JonathonRose.com

Best 11 Photos of 2011

2012-01-05T20:13:00.001-05:00

I couldn't narrow my list down to just 10 photos. So I made it 'Best 11.' Originally, I wanted to do a video slideshow of this with some good background music, and I still may, but I also wanted to be able to share the stories from behind the lens of each of these photos. So for now, a blog post will have to suffice. The photography section of this site as well as the slideshow on the home page has all been updated. With that said, let's get on with it!

This shot was taken right outside of Gatlinburg Tennessee. While vacationing there in August, a friend of mine took me to an area that was accessible from the mountain-side roads along the river one day. I've always wanted one of those silky, smooth flowing water photos. We found the spot, set up my tripod and took the shot. The scariest part was keeping one eye on the traffic coming down the winding roads there, and one eye on where I was stepping, as it was both close to the cliff-side, and the edge of the road. Special thanks to Adam for his patience and watching my back.

This photo actually came from the same week as the one above. Roaming around Gatlinburg, my sister and my friends Matt and Jess wandered into the distillery they have there. Inside, to the right of where the bar was, was this scene. My sister was in line in front of me trying the moonshine there (which, oh man...you ever try their White Lightning Moonshine...that'll put hair on your chest), at which time, I looked back to my right and snapped this photo. I didn't realize what I had taken at the time, because as soon as the shutter clicked, my sister called my name and I turned away to try the moonshine with her. It wasn't until that night when I got back to the cabin, downloaded my photos and found this gem. It became a family favorite.

This shot was taken of Nicole at her wedding in February '11. I was the backup photographer to my buddy Kiely Carlson. We did Nicole's and Scott's wedding/family portrait photos outside in the bitter cold at the Valle Vista Conference Center, in Greenwood Indiana, which is just outside of Indianapolis. The sun was setting and Nicole was off to the side patiently waiting for the other family members to finish their photo sessions, when I took this shot of her. Special thanks to Nicole, Scott and all of her family who froze their butts off with us outside that day.

In June '11, Kiely and I reunited for another wedding shoot. This time around, the wedding was in the Indianapolis Botanical Gardens, just next to where the Zoo is. The gardens there were absolutely beautiful. A photog's paradise, really. After the ceremony, Ryan and Julie walked with us around the complex, shooting in different areas. This shot was actually taken from a long ways away, with a 300mm lens. Kiely and I were perched atop a small hill in the gardens, when Ryan picked up Julie in front of the pond that separated us, and kissed her. Thankfully, I was paying attention, quickly zoomed in and was able to make the shot.

This shot was taken at the same wedding for Ryan and Julie near one of the entrances to the gardens during their ceremony. Kiely was shooting down the isle straight on the ceremony at this point, and I was meandering around, shooting what I could at the same time. If you look close at what the child is looking at, the stone inscription reads 'Wedding Gardens.' I rounded a corner and noticed a child squatting there studying it. I believe the gentleman standing in front of him was his father.

This bridge goes over a river along side Riverside Drive in South Bend. I've driven by this bridge a thousand times, so finally, after work one day, I stopped and started shooting. My wife actually chose this photo to be a part of the list. It's a neat looking bridge from nearly every angle. I may go back again one day.

In the Fall of last year, the my whole family got together for a some family portraits at Leeper Park in South Bend. At one point, in between things, my brother Justin hoisted his son Ryan up on his shoulders, at which time Ryan grinned happily and started patting his father on the head. Luckily, I was in the right place at the right time to capture this shot of them. Ended up being a favorite of the year for us.

I have two people I owe this shot to. First, to Alex who was kind of enough and patient enough to take me inside some of the more hidden areas in the Performing Arts Center on Notre Dame's campus. This shot was taken from the 2nd floor balcony, looking out toward the magnificent organ they have inside the Organ Hall. And secondly, I'd like to thank my sister, Jen for setting me on this journey to begin with. In December of last year, she made a comment about enjoying a Notre Dame photo theme that I had going for a while. It's because of that comment that I started searching for more interesting places to shoot around campus. When we were setting up for this shot, there was a woman playing the organ in there. Even to me and my impaired ears, it was very loud in there, and the visceral, mighty sound of that organ will never be forgotten.

The story from this shot actually came from an idea that my wife Katie had. In nearly every photo I have of my wife, she's always smiling. She and her family are extremely photo-genic and the camera just loves to be around them. So, the challenge was presented: embrace my wife's idea with this photo, and capture her NOT blatantly smiling. Trust me, this is no easy feat. I love this shot, simply because you can't quite tell what it is she's telling you with this look. It's mysterious, and it makes me nervous. It's a look of approval and disapproval at the same time. It's a look I see a lot, actually. I love it when a photo can do that to you.

Every person has a photo idea of something want to have some day. In the long list that resides in my head, I've always wanted to take a shot of a city-scape or something similar where the car headlights are streaking and almost have a sort of laser quality to them. This is known as 'dragging the shutter.' It's essentially a long exposure. You set up on a tripod, and set your camera up accordingly. In this case, 3-4 seconds for the exposure captured the light streaks from the cars entering and exiting, but kept the building and un-moving objects in the background in focus. This shot was taken in Green Bay, Wisconsin at a beautiful movie theater, called Marcus Cinemas.

This shot is probably my favorite of the year. Building off of the Notre Dame theme I had going, I walked into the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus one day and captured this. At the entrance, there's a large holy water basin that resides at the center of the isle. The water in the basin reflects the surrounding lights perfectly. Unfortunately, I walked into the church without my tripod, out of caution not to draw too much attention to myself. Instead, I rested my camera on the basin and took the shot. The planets aligned, and somehow I came away with a brilliant shot that wasn't a blurry mess. I was scared to death that my camera was going to baptize itself in the basin though.

As 2011 comes to a close, it goes down as a good productive year for me, in terms of growth, knowledge and even some business. To find what I'm up to almost daily, visit www.facebook.com/jonathonlt1. I'm also on Google+ here. Thank you to all my visitors and family who have helped in some way make all these great photos a reality for me. Keep shooting and enjoying your photos. Because at the end of the day, the best camera you can have, is the one that's with you.

Because of Scott Kelby and Others

2011-10-07T12:59:00.000-04:00

Spring 2005 - My Own Wedding That Started It All

My interest in photography began when we received our wedding photos back for the first time, over 6 years ago now. I've talked about that before. Since that time, I wanted to pursue it more and develop a skill in it. The problem was having the time to do that. I already worked full-time as a graphic designer and part-time as an illustrator. Unless I was willing to give up sleep, photography, then, didn't fit into my life. There just wasn't room.

Winter 2009 - The News No One Wants to Hear

I was diagnosed with Leukemia (ALL) in January of that year. Over the months that followed, treatment ensued, and I wasn't able to return to work for 9 months. The radiation and chemo had stolen my ability to draw, write, and accomplish simple tasks. There were days that I couldn't even button my own shirts, let alone draw something with my numb, tingling hands. It was depressing to have something you were good at your entire life be stripped away. Even after returning to work, my ability to draw the way I used to, hadn't returned yet. I needed another avenue for venting my creativity. It became clear that learning about photography was now or never. So, I did what any husband would normally do - I turned to my wife and said, 'I want to do this, and I need you to help me.' And she did. My wife has this incredible ability that's both mesmerizing and maddening in the same sentence. I'll go to her with an idea that I think is fabulous and she'll say, 'well, that's cool...now take that, plus this, and THIS, and do that instead.' And you walk away thinking, how the hell does she do that? My neurons just don't fire that way.

Christmas 2009 - A Surprising Gift

I was pretty sure I was getting my Nikon that I currently use that year as a gift. What I didn't know, was what would accompany it. As my wife knows, if you give me the tools and the means necessary to do a job, I'll get it done, on time, and to the best of my ability. In addition to the camera, she got me a book. She said, 'I've talked to a lot of people about this, and if you want to learn about photography, Scott Kelby is the man to learn from.' She handed me a copy of The Digital Photography Book, Book 1, written by Scott Kelby. I read the book cover to cover in an evening, and then read it again the next day. Then I went and bought Books 2 and 3 and did the same thing with those. These books are really amazing and here's why. They're not all techy. I'm a show-me kind of guy. Don't give me a book with a bunch of specs and technical garbage that I have to decipher...show me how it's done. And these books do that. It says in there explicitly - if you want to get this kind of a shot, do this.

2010 - Experimentation and Learning

That year was spent mostly learning. I'd shoot whatever I could, whenever I could. I learned about f/stops, shutter speeds, long exposures, focusing, tri-pods, and the difference between lenses. I took my camera everywhere with me. Even to the grocery store. I read somewhere that a photographer's first 10,000 photos are the worst, and from there, you get better. So, I figured I'd better get busy. I couldn't draw, but I could push a shutter button. And being that I was graphic designer and had been for years, my experience with Photoshop had been very familiar. I love it. It's my comfort program. If there is such a thing. It was another tool in my arsenal of graphical weapons. Photography and Photoshop go together like Kool-Aid and sugar. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Spring 2011 - On Meeting Scott

In April, my buddy and fellow photographer, Kiely and I went to one of Scott's Light it, Shoot it, Retouch it, seminars. If you ever get the chance to see him in action and you want to learn about the field as a whole, go to one of his seminars. Don't think. Just go. He makes it fun, interesting, and keeps people passionate about photography. We were in a room with over 400 other people and while he was talking, you could of heard a pin drop. And when he finished, the silence was quickly diminished by the roar of applause. I met him later that day, and he was very humble. He wasn't too proud to take a minute and talk with me. I admire people who do that. In spite of their success, they don't treat you as if you're beneath them.

Autumn 2011 - Inspiration

Illustrating used to be at the forefront of my interests. It has since taken a passenger seat, along side photography. Not a backseat, because I still do it often enough. And here's why. There's no drawing I could personally draw on the planet that would replace the rewarding feeling of downloading an image from my camera and thinking, damn, I totally nailed that shot. And I owe those continuing rewards to Scott Kelby, my wife Katie, my buddy Kiely, and several other people who have helped in my learning process. Do yourself a favor...If you are thinking of learning photography, or you just want to look at some great photographs, look at these people listed below, and let the inspiration consume you.

www.scottkelby.com
jeremycowart.com
www.joelgrimes.com
www.joeyl.com
www.aboutrc.com
www.joemcnally.com
versacephotography.com
www.facebook.com/Natureswonderphotography
www.jaymaisel.com
www.bestofben.com

Why 1800flowers.com Rocks

2011-09-21T11:52:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was my sister's 30th birthday. Earlier this week, I decided to have a plant delivered to her at work. She lives 90 minutes from me, so taking time to drop in and see her, isn't always easy. I had no idea what local florists were around her area, so I went to www.1800flowers.com, picked out what I wanted, paid for it, done. A little while later, I received the confirmation email and then the shipping notification. Cool. I'm good, right?

The next day I received a call from them. This is how the conversation went:

Operator: We shipped your order on time, but UPS is telling us there's a weather delay and the shipment might not arrive until tomorrow.

Not good. Her birthday was that day. I was about to cancel my order.

Me: What can you do in a situation like this?

Operator: What we can do is contact a local florist and have them deliver a bouquet of flowers. We saw that it was her birthday and didn't want her to not receive something from you.

Me: That sounds great, but how much is that going to cost on top of what I've already paid?

Operator: Nothing. Free of charge. We're just really sorry we're not able to come through because of a shipping issue that's out of our hands. But at least she'll get flowers and receive something from you on her birthday. Your original gift may still show up to her today, but at least this way, it's guaranteed.

Both orders ended up showing up to her that afternoon. She was happy, surprised, but wondered why I sent her two things. I could then tell her what happened. Now, because of that, will I order from them again? You betch-yer ass. It's nice to know there are still a few of us out there in the world today, even businesses, that care about getting the job done, and will go to great lengths to see it through to completion.

1800flowers.com rocks.

Archiving Photography and Ancestry.com

2011-08-17T20:59:00.000-04:00

Over the last few months, I've become immersed in ancestry.com. So much so in fact, that I've became a paying subscriber. It's a very interesting website and lays everything out for you in terms that's easy to understand. You still have to do your research as much as possible with verifying family member's names, birth-dates, death-dates and that sort of thing, but in the end, this makes the process much easier. What's really nice, is being able to connect with other members and access the information that other family members have put up. It helps expand your knowledge of your own family tree, quicker, I think.

My great grandfather and great grandmother on my Mom's side

Before digital photography, most people had real albums for their photographs. Albums you could hold in your hand and flip through. And if you are like my wonderful Aunt Evelyn, you wrote people's names and dates on the back of those photos. Now, if I could only get my memory to be as astoundingly awesome as hers. But I'll get back to that in a minute.

How far have I been able to trace back? On my father's side, to the early 1600's. On my mother's side, to the mid 1800's. So far. The search for more information, I've discovered, is a never-ending quest. This isn't a short-term project, for sure.

Am I related to anyone famous? Yes. Well, more like infamous and then later famous. My 11th great grandfather was someone pretty darn savy. But I'm not going to say who, yet. I will tell you that he was born in England, where he became sought after by the Bishop for his religious teachings. When I say sought after, I mean, he wasn't exactly on the Bishop's Christmas card list, if you know what I mean. After leaving England, he came to our country and founded what would later become Hartford, Connecticut. Like I said, savy. I'll talk more about him in a later post.

