tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32906621094255594532024-03-16T20:56:56.346-04:00Satisfactory ComicsHere you will find information on comics produced by Isaac Cates and Mike Wenthe, with more general comment on comics & collaboration; recommended reading; and sundry matters pertaining to the craft & criticism of comics. Particular attention will be paid to the two series Satisfactory Comics and Elm City Jams.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16718383312170645138noreply@blogger.comBlogger577125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-61759419573001008442013-05-20T13:12:00.002-04:002013-05-20T13:12:32.871-04:00AlphaBots: P is for PlexAnd now in the course of our <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">AlphaBots</a> we come to Robot Number One in my house.<br />
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I mean, if you ask my little son who his favorite robot is, he's likely to list <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/04/alphabots-j-is-for-jimmy-robot.html">Jimmy</a> and R2-D2 (whom he knows from a blinking toy, not having seen <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/03/alphabots-i-is-for-ig-88.html">Star Wars</a> yet) as well—"favorite" is almost always plural—but his <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2012/01/alphabeasts-o-is-for-oskie-bugs.html">longest-standing</a> robot friendship has to be with Plex.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCY0r9VXeO6OgmLkoAQ0wYG82E2bfjgSp1IJwlck9kssbSZwmpj3-z-gSf_zElAwdFjQzTjpz3LftmiSSPJPe1K9BbX5v8JwxqJRn-I35udmVFgWTp5Uy-xfBZSqpk5klaXfI-TzpeFHz7/s1600/PforPlex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCY0r9VXeO6OgmLkoAQ0wYG82E2bfjgSp1IJwlck9kssbSZwmpj3-z-gSf_zElAwdFjQzTjpz3LftmiSSPJPe1K9BbX5v8JwxqJRn-I35udmVFgWTp5Uy-xfBZSqpk5klaXfI-TzpeFHz7/s320/PforPlex.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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In fact, I'd wager that of all the robots in my alphabet, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo_Gabba_Gabba!#Characters">Plex</a> is the one I have drawn the most frequently. Just this weekend I was challenged to work him into the background of an Aquabats whiteboard mural. I've drawn him in almost ever medium available.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukPqvu6qeBvlBMfu7GhFNMrcRGDElfw8vvfbY_WEwpljQu794WHdKCcu0g0Ttt_xe1DpY_LWNSPXuczfHDoGoqx9Nvsjg7DEP4D3wCFkvxczIaLfnzekPdifXG1cPydJ9ZlmLDTmp3n6_/s1600/crayon-plex.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukPqvu6qeBvlBMfu7GhFNMrcRGDElfw8vvfbY_WEwpljQu794WHdKCcu0g0Ttt_xe1DpY_LWNSPXuczfHDoGoqx9Nvsjg7DEP4D3wCFkvxczIaLfnzekPdifXG1cPydJ9ZlmLDTmp3n6_/s320/crayon-plex.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Crayons are fun.<br />
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The odd dialogue in my panel above comes from another "dark whisper." Nothing major—just musing about a character I'm creating for a comic you'll hear a lot more about in a couple of weeks.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-18894188468657347062013-05-13T15:07:00.000-04:002013-05-13T15:12:43.567-04:00AlphaBots: O is for OmnidroidI'm running a little late on this week's <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">AlphaBots</a> drawing, and I don't have a whole lot to say about it, except ...<br />
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1. Really stylish design looks simple and is difficult to replicate. I wish I could have done a better job with this. I'm still feeling rusty.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLdXxmOr5rBnPwnJmXokEG68B7pFRbImzGbfl1Wru7zjlz-4U2D2AuYItbD0Xrzgp62BxsJqvPwnbL6XOfwRoLncX_dyOUJBwcVh7NkyViwfK3JnPZWSRswjHWZEqzyZejkrFdENTp8ng/s1600/O-for-Omnidroid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLdXxmOr5rBnPwnJmXokEG68B7pFRbImzGbfl1Wru7zjlz-4U2D2AuYItbD0Xrzgp62BxsJqvPwnbL6XOfwRoLncX_dyOUJBwcVh7NkyViwfK3JnPZWSRswjHWZEqzyZejkrFdENTp8ng/s320/O-for-Omnidroid.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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2. I still really enjoy <i>The Incredibles</i>, which I take to be an allegory about middle age and having an uninteresting job that doesn't tap your whole potential. The Omnidroid has almost nothing to do with that reading of the movie, except as its ever-increasing dangerousness becomes a way to push the limits of potential.<br />
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3. If I'd been thinking about this a little longer before I started drawing, I might have tried to ape the style of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Gigantic-Robot-Tom-Gauld/dp/1935443003/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368472249&sr=8-1&keywords=gauld+gigantic+robot">Tom Gauld</a>. But instead this is what you get.<br />
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The word of the day at dictionary.com is <i>melliferous</i>.<br />
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See you again soon!Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-65953808698085706512013-05-06T16:15:00.001-04:002013-05-06T16:16:59.513-04:00AlphaBots: N is for NomadHey, I'm caught up on <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">AlphaBots</a>! That was fast.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9OddQN81lb6EfsJBAz9_hsTuMPmGkTowbqSPgihw5x82V4XhatOu_EbPU84UXIGVoARjswWzl7XIcwW1WCvDonnjVQ1HFa6ffl_LAG_uLZGYPzTKId1-4NIRsorslJhxF9ni3hVsk2YZC/s1600/NforNomad-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9OddQN81lb6EfsJBAz9_hsTuMPmGkTowbqSPgihw5x82V4XhatOu_EbPU84UXIGVoARjswWzl7XIcwW1WCvDonnjVQ1HFa6ffl_LAG_uLZGYPzTKId1-4NIRsorslJhxF9ni3hVsk2YZC/s320/NforNomad-web.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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I hope you recognize this <a href="http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Nomad">little hovering menace</a>. <b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2laGskuJslQ">He. Is. Nomad.</a></b>, one of the less convincing bits of mid-twenty-third-century alien (well, semi-alien) technology on the old classic <i>Star Trek</i> show that I <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2012/01/alphabeasts-m-is-for-mugato.html">love so dearly</a>.<br />
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I'm bending one of my rules to include both Nomad and <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/alphabots-d-is-for-data.html">Data</a> in my alphabet. I want every one of my robots to come from a different source, after all. It's possible that some of the same hands were involved in creating both of them, but in my mind <i>Next Generation</i> is really the creation of a different set of writers and thinkers, with different concerns. Nomad shares a universe with Data in only the most nominal sense.<br />
