A Bit More Progress on the Xena Painting

Well, I've really started in on the metal work on the painting now. This should be interesting.

Xena Painting Update: Hello November!

Started in on the shoulder guards & some of the metal. Finished up the background. Not sure I want to keep it. I almost want something more abstract & geometric. We'll see.

3:30AM-ish and I'm still at it. Xena Painting.

More progress made. Got one of those baby blues done. I have to admit, the eyes on this painting have got to be right on or it isn't going to look like Lucy. Xena/Lucy has very well known eyes. You can't achieve the Xena look without them. So, lots of anxiety trying to get these eyes right.

Xena Warrior Princess Painting Update

Work done as of 10.29.11 16 x 20 Acrylic

New Xena Fan Video

Yep, I made another one.

Reworked Youtube Xena Fan Video

Okay, so I used Windows Movie Maker Live to make my first ever Youtube Fan Video of Xena & Gabrielle. The first time I forgot to turn the sound off of some of the clips. I went back in & turned the sound off except for a couple where I really liked the sound, deleted one clip & replaced it with one I liked better & shortened the end. I still haven't figured out the whole title thing at the beginning & credits at the end, but still, I'm having fun with it. I know they make all kinds of add-on effects & animations that I would love to eventually learn how to use, but for now, here is the edited & updated version of the first Video. Thanks for watching. Feel free to critique & comment here or on Youtube. Also, if you wouldn't mind, and you like it, give me a thumbs up on Youtube & a +1 google here on the blog. Thanks!

My Top 15 Favorite Xena Episodes

Yes. Top 15, because it's impossible to pick 10. Mostly due to trilogy episode arcs. Besides, 15 is my favorite number.

So, coming in at #1 - "Sins of the Past" The first episode EVER! Why? Lots of reasons. Xena meets Gabrielle being the best reason. Now to be honest, I could not stand Gabrielle until the end of the first season. I thought Xena was tough enough to not need a side kick or anyone for that matter. I also thought I was the same way. I was wrong on both counts.



#2 - "When the Fates Collide" Season 6 - episode 18. Holy crap what an amazing beautiful script Katherine Fugate wrote. She only wrote this one episode for the entire series, but it was absolutely breathtaking. It is also mirrors how I feel about T. It wouldn't matter where we were or how we got there, we still would have found each other. We're soul mates.



#3 - "The Rheingold" part 1 of "The Ring" trilogy. Season 6 episode 7. OMG! Xena goes Norse & does a retelling of Beowulf & Sleeping Beauty. Two of my favorite stories of all time intertwined with the best show ever! How could I not love this? And Xena as a Valkyrie? C'mon...AWESOME!



#4 - "The Ring" part 2 of "The Ring" trilogy. Season 6 episode 8. OMG! More! No, wait! Xena don't put that ring on! OMG!



#5 - "Return of the Valkyrie" part 3 of "The Ring" trilogy. Season 6 episode 9. What!? What the What!? One year later!? OMG! What's happened to Gabrielle!? More importantly, what's happened to XENA!? Holy crap Xena's going to full on kiss Gabrielle! OMG!




#6 - "One Against an Army" Season 3 episode 13. Best Xena fight scene EVER! One of the absolutely most touching heartfelt Gabrielle/Xena moments of the entire series.




#7 - "A Day In the Life" Season 2 Episode 15. Absolutely HI-larious. So many great one liners. Directed by Michael Hurst (the guy that played Hercules' sidekick Iolaus.



#8 - "Remember Nothing" Season 2 Episode 2. We get to meet Xena's brother Lyceus. It makes me miss my brother. He's the awesomest! Also, we get to see that Xena isn't really to blame for what happened 10 years into her past.



#9 - "The Bitter Suite" Season 3 Episode 12. How better to fix a rift between our two characters than with a good old fashioned Musical? Lucy Lawless sings & so does Kevin Smith, but everyone else is dubbed over by pros. Joss Whedon loved it so much he copied it in Buffy.



#10 - "Adventures in the Sin Trade I" - Season 4 Episode 1. Northern Amazons. Cyane. Alti. Xena's dark past. Borias. Yummy Borias. My Favorite Xena outfit.



