Gimmick: blatant promotion of characters & design

Straight out of the box

2007-01-30T12:20:00.000-06:00

Ok... ok, yeah I did it. I went out and blew way to much cash on my video game vice and I just want to throw out my two cents on the battle of the video game giants.

My Story,

A couple of months ago I decided to trade in my Xbox and PS2 toward a new Xbox 360, because they were having a great deal on trade-ins, $80 for the old Xbox, but only $45 for the PS2. So I loaded everything up and hauled it to the closest EB Games and got $250 for my two systems, controllers, and memory. Not to bad of a deal and it helped a lot with the $499.99 price tag, plus the system came with an extended warranty, a 10% discount and the Game Ghost Recon. That was a nice bonus.

Well this past weekend, my wife was away... it was me, my daughters and my friend Phil, so I was pretty much surrounded by bad influences, with no voice of reason. So I bought a $600.00 Playstation 3, an extra controller, and the game Resistance: Fall of man.

So here comes my take on the two systems and my empty wallet.
(note: both systems are hooked into our home theater and projected by an Optoma HD72 projector on a screen at 9' x 5' with 5.1 surround sound.)

Here are my scores for the two machines from (1-10) 10 being the best, for those who don't want to read my video game auto-biography below.

Xbox 360 - 9 All around solid system

Controller 10 perfect wireless controllers, rumble, great layout, connect easy and stay connected
Games 7 Too few great games for a system that has been out for almost a year
Network 8 Xbox live, Xbox Arcade, good content, media options, downside monthly fee, Wireless network not included
Graphics 10 Component connection, graphics on HD TV beautiful, could use more games that make use of the quality.
Sound 10 5.1 Surround is perfect

Biggest Flaws - Not fully backwards compatible with old Xbox games. Does not utilize HD-DVD or Blueray for true HD Graphics, component quality is the best possible. Needs a bigger array of quality games and the 360 system seems to become bogged down in heavy action sequences. Tiny 20GB hard drive on a machine that pushes it's network and downloadable content? It's like owning a Walmart store and making everyone put their purchases in one 5"x5"x"5 bag. Not well thought out, other than a marketing scam to sell a larger hard drive to gamers in the future.

Best Features - Rock solid controllers, Xbox Live, component cables included, mic included

PS3 "Playstation 3" - 8
Amazing system with a few big flaws

Controller 8 no rumble, connects easy, but randomly loses connection during game play, have not yet come across a game that utilizes the motion sensing, controller is super light, which sadly makes it feel cheap
Games 10 Few games, but it's to early to really complain, Games that are out are a lot of fun
Network 8 network lacks much content and is not the most friendly interface ever made, inputing names or numbers is horrendous on the virtual cell phone style keypad... buy a keyboard, it will be worth every penny, upside no monthly fee for online play, before being able to use the network a huge update was required that took a 1/2 hour to download, after that it ran smoothly, big bonus built in wireless network card
Graphics 5 A major disappointment, the system only comes with RCA cables and no component or HDMI cables.
Sound 10 5.1 Surround is perfect with optical cable, bought separately
Compatibility 9 Only a handful games seem to be having trouble, none of the ones I own, no where near the trouble the 360 has.

Biggest Flaws - Controllers lose connection, Graphics are major disappointment, the system only comes with RCA cables and no
component, it has HDMI output but no HDMI cable right out of the box.
For a system that's entire reason for being is the Blueray HD output, this is
a huge failure. When hooked up right out of the box the graphics looked
miserable next to the Xbox 360. I have no doubt when attached to the
projector with HDMI it will be amazing, but my HDMI cables will not
arrive for 4 days. I'll let you know how it looks after this addition. I'm
guessing I'll have to raise the score to a 9 in the future, deducting a
point for putting me through a week of fuzzy graphics after I just
spent nearly $800 on their system..