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If you object, I could probably come up with another <i>N</i>-bot. But <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/bonus-alphabot-c-is-for-curiosity.html">how could I <i>not</i> draw</a> this clunky, inert guy?<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DX3mWeSROZo" width="420"></iframe>
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The text in this panel comes from another "bibliomantic search," this time of what looks to be a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Doubting-Thomas-Glenn-W-Most/dp/067402561X/ref=sr_sp-btf_title_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1367870942&sr=8-4&keywords=doubting+thomas">fascinating scholarly study</a> of the apostle Thomas. (Did you realize that the Biblical account actually never says that Thomas touched Jesus's wounds? In fact, it reads as if Thomas is too ashamed at being rebuked by Jesus to go through with his skeptical test.)Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-3060838653433621832013-05-06T10:03:00.000-04:002013-05-06T10:04:01.629-04:00AlphaBots Catchup: L for Lead; M for MarvinI'm going to catch up on <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">AlphaBots</a> this week, but I haven't drawn this week's robot yet. Instead, let me give you a member of an inexplicably under-published shape-shifting alchmico-scientific super-robot team, plus an android from a story near to every nerd's heart.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwLajiPqNeuP3VoAC78gNcmyLDw-9X5qzxYoNj3FuYlTcywhjNPYtBreWCwD-faw48GwlWtHas8VOiW5ZYRfriM2Mla4TECB-8pLek632MZbhxsSRBHw8xFwvv-EC5sBD275ThtE9yKCt/s1600/LforLead-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwLajiPqNeuP3VoAC78gNcmyLDw-9X5qzxYoNj3FuYlTcywhjNPYtBreWCwD-faw48GwlWtHas8VOiW5ZYRfriM2Mla4TECB-8pLek632MZbhxsSRBHw8xFwvv-EC5sBD275ThtE9yKCt/s320/LforLead-web.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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So, first, <b>L </b>is for <b>Lead</b>, the least shiny of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Men">Metal Men</a>. Having thought about this drawing for two weeks didn't make it any better — there's more fun and more energy in some of my preliminary sketches — but it did get me thinking about the special properties of Lead. I wonder: has Lead even concealed something from Superman's x-ray vision? Has he ever formed his finger into a pencil to write a message? Has he ever formed his hands into revolvers and shouted, "<a href="http://www.juliasantengallery.com/php/getfull.php?refnum=2228">Eat lead</a>, <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2465/3994587346_1a5fa97f12_o.jpg">copper</a>?" Since he's not the brightest knife in the crayon pack, does Lead have the sort of <a href="http://www.google.com/#hl=en&gs_rn=12&gs_ri=psy-ab&cp=6&gs_id=m&xhr=t&q=lead+zeppelin&es_nrs=true&pf=p&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&oq=lead+z&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.45960087,d.dmg&fp=21604e482defd884&biw=1224&bih=662">homophone trouble</a> that haunts modern college students?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMgkmLicD-ARB5YvAIFILLl4iP18wmScB1KVxWltkXnso9prsAYtzY6jlad3gcv60xiE_0yTikqBap0RQyGHZTVH8IIoE66Rm9aDvo95w2soumydpNkl3ObhO29IzE_JwYY70lV55rU6D/s1600/MforMarvin-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMgkmLicD-ARB5YvAIFILLl4iP18wmScB1KVxWltkXnso9prsAYtzY6jlad3gcv60xiE_0yTikqBap0RQyGHZTVH8IIoE66Rm9aDvo95w2soumydpNkl3ObhO29IzE_JwYY70lV55rU6D/s320/MforMarvin-web.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
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I'm even less happy with this drawing of Marvin, the Paranoid Android. I knew that I didn't want to replicate the movie or TV versions of Marvin, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=marvin+paranoid+android&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=rbWHUZzyMuTE4APc7IGICw&sqi=2&ved=0CDgQsAQ&biw=1224&bih=662">neither of which</a> actually looks very andr-oid. I first encountered <i><a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2011/10/alphabeasts-b-is-for-babel-fish.html">Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</a></i> as a novel (and then shortly thereafter as a script for a radio show, a radio show itself, and a text-adventure video game), so I had some time to imagine what he looked like before anyone showed him to me. I always sort of mixed Marvin up with <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1224&bih=662&q=neil+young+ones&oq=neil+young+ones&gs_l=img.3...749.2520.0.2535.15.7.0.5.5.0.173.396.3j1.4.0...0.0...1ac.1.12.img.AhcK0CY36DY">Neil</a> from <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Ones_(TV_series)">The Young Ones</a></i>, a show I never really watched (we had no cable and thus no MTV) but heard quoted and described to me an awful lot over the phone.<br />
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Alas, my skills of robo-caricature aren't up to the challenge. Clearly I'm rusty; the only solution is to <i>draw more</i>.<br />
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Oh, here are those sketches of Lead that I liked better than my finished panel:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7D-F6z9Ekp7FvcdW_B6KRhBehTDNlIJFQ2MGOKS_lweKKCfmBqCdOSwmEypP28bFYxA2_XKltxDpsvHMqYU3YkimxcRqU5NDRDdEn8WUM0_ZYLPAXDkEH4ROEamrKsi3eWDw9JelozjeZ/s1600/lead-sketches.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7D-F6z9Ekp7FvcdW_B6KRhBehTDNlIJFQ2MGOKS_lweKKCfmBqCdOSwmEypP28bFYxA2_XKltxDpsvHMqYU3YkimxcRqU5NDRDdEn8WUM0_ZYLPAXDkEH4ROEamrKsi3eWDw9JelozjeZ/s320/lead-sketches.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Dialogue in these panels is "dark whisper" and "bibliomantic search" (an alumni magazine that happened to be on the table).<br />
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More soon.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-26618769992874916792013-04-15T10:18:00.000-04:002013-04-15T12:48:36.104-04:00AlphaBots: K is for K-9This week's <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">AlphaBots</a> drawing is sure to tug at the nostalgic sentiments of <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2009/06/ten-doctors-by-rich-morris.html">some</a>. And he is a faithful, charming, and useful robot by anyone's estimate.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXMTZ9WedJUqYOkb74pu6GcP6F5c7ZkOSQ8JBb3RIMSoGPtdKXMawWHFh9ZjSpjcPOYDqp8ForEFWH7NvzgJ-Awsy2LdFjGrdie41b79I6jgURbKTwkzNeqwKdqbKzYr_5IJAxLemk429w/s1600/K-isfor-K9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXMTZ9WedJUqYOkb74pu6GcP6F5c7ZkOSQ8JBb3RIMSoGPtdKXMawWHFh9ZjSpjcPOYDqp8ForEFWH7NvzgJ-Awsy2LdFjGrdie41b79I6jgURbKTwkzNeqwKdqbKzYr_5IJAxLemk429w/s320/K-isfor-K9.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