#11 - "Adventures in the Sin Trade II" - The vision Xena has that will tease us for the rest of Season 4. Or haunt. It still gives me the chills every time the music starts & we see that little vision.



#12 - "Devi" Season 4 Episode 14 - Xena & Gab in India. India has their own set of unique & awesome gods! We run into an important new character named Eli.




#13 - "Between the Lines" Season 4 Episode 15 - More Xena & Gab in India. The Mehndi. Souls intertwined. The return of Alti. Future lives. That damned vision again. This episode really should probably be in my top 5. It's so hard to decide!



#14 - "You Are There" Season 6 Episode 13 - Michael Hurst directs again. Remember "Day in the Life"? Yeah, this one is just as good. The ending is priceless.



#15 - "Many Happy Returns" Season 6 Episode 19 - The last fun & carefree episode before the end. It really has a season 2 or three feel to it but with the quality of season 6. It was originally going to be another musical episode, but they didn't quite have the funds to pull it off. The gift Xena gives Gabrielle & the way the two actors play their parts right here makes me cry every time. It's so incredibly sweet & romantic.



Crap...I'm already to 15!?

I didn't even get to "The Ides of March" or "Fallen Angel" or "Destiny" or "The Quest". All such good episodes.

And what about "The Crusader" or "A Good Day" or "In Sickness & In Hell" or "Paradise Found" or "The Way".

Not to mention, the absolute great Raimi-esque episode "The Haunting of Amphipolis" or the painful "Who's Gurkhan"?

The touching moment in "The Abyss" when Gabrielle thinks she's dying is worth a mention.

The awesome 1940's episode "The Xena Scrolls" is so much fun.

The scene in "Blind Faith" where Gabrielle puts Egyptian Senna in Xena's eyes is so precious.

"The Lost Mariner" guest starring Tony Todd is fun!

"The Greater Good" & "Is There a Doctor" make me cry.

The ones that made me laugh so much, like "The Quill is Mightier", "Femmes, Fems, & Gems", "Warrior... Priestess... Tramp", & "A Tale of Two Muses"!

What about the attempt by Gabrielle to domesticate Xena in "Kindred Spirits" or the fun of "Old Ares Had a Farm", where Xena seems pretty comfortable & shares little special moments & memories with Gabby?

The introduction to Xena's grown-up daughter in "Livia" then "Eve" and "Motherhood"?

There's a reason this is my favorite TV series EVER. There are so many great episodes.

Even "Friend In Need I & II" are beautifully done. I never thought I would say that. When Xena is hacking & slashing her way through men with arrows sticking out of her & screaming Gabrielle's name...wow, it gets me.

So, there you have it. My top 15. Maybe my next post should be my top 10 worst Xena episodes. I'm not sure there were 10. Well, Season 5. That entire Season was pretty damn bad until the last 5 or 6 episodes.

New Gauntlets & Fighting Through

Writing is tough. Writing is hard. Writing takes a whole mess of energy. Writing is scary. Writing is exciting. Writing is jumping into the vastness of the universe & going with it. Writing is letting go of control & letting creativity control you. Writing is something I can do & T can do better.
It's something that ANYONE can do, but the above mentioned things are reasons people don't.

The Xena finale really made it hard to keep going. There was the realization that what we had come up with wasn't working now. We panicked. We felt lost. We almost gave up. Then we got over it. Mostly because we had to. T made a commitment for class. So we watched the first episode again.



We kept thinking about the show. Talking about it. What we loved & what it meant to us. Then we realized that it meant many of the same things to everyone else. The campy fun of it, the deep serious moments, the incredible things that that team were able to put on the small screen that had never been done before & honestly, haven't been done since. The love. Oh, yeah, the love! That's why we wanted to do it! It made us laugh & cry & touched us to the very core of our being.

Then our 2nd official Xena Prop came in the mail. A pair of screen used gauntlets from the episode "Remember Nothing". Perfect timing.



See this pic below? See the baddies gauntlets? Yep, that's them. Cool.



