Here you’ll find an exploration on how to make a living, by being creative. This blog gives you a little bit of a window into the day in the life of a Simpsons artist, who’s doing his own art on the side. You’ll also get an insight into what goes on in an artist’s brain. As well, as how he tries to improve his skills and his way of life with his creativity.
He also draws things that will hopefully make you laugh, or at the very least, crack a smile.
I’m a Storyboard artist on The Simpsons TV show and The Simpsons Movie. I drew Simpsons comics, on the side, for Bongo Comics for 12 years as well. Author of The Art of Draw Fu: Beginners Level. I live in California with my wife, daughter and four sons who I love very much. I’m Roman Catholic and I was born in El Salvador.
I’ve got a ton of work to do and it all has to be done by May the 13th. It feels as if I’m getting no where fast but that’s only because it’s still early and I’m only now getting into the meat of the work load. It also doesn’t help that we’re inventing the “pipeline” as we go. Nor does it help that many of the scenes I finished need more work done to them so I have to fix them while still getting new scenes done. One great thing about how we are doing things now is that I feel like I’m getting to propose my own ideas into the show. It feels like I’m more involved in the process. This actually make the giant work load much more tolerable since it fuels my creativity and makes me WANT to come in to work everyday. I hope other directors I work with are as open as this one.
So our superhero drawing thing is still going on. Tommy has eased out of it because he’s doing some freelance work for Ben Ten, so he has no free time. Still he managed to draw a few pieces before he started on that. Thankfully, he drew one that I could post on my blog, so here’s his drawing:
Then, just because he could, using the magic of Photoshop, he changed the colors of Flash‘s costume and turned him into the Reverse Flash (a.k.a. Zoom).
Meanwhile, Paul is getting himself married over in his home state of Hawaii. Besides, as I mentioned last week, he doesn’t want me to post anymore of his drawings since he’s publishing them in his Sketchbook. He’s probably over there drawing pictures of waterfalls or something and having a great relaxing time with his new wife…Jerk.
So instead, we have a picture from someone else who decided to join in on this craziness. Raul (remember him from a few post’s ago?) decided to draw this:
It’s the Green Hornet (Harvey, Now, Acme, AC comics) Versus The Spirit (by Will Eisner). They fight because they look very much a like only one is green and the other blue. One of the reasons Raul drew this was because he didn’t think we had thought to put these guys on our list. He was right.
So here’s my drawing for the week:
I’m cheating today. This is an original idea and not a “comic book versus” idea. It’s the image of a High Fantasy Western. The week I drew this, I wanted to try my hand at something different. I was driving home from work and I was trying to come up with story ideas just for the heck of it. One of the story ideas (or in this case just a random concept) came to me with a fun little image, so I thought I’d try to draw it. This is the first time I’ve attempted a drawing like this. I want to learn to do animated feature “development drawing”. This is my first stab at one. It’s heavily flawed. Especially since I rushed through the drawing of the background, plus I really didn’t make much of an attempt to smooth out the pencil strokes (among other things). I’m only partially happy with it. The idea was to put the generic fantasy archetypes in a western setting. The Native American looking guy being the Warrior. The elf woman in the center would be a Ranger/tracker with a magical, rune encrusted, prosthetic, machine arm. Behind her is the wizard who is also a bit of a Rogue since he’s a Gambler. They’re in the forest trying to track down a dragon that’s sneaking up on them from behind. This was all drawn with some hard and soft pencils on regular old animation paper. I really need to practice this a lot more. I also need to have more patience. I really got tired of the drawing after a while and began rushing it at the end. It looks very sloppy.
My inspiration for this drawing were artist’s like:
Marcelo Vignali – a good friend of Paul‘s who I got to meet one day when I went to The Sony Feature Animation Studios (when they still existed) where Paul was working one year during hiatus. He’s as a great guy and showed me all the drawings he was doing on the movie they were working on. I was a fan of his work before I met him so I was geeking out. I think that helped get me on his good side. He’s amazing. He’s worked almost everywhere in the industry.
Richie Chavez – another friend of Paul‘s and an good acquaintance of mine, ever since we took a Kung Fu class together. He was the art director on Prince of Egypt and he also worked over at Sony when Paul was there. This is another guy that’s worked almost everywhere in the industry. He doesn’t have a website though. One of his drawings is posted in this website: CLICK HERE.
Paul Felix– he was one of my drawing teachers. He worked over at Disney Feature and TV developing movies and shows. He’s awesome too. He doesn’t have a website but you can look at some of his drawing on this post HERE.
Those three guys are just amazing artists. Talk about being able to draw anything and draw it awesome.
MY WEEK
Saturday I was out in the cold without a jacket. The next day I woke up with a crazy cold. It knocked me out. I managed to make it to Church with Dante but once I got back, my body went into shut down mode. I was in bed the rest of the day. When I wasn’t sleeping, I was reading some of the comics I had gotten a few weeks ago, so it wasn’t all bad. Still, I wish I could have stayed home Monday to recover but I really needed to get my work done. Whatever it takes to keep my job.
Thankfully, by Tuesday, I was feeling much better, so it turned out that my cold didn’t last for very long.
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I was a bit stressed out this weekend because of what happened at work Friday. Friday afternoon I got called back in to be told that the original plans they had laid out for me were changing. The new crew I was going to work with, I no longer was going to work with. Instead, I was put on another crew. Which is fine. The thing is, the new crew is the second show of the new season. Which is actually REALLY great. Maybe I won’t go on hiatus at all and I could work straight through the year.
So why was I stressed out? Well, because things are changing again. As of the time of this writing, I’m not allowed to explain how, since most of the crew doesn’t know, but I will say that our job has now gotten a little more intense. The reason this was stressing me out is not because I thought it was bad or anything. The reason I was stressing out was for the same reason I always stress out when a new situation arises, namely: I don’t have a method of dealing with the situation since I’m not in it and therefore I couldn’t have a plan of attack to deal with the problem. Without being in the new situation and actually dealing with the new changes, I felt nervous and stressed.
Matters got a bit worse when, on Monday, I was told that I wasn’t going to start on the new crew until Tuesday. I helped out on the last of Lance’s show on Monday and on Tuesday, I started on the new crew. We had a crew meeting that morning where we were told what the situation was and how we were going to handle it. Once all that was done, I felt much better, mostly because now I had some control of what I could do. It’s almost like I’m back on the movie again. In fact, some of the people I’m working with in this crew where the people I worked with on the Fox lot during the movie. Including the editor that’s working with us. It was good to see him again.
Funny how that is. As a layout artist on the show, we never really get to know any editors. We are our own department and we don’t really leave it, but during the movie at the Fox lot, when working on the story reels, many different department were all working together in the same rooms to get the job done and we found ourselves getting to know different people from different parts of the process. That was one of the unique parts about working on the movie.
In lighter news…
Another drawing of superheroes. I don’t have a drawing from Tommy this time, again. As last time, I’m not sure it’s appropriate for my site. If you want to check it out on HIS site, click HERE. Paul asked me NOT to put his drawing up because he’s planning to print a Sketchbook of his drawings. In fact, there is another drawing he did that falls under the same “please don’t post that drawing because I’m planning to publish it in my Sketchbook” rule, that I can’t put up. So enjoy the drawings that are here. I’ll tell you what he drew though.
Besides, it’s funny. They fight because they are both Martians. Wanna see it? You’ll have to buy Paul‘s Sketchbook when he’s finally done with it and publishes it.
I drew Black Adam (DC comics) versus Namor (Marvel Comics). They fight because they are often drawn exactly the same. I went out of my way to make them look different but in most comics, if it wasn’t for their costumes, they generally look like the same person. And of course, they both have pointy ears. I also tried drawing Zachary Quinto in there since he’s playing Spock in the new Star Trek movie. Not sure if I quite got his likeness, but I gave it a shot anyway.
COMIC BOOKS
Since I’ve been drawing all these superhero comics, I’ve been getting back to reading comics again. It’s been a month or so since I was really able to read any. I’m really behind on my comic continuity. Mostly because I can’t really afford to buy comics. Luckily, I’m rescued from this comic Limbo by none other than comic book artist Drew Johnson.
Drew comes into the studio often. He’s married to the director of our retakes crew and they’ve recently had a baby. Sometimes he brings a box of comics he doesn’t want and leaves it in the studio “kitchen”.
