The Deuce: 2009

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Rise and Shine Princess

In all honesty I needed to do something that was a little tamer than my most recent color jobs. Granted, it's not exactly tame and innocent on the Charlie Brown / Norman Rockwell scale, but doing the ones that leave little to the imagination has a tendency to make me feel like some sort of reclusive shut-in. *hisses at sunlight*

On the other hand... *hisssss*

Original sketch by Hiesben
Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Team Monarch

Other than Kim Possible, Adult Swim's "Venture Bros" is one of my guilty pleasures...but unlike KP, I really don't draw / color enough from the series. Seeing as season four is in full swing, here's a couple that colored nearly a year ago.

Original Inks by Marvelousboy

Additional inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Original Sketch by Ahnen

Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Fisk Black

Fisk Black from Jay Naylor's "Better Days" and "Original Life".

Character by Jay Naylor

Sketch and Inks by Phillipthe2

Miyamoto Usagi

Miyamoto Usagi, the Ronin rabbit from the award winning comic Usagi Yojimbo which was created by Stan Sakai. Set primarily in the Japanese Edo period (7th Century, otherwise known as the "shogun" period) Usagi wanders the land on a musha shugyo (warrior's pilgrimage) occasionally selling his services as a bodyguard. Usagi Yojimbo takes much of its inspiration from swordsman Miyamoto Musashi as well as icons of Japanese cinema such as Lone Wolf and Cub....with a little Sergio Aragones' "Groo the Wanderer" thrown in for go measure.

Original sketch by Mark Feltham

Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Original sketch by megatigertron

Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Thursday, December 3, 2009

For The Greater Good

Forgot about this one.

Back in October I posted this pic which was in need of a title and gave the commenters the option of doing just that. Of the four entries, this one stood out the most. Hindsight being 20/20 I was still fairly perturbed (down right pissed off) about getting the old weave-hoe by deviantART, but that was then.... Now however, I'm fairly content with doing my own thing and not having to worry about censorship (self imposed or otherwise). Mark Twain summed it up quite nicely:

"Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them."

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Hold On

Back in October, just before parting ways with deviantART, I entered a drawing into 8Aud8's coloring contest. The drawing, irregardless of me being banned, won third place by popular vote. The prize was this full color drawing by 8Aud8....thank you my friend....and I hope you don't mind me posting it here:

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Pen and Inks

A sort of stylistic then-and-now comparison. I drew Kim Possible in late 2008, whereas the other (yet to be titled) one was done around 1988 or so. Both were originally drawn in pencil, but obviously have been digitally inked. I was never any good at inking the old fashioned way.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Over, Finished, Gone, Done, Out....

I'm done with deviantART. It was a tough, though short battle, but I lost....and I can live with that. If however, by some small miracle they reverse their decision and reinstate my account I will return only on a limited basis...and then only to check out my favorite artists and comment as I see fit.

Otherwise, as of last night, I washed my hands of them and removed all of my 300+ pictures from their site. No sense allowing them to gain advertising revenue at my expense.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Molotov Cocktease - In Stereo

No, I didn't say 3D and you don't need any funky glasses. Stereo Pairing is not a new drawing technique by any means as it has been around since the 1840s....but it is new to me. I'm not very good at it yet.

Click here for Viewing Instructions

Original Inks and Colors by Gagala

Addtional Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Open-mindedness and Objectivity

Yep, I finally received a response from deviantART regarding my bannishment today. Needless to say, I'm a little pissed off right now so I will let our respective responses speak for themselves:

_____________________________________________________

I apologise for the delay in responding to you.

In reviewing your request, I note that you have previous copyright violations within your gallery and therefore I'm reluctant to reinstate you to the community. Not only that, but you misrepresented yourself to many artists, and therefore there's a breakdown in trust.

This leaves us with no option other than to wish you the best in finding a community which does have a more tolerant approach to such issues, however we have no place for such in deviantART.

