A comic adventure

another Flash experiment

2011-08-12T03:30:00.001-04:00

my second attempt at Flash animation - this time i converted preexisting artwork into animation-elements in Flash (symbols) and used it all in a more straightforward 2D manner...

getting animated...

2011-07-18T17:09:00.002-04:00

check out my first attempts at Flash animation:

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=183795415016415&saved#!/video/video.php?v=183795415016415&oid=12409603113&comments

(video upload directly into blogger wouldn't work for me, for some reason)

these are all flat shapes moving entirely in 2D space to simulate volume...

jungle action

2011-07-09T04:40:00.003-04:00

WIP panel for the big battle sequence staged in the rain forest:
HOPE pursuing SHAWANNA (or is it the other way around?)

"whatever"

2011-06-28T05:01:00.004-04:00

an attitude study for the travel sequence:

quick update

2011-06-21T06:55:00.005-04:00

sorry for the long period of silence, unfortunately 'life' has the habit of intruding and demanding attention - at the moment i have to admit that i have a difficult time of focusing on the comic, be it story or art - i'm confident, though, that once regular ('normal') daily life has returned, that i will be able to come back to the world of HOPE with renewed energy and dedication. In the meantime, i WILL be posting bits and pieces, stuff that i'm able to work on during small pockets of time, just to maintain peace of mind and keep up some sense of progress.

For starters here is a page that i worked on during the last couple of days, this time in stages of progress (caption/dialogue not final):

pencil:

color rough:

inks:

and the final artwork:

character design

2011-04-23T04:16:00.004-04:00

here is a quick sketch as well as an expression-sheet of one of the supporting characters of my graphic novel: Cal O'Reese, nickname 'MB', (short for 'MegaByte/Bite')
he is the fastfood-loving computer expert of the MIDGUARD-Initiative - not only a supporter from the very beginning, but also a very good friend...

more expressions...

2011-04-01T03:40:00.006-04:00

... this time featuring SHAWANNA, the villainess of the upcoming story 'HOPE and the secret of the hidden temple'

good exercise for working out the kinks in the design -
i played around a bit with overall proportions as well as some of the smaller details, like the exact shape of her mouth, the elements making up her eyes etc...

HOPE Xpressions

2011-03-18T05:07:00.001-04:00

here is a sample expression sheet for HOPE:

it's an overview of the range of expressions for the characters
in "the adventures of HOPE: the secret of the hidden temple"

quick action study

2011-03-13T01:27:00.002-05:00

...watched highlander again yesterday, and, well...

but seriously, a classic action pose, suspended in mid-air - plus, i changed the shape of her 'wrist-unit' a bit, and gave her a traditional katana-sword instead of the more 'made-up' shape as her holographic weapon...

cover prelim

2011-03-08T03:27:00.003-05:00

given that i'm STILL working on the script, i'm painfully aware of the fact that this is putting the proverbial cart before the horse, big time...

but nevertheless, here is a first pass at the cover, all in all a big old homage to the classic covers of the series i'm constantly inspired by: tintin, spirou, asterix, blake et mortimer etc., promising fun filled adventure stories for everyone young at heart.

it's an extremely lofty goal, and i must be insane to even attempt something like this,
as these bodies of work are the best of the best as franco-belgian bandes dessinees go,
but hey, as the saying goes:
per aspera ad astra...

;)

m

odds and ends

2011-03-02T05:58:00.003-05:00

here are a couple of character sketches, stuff that i'm still working on:

a 'bot with an attitude' to go with the two more recent character studies of HOPE and SHAWANNA

a shot of HOPE enjoying a bowl of her favorite noodle soup

another iteration of the baby orangutan - he plays a supporting role in the story

next up is design work on the remaining cast of supporting characters...

and i'm still working on the story - slowly, but surely...

;)

The books are in!!!

2011-02-19T18:03:00.002-05:00

YAY!!! My 28-page ashcan "HOPE workbook 2011" has finally arrived, fresh from the printer -
and it's looking really good - i'm sooo excited.
It covers work of the last two+ years, basically everything on this blog
in the form of a magazine-sized comic-book.
Now i'm fully equipped for Emerald City ComiCon on the 4th, 5th and 6th of March, to be able to hand out these goodies to fellow artists and interested editors - see ya there!!

quick character sketch, pt.2

2011-02-16T05:50:00.002-05:00

... of SHAWANNA, the main villain character in the story i'm working on at the moment, "the secret of the hidden temple". this is a 'companion piece' to the HOPE study i did last week, as it pretty much captures SHAWANNA's attitude of arrogance and mischief, as well as depicting her a bit older than i did before - it works very well, though!!

quick character sketch

2011-02-10T04:18:00.002-05:00

of HOPE, the lead character in the story i'm working on at the moment, "the secret of the hidden temple". she came out a bit tougher than usual, which i LOVE! this is what she will look like during the action sequences, whereas the slightly younger, softer hope will be the model for everything else - i'm pretty happy with this development!! i'll try a quick study of shawanna next, her nemesis...
on the writing front things are going slow - i do have the treatment for the story 99% done, but those pesky 'regular life' circumstances have conspired against me at the moment, so i don't have much quiet (AND awake) downtime plus the energy left to sit down and write - hope this'll change again soon, and i'll actually be able to write even just a couple of pages of actual script to get started on with thumbnails and layouts...

i'll keep you posted

rumble in the jungle

2011-02-04T04:43:00.003-05:00

finally, everything comes together in this preview image from one of the major action sequences of the album: SHAWANNA pursues HOPE through the depths of Pulan Batang's rainforest.

This image defines the look of the characters in motion, the holographic weapons and their effects as well as the lush forest background. Lots of questions concerning shapes, line quality and colors got finalized working on this. There are of course a ton of more things to consider and problems to solve, but now i feel confident to actually tackle the sequentials and address the challenges in continuity as they come up in the story. I WILL work on two outstanding character-designs while i keep hacking away at the story, though - so stay tuned...

martial arts training

2011-02-01T05:50:00.002-05:00

Hope is getting used to her new holographic sword - some additional training and exercise required!!!

Nighttime in La Pacifica harbor

2011-01-25T03:53:00.002-05:00

i updated these two panels to reflect the change of time of day for the beginning of the story:

HOPE "ashcan"...

2011-01-19T06:16:00.003-05:00

i'm trying to get it done in time for emerald city comicon

http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/index.php

I've gone through all the supposedly 'easy' steps of 'just' compiling what's already there, and have been doing that since christmas, basically - which is why there weren't any updates of new material during the last three weeks...

anyhoo, it's 28 pages, everything i've been posting for the last two years collected between two covers, and it's off to the printer - let's see how that goes...

i'll keep you updated, and i'll hopefully get to new stuff soon!!!

oh, btw, the script is going well, i'm taking my laptop and i'm writing on the bus -
the plot/scriptment stage is -almost- done!!!

