wasting bandwidth since 2005

This week is something I ran across this last weekend. In the search for old band photos (see sidebar under rock n’ roll) I was going through a stack of negatives. I ran across some that I didn’t know I even had. They must have been from my roommate at the time because the negs also had pics of his girlfriend and family. Among these shots was also us moving in and me working on a painting for a art class I was taking at the time. That’s where this photo comes in. I don’t remember ever seeing this pic but that might have a lot to do with the fact that at the time when you had your photos developed anything that was questionably a sub-par photo was not printed so you didn’t eat the cost of printing the crap you had at the beginning or end of a roll or something you screwed up. This neg looks like it would have fallen into that category.

My big idea was to do a painting you had to stand 100 yards away from to see what it was. Well that’s how it started. Then realizing you would, at best, be 20 feet away I altered my idea into something more workable. This is pre-Photoshop. I found a picture of a girl in some fashion magazine that I wanted to used and spent countless hours half toning different shots at different size scales to get the large dot that I wanted. Shot it on film, then projected on to the canvas, to paint it in. It was huge. That is my shoulder in the picture and I am 6’2″ and much closer to the camera. The canvas was over 6′ wide. It came close to being finished then painted over in some other mad idea I wanted to try.

Chalk this one up to capturing a moment. With nothing to show for all the work years later. At least I have this to remember the late evenings standing on my bed to paint dots on a large canvas. The act of doing it was enjoyable. I just wish I had something more to show for all the work.

Artists lament.

Masto.

A distribution flyer for one of Midways electro-mechanical arcade games. Nothing like trying to take one of their old target shooter gun games and hipping it up for the kids. I guess by the sixties no cool kid wanted to be seen dead shooting up some tin star, western cowboy, game so what do you do… hmmm… I know they can pop the heads off of stupid looking aliens in flying saucers. Seems everything had a flying saucer theme back in the day and folks ate this crap up. Now I will give it kudos for having a great time period illustration. The colors alone are a grabber. As much as this might suck for a shooter arcade game (except for the part that it was in black light, because everything in black light is kind of cool no matter how hard it blows) it does make for a cool flyer.

This one is for the little green men.

Masto.

For any guy older than 40 this model is one of the iconic models from the late sixties. A cross of Mercedes limo and desert half-track. And it comes with a skeleton driver and rider. What’s not to like. When I was 7 or 8 everyone I knew thought this was the coolest thing going. And I don’t think I have changed my mind. Sadly Monogram has re-released a bunch of these wild custom cars but alas this one will remain in the dust bin of history. The last I heard it would not be released because of the Nazi theme of the thing. Being it’s not a actual military model but a custom car means that it’s considered a tad insensitive. It’s still cool though.

Masto.

Okay after a 2 week hiatus it’s time to get back on this horse. After having my Grandmother in critical care, and my Mother and Aunt staying here during the duration, it’s good to get back to a semblance of normalcy. She is doing much better and everyone is relieved. Unfortunately this disturbance put a crimp in my web activity. Well it’s time to wind it back out. I have a bunch of “Rock & Roll” postings to add and of course “Image of the Week” is, as usual, behind. Well tomorrow I will take care of that and this evening besides work on the R&R page (which I believe I need to break into pages because I got a bunch more stuff) I think I will post something in the much neglected “Great Moments in Comic Book Advertising” just for grins.

Masto.

Where to even start. My guts cramping up just thinking of baked beans and home fried corn dogs. Well at least I hope those are battered and fried dogs. They could be battered and fried… ( fill in blank ) just about anything. The important part of this pic is next time I need some way to hold my newly fried corn… whatever, and it’s condiments, a head of lettuce fills the bill. The sad part is that after eating the beans and corn things that bit of roughage being used  a center piece would be a gastro-intestinal help.

Dig in!

Masto.