As I’ve been working on the Nose Art series,  I thought that it would be fun to pay tribute to the Dancing girls of Jabba’s Palace.  I made the “Uh Oh Oola” give away print so I thought I would start this round with Rystáll Sant.  She was first seen in the extended musical number in the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi.  So this is a character from the original trilogy… Special Edition.  

Last Oct. at Star Wars Fan Days I had a jumbo sized post card that I gave out to the fans for free.  I made 100 cards and they went pretty quick.  The title of the card was “Uh Oh Oola”.

Back in March I was giving away Free Sketch Cards (MAN!  I should be charging for this stuff!) on the RebelScum forums.  One of the winners of the sketch cards requested the Gammorean Guard character from Return of the Jedi, and then went on to commission three more cards.

 It turns out that Brandon had a master plan for all of these pieces to be matted and framed together.  It looks great! Thanks for the photos of the final project.

Speaking of treasure hunting adventurers on the big screen, it looks like there will be another Indiana Jones movie.  At the end of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indy’s hat blew across the floor to the feet of Mutt Williams.  It would appear that Mutt is the heir to the fedora, but Mutt Williams in NOT Indiana Jones, and I probably won’t go see his movie.  Here’s what I propose.

I think that there would be to many upset fans if you tried to have an Indiana Jones movie without Harrison Ford (and he’s getting older).  To me, Indiana Jones was and will always be a 1930’s adventurer after a mystic prize.  He was believable and smart and tough.  Now, I love the way that the new Star Trek movie completely wiped out the history of their universe and started with a fresh slate, but you can’t do that to Indiana Jones.  Here’s what you do.  You start the film with Harrison Ford as Indy.  He’s on the hunt to complete a quest that he started when he was younger.  During the film you see flashbacks of the younger Indy on the adventure thereby setting the stage for a new actor to fill the fedora.  You could also have the older Indy get injured and lose his eye to be consistent with the young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

That way when Indy VI comes out, it will be a whole new adventure.  Maybe they could skip Indy V and just go to VI?  OR MAYBE they make Indy V an online miniseries that sets the stage for Indy VI!!!  *sigh* I’m a genius.  umm, upon further review the whole Harrison Ford cameo to lend credibility to a new Indiana Jones actor has already been done.  BUT the online miniseries is still GENIUS!!

You can also see a tv interview with Harrison Ford about this show HERE.

I got to thinking about the Staff of Kings game and how it made me really want to be Indiana Jones, but it wasn’t quite living up to it.  Then I remembered Uncharted:Drake’s Fortune.  That game IS Indiana Jones except where Indy was not seeking fortune a glory, Nathan Drake is a treasure hunter.  Anybody who wants an Indy adventure check out Drake’s Fortune.  The sequel to the game is coming out soon and there’s even talk of making a feature film.

I LOVE Indiana Jones.  Truth be told I want to be Indiana Jones.  I was 8 going on 9 when Raiders of the Lost Ark hit the big screen.  My childhood home had huge boulders and trees in the backyard that were constantly being used to recreate scenes from the movies.  When I was preparing for my trip to Australia I found out that the original Indy hat was made from an Australian Akubra.  So I made sure to track down a shop and buy a hat there.

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings is a new game for the Wii and the Playstation 2.  My wife bought it for me for Fathers Day and double checked with the store clerk to confirm that the game was NOT available for the Playstation 3.  The PS2 game looks like they made the game for the Wii and then just ported it to the PS2 so they could sell a few more copies.  The game runs pretty linear and keeps you from fully exploring the pixilated environments.  When ever you get into a situation that you don’t know what to do to continue, you just wander for a moment and in the right location the Action button will appear leading you to continue on your quest.  The camera angles and character animations are set to remind you of Indiana Jones, but really, the only reason that I’m still playing the game is so I can get through the story. This Trailer looks good, but I’m not loving the game…yet.

