As of today, more people have visited Screenhog.com this month than any other month in the history of this site.
I don’t thank you enough for visiting this site, so thank you. It means a lot that you enjoy what I do here.
March 31, 2009
Doodling Smiles
I really wanted to draw something for this site today, but my brain wasn’t coming up with any ideas for complete and finished drawings. All it was coming up with was ideas for doodles, so I doodled:
Apparently, I was in the mood to draw smiles.
March 28, 2009
Video Game Review – World of Goo
There are some video games that awe me with their artistry. There are other video games that amaze me with their simplicity, coming up with a new type of video game experience that I’ve never played before. World of Goo is both.
The concept is simple. Drag and drop balls of goo. That’s all you have to do. The goo, depending where you place it, can construct towers, bridges, fences and ladders. The goal is to create a structure that will transport other, free-moving goo, to a mysterious pipe somewhere in the level. Get enough goo to that pipe, and you’ve completed that level’s puzzle.
The art design is simultaneously beautiful and dirty, in a Tim Burton sort of way. The music is well orchestrated, perfectly complimenting the art style, and the sound effects are also appropriate, with the goo happily proclaiming “Woohoo!” when they get added to the tower, and angrily grumbling when they are placed somewhere that can’t connect to the rest of the goo.
World of Goo is downloadable on the Wii from Wiiware. It costs 1500 Wii points, and was well worth it. It’s games like this that really show the strength of the Wii controller, being able to intuitively act like a mouse pointer. This game would be much more frustrating if you were trying to place the goo with a joystick or a D-pad.
This game is also available, at the time of this review, for PC, Mac, and Linux. The free demo of this game can be found at 2Dboy.com. Even if you have no intention of buying this game, I highly recommend downloading the demo and trying the game yourself.
March 24, 2009
Dino Mint
I drew this comic about a year and a half ago, and they are still some of my favourite dinosaurs I’ve ever drawn.
March 21, 2009
Art Challenge – Zen and Tea
The art challenge for work on Monday is a little different than most. Instead of making a piece of art based on a certain subject, we had to make a piece of art based on a color scheme:
That color scheme is called Zen And Tea. It’s from an Adobe website called Kuler, which I’d recommend checking out if you’re interested in color schemes. Zen and Tea was a random color scheme that we found. It immediately made me think of watercolor painting, so I decided to give that a shot:
I don’t particularly like watercolor painting… I find that it’s more unforgiving and less accurate than dry media like pencils and pastels, and even when I’m simulating watercolor with Photoshop, that still seems to be the case for me. Oh well… stretching yourself artistically is what these art challenges are all about.
March 18, 2009
Links!
I’ve finally added a links page. It’s incomplete, but it’s one of the many things I’ve been meaning to do, so there it is.
Also, what’s with the text-only updates so far this week? I promise the next update to this site will be more artistic in some way. 
Links
When I first launched this site, this page did not exist. Screenhog.com was a lone island, not admitting the existence of other websites. That has now changed… here, for your viewing pleasure, is an incomplete list of sites that I have at least sometimes found amusing:
Web Comics
- BrawlInTheFamily.com – Roughly-drawn characters from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. More enjoyable than it has any right to be.
- DandyAndCompany.com – A comic with a Looney Tunes-esque art style about a boy and the dog that loves to prank him.
- FilibusterCartoons.com – The only online political cartoon I’ve ever seen that was good enough to make me want to come back.
- Gpf-Comics.com – One of the Internet’s longest-running comic strips. Best to read this one from the beginning, if you have a few days of free time handy.
- Nedroid.com – Quirky, abstract, absurd humor, with a main character named Bear-tato.
- SilentKimbly.com – The main character never talks, but the punchline is always a pun (and usually a groaner). High cuteness factor.
- TheBookOfBiff.com – The many adventures of a man named Biff. Oh, look, he’s set himself on fire again…
Video Games
- GameFAQs.com – Stuck in a video game. Chances are, this place will help you get out of it.
- Joystiq.com – My main source for video game news.
- Nintendo.Joystiq.com – Basically the same site as above, except that this page is Nintendo-only news. I go here more frequently, simply because the two current-generation consoles I care most about are made by Nintendo.
Notable People
- Keith Lango – Lead animator for Veggie-Tales for quite awhile. Very talented. Highly opinionated.
- Phil Vischer – The creator of Veggie-Tales. I have a great deal of respect for this man, and hope that his newest project, JellyTelly, takes off big-time.
- Raph Koster – Dissecting games – specifically virtual worlds – and figuring out what makes them tick is his main claim to fame. Very insightful.
- Lance Priebe (Rocketsnail.com) – The person who hired me at my current job.
- Timothy Hodge – The blog of this guy. He does a variety of artistic things, rather than sticking to just one field. I can appreciate that.
Animation
- Animated-News.com – Headlines from around the world of all things animated.
- Animated-Views.com – Sister site to Animated-News. Reviews and behind-the-scenes of animated film.
- AWN.com – Animation World Network.
- HomestarRunner.com – Everybody loves the Homestar Runner… he’s a terrific athlete. Classic web cartoon, and it’s still going!
- JimHillMedia.com – Generally Disney-themed articles, posted many times per week. Legendary Disney animator Floyd Norman posts there sometimes.
Free Time-Wasters
- Dice Wars – 15-minute Risk, with dice as your troops.
- FantasticContraption.com – The most fun I’ve ever had in a free physics simulation game.
- Urladex.com – Trade websites like it’s a stock market. The more popular the site is, the more valuable its stocks are worth.
More will be added to this list later as I realize which sites I missed.
March 16, 2009
The Site Looks Different Now
Do not be alarmed. Changes are being made this week to try and make this site look more presentable and less… bland. Although the look of the site is changing, the content is not.
I repeat, do not be alarmed. Thank you for your time.
March 13, 2009
March 12, 2009
Puzzle – Blocked Words
To solve this puzzle, you must figure out the names of different musical instruments. Each instrument has its own mini-puzzle, with five different clues. Get the correct answers to each of the five clues, and the instrument will reveal itself with the letters that you’ve used.
The first puzzle has been done for you as an example. Can you figure out the rest?
