I’ve been trying to simplify the characters of the Beeboy universe for animation purposes. This Gif gig really has me inspired so, now there are these chibi/kawaii Beeboy characters. Things like this just happen. I mean they take a while to happen, but they pop into my mind and I have to share.
Filed under Art, beeboy, Cartoon, Comics, graphics, photoshop, pop culture, The Stunning Beeboy
Getting the Beeboy project running. Making more progress than I ever have. Now there’s a brief introductory “posse cut” with the Stunning Beeboy’s main rap antagonists. Mogadishu, Thug-O-Nomics and King Midas.
Sound Off Records is kind of like the Def Jam of the Beeboy universe. My friend @gee2tha wanted to name the label Blind Jelly, for a more direct correlation, but I think Sound Off works on many levels, it works as a military chant, it alludes to that idea that something is a little wrong, or off with how the label is so successful and finally the beats knock so hard it’s blow speakers and overload your mixers, turning your sound off.
Here’s a temporary logo for Sound Off Records, to be cleaned up later.
And here’s the Posse Cut.
I went the usual suspects type record cover, because it was the obvious thing to do, a police line up with gangsta-ish rappers. It also doubles as a scale for the character models.
Sound Off – 1, 2
Sound Off – 1, 2, 1, 2
Mogadishu, Mic Check – You ain’t running for your life yet?
Your pants wet and I ain’t pull out my knife yet
Sound Off – 1, 2
Sound Off – 1, 2, 1, 2
Thug-O-Nomics, Mic Check – Not a minor life threat
5-0 on deck and I ain’t even pull a heist yet
Sound Off – 1, 2
Sound Off – 1, 2, 1, 2
King Midas mic check – Just got of my private jet
Wanna see me, better get your eyes checked
Sound Off – 1, 2
Sound Off – 1, 2, 1, 2
Sound Off – 1, 2
Sound Off – 1, 2, 1, 2
Filed under Art, beeboy, Cartoon, Comics, graphics, logos, music, photoshop, The Stunning Beeboy, Uncategorized
My mind was being fried by the cute animal gif gig I’ve been doing, so I went to cracked.com in the forums and looked in the Artist Work Order Thread. Someone requested this:
Hey folks! Mind if I ask for a two-panel thing? Imagine a dumb middle-aged guy, looks a bit like Woody Harrelson with a crew cut. In the first panel he’s all listless, you know, just kind of out of it, and he’s saying “I want one too…” But then in the second panel he bursts into anger, and he’s shaking his fists and quivering with his eyes bulging out and everything. He’s shouting, “BUT I CAIN’T!!” I’d really appreciate it if somebody could draw that for me. Thanks in advance!I thought it would be a fun exercise, so I whipped this up in about half an hour or so.
I hope the guy can use it. It was fun.
King Midas from the Stunning Beeboy Universe has little in common with the figure from legend, beyond his affinity for gold. My King Midas goes a step further, he has the platinum touch. He’s a braggadociuos rapper that is enraptured by all things that glitter and build status. Not very violent or street, but has street cred and built his reputation as a battle rapper. I’ve had a few looks for him, but I’m trying more of a cartoon style, like easy to animate with detail. Here’s a rough character model from blue line to full color.
I made his song, Crowned Victorious by looking into the catalogs of his real life rap analogs, Kanye West and MF Doom. Along the way I stumbled accidentally on the bass line to The Boogie Down Productions classic, “The Bridge is Over,” while hitting keys on the “piano” Threw that in the mix and sang some weird hums before landing on a heavily tuned refrain of Crowned Victorious. I thing it comes together well enough, I freestyled for eight bars keeping on the topic of what King Midas represents. I thing the record cover below would work for this fictitious artist.
Here’s the track.
Filed under Art, beeboy, Cartoon, Comics, Entertainment, graphics, logos, music, photoshop, The Stunning Beeboy
Music put to the side for a while, got a gig through my sister where I was asked to a series of animated gifs. I used to make some gifs for fun for some forums, many years back. I used to use PhotoShop and it’s plug in ImageReady. I was worried when I couldn’t find ImageReady in CS 6. But a little google-fu showed me that there’s a timeline window in PhotoShop and it’s functionality is the same as what I was used to. Animating is time consuming, but I’m thinking of doing some in service to the Stunning Beeboy, and make myself more marketable in the process. I have 20 gifs to do for this gig, and I have to refamiliarize myself with what I used to know and learn a bunch of new tricks. So, here go some of my exercises and attempt.
