Well nothing goes the way you want it or expect it to. The problems continue with Nekokaiju.com and not sure when it will be up. But now is the the time to escape reality and enter the mythical world of DragonCon. I need the escape.

I will try to give updates every day while I'm gone. Stay tuned.

Kaiju Trouble

Well Godzilla has returned to the sea, there is no sight of Mothra in the skies.
So you ask where is Nekokaiju.com? Good question. For all of five minutes last night it was up (albeit a stripped down version) and running. Now I can't connect to the server and my home page has disappeared. I'm slogging on though, despite my ignorance of how these things work (or in my case don't work). Hopefully all to be resolved soon. But I'm putting it aside today to get some artwork done.
But I hope you like my new banner above, and the coverpage at Nekokaiju.com
Just a hint of what is to come.

Curiouser and Curiouser

Detail of the spider on the one dollar bill. Photoshop.
Leave it to my mom to point out that some of the net webbing is a little off.
No I'm not looking for a new career in counterfeiting. But I am creating money for fictional places. More news shortly.

The Quays Brothers are currently in preproduction for a new film starring Geoffrey Rush, titled: The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes
This comes after the film for
The Forgotten Museum of Henry Welcome in London. Really interesting site with old medical devices and paraphernalia, along with clips of the Quay Bros. Phantom Museum film. Definitely on my agenda for my next trip to London.
Animate Online also has stills and information about the Quays museum film.

Animated News talks about the first look at Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride. Should be a fun film.

From those fine folks at My Pet Skeleton comes A Murder of Scarecrows. A little flash game that wastes hours of time and looks cool while doing it.

Comic Book Resources has posted the first stills and interview from Neil Gaiman's and Dave McKean's MirrorMask. This movie looks incredible. I can't wait.

And leave it to Neil Gaiman to just casually mention on his blog that Dave McKean"(... nips off to New York for a few days to work on the Broadway "Vampire Lestat" musical...)"

The Abandoned: Sith War

Just watched the Olympic opening ceremonies, beautiful.
I want a centaur costume.

Right now I'm at a fun part in designing Nekokaiju.com.
Currently I'm going through old art and projects, deciding
what I want to include on the site. Thought you might want
to see some of the projects that didn't make the cut.

Back in 2002 I was excited about the buzz around the upcoming adventure game Knights Of The Old Republic. I loved the idea of creating designs that looked like antiquity in the Star Wars Universe. But even more I wanted to create a free fan game based on those designs. With limited programming knowledge, I knew I had a huge project ahead of me. I decided to do a prequel to KOTOR, knowing that if KOTOR was successful they would probably do a sequel.(Though in the Star Wars universe, you can never know for sure) As I started doing research, I also thought it would be fun to have the prequel look like it was made long ago, a retro game based on the engine of the old Nintendo Final Fantasy games. This also had other benefits, less of a learning curve and pixelly images with less detail all added up to what I thought would be less time to develop the project. I was wrong, it was a massive undertaking I just didn't have time to finish. But who knows maybe sometime in the future. I'm already teaching myself the Adventure Game Studio for an interactive portfolio concept and this was a very educational experience in learning coding etc... My days of game creating may not be over.

Below is a screenshot of a battle scene on the Wookie homeworld and animated sprites of the game that never was
Of course all Star Wars and related images are the property of Lucasfilm.

Comments?

Godzilla Attacks!

The NekoKaiju.com website has been difficult to get up. Teaching myself HTML, server problems, it's been one thing after the other.
And now Godzilla is attacking it!
I don't know what's next. But assuming Mothra doesn't show up the site should be open August 23rd.
Oh, have I mentioned the big green guy is turning 50 this year?

Speaking of birthdays, an early happy birthday goes out to the Cicada Queen.

So I'm at the museum the other day. Working with volunteers that are all elderly women. A guy comes in seems a little disheveled. One of his shoes is untied. A volunteer goes up to him trying to be nice and points this out. He replies "It will be okay, Mind your own business bitch!".
The museum always stimulating.