Getting back to what I was saying about older photos...with the advent of digital photography, nobody writes on the back of their photos anymore. Sure, we archive with hard drives, backup drives, rely on Flickr, or Picasa. But how are you archiving them so that in 40 years, your kid's kids will know where those pictures came from, or what day they were taken? After going through a ton of old photos in the last few months, proper archiving of the pictures I've recently taken, is becoming a high priority. And trust me, the digital camera data that's embedded in the photo itself, isn't always reliable.

More later...

Drawing with the iPad & iPhone

2011-05-19T13:13:00.001-04:00

My final opinion came to fruition on this just last night, after weeks of experimenting. The iPad and iPhones are great for what they were designed to do, as tools. I own both and love them both, for what they do. Drawing however, is not something they're good for, in my opinion, unless you've got a ton of patience and a whole lot of time. I don't have an abundance of either, but I decided to give it a fair trial before placing judgement.

My first obstacle was using finding a decent stylus pen that would work on my iPad. Before I began the hunt for that, I made a drawing with it, using just my finger. Mind you, this is just using the Penultimate app...nothing more. (I'm aware that there's a lot of others out there.)

It was just the first thing that popped in my head. Nothing too extravagant. It is after all, a finger painting.

After buying a stylus pen that was somewhat reasonable, I tried yet another drawing. This time more detailed.

The black lines and some color were all done with the iPad. But here's the kicker, I got so frustrated with trying to complete it with the iPad, that I gave up, and finished the drawing's colors in Photoshop. I spent all of about 10 minutes on the color in PS. The app wasn't the problem. The stylus pen was not the problem. The problem was with the screen on the iPad itself. Like the iPhone, it senses everything you touch. Whether it's with your finger, or even your palm. Most people I know rest their palm on what ever it is they're writing or drawing on, right? (And yes, I did tweak the wrist protection settings.) That becomes especially hard to control with lines and color you don't want in certain places. You find yourself constantly erasing your 'palm marks.' I'm not Rita Skeeter, and I can't write with my stylus pen by just waving my hand. But I would like to be able to apparate. Now, that would be sweet. And a dragon. I want a dragon. A big scary one. Anyway.

Not willing to give up too easy, I decided to try it instead for just writing and taking notes. I watched a 2 hour webinar last night on photography. When the show got into some issues I wanted to write down as notes, I grabbed the iPad and started writing. The same thing happened. I had half a page of notes that were messy and had unwanted garbage all over the page that I had to keep erasing. That lasted about 10 minutes before I literally just grabbed a real paper and pen, and continued on.

At the end of the day, the iPad is a great tool and has its uses. For me, drawing is not one of them. I'll stick with my Wacom. And my dragon. While apparating.

An Ant-Learn to Read - The Art Process Part 3 (HD Video)

2011-05-17T21:32:00.000-04:00

Below is a brand new short video I made very recently. It's time-lapsed to nearly 3X normal speed, but you can get a better idea of how using Illustrator can be effective.

Like anything else software-related these days, Illustrator has its uses. And it's very good at it's own uses. Illustrator is not Photoshop. They're similar in a lot of ways, but different in just as many. Photoshop is a raster-based application that's confined to the realms of resolution, as it should be. Illustrator is vector-based, meaning resolution doesn't become an issue until the project goes to print. That's the short, long, er, short of it. Some of you may be thinking, I have no idea what he just said there. I understand. It took me years to get it too. Try thinking of it in terms of HD Television. In Photoshop, you can make your image [this big] in HD. In Illustrator, you could take an image [that's this big] and make it billboard size, in HD, without losing resolution. Make sense now? Good. Now we'll start doing astrophysics. Let me grab my telescope.

As mentioned before, it has its uses. For my digital inking, Illustrator wins, over Photoshop WHEN I'm not having to create the drawing from scratch. If I'm starting from the ground up with an idea that I need to sketch, Photoshop wins. Photoshop is way faster, simpler, less clicks, less layers, less everything. Now, you're wondering, ok, so which one does he prefer? I'll give you my answer. Both. And I see it staying that way for the future too. People have their own styles. They have their own ways of creating things and using what works for them. It's not predictable. It's not foreseeable. It's just the way it is.

Next, we'll finally get to iPad art, and what I've discovered with it. Stay tuned for more.

An Ant-Learn to Read - The Art Process Part 2

2011-05-16T21:29:00.002-04:00

It all starts with a company called Wacom. I'm pretty sure they wrote the book on this and revolutionized the graphics industry ever since. These tablets are used in illustration, photo-editing and countless other ways. Chances are, if you think it might be able to do it, it already can. These tablets are really, really, really great. Why? One word. Well, two. Production. Fast production.

Those of us who operate under strict deadlines every single day, know that time is short. People want results and they want them fast. Any edge we can get to combat this from day to day, helps. These tablets help. I like help.

Illustrators like myself in years past, and even today, grab a piece of paper and a pencil and start sketching. They finish their sketch, maybe ink it, or color it, depending on the artist's style. All with pencils, markers, fancy ink pens or whatever they want. There's nothing wrong with doing it that way. It's art. You can create whatever you want, when you want, how ever you want.

The next step would be to scan the work, make the appropriate crops, or other edits. Then you can publish it online. All this take time.

Wacom Tablets work in nearly every application on your PC or Mac. It's not a replacement for your mouse, but more like a supplement to it. I have been known to use my tablet for surfing the web even. My Tablet is actually tired and in need of replacement, as it is about 4-5 years old.

In the children's book, An Ant - Learn to Read, all the inking and coloring was done digitally, using Adobe Illustrator CS4, with a Wacom Tablet and pen. What people might not know also, is that all the drawings I did were also exchanged through email. There was no paper involved at all. My publisher would send me 4 drawings attached in an email at at a time, and I would ink them and send them back to her the same way. I should mention that no scanners were harmed in the making of this blog post.

In the next post, I'll unveil a brand new video that I put together. And I'll go into my review of using Adobe Illustrator - the good and the bad. Stay tuned for Part 3.

An Ant-Learn to Read - The Art Process Part 1

2011-05-13T16:18:00.001-04:00

The children's book I helped ink is now available for purchase on Amazon. It's called An Ant - Learn to Read (Book 1 of 3). That can be found here. It was very neat to see the culmination of everything come together for the first time. In a book. Published on Amazon. Holding it my hands for the first time was a bit of a surreal moment. I haven't had a large number of things published and on the market, so seeing this was a big deal. Like, huge.

I have gotten asked a lot about this, so I thought I'd try and make things easier for people to understand. Keep in mind, this is just the art process. The writing portion/publishing is a completely different animal. Let's go behind the scenes on the art.

As you can see in the layout below, there's 3 images. The sketches (top) in blue pencil; The inks, (middle); And then the color (bottom).

Example Illustration 1

I'm basically bringing the sketch artist's vision into black and white, and giving the colorist a map to follow.

Example Illustration 2

Now, you're automatically thinking, oh ok, he just grabbed an ink pen and went over it. Nope. The inking and colors were both done, never having touched a real pen or marker. How? This is where the plot thickens...

I'll show you for the first time how this is done; Where it's taken me as artist; What processes I'm currently using; And what the future holds for me and Illustration. I'll give you a hint...it doesn't involve real pens and pencils. But it does involve iPads and iPhones and two Adobe products. Stay tuned for Part II.

The Scott Kelby Story

2011-04-27T12:31:00.000-04:00

Earlier this month, a friend of mine and I attended a 400+ people photography seminar in Indianapolis, hosted by worldly known photographer Scott Kelby. The seminar was wonderfully done, easy to understand and exciting to attend. Before returning from our lunch break, I ran into the restroom. As I rounded the corner, I noticed Scott was washing his hands alone at the sink. I said the only words that came to mind. Thank you for doing this Scott; This is so great. He turns to me, with a big smile and says, Are you kidding? Thank you for coming! Are you having a good time? I explained to him that I was there with a friend/fellow photographer, and that we were having a great time, and that him and his team had made this a fun, exciting day. He asked me if there was anything I would've changed about the seminar. Not a thing. He even asked me what my name was. As we re-entered the lobby area, I shook his hand and we went our separate ways. Scott was incredibly humble and easy to talk to. Him taking the time out of his insanely busy schedule to just talk to me for 5 minutes, completely made my day. Or, my month for that matter. I sat back down in the seminar room next to Kiely and said, dude, you'll never believe who I just ran into in the bathroom...

Transformed

2011-04-18T22:11:00.000-04:00

With a HUGE special thanks to my wife for being instrumental in this long, tedious process, this site has finally taken new form, and should be working fairly smoothly. I still have a few issues to work out, and let's face it, certain details are never finished, but the core of the redesign is complete. If you see find something that isn't working, please email me and let me know. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused in the last 24 hours. MUCH more to come.

We Turned 6, 34, 2 and more!

2011-03-23T08:27:00.000-04:00

In addition to my anniversary, my brother's birthday, my nephew's birthday, and my aunt's birthday all happening in the last few weeks, I sort of forgot my own little birthday. This website turned 6 years old last month. Doesn't seem like it's been that long. I'm going to have to see if I can dig out my old previous designs. That could take a pretty big shovel. I'll save that for another post. So, let me say this...

Happy Anniversary to my wife. She's been putting up with my crap for a long time. And my mud-flinging dog for that matter. I've told her a thousand times, she's the light in all my dark places.

Happy birthday to my brother, Justin. After all these years, you're still crazy. We tried to warn Amber early on, but that feat was proven fruitless.

Happy 2nd birthday to Ryan, my little tip-toed nephew. Kid's got better balance than I do.

And happy birthday to www.jonathonrose.com. It's been a great 6 years and this site has grown tremendously in that time and continues to do so. Thank you to all my visitors, fellow bloggers, commenters, photographers, illustrators, Cardassians, Borg, Hobbits, and even Transformers. I love you all and I'm extending my respect knuckles from the chest.

~Jonathon

They're Cloners...Darn Good Ones too

2011-03-08T12:57:00.000-05:00

I need a housekeeper, a carpenter, a painter, and someone to take care of my yard. Only problem is that my wallet of course, disagrees. My ideas and my wallet aren't usually on speaking terms. They're not friends. I'm taking my lunch to write about this, because I can't seem to squeeze it in anywhere else any more. Time is becoming too valuable. I need a blogger too. Did I mention that? I mean, someone who can read my thoughts and type what I'm thinking, so that way, I won't have to. Right. That'll happen Jon. Right around the time I get a degree in Astrophysics. I need a web editor too.

I need a clone. A clone of me. I don't know how to contact the planet Kamino on the outer rim, so that idea is out. My manners aren't good enough for them to like me anyway.

While all this sounds bad, stupid or even crazy, I'm loving it. I'm having fun doing all the things I want to be doing. I'm up to 90-some drawings with the children's books. Photography starting to bust loose. Which by the way, to my 3.8 readers - the Photography section was recently updated with some pictures never before seen. Really. They're from another planet. And they have Nikon Cameras there. And Photoshop.

I don't know how people with children take on two to three jobs. Or four, with hobbies. Something's gotta give somewhere. And I don't even have kids. Spring hasn't even started yet, and we're wondering how our yard is going to get mowed this year. I spend on average about 12-14 hours per day behind a monitor doing something. Sometimes more. I actually squeeze in guitar playing while my backups are running to relax me a little. I've been virtually non-existent on Facebook. Except for the occasional exploding hot dog. Those who saw that know what I mean. I'll link this post on FB, and then people will think I'm lying, because if I don't have time, what the hell am I doing on Facebook? Then we'll go in circles and there will be drama. And anarchy will prevail. Cats and dogs will live together. And I'll still be drinking Coke. With a smile.

The Circle is Complete

2011-02-15T12:47:00.000-05:00

I got married in 2005. I know. Shockingly surprising...but I did. At a restaurant, no less. I actually had not one, but two receptions. Even after 6 years, I still haven't figured that one out. The 3.8 people that read this who know me will think this is mildly entertaining, but understand why. I'm getting to why this is important...just bear with me. At the time, we wanted to splurge for our wedding photography, because we thought that if you're going to have one thing that you can physically document and keep, it should be be timeless, right? So spend the money where it counts. To us, that was photography. We didn't need a $4000 wedding cake, and my wife spent WAY less than that on her dress. And trust me, you're not going to eat that leftover cake slice on your one year anniversary anyway. You'll take one look at it and think, I'd rather punch myself in the face. With a shovel. Twice. Please note that these photos are NOT mine.

After careful weeding out of the photographers we didn't want, we hired the best one for the job. Soon after the wedding, we got our prints back. This was a moment of shock and awe for me. I was taken aback by the quality and the moments that our photographer captured in a photojournalistic style.

Ever since then, I made it my mission to someday be THAT good. To be the one that captures those moments. To be the one that provided people with that same shock and awe that I felt when I first opened our print book. I'm on that road still. I may be traveling by horse and buggy, but I'm moving forward nonetheless.

A week or two ago, I was asked by my good friend Kiely to be her assistant photographer at a wedding this weekend in Indianapolis. After careful consideration, I accepted it. We're going. She's taking me under her wing so I can learn. At a wedding. Where it all began.

Piece of Cake, Right?

2011-01-31T15:29:00.000-05:00

I have a completely new respect for photographers these days. Last week, a gentleman in our department at work was retiring. Over the last few weeks, people began planning party for him. As time went on, a co-worker noticed I had a decent camera, and asked if I would be interested in shooting the party. I responded, with absolutely! Sure! While thinking, holy crap, what did I just step in to? The dog lover in me lifted my foot to my nose to double-check. Nothing there. Jon, what the hell are you thinking? You're not a photographer. Oh, shut up...it'll be a piece of cake.

Almost immediately, I sunk myself in Google and photography books. I think I was reading with one hand and typing Kiely with the other. Thank you for the tips Kiely!

