Owner: Calvin's Blog URL:http://www.calvininnes.com/blog Join Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 19:24:46 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Blog of Calvin Innes, illustrator, cartoonist, animator and author.
Short stories, drawings, poems and general guff.... Site statistics:Click here
Timmy, The Boy Who Dreamed Of Being A Redwood Tree… 2007-05-21 23:00:41
Timmy dreamed of being a Redwood tree,
ever since the age of three;
to stand tall, and proud above his mates,
and his teachers, and parents and that girl that he hates.
He’d just stand there, that’s all,
magnificently tall.
With his head in the sky,
and the birds flying by.
His branches would reach,
across all of the land,
like gnarled twisted fingers,
on gnarled twisted hands.
Then he’d pick them all up,
one by one, by one by one,
and squash them between
his finger and thumb&hellip
;..
Calvin
What’s in a word….. 2007-05-15 17:42:09 &hellip
;.Well, letters!
Usualy that is to say, its letters that make up a word. In fact I’m struggling to think of a word that doesn’t have letters in it? If you do know of one, please drop me a line at whatsinaword@wordy um trah lah lah.com.
U won’t get a responce though, sorry about that. That was actually a fake e-mail address there, in case you didn’t notice. I’m sure you did of course, but best cover all bases like the Romans used to say.
Little known fact time, The Romans actually invented ‘third base’. It’s true! Until the Roman came along and used their best thinkers to dream up ‘third base’, baseball was a different game. American teens got confused when dating, and often started talking in tongues… (I know my timeline is a bit out here, modern America being a bit younger than the Romans and all that, but who’s to say what is time, and if time is time enough to time yourself time and time again contemplat
General Rambling… 2007-05-13 22:19:23 I’ve been pretty busy lately, with various projects. In fact its now 3:29am and I’ve just finished illustrating a book I’ve been working on with a client for the last few weeks. It’s a great feeling when you add the last pen stroke. (until you remember that you still have to scan the damn thing into the computer, and edit it, and get it sent off), but still, when you finish its a good feeling.
DOIK&hellip
;.
Anywhoo, busy, yes indeed. Firstly gotta mention whats going on with the disclaimer at the top of the page, and on my homepage. Well, it’s just as it says, some brainless doik has been using my details in an e-mail scam. I won’t say exactly what I think of him/them because I know kids occasionaly read this blog….’doik*’ will have to do for now!
* (a Doik is a bottom breathing creature that dwells in damp, musty offices or bedrooms. Usualy questionable social skills and/or odour, and a tendancy to feed off their own waste… Read more:General
, Rambling
Rai-Kimbo…. 2007-05-08 19:48:41
Rai-Kimbo is a religious speaker from Surrey. He travels from place to place spreading the word of ‘Timothy, God of Thunder’ (A little known fact that Thor’s real name is Tim, or Timothy. Obvious why he opted for the much cooler replacement)
Rai first began working in the area about four years back, after an unsuccessful stint as Jeremy Beadle’s personal secretary. It didn’t work out you see, because Rai-Kimbo has very large feet, which make running pretty difficult (Mr Beadle is notorious for his ‘diva-esque’ requests of his personal secretarys. He once ordered an assistant to shave his feet with a small razor which had to be fashioned out of the finest flint from Holland) ..and his feet are Jewish.
Of course Mr Beadle has nothing against the Jewish faith, but he is terribly afraid of curly hair, which covers Rai-Kimbos large and cumbersome feet. This is a big problem as he has a fair covering of the curlies himself, and has to wax regularly& Read more:hellip
Little Fish……. 2007-05-02 17:15:34
Breaking into any industry is hard! Breaking into that industry as a freelancer is even harder. It doesn’t really matter what you’re doing, you’ve got to expect a lot of work and as many (hopefully not too many) hard times, as good. But, with a lot of perserverance and a little bit of luck you can make it.
The first year of any sort of freelance career is going to be tricky. In my first year there were plenty of times when bills were due and the work just wasn’t there. They’re the times that you have to have total faith in your own ability. Your work is good, you know it, and others will do too!
I was very lucky to secure a couple of long-term contracts pretty early on, which put me in a good position to build on my business. This year, rather than sitting back, I’ve started it all over again with the launch of my animation studio ‘My Little Big Town’ along with writer Rikki Colrein, and with Gizfolio.com, an online portfolio site, linki Read more:hellip
Fish Orgy… 2007-04-30 19:55:22
Hard at work on a couple of big projects at the moment, Zeppelin Bear, a graphic novel written by Gino Francesco and illustrated by myself, and Gizfolio.com, an online portfolio site where I’m part of the design team. so not writing a lot. (I will post more once I have a little more free time).
