boredinthebasement's posterous

Bored in Wisconsin

Well, it's a new month and a new year. What better way to bring it in with an ode to Wisconsin! The Rose Bowl and Beer. That's the way it's done!

Bored in the Basement proudly presents Jeff R. as January’s featured artist.  We are grateful to Jeff, as he has played a very important role in helping Bored in the Basement develop as a company. After much anticipation, here is Jeff’s interview:

BitB: Tell us about your background, most importantly your art background and your love for the state of Wisconsin.
Jeff: I grew up coloring and drawing a lot. When I was younger, I wanted to be a “commercial artist”. That job evolved into a Graphic Designer in the real world. I studied Graphic Design in college. I have never regretted my decision to pursue art as a career.

Wisconsin…I have lived in several major areas of Wisconsin. I have also lived in Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa. I have never felt more at home and more friendship than in Wisconsin…how can you not love this place?!?

BitB: When did you decide art was something you wanted to pursue, or more appropriately when did you start in the trade?

Jeff: I won a coloring contest at the local Super America when I was in 2^nd grade. I won a $20 gift certificate. That was my first payoff from my art skills.

BitB: Very interesting! Where do you get most of your inspiration?

Jeff: Pop culture. I continue to be amazed with the things people find amazing. Andy Warhol has been a huge inspiration to me since I first saw his work in 3^rd grade.

BitB: How about other inspirations such as music, photography, monkeys with coconuts, etc.?

Jeff: I am heavy into music, but visual art and music go hand-in-hand, in my opinion. Movies like 2001, Fight Club and others which make you think, inspire me.

BitB: How would you describe your style?

Jeff: An aftershock of the Warhol Effect on the globalization of techno America…2.0.

BitB: I understand that you went to school at UW-Whitewater. Did you plan on going to school for graphic design?

Jeff: It was always the plan. Although making the transition to web design only came on in my final semester, as web design was just merging as an offshoot of Graphic Design. I designed my first web page in Netscape Composer.

BitB: Pick an animal-which one would you like to be and why?

Jeff: A badger…that is the correct answer, right?

BitB: We are featuring many Wisconsin themed designs for your featured month. What is your inspiration behind these designs-a love for Wisconsin or to help promote your site, or both?

Jeff: Both, but my site promotes Wisconsin, it is a cyclical thing.

BitB: Tell us about your site, AsSeenInWisconsin.com.

Jeff: The site is dedicated to hyper-local news and sightings in Wisconsin. The idea of the site came from a neighbor who had “fixed” their broken basketball rim by replacing it with a five gallon bucket. I thought this is what many of my fellow Wisconsinites see everyday. This is something others can relate to. From this, As Seen In Wisconsin was born.

BitB: Given the chance to be a super hero or a folk hero, which would you choose?

Jeff: Super hero…like Batman.

BitB: Aside from your work with the As Seen In Wisconsin crew, you also do web design and site creation. Tell us about some of your other projects.

Jeff: I have worked on branding and identity for major national organizations and websites which help people get their businesses jump-started.

BitB: You have had a very important part in the creation of BitB. Without your knowledge and skill, BitB would have not had a functioning site until this past November. Do you plan on sticking around and being a continued support and help through design, art submission, and general tom-foolery?

Jeff: Definitely. I really respect what the BitB guys are doing. They are super cool and fun to hang out with. Hoping I’ll be adopted into the family sometime soon!... as long as they stop trying to stab me...

BitB: This is Wisconsin, so you obviously need to answer a drinking question. You have been selected to go on an all expense paid drinking binge for three days with three people-a historical figure, an artist, a writer, and one free choice. Who are your drinking buddies and what are you going to do?

Jeff: Andy Warhol, Stephen King, and Walt Disney. We will crush a cup and discuss the internet, guilty pleasure movies, and takeout.

BitB: How do you bridge between the business side of designing and your artistic side?

Jeff: It is really about realizing who you are working for. You have to remain true to yourself, but also realize you are working for a client. At some point, you need to bend. If it is work what is coming directly from me and straight to the masses, then everything is fair game.

BitB: Favorite curse word?

Jeff: Farve.