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As I have <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2012/04/alphabeasts-z-is-for-zarbi.html">mentioned before</a>, I was never a huge devotee of <i>Doctor Who</i> myself, though I did watch it when I could for a little while when I was in junior high. I even read one <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Power-Kroll-Terrance-Dicks/dp/0426201019/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366034765&sr=1-1&keywords=doctor+who+kroll">paperback novelization</a> of a story arc on a trip to my grandmother's house.<br />
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The local PBS station was broadcasting episodes with the <a href="http://www.tom-baker.co.uk/assets_cm/files/Image/stamp.jpg">Tom Baker</a> incarnation of the Doctor, and I had a hand-me-down TV in my bedroom that barely picked the station up. I consequently think of <i>Doctor Who</i> as a secret, almost <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_broadcast_signal_intrusion">underground</a> show, half-masked in the snow of bad reception. I know that's not the way most people received it.<br />
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On reflection, though, I realize that those weird, low-budget shows were one of the first cultural products that I found entirely on my own. I don't know whether I even talked to people about it. If someone told me I'd <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lizard-Music-Daniel-Pinkwater/dp/1590173872/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366034908&sr=8-1&keywords=pinkwater+lizard+music">dreamed or hallucinated the whole business</a>, I'd almost believe it.<br />
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So, anyway, I remember K-9 with a sort of cobwebbed fondness, but he's not a major part of my contemporary situation like <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/alphabots-c-is-for-cooker.html">some</a> <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/04/alphabots-j-is-for-jimmy-robot.html">robots</a>.<br />
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(P.S. I actually considered, briefly, doing <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/post/48039944661/k-i-t-t-from-the-knight-rider-tv-series">this other robot</a>, and I'm glad someone else did it better than I could have.)Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-84272433571345605912013-04-08T03:24:00.001-04:002013-04-08T03:43:04.184-04:00Alphabots: J is for Jimmy the RobotI'm not wild about my drawing for this week's <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">Alphabots</a>, but I know I don't really have time to try again. And it's a shame, because I really had wanted to do a nice tribute this time around.<br />
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There's been a lot of watching <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aquabats!_Super_Show!">The Aquabats! Supershow</a></i> in our house lately, because my little son really loves it. And to tell the truth, I like it a lot, too. We sing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM7OjHhxvm0">the theme song</a> to each other at least once a day. (Watch that theme song, and tell me you're not glad that you can watch the <a href="http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/70262392?strkid=1471786563_1_0&trkid=222336&movieid=70262392"><i>Supershow</i> on Netflix streaming</a>.)<br />
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I think I've seen every episode a dozen or more times—enough that I can tell you when to look for the secret guy in a fox suit in most of the episodes. So this week's Alphabots choice was sort of a no-brainer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvqwYLILDMFh61YeDrSpfBu-IACSkm_nZzfX1M0qcYagU_G-ClWBlJDgVNxWqdI6R99Lw-wYONrREhO3NQCSj_vd0xHu2YoaZGRSz32hLTgTAx-NYMiZk85mmh_JkvDpbSQlJLnCqVaos/s1600/J-isfor-Jimmy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvqwYLILDMFh61YeDrSpfBu-IACSkm_nZzfX1M0qcYagU_G-ClWBlJDgVNxWqdI6R99Lw-wYONrREhO3NQCSj_vd0xHu2YoaZGRSz32hLTgTAx-NYMiZk85mmh_JkvDpbSQlJLnCqVaos/s320/J-isfor-Jimmy.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://theaquabats.com/bio/jimmy/">Jimmy the Robot</a>, the Aquabats' keyboardist with the laser fingers and computer brain, is definitely in my son's top two favorite robots these days. (You'll see the other of his favorites in six weeks or so.)<br />
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The text in this panel comes from Paul Muldoon's poem "The Mudroom," which I'm teaching on Tuesday. (<a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/draw-two-panels-how-to-play.html">I rolled "phrase from your reading."</a>) It's a lot weirder than this sentence makes it seem, I tell you what.<br />
<br />Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-86470120613598211082013-03-31T17:25:00.002-04:002013-03-31T17:27:26.022-04:00AlphaBots: I is for IG-88I think this week's <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">AlphaBots</a> selection will turn out to be pretty popular. There aren't a lot of robots that start with <i>I</i>, and this one is pretty fun to draw.<br />
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As far as I knew before I started work on this, IG-88 was just one of a lineup of bounty hunters, like Zuckuss or Bossk, who looked cool but never got a line in <i>Empire Strikes Back</i>: set dressing in the movies; awesome extras in my action-figure collection.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTLE2oBV8HixdmIoZsWUsX0KDyzTgKvEeWYiHfkSqPgJjt8F4C8q2OEAK8mzHISXXVHdeCUgPTem-M6fArreBwOhnAU8bDw62abp53j8TzE6BjnSayALuPQ-4i4Ip-lPIcQR6duTH0SX3/s1600/I-for-IG88.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTLE2oBV8HixdmIoZsWUsX0KDyzTgKvEeWYiHfkSqPgJjt8F4C8q2OEAK8mzHISXXVHdeCUgPTem-M6fArreBwOhnAU8bDw62abp53j8TzE6BjnSayALuPQ-4i4Ip-lPIcQR6duTH0SX3/s320/I-for-IG88.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
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Actually, I never had the Zuckuss figure, and the IG-88 figure was especially lame — I've drawn him with much more bendable arms than the ones I remember. But what a strange sight he was, with that pope-chapeau head and those pipey limbs.<br />
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I should have known that, like so many elements in the extended <i>Star Wars</i> universe, IG-88 has a <a href="http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/IG-88_assassin_droid">complicated backstory</a> available only to the cognoscenti. He also, apparently, has a night life:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eRSRzS98shI" width="420"></iframe>
