Uncharted 4 + Dark Souls 3 = Uncharted Souls

     Since I haven't done any stupid posts for a while, I decided it was about damn time.  After playing a few hours of Naughty Dog's amazing Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, I decided there were a lot of locations that reminded me of Dark Souls 3, and more so of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and I just wanted to have a little fun with that idea- so I made these!

Oh come on- I'm not even Embered!

     For the boss fog wall I wanted to make Sam look like he was a summon, but didn't have nearly enough time to do it.  But now the I think of it, I should've put in some summon signs on the floor too.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Good thing I summoned Sam. #PraiseTheSun

     I have a few more screenshots with some better ideas, but didn't have time.  I thought of tossing in some soul finds by combining the Dark Souls' items and Uncharted's notes systems into one.  There may be some crypts with Draugrs coming soon as well.

     Enjoy my stupidity.  [ For some of my old ones... ]

     #UnchartedSouls

Josh News: Christmas 2015 & New Years Eve Edition: Butterfly Painting

     It's been a long year, lots of school, lots of work, lots of an internship, some surgery and a whole shit load of writing.  Hopefully I can maintain the output through the coming year for all of you readers out there.

     Here's a Christmas gift I painted for someone, and apologies for the image quality, I hadn't realized how strange it would look on camera due to the glossy coating I put over it.  It looks 20 times better in person.

     In other news this blog passed 300K visits like a week ago when I wasn't looking.  In addition I have a video channel prepared so I can start adding video content early in 2016!  To top that off, I'm going to try a bunch of new things, including potentially adding a fiction thread for stories and comics, some art as I've gotten the itch to create again, and so on.

     To all of you readers, Happy New Years!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: NEW Drew Struzan Poster

     As we near the release of Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens we are getting tons of new tidbits, art, and photos.  The newest addition is an amazing new poster by the incomperable Drew Struzan.  What I think is an awesome new item is the reveal that John Boyega's character Finn is a Jedi!  Very Badass!

     Returning cast include Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels, and long-time grumpy man Harrison Ford.

     Along with them arrives a fresh batch including Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Gwendoline Christie, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, and Hollywood's go-to motion captured specialist Andy Serkis.


     Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters Dec 18th.

Ant-Man: Ant-Man Meme: Anchorman Meme, or Ant-chor-Meme, or just plain Ant-Meme.

     With my excitement for Ant-Man reaching exceptional levels, I decided to put my mediocre Photoshop skills to use once again.  Yes, it's meme time!  I originally wanted to do a Zoolander reference with, "What is this, a hero for ants?!?"  Or maybe, "What is this, a meme for ants?!?"  But a quick Google search proved that many others had beaten me to it.
     So I went with this instead...

Ant-Meme... Ant-Meme... Ant-Meme... Ant-Meme...  Ant-Meme...

Click to reverse Pym Particles.

     It's nothing special, but I wanted people to initially see it really small and actively "use" Pym Particles to see it in actual size.  Just a little Anchorman reference to brighten the day.

Josh News: Fuck the Chikin Nugget

     Today's installment of Josh News is brought to you by a co-workers ingenious child.  They apparently REALLY hate chicken nuggets- particularly McDonald's Mc-nuggets.  The picture on the back shows where they ate.  It also shows what might be an apatosaurus or some similar creature.

     How can kids be so brilliant and hilarious?!?  I wish I could be even half as awesome as this.

Empire Magazine: 20th Anniversary Issue: The Birthday Portfolio

     I've been a bit lax in the art department lately, and I stumbled across Empire Magazine's upcoming Birthday Issue.  Well, I felt the need to share a couple of the photos they've released with some actors and actresses revisiting old roles for new photos, and they look stunningly elegant.
     I'm only putting up the Sam Neill's Jurassic Park and Christian Bale's American Psycho pics.  Note the brilliant axe reflection and business cards- they're absolutely genius.  This is an issue I'll be certain to buy.

     Sources [ IMGUR ]  [ Empire Magazine ]

               

Mister Hide Leather: Great Products

     It's been a while since I blog pimped some friends- and it's due time.

