This blog began in 1997 as a single news page called Nucelus. In 2005, during a long wait to move into a new house, I decided to learn some php and MySQL and write my own blogging system, which became inkyBlog and which now powers this, my own Webbledegook blog.
Thank you to my brother, Murray Ewing, for help with some of the more challenging aspects!
Over 100 British soldiers (2,300 US) have been killed in Iraq. But God would think it was worth it.
Around 30,000 civilians have lost their lives. God gives the thumbs-up.
Britain's government, without the sanction of its people, sends its soldiers to invade a country that has not committed an act of aggression against us (or the US). God is so proud.
How can we criticise Islamic extremists who use God as an excuse for acts of violence, when we (because Tony Blair represents us (unfortunately)) admit to doing the same thing.
* Having now seen a little of the interview, he does actually seem to say that God helped him to make the decision. As bad as I feared. How come the rest of the time Blair comes across as quite a nice chap? I can't see Bush ever doing Parkinson (though he is currently doing Pakistan).
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Life recently has been taken up with a not-too heavy workload, but ticking along nicely. A couple of logos, a theatre poster and a few rough sketches that I hope will develop into fully-fledged jobs. I have not done any Rainbow Orchid recently, and a surprising number of reasons contribute to this, if I'm honest. Actually, it might be interesting to look at those reasons...
i) I've already mentioned the pain in my right arm, and while drawing seemed okay, I was worried about it, and wanted to use it as little as possible. I have been using the mouse with my left hand for about a month now, and I think I can feel some improvement. I've also done a fair amount of work-drawing with no problems, it's mouse micro-movements that bring on the twinges.
ii) Editing that film of me drawing has put me off slightly as I realised how dull the actual process of drawing really is. This may be more from my perspective, as having gone through the laborious process of creating those drawings, I then had to go through it all several times again as I edited the film and watched it through two or three times while doing so. Of course, what's missing from the film is the internal dialogue, involving mind, hand and eye, that confronts the challenge of getting what is in your mind out into physical form onto paper, and that's the part that makes drawing interesting. But the film shows only the soulless version, and it's uninspiring.
iii) I've had a few negative things in my email inbox recently to do with webcomics and also self-published comics, and that's been eating at my brain a little. I really try and ignore the world of egotistical creators (and readers), but I'm only human, and it can get to me when I'm dragged into it. I'll keep battling away on that one! More often than not I prefer not being part of any kind of scene, and I'm in that frame of mind at the moment, but I mustn't forget all the good people who are involved too. I would just like to say I find it amazing that some authors/artists think they are owed a readership (and fame) as soon as they publish something, and even more amazing that they actually berate people for not genuflecting at their feet. You have to earn every reader with sweat and tears and be thankful for anything. Even your biggest fans will forget you once they put your comic back on the shelf. Please accept that, and just do your best*.
iv) I need to rewrite the next bit of script as the dialogue is bad.
v) I also found myself indulging in a strange feeling of glee at my diminishing daily stats for the webcomic (when not updating). But I also noticed some of those IP addresses that come back day after day to see if there's an update. I owe them a comic.
In other (non) news... last night I had a yoga session that felt as if I am getting back into it at last. I'm now trying to find a local karate club that will suit me too, but this is proving very hard. Ellie and I watched 'Downfall' last night. Not on the TV (where it was on Channel 4) but as our last of February's three rentals from Amazon. An utterly amazing film, more so for it being made by Germans, which did affect the way you watched and understood it. Is it wrong to feel a lump in your throat as Hitler says goodbye to his staff in the bunker before he shoots himself? It must be, it's Hitler! Perhaps it's locking on to anything human within him, but that quickly disappears when he talks about his proudest achievement being the wiping out of Jews in Germany - totally inhuman and impossible to relate to. It's amazing to think that the Nazis were in power within living memory - we all know people who were affected by those years. What a terrible and compelling story. Our other Feb films were '28 Days Later' (good) and 'Forty Year-Old Virgin' (alright, perhaps slightly more intelligent than I thought it was going to be, but still quite forgettable Hollywood fare).
I'll end there. Sorry for the little rant - I don't indulge that often, it's quite negative really.
* (Please don't email me to ask if I'm talking about you. No, I'm not talking about you. It's someone else...)
