Day of the Dumpster

New Portfolio Packaging Art

2011-11-14T15:08:00.001-08:00

Feature Animation cover art...

TV Animation cover art...

Inspiration for that last image from this National Geographic photo by David Cheskin...

Aaand my new-...ish splash page. Next stop, CTN!

Digital Storyboard: Floats

2011-11-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

An emaciated young boy, working in a dingy "rose burning plant" (in a world where rose petals are clean-burning energy...) rescues a unique rose, that transforms into a magical little girl. I boarded my take on their epic escape from the sadistic formen.

Written & directed by Eugene Yanza. Still trying to get the name of the original character designer for this collab assignment. In the mean time, these were my boards for "Floats". They were toootally scrapped (typical story for a board artist), but I still like my ideas. Here's a relatively dramatic piece for my portfolio...

Digital Storyboard: Girl Scout Cookies (work in progress)

2011-10-14T01:39:00.000-07:00

Posting what I've got (so far). Lots to do before CTN. In a nutshell:

A haunted house, a few murdered students, and a custodian, doomed to eternal torment. Enter an overachieving girl scout...

To be continued...

Prairie Settler (Clothed Figure Drawing)

2011-09-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

Forgot the name of this model. Ironically I remember it being a 'memorable' name. It'll come to me sooner or later...

Old Splash Page

2011-09-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

I still like the idea of a 'splash page' to close out the portfolio. 'May as well post this while it's still under 3 years old.

Digital Storyboard: Daniel

2011-09-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

This one started out as an acting exercise (I took a class around the time I wrote the piece) between two dynamically different characters. Instead of performing it, I used the concept for...well this. "Daniel" is where I added Google SketchUp to my software arsenal.

“…Good to hear from ya, Cliff!”

“So when’s my nephew coming to visit?"

"…awesome!”

“He’s a chip off the ol’ block, man!"

"State Champ in the making!”

“By now his throwing arm must be a CANNON!”

"Dinnng dong!"

“He’s here!!”

*Boop!*

“Coming!...on my way!"

"...we’re gonna have a blast…"

"Put 'er there, Nephew!!!”

“?”

"RRRMMMM!!"

*SCREEEEE!!!*

10a-b

"..."

16b

“Er, This way Daniel”

16c

“My name’s Damien now.”

16d

16e

“Yeahyeah, sure thing, kid.”

16f

*SLAM!*

18b

18c

18d

18e

18f-g

19b

“Ain’t it cute? He digs the merch.”

19c

“…Kid, if you work hard enough in life…get good grades… ”

20b

"You may realize the DREAM...of a souvenier case like this one.”

“I need an outlet for my aPhone.”

"..."

22b

22c

“………THE GAME’S ON!!!”

22d-e

“C’MON, DANIEL!!”

22f

(Daniel)

“My name’s-”

22g

“-Damien!”

(TV)

“TOUCH!"

(TV)

"DOWN!"

(TV)

"SAVAGES!!!”

25b

25c

“YEEE-"

25d

"HAAA!!!"

25e

"Ee-“

“…”

27b

27c

“……HMMmmm…”

*clik-tappa-tapitty-tap--*

28b

28c

*clikitty-tap-tapitty-clik-tap--*

28d

28e

*Sigh...*

29b

“Hut one!”

30b

“Hut two!”

“Think fast, Danny Boy!”

31b

“HHUUUUAAAAAAAGHGH!!!!!!!”

“I TOLD you, my name’s Da-“

32b

*POOF!*

32c

*clik-clak!*

32d

32e

*CRRAAASH!!*

*BOOM!* *INJURE!* *BASH!!* *BRUISE!*...*Tinkle!*

(TV)

“Fumblllle--!”

(TV)

“—Whooooooooah Nnnellyyy!!”

35b

“Well! Didn’t quite see that BULLET leave the barrel, eh? Don’t worry.”

35c

“BECAUSE THE NEXT TIME,--“

“…”

Rough character poses to help the drawing process...

NEEEEEXT!!!

Digital Storyboard: The Boy Scout

2011-08-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

The initial pass took a one week spring break to write, thumbnail and complete. I consider it my first real storyboard attempt, and am glad to have FINALLY found some time to overhaul it.

Now, on to the next one...

Final Character Lineup + Synopsis

2011-05-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

And here's the colors. The drawings were edited a touch too. I'll update with more images when I have time.

So basically in my concept, Jackie and her mother live in this rundown housing project in the Bronx. Their sleaze-ball landlord is Mr. Giant. Instead of the kid exploring a giant world in the clouds, she travels through pipe-shaped beanstalk vines, making her fun-sized. During her tiny adventure (in a not-so-tiny New York penthouse), she uncovers some dirt on Giant that could royally cramp his expensive style.

Boy when you drop an old fable on a story artist's lap, and put a gun to his head...lol

Going Digital

2011-04-29T03:33:00.000-07:00

So my tablet PC came in. Lately I'm not much of a painter, so this development helps me out a LOT. The final should be completely redrawn.

I did one with cool shade, one with really warm shade, and one where Jackie is the only saturated character in the room.

'Jackie and the Giant'

2011-03-17T23:45:00.000-07:00

My take on 'Jack & the Beanstalk', 'Jackie and the Giant'.

Jackie

Jackie's Mother

Mr. Giant

The Street Grifter

Some weird stuff going on in that turnaround, but eh, I was in a rush. Colored materials to follow.

Self Portrait Rough and Cleanup

2011-02-10T19:16:00.000-08:00

The cleanup lines got a little heavy compared to my other works. As a result, this didn't finish out quite as I wanted. BTW one day this WON'T be me on any given school day. This is my goal.

