Some of you might remember that 20th Century Fox actually did consider doing a Saturday morning Alien series (Operation: Aliens) back in the 90s. While nothing ever came of it (rumors persist that a pilot was produced, but never aired), plenty of marketing materials can be found floating around online – including a board game, video stills and a toy line by Kenner. If FOX ever hopes to make up for it’s poorly conceived AvP sequels or the embrassing Colonial Marines game, taking inspiration from Bastrash’s concepts for a new show would be it.

If you’re in the area or anywhere near it, definitely come by to visit us at TABLE 820 in the Artist Alley on the First Floor. We’ll see you there!

You’ve done some amazing mash-up art integrating the styles of old master painters and applying them to contemporary video game characters. Tell us a bit about those pieces.

Why thank you! This is a concept that Tim Doyle and I worked up together over the phone some years ago before we started building the Nakatomi Print Labs in his garage. The idea is to mix and match classic paintings with “classic” video games. It could maybe be seen as an interpretation of the views of what the word “classic” means to us, or it could just be a funny idea. It’s up to you to decide.

I worked up a couple of them, one is princess Zelda as the “Girl With The Triforce Earring” and the other is Princess Peach as Mona Lisa… I call that one “Subcon Icon.” I have may other ideas and plan to get them churned out eventually.

Have you done any other mash-up style posters?

I also did a couple of pieces for Spoke Art’s Quentin vs. Coen show a couple of years back. One of them was a mash-up of “Kill Bill” imagery in the style of a traditional Japanese woodblock and the other was an “Oh, Brother Where Art Thou” poster in the style of a traditional black figure Grecian vase. I have a few ideas in the works but don’t want to spoil anything for anyone that’s watching.

Which would you say is your most popular nerd-centric poster?

Hmmmm, I think my two most popular would be the “Girl with the Triforce Earring” and “Mog Moog.” The Mog poster is an idea that curator and gallery owner, Rich Meisenheimer, and I discussed at a bar during SXSW. The Moog image in the background is filled with tons of obscure Final Fantasy references.

I love the Mogs and Moogles from the Final Fantasy series. They are super fun! Kupo! Please tell me you’ll be doing some chocobo prints soon!?

I definitely have an interest in doing something involving chocobos, perhaps if Blank Space does another nerd themed show it would be a great follow up. It would be cool to do a whole band. Chocobo on Cello, Mog on Moog… maybe Marlboro on drums or something like that.

What is your favorite video game of all time?

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap on Sega Master System… hands down the best game ever created. It’s real hard for me to narrow down all of my favorites into a small list but here are a few of them in no particular order: Half-Life 2, Megaman 2, Blaster Master, Mario Bros 3, Adventure Island II & III, Final Fantasy V- VII, Braid, Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (my favorite from the series)… alright, that’s enough for now, although I’m sure it would be easy to think of more.

If you could do an official poster for any video game, book, series, and/or film, what would it be?

I think being a huge Tolkien nerd, as I am, I would be most interested in doing something based around the world that Tolkien created. It’s so rich and full of history and culture. It would be a tough one though; it would have to be just perfect. I think Tolkien’s work lends itself well to info-graphics as well. There’s a million different ways to visually show themes presented in those stories. Hmmmmm…

How did you get started?

I started out making crappy flyers for my band back in high school and college. I was introduced to the Gigposters scene sometime in college and then started learning to screen print. I eventually started to screen print my band’s posters to try to get people out to our shows. I would hand the posters out when people came. Mostly just small house parties. Things got weird and the band broke up and I wanted to keep making screen printed posters so I reached out to promoters and band managers to ask if I could work for them. Sometimes it didn’t work, but a few times it did. I kept trying and now work usually comes to me.

What advice would you give to other budding screen printers?

I would say that if there is something that you want you should make it happen. If you really want it you will make the time and effort to make sure that it does. Be smart about it, and ethical, but put as much effort as you can afford into it. Ask other artists for advice, but be careful of how you ask….be sure not to offend or make it appear that you haven’t tried learning on your own. Many of the artists I know have reached success through trial and error…and so should you. Be ready for critique. Listen well. Learn business and manage your money. Pay your taxes. Don’t amass debt…

Oh! Most importantly you should do your best to make your art an extension of yourself. If you love something try to let it show through the things you create. If you love chickens paint them… then make it sellable.