As a result, my perspective on photography has changed. You have to approach the meanderings of the event, whatever it may be, with a different set of eyes. A different angle. For instance, there were several speeches given. During those times, most people's eyes would be on the speaker. Not mine. I was looking at the recipient's reaction to those spoken words to get the shot. I feel like in some ways I missed parts of it because I was trying to so hard to capture it all. Being responsible for someone's memories is tough. And this was just a retirement party. A wedding? Senior pictures? Those are the things that only happen a few times in someone's life. No pressure or anything, I can do this.

Ironically enough, my favorite photo among the 120+ photos I took, ended up being of a slice of cake. I probably shouldn't post pictures of all the photos I took because most of them have the 56,786 people who attended, whom I don't have permission from to do so. I don't know where it goes from here and if I have the ability to the learn the profession at that level. But I know one thing for sure - My father asked me over the weekend, so after all that, would you do it again?

In a heartbeat.

Children's Book Revealed

2011-01-18T19:16:00.000-05:00

After getting permission from my publisher today, I'm able to share with my readers what portions of the children's book drawings look like. I'm sure the 3.8 readers I have will be excited to see them.

There's a lot of talent involved with these books and I'm grateful to be a part of it. Someone does the sketches, which are in blue pencil. Following that, the drawings come to me to ink digitally in Adobe Illustrator using my Wacom Tablet. Afterwards, they receive color which is again, done by someone else. It's very similar to the process of how comics are published.

In with 2011

2011-01-11T13:12:00.000-05:00

Spammers and trolls have sunk to a new low. You ever get one of those emails that starts off, 'My name is Xanita Iamspammingyouwitz. My father has become deathly ill and we are in desperate need of means to transfer our life-savings...blah blah.' Yeah, ok. Let me get right on that for you. Let me introduce you to the delete button. Him and I are friends. You and I are not. This wasn't an actual email, but in a private message sent to me from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's message forums. I'm like, really? As if scamming of that nature isn't bad enough, we're going to scam off cancer too? Nice.

I changed my banner up top, in case you hadn't noticed. Ah, the power of HDR.

I need to update the photography sections and some other things too. I've been pretty occupied with working on the illustrations for the children's books and our new photography blog. Which can be found here. In the meantime, I'll see if I can post parts of the inking I've done on the books so my readers can have I idea of what they look like.

~Jonathon

Transforming Optimus

2010-12-28T23:19:00.000-05:00

I need to explain my geeky reasoning behind this before going too far. A few months ago, I was researching modeling. As in, car model kits. Not modeling for Victoria's Secret. As much fun as it would be to see me in heels, cars and actual models don't go together. Oh wait. Yeah they do. Nevermind. As I was saying...concerning car models...I discovered that no one as of yet, had manufactured any Transformer models. They have diecast models and things like that, but nothing you could actually build and paint yourself. At least yet. In my search, I found that people (modeling folk like myself) had actually started buying the Transformers toys and painstakingly detailing them, with weathering, more accurate colors, etc. I thought it was an interesting idea and am going to try it. So, when my wife said, 'honey, I need your Christmas list', I added Optimus Prime to the list. In toy form. Yep. That's right. Optimus freakin' Prime. For those that don't know, he's the semi.

Much to my wife's dismay, she obliged, and believe it or not, I unwrapped him at Christmas with no shame. I felt like a kid again. It was great. I think I did hear her say at one point, 'I can't believe I'm bought a Transformer for my 35 year old husband.' Like I said - no shame. I have a plan for this dude.

As I opened the box, I noticed on the front cover it said '5 years and up.' I thought, shit, I can handle this. I couldn't have been more wrong. As I removed the packaging surrounding Optimus, I pulled out a folded instruction sheet. My eyes widened as I unfolded the sheet, outlining all 27 steps to transform him. 27 steps! It came 'untransformed' as Optimus in character form. So, my goal became to transform him into the semi. My attempt lasted a few hours before I gave up and handed it to my brother.

Could Justin do it? Nope. He gave it a valiant effort though.

Could Amber do it? Nope. Although, she got him farther along than my brother or I did. (Notice the instruction sheet she's holding.)

After even more dismay, my wife, never to back down from a puzzle challenge, decided to try it. 90 minutes later, she got it.

Remember the part where the box read, '5 years and up?' Yeah, how in the world a kid is supposed to be able to handle this, let alone a whole series of these things is beyond me. It took 4 grown adults to transform one toy. I'd hate to see what Megatron is like. Mean little bastard.

Now I'm afraid to try re-transforming him. Could be another whole day shot. I know these things weren't that complicated when I was a kid. I know it.

Maya Christmas

2010-12-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the chump who took my parking spot at Meijer the other day. Despite the fact that I had my turn-signal on, waiting for that spot. I used to not care about things like that, but at the end of the day, at times it can be hard for me to make a long walk like that. So I'm patient-er in finding a better spot than what's in the nosebleed section sometimes. That's okay though chump. Remind me to run you over when I come back out. You and your tattoo that's on your leg. Wait. It's 20 degrees out and I can see your leg? Wait. Oh. It's 'cause you're wearing shorts. When it's 20 degrees outside. Gee, that's smart. You're awesome...dude. Now I'm really gonna run you over.

I'm ~~happy~~ excited though. It's Christmas. I think my shopping is done. I'm sure there will be that - 'oh crap...I forgot about them' - gift...but oh well. That's why they created the iTunes gift card. It's for all those times when you forgot the real gift. It's the fake gift that's to the rescue. But everyone loves them. I can drop $25 on iTunes in 4.8 seconds flat. In a pear tree.

And now, a word from Maya -

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday. Merry Christmas!

~Jonathon

The Betrayal with the Reward - Part III (Final)

2010-12-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

What if we all got together and started a photography blog?

As if I needed one more blog to manage or be a part of. Here's the rub: This one will benefit not only the readers, but also the users. Different, right? Well, in my mind it is. With every photo that's posted, we're going to do our best to describe what it is we did to achieve it. For instance, for those that are photography-savy or just want to learn, we're going to tell you what we did to the camera's settings prior to taking the picture and after. (i.e, f-stop, shutter speed, ISO settings, flash usage, etc.) We'll also tell you what camera gear we used and what we did in the editing room post-shot with Photoshop, Lightroom, or other editing programs. In the end, we'll not only be educating our readers and dazzling them with what we hope are only great photos, but learning ourselves about the different ways we all shoot things and edit them afterwards. I'll be the first to admit, there's not one photo out there from me that hasn't been in some way altered by my 3rd wife, which still remains to this day, Photoshop. It's become as natural as getting in the car, putting on your safety belt and driving. You take the photo; edit it in Photoshop; done. It's the way of things. And then a few days later, you look back on it and think crap, I should'a done that instead. Damn you, hindsight.   Reminds me of something Leonardo da Vinci said, and this is not a joke:

"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen."

This is true for so many things besides photography and art. I don't have a man-crush on Leonardo da Vinci, but when someone says exactly what you're thinking, but you can't express it in words, you tend to remember it. Like you won't forget that one time when you came walking out of the bathroom with toilet paper hitchhiking on your heel. And then your co-worker said, Um...dude...

There. Write it down. Copy and paste it to your forehead. Tune in next week for another episode of Jonathon's Stolen Catchphrases. I'm going global with this.

Don't say you weren't warned about my tangents. I do this. A lot.

Re-routing...

If we don't do this with every photo, don't come chasing us with baseball bats and the I told you so fingers, please. We will do our best with the details based largely on all of our schedules.

Details are still forthcoming, but I'm trying to get several of photographers I know involved in this. The site will launch January 1st, 2011. We will try and post as frequently as possible to keep it fresh, hopefully around 2-3 times per week, maybe more, depending on how big our author-base grows.

More to come.

The Betrayal with the Reward - Part II

2010-12-16T12:58:00.001-05:00

...I'm pretty sure Coke came out my nose at one point. And that wasn't too far from the truth.

It's not that I'm not familiar with commissions. Because I am. Relatively. Maybe not as much as my buddy Matt, but close enough. I've done all sorts of projects for people. Some of which have been a lot of fun and some, well, not so much. When I tell people what it is that I do, they usually follow that up with hey, could you make me a (insert your desired goofy project here) comment. I was once asked,

hey! You know that Photoshop program!? Okay, this is what I want you to do...take this picture, see me in it there?

Uh-huh.

I want you to take away some weight on my body, remove all my wrinkles, and change the color of my shirt! Can you do that??

Why?

Because it would be great!

Oh, so you want to look like one of those Cosmo cover models that are so digitally painted on the magazine cover that if their Smashbox makeup kit saw them in the mirror, even it would freak? Um...no. Scram. I didn't say that, but I really wanted to. I got off on a tangent. I do that sometimes. Bear with me.

My point is that I'm used to commissions in all shapes and sizes. Like, this one time...oh crap. I'm doing it again. Nevermind.

But this wasn't a commission. This was something bigger. Three childrens books. Thuureee. 300-350 drawings. I want this project. I need this project. So, I started writing a letter...

Dear Photoshop,
I know you and I have been close over the years and all, but sadly, I have to go away for a while and have an affair with Illustrator for a -

No, I didn't actually start writing a letter, 'cause that would've been stupid. But I did reply to the initial email and the progression bloomed from there. This was back in October. On December 14th, I signed the contract and fully committed to the project. I can't reveal much more about the books themselves other than that. The first book is tentatively scheduled to be on the market sometime next Spring. Having said all that, special thanks to Kallie for giving me this opportunity!

Now, I'm going to switch gears, turn around, and back up the truck to about a week ago. And you thought we were moving forward...ppffff. Nope. But I have good reason. Stay with me. I have to keep my 3.8 readers a day coming back for something, right?

I have a few friends that are awesome photographers. 'Bout 3 or 4 to be exact. I don't include myself as one, because I don't think of myself as one...yet. But I learn from them and they learn from me. We're symbiotic that way. But not in a Venom meets Spidey kind of way. Anyway, a week ago, I asked this question to myself:

What if we all got together and started a photography blog?

To be continued...tomorrow. Again.

The Betrayal with the Reward - Part I

2010-12-15T16:24:00.001-05:00

Being that I work with most things graphical professionally, I'm no stranger to using Photoshop or Illustrator on a daily basis these days. When I was first hired however, I'd never before used Adobe Illustrator. In the days that followed, I avoided that program like that creepy dude who talks too much around the water cooler at work, because the task of learning it seemed too daunting. I can do that in Photoshop, I thought. I don't need Illustrator. Vector-shmector. My PSD file in Photoshop might be 500 megabytes when I'm done, and take up more hard drive space than the entire HD capacity of my old Macintosh II, but by golly, I'd make it work! I'd stick out my tongue and tilt my nose upwards at the thought of using Illustrator. Don't tell me what I can't do in Photoshop, dammit. I'll show you.

At some point in the months that followed, my job slowly, eerily, and blindingly moved towards the more frequent of use of Illustrator. Those irritating vectors. Who's idea was this anyway? I was not comfortable with this, but strangely intrigued. I was not happy at all that I was gradually allowing this program to nestle itself in my life, like a cute stray dog I had taken in, at an emotionally weak and absent-minded moment. Crap. I'm turning to the dark-side. The Emperor would be proud. Him and his wrinkles. And his finger-lightning-baddass-ish-stuff-I-wish-I-could-do.

I couldn't betray Photoshop. Or, at least I thought I couldn't. Or, could I? Could I learn both and not offend the other? Could I use both in harmony? Screw it, I thought. I'll be the one that brings the gun to a knife-fight and see what happens. Photoshop's got my back, right? Right?

More time passed and I grew more comfortable with using it.

One day, in the Summer of 2008, I had an idea. An idea that would not only change things, but help others to see this infamous vector-shmector program as the brilliant, loving stray dog that it is. Only then, I thought my idea was small and minute compared to the huge-ass world known as the Internet. And it still is. Really. Slow your roll...my idea wasn't that big. My idea was actually more of a question than an innovation, at first. Why couldn't I use Illustrator as a means of digitally inking artwork? Black ink over pencil drawings, but digitally. In other words, I can make a mistake on my linework, erase it, redo it, all without having to apologize for it. Change the line thickness (stroke) in one click? Re-size without having to worry about resolution? Someone's doing this already...has to be. I'm just not that cool or innovative. And so I searched. Google told me nothing. Yahoo said even less. Youtube had a few faithful Photoshop inkers at the time. But not like my traitor-ass was about unveil. If I was going to betray my world known as Photoshop, which I've been using since version 3.0, I was going to do it with my boots on. Illustrator style. With a smiley face. And boots.

After experimenting with different stroke weights, brushes, and probably a few curse word combos, I discovered that it could in fact be done. Holy shit. Someone needs to know about this; Someone needs to see how this could help things, I thought. This result led me to one conclusion: Youtube. Use a screen capture program, record myself doing this, upload the video to Youtube and save an inker's day. And his boots.

On November 22, 2008, I uploaded the video to Youtube. Little did I know where my delicate betrayal of Photoshop would land me. And I still don't, really. It's officially out of control. Spinning. Unraveling, yet soothing. I'm buried, yet resting on the surface in the sun. With my sunscreen on of course, or my wife might just kill me. Her wrath is worse than cancer. Believe me, I would know.

Fast-forward to October of this year. At time when many inkings, photographs, videos, and curse words had passed, I receive an email from a publisher. In a nutshell, the email asked, I'm publishing 3 childrens books, would you be interested in inking all of them?

I'm pretty sure Coke came out my nose at one point.

To be continued....tomorrow.

