Useless Facts about mAz (as of Dec' 09)
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Noted
part-time artist, part-time bum/hermit, and fighting game aficionado,
"Mike mAzguy" has been drawing almost all his life. He claims that
videogames are his "poison" and prevents him from truly excelling in
art (and life).
mAz is an
old dog who dislikes working on art that is not 100% his own creation
(aside from the rare commissions at conventions, and the even rarer
gift art), and sticks to only drawing things he likes (which involves
sexy (anime-esque) women of the busty and bizarre type).
mAz's only
true goal is establish his world of "Saxxony" before he kicks the
bucket. Although, he admits he doesn't care as much about this as he
used to. He has drawn thousands of bits of art, and to him, that is
more than enough for this world.
mAz loves
cats, and tends to baby talk to them, only when his local friends
aren't around.
mAz also
refers to himself as "the eternal amateur".. as a joke on the fact he
has never published any of his art for profit.
Four
of
mAz's favorite songs of all time are "Don't stop Believin'" by Journey,
"Always on my mind" by The Pet Shop Boys, "Orinoco Flow" by Enya, and
"Major Tom" by Peter Schilling.
mAz is
related to the late Jim Sasseville, a former partner to Peanuts creator
Charles Shulz.
mAz was
born in Buffalo, NY, 1971. and lived in a town called Lancaster for the
first 10 years of his life. Later he moved to Knoxville TN in 1981.
mAz enjoys
the fact he never developed a southern accent.
mAz was
given one of the first Atari 2600's in 1977 for his birthday by his
late uncle Paul. He refers back to this as "the beginning of his own
particular corruption."
mAz grew up
watching healthy doses of Rocketship 7/Commander Dave, Sesame Street
and whatever cartoons were shown during the mid seventies in western NY.
mAz was
there for the blizzard of '77 in Buffalo, and lost one of his moon
boots tunneling under the snow when he was seven years old. The boot
wasn't recovered until spring when the snow finally melted.
mAz
was a
big fan of Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato in Japan) in the late
70's.
In the
early 80's, mAz was obsessed with Space Invaders, then later Pac-man.
mAz very first comic was about Pac-man and the ghost monsters around
1983.
mAz even
had a small Pac-man license plate on the back of his mag wheeled bike.
It was quite hip, albeit extremely nerdy.
In the mid
80's mAz watched almost too much of Inspector Gadget and Thundercats. A
few early comics he did involved the Inspector.
mAz became
extremely nearsighted and has worn glasses since the age of 16. He
refuses to ever wear contacts.
mAz's
favorite videogame of all time is "Mail Order Monsters" for the
Commodore 64. This game inspired him to create his own comic for it in
1986, then went on to create six more comics, including the character
'Doctor Ralph'.
Two years
after graduating HS in 1990, mAz attended the Columbus College of Art
and Design up until 1996, although he never graduated.
mAz
"rediscovered" anime around 1995 with animes like Ranma 1/2 and Oh my
Goddess.. and began meshing/adopting the anime style with his own art.
A few of mAz's characters are indeed inspired from fighting
games.
In
2001,
mAz was involved in a bad car accident that totaled his '97 Ford
Taurus. He now still drives a '96 Chevy Corsica which he got after this
accident.
mAz once
had a shaggy, smelly, cairn terrier know as the Gooch. He was a master
at tennis ball fetching.
mAz's
favorite month is August. Woo.
It is
rumored mAz is as straight as a board.
mAz became fully corrupted by MMO's in 2004 when World of
Warcraft was launched.
It
is unwise to talk to mAz about the Buffalo Bills.
The
mAz fAx - 2010 version
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This
is just a
small fax I made up of some questions I hear all too often, and
hopefully I have answered them here to the best of my ability. Warning,
some things might be offensive to some. If that's the case, tough
titties.
It's
been
approximately seven years since the original mAzfacts. What's changed
about me? Not too much. I'm a bit lazier, but wiser to the world,
and
the net for
that matter. Not to mention grayer. Too many people worry about aging
in my opinion. It's worrying like that that makes you look older
anyways.
What
inspires you?