Best Features - Blueray, Graphics
when in HD, HDMI port, Controllers charge when plugged into USB ports
no need for AA, no lag in graphics while playing no matter the amount
of action, built in wireless, ports for standard memory cards,
peripherals hook up easy, can kill an intruder with the PS3 by throwing it at
them.

Here's the run down:

The Xbox 360 straight out of the box is a really great system, over all. The 360 hooked up easy enough, and came with component cables included for a great looking image at high definition 720p. (note: 480 is normal tv resolution, 720 is HD, 1080 is top of the line HD, like blueray)

The 360 also offered optical hook-up for amazing surround sound, all though the optical cable itself, must be purchased separately, about $20.

Once the 360 was up and running it took a little while to get used to the dash board setup, basically it's the operating system for the 360, but after a 1/2 hour it's very easy to manage. I had to purchase a wireless network adapter for the 360 to work with my Apple Airport wireless network. Once the adapter was added it took a while to get the 360 to access the network. It would see it, but it wouldn't function with the WEP security system and after checking the net I found that a lot of mac users were having this problem, (Microsoft - go figure...). The only answer to this glitch was to turn the security off when using Xbox Live. I tried this and it worked perfect. It leaves a huge hole in your network's security and I'm sure hackers are parking outside my door as we speak, so hopefully Microsoft will address this. I let you know if I find anything out. Xbox Live is great. It's easy to use and the amount of content available for the 360 at this early date is truly impressive. The best part of all is the Xbox Live Arcade. You can purchase games like Ms. Pacman, Dig Dug, Joust, and many others and download them directly to your 360. It's great. One of the best features of Xbox Live other than the online gaming.

The first game I played on the system was Gears of War. Incredible. Just a really great game. Beautiful graphics with the component hook-ups, with fun and challenging game play, it's a must have. There are still quite a bit of load times on the 360 and I noticed in heavy action sequences that the system would become jerky and on occasion will freeze, which will send any gamer into a tantrum. I'm not sure if this is a game issue or a system issue, but it was very disappointing. Also you will want to take very good care of your discs, the 360 seems very touchy about dirt or scratches and games will shut down in the middle of play with a warning on the screen that the disc is dirty, requiring you restart your 360. Let the tantrum begin again.

The PS3 right out of the box is a let down, it doesn't come with any type of high quality connection even though that is the whole point of the machine? It only has RCA cables and they produce a horrible image.You can tell the graphics should be amazing, but it's like your playing while wearing someone Else's glasses. Just a horrible disappointment, for a machine that brags HD Blueray. Luckily it comes with a HDMI port on the back, so you just need to pick up a HDMI cable to fix this problem. I would suggest My Cable Mart on the net. Their prices are rock bottom and you can get a 6' HDMI cable for $8.16 compared to the same cable at Best Buy for $100.00. I ordered two 10 footers and with shipping it was just over $30.00.

Once you get past this blunder you'll realize that the Sony people are sadists. The virtual cell phone style keyboard for inputing your Name and information is a nightmare to deal with. Just god awful. You are supposed to be able to connect any standard usb keyboard to the PS3 with no problem. Do this!... You'll thank me. I would have tried this, but my daughters were sleeping and I wasn't gonna chance the loss of game time by accidentally waking them up while they were napping to get it from my office next to their rooms. I wish I would have chanced it.

The network is awesome with built in card for wireless networks it was a huge improvement over the need to purchase a $100 attachment for 360. The system required one huge system update for the network to work fully and have access to the store and online gaming. Took about a 1/2 hour to download.

Once you get past all the set up you realize the controllers have no rumble packs any more, which make the controllers so light they feel cheap, but you get use to it, until you hold an xbox controller again. The controllers also had the habit of losing their connection to the PS3, which left you sitting as a dead duck in the game or running wildly out of control. Very irritating, but this was before the update, so hopefully it has been corrected.

Ok so finally on to the game playing, once you get past the low quality 480 image from the RCA jacks, the game play is awesome. The PS3 never bogs down and the detail of movement and graphics is just unbelievable and is what truly saves sonys bacon, because it is the one thing that they did right. The PS3 is a beast, and I can only imaging what software manufactures will do when they get a real handle on what they got.