ThanksForGiving Life

2010-11-23T15:02:00.001-05:00

At time of year when families get together for turkey, potatoes and those awful cranberries, we often need to be reminded of gifts we have in our lives. When I say gifts, I don't mean bags with streamers hanging off of them; I don't mean glitter-ridden, wrapped boxes either. And I certainly don't mean the score you brought home last year from Macy's Black Friday sale.

I mean life. The life(s) that are in your life. Not lives. Life(s). One of the many definitions in our dictionary under the word life, defines it as 'the animate existence or period of animate existence of an individual.'  Well, we all have people who exist in our lives. That's not a new development. What we have few of, is people that bring life to our lives; People that bring light to areas of darkness; People who won't walk the path for you, but show you the clearing through the forest to get there; And people that pick you up when you've fallen down. Each of us have an amount of people in our lives that do that for us. It doesn't matter how many you have, only that you do.

A friend of mine once said, 'It doesn't matter how much wealth you have or had; but rather how many people showed up at your funeral. That says what kind of a person you were.' I don't truly believe in this statement, but it does hold some validity. Are you more likely to be remembered as an asshole? Or, are you more likely to be remembered as the person who'd do anything for anyone, regardless of personal benefit? You choose. Because at the end of the day, it's your actions that people judge you from, and your own conscience that you have to go to bed with.

I present a challenge to my readers. I wouldn't normally do this, but I'm in the spirit of Thanksgiving, so deal with it. I challenge you to do something uncharacteristically nice for someone. It can be a random someone, friend, wife, husband, family, etc. No monetary gifts. Just a simple act of kindness. Why? Because you DON'T have to; Because it's NOT required; Because everyone needs a little life brought into their life once in a while. Gives them hope. Reason. Even humility. Once you've completed the challenge, you must post what you did here on the blog, or on my Facebook post about it.

When you're sitting around at the family tables passing around that nasty cranberry sauce, think about that. Think about those that have brought life to your life, and wonder to yourself about how to pay them back for it.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

~Jonathon

The Karate Kid Reviewed

2010-11-09T13:15:00.000-05:00

Read about it now in my film blog. No spoilers!

~Jonathon

Vortex

2010-10-05T16:14:00.000-04:00

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, my buddy Matt Martin created this character named Vortex. He was published in several books and became pretty popular with the local comic masses. In our on-going effort to do a book together of all his characters, he drew this one up of the original version of Vortex. Similar to our Snowman project, he did the pencils and I went over them with inks in Illustrator, using my Wacom Tablet. Vortex has since undergone some revisions and Matt has kept those under wraps for now. Perhaps they will find light soon in another project. I actually used this drawing for my latest inking tutorial video that was posted on Youtube a few months ago.

Site Updates

2010-09-10T16:22:00.000-04:00

It was brought to my attention recently that I have all this stuff on my website with the exception of an email address. Oops. Not sure how or why I omitted that. It is now listed under my 'bio' section. There. Now, you have no excuse.

The photography section has a few new photos as well. Some of which I've already posted here in the blog. And in case you haven't noticed, the main banner was changed.

ND takes on Michigan this weekend. Hopefully, at the end of the day tomorrow, we will be 2-0. Go Irish!

Long Weekend for Labor Day

2010-09-03T16:19:00.001-04:00

These past two weeks have been just a little short of insane. Is there an adjective stronger than that? If there is, I'm too tired to try and find it. Putting in over-time at work coupled with last minute deadlines has been breakfast for days. And dinner for that matter. I really wish I had more time to post things, 'cause I always have a lot to say about nothing. I'm pretty sure recent history is written on my down-trodden face. If one more person says to me 'dude, you look tired.' I might have to strangle them with both hands. Not just one. Better yet...I'll use the Force Choke on your ass. Make you suffer a bit. I'm sure a lot of it is attributed to the meds I'm on...but that's a whole different blog.

I included in this post a recent panoramic shot I took at a lake. It's my first one. Took the shots and then edited them in Photoshop. But now I'm looking forward to spending time with friends and family this weekend. Enjoy the weekend everyone, and be safe.

Under the Knife

2010-08-06T15:33:00.001-04:00

My Camaro is in surgery. For those that don't know me, I'm extremely ~~anal~~ picky about who works on my car(s). But I'm not saying who's doing the work. It's classified. If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Ever since I installed my headers, my A/C hasn't worked because of a punctured line. That happened back in 2002. That was one of those - oh c'mon just one more shove to the pipe in there and BAM! PSSSSSSSS! Oops. There goes all my freon. Literally gassed myself out of the garage. That wasn't any fun. Good thing my wife wasn't in there at the time. Pretty sure I would've heard it about that one. That stuff doesn't smell good. But all that comes to an end soon, while my mechanic works to restore the line and freon to working order. It'll be nice on the few hot days we have left for the year. Hopefully, I'll get her back tonight in time for me to enjoy this gorgeous weather.

New Video Posted on Youtube

2010-07-22T18:13:00.000-04:00

It's only taken me nearly two years to complete another tutorial video for all my friends on Youtube. That's not bad right? You guys screamed for another Illustrator inking video, so I obliged, this time using Illustrator CS4. This is the fourth video I've done, and being under the scrutiny of a screen recorder is still uncomfortable. I used a new drawing as well. My buddy Matt Martin drew this for me to ink, so with his permission, I figured this would be a great opportunity for a new tutorial video. The drawing is great rendering of a character he created in high school called Vortex. Special thanks to him for that. The pleasure is mine, really. I respect him greatly as an artist, so being that he allows me to ink his drawings is a real treat.

One of the reasons it's taken me so long was that I was trying to figure out a new way to present an old method. Well, I shouldn't call it old, but this method of digital inking has been around for awhile. So, I figured I would just use the same method with an updated version of Illustrator. I'll admit, I used to really dislike using Illustrator. But my job has forced me to learn it, and now that I'm used to how it works, I like it. It's great for this kind of a process.

A few people have asked if this is possible in Photoshop. And the answer is yes, partly. Photoshop is a completely different program than Illustrator. With PS, you're constrained by pixels and resolution. Or, as we call it in the business, PPI. (Pixels Per Inch.) Not to be confused with DPI. (Dots Per Inch.) They work together, but they are not the same thing. Illustrator is basically a vector program. It's not limited by pixels. I may explain in more detail in another post. But, if this video is as successful as its predecessor on Youtube, I'll consider doing one in Photoshop. I know a lot of people would like that, because Illustrator doesn't seem to be as common to users as PS.

My original inking tutorial has almost 80,000 views as grows every day. Thank you to all of you who viewed it and asked questions. And I hope you enjoy this new one that I posted today.

The Book of Eli

2010-07-08T16:19:00.000-04:00

Over the past few months, I've heard a lot of good things about this film. I didn't purposely post this in my film review blog, because I wanted to talk a little more about the content of film, not so much the film itself...if that makes any sense. I'll try my best to avoid any spoilers...

I love post-apocalyptic films. For some reason, it's of great interest to me to see how the human race would handle such things like nuclear war, fallout, or just extinction in general. It's probably why I'm drawn to the Terminator franchise. However, this film doesn't deal with advanced cyborgs that look like us, or the events that lead us to a war of that scope. There's no fish people running around with webbing between their fingers and toes, and no dreadlocked aliens coming to dinner.

We get the general idea early on that the world is wiped out, cities leveled, and anarchy reigns over territories. Money is of no value. Things we now take for granted, are treasure. Like, books, water and simple comfort of a warm bed. In this film, the war or fallout took place so long ago, knowledge of religion and law has been long since forgotten, or lost. People have no idea who God is, or where they came from as a species, with the exception of a few educated people in places of power.

Denzel Washington plays a character who has a vision of a society that needs brought to order. A society or collective race rather, that simply needs direction. The simple, age-old-cliche solution - bring order to chaos. How do we do that? Yep. With a book. But not just any book. The book. That's right. The Bible. You can figure all this out just from watching the trailers, so don't worry, I'm not ruining anything. Gary Oldman, who I think is freakin' great, plays a man who's in charge of town that needs guidance, or direction. Remember that $2 bill that your grandpa gave you on your birthday? That has no value here. But your bottle of water does. Hell, people kill for it here. People need direction. People need purpose. What better way to provide that than with the book. The book. Knowledge is power. Religion is power. It can give societies power to rule, or govern your way of life. The Roman Catholic Church did it. Islam did it. You can see where I'm going with this. Imagine that. A society of people with no order. No law. No knowledge of evolution. What once was, is lost. But, the Bible could change that. Or could it? If you were in that situation, and suddenly a book is found, describing the origins of life, sins of man and miracles, would you follow it? Or would you follow its message? Would it be enough?

It was an interesting film, both from a viewer's perspective and a speculative one. It leaves much open for debate and will leave you talking with your friends about it afterwards.

More HDR with CS5

2010-06-25T16:13:00.000-04:00

I keep looking for excuses to keep messing Photoshop CS5's HDR toning tool. Here's a photograph I took at the Gilmore Car Museum in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The barns there were tough to photograph because they had so much natural light coming in through their windows and they didn't have any lights on. Using flash was practically useless. But I'm biased to using the flash anyway. The photo on the left was the original and the right one was edited using CS5.

I'll be adding these to the gallery soon.

Enjoy.
~Jonathon

Photoshop CS5's HDR Toning

2010-06-01T15:22:00.002-04:00

Photoshop CS5 was released in April I believe. Usually I don't like upgrading things on my computers because because often times it breaks things, or plug-ins and other things aren't available right away for what you need to use. I was anxious to try this out because of the HDR Toning adjustment capability. For those that don't know, HDR Photography (High Dynamic Range) is a method that's used to bring out other tones and variations in the image that are captured by the camera, but not necessarily brought out correcly at the time of exposure. There's a long winded explanation behind the 'actual' process of shooting this way and editing it later. But, the bottom line is, is that now there's a 'backyard' way to do this in the latest version of Photoshop that I think is pretty damn cool. Tutorials on how to do this and which settings to use are starting to pop up all over the net, so I'm not going to waste time with that. What I can do is show you what I did in less than a few minutes of editing.

The photo to the left is the familiar shot I had of a train engine. Nothing wrong with photo in particular. The one next to it was adjusted using the HDR Toning adjustment. It makes the highlights brighter, the shadows darker, and detail more readily seen. It's a more vibrant photograph.

It's fun to play with the settings and see what you can come up with. I'm sure I'll be messing around with it more in the future.

Snowman Colored Preview

2010-05-18T08:24:00.000-04:00

My favorite time of the day is when I lay down to sleep. Everything is dark, quiet and calm. The hustle of the day has diminished and the noises that accompanied it have gone silent. All that's left in the air is the sound of my wife breathing or the occasional movement of one of my dogs. A fury a thoughts soon race over my mind. I find myself reviewing the day, action by action, wondering what I could've done different. Like, the things I said, the places I went, and the debates I took part in. If an argument took place, I always come up with things I should've said, but didn't. I think about the next day and look forward to what it has to bring. And at some point, I drift off to sleep, only to start over again the following night. It's my time. I've grown to love my 'me time.'

Here's also a sneak peak at what I've been working on in my spare time. It's the colored version Matt's Snowman. It's coming together very slowly. I've never colored snow before, so this has definitely been a challenge, but it's starting to shape up. It's far from finished, but hopefully soon it will be done. I'm using Photoshop CS4 to do it.

HULK

2010-04-29T15:31:00.000-04:00

The first drawing from me of 2010. I decided to do the Hulk. For some reason, Matt's previous drawing I inked of Snowman inspired me to do this. You can see the progress of it coming along. It's still got a long way to go, but it's getting there. I'm also busy coloring that drawing of Snowman as well. As soon as it's finished, I'll post it up.

Snowman Returns

2010-04-15T15:51:00.000-04:00

After nearly a year and a half break from drawing, I'm coming back with a vengeance. My great friend Matt Martin and I teamed up to do a Snowman piece. I inked this over his pencils using Illustrator CS3 and my Wacom Tablet. Love that thing. I think this artwork turned out really freakin' awesome. It really tested my ability as an inker and further pushed the boundaries of what I thought I could do digitally. Not to mention the fact that I've taken so long to return to the dynamic of drawing in general. Matt didn't make my 'comeback tour' easy. But, I jumped in with both feet, and I think I came out with my boots on.

Matt is taking this with him to the Chicago Comic-Con this weekend to show it off a bit. It's been an honor working with him and we have several projects planned in the near future.

Stay tuned for more...

Stupid Busy

2010-04-12T10:17:00.001-04:00

I apologize for the lack of posts. I've been stupid busy lately working on all kinds of projects. I hope to be posting a new drawing this week of a splash page of Matt Martin's Snowman. This is my first drawing attempt for 2010. It's hard to believe that I didn't draw at all in 2009. 'Cept for maybe a sketch or two earlier in the year. The neuropathy in my hands has mostly diminished and I'm able to draw and write almost normal again.

So, stay tuned folks. New works are coming soon!

Transformers and Tulips

2010-03-16T13:59:00.001-04:00

Lately I've been working more with photography than drawing. One of which, is a collage of Transformers that I put together in Photoshop. Now, this comes with a disclaimer - I did NOT make the concept art for that. All I did was find high res images of them on the net and put them together in one photo. I wouldn't want Dreamworks or Michael Bay mad at me. Who ever did make these images of them is badass though.

The other photo is one I took of some tulips we have at home.

More coming...