For now I’ll keep on sticking up silly cartoons!
Here is an old one for you from a series I drew up early last year. Watch out later this year for several of my cartoons available exclusivly from Mungogram Greetings Cards&hellip
;
Cal
Gizfolio just around the corner… 2007-04-25 17:55:37
Gizfolio.com is just weeks away from its launch. Gizfolio will bring together a great portfolio database, with job suppliers for everyone in the artistic community.
I still have a small number of free memberships to the site available. If you are an artist/designer/illustrator and would like a free portfolio membership on the site, please drop me an e-mail calvin@gizfolio.com. Hurry tho, cos its literally the last 2 or 3!
The site is designed by artists who have experience with online portfolios, an filters out all of the problems most commonly mentioned about other sites. The way images are displayed is slick and stylish, showing off your work in the best possible way.
Alongside the great portfolio features, Gizfolio offers a growing list of job opportunities around the world. You can easily filter out what’s not relivant to you, and make offers on potential commissions. Your offer isn’t filtered out when someone else bids lower&hellip
;this is not an auction site! Each ar Read more:corner
Herman the Overweight Pigeon… 2007-04-22 18:27:14 This is the story of Herman
. Herman, as the title suggests, is an overweight pigeon. Now, this might not be an odd thing on its own, there are plent of overweight pigeons. London has HUGE pigeon that look like they’re going to throw up, while theyre eating. They’re not even hungry and they shovel down whatever they can find. Have you ever been to one of those ‘forest get-away’ things, Centre Parks and the like&hellip
;the pigeons there are more like whales. Big flapping whales. Fat beggars can hardly even fly. Herman you see is different. Herman is fat because he has gland problems. Runs in the family…
Anyways….. One day Herman had a visit from a very short, and very loud salesman, who went by the name of Jambooie Plivthm (Jambooie felt his major set-back in life was his very hard to pronounce surname). Jambooie sold the most amazing things. A small cheese slice, that had engraved on it words, which when read would summon a large dribbling beast fr Read more:Overweight
Character Development 01 2007-04-17 20:44:21 This is the first, in what is planned to be several guides on various areas of illustration, and working as a freelance illustrator. It may not be of any use to anyone at all, but who knows, it could be?
The creation of a new character or mascot is something that can make a company/band/team (whoever) stand out from all their competetors, and develop a strong visual statement. Visa versa, it can make them look unproffesional and ultimatly do their image harm.
When creating a character or mascot for a client, I am usualy given a brief or an outline of what’s needed. The client will often have clear ideas on what they want to see representing their business, band, or whatever the character may be for. For example, a football team nicknamed ‘The Sharks’, the character would obviously be a shark. Clear, simple and instantly recognisable as that particular teams mascot. In this case I will look for picture refrences, as many as possible, and just look at them. It’s Read more:Character
, Development
GIZFOLIO LAUNCH 30th MAY… 2007-05-24 07:48:33 We are almost ready for lift off with Gizfolio! A launch date has been set, for the 30th May, so less than a week to go!
Gizfolio is an online porfolio site that will give members the chance to showcase their work to potential clients worldwide. You can bid for jobs, or interact with other artists in our community area. Gizfolio has a large emphasis on community, allowing artists to find out about potential jobs, competitions and events, even talk to potential employers months ahead&hellip
;perhaps just to test the water, or to extend your valuable list of contacts. It’s all about the people you know…..
In honor of the upcoming launch I’ve come up with a special cartoon version of the Gizfolio Logo, here it is! CLICK TO VISIT THE GIZFOLIO BLOG!
Although we have pretty much filled our quota of free accounts we’re awarding, there are still one or two available. If you’d like one please e-mail either brett@gizfolio.com or calvin@gizfolio.com, with a link, o
GIZFOLIO GOES LIVE…. 2007-05-30 12:48:45 We’ve done it!!! After several months of hard work it’s done, Gizfolio.com is up and running!
Check it out here GIZFOLIO
Read more:hellip
Jonny Moor…. 2007-05-29 10:38:00 Jonny
Moor (Taken from ‘Spooky Stories’ by Calvin Innes)
Jonny Moor liked nothing more,
Than reading books on blood and gore,
Wolves and witches, things in ditches,
Welts, and wounds, and open sores&hellip
;
…..Jonny Moor liked nothing more!
Each day at four, once home from school,
Jonny Moor would dream of ghouls,
Fangs and claws, and dripping jaws,
Things that lurked, and jerked and roared.
