The Various Rantings of Andrew Elbi

Prison Dream

2012-01-30T17:30:14Z

I've been dreaming quite a bit lately. While most of them are only slightly disturbing my recent dream last night of being in prison and enjoying it makes me wonder if my marbles are still between my ears.

Setting:
My dream involved this large two-three story building that was open and white and strangely inviting. An entrance which cells on either side of the floor that were open and shared. The building was a prison in the sense that it had bars but was more of a large social community of people in extremely large cells that housed 4-6 people and we each had a section of room that was personalized but nothing much more than a bed and a desk to ourselves.

The upper floor was a floor of horrors. Largely obese people in these shiny turquoise pajamas that were more plastic than cloth and they had a rack of pajamas in the hallway to their fairly large rooms. The disturbing part was that the opening seat of the pajamas was brown and obviously discoloured by feces. Each large room had 8-16 obese people that were bed ridden and mostly sleeping.

In this dream I have been sent to prison for "driving under the influence" and that my sentence was yet to be determined. For some odd reason I had privileges to leave and was mostly picked up by my parents (dad) when ever they wanted tho I had a fairly strict timeline of outside freedom.

My father was driving me back to meet my curfew and I noticed an old friend cycling on the road. I wanted to stop and say hello but my dad said that it didn't matter and that I had places to be. I stopped anyways and conversed with my friend about my incarcerations uncertainty and had a smoke.

In the dream I felt pleased to be in the prison as I felt I had time to think things through about my life. I was a little nervous at the length of my impending sentence but I felt I finally had time to not worry about finding a job and could spend time creating art and rediscovering/reflect on myself.

Dreams can mean all sorts of things and although I've been dreaming about some really personal hardships lately, this dream seems to stick out for it's oddity and because it is the most clear out of all my recent dreams.

A quote from dreammoods.com:

"To dream that you are in prison indicates that you are being censored in some area of your life. You feel that your creativity is being limited and that you are not allowed to express yourself."

Except this was a dream where prison was FOR creativity and not holding me back. The prison had it drawbacks and horrors but its underlying meaning is widely open for interpretation. Just like most Buddhist sayings are "It is _____ and it isn't _____" there could be many meanings but I see it as a fear of starting the next chapter of my life. Feeling so overwhelmed that I need to be in a prison so that I have time to think and figure things out. The obese people on the second floor, to me, represent staying stagnant in their life choices and are completely dependent on others to take care of their needs.

If I stay stagnant to long I will have a bed waiting for me on the second floor. haha

I've been thinking about art recently and how I gave up on it because I could not see how it could ever relate to money.

I look at my roughed out comic thinking I should finish that and print it and...

Today you were there

2011-08-07T01:42:01Z

Today I was tested
I saw you there
With that guy
At our restaurant

I will not lose myself
I have come to far
I will not break
I will not lose the new man I have become

You were my world
You absorbed my identity
I did not know how to function
Without you

I will be forever weak
Whenever I try to forget you
My mind and eyes betray me
Because I see love that now is lost

I will still feel because I am human.
I will still hold a part of my heart to you
I will not give into this sadness
I will be more.

-Andrew Elbendari

Back from the Deep Sea of Life

2010-08-06T13:49:17Z

_{[note:I always add images to my posts to make it more interesting or at least have a theme. I dig it anyway.]}

This year has definitely been a big year of ups and downs. (mostly down but I don't want to dwell about it, not my style) And I'm just makin' things work. Earlier this year, later last year, I thought I had most of my life together and there was only a few things I had to work on. Right now, I have to work on everything. It's crazy how things flip when life throws change your way. I guess who you are is how you deal with obstacles in your life. Embracing change is a part of me that's new but it is a necessary tool for survival that I need to master. Adapt or be left behind. (Sounds like something darwin would/did say. heh heh)

A few months back, a five year relationship I was in ended and at first it felt right to leave and now I know that I still have some residual feelings left to deal with. In your mind you always think, if I did this or that differently things might not be the way they are now. But now I know what happened was for the best and all I can do is pick up the pieces and try to bring my life to a solid state once again.