My parents picked up a plaster cast used for art school studies. Fun to draw.
Thanks.

Up above I've added a Paypal donation button. Donate $50 or more and I'll send you a sketch of your favorite character in September. But feel free to donate what you can...yes I'm still begging. The money will be used to help me out with my illustration career. Thanks.

Oh don't forget it's Godzilla's 50th Anniversary this year!

This caged item is sold in Japanese markets as Godzilla's Egg.
A watermelon that costs about $75 a piece.

Rabbit
Rabbit?


It's alive.
So about a month ago, I came across this article (no longer available) on an unknown creature spotted in North Carolina. Oddly I had seen something like it in Northern Virgina about 2 years ago. I assumed it was just a large sick fox. But there was something fishy about the photograph in the article. It looked manipulated, a poor job at photoshop, even the shadow seemed wrong. Curious I made this image in photoshop, just to see if it could be done.

I was convinced it was just a hoax.
But now I'm not so sure
The other day, a video showed up on a Baltimore news channel, it showed a similiar looking creature walking around. Looks a little different but close. You can check it out
here
Sure looks like an unknown creature is roaming the east coast...watch out.

Last night at 1:00am, my bedroom filled with red flashing lights, the sounds of a firetruck just right outside my apartment. I layed there wondering. And my mind went something like this "Is my apartment on fire?...perhaps I should get up...nah I'm too tired, Okay I'm going to burn because I'm tired. hmm, I better get up, I don't want a tombstone to say, he just didn't feel like getting up so he never did again"

So I rush putting on my clothes and run out the apartment, A fireman was standing there. "Excuse me officer is there a problem?" his response, "nah just checking the lights"....

nice

Nekokaiju.com

Nekokaiju.com is finally coming. This is going to be an online portfolio of my work, with some surprises. It will be opening in the next week or two. I now have a new teaser up there and it takes less time than brewing a cup of tea to download.

The teaser is a photo of my favorite Gibson girl model. Doesn't everybody have a favorite Gibson girl model? You can read about Evelyn Nesbit here.
Sex, murder, and the supernatural.


Click the banner above or the thumbnail below, to see my new teaser.



So it's getting late in the summer and you still haven't planned your vacation?
how about the forgotten country of Molvania? Though unfortunately you've already missed the Spring Festival of the Eastern Steppes, where adolescent boys serenade mules. But there is always next year.

I hate the 80's.
Okay that's not true. I love the 80's. I'm just getting tired of all the retro comics like GiJoe, Thundercats, and the Transformers. None of these books are really challenging. The only reason I see bringing them back is to give a new slant to them, but instead they just tread old ground.
...Maybe they have better art than the originals, but that's about it.
Though now with all this retro madness, If your spaceship crashes on Thundarr Earth, you now have the definitive Thundercats map ...Snarff.

Remember the Shogun Warriors...now those guys were cool. Instead Hollywood has decided to do a live action Transformer movie. Oh well. If only it could be as cool as this guys
transforming VW Beetle.

I really do love the 80's ....honest.

Meow

I really wish I could see Catwoman on the big screen. No not Halle Berry , that movie looks awful. But Orson Welles 1944 version of Batman. You never heard of it? Well neither had I. Because of an argument between Welles and the Studios it never got past preproduction and casting. Back in 2003 Mark Millar wrote about the never made film. Orson Welles was to star and direct as Batman, Marlene Dietrich as Catwoman and Basil Rathbone as the Joker. Shot in film noir black and white.
An amazing article
well worth the read, even has original 1944 concept art.


Sounds unbelievable? the thing is, it is unbelievable, yet another internet hoax.
Oh well a fanboy can dream...

Noriaki Yuasa the director of Gamera died this week. In Honor, no Godzilla image this entry, instead here is a Gamera pic


From the director of Spirited Away comes Howl’s Moving Castle. Check out the trailer.

