I've decided to donate 100% of this month's proceeds from art print sales to the disaster relief effort. All funds will be donated to support the newly-established Metro Atlanta Disaster Response (site forthcoming), a multi-denominational effort among Atlanta's churches set up to help the refugees we have received here in our own city.

Seriously, you get a kick-ass piece of art, and some displaced family gets to eat. Not a bad deal.

So, tell your friends - if you were thinking of buying a print for yourself or someone as a gift, now would be the time. Thanks!

[UPDATE]

Thanks, Paul!

Thanks, Scott!

Thanks, Jennie!

And thanks to Heather and Jason!

And of course Danielle!

All of these guys have been kind enough to mention my effort, so I wanted to return the favor. Please go visit all of them and say hi, They each have their own relief efforts (either directly or by promotion) so please do what you can. Thanks again!

I've had my hands full with work and local disaster relief contributions (time and effort, mostly) and I'm behind. I keep this up and I'll practically be a webcomic. ;-) BUT! That said, there is a brand new section that lists design services I offer, because I thought it might be nice for people to know. In fact, if you know anyone who needs a logo or design work, you can get a commission for referring a new client! Check it out>

Speaking of webcomics, I met the most charming and talented Jennie Breeden on Monday at DragonCon. She has two comics online and a whole bunch of stuff in the works. One to watch.

Also, speaking of charming and talented, I met these two knockout costumers who produce some of the highest-quality work I've ever seen.

Also, Lawrence Williams, who actually remembered meeting me at San Diego Comic-Con, and has some really beautiful work on his site. I especially like the paintings that have a more designed composition (such as "Solaris"); very impressive work in person.

Another new find was Alain Viesca. whose CG artwork is at times really quite striking and clever. My favorites are his Martini Fairy and Vodka Fairy. Not that there's a theme or anything...

Of course, I met other artists and even some old friends I haven't seen in a long time (Josh, who needs to build himself a site so I can link to it...).

Not even I (with my lack of television and insane schedule of late) have been able to remain ignorant of the enormity of the destruction and suffering wrought by Katrina, especially on New Orleans. It's overwhelming, unconfrontable in its magnitude. I feel now the same sort of desperate need to help as I did in the days following September 11. I can't personally go to New Orleans (fighting a desperate battle or two myself just now, in my own life), but I can, in my own way, try to do something.

Last december I threw in with Mike and Jerry (Gabe and Tycho) over at Penny Arcade for their annual Child's Play charity. So, I'm running the same program for September to support disaster relief efforts: 50% 100% of all art prints sold in September donated to the cause.

I'm doing this more or less on the fly, so I haven't decided to what group I will donate the money yet. I may just use it to directly pay for volunteers (I have friends who do this sort of thing) to travel to the area or help supply current efforts. I'll decide as donations warrant — your suggestions are welcome, of course.

I'm certain other artists are gathering their forces as I type this. I'll post links as I come across them.

Oh, also - I'm working up a new print just for this effort, so if you'll bear with my lateness, I promise something very soon!

-Allen

Forward this to any Anglophiles you know, or anyone who needs their accent fix from time to time.
I was tooling around on the BBC news site and found the radio section!

These are all streaming recordings of BBC radio broadcasts from all over the UK. There's even Scottish broadcasts and even some in Irish Gaelic! Unintelligible, but fun to listen to. BUT! Here's the cool part. There's a whole COMEDY section that has a bunch of British comedy gems, including EDDIE IZZARD and others you'll recognize if you've watched much BBCAmerica.

So, my gift to you this week! Enjoy!

When told that the Persians had archers so numerous that their arrows would block out the sun, Dienekes replied, "Good. Then we shall have our battle in the shade."

Well, hello again! The general response to the new site has been very encouraging! After a couple of minor tweaks, I think it's working out quite nicely. Thanks everyone for visiting, and especially those of you who have signed up for the News List. For those of you who are just visiting for the first time, signing up qualifies you for a monthly drawing for a print of your choice from the art store. Oh, and a note about the list: it's a double-opt-in list, so you have to follow-up the verification email it sends out. Just glancing over the service, there are a number of names in the pending list that just need to reply to the verify email. Only verified, active names can qualify for the print.

