In space no one can hear you putty....

Well it's taken a while, but I've finally got around to putting the Space Jockey together.


It has gone fairly well so far...despite the fact there were gaps in some key areas. Nothing a generous batch of Milliput couldn't fix. I really am falling in love with that stuff. It's very easy to use and, man, is it ever strong.


I'm still not really sure I like the whole vinyl kit thing. It seems to take a lot of fiddling around to get things to fit and be symmetrical.

Kangaroo with Horn

....a bit silly. Perhaps.

Some Days you need to Kick a Cat....

....just kidding. I like cats. Most of the time....

...hmmmm...a boot up the bum theme today. Weird.
These two illos represent work I have done for Men's Magazines, basically illustrating other people's stories. I have lost count over the years how many of these I have done...hundreds I think.

Family Speeder

Star Wars-ish concept.

Living in Oz

Living in Australia 003 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Rarely do I get to do something that is actually a benefit to the community. Usually what I do is all about flogging some product to an unsuspecting public.

A producer came to me with a request for some basic animation showing a newly arrived migrant family going about daily tasks (like going to the supermarket). This would be cut together with other footage to be used on a DVD to help educate migrant families how to cope with their new lives in Australia.

Living in Australia 002 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

I was astounded to learn just how little information there was available to newcomers. Basic things like where to find frozen foods, not packing detergents with fresh veges etc. needs to be explained to someone who has lived for years in a camp in Africa.

Living in Australia 001 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Luckily my crude 2D animation skills were enough to get the point across for this DVD. I used a combination of Flash and After Effects. I must say I really learnt a lot doing this project and I certainly relish the opportunity to apply what I have learnt to a new project.

Vic Mizzy dies at the age of 93

My 'ol mate Tim Wade and I often have commented that whenever we're feeling a bit down, popping on a bit of Vic Mizzy's delightful music always perked us up. Man, Mizzy's soundtracks were so welded to my childhood consciousness.
'The Addams Family', 'The Ghost and Mr.Chicken', 'Green Acres' etc etc. take me (even now) to a sunny place of Saturday afternoon matinees, freshly mowed lawns and cold lemonade drinks.

What a brilliant talent. I know his style of music had long since passed out of the contemporary limelight, but I'm still saddened to think that the bloke who came up with all those wonderful tunes won't be writing any more.

At least I'm hearted to learn that he actually owned the rights to his most famous work: 'The Addams Family' theme.

Says he: "Two finger snaps and you live in Bel-Air."


For the ABC news story click here.

Freaky Aliens and Spaceships

...more concept stuff...

Concept Art

A couple of designs for film ideas. The concept behind the second illo is a sort of 'mobile camp site'. The first sign of trouble the whole thing packs up and shoots off into the sky to find a safe haven somewhere else.

Flying Logo Monday!

Great Adventures from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

...my day job....

Graffiti Technica

Brad Schwede is a fellow I have worked with professionally on various projects over the years. He is a brilliant graphic designer. When he showed me this stuff I knew that he was also a very talented and unique artist. I would love to see his art as public sculpture around the city.

The People's Hero, Comrade

I haven't inked with a real brush, pen etc for a couple of years, so I thought I would quickly do something to warm up. I have no idea where the concept for this dude came from....I thought it might be fun to have the Soviet version of 'Captain America in WWII' scenario. He could fight bad guy Nazis as well as perhaps bad guy Yankees.

It would all be a bit more exotic and grittier over there on the Eastern Front.

What's next?...

...The Space Jockey from Alien. I have always been a huge fan of the original Alien movie. As an aesthetically well-designed film I still don't think it has been surpassed.

This kit was released by Halcyon in the early 90s.
It will be my first attempt at a vinyl kit. Trimming the pieces sure was a pain in the %@##!!
I must say I'm looking forward to getting out my Giger books and going to town on the airbrushing with this one.

Holy Frack! It's Finished!

Whoops! Been out of the blog sphere for a while. I wasn't well and ended up doing a stint in hospital. Eeergh....

Anyway...at last I think the viper is finished.


I wish I had taken photos of the terrain build, but I was keen to get it over with. Basically the terrain is plaster over a polystyrene base. The grass is railway model fibers with acrylic paint dabbed on to break up the color.
I used a sponge and worked from dark to light colors for the rock face. The weird plant things are left over milliput sculpted then painted with acrylics.

Lessons learned from this exercise? Weathering took a lot longer than I thought it would.

My 'ol mate Tim Wade thought that I could have gone a bit further with the weathering. Looking at it now, maybe I could have.

Although I thought if you look at F1-11s (which are old planes these days) that are still in service, while they show a bit of wear and tear, they are still kept up to a certain standard. I figured the Colonials would treat their ships the same way.