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Give that video a couple of minutes. It starts slowly, but around 2:00 it starts to get pretty fun.<br />
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As for the dialogue this week, well, I rolled "dark whisper," and that's all I need to say.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-65397524772164857882013-03-25T12:37:00.002-04:002013-03-25T12:37:35.196-04:00AlphaBots: H is for HAL 9000I went back and forth a little bit about which robot to draw for this week's <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">AlphaBots</a>. In fact, I may still cook up another drawing, but probably not today.<div>
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My original idea started to seem daunting to me when I thought about how much geometry would be involved in any decent drawing of HAL 9000 (from <i>2001: a Space Odyssey</i>): either a bunch of perspective for the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8N72t7aScY">memory-core room</a> or a bunch of concentric circles in HAL's iconic camera eye. </div>
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And then I found my drawing compass, tucked away in a box under a few months' worth of books.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYk-k4Xv5cOoVXl6w9MwBefEPiDf2SPxziI-uPxtq1btoJmdWGPQjgrZ-YhTe62x33kXg5U-p4PXqfXGR7nOmeCnYyo41JKRls4Nqlo_QqwdwZmNZE39lirM1jsfmyI7N6IK3pOgvgj_N/s1600/HforHAL9000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYk-k4Xv5cOoVXl6w9MwBefEPiDf2SPxziI-uPxtq1btoJmdWGPQjgrZ-YhTe62x33kXg5U-p4PXqfXGR7nOmeCnYyo41JKRls4Nqlo_QqwdwZmNZE39lirM1jsfmyI7N6IK3pOgvgj_N/s320/HforHAL9000.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
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Have I mentioned that I find cross-hatching sort of therapeutic?</div>
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As for the text in the caption: well, <i>marmoreal</i> was the word of the day for my dictionary app today. I've used it in a poem before, describing the "horned / marmoreal scorn" of Michelangelo's <i>Moses</i> — the poem's in <a href="http://www.asu.edu/piper/publications/haydensferryreview/issue43/poetry/poetry.html">this issue</a> of Hayden's Ferry Review, but it's not the poem you can read for free on their site — but I decided to go in a different direction when pairing <i>marmoreal</i> with some contrasting words. I was sort of thinking about HAL's lack of a humanoid body.</div>
Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-686534694979288012013-03-21T00:34:00.000-04:002013-03-21T00:35:12.182-04:00Alphabots: G is for GodbotIn a moment of inspiration I picked up <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Nao-Brown-Glyn-Dillon/dp/1906838429/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363840395&sr=8-1&keywords=nao+of+brown">The Nao of Brown</a></i>, which impressed me mightily when I read it last year. "There are giant robots in <i>Ichi</i>, right? There are robots somewhere in that book." Indeed, they're in there, though they really only appear on one page.<br />
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Of course they fell in an awkward spot in the <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">Alphabot alphabet</a>, as I've already drawn one robot for G.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFHN3-ewU_Ohk3Gta2A2BztbRvbv_PJm2STqWFUaB2braAOhX2r_gc-lN3MQTW8bUkZOM9f-FA9WetK41uuWs10GeEXeekdyHuPwnA1F_RfL64g6VhQyq70pTWVgusj1L8aM_8dvLIV4eU/s1600/GforGodbot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFHN3-ewU_Ohk3Gta2A2BztbRvbv_PJm2STqWFUaB2braAOhX2r_gc-lN3MQTW8bUkZOM9f-FA9WetK41uuWs10GeEXeekdyHuPwnA1F_RfL64g6VhQyq70pTWVgusj1L8aM_8dvLIV4eU/s320/GforGodbot.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
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But the design of these robots is so interesting—fluid and blocky, impressive and fragile, deliberate and doodly—that I thought I'd take a quick crack at it after everyone else in the house was asleep.<br />
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So, yeah, G is for godbot.<br />
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The dialogue comes from a <a href="https://twitter.com/NickAbadzis/status/314561904758632448">recent tweet by Nick Abadzis</a>, for no reason other than chance.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-34999845110524525052013-03-20T11:38:00.003-04:002013-03-20T11:38:27.741-04:00Transcendental GeologyDid you think I'd given up on "Draw Two Panels"?<br />
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Oh, I'm still doing the project. Or is it a process, not a project, since I don't have a terminus in mind?<br />
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Anyway, I got stymied, because of a bad first attempt at this strip (I mean, a <i>worse</i> attempt; this set of results is still pretty bad) and because a note that Winter left on <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/03/i-gave-myself-too-many-chairs-to-draw.html">one of the other posts</a> made me self-conscious about my plans for this strip.<br />
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Well, after much deliberation and a bit of clunky drawering, here it is.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmZT-uFcUMxTJ2_udhY8SD8xw5JQIHYN9ypgtqNEWq9Cwnz8oWVuTdeLliMMKLHzf-pnp9t6pbDYqP2r5SO3UX4gsz3uw0xGtWspdKhyphenhyphenI-lWnND6SYIBzjExYqXUhJOh-A39FHJOtGEaX2/s1600/DrawTwo25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmZT-uFcUMxTJ2_udhY8SD8xw5JQIHYN9ypgtqNEWq9Cwnz8oWVuTdeLliMMKLHzf-pnp9t6pbDYqP2r5SO3UX4gsz3uw0xGtWspdKhyphenhyphenI-lWnND6SYIBzjExYqXUhJOh-A39FHJOtGEaX2/s320/DrawTwo25.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
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Hopefully I'll be back in the saddle in a few days.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-44481131011502919752013-03-18T10:24:00.001-04:002013-03-18T10:32:29.582-04:00AlphaBots: G is for GortThis week's <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">AlphaBots</a> drawing is not some old sentimental favorite.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUKoSORkiPpwupoL-k0wRSJPEJha4RGF_wBAMczIhxrGo2O96ac7PFs0GQHPGDhJveBleSypEUyU3fd0cdxACdD0tfWylNq9azm51SQIlrBRi0Dun3KFmN_41i1OSdgTDkzNBTcZbsEPg/s1600/GforGort.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUKoSORkiPpwupoL-k0wRSJPEJha4RGF_wBAMczIhxrGo2O96ac7PFs0GQHPGDhJveBleSypEUyU3fd0cdxACdD0tfWylNq9azm51SQIlrBRi0Dun3KFmN_41i1OSdgTDkzNBTcZbsEPg/s320/GforGort.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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In fact, although I am sure I will lose some nerd cred by admitting this, I've never watched <i>The Day the Earth Stood Still</i>. I'd like to one day, but it's not at the top of my queue.<br />