Which brings me to my first order of real business here: the print giveaway! We have a winner for July, and her name is Janice! And there was much rejoicing!

Aaand the second item today is the new print of the month, above, Pink. This is the portrait-format version of this image; there's another, landscape-format, version in the gallery as well, with a remixed color scheme.

I'm very glad someone coined (or recently popularized) the term "remix." I'm finding it very handy letely!

-Allen

That update I promised earlier in the month? Y'r lookin' at it.

I'd had the previous design, in one form or another, for nearly three years and, though I'm still fond of the whole "pulp magazine" look, it has had its time. My artwork seems to be taking a cleaner, more open-looking direction, and I thought the site should reflect that more. Plus, I have long wanted to add a real portfolio section for my design work, and that's finally been realized.

In all honestly, this update was scheduled for before Comic-Con, but the demands of actual art production took precedence and my aim fell short. So I've slowly been making good on the promise to myself for the last week or so, and here we are!

MANIFESTO (-ISH)

I've decided to make a few more promises to myself, and to you if you'll have them.

First off, the promise of at least one new print every month. My personal goal is one a week, so we'll see how long I'm able to keep that pace up!

Also, every month I'm sending out new art announcements and updates (I swear!) and giving away free art! Simply by being on the mailing list you are entered into a drawing every month to receive a free, full-size 13"x19" archival print of your choice! (another new feature).

So, sign up today! Tell your friends! The first print will be given away at the end of July! And just so you know, I do not sell names to third parties under any circumstances and you can easily opt out any time you like.

-Allen

A DISSERVICE TO MOTHERS
Friday, 1 July, 2005

You know what's a disservice to mothers everywhere?

Forcing them against their will to put their own children on brain-altering drugs.

Then prescribing more drugs to handle the side-effects of those. And why? To handle a "chemical imbalance" for which there is no test, no scientific measure, no evidence to support, in fact no medical basis whatsoever. The drug companies' own advertising admits that they don't know what causes mental or emotional problems, and yet they have purchased the psychiatric community outright in order to legitimize these "disorders" by literally voting them into existence.

No mother would drug their child. It defies common sense, it defies human decency. It would take a very effective liar to talk a mother into it.

I can think of no more apt description of psychiatry itself. It will one day be understood broadly to have been the single most successful hoax in the history of mankind, one that ran over a hundred years until it fell like the house of drug-supported cards that it is.

I can't wait.

-Allen

MILESTONES IN AFFORDABLE DESIGN
Sunday, 26 June, 2005

I understand the new IKEA in Atlanta, Georgia, will be the only one in the world to include grits on its menu. It opens July 29. I have friends in Memphis who plan to rent a moving van and make the eight-hour drive to Atlanta to shop at the new store. Considering I still have no furniture to speak of in my new apartment, I'm quite looking forward to it, myself.

MOVE ALONG...MOVE ALONG
Tuesday, 21 June, 2005

Nothing to see here.

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING
Thursday, 9 June, 2005

A salvo in the (now ongoing) webcomics controversy (tempest in a teacup, indeed) that perhaps would have been better fired much earlier in the week, but hits its mark nonetheless. One thing you can count on from Mr. McCloud is his scholarship. I admire that. (UPDATE: Scott has removed the article in question, but his removal note is still there...)

SPEAKING OF BICYCLES
Tuesday, 7 June, 2005

There's a contest over at newdesigners.com about the best in design of the last 20 years - alright, it's the best in British design, but that's not the point. The point is that right now a bicycle is beating both the iPod and the World Wide Web. I find this unnacceptable.

Vote your conscience.

APPLES ON ORANGES
Monday, 6 June, 2005

Okay, screw all that other stuff I posted this week. Here's the story: Macintosh on Intel.

Now, there's plenty of coverage and commentary out on the Internets on this right now, but here's one I personally agree with just ebout entirely. It's just not that big of a deal, from an end-user viewpoint. Not even from a purchasing-decision viewpoint, really. Apple's not going to stop supporting OS X on PowerPC for the next ten years.