Over all, even with all my complaining, I love both systems a lot and really after a few cables, it really all comes down to the games... come on Halo 3 and GTA.

Well that's it, give yer eyes a rest.

later,

---Josh

NEW and IMPROVED!... Well easier to maintain, anyways.

2007-01-26T07:25:00.000-06:00

Yes, I finally broke down and did it, I fixed my screwed up website and added some more of my illustrations to the portfolio.

The entire site has better navigation now and the opening page has become my blog, so adding all the things that I feel are important and you all, think good gravy this is lame?... will be easier.

As you may have also noticed the Gimmick blog has been slow to update since Christmas... I blame this on Kevin for being a lazy bastage and not staying on top of things... ha
Actually we were hoping to launch the new BIG Gimmick art blog, but schedules got tight and things fell by the way side, but fear not Gimmick readers we hope to move ahead soon with our next Big Gimmick.

Also for fans of Zeak Yolkum™, "yes you the one guy in the back... no not you... You. yep... Oh yer not a fan? Just bored ya say?... oh, ok..."

Well to that one fan I have out there, "Mom you know who you are", I will be putting the next addition of Yolkum up soon. I again blame Kevin for why this isn't done, even though he has nothing to do with Zeak Yolkum™ other than to point out the fact that he has my banana faced chin... That hurts Kevin.

So to wrap it up, come visit my new site www.joshuajanes.com and if you like my ramblings, subscribe to my blog while yer there.

Later every one,

Josh

THIS WEEK AT WAR!!!

2006-12-18T19:08:00.000-06:00

After Josh's amazing win in the War the week before.
Zolel the Gluttonous, Eshel the Fire of God and Kieron the Fallen have all moved on to the next rounds.

The SuperMatch
Kevin Myers character Kieron the Fallen has moved into the Super-Match against a very rough competitor Mik Mak. Mik Mak, by superb artist Skaffa, killed his last opponent winning an overwhelming victory. Kieron may have to go back to Hell when this match is over. So give him your votes.

Round 3
Eshel the Fire of God by Kevin Myers battles Kzzt by talented artist, Number26. Kzzt too has been killing the competition. Eshel is gonna have to call on the power of God to defeat this very cool adversary. So help out Eshel and say some prayers and more importantly give him some votes. :)

Round 2
Zolel the Gluttonous By Kevin Myers takes on SAX007 by Saberox. SAX007 is part of the Gimmick Gremlin line. A very interesting battle to watch. Will Zolel be able to beat the uber-Moji, SAX007.

And there it is.

I am wartime reporter, Snap Skirmish, and this has been This Week at War!!!... Get out the vote!

Eshel the Fire of God, Kieron the Fallen, Zolel the Gluttonous© Kevin Myers 2006. All other characters © their respective owners. All Rights Reserved

TWO TIME MOJI-WAR CHAMP---JOSHUA JANES!!!

2006-12-12T20:42:00.000-06:00

Joshua Janes runs through the competition one battle after another straight to Moji-War Victory for the second time. Congratulations Josh!

In a related note. Demon Head Gremlin, a brutally bad ass Illustration, is heading into retirement. He will be settling down and enjoying his favorite hobby of knitting pot holders in his retirement home he endearingly calls "Hell" or as we know it Oak Harbor, OH.

Again Congratulations Josh! Keep those bad ass Moji-Champs coming.

--universe K

SHAMELESS PLUG OF THE WEEK: fatMAC, Redcell Productions.

2006-12-11T17:51:00.000-06:00

We loaded our guns, took aim, and found our target to plug, 23 year old fatMAC of Redcell Productions!

Honestly I don't think I have enough firepower to truly unleash the amount of support and praise that is due this artist from our Gimmick cannons. His stable of characters on Mojizu are jaw dropping to say the least, and I'm not gonna say the least... hell I never do.