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I've borrowed this drawing of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gort_(The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still)">Gort</a>, the massive robot that accompanies Klaatu on his mission to Earth, from the movie poster, which in turn I've taken from a cool book of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Science-Fiction-Movie-Posters/dp/0486449181/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363615961&sr=8-1&keywords=Classic+Science-Fiction+Movie+Poster+postcards">Classic Science-Fiction Movie Poster postcards</a> that Dover publishes.<br />
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I've said before that I think robots are <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2007/07/are-always-fun-to-draw-sept-2006.html">always fun to draw</a>, but Gort (who was mostly a mask on a fairly featureless foam-rubber suit) <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/Goodnightvienna.jpg">lacks</a> a lot of the <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2009/03/doodle-penance-jack-kirby-machines.html">gears and widgets</a> that make technology (and robots) <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2009/03/lecture-doodle-robot-with-lot-on-his.html">doodleable</a>. Still, I'm sure the past century of science fiction would have looked and felt different without him.<br />
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As for the dialogue? Well, I <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/draw-two-panels-how-to-play.html">rolled "dark whisper" </a>again, and I know the main anxiety I'm having today is still fallout from the <a href="http://spx.tumblr.com/post/45615796755/warrens-letter-to-exhibitors-just-sent-dear#_=_">SPX uncertainty</a> yesterday.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-19910337979753109972013-03-10T18:53:00.003-04:002013-03-10T18:54:54.042-04:00AlphaBots: F is for FlexoLooking over my <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">AlphaBots</a> so far, you might wonder why I didn't draw <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/search/bender">Bender</a>, <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2010/10/festival-of-cartoon-art-final-report.html">one of my favorite robots</a>, back when we were on the letter B. Part of the answer has to do with the fact that I want my twenty-six robots to come from twenty-six discrete sources, and <i>Futurama</i> has a lot of robots to choose from.<br />
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But the fact is that as much as I like Bender, I like his goateed doppelgänger <a href="http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/Flexo">Flexo</a> even more.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIca9QmyhMt1mRc1aF6hw9Pp_6egtXqhsJknu6bjCxmqcA4KAnoFmkQSEmcjGikURocQlsoIiRX-COpiJ9wmK2zqZXZ3q4JY_deOWKLJushxDQ-H6fxFrHSISc7Px-sAKGMxYQU6kQUM0Y/s1600/F-for-Flexo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIca9QmyhMt1mRc1aF6hw9Pp_6egtXqhsJknu6bjCxmqcA4KAnoFmkQSEmcjGikURocQlsoIiRX-COpiJ9wmK2zqZXZ3q4JY_deOWKLJushxDQ-H6fxFrHSISc7Px-sAKGMxYQU6kQUM0Y/s320/F-for-Flexo.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
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The joke about Flexo is that because he's a duplicate of Bender <a href="http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Spock_(mirror)">with a goatee added</a>, everyone expects him to be Bender's evil twin. As it turns out, however, although Flexo is prone to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rThoQLRM1h8">japes</a> and sarcasm, he's basically a nice fellow, and our pal Bender is the evil one.<br />
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As for the random dialogue this week. Well, I rolled "worry/trouble/dark whisper." Frankly, it was a bad day for the dice to take that turn. I have been full of worries lately. I'm sure Flexo would console me if he were here.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-62204277324901316452013-03-08T22:04:00.002-05:002013-03-08T22:04:55.616-05:00I Gave Myself Too Many Chairs to DrawHere's yesterday's "Draw Two Panels" strip.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgddvctWHi4mHKIUDYkfiGD9_pT2vUijtBR_hGDRs9YG-SxB-OFXYoMR46CQfwDJLFCVbiEivEWMpWPd91zYmKSlxwSPWcEIQJ4OmbsStMnak-doTOG0AOwF7cM0DJC9nIDvvJm_tjA2Yx/s1600/DrawTwo-24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgddvctWHi4mHKIUDYkfiGD9_pT2vUijtBR_hGDRs9YG-SxB-OFXYoMR46CQfwDJLFCVbiEivEWMpWPd91zYmKSlxwSPWcEIQJ4OmbsStMnak-doTOG0AOwF7cM0DJC9nIDvvJm_tjA2Yx/s320/DrawTwo-24.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
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I like the two "drawn" panels (the ones that have appeared previously) enough that I am loath to remove either of them from the deck, even though I could certainly discard either of them now. The warning by "Elspeth Parks" was one of the very first random cards I created for the deck, and I feel like it's trying to tell me that this process has its own built-in pitfalls.<br />
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Maybe I'll just keep all four panels from this strip still in the deck.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-36976689706887307992013-03-06T22:17:00.001-05:002013-03-06T22:17:42.596-05:00Fzzzark! Woop! Woop!Today's "Draw Two Panels" strip introduces not <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/alphabots-is-for-astro-boy.html">one</a> but <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/alphabots-c-is-for-cooker.html">two</a> of the robots I have drawn for <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">Alphabots</a>. I suppose that was likely to happen eventually.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdurL4yH6ZQd6vdtvWaOoTWgJwSvy-ExM1K0VBGfUvWGwRKBs2rlj8gCRe70Vv3e-1fpfP-seJhD5i9LLQ9xkEeMYhr4RhRe0o-PVc_jqOt6jqvSHzysLYXECXC6gviBsMXceWkEVhyK4k/s1600/DrawTwo23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdurL4yH6ZQd6vdtvWaOoTWgJwSvy-ExM1K0VBGfUvWGwRKBs2rlj8gCRe70Vv3e-1fpfP-seJhD5i9LLQ9xkEeMYhr4RhRe0o-PVc_jqOt6jqvSHzysLYXECXC6gviBsMXceWkEVhyK4k/s320/DrawTwo23.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
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It was fun to draw the Cooker again, though putting him into a panel automatically raises the question of perspective in a way that I have to admit I find a little awkward. (I'm not drawing these things in a space where I can get out a big ruler, and the original paper is only 4" by 3", so it's hard to be scientific about linear perspective. Hopefully the way I'm fudging it more or less works.)<br />