The magic of using a Mac is the OS. This has always been the case. Yes, there really was a time when Mac hardware ran circles around PCs, but that has been history for several years now. The one thing that hasn't changed has been the OS experience, which on a day to day basis, is still far superior to Windows. Why? Couldn't tell you, in hard terms, but I like OS X much more, it works better, gives me fewer problems, looks better, and is just easier to live with for everything I need a computer for.

Odds are, the same goes for you, if you've been using it for a while.

Factually, I predicted this several years ago, when OS X was first out. I've long thought the most powerful thing Apple could do would be to release OS X for Intel. Right now there are, let us say, a couple hundred million Windows users out there who have gotten very curious about the Mac as a result of the visibility of the iPod. Well, in spite of the fact that switching is now cheaper than ever, it's still nearly a thousand dollar arguement to "Try Mac."

What if it were a $129.95 arguement?

Not to mention the potential of running a WINE-like emulation so people could simply run their Windows software directly on the hardware right alongside the Mac apps.

I think it's fantastic.

But, Apple's not even talking about that big of a shift right now. Jobs hasn't said anything about making the OS available to the Intel world, only that Apple's hardware will transition to Intel. So, they may yet keep their cards close. I'd like to see it go like this: 2006 and 2007, Apple transitions to using Intel chips to build its own computers. Speeds go up, prices come down (a bit), options increase. After that Apple either decides on its own to make OS X available to the rest of the Intel world or someone unofficially hacks it and it makes its way into the wild, regardless, forcing Apple's hand and they still end up doing it. Even then, you'd still be able to buy Apple-branded hardware (for a premium, of course).

Is losing some hardware market worth picking up huge chunks of OS marketshare? I think so, particularly in light of the fact that Apple has figured out that it can be more of a consumer electronics/software company, and doesn't have to have its economic fate chained to their big hardware sales.

It certainly is an interesting time to be a Mac user.

RANT UPDATE
Monday, 6 June, 2005

And so it comes to light that the footage for this documentary was actually shot three years ago. Well, yes, that would explain why the issue seems about three years out of date. The sanest quote I've found on the issue at this point is over at Goats:

"But none of this has anything to do with anything. The real villains here are a bunch of filmmakers releasing material from three years ago and calling it cutting edge, getting a bunch of cartoonists all huffy and puffy. You shouldn't do that, filmmakers! Cartoonists are easily disturbed. Be nice to them!"

Amen.

Oh, and if you think my essay is wordy, check out Eric Burns' over at Websnark. My goodness.

COMICS AND
REINVENTING COMICS
Sunday, 5 June, 2005

I wrote a nice, long essay on the subject because it comes up from time to time and I always want to say something about it when it does.

Well, now I have.

THE YEAR OF THE GEEK
Sunday, 8 May, 2005

Sin City—a visceral thrill in every Miller-inked frame. I doubt a comic will ever be as faithfully translated to film again in my lifetime.

Kung Fu Hustle—perhaps the most succcessful blend of amazing and dumb in the history of genre film. Depends on your opinion of Tarantino.

Hitchhiker's Guide—yes, the story muddies up considerably during the last half of the movie, but there's enough real Hichhiker's there to make it worth it.

And from the Star Wars camp: I've wanted a lightsaber since I was eight, but my mom didn't think I could be trusted with one considering the number of times I nearly burned down our apartment with access only to mundane resources. Probably a smart move on her part, in hindsight. But now that I'm moved out at the age of 35, I can damn well build my own. If I'm successful, and you're on my emergency phone list, expect a call from either the ER or jail on my behalf. My favorite line in this article: "A lightsaber completely blows away a can of pepper spray as a deterrent in muggings or robberies."

MOVING THIS WEEK
Wednesday, 4 May, 2005

That pretty much covers it.I finally made it back to my beloved Atlanta to find a bit to my surprise that the whole place had been painted a bright spring green in my absence. Atlanta in the spring ranks among my most favoritest things ever, just so you know. Los Angeles doesn't have enough of a change, nor the greenery to express it, but this town is teeming with trees, and not just in the suburbs.