On February 7th, 1964 The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite ran a story about The Beatles’ United States arrival in which the correspondent said “The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania”.The fifteenth American album by The Beatles released in 1968 is commonly known as The White Album because it has no text other than the band’s name on its plain white sleeve, and on the early LP and CD releases, a serial number.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Forty-five years ago, The Beatles invaded America, bringing with them a sound and attitude different from anything any of us had seen or heard before. They challenged and inspired us, forcing us to think about how things could be if we would only realize the importance of love.

Its now 2009. Although ts been nearly forty years since The Beatles broke up, and yet their message is as relevant and influential as ever. The greatest band in history is still inspiring hope and dreams, still changing lives and fostering creativity, still shaping the way we look, listen and think.

Announcing THE WHITE ALBUM: A Collection of Images Inspired by the Music of The Beatles.

Compiled and introduced by writer and illustrator Russell Walks, and showcasing work by artists including Spencer Brinkerhoff III, Matt Busch, and others, THE WHITE ALBUM presents an exciting array of dynamic, emotional works of art, each of has been inspired by a song from The Beatles extensive catalogue.

THE WHITE ALBUM looks at the work of The Beatles through a kaleidoscope of artistic styles and viewpoints.  THE WHITE ALBUM will be available for the very first time ever this summer at the San Diego Comic-Con (July 22 -26, 2009). Dont miss your chance to pick up a copy at the only location where every artist will be available to personalize your book.

Participating Artists Include:

Spencer Brinkerhoff III

Matt Busch

TC Cor

Nicole Falk

Grant Gould

Gabe Hernandez

Paul Michael Kane

Leah Mangue

Meghan McMahon

Jeff Pittarelli

Jamie Snell

Russell Walks

John Watkins-Chow

 The White Album.net

Here’s some of the awesome items over at the Brothers Brick.

My 2 year old son loves to take a little bag of Legos to Church.  My older son made a ship for him to play with but the canopy kept coming off, so I decided that I would try and build something a bit sturdier.  I think that I did a pretty good job, and I stretched my imagination a bit, but there’s no way I can compete with the mastery on display at the Brothers Brick website.

I’m working on a project to make some toys.  I can design then, and write about them and even make cartoons about them.  I’m spending so much time working on the toys that I haven’t done all of the animation and other supporting components.  BUT WAIT!  What comes first?  The cartoon or the toy?  The animated movie or the Happy Meal toy?  I think that things go both ways.  There’s a huge community around vinyl toys that have a wonderful cartoon or animated look that exist solely as toys.  It’s a fairly large expense to make your own toyline so I’ve been wondering if it’s really worth it.  I’ve been wondering if I can make the money back, whether it’s good business.

Then I watched this interview with a young filmmaker named George Lucas over at Binary Bonsai.  He said that “Making film is an art. Selling film is a business.”  So I guess that as long as I start with the art, and I make something that I like and want, then I can share that with others.  If I make something just to sell it, I don’t think I’ll be as successful as if I make it for the art.  Lucas commented that he once got into an argument with someone who thought that the phrase “Filmmaker” simplified the art of making movies to something akin to a toymaker, to which Lucas replied, “I like being thought of as a toymaker who makes films.”

I found out about PayPal mobile today on PayPal’s homepage and went on to read some more about it here.  I could have used this information over the weekend.  So for Father’s Day my brother and I took my Dad out to Joe’s Farm Grill (they grow their own food and grill and WOW, but that’s another story).  Because I’m a struggling artist, I knew that my Dad or my brother would try and cover the bill for me.  I didn’t want them to do that so I brought some cash with me and when my brother jumped in front of me to pay the bill, I slipped the cash in his pocket and called it good.  One of the promoted uses of PayPal Mobile is “Split the Bill”.  You can send money through PayPal on mobile web at mobile.paypal.com or you can activate your phone and send money by text.

Another “fun” feature that they are trying out is called “Making an offer”.  How many times have you sat around and said, “I’ll give you $20 if you go eat that corn dog off the ground”.  Now with the PayPal offers you can make this game into a reality.  Here’s a real sample from the website.  Victor propositioned Domenico $7 to “Stop being such a creep”.

Also available as an iPhone and Android application making spending money and double-dog daring your friends to do stupid things all the more easier.  :D