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Anyway, there are more of these coming up this week.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-90568797693243172122013-03-05T22:20:00.000-05:002013-03-06T10:24:54.457-05:00Stylish Lion Rock StampNo new comics today, because I was drawing for a secret project instead of doing "Draw Two Panels."<br />
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Instead, a couple of cool stamps that arrived from New Zealand:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkWfukhl8mBxyqKhfTeOwDxyK9nvTqgvQeZb8CxafQsS4-krXwTdPfdoJHElxqUJnXCwFSLbXdIalCdSNZlUbJMFMhG3r-ptf_ykkdg-P3LG61puiejM3V9fYmSxMTij2izqSM2TBy2LT/s1600/NZ-stamps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkWfukhl8mBxyqKhfTeOwDxyK9nvTqgvQeZb8CxafQsS4-krXwTdPfdoJHElxqUJnXCwFSLbXdIalCdSNZlUbJMFMhG3r-ptf_ykkdg-P3LG61puiejM3V9fYmSxMTij2izqSM2TBy2LT/s320/NZ-stamps.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lion_Rock,_Piha.jpg">real geological formation</a> does look a bit like <a href="http://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/library-lions">Patience or Fortitude</a>.<br />
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And you know how I love those <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2011/06/animal-alphabet-k-is-for-kaka-kea-and.html">New Zealand birds</a>, <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2011/05/animal-alphabet-e-is-for-echidna.html">kiwilike</a> or no.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-42918518666085461452013-03-04T22:08:00.000-05:002013-03-04T22:08:21.413-05:00I Guess That Counts as a BackgroundHere's another deck-derived semi-subconscious strip.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQU1wu1VI_9z9ixgD5viH5KioL7mZW4PIBTQNOUVGHWl0Tq8w4SmyHGlAaYwxteFI3bcqtI3MtX0CjKVomyV1jOA3jzfSZCNPxj-UvUVAyfMhPS8QrIiXBnfFsZN-ROfS9_RqNncEa6ro/s1600/DrawTwo22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQU1wu1VI_9z9ixgD5viH5KioL7mZW4PIBTQNOUVGHWl0Tq8w4SmyHGlAaYwxteFI3bcqtI3MtX0CjKVomyV1jOA3jzfSZCNPxj-UvUVAyfMhPS8QrIiXBnfFsZN-ROfS9_RqNncEa6ro/s320/DrawTwo22.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>
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There's some decent cartooning in a couple of those panels.<br />
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I was trying a new method of shading in that second panel, but I think I'd better stick to cross-hatching. It might be possible for long practice to improve that method, but I don't think it's worth it—there's a sort of fundamental conflict between the super-smooth surface of the bristol board and the crayon's preference for tooth and texture.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-53552940313443690782013-03-04T10:30:00.000-05:002013-03-04T10:30:45.617-05:00They're Sort of a Fantastic Four, I GuessOkay, another of those random deck-driven strips.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnvYhDP8FH5yshzANULHmac3zHxuZybr9W9P-R7SFYC05x-y6E5PTcjmf-ztpK-DsMeo3YvR8bIez_ATEUwKbaYHxWwsk94-Jd85wDyTqpDNb2AbokVDIU7M4EwEGxBpSFRSW50WfdXDn/s1600/DrawTwo21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnvYhDP8FH5yshzANULHmac3zHxuZybr9W9P-R7SFYC05x-y6E5PTcjmf-ztpK-DsMeo3YvR8bIez_ATEUwKbaYHxWwsk94-Jd85wDyTqpDNb2AbokVDIU7M4EwEGxBpSFRSW50WfdXDn/s320/DrawTwo21.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>
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Maybe it was a bad decision to take foreground elements from both of the deck panels and depict them as characters. Getting four monsters into panel #2 meant crowding it up kind of a lot. (These panels aren't a good shape for crowds.)<br />
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I'll be a little sorry to see the <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/one-way-to-parse-those-three-left-hands.html">four-armed sea-monster dude</a> leave the deck: I really like his face. On the other hand, I am finally getting to discard the <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/and-now-apparently-outer-space.html">line about the goldfinches</a> that I swiped, perhaps unwisely, from a Patrick Kavanagh poem.<br />
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More soon!Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-29900459414388022442013-03-03T23:58:00.001-05:002013-03-05T12:39:53.695-05:00AlphaBots: E is for ED-209This week's <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">AlphaBots</a> drawing isn't a robot I'm especially fond of, though I do like the moment or scene that I've chosen for the illustration. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like <i>RoboCop 2</i> as much as I like any of Frank Miller's other forays into film, but that's some pretty faint praise.<br />
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The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ED-209#ED_209">ED-209</a> is an advanced police robot, <strike>designed (if I recall correctly) to build on RoboCop's success and replace the titular hero with a newer and less maverick model</strike>. (Update: I did not recall correctly. As my <a href="http://samwolk.deviantart.com/art/AlphaBots-Week-V-E-is-for-ED-209-357542720">ED-209-drawing</a> brother-in-Alphabots <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHornGuy/status/308576791872823298">Sam Wolk reminds me</a>, the ED-209 was a precursor to the RoboCop technology, and was visible in the first <i>RoboCop</i> movie, though I totally remember it from the sequel.)<br />
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But ED still has some <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9l9wxGFl4k">programming glitches</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNckavq9fiY">design kinks</a> to be worked out. (If you haven't seen <i>RoboCop 2</i>, please be aware that the clips I just linked to have some over-the-top violence.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThq4DB8q_kheVlNJ6yMgDu_lVTSsiQ83OivWu8_eaXAtTvmiceHfJfDn1iuewBTvmQ3H_ConcY_Qnr8apBApq-duaqzYpVweX-PPmA1snS5i6TSPBUxHzR7T_ZQtde8ibx_HkJlrhV8_2/s1600/EforED-209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThq4DB8q_kheVlNJ6yMgDu_lVTSsiQ83OivWu8_eaXAtTvmiceHfJfDn1iuewBTvmQ3H_ConcY_Qnr8apBApq-duaqzYpVweX-PPmA1snS5i6TSPBUxHzR7T_ZQtde8ibx_HkJlrhV8_2/s320/EforED-209.jpg" width="243" /></a></div>
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Anyway, ED-209 is not so good at <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2008/05/color-update-on-stepan-story.html">descending a staircase</a>. I really like the gingerly way it tries to position its chicken foot on the stairs; full props to its stop-motion animator, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Tippett">Phil Tippett</a>.<br />