--------------------------------
Could
be anything
really ~ from a good movie to a certain song. Other artists. Anime
somewhat, but I can't remember the last time I saw a really good anime.
I noticed a disturbing trend as well, where there are too many kids
under 12 years old being lead characters. It makes me like anime less
and less these days. Sometimes I might read an online manga as well, if
I think the art and story are decent that is. As for fanfiction, no
thanks (unless it was of my own story).
*
got into Umineko
no Naku Koro ni practically right after writing this. Beatrice and Virgilia for the fucking win. :)
Still
have a thing
for poofy ghostgirls, big butt spiderwomen, and large bewbs of the
magical, gravity defying kind?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See
above and
absolutely. :) I'm a horny old bastard who knows what he likes when it
comes to fantasy art. Big bushy tails are nice too.. one of the
remaining likes of my "furry" years.
Big
lips?
-------------
I
used to hate
this, now I love it. See Sondre and Cleo for examples.
Still
hate furry
muzzles?
-----------------------------------
Yes.
This was one
of the things that got me out of (full blown) furry art over 10 years
ago. My sig is the only thing I'll tolerate drawing somewhat of a
muzzle. Cat faces are tolerable.. but still. Ask yourself.. can you
kiss something that has a muzzle? Eww. Might as well be kissing a goat.
Speaking
of the
dead wolf sig, what does it represent?
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It's
the skull of
Doctor Ralph.. a werewolf character I had in the late 80's, when I
burned time drawing comics on notebook paper during high school. He was
killed in the last comic I did of him. There might eventually be a
section on the site devoted to him.
Do
you take
requests?
------------------------------------
Nope,
don't do
anything for free anymore.. unless I feel like it and/or you're really
fucking special.
Do
you do
exchanges?
---------------------------------
Nope..
although
again, maybe if yer rly fukkin' speshul, tho. :B
Do
you do
commissions?
----------------------------------------
Only
at
conventions for the most part.. sometimes not even at those. Sometimes
I might do a commission or two of my own characters. My originals
(traditional pencils) are very expensive though, for the main reason
I'm not one to lightly part with them. Drawings I did sometimes would
take me weeks to a month or two to complete. People honestly do not
realize how much work it can take to produce one picture.. only those
who do similiar art have an idea. I can safely say the majority of
freelance artists (especially the ones who go crazy with details) are
discustingly underpaid for their works.
Why
do you not do
full comics anymore?
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Simple
answer to
that.. it takes too long and its tremendous amount of work for one
person. If I could afford to hire a few people to do inking,
coloring/shading, text & speech bubbles, and background work, then
perhaps I could get them done. Or, if I was hired by some company to do
my own stuff (and getting enough $$ to support 'at least' my living
expenses), then I would probably still do it. That isn't happening
anytime soon though.
World
of Warcraft & the MMORPG - the ultimate aspiring artist
killer?
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I
can't deny that.. I've wasted an enormous amount of time with MMOs
for the past seven years or so. If you are an aspiring artist, STAY FAR, FAR AWAY FROM MMOs.
Videogames are fine in small doses, but
MMOs will absorb all your freetime where you could be drawing/painting.
And trust me, nine times outta ten, you won't feel like drawing after
you get done with a 5+ hour session of whatever MMO. I know, I've been
there. It is insanely difficult to manage MMO time, especially if you
get stuck in raiding dungeon groups. I wasn't much of a raider when I
was playing WoW, but I was still addicted regardless (Note to Blizzard:
I want my five years back of my life.) I can guarantee you there are
many artists out there that have fallen to the mighty MMO. Just keep
thinking: Playing MMO = not productive.. Drawing/Painting = productive!
All that virtual gear and gold will be obsolete when the game dies out
anyways. Don't let MMOs take your soul too!
But if you go to work and do art, that's cool. Just don't
stay up too late. ;)
Can
I take art
from your site and use them for my own purposes?
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Absolutely
not. If
I find out you did it, I will come hunting for you in RL with a giant
meatstick with nails sticking out of it.. and you don't want that,
trust me.
Do
you accept linx?
----------------------------
Haha.
