Skulboy: Duncan's Blogversation

End of 2011

2011-12-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

Been couple of months since last post so here's a end of the year update before I start work on Ender's Game at the beginning of 2012.

After finishing sculpting duties on The Avengers, I jumped back into my illustration alter ego, Skulboy.
Skulboy Designs is combination of 2 of my passions, drawing and Disc Golf.

Skulscape t-shirt design.

The latest plastic, my custom stamp on the Legacy Cannon driver and my mini-art book.

Disc Golf meets the Mayan calendar for this 2012 event.

And it's not all Disc Golf, here is a custom beer label done for SPP.

The Townhouse

2011-12-22T13:51:00.000-08:00

Akiko and I finally became homeowners this year.

First on the list was the bathroom renovation.
After ripping out the vanity, removing the toilet and pulling up the floor, we put down tile.

These are the reclaimed wood tables Akiko and I built.

The Monrovia sunset from our balcony.

Gizmo spreading out.

Took the cats some adjustments, but it's now home.

New York

2011-10-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

In between locations of New Mexico and Cleveland, Akiko and I headed back to NY for a family emergency (happy to report that brother David is doing much better,) my 30th High School Reunion and getting together with Akiko's family in New York City. Good to be back home to visit family and friends.

Mike, Jim and I (yes, I'm the super white one) meet up for some Disc Golf in Greece, NY.

Mt Hope Cemetery in Rochester, NY.

Hikida and Hughes family at Intrepid Battleship docked in NYC.

New Mexico

2011-10-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

We are finally settled down somewhat so I'm ready to catch up on my lack of posts.
I spent the first half of the year working on Location for The Avengers. Several months in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As locations go, Albuquerque was not so bad. A short flight back to LA, hot, but dry (very dry) climate, spicy food and plenty of Disc Golf courses to check out on weekends.
Akiko came out to visit and we took in some sites.

Santa Fe

Sandia Peak

Tent Rocks

Soda Dam

Latest Disc Golf Graphics

2011-09-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Few new designs I did for Disc Golf.

Latitude 64 RIVER driver.

Disc Golf Review.com fundraiser MVP Ion putter.

You can see these and my Disc Golf course photos over at Skulboy Designs.

Super 8

2011-08-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

S P O I L E R A L E R T!
If you haven't seen SUPER 8, you may want to avert your eyes from the following photos.

This cave and tunnel set was to look as if the alien had dug it out with his claws. Our sculpting team employed some innovative foam cutting techniques with great results.

In progress shot with the dark section of the foam having been sealed with plaster.

The finished set.

Green Lantern

2011-06-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

During the first few months of 2010, I worked on Green Lantern in New Orleans.
The following are in-progress photos of Abin Sur's escape pod.

The ship was designed in the computer and was extremely complicated as it was facets on top of facets. Our sculpting team made section through templates and found the planes.

The sections were glued together and worked as a whole.

The Shop Hands then created a massive mold, flipped it on it's side and we then carved the inside.

A mold was then made of the interior and parts were cast for a top and bottom shell for the ship.

Side note part 2. I have no idea who picks who for the list, but I got screen credit on this film. That makes 3 films this summer (Thor, Pirates 4 and GL) that my name appeared on the credits after 10 years of none. Weird and exciting at the same time.

THOR Reigns!

2011-05-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

Knowing the comic book and even working on a few of the sets for the film, I had no idea how anyone could successfully make Asgard, Earth and Gods work in a live action movie. Well, I'm very happy to say that Kenneth Branagh pulled it off. A almost perfect blend of character, conflict, humor and action grabs you and doesn't let go. And tears of joy for comic fans like me who get to behold THOR brought to life. The spinning hammer, bringing down the lightning and battling beside Lady Sif and The Warriors Three to name a few. Wow.
Marvel hits another home run. For me, THOR places right up there with the best of the best in comic book movies right next to Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man. Can't give Marvel enough credit for crafting excellent movies with their stable of characters all leading up to what may be the coolest movie of all time, The Avengers.

As a side note, THOR marks my first screen credit after 11 years in the movie industry. Look for Duncan Crawford under "Sculptors" while you wait for the scene after the credits.

Couple of pics of the Frost Giant set in the making.

Skulboy Designs Rides Again!

2011-04-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

My Disc Golf world has some very exciting news for Skulboy Designs.
I did two designs for Discovering The World to be hot stamped onto discs for the red hot Disc Golf manufacturer, Latitude 64. Here they are.

The discs are stamped and available now over at DTWorld.

Where's The Movie Stuff?!

2011-03-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

You may have wondered where all the photos of what I've worked on in the Movie World have been recently.
I'm currently sculpting away on the Marvel Fanboy Geek Dream film, The Avengers and last year was a very busy one. Because I won't post any set pictures until after the film has been theatrically released, I sometimes sit on them for over a year. Stayed tuned as 2011 will bring some behind the scenes peeks of sets from Thor, Green Lantern, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Butter and Super 8.

Podcast!

2011-02-24T15:29:00.000-08:00

If your interested in listening to Akiko's and my Art History, here is a link to a podcast interview we did with awesome artist Chris Oatley for his blog.

ArtCast #54

Drawing Table Getting a Little Crowded

2011-02-05T15:50:00.000-08:00

Gizmo and Phantom making sure I get my work done.

Paso Robles

2011-01-14T16:45:00.000-08:00

Akiko and I got out of the big city last week and drove up to Paso Robles. Half way between LA and San Fransisco and vineyards as far as the eye can see.

Chanticleer Vineyard

We stayed at the excellent Chanticleer Vineyard Bed & Breakfast which had beautiful views and the strawberry bread pudding Carolyn served on our second day was beyond words amazing.

After a long drive and a nice dinner in downtown, we rested up for a big day of Wine Tasting.

Being post-holidays, we were the only ones signed up for the Wine Wrangler that day and got to hit 6 wineries for plenty of tasting and lots of wine making tidbits.

Niners impressive tasting room and Heart Hill.

View of the ocean from Hwy 46 traveling West to Cambria.

Fun trip, nice to get out of town for a few days and we're very much enjoying the bottles we brought back.

Vartan Revisited

2010-12-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

Vartan's final stand.

You may remember awhile back I sculpted a character maquette of historic figure Vartan Mamigonian for the film project East Of Byzantium. I was so compelled by Roger Kupelian's fire and drive to make this film happen that I needed to contribute in the best way I could, sculpting. Well, he's at last getting closer to becoming a collectable statue. His casted parts are being made ready for manufacturing and a sample statue is not too far away. I'll keep you updated as soon as I have more information.

Here's a few more photos of the sculpture.

Plastic Chat

2010-12-21T08:33:00.000-08:00

Thought I would post a few links for fellow Disc Golf Fanatics out there.
Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks there needs to be more skeletal images printed and stamped on discs. Disc-Or-Die has some top notch artists creating sweet images, check this one out.

Awesome work from Jeff Gaither.