Technique and training

2011-01-11T06:07:00.004-05:00

"One of the most neglected elements of martial arts is the physical workout":

after the holidays (with way too much food), including a couple of days off from work, regular postings shall resume!
i've been putting together a comic book (ashcan) for the upcoming con-season, showing off all the stuff from the last two years, including the webcomics and all the preparatory work for the upcoming graphic novel - it means lot of re-formatting and layouting, and that doesn't go as smoothly as anticipated, as usual. It's also keeping me away from developing new stuff, at least for another week!
I'm also still diligently working on the script, still plotting and developing the 'scriptment', the step inbetween the treatment and the actual script - but i'm clearly no writer, this is really difficult for me - well, it's the first one, so we'll see how this goes...

HOPE's parents...

2010-12-21T03:58:00.003-05:00

they only appear for a brief moment in one of her flashbacks,
but their identity is one of the many pieces of the puzzle that is HOPE's shattered past...

and that's why i'll keep them anonymous for now...

underwater crime scene...

2010-12-16T04:37:00.003-05:00

OMNICORP is involved in running the world. It's net of influence surrounds the globe like a spider's web, and the members of it's board of directors are quite possibly the most powerful people on the planet.
so rest assured that a leak at the site of one of their numerous (illegal) deep see mining operations is nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Officially, everything is under control, and OMNICORP denies any wrongdoing or responsibility - but HOPE and her friends from the MIDGARD initiative are not being discouraged by the corporation's intimidation tactics...

"I say. You do. No questions."

2010-12-13T11:47:00.003-05:00

quick sketch of HOPE's sensei Masamuro Hiroshii, to go with the previous material of her in martial arts training poses - obviously inspired by a bunch of such masters, from Rocky's Mickey through Yoda, Mr, Miyagi to Kill Bill's Pai Mei...

Larry, we have to close the beaches!

2010-12-09T05:53:00.005-05:00

Cyborgian Carcharias. The great robotic shark!

who would build robo-sharks, and for what purpose?
how did HOPE get into this predicament, and HOW is she gonna get out of it?

i really don't want to say too much about it, just 'cause it'll be too much of a spoiler....

;)

the robot sharks are influenced by hajime sorayama, whose 'sexy robots' became part of pop culture, and whose work i admire from way back when we were all using actual airbrushes

stay tuned....

oh, one thing to note is that HOPE's 'outfit' is a direct homage to honey rider in dr. no, down to the exact same knife on her belt - somehow, in my mind, this makes total sense...

'be like water...'

2010-12-07T05:14:00.003-05:00

another pose - this one more close-up:

...and now it's dark!

2010-12-02T11:43:00.003-05:00

i changed the splash-page establishing shot from dusk to actual nightime,
because it made more sense story-wise, and also because this way it allows me to show off the crazy hustle and bustle of the megalopolis - before, it just looked too quiet and serene, more like venice than hong kong.
it was a crazy amount of work, though... ;)
oh, and i also took this story's title out of the masthead of the page and made a logo out of it - and although i'm not 100% convinced that THAT's what it's gonna be, i kinda like it and will leave it for now
onward and upward...

more orang-utans...

2010-11-29T04:20:00.002-05:00

did a couple of quick sketches for the orang-utans, who play a big part in the story

even more of a caricatured approach, to work with all the other characters

also, first appearance of the baby-orang!

you're going to teach me kung fu? whoa!!

2010-11-25T05:08:00.005-05:00

like every hero on her journey, HOPE gets to her teacher/mentor, and will be instructed in some ancient but very effective martial arts technique, and, alongside the extremely difficult exercise and the increase in the mastery of kick-assness, be taught a lesson or two about life in general, which i'm sure will also come in handy later on in the story...

"Even though these characters and events are fictional, any resemblance
to cliches past or present is purely and completely intentional."

;)

character is not properly inked yet, and color is also only roughed in - WIP

happy thanksgiving, everyone!!

m

secret lair revisited

2010-11-22T03:42:00.003-05:00

i needed to go back to this setting, and rethink the look and level of detail, which will have repercussions throughout the book -
so here is a new look for OMNICORP's underground lair
(you ARE aware of the fact that reading this blog means major SPOILERS, right?)

i still have to figure out WHAT exactly will happen down here, so i prepared for several possibilities, including a map laying out how OMNICORP has spread across the globe, and a hologram of one of the chairmen of the board of directors... ;)

HOPE 'comic strip'

2010-11-18T14:13:00.007-05:00

i'm re-posting the collection of HOPE newspaper-type comics strips that i did over the course of last year, plus the two pages which are a part of the 'atomic lead' 2010 compilation
- just to have them all together in one spot -

enjoy:

now in color

2010-11-15T11:44:00.002-05:00

hope at home, from earlier - mostly lit by the holo-laptop...

the secret laboratory within the hidden temple...

2010-11-12T01:51:00.004-05:00

hiding your secret high tech laboratory underneath long forgotten temple structures deep within the jungles of borneo seems to be THE most perfectly logical thing to do - who would EVER think to look THERE?? - except HOPE, of course...
well, it's actually not that simple (is it ever?), but you're gonna have to stick around and eventually read the book to find out

it IS pretty much a 'james bond'ian setup, though, isn't it? secret villainous lair hidden in or under some exotic landmark? LOVE IT!!
"No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!"

the set design is also inspired by my favorite comic strip, 'terry and the pirates', which took place in numerous picturesque locations along the chinese coast

back on track...

2010-11-09T04:26:00.003-05:00

is what i'm gettin'
daytime stuff like 'work' etc is clearly getting in the way - but i have been steadily chipping away at things nevertheless, and i actually have a assembled a tiny little 'backlog' of stuff i will be posting

so here we go:

first up, a 'companion piece' to the most recently posted hope ("i don't think so")

just using her two holoswords in a way that MAY be inspired by a certain villain in a moderately famous space-fantasy franchise....

enjoy

dreamhive kid

2010-09-08T04:30:00.002-04:00

here's another cleanup of a pencil rough i did in germany a couple of days ago - it's one of the dreamhive kids, who may or may not appear in this story - towards the very end, to be discovered and rescued by hope.

his name is J.M., short for joshua march - joshua because josh clearly is the inspiration here, and march because all the dreamhive kids are re-named for the month they've been added to the hive, AND because his outfit is an homage to the march hare, courtesy of lewis carroll...

;)

i don't think so...