     One of my buddies has been into serious leather working for the last couple years and creates custom leather products.  He is open to making a variety of products and his works speak for themselves.  I would highly recommend checking them out at the links below.  My personal favorite item is the Blue Key Fob with silver Celtic Knot pictured to the right.  

     To check out his Official blog page [ Mister Hide ]

     His Facebook page [ Mister Hide ]

    Or to see some of his stuff without the hassle of a few extra clicks see below.

Butterfly Bracelet

Tobacco Pouch

Abstract Wide Watchband

     As you can see he's got some excellent talent and is on the lookout for new and interesting projects to make for people.  Bracelets, belts, key fobs, wallets, purses, bags, holsters, sheaths, or pretty much any leather project you might want, he'll find a way to make it.  Don't hesitate to ask for something- ask or check for what you may like.

The Hobbit: We Have a Gandalf Meme and a Reading Response

     I haven't blogged in a few days and I feel kind of bad about it.  The reason is because I'm back in school full time in addition to working 45+ hours a week in patient care.  Well, I figured I'd knock out a blog with a meme I thought of while writing a reading response to my Fantasy Literature class' first book The Hobbit.

     This is just a bit of irritation I feel at how Gandalf is used as a back door solution to EVERY problem that arises.  Clearly I'm not the best writer by any means, but you'll get the point.

     Here's the paper/response:

Joshua Barsody

Reading Response 1

     An issue of convenience.

     There is something that bothers me quite a bit about the Hobbit, and that is the problem of convenience.  Every step of the way a strange new peril arises and it's solution is so perfectly easy that it's a let down.  The peril wasn't really peril because [ fill in the blank ].  

     The first noticeable one is with the trolls encountered by Bilbo and the dwarves.  Bilbo tries to pickpocket a troll and the troll just happens to have a purse that happens to spek! (p36)  All right, a very odd occurrence in a strange land, I can accept that, but then things get better!  Gandalf arrives and saves the troup due to the stupidity of the trolls- and upon searching the trolls stash- they find two famous weapons(p42)!  Named blades, Orcrist and Glamdring, that Elrond know-it-all just happens to know on sight.  These two also happen to be recognized by goblins (later in the story), one would guess by such amazing verbal descriptions because I don't think goblins live long enough to recall something that happened "ages ago."(p52)  

     (Note: for the above, I know the weapons are named with runes, but wouldn't people name their weapons after others' famous weapons?  Perhaps, like naming a child after family or friends.  It just seems too easy for the weapons to both be singularly named and have a history known to Elrond and the goblins that probably should've been forgotten "ages ago.")

     Once again, that's not soooooo bad.  Now we get to a real whopper, the first one I rolled my eyes at.  “Moon-letters are rune-letters, but you cannot see them,’ said Elrond, ‘not when you look straight at them. They can only be seen when the moon shines behind them, and what is more, with the more cunning sort it must be a moon of the same shape and season as the day when they were written.” (p53)  Are you effin' kidding me?!?  So they just happened to not only be there looking at the map, but also in the same season, under the same shaped moon (with the map held up to it's light, instead of being read in candle light), AAAAAND also -quite conveniently- with an individual that can read them?!?  It feels so ridiculous that all that happened by sheer coincidence that it knocked me out of the story.

     "Of course it was Gandalf." (p65)

     For the biggest piece of convenience in writing- Gandalf, the get-out-of-jail-free wizard.  In most circumstances the dangers our Ereborian friends (and Bilbo) get themselves into don't feel like actual danger.  They have a wizard!  One that's power is whatever is necessary at the moment except when it's Eagles, because somehow, Eagles trump Gandalf's ace card.  And on top of that- if Elrond is Mr. Knows-it-all, then Gandalf is Mr. Knows-a-guy.  When he needs answers he knows who can.  Why aren't there unanswerable questions and mystery?  Why isn't there real danger?  Granted, there is a chance it may play to the fact that if Gandalf leaves it'll force the over-reliance on Captain Cop-out with magic to save the day to end, and make the others actually save their own butts.

