A Twisted Transparency| Design Dossier: Artwork

Being that "A twisted transparency", is going to be a full cartoon instead of a just a comic (and therefore not possible to release once a month), I've decided to keep a monthly "design dossier", to give those interested some insight as to the progress of the film.

To kick off May I will be discussing the artwork in the film, the art featured in "A twisted transparency" is a hybrid between the artwork in "Cooljaw", and "The Sugar Claws".

This was done for various reasons, partially to invoke a feeling of familiarity, as well as for the practical reasons of animating the movie, as the ultra clean lines help reduce the filesize, and potential frame rate problems.

The colouring reflects the noir storyline, these characters are inhabiting a bleak world consumed by corruption, tragedy, and violence, where the only thing salient is the flourish of scarlet; and the colour is a important element in conveying these oppressive conditions.

Each preliminary drawing takes between 1-5 hours to draw and clean up, depending on the complexity of the animation required for a scene.

My philosophy of creating adult oriented stories with attempts at complex underling themes, also extends to the artwork in my projects, each scene is designed with slow methodical precision, with the desire to have the finished product look as polished as possible, and reflect the nature of the content.

This final project is meant to be my swan song, and everything in it will be done to the best of my abilities, for this reason it will take some time to complete, however I hope the end result will be worth the wait.

Prior Articles:
A Twisted Transparency Announcement

Design Documents:
A Twisted Transparency Menu
A Twisted Transparency| Design Dossier: Artwork

Sincerely,
- Celx

You'll never be cool if you don't smoke!

I don't have many vices, however the slow burn of a cigarette always gets me, it's such a euphoric experience that I can't describe it in any other way than "pacifying". When the nights pass slow, and I'm alone I find nothing better than to pontificate with a cigarette, and if I'm really fortunate some J.W: Black, to invoke serious introspection.

Smoking is not only a good ice breaker, but a perfect agent in conversation, it gives one time to pause and think during discourse without breaking the flow of the discussion between colleges. It looks awkward standing silent thinking of the right think to say during heated debate, the cigarette aids conversation in this manner by allowing one to collect their thoughts, and compose themselves whilst taking a drag.

My brand of "cancers" has always been "Treasurer: London", however much to my displeasure these cigarettes are not available in Canada so I can only pick them up when I go to California, I purchase 10 packs when I'm in the U.S. and that usually lasts me the full year since i'm not a heavy smoker. The reason I love the "Treasurer: London" brand is because it captures what smoking is about, the beauty of the freedom to engage in an enjoyable, albeit extremely unhealthy, and masochistic act.

Everything about the "Treasurer" cigarettes is perfect, from the packaging, wonderfully unique design of the cigarette tubes and filters, to the high quality tobacco they use, if Bogart was alive let me assure you these are they type of class cigarettes the man would smoke.

To me Cigarettes bleed sex, they're the ultimate "fuck you" symbol, contrary to the misconception of smokers not knowing the dangers of heavy smoke intake, I think most smokers do understand the long term consequences of smoking, but they are willing to roll the dice on their health anyway despite this.

This is what makes the smoker cool, they exude both an understanding of their own mortality, but can also be seen as libertarian figures finding pleasure in a vice, regardless of the current political climate against the act.

There is a slow pogrom of the act occurring which I find distasteful as multiple governments around the world have started with restrictions against smokers, some of these are completely reasonable, such as banning smoking in schools and government offices, or any non private establishment where non smokers may congregate.

However what I find particularly pernicious is the banning of flavoured cigarettes, and the removal the ability of a restaurant owner to have an adult only smoking establishment set up. These provisions directly impend on an adults freedom to enjoy a substance that harms no one else but themselves, or in the case of the restaurant, patrons who are willfully consenting to be in the presence of smokers.

I certainly don't want to wax over the dangers of cigarettes, I know one person who died due to a smoking related cancer, and another who is dying of lung cancer, these people both knew the risks, and I think that's what's important. People should be aware of what the implications are for the things they do and consume.

Cigarettes have health disclaimers all over their packaging, that's a good thing, however you don't find that on liquor despite it's significantly more harmful nature. The attitude towards marihuana is similar, younger people see it as a "safe" drug, when the reality is even purified government issued marihuana has it's dangers; read the research regarding how this drug can induce the onset of schizophrenia, and obsessive compulsive disorder in those who have a family history of said ailments.