~Jonathon

Sketchbook Drawings Available

2010-03-09T16:08:00.000-05:00

After weeks of scanning drawings and trying to make them appear somewhat interesting, the sketchbook section is now up. Don't let the amount of thumbnails fool you, for there is many sketches per preview. A lot of what's in there dates back to when I was in high school. But some of them you may recognize as finished drawings that made it past the cut. There's dinosaurs, comic characters, a Disney character, a few women, comic pages and other various things. Some of what's in there has only been seen by a few people, and I debated about having this section on my site to begin with, but I decided people may want to see the doodles I've done over the ages. I hope you enjoy...

~Jonathon

A Little History That Went A Long Way

2010-02-15T15:48:00.000-05:00

Remember that scene in Back to the Future III where Marty and Doc have their picture taken in front of the clock for the tower in Hill Valley? That picture ends being integral part of the story, just as it would be for anyone's family history. Having said that, I always love seeing very old family photographs like that. My Aunt sent me this one today.

We haven't been able to identify everyone in the photo yet. However, pictured behind the bearded man who's sitting down, is my great grandmother, Bertha Rose. This photo was taken in 1910, 20 years before her death in 1930. The bearded man was her father.

Almost There...

2010-02-11T20:58:00.000-05:00

After weeks of effort, the redesign for this site is nearly complete. I appreciate everyone's patience despite the lack of updates in the last few months. All that is about to change. I'm still working on film blog, and sketchbook sections, so bear with me for a day or two with that. The sketchbook section ought to be interesting in that most people have never seen my works-in-progress. Stay tuned for that. There are new photos in the photography section and my author's bio has been updated.

More to come...

~Jonathon

Special Thanks to Youtube & Friends

2009-12-14T11:15:00.002-05:00

Some of you may recall last year I made some tutorial videos in Photoshop and Illustrator. Those videos have generated a huge response on the net from viewers. Between the three videos I posted, they've drawn nearly 70,000 views and attracted about 120 subscribers. I would've never imagined the success involved with this. With that said, I wish to thank everyone who viewed them or commented on them. I'm glad I was able to help out in some way. I hope to do more in the future as I discover things for myself as well.

Thank you!

The videos can be found here:

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmvZbjT_tx4

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUFnvOkdb3I

3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehaT90RCJCA

I'm also working on a complete redesign for this site. I'm hoping it'll happen very soon...but it'll depend on how much free time my wife has to help. So stay tuned for that.

New Film Review - Paranormal Activity

2009-11-25T15:32:00.001-05:00

See my review of the film Paranormal Activity in my film/tv blog! [No film ruining spoilers.]

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen

2009-11-02T08:10:00.001-05:00

See my review in my film/tv blog now...

Happy Birthday Maya

2009-10-12T09:41:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe but my dog Maya turned one year old last Thursday. She's done remarkably well, I think, although my wife may beg to differ. Maya listens pretty well for the most part, but she is still very much a puppy. She craves attention constantly and sometimes gets carried away in the house playing with our other dog, Austin. I guess that's what I love about dogs - all they want is your love and care. They don't need money for gas. They don't need the latest fashions, and they don't need a new car to ride around in. Dogs are always so excited when their owners come home. It makes their day. We as humans have become so accustomed to growing our accumulation of wealth by buying cars, bigger houses and jewelry. But we never stop to think about our dogs. All the payment they want is attention. And I'll gladly pay it. Dogs rule.

I'm Back!

2009-10-08T10:14:00.000-04:00

I beat it! My Leukemia is in remission and we all hope that it stays that way! I have returned to work part time as well. More information can be found on my Leukemia blog linked in my previous post. I hope to be posting more here about regular stuff and movies. More to come...

I have Leukemia

2009-01-23T21:43:00.002-05:00

For those that don't know, on January 21st, I was diagnosed with Leukemia. This was a shock to me, as well as my family. Everyone I know has been incredibly supportive and I'm truly blessed to have such a tremendous amount of support, love and contributions. My wife and I have created a blog that we will use as a daily outlet for updates concerning my condition. That can be found here.

I don't know when I'll return to posting normally here, but I plan to return. It's only a matter of time.

I can beat this.

I will beat this.

I will win.

Jonathon out.

New Film Reviewed!

2009-01-05T14:06:00.000-05:00

See my review of Valkyrie in my Film/TV blog!

The New Girl

2008-12-18T10:06:00.004-05:00

After months of discussion, my wife and I decided that it was time to get a another dog. Meet Maya. (Pronounced My-uh.) She's a full-bred, 10 week old Yellow Labrador. We picked her up last Tuesday night from a breeder in southeast Indiana. No, we didn't get her because of the book or upcoming movie 'Marley and Me.' I've always wanted a female Yellow Labrador for years. In fact, reading the book almost deterred me from getting one! Great book, nonetheless.

Since we firmly believe in crate-training, we put her in her crate at night to sleep. Between the nervousness of being in a new home and diarrhea, none of us got much sleep the first two nights. She screamed, howled and whimpered in between 2 hour doses of sleep. But we resisted the urge to remove her from her crate. By the third night, she slept all the way through the night, and has done so ever since.

We haven't really started any obedience training yet. Our first order of business is getting her to understand what 'outside-potty' means. We have hardwood floors in our house, so fortunately, the accidents are easy to clean up. But with it being so cold outside, the last thing she's interested in doing is going outside to take a leak. (It was -3F at our house yesterday.) Ah...the joys of puppy-hood.

I hope everyone has a safe, happy holiday season.

Tutorial Video for Illustrator CS3

2008-12-02T13:19:00.003-05:00

Do you ever get freaked out when you hear a recording of your own voice? I used to. That is, until I manned up and just dealt with it. After an unexpected huge amount of feedback on the inking video I made earlier this year, I decided to make a tutorial video showing exactly how it's done. This, of course, required the use of my voice as narration to provide tips and instruction. Once I got past the initial reaction of 'oh my gosh, that's how I sound?' factor, it seemed to work out okay.

I had some issues with my screen-recording software in that, it was difficult to get it to capture the right amount of frames per second, and the adjustment of the playback in frames per second. As a result, sometimes you'll see the narration not exactly line up with the what's going on the video. But, you get the overall idea.

Published!

2008-11-14T08:30:00.005-05:00

Last week, my good friend Matt Martin put out a new Snowman book and an art book. The art book was more of a showcase of Matt's work over the last few years. Some of you may remember earlier this year, Matt gave me a comic page that he had done in pencil. He wanted to see how my inks, using Illustrator CS3 would look over his pencil work. I'm pleased to say that, that inked page ended up published in his art book, which was released last week. So, that makes two works published inside two decades for me. Whew, I'm moving now! That page is also in my illustration gallery.

So...special thanks goes to Matt for including that in his book and giving me the opportunity to ink his work. We hope to do more work together in the future as well. For more on Matt, click my 'friends' link at the top and visit his website.

Audrey Hepburn

2008-11-10T10:23:00.002-05:00

Near the end of September, I started this drawing with the intent of giving it to my wife on her birthday. Her birthday was last Friday, the 7th, and I did finish the work on that day and gave it to her. She loved it, which was a relief. It's so hard sometimes to break yourself out of what you've been working on for so long, and give it an objective second look. Perhaps with time, that objectivity will come to me, I don't know.

I've always wanted to draw her something special, as I really haven't done so in the past. I know, right? My wife married an artist...ew, I hate that word...and I haven't really drawn her anything in 8 years. Hard to believe, but it's true. However, that is no longer the case.

This drawing is all pencil and took a boat-load of hours and lead to complete. If I'm remembering correctly, I think refilled my lead pencil twice throughout the course of its progress. But, it's done and I can finally share it with the rest of you. Below is also a progress collage of what it looked like coming together.

Reviewed: The Incredible Hulk

2008-11-03T08:20:00.001-05:00

See my review of the Incredible Hulk in the film and tv blog!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T09:44:00.002-04:00

So, it's Halloween and yet most of the stores around town seem to think it's already Christmas. I was under the impression that Christmas wasn't until after Thanksgiving, but hey, whatever. Just skip right past my favorite holiday of the year! That's okay! But, in all seriousness, have a great Halloween...be safe...and get fat on a bunch of candy.

In other news...apparently my digital inking video on Youtube is a hit. I didn't see that one coming. I've gotten a lot of emails and comments regarding how I did that, what my settings were, etc. I may add a tutorial video soon to help with some of those questions. But for all those who commented or emailed me, thank you. I've tried to respond promptly to everyone and I think have.

More to come. Have a great weekend....

Planet Earth (Reviewed)

2008-10-06T08:29:00.002-04:00

See my review of the television series, Planet Earth in my film and tv blog!

Smoke Needs a Destination

2008-09-22T14:43:00.003-04:00

Everyone's heard of writer's block. And if you haven't, well, seriously, hand me that newspaper and I school you with an abrupt whack to the temple. I think I have thinker's block. If that's even a real thing...which I'm 90% sure it isn't. Just let me humor you. I want to write, but I don't know what I want to write. I want to draw, but I don't know what to draw. I have lots of ideas on what to write and draw, I just can't decide on the most important one!

My thoughts lately are acting like smoke from a cigar. At the beginning, it's real pungent, or defined. Eventually it leads to another stream of smoke and then another, and another, before it finally dissipates into...yes, you guessed it! Nothing. I'm excited about a lot of things in that swirling mass of smoke in my head. But I can't seem to find the cherry. (That's smoker-lingo for actual burning ambers that the smoke burns from.) I suppose if I found that, I could start...something. Either that, or I just need to pick one thing and do it, right? I draw a little. I write all the freakin' time. Hell, I've even written a book. So, what's my problem? Lack of creativity? Nope. Lack of inspiration? Hmm, maybe. Bottom line: Smoke needs a destination. My thoughts need to land somewhere, and not dissipate like my metaphorical reference material. The question is how do I do that?

A Little Face-lift and Memories

2008-09-10T12:56:00.002-04:00

I just returned from my vacation in the UP of Michigan and it's back to reality again quickly, I'm afraid. I really hate it when a good vacation goes by so fast, and you look back wondering if you savored the moments enough. I certainly didn't. We rode about 150 miles or so on our quads, petted a bear cub at a Bear Ranch, drank more than usual, smoked way too many cigarettes, paid too much for gas, and I still have the receipts to prove it. Amidst the mud, colder temperatures and campfire madness, there was a good time had by all...this I'm sure of. Below is a collage of photos my sister put together in the last few days...

Center Photo, From Left: Alex, Justin, Kiely, pronounced Keel-ee, myself, and Jennifer.

You might have also noticed a little change in the scenery around here too. After what seemed like months of coloring, which was really just a few weeks, I finally finished the coloring on my Marilyn Monroe piece. Yes, that's really her to the left...just so there's no confusion. I darkened the backgrounds too just make things look more edgy-er.

Every now and then at work, I get a request to do something fun without any creative boundaries. Stemming from that, came a design for the current '08 ND Football Season. No, it doesn't have Danica's pretty face splattered all over it, but you get the idea.

New Film Review

2008-08-06T08:18:00.001-04:00

See X-files - I Want to Believe reviewed in my film blog.

Digital Coloring Video

2008-07-11T14:34:00.002-04:00

I apologize for the lack of posts, but I've been trying to get this piece done. I've been spending a lot of time honing my coloring skills and as a result, it's taken me a while to finish. (And it's still not done.) Not to mention it's a rather daunting experience just simply knowing your work is being recorded.

I have discovered that with the exception of water, trying to color human skin is one of the most difficult things to master. But with practice, I'm getting better. It's not so much a problem with shading or highlights, but more with actually which colors to use. And I don't care what anyone says, using photo-reference does help, but it's not full-proof. Two things that have really helped me in the last few weeks is having learned how to add 'warmth' to human skin, as well as using a non-white background to work from. Together, they help change the dynamic of the drawing and make it look more realistic, and not so flat and cartoony.

Some day, I hope to have the confidence to be able to record coloring a piece entirely from start to finish. That's my goal - someday. 'Till then, you can enjoy this clip...

(Previous inking video - click here)

Remembering Michael Turner

2008-06-30T07:38:00.005-04:00

I remember the first time I came across a piece of art drawn by Michael Turner. At the time, I hadn't bought a comic book since high school. I kept up with certain story lines by reading stuff about the characters online, but beyond that, I had pretty much disconnected myself from that universe. That is, until I saw Turner's version of the Flash. It rejuvenated my interest in the genre. I thought, holy crap, you CAN make comic characters look cool again! From that point on, I bought up everything I could that he had done, including the Superman/Batman series that brought back Supergirl. He died this past weekend of cancer at the age of 37.

The art world has truly lost a wonderful creator.

News link found here.

Inking Marilyn

2008-06-12T12:37:00.002-04:00

I've gone and become a part of the youtube community. This is a short video I made showing how I ink using a Wacom Tablet in Illustrator CS3. It's time lapsed so it moves along pretty quick, but you get the general idea. I won't be inking every detail because the drawing will eventually be colored. So, the majority of pencils left behind will be compensated with shades of color and gradients. I'll probably be posting 3 parts to this project in all. So stay tuned for more...Enjoy.

Beautiful People Series #2

2008-06-06T16:10:00.002-04:00

I chose to draw Chris and Dana Reeve, just because. Because. Yes. That's my answer. What they were able to accomplish in their lifetimes is remarkable. I remember seeing Chris's portrayal of Superman when I was a boy and that has stuck with me for years. We were all saddened when the news of his accident spread around the world. But, instead of letting his misfortune get the better of him, he moved on. He moved forward. With his wife Dana by his side, they formed The Christopher and Dana Reeve foundation to help raise money for research in paralysis.

