#digital monkeywrenching

[studentofetherium]

VOFAN posted a guide for artists of how to subtly draw art in ways which will ruin the processing data for machine learning algorithms

[haru-kuneko]

THE UNOFFICIAL GLITCH MAGAZINE#2

I actually thought of a much better version (because the second one kind of sucks). This is supposed to be the February-March issue except Caine was left in charge and ended up ruining it ... (TOT)

Let's say we had to fire him right before we could print out the cover! 🫠

These two are supposed to be magazine spreads from a year ago. The usernames in the fan letter section (as well as the editor Dan guy) are all made up. The names at the fanart section though are actually real people.

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS JUST A PERSONAL PROJECT OF MINE. THIS IS NOT THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF GLITCH. ALL NAMES AND IMAGES BELONG TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS.

ALSO, NEVER USE COMIC SANS, MISTRAL OR OTHER BASIC CHEAP FONTS WHEN MAKING A PROFESSIONAL COVER OR POSTER.

[paper-mario-wiki]

Ok I usually agree with you on things but even as someone who didn't like tadc, I don't see the issue with selling merch?? Lackadaisy, hazbin/helluva boss, monkeywrench, literally almost every indie project does that, it's how they get a good amount of their funding, why is that itself an issue?

alright this'll be the last question i answer on it because we're officially at the point where people are saying "oh yeah, well what about this?" in reference to stuff i already spoke about, so i'll use this as a summary:

I was asked what I think about The Amazing Digital Circus a few weeks ago, and as a show, I think it's pretty inoffensive. I think the premise and character design is pretty generic, and I think the plot is definitely trend-riding, but ultimately the pilot had some funny jokes and pretty good visuals.

I added an addendum later on to follow up in saying that my perspective has shifted to one of disdain, because I'm sick of seeing it everywhere, and I'm tired of people saying it's already a masterpiece despite the minimal legwork it has put in so far as a story. This is compounded by the fact that the studio company behind it, Glitch Productions, is being unrelentingly commercial with it, to the extent that there was merch designed and available the same day the video itself went live, especially since the pilot itself was never even set to get a sequel, let alone a "series", despite the fact that it is being advertised and sold as a series. This left a bad taste in my mouth, as in my eyes it's become a pretty hollow flavor of the week fandom with a hype culture that people are conflating with actual quality.

Someone asked about the nature of the "no confirmed episode 2", which I later provided some context for in the form of a screenshot from an article where staff of Glitch Productions came forward and said pretty unambiguously that there wouldn't be more episodes unless people bought enough merch. This isn't a horrible sin by itself (Toby Fox famously sold merch for a demo of Deltarune), but the fact that merch sales are being treated like a crowdfunding campaign, with the threat of cancellation very unambiguously behind the "encouragement to buy merch in order to help greenlight the show", is a tactic that feels gross to me. Crowdfunding itself is okay, but the fact that there is no set goal in place, no "if we sell x amount of shirts the show will be get an entire season!" or anything like that, sounds a lot like "if you do not buy enough acrylic charms and tshirts then this show you like will not continue. how many have to be sold? we'll let you know when we reach the goal".

That is, in its entirety, the discourse, AKA my opinion that people kept asking for clarification and justification for. I personally really don't like The Amazing Digital Circus for its lack of depth combined with its ruthless commercialism. I find it repulsive in that way. That's it.

[wimsiecal]

GUYS GUYS GUYS LISTEN TO ME PLEASE

IF YOU LIKE INDIE ANIMATION LIKE LACKADAISY OR DIGITAL CIRCUS PLEASE PLEASE GO CHECK OUT MONKEY WRENCH!!!!

The style is absolutely phenomenal!!! The characters are so endearing and funny!! THE ANIMATION OGH MY FUCK THE ANIMATIOOOON IS SO SMOOTH AND BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SUPPORT THEM!!

(Also Shrike is the best character hands down I adore me a goofy bilingual guy with guns)

[greensparty]

Album Reviews: Bruce Springsteen / Pearl Jam

This week I got to review a compilation album from one of my favorite musicians and a new studio album from one of my favorite groups!