Ever seen a bunch of hungry hyenas fight over a fresh carcass? Ever seen one of them beat the heck out of all the other ones to get the choice meat? That’s me. Snarling, growling and biting my way to the comics I want. “My Superman! Mine! Mine!” “Don’t you dare touch that Final Crisis!” The last time, I left with so many comics, I could barely hold them using both arms. Then, like the dog I am, I peed on them to mark them as mine…okay…maybe not, but I would pace back and forth in my cubicle giving people the evil eye who even looked in the direction of my stack of comics. “My own…my…preciousssss.
In any case, this is the only way I can get caught up on my comic reading. I always look forward to the next box of comics he brings in, just because I finally can get caught up on all the things I’m missing out on in the DC universe. Most of the comics he brings are a year of two old. This doesn’t bother me since I’m that far behind anyway. Although sometimes there is one or two that are pretty current.
Now if only I can find someone who works at Marvel and get free comics from them…
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Stressing out this week. This is my last week on this particular crew before I go on to the next one. We need to get done with this show this week, no exceptions. We are officially two weeks late on it. It either gets done this week or it gets done this week. Meanwhile I’m making up the hours I missed because I had to stay home on Monday with the kids. Daycare was closed on Monday. If it doesn’t seem like I’m going to get done, I need to stay and do overtime. We aren’t in a good place right now. Man, I hate the pressure.
Meanwhile, our crazy superhero drawing thing continues. Here are some more drawings we did a few weeks ago. I’m not putting up Tommy‘s drawing because I wasn’t sure it was appropriate for my blog but if you want to check it out you can go to his by clicking here.
Pauldrew Man Thing (Marvel Comics) Vs. Swamp Thing (DC comics). Not too sure what exactly is going on but I think they are trying to squeeze each other’s hands real tight. They fight because they are pretty much the same archetype. Both are swamp monsters with the word Thing in their name.
I drew Dr. Fate (DC comics) Vs. Dr. Strange (Marvel Comics). Again, these guys are fighting because they are also the same archetype. They are the masters of magic in their respective universes and both have a Doctorate. I always wanted to draw these guys and this was a great excuse. After trying to figure out what I could have them doing, this obvious silly idea struck me. Most of the gags we’ve come up with haven’t really been all that funny, but we actually care less about the gag and more about the excuse to draw the characters. Technically I could just draw them actually fighting without the gag, but it’s just not as entertaining for me. I want to tell a story, even if it’s a light hearted one.
Wanted to draw some pretty women for this one. Black Cat (Marvel Comics) Vs. Catwoman (DC comics). Same archetype (ex-female cat burglars with a cat themed costume, who turned into good guys. Or at least aren’t exactly bad guys anymore). This drawing was a complete failure on my part as far as getting the idea of what’s going on across. This was meant to represent them both coming into frame at the exact same time and being surprised that the other person was there grabbing the same thing. Unfortunately, the drawing doesn’t read that way at all.
FAMILY
This was the first Easter that my daughter was aware it was Easter. She had a blast. Saturday, we woke up early, went to a park and went on an Easter egg hunt that was organized for little kids there. It was my sister-in-law, Deborah’s, idea. My mom and dad where there as well. Munchkin had a lot of fun. Dante didn’t really know what was going on. He hung around and looked around. He mostly just got tired. I came away with the realization that I need to take Munchkin to more parks. She was so happy just running around on the grass and seemed to find all kinds of thing that would entertain her.
Later that night, after coming home from my parent’s house (which is were we went back to, in order to have lunch). Alesha went to Easter Vigil Mass while I stayed and took care of the kids. Three hours later, she came home with a big smile on her face. By then the kids where asleep and I was at home watching The Passion of the Christ. A movie I should have watched on Friday but I didn’t get around to.
The next day, Munchkin and I went to Mass together. On Good Friday, when she discovered I was going to church, Munchkin asked if she could come along. I told her she couldn’t, mostly because if was almost her bed time, but I did tell her she could come with me next time if she wanted. Well, Easter Sunday, she said she wanted to come with me so we went. The Mass was an hour and a half long and by the end of it, she was ready to leave the church but she was pretty well behaved through out most of the Mass. She especially likes the “kiss of peace” because she likes shaking everyone’s hands. She’s asked to go to church with me three times now and one time, when we were playing with her toys, she played that her toys left the house to go to church. I wonder what’s going on in her two year old head?
Later that day, we went to the house of one of my Wife’s best friends and Munchkin spent her time there Easter egg hunting, playing and eating candy. We left in the afternoon in order to give Dante and chance to nap. We went to my aunts house where we spent Easter with my family. There, Munchkin spent her time Easter egg hunting, playing, and eating candy. She had a great time and was crazy high on sugar all day. Dante was miserable because he was tired and uncomfortable. Mostly because he’s teething again, his gums were swollen and he had a blister on his tongue. Poor kid. I spent pretty much the entire time taking care of him.
The poor boy has had quite a difficult weekend. Monday night was a terrible night for him. He’s slowly getting better now. Still, I feel so bad for him. Dante didn’t have a good Easter. Maybe next year.
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I’ve been really enjoying my job the last few days. Mostly because of the non-job related drawing I’ve been doing during my free time (see last week’s post). Somehow, after all that other drawing, when I get back to doing work, it’s a lot more fun. It feels like I’m drawing the characters in a new way, or maybe doing the other stuff has helped me approach the characters different. In anycase, I’ve found myself enjoying drawing the Simpsons characters immensely.So here are some more drawings my friends and I did:
I drew Silver Surfer (Marvel Comics) vs. Dr. Manhattan (DC comics). They fight because they are both naked, cosmic, bald guys. Silver Surfer doesn’t quite appreciate Dr. Manhattan’s exibitionism. Not quite sure why I don’t like this drawing much.
My next drawing was of The Hulk (Marvel Comics) vs. Solomon Grundy (DC comics) They fight because they are both the big, strong, dumb, monster archetype. While drawing this one, I made a small brake through on how I could best approach drawing hands.
Tuesday I was told that Friday the 17th was my last day at work. After that day I would be on hiatus. Couldn’t have come at a worse time. A few weeks ago, I spent a lot of money because one of our cars needed a tune up and then two weeks later I ended up paying our property tax. Our bank account hasn’t recovered yet and the next two paychecks weren’t going to help at all. They won’t even get us out of the red. Like I said, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. I was told they will try to find me some work if they can.
The next day, I got an e-mail from the show’s new producer asking me if I can jump on another show. I told her I could. Man, that was just too close. Guess the praying I did the day before helped out a bit.
FAMILY
Had a good time the last few weekends with the kids. The weekend before, I took out their little electricity powered Hummer my Father-in-law got them (click HERE to see what happened the last time) and they rode around the housing complex. It was very funny to see them driving around in that car so I took video of them. They ended their drive by the playground, got out, and played for an hour or so. They had a great time.
Last weekend I took them to the playground again and on the way back, I told Munchkin that, if the weather was nice the next day, we could go swimming at the pool. The next day (Palm Sunday) was a very hot sunny day and Alesha, Munchkin, Dante and I went swimming. Munchkin was very excited. Unfortunately the pool water was freezing. It was so cold that no matter what we did, our bodies couldn’t get used to it. We ended up spending the whole time in the jacuzzi. THAT water was boiling hot, but we were at least able to get used to it. Dante loved the water. He couldn’t get enough swimming. Munchkin, is usually afraid of the water but she became very brave this time around and walked around in the jacuzzi. She even asked to get picked up so we could help her “swim”, which consists of us holding her up and moving her around. This is something she hasn’t ever done before.
She even had a scary moment in the pool. She was walking around the jacuzzi, which has a step all around for sitting which is just right for her to walk on, and she took a step off it. At that moment I happen to be looking away at Dante “swimming” with his mommy. When I turned back to look at her, I saw her go under, in that very same second, I gently picked her out of the water. I didn’t make a big deal out of it. She just stared blankly not realizing what had just happened. I held her and told her it was okay and that I had her. I wiped the water from her face and carried her back to the jacuzzi steps. I thought she was going to start crying or something. She just began coughing. It was all an act. She’s a bit of a drama queen. It was obviously fake coughing. After I put her on the stairs, I waited, expecting her to leave the pool or at the very least, not leave the stairs. To my surprise, she got up, went back into the jacuzzi and began walking around again. She was a little shaken, but overall, she was okay. I’m very proud of her.
