Dollar Tree Diorama Grabs

So a Dollar Tree has opened only steps away from my local Dollarama and I figured I should get in there and see what they have that distinguishes them from the competition, here's what I picked up to use for my kitbashing/dioramas. The first three pics are wooden puzzles with many unique little wooden bits, the cuts on them are a bit rough but I think they'll be great for machinery/vehicles and furniture. The category we had to explore was the "Beastie" category and I found these T-Rex dudes that I quite like, the heads are cool and I think the back legs will also come in handy, they're a good medium size for beastie builds. The final category is of course "wood kits" and here are two great ones, a car and a plane that will help with all kinds of builds, really good quality wood, can't wait to use them.

In writing news I received my first rejection letter yesterday, but it did not upset me the least. The wording was such that I know the submission was enjoyed and considered, it's only the volatile publishing market that dissuaded the agent from taking me on so I'll move on to the next agency I want to work with in the New Year, the best thing about the Internet is that I can pick who I'm going to submit my work to, I'm not blanketing the lit agency world with submissions, I'm being very careful as to who I want to represent me.

Happy Holidays,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

A.Shay Hahn, tiny carpenter, man of mystery.

At the top is a photo of Lawrence (Lorenzo!) Etherington's massive 600 page sketchbook that arrived in the mail a couple of days ago. I've had my head buried in it (when not playing Dead Island, finished the game, really enjoyed the sense of tension it creates) ever since. If you read this blog on a regular basis you'll know of my ongoing love/hate that I have with myself over my drawing skills. I figure this book is a great way to keep me working daily on my skills. If you are unfamiliar with the Etherington Bros. head to their blog its alot of fun, they are living the life and doing it right.

The second shot are a couple of cokpits that I built just in case I want to make any more Mandarin Orange crate vehicles. I'd like to thank all the folks over at Deviantart who took the time to comment on the build and on the sewer system.It's nice to get some positive feedback, since I rarely, if ever, get any comments here, this blog gets huge google hits for the tutorials but rarely does anyone say anything to me directly.

In book news I've sent out the first package for the Any How Town book series and I'm going to wait until the new year before approaching any other agents. The agency that I sent the package to interests me and I want to get a chance to get my first rejection under my belt before approaching any other agents.

If you go to the mad craft shoppe blog (see links) you can see what is currently hanging at the Press Club (850 Dundas West) head on over and pick up a painting, makes a heck of a Christmas gift.

Alright back to the ink mines, take care.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building a Large Scale Popsicle Stick Diorama, Sewer System

Hey there folks, sorry if it feels like I've been away for ever, but I just had to kick this lingering cold which has been passed back and forth in our house like an ugly baby. I wanted to get a few shots of this piece posted before I added figures to it. You can see that ALL of the different techniques that I've posted tutorials for over the past year are in play here. There are platforms, stairs, windows, pipes, bits and pieces, and ladders all coming together to make this very cool underground adventure scene.

I haven't finished the left side window yet, I'm planning on making something different for that area and I'll post those pics once I nail down exactly what I want to do.

If it's your first time here, have a look around at the tutorials, there's all kinds of cool stuff to see.

In book news I'm still plugging away at the final draft of Book One, it was just impossible to do with a head full of awful and now hopefully I can get the first package out before Christmas.

alright, back to it,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Mandarin Orange Crate Troop Carrier! You gotta see this!

So here's the piece almost completed and then completed with paint job. I think it turned out pretty well considering I did it while bedridden and noseblown. I'll add another picture later on when I get some more mandarin oranges.

In painting news, today is the last day to see my show at the Cameron House, doors open at 5pm and you can purchase work (in cash) from the bar staff. Kevin Quain and the Mad Bastards play this eve, perfect rainy day music.

Hopefully this is the last day of Super Cold 2012 and I can get back to finishing my book, also I want to give a huge show of support to the Etherington Brothers, two brothers (writer/artist) whose work I think is the best, check out their blog here.http://theetheringtonbrothers.blogspot.ca/  I bought the 600 page sketchbook (see Store in their links) for myself as a Christmas gift.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Mandarin Orange Crate Craft, Part Two

I've decided to make an AT-AT Snow Walker out of the mandarin orange crate. The three pics above are the four feet for the legs of the walker, the second pic. is the cab for the driver to sit in and the third is a fold down back down so people can get in and out in vehicles or on foot.

Updates soon come! This is fun!

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Mandarin Orange Crate Craft

This is the last day that I can be sick, this is day Four and I can't stand it. I haven't really been able to concentrate on any work, but my head is clear enough today to turn this mandarin orange crate into something cool.

STAY TUNED!

Also this is the last weekend to see my work at the Cameron House, head on down and buy a painting, prices range from $140.00- $500.00 see the work at the "mad craft shoppe" blog (links right side bar)

okay, I've got my glue and I've got my Kleenex here we go,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Robot Dino Riders and the Curse of Monopolies

Here's the first of the painted robot dino riders and I know I couldn't have done it without you Dollarama but other smaller dollar stores are closing because of your market domination and I don't like it. I picked up these awesome little wooden kits (just look at that crazy frog) at a store that is being put out of business and these amazing birds (birds are really hard to find, buy them in multiples when you can) from another store that I'm sure is also feeling the pressure.

Variety is the spice of life and I know my kitbashing will suffer if I can only purchase from you, yes you sell some great things for my purposes but you don't sell everything I need. You don't even sell wood glue!

In book news I'm almost finished my hand written edit of Book One and then will do my type edit. I'm pretty thorough when I edit my work and this method just works best for me. The query letter is sharp and the synopses is great so each day we get closer and closer to sending the book out to agents.