That's Government issued marihuana, which is significantly less potent than the product one would find on the street, I'm not making an argument against marihuana, my point is simply cigarettes are being judged in an unfair manner compared to other harmful substances.

In closing people should be aware of what they consume, and more over should be free to consume it as long as any harm is restricted solely to their person.

Also smoking is cool...
- Celx

Being an artist isn't a profession

Being an "artist" can't be considered a profession unless one makes a living from it.

These last few years the living I've made from my flash work has been inadequate. I actually don't feel bad about it though since I picked up flash as a hobby, and I decided to pursue it as a job while some legal shit worked itself out.

I've starved, hawked my shit, done side jobs, learned to hunt, and forage for fruit in order to supplement my income. However the one thing I haven't done is go on welfare, or visit a food bank, primarily because when one chooses to pursue art as a profession it's a purely narcissistic act, (it needs to be since one needs to feel that they are better than others, in an unfathomably competitive field). For someone able bodied as myself the idea of asking society to cover my expenses while I figure out how to turn a profit from my "art" is a repugnant concept.

That said there are certain exceptions where an artist should be allowed social security, say for example an established artist becomes ill, or is injured and is unable to work afterwards I think it would be reasonable to help said individual during this kind of situation.

I'm getting sidetracked, my point is if you've decided to choose the arts as a profession you've gotta take responsibility if things don't go well, you can't expect society to help you if you've gone bust. I've personally been screwed by several people, needed to deal with late payments, and obscene demands, but I've needed to suck it up because this line of work is what I chose to do.

And that brings me to some dour news that I am at a displeasure to announce, I've barley managed to make a living from my work, and as flash starts to die off as a viable web design tool, I've decided to pursue a different career in something completely unrelated after I wrap up one last website for a client.

I feel this is important not only to my financial well being, but also to my health. These last 5 years I've spent, in a viscous cycle of checking my email, placing advertisements online, pounding the pavement inquiring about work, responding to emails, staving, and wondering how the hell I'm gonna make the rent every month. Wash, rinse, repeat everyday for the last five years.

I need to move out of this city, start making new friends, and for fucks sake start eating something more nutritious than discounted stale bread.

This means I will be putting down the pen, but not before I complete my final vanity project...

A Twisted Transparency

"A Twisted Transparency" is the last story in a trilogy of stories about violence.
The prior two were "CoolJaw: Dreaming Darkly", and "The Sugar Claws: Full Course".

"A Twisted Transparency" is a spiritual successor to these last two projects, but will differ from them substantially in the following regards:

- It will be fully animated. (Although the option to flip through it like a comic will be present).
- It will be the first in the series to be designed at 848x480 to allow for transfer to video.
- It will be the first to feature sound effects.
- It will not be a horror, but rather a "noir".
- It will feature an art style that uses elements from both "Cooljaw", & "The Sugar Claws".

Like the prior two stories, "A Twisted Transparency" is a stand alone tale that takes place in the same universe as "Cooljaw", and "The Sugar Claws".

The plot revolves around a box, and the several people intertwined in a conflict over said box.
It will be violent, dark, and a worthy end to the saga.

Look for the trailer near the end of this year.
Sincerely,
- Celx

I would cry myself to sleep in a fetal position, while eating copious wads of ice cream...

If I could only afford ice cream, holy fuck am I broke... The only reason I'm still alive is because I've been eating the rat carcasses I find in my back yard.

Seriously though this fucking sucks, the unemployment rate in my city is one of the highest in Canada, and it's gotten so bad that the mayor here made an announcement to the local news station basically saying there aren't any jobs for young people here, get the fuck out while you can.

I'm pretty much one of the few webdesigners left, A webdesigner pal of mine who has a university education moved to Ottawa because he couldn't make ends meet here.

I've decided to try to ride out the current economic climate, I've set my roots here, I have friends and people I care about too much about to leave without a fight. I have a couple of leads that came in so I'm gonna pursue those fiercely.

Pragmatically speaking certain choices are going to need to be made if things don't pick up soon, next month I'm going to be on borrowed time, if I can't find work I'm gonna hawk my laptop to pay off my rent, and use the rest of the money to move.