BitB: What have you stolen/learned from another artist lately?

Jeff: Copy>Paste behind>Stroke

ON WISCONSIN!

We hope everyone enjoys the new year and the new designs,

as always,

Love,

Tom and Ant

BitB Crew

Halloween Costume Contest!!!

Hi everybody!

As you all know, it's that time of year, and costumes are abundant! I am looking for a few good contestants, and even more bad ones! We here at BitB love our contests and giveaways! This contest is very, very, very simple. All you have to do is send us a photo of yourself wearing your Halloween costume, and you are entered into our drawing. We are having a drawing instead of a "who's got the best costume", that way everyone has a fair chance to win! Depending on how many people play, we may even have multiple prize giveaways!

Take a picture of YOURSELF in your costume, if you have multiple costumes, feel free to enter as many times as you like!

Let us know who you are, just your first name, we want to post your name with your picture!

Send us your photo, you can Twitpic (or equivalent) and give us a link, or email the photo to info@boredinthebasement.com.

Hm... well. Those are some really easy rules. So, you've entered, what do you win? You win a t-shirt of your choice! Anything on the website is fair game! For every ten people that play, we will give away another tshirt! 1 in 10, those are some really, really good odds! If we get over 30 people, we will break the costumes down by category and give away another cool prize, not sure what yet... We will be accepting pictures starting as soon as this post is... um... posted, up until November 5th! We will conduct the drawing on November 7th, that way if we get any late entries they get fair viewing time for people to stare... I mean observe. I am really hoping for a big turnout for this contest, tell all your friends!

Thanks Everyone, our first year has been going very smoothly, and we have you to thank! Help us to continue in business and continuing having fun!

As always,

love

Tom & Ant

BitB Crew

We have our first contestant, Amanda!

We have our second contestant, Kissy!

We have our third, Tkdfool!

We have our forth, DJKamealon!

We have our fifth, Nate!

We have our sixth, Ant!

We have eight and nine, Casey and Jessica!

We have the tenth, Marie!

We have eleven and twelve, Josh and Tom!

We have our fourteenth, Kissy (version 2)!

We have number fifteen, Leah!

Say what? Ways to save money?

Because business has been booming, we have aquired a new vendor and a bigger volume purchase discount! What does that mean for you? Less expensive shirts, and better quality to boot!!!

as always,

Love,

Tom & Ant

BitB Crew

BitB Proudly Presents, Michael Borkowski!

Mike is one of those people for whom talent just seems to come naturally. After developing a love of drawing at a young age, he went on to take some college-level courses through the art program at his high school. Other than that, he says, he has no other "formal" training. He tells us that he was lucky enough to form a relationship with some professional comic artists while still a teenager in high school and that their guidance along with on-the-job training he got while working with them were, for all intents and purposes, his schooling. This is a lucky break for anyone but especially for him, because it seems that his main career aspiration prior to that was to become a 3rd baseman for the New York Mets. He made no mention of whether or not he has an actual talent for the game of baseball, but does say that at some point he realized that being an amazing artist was likely a more realistic goal to work towards. Not bad, really, especially since he says that from his childhood, he had also wanted to find a way to turn his art into something he could get paid for.

When we asked about what other types of art Mr. Borkowski enjoyed creating, he told us that he really doesn't have much time for anything outside of the art he creates as his job. (Well, besides showing his loyalty to the Syracuse University sports program through his art.) Since he was gracious enough to take some time to create a few designs for Bored in the Basement, we figured we'd try to keep things as short and sweet as possible so that he could get back to entertaining the masses.. As opposed to humoring our ridiculous inquiries. We tried to get all of the important stuff out of the way first, so if Mike got tired of answering questions at least we'd have all the pertinent information. And since he knows more about himself than anyone else does, we're giving you all of his important answers uncut and unabridged, straight from the horse's mouth.

BitB: What changes, if any, do you have to make in your drawing style when switching from still art like Iron Man to animated stuff like the Venture Brothers?

MB: Basically everything I work on professionally isn't my personal style at all, whether it's animated or not. I need to make sure everything I draw for animation or the Iron Man books is "on model". It has to look like the reference material I'm given since I'm not the only person who works on these projects. Of course, some of my personal style does come through a bit. That's almost unavoidable.

