brown rice brotha

saw this while website sit surfing and multi-tabbing and just had to blog about it.
just had to do it.

saw it hurrrrrr
http://www.geekologie.com/2009/02/roll_one_up_america_obama_sush.php
go read bout it.

a look into michael's art box - again

this time i'm featuring my pencils, and because we all make mistakes i'm also featuring my erasers.

i like my staedtler pencils, sure they don't have a pink eraser at the end of it, but how else would you let everyone around you know you're an artist?! i don't know why they don't have erasers, maybe they figure artists have their own preference in erasers anyway. this is a HB.

pencils typically range from 6H-6B. the number has to do with the mixture of graphite, so 6H is in the extreme end of the lighter grade, it's hard to get a dark stroke but it's less prone to smearing, where as on the other end of the spectrum with 6B they have a high graphite potency, and it really easy to work with but smears. so if you're looking to do some rendering or show gradients then that's a way to go. if you're looking for more technical drawing, with clean, clear lines, then the H's is a good bet.

as for me i like the HB, it's right in the middle. sure it's the same as those Dixon Ticonderoga number 2 pencils, but it sure beats those crappy made in china plastic pencils. i tend to use these pencils when i sketch and do renderings, like showing lights and shadows in a drawing. it's easy enough to smear and blend but not too extreme.

next is the sanford col-erase pencils. this is a non-photo blue that doesn't show up in photocopies. legend has it some animator figured they don't show up in photocopies so he did his rough passes with this pencil and went over it with a regular pencil. then he went to the photocopier with it and out comes a clean copy, no fuss no muss. i tend to use this pencil to sketch my stuff out when i know i'm going to ink it over later. i scan it instead of photocopying. the blue lines still show up in the scans but it's easier to scan, and they tend to fade out with adjustments to the levels. another advantage to blue pencils is they don't smear.

there are also red and green pencils animators use. red is used to show action. for example if a shot calls for a person to come through the door, the animator would draw an arrow behind the person. plus when some thing is red the inker and the colorist know not to transfer that over. green pencils are used to show extremes. it's kinda tough to get into extremes/key frames and in-betweens. let's make it simple say you're animating a ball bouncing, the key frames/extremes would be the ball up, and the ball down and the ball up and so on, would be in green. then there are the in-betweens the animator has to include in the sequence of drawings for the eye to read that the ball bouncing. if not it would just be blinks of ball up, ball down, ball up. so in a more complicated shot like a guy walking you need to have key frames of the walk in green. so the main artist determines how to draw and pose the guy walking and the key frames, and his lowly assist has the green pencil guides and just need to fill "in-between" them.

it seems that i've spent to much time on the pencils so i'll quickly talk about the erasers. i like these pentel hi-polymer erasers, they're soft but not as soft as those kneading erasers, and they do a good job erasing without tearing the paper. then there's the pink pearl. it's the old school erasers they used to give you in kindergarten. i'm not sure if they still do since they've been steadily cutting out the budget for schools. i usually use this one for my blue pencil drawings. they do a good job erasing the blue lines and those hard deep dark lines, but tend to wear the paper.

so that's it. i'm not sure what i'll feature next, maybe my german made metallic sharpener.

tonight's dinner

lemon and pepper salmon.

a look inside michael's art box

this is a 0.35mm rapidograph koh-i-noor technical pen. it comes in different sized nibs, with one of the smallest nib being .013mm and 2.00mm being the largest. most of the pens goes for roughly $20.

i've had this pen since the beginning of art school (2003) so it's fairly sentimental. i used it largely in my 2 quarters of drafting class, but it has served me pretty well in my other projects.

i decided to begin using this pen again when i started the "1 week 1 drawing" blog.

it's used by mainly by artists, architects, designers, engineers. it's refillable, and i use "india ink" (offers one of the purest blacks and it's waterproof and archival) in the pen. the problem with india ink is it dries fairly easily and and it's hard to clean off your hands.

as a result of the ink drying quickly, the pen doesn't store well ink is left in ten, so constantly cleaning (with solution or warm soapy water), maintenance, assembling and dissembling is required. but the pen has the advantage of one of the cleanest, non-skipping, and consistant widthed lines.

this is the pen completely dissassembled.

this tool is used to tighten and loosen nib into the body of the nib.

like so.

this is the nib fully assembled with the ink cansiter attached.

things to do before noon.

buy coldplay tickets check
prepare income tax documents check
teach mom how to play brain age on the ds check

inspiring words

dendarah10 (7:09:35 PM): how's the soul searching going?

mfle02 (7:10:19 PM): i need some soul searching fuel

mfle02 (7:10:27 PM): (booze)

mfle02 (7:10:47 PM): i feel like giving that up though

dendarah10 (7:16:56 PM): WHAT

dendarah10 (7:17:01 PM): u CANNOT give up booze!

dendarah10 (7:17:03 PM): ur an artist

dendarah10 (7:17:08 PM): an artist with no vice is no artist!

in the works

i have a new blog in the works. it's not a replacement for "mfle," that's going to be still around, but rather this is more like a subsidiary of mfle. aw... mfle is growing up and having little blog babies.