Last year I BARELY made it, so if this is gonna be the end, I just wanted to say it's been a privilege and a pleasure, instead of leaving you with static...

Sincerely,
- Celx Requin

Hello,

THE SUGAR CLAWS IS FINISHED:

I released my halloween submission on the 2'nd of October and it ended up winning third place which is awesome, I really am glad newgrounds didn't take it down due to the content like deviantart did.

HERE IS A CONVENIENT LINK!

I knew from the get go it wasn't going to be as well received as "Cooljaw: Dreaming Darkly", at the same time though I thought it would get a garner a little more attention than it did.

I think the artwork is better than in "Cooljaw", the programming has significantly improved, I spent more time on the extras, the writing is more sophisticated, plus the animated sequences are smoother.

I suppose if I needed to make a guess as to why it hasn't done as well as "Cooljaw", it would need to be maybe the pink layout turned people off, the story wasn't as long, and the plot itself may have been too serious for most people. Also "The Sugar Claws", has a drastically different feel than "Cooljaw" does so people who read "Cooljaw" and were expecting something similar may have been disappointed.

It's frustrating, I wish more people would have taken the time to review it, the reason I create stuff is so people can view it and tell me what they think... When you spend your scant free time making stuff it's always nice to have some feedback.

Regardless I'm pleased with the finished result, I think it's my best written work to date, and my skills all round have improved because of it, plus I got to make it without compromise, and I'm sure eventually the people that will get something out of the story will find it.

WHAT IS HORROR?

So I got into a discussion with a friend a few days back, who basically felt there was little merit in the horror genre. In a way I would need to agree with her, I mean if you take a look at the "Saw" franchise or the "Final Destination" series, they've basically regressed into a form of violent pornography.

Where is the content in these films? I mean they do have interesting premises, but at the end of the day the stories are basically just used as fodder to present gory violence. These films use their stories as an excuse to present violence, instead of using violence to better convey a message.

I still love horror films, when they're done right no other film genre can match there substance, or power, the horror genre is a perfect medium to present complex themes through the use of allegorical, and symbolic devices.

When used effectively the horror element can burn it's message into ones mind, take for example the tragic, and disturbing finale to "Requiem For A Dream", the anti addiction message wouldn't hold as much power if the subject matter was dealt with kid gloves, it's the film brutal unflinching honesty that gives it an impact.

That doesn't mean a film needs to be violent to be horrific, take for example the French film "The Vanishing", it's a film that's dark without the need to present any violence. It's a study of a malevolent mind and theorizes as to why people commit the crimes they do, while at the same time captures the grief and desperation of the people affected by said crimes.

"Se7en" is considered by some to be a nihilistic horror film without a message, I on the other hand disagree, it's a critique on religious extremism at it's very base, but deeper than that it asks the question as to why despicable crimes happen, and why people try to make a difference even when their efforts are seemingly in vain.

Then there are films that are akin to nightmares, "Eraserhead" comes to mind, with it's shocking and salient imagery, it invokes the fear associated with marriage and childbirth, the purpose of a film like this seems to be a way of making people face their anxieties through the use of a surrealistic narrative.

My all time favourite horror film is "Jacob's Ladder", I think it's the one horror film that's left the biggest impression on me, from it's intelligent premise, to it's fantastic art design, and heartbreaking ending. It's a film that makes one pontificate about their precious mortality, and the importance of the things we care about while we're alive.

At the end of the day good horror films are a way of making one think about concepts they would rather not, there is value in that, there isn't much value in watching someone get sliced up without any reason...

Only a sadist can find merit in something so soulless.

NEW PROJECTS!

I have a couple of things I'm working on a detailed description on these projects can be found listed below:

- "Shark: Black"
Is still in production and will most likely be the project I will be putting my time into next, most of the prior work on the film has been scrapped.

This will be my first fully animated project, and I am aiming to get a tank award nomination, it will be released during one of the "Winter Flash Offs". I'm going to be releasing a trailer next year.

- "Celx Requins: Anamnesis"
A collection of artwork, articles, and short animations released by me, will probably be released in 2013

- "A Twisted Transparency"
My final comic in my "domestic malaise", trilogy takes place after both the events in "CoolJaw" & "The Sugar Claws", and will tie up some loose ends from both stories while exploring new characters and a new diegesis...

The comic revolves around a series of bizarre crimes, and hints as to what this story revolves around are found in both "The Sugar Claws" and "Cooljaw". I'll get around to working on it at some point.

- "Cancer"
A political, black comedy comic, this will be worked on whenever I feel like it and will have a 100 issue run...

Other stuff!
I will be doing more art portal stuff, as well as fixing up old submissions, in particular "Cooljaw: Dreaming Darkly" will have it's music swapped with stuff from the audio portal.

Thanks and have a happy halloween!
Sincerely,
- Celx

New Sugar Claws Here:

- Part One
- Part Two
- Part Three
- Part Four
- Part Five

Also there won't be a new comic next month, as I've decided to release part six along with the finale in October sorry...

Death:

In a country like Canada, I can't fathom how assisted suicide still isn't legal, the ability to end ones life with dignity is something so personal and sacred the thought of religious political interlopers interfering with a persons decision to do so is beyond disgusting. Specifically those in line with the Christian, Catholic, Mormon ilk.

Even more grotesque is the ostentatious arguments these parties tend to employ to cause obloquy to further their personal agendas, without giving thought to the pragmatic realities people who seek to die often face.

Can you imagine the insurmountable suffering someone with an advanced form of cancer must endure?
Is it really necessary to have them suffer until natural death?

What about those burdened with the horrifying reality of a slow impending degradation of their senses due to ailments like Alzheimer's? Is the concept of one wishing to end their lives before a pernicious disease takes away there memories and leaves them a stranger in there own bodies really so appalling?

Or what about those whom we've sent out to combat, who've come back injured wishing not to spend the remainder of their lives in constant care? Don't we at least owe them the curtesy to honour their choice end their lives, when they were valiant enough to fight to serve our own interests?

Or what about someone without any ailments, who's seen the road ahead and no longer wishes to continue? Shouldn't a person be able to do what they wish with their own lives if they understand the consequences?

Mother Teresa, was known to run makeshift hospitals to see to the sick, while on the surface this may seem like a magnanimous act, what isn't so commonly known is she would not give pain killers to those in her care. Her reasoning behind her refusal to do so was because she felt doing so would not prescribe
to the statutes of her religion, and the pain the sick endured would bring them closer to god via the bloodletting Jesus endured.

To me that kind of reasoning seems overtly cruel and sadistic, furthermore the fact that she received sainthood speaks to the regressive thinking of the dogma. Is anguish for esoteric, and abstract reasons what the Catholic faith requests of it's patrons? If it is, and those whom are inclined to follow something so silly do so, that's fine as long as they don't try to influence through force the will of those whom don't adhere to their puerile beliefs.

Like abortion, prostitution, and drug use, the right to die is a complicated issue, and akin to the rest of those has serious consequences which shouldn't be taken lightly, however religious fascism has no place in politics.

The irony about those who speak out against assisted suicide on religious grounds is, Jesus was aware that by preaching his dogma he would be betrayed by Judas, and subsequently be crucified and killed by the romans. If one were to walk into heavy traffic knowing it could be avoided, I'm sure the consensus would be it was a suicidal act.

Sincerely,
- Celx

TOM's Shoes Are Made From The Tears Of Unsatisfied Customers...

Alright,

So I bought a pair of "Tom's" shoes about 4 months back, and guess what? The fucking things already have a huge hole in them. Even when they were brand new they were a shitty shoe, they got wet from the soles when it rained, I'm not talking about hard rain either, light rain would do them in.

They weren't cheap shoes either they were $80.00 with the clearance discount applied. The reason why they're so expensive is because they are fair trade, and for every pair of shoes bought a pair is given to some needy kid in a third world country.

So I thought why not? I'll be a magnanimous individual and buy a pair instead of my usual brand choice of rockports.

Huge goddamn mistake!

Now that I think about it I could have bought a pair of rockports at clearance for $40.00, and sent out a pair of higher quality, CHEAP "payless shoes" to some kid in Uganda and still have money left over for a donation to the salvation army.

So fuck you Tom and your gimmicky piece of shit shoes, I hope you die being raped by rabid goats, and after you descend to Hell have satan shove your terrible shoes elbow deep up your asshole!