BitB: With well-established and highly recognizable characters like Scooby Doo and the Gang, Iron Man, and Wolverine and the X-Men, when you first started did you feel like you were under a lot of pressure to live up to previous artists? Like maybe some nerd somewhere was going to cause a ruckus because Wolverine didn't look quite right when you drew him?

MB: Well, I have to draw them specifically how they're supposed to look. And in animation no one is really going to see my exact drawings. But I do feel pressure to make an action sequence as cool as it possibly can be.  Or pressure to make a gag as funny as it needs to be (or funnier). Or something scary or intense, etc.

BitB: Do you still feel any of that pressure now?

MB: Of course.

BitB: You did your first work on a major motion picture last year, for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. What were some of the big differences, if any, between animating for a movie and animating for a television show? Was it a fairly easy transition for you?

MB: It was a major difference and, no, it was not an easy transition for me. Thankfully I was surrounded by ridiculously talented, helpful and supportive people at Blue Sky Studios.

The main difference was the scope of the project. In television you basically stick to the script and board what's there. On Ice Age there's a little more freedom and time to explore each scene. There's also a lot of technical things that are done differently that I had to learn on the fly.

BitB: How did your partnership with Cartoon Network come about? Any plans to do art for other shows sometime in the future?

MB: I don't really have a partnership with Cartoon Network. I was hired by World Leaders (then Noodlesoup) to work on The Venture Bros. and by Warner Bros. to work on Scooby Doo. Cartoon Network airs those shows but I've never actually worked for them.

BitB: We don't want you to give away any secrets or potential future plans, but if you had the opportunity to do your very own TV series.. you know, complete and total creative control, what would it be like?

MB: I struggle with that. Sometimes I'd like to do a straightforward super hero show. Other times I'd love to do a whacked out comedy. Maybe a combination of the two?

BitB: What heroes/idols of yours have you gotten to meet over the years?

MB: A few. I was a big fan of Bart Sears when I was younger and he's actually one of the guys who took me under his wing. I try not to look at people as heroes or idols anymore, though. I've realized that we're all just people trying to do some stuff. Of course I still admire people for who they are and what they do. I just don't hold anyone up to such a standard as maybe I once did.

BitB: What is your favorite work environment, or the one in which you feel you're most productive? Do you have a home office set up? Do you listen to music to get the creativity going, or do you prefer complete silence? If you do listen to music while drawing, what's your favorite genre/band to listen to?

MB: I do have a home office. Usually I listen to music. I love Ben Folds, The Rolling Stones, Jenny Lewis and stuff like that.

BitB: Do you ever participate in any charity work, such as auctions?

MB: I did some sketch cards a few years ago for the March of Dimes.

BitB: What was your first paying job?

MB: My first paying job was helping out on a Namor toy design. Basically I just tightened up the drawing done by my bosses.

BitB: You're a big sports fan. Favorite teams? Are any of them more of a loyalty thing as opposed to how good the team actually is? (No offense meant!)

MB: I am a massive Syracuse University sports and New York Mets fan. I am a fan no matter how good or bad they are. In my mind, your team is your team through good and bad. If you can't be a fan through the bad times, you shouldn't be allowed to be a fan in the good times.

Now.. While all of this information is certainly compelling, we all know that there other things to life besides paying jobs and charity. For instance, erotic art. Who doesn't enjoy that? When asked if he'd ever been requested to create any art of this fashion, Mike tells us that although he has been commissioned to do some pieces that "got a little nutty" (his words), nothing that could ever really be considered erotic, like.. Oh, say, Wolverine in a g-string (our words.) Imagine our disappointment at this news. He did, however, make us feel a little better when he mentioned that he sometimes gives actual pen (or pencil) and paper sketches away on Twitter! If you would like to be privy to the next time he starts feeling generous, you can follow him at twitter.com/MBorkowski. He also does sketches like that at conventions sometimes, so if you keep up with his schedule on www.michaelborkowski.com and you're in the neighborhood of his next one, you should most definitely stop by and tell him that you'd like a sketch of Wolverine in a g-string.

