BLACK HOLE by Charles Burns

I haven't posted in quite a while. So I thought I'd get the blogging juices flowing again with a brief book review.

As you've probably come to expect from me, the book in question is a graphic novel (can't go beyond picture books these days - I've spoiled myself!) called BLACK HOLE by Charles Burns. I read this quite some time back and I really, really enjoyed it.

The book is about a group of teenagers in a small town in America who start spreading a strange STD which has different symptoms for different people. The approach that Burns takes is a heady combination of teenage angst, suspense, sex and horror. That's one formula that can never go wrong.

I especially related to one of the main characters, Chris (a girl in this case) on whom the effect of the disease is that she sheds her skin just as a snake does, at regular intervals.

There's an in-depth analysis of the book here. I totally recommend this book for it's wonderfully stark black-and-white art and the story which is top-notch. I recently heard a rumor that the book might be adapted into a film by none other than David Fincher himself. Frankly, I think this is a bad idea and I hope nothing transpires. The art of the book is integral to the story and the medium is perfectly suited for this tale.

Speaking of the art, I was surprised to notice similar looking artwork in one of the films from the Fear[s] of the Dark trailer. And surprise, surprise... that particular short has been directed by Charles Burns. It's very interesting to see his style applied in an animated format.

Saturday Sketch

I'm at home on vacation and I took my WACOM Bamboo along. I decided to try out Corel Painter. Here's an initial, if somewhat default sort of sketch. Hopefully there's better stuff to come.

Bonkeshwari reviewed on Wet Paint

Hot on the heels of the Cartoon Brew post, Bonkeshwari has gained a positive review on the animation blog that I discovered today, known as Wet Paint. You can read the review here:

http://wetpaintblog.wordpress.com/2008/01/09/bollywood/

If you think I'm plugging this for all it's worth... then you're right!

Rani Bonkeshwari got Brewed!

Cartoon Brew, like Drawn!, is a site I visit almost everyday for news and inspiration. I decided to send in Rani Bonkeshwari in the hopes that they would post it, and guess what? They did!

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/advertising/rani-bonkeshwari-by-rohit-iyer#comments

I'm very, very happy and I'd like to thank those guys for considering this.

Of course I'd also like to thank Manuscrypts who runs the Brantings blog for reviewing this first, over here:

http://brantings.blogspot.com/2007/12/of-content-being-king.html

I'm on cloud nine!

Agent Smit

Click for bigger image!

Another poster.

This one's for the pre-diploma display that my batchmate Smit Shah put up. Made this overnight in a few hours in Photoshop. Just a bit of photo-manipulation. His name is Smit, so the idea for the poster was kind of obvious.

I'll be putting up pics (and hopefully a video too) from MY predip (which took place in December) soon. Keep an eye out!

Vaibhav's World

Click to enlarge

A poster I made for a talk with the NID alumnus and popular Indian animator, Vaibhav Kumaresh. I tried to capture Vaibhav's own bold and sketchy style. His characters Simpoo, Bhoot, Chulbuli, etc. are very well known in India as mascots for TV channels and consumer products.

Vaibhav's been having these Baatein sessions every year at NID, when he comes to take the Stop Motion Animation course.

It's true! YouTube DOES bring back childhood memories!

Grin... And Bear It!

I regularly read the SuperHeroHype Boards for discussions on Nolan's upcoming The Dark Knight. I also love looking at the great fan art that people post there.

After lurking for a long time, I thought I'd participate in the thread myself with a go at Ledger's joker. Here are the two versions I posted here:



The portrait was sketched and painted directly in Photoshop and the background images are not mine. I think the joker card is a Bob Kane design.

Click on the images for larger versions.

Rani Bonkeshwari

She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes,
She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes,
She'll be comin' round the mountian,
Like a gigantic, frantic fountain,
She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes!

Written by the disturbed brain of Mr. K M Ayappa, the creator of the brilliant Porok, and animated by yours truly... Isn't It Iyeronic presents the queen of pleasure, in great measure...

RANI BONKESHWARI!



UPDATE:
I've put up Rani Bonkeshwari on YouTube as well (that place seems to get more traffic). So spread the word!

Yippeee! Got a new Drawing Tablet! - THE SEQUEL!