a classmate i met at AI and former co-worker and i are starting a blog dedicated to sketches.
it's called "1 week 1 drawing: improv with a pen"

go check it out. it's pretty self explanatory. more info on the site.

this subsidiary is gonna have less commentary on it. it's more of an on going exercise. the commentary, randomness, and rants is what "mfle" is for.

so go tell your friends, mamas and papas, and load it in your google readers.

edit. subtitle: a photo "enhancement"

the power line/cable line/phone line or whatever it may have been in the photo in the last post were bothering me, so i used my crazy ninja skills and got rid of them.

photo editing is like getting a boob job, it's unnatural and an abomination. it's a crime against nature and the "purist" but hey, it makes the subject slightly more enjoyable.

now only if people can just as easily edit the personality and character of a person, i mean photo.

rainbow connection

i was driving home in the afternoon after the rain and saw a spectacularly well defined full rainbow - a complete arch, starting from one end and ending at another with a break in between.

i raced home and pulled out my nikon and snapped this pic from my driveway. by then the rainbow was only half an arch disappearing into the clouds.

i decided to go rainbow catching like a little kid and to a lesser extent a tornado chaser. i tried driving to an higher elevation (hillcrest elementary) but by the time i got there the rainbow, like many opportunities in life when you don't take advantage of them when they present themselves, was gone.

this is uncle mike handing out the daily life lesson signing off.
face, biyatches!

why are there so many songs about rainbows
and what's on the other side
rainbows are visions
but only illusions
rainbows have nothing to hide

in the spirit of yesterday's holiday

heart burnt.

watch your back halloween 2009!

what?!
only $11.99??

bikini wax, here i come!

the Le family 2009 + the guy behind the camera

my Nikon 50mm f/1.4D Auto Focus AF Nikkor came in the mail.
i decided to take it for a test run.

shameless edition casper

my sister bought him this shirt.
it reads "i forgot my pants"
oh, casper. when will you learn?

the chocolate mushroom told me

i went to my local "mitsuwa marketplace" to buy some snacks the other day.

i've seen these before but and i've gotten a laugh out of them because they are chocolate mushrooms. oh those japanese... what crazy thing will they think of next. (it's the white washed high school racist kid in me that's laughing)

i've never bought them before, so i thought i'd give it a try.

they're quite good, but i found myself being a calorie counter lately (yeah, i hate myself too) and they're 170 calories for only 3 pieces!

but the talking mushrooms sold me.
as to what they're saying, as usual, i have no idea.
but coming from talking mushrooms, i'd bet it's something insightful.

i also bought morinaga's caramel chew, but milk caramel this time. i'll have to say i prefer this over the brown sugar one. plus there isn't a creepy pedophile psa on the back of the insert tray.

late night george foreman grill grilling

i was driving home from the gym earlier tonight and was trying to decide what to have for dinner. it was already 11:15 at that point and i had only eaten "korean kimchi instant noodles" earlier in the evening which was not very filling. don't get me wrong, i love them, but it's not really healthy and i needed a post workout "meal"

all the places to eat that came to my mind that were open were fast food restaurants or cafes, so being the single guy who has nothing better to do on a friday night, i decided to make my own dinner.

i moseyed over to Ralph's still in my workout clothes and bought the following.

chicken fillet (pounded flat) w/ newman's own herbs & roasted garlic marinade (only 30 mins to marinate)
i first set off wanting to make my own marinade and add my own spices but that was gonna be too pricey for unemployed animator, so i cheated and bought some newman's own. hey at least it's all natural.

organic baby spring greens and lite balsamic vinaigrette for the salad.
the dressing isn't organic but at least it's "lite"

post workout beverage - whey protein powder and organic fat free milk. mmm...

8 mins in the GF grill.

the final product.
herbs & roasted garlic marinated grilled chicken breast fillet on a bed of white rice.
salad of baby greens with balsamic vinaigrette dressing
oh and i chilled a bitburger. i think i earned it.

one thing i learned. eating healthy & organic is expensive.
but damn that chicken was tasty!

thanks george!

moon ring

i took casper out for his nightly piss, looked up and saw an odd ring around the moon so i snapped a pic of it.

Wikipedia says this occurrence is caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere.

i wish i had a tripod so i could take a clearer picture.

this ring tone had my mom laughing in tears.

for the people who don't speak cantonese here's the translation.

why are you always looking for me?
you're really annoying
have you ever considered my feelings?
what your doing is making it very difficult on me
it's a lot of pressure on me
do you think phone bills are free?
it's really expensive
don't ever look for me again, ok?
i've already married someone
bye, bye

orange blossom-ing

from cherry to orange blossom.

i was visiting my local whole foods and wanted to pick up a local micro brew. i don't know what's with me and micro brews lately. i think it's just a phase.

anyway this is orange blossom amber brewed in inkyokern, california by the people at "indian wells brewing co"

(pure indian wells spring water + malted barley + hops + yeast + orange peels)

it has a faint taste of beer with a strong taste of oranges. it kinda reminds me of orange flavored sparkling water.

if you like orange fizzy water this is for you, but don't count on it to knock you out.