Clothed Figure Drawing 2 Final

2010-12-25T11:52:00.000-08:00

This is my final from Clothed Figure Drawing 2, where I introduced the T-Bone player's combo band. I was only supposed to draw 2 figures, but felt "adventurous". Then I felt really stupid and rushed. I'll have to tweak the tracing before any future use. The diaper fold in the back is going away, I'll say that much.

Watched my childhood fave Christmas movie last night, "Santa and the Three Bears". I totally forgot about the strange and cool graphic transitions at the beginning, and between scenes.

George Chung: The original "Machine-Gun Kicker"

2010-11-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

Y'all could probably give a hoot about this, but it's MY blog, sooooooo...

In 2002, I learned of the sport circuit that indirectly influenced me to take martial arts. "NASKA": North American Sport Karate Association. I watched the competitors throughout my childhood and didn't even know it. They were wearing giant turtle suits, flipping around in Sub-Zero & Scorpion costumes and, of course, informing kids when it was "Morphin' Time". Their punches were sharp. Their kicks were flawless. And they trained the world champions of today.

This is Master George Chung. One of the guys who trained THEM! Watch for those "machine-gun sidekicks" and ASTONISHING wheel kicks! You may also notice some 1980's cheese sprinkled in there haha.

The Emo Kid and My "CFD-2" Midterm

2010-11-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

So I'm stuck uploading crap from school because I intelligently disabled ALL my PC's USB drivers. ANYWAYS, here's some updates, some involving a brush pen.

Inspired by my Birthday weekend with my high school's Reunion Concert Band...

Clothed Figure Workshops with Bill Sanchez

2010-09-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

Then my energy shot started wearing off...

Exploratory Sharpie Scribbles

2010-09-25T01:13:00.000-07:00

Sharpie time. Also Ebony Pencil time.

Bonus Comic-Con photo!

Updates

2010-09-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

Wow. Remind me never to say "coming soon" again... So the school year is just about ready to take off. 10 classes of horror to chip through, starting with an acting class. I figure after all the other times I've been dragged out of my comfort zone, what the heck is "Gestures and Emotions" possibly gonna do???

So, to quickly summarize how Comic-Con 2010' went, THIS is how it went.
Yyyyep. That's TOTALLY the original black ranger sharing my photo. Walter "Zack" Jones. Heck, since this happened on the last day, I pretty much forgot any good bullet points from earlier. Well in addition, I'll definitely have to make different portfolios for every studio I apply to. TV studios like realistic life drawings, while feature houses seem to like the more creatively driven stuff.

Until next time!

Gesture Drawings + Coming Soon

2010-07-29T00:51:00.000-07:00

My yearly "gush" on how awesome Comic-Con was will come shortly. In the mean time, here's the 2 gesture pages I brought to the portfolio review (minus the old 2 minute figure page) . All 3 met a surprisingly positive response from the Disney recruiter. During my critique, it came up that more of this energy needs to make it's way into my storyboards. Can do!

Buy "Garfield: From The Trash Bin"!

2010-05-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

I ran into this book while looking for another textbook, at Borders. If you see it there, flip through it! It's possibly the best Garfield book I've ever bought. Old-skool cartooning. If I were revamping the "Garfield & Friends" 2D cartoon for modern audiences (with Ray Romano as Garfield and Jon Cryer as Jon Arbuckle...I've thought about this...), I would first slide this over to the art director.

Jim Davis did 2 things here: He basically laid out most of the vis dev for my hypothetical design department, and reminded this reader who the master cartoonist was. This guy does more with a sharpie in a few seconds than I could render in an hour, pushed poses and all. Though his gags may have been too "much" for the newspapers, they would be perfect for TV animation. Tame, even. Click the image for the amazon site.

"Hostages" Character Design cleanups

2010-05-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

Just the beginning of what I plan on dumping. These are characters created for my "Writing for Comics" class, but DRAWN for my character design class. The story has a superhero base with tons of Hitchcockian motifs from my Hitchcock class (all super-characters are named after birds/ leading lady has an "M" name). 6 Classes-101: find ways to smear 'em all together haha. The semester is closing, and I'll be dropping off the spoils when I can. enjoy.

Also, I was annoyed that I couldn't google up a turnaround "pie" for my assignment. So I scanned one in, and now it's up for all those desperate last-minute googlers. Use as needed.

Magic Markers

2010-05-09T14:57:00.000-07:00

2 drawings I blasted out at the Savannah Jazz club in the Mission district. Used my new buddy, prismacolor markers.

Light gray markers (20-40 or 30-50) with bic ballpoint pens, used as a quick straight-forward way to learn a design style. Mostly silhouette-first. Inspired by Eric Scales, Florian Satzinger, and various teachers @ AAU. It's officially "on".

I hope I never have to draw a character like Pocahontas for a prolonged period of time. Ideal proportions *shudder*...
My 1st ever attampt at drawing the Bat. Copied from a freeze frame.

R.I.P. Imagi Studios...

2010-04-20T04:52:00.000-07:00

I was informed a few days ago that Imagi Animation Studios, the force behind TMNT and Astro Boy, has shut down their US studio, and is pretty much dead in the water. They actually broke this news, officially, in January. This comes as highly disappointing for me, as I'm not the only one who saw great potential in what those guys were trying to achieve. That team really had heart, and it showed in the projects they chose to adapt. Anyway, they tried. Despite all their flaws, and despite all those who laughed at their setbacks, they tried something new and risky.

So anyways, now that the studio sank, we're seeing a lot of production materials come out of the woodwork, that were only heard of years back. At least I finally get to see the famous "Gatchaman sizzle-reel" Kevin Munroe directed back in 06'. Felix Ip mentioned that the designs were far from finished, and the main feature was the raw stylized action. Also in the works WAS a "T-28" feature, better known as "Gigantor" to American audiences. It's a cryin' shame...