FatMAC uses a beautiful digital painting technique to bring to life some seriously menacing sci-fi beasties. One of my all time favorites, not just of the MACs, but of all of Mojizu is the cybernetic monstrosity SlugBot. This transforming slug of death is amazing, with a perfect mixture of beautiful rendering, eye popping details and DAMN!... one mean ass looking face.

Besides showing off a great visual imagination, fatMAC gives us a taste of wonderful story ideas in his moji's bios that could translate into an awesome line of movies, comics or cartoons.

So, if you dig monsters & science fiction or just want to be impressed by some amazing illustrative work, swing by Redcell Productions and check out fatMAC's gallery or his other moji's on his Mojizu profile.

Tell him some friggin' gimmick sent ya.

article by Janes
"if I wasn't writing this, I'd just be boring you with stories about myself."

fatMAC characters © 2006 All Rights Reserved.

This Week at War!!!

2006-12-05T09:04:00.000-06:00

This just in...

The War continues to rage at Mojizu.com and their appears to be no end in site. Save for one awesome Gimmick Gremlin, DemonsHead.

The SuperMatch
Joshua Janes has, yet again, created a Super-Moji that seems to be annihilating the competition. Leaving no survivors. This week DemonsHead is taking on Barb IQ Kingbot by Ronchhon, Ronchhon's Moji's have proven to be very difficult competitors in the past. Garnishing many, many votes for his popular Moji's. It's tough match but this reporter thinks that DemonsHead will overcome the Kingbot. Setting up a much deserved walk down Moji-Champ row! Good Luck Yolkum!

Round 3
The Gimmick Gremlin, Gremlin Octopoda by Kevin Myers battles The Opinion by talented artist, Frolix8. The Opinion has moved through his previous matches with ease. This battle sets up to be a very grueling match, with a clear victory not visible until the very last minutes of the war.

Round 2
Kieron the Fallen By Kevin Myers takes on Walomo by Lomp. Walomo is a very strong Moji who is sure to give Kieron a run for his money.

Also, in Round 2 is Gimmick Gremlin, Beagle Puss by newcomer and painter extraordinaire Nathan Janes, a.k.a. PopArf. His Beagle Puss is taking on Madic by Lemonhead. This is going to be a really tough match. Both Moji's are extremely strong. This one could either way.

Round 1
Eshel the Fire of God takes on MooMooz by Ronchhon. Good Luck Eshel, your gonna need it.

And there ya have it.

I am wartime reporter, Snap Skirmish, and this has been This Week at War!!!... Get out the vote!

Demon'sHead© Joshua Janes 2006. Eshel the Fire of God, Kieron the Fallen, Gremlin Octopoda© Kevin Myers 2006. Beagle Puss© Nathan Janes 2006. All Rights Reserved.
All other characters © their respective owners. All Rights Reserved

SHAMELESS PLUG OF THE WEEK: ANTON "BIG-MAOW" DIRKIN , Big Blog of Maow

2006-12-03T16:24:00.000-06:00

That's right, it's time for the Gimmick art blog's shameless plug of the week!

As we, the gimmick boys, make our choice for the artist of the week, we look for just a few things; imagination, style and skill. We want to profile those artists who we consider to be great and talent worthy of a look.

So with that in mind this week's artist Anton Dirkin, better known in the world of Mojizu and internet land as Big Maow. Big Maow joined our Gimmick family on Mojizu with his first gremlin Lenny. But his particapation is not why we are showcasing this talent. We would be showing off his work wether he made a gremlin or not.

And here is why... Big Maow has a definite and distinct style, with beautiful lines and great character design. His line work contains so much energy and motion that the super cool looking characters just jump off the page. There is so much personality and attitude in his pieces that we just couldn't resist showcasing his work.

So head on over to his blog big-maow.blogspot.com and his Mojizu profile page and drop him a few comments and votes.

article by Myers

Lenny and Lenny2©2006 Anton Dirkin, All Rights Reserved.

This Week at War!!!