2010-09-07T03:13:00.003-04:00

sorry for the long silence - we're SUPER-busy at Suckerpunch, and i was 'out' for two weeks traveling to germany in what would under normal circumstances be considered a 'vacation', but which this time around turned out to be a somewhat blurry succession overly tight interiors of planes, trains and automobiles - what i DO remember of non-traveling moments was nice, though - good to see the family and good to know that as much as things change, they DO stay the same...

i wasn't all lazy, though - back on my posting schedule with cleaned up stuff i start working on over in the old country, beginning with this hope pin-up, inspired if not directly by one of frank frazettas paintings, then at least by their spirit... :)

harbour color

2010-08-08T23:42:00.002-04:00

this is -almost- exactly the way this panel will end up on the first page

ready to go

hope@home INK

2010-08-04T05:59:00.002-04:00

inked panel, and cropped image, ultimately making sure the composition works for special round frame (like looking through a porthole) and position on first page

harbour ink

2010-08-03T05:58:00.004-04:00

inked panel, plus repositioned some elements, plus flipped and cropped image, ultimately made composition work for frame-aspect ratio and position on first page

hope at home

2010-08-02T11:39:00.002-04:00

there is also the idea of her having a tiny room above an internet cafe somewhere in the middle of La Pacifica, but for this story (and for simplicity) i went with this - she lives on the Iduna, the Midgard Initiative's ship. Shes got her little corner there, her girly stuff, and we find her blogging - providing us with a voiceover that will lead into the story

oh, and she likes panda bears and horsies

;)

m

harbour scene

2010-08-01T05:41:00.002-04:00

here are the pencils for an additional shot from within la pacifica harbor, adding more detail information to the location of the anchored iduna, hope's temporary home...

this will probably end up being panel 3 on the first page, setting the scene...

SURPRISE!!

2010-07-08T03:01:00.003-04:00

the moment before the frazetta-inspired panel, setting up the big reveal - what does hope see??

a monster?? her credit-card bill???

stay tuned...

m

junk

2010-07-06T05:14:00.003-04:00

not THAT kind of junk - the romantic type, the boat...

this is work on 'background detail', it will be part of the first page splash panel...

homage to milton caniff and his masterpiece, 'terry and the pirates'

La Pacifica

2010-07-03T14:45:00.004-04:00

background work for the first page splash! Again, the architecture in La Pacifica, as well as OMNICORP technology is heavily anime-inspired, which looks great when rendered with the 'silver-age' color palette and spiced up a little with the classic 'ben-day' dot pattern.

i'm kinda proud of the line-work here, which is all free-hand, not using a straight-edge or anything, and not cleaned up in photoshop - gives it a nice, organic feel!

btw, i'm ALMOST done with the big 'reveal'-panel featuring hope's 'frazetta-pose', which will happen later in the story, i'm just posting this work focusing on outside environments in the meantime because of some necessary re-design concerning the holographic representation of OMNICORP's board of directors. It's much more ambitious now (go figure!)

;)

m

background

2010-06-29T02:20:00.005-04:00

here is the background for the panel in progress - it's somewhat inspired by anime, which i feel is totally appropriate for all the tech-y elements in the hope universe, the look of which creates a nice contrast to the characters with their unmistakable franco-belgian heritage.

interesting to see the BG in its unobstructed glory - it will be mostly covered up in the particular panel i'm working on, but even though this creates more work right now, designing and drawing and coloring the whole panel - if you think about this workflow more like you would in animation, this 'shot' is being prepared like in a multiplane set-up, and thus it allows you to use all the elements separately, and possibly in a slightly different way, in other panels requiring the same (or a similar) location...

the bad guy

2010-06-27T06:10:00.003-04:00

this is our little doctor guy, recast as the villain in this story, the ceo of omnicorp - he'll only appear as a hologram, though...

the original idea only really works in movement: multiple faces projected on top of each other, the 'chairmen of the board' all talking at once - this is a simplification, both conceptually and graphically, and it'll work really well in the story, as the personification of evil...

;)

m

inks

2010-06-21T11:55:00.003-04:00

sorry for the delay, but E3 was big and noisy (as usual) and became somewhat a distraction for a couple of days - but now back to more regular posting as intended:

i'm using a combination of copic multiliner, pigma microns and pentel brushpens - so yes, i'm inking on paper, but then i clean it all up once in photoshop - this may all change once i get a cintiq, but for now the back and forth between real pen and pencil on paper and the computer works just fine for me...

pencil over rough...

2010-06-14T05:41:00.003-04:00

here is the next step: cleaned up the silhouette, put in 'real' arms and her 'bionic arm pads', put in detail on her leggings, boots and dress - and her hair

also put in the real sword - and i just noticed i need to move her left fist away from her body to achieve a better read in silhouette - but i can do that during the inking stage...

homage...

2010-06-12T03:11:00.003-04:00

to frazetta - he is truly one of the great ones - the vitality and energy of his characters, the virtuosity of his brushwork and his breathtaking compositions have fascinated me ever since i came across his work in 1976 (during my stay here in the states as an exchange student)

One of frank's paperback covers provides the inspiration for this upcoming panel, which will appear towards the very end of the adventure - hope encounters her ultimate nemesis. The pyramidal compositions as well as his flawless anatomy are aspirational, so i better not cheat, but have a solid underlying construction for the character, even though (or especially BECAUSE) she's a cartoon character - strong pose, solid construction, clean line of action, good read in silhouette and details wrapping around the form...

not that i'm delusional by even putting my stuff and frank frazetta in the same sentence, but when you're stealing, steal from the best...

i will post work in progress, the piece in several successive stages of completion, to show the process, and chat a little about the how's and the why's

panel assembly

2010-06-10T05:06:00.002-04:00

here is a preliminary assembly for a panel scenario - big action-showdown - hope fighting (defeating?) a bunch of holo-ninjas with her ultra-sonic scream - a situation that will definitely occur in the story i'm putting together - maybe just not EXACTLY like this, but it's pretty damn close - based on original material created a while ago, but now updated and made to work with the 'new look'..

enjoy

m

revisions, revisions....

2010-05-24T11:43:00.003-04:00

slight tweaks to the holo-ninja - nothing major, only slight but important tweaks to his outfit around the arms and legs, and his head - just a little streamlining, so to speak...

mo' better stuff next time, promise

m

orang-utan

2010-05-18T05:18:00.002-04:00

yes- monkeys are funny!!! - but this is not about that....

the story just so happens to be (in parts) about the 'old man of the forest' - the midgard group and hope embark on an adventure in the forests of Indonesia, which, along with the thousands of animals and plants that live there, are facing grave danger as they are destroyed at an alarming rate due to omnicorp's massive illegal logging operation and clearing for their palm oil plantations. These tropical forests are of global importance, ranked second in terms of size to those of Brazil and covering over 406,000 square miles. The rapid deterioration of tropical forests is causing an incalculable loss in terms of biodiversity and is pushing species such as the orangutan ever closer to extinction.

this is look development for the orangutan, how he would fit within the hope-universe:

holographic ninja

2010-05-13T11:40:00.002-04:00

HL-HP technology ninja:

hard-light holographic projection of practically super-powered assassins within a Hyper-flux magnetically induced super-condensed lumo-energy field

i'm happy with the way this guy turned out - i'm pretty much sticking to the 64 colors of the old DC palette, but i'm making exceptions now and then, when necessary - white itself is a cheat to begin with, considering that within this conceit, the light tan color of the background is the lightest you would get, as it is the actual tone of the old newsprint paper itself.

to achieve the necessary glow, the light blues and cyans of the holograms are a bit cheated and tweaked, a little cleaner than you could achieve with the old process - but i still think it works and harmonizes with the rest...

and yes, our little ninja here is literally armed to the teeth - i only put as many weapons as possible on this one guy for look-development purposes - they wont always be carrying this much, although - it's kinda funny...

