Ur-vile and the Wraith

My first Stephen R. Donaldson work in about a half of a year. Ur-viles are a deadly enemy in the first three books, but take on a mysterious role as benefactors when they introduce Thomas Covenant to Vain, a anatomically perfect humanoid made of pure Law, and the key to saving the world Covenant has protected throughout the series.

Chimera V.1.2 Finished.

Chimera has been a long project. Chiming in from time to time this game concept was inspired by the Artistic vision of Shadow of the Colossus and Fable. The idea was to take the perspective of Grendel. The lurking monster in the mountains come down from up high to terrorize the villagers and make off with a cow or two. This project helped me get back into drawing and trying my hand in art again. Version 1.2 took some old drawings and repainted them with better results. The story did a 180 and the humans are not so horribly drawn on this go around. Though I'm ready to move onto some other ideas. AVT:Rescue has been grumbling in the back of my to-do list. Fleet beckons and Gorgon needs a few more monsters for good measure. Needless to say take a look at Chimera and enjoy.

Kevin

Ferrex a guide for the Chimera.

Bestial Aquatica-Repaint 2009

Chimera Repaint

Chimera is going through a reformatting and some new paints and props. More to come.

The Kong of Kings.

The Orange County Fair has always been good to me whenever I enter a piece. Usually reviewed by a panel I manage to get at least two out of three drawing entered. I'll stop in with my wife on the opening day and check out the world's largest cow. She's huge. Put a plate on her and call the DMV for a CDL.

I'm planning on entering three pieces this year and the King Kong image above is my first drawing. The others I want to concentrate on a something down to earth for once. We'll see if that's possible since I'm a crack junkie when it comes to sci-fi and fantasy themes.

I would love to design a game, this is a running theme in my Fight Club ( 1st rule of..) things to do before dying. So while sitting on the pot or working I usually get a narrative from IGN or Gamestop on the game I'm imagining. No really... I know.

It's a testimony to all the articles I read as a young adult when Valve's Half Life was but a blip on the horizon.

I also love monster movies. Giant rubbery beasts duking it out over a cityscape are the movies for me, especially when I need a pick-me up. The Original King Kong was one of those Saturday afternoon movies that was played almost every other week in the 70s that I loved. In the evenings it ABC broadcasting the 70's remake of Kong and that got me thinking of a interesting game in the present. King Kong 70's version depicted a oil company descending on Skull Island. Along the way they find a blonde just drifting in the sea. You find them in the dangested places.

Peter Jackson would create a fine Kong movie, but I always felt the rush to get Kong to New York took or somehow lessened the nightmarish first half of the movie. I almost wished he had made an four and 1/2 hour version, instead of the film's 2005 three hours running time.

The X-box movie-tie in game was okay. It's shining grace was being able to play as Kong in a few levels.

I personally wanted it to be the entire game. After playing a few hours in Just Cause2 ( Really they owe Lucas Art's royalties for Mercenaries 3) it struck me that Universal could drop players on a Virtual Skull Island. Now that would be a interesting to me. Playing as Kong in a free roam map seems a viable adventure game.

Playing games alone can get boring quick, so adding a few extra Kingish creatures to complement Kong's own grandeur would allow for mixed gameplay and a real chance at never having the same thing happen twice within say a campaign or Multiplayer match. So Kong needed his own Mothra and Rodan to quest with hence all the beasties next to him in the picture. Should be fun to color and I'll be following up with the finished work later on.

Peace.

SomeTHINGS better left buried.

I love the movie the Thing by John Carpenter. I find myself watching it just to figure out the clues and nuances the actors incorporated into the movie. When did they get taken over? Did they know it happened? Does the Thing itself hide so deeply into the being of the person it has consumed to blend with the others... lose itself?

It's a brilliant movie. One that wouldn't be considered as such until much later.

I saw it for the first time with my Dad in Concord California around 82. He had a small condo there and I would be shuttled off to him via the BART from South County by my mother to stay the following weekends. Men and women of my age know exactly what I am talking about, because an entire generation of us came out of divorces from our parents in what seems exactly at the same time.

During those Saturdays and Sundays I loved seeing him. We spent hours at video arcades, race-karts, and softball games. We cruised around in a Datsun Z 280 and hung around Pier 39 checking out model stores. The divorce was a very ugly time in my life, and those few moments with him were some of the shining points that dug out some happiness.

At night it was homework and when I was done, it was HBO. There the Thing reared it's distorted head and captured my imagination in a gruesome way. I was hooked. Never missed it since when it comes on. Eventually I would buy the VHS copy and then the DVD. Most likely I'll buy the BluRay as well.

I read the script later on while in college. It's a fascinating body of work. I find myself bent over it every once in a while late at night, or while having a slow period at work. There is this one scene that was deleted due to budget constraints. It's called "out on the ice". The original artist Michael Ploog boarded it. It's incredible art that depicts MacReady, Childs, and Bennings chasing after three of the dogs that escaped.

They are most likely now Things and it's heading for the ocean. In this scene Bennings is killed by a Thing under the snow, rather than the grotesque consumption in the locker room. I've always wanted to see this sequence. So, I'm now doodling it out. More to come in the next few weeks.

Now they are saying that a prequel is in the works. The story of the Norwegians is being brought to light. I'm mixed on this. Part of me is curious if the director can pull off a companion piece to what many consider a near perfect movie in Carpenter's career. As they say time can only tell.

Kevin