2006-11-30T05:20:00.000-06:00

Hey Gang... Just wanted to give you a heads up on the current war being waged at Mojizu.com. Josh and I both have Moji's in the war.
First up is DemonHead vs Cherry Pi in the 3rd round, This is a Super-match in my book. Both characters are strong designs and it really comes down to personal opinion.

Big Fatty,DIEcast,and Gremlin Octopoda have all made it into the second round. Will they be able to endure this grueling battle and move into the final round before the Super-Match?

It has been a tough war thus far. Big Fatty by Yolkum, a.k.a. Joshua Janes, is in a very brutal match with Osmond the closet monster by Foppit. Big Fatty could use a hand...aaaaa... I mean some votes...yeah votes is what I meant to say....ahem. Moving right along. DIEcast by universe K, a.k.a. Kevin Myers, is in a neck and neck battle with Talking Mountain Bears by Typograph. This one could go either way. And Gremlin Octopoda by universe K, is in a ferocious melee with Another Gremlin Gimmick Gremlin Airlines by Ronchhon. Another tight match, this may go all the way to the final bell.

And rounding out the set is Kieron the Fallen. Part of universe K's Angel and Demons character design series. Kieron is battling yet another Gimmick Gremlin, Monkeygirl by Domestica. So far Kieron is holding his own but watch out for the late comeback by Monkeygirl, this could be a real challenge for Kieron.

I am wartime reporter, Snap Skirmish, and this has been your week at War...Get out the vote!

Congratulations Joshua Janes!!! MojiWar Champ 11.20.06

2006-11-30T05:18:00.000-06:00

First off... I should have done this a lot sooner, but with the holidays and me being an ass and all, well it just went undone. Sorry Josh.

After stomping the competition through 3 rounds and a much anticipated Supermatch, Joshua Janes became the undisputed MojiWar Champion of the World. When asked about his thoughts on the war, Joshua Janes responded, and I quote,

"Yeah it was a rough go... aaaaa.. I would have to say that it was downright brutal on me, personally. I think I must have cried at least a dozen times. And well, ah-hoo...hold on... I think I got something in my eye... ah-hoo...sniff...you got any tissue? Ah-hoo...just makes the water well up in my eyes... I can't see. I CAN'T SEE... BABY, MY EYES, MY EYES..."

Yes... it just makes you feel for that poor redneck.

Well there ya have it, Joshua Janes the MojiWar Champ for the week of 11.20.06. And with the current war he is in the third round so look for him to be in the SuperMatch Next week.

This has been a universe K production.

SHAMELESS PLUG OF THE WEEK: ADAM MARTIN, Blue Apple Studio

2006-11-28T00:20:00.000-06:00

That's right, it's time for the Gimmick art blog's shameless plug of the week!

This weeks artist is Adam Martin, A.K.A. blueapple on Mojizu. What drew our attention to Adam was his latest moji submission, DogFish ... Just a great looking character!

Adam's style and technique are as professional as it gets and his choice in colors are beautiful... well as beautiful as a hybrid mutant drooling dog fish can be?!

The most striking part of DogFish is the inking which makes him jump off the screen at you. My guess is that it was done with a soft tipped pen nib... I haven't had a chance to ask him myself, so if your curious, I'd swing by his profile on Mojizu and give him a holler. This friendly looking DogFish is packed with personality and is definitely worth a 10 vote.

Also check out Adam Martins other Mojis and his website at www.blueapplestudio.com which is packed with great illustrations and one sweet flash load page.

article by Janes

DogFish © 2006 Adam Martin, All Rights Reserved.

Gary Gimmick Human Billboard

2006-11-25T08:01:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone week are slowly gearing up for the next Gimmick on Mojizu.

No word yet on what the next attack will be, but we have hired Gary here to help promote the Gimmicks on Mojizu and to let you now when the next round will begin. Hope you'll be able to join us.

---Josh

Thanks everybody!

2006-11-21T09:53:00.001-06:00

Hey thanks to everyone who voted for the Juggernaut class D and helped get the title of Mojiwar Champion!
For more info on him, swing by the Zeak Yolkum™ website and read the latest stories.

