On Making Those Tough Decisions

Hello wonderful followers.  We are taking things simple today.  I decided to leave off making any more alterations to the lettering for my gorilla logo, removing the few attempts I made.  The image is not complete because I will of course need to put the actual site adress below when the time comes.  However, I am calling all else done.

Now what, well, I am back to working on the crazy detailed red starfish for the Sarah Seadragon project.  I am hoping to try taking a lighter approach to all the detail instead of focusing so long on each bit of calcium on the tentacles.  I want to move faster and look to the overall affect instead of the individual parts.

I also want to work on some drawings.  I am currently rereading the Lords of Dus series by Lawrence Watt-Evans and have gotten a hankering to paint the King in Yellow, who is a thousand year old immortal preist king.  He is described as being so ancient that he looks mummified, has a long white beard, and always wears a tattered yellow robe with hood.  His face is never seen becuse it is sunken into the cowl.  How cool is that image.

I also want to set down the basics for the defining image of the Corpse Eater story, which will be a veiw from the surface of the asteroid ship looking at the borealis effect of the ships sheilds working in interstellar flight.  I am hoping this will become a two page spread in the middle of the book for awe value.

Finally, I bought some clay to try my hand at sculpting again.  Yeah, I know, what else.  Like I said before, my brain never stops and I love every aspect of creating.  There are so many things I want to try that I will never ever be bored in retirement.  The only sad part is that I probably will not be competent in most. Oh well. Don’t forget I write stories two.

The Wonders Mine Eyes Have Seen

Good afternoon luminous lingering followers. I am currently getting my car inspected so I am in forced inactivity. Accordingly, I am flipping through various sites I watch and decided to take a stroll through my favorites on my Deviantart page (you can use the link to my site on the left of this blog to go to my deviantart page). Enjoy my artwork but also take time to look at my collection of other artist’s works I have favorited over the years. This collection covers paintings, drawings, comics, animation, sculptures, and so much more. These are the people that blow my artwork out of the water and inspire me to try harder. If you ever want to feed your eyes so much eye candy that they throw up, then check out my favorites. Enjoy and don’t say I didn’t warn you

Pogo My Logo

Hello, fantabulous ones. I have been hard at work making my logo and wanted to share my progress. Right now I have been working solely on the words, actually painting the insides since I was unable to get that kind of font into Gimp at this time. I have just started going back to the first letters with a darker color to give a more metallic look but I am unsure if I like the affect. In addition I cropped the image down for a more centered feel and have moved the gorilla around to see where it works better. I still prefer it on the left.

On another note, I finally went through and signed/numbered the first 25 copies of “A Word in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush”. It turned out that I have 30 copies at this time. If you haven’t ordered one yet, please make a $2.50 donation at my Pay Pal fundraiser https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8LGYAY6O3E then send your address to me at gkarlives4ever@gmail.com.

Your support is so valued on this journey I am taking so please consider getting a copy for you and your loved ones.

Grumpy Gorilla is Sad About the Albatross

Good Saturday morning faithful followers. Yes, Grumpy Gorilla is a little sad about the reception of my Albatross post letting you know that the illustrated short story “A Word in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush” was ready as a reward for those supporting my create efforts has garnered. I had hoped for more takers given the reception of my previous posts on the subject.

I am hoping that maybe the title of the post “The Albatross has Landed” did not turn anyone off. I know that references to Albatross usually refer to poor quality product but that was not my intent. It was more a reference to my slow pace of production and the hap hazard reveals of any of my projects. In other words, a little self-deprecating humor towards myself, which you know from reading this blog.

Anyway, with that said, I am glad to report that I have decided the gorilla part of my logo is complete. I am now turning my attention toward the words and other aspects of the logo. I actually did a test of the extended parts using my planet painting of Alderaan that I used in my Carrie Fisher painting.

My idea is to create a similar background and two word layouts. The first will be with the words “Grumpy Gorilla Graphics” in a circle around the combined planet and ape painting. Second, will be the words stacked horizontally to the right of the image for business cards. This will give me more options for different situations and I will be able to see which looks better. All in all, I am happy with where the project stands.

Finally, please consider supporting my work through ordering a copy of “A Word in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush”. Details can be found in the post https://robertgarbin.wordpress.com/2022/07/20/the-albatross-has-landed/.

The Albatross has Landed

Well hello there little birdie and other flying followers. Yes, they are officially ready for reward. I have decided these can be yours for a donation of $2.50 or more because the printing ended up a bit more expensive than I wanted, along with the costs for the envelopes. Well, for the cost of basically everything. I have at least twenty five sets printed at this time so the first 25 out the door will also be signed by me. If you would like multiple copies, just donate at least $2.50 per copy and let me know.

To order one or more of these, send your name and mailing address to gkarlives@verizon.net with the subject Falcon. You can make the donation at the Paypal fundraiser I created https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8LGYAY6O3E. I look forward to mailing these out.