Bruce Springsteen Best of Bruce Springsteen

51 years since Bruce Springsteen released his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ, he has consistently made great albums with his brand of rock for decades. Here at Green’s Party, I’ve been lucky enough to review his 2019 album Western Stars, 2020′s Letter to You, the 2021 live album The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts and 2022's Only the Strong Survive. As much as I have enjoyed his studio and live releases, this marks the first time I have had the opportunity to review a compilation album with Best of Bruce Springsteen which drops this week from Columbia.

album cover (from the same photo shoot as Born to Run)

The 1995 compilation Greatest Hits is one of my favorites. It covers his career up to the mid-90s and included some new songs. Over the years since then there's been some other compilations including 2003's The Essential Bruce Springsteen. This new compilation is being released in a few different formats. The one I got to review is the double album on vinyl featuring 18 songs from 1973 to 2020. With only 18 tracks (not to be confused with his rarities collection Tracks and 18 Tracks) there's bound to be plenty of songs and eras left off. I suppose it's a good problem to have to have so many solid songs in the catalog that you can't include them all on a double album. But still I couldn't help but be surprised that Lucky Town, Devils & Dust, Working on a Dream, and Wrecking Ball (my #5 Best Albums of the 2010s) weren't included, even though songs from those albums were included on the digital release. I can understand We Shall Overcome, High Hopes, and Only the Strong Survive not being included since they were all or mostly cover songs.

Bottom line: if you're a fan of The Boss you most likely own all of these songs already. While I think there's been far better and longer compilation albums from him, this is good as a succinct sampler of some of his best songs. I, personally, would have added some other songs, but in terms of hits or fan favorites, this does the job.

For info on Best of Bruce Springsteen

4 out of 5 stars

Pearl Jam Dark Matter

Through this blog, I have been fortunate enough to cover Pearl Jam multiple times over the years: their live album and DVD Let’s Play Two, their 2018 concert at Fenway Park in Boston, their last studio album Gigaton, last year's 30th anniversary edition of Vs. and their numerous solo and side projects (too many to namecheck here). Now the band is back with their highly anticipated 12th studio album Dark Matter from Monkeywrench / Republic Records. It was produced by producer-of-the-moment Andrew Watt, who produced singer Eddie Vedder's best solo album Earthling as well as The Rolling Stones' Hackney Diamonds. Talk about a meeting of the musical minds!

album cover

It is impossible to not be in awe of Watt as a producer. Sure he has produced a ton of pop stars, but in the last few years, he has been a good luck charm for numerous rock albums and in the case of Earthling and Hackney Diamonds he actually co-wrote some songs with the artist and here on Dark Matter he co-wrote all of the songs. He is truly a music geek whose love for PJ is showing through on this album. There's some songs like "Wreckage" that remind me a lot of the Yield-era. Other songs feel like they are swinging for U2-level stadium sing-alongs.

Bottom line: While Gigaton was a serious comeback album (their best since the 2006 self-titled album) for the band, this album is sustaining some of that magic. It's also an album, like a lot of the best PJ works, that gets better with each listen!

For info on Dark Matter

4 out of 5 stars

[omegasam-gallery]

Monkey Wrench: Scratch Character Study

Scratch is such a fun and expressive character to draw that I wanted to attempt to do a format of character study I've been thinking about doing. It is where I would draw and render a full-body of the character and have them surround by various emotions they can express. The Polaroid was inspired by the Polaroid you can see at the beginning of the first Monkey Wrench episode.

Ko-fi Instagram Twitter Inkblot

[percivalias]

Hmmm, Wendy.

[omlekha]

[MOFATEOAGD C5 Exhibit E]

[mayte-i-martinez-blog]

Monkey wrench Artist:Mayte I. Martinez #mayte-i-martinez #monkeywrench #mayte.i.martinez #digital #illustration #squiggle #photoshop #curveball #❤️ #🐒#🔧

[uncleweed]

Zzyzx Rd (reprise) by Larry Harper, Autoharpist Larry Harper plays the Autoharp and sings songs written with unbridled affection for the natural splendor on the red rock canyons and natural hot springs of the desert southwest (US). Originally released on cassette in the early 1990s, this collection of songs is now available digitally for your enjoyment and singalongs at backyard firepits and remote grottos. Themes include monkeywrenching, puking and adventuring. After inspiring thousands of minds as a University creative writing and philosophy professor, he now spends even more time paddling forgotten box canyons, soaking in springs and hugging friends and strangers alike. (Bio written by his pal and student Dave Uncleweed Olson)

[omlekha]

[MOFATEOAGD C5 viral tribe]

[percivalias]

