Welcome To Solid Fuel Studios!

Aged News:

2008-10-06: Dawnink!
Today, strange things are afoot at the circle-k. ( . . . . )

Solid Fuel has been a bit shakey the past few months, but we are regrouping, and will have more to say in the next week or two.

2008-08-29: PAX - TODAY!
Well, the PDX Zine fest was a sobering, but friendly, learning experience. To recoop, we're heading off to the Penny Arcade Expo! Details on the event: are here.

2008-08-23: PDX Zine Fest - TODAY!
Egad, it's 2:16am, and I've totally neglected proper news posting on the interwebs!

The quick version: Please stop by and see Warren Blyth at the PDX Zine Symposium this weekend. Details on the fest: are here. Warren will be selling brand-spanking-new copies of VidHero issue 1, VidHero T-shirts of all sizes, and Chimera Chic: Snake Ring. ("what what what?" you say. This is a brand new mini-comic to be announced at the show. more information, and a website, will pop up asap. ... maybe tonight. hopefully.)

And so, more later (it is time for a little sleep).

2008-08-01: Critquin' Contested
In the Solid Fuel spirit of helping creators, here are some interesting art-related links:

BLOOD AND ROSES (Blue Line Pro Art Contest):
The new Sketch magazine contest is to draw 2 pages of sequential art for a web comic (2 page scripts are offered up - First page has a very strict panel layout, while second page is more loose).
Winner gets printed in SKETCH magazine. All entries are critiqued by industry dudes (!). Entries must be posted Aug 18-23. Details Here
ZOMBIES (Afterburn Media Board Contest):
The forum also offers a random contest with no prize (except to choose the next contest). And the next iteration is about : zombies! The guy suggests 3 frames of zombies approaching someone (but allows for it to be more, or less).
The winnner picks the next contest. Entries must be posted Aug 25-28.
The offical Zombie Contest thread
The Last contest was to draw your favorite marvel character as a skrull. Entries can be seen here This thread has samples of the current contributor gang's entries/styles, along with the initial babbling about this new zombie contest.
And... JOHN K. STUFF
The legendary john kricfalusi (Ren & Stimpy) has posted several cool art/inking critiques in his ongoing blog. My pal Shawn Waldow turned me on to this blog with this specific post: "examples of how to ink our stuff." Sweet! (snoop around in the June 2008 area for more entries like this)

2008-07-05: The Internet is for Information Overload
I should update this page more often (some friends have noted that i'm not posting. apparently unaware of the vitreousHumor and vidhero blogs?) Soo, here are some quick links of interest, from my rampant internet snooping today:

Dynamically Opaque Chess Pieces - Sweet! I'm always interested in the tech behind materials that can change from transparent to opaque. what is this "mirona" shit? Simply electrically polarizing, or something new?
xbox360 3D GUI - This is of personal interest, because during a previous job/life, we sent a certain huge company some free motion tracking devices for some sort of internal tradeshow demo, concerning a 3D dashboard interface - before the xbox360 even launched (and then nobody replied to followups of "how did it go?"). Probably not directly related. But still of personal interest.
3D games development - I keep reading that people are working on 3D display games, and tv makers are working on 3D display tvs. While shutter glasses do suck, and polarized lenses present illumination, shutter speed, and POV issues, there is some innovation just waiting to happen that combines them all (with precise 3d head tracking). methinks.
Why LIFT is way cooler than GDC - cool interview with details on a Euro conference of tech awesomnesszz. He seems to overlook that cool tech is trying to get airtime at GDC, and there is a lot of great shit to find at GDC if you deviate from the flashy big-corporate displays.
Frank Miller's 10 Superhero Commandments - Cool list of story telling advice, and artist insights.
Cultural perspective on new tech - i was specifically struck by the notion that we'll all have cell phone cameras of high quality, coupled with GPS, soon, so it seems the best way to approach augmented reality is to use cell phones as a dynamic window into layered information/visuals (and put the "markers" to be tracked into the environment of interest). Plus, I'd never really thought about the psychology of hyper links being applied beyond text.
Orphan Works 2008: now before congress - I'm very interested in the progress of this fairly fishy copyright infringment bill. There's so much bullshit misinformation regarding it though, that it's very hard to evaluate reasonably. Sooo, i'm still sorting trying to just read the core text. (i think the core issue is : what do they mean by limited remedies exactly?)

I will endeavor to collect cool links here, rather than banishing them to the obscurity of individual emails to select friends.

2008-06-07: I Don't Bare My Bests
Heading up to the olympia comics fest thingy.
The original plan: first issue printed, mini comics in hand, maybe t-shirts. Double check with the organizer lady that my money was processed and I'll have half a table waiting. Ping everyone I talked to at the StumptownFest to see if they'll be there.
The final reality: Um, just going up with Jonason to see what happens. Nothing is really done. Nobody has been contacted. But I printed the "locked" 21 pages of VidHero issue one so I can ask random people to critique. Guess we'll wing it. Woo hoo!

2008-04-29: Burnt Coffees & Steaks
The Maker Faire was tons of fun, and highly recommended. Lots of fire, freaks, fabrics, robots, and inspiration. Really enjoyed Abney Park's steam punk performance, and am debating when (and how far) to jump into that strange scene. Carrie's Incognito Costumes is already locked on target, and Warren has already doodled out a victorian era short story for VidHero. Excessive steam punk ruminating has crystalized an approach for a recent pottery and glass sculpture concept (involving jawbones and puzzles).

... How does one say "Heavy Bias" in French? Is it really "Polarisation Lourde"? "Schwere Vorspannung" in German? "Zhongliang Pianpo" in Chinese? hmm. More on this in a month.

Currently, we're full steam ahead on getting Incognito's website up, and finishing off the first issue of VidHero by May 16th. Jonason is working on a 10 page bonus story for the comic, and there may well be mini comics as well (all this is top priority due to Solid Fuel's presence at next month's Olympia Comics Fest (June 7th). Fuel is burning hot.

2008-04-29: Fun Fests and Onward
Stumptown was fantastic. We learned a ton about the current state of indie and local comics, met a bunch of great artists and editors, and received some extremely useful feedback on the current state of VidHero. There are many notes to process and followup on (and perhaps a "business lesson" to write up regarding festivals), but time is tight until next week.

We're heading down to San Francisco this weekend for the Maker Faire, and have signed up for table space at the Olympia Comics Fest on June 7th. Moooooore later.

2008-04-25: NEW NEW NEWS!
Today the website has been redesigned to celebrate Solid Fuel Studios LLC'S official registration in the eyes of Oregon's Secretary of State.

We're heading off to Stumptown Comics Fest tomorrow to try and meet some other local Portland indie comic book creators. Fingers crossed they're friendly!