Tough weekend?

Could be worse.

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Doug Drexler

I met Doug Drexler on Star Trek Deep Space Nine over twenty years ago. He shared the makeup Oscar for Dick Tracy a few years before and was just a Renaissance guy. I grew to respect, love and appreciate Doug during that time, even though he was as crazy as a Jaybird, lol. One time he had to detail a full-sized crashed spaceship on the set of one of the episodes, and he somehow matched exactly the detail of the miniature used on the show! I was so impressed with his dedication to Star Trek, a show he grew up watching and adoring as a kid.

Being a Trek Zealot, Doug and I used to argue fiercely which ship was cooler, the Enterprise or the Millennium Falcon, and of course everyone knows the Falcon helped destroy two Death Stars, but it was funny to see Doug get so geeked over that debate.

Here he interviews makeup legend Michael Westmore, who I also met on DS9, who is part of the famous line of Westmores that were the foundation of movie and television makeup for decades. I also worked briefly with Michael on Star Trek- First Contact as we developed the look of the Borg and Borg Queen for that picture. Now, I have not seen Doug for over a decade, but I ran across this video on Youtube and he's still the crazy genius I knew then.

Yer a nut, Doug!

Disney's Dinosaur- Ankylo/Oviraptor behavior

Under the category of 'who cares?' comes this drawing.

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An extra panel since I did not post yesterday:)

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Cool test

If you don't recognize this man, go away.

Blog technical issues

I've had issues with posting, so I switched browsers to Safari. Sorry for the inconvenience.

May the Force be with you.

Wal-e Beetle Recon ship

I've posted this before. Somehow, it's one of my favorite images...

Atlantis the Lost empire

I'm gonna repost this baby, from the Disney animated feature.

Cey, Russell, Lopes and Garvey

They were the infield for my favorite ball club when I was a kid:)

Incredibles fight

Just reposting this piece from The Incredibles

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Frosted Flakes with the open front!

In the 1970's, before all five of you were born, they sold cereal like this and you could open the front and pour milk inside and eat away! Frosted Flakes is still my  favorite but I can't eat it because it's death with sugar on top of it.

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Wal-E Monolith truck

This one's from Wal-E. I think I might have posted this one before, but honestly, who cares?

"Look sir, Droids!"

Songs I'm embarrassed to admit I like: The Devil Went Down to Georgia

This song makes me laugh and brings a smile to my face every time I hear it.

Storyboard panel of the day 007- get it? Double-Oh seven!! :)

Theme from Milagro, composed by Grusin, played by Dennis Burns

When I was young(er) I was introduced to a novel called the Milagro Beanfield War by a friend of the family named Dan Castro. A few years later Robert Redford made it into an okay telling of the story as a film, but nowhere near as much poetry as the John Nichols book. Anyway, out of all this came a pretty beautiful piece of music for the film that this gentleman plays so beautifully here.

Everytime I hear this theme, it touches my soul.

Enjoy.

Character design image

I did a character design test a few months ago and did not get the gig, so I'm gonna post the images from the test. What are they gonna do, fire me?

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That's Cap'n Crunch running through the jungle.

Cool test

If you know the name of this vehicle and the movie it's from, then you're okay. If you know the name of the movie but not the name of the vehicle, I am completely suspicious of you. If you don't know either, then go away and never come back.

Droopy the Canadian Mountie

Styracosaurus female

Again, from the show that shall not be named.

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I'm a big fan of long, languid pans. Lawrence of Arabia comes to mind.

cool test

One of these guys is cool, and the other guy is not. You figure out who is and who is not.

"I'm not going that way!"

Disney's Dinosaur- Parasaurolophus gags

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Happy Father's Day, Pop

Decades before I discovered Indiana Jones, you were camping out in the jungles, beaches and mountains of Costa Rica because you had the heart of an explorer, and even today you have never stopped exploring and searching for what's on the other side of the map and life itself.
From there you came to the US and made a life for you, mom and all of us, and that's a hell of a thing.
I love you and want you to have a great day, Pop.
Thanks for everything.
Love,

Ricky

Age of Reptiles update (with pic!)

 

I'm kinda glad I take lousy pictures and this image is out of focus:) Work continues on the new Age of Reptiles short story, as well as the Ancient Egyptians series, both of course published by Dark Horse. The short story is eight pages long and this image is from page four, so when I'm done with this page I'll be halfway done.  I'm hoping to get this short story done ASAP and published this year, then to have Ancient Egyptians out next year. I wish I could go faster, but I'm just really slow when it comes to these stories. I'll post an Ancient Egyptians pic in a few days.