;)

stay tuned

m

YEEEEIIIIHHHHHHH!!!!!

2010-05-10T11:42:00.002-04:00

Ah, what the heck - i DO have two background penciled out waiting to be inked and colored, but because of what little storywork i AM doing, it's now decided that the holo-ninjas will make an appearance, and thus during this adventure hope will find out about one of her gifts, her special powers - the soundwaves of her voice are able to temporarily destabilize OMNICORP's super-condensed lumo-energy fields - which in this case materialize as deadly assasins.

The title of this post also reminds me that i need to think about lettering....

look-dev!

2010-05-01T17:00:00.002-04:00

done with major look-development for characters!!

i've looked into ben-day dot newsprint specifics

and researched comic-book coloring before the emergence
of higher quality paper and computer coloring

i'm basically restricting myself to the old DC 64 color palette
(with a few exceptions to make things work) and further emulate the old look by laying down a light tint to the 'paper' and add a subtle layer of printing dots, slightly out of register, of course...
i'm pretty happy with the result, it's a mixture of old and new, very close to my original color choices, while giving it a little 'class' (if by class we all understand old, cheap and slightly musty comic books - i.e. pulp)

next, backgrounds! (and ongoing story work)

enjoy

m

shawanna

2010-04-19T11:24:00.003-04:00

sorry for the slow posting - i'm working on a couple of things at the same time...
in the meantime, here is the 'hero shot' for one of the baddies, shawanna

here is something i've been experimenting with, on and off - playing with the Ben-Day Dots to allude to the four-color printing process, which now may come in handy with my attempt to make the hope adventures into a facsimile of vintage newspaper sunday color comics pages - we'll see how THAT goes...

stay tuned!

m

jacob and hope...

2010-04-05T04:08:00.002-04:00

here is full figure study of jacob (alongside another one of hope)
he has turned into a full-blown "eco-pirate" now, leader of the 'midgard project'

i'm giving the characters a final once-over, while i'm working on story, backgrounds, layout etc...

like i said before, postings will be few and far between for another couple of weeks, but this is all preparatory work that will pay off later, while in production.

a new hope

2010-03-29T11:22:00.003-04:00

so, look dev is done - this is what i've decided on for the new adventure = a little darker and edgier, hope's outfit is a little sexier (unless she's in disguise, which might very well happen), the petbot is a little clunkier, overall there's just a little more ... grit to it.
I think it'll work well with kind of story i have in mind, which will mix slapstick humor with high adventure and a healthy dose of science fiction - in the grand tradition of spirou and tintin (yeah, i know - that's not a lofty goal AT ALL!!)

;)

m

it's a matter of character...

2010-03-17T05:36:00.003-04:00

in addition to the handful of characters i've incorporated into the gag-strip version of hope, there are a handful of friends and villains that still need to be adapted to the 'cartoon universe' of hope - one of the major ones is jacob jacobson, and if you stick around, you'll find out why he is so important - from a stylistic standpoint, not only did i have to adapt his features to work with the other, already established really cartoony characters, but i also wanted to test the heavier inkline, suggesting more shadows and thus a darker tone overall...

soon: a new hope (no, not episode 4!!!)

;)

m

a new beginning!

2010-03-16T03:52:00.002-04:00

spent most of my weekend running around the emerald city comic-convention here in beautiful seattle - lots of inspiration, a bunch of great guys (and gals) doing a lot of cool stuff!!
mostly though, everything on display once more reaffirmed my conviction to get my ship into shape and finally use this fantastical sequential story-telling-device to tell one of the many hope-stories i have lying around in embryonic form since, like, forever!!

i may disappear for a couple of days to (re-)read a bunch of really interesting stuff about sequential art, storytelling, character development, script-writing etc etc,just 'cause that's gonna be the first order of the day, writing a script - but nevertheless, here's the more serious look that hope and her pals are gonna take on when they enter the world of high adventure.
A strong overall palette of more muted colors, coupled with the use of bold shadows, give the story more impact. The use of dark hues reflect the more serious mood of these more mature storylines.

i'll try and keep this blog updated, though, with more exploratory artwork, until i get to the actual script/thumbnail/layout phase

stay tuned!!

m

done and done!!!

2010-03-09T02:49:00.002-05:00

this is the last strip for a while -

i REALLY like the format, and the four panels are a great way to divide the art chores over a manageable period of time - but i really want to tackle a serious piece of sequential art, of storytelling, and get a piece of the hope-saga out there at the same time - so that's the challenge for this year: to take one 'episode' of the 'hope' tv-series proposal, turn it into a script and then go and illustrate that said script in the form of tabloid format, sunday color pages. Let's see how that goes: I will keep on posting all work in progress and keep everyone up to date...

thanks for you continued interest

m

"she's got legs"

2010-02-23T18:53:00.002-05:00

"... and she knows how to use them...

she never begs, she knows how to choose them..."

this is pencil work for the fourth panel, but you will never see her like that in the strip -

the characters are basically silhouettes by this time, inspired by franquin's 'idees noires'

almost there....

slowly, but surely...

2010-02-23T18:29:00.002-05:00

getting this next strip done

little guy is grumpy (look familiar?)

;)

inks - AND color...

2010-01-25T03:22:00.003-05:00

on what now seems to have become the first panel of the next strip - this one once again is gonna be about the careless way we tend to treat the air that we breathe - and how the bottom line almost always overrules common sense...

on an artistic note, i think that andrea faust works really well (the little professor thinks so, too) - only glitch is that i need to give her her cel-phone, because she will receive an important call in the very next panel...

;)

m

german genetics

2010-01-18T01:29:00.003-05:00

i'm thinking about introducing genetically enhanced andrea faust into the comic book version of the hope universe - as yet another misguided omnicorp employee (the more misguided, the more determined they are...)

she is the head of omnicorp's dna-improvement unit in germany,
with identical twin brother andreas faust

here's the pencils (with the little professor being somewhat distracted)

;)

inks to follow soon...

m

page 'o' sketches...

2010-01-18T01:18:00.002-05:00

page four put together for 'atomic lead' , a little 'best of 2009' compilation page

onto something bigger and better in 2010!!

;)

m

"food for thought"...

