For some reason DA won't let me change my "mood" status. Oh well, "wow" it is then...

Hear ye hear ye, Octofans, the date has been set! The Cranky Octopus webcomic website will officially go live on 8-8-08! The year of the Octopus begins in one month so don't miss it! --> [link]

Wizard World Chicago was this past weekend. I met a lot of great creators and picked up some very cool books. It was an exhausting but fun weekend and I'm a bit behind on DA posts and follow up greetings. Working on it though.

Some great artists have done some awesome Rocket & Bounce images recently, so here's a collection of said art. I love it all! Thanks a ton, you guys!



...if I missed anyone, please drop me a line so I can include you here! And thanks again!

Gene

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The Cranky Octopus Team [link]



That's right, 2008 is the year of the Octopus! Look for more of these characters August 8th!!

Holy cow! I've been featured by DailyDeviants for Wednesday, June 11th, 2008. Super cool. See it here --> [link]

And one of the featured pics is from the latest AFL jam. So thanks to everyone for creating cool characters, lol.

The Chicago ComicCon is fast approaching and some of my very best friends (seriously they're family) have put together a darn fine anthology comic. They're the Comic Creator Cabal and you can get a sneak peak of the project at their DA page here: and if you're attending the Chicago con, check out their book, "Emergent Phenomena".

Still plugging away at freelance work and the Cranky Octopus [link] website, and making really good progress. I have another AFL jam pic up my sleeve too. Mwa ha ha...

Gene

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The Cranky Octopus Team [link]



That's right, 2008 is the year of the Octopus! Look for more of these characters this summer!

Well, this month is going to be all about pushing forward. In addition to some dangling freelance projects I have to wrap up (still, geeeeez), I'm starting to build the Cranky Octopus website and sneaking in time for new Rocket & Bounce [link] pages where ever possible. Hopefully this month is where I blast past a few of these obstacles and start making some more pronounced head way. Of course hoping doesn't mean much, so it's time to get back to work, lol.

More on Cranky Octopus [link] in the coming months and a big big thank you to every one who still stops by my page to say "hi". Much appreciated!

Gene

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The Cranky Octopus Team [link]



That's right, 2008 is the year of the Octopus! Look for more of these characters this summer!

Okay, it's not really madness. It just sounded catchy. Hey guys, just a little update. This month I'm continuing to work on pages for my upcoming Rocket & Bounce webcomic [link] for the Cranky Octopus [link] site. I'm also working on some illustrations for a book of spooky children's poems along with some other misc. drawin' stuff.

It's been a busy week, and very little of it had to do with drawing unfortunately. Monday - Wednesday my after work time was largely devoted to band practices and Thursday was a Witches in Bikinis show. Lots of fun, but not lotsa' drawin', lol. The Witches have a bunch of shows coming up this summer if any of you New York types want to come check out an amazingly fun show. Show dates and music tracks can be found at our MySpace page. --> [link]

The free sketches from last month were a lot of fun. When I get a couple things sorted out with my free time I'll probably end up doing some more of those.

I still need to see Iron Man. Darnit.

If you're a comics fan do yourself and favor and go read Sentinels!

I picked up the first two trades at the NY Comic Con and it was easily my favorite purchase of the weekend. Great character interaction and art, and an evolving, emotional and fun story with plenty of action. The perfect cure for those of you sick of the current state of superhero comics (well, at the big two anyway). Check out their website [link] or hop on over to the creator's DA page You'll be glad you did.

All for now,
Gene

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The Cranky Octopus Team [link]



That's right, 2008 is the year of the Octopus! Look for more of these characters this summer!

EDIT: The sketches are complete! A big thank you to everyone who signed up and especially to everyone who's been coming by to see how these progressed. This has been a lot of fun and I'm feeling really energized about drawing in general as a result.

I'm going to be focused on my upcoming webcomic for Cranky Octopus [link] for a while here, so I may not be posting as often. We'll see. At the very least I'll still be poking my head around though, seeing what everyone else is up to.

Thanks again!
Gene

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It's the gift that keeps on giving. After having received a couple free sketches from other Deviants this way, I'm joining in the fun. I'll be drawing free sketches for the first ten people who respond to my journal. If you don't already know, this is how it works...

The first ten deviants to comment in this journal will get a free sketch from me of the character of their choice. (If it's an OC, a reference link would be appreciated). Simple huh?

And of course, in the name of fun, if you sign up it'd be nice if you did the same in your journal (not mandatory, but nice... and many of you already have, which is swell).

THE COMPLETED SKETCHES:

1. Stunboy
2. my choice
3. Dr. Bionic
4. Myrmidon
5. Joanna Dark
6. Maverick
7. Cactuska
8. any HeroCorper
9. Vigil villain
10. Moonbeam
+1. Bloodwork
+2. NanoGirl

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The Cranky Octopus Team [link]