     Bilbo and the gang run into trolls?  A wild Gandalf appears! (p41)  Caught by goblins and in need of saving?  Gandalf to the rescue! (p64)  Surrounded in warg territory and stuck in trees?  Gandalf is on the job... with the aid of some Eagles. (p 107)

     Gandalf, while needed for the story, is too bothersome with how often he continually saves them (and vanishes).  It is bothersome enough for me to wonder- what are the dwarves doing anyway- he's practically babysitting them, and other than Gandalf starting them all forward, none of the dwarves has really contributed to their journey in any meaningful way yet.  They are just bearded children following the fix-all grandpa Gandalf, and feel unnecessary in what should rightly be their own tale instead of a checklist of things they were saved from by Gandalf.

     So without Gandalf and all the convenient saves/problem solving the dwarves would all be dead.  Disturbing but true.

Charlie the Cockatiel Sketch

     The only thing I've made recently that I feel all right with posting here in the way of art is this little sketch of my tiny bird buddie, Charlie the Cockatiel.  I have others as well, of Izzy with more color (she's brightly colored)- but those are for another time.

     Well, Charlie here likes to peep questions at me like, "Brooooot?"  He also likes to sing If You're Happy and You Know It with Izzy.

     On repeat.

     Ad nauseam.

     It's the only song they know.

     He occasionally enjoys playing Playstation Vita as well.

Old Sketchbook Pages: Project Homage: "The Shape-shifter"

     I went looking through a bunch of old stuff earlier today in search of a specific item had sketched a looooooooooooong time ago and ended up finding a bunch of notebooks and sketchbooks from 1998-2001.  In fact, it contained a mass of notes for one of my dream projects- which would be to remake a cartoon series from my childhood that I am rather fond of for the modern comic times.

     Since that would probably never happen, I had decided to start a project to make my own homage to it, and quite a few other series' into one shared universe set of stories all of my own.  Thus "Project Homage" was born.  Granted, a ton of life got in the way and these were set aside.  Now that I found them I am quite interested in revamping my notes into finished sci-fi and fantasy tales, possibly illustrated ones or comic books if I can find a bit of extra time.

     This one has a super short description.  It is an experiment to create the ultimate in espionage.  A shape-shifting creature.  What it would be is a caterpillar-like being that ingests massive amounts of material and converts it to a nutrient auger to then "grow" more mass.  (The creature itself would be about a foot long- the image is a fairly poor one sorry, it makes it hard to judge)  It would take a lot of time to do, and there would be a network of tendon-like cords throughout the constructed body after making a skeletal frame to work with.  Obviously the bigger the thing being made, the longer it would take.

     When in danger it could alter it's form on the spot with whatever it had on hand.  Need to shrink?  Slough off unnecessary material.  In danger and surrounded by bodies?  Burrow it's way into one and start pilfering their proteins and bones while simultaneously growing a new neural network to control the host's lifeless body.  The perfect, programmed adapter.  It can either use what's on hand, or grow what it needs through a conversion process.

     This creature would be used to infiltrate highly secure locations or replace people/aliens.  Originally I had thought it should be used in tandem with a telepath nearby.  But I'm still debating whether or not to do that.

Old Sketchbook Pages: Project Homage: "The Twins"

     I went looking through a bunch of old stuff earlier today in search of a specific item had sketched a looooooooooooong time ago and ended up finding a bunch of notebooks and sketchbooks from 1998-2001.  In fact, it contained a mass of notes for one of my dream projects- which would be to remake a cartoon series from my childhood that I am rather fond of for the modern comic times.

     Since that would probably never happen, I had decided to start a project to make my own homage to it, and quite a few other series' into one shared universe set of stories all of my own.  Thus "Project Homage" was born.  Granted, a ton of life got in the way and these were set aside.  Now that I found them I am quite interested in revamping my notes into finished sci-fi and fantasy tales, possibly illustrated ones or comic books if I can find a bit of extra time.

     This is actually a two-fer.  This would be a pair of twins, one male and one female.  The sketch above is of the female.  A pair of telepathic prodigies- but instead of being mirrored in their lives, they would be almost opposites.  She would have four eyes, to see with, while the male's suit would have none.  His would be like a birthing caul.  He would be relying on a combination of tech in the suit/mask and building his "view" of the world around him using the minds of those he's around.  She would be the talker and he would be silent.