2019 summary of art ! my thoughts on the year under the cut

What a year! This year was interesting, improvement-wise. I don't think I improved in any significant way in obvious areas like anatomy, lighting, or color, but I did still definitely improve. This year I put much more of a focus on more complex illustrative work with backgrounds and multiple elements, which made for much more interesting pieces overall. Even for pieces without need of a background, such as character references, I still have made the habit of using at least a solid color background to give the piece more context, at least color-wise, than pieces with transparent backgrounds. I've gotten fond enough of this technique that I don't think I can imagine going back to transparent backgrounds again, unless for a specific compositional reason, aha. Last year I said I would start publishing a comic sometime in 2019. That, obviously enough, didn't happen. My main issue is that I switched projects four - yes, four - times last year as I attempted to find a good project for a first comic. I decided against publishing Monkeywrench first as it's a huge project that I care very deeply about - I wouldn't want to make all my beginner mistakes on it. However, while I didn't start publishing anything last year, I was working on various projects all year round. This helped to fulfill my other goal to work on developing my various projects, and I've even come up with a few more. I currently have most of a script for the project I'm currently prioritizing, which hopefully means I'll be able to start to publish it in 2020, especially since it's relatively short. If I don't, anyway, I'll cuss myself out a year from now. Last year I noted that I was beginning to experiment with painting. I've continued that this year, although often my painted style and cell shaded style merge somewhat. I've gotten more comfortable with my cell-shaded style again, especially in illustrations, after having a bit of a "falling out" with it at the end of last year. You'll notice that the drawing for February isn't something I posted - it was from a class project to illustrate a poem. The style of the project was very different from everything else that I post, so I decided not to upload it, although I could still be convinced otherwise. Apparently I didn't draw much else in February, and this particular panel was the most interesting thing I had from the month in my opinion. I liked the project and I like writing poetry, so maybe I'll try this type of project again sometime. Another interesting thing to note is that for whatever reason I used backlighting a lot this year, to varying extents. I rarely, if ever, used it before this year. I wonder if the trend will continue into 2020, lol. Many of my goals for next year are pretty similar to my goals from last year, in that I want to continue to develop my projects and start publishing a comic. I also want to continue to experiment with my style and compositions in illustration to create more interesting and meaningful artwork. I've been experimenting with my traditional artwork a lot lately, but not so much with my digital art, which is something I'd like to remedy. I also think my anatomy needs some work, especially since I haven't improved much in the area for 1.5-2 years. Here's to a great 2020! Happy New Year, everyone!

[uncleweed]

Red Highways by Larry Harper, Autoharpist Larry Harper plays the Autoharp and sings songs written with unbridled affection for the natural splendor on the red rock canyons and natural hot springs of the desert southwest (US). Originally released on cassette in the early 1990s, this collection of songs is now available digitally for your enjoyment and singalongs at backyard firepits and remote grottos. Themes include monkeywrenching, puking and adventuring. After inspiring thousands of minds as a University creative writing and philosophy professor, he now spends even more time paddling forgotten box canyons, soaking in springs and hugging friends and strangers alike. (Bio written by his pal and student Dave Uncleweed Olson)

[uncleweed]

The Soft Wing by Larry Harper, Autoharpist Larry Harper plays the Autoharp and sings songs written with unbridled affection for the natural splendor on the red rock canyons and natural hot springs of the desert southwest (US). Originally released on cassette in the early 1990s, this collection of songs is now available digitally for your enjoyment and singalongs at backyard firepits and remote grottos. Themes include monkeywrenching, puking and adventuring. After inspiring thousands of minds as a University creative writing and philosophy professor, he now spends even more time paddling forgotten box canyons, soaking in springs and hugging friends and strangers alike. (Bio written by his pal and student Dave Uncleweed Olson)

[uncleweed]

Gravel Canyon by Larry Harper, Autoharpist Larry Harper plays the Autoharp and sings songs written with unbridled affection for the natural splendor on the red rock canyons and natural hot springs of the desert southwest (US). Originally released on cassette in the early 1990s, this collection of songs is now available digitally for your enjoyment and singalongs at backyard firepits and remote grottos. Themes include monkeywrenching, puking and adventuring. After inspiring thousands of minds as a University creative writing and philosophy professor, he now spends even more time paddling forgotten box canyons, soaking in springs and hugging friends and strangers alike. (Bio written by his pal and student Dave Uncleweed Olson)

[uncleweed]

George's Tune by Larry Harper, Autoharpist Larry Harper plays the Autoharp and sings songs written with unbridled affection for the natural splendor on the red rock canyons and natural hot springs of the desert southwest (US). Originally released on cassette in the early 1990s, this collection of songs is now available digitally for your enjoyment and singalongs at backyard firepits and remote grottos. Themes include monkeywrenching, puking and adventuring. After inspiring thousands of minds as a University creative writing and philosophy professor, he now spends even more time paddling forgotten box canyons, soaking in springs and hugging friends and strangers alike. (Bio written by his pal and student Dave Uncleweed Olson)