We have saved for last a word for word transcription of Mike's response to our most important question, one that you readers should also ask yourselves sometime. The importance of preparedness in situations such as the one presented in this question cannot be stressed enough.

BitB: Your entire family has been massacred by the mob. Through careful surveillance and recon, you've managed to discern the location of their secret mob hide out. What song plays as you're busting through the door, ready to take bloody revenge on those who have wronged you?

MB: For some reason I keep thinking of "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones.

After you've broken your brain trying to come up with the perfect answer, go take a look at the sweet designs Mr. Borkowski came up with for us as October's Featured Artist. Stay classy, internet.

                                                                        -- RR

Another Contest!!!

Except that it ends today.

Get on over to our FaceBook page and share our contest picture! It's worth every penny... except there is no actual money... well, at least out of your pocket. We are giving away more merchandise, and we want you to be part of it!

As always,

Love,

Tom and Ant

BitB Crew

We are back!

Finally, after a month of weddings, parties, barnburnings, and recruitments, we are back. We have quite a few orders piling up, and we have our little workers sorting out the mess.

If you haven't stopped by lately, you wouldn't know that we have a new featured artist! Jennie_Z has been gratious enough to come up with 5 new and original designs to brighten your world. As always, each print is in a very limited number, and they are selling quickly... so don't waste time, we won't be printing these again. Such shirts as Tri-Curious, Bite Me!, Motorboating, C. U. Next Tuesday, and Just the Tip don't come around everyday... make sure you give that message to the world! Each of these shirts are printed on high quality shirts to last a lifetime if not eternity*! What's that you say? You want to see/hear/read our interview with Jennie_Z? That could happen... there just needs to be a lot of radio internet editing... she's a foul mouth, but most of the good artists are.

We hope you have some fun with these new designs, we know we have

as always,

Love

Tom and Ant

BitB Crew

*Jesus wants one too.

#PantsOff Contestants Page

This is our contestant page for the #pantsoff shirt giveaway! If you don't know what we are talking about... read this.

We have our first contestant!

@tommy_V

We have number 2! With 2 entries!!!

@amanda42085

We have the 3rd player!

@cakie_fudges

Oh NO's, we have 4 players now!

@thevulkster

We've got 5, 5 I say!

@jennie_Z

Holy man. We are up to 6 players, biggest contest yet!

@jennamfeo

On a roll at 7!

@thehulkster

We made it to 8!

@Classy_Ann

9!!! Holy moley! :D

@missmatilda

10! We made it to 10! Although she isn't "sans-pants" I'm giving her double credit for wearing one of our shirts!

@shimmer418

11! And with another double entry for wearing one of our shirts!!!

Kissy_Izuki

We conducted the drawing this morning! We have two winners! @missmatilda and @classy_ann

Congratulations to you both! We will post a video of the drawing soon... sadly I have a wedding to attend today and will not have time to upload the video right now. I want to thanks everyone for playing! We will have another competition in just a week or two! Stay tuned!

#PantsOff

We got bored... that's what happens in our basement. Our friends over at YourMusicShow and Bored in the Basement have teamed up to bring a new contest!

First let's talk about YourMusicShow. These guys are like a couple of last true DJs. With a motto of "if you can't change the scene, just make one", you know you have people that love the music. To be honest, I followed these guys only because they fell into a circle of friends I was already following. Even then, I only joked with them and never really even thought of listening to their podcast. Then, a month or so later, the boys over at YourMusicShow started their fund raising quest to get better equipment, funds for exploring and finding new music, and getting out of a living room... but I don't know what's wrong with running a business out of a room in your house........... Bored in the Basement

Well, that's enough name calling... Here's where to find them!