     I would also note that these two would be part of the "Intergalactic Special Forces" team I had mentioned in the previous posts- so they would have heavy combat experience.  They fight battles with body and mind together- enemies don't often expect to be barraged with both combat in person and mental/astral projections in that other realm that lies in our heads.

     There was a huge "twist" to their story, but when this gets going I would like to keep it a mystery for the time being.  Only my best friend knows what it was, but then again, I told him what it was over a decade ago, so he may have forgotten...

Old Sketchbook Pages: Project Homage: "The Kidd"

     I went looking through a bunch of old stuff earlier today in search of a specific item had sketched a looooooooooooong time ago and ended up finding a bunch of notebooks and sketchbooks from 1998-2001.  In fact, it contained a mass of notes for one of my dream projects- which would be to remake a cartoon series from my childhood that I am rather fond of for the modern comic times.

     Since that would probably never happen, I had decided to start a project to make my own homage to it, and quite a few other series' into one shared universe set of stories all of my own.  Thus "Project Homage" was born.  Granted, a ton of life got in the way and these were set aside.  Now that I found them I am quite interested in revamping my notes into finished sci-fi and fantasy tales, possibly illustrated ones or comic books if I can find a bit of extra time.

     This is one of my favorite personally designed characters to this day.  Outside of two others I made for this project, being called- 1) The Dammu-Yoggua and 2) The Sword of the Nine Tribes.  There is a chance I'll post those pics in a few weeks.  But for now I'm just doing small pieces on the few sketches I found tonight- and I'll dig out the rest another time.

     Anyhow, this character is of an alien race that I can only describe as "living flutes."  Their entire communication is through complex musical systems of notes.

     The skulls would, I figure it, work like a combination of a flute and a lambeosaurine (a hollow-crested hadrosaur).  Air would be forced through complex tubing, and the muscles around the holes on the elongated head to make all the various notes by contracting and closing off pathways- like fingers on a flute.  I figure there would also be other airways for breathing so they could both "sing" and breath at the same time.

     Due to the character being from part of Project Homage, people might be able to guess what show I wanted to update and make it into a hard sci-fi series.  Which is why it looks to be in a containment suit of sorts- to mask it's natural appearance from most humans, which would not know of these odd creatures.  Since they would be much smaller than humans, an exoskeleton and a lot of internal equipment would allow it to be on the team with only a couple people actually knowing what it was.

  I'm actually really glad I saved these old sketches and notes, because I've got tons of better ideas to use these for in my own stories now.

Old Sketchbook Pages: Project Homage: "Siren"

     I went looking through a bunch of old stuff earlier today in search of a specific item had sketched a looooooooooooong time ago and ended up finding a bunch of notebooks and sketchbooks from 1998-2001.  In fact, it contained a mass of notes for one of my dream projects- which would be to remake a cartoon series from my childhood that I am rather fond of for the modern comic times.

     Since that would probably never happen, I had decided to start a project to make my own homage to it, and quite a few other series' into one shared universe set of stories all of my own.  Thus "Project Homage" was born.  Granted, a ton of life got in the way and these were set aside.  Now that I found them I am quite interested in revamping my notes into finished sci-fi and fantasy tales, possibly illustrated ones or comic books if I can find a bit of extra time.

     Here is the first character sketches I found.


     I had her code-named "Siren."  Simply a placeholder name at the time, because she used a form of hypnotic singing to lure in victims.  Her tale was set to be quite sad- she was genetically engineered to be a sort of human/mosquito hybrid- a vampire of sorts.  When she feeds it expands the thorax/belly section for digestion and protein conversion to reproduction- laying eggs.

     Unfortunately, she was also created sterile.  At some point a group finds her singing dirges over her nest of eggs and they try to assist in a kind of rehabilitation.  Bringing her in to get help and be admitted to an Intergalactic Swat Team- made up of other members and oddities that she would feel at least somewhat at home with.

     It would, in essence be universal misfits grouped together because of their outcast natures- picked up and trained by a strange section of military that would, of course, pose it's own threats at a later time.

Christmas Cards 2013: Black Jesus! It's Definitely Not Joseph's child!