Architect Frank Gehry has worked with MIT developing future cars,complete with a GPS like device that would tell you where empty parking spaces are.
Gehry cars

Speaking of cars check out the making of the new Audi/ Escher commercial
This has been making the rounds on various websites but is worth mentioning and seeing. CG used to mess with your perception of reality, subtly
Read the article here
And watch the commercial here

that way you don’t have to register for anything

Audi is getting a lot of exposure lately. The design of the future Audi in I’Robot is interesting, Though I thought the Lexus in Minority Report seemed more interesting

And no matter what you think of Hummer, you have to love the music they use. Well if you are a synthesizer geek, like me . Anyway, just found out they are using LFO "Freak" and Trabants "Enter Spacebar" for their commercials.
if anyone cares...

Recently I read about a guy that was getting a lot of complaints about the quality of his online comic strip. He basically said send me money and I can quit my day job and make this better. Through his Paypal account he got over $30,000. And guess what, he quit his day job. So...
I’m thinking of putting a Paypal donation button up here. If you donate more than $50, I’ll send you an original sketch of you favorite superhero, RPG character, whatever...Basically I’m begging for money. But I’m willing to compensate you for it. Anyone interested? Comments?

Oh almost forgot, Episode III title revealed today...I predicted this a long time ago.





hmm, these are getting too long. Okay I’m now updating twice a week,
See you Tuesday night.

Happy New Year

In both ancient Sumeria and Egypt, July 23 is the start of the new year
The Dog Days of Summer also began today, when Sirius the Dogstar rises from behind the sun.

Cthulhu Loves You

It suddenly dawned on me I never explained what I meant when I said I was working with this plushy guy.

I did some card designs for
Fantasy Flights Games new Call of Cthulhu collectible card game. Look for it later this year.


Syndicate Agent

Pallid mask sketch



A lot has changed since Spidey saved those Hostess Pies. Superheroes are hot right now and are being used everywhere.
Thierry Muegler's new mens fragrance, is unfortunately jumping on this bandwagon. The new, the ugly, BMen ad.



And if you just happen to be in a French speaking country you may just see Superman warning you about
AIDS


Wanted vinyl album. If you happen to see this record let me know.



This year is the 50th anniversary of Godzilla, I'm going to add random Godzilla pictures to my blog throughout the year. Enjoy!



This past week has been the week of bizarre rumors. Everyday there is another Superman movie rumor. But that's just the beginning. Most of these are from Variety:

VARIETY reports that Marvel Comics plans to adapt SPIDER-MAN into a Broadway stage musical. Already some very big names are being thrown around: Julie Taymor (who helmed the stage version of THE LION KING and directed TITUS and FRIDA) is interested in directing, while U2 would provide the music and Neil Jordan (INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE) would write the script

Michael Moore is being looked into for directing the 5th Harry Potter movie

And Jack Black is reportedly up for the role of the Green Lantern feature film.

I'll believe it when I see it.

I want Ice Cream :-(

It's been stiffling hot in Richmond these days, too hot.
As I was writing this, the gentle sounds of an ice cream truck could be heard in the distance. I strained looking for him, but no signs of anyone transporting the frozen dairy goodness. Then out of the haze the truck appeared, brightly colored decals and soothing tones. I was going to get some ice cream. I ran out of my aparment, the drivers eyes locked on me, I waved my cash to entice. My mouth watered. What would I get? A frozen chocolate eclair? a chipwich? or the always patriotic red white and blue rocket popsicle?
Then the unthinkable happened, he turned away. He hadn't seen me at all. The truck sped off...the music echoing.
Childhood trauma, shouldn't happen when your 30 something.

Trying out something different.



Done in Photoshop.

I'm thinking of selling merch. Would anyone be interested in calendars, mousepads, lunchboxes, or t-shirts with your favorite Nekokaiju art on it?
leave me a comment to let me know, any ideas would be appreciated.

A long time ago I used to work at a restaurant called LaChapelle. Now with LaChapelle long ago out of business, who would have thought years later that that building would be used in a Ben Burtt movie( The Ben Burrt, Star Wars sound designer). My six degrees to George Lucas just got a little closer. Click below to see how the building was used. One of these days I'm going to own that old church.

