Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Car Comic Strip - Heavy Metal Garage: Car CARtoon Webcomic




Always thought a scribbled single panel style like "Non Sequitur" by Wiley Miller is something I could do... and sustain.

We have put our webcomic at Heavy Metal Garage - Car CARtoon Series webpage.

The scribbled pen is not the normal way we finish things, but this style works.

We also have our eBook there, and have put the webcomic at the top of the page. We are using code based on the ComicGallery php code with additional error checking and fixes.

The font we are using is Heavy Mettle from Blambot.  Seems right for this.

There are enough day to day events that are just weird and funny to fill an infinite number of comic strips and books. We are currently updating it twice a week...

And the truck cartoon above relates to being bullied by trucks on the main roads of Sydney. A pretty common thing.... had an incident recently where a truck from Bastin Transportation , a Sydney Trucking company, pretty much tried to run me, and at the next M2 entry point, a yellow Hills Bus, off the road. Stupid, real Stupid.

And here is one of our a short music videos on the process, with one of our original soundtracks...



We have changed the process a bit and now use a photo blue lead and don't need to erase it after inking. Just select the blue channel in an RGB scan into Photoshop and the blue is gone.

And this Car Renovation strip is available as a tshirt..... 



Contact us at Art & Technology






Sunday, December 22, 2013

60s Monster UTE Hot Rod Car Cartoon


60s style Monster Car Cartoon

Now this is just over the top, and is a mess as far as being a great illustration... but it has a few fun things in it.

1. A Hot Supercharged V8 UTE, yes a UTE(!), not too different from the world of Big Daddy Ed Roth.
2. An Ozzie Blue Tongued Monster Driver.
3. Lots of MAD's Don Martin Sound Effects, all taken out of context. Your inner 10 year old loves it.
4. And a Comic Book style Intro.

Yes it is a messy illustration, but it has a whole bunch of nostalgic things in there!

Happy Holidays!  Merry Christmas! Happy Whatever! And have a great New Year.

Contact us at Art & Technology.




Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Meeting Alan Parsons


He recorded Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon",  had his own Alan Parsons Project and many other things. A very well known Producer and Recording Engineer.

He was also a Fairlight CMI user, a system I was involved with developing before moving to Japan and working for Roland.

My meeting him wasn't what you might think....

I had been working at Roland in Japan for some time when I went to a Los Angeles Audio Engineering Society (AES) Conference and Exhibition with 3 other Japanese Roland Engineers.

One of them, Mr Serri, was the manager of the E-660 Digital EQ Product. On entering the conference Mr Serri and myself were told we had a brief meeting to attend. We were taken to one of the guests hotel rooms and Alan was waiting.

Mr Serri was introduced as the person responsible for the E-660 and me as "Roland staff" or something like that.... I don't think I got a mention by name..... Alan was in a hurry so we sat around his room's small  coffee table, he talked and asked questions directly to me, I took notes of what he had thought about the E-660 during his evaluation and translated Mr Serri's answers and Alan's questions as required...

Then it was over.

I didn't get to say anything about anything other than the E-660.... or even introduce myself.. he just assumed I was a translator.

I can be contacted at Art & Technology







Monday, November 25, 2013

Sound On Sound Magazine - The Digital Version

The magazine industry, like news papers, is having a tough time as advertising revenue goes online and away from the traditional sources.

Most magazines also have a lot of paid editorial content, or favourable product reviews to advertisers,so  their usefulness is also probably seen to be not what it was.   You maybe better off finding information in forums.

With all that, and that we have also published our own eBook, we have tried an electronic version of something  we still do read, Sound On Sound Magazine.

We have tried their Android App, and purchased a recent issue. on a 10" tablet.

Overall it is a pretty good experience.



The issue we bought for $5, half of the local  news stand price for a 2 month old issue by the time it arrives in Australia from the UK.  If you find an Air freighted copy here, it is more like $22.

So the digital version is cheaper and more up to date.

It was a 151Mbyte download that took about 30 minutes. Not a problem with our cable connection and Studio WiFi.  The time it took isn't a problem either.

The issue I bought only had a couple of samples of sample libraries contained in it, and everything else was a link to a website.  Was pretty cool.

Articles scroll pages vertically, and you go through pages sideways like a normal eBook.  The Table of Contents is also active and you can jump to anywhere in the magazine.

Is it better to have a tablet subscription (your choice of iPad, Android or Kindle Fire )  or just an online subscription?   The improved magazine likeness of the tablet is nice.

I'm thinking maybe just online, it costs the same, and is usable anywhere.  Tablets have a limited life, but the browser will live on... at least it has for all the time I've been online.

I think they need a PC Mac version of thier App, like the Kindle has, then that would sway the choise. That means you would still have access to your magazines when your tablet breaks..... and visa versa.

And this editorial was more interesting than most. Having been involved with the Fairlight development, MIDI and other things.  Most of the time customers don't ask for the next big thing..... and much of the "next big things" that are developed aren't a success EITHER!!!!!!







Sunday, November 17, 2013

Illustrated Racing Manual - Cartoons & Diagrams


We were commissioned to do the illustrations for a Go Kart Racing Manual and this is some grabs of the draft book.