I actually realised one must be wary of using filming miniatures as reference for painting these spaceship models. For the most part the film models are WAY over weathered...I assume so that there is no doubt that the details will show up on film.

While I do like my terrain, it probably dominates the whole display a bit too much. I could have got away with a base half the size and made a much more elegant statement with the design.

There are a few things that are a bit sloppy...you can tell the bits that were rushed. I know I'm always going to struggle with wanting to get a thing finished and keeping an eye on the quality.

Overall, it was great to take something that I had always thought I had ruined at age 14 and turn it something I'm fairly proud of.

They're creepy and they're kooky...

A couple of pics today. The first was from the series of pin-up illos I did for Penthouse magazine.
I thought it was appropriate after all the discussion on female pubic hair over at Eddie C's blog. Interestingly, I always wanted these paintings to be far more 'coy' in keeping with a 40's Elvgren-style of thing. The magazine wanted see more rather than less, so this is where the illo ended up.
In this era of instant images, photoshop etc. I think the only reason for doing pin-ups like this is if it's in a nostalgic context.

Sometimes you scribble away and the end result is not too crap.

...When ya got a Thirst...oops wrong Drink...

Powerade Hamiton Is. Cup from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Another logo animation. My company seems to be involved in the promotion of a lot of water sport activities.

I personally try my best to keep out of the ocean. If you don't drown, you can be stung by jellyfish, eaten by a shark or even stabbed by a manta-ray!!!?

No thanks.

Safety Switch Animation from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

...another one day wonder animation effort.

'History is more or less bunk.'

I have always had a fascination with history, particularly military history. From the Battle of Thermopylae to the Tet Offensive, human conflict has repeatedly marked turning points in civilization. I absolutely abhor violence of any kind and yet war has a habit of not only showing the 'darker angels of our nature' but also a great distillation of the best of our humanity.

'When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way....'

Each period of history has it's own particular fascinating story for me. As an artist I am astonished by the incredible array of imaginative paraphernalia that accompanies the military historical time line. When I heard that the local historical societies got together once a year for an all-out history-a-thon, I couldn't resist taking my eldest lad and his mate along to soak up the atmosphere.

This guy had to ask the wife..."Darling you know that recent
windfall we had, could I use it to buy an armoured car?'

Luckily, the young boys really were fascinated by everything they saw and I was impressed by how the people in the armor etc. were only too eager to educate inquisitive young minds.
Imagine, two young boys being taught by a French grenadier to say 'Vive l'Empereur Napoleon!' while he cooks his Sunday roast over an open fire.

Man...this is how history should be taught!

Today the part of Napoleon will be played by Josephine

I remember back to my childhood when I almost had my love for ancient history expunged from my brain by the repeated dry dronings of pathologically disinterested teachers.
I desperately wanted to put flesh and blood to the names of the people that filled my historical texts. Television shows like the BBC's adaption of Robert Graves' splendid 'I Claudius' helped propel my fertile imagination past the grey landscape of high school history classes.

My boy now can tell you that during the American Civil war many of the Southern soldiers went into battle without shoes. He has felt the weight of chain mail, seen a viking encampment and understands that Redcoats were red because the dyes were inexpensive.

He also knows that those words in the textbooks were once of flesh and blood.

Only in the 21st century....

All Mimsy were the Borogoves...

During lunch I try to escape the air-conditioned, computer screened environment of my work and go for a walk out there in the real world. Luckily, nearby is the city's largest Botanical Gardens. This place really is great for the body, mind and the spirit; I never tire of my walks there.

Amongst all of nature's wonders there's a growing number of public and private sculptures nestled in alcoves and detours. Some are quite delightful.

When this one (below) was being installed the day I walked past, I honestly thought it was a creatively mellifluous version of a park bench. In actual fact it turned out to be a musical instrument.

I'd like to think it could be both.

Serendipity

'...is looking for a needle in a haystack and finding the farmer's daughter.'
Julius H. Comroe

I stumbled across 'When Comic Books Ruled the Earth' by Joel Bryan the other day. Those old B/W POTA comics obviously had the same corrosive effect on his psyche as they had on mine. This is a seriously funny article and a great blog. Hey, anyone who celebrates (or even remembers) the work of Doug Moench and Rico Rival has my attention!!

A couple of examples of 'Flying Logos'. This sort of work is 'the meat and three vege' of the post industry. The challenge is always not to repeat yourself, the reality is that you invariably do.
A fellow worker commented that he could pick my 'style' the other day.

Living Savvy from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

I interpreted that as an early warning to shake things up stylistically on the next project. It can be real tough.
I've known designers who have had a good instinct for this kind of stuff. With me: sometimes it gels and flows right out...other times it's like the proverbial 'camel through the eye of the needle'.

