"Penguin's Christmas"

I don't really have a drawing for you guys. Instead, I'll share a short film I found years ago. It became one of my all time favorite holiday-themed animations. The theme music and minimalist art style are infectious, and I hope you like it. This is "Penguin's Christmas", produced by Animation Works.

Happy Holidays.

More layouts...with pizazz

I wanted to spice up the presentation for my layout final. This semester has been...the word, "nightmare", is such a strong word. So I'll need a stronger one...

Remember kids: friends don't let friends take 2+ six-hour classes in the same schedule. The more you know.

Anyway, Here's Some more layouts with thumbnails added. The color scheme is based on Third Eye Blind's "Out of the Vein" album cover. I might look at more album covers when creating a new "brand" for all my job-hunting materials.

Pirate Kids

Pirate kids For my layout design class. Not enough time to tie them down and shade them in black. Maybe I'll do that for my final and switch them out later. Hope all is well!

Layout Designs

And lo, a hand burst from the rubble, but this time it wasn't the Super Shredder! Here's some layout designs from school, "straight" vs. "wonky"styles. I'm currently working on some pret-ty exciting collaborative stuff. More definitely to come.

Working on something...

A new banner for a new point in my life. And no, there are no perspective errors! My head has always been that freakishly big, and that putty in the front is abnormally tall. He was born that way and is very self-conscious, so how dare you.

The pretty line quality and tonal patterns will happen in the final stages. *sigh* When I think of what the coming semester is gonna' do to me, I almost want to change the blog title to "Brian Sydnor and the Deathly Hallows" (hmm...nah, The Dumpster's fine.). I'm expecting WAR, and I'm not going in unprepared.

Third Eye Blind's "Ursa Major" is a perfectly solid album, in case you're wondering. I thank them for the unexpected support.

Ursa Major

THIRD EYE BLIND!!! And not a moment too soon! I have to admit, I'm gonna buy the crap out of this album when it comes out. From the beginning, the perfect marriage of earnest lyrics and dance-worthy, fun riffs got me through high school and then some!



Their album drops Aug 18, 2009. Be there!

Comic Con 09'

I used to always say that "nothing pushes a student forward like a retail job". The challenges of which build character and are a constant reminder of what they're working for. I was...half-right. I at least have to give conventions a shot at that title. At a convention, you are literally surrounded by those who have succeeded, repeatedly, at what you only dream of. Upon returning, my entire party of 4 felt inspired to pursue their hopes and dreams. I for one felt refreshed.

Comic-Con 09' was a bittersweet experience. A lot...A LOT of things went wrong (I totally should've hit on that slave leia...). Thankfully, far more things went right. A special thanks to all who made that possible (you know who you are and you're all awesome!). I had 3 great portfolio reviews, where I made new friends and got valuable feedback. I'll want to kick a lot of butt this coming semester to reward my reviewers' good faith.

I met a lot of "famous" artists (famous to me...), one of whom being MR. KEVIN EASTMAN (look up the Ninja Turtles)!! He was a nicer and classier guy than I could ever hope to be. I'm just glad my parents didn't get a chance to curse him out for all the merch they had to buy me. At the DC Animation panel, I asked a production-related question that seemed to put the fun Q & A to a screeching halt (you're welcome). In my defense, I had to ask a question none of the 8 dudes in front of me wouldn't think of.

The guys at ShadowMachine kicked off a national "Robot Chicken Roller Derby" tour in San Diego. The music was loud as high crap, making simple conversation difficult, but that's another rant for another time. Guys like Seth Green, Mike Fasolo, and Matt Senreich were freely skating around (along with their freely gigantic security guards). Also on the floor was Clone Wars Superviser, Dave Filoni. They were all cool, but frankly, if you weren't a hot chick, you might've had challenges getting their attention. Fair enough.

It was definitely an inspirational experience. I'd say that everyone should make the trip down there, if there weren't over 150 thousand B.O.-wofting fans down there, already. Once again, I came back with a decent-sized stack of S.W.A.G. So to all my friends, have at it.