I thought I was never going to finish this one. *wipes forehead* Those of you that might have seen my first posting of this on my Deviantart site, might notice some changes. Originally, Chris's pupils were much larger and very unbecoming of him. I thought I was close to completion at that point, but after changing his eyes, I just kept going. A week later, here it is, finished. I honestly could spend hours more on Dana's hair, but I need to limit myself and move on to other things.

Have a great weekend.

New Film Reviewed! [Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]

2008-05-28T07:42:00.005-04:00

See my review to the latest Indy movie in my film and tv blog...

Danica

2008-05-16T10:31:00.003-04:00

I was asked recently to design a banner featuring Danica Patrick for a few friends of mine that are going down to the Indianapolis 500 next weekend. So, naturally I was obliged to cooperate. *wink-wink* I think it turned out okay. I didn't have a lot of control on which pictures to use, as most of them were already picked out. The design is a little busy, but overall I think it works and they were happy with it.

New Film Review! [Iron Man]

2008-05-06T08:35:00.002-04:00

See my review of IRON MAN in my film/tv blog...

My Official 2008 Sucks Post

2008-04-28T15:31:00.006-04:00

Man, what a year so far. Last week, my wife's grandfather passed away. We traveled up to Green Bay to pay respects at his funeral. That's funeral #3 so far this year. Very sad. My wife is 30, and up until last week, she still had all of her grandparents. How remarkable is that? It's difficult to keep that in mind when you lose one though. I lost all my grandparents by the time I was 24. So, at the end of the day she still has 3 left and she's 2 years younger than I am! Man, I'm jealous. (But in a good way.)

So I get home yesterday after 5 days of being over yonder...I fire up my laptop and a dismal black screen appears with the words: "Operating System Not Found." Oh...great...that CAN'T be good. Sure enough...my hard drive was toast. You'd think after not being used for 5 days while I was away, it'd be rearing to go, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to start the day...but no. Piece of shit. I lost everything. And yes, for you arm-chair IT experts out there, I did back my stuff up, but not my email or my mp3's. Freakin' sucks! I lost 4 years worth of email and 4 gig worth of mp3's! Not to mention all my bookmarks. Damn you Gateway and your junk hard drives. Just be glad I can't throw a tire through your window!

Yeah, this year sucks so far.

/Rant off.

New Film Review

2008-04-21T10:41:00.001-04:00

My review of Sweeney Todd has been posted.

Beautiful People

2008-04-11T15:55:00.003-04:00

I've decided to draw some new illustrations in a series called, Beautiful People. There's so much ugliness in the world around us, and sometimes it gets difficult to sort through the muck to see that there is beauty that still exists out there. What I mean is the beauty in people. Or, on people, for that matter.

The first, is none other than Marilyn Monroe. I've had a few people ask me, why her? Why Marilyn? I think she was the mold that forged female celebrities into who they are today. Everyone knows who she was, and respected her beauty. No one ever really remembers how they came to know of her, they just do. I think she was a terribly misunderstood, beautiful person.

I won't reveal who I'm drawing next yet. But it should get interesting.

Also, Part II of the my interview with Kate Beckinsale is now in the 'Bio' section.

Lightbox Integrated

2008-04-02T07:58:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I updated my Illustration and Photography galleries with Lightbox. I'm finding from different sites I visit around the net, that this effect is becoming more popular. So I decided to try it for a while with my galleries. It's an effect that, to me, eases navigation through pages that house a lot of images. Once you click the thumbnail for the full image, it opens the full size image in a 'floating' window that shadows the rest of page. Once the image is loaded, you're able to click 'prev' or 'next' to navigate through the rest of them. It's nice because it does allow me to add a description at the bottom of the image as well, which is something I've always struggled with. Remarkably, it was very easy to do. I did it by adding some Javascript in the HTML pages. You can add it to your own page if you like. Just go here for the instructions. And it works in Internet Exploder too.

I did have to slightly modify my code to get it to do exactly what I wanted it to, but it wasn't difficult at all. Originally, the 'prev' and 'next' links are hidden until you rollover them with the mouse. I changed mine so they show up all the time. I found that if didn't do that, it kind of left the visitor going 'now what do I do?'

I'm still putting a lot of work into this site. To me, it still takes too long to load, so I am working on that issue. More to come soon, including part II of the interview with Kate Beckinsale!

New Film Reviewed...

2008-03-31T08:06:00.002-04:00

See my review of I am Legend in my film and tv blog...

Updates

2008-03-13T15:39:00.004-04:00

Alrighty...Let's see...I posted a film review of 10,000 B.C. in the 'Film/tv blog.' Most of my drawings are back up. Including a new project I worked on with my buddy Matt Martin a few weeks ago. I also updated the 'Friends' section with a few new ones as well. In addition, I've updated the 'Bio' section with a new format. I won't ruin the surprise for you. Check it out for yourself!

Redesign '08

2008-03-11T11:22:00.002-04:00

Finally, I was able to get this going again. *Wipes forehead* Man, CSS code can sure be a rotten bitch sometimes. The site still has a few issues I'm working on. For some reason, it's not displaying in Internet Explorer. Figures, it'd be the crap browser everyone uses. It does however, work fine in Firefox and Netscape.

You might notice that some of my content is missing. I'm still working on that. I also have a few NEW drawings to post, and I plan to get that done sometime in the next 24 hours. I still have some of my older works I need to publish too. So bear with me...it's coming.

There's also a new section for film and television reviews. Want to know what I'm watching and what I think of it? Well, now you can.

I will be posting pretty regularly again, now that the bulk of getting this site up is done. So come back soon...

Later,

~Jonathon

Rough Start

2008-01-22T08:23:00.001-05:00

Patience is a word I used to hate when I was younger. But as I've gotten older, I've realized its value. My original plan was to have the redesign to this site done already, but as you can see, that hasn't quite happened yet. But I am working on it every day. 2008 is barely three weeks old and I've already been to two funerals this year. One of which was for a close family member. I'm not used to being around that much death in that short of time. But day by day, we manage. With patience, of course.

I can honestly say that I've never heard anyone say 'Life is too long', and with good reason. My Aunt said the other day that 'life comes at you fast.' And it really does. I find myself constantly thinking about the things I've done in my life or haven't done. If I was to die tomorrow, would I be proud of those things? Would they have been enough? Everyone always assumes they have so much time left to do the things they want to do, so they spend their time working towards that. Makes sense. Except when that progress is abruptly halted by your passing on. Then what?

Take time. Take a moment. Spend it with those that you care about. Because those moments won't last forever.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-13T15:37:00.000-05:00

No, my Christmas shopping isn't done yet. The Christmas parties are still on the schedule. My Christmas cards still aren't done, and I'm not playing 'Secret Santa' with anybody. But I'd like to take a moment and wish everyone a safe and warm holiday season. I know...it can be hard to do when you're driving in traffic and that asshat cuts you off because he's trying to get a better parking spot at Best Buy. Or, how about when that 16 year old punk who's driving Dad's Escalade is riding your bumper so close, he can see what station your radio's on. Yeah. It's like that.

That's why I shop online.

This will probably be my last post of the year, but only because...now just wait! Wait for it...

Okay...only because in January 2008, this site will look completely different. That's right. Redesign time! My wife loves it when I do this. Stay tuned. It'll be worth the wait, I promise. There's a design underway as we speak. So, look for that in the first week or two of January.

Until then, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Christmas, or how ever the hell you like to say it.

Peace out.

~Jonathon

Interpolated Roto-what?

2007-11-05T15:02:00.000-05:00

Have you ever seen those Charles Schwab commercials where the people are talking about how they've been made to feel less important because they are smaller investors? They have that painted-over cartoon look about them? No?

Mm-k. Have you ever seen the movie A Scanner Darkly, with Keanu Reaves? No? Jesus William H Christ. Hand me that newspaper so I can smack you with it. And my wife thinks my rock is big. Mph.

Anyway, this style of graphics has been around for a few years, and the animators that worked on A Scanner Darkly, called it Interpolated Rotoscoping. Don't bother asking Webster what the hell that means cause my damn spell check is already freaking out at that terminology. Put simply, the style sort of mimics a graphic novel style of coloring. Or comic book style, for those of you who rode the short bus with the tinted windows.

I'm only kidding.

I decided to try this style of coloring a few weeks ago on a photograph of some friends of mine. You start with your basic photograph and you add layer after layer of color. First, you ink your dark areas and lines just like you would bringing a pencil drawing to life. Then you just keep adding layers of color under the blacks to 'flush out' the new color by eye-dropping the actual colors from the photo into the new layers. I used Illustrator CS3 for doing all of this. It sounds harder than it is. I probably have 18-20 hours into this image. Took me for-freakin' ever. Though, it was my first time, this was done using a mouse, not a digital drawing tablet. (I'm still working from the stone-age.) The newly colored image is on top and the original photo is perched at the bottom.

I've also added some new photographs in the 'photography' section here too. Check 'em out.

Flannel Man

2007-11-01T07:41:00.000-04:00

This particular event happened in the fall, around Halloween in 1991 I believe. It was late afternoon and the sun had already began to sink in the sky. That day, I decided to go for a walk in the woods behind our house. My brother Jason was the only other person home at the time. A little while into my walk through the woods, I started to hear crunching leaves in the distance, as if someone was walking through the woods. I looked around but didn't see anyone. I didn't think much of it and passed it off as being one of the neighbors. At this point, I was probably 50 yards into the woods. I continued my walk, when I heard the crunching leaves again. This time they weren't walking. They were running. Each step grew louder. I remember hearing the twigs snap under each step, and the crackle of the leaves. I whirled around in every direction and saw no one. I started to get an eerie feeling. I turned from my direction and headed back towards the house. The steps in the crunching leaves grew even louder. I quickened my pace. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone. I only caught it for a second, but it was there. It was a man running at me from my right. He was many yards away, but I could tell he was dressed in a flannel shirt that was somehow waving with him in slow motion. His face and the rest of his body was a blur. I remember hearing a yell or a scream that was certainly that of an echoing male. I could hear his crunching steps getting closer. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I ran. I ran like hell. I couldn't tell if once I started running the steps stopped, but I do know, that once I cleared the woods and came to the grass in the backyard, there was no one there. I scanned the wood-scape from the yard for a few moments, but there was nothing but silence. Dead silence. No songs from the birds and no chirping from crickets. The crunching steps and flannel man had disappeared without a trace. I knew that woods pretty well. And whatever had been in it a moment before was no longer.

I walked up to the house pretty shaken up to get my brother. At first he laughed and didn't believe me. (I could understand that hearing that sort of thing would've been pretty outrageous.) But he sympathized nonetheless. We grabbed baseball bats and headed back into the woods. We found nothing. We heard nothing. And that was the last time I ever saw flannel man.

Jonathon and the Case of the Missing Pencil

2007-10-29T08:10:00.001-04:00

My family and I used to live in a two-story house that my brother and I swear was haunted to this day. Over the years, there was a ton of things that happened there that none of us could explain. I won't officially say that I believe in ghosts, as I am a skeptic like most people, but I have witnessed things that really can't be explained by any other means. I've decided to share one story...

I was a sophomore in high school around this time in 1992. After school that day, I had came home and decided to draw for a while. I went upstairs, turned on my bedroom light and parked myself in front of my drawing table. I had a dresser on another wall with an aquarium on top of it, and across from that was my closet doors. I also had my own bathroom attached to the bedroom. (Which made it quite nice when you're sharing shower times with three other brothers and a sister.) I drew with my rare, but worthy .3 lead pencil. I loved that pencil. After sitting and drawing for an hour or so, I decided to take a break. I put my pencil down on my table, got up and headed for the bathroom. Afterwards, I walked out of my bedroom, turned out the light and went downstairs for a drink and smoke. I was home alone and would be for the next hour or so. I crushed out my cigarette and headed back upstairs. As I entered my bedroom, I turned on the light once more. I noticed immediately that the room was more dim. As if I had blown one of the light bulbs in the center fixture of the room. I thought nothing of it and sat myself back down at my drawing table. At which time, I also noticed that my pencil was missing. That's right, my prized .3 lead pencil was MIA. At first, I thought I might have knocked it off my table accidentally, or that I might have unintentionally taken it downstairs with me on my break. So, like any normal person, I began to re-trace my steps. But this proved to be a fruitless effort. After searching the downstairs areas once more, I came back upstairs and searched my bedroom again. Nothing. No pencil in sight. Frustrated, I stood in my room staring at the ceiling, trying to remember what I had done with it, when it came to me. I had vividly remembered placing the pencil on my table before I went to the bathroom. But why wasn't it still there? I was home alone. No one could've taken it. Then, I saw something I'll never forget. I looked up at the light fixture in the center of my bedroom, and noticed that both bulbs were still working, yet it was still dim in the room. Inside the square bug-laden glass fixture, was the shape of a dark cylindrical silhouette, resembling the size of a pen or pencil. I grabbed my chair and wheeled it near me as I perched myself on top of it to reach the object. As I pulled it out of the fixture, it revealed itself as my missing pencil.

True story. Ghost or not? If it wasn't, someone snuck into my room ninja-style and hid my pencil up there. Which is more likely? You decide.

Storm Photos from 10.18.2007

2007-10-19T08:37:00.001-04:00

Here's a few shots I took from last night's lightning show...

An Open Call

2007-10-09T07:44:00.000-04:00

Writing is hard work. I must say. I just finished editing the last part of my book for the umpteenth time yesterday. I told myself that after I finished it in April that I would shelve it for a few months and come back to it with a fresh set of eyes. In the last week, I've taken a closer look at it objectively and ended up changing more things. I haven't messed with the plot or the general story, but rather words here and there and grammar I might have goofed on the first time around. So, for now it's done. Again.