One thing I have had to get my head around is the rental market intown. Compared to LA, I was practically having deals thrown at me. The place I ended up getting is much larger than I was looking for, but they invited me to haggle on the price, so I did and they said yes. I now live about one block from Piedmont Park (kind of the Central Park of Atlanta, for you non-locals) and I have my very own diner (the Silver Grill, which sounds exactly like it is - a classic Southern diner with all the properly attendant Southern food and friendliness) which, if it wasn't ever really a dream of mine, it should have been.

Anyway, the short of it is, the apartment and move is filling my week (as well as a decent amount of actual work, not to worry) but the end will justify the effort. The net effect will be to finally provide me with the space to really go nuts, art-wise. I want to start painting, like with real paint and stuff. Plus, I now have a place for a large-format archival printer so I can create much larger prints, which I've wanted to do for so long.

So, expect great things in the near future, my lovelies. It's shaping up to be a watershed year.

NEW ART
SATURDAY, 22 April, 2005

Yes, I should have posted these some time ago. I have no excuse. Hope you enjoy them, regardless. :-)

This first one was done for a sort of book project, to be sent to overseas troops. The idea was to create something that recalled the classic pinup art of WWII, so a call was put out to the Drawing Board, and some very talented people responded and let me tag along:

And another little sketch I did for the hell of it. During my trip to LA (I'm typing this on a plane, by the way, winging me back to the South). I've started playing aroung with sketching directly into Illustrator lately. A good tablet makes this very natural, but the procedure and technique is similar to what I've been doing for some time, the diffference is mostly that instead of sketching on paper first, I just draw straight into the app with curves. Anyway, here's a sample (freehand, no ref, making it up as I went):

A THREE HOUR TOUR
Monday, 18 April, 2005

Okay, first of all, I cannot believe how damn long I've been on this trip. Oh. Yes. I'm still in Los Angeles as of this writing. This was supposed to be a nice, compact couple of weeks working and visiting old haunts (and the attendant ghosts) — a fairly decompresssed semi vacation.

Hah!

Five weeks later and here I sit, in a Starbucks in Toluca Lake (a lovely, and well-appointed Starbucks, with some of the best scenery to be had, I expect) plugging in via my T-Mobile Hotspot acccount (which, though overpriced, has turned out to be an invaluable investment this trip). You know that hill the Hollywood Sign is on? Toluca lake is on the opposite side of that hill, on the non-Hollywood side. There's a certain prosaic symmetry in that arrangement that I'm sure I'm not awake enough to properly articulate.

Anyway. I leave on Friday. Really. Of course, the kicker is that I'm not headed directly back to the ATL just yet. I'm stopping over in Tampa/Clearwater for a business convention that promises to be just the right thing for my current state of, well, business. Plus, it's Clearwater. One of the things I have missed for a while is the very visitor-friendly Gulf of Mexico and I cannot wait to walk in it again.

While I'm updating, I must, must, must take a few words to plug the new Flight, Volume 2. One of the reasons I extended my trip here was to attend a book release/gallery show for this very book, and I have to say I was as much the opposite of disappointed as one is able to express. The show was at Nucleus, in Alhambra (sort of an Asian-flavored Pasadena, very cool, very hip), and the art showing is there for a couple of weeks yet, I think. Highly recommended for comics lovers and art lovers alike. Lots of charming, wonderful work from charming, wonderful artists. I'm still reading through the book itself (the damn thing is 400 pages for crying out loud!) but time spent away from it is time spent thinking about it and looking forward to the next few pages.

So, get over to Nucleus if you can. Buy the book somewhere, regardless. I understand many of the artists will be at San Diego Comic-Con in July, so you can probably track them down there for signings and sketchies. Tell'em Scruffy told you about it.

Cheers!

BUZZED BY XIXI
Wednesday, 30 March, 2005

I had the best day today. Not only did I get a healthy bit of real work done, but I finally got to meet the lovely and talented Kristen Rutherford - the Operator, herself. Smart, funny, talented, and with a truly uncanny knowledge of the classic music scene of Athens, Georgia. Breaks my heart that she's married. But I'm sure I'm not the only one.