The feedback on my illustrations has been, "brilliant, awesome and “sick" which is nice!

It combines 1 and 2 panel cartoons and diagrams. What ever is best to explain the text.

Has been an interesting and fast project. Some 40+ vector illustrations in a bit over a week for the first drafts.

We have done quite a few Go Kart related things over the years, and this expands on that quite a bit, as it also has technically accurate track and grid diagrams.

Fun AND useful.

Contact us at Art & Technology


Thursday, October 31, 2013

Custom Cartoons & Logos By Bruce

Custom Cartoons & Logos by BRUCE

Of all kinds ... they don't even need vehicles in them!



...Of things..


..and even a historic COBB & CO. Carriage



See us at Art & Technology or check out our book on Amazon

or try read our free on line Heavy Metal Garage Comic Strip!






Sunday, October 27, 2013

Hot Rod & Customs Christmas & Holiday Cards

Hot Rod Christmas/ Cards


Off Road Cool Yule!
available here:
Have a Yule That's Cool - Off Road Santa Card 




Dodge Cool Yule!
available here:

Have a Cool Yule, Happy Holidays & Seasons Greetings.

See Art & Technology for other samples and custom work.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Free Getting an Illustration or Logo Kindle Comic Creator Test eBook

Free Getting an Illustration or Logo eBook
This is  test colour comic for the Kindle (or App), produced in the free Kindle Comic Creator and is downloadable free here. 

It works in the Kindle App on any computer, tablet or Smartphone you have or even a Kindle itself. Looks fine in an eInk Kindle too.

It was done using the default 800 x 1280 pixel page sizes.  The text is the size it is to make it usable on an iPhone sized screen without any zooming or scrolling, even though double tapping the screen allows zooming and panning.

It is purely for evaluating Comic Creator and really isn't a comic as such, but uses some of those conventions to explain how we work to do logos or illustrations...
Comic Creator imports pages and lets you define panels, areas that get zoomed to full screen using the next page key in Kindle. In this case there is one panel around each page.

The pages themselves were put together in CorelDraw and then jpegs output and those processed in Photoshop.

We do a lot of Custom Car, Truck and Bike Cartoons and Caricatures, but lots of other stuff as well!!!!

Another very common Digital Comic Book Format is CBR. This just contains numerically numbered jpeg images in an RAR archive that has been renamed .cbr. How simple is that!

And here is a link for the FREE CBR format Digital Comic Book for Getting a Logo or Illustration.

We have used the YACReader and have just found the Android Perfect Viewer for reading the .cbr (and .cbz) formatted files.


For more of our work check out the Art & Technology website.


Sunday, October 20, 2013

Pikes Peak Hill Climb 2013



This Pikes Peak Hill Climb 2013 Tshirt  is now at our online store.



This variation of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb 2013 Tshirt  is now also at our online store.

The record was smashed by over a minute and this is a stylized colourful rendition of the event.

Pikes Peak Hill Climb 2013 Record Smashed Graphic

A special Peugeot 208 T16 driven by Sebastien Loeb did the dead.

For other designs, commissions and contact detail contact Art & Technology.


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

4WD OFF ROAD Toyota Cartoon Caricature

4WD OFF ROAD Cartoon
A fire breathing 4WD Toyota Off Road Mud Monster cartoon.

The tshirt of a variation of this, without the driver and sky is at our online store.

We do designs to your requirements, and have a series of t-shirts at our online store, and can do stickers and all the other promotional things too.

See Art & Technology for details.


Car Cartoon Joke and How To Book at Amazon.com

Car Cartoon Joke and How To Book at Amazon.com
Another promotional cartoon graphic for our eBook. Only $3.99 which is almost free. Features your typical middle aged dude.

Available for instant download at Amazon.

For other samples and to get your own custom car, truck or bike cartoon visit Art & Technology.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

FREE Calendar 2014 - The Son Of The Hot Rod Calendar That Ate My Wallet

TSOTHRTAMW Calendar 2014
We again prepared a one month per page calendar for the 2014 year..... as a PDF file.
Download it FREE from  Art & Technology if you want it. It is a 5.4Mbyte download and you need to print and assemble it yourself, like this:


It is available now, even if 2014 is coming soon.....

And here is the FREE single large A3 size 2014 Heavy Metal Garage PDF.

Single Page Heavy Metal Garage Calendar 2014
But you could print it larger or smaller if you want! Hey, it is up to you!

This is designed to be written on.... like marking on what days you need to pay bills.

But there is more!

Car Cartoon and How To Book

And check out our Car Cartoon Book on Amazon, almost FREE and usable on yor PC, Tablet or SmartPhone!

The new Kindle HDX Tablets would just love to have this on them. Or get the older version at a huge discount, and do pretty much the same thing!!    AND it is just fine on an iPad or other tablet or SmartPhone too!!!


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Rush - Niki Lauda Ferrari 312 Vector Caricature Cartoon

Rush - Niki Lauda Ferrari 312 caricature
Ron Howard's sensational new movie Rush is based around mid 1970s Formula 1. It focuses on the clash between drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt.