I've also done some research in the last few months in regards to publishing. It would seem that in order for me to get my work published, providing someone actually likes it, I'll need to find a literary agent. I did find a few that I'm interested in, based on the kinds of books they've dealt with in the past. The first of which I'm going to try is in New York. Abiding by their submission requirements, I have to first send them a cover letter and a sample chapter from my book. I won't reveal who I'm sending it to just yet to protect their privacy. If they happen to like what I send them, they will then ask for the entire manuscript. I honestly don't think I have a chance in hell at getting this published, but at least I can say I tried. The packet went out yesterday. I'm told to expect an answer within 6-8 weeks. With a huge amount of luck, maybe I'll eventually get assigned an editor and have to redo my book all over again anyway! I'm trying to remember that this is fun.

Having said that, I'm going to do something a little different. From now until the end of the month, I'm having an open call to anyone who might be interested in reading my book. Here's the deal: You send me your address, and I'll mail you a copy, free of charge. All I ask in return is a review of your likes and dislikes, and an overall grade of the book. The book is only 70 pages long so it won't take anyone forever to read it. So far, to my knowledge, only 3 people have read it and I'd like to get some more feedback about it. Matt - yes, the copy you have is outdated and I can send you another one. Again, from now until Halloween, you can email me at jrose2@nd.edu or jonathon@jonathonrose.com, include your address and you can nab yourself a free copy.

Shortest Camping Trip on Record...

2007-09-17T12:58:00.000-04:00

This year's annual camping trip turned out to be a huge bust, unfortunately. In the past, my brother and sister and I have gone up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to camp, fish, ride quads, etc. This year we decided not to go up there because of the burn ban that was in effect for the UP. (Camping isn't much fun if you can't have a campfire.) Instead, we went up to the northeastern portion of Michigan to the Huron National Forest area. While the area up there is still very pretty and much like the UP in many ways, its weather wasn't quite as welcoming. The first full day we were there (which was Sunday, September 9th), was the brightest warmest day we had. From there, it went downhill.

Sunday night, my brother and his wife arrived right around dark. The temperatures had already begun to drop. After getting them settled in, we went to bed.

Monday wasn't too bad a day if my memory serves me right. It's all a blur now. We went into town, did some mild shopping for supplies and hung around the site. That afternoon and through the night it rained. We woke up Tuesday morning soaking wet and cold in the tent. A short time later, we warmed ourselves by the fire, drank coffee, and grabbed a shower. That afternoon, my brother and I sent the women to the laundromat to dry our sleeping bags and towels, while we gathered firewood and tried to dry out the tent and everything else. Later that evening, two severe storms rolled in from the north. The first one had hail, bad lightning, and a wicked wind. The second wasn't quite as gnarly as the first, but still annoying to say the least. The storms stopped just in time for dusk and skies began to clear. The clouds disappeared and the stars grew clearer as the night's temperatures dropped into the lower 40's. By Wednesday morning, we'd had enough. They were forecasting more rain for the week ahead, and we decided we didn't want to endure any more sopping wet days. Thus, our camping excursion for 2007 came to an abrupt end as we packed up and headed for home.

This will be the end of my camping days for now. I won't continue to be at the mercy of mother nature from here on out. It's too un-relaxing. We put too much work and forethought into the trip as a whole to have it ruined by bad weather. My brother told me that it sounded like the end of an era, and to an extent, he's probably right. Ever since the early nineties we'd been camping in the UP, with only a few years off here and there. My brother and I have personally and consecutively been going up there for nearly 8 years. So, in a way, I am ending an era. I just can't do it any more. Not to say we won't go up there again, but it certainly won't be in a tent.

My sister managed to snap a few pictures from the trip. I'll upload those probably tomorrow.

~Jonathon

A Little History...

2007-07-30T11:35:00.000-04:00

I figured it was time for an update. (I have to be able to keep all 3 of visitors happy, right?) Well, for those that don't know me all that well, my school years were a little scattered. I attended a private Catholic School for my gradeschool years called St. Bavo's. As if coming from a strict Catholic family wasn't fun enough, I also had to attend Mass 3 times a week with my classmates. I did this for the first 5 grades of school before my family moved to Elkhart, where I continued my education in the public school system. I graduated in Elkhart in 1994.

Now, fast-forward 13 years to today...

I currently work in a graphic arts related field in a building that also houses the trade shops that support the University. Piloting the Carpenter Shop is a friend of mine named Steve, whom I've only known for maybe 2 years. As it turns out, we were talking this morning about family, when he tells me that this mother works at St. Bavo's church. I then told him that I went to school there, and he said that he did too! He graduated high school in 95, a year behind me, but attended St. Bavo's the same time I did, again, only one year behind me. I don't have any memory of him when I was there, but this was 20+ years ago now. I probably walked by him a million times in the hallway and didn't even know it. It's cliche to say, but damn...small world.

Happy Fourth!

2007-07-03T15:51:00.000-04:00

Yo. Jonathon here. I don't have too much heavy lifting going on for the 4th. I'll just be hanging with family, grillin' out. Hopefully I'll be seeing Transformers on this nice long break I'm taking. I'm off work at the end of the day, and don't have to be back till Monday.

So, I hope everyone has a happy and safe fourth of July.

More Color....

2007-06-29T13:32:00.000-04:00

I've been in more of a coloring mood here lately. I'm not sure how long this is going to last, but it's been fun, nonetheless. I decided to try coloring my pencil drawing of Leia and Padme. I think it turned out okay. It was a little tough to make them appear as though they are ghosts, as I wanted to steer away from the traditional look of that blue-ish glow that's been seen in the movies.

Tonight, I'll be off to see Live Free or Die Hard. Stay tuned for a review on that here: Review Blog.

Supes Gets Painted...

2007-06-15T10:39:00.000-04:00

I'll admit, it's been a while since my last post, but I figured I'd return with a bang rather than just a mundane 'here I am' post. The past few weeks have been spent coloring this nightmare of a drawing. This drawing of Supes and Lois is probably one of the longest ones I've ever worked on. You guys all saw it last summer when I posted it in black and white. Well, after two long weeks of coloring...behold...
I think it turned out rather well. I'm about 80% happy with it, which is a success by my sometimes anal standards. It was done in Photoshop CS. With every drawing I color digitally, I learn a little more each time about the best ways to do things. This one was done using mainly the brush tool. I tried to stay away from the gradient tool as much as possible, as it is much easier to control softness and color variety. However, once I started the buildings, using the gradient tool became almost necessary. I need to take my buddy Matt's advice and buy a Wacom Tablet and stop using the damn mouse!

It looks completely different than its black and white predecessor, that's for sure. Originally, I wanted the drawing to be a 'during the day' kind of piece. But as time went on and I started coloring more, I decided it would be much more interesting if it was a night scene. This way, the lighting elements became more dynamic and limitless. It also gave the drawing a more unique sense of vibrance.

Deviously Divulging

2007-05-22T15:59:00.000-04:00

Let's see. Tuesday? Check. Nice outside? Check. In the mood for an afternoon nap that won't happen cause you're stuck at work? Check. So, as a result, I guess you'll just have to read about what I have to say here today. There's been a few things happenin'...

In the last few months, I became 'deviously deviant' and joined the huge crowd over at deviantArt.com. There's a lot of talent over there. Almost too much to see in one visit. I have a few things up over there, but not all. The link to that is under my 'site friends' section. Which, brings me to my next bit of news.

I've updated the Site Friends section with two additions. One of which being my deviantArt site, as well as my brand spanking new blog, Chronicles of Heroes. There, I'll be reviewing and discussing TV shows and movies, both new and old. With the TV shows ending this week, most of the Summer will likely be spent doing movies.

I've also updated the 'behind the pencil section'. Not much new has changed there, other than adding a few more lines of witty adjectives and quirky descriptions of myself. And my latest Spidey drawing has been added to the 'originals' section. As of right now, I'm attempting to color that drawing. Nifty eh? We'll see how it goes.

In the midst of all this, I've begun a search for a literary agent to represent me and my novel. Or should I say, my novel and I? Do you really have to put it in that order if you're talking about yourself and a inanimate object? If I find an editor, I'll have to ask them that. Hopefully, with a huge amount of luck, I'll find an agent who digs my book and someday it'll get published. Okay, so it's going to take more than a huge amount of luck, but you get my point.

Out.

~Jonathon

Spidey Progress #3 - Final

2007-05-17T14:51:00.000-04:00

Here it is....the final piece. It turned out exactly how I envisioned it, but it just seems lackluster to me in some way. I don't know.

Enjoy...

Another Blog??

2007-05-16T07:38:00.000-04:00

That's right folks. As if this one on my site isn't enough. I've decided to have another one just for outlining reviews, theories and other things involving TV shows and movies. But I'm guessing most of the talk will revolve around 'Heroes', 'LOST' and 'Smallville.' Maybe even 'Supernatural.' That show is fun, right?

I know it's late in the game and these shows are ending in the next week or so, but hey, we can gripe about their absence and theories all Summer. I just put it up last night, and I'll be changing things here and there...so stop on by and make a comment.

Here's the link: http://heroessavetheworld.blogspot.com/

~Jonathon

Spidey Progress #2

2007-05-11T10:25:00.000-04:00

Here's another scan of my Spidey drawing. As you can see, Venom has become more detailed in black. I added more detail to Tobey's suit and put some more work into Kirsten's hair. It's coming together quite well, and is currently almost finished. This scan is about a week old. I'm working on the 'reflective' part of the drawing now. I'm adding cracks and splinters in the mirror itself as well as working on some reflective parts close to Franco's hands. I'm trying not add too much more detail so the drawing doesn't appear too busy. But with the mirror shattering in the smaller areas left in the background, it's becoming more difficult.

Stay tuned for the final piece!

~Jonathon

Drawing Progress with Spidey

2007-05-09T08:40:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I started a drawing that I wanted to experiment with. A lot of the work I've done lately has too much negative space surrounding the focal point or subjects. I decided to try and remedy this by drawing a sort of pin-up for the movie Spider-man 3. (The movie kicked ass by the way.) One of the most challenging feats I've tried to accomplish is capturing the essence of an actor or character.

So far, we have Tobey Maguire at the left and Kirsten Dunst to his right. James Franco is pictured at the bottom, while Venom is lunging forward from above. These four characters filled the majority of space on the page. Now, I bet you're wondering what the hands on the bottom of the page are for...right? Well, I had a clever idea to make the hands belong to James Franco. He is essentially looking into a mirror with his hands on it, envisioning the characters in his mind. (This effect will become more clear as the drawing progresses.)

This work is nearly complete as of today, but I'll be posting some more progress pictures in the next few days, so you can see it take shape. I haven't decided on whether or not it will be colored or inked for that matter. But it will be refined, and become much darker in pencil.

Enjoy...

Wii Review and a Wedding

2007-04-24T09:37:00.000-04:00

My brother and his girl got married this past weekend. They met in 5th grade and finally decided to tie the knot. So, congratulations to them. The wedding was pretty normal with the exception of the Bride's sister drawing a penis on the window of their getaway car in shoe polish. It became even more funny when the guests started to arrive, and began taking pictures of the car's window before the ceremony. Ah...classic.

In the past few weeks, my wife and I bought a Wii. I must say, this thing is pretty freakin' cool. I'm not a huge gamer by any means, although I do tend to play more in the Winter months when there's less to do outside. The Wii brings a new level of entertainment to your living room. Being able to interact with the console itself, and watch your player respond to your movements is pretty neat to see. Its accuracy is damn near spot on. So far, we have bowling, tennis, baseball, boxing, and golf. And every game is fun in it's own way. My wife and I played baseball last night and I woke up with sore arms from swinging too much. I hate playing golf in real life, but playing it on the Wii is pretty fun. Not to mention the fact, that you can download all of the original Nintendo games directly onto the console, including The Legend of Zelda, Kid Icarus, and many more. I don't think you can compare the Wii to other consoles like the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. I've played the 360, and while it's cool, it's just not the same as being able to observe and participate in the interaction with the Wii. The 360 obviously focuses on trying to better itself graphic-wise with each release. The Wii, while it's not breath-taking graphic-wise, makes up for that in interaction.

2 Final Picks of 2006...and a Party? What?

2007-04-13T11:22:00.000-04:00

I thought it was time for a little face lift. I changed the banner up top to an older photo I took in San Francisco last year. Hope ya'll like it. I also changed my menu slightly too, to reflect the recent completion of my short story.

Tomorrow night is my bro's bachelor party. My parent's were kind enough to lend us their house for the evening. How cool is that? 15 years ago, that wouldn't have happened. I guess that's what happens when you get old: Your parents start to trust you. Scary thought.

So, I guess I've made you wait long enough for my last two picks of movies for 2006. So, I'll get that out of the way now.

#2 Superman Returns

I've babbled on enough about this film in older blogs. No reason to rehash all that.

#1 The Departed

Well, finally it was Martin Scorsese's year at the box office and at the Oscars. He took home the idol for Best Picture and Director, as well as a few others. This is a great movie. Highly recommended if you haven't seen it.

It's Done!

2007-04-11T08:02:00.000-04:00

So, I woke up this morning, and I realized that someone had teleported me to the arctic whilst I was asleep. What the hell is with this weather? I must've slept through Spring, Summer and Fall already. Time to break out the Christmas decor already. Sheesh.