And now I want to talk about my main go-to mid-range disc. When I walk up to my approach shot and it's farther than 30' from the hole, I reach into my bag without hesitation and grab my Discraft Buzzz. I've been throwing the Z plastic version for awhile now, but was told that everyone is throwing the FLX plastic version. Of course, I had to have one. Haven't thrown it yet, but I'm dying to get out on the course.

FLX Buzzz

If you're looking to pick up a Buzzz or any other new plastic, head over to Disc Golf Station for a great selection.

Long time, no post

2010-12-13T22:01:00.000-08:00

Wow, a month without a post. Little update for now until I get some time to import some photos from my camera.
Started out sculpting a 1/4 inch scale model for a set on Super 8 in August and now I'm working as Stand-By for the full size version of that set during the final days of shooting. Nice run.
And this past weekend, Akiko took me to Unique LA, a inspiring collection of artist displaying hand made items and cool silk screened goods. It was held in a Downtown penthouse with a great 360 view of LA. Art and scenery.
Plus I'm working on drawing this year's graphic for the Sylmar Summertime Open Disc Golf Tournament. Stay tuned, will have pics up soon.

Chavez Ridge Disc Golf

2010-11-14T15:55:00.000-08:00

Chavez Ridge disc golf course in Elysian Park overlooking Downtown LA and Dodger Stadium.
Challenging course with treacherous steep ravines that your disc can roll down putting you hundreds of feet away from the basket. They call it "getting Chavezed." Ouch.
For more photos check out my other site Skulboy Designs.

Yucaipa!

2010-11-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

On Halloween weekend, Akiko and I took a day trip out to Yucaipa, CA for fresh air, apple orchards and fall colors.

Fall colors... check.

Akiko at Riley's Farm.

Skulboy Designs Wear

2010-10-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

Mike Abrams at Athletic Outlet sent an amazing set of apparel samples with my logo on it. Thanks, Mike!

I'm wearing the beanie and The World's Most Awesome Sweater.

SKULBOY DESIGNS Launch!

2010-10-23T21:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry for lack of updates, but it has all be leading up to this, the launch of SKULBOY DESIGNS.

2010 has been a big Disc Golf year for me and at the moment, Skulboy Designs reflects that. After playing the sport for close to 30 years, this year I learned the Power Grip, played in my first tournaments and started doing Disc Golf related artwork. At the new site you'll find a gallery of that artwork, photos from tournaments and courses I've played and a store complete with product. That product is my first custom Hot Stamp design on Innova Golf Discs. If all goes well, I plan to have a new stamped disc every 6 months.
I hope you like what you see and thanks for looking.

Fur Ball at the Skirball 2010

2010-09-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

Kitten Rescue is a great cause and the Fur Ball event at the Skirball was an excellent time.

Katee Sackhoff with Akiko.

Akiko with Pam and Angela from The Office. Yes, I took a blurry picture, sorry.

Really nice items up for auction, an interesting vegetarian meal and many stars from Battlestar Galactica and The office. Good times.

August Update

2010-08-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

At least it's a dry heat... Been a very hot couple of weeks here in LA.
Work wise, finished 2 months of sculpting on a full size set for Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides and then got to move down in scale to carve a model for a film code-named "Darlings."

And now I'm enjoying a few weeks off. Getting in some good Disc Golf practice, catching up on my stack of comic books and movies and diving into the PS3.
One highlight was Akiko and I seeing The Spectacular Art of Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Getty. Unbelievable craftsmanship, his oil painting glow with life, gorgeous work. Gifted sculptor as well.

Plus it seems as though I have found a niche for my scratching pen and ink style in the Disc Golf world. 2 of the latest:

The date has since changed to Oct 16-17 and unfortunately appears they are not stamping this image on disc. Live and learn as they say.

This one for a group that plays the El Dorado course.

LOST Auction

2010-08-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

This month, tons of items from the entire series of LOST are being auctioned off.
LOST AUCTION
Personally, I would love to have a few cans of Darma beer.

And from Season 6, here is the archway to Dogen's temple that I sculpted. If you win it, I'll be happy to sign it for you.

Avengers Sudden Death

2010-07-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

Couple of recent illustrations:

Cover for latest issue of CAPA-Alpha fanzine. Classic versions of Marvels big 3 movie franchise heroes. Hope to do a color version soon.

T-shirt graphic for Sudden Death Disc Golf.

Happy 4th!

2010-07-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

Currently I'm sculpting away on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I won't show you anything I'm working on, but how about a shot of my drive into Universal.

Yep, I get to drive past the Jaws part of the backlot everyday.

Take that, Hulk!

Been awhile since Akiko and I got out of LA so we took a day trip up to Big Bear Lake. Ate some Barbecue, checked out the Artwalk in the village and then hiked up the Castle Rock trail.

The area is about 7,000 feet above sea level and we saw some beautiful sights.

Summertime Open

2010-06-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

After playing Disc (Frisbee) Golf for almost 30 years, I just played in my first ever tournament this past weekend, the Sylmar Summertime Open. As seen in an earlier post, I was asked to create a graphic for the event and after finally making my mark on the sport, I decided to see what it would be like to play with the big boys.

I signed up for intermediate and was placed into the Advanced Masters bracket which is basically a nice way of saying Old Guys bracket as we were all 40-50 years old.

Advanced Master Old Guys in the house.

On arrival to the tournament, I received my Players Package and was extra psyched to see my image stamped onto a disc and printed on t-shirts and golf towels. Nice.

Sweet!

Then when we rolled up to hole 4, there was my promo piece.

Hole 4 brought to you by SKULBOY.COM.

Akiko can tell you, I was pretty nervous about playing with tight rules and tough competition. I tried to stay cool, play safe and do the best I could. By the end of the second day of the 3 day event I played well enough to be tied for 3rd in my bracket and was surprised and happy with that. Day 3 didn't go so good and I finished tied for 6th out of 8. Still no so bad for my first time out and at least I didn't end up last. Had lots of fun and met some quality people. I'm now a member of the PDGA and planning my next tournament.

LOST Finale

2010-05-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

"Lost is over?!!... I'm outta here!"

Man, what a show. Great ending to an awesome series.
The following are some in-progress photos of the Light Cave, the heart of the island.

This was a fun cave because it wasn't the usual dirt-rock style we used in the past. I was privileged to get to sculpt most of the "flow stone."

Flow stone stalagmite with plaster and paint.

This set ended up looking great in the finale.

The water test.

Dripping skull, the final strike of Skulboy!

Maquette WIP

2010-05-22T15:53:00.000-07:00

Found myself with a couple of weeks between jobs so I broke out the clay.
Decided to sculpt a 1:8 scale bust of Marvel character, Gamora.

This is the sketch I did with Gamora in her current costume minus her cape.

She's pretty close to being done, but it's back to work Monday. I'll post updates wheh I get around to finishing her.

The Big 1-0

2010-05-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

May 6, 2000 Akiko and I got married. It was a major life changing event as we then left our jobs in Rochester, NY and drove out West where we are currently living happily ever after in Pasadena, CA. Here's a toast for the next 10 years.