Kind regards,
Fiona
--
Fiona Hooley
Director of Community Operations
deviantART.Inc
http://chix0r.deviantart.com

Nov-10 2009 08:34 am.

_____________________________________________________
My response

Specifically, what previous copyright violations are you referring to? I am only aware of the one, or rather, the alleged one. I have spoken to several artists who have had multiple violations for copyright infringement, multiple violations for prohibited content, have been suspended multiple times, and yet they still remain within the deviantART community. Everyone I have spoken to since being banned is of the opinion and agreement that my punishment is vastly disproportionate to the infraction.

On the opposite side of the coin, I personally know of at least one individual (and I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands of individuals like her/him) that has had a dozen or more works removed for blatant copyright violations, been reported numerous times for harassment and/or overtly racist remarks to other artist, and routinely uses other peoples work without their foreknowledge (i.e. Art Theft). All of this individual's violations far, far eclipse anything I have deemed guilty of, but what punishment has this particular individual received? None, zero, nada, zilch. Justice, apparently, is blind after all.

After being suspended in September for linking to what deviantART deems as "inappropriate content" I took a good long look at my deviantART gallery and purged all of the content whose source I could not readily verify. In other words, I deleted all of the pictures that various individuals asked me to color / manipulate, but they in turn may not have been the original artist of the work. What remained were works that I had permission from the original artist to color / manipulate, works in which I was the original artist, and photography that I personally took. Additionally, after my suspension ended, I immediately removed all of the offending links...and quite a few more that were even vaguely questionable. The only work that was even remotely questionable (and only because it resembled another work so closely) was the one that got me banned.

Did I violate deviantART policy with solely malicious intentions and/or intentions of misrepresentation? Of course not. Ignorance of the law, so to speak, is no excuse...but you cannot honestly expect every artist to read through hundreds upon hundreds of Frequently Asked Questions in order to determine whether or not their work will potentially violate deviantART policy. That's just plain idiotic. That however, is exactly what one must do in order to post (hopefully) violation-free media upon your site.

Granted, the majority of my works involve cartoon characters who are depicted in an adult manner, though not all of them in a sexual sense. Naturally, some people have a certain dislike (and even outright hatred) of this depiction. Conversely, a lot of people just plain love it and (obviously) draw / color them too. This "hate-love" is nothing new...you see it all throughout the various mediums depicted on deviantART. However, after my bannishment from deviantART I immediately sought to appeal this decision thinking that said appeal would be met with a certain open-mindedness, objectivity, and someone would listen to what I have to say in my own defense. No, what I got was the one individual who has a previous bias toward not only adult depictions of cartoon characters, but to the very individual characters I tend to depict. Don't beleive me? Read his journal entries. So much for open-mindedness and objectivity.

Nov-10 2009 02:49 pm.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Ups and Downs - Continued

Another week and yet another....down.

My girlfriend's grandmother passed away early this morning. Honestly, it didn't come as a surprise as she has not been in the best of health for several years now, but still...it's rough loosing a close family member. At the age of eighty-eight, three children, four grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild I'd say she lived a pretty fulfilling life.

My father, having recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, hasn't seemed to let it slow him down any. He's currently in Camagüey, Cuba's third largest city, on a church sponsored mission tour. Granted, Dad hasn't been to any foreign countries since he and I lived in Southeastern Mexico back in the early '80s, so I'm not sure how he's managing with no air conditioning and (probably) no hot water. One things for certain though, he's probably wet and pissed off....as Hurricane Ida passes between Cuba and the Yucatan peninsula.

As for deviantART, it's been two weeks since my "support ticket" was supposed to be passed from one moderator to another....I have had zero communication from them since October 26th. In any other business, such a lengthy time period would be met with a bit of supervisory scrutiny and a few choice words for an employee or two. DA however....hmmm....their lack of supervisory oversight should be a cause for concern.