By the way if any of you are feeling like buying a good, durable, fair trade pair of shoes, I would suggest the "Blackspot" sneakers. I used to have a pair and those lasted a good while, the company had the same fair trade ethics, and the profit funded whistle blowing projects.

I would have dished out for those, unfortunately the retailers here only seem to carry shit, like everything else on this granny fucking island.

New Sugar Claws Comic Out!

- Part One

- Part Two

- Part Three

- Part Four

Only three more to go!

Next one should be out sometime next month, in fact I plan to finish all of them next month!

Other News

I finished a new website for the "Qualicum Trading Post" check it out if you have time the website has a bunch of really cool artwork on display! www.qualicumtradingpost.com

I'll end off with a cool stop motion video from my favourite band "Turin Brakes"

New sugar claws comic just released:

- Part One

- Part Two

- Part Three

Only four more to go!

America:

If everything turns out well, and my passport application goes through I should be heading to the U.S.A at the end of the month to visit some friends in multiple states. I'm very excited, it's been almost 5 years since I've last visited, to be honest I consider myself more of an american than a Canadian, so the last few years have been a sort of private hell due not being able to travel.

I really hope nothing fucks up my passport application, waiting for it to come in is torture...

I plan to visit a couple of places during my trip including the Samuel Freeman Gallery, which brings me to...

Octopus Sex:

My favourite piece of artwork is Masami Teraoka's "Sarah and the octopus", the piece is a contemporary adaptation of the master woodblock artist Hokusai's "dream of a fisherman's wife".

The reason why I find "Sarah and the octopus" such a captivating and tantalizing piece of artwork is because I feel it's the most spectacular, beautiful, and skillfully crafted homage to what I consider to be one of the most important motifs of the anti censorship movement (the original "dream of a fisherman's wife print").

The "dream of a fisherman's wife" print was meant to serve as cautionary tale about being too intrepid, Masami's piece is also a modern cautionary tale about the perils of HIV... Hence why the heroin of the piece is holding a female condom.

Hokusia's print holds a very special place in my heart because of the individuals it inspired.

My literary hero Henry Miller was said to have a print of "dream of a fisherman's wife" in his possession. While I doubt the veracity of that claim, since it was most likely a false rumour started based on Millers depiction in the film "Henry & June", I'm fairly certain he had seen the print, and I would go one step further and say it probably had some influence on his work, at the very least on an ideological level.

The print went on the inspire the artist David Laity to make his own adaptation of it, and later on during his exhibition in Australia the police raided the place and confiscated the piece based on "obscenity" charges. There was an investigation and fortunately the case went on to be dismissed.

Of course the significance of Hokusai's print still remains greatest in Japan where the image originated, once again serving as a sort element of anti-censorship against Japan's ridiculous and pernicious pornography laws.

In japan it was (and possibly still is) illegal to depict any penile penetration of genitalia, so artists used tentacles as a means to circumvent japanese censors. Hence leading to that sub category of animated pornography known as "tentacle porn".

The most famous of these pornographies is considered by many to be the original "legend of the overfiend", on an interesting note that film is often incorrectly cited as being the first film to deal with the subject matter.

However that would be untrue, "legend of the overfiend" was the first cartoon to portray act of tentacle sex, the first film to handle the subject matter was actually a live action film from the 1970's called "possession".

Possession went on to win the grand jury prize at Cannes, and starred Sam Neil (who would later star in the blockbuster film "Jurassic Park").

The Image of Hokusai's print has now become somewhat mainstream, appearing in Kenny Vs. Spenny, as well as Mad Men, and is considered a staple of the ero-guro movement (Japan's equivalent to the dadaist movement that Dali and others belonged to).

Masami's "Sarah and the Octopus" is a wonderful piece which inspired my to write this panegyric article on it, hopefully I've done it justice.

Sincerely,
- Celx

I'm working on new stuff and I'm helping theonewithoutaname with the programming for her comic again, most of this stuff will be happening next month I've been too busy to do much this month.

For those of you here for the comics these are the links:

The Sugar Claws:

Part One
Part Two

Deviant Art Sucks:

Alright so I went to the local art gallery here (which is surprisingly not lame), when I attended they were having an exhibition of the local university art students work.