Thanks again,
---Josh

Frolix8 has gone to war! - Argo the Androgenous

2006-11-21T07:49:00.000-06:00

SHAMELESS PLUG OF THE WEEK:
Frolix8's Moji Argo the Androgenous has made it to the super match!

I have battled with Frolix8 in the past against his character the French inhaler who was a brutal competitor, so I can speak with experience when I say this guy has some great work.

His slick vector style has a great feeling of fluid motion that stands out from the crowd. I hope everyone will click the link above and shoot some votes over to frolix8. Below is some info about Argo.

Name: Argo the Androgenous
Birthday: 10.10.2006
Likes David: Bowie, leather
Dis-likes: boys, girls
Category: other lifeforms
Personality:
An elitist in every way, Argo the Androgenous Nymphomaniac is a breathing contradiction.
Design Style Style/vector
-Yeah, he went there.

Make sure to swing back every monday to check out who our next shameless plug will be about.
(article by Janes)

Argo the Androgenous is the property of Frolix8 © 2006, All Rights Reserved.

Zolel the Gluttonous

2006-11-20T14:41:00.000-06:00

Introducing the master of disgust, the sheik of putrid, Zolel the Gluttonous! Part of the Angels and Demons character design series that is on going. 3 to go. The next will be another angel. Hope you enjoy. Comments are welcome!

Thanks

Kevin

Unused Gremlin art

2006-11-16T18:45:00.000-06:00

I came across this sketch idea for a Gimmick Gremlin. Never got used but I find it funny.

k

Sketches for Eshel the Fire of God

2006-11-16T18:35:00.000-06:00

Big-Maow commented that he would like to see the sketches for Eshel the Angel. I have a couple. Some initial ones and then the nailed down design for the character.

From that nailed down version, I drew him up in a different pose which was then taken into Adobe Illustrator a finished out. I use the transparency palette like crazy with a few blur effects here and there. Often times the piece takes on a new life when I start working on it in illustrator... but for this one I stayed pretty close to the sketch concept.

Thanks for looking.

k

Eshel the Fire of God

2006-11-14T21:46:00.000-06:00

Hey gang… back again with the newest installment to the Angel and Demon Character design series. Meet Eshel the Fire of God.

This particular angel is based off of a Seraphim(fiery ones). I say based, because, as I was designing him I forgot that there were six wings I had only drawn four. Not really considering an extra set, I decided to leave it as is.

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Oh and as usual… this character has been submitted on Mojizu.com.

Thx
k

The First Gimmick Gremlin marches into the 2nd round

2006-11-14T07:18:00.000-06:00

Whelp... Last weeks round was a nail biter. Aargh's moji, Suar the pig, put up one heck of a fight. Bionic Gremlin squealed out by only 2 votes. This weeks battle looks to be even tougher. So please head on over to Bionic Gremlin's second round and vote him up! Let's keep the Gimmick's gimmick going for as long as we can.

Vote NOW!!!

Thanks to all of you who have already voted. I won't forget my campaign promises.

I'm Kevin Myers, and I approved this message.

THIS IS FOR ALL THE MARBLES!

2006-11-13T23:25:00.000-06:00

This is it everybody, the big Championship Mojiwar Battle.

Juggernaut class D vs. Ermez

Please click on the title and vote for the Juggernaut, I'm gonna need every vote I can get. Nigraz is a returning Mojiwar champ and beating him is going to be tough.

Thanks everyone for your support.

---Josh

Yolkum™ website get's a face lift.

2006-11-12T10:18:00.000-06:00

Hey just wanted to let everyone know that the yolkum.com site has received a face lift, with a new background and nav-bar that work better with mouth piece blog. Hoping to get the flash version of the nav-bar up soon.

---Josh

ZEAK YOLKUM™: SCT latest news update

2006-11-08T13:43:00.000-06:00

The latest information provided by the SCT and the Sutro Government has been up-loaded to the net, along with a reconfigured database for checking out old articles.