Disney Inspire Days

2010-04-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

What a weird dream. A flight down to Burbank, seminars, tours, a portfolio review and a flight back, followed by a disoriented blackout...

ANYWAYS, I got to see one of my idols in person, Mr. Bruce Smith, doing a demo of Dr. Facilier. He'll be supervising Piglet in the upcoming Winnie the Pooh movie. The mouse folks also showed us a TON of footage from "Tangled", formerly "Rapunzel". Also I saw vis dev artist, Lorelay Bove, whom I've been aware of since her CalArts years. Definitely a success story.

On to the portfolio review (Storyboard)...I don't think they liked a single thing about my portfolio... Resume, boards, life drawings, WAITWAIT! They DID like my honking-expensive and exhaustively designed presentation prints, though I've recently been informed I'd have gotten the same reaction had I encased my work in eggo waffles. Yeeeaaaahhhh... At least they were nice about it! I also designed a final "Splash!" page, but it has images that haven't quite been cleared for blogging yet. Not that it mattered.

Specifically, They said my work was more suited for television due to the tight pencil work, on-model drawing (I was "on-model"...?) and "generic" poses. That's not terrible news, as I would like nothing more than to succeed in TV boarding. The thing is all the TV artists I admire COULD work in features if they wanted, but CHOSE to be their toon-watching selves. I want to be in the same boat. Basically, for features I should hold off on that last clean-up pass. Aaaand use a dang mirror, for once. I'll post those as soon as I figure out how to post PDF's...

Also, I should practice copying compositions from live-action films on pause. I already study film, but will definitely admit I didn't think of that. Another critique was that, when choosing sequences, I should think in terms of different genres, rather than just different sequences. Great point. 'Just wish I had thought of it before shelling out the dough at Staples...I wonder if I can write this crap off on my taxes...

My figure drawing didn't raise many eyebrows either. I was told they lacked personality and exaggeration. I'm guessing they were looking more for this variety. Fair enough. Currently, I've just been trying to improve my general drawing skills, and wasn't giving much thought to "design". My character design class has me doing that though. Give me a few months! I'll have this thing up to speed, yet!

Character Turnarounds Under Fire

2010-03-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

Ho-kay, so these aren't perfect, but I thought I should post them. Things have been hairy in these early weeks, but what the hey. I've just gotta do my thing.

My maquette design. I'm really asking for it this time haha. Needs a proper back view...

3-4 Animal Hybrid. Bat, lynx, eagle and gerbil.
Bill Clinton design.

Bill Clinton design revisions.
In-class design from live model. 4 minutes per angle.

Kimberly Hart

2010-01-15T22:31:00.001-08:00

For this one, I tried out a new coloring method which utilizes photoshop's "Hue/Saturation" feature (here's the youtube link...). The system involves painting the whole thing in one color (like with gray markers), and swapping the colors out in the end. Not bad for a leap of faith!

And here's a peek at the clean pencils, brought to you by Prismacolor Pencils! "Prismacolor: melts in your mouth, not in your hands!"

UPDATE: I darkened the shade and added lens flare. That is how I am to be rolling. Perhaps I should also darken the rest of the bike's rear...

New Banner!

2010-01-10T03:34:00.001-08:00

I've been working on a new banner for...well FAR too long. I really need to use Photoshop more. A lot of the lines have been "corrected" since the rough pencils. Either way, I hope you all enjoy your new welcome mat.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T00:07:00.001-08:00

2010! Lots of things to come. Some old, some new. There is one franchise however that won't be joining us in the new decade. A franchise with at least 17 seasons of sqib-exploding entertainment. With this fake-trailer, join me for a last look into the lives of the world's busiest teenagers, the Power Rangers.

(NOTE: I'm actually impressed that someone managed to make a physical representation of "nostalgia-blurred vision".)

"Penguin's Christmas"

2009-12-24T14:58:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-11T16:53:00.001-08:00

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...

2009-08-19T03:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

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'

2009-07-30T03:47:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-07-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

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!!

2009-07-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

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

Fun with Crayola Pencils

2009-07-01T00:41:00.000-07:00

'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...

2009-06-27T23:45:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-06-16T00:18:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-14T06:07:00.000-07:00

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"...

2009-05-28T00:47:00.000-07:00

"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

2009-05-25T14:23:00.001-07:00

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!!

2009-05-17T00:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-05T23:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-23T23:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-19T03:11:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-23T03:19:00.000-07:00

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"...

2009-03-17T01:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-13T01:22:00.001-07:00

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!!!"

2009-03-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

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.

Death of a Sketchbook

2009-03-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

Another one bites the dust. Death of a sketchbook, pain of an ass to cut and scan everything. I'm only posting a few right now, more to come. Lately I've been going to workshops like it's my birthday. They're all a combo between 2's, 3's, 5's, 10's and 20's.

Also, at this one workshop this song by Prodigy came on that made me super nostalgic for my sport karate/bilang.com days (i'd like to think they're not over...). I tried to explain why the song made me laugh, but maybe you should just see the video. In my book, anyone who can sidekick like that may as well pop and lock all day cause they already took the gold! To quote Spike, "I love a girl who can kick my ass." lol.

Wondercon Recap

2009-03-02T03:46:00.000-08:00

This WonderCon was admittedly milder/smaller than many of the recent ones I've attended, but I was fortunate enough to stumble onto some amazing experiences. I met a bunch of AAU freshmen at the con and hope to see them again in the halls (a half-sane 5th year senior...best. representative. ever.) . Above are a few of the autographed thingies I picked up.