5 Weeks In Oahu

2010-04-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

Got the call to fly to Hawaii to work on LOST for one last time to sculpt on the set for the series finale. We'll talk more about that after the final episodes air.

Although it was pretty much all work, I did get to travel around the island a little bit.

Makapu!
Over the past several years, this was my sixth trip to work on the show and Akiko finally got the chance to visit this time.

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

Back to work! 9am break meant breakfast with the boys, Kevin, Uncle John and Kimo, at Diamond Head Grill (boy am I gonna miss that place.) I was having the kim-chi fried rice this morning, but their blueberry cream cheese scones are truly amazing.

Me and Freddy.
Location jobs are always tough because you're away from home, but as far as locations go, there isn't anywhere better than Oahu. Gorgeous island and the local crew were a blast to work with, Mahalo.

The PARTY

2010-04-22T17:33:00.000-07:00

With the LOST series
coming to an end, Evangeline Lilly threw a party to top all parties. "Evangeline's Crew Bash" was held in the secluded Kualoa Valley and I didn't know if I was going to make the list of invitees until the morning of the party. Although a few of us were scheduled to work the Sunday after the event, this bash was not to be missed.
As I've said many times on this blog, I've been a huge fan of the show since the first episode. Had my first geek moment on the shuttle into the valley when I introduced myself to Jeremy (Faraday) Davies and told him how happy I was to see him back on the show (he died, but reappeared in the alternate reality.)

We got there just as they started serving dinner. Poke salad, roast pig, lobster tails and everything in between made for delicious meal.
For a post dinner presentation, Ms Lilly went above and beyond putting together a video compilation of the crew. You don't see this kind of gesture very often in this industry and it was greatly appreciated.

Lead sculptor and buddy Jim Van Houten, who is responsible for me working in Oahu, with Michael (Ben) Emerson and myself. With only a few exceptions, the entire cast was at the party roaming around and happy to talk and take photos.

This is a picture of Michael Emerson, me and Jorge (Hugo) Garcia with Josh (Sawyer) Holloway walking in front of the camera.

Got to explain to Terry (Locke) O'Quinn my fan idea of seeing an alternate Locke showdown with evil Locke with good Locke beating the Locke out of the Smoke Monster. Terry assured me that I would not get to see that and that he wasn't too keen on the idea as he would most likely end up with more scrapes and bruises than he already has.

Told Creator/Writer Damon Lindelof about my dilemma of getting to work on the final set for the show, but still not wanting to know how it ends until it airs on TV.

And I got to personally thank Evangeline (Kate) Lilly for hosting such a special night.

One Last Time

2010-03-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

After a nice, restful couple of weeks back home in LA with Akiko and the cats, it's time to pack the tools once again for Hawaii. They thought they could finish the series without me, but gave in and called me back for the series finale of LOST. Don't worry, I won't be posting any spoilers.

Before I go, here's a sneak preview of my printed disc design for Sylmar's disc golf Summertime Open coming up in June.

NEW ORLEANS part1

2010-03-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

My comic book movie resume gets another entry as I was flown out to work in Louisiana as a sculptor for GREEN LANTERN.

Not long after arriving, Parade Season was under way and beads were flying.

Not only that, but the Saints were charging through the playoffs and let me tell you, this town LOVES their football team.

Akiko came out to visit and here she is in front of the legendary jazz venue, Preservation Hall in the French Quarter.

Great music everywhere.

Even Darth Vader loves a parade.

NEW ORLEANS part2

2010-03-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

With the Mardi Gras parade season over, we decided to see some different sights and went on a Swamp/Bayou tour. Unfortunately, alligators don't like cold and windy days so the boat ride was uneventful. We did however all get to pass this little fella around.

On a more pleasant day, weather wise, we jumped on the St Charles Street Car and spent the day walking through the Garden District and Magazine St.

One of our stops was Lafayette Cemetery No.1.

As you can see, we took plenty of photos in this City of the Dead.

And then... the work ran out. What was supposed to be a 5 month job abruptly turned into 2 months and I was sent home. Although I was disappointed that I was going home early, it was truly an amazing and historical time to have been in New Orleans. The Saints run at the big game and Super Bowl win which then spilled right into a wild Mardi Gras. Lots of happy people who really know how to celebrate.

And the day before our flight, we finally got out for some Disc Golf.

Gorgeous day and a nice 24 hole course in Lafreniere Park. Chris, Dave and Jamie chillin' at the basket.

LOST Temple Header

2010-02-20T14:13:00.000-08:00

The following are in progress shots of the temple header seen in the first few episodes of LOST season 6.

We were given a blueprint with the basic outline for the header plus many books of the Angkor Wat ruins. I had the freedom to choose which ornament from the reference to sculpt into the confines of the shape. The "tree of life" in the center was at the request of the Production Designer.

Detail of the snakes.

The header installed with a coat of plaster and before paint.

Skulboy Strikes the Final Season!

LOST Temple

2010-02-08T19:57:00.000-08:00

Here's a screen capture shot I found on web of the temple in LOST that shows the header I got to carve. You can see the snakes and hieroglyphs, but not the top 2/3rds of it. It was a lot of fun to work on and I should have a few photos of it soon.

Lost, Green, Black and Gold

2010-02-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

First for all the LOST fans, the sets I got to sculpt on seen during the season opener were the the hallways leading to the temple and the interior of the temple where Sayid was dunked in the water. Unfortunately, the Angkor Wat influenced doorway header I worked on was barely seen. Maybe we'll get a better shot of it later in the season.

The reason for no new updates recently is due to me working in New Orleans on the film GREEN LANTERN based on the DC comic book character. Not allowed to say anything about it so let's talk about what I can...

New Orleans!
It's a pretty historic time to be here with the New Orleans Saints football team making a run at their first ever Super Bowl appearance. And let me tell you, this town loves their Saints.

Here I am outside the Super Dome before the Saints game where they beat Favre and the Vikings. We watched the game at Harrah's casino and downtown and the Quarter just erupted when the Saints won. Crazy.

Another thing about NO is how much live music is going on here on any given night. Have seen some great acts like Alvin Youngblood Hart, Anders Osborne, Galactic and MyNameIsJohnMichael to name a few. Really looking forward to Akiko's visit next week and I already have tickets for the B-52's when she arrives.

Anders Osborne ripping up the original House Of Blues in The French Quarter.

Can't mention NO without talking about the food. Yes, the southern cooking at places like Mother's, Deanie's and VooDoo BBQ & Grill have definitely helped me put on a few pounds, but I was on the skinny side anyways. Don't get me started on the Bread Pudding and Pralines.

Geaux Saints!

Moving On

2009-12-30T14:23:00.000-08:00

End of the year wound up being rather hectic work wise. We were really under the gun to finish up the THOR set we had been working on for past couple of months and I have to say it was massive and turned out looking pretty darned good. Still have no idea what the storyline of the film is or when in the movie our set will appear. Guess we'll have to revisit and discuss in 2011.

And once the New Year begins, I'm off to sculpt on GREEN LANTERN. Only have a few details on what we'll be working on and as usual, I'm not allowed to share.

What I can say openly though is... HAPPY NEW YEAR! There's no stoppin' 2010!

End of '09

2009-12-30T14:11:00.000-08:00

As the year comes to a close, we got a visit from my In-laws and a great time was had by all.

Rarely do I come across a big of a fan of Batman as I am, but my Nephew Matthew is just that. It's been awhile, but I broke out the old paints to create this illustration for Matthew's Christmas gift.

Look out Disneyland, here we come!

All Aboard! Next stop Travel Town.

Matthew and Akiko at Travel Town.

Sean is looking forward to 2010, Happy New Year!

THE OFFICE / BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Mash-Up at the Fur Ball

2009-12-06T21:54:00.000-08:00

Saturday night was the 2nd annual Fur Ball at the Skirball and Akiko and I had a great time. The Fur Ball is a celebration and fundraiser for an amazing organization, Kitten Rescue. Please take a moment to click on the link to find out how important they are to LA.
Hosted again this year by a Kitten Rescue volunteer since 2001, The Office's Jenna Fisher (Pam.)

Jenna talking about her rewarding experiences from fostering cats to answering the Help Line.

Also at the event was 3 members from Battlestar Galactica. Tricia Helfer (#6), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) and Tahmoh Penikett (Helo) were there to add star power to the festivities.

Akiko with Tricia.

Helo and Starbuck ... in a picture from the show, not the event.

Tricia and her husband auctioning off a vacation package to Panama.

For more photos, check out Kitten Rescue's Facebook page.
Fun time and we're already looking forward to next year's event.

Thor and Gamora

2009-11-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

Been very busy working on sets for the upcoming THOR movie and yes, the hammer they have designed for it is sweet.

Also putting together a final version of the Vartan maquette, illustrating another disc golf graphic and playing volleyball with Akiko. Lots of stuff going on, but all is well.

Latest Track 56 cover featuring Marvel's Gamora.

Age Of The Comic Book Movie

2009-10-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

If you hadn't already noticed, we are living knee-deep in the Age of the Comic Book Movie. If you thought movies based on comic books have run their course, you better take a seat because there's plenty more on the way.

Both Iron Man 2 and Jonah Hex have wrapped shooting, I just spent a month sculpting on Priest which is now filming, Thor is in the construction phase and Spiderman 4, Green Lantern and Captain America are ramping up quickly.

Priest is based on a Korean comic.

The geek in me couldn't be happier, bring 'em on.

Roch

2009-10-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

It was a real bummer that Akiko had to cancel due to work, but the trip back to Rochester, NY to see family and friends was a fun time.

Brighton '81 unite!

The family at "The Old Man's" house.

Sara and Taryn.

And one of my main goals for my visit, besides eating Country Sweet wings, was to play some Disc Golf. The morning round on a gorgeous September day was at the new MCC course. A well groomed, challenging 18 hole course with water coming into play on 8 holes and dense woods on most of the others. Thankfully, I had drawn up a map of the holes the night before from the internet because there were very few clues to where to throw on many of the holes.

Make sure you clear the water or your disc is gone.

Mike is facing the wrong way, but ready for the next green.

The afternoon match was at the world class course at Ellison Park. Some very long holes and a lot of hiking up and down the hilly landscape.

Yes, that is the basket way the F down the hill.

Shorty striking a pose at Ellison Park.

Jetsetting again.

2009-09-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry for lack of updates. I just spent the last 3 weeks in Oahu sculpting sets for the season opener of LOST season 6 and let me tell you, they are definitely not holding back for the series' final season.

They changed the hotel where they put us up to right in the heart of Waikiki and I gotta say, after a 12 hour day, it sure is nice to sit and stare at the ocean.

Part of our crew: Kemo, John, Val, me, Uncle Herman and Scratch.

Tasteful Centerfolds, Cirque Berzerk and Wolfhound

2009-08-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

For anyone who Googled "centerfolds" and ended up here, I'm going to break it to you up front. The are no naked women here, just cats with no clothes on.

Gizmo posing.

Furbert and his sun patch.

Akiko found out about it and got us tickets to an event that was a completely awesome entertainment package, Cirque Berzerk. Everything about this Creepy Carnival of the Dead was successful. Outstanding acrobatics, great music being played live during the show, ghoulish design and the New Orleans style Vaud And The Villains band that played during the intermission. Really fun time.

I recommend (to those who like this kind of stuff) Wolfhound, a Russian barbarian movie. "In a time when Gods walked amongst men..." and a group of evil marauders slaughters the entire Clan of the Grey Dog, save one boy who is taken in as a slave. About 7 minutes in, the boy now grown and bent on revenge, ready to wage siege on a mountaintop castle with his trusty bat companion, Ragged Wing. He is known as WOLFHOUND! Very fun Sword and Sorcery film that is not only epic in story, but in length as well at almost 2.5 hours. Hang on till the end because one must bear witness to the Mighty God Sword. Sweet.
Big, pissed off bad-ass with a broad sword strapped to his back and bat-buddy on his shoulder, what could be cooler than that? They call me WOLFHOUND!

Skulboy Lives!

2009-08-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

Big thanks go out to Akiko for redesigning my website and getting it back up and running.
It is set up as a portfolio so if you would like to see the sculpting work I've done over the years without having to wade through vacation photos, head over to skulboy.com

SDCC 2009

2009-07-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

After skipping the event last year, Akiko and I went down to San Diego for the Comic-Con and had a great time. Saw some friends, attended a few panels and got some very positive responses from showing our portfolios.
The place was packed, but fun.

NERD!

Akiko waiting for her Disney portfolio review.

The black beauty from next summer's Green Hornet movie.

My Con booty.

Molding Vartan

2009-07-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

With the figure sculpt complete on the Vartan maquette, it's time to make a mold in order to create resin prototypes for manufacturing. I decided to make the mold myself, but huge thanks to Colin for letting me use his shop and advising me on the process.

With the cape and hand holding the helmet removed, the sculpture is laid down and fixed to the turntable.

A foam core platform is hot glued in place to allow for WED clay to be built up to the parting line.

The WED clay here is to represent the plaster flange along the outside and silicone with registration keys over the figure. I made a few mistakes claying this up, but we'll make it work.

The plaster jacket.

REVENGE OF THE TRANSFORMERS

2009-07-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

Whether the film is considered great or terrible, Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen was very good to me. I spent 4 months sculpting on it and got to work on things I usually don't get a chance to like ornament and scale maquette-models for some of the sets we were building.
-following photos will contain SPOILERS.-

By the time I was hired, all the math had been figured out to create this column, but I did get to help shape, detail and carve hieroglyphs on this 30' tall polystyrene beast.
Over 14 copies were made of this so Mr. Bay could blow them up in any manor he chose.

Another sculptor did the eagle statue (that got blown up) and I did the eagle talons and seal underneath it that was seen in the college library scene.
The painters did an amazing job making this look like marble.

Next I got to work on the maquette for the Tomb of the Twelve. It was a cramped set loaded with dead, corroded robots who had been there for thousands of years. The Production Designer and Michael Bay wanted a combination of organic bone shapes and decaying alien robot parts.

This one shows real animal jaw bones with teeth, casted spine and lobster parts and oil based clay.

The following are the finished set.

Hope you enjoy the photos, it was a fun project to be a part of.

Recent Stuff

2009-06-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

For all of you that know me for the Comic Book Geek that I am, I can now say I worked on a Marvel film. It was only for a couple of weeks, but I just finished working on a set for Iron Man 2. I'm legally obligated not to say a word about it and before you ask, I did not see any of the stars.

Akiko and I went to the Huntington to see the Titan Arum or "Corpse Flower." It only blooms once every several years and when it does it only last for a couple of days and produces a rotting meat smell. The photo above was taken about a week before it bloomed.

We also spent a day at San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. We were really impressed with how much area these animals had to roam around in mingling with other species as they would in the wild in Africa.

We also took a behind the scenes tour and got to see this Cheetah up close. "Remember kids, stay behind the red line."

Look Out.... Behind You!!
They also had a temporary exhibit, Dino Mountain, with some nifty animatronic dinosaurs.

And what update would be complete without a pic of The Boys?

Ikon Flight

2009-06-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a graphic I did for the Rico Bros. Disc Golf line, Ikon Flight.

Me drawing skulls, hmmm... who would have thought?

Land Of The Lost

2009-06-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

I see Land Of The Lost didn't do so hot at the box office this weekend, but I did spend several months working on the sets.

This is the outside of the "home cave." We sculpted the entrance to match the one form the original TV series.

In progress shot of a set used throughout the film.

Close up of some of the rock work Dave Tye and I did.

Akiko and I saw the movie Saturday night and thought it was an entertaining movie for Will Ferrel fans. Goofy-fun with good CGI and a thumbs up for Chaka.

MONSTERPALOOZA '09

2009-06-01T00:28:00.000-07:00

Finished a couple of weeks of sculpting on sets to be used on Michael Jackson's upcoming London concert tour. No, I did not see Michael and no, I cannot tell you what we built.
So, moving on....

This weekend, Akiko and I attended MONSTERPALOOZA. On display were some amazing sculptures of monster masks, heads and figures. Great stuff. Got to see Margot Kidder and a few icons of the genre.

Here I am with none other than Dr. Satan himself, Walter Phelan.

I've been caring around this photo of a tombstone I carved for Rob Zombie's House Of 1,000 Corpses and it finally paid off. Several years ago at a Comic-Con, I had gotten the signature of Bill Moseley (Otis) and this weekend got both Sid Haig (Captain Spalding) and Walter Phelan (Dr. Satan.)

Couple of shots from the Monster Museum.

Glyph?

2009-05-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

Many LOST fans have been deciphering the hieroglyphs that have appeared on the TV show.
Well, here's one that they may not be able to find in the history books. The circled glyph that is in the panel above the Smoke Monster offering hieroglyph is known as...

Skulboy Strikes Again!

Little Down Time

2009-05-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

What?!??

Finished sculpting for a DAY ONE set on Friday. It was a very hectic schedule with lots of changes and surprises along the way, but the Production Designer was happy with the results and they got a pretty major set for a TV show. Look for the pilot to air on NBC after the Winter Olympics.
Those who think I have a dream job, here was daily routing for this job: Up at 4:30am, out the door at 5:20am, work from 6am to 5:45pm, driving through downtown LA and getting home around 6:45, shower, dinner and in bed by 10pm. And that was a straight 2 weeks without a day off. I'm not complaining, but it is a demanding job. I think I'll sleep now.

Here's another LOST shot from last Wednesday's episode.

Worldwide Fame!

2009-04-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

I guess we can chalk it up to the internet world that we live in these days.
I usually get about 6 to 10 visits a day at this blog so imagine my surprise when I turn on my computer yesterday and my Sitemeter desktop widget tells me that my blog had over 800 visits. In One Day!
Turns out that a fan of the much discussed LOST hieroglyphs that I worked on, had found my in progress photos of them from a Google search and linked my blog to a LOST forum. Then linked it to few more and before you knew it, my pics were all over the internet.
It's been linked to German, Korean and other sites, but I think this one from todoseries.com is my favorite. I can't read Spanish, but they have screen captures of "El Templo" from the show with my pictures along side them. Sweet.

Stay tuned for for my autograph signing appearance announcements.

Day One

2009-04-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

Bad news is, I haven't had much chance to update this blog. The good news is, I haven't been able to because I've been working. Have been sculpting on a set for a pilot for the TV show DAY ONE.
In other bad news, the movie I was scheduled to work on next, BIOSHOCK, has been canceled. It's been way dead for movies being made in LA for about 10 months now and I was really looking forward to getting on a big show. If they make BIOSHOCK at all, it won't be made in the US.

Brewery Art Walk

Temple of the Smoke Monster

2009-04-09T23:13:00.000-07:00

This week's LOST episode 5.12, featured the sculpting I did on my first trip to Hawaii this year.

After Ben and Locke walked through these stone tunnels, Ben fell through to the temple.

A distressed wall in the temple in raw bead foam.

And at the alter of the Monster...

Offering to the Smoke Monster hieroglyph.

Placed with other panels and blended together with cracks.

Sealed, painted, installed and ready for camera.

What do the hieroglyphs mean? I'm not sure, but the fans are certainly trying to figure it out and given this panel a lot of discussion over at Sledgeweb's LOST...Stuff and at The Fuselage.

Yes, Los Angeles has a river.

2009-04-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

Akiko and I went on a FoLAR (Friends of the Los Angeles River) car tour of the LA River. we started at the Sepulveda Basin, made several stops and ended up Downtown. We got to hear about the history of the river and the ambitious revitalization master plan. Fun day.

Back from Oahu

2009-03-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Hawaiians Love Spam!

Just got back from my latest visit to Hawaii to work on LOST TV show. This time it was for the season finale and as usual, it was a lot of work crammed into a short amount of time. Looking forward to seeing what makes it onto the screen when it airs.

Mmmm... Dharma beans.

And the winner is...

2009-03-12T16:49:00.001-07:00

After running a poll at Statue Forum and asking for help choosing what character to sculpt next on Facebook, the Cat warrior beat out Peace Machine.
Below are some Work In Progress photos. She is 1:7 scale and made with Super Sculpey firm.

Still a lot of work left, but it is being put on hold as I head out to Hawaii once again to work on LOST.

Kinda hard getting cat action poses for reference from these two.

Faux Bronze

2009-03-05T11:49:00.000-08:00

Colin Recchio did a really excellent job taking my blank hero figure and painting him with a faux bronze finish. Sweet.

The Next Sculpt

2009-03-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

This Saturday I will be starting a new maquette in Jordu Schell's class. The big question is what I will sculpt. Below are the sketches for the 2 characters I need to choose from.