The strip still stands up fairly well today, even the artwork to a degree. On a personal note, it's been interesting re-reading it ten years later, as it's the first work I did after my mum died, and I can see quite obvious and fascinating links in the story that I was completely unaware of at the time. Overall, I like it still, so don't mind it being republished (as long as the date is clear...).
With artwork it is a little more complicated. I put a lot of time and effort into what I do, and the person who I'm working for has paid money so they can use the work (though I usually retain copyright). When someone else takes it without asking, it's bad form. It's not always done with malicious intent. Some people are genuinely unaware that just because the artwork is out there - on the internet, on a poster, in a book - it can be used, for free. The work's been done, someone's possibly been paid, now it's public property. Well, that's not so, I'm afraid.
Making the discovery gives me a couple of feelings. I feel bad that someone thinks my work can just be used for free, without any credit or remuneration. I also feel slightly flattered that they think it's good enough to use. I don't call in the lawyers or rant and rave and have a go at the person or company, when discovered. I usually write a pleasant email drawing their attention to the fact that they have done something that is not morally correct, and that I feel just as bad having to point this out as they probably do about hearing it. And I don't feel good doing it, but then again, I can't let it pass either.
There's a couple of examples below. My Oliver logo (in black and white) was used on what is actually a nice colourful poster. It's been flipped and Oliver has been given a little peaked cap, but it is my logo. Mine was designed in the late nineties, well before the recent Oliver film which has also used a similar 3-person silhouette (but quite different). I'm less worried about the more amateur copy of my Sweeny Todd poster, partly because they've gone to the trouble of redrawing it (and no, that isn't normally a viable excuse!), and partly because it was for a very small amateur production (I didn't write to them about that one).
Artists and writers don't always just 'knock these things out', which is often assumed. I have a talent for drawing, but I still work my soul out at the drawing table, and that talent is the result of years of sitting in front of a piece of paper and practising and practising. The original Sweeny poster I actually drew and painted twice, as the original was sold at auction to help fund the show. I was then asked for another to put in the lobby - it was never actually used for publicity purposes in the end! I spent many hours on them. The Oliver logo may look pretty simple, and it is, but it had a huge number of rough sketches going back and forth before the client was happy.
Even though the film is sped up, it still goes on a bit, so do feel free to flit about the timeline. The only bits edited out are those where I leant in the way of the camera. The film doesn't show, of course, the three phone calls and one night's sleep that interrupted the creative flow.
'Batman Begins' was okay, but generally rather dull. It hit a low-point early on when Liam Neeson (I think it was him, I mix them all up, those actors) said something in the monastery about being able to hide in the shadows, then I think he clicked his fingers and twenty ninjas dropped to the floor from the ceiling-beams where they'd been hiding, possibly since lunchtime. I did actually quite enjoy it, but it had many tiresome moments.
'A Life Aquatic' always looked intriguing, though I'd heard mixed reviews. But I have to say I thought it was really very good indeed. It had a nice upbeat feeling to it, was very quirky and I couldn't get over Willem Defoe being a German nerd. It even had a kind of hidden pirate base on an abandoned island. A lovely film.
And last night we saw 'Churchill (The Hollywood Years)'. I hadn't read any good reviews of this, I don't think, and mainly wanted to see it after reading about Antony Sher playing Hitler (see this funny little story from his book 'Primo Time'). But the film totally surprised me by being very funny indeed and full of some wonderful performances, particularly from Leslie Phillips, Harry Enfield and Antony Sher. It was a very traditional British comedy in a way, sort of the Comic Strip meets Ealing Studios, perhaps even a little Carry On, but with more swearing and explosions. It must have been inspired in particular by that whole Enigma machine thing in 'U-571', and perhaps just a few other films as well.
Here's the link: Getting More Out Of GarageBand.
I just counted the emails I had over Christmas asking me to contribute to various titles... six altogether. I'm flattered by every one of them, and it's difficult to say no when someone asks (but I generally do). From now on I will not be contributing to any other projects until Rainbow Orchid is finished, it has to be my priority. The one I enjoyed most, recently, was the two page girls' football strip in Paul Scott's Sunny For Girls, only two pages and a last-minute decision. Fun.
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