It's summer, which means I have approximately two more weeks in Atlanta and then I'm off to the wilds...in this case, the wilds being Mammoth Cave National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Hopefully, there will be something left of it when my SCA crew and I are finished with it. However, in those two weeks, I'm fresh out of illustration inspiration. Seriously. I got nothing. So, in honor of the last two summer last minute sketch extravaganzas, I'm opening requests. That's right. You want to see it, I'll draw it.
Unless, you know, I can't.

Also, commissions are open, but I won't get a chance to work on any until July. Rates are quite reasonable, and you can either note me or contact me at Aelbein@gmail.com.
Be warned--as of June 11th, I'm dropping off the radar, and the likely hood of my posting anything is (almost) zip. Be back in July.

RANDOM THOUGHTS!

Just went to see UP, Pixar's new film, with a few friends, including the wonderful and after pondering the film, I have this to say. It's a very deliberately paced film, and the opening acts are some powerful expressions of the animators art. The last two acts get a little slapsticky, but I'm all for clever slapstick. There are some fun shout outs to art pieces, silent films, and newsreels of yesteryear, some gorgeous character and landscape animation, and wonderful voice acting. The problems; the later half loses some of the gravitas of the beginning with the introduction of the kid, who is funny and cute and started seriously getting on my nerves. He didn't ruin the movie, or tarnish it, but the film started feeling a tad formulaic toward the end, which is a pity. However, it is far and away the best animated film I've seen released in a few years.

Random Thought: Is there anyone who is actually going to see that abominable G-Force movie? Secret Agent Guinea Pigs? What the hell kind of pitch meeting was that? God, Disney, get your act together and put out a decent animated film, something like...

Random Thought: The Princess and the Frog. Finally. Old school broadway disney flick, what looks to be some eye-candy animation and voice acting. Also, read a piece in the NY Times about the backlash against the "rasicm" in the film. The article canbe read [link] and I urge you to do so, if only to see how over sensitive people are being.

Random Thought: Softshell Turtle Babies are the cutest things in existence, and I defy anyone to prove differently.

Last Random Thought: The Dresden Files novels are some of the smartest, wittiest, and most intriguing supernatural drama I've read in a long time. The sci-fi show ain't bad either.

Till later, muchachos!