, so I decided to go with a caricature pencil sketch of the three of them. Here is how it ended up. (the little JoCo was an afterthought):

Today I did a new image for Jonathan Coulton's song "Blue Sunny Day". He had told me a few months ago to start honing up on vampires. So I kept that in the back of my mind, waiting to hear what the song sounded like. I was able to hear a live version of the song a few weeks ago, but I didn't start drawing it because I always like to hear the studio version of his songs before I draw. After he released the song yesterday, I listened to it, read his notes about the song and then formulated a mental image of what I wanted to do. As soon as I get to that phase, I do the starter sketch, just to get the idea down on paper. This is what I came up with:

I had a color scheme in my head, based on the song and I knew what I wanted the finished product to look like. The elapsed time between starter sketch to when I begin to work on the art varies from 15 minutes to a day, depending on my schedule. Here is the finished art in all its glory:

Anyway, rather than throw these little sketches away, maybe I'll post a few. It should be noted that not all images start with a starter sketch, Only more complicated ones and even then it's really for blocking and size purposes.

Ta-da!

Original Signed Artwork Available on Ebay

Published Monday, March 16, 2009 by Len.

For all those interested, the ORIGINAL pencil sketch artwork for the Zombie Clown print that was sold during Red Nose Day is available right now on Ebay. It is signed by me with all proceeds going to benefit Comic Relief. Go forth and bid now!

Labels: art

Caption This: 3-16-09

Published by Len.

Caption this, suckas. (Sorry, I don't feel like being overly creative this morning. A lot like the people who made this monstrosity.)

Labels: caption

Red Nose Day Is Here!

Published Thursday, March 12, 2009 by Len.

A few weeks ago, I posted that I would be participating in Red Nose Day. Well, I have joined the ranks of others such as John Hodgman, Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm, Rifftrax, Adam "Apelad" Koford, Ken Plume of Quick Stop Entertainment, John Robinson from NeedCoffee and many others to help raise some dough for Comic Relief, via Red Nose Net.

So here's what I'm doing: For TODAY ONLY (3/13/09), I am making a print named "Clown Zombie" available via Zazzle.com. This print will only be sold for one day with proceeds going to benefit Comic Relief. It's a great cause and I highly recommend you get involved, donate in your own way and just have some fun!

Here's my friends, Ken and John to tell you more:

Remember, you can pick up the VERY LIMITED EDITION PRINT right here. So go. Now.

UPDATE: Thanks to all who bought the print. All in all Ken and Widge made around 4000 pounds for Comic Relief. Good on them!

Labels: funny

Jawbone #240: Twitt-i-quette

Published by Len.

It's a big show tonight, folks! Tonight, the voice and heart of Jawbone, Scott Fletcher and Neil join us. We talk morning DJ's, embarrassing moments Twittering and more. Thanks for listening and if you like the show, please subscribe using the links below!

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Labels: podcast

Music, Art and Love

Published by Len.

I do a lot of art for people. A lot of the time, I don't really get to see the end result. Case in point. My friend Jonathan Coulton enlisted me a while back to create a cartoon of himself for his guitar picks. A interesting job to be sure. I didn't even know the guy used picks, when he played, but okay. I'll humor the guy and draw a cartoon of him. Well, I sent the art to him and never got to see the end result. In fact, the few times I saw him in person, I asked him if he had any on him to spare and he didn't or HE SAID he forgot.

Time passes and I get a tweet from one of my followers asking me if that was my art on the JoCo guitar picks. I regale this poor follower with my 140 character tale of woe. He in turn, sends me a link to blog post about someone who is perplexed by the caricature of JoCo. The post includes a photo of my art.

I quickly type in JoCo's URL, hoping to chastise him on his own turf. Then I see he has posted an awesome video by an Israeli musician named Kutiman, who has basically remixed YouTube to make awesome songs:

After watching this video and the many other videos at this site, I'm okay with being snubbed by Jonathan. Oh hell, I can't stay mad at the guy. He's such a sweetheart! HUGS!

Anyway, enjoy the linkage.

Labels: art, music

Medina Ohio City Council Meeting

Published Tuesday, March 10, 2009 by Len.

Labels: funny

Caption This: 3-9-09

Published Monday, March 09, 2009 by Len.

Heath Ledger lives. At least in the form of a creepy ski mask. I got this gift for my son's 12th birthday last week and it seemed too good to pass up. So have at it!

Labels: caption

Jawbone #239: The Cinematic Titanic Fireside Chat

Published Monday, March 02, 2009 by Len.

This past weekend, the cast of Cinematic Titanic rolled through Cleveland, Ohio leaving many laughs and guffaws in their wake. Nora and I were fortunate to sit down with the entire crew (Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Mary Jo Pehl and J. Elvis Weinstien) before the show and for a wonderful fireside chat. We talk to them about doing the live shows, improving, and of course, Mystery Science Theatre 3000. They also share a Roger Corman story that has never been told before. All in all, it was a great opportunity and also completes our list of MST guests on this podcast. As a refresher:

Mike Nelson's Interview
Bill Corbett's Interview
Kevin Murphy's Interview

Thanks for listening and if you enjoy the show, please subscribe!

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Labels: podcast