Archive for Blog
Ellie reader Carsten pointed us to this article at the NASA JPL website. Spirit, one of the two twin rovers that had been making their ways across the Martian terrain, hasn’t been heard from since March of 2010. In March of this year the last attempt at contacting the rover was made to no avail. Finally, after more than six years (five years, nine months more than expected) Spirit’s mission is complete.
Everyone at the Strang Institute bids a fond farewell to Spirit and salutes all those involved with her mission to explore the red planet.
We can only hope Ellie’s mission can be as successful.
Zack Smith, a contributor at Newsarama, interviewed me a few weeks ago for their continuing focus on comics on the internet. Newsarama is a hugely popular and award winning comic news website, and they saw fit to include Ellie in with such notable online comics as Hark! A Vagrant, Nedroid, Dharbin, and a bunch others.
Zack counts Ellie On Planet X as , “one of the most fun and visually unique new comics online.” Wow! You can’t ask for better than that.
You can go read the rest of the interview right here. Thanks Zack and Newsarama!
Jason Frazer, creator of the comic Twisted Musings, and I had us a little fan art swap. I drew his character Billy from his newest comic of the same name that starts June 11, and in exchange he sent me this awesome depiction of the Planet X cast so far. This has everything! The Jungle Oasis, Jeff’s house, Balloon Boy…and Jeff, Ellie, and Muffin, who all look awfully calm in the presence of Mr. Wallowmuck. So go check out Jason’s wonderful comic Twisted Musings while waiting for his new strip, Billy, to begin.
I was looking back at this strip from April 28:
Except I was looking at it all blown up on my monitor, not all tiny like you see it when it’s posted. So, for your enjoyment, here’s the full-size version of the second panel of this strip (which I particularly liked). If you click on the image below you can see all of the detail that usually gets lost when the comics are shrunk down to their normal width. Ellie on Planet X is drawn completely digitally from start to finish, but even with an electronical computerized “brush” I still get some interesting textures.
Thrill to the bigness!
What if?
I always love those words as a premise for a good story.
Several years ago I discovered a website for a mockumentary called Man Conquers Space. The premise is, “What if the U.S. space program began years earlier and was based on the artwork of Chesley Bonestell, who inspired the actual space program.” If you’re a fan of science fiction then you’ve definitely seen paintings by Bonestell, whose designs set the look of sci-fi films and book covers for years to come. Ellie reader Neutrino reminded me to credit Colliers Magazine, which did a series of articles in the early 1950s that were the inspiration for the film, and featured art by Bonestell, as well as Fred Freeman and Rolf Klep.*
The creators of the mockumentary depict a space race based on their paintings and ideas. And it looks amazing. Or I imagine it would if it had been finished. As it stands, the film seems to have fizzled out quite some time ago (due to the loss of much of the footage on failed hard drives**). But what there is to be seen promises something spectacular, even if it’s never to be, just like the film’s premise. There are a couple of trailers for the film available for viewing, production stills, and a sample of the soundtrack. Go have a look!
*Edited to add this info.
**And this info.
We made every attempt to make it to the James Gurney Dinotopia exhibit in Midland, Michigan over the weekend, to no avail. Managing to get there with ten minutes to closing, we couldn’t justify full price – nearly a dollar a minute. So instead of cool photos of me and Azucena standing next to Gurney’s incredible art, I’ll offer a link to his blog instead. Gurney Journey is not just a peek into the art of the creator of the Dinotopia series of books, it’s an in-depth course in art history, processes, and anatomy. Check it out!
Ta Da!
The Mighty Magmasaurus isn’t much to look at in that first pic. This is only about twenty minutes after the last photo from the previous post.
Here it is after two days of cookin’, ready to burst forth from its incubation chamber.
The Magmasaurus escapes!
I’ve named him Stumpy.
Okay, I know it’s not a real update.
My newest dear friend Diana gave me this as a vacation parting gift and I thought I’d share it with everyone.
The directions on back read:
1. Pull rubber tab from canister.
2. Fill canister with water (must be less than 95 F).
3 When volcano stops erupting the Magmasaurus will be revealed.
4. Pour off the water and refill the canister with fresh water.
5. After 72 hours, the dinosaur will have grown to its full size.
Lookit that thing go. Come back Friday to see the Mighty Magmasaurus revealed!