Update: I played with the photos to make them brighter, since I could not seem to take a better picture.

Grumpy Gorillas are the Furriest

Well good evening my grousy gaggle of followers. Yes I have finally decided to give my grumpy gorilla a permanent hairdo. You know he his completely vain about his looks and has been after me to get back to work on his hair, especially after all the attention I spent on that dull birdie. So far I have had to bat his big paws out of the way only a few times. At this point, it is all about scratching thousands of little lines in several different colors with an occasional smudge to blend them together. I look forward to putting this grumpy fellow to bed soon so I can get to work on the text for the completed image.

I am Not All About Anger

Hello fellow followers, I know sometimes I spend a lot of time ranting at the directions my country is taking. Yes, I feel America is failing in almost every way, which frustrates me to no end, mostly because the fall is fueled with greed and is unnecessary.

However, unlike the Republican party in my country whom can only rail against anyones attempts at solutions, I like to offer some. The other day, I thought of one. Better yet, it is about making money for companies as well as taking care of the enviroment.

In the history of the industrial age, company after company has polluted our world because there was no profit in dealing with the byproducts. In fact they were viewed as a high cost of doing business that lead to so many of the poor executive decisions that resulted in damage to the environment. The sad part is that these companies and executives never bothered to stretch themselves to thinking about turning those costs into profits.

Well, I have. What if we made a national database of the waste byproducts from every manufacturer then made them public so that all companies could see and analyze them, then maybe companies may find resources they could use. Yes, they may not be in a form readily usable by the company but they may find they can convert them into usability cheaper than what they pay for virgin materials.

Thus, a company considering polluting to save costs may find they could actually make money instead. In addition, some companies may come up with a profitable use for another companies waste or nonprofits may step in to keep the byproducts better contained, taking on the costs for the company.

I understand this is the barest framework, but the idea seems sound to me. It is about closing the loop on the manufacturing waste pipeline. This could be done by giving companies a profitable solution to their toxic waste problems.

I remember a story about a car company stuck with a surplus of auto paint they could not afford to dispose of or transport elsewhere. So they just decided to bury it. Later it became an environmental mess some agency had to deal with. I am sure there could have been someone to buy their paint, maybe at a loss but not at the complete level and cost of burial. In addition, the costs to local, state, and federal governments would not be there to damage the economy. So please give this idea a serious look and pass it on.

Look Up in the Sky, It’s a Bird, It’s a … Well yeah, it’s a Bird

Good evening my ornithological fellows. Yes, the illustration is done for “A Word in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush” and I have even printed the master story. All that is left is to make some copies and work out final costs for you. I believe I will do this as a reward for support through donations to avoid tax issues. I will work out the base cost for unsigned and another for signed. If you would like to donate above the numbers I list, your support will be most appreciated. From there we will see if I will do more. Thanks for joining me on this journey.

Just Say No Once in a While

Well, I decided to just say no to my boss for a change. I did not want to give up another Saturday to work especially since it is a three day holiday weekend and work is never going to let up. I still ended up with five hours overtime with screaming foot pain.

Anyway, I have two pieces of good news to share with you. The first is something I want to share with all of you, not just those who come here for my scifi and fantasy output. To help with the doldrums of the excessive amount of driving I do, I have turned to audio books.

However, I don’t like abridged versions because the always come off as chopped, but the full versions are expensive. Well, there is a free method for getting these books. I downloaded an app called libby to my phone. This is an app that allows you to borrow digital books, including audiobooks, from your local library. I am mostly hitting my favoite genre but you have the entire collection to choose from.

Better yet, you can make use of any library in your local network. Mine has a decent amount but very few complete series, but if can get a library card for another network, I can expand my choices. So, if you enjoy full length audiobooks, I highly recommend this app. I recently listened to Bradon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings, which was 48 hours long.

The second piece of news is that I am almost finished the Falcon in Hand painting. I feel that I should be able to finish this project this weekend and be ready to go next week. My crazy work life has really impacted my ability to finish this product and I will be very glad to be able to finally offer it. So, watch this blog for an update.

I Say, I Say There Boy … What Are You? I’m a Chickenhawk.

Falcon in Hand

Gooooood ………. Evening my fine feathered followers. I know I have fit my grumpy gorilla namesake quite well this week more because the ugliness in my country today brings out the worst in me. However, my angst comes out stronger when I am spending too much time working and not enough time creating. At least I have been able to put some effort into correcting that.

As you can see, I have managed to do a lot of work around the Falcon’s head for this project. The hardest part is trying to achieve all the very minor variations in the gray that make up the feathers but it is coming along. Also, I began the rewrite on one of the smaller stories for the Vapor Visions anthology. It was a little 105 word story for a contest about conditioning that I have expanded to 497 words now. My hope is to finish around a thousand words. I am having lots of fun trying to create an eldritch/cthulhu vibe with the words and sentences. The story is one of several that fit beautifully into the death theme of the anthology. Hope all have a good night.