Wood Bending

Well, in the spirit of my newfound Avatar obsession, I have decided that I will refer to myself as a Wood Bender. I have finished painting my two Aangs.(Man, what a great name for a sitcom!) Whichever way you roll I have got you covered. Happy go lucky Aang or kickin' arse and leveling mountains Aang. Here we go!

Free comic day

I had a nice day with the family today by hitting two different shops for the mighty Free Comic Day. The first stop was Heroes Aren't Hard to Find. Holy crap, it was a madhouse. We geeks love free shit! They had a great event going on. A group of well known comic artists were there to do book signings and to do sketches for the throngs of people. This is where I picked up my free books. I got Avengers, Atomic Robo(!!!!), and Peanuts. While all of those books are fantastic, the pick of the day was the hardcover anthology put out by Archaia Comics. This is the publisher that puts out the one of my favorite books, Mouse Guard. The stories is this book where phenomenal. The two that stuck out to me where Rust and Cow Boy. Oh,did I mention that they put out a small hardcover for FREE? Next stop was Rebel Base. The main reason for going to this shop was to visit a local artist whose work I really like. My kids seemed to think that we stopped there because they had an ice cream truck there. The artist I went to see was w0lly. He has a great style. I love artists that pick certian features on superheroes and over-accentuate them. Sam Keith is one of my favs at doing this. So that is another Free Comic Day in the books. I had a great time and really love the way that the shops are turning this day into an event.

Work in Progress

I think this is the first time that I have posted pieces that have not been completed being painted. It is kind of odd looking, but my way of painting is that after carving, I put down a very rough base coat. This enables me to remember where I am going with the paint. It also gives me an idea of what I like and where I would like to go in a different direction. I find that I can carve fairly well, at least well enough for the style that I like. The painting is still something that I have to stay on myself with. I used to spend alot of time painting Warhammer models and this type of painting is similar. I don't have as much detail as those models, but I still use the same painting techniques. Here are some pictures of my new obsession, Avatar! I have two different Aangs and a Zuko. There is one run-of-the-mill Aang and another in his Avatar state.

Avatar

I ran out the door as I saw the UPS man pull up outside of the house. It was a giddy feeling that I haven't had for a packsge in quite a while. You see, I have been watching this show with my son called Avatar. He loves watching it and I am haboring a secret geek passion for it as well. We have watched the 3 seasons all the way through, twice. I have just learned of the new series that has started up just a couple of weeks ago. Needless to say, this is a great way to introduce my son into the my realm. It is the realm of obsession over things like cartoons and comics. Wait! This is the one avenue that I have not walked down hand-in-hand with my new friend Avatar yet. Comics. As I got on to the ol' computation machine, my heart was racing. Please, please, please! Let it be true that....Yes! There is a comic that is being put out by Dark Horse that takes place right as the 3rd season ends. Oh how my little boy will begin to blossom into a full fledged geek. That is what I ran outside for. The comic came in and the poor UPS guy asked me if it was for me. I opened the package with Charlie Bucket like care. I caught a glimpse of the book inside, pulled it out and started to tear-up a smidge. I replied to the chap in brown " Yes. This is for me, and it is glorious." i gave him some dap and ran as fast as I could back into the house. I flipped through a little of the book, but am going to wait til the time is right to read it with my son. Mmm...the sweet smell of obsession. It got me to thinking that when my new shipment of wood comes in, that I will be starting a couple of pieces from Avatar. I am thinking of Aang normal and in his Avatar state.

Saga

I have finally finished my carving of the character Marko from the new series by Brian K. Vaughn called Saga. I am hoping that everyone is reading this book. It is two issues in and looks to be as great as his other works.

I am planning on "gifting" this to him in a weird sort of fanboy way. I have never written in to a comic, much less sent a present to a creator. Oh well, chalk me up as a nerd. Here it is: