Week 55: Hellboy

The theme selected for week fifty five of Operation Graphite will be: Hellboy.

This week will be all about a demon from Hell, but one who was raised by gentle humans. I still remember when sweatywest handed me the trade for Seed of Destruction. He told me that the guy who did Blade II was making the feature version, and it would be staring Ron Perlman. I finished the trade in a day (after it sitting around for weeks beforehand of course) and was instantly a fan. The theme is Hellboy, his B.P.R.D. allies, his tentacled, or untentacled enemies are also fair game.

Please submit any drawing or painting, using traditional or digital media, that fits the theme: Hellboy. 

All art work is due on Thursday 3.7.13. Submissions will be published the following Friday 3.8.13

Operation: Danger in Space!

Week fifty three of Operation Graphite – Theme: Danger in Space!

Ahoy Cadets! Before I tell you about the perils of space travel, let us remember the great heroes who are immortalized for their Eff-you attitude to the to the deadly vacuum beyond the quasi safety of our fragile biosphere. There is a proposed mission to Mars that would be a one way trip to space madness. Thats right, one way, with no plan to bring you back. Now, maybe after ten years, they might figure out a way to shoot you home, but the idea is they send you the the Red Planet with no return in mind. Denis Tito is proposing his own Mars Mission. This one is to have Elon Musk shoot a crew in his SpaceX, Dragon Capsule in a mission to fly by Mars. Sure, it sounds easier, no landing, no orbit. The down side, it’s 501 day trip with a crew of 7 trapped in a capsule the size of a Honda Element. Just imagine the smell that would waft out of the capsule upon arrival. 501 days of no showering and only sponge baths with recycled urine. Perhaps it’s best not to.

Contributing Space Dangers:

bruku – Necro & Xeno

Shock – Isis 5

Thank you for risking your life in Space.

Week 54: Year of the Snake

The theme selected for week fifty four will be: Year of the Snake.

 

OK, I realize I am a few weeks late for Chinese New year, but it will be the Year of the Snake all year long. This weeks theme is not restricted to the Chinese Zodiac for 2013 (and 1977, 1989, 2001, and 2025) but open to all serpent related ideas. To celebrate the year of the water snake, we are using one of the creatures most associated with phobia, evil, and temptation. Sadly, snakes have an unfair reputation. And I’m not just saying that because I took care of a friendly red tailed boa constrictor for about six years.

Please submit any drawing or painting, using traditional or digital media, that fits the theme: Year of the Snake.

All art work is due on Thursday 2.28.13. Submissions will be published the following Friday 3.1.13

I miss you Johnny!

Operation: The New 52

Week fifty two of Operation Graphite – theme: The New 52.

While our dreams of a Justice League movie may be delayed indefinitely, we can maybe breath a sigh of relief that they care enough not to rush it. We will likely see another Batman reboot before we see DC’s greatest heroes together. At least we have [Green] Arrow on TV. The comics will continue to be the inspiration for later films and TV shows. Who knows, maybe someday we’ll see a film where Batman has to face the Court of Owls.

Contributing Heroes:

bruku – DC Heroes (unfinished)

Shock – Animal Man

Thank you for contributing.

Week 53: Danger in Space!

The theme selected for week fifty three of Operation Graphite will be: Danger in Space!

The vacuum of space is a dangerous place. There is nothing quite like being frozen on one side, and burning on the other side; whilst the absence of atmospheric pressure collapses your lungs no matter how tight you try and hold your breath. I was pretty disappointed when I learned that a human body would not violently explode when it suddenly meets the vacuum of space. Not only can danger arise from simple mechanical errors and micro meteorites, something that real life astronauts face while in orbit;  there are pesky aliens, rogue scientists, asteroids, and China shooting down satellites. Even our own Sun will eventually become a danger as it swallows up the inner planets as it hits retirement age. It would sound much cooler, and perhaps even more accurate, if we stop referring to it as Space, and start calling it, “The Danger Zone.”

Please submit any drawing or painting, using traditional or digital media, that fits the theme: Danger in Space!

All art work is due on Thursday 2.21.13. Submissions will be published the following Friday 2.22.13

Cue Kenny Loggins music.

 

Operation: Animal

Week fifty one of Operation Graphite – theme: Animal.

Theres two ways we could go here; we could go cute ,or we could go bad ass. Before you say, no no, there are plenty more ways to draw animals. Let me just stop you there. There is only Cute, and Bad Ass. A majestic Stag standing on a cliff is bad ass. A three toed sloth doing, well, pretty much anything (or nothing) is cute. A school of shimmering fish is beautiful, and somehow falls in between cute and bad ass. Maybe not cuddly cute, and not terrified for your life Bad ass, but some how you know that your emotions are tugged between those two poles. The real challenge is be be cute AND bad ass. Pretty sure only bears (with fur) big cats, and foxes are able to pull that off. And lets be honest, the foxes are pretty damn cute. Sure they hunt and stuff, but any bad ass-itude is pretty much trumped by the cute factor. Wolves loose cute points once they mature for being too bad ass for their own good. Only after centuries of domestication did cuteness stay in any canine past the puppy stage. After that, the dog world just spirals into cute overload. I saw a picture of baby duck billed platypuses the other day, it almost made me pass out from over cuteness. I was able to retain my consiousness by the destracting knowledge that duck billed platypuses have a poisonous barb on their hind legs. So don’t go cuddling with a platypus, cause deep down they are kinda bad ass.

Contributing Animals:

bruku – Pigs

Shock – Little Elephant

Thank you for letting out your wild side.

Week 52: The New 52

The theme selected for week fifty two of Operation Graphite will be: The New 52.

Operation Graphite has officially run for an entire year. For week fifty two, it think it would be fitting to celebrate the first year in the trenches by getting back to our comic roots. The New 52 was the most recent revamp for DC comics, one that some hailed and others condemned. Superman lost his underwear, Batgirl was able to walk again, and the Joker cut off his own face. The theme is really DC comics, and I won’t hold you to the revamp versions of any of the characters. The 52 weeks, and new 52 theme was just too good to let slip away.

Please submit any drawing or painting, using traditional or digital media, that fits the theme: The New 52. 

All art work is due on Thursday 2.14.13. Submissions will be published the following Friday 2.15.13 

Operation: Off Hand

Week fifty of Operation Graphite – Theme: Off Hand.

A few years ago I saw a documentary about David Gelernter. The brilliant computer scientist became a lefty, after years of being Right handed. This was not due to any eccentric personal decision, in 1993 Ted Kaczynski sent him a mail bomb that nearly took his life. David was also an artist, and he had to learn how to paint with his left hand after his right was damaged. Just a few minutes into working on this week’s drawing and my arm ached from using my off hand. Frustrated, I wanted to switch back to my left hand with every pencil mark I made. Thinking of David’s situation made me muscle thought it, appreciate his willpower, and be thankful for my own undamaged limbs.

Contributing Switch Hitters.

Bruku – Snake eyes & Batman

Micah – Morgan

Shock – South Paw Orc

Thank you for drawing with your other hand.