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The text caption for this panel came from a randomly chosen page in the nearest book to hand, the dopey pop-psych creativity manual that comes with the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Whacks-Educational-Products-BOW31/dp/B000X1K5SI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1362372870&sr=8-3&keywords=ball+of+whacks">Ball of Whacks</a> toy. Next time, I'll make sure a better book is nearby before I <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/draw-two-panels-how-to-play.html">roll the die</a>.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-41712734100761542342013-03-01T22:00:00.000-05:002013-03-08T22:21:50.072-05:00Bowie, Pee-Wee, and Dick Van Dyke Walk Into a BarThe panels that came out of the deck for this strip are in <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/was-it-shuffling-problem.html">the least common</a> "legal" configuration:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjmEMJt1pvzXGU4vHiIupuWAOxxVYst5EAqVGGWCwhku9k0rooMOnHoUeXBqsjXybGJeOCpz-fMEBTp4kuBR3aNHnw7d2Gj8XnlqNXuNLaKbOYBWDA9wfzDd5TAX24mzuGxe9mG7Y946En/s1600/DrawTwo20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjmEMJt1pvzXGU4vHiIupuWAOxxVYst5EAqVGGWCwhku9k0rooMOnHoUeXBqsjXybGJeOCpz-fMEBTp4kuBR3aNHnw7d2Gj8XnlqNXuNLaKbOYBWDA9wfzDd5TAX24mzuGxe9mG7Y946En/s320/DrawTwo20.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
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If you look at the <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/draw-two-panels-how-to-play.html">rules or guidelines for "Draw Two Panels,"</a> you'll see that it's possible to deal the panels into slots #2 and #3, instead of having them separated by a single panel.<br />
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My idea for the legal arrangements is this: the strip will go into more interesting territory if the newly-drawn panels don't merely happen in between the panels that come from the deck, but they will be more constrained by the deck panels if you get no more than one new panel in a row.<br />
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If no more than one new panel can appear <strike>in a row</strike> consecutively, and the dealt cards must appear in the order they're dealt, there are only three ways to fit them into a four-panel strip.<br />
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Of course, these are only my principles or guidelines. If you're playing "Draw Two Panels" yourself, you can make your own decisions about your constraints.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-39821379018536506432013-02-28T19:47:00.000-05:002013-03-01T07:51:10.442-05:00Your Nimoy/Proust Pun of the DayMy spring break started this afternoon, and I was able to finish inking the strip I had drawn last night.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn63Fvxz4RtE0i7Zkb8TtprRNrOQBTTWtc_UQFKn1SjJlVL2X2R77emRglxap5o-k9t5NkF6-S4DiChY9PvG4eZPI7MB1C9O0EC7AGwZKaYWlP6xjzUxjPsdcuDeaxZQncpRWRKAggxiK8/s1600/DrawTwo19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn63Fvxz4RtE0i7Zkb8TtprRNrOQBTTWtc_UQFKn1SjJlVL2X2R77emRglxap5o-k9t5NkF6-S4DiChY9PvG4eZPI7MB1C9O0EC7AGwZKaYWlP6xjzUxjPsdcuDeaxZQncpRWRKAggxiK8/s320/DrawTwo19.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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The first and third panels of this strip came from the deck. We haven't seen the first one before—it was a random-input panel that I drew a couple of weeks ago.<br />
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It's been a good month for cartooning here on the blog, thanks to this new process, and a good month for posts. But this February was really nothing compared to Mike's <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Lone%20Wolf%20and%20Cub">twenty-eight-day <i>Lone Wolf and Cub</i> read-along series</a>. Those were good times.<br />
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More soon.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-90335889647581123482013-02-25T22:10:00.001-05:002013-02-25T22:12:40.755-05:00Quick Snapscan of the DeckSince I didn't have time to draw a strip today, here's a glimpse of some more panels from my deck, including one that I added today. I deliberately excluded most of the panels that came up <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/draw-two-panels-how-to-play.html">the last time I did this</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEOAOlPMELCHe0sB6sJ-15mWnNUm5jtHmmnpYmQYLIzZB6KZlrJnM18b_A2t3vzcLsL6yjYEKgXEG-cqe-Ln4TI3gpSmiqRse0Gz0h7wfqmX29QviNqIOVlM0-aXshUk3q5AifrjWSgPCP/s1600/deck-snapshot225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEOAOlPMELCHe0sB6sJ-15mWnNUm5jtHmmnpYmQYLIzZB6KZlrJnM18b_A2t3vzcLsL6yjYEKgXEG-cqe-Ln4TI3gpSmiqRse0Gz0h7wfqmX29QviNqIOVlM0-aXshUk3q5AifrjWSgPCP/s320/deck-snapshot225.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
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I just think these look cool, and I'm trying to preserve a few of them before the cards get passed along.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-58905308471816316282013-02-24T15:45:00.000-05:002013-02-24T16:00:41.696-05:00AlphaBots: D is for DataThis week's <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">AlphaBot</a> is a shoo-in. I was seriously into <i>Star Trek: the Next Generation</i> when it was originally on, and I've spent a lot of time <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nitpickers-Guide-Next-Generation-Trekkers/dp/0440505712/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1361738465&sr=8-3&keywords=nitpickers+guide+star+trek">reading</a> <a href="http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/tvshow/star-trek-the-next-generation,102/">about the show</a>, <a href="http://sttngfashion.tumblr.com/">thinking about it</a>, and re-watching it.<br />
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On my most recent trip through the series, I'll admit that my interest was much more with Picard (and, to my surprise, Riker) than with Data and Geordi, and some of the elements of the show have started to feel "dated" to me, not only for the effects and designs, but for relationship patterns that seemed to make more sense to me when I was around twenty, instead of around forty.<br />