We met for lunch at a place here in LA called Callendar's, a decently nice restaurant on Wilshire on the Miracle Mile not too far from the El Rey and the La Brea Tar Pits. Nice in a way that one does not expect of a place apparently named for Marie Callendar, of pie and diner food fame. So yeah, we met and ate lunch and got along pretty famously, I think. Lots in common, as it turned out, including similar tastes (in music and geekdom - she's a huge Battlestar Galactica fan, for example) and distates (Hollywood phoniness and Ryan Seacrest, for example, not to be intentionally redundant).

Since I've extended my stay here in LA (I've been buried in new work since I arrived, so I've barely been able to accomplish what I came here for) we're working out a little portrait project for her (the real girl this time - for a quality experience, you know) which just might make a new print. I'll let you know as details are confirmed.

Anyway, if I haven't made it clear, she's so damn cool. Keep an eye out for this one - she's the real thing.

LONG LOST
Tuesday, 22 March, 2005

In case you were wondering which particular edge of the Earth I'd fallen off of, know that I am on a bit of a trip back to visit Los Angeles for a couple of weeks. I've only been here for a few days now and it's already been the most eventful week I've had since moving back to Atlanta six months ago. People I haven't seen or heard from in years spontaneously reappearing, seeds of new opportunities being planted. I really need to take some time today to catcch up on work, so this will be but a teaser update. But I will make an effort to post a more thorough entry later today or tomorrow.

Cheers!

ANOTHER HAPPY CUSTOMER
Tuesday, 8 February, 2005

"I ordered your Devil Girl in Green and I must say, the
sample picture doesn't do it justice. It's an amazing
piece of art! My girlfriend will love it!"
—J.J.

Oh, and of course: Never fall asleep playing Halo.

DROOOOOOL
Monday, 31 January, 2005

New Powerbooks. *glee*

Probably the thing that impresses me the most about these is the ability to drive Apple's monstrous 30-inch display straight out of the laptop (for the 15 and 17). I have passed the point where I think I might just never own a desktop system again. I've grown so accustomed to the portability of my 12-inch Powerbook, and she is so perfectly capable of running every productive app I throw at her, that encumbering myself with a tower (G5 or otherwise) just seems counter-effective.

Besides, I have this fantasy of travelling from one exotic locale to another (Paris, Rome, London), creating new art all along the way. So far the most exotic location I've actually created art at is the Starbucks in Virginia-Highland neighborhood here in Atlanta. Not bad, really, but not quite as exotic as I've had in mind.

MORE MELISSA—HOW COOL IS THIS?
Monday, 31 January, 2005

"Hi, I bought one of your Melissa prints last month. Let me just say I love it. The frame I ordered for it came in the mail today, so I went and bought glass for it. I also bought a 'Halo 2' dog tag online, Bungie had been giving them out to people as promotional items. So I am using that as a sort of plaquard for it. And last but not least I'm taping a dvd of the I love bees audio/web pages to the back of the frame, so that in the tragic event of my death others will know the story behind the art. I wanted to thank you for the creation, and sharing of such a wonderful piece of art. As well as share the photos of the matt/frame with you.

-James"

Said pictures are here and here. Pretty damn neat.

NICE
Thursday, 27 January, 2005

Congrats to Danielle for landing the deal!

Oh, and go check out Jennie Breeden's comics. Not only is this girl a talented writer and artist, but she's an Atlanta girl who's also a gamer/fangirl. Can't beat that.

TOO MUCH
Tuesday, 4 January, 2005

Too much to take in this week.

2004 was an amazing year for me and, to be honest, 2005 promises to be that much more remarkable. I am, in fact, hopeful of the future in a way that I'm not sure I have ever been before.

But, just now, as I write this, if you'll bear with me, I am just impressed by just how little in life we can take for granted. This world and the bodies of the people who populate it are fragile and impermanent. Governments can be overthrown, nations destroyed, whole populations wiped from the face of the Earth, and seemingly constant icons can just pass away like stars suddenly winking out of existence.

Life should be, must be, created moment to moment. I intend to have an amazing year. Please, you do the same, okay?

ps. On top of all that, my iTunes seems to be on a Pink Floyd kick today, but mostly all of the sad and beautiful songs, which is perfectly appropriate I think.