How "done" does this look?

Not that I don't love where it's going, but without a deadline, you never know when to leave it alone lol. It's for a long overdue "commission" from a former music teacher of mine.

"So what had happened was..." This file became FAR too big for my computer, so I had to go back and forth between my tech situation and a friend's in Oakland. So I didn't actually spend a month doing one piece.

More Crayola Fun: GOLDAR!!

Well! That was easier to tackle than I imagined... I gotta buy me some more of these pencils!

Fun with Crayola Pencils

'Found my old stash of colored pencils and was surprised at how well they worked as drawing tools. That's why Crayola makes the big bucks, I guess.

Long live the King...

I feel I have to put some sort of tribute to this man on my blog. I wanted to do a drawing, but lest I risk putting the post off for too long, I'll do something a bit more practical. "Will you be there?" is one of my favorite songs by Michael Jackson. The lyrics and music were simple, yet searingly powerful. Also, they pretty much burned the end credits of "Free Willy" into my memory ;).

To quote another fan, "Goodbye Michael. Maybe you'll finally get some respect in death."

Just one big pressure point...

There are actually TWO ways to make someone simultaneously explode. 1: spend your entire life studying the deadly art of Hokuto Shin-Ken. 2: Just have Trini press on the giant "Z" *rimshot*.

Yyyyyep. 'Harder than it looks to get those interesting angles. Might as well start now. Trini's right fist is far too big for the effect. And the left leg is a little muscular. Those'll change in the tracing process.

Power Roughs!

That's right...I totally whipped out a Shark Cycle.



More "Mighty Morphin' Power Roughs" to be cleaned up and photoshopped when I get a chance. I'll have to somehow make up for Billy's lukewarm pose in a later drawing. It was seriously pissing me off. BTW, see any perspective errors? --GOOD! Neither do I.

NOTE: Putties are surprisingly fun to draw...

To quote the Pope from "Family Guy"...

"Heeeeeee's a-cookin' a-somethin' up!"



Also, my summer reading materials came in from Amazon, so I'll be reading and master-copying until something better comes along.

Updates & Old Friends

Okay so I found out that Photoshop Elements does NOT have a pen tool. That sucks. But either way, Elements is a great program. I even revamped some designs from my freshman year of art school to experiment on... I guess we'll see if I can pull it off in Anime Studio.

And that's another thing! Anime Studio's controls seem to be a world and three moons apart from Flash. This is strange, considering the animation it produces is essentially Flash anyway. It'll take way longer than expected to find and "decode" all those Flash-esque controls so it can work for me.

As for the drawings, those familiar with "Roundhead and Pointy" may notice I messed with the floating eyebrows and chest letters. The thick outlines were for the vectorization attempt. If you look at them from afar, it doesn't look as much like a horrible idea...

There's always something to do in the summer!!

I put together a basic plan for the summer, as I do for all my intersessions. I'll mainly be chippin' away at it during any spare time where my pals don't come callin' with another "get-rich-quick" scheme. Goodness knows I'm up for an entertaining 22 minutes of comic hi-jinx!

Step 1: Continue Netflixing and studying the recommended films from "The Visual Story"

Step 2: Aquire a copy of "Cartoon Animation", and do some master copies so I can channel the likes of Mark Christiansen and John K. in my own junk.

Step 3: Aquire a copy of "Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know", and read that bad boy up.

Step 4: Experiment with Anime Studio Pro, and see if I can do any substantial filmmaking with the software

Step 5: Experiment with this photoshop technique

Step 6: Drink beer and play Mario Kart DS all day

Step 7: Disregard steps 1 through 5

The Joe Henderson Legacy Big Band

Well, a lot of us played an instrument in high school (trombone). Funny enough, I never stopped (too much fun). I met these guys during my short career at Contra Costa College, and have since recorded a demo CD and played with them at Yoshi's, SF. These guys are WIZARDS, and they've allowed me to humbly come in once a week to stumble through some of their songs. ANYWAYS, If yer in the area...