Jonny Moor would sit and read,
his gory books, with their chains, and hooks,
with their blood and their guts and their horrible tales,
of monsters and goblins, and strange things with blue scales…
Jonny Moor wanted nothing more….
Than to have furr and fangs,
and to stand tall and roar.
He’d crack his knuckles and grate his teeth,
spit and snarl and stomp his feet.
The kids would scream and run and hide,
from the thing, that lurked inside,
the shadows in their room at night,
that snarled, and growled and fed on fright….
Just for now, Jonny Moor,
would s
Mel Phillips Magazine Feature… 2007-06-03 15:40:22
‘A Peep Inside A Cricketer’s Box’, by Mel Phillips
is going from strength to strength. I illustrated the book for Mel, which is her third title, and contains some great stories from Mel’s days as the Pembroke Cricket Club scorer.
‘Pembrokeshire Life’ magazine has just run a feature on the book, with a great picture of the cover (quite pleased with this one myself).
There re some fantastic magazine features to come over the next few weeks, including a great double page spread on Mel and her books. I’ll post more details as they happen.
‘A Peep Inside A Cricketer’s Box’ is available to buy now for just £5.99. You can get hold of it from select book shops, or by e-mailing Mel at MelaniePhillips@talktalk.net. Read more:Magazine
, hellip
Update & Cornelius Glick…. 2007-06-02 19:50:34 The past few months I’ve been really busy with several illustrations projects, a couple of animations and setting up THREE new business&hellip
;.. You could say I like to keep busy!
It’s all great fun, and a few things are particularly exciting. Watch out for ‘Zeppelin Bear’ a 60 page graphic novel written by the brilliant Gino francesco and illustrated by myself, Mungogram Greetings Cards (plenty of card designs and animated stuff by me there. Fantastic concept by Alex Green) ‘Clubland’ a dark and surreal poetry/lyric book by award winning writer Rikki Colrein, illustrated by myself. Theyre the exciting ‘client’ projects I have on at the moment. I also have a few of my own personal projects on the horizon.
To kick off there’s LORBS. I WILL get this up this year, I promise. Originaly meant for last year, I’ve just been too busy to spend any real time on it. Later this year though, the website will be launched, along with the ne Read more:Update
Train Of Thought 001… 2007-06-01 20:38:00 Something a bit different I’m trying out. This might become a regular thing (because it’s far easier than planning out posts). Train
of thought 001&hellip
;…..
A train of thought to those who don’t know, is just a continuous ramble of your thoughts (in this case for about 2 mins), no real regard for language, punctuation, even story or style (my excuse for my abysmal spelling at times). It’s just thoughts, leading on to other thoughts, unfiltered and written down. It’s how I often come up with stories and ideas, I just sit down with a pen and paper/laptop and start writing. Just see where it goes….
Um…where to start…well, um……
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be inside out? Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t, it doesn’t really matter. I have though. i mean really thought about it. All inside out with your guts hanging out, looking like some macabre christmas tree, with your brain as th
Dennis Michaels featured in Zeppelin Bear… 2007-06-05 05:49:09 Zeppelin
Bear continues to build steam, and is looking like it’s going to be a really exciting read, with tons of celebrities making guest apperances in the book. There are some big names to be featured alongside Zeppelin Bear and his pals, as they embark on the most incredible adventures. Zeppelin Bears first book ‘Zeppelin Bear & The Whales’ will be with you shortly&hellip
;..watch this space!
DennisMichaels
of Zchannelradio.com is the latest person to secure a small guest spot in Zeppelin Bear, By Gino Francesco & myself.
The Radio host will make his apperance in a panel on page 18 of the 60 page graphic novel. As Zeppelin Bear, Macaroni and Leeroy arrive in the city of New York Dennis, from his radio booth, will announce the event across the United States.
You can see the (uncoloured) frame featuring Dennis below.
I strongly advise you to check out www.zchannelradio.com, it’s a great radio site, with some very very good shows (and of course they h
Dingleberry Dip….. 2007-06-04 19:40:52 Dingleberry Dip was an elf. He’s not an elf anymore, he’s the manager of a small off-brand clothing firm in Dorset. For a short time though, in 1972, Dingleberry Dip was a 3 foot tall, very spotty, ‘Wood Elf’ (Wood elves are prone to dry, arrid regions of the desert but occasionaly venture inland for magazines to read).