Technology and art combine in the oddest ways. Check out the
Phonecam art exhibit

Over at Pulse they have a preview of David Mack's new Kabuki comic coming out July 21st. Beautiful pages


There seems to be a new trend in using small little flash games to promote new albums coming out. Belle&Sebastian has this fun game with a book worm chewing on books. Great for wasting time, not great if your in an internet cafe paying for time.
Wrapped up in Books
Polyphonic Spree also has a flash game, looks like something I've played before, but is delightfully surrealistic.
Quest for the Rest

I recently saw SkinnyPuppy live. An amazing show.
East Bay Express has an interview article that has the most concise history of the band I've seen and still not leave anything out. Worth the read. Even if your not a fan of the pup.


One can only imagine what a Skinny Puppy flash game would look like. I think after a while the visuals would get to you. Gnawing at your brain.


okay that's enough for today....I'm going to get ice cream.

I'm back

As was explained earlier, my computer problems overwhelmed me.
And anyone who knows me personally, is aware my personal life has been quite overwhelming also. But I'm back! And the new improved Nekokaiju Studios blog, now has comments! So please leave me a note here and there.(All you have to do is click the date below the post and then scroll down and leave a comment) Also I'm going to have the promised weekly updates....gasp. I know I've promised this before, but with preparing for Dragon*Con and several major projects on the horizon, there is plenty to talk about and many new sketches to be seen.

I'm now also working at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It's nice to be closer to art. I am constantly inspired. Overwhelming also, but in a good way. I've added the VMFA's link over to the right, to show you where I now work. A coworker there introduced me to the art of Bertha Lum. She was the leading American Japonisme artist of the early 1900's. How I had missed her before, I don't know. Be sure to look her up, amazing prints.
Geisha sketch: Bertha Lum inspired.


This morning before work, I got to see the Wimbledon match between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. It's around this time of year I realize how much I enjoy tennis. Sad I don't remember the rest of the year and actually get out and play.But I'm sure tonight I'll run some old MAME tennis games and get an intense finger/keyboard workout.
It's very exciting watching an up and coming star, Sharapova was amazing, someone who actually lives up to the hype. I had heard in the Australian Open she was asked to tone down her moans and groans when she hits the ball. There was no toning down in Wimbledon. So cool to see so much effort rewarded. And so young. It's sad the day you realize most professional sports players are younger than your are. Unfortunately that day came long ago for me.


(edit July 4th/ Just saw the Roddick and Federer finals. Just incredible)

test

test

Sometimes, I feel like Marvin the Robot.
Life, ah life...
Anyway I've been having tons of computer problems, that seem to compound on each other. If you have sent me an email recently, I apologize if I haven't responded yet. In the meantime, it's probably easier to reach me at
nekokaiju@aol.com for a little while.
woooo....
And on this anniversary of Chernobyl, a fascinating, scary journal, on how the city looks now...
Ghost Town

Very compelling reading and images. A woman taking a Kawasaki through the deadzone.

So I'm now working with this guy

Beware of his fuzzy plushness. ....More news shortly.

This year looks very exciting for media, so many exciting things coming out,
from THX-1138 Special Edition to Star Wars finally on DVD. This just announced
The new Skinny Puppy album, May 25th.

Papier- mache' Rhino rampages Tokyo!




I've started work on some images for The Force.Net's Virtual Sequels project.
It's a large fan project envisioning Star Wars Episodes 7, 8, and 9.
Here's a sneak preview of one of my pictures....
a Doug Chiang influenced image

In 1231 Pope Gregory IX announced a link between the devil and black cats.
This explains a lot. You see I use a Wacom tablet with a stylus for creating digital drawings, my cat eyes me using it, jealous. He needs petting. I go to get a drink, come back ....the stylus is gone. My feline friend sits smuggly.
Later I find the stylus under the sofa. This happens a lot. I've come to have to hide the stylus from my furry demon. Only now I've noticed he's eyeing this keyboard.....