If you've been reading my blog for quite some time, you probably remember this post.

Well, the old drawing tablet was down for the count. And it was high time that I get a spiffy new one. And get one I did - the WACOM Bamboo Fun.


This thing is absolutely lovely. It really does feel like pen on paper! To celebrate, here's a quick sketch...

Apparently, I should live in...

What City Should You Live In?
	You should live in New York City. America's largest city will ensure that you will blend into the crowd. You are the brooding type--introspective, creative, and eccentric--and NYC's cutting-edge, individualistic culture and ambience will appeal to you.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

On my twenty-second birthday...

...I felt like a new person; I felt like doing things differently; I felt like being better, quicker, stronger; a more whole person...

...until I realized it was just gas.

rgb

rgb 2007 is the first design festival in India and it's been a long time coming. Conceived and planned by the students of NID, it will be held this October on the 5th, 6th and 7th.

The student team organizing the event asked me to quickly create an intro animation (based on the logo, created by the ridiculously talented SN Rajpurohit) for the festival, and this is what I whipped up over three days and nights-


Click To Play
I made this in Maya 7.0 and rendered it with finalRender Stage-2. The idea was to get make something that looks and sounds professional and is at the same time short and quick. The really difficult part was finding the right material and render settings to get the desired look. I wanted a glass/acrylic feel to the letters. Both the letters and the camera were animated to give the feeling that the logo is forming slowly. The camera movements are very bullet time inspired and the shots were edited to sync with the music.

I really enjoyed working on this as it gave me an opportunity to get back to working with Maya and to experiment with new ideas. And given the time constraints, it was a pretty cool crash job.

I hope you like it. Do post your thoughts!

Call me a pervert...

I spent yesterday illustrating Kamasutra positions, reading about three incestuous sisters and then a book called Girls.

Well, the illustrations were actually cartoons for a project.

The Three Incestuous Sisters is the strangest illustrated book I've read in a long time.



And Girls by the Luna Brothers is the strangest comic book I've read in some time.



Yes, yes... I went on another one of my regular trips to Landmark, the book store and was able to read almost two books before the store closed.

The Three Incestuous Sisters is a book unlike any other. Beautifully illustrated and through a sparse use of words to support the illustrations, it reads at one and the same time like a fairy-tale, a script, a storyboard, a book. I heartily recommend it just for it's strangeness disturbing visuals and the fairly tedious process used to illustrate them (aquatint) makes one appreciate it even more.



Girls is a comic book that at first glance seems like any other comic book. But the weird and wacky story of a small American town being attacked by a horde of naked beautiful women who were hatched in a bathroom stops looking run-of-the-mill once you flip the cover.

The Luna brothers take you on this wild ride but what really holds it all together is the central character, Ethan, a guy who has trouble understanding women and probably starts the whole mess. The great thing about the story is that it shifts quickly and easily between being funny, quirky, sexy, intriguing to downright scary. The best part is how well the story's been edited between issues - it just takes these twists and turns which will keep you on the edge of your seat. It looks and reads almost like a movie.

You can read the first issue here for free!

http://www.imagecomics.com/iconline.php?title=girls_001&page=cover

I could only find the first volume (Issues 1-6) compiled in a trade paperback, but I wasn't able to finish the last issue before the store closed!

This just means I'll have to go back.

And no I'm not a perv.

VC Promos 2007

Well, this post is LONG overdue.

Brief introduction - Every year, at NID, we have a festival called Monsoon Fiesta where we have three teams competing for the prize, namely VC (Visual Communication), ID (Industrial Design) and Foundation (Freshers).

Each year we make promos to promote our team and colour. Last year VC's colour was green:



This year we were white.

So here are the promos...

The first is a spoof of an old commercial:



This is our version (Directed by Sayantan, I have a cameo):


Click To Play

The other three promos are spoofs of the Get A Mac Ads. These were made by me, Vinu and Devika.

http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/

And here they are. ID's played by Ayush Jain. And Tanvi Bhatia plays the lovely Foundy. Some of the jokes are quite specific, so don't worry if you don't get them.

BE VC - Poster

Click To Play

BE VC - Basketball

Click To Play

BE VC - Next Year

Click To Play

By the way, I play VC.