Come Out to the Coast, We'll Get Together, Have a Few Laughs!

The Year was 1990. Having had enough of winter in Missouri, my dad and step-mom decided to move down to the Florida Keys. The newlyweds had previously spent their honeymoon there, and fell in love with the tropical paradise and it’s laid back, small town atmosphere. When they had settled into their new Key Largo home, I was thrilled to learn that I would have a chance to visit them in the summer after school. I was in the 8th grade at that time.

When summer rolled around, I hopped on a TWA 747 and made the trip to Florida for the first time in my life. When I got there, and had first set foot in Miami International Airport, the hour was late, so all the shops in the terminal were closed. After checking in with my birth mom on a payphone, I strolled through the empty terminal, surrounded by strangers speaking a foreign language I know now to be Spanish. I had never heard anybody speak Spanish before. It was fascinating, but the darkened businesses offset by the gaudy orange carpeted terminal floor and the absence of hallway lighting was like a scene from Dawn of the Dead, but with Iron Maiden’s Stranger in a Strange Land playing on repeat in my brain.

However, once I reached the terminal’s end, I was reunited with my dad and my step-mom Judy, dad sporting shorts and a flowered t-shirt, his hair and beard a bit longer, and Judy complimenting her soulmate in a flowered dress and birkenstocks, her hair flowing down to her waist (she was growing it longer). As my dad and I faced each other, the iconic scene from the beginning of Blues Brothers popped in my head (She Caught the Katy), and I put my arms around my dad, hugging him. He chuckled, hugged me back, and said “Hey, Blood,” quoting a line from Ice Pirates, another childhood favorite we’ve often bonded over. “Welcome to Florida,” dad said, and we both laughed. Judy hugged and kissed me, the faint smell of cigarettes on her lips, as she said “I’m so glad you could make it, Steve.” So was I. Back then, I was always more comfortable around my dad and stepmother. My biological mom and I were and still are a lot alike, and we clashed often, as I was growing up, but I always had a blast with my pop! Ironically, I currently get along really well with my mom and I clash sometimes with my dad, but I love them both dearly. I loved my step-mom Judy too.

Back in the early ‘90s, Southern Florida was then, in some ways, as it is now. The sights and smells bombarded your senses, the oceans reeked of...algae, (or whatever that wonderful very Florida-esque smell is) and the sultry late-July air on that night was hotter than any summer night that had ever been in my hometown of Florissant Missouri. I had never seen the ocean, though it was like a pot of black ink on this hot, moonless night. The only palm trees I had formerly known of were in television shows like Miami Vice, and movies like Beverly Hills Cop. Leaving the airport, the traffic was horrendous, and my dad was powerless not to fume at maniacal motorists on the turnpike. I don’t even remember where we ate on that night, but I’m sure it was somewhere like Denny’s or IHOP. I don’t even remember what I would have had.

And I have no memory of crossing the overseas highway and entering the keys. I think I had conked out in the backseat of that old sky blue station wagon with the bumper sticker that read TURN IT OVER, and woke up at least reasonably enough to drag my electric blue duffel bag and black backpack into the one-story white and yellow house, before bedding down for the night. Judy’s cats Duffy and Dickens were happy to see me.

Well, Duffy was happy to see me at least, as the portly dairy cow with huge yellow eyes did a funny little dance at my feet, before I turned in for the night. Dickens was significantly more aloof. She had been abused by the child of a housekeeper, years ago, but I always liked petting the Tortoiseshell because her coat was always shiny and ever so soft, and she often tolerated my affections, though not without twitching her tail. “Prince Imhotep does not like to be touched.” To this day, Dickens (who lived up to her name) was also the prettiest tortoiseshell I have ever seen.

I woke up at some random hour, the next morning, and we were off to one of the many local Key Largo eateries, for breakfast. Back then, Key Largo wasn’t much to see, and if you weren’t a water sports fan or a sun worshipper, there wasn’t a whole lot to do. I had had a phobia of drowning from falling head first into my grandparents’ pool as a child, and though my Freshmen year fitness teachers would make me swim, I was never much interested, and kept asking myself “why does my dad live here?” When I later described the Keys to my mom, I kept using the word rustic.