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Wednesday evening of last week, my friend Paul, came over to my desk and handed me a drawing. It was a copy of a drawing he had done of Hellboy (Dark Horse comics) filing down the horns of The Demon Atrigan (DC comics) while he struggled to get away. It was a very silly drawing. He then explained to me that the day before he and Tommy (my friend and my Assistant Director), had gone to lunch and started talking about how there are a lot of comic book characters from different companies who either looked a lot alike, where of the same archetype, or who had similar names. They thought it would be fun to draw them fighting each other in some way. They even went so far as to write up a list. The drawing he had given me was the first drawing he had thought up to do. He then asked me to join in. I thought it sounded like fun so I did.
It’s funny how the same idea can get interpreted in different ways. Tommy was taking his drawings very seriously. He wanted to have the characters he drew, fighting each other in a very dramatic fashion. Meanwhile, Paul was all about being silly. He wanted to find the humors side to the conflicts. I sided more on Paul‘s side than Tommy‘s. If I was going to join in, I wanted to find the humor in the situation.
Little did I know how much I was going to get into doing the drawings. Something about the “assignment” really sparked my imagination. During my initial conversation with Paul, and after I had seen the list, I had noticed after looking at the 67 couples they had thought up, they were missing Superman (DC Comics) vs The Sentry (Marvel Comics), which I thought would have been an obvious one. Paul told me I should probably draw that one. I spent the rest of the day thinking about how to draw them. In fact, I spent the rest of the day trying to come up with ways to draw many of the characters I had seen on the list. I ended up coming up with quite a few ideas and by the time I got to work the next day, I couldn’t wait to start drawing some of them.
For the rest of the next two days, whenever I had a break or some time (like during lunch), I would spend that time drawing something up. I quickly found myself at once enjoying the process and getting frustrated at how limited my drawing abilities where. My first drawing was the most painful, mostly because I was trying to get the hang of drawing in a completely different style than I’m used to. Also, I need to come up with the shorthand I needed to be able to produce a drawing in a “comic book style” quickly. When I was finally done with the first drawing, I was a bit disappointed with myself. Mostly because, (1) it didn’t come out the way I wanted it to and (2) it felt a bit stiff. I had intended to make the drawing a bit more exaggerated and cartoony but somewhere along the way, is went a bit too far in the other direction. What I ended up with is a weird drawing that is not quite cartoony and not quite realistic, and for some strange reason, The Sentry’s proportions don’t look quite right. Also, the hands I drew are a bit wonky. You can always tell the quality of an artist’s draftsmanship by how well they draw heads, hands and feet. These are the most difficult part of the body to master. In the end, the result was a drawing that I was not too happy with, but it was a drawing that helped me gauge where I was at artistically and where I wanted to take the next drawing.
I was much happier with the next drawing. Not only do I think it works much better, not only did I draw what I intended, but I also drew it in a shorter amount of time AND I learned a lot drawing it. Suddenly, all I wanted to do was draw this stuff all day. I didn’t want to go back to doing my work (although I did). I haven’t had this much fun drawing in a long time. I’m most likely going to be putting these drawings up on the blog for the next couple of weeks. And if you notice that I’m not writing as much, it’s probably because I’m spending more of my time drawing the silly superhero drawings than writing on the blog. I’m actually in the mood to draw again. That’s just amazing to me. I better ride this wave while I can. I don’t know how long it’s going to last and I’m learning and improving more with every drawing I do.
So here are some of the drawings we did this week:
My first lousy drawing was Superman (DC Comics) versus The Sentry (Marvel Comics). They have to fight because they are practically the same character. Even down to the fact that they get their power from the sun.
My second drawing that day and the one I was a lot more happy with, was The Question (DC comics) versus Rorschach (…er…DC comics. Okay so this is a cheat but at least they are from different comic books universes). They have to fight because they are pretty much the same character as well.
Okay, that’s enough out of me, I gotta draw.
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I feel like I’m not getting enough work done. I’m working like crazy but it feels like I’m not getting anything done. I don’t know why that is. Maybe it’s because the scenes I’m doing are complicated or maybe it’s because half the stuff I’m doing is on the computer and the other half is on paper. There is also the fact that some of the scenes I’m working on need to be printed out on paper so that I can work on them; only it’s a big pain to do so and I end up spending a lot of time printing the stuff out and trying to get the size of the artwork to work the way I want.
Been staying late the last few days to make up the hours I didn’t work last Friday. More on that below.
FAMILY
Last Thursday, Alesha stayed home with Munchkin because she came down with some sort of stomach flu. Munchkin spent the whole day laying down, taking in liquids, watching cartoons, and going to the poddy. She seemed to be doing better by the end of the day so Friday morning we woke her and Dante up to go to daycare. I gave her morning sippy cup of Pediasure (doctor prescribed) and we left the house. Five minutes letter, we heard a gooshy splat sound coming from the back seat. Alesha said, “Oh no.” We both turned around only to see that Munchkin had vomited her Pediasure all over herself. As we stared, she then proceeded to projectile vomit the rest of it all over the back seat of the car. Needless to say, we turned the car around and I told Alesha I was going to stay home with Munchkin this time.
After rushing to clean up the back of the car, Alesha was on her way. Meanwhile I got Munchkin comfortable, and put the blankets and coats she had puked on (that where in the back seat and protected the car from the puke) in the washing machine. Munchkin, once again, spent the day laying down, taking in liquids and watching cartoons, although she DID sleep for a veeerrry long time at midday.
By Saturday, she was definitely better. The day before, she could hardly get up. Saturday, she was walking around happily. Alesha and I had a lot to do during the weekend so we asked my mom if she would mind taking care of the kids for the day. She told us she would love to. Alesha went over to Munchkin and asked:
So off we went. I ran errands all day while the kids had a blast with my mom. It was a very eventful couple of days.
CATHOLICISM
One of the errands I need to do this Saturday was to go to Confession. It had been about four months and I really needed it. The church I went to had some fairly long lines. I hate that. I’m always afraid that I won’t get a turn. On the other hand, long lines are a good thing. It means people care enough, and know enough to go and take advantage of the Sacrament of Confession; which I always see as a reflection of the spiritual health of the parish. Still, I don’t like the long lines.
The most interesting part about Confession this time around was my penance. The priest told me to take out my Bible, open it up to Psalm 51, read it to myself at first, then read it out loud and pray it to God. He told me, praying the Psalms out loud was a very Jewish way of praying them. I don’t know if that’s true but I did as I was asked, and I must say, it’s a very moving way to pray a Psalm. Not only that, but Psalm 51 is an amazingly appropriate Psalm to pray as penace. Though I didn’t know it before I read it, I didn’t realize I was already familiar with it (or at least parts of it). The Psalm is one of the Psalms, always read in the Liturgy of the Hours. It was one of those, “Ah ha! So that’s where it’s from” moments for me. I might read that Psalm from now on after Confession, even if I’m not asked to.
SOME THOUGHTS
Been sending e-mails back and forth with my friend Raul (see the bottom of last weeks post). He’s been sending me copies of the pitchbibles of the shows he’s been pitching around the animation studios. I must say, I’m very impressed with them. Not only with the fun ideas he has, but the amount of work he puts into them. Everyone of his pitchbibles has the outline of a complete episode plus a few quick hooks for other episodes. They also have drawings of the main characters and a history of each.
This has got me thinking, what have I done that is anywhere near as complete as those? NOTHING! I have a ton of ideas of my own. I keep a book near my bed where both Alesha and I have written out germs of ideas or even written out slightly more fleshed out concepts. For some ideas, I have small doodles, for some I have tried designing the characters; others, I have even gone so far as to try to write the outline, but none of those ideas have been done to completion. Even the ones I have done the outlines for I have had to re-edit some story flaws, only to find myself get stuck somehow on how to fix them and they end up being left incomplete. I mean, wasn’t I suppose to be working on a webcomic. Well, where the heck is it?
Seeing Raul‘s out put is very inspiring. It’s made me want to come up with even more ideas of my own. Not necessarily to sell as kids cartoons like he’s doing, but just fun ideas for stories that I think would be cool to write. In fact, on the way home on Tuesday, I came up with four that I haven’t seen anyone do before (I googled them and they don’t exist). I immediately wrote them down in my “idea book” when I got home, but will they go anywhere?