I'm living at my fathers again but in the basement and I've decked it out pretty awesomely! I'll take pics and post them when I'm done but essentially right now, it's a haven for all I love of pop culture. Comics, games, movies, DUH WURKS! Speakin' of comics, I've started drawing again!!! And I'm back to work on my comics/ogn again. I have some stuff planned to show mid next week, webcomic-wise, and I don't wanna jinx it by saying to much so I'll show ya when I get a bit more of it done. (that's you're treat for reading this far, thank you, heh heh)

Well that's it for now,

Andrew

Hiatus

2010-06-02T23:45:33Z

Life throws you curve balls and you either gotta catch the ball or move out of the way. I'm in one of those positions now and I'm taking a break to get myself together/in order.

So I'm just generally taking a break from art, comics, and the internet so I can remember how to live and escape my office/dungeon of comicbook hobbitism.

I plan to return at some point but right now all that I love is taking a back seat for now while I figure some stuff out.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew

TO DO!!!

2010-04-29T14:53:11Z

Instead of being a lazy f**ktard like I usually am I'm gonna make a list of stuff to conquer today and I will cross those out as I go. I think I should do this daily so I can make some progress (keep motivated) on my work! If I don't complete it feel free to hassle/motivate me to do better!

-Work on mini comics for FanExpo 2010 (5 pages thumbnailed)
-Play Medal of Honor
~~-Play Tatsunoko vs Capcom~~
-Play Call of Duty
-Read Kick-Ass Comic/ Watch movie
~~-Watch Hell's kitchen season 2 episodes~~

[I'm sure you're wondering why I have things on there that aren't super constructive towards my number one item there. Well to me it's important to achieve everything that I can to stay happy and focused! Work & play are a delicate balance!)

Also I picked up cheek's Bastion 7 figure that finally came into my local comic shop! It's pretty awesome!

Toodles.

INK-mini comic idea

2010-04-29T04:21:08Z

Man was I ever getting sick of looking at my old mug on that there last post. Here's one of my more recent doodles towards hopefully finishing a mini comic for FanExpo 2010!

Wish me luck! :D

The face I see

2010-04-19T00:14:00Z

I'm not posting this pic to be vain or cuz I like seeing two of myself. (but it would be mighty handy to have a clone no? One to go to work and the other to work on comics!!! :D)

I wonder if people realize that the person they see in the mirror is not what other people see. I know you're thinkin' duh or who cares right? Well I do! And even though it looks so similar, to me, the me on the right (flipped image) looks a lot more like me than that of the left. My eyes/mind have been lied to all these years and you might not think it makes a difference but all those times you've made faces in the mirror (c'mon admit it!) I wonder if you factored in the back of you mind that you're just looking at the flip of it and that it might not work?

And this is probably why I've felt so unphotogenic all these years. Gotta get used to me version 2...or is that version 1? I guess for people who have super symmetrical faces (movies stars and lucky ppl I guess) that it's no big diff but in my case, I can see the difference.

Some food for thought eh? Try it yourself! FLIP YO' FACE!!!

DrewwerD

365 Samurai

2010-04-18T17:22:53Z

For the full description visit my website at http://gottadraw.com/?p=219

Thanks for looking!

Drew

Comix from Chamonkee

2010-04-14T16:28:08Z

Bin dyin' to get my hands on these! They're so awesome! Can't wait to read'em! Mini comix rule! Woot!

http://chamonkee.livejournal.com/

My PC is SLOWWWWWW and possibly dead. X_X

2010-04-13T13:03:48Z

Even just typing this shit up takes forever. The whole time I'm doing this my pc sounds like a cement mixer gurgling pure pain and frustration. I really gotta find a way to get a new one. I can't put up with the loading time of 3 mins to just open a web browser and when it does open every page takes FOREVER to load and is ULTRA SUPER slow. Can you imagine photoshop?....ugh. We've had better days old buddy, but right now....FU!!!

Swag bot today

2010-04-11T16:44:36Z

Have a little extra dough so I thought I'd treat myself to some stuff. I love the tick and 365 samurai looks like an awesome book with every page being a full panel. Neat concept.

On other not so great news my computer is so effed from the last virus attack I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. It runs A LOT slower than it did before and I'm worried I might not be able to make my comics on it. I might...*dread*...have to use my netbook since I can't afford a new machine yet. Balls. Is all I gotta say about that.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Drew

Hip Flask-The Elephantman

2010-04-10T16:36:03Z

Just a 30 minute warm-up.