I guess I just didn’t get it, back then. To my 16 year old eyes, the Keys of 1990 was a just a smattering of old, shabby, rundown little businesses, boat dealerships, a few fast food restaurants, a couple of chain stores, lots of local dives and greasy spoons, sun, pebbles, water, reptiles, no-see-ums, people with suntans, vacationers like me, and not much more. Fortunately I changed my mind, over the course of several vacations.

Because the Florida Keys are incredible! It’s an amazing place to visit, and an amazing place to live. I mean, the Keys are this chain of tiny islands linked by a single highway (more or less), flanked by the Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, with insanely copious cumulus clouds, an overabundance of sunshine, and more rocks, shells, trees, iguanas, birds, bugs, and quaint little one-of-a-kind local businesses than you sing a Conch shell melody to, and all conveniently located on the same (approximate) 125 mile stretch of pavement! The overall blending of friendly folks, sunshine, cool breezes, great food, and plentiful shopping spots and activity spots is a totally rad experience that I firmly believe everybody needs to have. Period. And if you get the chance to visit, DO IT! There, I said it. You’re welcome.

The problem right now is that the Florida Keys is becoming less and less of a tropical paradise, and gradually more and more of an over-crowded, over exploited, over-priced, over-everything resort. Big land developers have discovered the prime real estate value of the gorgeous, mostly undeveloped tropical landscape and, with dollar signs in their eyes, plan to ‘pave paradise and put up a parking lot.’

Why is that bad, you might ask? Let’s see. You have natural hammocks, indigenous plant and tree life, gorgeous views of the ocean from countless points throughout the region, convenient fishing spots (well they used to be), and many other only in the Florida Keys things, all of which is probably going to go bye bye, and what’s going to replace it might look a lot like the city, when the dust settles. No offense to city dwellers, but the Keys are paradise.

Try to picture a quaint little beach community where everyone knows everyone, they all shop at the same grocery store, use the same marinas, their kids grow up in the same neighborhoods and the same schools, everybody you meet knows what Keys Disease is, or they at least have a good idea, and you and pretty much everybody you know remembers exactly where you were when Hurricane Andrew, Georges, Irma, or whichever came rolling into town, and like the t-shirt reads: ‘Key Largo: A Quaint Little Drinking Village With a Fishing Problem,” it’s always Happy Hour somewhere.

Imagine your teenager getting to meet the Key West Cookie lady, and when they hand her a $5 bill, she recites a funny little limerick as she hands them a ton of sandwich cookies that you and your family leisurely munch on as you stroll down Duvall street, on your way to have lunch at Margaritaville. Imagine a diverse community of individuals who all chime in when Jimmy Buffett or Bob Marley comes on, everybody singing from their heart, and everybody knows every word by heart. Imagine getting pictures of Robert the Doll at the East Martello Museum, but the pictures you took of him didn’t turn out, for some reason. You go to purchase a Robert the Doll plush toy, but someone you’ve never met before strongly cautions you against buying the toy, so you put it back. 

Imagine touring Ernest Hemingway's house, and visiting all the 3-toed cats who live there. Imagine attending Hemingway Days, as you walk about the town surrounded by copious Ernestos, imagine touring the CGC Ingham, imagine seeing the Jon Seward replicas of Impressionist paintings, giant sculptures towering over your head, bewildering your imagination. Imagine countless sunsets, dinners at all sorts of restaurants, waitresses and business owners whose faces light up when you walk in the front door, and even though you’ve been away for a long time, it’s like you never left. I’m running out of imagines. 

Eating Key lime pie at the Key West Pie Factory, seeing the random roadside Key Deer, as you pass through Big Pine Key, wasting away in Margaritaville, eating at the Wooden Spoon, ordering Conch Chowder, eating Conch fritters, and deciding which business makes the best (my money's on Sharkey's Pub & Galley, in Key Largo), taking the glass-bottom boat tour, visiting mile marker 88, dining at Mangrove Mike's, shopping at World Wide Sportsman, having breakfast at Midway Cafe, hearing the cruise ship's all aboard bell from inside the Key West Art and Historical Society museum, way too many to list, here! Wish I had more items for Islamorada, Big Pine, and Marathon, not to name countless others. Mel Fisher's Museum, need I say more??!?

Why aren’t you packing? Need more convincing? Okay. Here you go: 

SLiM

Learn the Form, But Seek the Formless

So there I was, swearing by those learned tried-and-true techniques of yester...decade? The methods I was taught to rely upon in college. I sat there on a recent post, and went on and on about a good camera, photo scrap, a light box and an Artograph projector, and how this was the only way to go for a successful rendering.