Thank you to all the industry professionals (i think the entire story teams of Pixar and Dreamworks were scattered about the exhibit floor lol) who took the time out to let me pick their brains (And thanks for the pep-talk, Mr. Balistreri). You may never remember me, but I'll never forget the gesture. It was more than worth buying the merchandise which I've yet to fully enjoy, and it was arguably worth the panic attack I suffered at the sight of my bank account. Also, a big shout-out to my myspace pal, Steph Laberis, who I ran by serendipidously.

I went to not 1 but 2 backstage signings, a first and second ever for me. One was for "Sit Down, Shut Up", where I met the likes of Kenan Thompson, Henry Winkler, and Will Arnett. The other was for "Spectactual Spider-Man". I decided to go to that instead of the "Up" panel and was rewarded handsomely for 'keepin' it real'. I had plenty of time to hang with the Spidey crew, including character designer, Cheeks Galloway! I saw the animated Wonder Woman, but had to give up my ticket to the Watchmen screening to a friend who was staying in SF (i couldn't miss the last BART train).

I also went to the panel for "League of Super Evil" which had a modest turnout. No matter, since when we ended early, the exec. producer, Asaph Fipke came down from the podium and rewarded 3 of us with an brief 3-on-1 micro-clinic on breaking into cartoon writing, making a proper pitch document and his insights regarding the animation market in Canada and the US (thanks again, man. awesome stuff.).

I also managed to bring back some manga swag for my young buddies at the TKD school, as usual ;).

Phillip Rhee: The Best of the Best

2009-02-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

I don't usually post anything on my other passions, but recently I came across a video by one of my favorite martial artists, Phillip Rhee. His father, Jhoon Rhee, created American "musical forms". But well before that, he taught Bruce Lee the Taekwondo techniques that took his kicking far beyond that of his competitors (flying side-kick, anyone?).

Anyway, this vid is from 1991, at his school. He speaks a bit on his philosophy on the martial arts, and I was floored at how close it was to my own. I wish there were more teachers out there like Phillip Rhee, maybe I could've started training earlier.

And for the non-martial artists out there, heartfelt talk about ANY arts tend to be worth a listen. Enjoy.

and here's his brother, Simon Rhee, performing one of the earliest open/creative forms.

Film History 2

2009-02-03T00:28:00.001-08:00

Since my attempts to record a film journal by hand for Film History 1 was a bust, I created a new blog, chronicling the films I watch during the Spring 09' semester. Complete with hastily collected pictures, check it out if you wanna see what I'm up to.

Project 2501

The fate of AAU's Pixar Class

2009-01-12T01:35:00.000-08:00

I remember talking with one of my fellow students in clothed figure drawing about the Pixar class. She was the first to inform me that it is now as dead as Circuit City. I just found an article on the Spline Doctors (many of whom taught at the school) website explaining in detail why it's over, ad well as some great insights and a nice dialogue in the comments section. Check it out.

Academy of Art and the Pixar classes

*sigh* use this URL til' blogger comes to it's senses...

http://splinedoctors.com/2008/12/academy-of-art-and-the-pixar-classes/

Manhattan

2009-01-08T04:26:00.000-08:00

Just finished the movie Manhattan, a few minutes ago. I was trying to pay attention to Gordon Willis' use of surface divisions, but Allen was just too funny to ignore ;o). Netflix is workin' out for me!

Also I finally put together a new pic for my other profiles. I may have to do another one. I got frustrated with my failed attempts to caricature myself and this...thing sort of happened.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2009-01-01T14:46:00.000-08:00

My resolution: to start posting entries with actual art on them.......................starting next post.

Penguin's Christmas: one of my favorite shorts...

2008-12-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me to share this well after Christmas, but I think the trip will be well worth it. I found this on a web search and thought it was amazing. "Penguin's Christmas" was produced by a studio in the Netherlands called Animation Works. The short is beyond simple in it's execution. However, it sucked me in with it's basic color choices and music, and delivered with it's story and animation quality. I hope you like it.

Penguin's Christmas

Happy Holidays from The Dumpster!

2008-12-25T01:54:00.000-08:00

Yes, through all the shopping, working, and chillin' with friends from far away, I managed to slap something together at the last minute. Whatever religion or tradition, Happy Holidays to you and yours.

(p.s. - Roundhead's supposed to read as Jewish, but since I'm allergic to beat-downs I tried to be tasteful with the costume)

Semester...over...faint

2008-12-18T00:10:00.000-08:00

Well I'm back from taking my last final exam (and chillin' for a few hours...). Over the weeks to come, I got a book called "Film Directing: Shot by Shot" to kill. Also, my buddies and I will HOPEFULLY be dippin' back into this film project (still holding on to that last shred of hope...).

My new Netflix DVD came in and, holy crap, I actually have time to watch it! So tonight it's me, a bowl of popcorn, and "Wings of Honneamise".

Character Study: Annie Oakley

2008-12-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

I got a compliment for these at the library by some female Fashion majors. The one PLEASANT moment in the creation of this study. There's a massive caffeine-crash in my future...

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

2008-11-22T00:20:00.000-08:00

AMAZING pilot. Now, I'll add that I've accepted that the original Batman: TAS was a fluke. A combination of hard work and a ton of luck. And I'll always admire Bruce Timm's crew for riding that fluke and changing the entire action cartooning game. Unfortunately, the days of a 50 piece orchestra accompanying your cartoon are pretty much over (unless your name is Seth McFarlane...).

In one short first sequence, the show quickly explained what producer James Tucker had so much trouble explaining without losing fans. This new Batman was less dark and funnier, but kept all the important elements to make it work.

