SWOOOOOORDFIIIIISH! Amoeba Man returns from his crazy long hiatus battling the monsters of Space Colony Athena Seven! Sponty's taking a short break while he gets those knots out of his aura, so I'm on my own for a bit. But hey, kids and skids, I'm back, and that's what's important (right? I'm lonely).

Now, it looks like a lot of you have been getting drunk for this task. Amoeba Man would like to take a moment to remind anyone under drinking age that influence does not always mean substance abuse. This is mostly because Amoeba Man is still only 18 and is jealous of the fact that you can get knee-slappingly drunk while he is forced to drink only fruit punch.

But that's neither here nor there, above nor below. Perhaps beside, but we'll find out later.

What no one seems to have tried yet is doing art under the influence of art. Specifically, music. Music has a massive influence on the way we feel at the time. A soulful rendition of Can You Feel The Love Tonight will woo the heart of any lover you'd care to name, while a fist pumping chant of We Will Rock You (and, by corollary, We Are The Champions, if you're interested in doing things right) will no doubt get the blood of anyone who has blood pounding like a steel racehorse. Music can brighten your day and clear your head, or punch you in the face and take your money. Music is capable of influencing you to no end.

So, I decided to create art under the influence of a couple of different songs, and see how the results turned out. Since I should probably draw the same thing over and over and OVER AND OVER AGAIN, so as to ensure consistent results, I'll be using my tough-guy partner, the king of Kong, the simian Sampson, Sponty. Pics for comparison purposes can be found in most of my other tasks.

So, I decided I'd try a broad range of emotions with regard to the songs, to get a nice, wide spectrum of emotions going while I draw. I'll list the song I was listening to at the time, and then describe it because I feel the need to make sure you see every little detail. The drawings were done in GIMP 2, with a Bamboo Wacom Tablet and associated pen and a DB-88 Bionic Amoeba Arm.

Joyous: Punch Out Theme (2009)

This was the first drawing I did. I did it while listening to the Punch Out Theme from the upcoming rerelease of the game. Before I even started the drawing, I was bopping my head back and forth, working out a training montage in my head (it is required by law in Canada that, while listening to the Punch Out Theme, any Rocky theme, or the Segata Sanshiro song, that you imagine a training montage). I started sketching, and I wasn't really taking much time with this one; the music had me all pumped and ready to do something fast. So I sketched quickly, I didn't erase my mistakes, and I just went with it. It wasn't until AFTER I'd actually drawn it that I realized it looked nothing like Sponty at all, and instead looked like some mad, manic guy who wanted to peel my face off and sew it to a bear or something. I was scared! Clearly this was a dangerous journey.

Sad: Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are- Meat Loaf

This is probably the saddest song I've ever heard, it's just incredible. I made a mental note to make Sponty look more like Sponty this time around, when I suddenly realized- I was being influenced by my own art. Just as my mind was blown, the opening verse of the song kicked in:

"The skies were pure and the fields were green/the sun was brighter than it's ever been/when I grew up with my best friend Kenny/we were close as any brothers that you ever knew. It was always summer and the future called/we were ready for adventures and we wanted them all/ there was so much left to dream/ and so much time to make it real".

And it made me think of the time I've spent with Sponty, who is without a doubt the best friend I've got, and how much fun we've had throughout the years.

And I said a small thank you to Sponty, for being the best damn friend I could ever ask for.

And I drew.

This one came out looking a lot better than the other in terms of similarity to the subject, but additionally, it's a lot less manic. In comparison to the other one, there are a lot fewer shading lines in places where they don't belong, and I was also a lot more attentive to the mistakes I was making. I deleted a few extra lines here and there, did some erasing, cleaned things up a bit. The other song had me going faster and faster, trying to keep with the pace of the song, but I felt a little less pressured to stay with the beat on this one. I just took it slow.

Heavy: Get Heavy- Lordi

"But Amoeba Man! 'Heavy' isn't an emotion!" Shut up, loser, it's time to GET HEAVY.

Surprisingly, this one didn't turn out like the Punch Out one. For one, it still looks like Sponty, albeit making a face that is quite impossible under normal circumstances. But it also has less of the shading that the first one did, which I wasn't really expecting. Actually, it turned out pretty well.

Anime: Lupin III Theme

"But Amoeba Man! 'Anime' isn't-" SHUT UP. To be honest, I kind of blacked out on this one, and when I came to, this thing was drawn. I chalked it up to fatigue from all this drawing, and decided to upload it anyway, because that's just the kind of guy I am (the lazy kind).


I hope you enjoyed this little audio-visual excursion. And remember, kids, don't do drugs (unless they are drugs you have been prescribed, like when you get your wisdom teeth out). Until next time, SFZerians...

HENSHIN!!!