Also, I’ve been thinking of maybe doing some freelance drawings for some role playing game magazines as well. Just to do something different. But in order to do that, I would need to draw something in the style of what they’re looking for as a portfolio piece. I’ve been meaning to get to that, but I haven’t done it. Why? Why is it, that when I get home, the last thing I want to do is draw? I just want to relax. I don’t want to keep working. Not only that but I when I have any free time where I can actually do something creative, I don’t. It seems like, I like the idea of drawing and writing all these creative things, but I don’t actually like doing them. Yet I get all excited about them when I think about them and I can’t wait to get started on them. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I have to somehow find a way to discipline myself into completing SOMETHING or I’ll spend the rest of my life wishing I had.
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Another slow week at the show. Which is great. Better than a hectic stressful, frustrating week. This weeks big news has little to do with the show and a little bit more to do with one of my fellow co-workers. He recently went on voluntary hiatus in order to go into surgery yesterday for something he has to take care of. If all goes well, he’ll be in a loooot of pain but he will be in bed recovering for four weeks and hopefully he’ll be fixed. Please pray for him and a fast recovery.
FAMILY
So we FINALLY got a chance to go meet my new nephew Paolo. Took us long enough. He’s sooo little. You forget how small new borns are. He seemed like a quiet, calm, little baby. Alesha held him and she was LOVING it. We got to see a slide show of pictures that documented when he was born, as well as the days since. It was really nice. He’s got so much hair on his head. I couldn’t believe it. Munchkin and Dante were bald for so long when they were smaller. Paolo has more hair than Dante has now. I was very impressed. Deborah (my sister-in-law) looks great and seems very happy. I’m very glad everything is going so well with them.
It’s very strange for Alesha and I to have “the big kids”. Our kids aren’t “the babies” anymore. Seeing my nephew and pictures of my niece, really opens our eyes to the position that our kids hold in the family now. It’s difficult to see Dante as being a role-model of any kind though.
Hurray for little Paolo!
FAMILY
Okay, so that whole superhero cartoon thing didn’t last more than a week with Munchkin. Not after she discovered I had a collection of old Mickey Mouse cartoons on DVD. The cartoons are so old, that Mickey still has dots for eyes. She loved them. She wanted to watch them anytime she could. If she was at home, she asked me to put them on. It was a non stop Mickey marathon. Thankfully, I think she finally got sick of them because lately, she hasn’t asked to see them.
On the other hand, I have to say that I’m glad she asked to watch those cartoons. I’ve had that DVDs for years and never put them on and watched them. Those are some really great cartoons. I’m more an old Warner Brothers cartoon fan, they appeal to me more and I think they are funnier, but those old Mickey cartoons, though not as funny, are very entertaining and are animated beautifully. Thanks for making me aware of them Munchkin.
WEBSITES
Speaking of Disney cartoons, my friend Raul Aguirre, ex-Disney animator, Character designer, storyboard artist, and animated show director extraordinaire has put up a website showing off his awesome artwork. Check it out. It has the animated cartoon he co-created, co-executive produced, Wrote, Directed, Storyboarded, Slugged, voice directed, and voice acted in, for Nickelodeon. Free entertainment. Who can pass that up.
Well, not much to report for this week. Just working on finishing up the show on paper. It’s good to be back drawing on paper but I miss the ability to time my own scene and look at how it will work with the dialogue. Still, it’s fine. I’m having fun. Hope this job lasts a bit longer ’cause I don’t want to be laid off anytime soon.
FAMILY
Dante has started walking now. He’s very proud of himself. On Monday, he mostly did it between spaces that he could see a definite end point. Such as, from the couch to the living room table, or from the living room table to one of us. If he would take a few steps and see everything he might be able to walk to was more than ten steps away, he immediately would go back on his hands and knees and begins to crawl.
By mid week, he was confidently walking toward nothing, then he would look around, stop and walk in another direction. He would then crawl if he lost his balance. It’s great to see him get more and more confident. It’s also darn funny to watch him walk too. I’m sure by Friday of next week, he won’t be crawling at all.
FAMILY
Munchkin has gotten into wanting to watch Superman and Justice League Cartoons. I don’t know why. She suddenly decided she wanted to watch them. She went over to the DVD shelf, pointed to the Superman and Justice League cartoons, looked up at me an said, “Supaman, Supaman?”
I think her favorite heroes so far are Superman and Batman. She likes Superman because he can fly and Batman because…well…I have no idea why she likes Batman. Maybe because she’s played with a Batman action figure before. I’m not exactly sure what she finds so entertaining about the cartoons either. This weekend she watched two seasons worth of Superman Cartoons and one DVD worth of Justice League cartoons. By “watched”, I mean, she had them playing in the background while she played with her toys. She would occasionally look up and watch for about five minutes before going back and playing. Although, when she grew tired of playing with me or her toys, she would sit down and watch an entire episode. Even though she wasn’t watching them all the time, the moment one of the DVDs ended, she insisted on putting on another.
The cartoons are not anywhere near the kind of thing she’s used to watching. They are very action oriented cartoons. Lots of superhero fights in them. Lots of life or death situations with many things at stake and very serious themes. Very complicated stories that would just go ever her head. I think she has gotten used to watching action oriented cartoons from watching Disney cartoons like, Tarzan, Treasure Planet and Lilo & Stitch. Little by little, she’s learning the names of all the Superheroes in the show. She now knows that Hawkgirl’s name is Hawkgirl. Although, every hero that talks with a gruff voice, she insists on calling Batman. I find it funny and strange, yet I can’t help but feel a bit proud of her for being such a geek. That’s my daughter.
COMIC BOOKS
Speaking of Superheroes, I was thinking of maybe buying Munchkin some Superhero comics because she likes the cartoons so much. Lucky for me, both DC and Marvel have started coming out with kids comics.
Now you maybe saying to yourself, “Hey Luis, aren’t ALL comic books for kids? DC and Marvel ONLY do kids comics”. To which I would reply, “You haven’t read any modern comic, have you?” By no means are modern comic for kids. In fact, if most comic would be given a movie rating, they would mostly be PG13 and up. Comics are full of sex and violence, and in many of them, the superheroes are about as immoral as the villains they fight. There are very few comics that I would say are “kid appropriate” and even those would be dealing with themes that would go over a little kid’s head.
DC and Marvel have come to realize that they no longer have comics that would appeal to young readers (and therefore are not getting new readers), which is the reason why they have developed a line of comics especially for them. This is great news for me, since now I have some comics I could get my kids. So I was thinking maybe I’d get her a Superfriends comic and see how it goes. Maybe I’ll take her to the comic shop next week and pick one up.
Guess I’m raising a geek.
MOVIES
(The following, is a spoiler free review of the Watchmen movie)
Alesha really wanted to go watch Watchmen last weekend, so we did. I didn’t own the Watchmen comic until a few weeks ago. I had read Watchmen in high school when a friend of mine had lent me his copy. I remembered the book, so I knew what it was all about. At the time I read it though, I didn’t really truly “get it”. The book is very deep and brings up a lot of philosophical questions about human nature and the problem of evil. It’s also one of those comics I was talking about above that are in no way meant to be read by kids. It’s a very “Adult” book.
Alesha wanted to see it because she had heard so much about the comic. Which in turn, made her bug me to go buy the comic so she could read it, which she did, after I bought it. She enjoyed the book and then got even more excited about going to see the movie. I began re-reading the comic myself but only got half way through the 200 or so pages before we went to see the movie. As of the time of this writing, I’m still making my way through the rest of it. Taking my time, in order to “soak it in”.
So what do I think about the movie? Well, I thought it was an incredibly faithful rendition of this epic comic book. I’ve read many reviews of the movie that say, they didn’t like the protagonists. They where all unlikeable. Well, that’s because the protagonist in the book where not very likable either. In fact, the protagonist in the movie where far more likable than their book counterparts. Watchmen is not a movie about good, superheroes. It’s a movie about messed up superheroes that are really screwed up in the head. Many people hate what they call the “juvenile view on humanity” the movie has. I saw one person say it was a “hippie movie”. I think it’s great that it pushes people’s buttons. That’s why the book is so interesting to begin with. I also read a review of a guy who took his son to go see it. He left the theater very upset and even told the theater owner that he should be ashamed at playing the movie. Which I think is ridiculous. The movie is rated R for a reason. Why blame the theater owner? It was the father’s responsibility to find out what the movie was about before taking his son to go see it. Especially if it’s rated R. He shouldn’t blame anyone else. I think he thought it would be okay to watch because it was a “superhero movie”. Well, wake up. Comics aren’t for kids anymore dude. Watchmen (which was written in 1985) was one of the comics that where responsible for making the comic medium grow up.