In the pilot, "Rise of the Blue Beetle", Jamie Reyes (one of my new favorite DC characters), finds himself on an unplanned adventure with the worlds greatest crime fighter. By the end of the episode, Jamie learns the superhero business from the master himself, while Batman watches an inexperienced kid become a legendary hero.

The show had about 2 or 3 laugh-out-loud moments, with plenty more cool action sequences and interesting cinematic staging (familiar ground with WB Animation). What's really interesting about this new Bat-entry is the "brush pen" look. The clean-up drawings are given line-weight for the first time in recent memory, to further simulate that "old-skool" Dick Sprang look.

In a sentence, I dug it. Maybe you will too. Check it out on the CN.

Clothed Figure: Annie Oakley

2008-11-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

I gotta tell you...a lot, A LOT, A LOT of crap went down between that last post and this one. Without going into detail, pretty much all of it was my fault. We've all been through it; those moments where you're the Chief Idiot in the room. This made it all the more important not to screw this assignment up, if it killed me. I needed to remind myself what I'm capable of.

I rode that feeling all the way to my first "A" in the semester (A-, and proud of it!). Ironically, I had a lot more fun with Ramses, but hey. Of course, even my best work isn't without it's "goofs". As usual, lay those critiques on me!

More Clothed Figure HW

2008-11-12T12:13:00.001-08:00

Did them in a week (3+ days). All-nighters were involved. They were met with "mixed reactions" at school. Looking forward to the day when I can look back on this level of turnover and laugh.

Questions/ comments/ critiques welcome.

PS: Imagi Studios (TMNT, Astro Boy, Gatchaman) will be visiting AAU this Thursday (tomorrow), I think at 5pm. I have to work, so if anyone is going, PLEEEEEEASE tell me how it went. TMNT Director, Kevin Munroe really comes off as a passionate guy who seems to want to protect these kinds of properties and give them the treatment fans want. I'd like to work for a guy like that someday.

Holy @&*#, Obama actually did it!

2008-11-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

I'm watching MSNBC with my jaw dropped.

Congratulations, President Obama. Now's your chance to change the world. 'Hope you're ready.

B-day Extra!

2008-10-03T02:04:00.000-07:00

BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! Thanks to a brief photoshop/ wacom tablet workshop, I'm starting to understand this god-forsaken program! And it's not nearly as "god-forsaken" to me as it was a week ago. Of course you know what this means...an excuse to recycle old drawings in color!

It is, in fact, my birthday. I never know how deep I should rub that in...I either end up telling no one, or annoying everyone I know with a sociopathic level of narcissism. Anyway, these colors don't "pop"as effortlessly as I'd hoped, but it's a start! Maybe I should be more liberal with the color saturation in the brighter areas. I'm really amazed at how much it looks like real paint on real paper. The original model for the drawing was Alex Borstien (MAD TV/ Family Guy), FYI. 1 workshop session down, 12+ more to go...

Clothed Figure Drawing HW

2008-10-02T03:51:00.001-07:00

The assignment was to design 4 characters (een za nooode...). I was to choose 1 favorite and slap some clothes on it (the process involves a lot of tracing paper). The teacher spoke at great length on beautiful women, so I thought I'd challenge myself (and give a nod to Katie Rice) by endowing appealing shapes to this plus-sized fashion designer. The third one down was really popular, in fact I'm pretty sure I got docked for not following through in it. I got a "B", which I rarely ever see in figure drawing classes lol. After all the tracing I think she wound up a tad bit cross-eyed, but it's hardly noticeable. Still, gotta be more careful on that eye alignment...

The End of Toonami

2008-09-21T01:18:00.000-07:00

"All things must pass! Not even the Dragonballs last forever!"

Middle school. I watched a lot of cartoons back then (I watch a lot of cartoons NOW, so you can only imagine...). During which, I was introduced to a deep-voiced technician named Moltar. He'd crack a joke, pull a lever and in an instant, I was watching Thundercats. Life was simpler then.

Moltar was replaced by a small blue robot simply named "Tom". Over the years Tom had many new faces and designs. But he (and Moltar) was presenting American children with groundbreaking animated programming WAY before it was popular. I guess Cartoon Network felt it was time to shut him down. I think we can all agree Toonami's best years were well behind it, but we'll miss it all the same. This final message was made by (and copyright) Cartoon Network...11 years...wow.

L8er Tom!

Reading Scripts

2008-09-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

I remember hearing several interviews of Brad Bird answering questions regarding being a better film maker. The half-cliche, time-tested query: "What advice do you have for an aspiring ________? *adolescent voice cracks*" ANYWAY one of his common answers was to read movie scripts. Sounds like a logical move...

But how do you go about GETTING these scripts!? I'm not sure how you get them in the conventional sense, but I'm reminded of a forgotten site that I visited back in high school. It's called Movie-Page.com. Somehow, the webmaster gathers scripts to just about every movie in Hollywood. I remember reading "The Matrix" with one of my best friends (I gave a legendary performance as Morpheus). Turns out it's still there after all these years. Enjoy.

SCRIPTS SECTION

OH FIIINE here's another Ranger doodle. Jason and his "jump front kick pop-up"

Before, and after Ben Caldwell...

2008-09-05T01:59:00.000-07:00

I finished reading this book called "Action! Cartooning" after I bought my own copy. Before then, I was reading it out of the school library and mooching off the website. After reading it (this isn't a plug, btw...actually it kind of is...) I have to say a few things. First of all it did a fantastic job of explaining the "line of action" concept, where you always start your figure with the "spine" curve.

Second I learned some valuable construction tips that I'm still getting used to. My power ranger drawings improved so much I thought I'd to an "extreme makeover", before/after-type post. Each drawing now takes around 20 minutes and feature far more than just the straight "contra posto" (spelling?) pose.