Drew

Books I keep going back to that keep me inspired...

2010-04-09T02:39:53Z

Very few, if any, comics/artbooks actually keep me interested past purchasing them. I'm notorious for going through phases and here's some stuff I always have around me.

Art and concept for Elephantmen is fantastic. Solid like a rock...or a hippo for that matter.

I really like peng! It's Rey's most solid work that's cohesive and well thought out visually with just a few simple tools and a simplistic approach but not void of any imagination!

THE real monk of comics. A master in our life time. Mister Paul Pope ladies and gentlemen.

Dan Hipp is one of those guys who can make simplicity look so appealing and his solid storytelling makes this book (and his work) and must see for me.

The only anthology where EVERY comic is fantastic! I really love this series.

Skottie Young has been the most influential artist on me of all time. I've meet him a couple times and he's really nice dude. This was by far his best sketchbook and I treasure the heck outta it!

What's around your desk mofo???

P vs. Z

2010-04-03T15:28:54Z

Damn this game, damn it all to hell!! >_< SO fackin' addictive!!!

How to Train your Dragon

2010-04-02T12:59:06Z

Loved this movie a lot! Super cute and vikings vs. dragons are an awesome idea!

Well played! :D

Drew

City Hunter with JACKIE CHAN!!!

2010-04-01T14:09:57Z

I watched City Hunter last night and I really loved this movie A LOT. Thoroughly entertaining and even though it was a pretty bad dub I still really got into it. The street fighter part was BOSS!!! You can really see Jackie's flair for comedy and his theater background come through in this flick. Definitely recommend it if you're a Jackie-fan!

Drew

Fan Expo 2010!!!

2010-03-27T16:23:57Z

I'm super pumped for this! I really want to get my comic done and I'm praying I get a table!!! Just need to get all my ducks in a row and I hope I can get my friends to go!!!

Wish me luck! :D

This looks SO awesome!

2010-03-26T01:37:25Z

Much more awesome than I expected!!! O_O

Freddie Yeti

2010-03-25T04:08:03Z

Possible webcomic concept. More to come soon! :D

DDD

2010-03-01T16:46:14Z

More soon! :D

Dru

Catfish Deluxe

2010-02-28T17:56:13Z

http://www.catfishdeluxe.com/index-gb.php

I was gettin' mighty tired of lookin' at my old post and since I'm still working on my character designs for DDD I feel the need to post something!

These 3 guys literally blow my eyeballs out of my head! They're insane and I loved their work on the Lucha Libre series including their badass toy designs!

Definitely worth a look see. Their main site is below the image above but the blogs you wanna check out with all the wickedly sick art are below!

http://billotomo.blogspot.com/

http://goblog-gobi.blogspot.com/

http://fabien-m.blogspot.com/

Dru

My Portable Netbook Studio

2010-01-12T21:04:15Z

I thought I'd share what I'm drawing on lately. I'm using a bamboo tablet on top of a compaq netbook which fits pretty much exactly! Total cost around $350 but is totally worth it to be able to draw and colour on the go where ever I please!

Netbooks aren't powerful machines (even with the extra gig of ram I thru in there) but with programs like Sai and Gimp. It runs fine as long as yer just drawing and not going overboard with textures and high res rendering.

I'm happy with it. :) [pics are crappy cuz they're taken with my cellphone.]

Boxing Day Goods!!!

2009-12-27T03:14:24Z

Craptacularly awesome!

Very satisfying to kill the undead!

The only BPRD book I didn't own!

Slice of life randomness!

Get my crime noir fix!

Eddie Murphy's finally somewhat funny again.

To play T.H.O.T.D. OverKill!

Good stuff!!!

Doin' it LEGALLY

2009-12-11T15:12:20Z

So I've decided (as I'm now on the character design stage of my comic) that I'm going to do the whole book 100% legally!!!

That means NO programs that I don't own or that aren't freeware! And that includes EVERYTHING! From fonts, to scripting to everything inbetween! I've got everything I need except a free PDF creator but I think I've heard of one somewhere.

As to the actual programs I'll be using, I'll be mentioning them in the back of the book in the "how to" section.

I know I can do it! :D

Drew

Comic Hobo

2009-12-04T15:37:34Z

My goal in life! lol