The Chrome Bucket

Personal art blog. If you want to share something, please reblog instead of re-posting, and try to credit me. Thanks! 

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Disney/DreamWorks Costume Swap, Updated

I changed the color of Tzippora's beads to match the outfit. And fixed some issues with Esmeralda's face.

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Non-Disney Costume Swaps

Some old "Costume Swaps" I did for non-Disney heroines a few years ago, inspired by Godohelp's (vastly superior) Disney costume swaps. I've recently given a few of them one more touch-up, to lessen the wonky-ness.

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Costume Swap!

Here's an old costume swap I've been meaning to redo for years! Tzipporah from DreamWorks "The Prince of Egypt" and Esmeralda from Disney's "Hunchback of Notre Dame," in each other's clothes.

For a bonus, here's Tzipporah in Moses's clothes. (Inspired by @godohelp's amazing Disney Costume Swap series.)

The two Tzipporah pictures are oldies that I touched out. Esmeralda's is newer (the old picture of her as Tzip was just too crappy to salvage). I reused the body from my 1920s Esmeralda, which you can find on my blog @prohibitionprincesses.

Happy Passover!

[howtobeaconartist]

Catprint Review (Proofing)

Just wanted to give some people a rundown of my experience so far with Catprint. 

My order includes 5x7’s, 11x17 (both prism and no prism coating) and sticker sheets. The proofs all arrived in 2 packages (the sticker sheet was separate).

10/28 Placed order

11/3 Print proofs shipped

11/4 Sticker proof shipped

11/7 Received both packages

I was quoted 3-5 days for the proofs to arrive. I assumed this would be part of their guaranteed shipping policy which combines printing+shipping time into 1 number.  I didn’t take into account if Catprint had problems on their side with my files.  I was lucky my files all arrived within 6 days, I could see it taking way longer.

I would recommend ordering at least a month ahead of time of when you need it if you are waiting for proofs.  I was stupid b/c I was trying to finish my art in time for the proofs, but you can always change out the .jpg when you get your proofs in.  The most important part of getting a proof is to check your colors/values/quality.

The good:

I’m unfamiliar with paper weight so Catprint recommended their light matte cardstock. They made it sound like it’d be quite thin, but it’s actually about the thickness of a postcard although it still is bendy.  

It’s only .65 for a 11x17 (not full bleed) which is RIDICULOUSLY cheap compared to the quotes I’ve been getting locally.

Matt from Catprint deserves a medal for the 1000 questions I directed his way.  He was very patient and quick to respond to my emails.

They shipped extra proofs with the order so you might get a few extra.

The eh:

They shipped the sticker sheet proof in a manila envelope which lead it to being bent all over. They did write “DO NOT BEND” all over it, so they did try.  I assume real orders get shipped inside a box like the posters, though.  

I didn’t realize til after I ordered stickers that they print on matte label paper.  My stickers turned out shiny because of the holographic film, but keep in mind to avoid disappointment if you are ordering without the prism coating.

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I'm reblogging this largely for myself so I can easily find it. But if this helps other artists passing by, awesome!

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Another Beautiful Friendship

One of the many plot holes in the Swiss-cheese story-line of "Casablanca" involves the supposed death of Ugarte and the fateful Letters of Transit.

TW: Whump imagery

Ugarte reportedly dies in the custody of Captain Renault and Major Strasser, without telling them where he left the visas they're hellbent on finding. The implications are as clear as they are disturbing. Despite this, Rick and other characters continue to verbally shit on Ugarte posthumously. Of course, Rick and Ferrari have ample reason to pretend they don't care about anyone in Casablanca. But at any rate, Ugarte didn't squeal on Rick.

But is he actually dead yet? The villains announce his death the morning after his arrest. If they tortured him to death in one night, then they are massively incompetent. We don't see him die, we don't see a body, we have only the word of the villains who have every reason to lie to the Laszlos about where Ugarte is.

Best of all? When the end title comes up, Major Strasser is dead, and much of Casablanca's police force is now busy rounding up "the usual suspects." So the jail house presumably isn't as heavily guarded as usual.