2010-01-18T01:16:00.002-05:00

done and done!
against all odds, and thanks to an ever stretching deadline (thanks, ed) i was able to deliver the last page on monday, AND an additional page of sketches.

i've seen the collected artwork, and it's gonna be a glorious book!!!

onward and upward

m

"never give up..."

2010-01-18T01:10:00.002-05:00

"never surrender!"

keeping up the fight, both hope and me!
I'm knee deep into my third page, and it's looking pretty good so far - i should be able to finish it in time for the deadline, despite all the moving- and holiday-related craziness going on around us - and THIS TIME, hope will encounter a REAL monster - not some genetically enhanced bumble bee, or some faceless corporation - but a big ol' city-eating, tentacled comic book-type monster - OH YEAH!
And while keeping with the overall theme of environmental issues and challenges, this one will also be an homage to fantastic four #1 and little nemo full page sundays, all rolled into one - BOOYA!

;)

m

page 2 ...

2010-01-18T01:07:00.002-05:00

here's another little preview for the second 'hope'-page for atomic lead ...
you're gonna have to buy the book to see the final product...
- the backgrounds were more labor-intensive than anticipated (one would think that i'd have learned by now - but noooooooo!!)

it turned out quite pretty, i think - the panels were all painted in full color, as usual - but i also prepared a gray-scale version for atomic lead, taking a different level of contrast and the lack of separation through color into account...

m

panel 2

2010-01-18T01:06:00.002-05:00

main characters are inked:

shawanna closeup

2010-01-18T01:05:00.003-05:00

she did not end up on the page after all, but here she is:

another floridian bird

2010-01-18T01:02:00.001-05:00

background character (as in: "there is no such thing as a...")

EWA: 'egret with attitude'

enjoy

m

playing catch-up

2010-01-18T00:53:00.002-05:00

hey y'all

haven't posted here in a while - lots of things have happened since then.

Mostly good things!!!

in the meantime, i contributed to 'atomic lead', a graphic anthology by the artists at Sucker Punch Studios.

i'm gonna catch you up to speed, and then keep on posting my progress with the ongoing hope strip...

promise!

;)

m

"clueless in seattle"

2009-11-03T03:37:00.003-05:00

here is a little 'update', acknowledging the change of location -
a little more grey, a little more somber - but just as funny...

(if anything, the nose is even redder than before, because of the low temperatures)

;)

m

are we there yet?

2009-10-19T11:39:00.003-04:00

MADE IT!
geez, that was quite the trip - six days on the road, a different hotelroom every night - not my thing at all, it turns out - but on the other hand, i got to see a LOT of the good old US of A for a change, instead of just staring at the monitor in front of me day in, day out...

i did draw a little while in the hotels, and got the computer up and running yesterday, so i finished the inks of this panel, finally - more to come, of course, but not quite sure when - this coming week is gonna be another crazy one...

m

the next chapter

2009-10-04T14:43:00.002-04:00

i'm not good at good-byes. i'm better at denial. perfect example is how, on my last get together with my awesome friends from heathrow, i got so drunk i don't remember much. i remember going on a bike ride with jason laureano, my best friend in our neighborhood. we rode our bikes to a bar and evidently didn't even leave at the same time. boy did i get in trouble, as i should have. it was irresponsible and totally out of character for me. but the truth is, i'm glad it happened that way because...i'm just not good at good-byes. like i said.

it's so convenient that things are super hectic when you have to move. you can always make excuses for not pausing and getting sad that you may never see certain people again. "hey man, wanna have lunch? we may never see each other again." "dude, i'd love to...but i've got a gazillion things to do right now." it's not a lie when you can't answer the phone when some friend calls to talk because you're in the middle of contacting the bank for a cashier's check for your new landlords. truth is, i like it that way. saying good-bye is NEVER the way it should be. it's awkward. you end up talking about the sports team in the new city you're moving to or what the climate is like or what the schools are like. when really, the whole time, you just want to say..."hey. i'm really going to miss you."

anyway, it's over now. i'm out here in seattle. right now i'm alone and car-less...so the demons can catch up. the denial can be lifted. i can reflect on what florida will mean to me.

funny thing...ends up i'm not going to miss florida all that much. truth is, the 6 years i lived and worked there really can only be described as me working there. i didn't have a LIFE. i was surrounded by great people and my family grew...but i wasn't a part of it. i was working. always working. working because i didn't have a choice. i think that's what bugs me the most. i look back now and i did everything i did because there was never a choice. never. i thought the dreamhive was going to afford me the choice one day...but, unfortunately, nothing came of it that was expected.

when it's all said and done, the only thing i'm really going to miss is the good friends i met. at least we have Facebook :)

i'm also going to miss that spark of hope i had all the way up until the end. the hope that the dreamhive could make a difference and be a place where the super talented folks we'd worked with in orlando would have a choice.

Sucker Punch is going to be awesome. the folks there are great. i can tell already. seattle is awesome. i can finally get back in touch with my outdoor nature and share that with my kids. i'm stoked that mathias will be working with me at Sucker Punch and i'm hopeful that tom will end up in the seattle area as well...but for the first time ever in my life, i'm afraid of being too hopeful.

i think that's why i'm bitter as i look back. something that i have always had throughout my life is a strong sense of HOPE. however, i'd be lying if i said in the past month...even though i've been thoroughly blessed with this new opportunity...my sense of hope has been slightly lost.

oh well. good-bye denial. good-bye florida. everything kinda sucked. i'm now hopeful about my LIFE and ready for the next chapter. i hope :)

attack of the clone...

2009-09-28T03:19:00.002-04:00

hiyall,

here's another study of the 'faust clone' - see how much fun he can be? -

just to get acquainted with the character, to get a better feel for him...

i'll try to ink all of these tomorrow

onward and upward

m

aaaaand another one....

2009-09-27T01:03:00.003-04:00

this time, i decided to put a 'new' actor on the stage - i need two 'bad guys' to headline this one, and i decided to not use the little 'professor'-guy again, but rather cast a more 'die-hard' omnicorp-employee, one of the countless 'faust-clones', to better tow the selfish, destructive company line alongside shawanna - plus, he's very fun to draw, a little childish, very expressive

i also had to employ shawanna again as the main character, because she represents omnicorp at its worst, in an attempt to turn the everglades into omnicorp airport - yes, you read that right - INTO AN AIRPORT - (that was an actual plan back in the 1960s to build an international airport in the middle of the Everglades) - so i needed two corporate meanies to survey the land and explain how corporate greed usually overrules environmental issues - i.e how the interests of the few outweigh those of the many, and how shortterm concerns win over longterm strategies -

anyhoo, a great pair visually, here's a sketch colored in quickly to see how it'll work -
imagine them canoeing down the kissimmee river...

more to come soon, so stay tuned

m

high as a kite....

