It seems that I wasn't the only one with writer's block this weekend. Great minds and all that, eh?

Remember folks, only two more weeks to get those fan art submissions in for the contest. We've got some great submissions in so far and quite a few have given me a chuckle, so be sure to give it your all and get 'em in on time.

Yarr! An if'n ye be wonderin' what I've been doin' wit me free time maties, then cast yer good eye towards Star Pirates. Myself and the crew of The Filthy Monkey have set the InkTank Navy asail in the black depths o' space. Join us in the crew's quarters or send an in-game message to "InkTank" and become a captain of yer own vessel. There be booty ta plunder, gamblin ta be done an' explorin' of the outer reaches.

Ayarrr!

...*ahem*

This weekend we took Mo to her first movie at the local drive-in. We saw Kung Fu Panda and she loved it. It is definitely Dreamworks' best movie to date and, I'm sure, a serious contender for a possible Oscar nod.

One thing in particular I noted was that Dreamworks reigned in thier usual "name dropping" of promoting the celebrity voice talent over the movie itself (which I made mention of in a blog post all so many years ago). In fact, I was hard pressed to find a Kung Fu Panda movie poster that had ANY names on it, and the one that did had a subdued "Jack Black" up at the top. Kudos to you, Dreamworks.

While still getting some "name" actors to do voices, it wasn't distracting and I actually had to look up a few of the voices afterwards. Now obviously Jack Black is Po, the panda. But the voice isn't distracting because Jack Black IS Po the panda. It's like looking at Jack Black in panda form. He just has that feel that it is a genuine performance, much more so that Jack Black the shark in Shark Tale.

So, I give Kung Fu Panda an enthusiastic two thumbs up and Mo gives it an enthusiastic running around the house yelling KUNGFUPANDAKUNGFUPANDAKUNGFUPANDA...etc.

Work place humor can be a bit dry, but this week has been important to establish InkTank's work environment for future stories. Not to mention introducing a few extra characters.

I was actually really nervous adding an Asian character to the strip. Aside from Spencer (the black fellow in the Sorry We're Open strip), I realized I tend not to draw a racially diverse crowd. Now, I know Spencer in real life (and he FINALLY grew dreads like I told him to, and he does look great, so there!) so I really didn't have too much of a problem. Hey, it's just Spencer. But I think me general trepidation about drawing women has somewhat transferred over to drawing people of other races.

I think my fear with women I don't make them beautiful and attractive, then it offends women in general. But I know that women come in all sorts of beautiful shapes and sizes. In the same vein, if I draw someone who isn't white, I fear that if I draw the racial characteristics ... too cartoony, then it becomes like one of those horrible racially derogatory cartoons you can find on hate sites and the like. Be it eyes that are too slanted, or a nose too wide (although pretty much everyone in my strips seems to have the "big nose" syndrome) I worried that someone of that race would see it and go "What the hell!?"

But knowing how many of my co-workers are Korean, Indian, Pakistani, Persian, German (uh, big and blond?) and everything in between, I felt it was important enough to at least make the effort to diversify my cartoon workplace and in doing so, challenge myself artistically.

I mean, it's not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but these are the inner demons I need to deal with if I hope to grow as an artist. Figuring out my artistic fears and facing them head on.

Next up, tall women with big hips.

Next up, tall women with big hips.

...and I'll shower you with gifts. Oh, and I'm running a fan art contest too, in case you were interested.

Yep, the newly formed InkTank Studios is having its first official contest with some prize support from one of my favorite affiliates, Sideshow Collectables. With just a simple flick of the pen, a click of the mouse, a slap of the clay, a ... sew of the ... thread, a ... uh ... ink of the ... needle ... tattoo ...

Just do some cool fan art in whatever medium you like and send it my way for inclusion in the Fan Art section and you just might win some swag. You can check out more details and the rules on this page.

Elsewhere on the web, I've bene spending far too much time at Hulu.com checking out tons of shows. In particular, I like to have a little Babylon 5 going on in the background while I make the strip. Lately though, I've found some nice reality shows in Carrier and The 808. both shows are in that documentary style of following people in their everyday lives. The 808 was a big surprise for me because I thought it was about gang life or something, but it's actually about surfers living on the North Face of Oahu and their day to day lives. It sort of reminds me of the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, with more of a focus on the surfing part. Carrier is a PBS series and is just all kinds of awesome.

I prefer the "real" reality shows as opposed to "reality shows" where you trap ten super models in a Manhattan loft and make them eat cat poop or get voted off the show. I hate that crap. The shows that is, not the actual crap. Although I do hate cat crap as well, just not as much.

And continuing the pantheon of celebrities who I looked up to and are now dead, George Carlin passed away on Sunday from heart failure. Man, it may not be people in my own social network, but this strip seems strangely ominous.

Oh, and many thanks to everyone who's been donating to the Around the World efforts posted in the previous blog. It is really appreciated and the gang wanted me to send along their heartfelt thanks. You're really making a difference.

You guys rock!