Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

FanArt_ink.Swing


MTGinktober winds up into Day 8, "Swing," starring Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer and her Elemental Bird token!


This had to be one of the most last-minute changes I've ever done for a character selection. This was originally going to be Nahiri dual-wielding some swinging swords, but then I felt I really should do something in support of the Hearthstone guy who got banned and robbed of his earnings, and Hong Kong at large, especially after seeing that Joshua documentary recently. So I started pulling reference for Portal: Three Kingdoms characters, leaning towards Lady Zhurong, Warrior Queen, and then ultimately landing on Mu Yanling dual wielding umbrellas.


The umbrellas and Mu Yanling's flowing sleeves felt better for communicating "swing" anyway, rather than slicing swords or something, so that was an additional benefit of going with the planeswalker. And I say this was a last minute decision because I have a sort of soft deadline as to when I have to start "final" pencils in order to leave sufficient time to ink in order to hit deadline.


Fun Facts: The majority of the time, I'm sketching the construction of the composition and pose, and then our featured character's details get slapped on top of that figure relatively quickly, like costuming a mannequin, so that's why I had gone in thinking this was Nahiri, complete with all this reference material I collected ready to go, then scrambling to get stuff for Zhurong, and then Mu Yanling even after that. I was right up to the point where I had to start decorating my base pose or miss deadline, so it was quite a close call.


Easter Eggs: The Chinese character for peace, which appears to be the same as Japanese, just reversed, is spelled out in water.

Not normal,

Reuxben

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

SLS_DunkOnHunter


Release the hounds, it's Sick Little Suicide #41, "Dunk On Hunter," in which we sniff out the win like a blood hound!

I drew a little spoof of Duck Hunt in support of Ammar Campa-Najjar for congress. As you may know, in California's 50th District, Ammar is challenging the national disgrace Duncan Hunter--previously merely a national disgrace for vaping in Congress--who's been criminally indicted to the tune of 60 counts, regarding his theft of over $250,000 of campaign funds for personal expenses.

But Hunter's not only a thief, this poor-man's Jason Sudeikis also used the funds to have multiple affairs. But this rich man's advocate is not only a philanderer, this cartoonishly unfit politician's also a flag-waving fraud. Hunter, an Iraq/Afghanistan veteran, used campaign funds on personal vacations and luxury purchases and used the military as a front to write these expenses off as campaign expenditures.


Most notably, he wanted to go on vacation to Italy, so tried to arrange a visit to a naval base there. They couldn't accommodate his schedule, but offered an alternative date for the visit, which did not satisfy Hunter's plans, so he told his chief of staff to tell the Navy "to go [F] themselves" for not complying with his whims. He's even invoked the Wounded Warriors as a cover for purchasing of shorts, claiming he was actually buying golf balls for the Wounded Warrior Project. The list literally goes on and on, and his complicit wife, whom he blames all his financial crimes on, was also indicted. I bet they look totes adorbs in matching orange jumpsuits.

As I understand it, this dishonorably drunken Hunter banks his career on living in a longstanding red district and floats along on his father, Duncan Hunter, Sr.'s name. His father passed his seat onto the younger Hunter after serving for 30 years, and so collectively, the Hunters have ruled CA-50 for 40 years--with an illegally purchased iron fist, no doubt.


Enter one Ammar Campa-Najjar: a young Obama-alum-turned-businessman, and now first-time congressional hopeful, who's worked his way up himself, refuses corporate donations, and pledges to be a check on the rampant, blatant corruption and self-dealing consuming the present administration. Being Mexican-Palestinian-American, he's been the recipient of some of the most racist attack ads in recent history, so he's got to overcome not only the raw inertia of a deep-red district, but also these lie-laden, putrid attacks on his character. It's absurd how much Ammar has to placate these ridiculous "concerns," but for what it's worth, he's taken the time to dispel all concerns any reasonable voter could have. If you buy into the racist ads, you're being willfully ignorant at this point.