SO...heeeeere're the scribbles I did in fall 07', that gave me this stupid idea...

aaaaaand HERE's a few quick drawings I spat out within 3 days ago.
Thanks, Ben! And to think, this is nothing compared to when I reeeeally get comfortable with these techniques... Dudes and dudettes (because this blog is so popular...), I know this book's been out a while, along with the "Fantasy!" sequel, but run, don't walk, to your local bookstore and pick this baby up!

TYRANNOSAURUS!!!

2008-08-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

Well summer's pretty much over, which means my schedule shall soon runneth over and prevent me from working on my film. The only thing that disappoints me is that we got literally NO testing done. Of course, that's not to say nothing got done. I managed to get 2 full storyboard sequences drawn, inked and toned, and the crew has been working hard as well. But for the first time, I'm learning what "development hell" means. Next opportunity, I must learn how to better lead my team and have them meet more often.

There are two main reasons I haven't given up on this thing. One is that, like Andrew Stanton advised, I have fallen for my story, am stoked about what it could mean for all of us if it's completed, and am dying to see it realized on the screen. The other is that I'm sure nothing about my idea is out of this crew's reach. The only crippling obstacle has been scheduling. But all that's irrelevant now. School's starting, so goodbye project...

And HELLOOOOOOOOOO POWER RANGER DESIGNS!! You'll be seeing a lot more o' these this semester! lol

Intro to Anatomy Final

2008-08-25T05:23:00.001-07:00

AIGHT, I think enough time has passed since the last post, soooo...

This is the final project I submitted for my "Intro to Anatomy" class. It was well recieved, but not without it's critiques (of course). I actually agreed with all the suggestions, but am too lazy to utilize them, or even mention them further. The drawing's safe, so I may tweak it eventually (artist's famous last words...).

For this assignment I had to produce ORIGINAL reference photos. Which ALMOST meant a buddy and I were going "Spartan", wardrobe-wise, and doing some combat poses. My buddy, not wanting to show off his "less-than-Spartan" physique, called me back with 2 great amateur models, willing to work for booze and pizza. MAN, that was one wild night of body oils and alcohol....The photo shoot was pretty crazy too! *rimshot*

I took pics at different stages so people can see the process. I'd go into detail, but now that I look at it, it's pretty self-explanatory what was going on lol. Though, I'm afraid I may have taken Mike Mattesi's "flowing through the drawing" concept a little too far. Ah well. It DID help a lot, anyway. There's a brighter version of #3 where I used the flash, but the light flattened out the image so I canned that idea.

On a side note, "Persepolis" came in from Netflix. Hopefully I'll be seeing that one soon.

PTERODACTYL!!!

2008-08-17T04:03:00.001-07:00

There's GOTTA be a better way to photoshop these drawings. The way I'm going at it now is painful, takes forever and has no foreseeable hope of accomplishing any kind of line quality. I traced over the rough drawing in ink, went into photoshop, traced it again and colored it. Didn't really try to color it WELL, but I tried not to embarrass myself. Someone's gotta let me in on the secret to cleaner lines and shading. And don't tell me the secret is, "work harder" lol!

This is that same image of Kimberly Hart from over a semester ago. I spent the entire day coloring it, stopping only for a 2 hour nap. I'd go further with it, but I'm not sure my crew would be so happy with me blowing all my time drawing Power Rangers. I guess it's more of a way to roll through "boarder's block"... I gave her 1 layer of shading, for the sake of it. One of the rules of civilian wardrobe among rangers is to work their colors into their outfits...genius...

And SURPRISE!!! My brand spanking new rendition of Jason Lee Scott! I made him look younger and therefore less bulky. However, I also tried not to lose sight of his Sentai "alpha dog" persona. Jason's the ideal leader. Humble, yet strong and without fear. Head based on a square (of course...). I might color him someday. I notice color really helps me get more of the character across. He has a normal sized head, which I seem to be gravitating towards in the later designs. I still haven't given up on the big-head idea with their "suited" designs.

Maya 1 Final

2008-08-12T01:47:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you, if you knew the circumstances of these 15+ second clips, these babies would look a lot better. I was pretty desperate to get these done on time. I was surrounded by an upcoming Taekwondo tournament, an upcoming Yoshi's Jazz Club gig, and my current retail job (i know, i know). For a college student, same ol' same ol'...

They were completed a day before the due date, and took a good 6 months to figure out (with computers, I'm not the shiniest coin in the purse...). Pretty much all that time was spent in the modelling, texture-mapping, and rigging stages. 'Felt a lot better knowing 85% of my classmates were suffering the same wounds.

I'm actually pretty proud of the compositional choices I made with the lip sync. At the last second, I managed to make one of the 7 books I wasted time reading that semester work for me lol!*sigh* One of the main reasons I'm attempting an independent short film is an opportunity to use and demonstrate what I've learned at my own pace. Well, at least in this class I learned to animate fast. That's worth something.

Enjoy these two tests. As I watch them, I still can't believe they made it out of the storm.

Creature Test

"Norman" Dialogue Test

A Model Revisited...

2008-08-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

There was this model, back in my anatomy class. Now, usually we artists have this thing where "we're all doctors" and "the model is just a breathing sculpture to draw from", but this one was reeeeeeeeeeally something. Such a "view" is rare for geeks like me lol...*sigh*. On the off-chance that you happen to get a particularly attractive model, you're under pressure not to 'eff the drawing up (it's worth noting that I can have a unique opinion on what "beauty" is)! It was pretty cool to see her stop by my bench to see my work, during a break. The 2nd drawing marked her last day working at the Academy (D'OH!).