Then this happened. While it is not my very very best, these results, though deliberately humorous, prove that maybe that great proverb from the movie The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) is a better philosophy, sometimes. How have you not seen this movie? Oh, that’s right. You don’t like Michael Angarano and you always listen to what everybody tells you, right? Oh, so you can think for yourself! Good. Be peoples, not sheeples, folks!

Anyway, here’s the movie quote: “Learn the form, but seek the formless. Hear the soundless. Learn it all, then forget it all. Learn The Way, then find your own way.” And there’s another quote by an artist that basically centers around this same philosophy, though I forget which artist said it, so there’s little or no point in tracking that quote down because you get the idea! Moving on.

Yup! Sometimes you gotta just throw out the rules and go! Just burn away at that project like a Roman Candle on steroids! Best is done, they say! Here’s to done. I've finally arrived at that place where I actually like what I'm doing.

The top two piggies were an oops. I revised the drawing with tracing paper and Sharpie markers. The rest is just Photoshoppe. Enjoy!

SLiM

Expediting the Results

Let’s say you want to make a drawing of a place that you’ve never been. Sure, you could play it easy and browse similar looking images on the web, download them, print them off, slip-sheet them and get cracking. Or...you could go the traditional route and actually seek out and photograph similar looking places, print off the pics and run them through an Artograph.

The problem with sticking to the internet is that it’s common. Everybody has seen and downloaded those same images. It’s called playing it safe, and playing it safe sucks, and if you’re a college student, you really should know better.

Illustration is an expensive hobby. Having a few French curves, a T-square, a drafting table, some pencils and some tracing paper is a good place to start, but before you know it, you realize that what you really need...is a camera. A real camera. One capable of taking iconic photos. In other words photos that are not of someone standing in front of a mirror.

And there’s a lot of leg work involved in this game called commercial art. It’s not just a matter of making a drawing and turning it into a painting. If your Leonardo DaVinci, you can do that, but the rest of us have a much finer line to walk. And sometimes you don’t have the time to do it the traditional way. Sometimes you need to produce results and produce them fast!

Mouse Guard illustrator and author David Petersen is a classic example here. Petersen makes a small mock-up of what he wants to draw, photographs it, prints it off and turns it into an environment fit for the project. Using foamcore board, Styrofoam, cardboard, found items and polystyrene model parts, Petersen can create the backdrop for any scene he needs. All he needs to start is a quick sketch or two.

Here I have designed a floor plan of sorts for something I want to build myself. I have no idea how to do things to scale in Adobe Photoshop, so I just sort of used my imagination. This is mostly Custom Shape Tool and Rectangular Marquee. The textures are courtesy of Gettyimages. 

I think I did okay here. I mean, the tiled floor is sort of busy, and the textures for all the tables and chairs, etc. could be a little lighter. There’s always room for improvement, I suppose, but at least I can say I have a blueprint for something i want to build. Yes it’s a tavern. Thanks.

SLiM

All Images are Copyright © Stephen L. Morris 2020 All Rights Reserved.

The Word Glorified Gets Thrown Around a Lot

From illustrator to glorified turd polisher. Or so it seems. When I struggle with drawing, it’s usually because I’m doing it the wrong way. In other words I’m relying on memory, what I remember about drawing and design in those 8 years of college (part time), instead of working from photo scrap, as one of my illustration teachers calls it. But any progress, theoretically, is still progress.

Yet I see the results I make, and I catch myself thinking “oh no problem! I can clean this up in Adobe Photoshop in a jiff!” The problem with that is the drawing never gets improved upon. But maybe I should begin from the beginning.

You see, back in 2004, I’d had an idea for an ink drawing that I wanted to do for my dad’s birthday. My dad and I share a love and passion for heroic and mythic fantasy, specifically, author Robert E. Howard’s Conan. It’s a common interest that began, ironically with the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger film.

Anyway, back in 2004, I had barely two years worth of college so in class I did the best I could with drawing “the right way.” I had originally learned from memory, and relied on it to create this humorous, if not somewhat dark caricaturing of my father and myself re-imagined as R.E. Howard-esque barbarians.

I figure the reason I didn’t do the drawing the way I had learned it in college was due to the fact that the project required cartooning, something I was interested in, but was learning illustration and graphic design instead. This is a decision that has continued to haunt me throughout my career (LOL!) as an artist. I often think I should have at least learned the basics, but everything happens for a reason.