2009-09-26T23:27:00.003-04:00

ahhhh - back at the drawing board for a bit - and it feels good!

for this one, our heroes find themselves back here in florida, so this strip will be some sort of a swan-song, if you will...

the bird depicted here is NOT the bald eagle, but rather the snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus), found only in florida, and federally listed as endangered.
the snail kite relies on the availability of apple snails (Pomacea paludosa) which they pluck from under the water using only their talons. The U.S. population is non-migratory, though the birds will move in response to food availability. Thus Snail Kites are sensitive to droughts and/or other changes that impact the hydrology of their foraging habitat.

We recently saw some specimen on an airboat trip going down the kissimmee river, the northern entry into the everglades - so i decided to let that be the location of the hope strip right then and there

like i said, posting will be a tad sporadic (not like they haven't been already) due to 'life'...

keep on checking in

m

"Life is...

2009-09-14T01:13:00.004-04:00

...what happens while you're busy making other plans"

(John Lennon)

"houston, we have a problem"

(James A. Lovell)

Apologies for the long silence - we've been thrown quite the curveball recently, and 'real life' immediately took over - nevertheless, i've had this new hope strip already in the works, and REALLY wanted to finish it, before the (*&)(&#@ really hits the fan for the next couple of weeks and gives my life a darker complexion.

;)

again, the strip's topic should be self-explanatory - there seem to be several quasi-religious parties debating the amount of thawing in the arctic regions, whether it's a regular occurrence or a man-made one, and whether the polar bears are going to be able to survive, adapt or - surrender. as always, there ARE facts underneath all the noise, you just have to be willing to dig deep - and please, DO make up your own mind, it's important - you owe it to the kids.

artistically, this was a lot of fun - i could bring the 'professor' back, who is towing the company line, but he's a great character: i love to draw him, but then again, i'm a little biased... ;)

i loved doing the polar bear, and just as with the bikinis last time around, i really enjoy putting hope in different outfits - and she gets a kick out of dressing up, too....
her snow-suit is loosely based on a dolce & gabbana creation from the winter 2006 collection - (mille grazie, giovanotti!!) fast forwarded to 2039 and filtered back to today through a looking glass infused with the smurfs, gaston and asterix and obelix...

bon appetit

mathias

p.s. please do stay put, there MAY be another silent period ahead, but i WILL be back - albeit from a different location (not that you will notice that, this being the internet and all...)

"the 'doctor' is (back) in!"

2009-08-21T20:56:00.003-04:00

we liked him so much, he's earned himself a recurring role in the adventures of hope!

one of the more civil representatives of the evil multinational corporation 'omnicorp', he can play a bigger part in these strips than the more flashy bad guys, who fit much better into the action-adventure format that the property would assume as an animated show or a video game.

so, after a day in the sun, i'm sending hope to one of the coldest places on earth - the north pole!
let's see what happens to our little trouper there, shall we?

stay tuned

m

This just can't be summer love, you'll see...

2009-08-05T03:54:00.000-04:00

This just can't be summer love, L.O.V.E

I can't wait to fall in love with you
You can't wait to fall in love with me

Finally, strip 4 is done - i wanted it to be done earlier, as always, but i underestimate the backgrounds every time. The characters go reasonably smooth by now, even though i'm still too picky about it and noodle every expression and every hand-gesture, which i need to learn to be looser with and let go sooner, so as to not refine it to death...

but see, the backgrounds aren't generic BGs with stock-buildings and stock-plants etc, but they are part of the storytelling for me and thus become SPECIFIC buildings and SPECIFIC plants and things, which need to be rendered with a certain amount of attention and love, and so they take more time than they should... BUT - the end result is worth it - at least I'd like to think so...

content-wise there's not much to add, i don't think - i'm just happy that our heroines are able to make the best out of what looks to be a very humid and boggy future for our children and grand-children...

Summer's over for the both of us {summer's over}
But that doesn't mean we should give up on love {don't give up}
You're the one that I've been thinking of {your the one}
And I knew the day I met you you'd be the one

m

holiday in balconia

2009-07-26T11:23:00.000-04:00

hey everyone

in hard times like these, when the economic crisis makes your funds melt away like butter left out in the sun, people re-evaluate everything, including what to do with their vacation: Instead of taking expensive trips to exotic locations - 15 european countries in seven days, for instance ;), they stay home more often, and enjoy the serene, luxurious AND CHEAP surroundings of their own picturesque backyard, shady patio and refreshing swimming pool....

home is where the grill is....

anyhoo, guess where hope and shawanna are going to take a few days off and relax from their stressful duties as comic-book characters?

stay tuned

m

"In the summertime..."

2009-07-17T12:54:00.000-04:00

"when the weather is high......"

I can't get a decent tan!
Ever since i started spending my time exclusively in the dark in front of my computers, i burn waaayyyy too quickly to be able to spend any significant amount of time outside anymore, at least here in 'sunny florida'...

The little petbot, though - not so much!
Robots seem to be cut from a different cloth - he can't get enough of those UV-Rays, but he doesn't seem to change color at all -
still all pasty silver, as far as i can tell - robot-problems, sheesh...

the girls are talking about the weather, too -
hope, as always, has her own take on things...

sorry for the lack of posts, btw - we've been terribly busy, as always -
but please, keep on checking in, as i have a bunch of WIP-updates coming up...

closing out, as we began this post, with the words of the great philosopher Mungo Jerry:

"When the weather's fine
we go fishing or go swimming in the sea.
We're always happy,
life's for living, yeah, that's our philosophy."

thanks for stopping by

;)

m

the bee's knees

2009-06-21T04:10:00.000-04:00

hiyall

finally finished the third strip - this was a LOT of work on the backgrounds - but i think it turned out well...
the strip concerns itself with some hot topics: not only DON'T we really know how gene-manipulated organisms will affect our environment, the ecological equilibrium, in the future, we're also allowing big companies to basically own certain varieties or types, or breeds of fauna and flora that heretofore couldn' t belong to anyone, like flowers, corn, wheat, pigs, chicken etc.

yes, brave new world, indeed - no wonder that our protagonist, poor little hope, is somewhat overwhelmed by the self-confidence and intellectual brilliance on display by the representative of multinational food-supplier 'omnicrops', who reassures her that everything is under control...

but going by her intuition, she just KNOWS that, when someone tells you THAT, you gotta be doubly careful and get the hell outta dodge...

;)

tune in next time!

m

going places....

2009-06-04T15:10:00.000-04:00

hey all,
here is a quick latenight sketch, done after our weekly studio meeting at the alehouse,
and then quickly colored in even later at night back home...