Drawing and coloring on the other hand, I'm doing a compilation piece using a couple of Gagala's work, a coloring of this one by DA's MrSinister616, and an Iron Maiden inspired piece of my own...simply because ones like this suck out loud.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Ups and Downs

If it isn't overly obvious, I haven't been drawing, coloring, or posting as often as I normally do.

It's been one of those weeks.

First and foremost, my girlfriend's...ummm...girlie doctor discovered a lump in one of her breast several weeks ago. After the standard battery of tests, several mammograms, and two weeks worth of waiting the doc concluded that she had nothing to worry about....that was Monday.

This past Wedsnesday, if the stress of waiting for test results to come back weren't enough, she fell at at work and broke her ankle. Not a normal break, but rather the zero weight-baring spiral fracture kind. So, she gets to look forward to six to twelve weeks of hydrocodone induced haze and endless wakeful hours of pure boredom and reruns. Personally, I've broken my ankle much more severely than her's (motorcycles and inattentive, cell phone-wielding soccer moms in minivans don't mix) and have a tolerance for pain that any Gitmo torturer would be proud of....errrr, I mean captured enemy combatant interviewer. She however, has zero tolerance for pain in any way, shape, or form....a stubbed toe will send her into agony and fits of wailing bloody murder.

Yesterday however, was the blind-siding bomb shell, so to speak. My father, now in his late sixties, had a minor stoke this time last year. It was so minor that, unless he pointed it out to you, one wouldn't be able to tell that he was effected in any degree. I however, noticed the slight (almost imperceptible) slur in his words and a little tremor in his hands right away....he is my dad after all. A stroke in any magnitude opens one up to other long-term neurological disorders such as early onset dementia and....Parkinson's Disease (PD). Yes, that would be the same disorder that Michael J. Fox suffers from. His doctor(s) diagnosed him with it Monday and had him on a medication that would reduce its effect the same day....the tremors in his hands went away almost instantly. Fortunately I suppose, they diagnosed it relatively early....a year would be a fairly short period of time considering that PD can take years and even decades for it's symptoms to become apparent.

Yeah, it's been a week of ups and downs.

As for deviantART and any hopes of my account being reinstated, DA seems to be (not surprisingly) dragging it's heels in passing the case review from one moderator to another....after calling one out as having a lack of business etiquette and objectivity. Given this past weeks events...DA, drawing, coloring, and bullshitting around on various art / toon related sites is on the back burner.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Hammer (and sickle) Time

This little guy needs a slogan and damned if I can think of one. Your mission, should you accept it, is to come up with a slogan for this pic...keep it as short and simple as possible. This messege will self-destruct in ten seconds......

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Stop, Thief !!

Somewhere....somewhere....

I have seen the background of this image somewhere....and the original artist isn't this guy.

This, in no uncertain terms, constitutes art theft. You know, copyright infringement? This coming from a guy (I use that term rather loosely) who professes over and over to be on the right side of the law and always plays by the deviantART rules. While we're on the subject let's review a couple of his "personal works" and see just how law abiding he actually is:

Stomping Grounds looks awfully familiar....because he stole the images directly from Google Maps.
The little dipstick goes on to steal other items...some obvious, some not so obvious.
C'mon, do you really think he traveled to Malaysia and took that background shot himself?
California is a long way from Virginia, but it's very (extremely) unlikely that he stopped in the Bad Lands of the Dakotas to take a few snapshots for his scrapbook.
Personally, I've actually been to Finland and Norway around Christmas time...cold as all hell, beautiful countryside, really friendly people....but you don't see many of these rolling around.
Ummm....I'm not sure where he was going with this one, probably the whole Saint Shego thing, but she obviously wasn't headed to Disneyland or Disney World.