Now, it’s not like he had a choice..Oh no. Before Dingleberry Dip, was Dingleberry Dip, he went by the (less fancy) name of Rupert McNally, and was an insurance salesman. The job isn’t inportant. The name though is. You see the name ‘Rupert McNally’ is terribly close to an ancient, now lost, word Rhupurtmknarle (pronounced Ruh-Purt-Mk-Nar-Lay). This you see is a bit of a problem, when the name is pronounced in certain dialects. Particularly ‘Scouse’. And that problem was only made worse by the fact that Rupert, in his job as an insurance salesman, worked in Liverpool.
Blissfully unaware of the similarity of hi Read more:hellip
Cordelo Character Development 2007-06-13 18:20:07
Cordelo hails from the greater Parthethiaan plains (par-deth-ee-an). His people, who have wondered the plains for hundreds of years, go by no name amongst themselves, but to others they are known as The Pardeth Wizards. They are a very private, nomadic race with legendary powers of telekinesis and mind control (although these powers have not been ever witnessed by outsiders, they are heavily documented in ancient script carved into artefacts across the plains).
Cordelo was born into a family of high status within the Pardeth Wizards, the younger cousin of high elder, Curesthesia (Cur-est-has-eea), a wizard who, unbeknown to his fellow tribe members, dabbled heavily in the dark arts.
At the age of 74 (still young by the Pardeth Wizards 800 plus years life expectancy), a spirit entered Cordelo as he slept. The dark mist, conjoured up by Curesthesia as a misguided way of attracting female companionship, was the combined souls of fourteen dead wizards, from the very first days of the trib Read more:Character
, Development
Kinky Cat… 2007-06-13 09:26:49
I don’t think I’ve posted about my retarded cat before!? Anyways, this is him! He’s called Hendrix, and he has an inner ear problem. His balance is, well he doesn’t have any balance. He’s got a bladder problem, and he runs sideways (I think he has a curved spine or something), hehe! It all stems from generations of interbreeding I think, he must be something like his own uncle.
I rescued him from a phsyco with a pitbull about five years ago. This guy was evil, he had about 2 dozen cats and a couple of pitbulls. The rest of the story you can imagine. Thankfuly that was stopped pretty quickly and most of the cats were re-homed.
Anyways, I rescued the runt of the litter (he looked like he might be the first to be picked off), carried him home in my jacket pocket, and named him Hendrix.
Five years later, this is him! The subject of numerous of my comic strips and stories.
In this pic he’s taking advantage of my girlfriends job as a corset maker/designer Read more:Kinky
, hellip
Sorynefah Sketches 2007-06-12 19:11:48
Sorynefah is a novel I’ve recently gone back to, the last couple of days actualy while I’ve been layed up with food poisoning. It’s been nothing more than a jumble of ideas and characters for quite a long time now, just waiting to fall into place. At last it’s getting there….
These are a few sketches taken from some of my sketch books. All the sketches here are either from Sorynefah, or at least related to it. A few have been developed further, and have back stories and personalities, but like I say…just a lot of ideas.
I tend to work in one of two ways when writing/illustrating a book (one of my own). With things like Jonny Moor (out later this year), I know exactly what I’m going for before I start. I have the writing, the illustrations, the layout, even the covers and blurb clearly set out in my head. When that’s the case the stuff just flows, it feels easy. I like that, in a way, because I can come up with an idea, and get it all d Read more:Sketches
Teeny Bit Of Fame… 2007-06-10 20:06:10 Working my ass off this week. I’m nearing the end on a couple of pretty big commissions, so it’s been fairly hectic. (we’re talkin 20 hr days). Still, it’s all good fun.
Got to say a quick thank you to all the people who’ve helped me get a teeny bit of fame this week. I’ve had some great exposure, which as any illustrator knows is only a good thing.
The National Writing For Children Centre made me their illustrator of the week. Thank you. There’s been a great link and a few samples of my kids book illustrations up there. If you haven’t come across the site before, it’s an excellent resource for childrens writers so check it out.
Mel Phillips has been promoting her book like crazy. ‘A Peep Inside A Cricketer’s Box’, which I illustrated for Mel earlier this year keeps going from strength to strength. This week she’s had a couple of interviews for magazines on the book, as well as a great radio interview. Thank& Read more:hellip
IRANAMER - L.O.R.B.S 2007-06-15 19:00:23
Iranamer joined the League Of Really Bad Superheroes earlier this year. He was ‘made’ by Professor Dominion, from the bloody limbs and torso of two fallen superheroes. ‘Mr Captain America Man’, mighty defender of the United States, and ‘Iranoman’ the powerful and charismatic hero of Iran. Both were brutally killed at the hands of ‘Fluffy-Puff’, a small time theif who had recently come across a quite devistating rocket launcher.