What do you wish you had more time to do?

Travel. Luckily this is something that I have a good amount of time to do. My day job allows me a good amount of time to do this and my poster business pays for me to travel to Flatstock shows and other art/craft festivals around the world and sell posters while I’m there. Travel and culture is something that I intend to express my love for in my posters. It’s something that I really love.

Exercise. That’s my second answer to this. I love the outdoors and really enjoy running, camping, tubing, scuba diving, swimming and climbing. I hope to do more of this in the near future…much of this I can do while traveling as well… so win/win!

That’s awesome you have a day job that gives you that kind of flexibility. Umm, what is Flatstock anyway?

Flatstock is a poster show series presented by the American Poster Institute. It is centered around the art of concert posters. Most of the artists showcasing at Flatstock work in the screenprinting medium. It has provided a lot of opportunity for travel and networking among other things for me. There are typically 3 American Flatstock events held, one in Austin, Seattle and Chicago. It has now spread across the pond and currently has two European events, one in Hamburg and another in Barcelona.

At SKC we usually wrap an interview asking, “What is the strangest thing you did as a kid?” For artists we ask, “What is the strangest thing you’ve drawn?” Or you can answer both!

In high school I used to participate in this thing called the “Mountain Dew Drink-Off.” The challenge was to drink a 2-liter of Mountain Dew as fast as you could without throwing up for at least a minute after. I won the second year and really had to hold in the vomit… it all came out after the minute was up. Since then I have had two kidney stones… do not drink that much Mountain Dew, ever.

The strangest thing I’ve ever drawn… hmmmm… I remember doing a short comic in college about my drumline team. For some reason I made my drum tech a flying bean with shades on. I do not know why, but it was funny, says I.

You can check out more of Clint Wilson’s work online at clintprints.com and nakatomiinc.com.

The Last Stand – It seems like the title of this movie is appropriate.  If this movie didn’t do well, it may well have been Arnie’s own real life “last stand”.  I haven’t seen this, but it doesn’t bode well that whenever I ask anyone about it they have never seen it, never heard of it or they’ve heard of it but can’t remember the movie title (“Oh yeah! That movie with Arnold and the Gatling gun!”).  It must have done okay, but I don’t think it did as well as they’d hoped.  Arnold of course is now talking about doing another Terminator and even a remake of The Toxic Avenger (wha-?!).

Parker – Don’t get me wrong, I love Statham, but his recent solo non-Expendables movies are all starting to look alike. Transporter, Safe, The Mechanic, Parker. He does have some promising upcoming movies like Fast and Furious 7 and a movie called Heat.  But the “Statham Formula” is starting to show.

Stand Up Guys – This looks like it could be really good, or really just sad. It reminds me of the movie The Crew from 2000.  And that’s not a good thing.  A bunch of old mafia guys out for one final job.  To be fair, the cast for this movie is much better than that other sh***y movie.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown – From 1976 starring Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island (Dawn Wells).  It’s about a masked serial killer that terrorizes a small Arkansas town in 1946.  It’s loosely based on a true story.  I keep getting this movie confused with Dark Night Of The Scarecrow.

Five Card Stud – From 1968 starring Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum.  Imagine Agatha Christie’s classic story And Then There Were None but done as a western.  It’s moody and filled with mystery and suspense.  The plot involves the members of an ongoing poker game being mysteriously killed one by one.

Directed by animator/LEGO enthusiast Alex Kobbs (aka Kooberz), this first episode of BrickTube finds a lone Colonial Marine battling against an Alien Queen – all done in LEGO! There’s nothing sweeter than a LEGO Alien Queen, but what’s even cooler is that after the episode Kobb provides links to video tutorials so you can create your own LEGO theater masterpieces. Get ready to break out the toybox.

Fred

**VIDEO OF THE WEEK** An existential tale of a man/puppet trying to break free of the shackles of his everyday life, Fred is darkly funny with it’s titular protagonist even resembling a sad clown with his bright red nose and scruffy appearance. The short was created by Misha Klein (Coraline, Robot Chicken, Morel Orel) and friends in between full time gigs over the course of 8 years.