So, the next time you hear him spouting off that usual "oh woe is me, poor lil' picked on me...I always play by the rules" nonesense, two simple words should come to mind:

ART THEFT

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Fear and Loathing

As I am no longer a member of the deviantART community I no longer need to live in fear of repercussions or reprisal...that has already happened. I've read quite a few deviantART journal entries and countless comments, most of which expressing everything from sympathy to outright anger. To those comrades, my fellow deviants, and friends who expressed their....well, my thanks to you all.

My hatred, disgust, and outright loathing of one individual is no secret, but now.....now you get to see his name.

That name is turbolover175.

Some will see this is a personal attack. Everything I work for, everything picture I poored my heart and soul into, every line, every color, every character, every fucking word....everything is gone. YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY GOD DAMNED RIGHT IT'S PERSONAL!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Self-Explanatory

Friday, October 23, 2009

Banned

An email sent to deviantART on 10/23/09, the same day I was permanently banned for "copyright infringement":

Dear Sir or Madam:

On 10/23/09 my deviation "Fight Club Airline Safety Card" was removed by your staff for copyright violation and I was subsequently permanently banned. This is nothing short of a gross error. My deviation was based upon an original black and white "test copy" for the prop used in the movie "Fight Club". Ultimately this version of the prop was not used in the movie, although it is very similar to its final version. I however, colored it in the same manner and color pallet as the actual prop. This "test copy" was personally given to me by Chuck Palahnuik, the novelist who wrote the book "Fight Club" (on which the movie is based).

Furthermore, I have personally reported several images on your site for flagrant copyright violation, but the images were not deleted. In more than one instance the reason I was given for the image not being deleted was because the original artist / copyright holder was not the one who reported it. Somehow, I doubt very, very seriously that someone affiliated with Art Linson Productions (the production company for the movie) reported my deviation for copyright infringement. This uneven-handed brand of justice seems to be quite the norm within deviantART.

Respectfully,

phillipthe2

Defacto-Agent

This is an edited note and it's respective replies that I received on June 6, 2009 from an individual whom I no longer associate with. The only edits to this note are the deletion of the recipient's name and any semi-related third parties. This note was primarily in reference to a picture of mine getting deleted and a subsequent tirade journal entry on my part (which is still posted if you'd care to read it). After my last reply (at the bottom) on June 15, 2009 I blocked this individual...and rightly so in my opinion. The rest is, well, read for yourself.

Up to this point many of you may have read this individual's one-sided journal posts that call me out as some sort of coward, disparages my military service, and generally refers to me as nothing less than an art thief. I need not even discuss how this individual describes those on deviantART whom I call friends...you will get the gist of that below.

Although I am now retired, the military taught me a great many thing. Among them are Honor, Loyalty, and Integrity...values that this particular individual seems to lack entirely. Courage however, is not taught...you have to face that demon yourself. In my eighteen years of service I had six tours in combat and am the recipient of the Silver Star, two Bronze Star, two Purple Heart, two Army Commendation Medal (one with Valor), and twenty-two other awards and decorations. These, that I am aware of, are not the merits of a coward.

As for being an art thief, every single picture and photograph I have posted on deviantART was either done with permission of the original artist or was drawn / taken by me personally. Admittedly, as a matter of integrity, I have deleted several pictures that were from questionable and / or unverifiable sources....in other words, the individual(s) whom I got them from may not have been the original artist and I have no way of proving otherwise.

Why am I referred to as a coward you may ask? Put simply, I REFUSE to discuss anything with someone who would even suggest putting me in the below situation. This individual has spun this refusal with the uber-masculine catch-all “be a man, talk to me like a man” mumbo-jumbo on a repeated basis....and then, conversely, gone into full-on “oh woe is me, poor little picked on me” self-victimization mode when even the slightest sympathy from one of this individual's journal followers is detected. This contradiction, in my opinion, is not a quality of uber-manliness.