Feel free to let me know which one you like to help me out.

West Coast Reunion

2009-03-03T16:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Facebook, I've been able to catch up with friends I grew up with. Some I've haven't seen or heard from in over 20 years!
Turns out some other Brighton High '81 Alumni are also living in the LA area. After some planning, 4 of us ended up meeting in Santa Monica at a Tapas bar. It was great hearing what everyone has been up to and testing each other's memories of what we remembered about The Old Days.

Dave Rosenthal, Hillel Elkins, Debbie Fogel and myself. (Akiko was taking the picture)

Chocolate-Fu

2009-02-27T17:06:00.000-08:00

Do you like thought provoking plots and in-depth character development? If you said "yes," then this movie is just not for you. If you on the other hand like Martial Arts movies with bone crunching kicks, knees and elbows all done without wires, then rent or buy CHOCOLATE as soon as possible.

Chocolate, brought to you by the Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior Director, Prachya Pinkaew, is about an autistic young girl, Zen, who's special gift is to be able to mimic moves she has seen in Kung-Fu movies and from the Kickboxing school outside her window. The story serves the purpose of giving Zen the excuse to start kicking ass and not much else. And that's fine with me because the fight scenes are just amazing. I found myself giggling with glee as Zen just brutally destroys people.
The final 20 minutes or so are easily the most fun I've had watching a Martial Arts movie in ages. If you enjoy this type of movie like I do, don't miss this one.

Death Knight update

2009-02-25T23:32:00.000-08:00

Extended his brow and put some more detail in the muscle areas.

The Dark Death Knight

2009-02-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

This is the first project for the Jordu Schell class.
It's a mask sculpt that will be molded and then cast in latex.

I'll going to tweek him some more, but here is The Death Knight so far.

More Vartan

2009-02-21T08:37:00.000-08:00

OK, here he is almost finished. One minor addition, some battle damage and smoothing down is all that is left.

Roger, the man behind EAST OF BYZANTIUM, has approved the maquette so I'm now moving on to the base of fallen Persian warriors.

Akiko's Site Update

2009-02-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

I just can't get over how far Akiko has progressed with her artwork in just a matter of a few years. Click the link to Akiko's site to see some very impressive work.

As for me, Vartan maquette is coming along very well and I just had my first sculpting class at Jordu Schell's studio.
Now if the actors and the studios could come to some type of agreement so we can all get back to work, everything would be great.

And, the cats...

The horror... of not being able to give myself a bath!

ZZZZZZZZZZ

Vartan progress

2009-02-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

Spent the day refining Vartan's cape. Following are a couple of pics of the latest update.

The cape was roughly put back on Vartan and why it looks unfinished around neck and shoulder.

Travel

2009-01-28T11:35:00.000-08:00

Just a few days before Akiko and I were scheduled to visit family in frozen New Jersey, I got a call for some sculpting work. 2 days after the call I was on a plane heading to Oahu to work on LOST season 5.
This is now the 3rd time I've been shipped over to help out with a set. In season 3 it was the ruins and column that Locke's father was chained to. Season 4 it was the icy cave where Ben turned the wheel to move the island. And now in Season 5 it was the set where... sorry, you'll have to wait until episode 12 for the answer.

Batman's Ladies

2009-01-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

This is an illustration I did for the Feb. issue of CAPA-Alpha fanzine.

A few swipes involved here. One is the classic Neal Adams pose that Batwoman is in and the other is from a John Buscema Avengers cover.

Teaser Revenge

2009-01-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

Michael Bay has been stingy with releasing details and pictures for Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, so fans can now rejoice as they have set loose the first official teaser poster.

Sweet, our first look at The Fallen.
I'm a little partial, having worked on it, but I'm pretty pumped to see this.

So Long SL

2009-01-03T22:58:00.000-08:00

After much discussion, Akiko and I decided to trade in our 2000 Saturn SL2 and upgrade to a new vehicle.

The SL2 was a reliable car and in 86,0000 miles, never had any major problems other than typical wear and tear.
As for sentimental issues, it was the first new car I had ever bought and was our first big purchase after getting married and driving across country to live in LA.

What I'm really going to miss is my Flaming Purple Skull bumper sticker.

The new car is an '08 Astra XR.

It's a mostly unchanged Belgium made Opel Astra which has been a very popular model in Europe for several years. Designed for twisty European roads, the handling has a tight feel and makes for a fun ride. Not going to win any drag races, but has a spunky fuel efficient engine. We like it.

New Year

2009-01-03T22:31:00.000-08:00

Our annual tradition since moving to Pasadena is to toast the New Year at midnight as the ball drops then head outside. They line up all the Rose Parade floats along Orange Grove blvd, a few steps from our apartment, so they are ready to roll later that morning at 8am.

Leaf covered hat.

Hope continues in 2009.

Death Valley Christmas

2008-12-27T11:12:00.000-08:00

Because Akiko and I weren't spending the holidays with family this year, we decided to spend a couple days in Death Valley. Not very Christmas-like I know, but we did get to see some snow. We were lucky as just a few days before, some of the roads we took had been shut down due to a big storm dumping snow and ice. At the higher elevations around 4,000' it was around 38 degrees F and down in the valley below Sea Level it was at 57 degrees.

On the way there, we made a few stops. this was at Pearsonville.

Living ghost town Keeler.

Just before entering the park.

Some nice earth colors.

The sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells.

Ruins at Borax mining site.

Death Valley Day 2

2008-12-27T10:55:00.000-08:00

Akiko had the route through the park's popular sights planned out so we had breakfast and hit the road.

First up, Badwater. At over 280' below Sea Level, this is the lowest area in the Western Hemisphere. And that's not snow, it's salt.

Natural Bridge.

The Devil's Golf Course.

The Golden Canyon.

We saw some really amazing sights as we found out that Death Valley is so much more than just a desert.

Death Valley pt 3: Rhyolite

2008-12-27T10:35:00.000-08:00

We left the park and crossed over the state line into Nevada for our final stop, the Ryholite Ghost Town.

In 1908 the gold mining town of Ryholite was the second largest city in Nevada with a population of 10,000 people. A mere 2 years later, the mines had failed and the population had shrunk to just 675 people. Ryholite is the most impressive of all the ghost towns we've visited over the past couple of years. There are still many standing structures and the grounds were littered with rusted cans and other metals.

Then it was back on the road for the long drive to LA.

Working For Jack

2008-12-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

Been extremely slow work wise since Aug. so it was nice being busy the past few weeks.
I got to work for a Special Effects shop on the Jack In The Box Superbowl commercial. As usual, I can't say anything about it other than... Don't miss it!

Battlestar Kitten

2008-12-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

Kitten Rescue, a great organization that Akiko is very involved with, had an Open House at it's Sanctuary this past Sunday.
Akiko was there for the whole event and I stopped by for a little bit. While there I got munch on some snacks, bid on the silent auction, hang out in rooms brimming with cats (Yeah, I'm a Cat-Guy, so what?) and meet one of Kitten Rescues' donors, Battlestar Galatica's #6, Tricia Helfer.