     I already know I'll catch a lot of flack for this one- so here goes.  After seeing all this race hubbub going on about Santa and Jesus I figured might as well make a joke about it and add a touch of modern humor to the mix.  So I snagged an old Gustave Dore Nativity pic, colored it, then made it into a meme.
     I wasn't there and have no idea what went down, but I would totally laugh if one of the wise men cracked a joke like this after travelling so far.  Quite a surprise for the family of the newborn black baby Jesus!

     Besides, who gives a crap what color anyone was a couple thousand years ago- shouldn't we focus on the teachings they left behind?  To do good because it's the right thing to do?  Being a decent, generous, and caring person is more important than bickering over stupid shit any day.  Black or white, Jesus taught people to do good, and that is what should be remembered.

Christmas Cards 2013: Megyn Kelly is An Idiot: Dreaming of a White Christmas

     With all the wonderfully absurd and highly controversial statements by Fox News' Megyn Kelly, I really couldn't help myself in making this "Christmas Card."  It's mostly a stupid meme, but I hope someone laughs at it...  and Miss Kelly gets a good lesson from it.  (The lesson being don't be a idiot.)

     Santa Claus can be what ever people want.  Hell, make him a lady, as long as Santa is teaching kids to be good I don't give a crap.  Make Santa a pile of dirty socks that deliver gifts and joy!  I'd still like it/him/her/other.  I mean isn't Christmas about being "good for goodness' sake?"  It's about generosity and caring about well being of everyone, not about petty squabbles- like Gretchen Carlson's comments about a Festivus pole ruining her Nativity scene view.  I may go put one up now myself...

Christmas Holiday Cards: 2013...

     This is a small Christmassy card/thing I made last year for someone while I worked on the really large Blue Jay picture project for someone else.  Originally it was going to be a large 3 part picture across multiple frames, but I ran out of time due to work and miscellaneous life setbacks (injury and medical issues).
     So I ended up making this smaller version and due to forgetfulness I didn't put it up on this blog.

Thanksgiving Day Humor: A Silence of the Lambs Meme

     At one point during my very long day at work someone mentioned someone basting a turkey in a very humorous-and-a-bit-strange way- and the individual doing it said it was like lotion for the turkey.  Of course my immediate thought was of Buffalo Bill making a dinner for one of his victims.  So I got home from work and finished the post right before this one, and then made this meme.  The Silence of the Memes.

Batman: Mr. Freeze Art by Nicholas Straight

     My BFF and artist extraordinaire Nick over at Drawmit made me a sweet Mr. Freeze picture as a thank you card of sorts.  Quite excellent work, he loosely based the look on the lead from Stalker, the film by Andrei Tarkovsky that is loosely, I repeat loosely based on the short novel Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky.  (They wrote both the book and the screenplay)
     I would highly recommend both the book and the film.  They're wonderful.

     I think this Mr. Freeze retroactively influenced the design of the Engineers in Prometheus.  Also, the cowl shadow on the neck piece was a great touch.  Well, done and thank you Nick!  Another Mr. Freeze item to add to the collection.

Dark Souls 2: Collector's Edition Meme: Shut Up and Take My Money (Souls)!

     This is the first thing I thought of when I saw the Dark Souls 2 Collector's Edition and the Black Armor edition.  So after giggling like an idiot all day at work- here's a little Dark Souls meme I whipped up for whoever happens to stumble by here.  Hopefully you read it with the sound of using a soul from in the game.

     It seems fitting that I would pay for it with souls and it's more than likely something that "Trusty" Patches the Hyena would sell to me after kicking me into a hole.
     Well, enjoy.  I'll have some comments on the PVP and Co-op announcements tomorrow.  As well as another fairly funny picture I thought of to go along with the Souls series.

Star Trek Into Darkness: The Alice Eve Scream is a Carol Marcus Meme

     I felt that I spent a long time bashing Into Darkness with my last post and wanted to do some good for the movie.  So I whipped up a little Photoshoppery and fixed this picture.  I imagine Carol Marcus' father, the devious Admiral Marcus spoon feeding her to calm her down.  Complete with tiny Enterprise noises. 

"Open the shuttle bay-  ppbbbrbrbrlbelbrrbebrlrrrrrr..."