Chris P. O'Connell

As one can infer from my other blog or my portfolio , video game art and animation are passions of mine. Since I know that these are interests shared by at least a few readers of this blog, I thought I'd share this really nifty site I just stumbled upon. http://www.newwavemugen.com/~zweifuss/index.htm While the animated images are obviously protected by copyright, they are still great for learning purposes. Lord knows, if pixel animation wasn't so time consuming, just for the love of it, I'd have banged out at least a few 2D fighting games or martial arts side-scrollers by now. ...and of course, being Street Fighter and me being me (sometimes, I still have to fight the urge to dig my pockets for quarters when I see a X-Men Vs. Street Fighter arcade machine), playing around with this site just makes it harder to fight the thoughts of high hopes for Street Fighter 4 , especially after Capcom's recent teaser trailer ... but no worries, I'm sure those hopes will be ad

Happy and wacky holiday wishes to everyone! =)

Do all chicks dig Monet? Seriously... It seems, whenever I get into a conversation about artists with a woman (unless that woman is an artist herself) a huge percent of the time, the lady will say, "well, I like Monet" ...typically after some off-the-cuff comment about not getting Picasso or another abstract genius. I know the work of Monet is pretty, but a lot of paintings are pretty. What's the deal? Don't get me wrong, I have taught both Art and Art History and I have nothing against Monet. I know Monet, I get Monet, and even though he's not my cup of tea, I certainly don't dislike Monet ...but before I let this turn into a long oddball rant: Could someone please tell me what is up with chicks and Monet?

The video below is a short film created by my friend and former student Rajat Sharma. Animation enthusiasts out there should remember Rajat's name and keep an eye out for it, because there's no doubt in my mind he's one of those people we'll see lots of more cool and interesting stuff from in years yet to come. Awesome job, dude! ;)

For the most part, things in south Maui have returned to relative normalcy since the recent storms. However, the beaches have spent quite some time out of commission, so I decided to break out some old watercolor paints and just make my own. As most trained artists know, painting in watercolor is a lot trickier and considerably less forgiving than painting digitally or with oils; but it's been a while since I’ve spent serious time working in this medium, and it is often quite refreshing to travel familiar old paths.

As a couple of my readers know, I’ve had a house guest for the past couple weeks. My roommate’s brother, the ultra-chill, semi-albino, wonder-dude we will refer to as Andy H. (The H is necessary because I already know a few very cool individuals named Andy.) In this morning’s display of his coolness, Andy H got up early and made us a breakfast worthy of the Halls of Valhalla. These edible Elan Vital paintings are banana pancakes with maple syrup AND an icing made from a heated concoction of peanut butter and vanilla cake frosting. As with any pancake dish, a beverage is totally required, and these things are so sweet and thick, they are definitely NOT an exception! I was only able to eat three of them, and hours later, my stomach still feels the yummy mass of sweet culinary kick-ass-ness. Muchas yummy gracias, dude!

To those of you who have been having trouble getting me for the past couple days, it might kinda-sorta have something to do with the insane tropical storms we’ve been having on Maui this week. The rains knocked out power in my town for about a day and a half, while causing considerable property damage island-wide. To those of you who were concerned with my abrupt disappearance from the grid, thank you , but please do not worry. Aside from the frustrations of computer withdrawal, some dampness and using the bathroom in the dark, my roommates and I are fine. Nope... the color isn't really off in this picture... Those are indeed brown waves. :( Sure several local roads and beaches are ruined for the time being, but I have to admit, we were lucky on my side of the island...and from what I hear, some folks in other parts of Maui were not nearly so lucky . So, if you are able to, please give to the Maui affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International . Even though the national news

Last month, I discovered the most adorable art-related show ever on youtube, and now I'm ridiculously hooked. Kinda funny, because I've been thinking about doing some kind of video blogging for a while now, and Val's premise is similar to one of my several ideas. However, I don't think a moody, burly, bald guy would be able to pull something like this off nearly as well as this cutie... but that's OK... because Val is artsy, visual candy as she follows her wonderful dream with a childlike charm that I could and would rather watch any day. Now, I don't know Val personally (although, would love the pleasure)... but I'm going to go on the line here and predict that it's only a matter of time before some cable channel like Discovery or Nickelodeon will approach her to do a kid's show or something some day. However, until that happens, we'll all just have to hang loose and eat your cookies . :) http://valsartdiary.com/

"These aren't put up for decoration!" ...or at least that's what a lifeguard told me today when he ordered me and a couple other guys out of the water and basically scolded us for being a bit too far out on a stormy day. "I don't see fins on you guys. Things in the water have fins. Things in the sky have wings." Fortunately, in spite of his shamanic sense of metaphor, the know-it-all smartass in me was able to keep quiet, so we weren't kicked off the beach all together. Still, he was right. Even with a decent boogie board, it is tricky as hell to effectively move out there once you get past the white water... and ironically, with 5-15 foot waves, the white water is the part that frikkin' kicks your ass the most! So, I guess today's lesson is: If you're a crazy a-hole who likes to go boogie boarding in the rain, be sure to wear some fins.