Do I agree with the world view the book and movie puts forth? Not completely, but I will say that part of the view point put forth, is no different than what Blaise Pascal puts forth in his book Pensées. Of course, Pascal‘s solution to the problems is much different and much wiser than it is in Watchmen. The solution to the problem put forth in the movie is quite evil and would be, at best, temporary. I think that perhaps most people just don’t want to be told that there is a problem at all, or at least, be reminded there is.
So what’s the movie about? It’s a murder mystery. In an alternate 1985, where Nixon is president and America won the Vietnam war (thanks to one of the superheroes in the movie), someone has killed a superhero (the Comedian) and another hero (named Rorschach) is trying to figure out why.
There is a lot to this movie and I recommend it. BUT it’s by no means perfect. If I have one real complaint about the movie it’s that the violence and sex in the movie is gratuitous. The comic was pretty violent, so I expected to see the atrocities in the book, but I didn’t expect them to be enhanced. Nor did I expect them to add more violence when there was no need to. The stuff in the book was bad enough without adding more. Also, the book had sex in it but the movie seemed to relish in making the sex scenes go on forever. Both these things where unnecessary and just plain took you out of the movie.
Oh, and one more thing…having read the book, I expected this, but if you haven’t, this might take you aback. There is a character in the book named Dr. Manhattan, who is a super being. He stopped being human a long time ago and therefore no longer feels shame, or embarrassment, nor does he feel heat or cold. This means that, whenever he’s not out in public, he’s naked and, just like in the comic, he is shown in “all his glory”. Most people I talked to at work said that the audience they saw the movie with, didn’t react at all to this, but the audience I saw the movie with, had some giggling girls/women in it and I heard a friend of mine say he heard some guys giggle in his theater.
You’ve been warned. Remember, this movie is rated R. You want to know what you’re getting into before watch the movie? Read the comic.
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OH NO! I’m so sorry everyone. I blew it. I didn’t know that the show everyone helped out on, came on last weekend.
Lucky for us, you can watch the show from the Fox site or on Hulu, in case you missed it. The part you guys will be looking for, starts about a minute into the show after the credits. It turned out really good. In the end, there were so many suggestions (from inside and outside the studio) that not all could be included. Hopefully you will get to see yours.
(EDIT: Do to the fact that some people aren’t able to watch the show from the above sources, I’m putting in this really shaky version of the show. It isn’t the greatest but it shows the clips. They start at 3:35.)
If you’re looking this show, it’s called: How the test was won.
RANDOM THING
I IMDBed myself earlier this week. I was listening to a podcast where they were conducting an interview with an actor and they asked him is he was on IMDB. This got me wondering is I was on IMDB; so I went to the site and typed out my name. There were a few Luis Escobar’s and, at first, I couldn’t find myself, but sure enough, there I was. It was really very odd. Someone somewhere has bothered to take note of what I’ve worked on and has put it in the database. That’s just so strange to me. The site says I’ve worked on only 13 shows during my 16 years on the show. That doesn’t seem right. Especially since I work on at least two shows a season and I help out on a show or two in between shows. A bit inaccurate I would say, but at least you can see some of the shows I’ve worked on.
Anyway, it was really odd to find myself on the site.
CATHOLICISM
(Haven’t written about this subject in a while.)
It’s Lent. I’m hoping to have a “better” Lent than I had last year. Last year, I don’t remember what I did, but it sure didn’t feel like Lent and I don’t think I got anything out of it. A few Lents ago, I would get into this things where I would fast really hard during Lent. I would eat very little and it would really be painful. I wouldn’t even give up my fast on Sundays (though I would ease up on it a bit). I was often told by my family that I was being a bit too hard on myself. On the one hand, doing this really made you feel like it was Lent. It felt like was really going through something and I did a lot of praying to get through it; not only that, but when Easter came, it was the greatest thing ever and you really felt it. On the other hand, I was sooo angry and grouchy all the time because I was so hungry all the time. I would snap at people and I was generally in a lousy mood; which is, of course, not the point of the thing. Also, the last Lent I fasted this way, it felt really routine. I wasn’t getting much out of it but a slight discomfort. It didn’t really help me pray much and it was kinda, like I said, routine. The next year I didn’t do it and tried something else that failed miserably.
This year, I’m doing something a little more spiritually positive. For my alms giving this year, I’ll be giving some money to some charities as well as some to SQPN. Since I try to pray a Rosary everyday as well as use the Praystation Portable Podcast to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, I thought for my prayer time, I’d read a book. I thought I’d try to finish reading the book Christianity for Modern Pagans, by Peter Kreeft. It’s an annotated version of Blaise Pascal‘s Pensées which Kreeft edited, outlined and explains. Blaise Pascal is awesome and Kreeft commentary is just fantastic. It’s a fun, deep, meaningful read that leaves me thinking for hours. Usually after I’ve stop reading, I feel as if I’ve just come out of deep meditative prayer.
Last but not least, for my fasting/abstinence Lent thing, I’m going to abstain from playing any video games. I thought I should maybe abstain from playing board games but that would be like saying I would abstain from vacations during Lent. In the same way that I don’t go on vacations all the time and therefore It wouldn’t be that big a deal to abstain from vacations, I don’t play board games enough for it to be worth my time. On the other hand, I play my Gameboy DS everyday. It’s really the only way I get any board gaming in. I own three games on my DS that are digital board games: (1)Club House Games (which has 20 traditional board games playable on it), (2) a Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2008 card game video game (which I love and I will write about some other time) (3) Yu-Gi-Oh! DungeonDice Monsters video game (which is merely okay but interesting. It’s the video game version of a failed dice game Konami put out in 1994.) and I have two games that are not board game video games but play like board games: (1) Advance Wars and (2) Civilizations Revolution. I play these games a lot and I never go anywhere without a Gameboy in my pocket, ready to come out whenever I have a bit of free time to play for a few minutes, until now; and boy do I feel naked. Also, since I’ve given up video games, this means no PS2 or Xbox either, so I can’t play some of the board game-ish games that I own on them either (Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Culdcept…etc). I must say, it hurts quite a bit more than I thought it would. I didn’t really think it would effect me that way it has; which is exactly what I wanted. Now I’m really looking forward to Easter. I understand that, I really should be looking forward to Easter for the REAL reason Easter is important, namely, the resurrection, and the Salvation of the world, but the abstinence thing, really makes it a little more emotionally tangible and a little less abstract for me. I suppose that’s the whole point of this spiritual exercise.
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While I was waiting to get back on Lance’s show, I was put on one of the retake crews. Retakes is a crew of people who fix anything that needs to be fixed once a show comes back from Korea in it’s final colorized form. Sometimes there are mistakes in the shots that weren’t caught, while other times the writers rewrite gags that they don’t like.
Being on retakes is a very different experience than doing anything else. It really requires you to be a Jack-of-all-trades. I was mostly doing redesigns of backgrounds, signs and props. But I also did layout. The job got really stressful Monday because there was a screening of the rough color for the writers the next day and we weren’t told until mid-day. I had carpooled to work with my wife, so I couldn’t stay late to finish what I had. This meant I HAD to finish everything before I left, and the designs I had to draw where very time consuming. Worst of all, it isn’t something I’m used to doing so I was teaching myself as I went. I’m personally not happy with what I did but I couldn’t help it under the conditions I was in.
I tried to make up for it the next day by doing the best job I could with the Layout I was given to do.
FAMILY
Last Friday was my birthday. I’m 34 now. I spent it like I do just about every Friday, working. Andy came over that night also. We hadn’t had a game night in two weeks. We played a few rounds of Magic: The Gathering and then we played Dreamblade. I had a good time, even though I lost every game of Dreamblade we played. I DID win two of the three games of Magic though.
