OKC 2011 - Godzilla

After our third earthquake in a week (one of them record breaking for the history of the state, the hail storms, tornadoes and drought experienced this year I could not resist producing a quick photoshopped file of Godzilla and the OKC skyline. Here are the source files I used in the piece, the final artwork and the apps I used in the process. 

 

So I took these into photoshop started hue shifting, burn tooling the crap out of it, sharpening the skyline photo to match the Godzilla photo. Then created the title in Illustrator with a mask of OKC2011 over rock... Brought it into PS and repeated the above. Added a bit of fire and lightning (screened those and erased a bit). Then exported it and threw into Dropbox. On the iPhone I then loaded it into the app Halftone and added the texture for comic effect and then exported and brought up in Instagram. Grabbed the Valencia filter and violla. Good times. 

This is without iPhone filters... Below is the final posted. Sharing this because some people asked about making it. :) 

Good times. :) 

You're Not That Smart

Thinking this book looks fantastic but besides that I am into motion graphics and feel that this is one worth sharing. Very well done. Beautiful. Eat your heart out After Effects lovers. 

Moving Acceptance Speech by Dennis Rodman

Dennis Rodman expresses here what so many communicators fail to see. The value of vulnerability and honesty. It's not always about being slick, or polished. The most moving and powerful communication is often the most authentic and messy. Love this... Honesty tempered with humilty is pure gold.

Evil Wind Farms

Honestly I know this video is ridicudlous but that's why I love it. It makes a great point in it's extreme humor however. It seems to me that what fuels much of the issues and confusion in our country is the power of lobbyists? I wonder what would happen if we illegalized the lobby... Would parties even be so divided? I wonder how much financial power plays in the communication and position government officials take. 

Political or not this video is hilarious. 

Favorite Superman Stories

I love Superman... Next to Captain America he is my favorite superhero and without going into all of the reasons I wanted to share some of favorite stories with you.

The more recent Superman Allstar (Vol. 1-2) is a fantastic exploration of the great charater of a Superman faced with his death. Love the whole idea and the ending is a great surprise. I would reccomend reading this after you have dove into the Superman character a bit more though. The story will mean more I think. 

My favorite Superman Story by far is Red Son which explores the idea of Superman crash landing in Soviet Russia as opposed to Kansas in the traditional narrative. I love the whole idea of the "power of context" and the power that "nurture" has on our ultimate personality. Besides the fantastic story the art is outstanding. It's a for sure need to read if you are getting into comics. 

Superman Earth One is an incredible "at the cross roads" type story where Superman actually needs to decide what he will become. It's a twist on the birth of Kal-el as Superman in Metropolis. It's that defining moment in his life when he decides to actaully be Superman. Another more recent incredible addition to the Superman legend. 

Geoff Johns wrote two of the most incredible additions to the Superman legacy with the titles Superman Brainiac and Superman and the Legion of Superheroes. There is a scene in Legion where Superman has actually lost his powers and he is still found throwing himself into danger for the sake of the greater good. Very impressive stories and again accompanied by amazing art.

A few more of the greats are Superman Birthright, Superman Secret Origins (Geoff Johns again) and Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow (by Alan Moore). All of these are freaking amazing stories that I would highly reccomend to anyone's library.

There are two other reads I would suggest although they do not purely revolve around Superman. The art in these is stellar and they are some of the greatest DC productions to date in my opinion. Kingdom Come and the sequel Justice (Vol. 1,2,3) are Epic stories not to be missed.