Meanwhile his opponent is always in his military get-up in his crassest ads, pretending he's Mr. Military, yet we have him quoted in his indictment badmouthing the military, using injured vets as cover against their knowledge or wishes, and generally preying on his district's love for the armed forces, owing to its sizable population of military families. That's viciously manipulative and abusive, and is especially dishonorable coming from a vet himself, and that's not even getting into the derangement of relying on racist fear-mongering this guy has to do since he can't run on his record, which includes voting for the tax cut that happened to adversely affect his own district since that general tax cut was designed to punish anti-Orange states. And he can't run on his policies because he plans to attack healthcare, is raring to pass more millionaires more tax cuts at workers' expense, and is generally in lockstep with that orange fraud, to the point of being the second person to endorse him when that burnt-leather basketball was a total sideshow barking at Katy Tur beside an above-ground kiddy pool at a barbeque in the boonies.

So long story short, we need game over for Duncan Hunter, and all we gotta do is press start with Ammar.


Fun Facts: I had the idea for a Duck Hunt spoof a while ago, but haven't had a chance to finish it before today, on Election Day of all days, so here we go! This is what we trained for, this is why we play the game, we need to get out there and vote.

Easter Eggs: The rather than having little bird icons, I used rabbits since this hound dog infamously used $600 of campaign funds on airfare to fly his pet rabbit around. Instead of bullets, as in the original Duck Hunt, we have ballots, checked blue, of course. The district, CA-50, replaces the "SHOT" text from the original game's display. Just above that, the round number is replaced with "D = 1," meaning Democrats are number one, meaning we need to get as many of these guys in and as many Republicans out as possible in this election. The score is zero because that's the benefit Hunter's accrued for his district over the past 10 years, and naturally his hit meter's empty cuz all he ever does is miss.

Not normal,

Reuxben

Monday, November 5, 2018

FanArt_pgtp.ChikItOut


Chik it out, only ONE (1) day until we #PokemonGoToThePolls on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, so at long last, here's our very final poke, Johto Dex #001, Chikorita!

Dude, it's all been leading up to this, it's ours to take, we have it at our fingertips, we just need to turn out and get this thing done. If you or anyone you know can vote, please do so, we need everybody, no bench-sitters. We need to win overwhelmingly to send the message that we do not tolerate the viciousness, the blatant corruption, the daylight-clear self-interest these cartoon villains presently in power are perpetuating. It's one thing to complain online, but this is now game time, this is what we train for, this is the real deal.


So even if you vote in a blue (Democrat) district, we need to run up the score against these corrupt clowns in red, and if you live in a red (Republican) district, you absolutely need to turn out because many, many, many districts are going to come down to the wire and every single vote counts, with no hyperbole. Republicans were in charge of drawing districts in many places the last time they were redrawn (every 10 years after the Census) and have made sure to rig districts via gerrymandering--which is a technique of drawing severely lopsided districts--to favor and perpetuate themselves and restrain opposition. So in order to win what would be a normally winnable district, all else equal, to surmount the stacked advantage of a gerrymandered district, we necessarily need a ton of turnout.


The key to massive turnout is voters who don't normally vote, such as those who aren't as engaged or keeping up with things as closely as others, and of course first-time voters, which is usually younger citizens age 18 and up. Of special note, fellow minorities in particular need to come out--if we voted anywhere near our actual population, we would have this in the bag every single election. But we minorities tend not to vote as reliably as white voters, so it's imperative we get our people out to the polls. We can absolutely win this, but we need to turn out. It's in our hands.


Now, not only are your districts counting on you to put sensible people in charge who will actually endeavor to improve your lives by securing healthcare and environmental protections (clean air, water, etc.) and limiting the reach of violence (sensible gun control, more economic opportunities for people on the brink of desperation from underemployment or undereducation), but your country needs you to slam the brakes on this destructive administration on a national level. If Democrats win the majority by flipping as many districts blue (Democrat) as possible, they become in charge of committees, oversight, and investigations, by which they can actually hold these plainly corrupt monsters accountable by forcing them to disclose their backdoor dealings, with no protection from Republican obstructing the discovery of their myriad conflicts of interest. That's just the House of Representatives. If we can flip the Senate, then we can absolutely put an end to perhaps the most dangerous and longest-lasting parts of the administration, particularly by stopping the approval of all these radically conservative, partisan (Republican) federal judges, so that only more fair-minded, non-radical judges will attain these positions and will make decisions based on their reading of the law rather than basing judgments on party influence. These federal Judges are important because they serve lifetime appointments, meaning that once they get in, they're basically there until they retire or die. Republicans have been abusing their majority by ramming through as many of their radical, unqualified Republican judges as possible, and now they are perched on the bench for life. A majority in the Senate can stop that cascade of compromised judges as well as harmful legislation, like all these attempts to repeal or curtail healthcare.