A very exciting film where the main characters are as amazing as the racing.

This is a vector based caricature of  Niki Lauda's Ferrari 312T, and Niki! This featured the high airbox behind the drivers head and the huge tires of the day. A later version moved the air intakes to beside and in front of the cockpit.

This is a size independent vector based illustration done in the style of the late Dave Deal.

For Graphic Design and other Caricatures visit our website Art & Technology.


Monday, September 30, 2013

Hot Car Logo Shirt Vector Design - The process from scratchy to shiny

Custom Hot Rod Logo Process

Hot Car Logo Shirt Vector Design - The process from scratchy to shiny

This shows the process of going from a very rough scratchy sketch, to more detail, to the finished shiny result for an auto  company logo.

Why is it like this?  Because we need to work out what the customer wants, and we cannot read their mind. So we start with fast rough scratchy concepts to find the right path to go in.  We may do a few of these.
Why so fast? So that we don't waste money working on something they don't want.

When we get agreement that the concept is the direction to go in, and only then, do we put more time into refinement.

So this is the process we follow, so that there are no unexpected surprises!

Follow this link for more details on how we work and how we work with you. 

For more details, samples and contact info, visit the website Art & Technology.




Sunday, September 29, 2013

Car, Truck, Bike, Kart Cartoons, Caricatures, Logos and Rock YouTube Channel




The Art And Technology YouTube Channel now has over 77k views. Most combines our original hot rods, custom cars, muscle car, truck, bike and karting illustrations and instrumental rock. But there is more....

Check it out or visit Art & Technology for what we can do for you.


Saturday, August 31, 2013

Silk Screened Shirt Car Design with Graduations


Silk Screening uses a fixed number of colors, between 1 and 5 printed on another, for a total of 2 to 6 color designs.

Each Screen and color costs extra money, and most silk screened shirts are 1 or two colors. To do get variations, graduations can be done with dots. Lots of dots.

This sample shows a vector design with color graduations, and one way to do that in white on black, a 1 color silk screened design.

For more samples and details visit Art & Technology.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Hot Rod Quad Bike Cartoon Business Branding & Signs


We did a design for t-shirts for this Hot Quad Bike Business that they have also used for store signs and branding.

It was done with limited flat colors for silk screen use.

We may be able to help you too, contact us at Art & Technology

Friday, June 21, 2013

Infographic - Diabetes Type 2

Diabetes Type 2 Info Graphic Series

Type 2 Diabetes is called the silent killer and has become very common in those over 50 and especially those overweight.  The blood sugar level is not controlled, causing it to rise and this leads to problems. Blindness and death being among them. A simple blood test can detect it.

This initial draft infographic is one of  a proposed series to educate.  The background orange is symbolic of bringing blood glucose level under control to between 4.5 and 7.0.

The text is to help explain that what is eaten is as important as the medication. Your average friend does not know any of this. It also indicates that Diabetics cannot eat at most restaurants, unless they have something like meat or fish and a green salad!


The text:
I control my diabetes with diet, exercise and medication.
 This means I cannot eat or must drastically limit most carbohydrates as well as sugar.
 Things like white breads, spaghetti, noodles, pastry, potatoes and most starchy foods.
 Things like carrots, cakes, green peas and pumpkin too. So please understand it isn't that I don’t want to go to that restaurant with you.  I just cannot eat what is on their menu.

Contact us for design work at Art & Technology



Tuesday, June 18, 2013

The Cartoonist

We have been involved in cartooning for a very long time. Caricatures and cartoons of people and machines. We also do work on commission, or to order....

Politicians....


Jokes....


Car & Character Caricatures....

Historical Facts.....


Car Trailer Signs....


Full Color...

Just line work...


And vector illustration too...


And we are on Facebook if you want to do it that way... but better to

Contact us at Art & Technology and see how we can help you!

Or maybe laugh .....



Custom Car Club Event Posters



Car Club Event Posters that can also be used for Fund Raising T-shirt are a staple of our design work.  For the show and shine or car event.




These can be done in various styles.


Contact us at Art & Technology for a quote.



Thursday, June 13, 2013

Cute Baby Clothing Design




Cute, simple bright designs for baby wear.  Can do custom work to your requirements too.....

Future Hero now on sale.

But we do illustration and design work for posters, clothing, cards or books and can be contacted at Art & Technology


Thursday, June 6, 2013

GIG POSTERS

Posters for bands, movies and books.

A new movie on them is out. Looks interesting.  The end of the recorded music business has made promoting live gigs a big thing again.



And we have done a few over the years.

Some more recent samples in our own style..............

Megacurve's Soundcloud music, available 24/7 anywhere in the world:



And this Cartoon eBook Movie Like Poster:




Contact us at Art & Technology



Tuesday, June 4, 2013

NEVER drink Red Bull!

We just don't need too. There is enough excitement without it. Like the Music tracks here:



Our eBook of Car Cartoons, Jokes and How To at Amazon:


And the Cartoons, Caricatures, Illustrations, Signs and Logos we do:












Contact us at Art & Technology