Tricia was very nice, is definitely a lover of cats and talked to us about filming the final episode of Battlestar and her busy schedule. Of course I couldn't help but ask her how it was to work with Bruce "The Man" Campbell on Burn Notice. Who doesn't love Bruce?

A fun time and worth getting my butt off the Sunday Football couch for.

Rockin' Taryn

2008-12-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

My brother sent me this shot of my Great Niece, Taryn, riding on one of the Carousel Rocking Horses that I helped carve back in the late 80's. Nothing like a horseback stroll on Thanksgiving.

Sylmar

2008-12-05T21:49:00.000-08:00

Veteran's Park, where we play Disc Golf in Sylmar, CA is where a major fire was started several weeks ago. Called the Sayre Fire, it burned over 11,000 acres and destroyed over 600 homes. With the Disc Golf course in the lower section of the park, the fire started in the upper area and spread rapidly due to 60-80 mph Santa Ana winds. After the fire was contained, the park remained closed for many weeks while the cause was investigated.

We were on hand for the first day that the golf course was reopened, Monday 12/1.
Glad to say that the course was untouched by the flames.

The winds did however snap a few trees, one of which took out this practice basket.
Not so good though was the fact that Gary's Pro Shop was looted while the park was closed. Busted his door, smashed his cash register and stole merchandise. Way not cool.

Latest Update

2008-11-22T14:58:00.000-08:00

First, the really big news. Akiko's sister, Nazuki, Just gave birth to her second child, Sean Francis Hughes (have to check with the parents for the proper spelling). Congratulations to Nazuki and Steve and we'll post some pictures after our NJ visit early next year.

On the movie work front.
Set construction is absolutely dead right now with nothing going on. The word from fellow sculptors is that there are many films set to start and things should be very busy once again in the beginning of '09. People need to escape during a recession so movie making must go on.

Vartan

Still working away on the Vartan maquette. Finally got down to sculpting those darn armor scales.

Action Figures are out and Mighty Muggs are in.

What's the hot collectible for comic book geeks these days... MIGHTY MUGGS!
How could any Marvel fan not love these cute representations of beloved characters known for action, violence and massive destruction.

Giz

And what blog entry would be complete without another picture of Gizmo. Here's a quite moment in between his unending search to get into trouble.

Wrapped Revenge

2008-11-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

After working for 4 months as a sculptor on Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, I got an invite to the Wrap Party, so Akiko and I headed out to Hollywood last night to party down with the cast and crew.
We don't get out all that much so it was fun hanging out at a hip club with an open bar, excellent food and a burlesque trio shaking things up for a few tunes. The highlight however was Michael Bay himself presenting a full length trailer that no one has seen yet as a thanks for all the hard work the crew put in to make the film. In true Bay fashion, the trailer had plenty of Armed Forces presence, returning stars and above all else, tons of stuff getting blowed up. We're talking some serious explosions here. Whoa.
Great time LA style.

*UPDATE
Welcome TRANSFORMERS fans. My blog has been linked to a few sites because of the wrap party info. It has been clarified that what we were shown at the party was not an official trailer, but footage shot for the sequel, cut like a trailer. It was for us cast and crew and not something anyone should expect to see released any time soon.
Despite what has been said though, there was at least 3 scenes with robots. However, the robots were ones already established in the first film so no breaking news here.

Fall In SoCal

2008-11-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

One of the things we miss most from back East is the fall colors. So every year Akiko and I get in the car in search of changing leaves here in Southern CA.
Our first attempt was a complete bust as we visited Julian, CA the week before Halloween and everything was still pretty much green.
This week we drove 70 miles NE of Pasadena to Silverwood Lake.

It was a really nice area, beautiful weather, but only a hint of fall colors. We got some fresh air, did some hiking (had our first Bobcat sighting) and didn't spend the whole day driving, so it was worth it.

Look!! We found one!

More Cats

2008-11-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

I know this doesn't look all that comfortable, but the little dude is asleep like this.

Phantom and Gizmo continue to interact more and more every day. Here Gizmo has taken over one of Phantom's favorite perches.

The Shadow of The Avenger

2008-10-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

My latest fanzine cover featuring a couple of pulp heroes, The Avenger and The Shadow.
I'm not at all happy with the background, but time ran out.

And his name is...

2008-10-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

We've settled on name for our adopted kitten, so let me introduce...

Gizmo Cheeto Crawford

The integration process with Phantom has gone very well. They started playing patty cake with each other through the cage and now that Gizmo has been released into the general population, they spend they're between nap times chasing each other.
For more photos (and some excellent illustrations), click on the following link for Akiko's blog.

Gizmo has already found some favorite spots.

New addition to the family

2008-10-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

After much discussion, Akiko and I decided to adopt another kitty.

After attending a few Kitten Rescue adoption events, we ended up falling for this 4 month old guy.

Our 4 year old cat, Phantom, is a scaredy-cat to the Nth degree so we needed a young, non-alpha kitten that wouldn't push him around.

We borrowed a large cage so the cats could see each other, but be segregated. Phantom (right) is curious, but not too sure what to think just yet.

We haven't found an appropriate name for him yet although his foster parent named him Cherrio.
Give the little guy some space and this seems to be his favorite pose.

More Cape Action

2008-10-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

A few updates on my WIP maquette of Vartan.

After seeing the Bernini exhibit I think I may have gone a little nuts with the cape cloth folds. Let me know what you think.

Bernini

2008-10-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Akiko and I saw am amazing exhibit at the Getty featuring Bernini and other Baroque portrait sculptures.
Just unbelievable how much life there is in these marble sculptures from the 17th century. Also incredible were the textures, cloth, hair, beard stubble and even fur collars.
The show also had several portrait drawings and painting.

A real treat to able to stand up close and study all these groundbreaking works of art.

Japan

2008-10-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

Although Akiko has been back several times, this was my first return visit to Japan since our honeymoon 8 years ago. From our apartment in LA to our hotel in Japan, we spent roughly 18 hours in travel time, but it was worth it as we saw some spectacular sites and had a great time.
Huge thanks go out to Akiko's parents, Mr and Mrs Hikida, who were the best hosts. Mr Hikida spent a lot of time and effort researching, planning and scheduling our excursions right down to which train to get on at which time. We would have spent half our trip in train stations figuring this stuff out if it wasn't for him. And for all the food we ate, Mrs Hikida's dishes stood head and shoulders above the rest. From shabu-shabu to traditional Japanese cuisine, it was all delicious. Thank you again.

Anyone that knows me knows that I love food an beverage gimmicks and "new" flavors. Because of this condition, I found myself constantly stopping at the never ending beverage vending machines that are EVERYWHERE in Japan. A combination of products I've never seen and my favorite coffee-drink-in-a-can (usually coffee, water, sugar and milk powder) in many different versions per machine. How could you NOT want a can of Wonda (wonderful) coffee with a tag line like: "premium coffee with a radiant-like beauty"? Plus they're small so I could try several a day. I already miss those damn machines.