Now, finally, for your reading pleasure:

_______________________________________________

XXXXXXXXXXXXX said the following:

I just wanted to have a word or two in private here, to make sure we're on the same page. I noticed someone commenting on your journal that seemed to be hinting towards a few possible identities of your existential bane. Thing is, he's had it out for me for God knows how long, mainly because he's a racist, anti-American jackass, but that's another story. I wanted to let you know that while I will report a picture if I think it clearly violates the rules, none of your pics (that I've seen) have done this. Besides which, I give any people I watch, or watchers of me, benefit of some extra See No Evil. Don't believe what anyone else may obtusely hint at, I never reported any of your pics. One more bit of advice, I know you're steamed that your pic got deleted, but just posting that journal may give the mods reason to ban you. I've found from experience on here that returing hate only escalates the problem, it's best to lie back, wait for the other person to prove he's a moron, then pounce on the opportunity to get him deleted. I've done this with two spammers already, and it's invariably successful. Just wait, and the opportunity will present itself.

----------
phillipthe2 said the following:

Hindsight being 20/20, had I not made any mention or reference to KP, Shego, kigo, et al in the comments, title, or keywords it would probably have gotten deleted anyway....not because of content, but rather the circles in which my work seems to travel.

I doubt very seriously that it was a "kigo-hater" per say...more than likely some random KP purist or christian-conservative-crusader type. Hell, it could be simple jealousy...the first version did get well over a thousand hits in the first twelve hours and the second one wasn't too far behind.

No worries...I've had a few (anonymous) people wave a finger in your general direction, but you weren't a blip on my radar....and told them as such.

As for the possibility of getting banned for journal comments, etc...so be it. Lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting culprit doesn't suit my personality type. I prefer the direct, call them out for the coward they are, spit in their face, hurt their feelings, and smile approach.

----------
XXXXXXXXXXXXX said the following:

I'm glad we're on the same page. I saw you opened an HF account, and posted the pic there. All's well that ends welll, I suppose. XXXXXX and XXXXXXXXXXX also use that approach, and I don't remember them getting banned or having pics deleted. BTW, Not to go on a witchhunt or anything, but do me a favor and hang on to the comments from the people that were casting aspersions on me. A few (anonymous, wink wink) people here have tried getting me banned before, just for not agreeing with them, and I've come awfully close to catching the queen bee XXXXXhater and getting him banned. You'll be interested to know that this person also refuses to admit a beef in the open. For a while there, he, oh, I mean "it" had the habit of mentioning a "psychopathic, gun-crazed, wannabe mechanic" in all of its new pics. I go to Universal Technical Intitute and own 38 guns. Hmm, I wonder who it's talking about? Rest assured, if I do gather enough hard evidence, I'll stand up, spit in its face and smile. I'm not one to hide, either.

----------
phillipthe2 said the following:

Am I to understand that you...

You actually want me to be your defacto-agent? A person who acts as an instrument to guide intelligence to you like some common spy? A veritable snake in the grass against someone who I consider to be a friend? Not only a friend, but the first person to befriend me here on DA long before I began drawing and coloring KP-related works? Is that what you are asking me?

No sir. Not going to happen. We are most certainly not on the same page. In fact, we are most certainly not even in the same volume of text.

Do not bother to respond to this note as it will fall on deaf ears.

Shego - American Muscle

Original Inks by False-Emporor

Additional Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

So...will I see you again?

Shitty Censored Version...for deviantART, naturally.

Uncensored version...why it needed censoring in the first place I have yet to figure out.

Blonde Moment / The D-Word

Original Sketch by 8Aud8

Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Ooopsie

Original Sketch by Chris Sander

Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Remember Remember

Remember, remember the 5th of November

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Bonnie as Molotov Cocktease

Original Inks and Colors by Gagala

Addtional Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Onto Something

Original sketch by Clara Fowler

Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Bonnie as Slave Leia

It was bound to happen at some point...yes, it's Bonnie Rockwaller as Slave Leia.