Also of news is the expansion of Dookies' Pawnshop and new items for sale through Cafe Press.

The Mouth Piece has been rebuilt and now is fully interactive.

Stop by and check it out.

---Josh

ROUND 3!!!!!!!!!

2006-11-07T12:05:00.000-06:00

Juggernaut class D has rumbled on to round 3!

This battle is shaping up to be a real tough one. Mekabear has been keeping this contest tight and I'm gonna need every vote I can get to defeat him!

So click the title above and show your support for the green war machine from Ohio! Also if you really feel supportive, go ahead and transfer as much cash as you like into my paypal account, there is a link at joshuajanes.com but I will be just as happy to get yer vote... well pretty close to as happy.

Thanks everybody,

---Josh

Kieron The Fallen : Mojizuized

2006-11-06T19:53:00.000-06:00

Here he is my newest moji, just now submitted to Mojizu . So he should be up sometime tomorrow. Check him out, vote on him, leave him or me a comment, whatever. Watch out for him though, he just might follow you home. That could be scary.

Oh and this image doubles as a wallpaper.

So download and enjoy.

k

It's a WAR!

2006-10-31T09:42:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone... The Lizard and The Redneck have made it to the war. He can use your votes and if you act now... The Redneck might just share his MadDog with ya. So vote, vote,vote!

Plus, you saw Josh's post about his Jauggernaut class D Moji it's in the second round. Congrats Josh!

k

MOJIWAR ROUND 2!

2006-10-31T07:17:00.000-06:00

The Juggernaut class D fought a tough battle against the french inhaler and came out victorious! He has rumbled his way into round two and the robotic war machine is now locked in combat with Headquake!

I hope that everyone can swing by moji and vote for the Juggernaut to help him defeat the Headquake.

VOTE NOW!

Octo-Gremlin for lack of a better name.

2006-10-27T21:15:00.000-06:00

Okay here he is... my next installment to the Gremlin revolution, that is taking place at Mojizu.com. Josh posted his earlier today (see his in the post below). He and I both will be posting them to Mojizu, first thing Monday. Hopefully, there will be a a bunch more that will be joining us. Something cool I found on that site, if you do a search on gremlin, all of the gremlins will come up lined one right after the other. But here's a tip. You must have the name gremlin in the moji name.

Anyway.. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks

k

Gremlin Invasion on Moji Continues!

2006-10-27T14:46:00.000-06:00

Oh it has begun my friendly Gimmick readers...

The attack of the menacing little gimmick gremlins and they are multiplying as if dunked in a bucket of water.

So far two new Gremlins have emerged from the depths, by artists Nigraz and Domestica on the Mojizu site. These great artists have created two awesome Mojis. Check them out at http://www.mojizu.com .

Caught up in this gremlin fever, I decided to add another gremlin to my mojizu arsenal. This sad physical specimen of a gremlin is named "BIG FATTY", for obvious reasons. I decided to do this image totally in illustrator unlike Demon Head that was painted in photoshop. This was a fun character to work up and as you can tell by his stomach, he is also a shameless promotional advertisement...ha. Gotta do what you gotta do and Big Fatty was up for a little blood letting.
---Josh

Gimmick Gremlins on Mojizu

2006-10-26T07:00:00.000-06:00

Here is a sketch of a second gremlin I am putting up on Mojizu to hopefully bring even more people in to the fray. This one is going to be completely rendered in illustrator.

As you can see the blank gremlin mannequin is just there to give you the pose and a basic gremlin shape, we hope you take this as far as you imagination will carry you. ---Josh

Gimmicks -gremlin body

2006-10-24T12:45:00.000-06:00

Okay here's the deal. Josh and I have thrown down the gauntlet over at Mojizu.com. Josh's and mine. We thought it would be fun to do a group of moji's that use the same basic body shape and are in the same family group. In this case that family the gremlin gimmick. Try and use the same body shape and the same pose but obviously as you see with Josh's and my own they can vary some. Mine is mid jump, his is anchored to the ground. So have some fun with it, we did. Also, please name the moji family: gimmicks. That way we all know it is part of this little experiment. Let us know if you have any questions. We check this throughout the day.