Online: YourMusicShow

Twitter: @yourmusicshow

FaceBook: Your Music Show

Now that their semi-shameless plug is over, seriously, checkout their KickStarter, it's hard to find people that are anti-radio only songs. We pledged, now you should. With that out of the way, lets get to the contest. #pantsoff

One of the most common things I see in the @yourmusicshow twitter trails is #pantsoff. I feel it's time for everyone that likes these guys, or would like to get to know them, antes up! This contest is simple, I'll quickly go over the rules:

1. Follow @yourmusicshow

2. Like Your Music Show

3. Post your best pants off picture!

That should be pretty simple right? When you post your picture, you can do it one of three ways, you can @ reply to either @yourmusicshow or @BitB_Shirts, then we'll place it right here in the blog. The second way to enter is for you to directly post it to our blog, on the #PantsOff Contestants Page.

If neither of these options work for you, maybe you need someone to help you get #pantsoff.

"Ok, ok, so you've entered, now how do I win" - You

Well, You, that's easy. We just throw all the contestants into a hat and draw a name.

"What do I win?" - You

Two things, everyone wins a few new friends, and depending on how many people play, a few lucky people will win shirts of their choice from Bored in the Basemen!

"Can I enter more than once?" - You

You would be stoopid not too. For every picture you submit of yourself #pantsoff you will get one entry for the contest... but I think we will only allow 2... or maybe 3 entries per day, just because if you're like me, you'll cheat until you win. Plus we want to keep your posts original.

"How long will this contest be going on?" - You

You... you have a lot of questions, but I like that you are being thorough. Contest... ok, how does August 4th work? That gives us plenty of time to have plenty of people play, and it's also the last day that people can (and better) pledge money for continued show. So, You, do you have any more questions?

"Just one... well two... what can our pictures contain? and... do you have a soda I could have?" - You

Your pictures can have anything, I guess. However, if there are naked bits in your #pantsoff, I may need to slap a CENSORED block on it just so our blog people don't get angry... and um... so it stays kid friendly. As for the soda... you're a mooch, did you pledge yet? If you pledged then yes, you can have my last orange soda.

That's all for now, and as always.

Love

Tom and Ant

the BitB Crew

Way to drop the ball.

So, many of you know, but for those who don't, this past weekend was Brew Fest in Clayton, WI. Ant and I decided to get our drink on. Being the normally well prepared person that I am... I dropped the ball. I didn't bring any of my own business cards, or even wear my Wisconsin Drinking shirt! However, lucky for me... Ant brought both his business cards, and his Wisconsin Drinking shirt. I searched and searched, but I was only able to recover one business card... and it was from this happy little drunk pictured below.

Despite drinking as much as we could, we... well I, was still able to muster not only a spoken language, but continue to walk. Between the man pictured above, and my own lack of people skills, we were able to talk to the ringleader of the Lion's Club in hopes to secure making the shirts for them in 2011. We talked to many people that day, people that loved the shirt as well as having shirt ideas of their own! We have definitely made a few new friends, one new enemy, and hopefully some contacts for some future business. For anyone that has not been to the Clayton Brewfest... there are a few things you should know.

1. Go. It's only $30 and it's all you can drink beer from at least 15 vendors.

2. There is a horseshoe tournament, come on! Horseshoes, and drinking, not one person lost a foot! ...and bruises go away.

3. The BitB crew is always there, and we will be sponsoring next year. Try to win a shirt!

4. No one ever leaves this party unhappy.

7. There are probably two pointers before this one.

Since I am actually typing this while being on a break from my class, I figured I would leave everyone with a video clip. It's not in too many places... well, outside of Wisconsin, that you can find a beer party, held at a gun range, that has two teeter-totters for drunks... I mean beer enthusiasts. So next year, come visit us! Who knows what you might get just for showing up!

As always,

Love,

Tom and Ant

the BitB Crew

August Featured Artist Preview

Now, these aren't the final editions, but I wanted everyone to get a taste of what is coming.

Our Featured Artist Jennie_Z will be bringing humor to the table.

You will have to stay tuned for our interview, we are trying something new, a DRINKING SKYPE INTERVIEW!!! Who knows what will happen? We don't, so how would you know? Oh... well that makes sense... just let us know how that goes then.

As always, I make some witty comment down here before I leave, but I'll be honest... I seem a little braindead with this rain today... and I really don't have much of a story to tell...

So stay tuned for the next exciting adventure from the BitB Crew!!!

Tom and Ant

BitB Crew