The Penguin

I'm designing a Wizard of Oz head. Here's the first four initial concepts: The first is based off a sketch I drew. The wizard head always reminded me of the magic mirror from Disney's Snow White, and since Oz is the all-powerful emperor, I thought of a Mandarin from Imperial China. I had to include your classic bulbous-headed 1939 Wizard, of course; next, what gallery of terrifying inscrutible faces would be complete without an Easter Island Maoi statue? The last one intrigued me most of all: the Wizard puppet from the musical, Wicked. It was originally designed as a cross between Frank L. Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz book illustration of the head and the 1939 Tin Man. While the production head itself is a fairly complex bit of engineering, I've seen clips of amateur productions that feature a blacksuited cast member and a giant cardboard mask with movable lower jaw - simple, yet very effective (especially with red LED eyes). I'll keep you posted on further...

Isn't central heating great? I'm sitting here in the house, frost rapidly spreading over my toes, and when I go to check on the thermostat it says, "63 degrees". Now I know what 63 feels like: April, balmy, a cool breeze. This is not 63 degrees. Our heating unit is either broken or lying to us, and personally I suspect the latter. It's the digital version of a crooked landlord who wants to save a couple extra dollars a month by deep-freezing his renters and then charging normal rates. And what the hell is up with the automatic system? Isn't it supposed to kick on once the temperature goes below program? Instead it waits until the room temperature is slightly above freezing. Then it starts blowing cold air. But enough of that. Kickstarter campaign is going great; I already have six backers and $120.00. I'm going to need a lot more before April, of course, so don't go cheap on me, all you slackers. I just ordered ten posters from Ka-Blam, and I'm l...

(As you know, Gentle Reader, I'm a bit of a nerd, and I love paleontology to death. Here's a review/gloss on a book I read about the Permian Extinction Event). I just read a very interesting book called Gorgon: Paleontology, Obsession, and the Greatest Catastrophe in Earth’s History by Peter D. Ward (Viking, 2004). It contained a very intriguing theory about the Permian extinction, an event that snuffed out 90% of all life on Earth. A short exposition: the Permian period was a stretch of time in Earth’s natural history just before the Mesozoic (“Age of Dinosaurs”). There were no dinosaurs during the Permian, only amphibians, lizards, and mammal-like reptiles. If you want to know what a mammal-like reptile looked like, simply take the body of a big lizard and slap on the head of a dog, minus the fur. As far as we know, these therapsids were cold-blooded, laid eggs, and had tiny lizard lungs – a feature important to the extinction theory. Large car...

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  A day early, I know, but I'd better upload it while I'm thinking about it...

Just a little doodle I did in Photoshop. My friend Lauren is setting up a Livingston County Queer Prom, and the theme is, "Zombie Prompocalypse". Figure 1.1: Dancing Undead. I'll see if she wants a dance floor littered with glowsticks and offal. Of course, they'll have to have a special machine to clear the dance floor of all the rotting bits that fall off. And what will this machine be called? A Zomboni. Rick Out.

It seems like everyone's shutting down their blogs but me. Let us pause to reflect on the unfortunate demise of the personal blog. (Voice of Nelson: Ha-ha! ) But seriously, folks, I'm sure once this whole "Recession" fad has faded in a couple of weeks and people get back to work, there'll be plenty of leisure time to share our thoughts, opinions, and updates in the wide and wacky world of Web Logging. In the meantime, I will be continuing to upload sketches and such; I am also working on a large post about my comic book creative process, which should be up in the next couple of weeks. Personally, I find this time of apocalyptic economic catastrophe to be the perfect time to kick back, relax, and take advantage of the large vacuum in the blogsphere. Til next time, Rick Out.

Hey, y'all! Just to let you know, I've just launched my Kickstarter campaign to finance my newest comic book, The Human Cannonball #1! Check it out here . I'm super-stoked about the project; the donation period opens today, and ends April 1st. Any donations will be greatly appreciated! Rick Out.