Took me a while to get to this one. I had a lot of trial and error. But PhotoShop having layers are a big help. So, this is a multiplatinum selling rapper named Thug-O-Nomics, whose song was in the previous post. Pretty much a studio gangsta that evokes Dr. Doom imagary. I hope. Trying for a Daniel Acuna style. It’s shaping up, I think.
Here’s a track for a serious antagonist to the hero The Stunning Beeboy. I wrote these verses way back for this character, but made the beat and recorded it today. It’s a rough, but I had to share. Thug-O-Nomics is a studio gangsta. He’s the top seller on Sound Off Records. He used to date Beeboy’s sister. Beeboy doesn’t hate many people more than he hates Thug-O-Nomics. But the song is thorough.
Verse 1
The streets know my name but they scared to say it
They know I pack that napalm ain’t afraid to spray it
Raps incriminating ni**a I can fill a morgue
But I paid all the judges so f*ck it hit record
Pump more white than winter- stack bricks like igloos
My peoples 5% I know more Gods than hindus
Talking G-packs, i talk to folks in Nicaragua
Think the block is hot, I stay walking through lava
Verse 2
Thug-o-nomics it’s supply and demand
You got it I want it no denyin the man
Been a stick up kid, been crook and a booster
Sometimes I ask aggressively don’t make me shoot ya
Don’t want your blood on my money ,my chain or my kicks
Bullets move fast so you better make it quick
Hard way or easy way come on take your pick
Thumb is on the hammer ’bout to make it go click
Finger on the trigger I can make it go bang
So break yourself fool or you bout to know pain
I’m a pusher I’m a pimp I’m a thug and a thief
My name’s on all the blood and the drugs in the streets
Crystal meth, ecstacy, marijuana, coke
Mushrooms, Lsd, mescalin, dope
Uppers and downers everything in between
You lovin’ the song guess that makes you a fiend
My catalogs a rapsheet lyrics is crack
Hard to make it out the streets with your spirit intact
They need some ghetto heaven, but I’m givin’ ’em hell
Became a better criminal from a prisoners cell
Verse 3
I put my hood on the map, put my hood on my back
As For the fiends put my hood on the crack
Them Rocks is designed by me Thug-o-Nomics
Epidemic my sickness Make you wannna vomit
Thug-o-Nomics give you a lead colonic
My spit is toxic – said to be demonic
Err body know I pack heat – like a thermos
Don’t make me circulate my heat – like a furnace
I got to, ’cause my Ice is like glaciers
Anybody try to snatch can call me the Eraser
Fuck with me you will be non existent
My pistols barely whistle like the ones on my pendant
blast off like I’m NASA – Houston we have a problem
If I meet a man on the moon – I’m a rob him
When I’m mobbin’, got your hardest dude playin possum
Ain’t a Nigga with my attitude since Straight outta Compton
Since I’ll have Beeboy be a street dancer as well as an emcee, I looked into the Jabbawockees for functional dancing gear, not so much a super hero outfit. I did this digitally completely in photoshop using a a Wacom Bamboo tablet. I am going to be looking at Daniel Acuña, Esad Ribic, John Romita Jr., and Michael Avon Oeming for art cues.
There comes a time when a hero needs to rise. Now is that time. Time for The Stunning Beeboy to have a song.
It’s a basic beat with violins that resemble bees (hopefully). Cinematic heroic horns (hopefully) and a braggadocios,theatrical Brooklyn flow. I may have to remix this track, the vocals are crazy loud compared to the track, but I’m still learning that audio component. This will all be real soon, I can feel it.
Filed under Art, beeboy, Comics, Entertainment, music
T-Shirt design for so badass it hurts contest on cracked.com.
I went with 80s action movie motifs. Rambo’s hair and headband. Dutch’s vest with grenades from Predator. A BFG . Nun chucks, so many American Ninja and martial arts movies in the 80s. Chuck Norris’/Burt Reynold’s mustache. Aviator Sun Glasses. Arnold’s trademark cigarrs. This is what action looked like to me as a kid. Hopefully the judges think so too.
If they don’t I’ll post in in zazzle and or cafepress.
Filed under Adobe Illustrator, Art, graphics, hollywood, logos, pop culture
Ungowa Soul Power 