It was nice, for a change, to work somewhere in 'public', as opposed to the office at home day after day after day... don't get me wrong, i like my office - but this is, after all, a solitary profession: just you and your monitor - or drafting table, and it tends to get a little lonely at times.
It would be nifty if we had more 'european-type' places where you could be out amongst people but still had your privacy: eat, drink and work, like a german 'kneipe', an austrian 'kaffeehaus', a french 'bistro' or an italian 'trattoria', your studio away from your studio....

anyhoo, here is hope! Vacation time is coming, everybody is leaving on trips and going fun places, hope and me are gonna stay right at home... I'll be working, of course, but hope will catch a few rays and enjoy the great weather - global warming be damned
(this is a little development sketch for the strip after the next one -
yes, i know, we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here, but sue me)

;)

stick around!

m

panel discussion

2009-05-28T14:00:00.000-04:00

here is the pencil stage of a panel for the upcoming hope strip...

i'm quite happy how it turned out - hope and the doctor work well together, i think:

he's getting all worked up, and she remains skeptical,
not convinced by all his (pseudo)-scientific explanations...

the work on the comic strip turns out to be very helpful in further defining the main characters of the hope universe:
hope, the girl thrown out of time, without the support of her real family or any memory of her past (our future) is the true innocent, a child in a world of run by adults. She is full of joy, wonder, and - well, hope... - much in the tradition of many classic childlike fairytale-heroes whose charm, unspoiled minds and childlike purity can be virtually disarming - certainly something that would easily drive any evil, highly motivated, narrow-minded corporate lackey up the walls...

;)

m

quick and corny...

2009-05-26T12:09:00.000-04:00

just a quick update:

one more study of a corn stalk in preparation for the backgrounds for the upcoming strip...

please stay tuned...

;)

m

le prochain post

2009-05-23T19:19:00.000-04:00

salut - it's me again, mathias
sorry it took me so long with my follow-up post, but we're always soo busy -
and then life gets in the way, and another week has passed
- i promise to post more often, really...

here is the the character i talked about in the previous post - the 'evil doctor' character, but not in the 'dr. evil vein' - this one is not out to rule the world or extort 'one hundred billion dollars', but he is more one of the cogs in the big wheel of a multinational corporation, meddling with the genetic makeup of the world that surrounds and sustains us, doing what they tell him is right, - a sad, pathetic little guy, really....

... but i wanted to make him funny, on top of him being a bad guy you could feel sorry for!
so, for inspiration, i keep going back to the stuff i read while growing up back in germany, the franco-belgian comic-albums of franquin, peyo, will, roba, morris, and of course uderzo. we're talking about the fathers of asterix, lucky luke, the smurfs, the marsupilami and gaston, and dozens of other great characters. All of these artists are masters of the funny book, working with a comic-dynamic line, themselves inspired by US-american cartoons and the comic-book work of milton caniff, carl barks and walt kelly. In their work, they were always after dynamic poses in an effort to evoke motion on the static page, and facial expressions supporting the storytelling as much as possible - as a result, any one of the pages of these types of BD's - bandes dessinees, large format european comic albums - are a joy to look at and are extremely funny as drawings, even if you don't speak a single word of french - and believe me, i should know....

a bientot

;)

m

(oh, and the corn will provide the background for this upcoming strip, so i need to make sure it also fits graphically within that world...)

hello internet!

2009-05-14T23:32:00.000-04:00

mathias here...

i've kept quiet for the most part, and let my colleagues toot the horn for the dreamhive (and they've done a darn good job at that, too) but being the creative director here comes with some responsibilities, and so from now on i'd like to keep you updated with a lot more WIP posts concerning not only our ongoing work at the hive (as far as i CAN actually show you stuff - some of it may be hush-hush, so bear with me there) but also my own little corner of the net, mathias' matte, where i'll be attempting to regularly put up a comic strip set in the "hope" universe, but commenting more on current events (two previous installments are already up on this blog)

and that is also what i'm starting with, a little teaser for the upcoming strip - even though these strips are set in the "hope" universe, i find myself having to introduce new supporting characters as needed - so in this case, here is a first look at a scientist in the employ of omnicorp, and yes, there will also be corn - genetically engineered corn, to be precise

(btw, any possible similarity to persons living or dead is not necessarily purely coincidental)

don't go anywhere, we'll be right back....

m

SNOOD Redood!

2009-05-12T23:11:00.001-04:00

man...see? this is what i get for being too busy to blog. i WAS planning on blogging about how The Dreamhive is teaming up with our ex-Naughty Dog cohorts, Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin to turn the casual gaming world on it's ear. i WAS going to tell you guys all about them founding Monkey Gods and how we're moving into 2009 with our sole focus being flinging some awesome fun around with them. i WAS going to tease everyone with what Facebook and iPhone fun we were planning with these guys and all that jazz.

THEN i was going to hit everyone with the news that our first gaming project together since i worked on the Jak series at Naughty Dog was going to be one of the most popular games on the web.

that will teach me to let work get in the way of my blogging because today Monkey Gods flung the whole shabang out there and announced Snood for iPhone:

Monkey Gods Blog

so, there you have it Snood is ReDood and Monkey Gods is born. ironically enough...on my birthday. how sweet is that?

i'll start with the mini-version of us teaming up with Monkey Gods in 2009:

while our current contract with a great returning client is super fun...it will be our swan song for the service based side of things. upon completion of that project, which we will be talking about at some point because it's so cool, we're hanging up that hat and putting on our game development hat with a group of guys who know how to make the fun happen. we can definitely tell you that Snood is just the tip of the iceberg of what will be flung by the Monkey Gods and developed within The Dreamhive.

now on to Snood:

there's still some surprises we want to keep under our hats, but i can tell you that what we are affectionately calling "Snood Redood" is just that...a new vision of the beloved characters that have been the addiction of many casual gamers across the globe.

mathias came up with an awesome new look for the Snoods and even came up with a brand new "magic" snood that we're sure everyone is gonna think is da bomb. jason rubin designed close to 100 fun puzzles for Puzzle Mode. i wrote and animated a fun story that reveals the REAL Snoods and "why" the game was created while you play through puzzles that tom angus designed for Story Mode.

man it was a blast and we can't wait for folks to play it!

one other feature in Snood ReDood is the ability to play with the classic Snoods that we know millions out there adore. while stoked to re-make these guys and give them our unique brand of fun...we truely are Snood fanboys and we knew that people would miss the original crew...so we brought them along for the trip!

anyway, i could go on and on because i've been DYING to talk about this stuff. however, we are still a busy bunch of bees here at the hive and i've got to get back to work.

if you read this and you're a Snood fan, comment and let us know what you think. if you're on Twitter, mention Snood and this blog and it will pop up on http://www.monkeygods.com. post this on your Facebook profile and spread the word...

SNOOD IS COMING SOON ON IPHONE!!

Mathias' Matte: The Golden Parachute

2009-04-26T00:21:00.000-04:00

game job hunter blog

2009-03-27T10:46:00.000-04:00

some friends of ours from the ole EA days, paul teall and cory fabre, have started a blog that is a great resource for others in the game industry. paul discusses things to consider when looking for a job in the game biz and really puts a strong emphasis on studios outside of "the big four" cities.

it is definitely worth a peek.

http://gamejobhunter.com/blog

Just for fun...