Bender Revealed as new Star Wars Villain

Wooo! Finally an update. The NekoKaiju site will be up by the end of the month. It will be a gallery of my images and ways to purchase artwork.
Coming Soon.

I just wanted to say goodbye to Helmut Newton. His images will be missed.
Suprisingly surreal, a true master of black and white and fashion photography.
His images have affected how I compose a picture and his visions have invaded my dreams. Shocking and powerful.

Here are some links:
The SFX site for the Dutch film Zephyr. A movie about cleaning the wreckage of a giant space battle. A unique look. Well worth downloading the FX trailer.

Zephyr


And here's a link to the Korean movie DragonsWar. Dragons destroying villages, good stuff.

D-War


And Variety is reporting that Charlize Theron has been signed to do a live action version of Aeon Flux. Be interesting how this pans out.

And about my title headline and following image;
According to the SW.Com newsletter,
"Known to many fans as the voice of Bender on "Futurama," John DiMaggio not only plays a Padawan in the micro-series, but is also the menacing voice of General Grievous in the series. General Grievous is an Episode III character who makes his debut in the final episode of Star Wars: Clone Wars."

"We want to make a world that is seen through a dirty plane of glass."
-The Brothers Quay

Never let an art teacher tell you old is not an aesthetic
Fascinating article on the Brothers Quay


Doug Chiang has an update and a couple of new images for the next Robota trailer.
And I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but be sure to check out Chiang's and Orson Scott Card's Robota book.
www.dchiang.com


And here is a quick image I did for an Atlanta Star Wars club

Okay in the past couple of months, I've been near tornados, in the middle of a hurricane and now an earthquake.

My friends in California will think I'm crazy, but a 4.5 earthquake for 30 seconds is pretty scary.

It started with a boom, a growing rumbling, things falling off my shelves, my trashcan fell over, Christmas tree shaking., the whole apartment shaking. I ran outside. I thought my furnace was about to explode. And then I realized it wasn't just my house. But for those first few seconds I had no idea what was going on and that was scary.

Okay I don't normally post these silly quizzes on my blog, but this one cracked me up. ..I'm not that depressed ...really.....


As if you were born into a world of tears, you
always tend to look at the darker things in
life. Inside you crave attention yet push away
society, and you're a hopeless romantic. Drawn
to things like the occult and mysteries, you
spend your time daydreaming


What Type of Soul Do You Have ?
brought to you by Quizilla

And on a serious note.
Save the Red Pandas!


Something needs to change over at the National Zoo.
23 animals have died because of neglect.
The Washington Post has an interesting sad article
here

Yes all roads lead to Star Wars. It's kind of odd really, Kevin Bacon should feel jealous. I know when I google the oddest things, inevitably I'm linked to Star Wars.

While looking up Photoshop techniques, I came across this.
Photoshop 'exists because of Star Wars'


I must admit the first time I heard about the Hilton sisters I thought people were referring to The Hilton Sisters.
The musical Siamese twins that did sideshows and vaudeville in the late 20's and 30's.
They appeared in Todd Browning's masterpiece movie Freaks. And yes, I can even make a Star Wars connection here. One of the freaks was legless and walked on his hands and has often been said to be an influence on the design of R2-D2

The Goodyear Blimps crashes!



A stunning image of the young Myrna Loy

Rabbit Rabbit

It's interesting when times are tough you really find out who your true friends are. Who sticks by you through all your egocentric behavior, supporting you, and then who abandons you. I know I haven't been the best of friends lately, but thank you all who have been there for me, supporting me....thanks

Here are some interesting links:

The soon to be classic ..I think,
Jojo in the Stars



Hanging Corpse Admired as Sculpture on Campus (that about says it all, but click here for the full story)



And Angelie Jolie in Alexander the Great...drinking diet coke.

First my site crashes, then my computer crashes, and then my brain crashes.
Regrouping....

Nov. 19th 1581
Ivan The Terrible Kills his son.
Nov. 19th 1703
The Man in the Iron Mask dies in the Bastille.
Nov. 19th 1954
Sammy Davis Jr. looses his eye in an automobile accident.
Nov. 19th 1965
Pop-Tarts are created on this day!