Silver Series from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Holy frack!...just a few more centons!

I think I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel with this model.....maybe.

The colonial warrior started out as a 1/35 scale Dragon BSG9 'Elite Urban Series Soldier' model kit. I assembled what I needed from the model then carved into it creating 'boots' and new folds in his tunic.

Using Milliput epoxy I sculpted a colonial style jacket adding hands from the Dragon model. The warrior's hair was also sculpted in Milliput. I tried to give a 'seventies' feel to his hairdo. I've given him a base coat ready for his detailed paint job.


I've started weathering the viper. Man, this really is an exact science. Luckily my copy of 'Sculpting the Galaxy' by Lorne Peterson has come in very handy for reference.

Even though the vipers in the show were heavily weathered, I don't want this craft to look too 'beat up'.

Remix

Copyright in the digital age.
Check out this interview with Lawrence Lessig on LNL (Thursday 28 May 2009).
(Yes I get a gold star and a koala stamp every time I mention the show here on my blog).

I Robot

A mixed bag this post...

...A robot design idea for a short film...

...a dabble in steam punk....

...and a nasty looking creature thingy...

"If I could talk to the animals..."

Panda_enclosure from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

This was done as a concept for a Panda enclosure. The project eventually fell through. It was interesting discovering the complex nature of the logistics involved in creating an area like this.

I bet the pandas couldn't have cared less about all the trouble and angst they caused.

I Dream of Jeannie

A few old concepts on show today. I tweaked them a little before uploading.

First, I had heard about the Obama White House Correspondents' Dinner speech the other day on LNL. When I say speech, I should say 'stand-up routine'. Wow this guy is funny!

Not only did he 'lay 'em in the aisles' but when he turned to the more serious topic of the recent severe job loses among journalists, he was sincere, understanding and gave a serious commitment to the concept of a free and healthy press.

We do seem to be in very troubled and turbulent times, I draw some comfort from this new, commanding, ferociously intellectual and witty American President.





This last concept was my take on the 'genie in the bottle' thing. Sort of a scary Barbara Eden if you will.

Psychos in Space

A very eclectic bag of stuff today...Another game concept pic...

psycho from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Hitchcock's great masterpiece.

A digi-matte painting taken from images off the net. I love the different aesthetic you get when you work in black and white. It's a real shame that you don't really see that many black and white shows on TV anymore. Even though most of the great black and white films and programs were made before I was born, I was lucky enough to be exposed to them via TV re-runs.

I think there is a perception in the modern idiom to think that a lack of colour implies 'less'. A lot of the language of cinema and television craft was formulated in the B/W era. Watch a re-run of one of the original 'I Love Lucy' shows from the early fifties and you can see the template for every sitcom ever since.

It's a bit like when you develop an interest in art it is paramount you investigate the history of art in order to inform your present understanding of it. I fear we run the risk of ever increasingly diluting the 'creative gene pool' if we don't take the opportunity to visit the work of the past.

satellite from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

This was done for the local hairdressing company 'Stefan'. Hair dryers in space...yup.

Snail's Pace

Been real busy with work, life, work, kids, work, work, work...
Managed to do a little bit more on the Viper. I've added the cockpit interior.


It certainly isn't 100% accurate, but I'll be putting the cockpit hood (?) over the top so it won't be completely on show.

Finished the landing gear assembly. Probably a little bit of putty work to go on these. Next is to cut into the underside of the fuselage for fitting the landing gear areas. More than a little scary!!

Last weekend I went with John P to the Ideas Festival here in Brisbane to attend 'Sunday Brunch'. The forum was chaired by Phillip Adams and his guests included US robotics expert Helen Greiner, Professor Ian Lowe as well as comedian Bryan Dawe.

The basic discussion revolved around the emergence of a global 'intelligence' and how this could be the key to effectively addressing climate change. It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning and John and I vowed to get along to more of this sort of forum in the future.

I'm a big fan of Adams and his ABC Radio National show 'Late Night Live'. It is always interesting, always funny, always thought provoking and sometimes surprising. Follow the link and download a podcast.

Cyclops design for a Sinbad game concept.

A couple of illos for Penthouse magazine. The first was going to be for a series of fake 'B' movie posters. This one was 'Attack of the 50 DD Woman'. Clever, huh? Yeh right. It only lasted the one jape before a change of editor and the whole thing was scrapped (I assume).

The other illo was for the 'cartoon girls' done sexy thing. I don't know how many people remember the 'Wacky Races' show, but one of the main characters was a femme fatale called 'Penelope Pitstop'. Other memorable characters from this cartoon were Peter Perfect, Dick Dastardly, the Gruesome Twosome and the Ant Hill Mob.