Kill it!

k

Demon Head Gremlin

2006-10-24T06:51:00.000-06:00

Well everyone, I'm back...

Yeah, yeah, yeah... keep it down... stop cursing...

If you don't know, and you probably don't, since it was a conversation between just me and him...
Kevin, who I like to refer too as the art slave driver, hit me with an idea he had to do similarly based mojis for http://www.mojizu.com . It works like this, he would do a gremlin moji and then a bunch of the rest of us would all do gremlins in the same body shape and pose as well. Not the same character, just our spin on a gremlin. Really cool idea.

So here is my gremlin to go with his Bionic Gremlin.
I call him Demon Head Gremlin, I know, wow really creative name?... well piss off, I came up with it at 2 am, ha...

Anyways now that I've insulted you, please go to moji and vote, I'd like to se these guys battle it out in a mojiwar.

Josh

http://www.joshuajanes.com - Demon-head Gremlin © Joshua Janes 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Portfolio book Illustrations

2006-10-23T20:12:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the repost of the portfolio cover illustration just thought it should be seen next to the interior illustration. They are both for my 2006 portfolio book. The interior illustration will accompany my bio info.
Hope ya dig it.

k
www.universeK.com - © Kevin Myers 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Bionic Gremlin

2006-10-21T21:13:00.000-06:00

Just playing around this weekend, did this guy purely for fun. I dropped him on to mojizu.com so if you get a chance head over and rate him.

www.universeK.com - Bionic Gremlin © Kevin Myers 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Yes I am your typical self indulgent, self promoting, dream fulfilling artist! Also referred too as an idiot by my wife.

2006-10-20T16:00:00.001-06:00

Hey just wanted to introduce myself to those who might care and force feed myself to those who don't. My name is Joshua Janes, as I'm sure you saw in the info above. A few... probably very few actually clicked on my profile and read the typical drivel that all people of my profession spill to try to make you believe that we are as great, as we think we are.

For those of you not suckered by a barrage of slapped together sentences that we required our wives and husbands to rewrite for us as they shake their heads at our bottomless need for self gratification, I say bravo!

So lets get past the list of degrees and pretty typefaces that are there only to make us as artists seem some what understandable to the stuff shirt world of business and get to what matters, THE ART. We all know the long list of big name companies makes your typical executive drool, but much like putting yer hand in a meat grinder, there is nothing more stifling to the creative process than big company politics.

(ATTENTION: To any of those individuals that are stuff shirt big business types and that have the ability to approve and sign giant contracts for boat loads of money, I wasn't talking about you. I personally don't understand these art freaks myself?).

Anyways, I started with humble begins and pretty much remained there, no choice of my own. I personally wouldn't mind being insanely wealthy and just draw my Zeak Yolkum™ cartoons all day, but alas I have not won the lottery and my pretty face makes me fear taking the chance of criminal acts that may lead me to an 8x8 cell with a roommate.

My background for those to lazy to click the link, this would include myself, I'm currently a full time illustrator for a publishing company, doing covers for educational activity books and the occasional children's story book. Like all jobs it has it's good and it's bad, but the work is fun stuff most of the time.

Well that's my intro... nothing to fancy. Now I'll throw a couple images up, cause hell that's the whole point of this blog. So lets hope this works.

Later. Josh

Let's get it started...

2006-10-20T12:48:00.000-06:00

Hopefully this will become a regular thing. Might be cool...could be fun.
My first image is of the cover I am doing for my personal portfolio. I created the portfoilo in iPhoto and have it published through there as well. The cover template is a bit sucky but you work with what you got. They only cost like 10 bucks a piece for like 22 pages. That is the medium size. Good size to carry around with you.

Anyway... here it is.