Don’t Be Afraid
I’m still on my archive.org old 1950s educational film short kick. Here’s a new song inspired by one of the films, along with the film re-edited as a music video. The original film meant to teach kids not to be afraid, but seriously — what kind of lesson is that to be teaching our kids nowadays?
And here is just the music:
New Music Page!
I’m putting together a probably less-than-comprehensive, but definitely more thorough than anything else that’s out there, list of all of my music for people to listen to and download. So far there are over 80 songs posted there, with more to come! Check it out!
http://www.studiolams.com/music/
(Or click the “Music” tab at the top).
Repetitive Robot Music
This isn’t a real song, just me messing around for an hour or so with some synths and a new channelstrip plugin (TeamDNR’s Mixcontrol). If you like repetitive robot music, then you might enjoy this.
My “Pater Noster” (Latin for Kids!)
There’s never been an easier way to learn the “Pater Noster”!
I’m not sure what I was thinking when I had this idea, because shoehorning plainsong into one of the most rigid forms of music around was probably not the best idea in the world, but I thought it’d be fun to hear once I’d made it. And I’m pleased with the results.
Also — here is the audio file so you can download it for your iPods:
New Lightbox!
I got a new lightbox for my birthday. Now I can make cartoons in 1/2, no!, 1/4 of the time! I’m rebooting my old “Life On The Slide” comic strip. Here are the first two I did in like no time tonight.


Gouache up!
Here are some recent gouache paintings I’ve done. I’m really enjoying the inexpensive gouache paints I got recently and whenever I have an hour or two, try to turn out a painting as I develop my technique. Here are a few of my more recent attempts. Click on the thumbnail for a larger preview, or the title beneath the painting to be taken to that painting’s Flickr page.
A Boy and his Airship
The Agony of Weenie
Ulysses, Portrait Study 1
More art!
Here are two more recent portraits from my class (just concluded). It’s the same model in both (just in case you couldn’t tell). The first was done by mechanical pencil and the second is a pencil sketch with ink wash (unfortunately I took too long on the pencil sketch and only left about 15 minutes for the ink wash). Click on any picture to see a larger version. Or go to my Flickr stream!
I also did my first gouache painting last night! I call it “Why I Do Not Fish”:
Not to be left out, ‘Xander also did his own picture, which he calls “Why You Should Never Ever Ever Ever Go Near A UFO”. The composition is just awesome:
Art is fun!
Poor-traits
Okay, so I’ve been in this portrait class for six weeks now, and my portraits are improving. I can see, though, why it takes more than six weeks to learn several new mediums and become a good potrait artist (not to mention I’m trying to develop my own pen and ink portrait technique). Art is hard! But it’s fun, and a lot better in the instant gratification department than recording songs (2 hours anywhere for a piece of art vs. 8 hours or more in front of a computer for a song). Anyway, here are some portraits from my most recent class as well as a painting (my first painting in 20 years!) I did last night for fun, to try out my new watercolor set (click thumbnails for the biggies or click here for the images on Flickr).
Plug Time!
I just did a (relatively) simple website for GoGreen Step, a local Michigan business which takes single-use plastic drums from the food industry, paints them up, puts a faucet and a filter on them, and sells them as rain barrels. We’ve had ours (55-gal) for a little over a month, and it’s already filled up three times (and the vegetable plants in the garden really seem to prefer rainwater to tap water… who knew?).
Anyway, if you’re in Michigan and in the market for a rain barrel, check them out.