Saturday was the day that we chose to celebrate my birthday. Alesha left to do some errands and took Muchkin with her. I was left alone with Dante and we had a great time together. We went game shopping together and it was fun. I let him crawl around the board game store. He would go over to a game and I’d tell him not to touch it and he’d stop. Then he would move on to another and the same thing would happen. He quickly got bored when he realized I wasn’t going to let to touch anything, so he asked me to hold him again. After that, he kept telling ME not to touch things. I would pick out a game and look at it and he’d say:
I finally got around to buying Cosmic Encounter. As of the time of this writing, I have yet to play it. It plays from 3-5 players, which means that I really need a small group in order to try it out.
The other games I was considering where:
Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization – Which was $60.00. That’s the cheapest I’d seen it at a retail store. This is a civilization building game that plays like Civilization Revolution, only as a multiplayer board game that lasts two hour. I was sooo tempted. The only reason I didn’t get it was because I wasn’t sure if anyone would play it with me. I might get it still.
Ca$h and Gun$ – Which is a great silly party game. First time I’d seen it in a store in a long time. Very hard to find. The reason I didn’t get that game was because, I’m in a Magic: The Gathering kick right now and Cosmic Encounter plays a bit more like Magic than Ca$h and Gun$ .
A Game of Thrones LCG. – Plays like multiplayer Magic: The Gathering and it’s based on one of my favorite fantasy book series (soon to be an HBO TV show). Only reason I didn’t get it was because it wasn’t there.
Around 4pm, we went over to my cousin Carolina’s house were they had so graciously offered to cook some carne asada for my birthday. We had a really good time there. The carne asada turned out soooo good (makes my mouth water just thinking about it). Munchkin had a blast. She and her cousin Eduardito (who is the same age) played, played, fought, cried and played. It was really entertaining to watch them. Dante was a bit beat from our day together. He went to sleep soon after dinner. I had a really good time.
Thank you Eduardo and Carolina! Love ya!
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Just found your page about Italy! Loved it! Lived in Italy a couple of years; just doing a YouTube video about how to get to the Sistine Chapel. Your sketches brought back so many memories (especially the “Metro at Rush Hour” type).
Dear Luis,
Very interesting and thoughtful blog. If you are interested in Catholicism and boardgames you might appreciate “Vatican” the boardgame I designed. It has been selling worldwide and we have gotten very favorable comments
Sincerely,
Stephen Haliczer Ph.D.
Distinguished Research Professor
Product Designer
The College of DuPage Press
Hey! I’ve been trying to call you for a couple weeks! I should have checked your blog sooner. I thought you might have had the baby by now! Congrats! Call me ya bum. My number…unlike yours… is the same xxx-xxx-xxxx.
im doing a piece of it coursework and wondered if i could put your
“computer stoopid” picture on it.
I would acknowledge where it came from beneath it and in the bibliography.
If the answer is yes then could you tell me the artists name too?
thanks. keith.
I just came upon your Nephilim skeleton debunking image….very interesting.
I wish we could have met at Comic Con to discuss certain issues. Nothing that
I would want to discuss openly here.
If you want to discuss something privately, you could always e-mail me. The address is up there under the “Hi, Welcome!” about the top commentators. It’s luis(at)luisescobarblog(dot)com.
Can you give me permission to use one of your illustrations for a tee shirt. I really want to wear “there must be some way to plug this keyboard into this game” – It’s how I see the world.. and you explained everything I want to tell the world in that one illustrzt8ion.
Gina
Yes, Gina. You can make it into a shirt for yourself off of that cartoon. I’m flattered.
I’ve been thinking about making shirts off of my little cartoons but I’m not sure which ones to do. Outside of an occasional cartoon that really hits home for someone, I’m not sure if they would sell.
Hi Luis,
My name is Phil and I came across your site while looking up information about animation and voice-over work. I’m a huge fan of the Simpsons & Futurama and a big Billy West fan (Ren&Stimpy, Futurama, Ect.). It is truly amazing to me how so many individuals come together to create these animated cartoons and the quality of the end product. I’m curious from your perspective how much work you have to re-do sometimes because of the networks and the way they censor some of the work that is being done. Best of luck to you in your projects. – Phil
You’d be surprised Phil. The biggest censors of the show are the writers themselves. They often pull back a joke they think is going too far. Sometimes, some of the jokes are funny too. It’s the artists that end up complaining about it. For example, there was a joke in one of the Halloween shows that all the artists thought was really funny. It was the show where Homer goes back in time on his toaster. In one of the futures he comes back too, he finds himself married to Patty and Selma. He discovers this when they show up waring lingerie. They looked really nasty, with their flab and hairy legs. When we saw it, everyone roared with horrified laughter. It was crazy. For some reason, during the re-write, they cut the gag because they thought it was too much. It was very disappointing. They didn’t even put the scene as an extra on the DVD.
It does. Thanks for the reply Luis. That gag actually would have been hilarious! Too bad it didn’t make it. I wonder if some unnecessary second guessing happens though because the writers feel they may be going over the top? (If that’s possible.) I know there is that fine line that writers and creators have to walk probably not only with the content of the show that’s created but with the networks as well. At least from what I understand in reading interviews and seeing convention interviews. Storyboards I think really help to set the tone of an episode and I bet it probably helps to justify many of the ideas that get spun out during the writing sessions of the writers. You all do great work on the show and I’m going to continue reading through your website. Thanks! – Phil
Hello there. I was researching nephilim for a report and I foung your blog. Its too bad those pics were all frauds. If they had been real, it would have been amazing.
After I read your stuff on the pictures I hung around a little, and read your “about me section”.
I am merely curious, so if I overstep a boundary, please feel free to tell me so.
I was wondering, sir, since you state that you are in fact a roman catholic, weather or not you believed in the deity of Jesus Christ?
I myself am a Christian, but I research other religions and alternate sects of my own. You could say its a hobby. In any case, if you find my inquiry impolite, I am sorry. I mean no offense.
Heh, no Christine, your question isn’t impolite. It’s good of you to ask. Too often people just assume things about Catholicism without asking.
The simple answer to your question is, “Yes”. Catholicism, teaches that Jesus Christ is God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
The slightly more involved answer is as follows: The Catechism of the Catholic Church (the official book that explains all that the Catholic Church teaches) in paragraphs 446-451 ( http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1H.HTM ) states the following:
446 In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH, by which God revealed himself to Moses,59 is rendered as Kyrios, “Lord”. From then on, “Lord” becomes the more usual name by which to indicate the divinity of Israel’s God. the New Testament uses this full sense of the title “Lord” both for the Father and – what is new – for Jesus, who is thereby recognized as God Himself.60
447 Jesus ascribes this title to himself in a veiled way when he disputes with the Pharisees about the meaning of Psalm 110, but also in an explicit way when he addresses his apostles.61 Throughout his public life, he demonstrated his divine sovereignty by works of power over nature, illnesses, demons, death and sin.
448 Very often in the Gospels people address Jesus as “Lord”. This title testifies to the respect and trust of those who approach him for help and healing.62 At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, “Lord” expresses the recognition of the divine mystery of Jesus.63 In the encounter with the risen Jesus, this title becomes adoration: “My Lord and my God!” It thus takes on a connotation of love and affection that remains proper to the Christian tradition: “It is the Lord!”64
449 By attributing to Jesus the divine title “Lord”, the first confessions of the Church’s faith affirm from the beginning that the power, honour and glory due to God the Father are due also to Jesus, because “he was in the form of God”,65 and the Father manifested the sovereignty of Jesus by raising him from the dead and exalting him into his glory.66
450 From the beginning of Christian history, the assertion of Christ’s lordship over the world and over history has implicitly recognized that man should not submit his personal freedom in an absolute manner to any earthly power, but only to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Caesar is not “the Lord”.67 “The Church. . . believes that the key, the centre and the purpose of the whole of man’s history is to be found in its Lord and Master.”68
451 Christian prayer is characterized by the title “Lord”, whether in the invitation to prayer (“The Lord be with you”), its conclusion (“through Christ our Lord”) or the exclamation full of trust and hope: Maranatha (“Our Lord, come!”) or Maranatha (“Come, Lord!”) – “Amen Come Lord Jesus!”69
Luis – my name is Luis Escobar – every now and then I Google my name just to see what pops up. Well – I often come across you. No doubt – you have discovered me too. Anyway – sure there a ton of our Luis Escobar’s out there but I thought that I would just say hello and let you know that you have a cool name. BTW – I am the third Luis in four! Grandpa, Father, me and my son. Louie’s all around!
wow – that was fast – I am a photographer, distance runner and high school cross country coach. I live in Santa Maria California. Married with three kids. Your work is great. You are very skilled. I will take some time and learn a little more about you and your work. Very cool. Well – I am off to a work with one of my running students. I will look forward to talking with you a little more in the future. Luis
Howdee Luis, if you are a real Christian then i would suggest you to do some research on your big boss (Matt Groening being a 33rd degree mason).