Of course, I tell people to email me and then my site and my email goes down.
For commisions or comments email me at
Nekokaiju@aol.com
until further notice.

If you have emailed me at Paul@nekokaiju.com in the last week, please try again at my aol address. Sorry.

As you may have noticed, I have decided to update my blog more often. Unlike LiveJournal, I don't have a comments section, so send me an email sometime. Just so I know that someone is reading this, thanks.

Fascinating Harry Potter "book" binding by
Artomic.


Read on Dark Horizons, that Ridley Scott is looking into doing a film version of Monty Python alumni; Terry Jones story His Dark Materials, could be interesting. (wow, what a run on sentence.)

Also read somewhere that "Moo kari makka?” is how you greet people in Osaka. It means: “How are you doing, making money?” Glad I don't live in Osaka right now.

Here is a detail of some clouds I'm working on for an avation print.



I've heard that if you sing someone lyrics it will stop running around in your head, I wonder if it works by posting them.

"There's a club if you'd like to go
you could meet somebody who really loves you
so you go, and you stand on your own
and you leave on your own
and you go home, and you cry
and you want to die

When you say it's gonna happen "now"
well, when exactly do you mean?
see I've already waited too long
and all my hope is gone

You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does"
-The Smiths


My Magic Cookie story coming tomorrow.

Darth Maul with Thai Headdress

Fascinating online gallery, the sculptures of Isabel De Obaldia




Rest in Peace Rerun, your red beret will be missed.

Green Vader, and yes he goes with Grumpy Obi and Angry Luke. I am making my version of the cover of Marvel Comics Star Wars #1



I find myself also asking, Why is Vader green?

A lot going on right now. Big news on the horizon. More in depth post soon.
But here is a taste!


A doodle for my upcoming online comic. A nostalgic Science Fiction cliffhanger for nostalgic prices, just 10 cents weekly!

Stay Tuned.

Just got back from the nighttime harvest parade. It's sponsored by the farm bureau so there were lots of people in cow suits, chicken suits, and pig suits. Very odd. I was expecting someone to come by and hit them over the head for food. Then it started to rain...Little did I know, they make plastic rain covers for Shriner Fezs. And one last thought, If your school mascot is a bluish purple bulldog, it still
looks like Barney even without a dinosaur tail.

Anyone see KillBill already? Send me an email, I really liked to hear some opinions about it. Hopefully I'll see it soon.

And here is grumpy Obi-Wan, He goes with the angry Luke sketch I showed a couple of days ago. And yes, I know his eyes need some work.

Well I know I keep promising it, but I'll have a recap of my trip to Baltimore and Atlanta this weekend, plus some thoughts on the business of showing my portfolio.

Recently I did a photomanip teaser for a friends website, click Halloweengirl.net

to see it.

The other night saw an episode of NOVA on the death of the Red Baron. It rekindled in me all sorts of excitement about early aviation. It'll be interesting to see where this all leads.

Along with NekoKaiju, Moxnix, The Tarot Project, and numerous little projects, a few of you might know I'm working on a 30's type pulp serial proposal for Bitpass


Okay that article has a registration, if you don't feel like dealing with that, just go to www.bitpass.com to understand what I'm talking about.

Anyway, what made me mention that was, I came across this great 50's/60's pulp site. Very exciting, nice animation trailer. I hope I can come close to the quality and adventure of
Daring Planet!

Picture of the security at a Rugby match in the UK. Looks right out of Gilliam's Brazil....

And I thought the origami x-wings at Dragon*Con were cool, check out this origami yoda at destroy all monsters.com


Luke sketch for a Star Wars painting I'm working on. I'd like to give the final to my friend Luke who inspired me. If you are reading this blog, send me an email.

I know around this time of year, you are thinking about how Chamberlain brought "Peace in our Time" by appeasing a dictator and sacrificing the Sudetenland.
Well okay maybe that's just me.
Even if you are not, check out these photos by Czech photographer Vilem Kriz