Iranamer has severe personality problems as his two phsyces battle it out within his own body. Schizophrenic and psychotic, one half of himself literaly hates the other. This state obviously weakens him mentaly, but at the same time he posesses the combined strength of two of the strongest superheroes who have ever lived.
He is highly dangerous, very very powerful, and completly insane…….
LORBS AND ALL RELATED MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHT OF CALVIN INNES 2007
WATCH OUT FOR LORBS.COM LAUNCHED LATER THIS YEAR
Piggy In The Middle 2007-06-19 17:36:30
Working through the night again tonight, and no real time to post, so here’s a little cartoon I had kicking around.
Cal Read more:Piggy
Carvelator The Unkillable 2007-06-19 08:22:56
Carvelator is the oldedest of the Pardeth Wizards. Although his exact age is unknown, he is rumored to be over two thousand years old (which makes for slighly more in ‘Earth Years’ as 387 days must pass to complete a year, or ‘Terdor’ on the Parthethiaan plains).
In the early years of the Pardeth Wizards, Carveletor was viewed as one of the wisest and most powerful, and as such was viewed by many as a leader. Although the wizards had no actual ‘leader’, many followed Carvelator as if he were a god.
He was a hero to those who followed him, who would bring gifts of silver and fine scents in appreciation of his brave deeds. (ancient carving indicate he many have had as many as 30 followers. And that from a tribe of little more than eighty wizards made him a powerful figure).
His reputation was built by his selfless devotion in ensuring the safety of his fellow tribe members. On dozens of occasions Carveletor had thrown himself in dangers way, be it aga
2007 PROMO SHEET… 2007-06-21 16:25:59
New promo sheet! Just a little collection of some of my illustrations&hellip
;..
LORBS - THE HOOD 2007-06-21 06:00:05
Paul Elkersmeier was a spoilt little brat of a child. He was horrible. The rich son of Marcey and Rupert Elkersmeier, two wealthy caster oil barons, he grew up getting everything he ever asked (or whined) for.
He had his own water slide from his bedroom within the Elkersmeier estate, down to his own private swimming pool. He had every episode of his favorite TV shows on dvd, and his own DVD monkey to put them on for him. (a DVD monkey is a simple rhesus monkey, expertly trained to operate any household DVD player and video machine, very expensive and sought after amongst caster oil barons apparently).
You get the picture. He was spoilt, nasty and rude…and to be honest, he still is today.
Rupert Elkersmeier, Pauls father has a dark secret. For many years he has lived a double life, as the Hooded Baron. A brave and much loved superhero, The Hooded Baron would fight for the little people, the poor and the sick. A true hero of the unfortunate masses, he was loved by all who met him
Flooding And Soggy Poo….. 2007-06-27 06:11:51
What a week! Anyone who’s been watching the news will have seen a bit about the severe flooding ‘going about’. I live in a small place called Hessle, which must have had one footpath not blocked off by the police and army. It’s rubbish. I hate getting wet, and especially wet and cold. And although havin a pond instead of a back garden made me feel fancy for a bit, it got boring pretty quick.
Some plces though got it really nasty with major floods claiming more than one life so in hindsight we got off pretty lucky.
And the only thing that can make being waist deep in dirty water worse&hellip
;.a piece of soggy poo floating 6 inches from your nose! Seriously will people please clean up their dogs crud. Surely if this flooding has taught us anything, please let it be that dog/cat poo is rubbish. Poo and flood waters don’t mix!….or rather they do, and make a grotty kind of soup, which is just gross!
Best wishes to anyone else who got trapped in it! Read more:Flooding
LORBS - LORD BERNSTEIN 2007-06-24 22:16:31
Lord Bernstein is one of the latest additions to The League Of Really Bad Superheroes, after bribing his way into the group. His vast wealth was never earnt, or at least not by Lord Bernstein himself. He inherited his entire fortune, roughly a billion pounds (wha ha ha) from his late father, and namesake after he was crushed by a light aircraft while driving down the M1. The freakish accident left a young Lord Bernstein (Everet to is friends) to fend for himself……of course with a billion pounds to his name, things weren’t too bad.
The young Lord spent many years trying to figure out what he wanted to get from life. He travelled to the four corners of the world getting in touch with himself (along with his butler, his two maids, his driver, dietition, gynocologist and bodyguard). All he really gained from the experience was a crude understanding of basket weaving and an itchy rash on his ankles….. The little Lord Bernstein was bored. Despite his huge wealth,
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