Those were
the days. Wonder how many hours I wasted updating them on the old
sites. Again, only if you are in that special category.
Why
don't you do
fan art?
-------------------------------------
Fanart
always
feels like I'm creating something that's not completely mine, so I
don't do it for the most part (Only on extremely rare occasions).
Basing the majority of your art on someone elses work is a sinking ship
anyways. Sure, you'll be popular selling Naruto prints at conventions
(at least the cons that still allow the selling of fanart), but that
art will never be completely yours. I'm sure the original creators
would either pat you on the back for making their stuff more popular,
demand a cut, and/or sue you. Anyone doing fanart for a living are just
fooling themselves and living a lie.. because in the end, it's the
original creator that will have carved a place in the world (maybe)..
not you.
Are
you a RL
southpaw?
-----------------------------------
Yes.
Hoo-hah!
What
are your
favorite movies & shows?
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LotR
Trilogy,
Gladiator, Braveheart, The Dark Knight, Hot Fuzz, The Big Lebowski,
Monty Python's:QftHG. MST3K, Whose Line, Ninja Warrior (Sasuki), Iron
Chef Japan, BSG (2000 version).
Who
are you
favorite comedian(s)?
--------------------------------------------------
Colin
Mochrie by
far..and even better if he's teamed with Ryan Stiles. These two are
absolutely brilliant together. "Rosebud, even!" Also, the crew of
MST3K. Especially Kevin Murphy.. brilliant guy.
80's
Cartoons?
---------------------
Inspector
Gadget,
Thundercats, Bugs, and pretty much anything they showed after school
(And yah, I liked Popeye and Mighty Mouse, too.) :)
Books?
-----------
My
reading is all
on the net these days. But many years ago - Hitchhikers Guide books,
Drizzt Do'Urden books, LotR, and several Forgotten realms fantasy
books. I think I read Shogun long time ago too.
Food?
---------
Seafood.
Chinese.
Pizza. Still not crazy about meat loaf though.. probably because my
parents forced me to eat it when I was little. :)
So
what's the deal with the talk about bacon, ham, pork, etc?
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I'm
one of those weird people who find certain foods humorous.
Booze?
-----------
Generally
anything
that will give me a buzz..quality scotch is my fav though. Pisswater
mainstream beer is my least favorite.
RL
local buddies?
---------------------------
Kenny
- See him on
the weekends and happens to be my best friend. He's a near reflection
of me, aside from the fact he's much neater and has more hair.
Definitely not afraid to be a bastard to me..or I to him.
Richard
-
Interesting fellow who follows me to Kenny's place on occasion.
Mick-
large man
who gave me the internet space to do this. Likes to make fun of my arts
to keep me humble.
Tony
- Odd
furry-appreciating man who tends to be sick alot and gives me unwanted
diseases. He is "pro-muzzle" and likes kangaroos.
Eric - Master of the loophole.
Online
buddies?
-----------------------
The
Gally - She
keeps me sane. :)
Everyone
else -
You need to get online and poke me more often. You know who you are. ;)
What
do you wish
for the world?
----------------------------------------------
Oh you
know... the usual. No more wars, no more cults/religions that say you
are better than everyone else if you join, no more hate crimes, no more
racism, no more hate against homosexuality, no more world hunger, no
more greed, no more poverty, no more diseases, and help
unhappy/apathetic people in a healthy way. No more hate for your fellow
man.. there is far, far too much of this. Earth, (as well as America)
needs to stop being 'The Land of Confusion'. And, as squishy as this
sounds, love IS the most important thing in this world. Aside from
common sense.. something alot of people are lacking as of late.
I
am getting
older.. and all I see are things getting worse. It's not encouraging.
Although, the best people in this world are those who help others.. not
for money, not for fame, not because their religion wants them to do
it.. but because they want to, and expect nothing in return. It's
people like that that still give me hope for the human race.
Stuffing
or potatoes?
--------------------------------
Both
of course. With thick gravy.
Ford
or Chevy?
------------------------
Whatever
gets me from point A to point B, and back to point A without
any problems. Sorry, I'm not a car person.
Where
do you want to be in ten years?
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I
want to be happy. :)