Ultraist Studios Blog Journal

Somedays when drawing characters, the poses just don’t come out right. That’s when you’ve gotta grab the Flip Cam and act it out.

Here’s a peek at what I’ve been working on today:

Next; to get the “cell animation” layer in place.

While waiting for the Ultraist Computer to do calculations I drew this marker sketch in the moleskine.

I had just finished reading the newest Lethargic Lad which reminded me how much the new FF bothered me. Just this week I got these comics via ebay which I thought was a much better concept. I bought this comic when it came out just because it had The New Fantastic Four in uniform, but I didn’t like that Ghost Rider was replaced with Iron Man, and I still didn’t like that it was Grey Hulk instead of Green Hulk. I wondered what the proper team would look like in uniform, and so I decided to do this sketch to find out. In a recent interview I was asked “What comic characters other than your own would you like to work with?” After this sketch, I think I’d have to add “The New Fantastic Four” to that list.

Press Release from Cerebus TV:

CerebusTV this Friday at 10pm ET / 7pm PT: A quick look at Xeric award winning cartoonist Gary Scott Beatty’s innovative 64-page INDIE COMICS MAGAZINE — where each contributor buys space and then shares equally in all revenues from sales through Diamond Comic Distributors. A great lead-in to “The Case of the Anunnaki Artifact”, Mike Kitchen’s contribution to INDIE COMICS MAGAZINE No. 2 with voice-over by the Kitchen Family Players voicing their own characters — Mike Kitchen as SPY GUY, Erika Kitchen as Erica Korczak, Anika Kitchen as Katie Whips, Raina Kitchen as Two Gun Tiny, Erikson Kitchen as Super Shooter and special guest Dave Sim as both Dr. Golem and the Aliens. Taped last December 20. CEREBUS TV editor Dave Fisher– who will be getting a lump of coal in his stocking this Christmas — sincerely apologies for switching the names of Anika and Raina’s characters in the credits.

To watch this episode, click on over to CerebusTV.com and chose your streaming video to view via your internet browser.

Alternately, I’ve had the most success with the streaming video by using VLC Player and opening the file http://cerebustv.com/asx/stream640.asx

The show begins this Friday at 10:00 pm and will be streaming live on a cycle until next Friday at 10:00 pm.

Don’t miss it!

ALSO: CEREBUS TV SPECIAL!
While the episode is airing, you can get INDIE COMICS MAGAZINE #2 signed by all the contributing Kitchen Family Members for the cover price of $6.49 (plus shipping). I’ll take it one step further and number them as the CerebusTV Edition. They’re now available for purchase in the Ultraist Studios Store.

Why does David Branstetter (creator of Straw Man) like SPY GUY?
According to Facebook, this is why:

Brian Hibbs quote:

“… at the end of the day it comes down entirely to the work, and whether it provides the “right” amount of entertainment value for the cost asked.” *

That page is from this book by Steven Pressfield called The War Of Art.

Looking forward to this evening’s even with Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast and Gary Vaynerchuk of Vayner Media and Wine Library TV.  Hope to harness some business mojo in the process.

Blair: Well Dave, I’ve got to say it’s been a pleasure having this discussion with you and Mike. I really enjoyed reading your conversations with Steve Bissette and Jimmy Gownley over the last few months and hopefully our discussion holds up to both of those alright. (Maybe we’ll even have to do this again sometime).

Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing you in July!

Mike: “Cinderella Liberty”… there’s a comic in there somewhere! Perhaps it’s naivety or perhaps it’s simply optimism, but I do think there are people out there that would enjoy the sorts of work we do on the fringes with our self-published works. Far more than recent sales would have us believe. I continue to find support for my own work in the most unlikely of places. When those allies are found, I am overcome with a sense of gratitude. It makes the battle seem a little less hopeless. It reminds me of two different quotes that I’ve collected into a category I call Mantra’s on my Ultraist Studios Blog Journal. The first was something you said in you conversation with Steve Bissette over at his Myrant page:

“Self-publishing for a living is somewhere on a sliding scale between extremely unlikely and totally impossible”

Which, so far as I can tell in 2011, is as close to a truth as I can imagine. And that in turn makes me think of something that writer Seth Godin said recently on his own blog:

“Your chance of winning is so vanishingly small it’s as if, from an investment point of view, there are no winners. Which means that you should play the game for the thrill of playing it, for the benefits of playing it to a normal conclusion, not because you think you have any shot at all of winning the grand prize.”

That can be said, not only for self-publishing, but for life itself.

I mean, we’re all going to fly into the ground one of these days…
… so we might as well enjoy the ride!

Thanks again for instigating this conversation Dave.
Both Blair and I enjoyed doing it.

But now it’s time to fax this off before the clock strikes twelve.
The family and I look forward to seeing you in July.

Mike Kitchen – signing off.