Ghibli

2008-10-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

Our goal for our first day in Japan was all about Ghibli. First we hit the MOT: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo for an exhibit featuring animation layout from studio Ghibli.

I was stunned by the sheer volume of layout artwork that was on display. Room after room filled with drawings of characters and environments from anime like Nausicaä (Akiko's favorite), Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro and many more. Wow.

Then it was back on the train to Mitaka for the Ghibli Museum. After getting off the train we decided to walk instead of taking the museum bus. On the way we were stopped by Secret Service type dudes and joined a group of people lined up along the sidewalk waiting for something. Out rolls a motorcade and on my first day in this country, I got waved at by the EMPEROR and EMPRESS OF JAPAN! How's that for stumbling into something major?

The Ghibli Museum was simply magical. Lots of fun.

The safe, clean and efficient train system of Japan is something to marvel at, but traveling through Tokyo during rush hour is an experience all its own.

Can you spot the tourist?

There he is, Mr round-eye taking pictures of poor commuters just trying to get home from work.
I'm a true american and need my 2 foot bubble around me at all times, free of any physical contact. So you can imagine being pushed, prodded and jabbed by complete strangers in an enclosed space as not being my comfort zone. I just hope what was brushing my inner thigh was someone's purse. Good thing I'm not claustrophobic too.

Hakone

2008-10-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Akiko's parents joined us as we all set out for Hakone. This is an active volcanic mountain that pre-dates Mt. Fuji. The train up the mountain is the second steepest grade in the world and the train had many switchbacks.

Part way up the mountain was the awesome Hakone Open-Air Museum. An excellent assorted collection of modern and contemporary sculptures including Rodin, Henry Moore and a Picasso Pavilion.

From there we took another steep cable car to the Hakone Ropeway.

As you can see, I wasn't kidding about this place as being active. That's sulfur steaming out of the mountainside. And that leads to one Haakone's main attractions, The Black Egg.

They take eggs and put them in the natural, mineral hot spring, sulfur water and hard boil the eggs. A chemical reaction turns the shell black, but doesn't affect the edible egg part. Tasty! (yes, that's Sumo Wrestling on the TV in the background.)
We stayed at a hotel on the mountain so I got to experience a natural hot spring spa. Soaking in the warm mineral rich tubs was definitely soothing.

On the way back the next day we visited the museum where Akiko's Mom volunteers for the geological dept. The Kanagawa Perfectural Museum of Natural History had an impressive collection of rocks, fossils, animals, bugs and more. Very cool stuff.

Kamakura

2008-10-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

We spent a day doing quite a bit hiking around Kamakura, a town where Akiko's family lived for many years. We took a old train/trolly, Enoden train, to the Kamakura station. A nice scenic ride that traveled along the ocean part of the way. Then we set out by foot.

Yes, Japan has Starbucks. We stopped in for a snack and caffeine before our trek.

Fox Shrine, Sasuke Inari.

A statue across from a money washing shrine.

More walking led us to Kencho-ji.
Kencho-ji is the first-ranked of the five great Zen temples of Kamakura, and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. It was constructed during the regency of Hojo Tokiyori and was completed in the fifth year of the Kencho Era (1253).

These dudes (or Goblins) were part of Hanso-bo, the protecting shrine of Kencho-ji.

Enoshima

2008-10-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

Enoshima Island

Our Hotel was right across the street from the tunnel that led to the bridge to Enoshima Island so we spent a day checking it out.
We went to the Lighthouse Observational Tower (we saw the top of Mt Fuji peaking through the clouds), several Shrines and lots of ...cats.

See, this island is known as a place to abandon cats as well as a place visit, pet and feed cats. They roam the island either keeping to themselves or meowing for attention. We walked through the residential area on the way back so Akiko could get some quality cat photos.

Nakatsunomiya

Enoshima Daishi

Nara & Kyoto

2008-10-03T14:56:00.000-07:00

After extending our trip a few days, we were able to visit Nara and Kyoto. Akiko's Dad did an incredible job planning and scheduling so it ended up being smooth sailing the whole way through. We got on the Bullet Train and zoomed to yet a another historical spot in Japan.
Nara is not only the birthplace of Japanese civilization, but also where Akiko was born. First she hunted down the parking lot where the Hikidas' house used to be and then went made our way to the park where Akiko took her first steps.

This park that led to the Todai-ji was FILLED with tame/wild deer.

Todai-ji

The next day we joined an english speaking bus tour of Kyoto. After over a week of walking all over the place searching and seeing the sites, it was nice to just sit back, be taken to the attractions and listen to someone who knew the history of each spot.
The following are pictures from around Kyoto on our final day in Japan.

It was great getting to see Akiko's family again and we saw some amazing stuff. I'm sure we'll be back in a few years.
For Akiko's take on the trip, check out her blog here.

Kamakura or OZ?

2008-09-28T23:42:00.000-07:00

Akiko and I are back now from our trip to Japan. Had a great time, hung out with Akiko's parents and Grandmothers and saw lots of cool sites. I'll have a more in depth write up after going through all the photos.

I think I spotted the reference material for the Flying Monkeys in Wizard Of OZ while in Japan.

Karasu Tengu, mountain crow goblins, at the Kencho-Ji Temple n Kamakura.
Kinda freaky huh?

Sculpting Jam

2008-09-17T00:16:00.000-07:00

Over at one of my fave websites, The Clubhouse, They often have sculpting jams. They offer up a theme, post a deadline and members start sculpting away.
This week's jam is Cyborgs, androids and robots. It's great practice with the deadline as motivation. After years of wanting to jump in, I finally sculpting something to enter.
She's a female cyborg, 3.5" tall made with Pro-Clay in roughly 6 hours. I would love to add more robot-like lines, but Akiko and I are off to Japan to visit, so this is it.

To see what the other members are whipping up, the jam is in The Sculptor's Forum at the above link. You may have to sign up, but it is definitely worth it as the site is frequented by some of the pros in the sculpting field.

Wrightwood

2008-09-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

A couple of other unemployed Sculptors and I decided to take our weekly Frisbee Golf (Disc Golf) game on a road trip. The destination, Wrightwood, home of Mountain High Ski Resort. Between April and November, they set up a 27 hole Disc Golf course on one of the ski hills. After a little backtracking (who knew the direct route through the mountains on the Angeles Forest Highway has been closed for the past 4 years to fix a bridge), we got to the very well laid out, gorgeous course situated at 7000'. Akiko tagged along as well to draw and paint the scenery.

Craig and Dave at the first hole. Look for the wood carved bear keeping an eye on the action to the right of the basket.

The yellow circle is the basket we were driving to waaaayyy down the hill.

Not only were there eye-popping views, the course was also a real workout with plenty of hiking up, down and across the hills. We ended up playing 36 holes, and give Wrightwood a huge thumbs up.