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Anyway, even though it's not a kind of dorkiness that I have ever reveled in, I retain a soft spot in my heart for the <i>Enterprise</i>'s resident Soong-type android. Thus, <b>D</b> is for <b>Data</b>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwTRv4Ks1T7BqD1w5itsJw_bfAIut6KIS008n4wvJ62SmF4H-nmXELLp1E1Jdi4Ew6gxtUVEe1ePWrdVFGkKsd97dylZ90Ukk0O2gGXRQ3E8Huqran3umU8mrid9mIFNyGvME0btbCzG70/s1600/DforData.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwTRv4Ks1T7BqD1w5itsJw_bfAIut6KIS008n4wvJ62SmF4H-nmXELLp1E1Jdi4Ew6gxtUVEe1ePWrdVFGkKsd97dylZ90Ukk0O2gGXRQ3E8Huqran3umU8mrid9mIFNyGvME0btbCzG70/s320/DforData.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Considering my <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/alphabots-b-is-for-bishop.html">meager skills of caricature</a>, I think that's a pretty good likeness.<br />
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The <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/draw-two-panels-how-to-play.html">randomly-derived</a> dialogue on this card is a statement comes from my dictionary app's word of the day, <i>xeric</i>, and some coincident conversation about Australian lizards. It's sort of sad that <i>xeric</i> is now mainly going to mean <i>adapted to dry conditions</i>. <a href="http://www.xericfoundation.org/">There were better days</a>.<br />
<br />Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-14244408157748106372013-02-22T21:04:00.002-05:002013-02-22T21:04:43.971-05:00So That's What That Symbol RepresentsToday's deck-derived strip seems to be going in kind of a dark direction.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhADJ-9Jz9bMmmivOb2_XLlGF4fs8Wot75n4ubex5CVeleUe0WYUOdILGY5PE_rcsx_x1Fqfteo0Lc27pNNrZv-bhHO6XD_yw9q4PNqFa9OYItIuQBMmff-Q5PnjeeGeZGVsKOj4l44p0Ms/s1600/DrawTwo18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhADJ-9Jz9bMmmivOb2_XLlGF4fs8Wot75n4ubex5CVeleUe0WYUOdILGY5PE_rcsx_x1Fqfteo0Lc27pNNrZv-bhHO6XD_yw9q4PNqFa9OYItIuQBMmff-Q5PnjeeGeZGVsKOj4l44p0Ms/s320/DrawTwo18.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
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The new character, introduced in panels #1 and #3 (which are the new ones this time) has his hair and beard modeled on the <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/Ezra_Pound_by_EO_Hoppe_1920.jpg">young Ezra Pound</a>, though I have to admit I was working from memory and would up giving him too substantial a goatee.<br />
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I'm pleased to have been able to give one name to the symbol that has been appearing on and off in the strips for weeks. (If you look at the second panel of <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/01/another-aleatory-comic.html">this strip</a>, down below the path in the background, you'll see its introduction into the deck.) Of course, the way this process works, it may never be called that again.<br />
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See you again soon.<br />
<br />Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-60818998242978004722013-02-21T22:32:00.000-05:002013-02-22T22:08:22.724-05:00I Did Evade "Devo Dave's Ovid Video Void."Here's another of the random strips that have been emerging from <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/draw-two-panels-how-to-play.html">my "Draw Two Panels" deck-based process</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69R1K8f8ObG4rCOcZ5K0B83NhlyORzH-6zQWlCnp4XR_EoTqsahNnDJFsRpyoKTknaeZyDbrL6I6C_jjZhRiLP7Ighdw9V7u8l3SK9YRZMLP23HnScae18168PBe8iXu7UkeLkrKsEbAv/s1600/DrawTwo17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69R1K8f8ObG4rCOcZ5K0B83NhlyORzH-6zQWlCnp4XR_EoTqsahNnDJFsRpyoKTknaeZyDbrL6I6C_jjZhRiLP7Ighdw9V7u8l3SK9YRZMLP23HnScae18168PBe8iXu7UkeLkrKsEbAv/s320/DrawTwo17.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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The first and third panels are new for this strip, and the first one is mainly <a href="http://www.studio-nibble.com/desktoppers/014-brian-eno.html">aiming to amuse</a> <a href="http://hutchowen.wordpress.com/2007/06/11/five-obstructions-obstruction-the-third/">Tom Hart</a>.<br />
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Is that weird enough?<br />
<br />Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290662109425559453.post-14773921064452422292013-02-20T11:47:00.000-05:002013-02-25T17:32:31.978-05:00"Draw Two Panels": How to PlayI have finally drawn up the rules or instructions for "Draw Two Panels," the deck-driven / aleatory comics-making <a href="http://satisfactorycomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Stochastifactory%20Comics">process I have been working on</a> for a few weeks. Here you go:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nIybzDDJu900AsBqgdOrEDg_yVAC6cL6mb-n-sKtPlwX1ErqbcHMXzHJK9HBreUUwxA2eC2Rtx2-nUvNfPyxKYjxo8jVDMO14n4Jcg4qW3J7b6RrylKVnZjHpe0vEQdD7yogkkEjGz7n/s1600/DrawTwo-Instr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nIybzDDJu900AsBqgdOrEDg_yVAC6cL6mb-n-sKtPlwX1ErqbcHMXzHJK9HBreUUwxA2eC2Rtx2-nUvNfPyxKYjxo8jVDMO14n4Jcg4qW3J7b6RrylKVnZjHpe0vEQdD7yogkkEjGz7n/s320/DrawTwo-Instr.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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You should be able to right-click or ctrl-click (or option-click) and download that image and print it out, if you like. If you have any questions, please post comments below; if you want to get a few of my "discards," get in touch with me.<br />
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(I have already modified my own rules, at least for the next twenty-three weeks, as I'm adding <a href="http://alphabots.tumblr.com/">Alphabots</a> drawings to my deck at the rate of one per week.)<br />
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Just to add a little graphic interest to this post, I'll include a sample of my current deck, created by dealing panels randomly onto the glass of my scanner.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjea60y7gp6qNerOtYedLQVWa7W9ByfBIlIbzPAcnmm6JI3PKTxiYupRnOX6QRxOEIuXb9iqsCV_0NPQBGvdgso4Q1XQ_LX6lro49v6xGc8QQgOlaP4BFlc-BUbJsNoAmXCaXBk5476LxWB/s1600/deck-snapshot1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjea60y7gp6qNerOtYedLQVWa7W9ByfBIlIbzPAcnmm6JI3PKTxiYupRnOX6QRxOEIuXb9iqsCV_0NPQBGvdgso4Q1XQ_LX6lro49v6xGc8QQgOlaP4BFlc-BUbJsNoAmXCaXBk5476LxWB/s320/deck-snapshot1.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>
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I'm having a lot of fun with this project or process, and I'm really looking forward to the day when someone else's panels show up in my mailbox to further unsettle my random deck.<br />
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If Blogger's not giving you a large version of the image that contains the directions and constraints, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nIybzDDJu900AsBqgdOrEDg_yVAC6cL6mb-n-sKtPlwX1ErqbcHMXzHJK9HBreUUwxA2eC2Rtx2-nUvNfPyxKYjxo8jVDMO14n4Jcg4qW3J7b6RrylKVnZjHpe0vEQdD7yogkkEjGz7n/s1600/DrawTwo-Instr.jpg">try this link</a>.Isaachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06529618611083147320noreply@blogger.com1