2009-03-08T21:12:00.000-04:00

busy, busy, busy...but not too busy to treat our blog-o-philes to something extra special.

check out this comic by mathias. anything i'd say would just take away from your time to enjoy this awesome artwork. so, just check it out.

i will add that we're putting together some really cool ideas for a neat comic book app for iTunes. original stuff like this is what you can expect along with some other fantastic comics that are out there. we're also gonna be talking to some of our friends in the comic book community about letting us publish some of their indy project with our comic viewer. should be some cool stuff.

more to come about that so stay tuned.

The Dreamhive: Origins and Year One

2009-02-12T23:42:00.000-05:00

heya folks. sorry for the silence. we've been hella busy. to make up for the absence, we've created two new art reels. one that shows what we did before forming The Dreamhive, the other that shows what we did in our most excellent first year in business.

make sure to keep stopping by because we'll be posting Year Two very soon.

you can also see these videos in higher quality at The Dreamhive's official site.

enjoy!!

love, peace, and hair grease!

Inside the Hive: iPhone Game Development

2009-01-22T20:06:00.000-05:00

Squish Squash continues to turn heads and get great reviews. one group of folks who've taken notice is the Apple Business Partners at our local Apple store in Orlando.

they've set up the following event at their Altamonte Springs Mall location for people to get a look inside our development process for Squish Squash...
Event: The Dreamhive Animation Studio: Behind the Scenes of iPhone Game Development
Where: Altamonte Apple Store, Altamonte Springs Mall, FL
When: Saturday 24th, 2009
Time: 11am and 7pm

The Dreamhive Animation Studio takes you behind the scenes of Squish Squash, their latest iPhone /iPod touch game available on the iTunes AppStore. Learn how the studio fuses art and science to create engaging gameplay and stunning graphics on the iPhone and iPod touch. You’ll also have an opportunity to play the game and earn a chance to win a free copy!

if you're in the area, make sure to pop by and say hi and listen to wes talk about how we made Squish Squash.

Resistance Retribution Cinematics

2009-01-20T16:11:00.000-05:00

we're happy to announce the marketing blitz has started for Resistance Retribution. the game will be coming out on the 17th of march on the PSP.

Resistance Retribution was a game that we were proud to lend cinematic enviroment and effects assistance to our buddies at Scratch Image on. it was an awesome collaboration that dreamhive's creative world director, tom angus, had a blast working on.

game trailers.com has released a Resistance Retribution trailer for the upcoming game that features tom's awesome environment and effects work.

stop by and take a peek at the trailer and come back here and let tom know what you think of his kick ass artwork. if you have a PSP, make sure to pick up a copy of Resistance Retribution around St. Patrick's Day. believe me, that's the best way to appreciate the hard work these guys put into the cinematics.

shake, shake, shake...

2009-01-12T07:31:00.000-05:00

...is booty P.C. these days? whatever, shake it anyway.

just wanted to drop a blog on you guys so you wouldn't forget about us. hope is dancing with her pet bot because they are both so happy with how much stuff we have going on this year.

there's a bunch of stuff. can't wait to tell everyone about it.

no matter what, we'll make sure you guys have lots of eye candy to stare at while you wait:)

shake, shake, shake...

iPhone Gems Review

2009-01-03T12:19:00.000-05:00

check out a really cool review of squish squash on iPhone gems. jeremy really summed up the game and it's intent nicely with the following remark:

Smart developers find ways to create family-friendly versions of games in potentially objectionable genres. Dreamhive Animation Studio’s Squish Squash ($4) is essentially a first-person shooting gallery game, minus the guns.

anyway, pop on by and read the full review for yourself:
iPhone Gem's Squish Squash Review

i have to add here that for an old school arcade gamer like myself...it was awesome having the review of our game mentioned in a cluster with centipede!

fresh...

2008-12-29T07:59:00.001-05:00

we're not much for sitting back and relaxing. while we have definitely enjoyed the past few days off with family...we're ready to face the new year with some fresh new stuff.

we've found that iPhone development is really cool and an avenue that offers us tons of opportunities to introduce folks to our library of IP. so we're going to do just that...and, of course, a little bit more:)

there are a few developments that we hope to be announcing here soon.

one thing in particular is our next game. mathias has spent some of his "time off" working on some gorgeous new artwork that we're going to be using to produce our sophomore effort and follow up to Squish Squash.

so...long story short...we're not going anywhere and neither should you guys. keep on coming by and checking in on us because we promise lots of new iPhone-centric developments this year.

happy holidays...go buy squish squash!!

2008-12-23T23:30:00.000-05:00

heh...HOPE may be jealous of Squish Squash being the dreamhive's very first 100% independently produced IP, but we couldn't be more giddy.

this game is an incredible testament to what a small group of focused, talented folks can do once the power is in their hands to realize a singular vision.

we promise much more to come and will have some really cool announcements to make during this upcoming year.

in the meantime, go out and buy squish squash. play it. tell your friends if you like it and take the time to write a review. you can check out a video of the game along with some info and pro tips at the official site here.

tom, mathias, and i would like to personally thank wes for his incredible dedication and crazy amount of time he spent on this game. wes came up with the initial game design, learned to program on the iPhone, wrote all of the code from scratch, modeled the bugs, and created the "outer fringe" artwork for the playing board to name a few things. he stayed focused...kept his eyes on the prize...and delivered one HELL of a great product.

thanks wes!!

i also would personally like to thank mathias for his awesome art direction and tom for putting together some kick ass sets and very fun levels...and being nice enough to throw in a couple of my suggestions. i was working on another project and was only able to contribute by creating our font and testing. that's actually why i can say with 100% honesty that this is a fun game...it was the first time in forever that i'd been able to be part of something in such a way that it stayed fresh to me. i have to tell you it was great getting new builds from wes and seeing how everything came together so perfectly in just 9 weeks.

in the midst of all the craziness this year...the dreamhive gained two new "members" of the hive...little tommy angus and noah grandmont. congratulations to you guys and your families...mathias and i wanna know how you found time to do this? LOL.

finally, our thoughts go out to our commarades in the entertainment industry that are feeling the brunt of our tough economic times.

the dreamhive wishes you all the warmest holiday wishes. here's to the hope of prosperity for us all in 2009!!

...and the beat goes on....

2008-12-08T14:13:00.000-05:00

heya folks sorry for the radio silence. we're super busy here at the dreamhive trying to wrap everything up before the holidays.

i thought i'd take a moment and give some major blog boost to our friends at GameBeatStudios. these guys are based out of chicago and did all of our sound design for squish squash. sorry for the pun...but they KILLED it.

anyway, darryl duncan from gamebeat actually made my job easy for me this time around and posted a clip on their site about their experience working with us.

so...take it away darryl:
GameBeat is BUGGIN'!