Some of the art on display was pretty cool, and other parts of the exhibit made me wonder if it was an exhibit for the mentally retarded.

For example there was a lot of generic manga/anime style bullshit. Now don't get me wrong there isn't wrong with manga/anime, but fuck some of these submissions were just soulless.

They seemed so boring, like they were mass produced or something, like the artists didn't want to take a risk or do something different.

There was one picture in particular drawn by a 21 year old graduate that had an anime chick just standing about in a lame ass pose, it was in black and white, and the most creative thing about it was there were swirly arrows pointing to her character saying something stupid like "girl power" or some shit.

Anyway like a train wreck I was captivated by it's sheer awfulness, and I must have been staring at this putrid canvas of dog vomit for a good 5 minutes.

So the "artist" walks over to me and says something along the lines of "pretty cool huh? it took me a while to do, I'm pretty proud of it".

I replied with "Ah I see how long did it take?"

She responded with "We had a one week deadline"

I replied with a terse acknowledgment of her statement along the lines of "I see" hoping to avoid further contact, and a possible uncomfortable situation.

She then asked me if I would like to place a bid on it, the question caught me off guard, and I responded with a simple "I don't think so"...

She then started to question me as to why not, instead of telling her the truth that the thought of hanging something so repulsive in my office would give me cancer, I just told her "it wasn't my thing".

"What's the matter with it?" she asked.

At this point I fell into a scenario where I felt I could have lied to get out the situation, but she asked me what I thought was my issue with her work and I felt it would be wrong to say "nothing is wrong with it, I'm just broke this month"...

So I told her politely, but in a frank manner all the same that I thought it was kinda boring. I think my exact words were "I can't see myself purchasing this because it seems kinda boring, and I feel there isn't anything that makes it unique or interesting, it seems like a lackluster effort, but that's just me I'm sure others may see something in it".

She looked at me for a bit, produced a "Uh-Hu" sound, and walked away while giving me the slightest of dirty looks.

The whole incident hasn't sat well with me, I mean if she didn't want to know what was wrong with it she shouldn't have asked.

And that brings me to the point I wanted to make about DeviantArt in comparison to newgrounds.
I am grossly offended that any company that puts itself on a pedestal for it's "artistic" community has a "block user feature" to prevent people from reviewing/commenting on ones work.

See the thing that matures and nurtures an artist is not sappy undeserved praise but rather honest pragmatic criticism, it doesn't need to be pernicious or cruel but honest is the key.

The deviant art community is living in what Freud would describe as a state of "Angels Thanatos", putting the concept in simple terms they are living in a "delusion".

Aside from that repugnant aspect of the community, the other thing that makes my blood boil is the censorship on that site.

Why is it adult pictures aren't allowed? If one has an idea and can't express it within the confines of an invisible square it can ruin the artistic integrity and narrative of a series of pictures. I mean imagine if someone cut out the sex and drug scenes from the film "requiem for a dream", would it has the same impact?

Oh fuck wait! Cockbuster already did that, since the store policy isn't to carry any NC-17 films (I'm referring to blockbuster for the slow). You know why they did that?

Money, fucking money! And that's alright they're a company and should be allowed to run their business any goddamn way they please, same with deviantart.

Although I find the concept of any company that is supposed to be a beacon for artists censoring work deplorable conduct, I can't blame them for wanting to make a dollar.

Now I know all of this seems bitchy, since they aren't forcing anyone to submit work to their site, and this is true but that's not the point I wish to bring up.

I want you to remember back when we had indie video stores that carried porno's, smut, and general trash like Troma films, you know the one where the owner was all fat and sweaty smelling of goat cheese, remember how cool that was? Those places died out because we stopped using them.

Newgrounds is today's equivalent of that, the staff are assholes, the community speaks their mind, and the fact that I'm posting this drivel on the front page should make it crystal clear how fortunate we are to have a website like newgrounds available (after I publish this shit I'll eagerly be awaiting registrar to call me an "untalented ugly faggot" ).

I hope people don't lose sight of the community we have, and how special it is, or else we'll all be giving circle jerks to each other on DevaintArt, and I'm not a gay.
Bottom line is newgrounds has soul...

Also fucking feet are hard to draw...

Well not really with them more like on them, let me explain...

