Wednesday, January 18, 2012

SOPA & PIPA: What is it? How can you fight back?

I hate that my first blog post on my new site is going to be a social/political post but I feel with the SOPA/PIPA issue it's important that people understand what's going on, and I want to throw in what assistance I can!

There are plenty of posts on what it is and what can be done, so I'm not going to bore you with a long post detailing my take. Instead I'll link you to a few that are out there. I will say that as an individual who produces media and works in a field that is frequently the victim of copyright infringement (I believe it hits us Illustrators a lot harder than it does the movie/music business) I am firmly opposed to SOPA/PIPA. I think it's a scare tactic, a chance for the MPAA to throw their weight around. It didn't work when they were picking off people at random (http://betanews.com/2005/11/02/mpaa-sues-grandfather-for-600-000/) and making examples of them, so they're taking on the whole internet. The MPAA has put ninety four million dollars into buying congressional votes! That said, the clowns who are lucky to make 40k a year are bringing them to ruin with their downloading. We don't have ninety four mill, at least I don't. (If you do, let me direct you to my commission rates) The media blackout is how we show our voice! Unfortunately my site is small and not fully up, so I can't really help out via a blackout, but I can help by adding my voice and encouraging you to add yours.

To understand the SOPA/PIPA issue I've included some links for you guys!

Wil Wheaton's post on SOPA/PIPA

http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2012/01/today-the-us-senate-is-considering-legislation-that-would-destroy-the-free-and-open-internet.html

Reddit's Technical Look at SOPA

http://blog.reddit.com/2012/01/technical-examination-of-sopa-and.html

Wikipedia's Blackout Page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Wikipedia will give you the info you need to contact your senator/congressman.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Storybook


Storybook



I've completed a charcoal/graphite interior drawing for my upcoming novel 'Storybook.' This one actually scanned pretty decent. I've always had a difficult time scanning graphite, but it seems the charcoal really makes for a better result. Lessons learned. This is the moment Whimsie first comes upon the dying witch.

Interior Illustration: The Moment


Featuring Whimsie and the Witch

Monday, January 2, 2012

New Year, New Company!

I apologize for the lull in posting! I didn't realize how long I had left this blog in the dark. (A month and a half is a long time in blog years after all!!)

A New Year, a New Company


My sister Cameo and I have recently opened a site 'My Childs Adventure' where we sell personalized flash animated INTERACTIVE storybooks for children. That's a lot of adjectives! I could come up with more, but I'll let you check it out and think up some of your own. We also have free flash games to keep the kids occupied.

This is our team to the left. That's yours truly, my sis Cameo, and our friend Joe who is running the server. The big lug behind us is our mascot "Groovie Monster." He's a big lovable furball!

 Anyways, we premiered on January 1st around midnight CST! It's a brand new year, and I welcomed it with the opening one of my favorite dream projects!

I was inspired to create this because when I was in first grade I received a storybook present from my mother. Cam and I each had one. They had our names in it, listed our street address, even our dog was featured in the story! I loved it! I have a terrible memory, but I never forgot that book! I'm surprised at how long it took me to come up with this particular idea. I have been working in flash for a while, and I've been running through ideas like an online flash library, with animated fairy tales and the similar stuff. (Oh and there will be classic fairy tales on here soon!) I knew they could be interactive, but it just didn't click together til the middle of November. We immediately set to work  now the first story "The Big Hairy Hungry Scary Monster Under My Bed"(MUMB) has been released! It features one of my nephews (Cartier) who loves it. I'm already at work about our second installment, tentively called "Monster in the City." The first two will feature Groovie and be for smaller (toddler age) children. We plan to have a range of ages and feature guest writers as well.



Anyways, when starting a new business of any sort, you should always look at your competitors. You should do this when you are considering opening a business. It would be really awful to have spent all this time on a website and MUMB to have the idea be completely unoriginal! I found what I expected to see, their were a couple storybook companies that did the same printed versions that I had received in the past. I only found one that was even close to what we do, that was an animated, interactive flash storybook featuring you.... r name. It's a lot like those customizable cups, and rings, and license plates you get at any trinket shop. You'd have to have a name they had in stock, and you have no choice in the look of the character. (Ours uses an actual photo of the child!) It features licensed characters like Dora and Spiderman. The art on the interactive stories isn't all that exciting. So I figured we were good to settle into our niche. Now all we have to do is advertise! (That's a huge deal, and I'm still getting better at that!)



Alright so I feel like I've done a lot of writing! This project is something I'm really really excited about, so hopefully you'll be seeing lots of posts to come about other stories I'm working on. This wont' be the end of any of my other projects though. You'll still see a huge variety here!


Thank you! Goodnight!