In other news today...
In the past week, I have made an accomplishment that I'd mentioned on here from time to time. I finished my first ever short story. That's right. It's done. Originally, it was supposed to be a sci-fi thriller involving Mars and its relationship to Earth. I've shelved the idea for now because it just became too big to try and squeeze into a short story. It would've been like trying to write the Star Wars saga into a 60 page book. Uh...yeah, not happening. My newer story is basically a unraveling murder mystery, with a shocking twist at the end. I'm going to be updating my 'New Projects' section with more details surrounding the story, and possibly a clipping from it. I haven't decided if I'm going to do any illustrations for it, but I may do the cover. I have envisioned a few pages of interior art for it, but I'm just not sure if I want to do them. Maybe I could commission my buddy Matt Martin to do some of the artwork. (Hint, hint.) The title of the story (which was just finalized yesterday) is called, "Back to Life."

I may seek out a publisher soon, I don't know. I think it will depend on my family's and friend's reaction to it.

Suburbial Trickery

2007-04-02T08:54:00.000-04:00

Friday morning started quite interesting. I went out for my morning smoke and found a pamphlet wrapped in plastic laying on the driveway. At first glance, I assumed it was propaganda for lawn care or something similar. I looked around at the houses in the neighborhood and the houses near me had the same pamphlet laying in their driveways or yards too. I opened up the plastic and peered inside and to my surprise, it was a recruitment advertisement from the KKK. WTF? I looked through the papers, read the nonsense on them and threw them away. I did however, save one of them to show my wife and upon doing so, she shredded it as well.

That evening, I noticed a local news crew truck interviewing neighbors. It was only a matter of time before they showed up at our door, asking for comments in response to the pamphlets. We obliged. But I gotta believe that the KKK got what they were after in the end, whether it boosted their recruitment efforts or not. Think about it...you distribute 100 or so of these letters...you know someone is going to call a news source and report it, and bam...the KKK just got free publicity all over the news stations. Now the whole damn city knows the KKK is looking for additional people.

*sigh*

One of the downsides to living in a subdivision.

But, I'll leave you on a good note...onto the top 9 of 2006....

#3 The Prestige -

Oh yeah...bitchin' movie. I'm really starting to like director Christopher Nolan, who's also directed 'Momento' and 'Batman Begins.'

Last of the Breed...For Now...

2007-03-23T15:59:00.000-04:00

This will be the last of the series of Star Wars drawings for now. I've decided to move on to different subjects. Perhaps I'll return to the saga at some point, I don't know. This is a drawing I did of Princess Leia and her mother, Padme. The idea behind this is that both of the women have now passed away, and have reunited in the Netherworld of the Force. This is an image of them as spirits. Similar to how Obi-Wan appeared before Luke in Return of the Jedi.

It has also been added to my 'originals' gallery.

~Jonathon

Top 9 of 2006 - Con't....with 2 more...

2007-03-22T11:27:00.000-04:00

#5 V for Vendetta

"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

Enough said.

#4 Eight Below

I know what you're thinking...A Disney movie with a bunch of sled dogs...how good can that be? Pretty freakin' good if you ask me. This film was based on a true story about a man who worked as guide in Antarctica. His companions were his 8 sled dogs. Seeing as how, I'm a dog-lover myself, this film really hit home for me. In the last year, I lost one of my dogs. So, it took me a while to get up the courage to see this movie because I knew what it was about. Paul Walker's character is forced to leave the research station in Antarctica in emergency, due to medical reasons. The rest of team leaves as well on account of bad weather. The eight dogs were consequently left behind. Hence the title: Eight Below. The story involves Paul Walker's character's quest to return to Antarctica and rescue his companions. Great film. And I don't care how manly you are...you better keep the Kleenex nearby.

Top 9 of 2006 - Almost there....

2007-03-20T09:59:00.001-04:00

#6 Cars

It didn't take home an Oscar this year, but I thought it was another achievement from Pixar. I had fun watching this film. Mater was hilarious. And the tractor-tipping? Now, that's funny stuff. I'm not a big fan of Nascar, but I do love cars in general. This film seemed to touch on all the fabrics of cars, whether it was Nascar or just back-in-the 60's style cruising. Good movie.

Top 9 of 2006 - Con't...again

2007-03-14T12:49:00.000-04:00

#7 Lady in the Water

A lot of people didn't like this film and truthfully, I'm not sure why. It's a nothing more than an original bed-time story written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Who, also wrote and directed 'The Sixth Sense', 'Signs' and 'The Village.'

I guess I'm a sucker for those cool, dark and scary bed-time stories. Take 'Where the Wild Things Are' for instance. Great book. 'Lady in the Water' is very much of this genre. I have to believe that if this film or book had been made much earlier than now, it would've been met with more success. But this is a book that I would read my child when he/she is old enough to understand it, just as I will with 'Where the Wild Things Are.'

The plot basically entails the story of man named Cleveland who is a janitor at an apartment complex. One night, he comes across a woman who claims she's from another world, and that an evil 'Scrunt' is hunting her. Cleveland becomes convinced of her claims after a run-in with Scrunt himself. He therefore enlists the help of the apartment's residents to help the woman escape back to her world.

~Jonathon

Top 9 of 2006 - Con't...

2007-03-12T08:53:00.000-04:00

#8: Flags of Our Fathers

Who would've thought good 'ol Clint Eastwood could pull off a bitchin' war movie? I have not however seen it's sister companion, 'Letters from Iwo Jima.' But I probably will at some point. This film is based on the famous photograph that was taken of the 6 men who raised the American flag at the battle of Iwo Jima. Our story basically begins after the war, where the 6 men are dealing with the apparent rise to fame from being shot in an iconic picture on a mountain top in Iwo Jima. However, the film does refer back many times to events that took place during the war. I'm not usually a big fan of war movies...but I do like a few. Mel Gibson's 'We Were Soldiers' ranks up pretty high on my list. As well as 'Black Hawk Down', 'Platoon' and 'Courage Under Fire.'

Jeez, is Spring here yet??

2007-03-06T07:29:00.000-05:00

It would seem that these winters are never-ending. Cold. Blistery. Man, I'm ready for Spring. I have been drawing some lately. Here. There. The drawing I'm currently working on is actually a re-do of an older drawing I started that went sour from too many eraser efforts. It's of Princess Leia and her mother, Padme. I'll post it up once it's done.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share some movie opinions with you. Every year I used to send out a top ten list of my favorite movies of the previous year. Well, I'm too lazy to do that, so I'll post them here for all to see. As a result from kind of a ho-hum year in movies, I'm only doing my top 9 for 2006. Let's face it, aside from Superman Returns, the year was just very blah for me.

So, without further delay...

#9: Lucky Number Slevin

That's right. This is one of those you killed someone I loved a long time ago...now I'm going to make you pay for it kind of movies. In a really, really twisted way. This movie also comes with a popular cast including, Bruce Willis, Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu and Morgan Freeman. It's original and keeps you guessing throughout. Definitely a sleeper film.

Aayla Secura

2007-02-09T11:43:00.000-05:00

Like I said, I've been on a Star Wars trip with drawing here lately. I've been trying to draw characters who are lesser known just because most of the popular ones have been splattered all over the place. This one is a drawing of Aayla Secura.

She was a Jedi Knight that appeared in Episodes 2 and 3, having died in Episode3. She is a Twi'lek from the planet Ryloth. Aayla is the same humanoid species as the female who played Jaba's slave in Return of the Jedi, who was later eaten by the Rankor. Aayla became a General during the Clone Wars and was selected to defend the colorful planet of Felucia, along side the Clone Troopers. After Palpatine executed Order 66, Aayla was then slain by the Troopers.

Enjoy...

Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Post 6 of 6)

2007-02-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

Ah. We come to the final installment in the prequel films. Episode 3 is probably the best of this series in my opinion, as we get to see the fall of Anakin Skywalker.

One of the scenes I really enjoyed is where Anakin walks into the theater/opera house to meet Palpatine. There, Palpatine tells Anakin the story of Darth Plaguies, a dark Lord of the Sith. It's strange that Anakin didn't pick up on him being the Sith Lord at that moment, but whatever. Palpatine tells Anakin that Plaguies was so powerful with the dark-side, that he was able to influence the midichlorians into creating life. Upon hearing this, one might assume that Plaguies was responsible for creating Anakin...because we learned in Episode I that Anakin was born without a father. I guess you could call it an 'immaculate conception'...except that Shmi (Anakin's mother, was married years before she had Anakin.) But I don't think Plaguies had a hand in creating Anakin...at least I doubt that was Lucas' intent. Darth Plaguies learned how to transfer a spirit to newer clone bodies to essentially prevent death, through the dark-side of the Force. But he never used this knowledge to save himself, as Palpatine killed him beforehand.

Later in the film we come to the part where Palpatine declares himself Emperor of the Republic and reorganizes the Senate and Republic into the Empire. Being that Anakin was a faithful friend to Palpatine and the Republic, he thought he was doing right by mankind by joining Palpatine, also with regards to saving Padme from Anakin's visions of death. Palpatine promised Anakin that if he joined him in his quest to end Republic's corruption, that he would save Padme from certain death. By the time the Jedi Council realizes what has transpired, it is too late. The Emperor then initiates 'Order 66', which apparently was some pre-programmed command embedded into the clone trooper's DNA to wipe out the remaining Jedi and follow only the Emperor's and Vader's commands. Vader then goes to Mustafar and dissolves what's left of the Separatists, thus eliminating any looming threat against the Empire. Little known to Vader and his Emperor, Padme bores twins with the help of Yoda and Obi-Wan. The twins were separated at birth, shortly after Padme died. The daughter, Leia goes with Bail Organa to be raised on Alderraan, while Luke goes to live with his step aunt and uncle on Tatooine, under the watchful eye of Obi-Wan.

It's also kind of interesting that during Padme's funeral, you can see her laying there in the floating casket with the locket that Anakin made for her many years before around her neck. Before she died, she told Obi-Wan one last time that there was still good left in him, despite his turn to the dark-side. It's possible that Lucas used the locket to sort of highlight that idea as a precursor to what Vader would ultimately do in Episode 6 to save his son.

After the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan protests to Anakin that he was his friend all along and that he loved him. Obi-Wan felt betrayed in his efforts to help Anakin grow into a Jedi. Afterwards, he picks up Anakin's lightsaber off the lava-bank. This would be the lightsaber handed down to Luke in Episode 4.

The Star Wars films were all an enjoyable experience. It's been fun to see George Lucas' story brought to light. It houses all the legendary archetypes that make a story great...Father versus son, dark versus light, good versus evil, friendship and betrayal, and a true character redemption. Lucas created a world in Star Wars much like Tolkien did with Lord of the Rings through the years of Middle Earth. A world that will always be one of my favorite places to visit in the years to come...

Episode II - Attack of the Clones (Post 5 of 6)

2007-02-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

It's been 10 years since the events of Episode I took place. This film is probably my least favorite of all six films, primarily due to the screenplay, but it does bring forth lots of new information.

The Jedi Council has dispatched Anakin to escort Padme (formerly Queen Amidala) back to Naboo, while Obi-Wan is sent to Kamino to investigate an assassination attempt on Padme's life. On Kamino, Obi-Wan finds out that a man named Sifo-Dyas placed an order for a gigantic clone army almost 10 years ago. What isn't known about this in the film, is that Sifo-Dyas never actually placed the order for the clone army. This action was completed by a changeling, disguised as Sifo-Dyas that Count Dooku hired shortly after the events of Episode I. Dyas had since been killed by the Emperor, because he refused to join the Emperor's cause in conquering the galaxy. There was another man who is not mentioned in the film who is known as Visivious Drakarn. Drakarn was a trouble-making, young Jedi who was punished for acts early on by the Jedi Order. In the meantime, the Emperor and Count Dooku sought him out. Still resentful regarding his punishment, Drakarn returned to Corruscant following his punishment and deleted the files in the database outlining Kamino's existence, by order of Count Dooku.

We see the start of the doomed-to-fail relationship between Anakin and Padme, as well as Anakin's continuing defiance of orders and authority. On Naboo, Anakin starts having nightmares about his mother being in danger. Vowing to protect his mother, Anakin and Padme leave Naboo and return to his home planet of Tatooine. There, he finds that his mother had been freed of her slave life, married a man named Cliegg Lars, but had also been captured by the Sand People. When Anakin's mother later dies in his arms, he becomes vengeful and destroys the Sand People's camp. There's an interesting scene where Yoda senses Anakin's anguish and if you listen close, you can hear Qui-Gon Jinn's voice yelling, "Anakin! Nooo!" (In reference to Anakin's vengeful slaughter of the Sand People.)

During the battle on Geonosis, Mace Windu, a formidable Jedi Council Member kills Jango Fett. Jango was responsible for the clone template used on Kamino to craft the clone army. Boba Fett, his son witnesses his father's demise on the battlefield at the hands of a Jedi. Thus, cementing Boba's hatred for the Jedi Knights, and ultimately his quest as a bounty hunter, like his father before him.

Near the end, we come to the lightsaber duel between Anakin, Obi-Wan, Count Dooku and Yoda. The duel with Obi-Wan and Anakin against Dooku while short-lived, illustrated Anakin's further disobedience with his Master. Dooku quickly put the young Jedi's attack down by cutting off his hand. (Something about Lucas and those limbs.) Yoda then enters the scene and lays the smack down on Dooku, who flees the cave.

It's all becoming more clear. Palpatine still remains the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic and the Senate. The Separatists are growing increasingly impatient over Palpatine's unwillingness to surrender power, in the efforts to restore democracy. Now, Palpatine has a grand clone army charged with protection of the Republic against the Separatists.