All posts in Creations

Strangers on a Bus

by Drey on May 19, 2011 in The Stork with No comments

I bring you the first documented account of someone delivering a package to a stranger! I must commend the bravery and generosity of this person. Really great stuff! Read their tale below.

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Firstly, I received the package and was excited to open it up. After reading through the well illustrated pages I began to feel nervous. I’m generally a pretty easy going guy but the thought of trying to give a stranger a nondescript package and walk away was interesting. I wanted it to be a stranger – I feel as though that passes the message on better, has more impact and it truly is about just paying it forward and knowing nothing is coming back your way (maybe a thank you and some good karma).

As opposed from going about my normal day and driving to uni I thought I’d jump on the bus.. better chance to interact with someone. I picked a woman, about 35 years old and talking on the phone. After she got off her mobile I asked her if I could borrow her phone to make a quick call as my phone had just died (that was a lie). I suppose I was attempting to qualify her and know the stork would be passed on, even if only once more. I wouldn’t have walked away if she said no, I wanted to gauge though how she would react. Without hesitating she offered me her phone. I said “thank you”, and after a moment said “actually can you hold that for a second while I grab something”. It all became just a little more weird from here.

People around us started to look as I did my best to explain to this woman why I was trying to give her a mysterious object, in a box, with something rigid inside wrapped in an envelope. Very apprehensively she says “is this a bomb?”. Deviating for a moment I think some design aspects could be modified. Was a little confusing and can give away a surprise if you write what you gave them in the ledger – a lot to type so if ever you had a chance for to Skype would be great to talk.

After the initial awkward moments of my poor explanations and her puzzled questions (like, “is this stolen?”, “are you sure it’s not stolen”, “ok but what if it’s stolen, why would you give me this if it were yours”) she was smiling with her new (second hand but in near new condition) iPod touch as well as some foreign currency and a little note. The iPod was used rarely since I bought my phone. Was an upgrade from the tattered mp3 player she had clipped on her shirt.

My stop arrived and I just told her to have a great day and to pay it forward.

A nice lady that left me with a smile all day. I still think about who the stork is and what’s happening out there. Would love to hear the stories.

The Genesis Effect

by Drey on April 16, 2011 in Board Games, Creations, Something Real with 2 Comments

Perhaps my analog to having children is creating projects. The most satisfying projects are the ones that become larger than myself, things with a life of their own. I’m not entirely sure why that is. Maybe I like being able to diffuse the success of something over a group of people because accepting it myself is too overwhelming.

It’s like that with Boards ‘N Brews, a weekly board game meetup I started two years ago. My original thought was to play some of the games I owned that never seemed to make it to the table. I figured I could find four or five other people who might want to meet twice a month and play games. Fast forward to today where there are now 40-50 regular members, several other organizers, and several games scheduled every week at a packed venue. Sometimes I walk in to the Rockin’ Tomato and see all those people and think that I am somehow responsible for what is happening. But I try not to think about it too much. I’m just happy that it exists.

I like to bring ideas to life, set things in motion and then let them go. While I like to provide creative direction, I don’t really like being “in charge” of anything or anyone. A lot of the time nothing will happen unless someone decides to take action and sometimes that someone is me. But that is different from wanting to control everything for control’s sake. I’d rather have an idea and then find all the right people to make it happen and have someone else manage it.

In an ideal world, I’d be a facilitator for dreams, mine and other people’s. I’d nurture the most promising ideas and help cultivate an environment for them to grow in. And then I’d let them be what they are going to be. If you see any job postings like that on Craig’s List, be sure to let me know.

The Gallery

by Drey on April 9, 2011 in Artwork with No comments

I’m in Seattle this weekend, so no time for a big post. I’m in the process of consolidating and revamping my network of sites. My personal page has always had a gallery of my artwork and this iteration is no exception. This time I have reached way back into the vaults and pulled out some really old stuff to join the more recent works.

By default, the page loads all of the artwork, but you can browse by category as well. Click on a thumbnail to get a larger version.

Visit my Portfolio.

Logjam

by Drey on April 2, 2011 in Artwork, The Stork, Writing with No comments

Every once in a while I’ll get an idea in my head and it  jumps up and down, bullying the other ideas and becomes a general nuisance until I give it my attention. I can feel other stories and projects behind the idea, but I can’t get to them until I address the one at the fore. Sometimes it is just a matter of writing down some notes while other times I need to follow it through to completion.