May the Force be with you, always.

Time for another David Blaine Magic trick!

Here you go...

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Kevin McHale clotheslines Kurt Rambis

This still upsets me... but Los Lakers got revenge the next year.

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I'm thinking Turkey sandwich for lunch...

Source Code pod idea

I did this for another director that was trying to get the job to direct the movie. He didn't, and so here's the drawing, which I've grown to dislike.

Inspector Clouseau and the pop up lighter

All five of you know how much I love the Peter Sellers Pink Panther films. I know, there's a horrible racial stereotype in them, and yet I can't help but find them to be incredibly funny...

storyboard panel of the day

This panel describes a pull back by the camera with the character, then pushing in with the character as he lands on the jet. This was a total pain in the butt to draw:)

Disneyland- Peter Pan ride

"Second star to the right, straight 'till morning."

For a few Dollars More- Finale

The finale to this, the sequel to A Fist Full of Dollars, which itself was a remake of Kurosawa's Yojimbo.

JP3 Pteranodon gag

My favorite superhero movie of all time

The Avengers, Batman Begins, those are all fine movies, but THIS ONE was the one I loved as a kid and is still my favorite of all time. John WIlliam's music is incredible.

Hieroglyph- Worshipper

SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN AND BIONIC BIGFOOT!

YEEEAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heiroglyph- Carnivore

I never used this guy in the series....

GI Joe with the Kung Fu grip!

A commercial from the 70's. I had one of these!

Disney's Dinosaur- Alvarezsaurus behavior

Have you had a tough day?

Justin Beiber dies by the hand of Cthulu

THIS REALLY FUNNY VIDEO IS NOT FOR KIDS!

REPEAT, NOT FOR KIDS!

OKAY, GO!

Hieroglyph- Titanothere

Rate the classic Bond films

Okay, here's my rankings of what I consider to be the best of the series:

Number one:

Thunderball is the first Bond film I've ever seen, on ABC TV in the 70's, and it remains my favorite to this day. The underwater battle at the end is ridiculously cool.




Number two:

From Russia with Love is perhaps the best story of all the Bond films, and told in a way that makes me now think of Hitchcock's films, even down to imitating the famous cropduster chase from North By Northwest. And there's a great, vicious fight in this story in a train compartment.



Number Three:

Goldfinger is often referred to as the best Bond film, and it's hard for me to argue against it. A great story, fantastic villain and above all, the amazing Aston Martin DB5. The conclusion, inside Fort Knox where Bond Squares off against Oddjob, an incredible, silent bad guy, is ridiculously cool.

I call these first three films the Great Bond Trilogy.



Number four:

Dr. No is ranked here because it's a good story, amazing sets by Ken Adam, who I had the fortune to meet once on the Paramount lot, and a fantastic villain. It also introduced Connery as Bond and features the only time 007 ever dispatched a man in cold blood



Number Five:

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the best non-Connery film I've ever seen. Yeah, kids, it's even better than Casino Royale and Skyfall. It starred George Lazenby, who only played the role once for what we shall say differing reasons, but this is a fantastic story with a great villain played by Telly Savalas. If Lazenby had been Bond through the seventies instead of the guy who aint cool and shall be nameless (Roger Moore), the series would have been much better off. AWESOME bobsled chase near the end.


Number Six:

You Only Live Twice is really cool, a fun story but with some disappointing visual effects that depict space, which when compared with 2001: A Space Odyssey, lessen this film, but it also features a petty cool Datsun convertible and amazing depiction of 1960's Japan.


Number Seven:

Diamonds Are Forever is the least of the classic Bond films, and it shows. Set in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the exoticism of the Bond universe ebbs as the series moves into the 70's with an older Connery making is second to last appearance as Bond.


BONUS:

Never Say Never Again is a remake of Thunderball, was made in the early eighties and was played as a concluding chapter in the Connery Bond series and is enjoyable to me. Some of my friends hate this film, but it's way better than some of the Roger Moore films in the 80's.

I'm not gonna rank this film, but those of you who might enjoy a little more Connery as Bond might enjoy this.

Hieroglyph- Nilu

It's hard to explain, but this is the guy who ends up writing what is the equivalent of the bible in Warhead, my dumb novel that links up with my dumb comic book.

hatching of a Mojave Desert Tortise

This is really beautiful...