Loads of subliminal messages in the Simpsons, and occult symbolism.
(Even 9-11 was announced).
Greetings…. (Peace be upon you)
I would like to present to you all the sciences related to cosmogony together with its rules as per its identity which is something not similar to any of the other things and is out of any and assimilation according to the following point of view:
1. The theories of on cosmogony lack the fundamentals of the origin of things as they are mainly based on incidence and on the unseen.
2. The cosmic extension that has been taking place is the result of the range of vision through using the telescope and any other instruments because the thing being seen is determined by vision and this is one of the universe laws.
3. Knowing the within secrets of man will uncover secrets of the universe as the apparent entities of existence are of six kinds: the perspective (what is being seen), the tangible world (what can be touched and felt), what can be weighed, what can be heard, things that have flavor and things that have smell. These, in most cases, are overlapping and are counted six in number.
The origin of all entities are bare pictures of materials, void of force and readiness; it shines in debate and is complete when read. The investigation of scientists is restricted to this reading (capability and liability) where the material is with all its atoms, energy and speed and this alone is useless compared with its radiance.
The first cosmic law is that nothing can be determined unless established with what is contrary to it. And things are sometimes concrete and sometimes abstract and both are the same according to law.
The origin of radiance is the brain and by saying this I do not mean perception but the simple core of it. By formulating this equation the truth becomes uncovered.
The subject is highly complicated and can only be clarified by word of mouth or by arguments.
So, what do you have to present. (show)
بعد التحية :-
أود أن أعرض عليكم جميع علوم نشأة مفردات الكون وقوانينه وفق ذاتيته التي هي شئ ليس كباقي الأشياء خارجه عن حد التعطيل والتشبيه حسب النظرة التالية :-
1/ أن نظريات نشأة الكون تفتقد لأصول نشأة الأشياء وتحيل على ألصدفه أو الغيب .وكذلك استغراق البحث في الأفاق لم يأتي بغايته إلا بقدر ربطه بالوعي الإنساني.
2/ التوسع الكوني الحاصل هو نتيجة المد البصري من خلال التلسكوب وغيره لأن المنظور أليه يثبت بالبصر وهذا أحد قوانين الكون
3/ معرفة أسرار بطون الإنسان تكشف أسرار الكون حيث أن مفردات الوجود الظاهر على ستة أنواع (المنظور أليها ). (الملموسة). (الموزونة). (المسموعة). (ذات طعم). (ذات رائحة). وتكون في أغلب الأحيان متداخلة .وأصل الأشياء كلها صور عارية عن المواد . خاليه من القوه والاستعداد . بمناظرتها تشرق وبمطالعتها تتم . وبحث العلماء ينحصر في هذه المطالعة (القوه والاستعداد) حيث المادة ودقائقها وطاقتها وسرعتها وهذا وحده لا جدوى منه بقدر إشراقها . . وأصل الإشراق هو العقل ولا أقصد به الإدراك أنما هو )جوهر بسيط درأك محيط) وبتكوين هذه المعادلة تنكشف الحقيقة .
الموضوع غاية بالتعقيد يوضح بالمشافهة والجدل فما هو عرضكم ؟
توضيح:-
* أود أن أبين بأن وسائط الإدراك هي الحواس ألخمسه + تحسس الوزن.
* إما أحوال الإدراك ( تصوراته أي المعاني التي يلبسها ) فهي ستة أيضا ثلاثة وخلافها :-
1/ الحياة والموجود ولها صور فمثلا صورة الحياة هي الماء.
2/ الحركة والسكون ولها صور فمثلا صورة الحركة هي الهواء.
3/ الانفعال والسكينة ولها صور فمثلا صورة الانفعال هي النار.
* إما مراتب نفس الإدراك إي نفس ألصوره فهي خمسه:-
1)الجماد 2) النبات 3) الحيوان 4) الملكوت 5) الإنسان وصور ذلك كثيرة.
*** وكل هذه الصور تندرج ضمن تصورات الإدراك .منها ظاهره ومنها كامنة إي لم تظهر لحد الآن . والتوسع الكوني الحاصل هو ظهور لبعض هذه الصور الكامنة.
*وأروع إبداعات الإدراك هو العقل (جوهر بسيط درأك محيط ) ولكل واحده تفصيلاتها الوظيفية.
ووظيفة العقل هي ربط كل الصور المذكورة أعلاه بعوالمها الحسيه ألسبعه. وعالمنا هو العالم السابع وفق نمطيته الحسيه. وتجري آثار العقل على كل الصور الكونية فتصبح محسوسة وفق قوتها واستعدادها التصوري.
قد لا يفهم الموضوع بشكل جيد كونه لم يطرق بتاتا
I’m doing some onsite interviews at Mystic Dragon’s Festival of Books. Would you have time to talk with me about your work and “The Art of Draw Fu”? at 4 pm on August 15th? Please let me know (and your “Black Terror Kid” comics, along with your comic about your trip to Rome, are really fun!).
Luise,
That is a great illustration of the Podcast Expo. Sorry you did not make it to the Mass.
God bless,
Fr. Jay
Just found your page about Italy! Loved it! Lived in Italy a couple of years; just doing a YouTube video about how to get to the Sistine Chapel. Your sketches brought back so many memories (especially the “Metro at Rush Hour” type).
Dear Luis,
Very interesting and thoughtful blog. If you are interested in Catholicism and boardgames you might appreciate “Vatican” the boardgame I designed. It has been selling worldwide and we have gotten very favorable comments
Sincerely,
Stephen Haliczer Ph.D.
Distinguished Research Professor
Product Designer
The College of DuPage Press
Hey! I’ve been trying to call you for a couple weeks! I should have checked your blog sooner. I thought you might have had the baby by now! Congrats! Call me ya bum. My number…unlike yours… is the same xxx-xxx-xxxx.
im doing a piece of it coursework and wondered if i could put your
“computer stoopid” picture on it.
I would acknowledge where it came from beneath it and in the bibliography.
If the answer is yes then could you tell me the artists name too?
thanks. keith.
Sure, absolutely, go right ahead. Thanks for asking.
Hi Luise,
I just came upon your Nephilim skeleton debunking image….very interesting.
I wish we could have met at Comic Con to discuss certain issues. Nothing that
I would want to discuss openly here.
Hope to hear from you,
Den
If you want to discuss something privately, you could always e-mail me. The address is up there under the “Hi, Welcome!” about the top commentators. It’s luis(at)luisescobarblog(dot)com.
Can you give me permission to use one of your illustrations for a tee shirt. I really want to wear “there must be some way to plug this keyboard into this game” – It’s how I see the world.. and you explained everything I want to tell the world in that one illustrzt8ion.
Gina
Yes, Gina. You can make it into a shirt for yourself off of that cartoon. I’m flattered.
I’ve been thinking about making shirts off of my little cartoons but I’m not sure which ones to do. Outside of an occasional cartoon that really hits home for someone, I’m not sure if they would sell.
So go right ahead Gina. Have fun.
Hi Luis,
My name is Phil and I came across your site while looking up information about animation and voice-over work. I’m a huge fan of the Simpsons & Futurama and a big Billy West fan (Ren&Stimpy, Futurama, Ect.). It is truly amazing to me how so many individuals come together to create these animated cartoons and the quality of the end product. I’m curious from your perspective how much work you have to re-do sometimes because of the networks and the way they censor some of the work that is being done. Best of luck to you in your projects. – Phil
You’d be surprised Phil. The biggest censors of the show are the writers themselves. They often pull back a joke they think is going too far. Sometimes, some of the jokes are funny too. It’s the artists that end up complaining about it. For example, there was a joke in one of the Halloween shows that all the artists thought was really funny. It was the show where Homer goes back in time on his toaster. In one of the futures he comes back too, he finds himself married to Patty and Selma. He discovers this when they show up waring lingerie. They looked really nasty, with their flab and hairy legs. When we saw it, everyone roared with horrified laughter. It was crazy. For some reason, during the re-write, they cut the gag because they thought it was too much. It was very disappointing. They didn’t even put the scene as an extra on the DVD.
