Ben Loves Retro Videogames!

At the time of this post, E3 2013 is in full effect with the world being introduced to the next generation of consoles to make their ways to their living rooms.  With the hardware being pushed onto shelves these days, its easy to forget the "bleeps", "bloops", and far more simple beginnings of videogames.  Luckily, plenty of designers remember and cherish that late 80's aesthetic.  Vintage Hero is retro platformer being released on XBLIG and I had the great honor of working with Frog The Door Games on their cover art.  It was a lot of fun taking the original concepts and representing them in my own style.

Look for more art and general nonsense over at my personal site: www.NeedYourDisease.com

-Ben

The once and future Lad

Thinking about this off topic post I came across a vector I did a few years ago.  I, for better and for worse, am a old school, table top, sit around once a week with your friends, multi sided dice, RPG player.  I've been playing since college but before that I was the guy other players would come to to draw their characters.  Don't remember why I never got into playing then but I always enjoyed learning all the fantasy races, monsters, adventures, all the detritus that was similar to and at the same time somewhat foreign to my beloved comics. Finally, about 10 years or so ago the comics and the RPGs met for me.  My friends that I play with have been playing together for I think around 20 years together.  They have played it all but the one game they continue to play is Marvel RPG, the same game, off and on, for years!  Ball Bearing Being (formerly Ball Bearing Lad) robot super hero, is one of the longest played characters of this game.  A ball bearing shootin, flying, super smart sentient machine.  Such a fun character I had to draw him up, like I always do with other people's characters.  I also did these:

Ball Bearing Lad, Ball Bearing Being © Mike Benchoff

© David WIlliams

Little silly, sure, but it was fun to do.  Enjoy!

Monster Internship: Day 1

Our first ever collaboration with young artists got off to an amazing start this weekend.  The Rust Belt Monsters were joined by 3 students in the creation of a new mural.  Each artist added their own special flair to the mural which will be completed June 15th at Bay Arts's Annual Art and Music Festival.  Scroll down for more photos.

Crider's Corner: Jun 8th

If you've been paying attention to the blog, you've probably noticed that we haven't been. We're busier than ever as Rust Belt Monsters, but also as illustrators in our own right. 

Not to worry though, the stuff happening in our professional careers is still fun to look at.  Plus, it happens more often than the challenges do.

Because if it didn't, we'd starve. 

The rumor is we're each taking a day to post something/anything. I've been tasked with posting stuff every Saturday, and rather than one thing I plan on doing a round up of things I've worked on throughout the week, no matter what stage it's in. So, grab a bowl of cereal and I'll give you the tour.

This started out as a sketchbook piece and ended up as a die cut sticker that you can buy here: RedBubble. They're only $2.50 and would probably look rad on your sketchbook, car, or children.  I think we're releasing this as a print during live events as well.

I lucked out in the day job department, this week my notes were "Steve Martin guy", and "Star Trek guy" which isn't too far off from my non paying whims.  Illustrations like these get a text treatment along side the images when they're out in the wild.  I've got some fully finished examples on www.randycrider.com. They're a lot of fun if you've never seen them.

Couple of "avoid doing real work" doodles. 

   

Something from Dr.Sketchy the week before that's turning into a pretty blatant Jim Mahfood swipe.  I have the most fun putting in 20 minutes in here and there on these.

 Follow me on instagram @randycrider or twitter @randolphcrider where I do my best to put something up everyday. If not, I'll be back here next Saturday to share what you missed. 

Thanks pals. 

Round38: Run Clayman run

Skullmonkeys is still one of the best, most fully immersible game I have ever played. Art direction by Doug Tennepel and Terry Taylor's absolutely inspired soundtrack fit together like peas and carrots.  Goofyness almost on a level of sublime!  Would have played many, many more sequels.  

Messing around with some new colored pencils for this one, Graduated up to some Crayon d'Arche Pablos for this one.  Thanks for checking it out!

Enjoy some beans!

Round 36: Manage Your Anger

I don't have the strongest relationship with Johnny Cash, but I do have a certain appreciation for "Boy Name Sue."  Its my fondness for that song coupled with my current obsession with Penny Arcade's "Strip Search" that made me want to give a quick web comic a try.  I don't feel like I have a complete handle on the process, but I'm sure that would come in time.  Hope you enjoy.

See Original roughs at my personal site here: Comic Rough

-Ben
www.NeedYourDisease.com

The Most Dangerous Place For Children

And we are live. Happy Free Comic Book Day. Follow the link or scan the QR code. Story by Ron Montgomery, pencils and inks my yours truly, colors by the amazing Time Switalski and letters by master scribe Rafer Roberts. Enjoy. Hey...it's free.

Outre Anthology

The Outre' Project

So it's been a while since I've been able to participate with the rest of the monsters in the challenges. And this is one of the few reasons why. This is page one of an 8 page story I penciled and inked for Magnus Aspli's Outre': Responsibility. An online comic available as a free PDF download starting on Free Comic Book day. The story was written by old friend Ron Montgomery, who I worked with on Fubar: Empire of the Rising Dead. The lettering was provided by the talented Rafer Roberts, who I also worked with on Dark Horse's Once Upon a Time Machine...but the really big thrill for me was having our own fellow monster, Tim Switalksi do the coloring chores on this. As you can see by the page....it is incredible work. My pencil and inks never looked so good. I can guarantee...Tim and I will be working together again...and again. This time though I won't put him under such a tight deadline. Promise Tim! Keep and eye on the blog, over the next 12 hours I'll be posting the link once the page is live. So you all can click and download for FREE. Thanks again Tim.