Apparently from what a neighbor told me, my landlord bought the property I'm occupying from an aboriginal fellow, and prior to being a house it was used as a burial ground for dead babies and dogs or some shit.

I don't really care since the rent is so cheap and the place is fucking fantastic, so as long as the walls don't start bleeding, and undead fetuses riding on rotting dog carcasses don't wake me up at night I'll continue to be content. It's alot better than needing to worry about getting my shit stolen again by deadbeat roommates.

I'm going to be renovating my office in the near future so I'll be sure to post pictures when that's done.

This month was pretty good I finished a contract for hornbys canopy, and you can check them out here: http://www.hornbys.ca (seriously please check them out, it helps me out and won't cost you anything).

Anyway I just finished the first chapter of "The Sugar Claws" you can catch that here!

Oh and here is the Shark-Cinema release schedule for the year:

The Sugar Claws:
Monthly releases starting April and wrapping up in October...

CoolJaw Revised Edition:
Spelling errors will be fixed, plus some extras will be included, October...

Shark Black: Shattered Guns, and Revised Shark Black: Snowblind
December...

What else?

- My Itunes is glitching up when I play music it's lame, the music suddenly stops while during a song sometimes, has anyone else dealt with the same problem? It would really help me out if someone could tell me what the problem is (I'm using a mac and this just started happening)...

On the topic of music, I really like the http://www.grooveshark.com service, it lets you find and play music uncut online.

- I watched the illusionist a few weeks back, fuck that has got to be the best film of 2010 hands down,
seriously once it comes out on DVD you should buy it...

- I usually like to end my posts with a picture, so here is a painting from my favorite artist,
if I was a plutocrat with $30000.00 dollars liquid this is what I would use it on.

On a relevant note should you ever want to buy cool contemporary fine art, may I suggest the Samuel Freeman Gallery

The folks there are really great at answering questions and aren't assholes like the people at the Catherine Clark gallery, that's where I purchased my Masami "Sarah and the octopus" woodblock print...

Until the next, I hope you have a good weekend!
Sincerely,
- Celx

After a horrendous December, and working my ass off January I've managed to get my shit back in order.

A friend of mine helped me land a job, and also helped with some other stuff that needed to be dealt with, anyway the dudes a real mensch and I'm really privileged to know such a solid guy.

My landlord also cut me a break on rent, although in his case he kind of owed me (I've lent him copious amounts of money in the past). Regardless he could have kicked me out, and I'm glad he returned the favor.

Furthermore I'm going to be moving out of my current residence into a nicer place closer to downtown at the end of the month. On one hand it sucks because my current landlord is really cool, but pragmatically speaking it's going to be much better if I do (I'll also have more time for my personal projects).

I'm trying to meet new people, and I've gotten back into skateboarding, things are still kinda rocky moneywise, but come early May that will be sorted out.

I'm working on a new comic and I'm hoping to have the first chapter released in the next few weeks, sadly my wacom died, and I'm using a crappy bamboo until I get enough funds to buy a new intous.

I'm working on the next shark, and am going to revise the previous one too!
Things are happening... Slowly...

In the meantime here is some cool shit you folks should look into:

Bruce Knox:
I consider this man to be newgrounds best artist, he is grossly overlooked, I highly recommend you check out his body of work here!

Moon Over June:
A cool and extremely explicit web comic about lesbians, it has a fantastic art style (similar to Peter Chungs work), and also brings up some interesting questions in sex politics. It's very funny, and somewhat sweet without being didactic or preachy. Read it here!

Troll Game:
Ryan may be one huge snarky asshole, but at least he's a smart funny snarky asshole. "Troll Game" is his comic that throws political correctness out the window, everyone is a target in his comic including himself. Frankly it's kinda refreshing to read something different from the regular pretentious humor that's supposed to be offensive, but pulls it's punches.

The artwork fluctuates but overall it's pretty solid, anyway the art comes second to the story which is ridiculous and filled with esoteric references, surprisingly cruel vulgar jokes, and some mild commentary on the media.

It's mean spirited, but damn is it funny.
Read it here!

Now let me close with dirty limerick.

There once was a hooker from Peru,
She filled up her pussy with glue,
because she said if they paid to get in...
They can pay to get out of it too!

- Celx