Hope that answers your question.
It does. Thanks for the reply Luis. That gag actually would have been hilarious! Too bad it didn’t make it. I wonder if some unnecessary second guessing happens though because the writers feel they may be going over the top? (If that’s possible.) I know there is that fine line that writers and creators have to walk probably not only with the content of the show that’s created but with the networks as well. At least from what I understand in reading interviews and seeing convention interviews. Storyboards I think really help to set the tone of an episode and I bet it probably helps to justify many of the ideas that get spun out during the writing sessions of the writers. You all do great work on the show and I’m going to continue reading through your website. Thanks! – Phil
Hello there. I was researching nephilim for a report and I foung your blog. Its too bad those pics were all frauds. If they had been real, it would have been amazing.
After I read your stuff on the pictures I hung around a little, and read your “about me section”.
I am merely curious, so if I overstep a boundary, please feel free to tell me so.
I was wondering, sir, since you state that you are in fact a roman catholic, weather or not you believed in the deity of Jesus Christ?
I myself am a Christian, but I research other religions and alternate sects of my own. You could say its a hobby. In any case, if you find my inquiry impolite, I am sorry. I mean no offense.
Heh, no Christine, your question isn’t impolite. It’s good of you to ask. Too often people just assume things about Catholicism without asking.
The simple answer to your question is, “Yes”. Catholicism, teaches that Jesus Christ is God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
The slightly more involved answer is as follows: The Catechism of the Catholic Church (the official book that explains all that the Catholic Church teaches) in paragraphs 446-451 ( http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1H.HTM ) states the following:
Arianism was a Heresy that the Catholic Church fought against that deputed this belief around the years AD 250-336 which concluded in the Council of Nicea. For more info go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianism or http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01707c.htm .
Hope that answers your question.
thank you. most people would out-right refuse to answer that question nowadays.
May the Lord bless you, Luis!
Luis – my name is Luis Escobar – every now and then I Google my name just to see what pops up. Well – I often come across you. No doubt – you have discovered me too. Anyway – sure there a ton of our Luis Escobar’s out there but I thought that I would just say hello and let you know that you have a cool name. BTW – I am the third Luis in four! Grandpa, Father, me and my son. Louie’s all around!
HA ha! Yeah, you have a great name too.
Wow! That’s a lot of Luisesesss in your family. Pretty cool. Love your site dude. I’ll link to you.
wow – that was fast – I am a photographer, distance runner and high school cross country coach. I live in Santa Maria California. Married with three kids. Your work is great. You are very skilled. I will take some time and learn a little more about you and your work. Very cool. Well – I am off to a work with one of my running students. I will look forward to talking with you a little more in the future. Luis
Cool. Anytime.
i like simpsons, starting watch becouse my doughter like it
I write comment but strange dropdown
Howdee Luis, if you are a real Christian then i would suggest you to do some research on your big boss (Matt Groening being a 33rd degree mason).
Loads of subliminal messages in the Simpsons, and occult symbolism.
(Even 9-11 was announced).
Greetings…. (Peace be upon you)
I would like to present to you all the sciences related to cosmogony together with its rules as per its identity which is something not similar to any of the other things and is out of any and assimilation according to the following point of view:
1. The theories of on cosmogony lack the fundamentals of the origin of things as they are mainly based on incidence and on the unseen.
2. The cosmic extension that has been taking place is the result of the range of vision through using the telescope and any other instruments because the thing being seen is determined by vision and this is one of the universe laws.
3. Knowing the within secrets of man will uncover secrets of the universe as the apparent entities of existence are of six kinds: the perspective (what is being seen), the tangible world (what can be touched and felt), what can be weighed, what can be heard, things that have flavor and things that have smell. These, in most cases, are overlapping and are counted six in number.
The origin of all entities are bare pictures of materials, void of force and readiness; it shines in debate and is complete when read. The investigation of scientists is restricted to this reading (capability and liability) where the material is with all its atoms, energy and speed and this alone is useless compared with its radiance.
The first cosmic law is that nothing can be determined unless established with what is contrary to it. And things are sometimes concrete and sometimes abstract and both are the same according to law.
The origin of radiance is the brain and by saying this I do not mean perception but the simple core of it. By formulating this equation the truth becomes uncovered.
The subject is highly complicated and can only be clarified by word of mouth or by arguments.
So, what do you have to present. (show)
بعد التحية :-
أود أن أعرض عليكم جميع علوم نشأة مفردات الكون وقوانينه وفق ذاتيته التي هي شئ ليس كباقي الأشياء خارجه عن حد التعطيل والتشبيه حسب النظرة التالية :-
1/ أن نظريات نشأة الكون تفتقد لأصول نشأة الأشياء وتحيل على ألصدفه أو الغيب .وكذلك استغراق البحث في الأفاق لم يأتي بغايته إلا بقدر ربطه بالوعي الإنساني.
2/ التوسع الكوني الحاصل هو نتيجة المد البصري من خلال التلسكوب وغيره لأن المنظور أليه يثبت بالبصر وهذا أحد قوانين الكون
3/ معرفة أسرار بطون الإنسان تكشف أسرار الكون حيث أن مفردات الوجود الظاهر على ستة أنواع (المنظور أليها ). (الملموسة). (الموزونة). (المسموعة). (ذات طعم). (ذات رائحة). وتكون في أغلب الأحيان متداخلة .وأصل الأشياء كلها صور عارية عن المواد . خاليه من القوه والاستعداد . بمناظرتها تشرق وبمطالعتها تتم . وبحث العلماء ينحصر في هذه المطالعة (القوه والاستعداد) حيث المادة ودقائقها وطاقتها وسرعتها وهذا وحده لا جدوى منه بقدر إشراقها . . وأصل الإشراق هو العقل ولا أقصد به الإدراك أنما هو )جوهر بسيط درأك محيط) وبتكوين هذه المعادلة تنكشف الحقيقة .
الموضوع غاية بالتعقيد يوضح بالمشافهة والجدل فما هو عرضكم ؟
توضيح:-
* أود أن أبين بأن وسائط الإدراك هي الحواس ألخمسه + تحسس الوزن.
* إما أحوال الإدراك ( تصوراته أي المعاني التي يلبسها ) فهي ستة أيضا ثلاثة وخلافها :-
1/ الحياة والموجود ولها صور فمثلا صورة الحياة هي الماء.
2/ الحركة والسكون ولها صور فمثلا صورة الحركة هي الهواء.
3/ الانفعال والسكينة ولها صور فمثلا صورة الانفعال هي النار.
* إما مراتب نفس الإدراك إي نفس ألصوره فهي خمسه:-
1)الجماد 2) النبات 3) الحيوان 4) الملكوت 5) الإنسان وصور ذلك كثيرة.
*** وكل هذه الصور تندرج ضمن تصورات الإدراك .منها ظاهره ومنها كامنة إي لم تظهر لحد الآن . والتوسع الكوني الحاصل هو ظهور لبعض هذه الصور الكامنة.
*وأروع إبداعات الإدراك هو العقل (جوهر بسيط درأك محيط ) ولكل واحده تفصيلاتها الوظيفية.
ووظيفة العقل هي ربط كل الصور المذكورة أعلاه بعوالمها الحسيه ألسبعه. وعالمنا هو العالم السابع وفق نمطيته الحسيه. وتجري آثار العقل على كل الصور الكونية فتصبح محسوسة وفق قوتها واستعدادها التصوري.
قد لا يفهم الموضوع بشكل جيد كونه لم يطرق بتاتا
Lol been stalking you. You’re pretty good. Not bad for a dad of many. Very talented. Don’t know how you keep up. Chat soon on twitter
An overwhelming desire to keep sane helps.
I’m doing some onsite interviews at Mystic Dragon’s Festival of Books. Would you have time to talk with me about your work and “The Art of Draw Fu”? at 4 pm on August 15th? Please let me know (and your “Black Terror Kid” comics, along with your comic about your trip to Rome, are really fun!).
Yes, absolutely. I’d be happy to.
Great, thank you! Could you email me a contact for you, at the above email link, and I’ll send you more information (and I’m ordering your book now!).