Spidercow2010 has won Character Design Contests 31 (Weapon), 45 (Kirby), and 48 (Circus), and Caption Contest 71, which is a darn impressive resume. Here's a little more info about the homo sapiens behind the arachnobovine.
- Online name used in HeroMachine environs: Spidercow2010
- A photo (or drawing) of you in "real life": I feel compelled to admit that under my crunchy shell lurks another goateed individual with rapidly thinning hair.
- Real name: If I was willing to give my real name, I wouldn’t be representing as last year’s arachnobovine.
- Real city/state/country: Portland, Oregon. By the way, here in Oregon we pronounce it OR-i-gun. Not Or-e-GAWN.
Never mind what you’ve heard from people who don’t know. - Real job: Nighttime Security/Reception
- Real age:56
- Gender: Male
- Relationship status (married, single, in a long-term relationship, dating someone, "it's complicated", etc): Single, but that may change soon. (Xd fingers)
- Online archive of your creations (if any): http://spidercow2010.deviantart.com/gallery
- The best piece of HeroMachine art you've created: I’m partial to this:
- Favorite all-time geeky movie if any: The Wrath of Khan
- Favorite all-time geeky book if any: Robert Heinlein’s Glory Road
- Favorite all-time geeky TV show if any: Fireball XL-5
- Favorite all-time comic book character if any: The ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing
- If you could have one super-heroic power in real life, you'd choose: Teleportation. I suppose it’d need to be a line-of-sight sort of thing; I can see myself teleporting into a hillside or something if I don’t know exactly where I’ll end up. And I suppose there’d be plenty of times when I materialized 8 feet up in the air. But nobody said god-like power would be easy.
- In your leisure time you like to: I’m an actor. I’d have to say semi-professionally, though. I’m not doing it full-time or anything, but I don’t do it for free, unless it’s for a worthy cause. Most of my work has been doing Shakespeare.
- Character design turn-ons (things you love to see that make for a good design): Composition. I like for all the elements to achieve some sort of balance, the kind of thing you know when you see it but it’s hard to explain. And I think everything in the image should work toward whatever story the image is telling, just as every machine should have no unnecessary parts, and every word in a joke should work toward setting up the punch line, or at least give us another reason to laugh at the butt of the joke.
- Character design turn-offs (things you hate to see that make for a bad design): Well, as above, I hate it when there’s just too much going on. And I’ve been guilty of this, like here:
I tried to jam too many elements in there, pretty much for the sake of a lame gag. This was my entry for the Aquarius character contest and, as I recall, I--quite rightly--didn’t get a mention, and had no expectation I would. Maybe I could have made it marginally better by improving the composition, shifting things around, using negative space better, but at the core this thing is just too busy. And unbalanced. Hey, like me!
- Best tip for a HeroMachine newbie: Experiment. This juggernaut has just gotten more and more versatile with time and the efforts of Jeff and, um, those other guys whose names escape me at the moment, and there’s a whole cosmos of stuff that can be done with masking, resizing, color gradations, and through thinking outside the box. Be willing to magnificently fail. Teddy Roosevelt said it better:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
- Any personal message you'd like to share with the HeroMachine community about Geek Life: (None provided.)
I really like your perspective pieces. Especially Bagger Caine and Circus 911. Very inspiring, even educational to those of us who can’t draw. The Henchpins still make me laugh!
Congrats on the power user status SpiderCow. I’ve always liked your creations and you definitely deserve the honor 🙂
I will say, Fireball XL-5 is a good choice for a favourite show.
And your pieces are really good.
I like all your play on words and puns…like Nunja and others…really nice work keep inspiring all us newbies
I really like your stuff and look forward to seeing what you come up with. Plus, I’ve got to throw some props to a fellow Heinlein fan!
Welcome aboard. I just have to say this, Living in Oregon dressed as a peanut, man could that go wrong quick.
Hey congrats SC!
Awesome job, spidercow. I remember back when coming to HeroMachine started to become a regular thing for me, that you were one of the first HeroMachinists whose work really impressed me consistently. Congrats on the Power User status, well deserved.
Also, for pure funny, I loved the Burler. Who can go wrong with a catapult that fires live bears into enemy fortresses?
Congrats Mr. Cow
I used to be in an acting troupe! I miss it…
Great profile, Spidercow! You’ve made some awesome stuff!
Thanks to all. Truly an honor to be included.
Congrats SpiderCow!
😀
Oh, an Jeff, do you know when users normally get the activation letter for their Ugo HM forum account?
It’s been almost an hour and nothing’s shown up in my email.
Gta, email me (afdstudios@gmail.com) the email address you signed up with and I’ll check on it.
In the meantime, check your spam filters. Sometimes the confirmation mail gets shunted there automatically.
Checked spam already, my email does that alot, couldn’t find it. I’ll email you. Thanks. 🙂
My favorite Roosevelt quote is, “You may not be aware that I’ve just been shot.” Which, in my opinion is the greatest opening line to a speech ever. (For context, he got on stage to give a speech while running for re-election, some guy in the crowd shot him in the chest, and he then proceeded to shrug it off and give the entire damn speech before seeking medical attention.)
Also, “last year’s arachnobovine” has got to be one of the funniest lines I’ve ever read on this site. And congrats on the profile!
Oh, man. It’s been way too long since I read Glory Road. I’ve got to dig that one out again. Excellent choice.
Did anyone get the song reference with that Aquarius entry, Spidercow. Now I’m gonna have to go burn that tune out of my head.
I’ve heard that anecdote, Gero, but didn’t know that was his opening line. Bully!
iirc, Teddy had a thick speech in his breast pocket that impeded the slug.
I can’t resist adding a quote from the amazing Helen Keller: “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”
For my money, the world can use more Helens and Teddys.
Oh, and Hammerknight, you’re right about Portland and the peanut suit. I can’t go to our zoo; it’s got WAY too many elephants.
Although… maybe I should take Helen Keller’s advice…
Welcome aboard spidercow2010!