cleaned up & vectorized a little type doodle. when you vectorize, unless you’re really willing to put in the time with textures & so on, it always costs a little personality.

I’ve revived the Ansel.tv YouTube channel to upload some time-lapse videos! They’re all available on YT and embedded on the site on the corresponding piece’s page — just click the 3 dots below the image to show the video & any other bonus material. I’ve also added links here on NG. Here’s the video for Scope Shop, with links to all four videos below:

Fatal Mermaid : Youtube / Ansel.tv

Castle Crypt : Youtube / Ansel.tv

Quarry Facility : Youtube / Ansel.tv

Scope Shop : Youtube / Ansel.tv

This is a built-in Procreate feature that just takes a snapshot of the canvas whenever you do or undo an action, so it gives you a fixed big-picture view of the work developing but is a little disappointing if you want to see the artist’s hand in motion or see what they see. I’m researching options for a screen-capture pipeline that will work for me across all the apps I use to present my process holistically. 

For now, enjoy this look behind the curtain. –A∙

Animal Collective is one of my favorite bands, and they don’t really believe in “branding,” but I’ve always liked these little faces that appear on myanimalhome.net.

I still think the Obey Giant is cool and I’m not afraid to say it.

“Discovering” the Giant in high school was a big deal for me. I had seen it, but I did not understand it. I don’t remember what tipped me off. But once I knew that it really meant nothing at all, I was thrilled. The dominating glare of the Giant softened into a beatific, welcoming gaze. What had been alienating became inviting, welcoming me into a world of dark, iconic imagery charged with sinister purpose. I still see the Giant everywhere, and it still feels like I know a secret.

It’s a matter of record at this point that Shepard Fairey lifts material. His portraits are all traced from photos and everything has a certain “bitmap trace” quality that a qualified eye can’t ignore. I’m over it & over him, but I was already gifted this fat book and I’m keeping it.

Also featured here is my famous Obey hat, in its second incarnation — but that’s a different story.

–A∙ 

Honoring the humble kitchen whiteboard, a vital nerve center in any shared or solo dwelling. This little trade emblem has loomed over the kitchen for many months, but now it’s time to ship out. Here it is immortalized before the last pass of the eraser.

Back on the grind. Sorry for the schedule hiccup. Today’s little vector daily: My secretary & office pest, Trixie the cat (plus bonus Pod) who spends 90% of her life dreaming & wiggling her paws right next to me on my desktop. I could spend all day dithering around with the calico pattern, and I might revisit this and polish it up, but I gotta call it quits for now. I’m actually very happy with how her little face turned out.

Pet your cat today, because they deserve it. –A∙ 

I’m hesitant to post this, of course. But it’s the truth and it’s an important truth. 

Besides the launch of ansel.tv, it’s a big day for another reason: it was two years ago today that I gave up drinking for good. Things had simply run their course and I couldn’t go on living like death was imminent. I wasn’t alone — I owe my life to my friends, family, and their unwavering support and boundless love.

I visualized those two years as a sort of pretty calendar, and you can see the full version here. Take a scroll through the stars with me. Love will save you in the end.

Good night. —A∙

ANSEL.TV IS ONLINE

I’m calling it — ansel.tv is live and ready for action. There are still a million things I want to do, but I have to let the baby walk.

I’m incredibly proud to finally get this project done and out onto the web. I’ve owned the ansel.tv domain for a good decade now, but the site has only been live for a fraction of that time due to life’s twists and turns. I’ve been working dawn to dusk for the last week to revive it once more. Every line of code and vector curve was laid down by yours truly one at a time, and the finished product is, in itself, a work of functional art.

The portfolio is a selection of new work (with much more on the way) and some older pieces that I feel have stood the test of time. I’m working on processing & uploading Procreate’s time-lapse videos for new work, and I’ll be developing a pipeline for documenting my Designer process as well. I’ve just got a few sketch/WIP images in the portfolio right now, but going forward I’ll be documenting more behind the scenes and uploading extra material with each artwork.

With the future of sites like Reddit and Twitter more uncertain than ever, I believe artists need to claim their own turf on the web. I’ll be proud to call the site the first home for my art and my thoughts. But a blogging platform is beyond the scope of my skills, and I’m glad Tumblr has survived in essentially its same classic form. With custom HTML, I’ve been able to integrate its design almost perfectly with the rest of ansel.tv, and for that I’m grateful.

None of this would be possible without Newgrounds and the incredible support I received starting out here as a young artist. I haven’t forgotten that. Everything I post on Tumblr / my own site, I will also post here — I believe NG is important and I want to remain engaged with the community. Ansel.tv will be my first home for my art on the web, but you won’t miss out on anything following my work here.

One more time:

ANSEL.TV IS LIVE & WAITING FOR YOU!

CLICK HERE for buttery vector graphics, grandiose prose, and fine art & design by your friend, Ansel. Thanks for reading.

If you are interested in commissioning my services, please contact me by email.

If you enjoy my work and would like to help support this great endeavour, please consider supporting my work through Ko-Fi or Patreon. You will be rewarded, in this life or the next.

One digital luxury I love unconditionally is wireless audio. It has its hiccups but in a controlled environment like one’s home, it’s a blessing. Over the years I’ve acquired one expensive wireless speaker after another, and finally in ‘23 I achieved total sonic saturation of my apartment, room by room. I have not handled an aux cord in recent memory. Today’s little vector doodle goes out to all my OG Homepod Owners out there — the true believers who heard the first run was being discontinued and ran to the store to buy another.

As a consumer of products in a material world, it opened my mind to learn that the Harley Owners Group was created in-house by Harley-Davidson, right around the same time Steve Jobs was parking his BMW motorcycle in the lobby in Cupertino. It’s not really a gotcha, it doesn’t really prove anything in particular. But it’s a great example of how “Classic Americana” is largely lab-grown, just like the hats you & I choose to wear. When authenticity is in woefully short supply, you might as well splurge for the fanciest fake.

Work continues on ansel.tv. The responsive mobile layout is (mostly) working and a number of graphic design pieces have fallen into place during the hammering of the HTML, CSS, and now once again Javascript. There are still vectors to bend and words to write but we are getting there. I’m working harder than I ever have in my life.

Big letter mode. Be ready. —A∙

Do you like Swans? I’ve been getting into Swans.

Young God Records merch is a little stark for my taste, so this pin is not YGR merch, but it does have swans on it. I’d love to spend more time playing with this and write some more about a really interesting band, but I am out of time today and must continue my full-speed sprint toward destiny.

If you visit https://ansel.tv right now, you can enjoy a sneak peek before the grand opening — just don’t be alarmed if pages or images disappear or break on you. It’s just me FTPing files wildly into space like Yosemite Sam. I need to write more words and add more grafix all around but by god the bones and guts are there on the slab, waiting to be sewn up and shocked to life. I feel insane for fiddling with essentially the exact same design & structure for over a decade but I just don’t have any better ideas. Do not, I repeat: DO NOT touch that dial.

—A∙