See that dude (Maphias) helping Xena in the pic below? See his gauntlets? Yep, same ones! So cool.



It hit us like a bolt of lightning from Zeus himself. Our story DID still work! We just needed to move some things around & change a couple of perspectives, but the whole of the plot was really good & could still stay intact. What we were missing, really, was all the campy fun. The last two episodes were so serious that we let that bleed into our story. But really, is anyone that loved Xena going to want to see that? Or, do they want to see what made them love her in the first place? And for that matter, isn't that what WE want to see? Well, of course it is! Duh!



So, we're off again with a happier disposition & the passion we had before. Battle on Xena! We will bring you back.

Writing Xena

Well, T & I have been hard at work on this Xena script. We realized we hadn't watched Xena seasons 4, 5 & 6 much at all after the series ended. We knew 1, 2 & 3 like the backs of our hands, but beyond that things got hazy. So, we are re-watching the entire series & just made it to the end of season 4. Oh! Season 4. I remember it like it was yesterday. They teased the fans the entire season with a premonition Xena had of her & Gabrielle being crucified. Watching it again still made me nervous, even though I knew what was coming.

That's where we left off last night. Xena & Gabby hanging on crosses. Xena's spirit comes out of her body & lifts Gabrielle's spirit from hers, a bright flash of light & credits!


Two seasons to go.

You know, this was an amazingly written show. It was nominated for & won many awards, from ASCAP awards to GLAAD awards. It even took home an Emmy. If you are into editing, Xena is probably one of the best television show ever to study. Their editing was pretty flawless. You never notice when we change from Lucy lawless to Zoe Bell & back. Did you know the head costume designer for Xena, Ngila Dickson, went on from Xena to win an Oscar for the Lord of the Rings Costume Design? There were so many talented people connected to this campy, yet deep little fantasy show. If you didn't take the 6 year journey with these characters, you should. Episode by episode. Sure, there are a few turkeys, but it is well worth it. It will change you.



The episodes have really held up. It's not like Wonder Woman or Buck Rogers or even the A-Team. I love those shows, but man, they are really cheesy & dated. Xena however isn't. It helps that it was set in an ancient time. The things Xena & Gabrielle deal with are issues everyone deals with, so that is what helps it hold up so well. Xena & Gabrielle deal with things like trying to figure out what path in life to take & how to know if you are on the right path. It deals with faith & how we shouldn't depend on any deity as opposed to relying on ourselves & our friends. It shows us that no one is perfect, but we all have the ability to be the best person we can be, no matter who we have been. It also deals with that deep connection to another soul that we are all either searching for or have found. These things never change, despite the times.



It's hard, but so much fun, picking these characters apart. What motivates them, moves them, stirs them. Because we are looking at them so hard, T & I are seeing things we never did before. Not to mention seeing how far we have come from where we were when we watched these the first time around. It's an amazing process. Trying to take characters you love & stop being just a fan & start being a writer. To write what the character would do & not what you want the character to do. We have a great plot so far. The hardest part, in my opinion, is going to be summing up the series in the first 15 to 20 minutes of the film script & then having a real convincing reason for Xena to return to the land of the living. Or for Gabrielle to die. We are determined to do this. We are doing this.



If you haven't yet, please go "LIKE" the Facebook Page Xena 2011 Movie Campaign.

Oh, and one more thing. Guess who has a 2012 calendar coming out? Xena. Yep. Makes you wonder what's up. There hasn't been an officially licensed calendar since 2002. Could this be a fresh new marketing push? Let's hope so.

Seriously!? THIS rocks.

So, I am getting more magazine requests & many that promise to do an article themselves on the Warrior Princess. T's is amazed. We have to laugh a little because she is the Professional Writer & I am the Professional Artist. She has had great success with selling her art & now I'm getting paid to write.

The Xena 2011 Movie Campaign FB Page administrators wrote me a really nice e-mail thanking me for my efforts. I feel I've made some friends. It's really amazing. I'm working hard, having fun, & doing something I believe in. Pretty freakin' sweet.



You know, THIS is really going to happen.