From Behind the Brain

Animated Conversation

My head is suffering from a mixture of alcohol abuse and jetlag so this quickie is all I'll be conjuring up today.
Two old friends.

Back to the Blog

Donkey Man

Buxom

Anal Rape and Beer

This is a left over image from the United States.
It's Filipino Vic, who managed to scam $140 out of me for a $30 taxi ride.
I'm a reasonable intelligent person but Filipino Vic shoved one into me hard and deep.

And guess what I've been doing since I arrived in the UK?!

Goodbye to Oh Canada

Well I have no pictures for any of you just yet.
I have a few things I will document when I arrive in London (sometime in the next 30 hours or so) including such highlights as:
*Fillipino Vic, the cab driver who bent me over and fucked me up the arse.
*Hollywood actress Carrie Anne Moss with a baby hanging off her tit.
*Bob the zookeeper discussing how the big cats will be quite prepared to drag you through the cyclone fence if given the chance.

I have had a very jolly time in Canada (Vancouver specifically).
Everywhere is flanked by the kind of massive mountain ranges that Bilbo Baggins and friends would have found familiar.
The city elders here have found it necessary to ruin the view by erecting shitty apartment buildings.
I would like to extend my services for free to the people of Vancouver.
I would be quite prepared to hunt down and bring to justice (via slow and painful means) the architects, accountants and other red tape merchants who were responsible for constructing these weeping sores on the landscape.
If anyone would like me to look into this, please email me.
I have been to a nice acquarium and enjoyed some fish and some seals.
And I went to the Greater Vancouver Zoo, which despite being a little neglected was being tended by a team of clearly dedicated staff who made the experience a lovely one.
The management also seem to have a policy of only hiring cute girls which can never be a bad thing.
I leave for the UK tomorrow and arrive Saturday morning.
Cheer Team Blog.

Goodbye San Fran

I have just waddled back to the hotel after eating more than than an Norwegian walrus at HerringFest.
Tonight is my last night in the United States and I really have had a jolly time indeed.
I am pleased to say that with the exception of visiting The Cartoon Museum (which had a bunch of terrific stuff including some Robert Crumb, Maurice Sendak, Edward Gorey and other great illustrators) I have managed to do no touristy things whatsoever.
In fact I have done very little more than eat and drink and make much merriment.
Some folks have asked me if I have documented my trips in illustration for and I have to say I haven't.
I don't use a sketchbook in daily use, never mind when I am on holidays.
I'm an observer and not a documentor (or some other high fallutin' shit that gives me an excuse).
Anyway - toodle oo!

Tribute to Nikki

Nikki is the finest songstress you will ever have the pleasure of being entertained by.

Goodbye Australia

In a few short hours I leave for London via San Francisco and Vancouver.
I am sure I'll get to the blog from time to time over that period, but in the meantime I'd like to thank the (as of this minute) 30,016 visitors that took the time to linger over my images.
Anyone who would like to get a hold of me can do so at elliotcowanimation@yahoo.com.
Take care everyone and I look forward to catching up with all your own work as soon as possible.
Elliot.

Brief Note

The value of the Australian dollar is of equal value to Australias political importance on a global scale (not very much).
Thanks John Howard.

Goodbye to Melbourne

I am leaving this home town Melbourne indefinately tomorrow night and it had been my intention to write something meaningful and important about this city and what it means to me.
Instead I'm simply going to say goodbye to my very best friend.

I'll be in Sydney for a few days before heading off around the world on Sunday the 25th.

Satisfying

Well this is the most satisfying thing I've drawn in weeks.
This one wasn't quite so satisfying but it's ok...

Goodbyes - update

More goodbyes.
This is Ackland Street in St Kilda.
A suburb known for being cool, groovy, filthy, heroin addiction and prostitution.
It was not so much like this when I was a child however.
It was very much a Jewish area at the time and my grandparents lived quite nearby and I spent a lot of time here.
There used to be lots of Jew's Bars, now there's lots of Juice Bars.
I'm sure every city has it's version.
It's cool but grubby. Alternative but trashy.
It used to be famous for it's cake shops but there are only a few left (see picture).


These are the clear blue waters of Port Phillip Bay, minutes from my family home.
I spent a lot of my childhood here too.
You'll see me and mum in the bottom corner there.
I am not especially tall (although the tallest in the family).


My dear friends Lee and Lisa and I went to see the lovely and talented Holly Throsby, which will be the last show I see in Australia.
Holly has a particular style of whispered, secretive folkish music.
Anyone who is moved by such things can listen to her first single here.
Her website has some nice graphics going on too for anyone interested.



Friday morning I drove to Wangaratta, about 4ish hours north east of Melbourne.
It was the last time to visit regional Australia before I leave for other shores.
I stay with my dear friend Robyn at her parents property.


This is a bit of a billabong, for jolly swagmen to drown themselves in.


Farmers are encouraged to not cut down old dead trees because our native parrots live in the hollowed branches.

The elephantine wrinkles on a gum tree.

Goodbye to the countryside...

A Little Colour Again

Smut and a Comment

This is obviously the smut bit.

Here are some comments about animation.
Despite the fact that I am only associated with the fringes of the animation industry, I am still quite prepared to shoot my mouth off about stuff I don't like.
I'll keep it brief.
Now then.
Dear producer/young person/television executive or anyone else of limited thinking capacity.
See this drawing below?

You might think it's got a whole Tex Avery feel to it.
It really doesn't.
He didn't really do that kind of thing that much, and his drawings were better.
What he did do a lot was make piles of really smart, silly, funny popular cartoons.
I'll turn this to a related subject that I do know a bit about - voice acting.
Anyone interested in the field should go take a gander at these two Tex Avery cartoons because they both have great voiceover work done in a offhand casual way that is not very common these days.
A lot of people who do character voices have a background as announcers (which is what we call them here) - guys who read scripts for radio and television commercials.
They are not actors and know hardly anything about character.
Anyway.
Cellbound the warden has a great deadpan voice and the villian a funny Irish thing going on.
Billy Boy especially good VO. It sounds like Daws Butler. Might not be.
Then go to Youtube.com and look for more animation. There's plenty there.

Train People

I shlepped all over the show today.
I did a session with some teachers about the might of blogging.
Went and picked up a laptop.
Here are two different women I saw on the train today.

Also, anyone come across a Paul Alexiou in their travels?

Doodle Diarrhea

Natalies Portman

Pretty girls are always hard to caricature.
You can can do kind of a cartoony drawing of them, but a caricature is a harder thing.
As Smook and I have discussed recently, I think it's the essence of the character rather than an exact likeness that's important - the essence of beautiful girl is pretty boring to be honest.
As for caricaturing actors.
I tend to do them in character as it's a useful cheat to lead the view to who it is supposed to be.
It was my first instinct to do her bald, as she's been in the media bald for some time, but I thought that was TOO much of a cheat, so I did one with hair first.
I think that even though they both had the same base head drawing, they bald one looks more accurate.

Also - Australia beat Japan in the soccer yesterday.
This is apparently a very good thing.
Go team.

Smook Is Like Jesus But Draws Better

Apart from being a traitor to his people and a political hot potato, Smook from Red Dot is a terrific bloke who knows his way around a piece of paper.
He also claims to be a shitty caricaturist.
Go to his blog and call him a liar!
He drew this great picture using the horror story further down the page as a reference.