Tomorrow is Saturday and from 4-7pm you can come by the Cameron House for the reception for "popular/mechanics" my latest show of paintings. Music will be  provided by Colonel Tom and the American Pour from 6-8pm. If you want to read more and see the work, just head over to the "mad craft shoppe" blog (see links on the right side).

alright, back to work

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Building Popsicle Stick Robo Dino Riders!

Here are three of the Dinosaur Kits that I've bashed (kit bashing is a word that's been around a long time that I just learned, it's more or less what I do but originated with more complicated models, like the World War Two model kits) to make two legged vehicles similar to the Sputterjack racing machines.

In Any How Town Book news, the synopses is almost perfect, I'm moving onto getting a solid query letter written this week and I've finished the final edits on the first fifty pages of the first book so things are moving along just as they should.

If you're in downtown Toronto head to the Cameron House to see my paintings, you can preview the show at my other blog, "The mad craft shoppe" (see sidebar,right) and the reception is Saturday, November 24th from 4-7pm.

get your toque on,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Ladies and Gents, the Hazard Viper

I've mentioned a couple of action figures of note on this blog before, Battlefield Captain America and The Red Hulk have a new figure to add to their esteemed company, may I present  the G.I Joe Hazard Viper. This guy isn't even a main character, he's a grunt who works with toxins, but geez, just look at that detail! You can see through the goggles, the helmet comes off etc. I just can't say enough about how incredible this figure is and if you head to a winners you can get them for $6.99 !

Mother of Pearl! What a price!

So next week we get into the final edit of Book One and cover letter writing, should be fun, it's high time Book One was finished and sent out for judgement.

Also if you're downtown head to the Cameron House to see "popular/mechanics" a show of my paintings, the reception is Saturday, Nov. 24th from 4-7pm with music by Colonel Tom and the American Pour and some of the wonderful food will be supplied by Chef David Friedman and Red Fish Restaurant.

Head to my other blog "The mad craft shoppe" (see links) to see the work.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Our Heroes and their friends

I rushed this last drawing and all I can see is a witch riding a broomstick and that will not do. How did this happen? Well, I drew the pose and then started inking it and THEN decided to add the staff, big mistake. Maybe the further we get away from Hallowe'en the more it will look like Jin is just holding a staff, here's hoping.

I also included here (and added to the first post in the drawing series) early sketches of the characters, they are BORING sketches, they don't stand up, Any How Town is an exciting place and those poses are DULL. I also included this Last Airbender figure that I used as a reference but I realize what I have to do in the next attempt at the design of this character is make their outfits unique - simple but totally unique.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Our Other Hero In Action

Oliver Stinson, reluctant hero

I thought I'd post both pictures that I did of Oliver I want people who come to this blog to see that it's cool to just try things, if you go back to the earlier diorama posts and then go forward you can see how I improved on building things, it took time, it was something that I concentrated on and got better at. Just like drawing, painting, building models, if you keep doing it, you'll get better at it.

That being said, I can also see that in the second picture Oliver's boots are too small, so I'll have to fix those.

keep on making things.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Our Heroes in Action

 Sinawa Eaglet Rainland, one of our heroes

 If you follow this blog at all you know that I constantly complain about my drawing skills, or lack of time I dedicate to drawing and how I always swear that I will try to draw every day, or at least once a week, or every other month. I wanted to get some action shots down of the characters as they are now not like they were all the way back to when I started this blog. I finished this picture of Eaglet last night and then did a horrible drawing of Oliver, which I'll post with the finished Oliver hopefully later today.

Next week I'm starting in on the final edits/draft of Book One and finishing typing up the second book, yes I wrote all four books in longhand it's just faster for me that way, I want to get Book One out to agents by the end of November and have a great cover letter thingy finished to go with it - fingers crossed.

When I've cracked and can type no more, I'm going to draw, hopefully every second day and get some great action up here to really get people curious about the world of Any How Town.

If you're in Toronto and down town, please head by the Cameron House to see my latest show of paintings, "popular/mechanics" (they open at 4pm) any funds from sales will be going to keeping me working on the AHT series, we're so close to getting Book One ready to go it's driving me crazy.
UPDATE: Here's the sketch of Eaglet I was talking about in the last post, "Our Heroes and Their Friends, do you see how boring this is ?
A.Shay Hahn
madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building A Large Scale Popsicle Stick Diorama II

Here's the beginning stages of the second large scale piece, the back alleys of Any How Town a place of gambling, shady deals and leisure.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com 

Details from Large Scale Popsicle Stick Diorama

Here are some detail shots from the waterfront diorama, having taken a break from it for a couple of days I think I'm going to add more figures to the mix and really give it more a sense of the busy hullaballoo of the Lower Market. Also adding some foreground figures is important, levels and depth are everything when trying to give a piece a real sense of life.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building A Large Scale Popsicle Stick Diorama II

Come back tomorrow and I'll have written all the tips and techniques used to put this piece together
A.Shay Hahn
madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building A Large Scale Popsicle Stick Diorama

NOTE: I'll be back to do this entry, just want to get more of the piece finished.

Big Box of Bits, the end of an era

All of the frames that I've built for my paintings (see "the madcraftshoppe" blog, sidebar) and all of the luon, masonite etc. that I use for the models come from the workshop at Theatre Passe Muraille. Every couple of months I head down and cut up the old 1x3 and whatever else I think I can reuse and I save it from the junkyard. I've been doing this for about three years and that time may be coming to an end. I don't really want to build frames for my paintings anymore I'm just moving on in my head and don't really see frames on the work.

I was down in the shop yesterday and filled a grocery bag with bits this size that I cut down, the pieces range from 1" to 4" and it will be a huge help when I start building the FOUR large scale box dioramas that I plan to make over the next few months. So I'd like to take this time to thank R.McDougall, A.McKim and Theatre Passe Muraille for the oppurtunity that they gave me.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com