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Boo-Berry is a well-known parody of Peter Lorre, but less known is exactly which role Boo is spoofing. Boo-Berry is specifically based on Lorre's appearance in "Rope of Sand" (1949), in which he plays a black-market diamond salesman who constantly irritates the other characters by appearing mysteriously out of nowhere to pitch his sale. Sound familiar?

Personally, Boo-Berry is one of my favorite Peter Lorre parodies. Far too often PL spoofs just fall back on the old "Loony Tunes" caricature, which besides being needlessly grotesque, is just a very stiff and watered-down take on Lorre. Boo on the other hand is not only an original Peter Lorre spoof, but parodies his fluid movements and otherworldly vibe. It's also great to see PL's adorableness get its due recognition.

Unfortunately, the cereal itself tastes like sugary Styrofoam. I'm still glad I bought it though, because the cover is so damn cute.

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I waited far too long to read "the Last Unicorn" by Peter S. Beagle.

It's instantly become one of my favorite fantasy books. Of course I saw the movie growing up, which is also a classic. The book is much funnier than I'd expected. It has a tone similar to "The Princess Bride." Also like "The Princess Bride," the author was heavily involved in the film adaptation, resulting in a movie that's extremely faithful to the book. Minor differences like the color of Schmendrick's robe and Molly's hair are most likely due to what looked better in animation.

Anyway, the book and movie are both great works of fantasy. It's "midgrade" literature, but the themes of time are much more relatable as an adult.

I wasn't going to have a background, but I messed up on the unicorn's tail. Rather than use white-out, I Bob Rossed it into a tree branch. Unfortunately I did have to resort to white-out after messing up Schmendrick's eyes.

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Doodles for "Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel," by Michael Gerber. This is my single favorite comedy book of all time. As you may have guessed, it's a sleezy and utterly deranged parody of "Harry Potter." The last time I reread "it "Barry Trotter" was shortly after the death of Gilbert Gottfried; on that read, I imagined Gottfried in the role of Nicholas Henratty (my favorite character).

These doodlings were drawing during that read, but only inked and posted now for Inktober.

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Sangamon Taylor (for Inktober)

Sangamon Taylor, the protagonist and narrator of Neal Stephenson's eco-thriller Zodiac" (1988), which I am currently reading for the second time (the first being years ago). It's Stephenson's second novel, and as such isn't perfect. But I love how much it is an unintentional period piece of the year I was born. I could have waited until I had better markers, but didn't. The limited resources that went into this picture actually fits the character and story perfectly.

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A few years ago, I finally read "Lord of the Rings" from start to finish. During that time, I drew some artwork that I never got around to sharing online. I'm now sharing it for Inktober.

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Old art of Tonks from "Harry Potter." This is the furst thing I drew in a grossly underused sketch book, in the late 2010s. I forgot to sign and date it until a few days ago.

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I thought of the idea last year to do Trek species as merfolk for this Mermay. I was really excited for it, but a bunch of insane crap ended up postponing it. Well 27 days late is better than never. Swim long and prosper!

Edit: I've tweaked a few of these since uploading.

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Sprawl Trilogy

Old fan art of the "Sprawl Trilogy" by William Gibson.

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Some oldies, of Molly Millions/Sally Shears, from William Gibson's "Sprawl" books and stories.

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Captain Lexxa Singh

Here's an oldie. I don't think I've posted it on Tumblr, if I have apologies. Captain Lexxa Singh (Adrienne Wilkinson), from Tim Russ's unauthorized fan film "Star Trek: Renegades."

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My personal take on characters from the "Voyager" Relaunch novels, by Kirsten Beyer and Christie Golden.

Captain Afsarah Eden

Ensign Aytar Gwyn

Lt. Devi Patel

Lt. Nancy Conlon

Meegan McDonnell

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Neville Longbottom's toad Trevor, and their Rememberall. Since I don't have my own Rememberall, I can't remember how large it or Trevor are supposed to be.

Parchment background by Sinnedaria on DeviantArt.