Getting to the other image, this triadic is from a sloppy rushed ink drawing I did in 2013. I cleaned it up in, you guessed it, Adobe Photoshop (aren’t you surprised?) and added some colors, but in the immortal words of special effects artist and Face Off contestant Roy Wooley, “it’s hard to polish a turd.”

Although I kind of like it. So there you have it, folk(s). Cartoon barbarians. I hope Sergio Aragonés doesn’t sue me for copyright infringement! I kid. I kid. Although anything is possible. Kidding.
Happy Arting. 

SLiM

All Images © Stephen L Morris 2020

Cute and Creepy! ^ . ^

Let’s face it. I pretty much suck at social media. But that’s no excuse to go so long (last post was in May) without blogging. So here goes. . .

2019 was a brutal year for me and my family. There were a handful of deaths in the family, and someone very close to me had a stroke! Yeah. Needless to say, I’ve got my fingers crossed that 2020’s going to turn out infinitesimally better. 

But not all of 2019 was negative. From the creativity point of view, I continued laboring over my tabletop roleplaying game, which I hope to finish in 2020 (vanilla expansion, etc. Whatever they call it. I’m old. LOL). However, I also sat on my arse a lot, so. . .

Anyway, I’m proud….no. I’m grateful. Grateful to be finished with a design I’d hoped to finish last year. I like ‘im. Love 'im, actually. 

He's that all-too-popular mixture of cute/creepy, and though I detest pretty much all things popular (except for Guardians of the Galaxy, Shazam, New Voltron and some other stuffs), I really dig the way this turned out, I must say. 

It's an owl. Forgot to mention that. Well, maybe it's not an owl, per se, but an apparition that assumes the form of an owl. Or it's an apparition of an owl. Your choice, peeps.  Also included a progress...progressy...thing. 

On the progression...thing...there is a difference between every single rendering. Trust me. (Shyeah, right!) 6 has only one line, in addition to 5. I made symmetrical the nose. Sorry for the watermarks (not sorry, actually), but what’s mine is not yours...at least not until I put it on a product and sell it. 😉 Tootles. And enjoy cut/creepy. By for now. Next post is in 2021!! Kidding. Kidding.

SLiM

All images (below) © Stephen L Morris 2020

Blood, Sweat and Jeers!!

Let's face it! Sometimes in Illustration, you just have to take matters into your own hands. Costumes, props, a tripod, a digital camera, what can I say? It's an expensive hobby, but as one of my illustration teachers quoth: 

"You're only as good as your photo scrap." 

Right now I don't feel very good, 🤣 but I know I've made imagery I posed for with a timed camera work before. 

These sixteen black and white thumbnails, modest and in most cases hilarious they may be, are a tiny portion of the result of about and hour and a half's worth of effort. 

These I'm confident I can work with, because it's not about competing with the photo itself, but what you can make it look like, or some sh*t like that. It was the first thing that popped in my head. 

I think I like the one with the blue frame the best!! Thanks for reading. And viewing. And guffawing. 

😂

SLiM

Progress is Progress

At this point I can honestly say I feel I've got a good chance of getting at least a remarkable chunk of this done, if not the whole thing. The goal here is to complete everything that one would require to learn, play and run the game: character sheets, maps, classes, races, weapons, armor, player rules, GM rules, adventures, dungeons, maps, dice, the works! So kind of like a basic starter set.

Strangely, however, the hard part has been all the artwork that is needed. I mean, you'd think that would be the easy part for me but lately I've really been dreading all the character designs, creature designs and so forth required. I mean I literally need artwork on almost every single page. That's a lot, but it has to be done. 

I've set a deadline for my birthday in July, just to see how much I could get done, though I think I may have a better chance of project completion  by the end of the year!!!! 

If you are wondering something along the lines of "dude, why don't you just get a Kickstarter or GoFundMe" the answer is that money is not really the issue on this particular project and I'm kind of into getting there on my own steam. Nothing against those that do start one of these accounts. 

Anyway, this checklist (below) represents the bulk of this project, though the item titled Character Sheet Item Descriptions should be under Writing, not Artwork. Sorry about that. Oh, and it should read Weapons and Armor Art at the bottom. I can't type!  🤣 Thanks for playing!!

^ . ^

SLiM