And further on an even greater level, the very planet is relying on us to flip as many districts blue as possible. If we can achieve majorities in one or both Chambers of Congress (the House of Representatives or the Senate), we can ensure these senselessly destructive environmental policies aren't furthered, are are reined in as much as possible, and on top of that we may even be able to pass protections again. Ordinarily I don't care about the environment, but we're nearing the point of no return on the climate, meaning once we hit a certain level of damage done to the ice caps from increasing temperatures melting the massive glaciers up/down there, the damage will be irreparable, and we'll be stuck with a hotter planet and thus increased sea levels, complete with these violent storms we've seen in recent years becoming the norm, meanwhile more portions of countries will sink under sea level. Think of it like a someone chopping away at your arm, you can heal from a cut, but once that cut gets too deep, eventually your arm gets near lopped off, and once you're at that point, your arm is basically not healing back to normal, especially if it gets lopped off. Allowing us to get to this point of no return endangers us as well as our fellow humans around the world, so they are also counting on us to do the right thing and vote for the party that understands climate change as the existential crisis it is, and that's not even talking about the financial damage we're doing across the world by digging ourselves into a pit we're going to suffer for in due time--another global recession is at stake if we keep enacting these protectionist, self-injurious, short-sighted policies, which only serves to strengthen other countries' positions on the global stage (namely China) while we weaken into a secondary position.

So please, please do what you can to help change the course of history, it begins on Tuesday. The name of the game is slamming the brakes on a car careening towards a cliff. Once we have safe majorities, in future elections, notably 2020's Presidential Election, we can then start moving the car back on the road. But just focus on slamming the brakes on Tuesday. So again, please be sure to register if you haven't already (especially since many states' registration deadlines are coming up if they haven't passed already!) and elect to be a voter on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, aka TOMORROW.

Not normal,

Reuxben

Monday, October 29, 2018

FanArt_pgtp.HopTo


I'm hopping with anticipation cuz it's just 8 mere days until it's finally, finally time to #PokemonGoToThePolls on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, so here's Central Kalos Dex #008, Frogadier!


We've been in a verily verdurous grove of forest-based pokes lately, so I wanted to make an effort to seek as different an environment as possible, say, the ocean.


I was so nervous having to take on MTGinktober and PokemonGoToThePolls simultaneously, but it kinda worked out--this is our last PGTP for October! We made it! Kinda. Ugh.


I mean, to be fair, we did fall super behind on Inktober, and it looks like we'll close at about 6 days behind as of the 31st.


But I'm getting myself to cope with failure, and besides, I'm itching to get back to full digital focus, oddly enough. AND an accomplishment in itself is that I didn't mess up my arm, back, hand, neck, or eyes this year, even while switching between traditional and digital for these challenges.


And speaking of not messing up, we're so close to getting this thing done, please be sure to register if you haven't already (especially since many states' registration deadlines are coming up if they haven't passed already!) and elect to be a voter on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.


Nothing less than the planet is on the line here (not just as an international community of allies and leaders, but also as the environmental crisis grows closer to the point of no return), let alone your personal, national, and neighborly well-being. Please vote blue.

Not normal,

Reuxben

Monday, October 15, 2018

FanArt_pgtp.PupItUp


All pupped up cuz there're only 22 days until it's time to #PokemonGoToThePolls on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, so here's Unova Dex #022, Lillipup!


This one was definitely one of the quickest ones, coming in at just a couple hours, cuz we had severely limited time.


Like Diglett, I just jumped straight to painting again, no lines or sketches.


But a little innovation here was using the strokes effect to make lines around the shapes I painted for added definition.


The background was a also a bit more impressionistic than I normally go, but it worked well to suggest speed.


In any case, please speed yourself along to register if you haven't already (especially since many states' registration deadlines are coming up if they haven't passed already!) and elect to be a voter on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.