Original Inks and Colors by Gagala

Addtional Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Take the Picture

Orignal Sketch by Yumibow

Inks and Colors by Phillipthe2

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Lessons Learned

Ten lessons learned as a result of my two week absence from deviantART, of which I am now on day fourteen:

1. TRUST NO ONE.
2. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
3. deviantART is quickly becoming the punchline of the online art community.
4. I eat pressure for breakfast....and have the blood pressure to prove it.
5. Smells like daddy's money.
6. Rules are rules....no matter what shade of gray they are written in.
7. If it quacks like a duck...
8. Life sucks....but somebody out there is worse off than you.
9. Everybody is a critic.
10. TRUST NO ONE.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

What the FAQ ?!?

With less than a week to go in my suspension from deviantART I decided to get some clarification from their Copyright and Etiquette Administration as to the actual rules applicable to linking to works outside of said site. Yes, deviantART's moderator officiating entity is officially called the Copyright and Etiquette Administartion....sounds more like a subdivision of the Department of Homeland Security.

I was fully expecting to receive an actual rule or policy relating to this issue. What I received however, were several FAQs.....you know, Frequently Asked Questions. By definition FAQs are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be frequently asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. Generally....no, scratch that....Globally, FAQs ARE NOT actual policies, rules, or even guidelines by which a site, company, or any other entity follows in order to implement rules upon it's clientele, subscribers, etc.

Thus far, since the acronym FAQ was developed in 1983 by Eugene Miya of NASA for the SPACE mailing list (yes, that's the real origin of the acronym), deviantART would be the only entity that I'm aware of where the FAQs are the company's actual policies and guidelines....other than it's Terms of Service (TOS). Man, I would absolutely love to see a real, honest to god copy of deviantART's business model...and then point and laugh hysterically.

At any rate, here are the actual FAQ I was sent that pertain to my suspension...read FAQ 565 is you want a really good laugh:

FAQ #565 FAQ #305

The portion of each FAQ to pay attention to are the very last sentence(s) that (in each case) seem to be added as an afterthought.....but more like "after the fact". Essentially, each one states that providing any outside link to another website which provides access to prohibited content is verboten. This mostly pertains to providing links in the "artists comments" of a picture or (in my case) somewhere on an individuals page. What this doesn't say is that if you internally note someone with a prohibited outside link you also run the risk of getting suspended (or worse).

As of today I have three weeks left on my "Premium Membership" on deviantART....I DO NOT plan on renewing said membership. Granted, my whole whopping $7.95 isn't going to financially ruin their day-to-day operations....but I ain't gonna be paying for their morning Grande Latte Enema anymore either.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Burning the Suspension Bridge

To dispel any rumors, I feel the need to give a brief explanation as to why I was suspended from deviantART. Some have suggested that it was due to prohibited content. Well, that's partially correct. Officially, I was suspended for linking to a site that has prohibited content on it....this site in fact. Yes, suspension for linking to my own work...irony knows no bounds.

The official reason I received was this:

"You have been suspended from deviantART for (2 weeks) with a reason of "Two week suspension for continued linking to a blogspot containing inappropriate material not permitted on deviantART."."

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I could have sworn that the point of placing questionable / inappropriate content on a personal website was to keep it OFF deviantART to begin with. Having read through the deviantART Terms of Service (TOS) I cannot find anything that would even suggest that linking to objectionable content is a violation of said TOS. We all know that one deviantART moderator doesn't play by the same rulebook as the next....most, other than following the TOS in it's most rudimentary sense, tend to make up the rules as they go along.

At any rate, it's only two weeks....and I don't plan on going anywhere. As a matter of fact, other than not showing (or linking to) my blogspot account, I don't plan on changing anything.

Let me end this little blog entry with a little thanks. Jeepika, the fair AND foul weather friend that he has been since I got on deviantART, was kind enough to to keep everyone informed as to what is going on with this most recent calamity. I have been reading your comments and....well, you know who your true friends really are.

Oh...heh...I found it a little humorous that I crossed the 16,000 pageview mark while serving the first day of my suspension.