HYBRIDS

Another sci-fi entry for this week’s list, HYBRID boasts some slick CGI and impressive set design. Skipping over the alien invasion, the short’s heroine is an ex-Special Forces soldier whose seeking payback for the death of her daughter. While the short only scratches the surface of the synopsis one thing is for certain… payback’s a bitch!

How would a strange kid like me choose to traverse time? Where would I go? What long out of stock food items would I seek out? Some of the answers might surprise you.

Listen to Nerd Lunch Podcast 85: Time Travel Scenarios

(Opens in a new window)

Texas Chainsaw – I was a fan of the first TCM reboot in 2003. I haven’t seen the sequel/prequel to that, but I’ve heard it’s terrible. I’m intrigued by this. Is it a sequel to the original 70s film? Is it a reboot? I don’t really know what the whole idea behind this is. The original Leatherface, Gunnar Hansen is in it. But I don’t think he’s playing Leatherface. So what is going on with this movie?

3:10 to Yuma (Criterion Collection) – Anytime a really good western gets a Blu-Ray or, especially, Criterion treatment, I have to mention it here. And the 1959 western 3:10 to Yuma is a classic. You may remember the 2007 remake with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.  That remake is FANTASTIC and it led me to watch the original with Glenn Ford.

Tinman – The Mini-Series Event – The Sci-Fi Channel’s 2007 re-imagining of Oz starring Zooey Deschanel, Alan Cumming and Neal McDonough. It’s weird and a little hard to get through.  I imagine that is mostly because I’m so ingrained with Baum’s Oz that watching a re-imagining this different is really hard for me to reconcile in my mind.  But I’ll probably give it another watch as a part of my own Oz series of movie/book reviews.

4K resolution titles Lots of titles mastered in the new 4K resolution are being released.  4K is the next media resolution after 1080p.  It’s called Ultra-High Definition.  I believe Blu-Ray players can play these, but to get the full effect you need a 4K TV.  Just more s**t for us to buy.  Movies include Ghostbusters, Raimi’s Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, Taxi Driver, Glory and Angels & Demons.

The project is called CLOSET MONSTERS and is, in essence, a virtual trading card set in homage to series like Garbage Pail Kids, Trash Trolls, Grossville High and so many more. While Closet Monsters won’t be actual trading cards to start off with, the potential for us to actually produce them one day does exist if you like them and are willing to help us spread the word.

Starting today, May 13th, we will unveil a new Closet Monster card every week from creators like SCABFARM, Andrew Barr, Lee Hardcastle, Dean Rankine, Eric Pigors, Aaron Klopp and tons more! So be sure to check out BewareTheCloset.com and follow Closet Monsters on Twitter for all the latest updates!

WALL MONSTERS – Limited Edition Paper Beasts

From the fine folks over at Steam Crow comes WALL MONSTERS, a new take on those vintage, paper-art Halloween decorations. Too early for talk of Halloween? BLASPHEMY! Anyway, to make these limited edition beasties, Steam Crow is currently asking for support via Kickstarter… and in less than 5 days they’ve already exceeded their goal! That means you’re guaranteed to get your reward if you should decide to snag a Wall Monster for yourself.

Murloc Soup For The Geek Soul

Inspired by a simple post in an online forum, club member Mandy Osipenko has decided to make her own self-help book, Murloc Soup for the Geek Soul. In the vein of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Osipenko’s book includes submissions from self-professed geeks, including her own, to help inspire others to accept who they are and just be awesome. The book is currently available on Lulu.com, Amazon.com and iTunes.

Glen Brogan Solo Art Exhibition

Scheduled for later this month, Friday, May 31st, Glen Brogan‘s first solo art exhibition will take place at Gallery 1988 East in Los Angeles, CA. As some of you might know, Brogan has been a long time contributor of SKC, including to our SK Magazine, as well as an insanely creative individual and his hunger for pop culture is insatiable. No word yet on what works Brogan will be showcasing, but its supposed to include a plethora of new pieces!

Got something we should be sharing? Send it our way! Email us at strangekidsclub at gmail dot com with all the juicy details.