This was, I think, the first 2 completed drawings I did since finishing the book, "FORCE: Dynamic Life Drawing For Animators" (HOORAY for blogs! And the freedom to post nude artwork on 'em!). I'm not so sure that I fully grasped all (or any...) of the concepts in the book, but I know my figure drawings got a darn-sight better since I finished it. I STILL don't see them as pro-level, but it's money well spent. I'll show some 2-5 minute ones, later.

Principles attempted: Thick-to-thin lines for hard/soft edges, basic shapes/forms, drawing through the figure, a half-assed attempt at "force" drawing, laws of curves, overlapping lines, etc.

Materials: (top) Recycled newsprint, HB charcoal pencil/ loose dark-black chalk for emphasis (hard surfaces). White chalk apparently can be used for highlights on tan/recycled papers. (bottom) White cotton paper, a lot harder to control. Same charcoal combination.

NOTE: I hate critiques. A lot. But I need 'em just like everyone else. Feel free lol.

COMIC-CON 2008!!!

2008-07-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

"It ain't over till the paramedics arrive", I always say. And as the men in white proceeded to wheel a plus-sized Superman away, I knew it was time to say goodbye.

I arrived home at about 3am this morning. The Con was awesome, overall. Though I can see why people like Paul Dini and Kevin Smith have so many good things to say about SF's Wondercon. There were soooooo many people there, you could barely sit down...or think...

On the plus side, the con was a feast for animaton artists looking to schmooze! I came back with autographed merchandise from:
- Don Bluth & Gary Goldman ("The secret of NIMH"/ "An American Tale"/ "The Land Before Time")
- Chris Sanders ("Lilo & Stitch" creator/director/voice)
- Eric Goldberg (Superviser of Aladdin's "Genie")
- Man of Action! (Team of creators behind "Ben 10")
- Bill Plympton ("The Animation Show",...eh, look him up. He's got too many credits)
- Stan Sakai ("Usagi Yojimbo" creator)
- Robin Mitchell (Talented character/toy designer)
- Greg Weisman (Disney's "Gargoyles" creator, Spectacular Spider-Man producer)

I also managed to meet up with some professional friends from MySpace who had booths like Steph Laberis (Girls Drawin' Girls), and Molly Hahn (Mollycules.com). They were hard to find, but I always try to catch and support these guys in person when I can. Until then, it's hard to say that I KNOW them. I love having faceless contacts and penpals, but it means so much more to actually show up and meet your friends, right?

Ah, panels. Special presentations of productions to come! There were so many it was a real pain to choose between them all. I was quite annoyed by the high attendance. I was squeezed out of a Disney Story panel, which I assumed no one wanted to go to (Wondercon). At San Diego, you have to get to your panels about an hour early to secure a seat. Which means you can only make it to every other panel, if your lucky. I eventually figured it out though, and had a decent schedule working.

I saw the trailer premier of the upcoming series, "Batman: The Brave and The Bold". It was AAAAWESOME!!! I found out that at a product testing, The Blue Beetle action Figure rated almost as highly as the Batman figure! Blue Beetle: The Animated Series debuts fall 2012 (kidding) ! Jamie Reyes, The Hispanic new Blue Beetle's armor looks like a combination of the Guyver and Iron Man. I've been following this interesting character for a while now. His voice will be provided by Batman Beyond's Will Freidle!

I also caught the 3 episode sneak peek of the OTHER upcoming series, "Wolverine and the X-Men". I was really nervous about how this show might come out, and I wasn't disappointed. Marvel has always managed to provide great stories, but starting with "x-Men: Evolution" and "Spectacular Spider-Man", they're finally starting to find methods of producing higher quality TV animation to match it! Boyd Kirkland (ironically of "Batman TAS" fame) is seeing this baby through. The series is going to be like crack for fans of the "Astonishing X-Men" comic.

The "Hulk vs. Wolverine" DTV was designed by Jeff Matsuda and was richer for it. Who knew that animation-friendly character designs could help the animation process?... The movie involved the infamous Weapon X program, so fan favorite characters Deadpool and Lady Deathstrike were applauded upon arrival.

Saw a lot of animation panels. Went to a voice acting workshop where I learned a lot, plus another where a group of fan-favorite V.O. artists did a hilarious cold read of a Superman radio show. I caught a glimpse of "Treehouse of Horror 19" at the Simpsons panel. And I went to ANOTHER one where I was introduced to this effin' brilliant show, "The Mighty B"! Amy Pohler sure put her foot in that one! As far as Family Guy goes, you know you're in a good panel when Seth Green goes under the table and pretends to "service" Seth McFarlane.

As far as live-action panels, "The day the earth stood Still" looks good, and apparently there's a slick-looking new "Tron" movie coming out! Great footage for that one was shown. Kevin Smith was there, stealing the show along with newcomer, Seth Rogen. I unwittingly missed the UNANNOUNCED world premier of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" footage. I'll be kicking myself for that mistake...

What an adventure. We went to In N' Out every night and partied all day. I think I saw that "Watchmen" trailer about 78 times before the Con ended. BTW, Connie, if you're reading, I brought back about 3 bags-worth of freebies you and the crew can pick apart. How's that for "goodies"? lol

The Dark Knight

2008-07-22T02:55:00.001-07:00

My mind was blown.

That is all.

R.I.P. Michael Turner

2008-07-17T00:29:00.000-07:00

MAN, I had no idea...Michael Turner passed on Friday June 27th, 2008. I was in the middle of adding one of my favorite artists, Humberto Ramos, to my links list when one if his entries dropped a bomb all the way from June 30. I'm just glad I had a chance to meet him. He did the cover for the famous JLA: Identity Crisis, a good one for Marvel: Civil War, and a chunk of pencils for the awesome Superman/Batman comics. Of course this is only a chip off his span of work...