The best tricksters are from Cali

I just found a recent update from director/cinematographer Neil Tan. Apparently he filmed another of the trickster team, "Loopkicks'" famous tantrums. BOY, did that team grow! We occasionally met through AAU's ill-fated Martial Arts Club (good times...). Since then, these guys have been involved with at least a dozen major media outlets.

I'll never forget that AAU Fashion Show a while back, when I got to chill with the core members between performances. Watching them fool around was like watching a handful of super-powered kids! I soooooo owe Isiah for that one. For the midair poses. For the reference material. For the utter disregard for basic physics. Enjoy.


Loopkicks Night Show Rough Cut from Neil Tan on Vimeo.


Two words...sausage...fest/factory/emporium.


Loopkicks Main Battle from Neil Tan on Vimeo.

Blue Sky Studios Submission, Pt. 2

Well, here it is. The infamous story test. You can even read the assignment before viewing. This mama-jama cost me well over my spring break (5 days to draw, weeks to prepare). Not to mention the man-hours not spent on homework. Moral of the story: get the letters of rec. FIRST. Just some straight-forward cartoon humor. 52 panels. To think the industry pros are doing 360 every 2 weeks...

(Check out 8A. I think the story miiiight've been funnier without it...in a "Garfield Minus Garfield" sort of way...)



page 1
page 2
page 3
page 4
page 5
page 6
page 7
page 8
page 9

Blue Sky Studios Submission, Pt. 1

I'm pretty sure my package is going straight to the shredder. As hard as I tried to gather all the materials, the letters of recommendation proved to be too much to handle. Of course, chances are they'll find that out AFTER they've thrown it in there for other reasons lol. 'Can't remember the last time I slept in my bed, as opposed to random 1 hour pass-outs in front of PhotoShop. But the bright side is, I've got something to post! Enjoy.

I'll start with the figure drawings and hold the story test for last.

Story Test: Complete + GITS 2: Innocence DVD

Story test is complete. and it only cost me a weeks worth of HW. Ah well. Just tryin' to show 'em what my best looks like. Massive show-and-tell post to come. ANYWAYS...

On a side note, after 5 long years, Bandai has finally granted me the pimped out re-release of Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence. GitS is one of my all-time favorite anime franchises. And I can tell by a lot of the professionals' blogs, I'm not alone. Go to your local retailers and check it out!


before...

...AFTER!



("Ghost in the Shell" is property of Bandai Visual , in partnership with GoFish Productions)

BREAKING NEWS!!! Well, not that "breaking"...

Anyone seen this yet? Someone went through quite a bit of trouble...It's kind of cool how, after this dude clearly made his point, he has fun with it through the editing. I saw the Jungle Book/ Robin Hood thing coming a mile away btw.

Ressemblances dans les films Disney - Video humour

Spring Break

Okay! 'Didn't know Spring Break was landing this week! I believe I have a ton of storyboard assignments to chew through, as well as a Blue Sky Studios story test to look into. I SERIOUSLY doubt anything will come of it, but I'll give it the ol' college try. An LA buddy of mine is driving up, who happens to be the only OTHER dude on the planet who also hasn't seen "Watchmen".

On top of that, I plan to finally burn through a few of these indie comix I bought from those story & illustration wizards at Wondercon. I might start with "The Tumor" since I actually see the author around at AAU haha.

As a fading shot, there's some new features in my "links" section. I've added a "Podcast" category, listing all the podcasts I listen to while working. Podcasts are addictive (once you've gotten used to the new voices), and are a fantastic BG noise to multitask to. I'm now at the point where I can barely get into a smooth workflow without a new podcast in the iPod :).

"Escarabajo Azul...VAMANOS!!!"

Blue Beetle (C) DC Comics & WB






Just finished reading the very awesome, "Blue Beetle: Endgame". It's the last volume of his origin story. Now I want to buy the first volume so I can package it and send it all to Robert Rodriguez! That movie'd be a hell of a sequel to "Spy Kids". What's really hilarious is the last chapter of this thing is entirely in Spanish lol! There is a translated script at the very back though so we won't feel too left out.