Not normal,

Reuxben

Monday, October 8, 2018

FanArt_pgtp.DigIt


Dig it, only 29 days until it's time to #PokemonGoToThePolls on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, so here is Alola's Akala Dex #029, Diglett!


We really dashed this guy out for sure, but it came out all right in just a few hours, so we can definitely continue at this pace while also Inktobering.


What made this one unique was that there was no prepwork in the form of sketches or even linework, I just went in painting from the start with my SAUB, like the good old days of pure SAUB painting.


And yes, one of the reasons I went with Diglett of all the various 029 Dex entries was that I could most likely get away with this brutalist technique on such a forgiving, minimalist character design.


But the piece itself turned out ok. Not as action-packed as I had envisioned, but ok, certainly good enough for the purpose of being an Pokemon going to a poll.


I definitely hope to take a similar approach again on a future piece down the line, though perhaps with a little more innovation now that we have a base of knowledge to work with.


And please do work with us to make sure both to register if you haven't already (note, many states' registration deadlines begin today!) and elect to be a voter on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.

Not normal,

Reuxben

Monday, October 1, 2018

FanArt_pgtp.HighVotage


Only 36 pikadays until it's time to pika-#PokemonGoToThePolls on Tuespika, Pikavember 6, 20pika18, so here is Central Kalos Dex #036, Pikachu!


There were a couple cool candidates for day 36, but we had to go with da OG. Yeah, it's super cliche, and I draw Pikachu way too often whenever I do draw Pokemon, but I just love drawing Pikachu.


It's a relatively simple design that still has plenty of space for interesting takes and a flexible enough figure to do all kinds of compositions, especially when you introduce electric effects.


This was our first PGTP done during Inktober, and this is definitely the just-right level of complexity and in-depth work we're looking for--not too overdone, but not sparse, either.


The big takeaway here was making less feel like more so that the illustration has enough going on to stay interesting for more than a passing glance, so I used the stroke function to outline some of the lightning for a quick, stylized boost.


I also relied completely on cel shading and keeping as many of the gradations on just one layer per core color, rather than three per color (light, mid, and dark), and the only subtle modulation came from an overlayed zoom layer.


So this illustration flew by in a few hours, and I was able to tack it onto the evening after finishing the day's Inktober and it didn't exhaust me and I was ready to hop back to MTGinktober Day 2, so all-around win.


I had started sketching this idea the previous week in prep for Inktober, but if I can replicate that and get a little prep work done after each Inktober wraps, then hitting two posts every Monday this month doesn't sound impossible.


And what's not impossible is making sure both to register if you haven't already and to elect to be a voter on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.

Not normal,

Reuxben

Monday, September 24, 2018

FanArt_pgtp.PurrloinedGetHer


Meow, only 42 days until it's time to #PokemonGoToThePolls on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, so here is Mountain Kalos Dex #042, Purrloin!


This is the first Pokemon I've drawn that I have no connection to--this guy is from a generation I've never encountered!


But given the selection of various regions' Dex entry 42s, this one looked the most exciting, and I'm a sucker for purple.


Plus this guy seemed to be associated with city life, according to my research, so it was an excellent opportunity to draw an urban background, something I've been itching to do.


The background here is somewhat a loose study of a photo I took in Shinagawa while on business, and of course, at the only business one can have in Shinagawa: immigration stuff.


This piece seems to have settled me on where we want these pieces to go--after all this time, it seems going lines on the figure and just kind of live-inking the background is where it's at.


I just need to make sure not to get carried away on the background. The sky was the indulgence of the drawing, which extended to the windows, since they were kinda sky-like, too, but basically everything else was SAUB. So I must insist on not going overboard on the background, because that counteracts the helpful simplicity of Pokemon figures, since they thankfully don't require that much time to get right.


Anyway, Shinagawa's quite a bittersweet, beautiful place. It doesn't hurt when you have to go there, but the immigration building is super beat-up, and all the city's glamor fades once you roach it out into the middle of nowhere, because of course they place that ogre of a building as far out from convenience and humanity as possible.


Though to be sure, just walking around the city is fantastically enchanting. Man, I spent an incredible Christmas Day running around there...twice.


But don't let them give you the runaround and purloin your rights! Make sure both to register if you haven't already and elect to be a voter on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.

Not normal,

Reuxben