A few months ago, the idea that got in the way was Sküb, a despicable storytelling game featuring a bad, bad dog. Basically a re-imagining of Scooby Doo and the gang as a hellhound and his thralls. It was evil and wrong and I hope you’ll play it some day. I got enough of it down to clear the way for other things.

The newest logjam is the result of an idea for a music video. Completely impractical and expensive. I’ll at least need to storyboard it and sketch out the ridiculous device required for it to work. Then I can see what’s next.

Brief Updates:

I had a powwow with Cory, an expert designer, someone capable of translating ideas into functioning objects. I had only wispy concepts of how I thought the board for the Dune game could be constructed. He had names for all of the parts required. I insisted that he illustrate and write them all down for future reference. Incidentally, he is also constructing a custom Dune set, though with more ambitious production values.

The Stork is at the printer. The printer erred of the side of caution and sent me a new proof with a different color calibration. I found it even more accurate than the previous iteration.

The frame for my movie screen is complete. I replaced the generic lamp with a more steampunky version. I still need to re-skin the small couch and the chairs to match the decor. Also, I envision a curtain dividing the living room and the dining nook.

I have re-purposed a cabinet and some random bricks into a backyard garden. I still need dirt and, well, something to plant. Tomatoes, I think. They are pretty forgiving.

That is all for now.

So many things went missing that day

by Drey on March 26, 2011 in Artwork with 2 Comments

A few weeks ago I met someone who was interested in doing a collaborative photo project. We met at a mostly deserted train station and took photos of things that interested us. My idea was that we’d look at what we had shot and a narrative would unfold. Continue reading →

Proof

by Drey on March 19, 2011 in The Stork with 2 Comments

I received the print proof for The Stork the other day. It looks really good. It will look even better with the UV coating on the cover. There was a minor issue on one page (a thing strip of the image was in greyscale instead of color). Once that is resolved, the printer can do the full run. Continue reading →

Update 3/12

by Drey on March 12, 2011 in The Stork with No comments

This was a short week as the first half was taken up by a wonderful trip down to Big Bend. And then I had to get caught up with everything the rest of the week. Continue reading →

Brief Update

by Drey on March 5, 2011 in Artwork, Board Games, House of Whack, The Stork with No comments

Just a short status report on where various projects stand… Continue reading →

Taking Flight

by Drey on February 26, 2011 in The Stork with No comments

At the time of this writing, The Stork has been funded for $1310, which is $210 above the goal. I am overjoyed and humbled and astonished by all of the support from friends and strangers alike.

But when it was only funded for $500, I felt the dread coming on. I worried that things wouldn’t work out and I’d let all these people down. I imagined all the sympathetic looks and the “ah, well at least you tried”s. I made up all kinds of things about what it might mean if the project didn’t get funded.

Then I recalled something someone said in a blog post a few weeks back. Excuse me, what I said in a blog post. About acting like it is a done deal and not giving up. A lot of things I write are directed at myself as much as they are towards other people. It is like having an emotional savings account to fall back on during rough patches.

So I decided that $500 was nearly halfway there. I decided that there was plenty of time and lots of people were just going to contribute later. I decided that someone was waiting until the right moment to make a dramatic contribution. As it turned out, all of these things were true.

I want to be less afraid. I want to trust any process I have set in motion. I want to have more faith in myself and in other people. It is happening, step by step, with the occasional explosion of wings unfurling.

The Stork on Kickstarter

Remapping Arrakis

by Drey on February 19, 2011 in Artwork, Board Games with 4 Comments

I have made some progress on my custom version of Dune. I’ve got quite a bit of the board artwork done. I hadn’t decided on a particular style at first, but I knew I needed to at least have all the board spaces drawn out. So I re-drew all of the locations from the original board. As I did so, I started playing with textures, colors and effects. I went with more abstract outlines for the regions, more like something you’d see on a Risk board. My goal was to differentiate the types of regions and still maintain the desert planet look.

I still need to add some iconography and I may add additional texturing, but this is getting close to something I am really happy with.

You can click on the image for a larger version.

Here is the original board from the game, for comparison:

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