Hey everyone!
If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s all here… we’ve finally caught glimpse of the new Logo, which looks Very nice, and we’ve been treated to peeks of April, some well-known co-workers, trampolines and Three of our Mo-Capped Turtles in a wicked bad situation. I just had to pull away from FCBD stuff to share this – It’s comin’ out of the woodwork!
Hey all!
Well, we’ve just gotten ourselves an update today, courtesy of JoBlo:
Last week, the first of the four NINJA TURTLES in the Michael Bay-produced reboot was cast, bringing in former Aquaman Alan Ritchson for the role of Raphael. Now, the other three turtles have filled their shells, with Pete Ploszek (Parks and Recreation) playing the leader, Leonardo, Jeremy Howard (Breaking Bad) taking on the bo-staff wielding Donatello, and Noel Fisher (BATTLE: LOS ANGELES) portraying the wise-cracking Michelangelo. All of the actors are new on the scene, which was probably a big consideration when the studio addressed the budgetary issues a while back, causing the film to be delayed. It makes perfect sense, really, especially when the actors will be virtually unrecognizeable as themselves anyway.
(Picture belongs to the JoBlo Network, with much appreciation! Now let’s see how long it takes for TMNT fans to start Turtlizing these guys’ faces…)
According to the article, the movie is slated to come out in June 6, 2014. Now we just have tto wait and find out about Splinter, Shredder, and possibly Casey Jones…
Enjoy!
~Machias
Greetings!
A fellow Turtles Fan named ‘Sulfur’ created his own TMNT rap based on the storyline of the IDW, chronicling the origins of the Hamato family’s reincarnation and their encounters with the Shredder… It’s got a fantastic beat, the lyrics are clean – definitely check it out.
Sulfur’s also got a website going of other projects, And you can get this song as a free download, so be sure to see what else he and his posse’s been up to. Just be informed, language is a lil bit saltier there. 
Cheers!
~Machias
Well, looks like we’ve got some more original projects coming down the pipeline from our beloved Mirage guys.
Talking with Steve Levigne a few weeks back, he had mentioned that Jim was working on an original graphic novel. Jim explains a little bit about his new project:
I came up with the idea to do Dragonfly about a year ago. I’ve done dinosaur comics in the past, but I wanted this one to be a little different.
Although I’ve just labeled this a dinosaur comic, I don’t really consider it simply that. In the pages of Dragonfly, I knew that I wanted to gather all the creatures, things and characters that I have an affinity for- aliens, robots, funky post-apocalyptic vehicles and then of course, the occasional T-Rex.
Secondly, I made my decision early in the creative process to include both human and anthropomorphized characters in this world. I think that the cast of a story is terribly important and I’ve put a lot of thought into developing characters that work well together and enhance one another. The relationship that these individuals have seems like it could lead to some fun interactions and situations. Along with that, I wanted this new comic to be a little wacky and strange- I didn’t want to be constrained by scientific fact, or things that just wouldn’t be possible in our reality.
I’d not heard of this Kickstarter website before, so I looked into it. To contribute, you can offer Any amount… even a dollar. And Jim’s got all sorts of little treats and privileges to offer as a thank you for helping him reach his goal.
So if you like Jim’s artwork and want to chip in, or if you’re just curious to see what he’s up to, stop in and take a peek:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1056947565/dragonfly-an-adventure-tale-of-dinosauric-proporti
~Machias
Happy New Year, my fellow Machines!
Ahh, a new year, new beginnings… one of my personal resolutions being to get Back into drawing again. Unfortunately, I’ve had such a drought of creativity, I didn’t know where I was gonna find my starting point.
Then, last week, I received an e-mail from a pleasant fellow named David, and a link to a ‘commercial’ he created involving his best friend’s dad – Steve Lavigne – and his comic/art shop “Shellback Artworks”.
Needless to say, the commercial inspired me to go to the shop. It’s just over the border in Wells, and it was a nice drive today.
It’s a simple two-level set up, with original artwork on the walls TMNT and Non-TMNT. The main level has plenty of current comics, old swag from the Old Toon days, art supplies and even the full-sized Turtle statues. And they are BIG. They made me feel normal-height.
The upstairs was part art gallery, part classroom setting. Steve has some short classes where he helps kids and adults learn how to draw their own characters and make their pictures look like comic book covers. Talk about an experience to treasure…
The Mirage guys have taken part in a few signing events there, and they’ve all contributed to the shop in different ways. It’s nice to know that they still get together … like a wacky, slightly dysfunctional family.
Steve was a great host. We ended up talking for two hours about everything from comparing traditional vs digital art, Mirage comics and the current TMNT cartoon, even things like cars, transformers and best of all, the Mirage crew’s original projects.
One project in particular I liked were two children’s books Steve’s illustrated, which have music written by Tim Janis – very well known, if you’re from New England. “Shine like a Lighthouse” and “Twinkle Star’s Adventure”. It’s the tale of the sea creatures that live in the waters surrounding the Nubble Lighthouse in Cape Neddick. The illustrations are cute and colorful, the music is enjoyable (sounds a Lot like James Taylor), and the plushies of the two main characters are sure to become favorites with your little ones.
So after taking a picture and buying a few things, we bid farewell with plans to meet again – next time, with my brother’s antique car and some new artwork - if there was ever such a thing as a creativity transfusion, I received one today.
Be sure to check them out on facebook, learn of the glory that is the Eberhard Faber indigo blue drafting pencil, and stop by the shop and say Hi to Steve. Things are quiet right now, but as the weather warms up, so will the activities and upcoming events.
So Stay Tuned!
~Machias