Whenever a great artist dies, no matter what the medium, they take their unique artistic flair with them. It is because of this that they are missed so much by so many who never knew them. I remember standing in line at WonderCon, waiting for him to sign my Supergirl comic, when I noticed he had a shaved head. He didn't quite look like the photo. I asked someone in front of me and was informed that he was fighting cancer. Even then, as I shook his hand, I didn't expect that to be the last time I'd see him. Still, it'll always be a great memory. Catch you on the flipside, Mr. Turner!

Trini: Part Deux

2008-07-15T03:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the barrage of posts. I actually have a lot of "old" drawings I wanna catch up on. I couldn't resist trying out Jeff Matsuda's Batgirl, "Big head, small/thin body" ratio on the Yellow Ranger. I can't yet push my designs nearly as far as he can, but his style is infectious. I'm not gonna pretend I'm not influenced by it ;). She's supposed to be feminine, but not quite so "graceful" as Kim. I'd probably have her fight animation silent and quick, with daggers a-blazing, like a female ninja...yeeaaahhh...

I also tried "softening" up Trini's head design. I brought the chin in and changed her eyes to something more...slanted (for lack of a less racist term). In the end we have a whole new, more innocent look. How'd I do?

Trini & Kimberly

2008-07-14T18:26:00.001-07:00

Well this project that Raf and I are working on (see Ratdog Blog) is moving about as smoothly as WALL*E with 4 flat tires and a crowbar dent(i know he doesn't use tires...). I think the problem is (besides my raging 'boarder's block') that we can't seem to get a good workflow going between meeting, working, and the rest of our lives. What keeps me going though is a comment made by Andrew Stanton a while back. He said that if, at the start, you love your idea so much that you're dying to see it on the screen, that obsession will drag you through the slow times and rainy days. If we pull this off, it'll mean a lot for all our futures. Plus it'll look awesome.

Enough of that. Here's the official first pass at the 2 characters, Trini Kwan and Kimberly Hart. The point of this wasn't necessarily to caricature the actors from the show, but to organize their character descriptions and try to translate them to action cartooning. Of course to completely ignore any flair these actors brought to the MMPR craze would be a crime also. I'll "show my work" in these descriptions in case someone wants to make their own designs, sans the tedious research lol (Check my links section for some good MMPR reference sites...or not).

I always imagined Trini as the second most capable member of the team. She talks a small game, but she's always so Gung Ho about helping her friends. Her flaws are that she lacks a lot of the attitude most snot-nosed American kids have. Her humanity lies in her sincerity. She looks like she has a lot of respect for the truth. And also her inner strength. "Kid's got heart!", as the High School coaches say. The fact that the actress who portrayed her is no longer with us makes me want to draw her in as emotionally stronger than in the show. She has the rough hairstyle of Thuy Trang plus one of the outfits, But I played with her expression and gesture to fit my idea. She has a solemn look to her, sugesting she got "the call" from Zordon.

Kimberly is inescapably a Valley girl. She's also a competitive gymnast. Her more annoying character quirks are that she's so delicate, both emotionally and physically. You don't see much of her taking down putty patrols on her own, as she works much better with the team. However, she's not dead weight. No Sentai series from Gatchaman(G-Force) to Voltron would be complete without this acrobatic and graceful element. She's enthusiastic, and shows courage under fire. Plus, her "Check out the sterio!" comments were cute. I'm sure if she was actually cornered by a goon squad, she'd find a way to smear em'. She's the smallest physically, based on the Pterodactyl and later, the Crane. I imagine her Ranger animation would be light and floaty. Classic outfit + hairstyle. I improvised on the physical build and facial features.

NOTES: Of the people I showed it to, I got a few critiques. One was that Trini's face was too...big? I think in the cheek area, i dunno. Maybe I should bring that chin in a bit. No complaints so far on Kimberly, but I might still work on her a bit more. Any thoughts?

Next up is probably Jason and Zach. I stumbled on a cool and easy head design for Jason, but need to produce a solid complete figure before I show it. Zach is becoming a real pain in the spandex. Who knew the Black guy would be the big speed-bump lol!? I can't seem to get a good head design for him. Ah well. I'll keep on it.

Fanny and Alexander

2008-07-14T06:08:00.000-07:00

I finished watching this 3+ hour experience called "Fanny and Alexander". It's this Oscar-winning foreign film about these two kids who go through the crappiest part of every fairy tale hero's story. Remember how Cinderella lost her loving father and was forced to live with her pineapple-up-the-bum Stepmother and her three punk Stepsisters? It's 3 hours of that part. Only Disney would have a tough time cheering this one up with a song...

Anyways, my new "hobby" of Netflix-ing more classic live-action films has become more fun than I could've ever hoped. The last handful were all reeeeally honestly good, especially "Witness" and "Klute" (Jane Fonda was FIII-HINE back in the day!). Within the first hour of this one, I thought this might be the first dud, but Christ, did it ever pick up in the later hours! Awesome!

From exposition to resolution, every key point of the story seemed to have it's own tonal scheme and shape patterns, not to mention it's own individual use of flat and limited space. Alexander's family lived in a whole world of bright flowery days and warm, earthy nights. There was no tight leash on the use of space, just a comfortable moderation. There were organic shapes everywhere.

The Bishop's(evil stepfather) lair, however, wasn't necessarily darker but devoid of any plant life or organic stuff like that. There was smiling, all right, but only the kind you see on a torture artist before he rips out your bicuspids; empty, condescending, and creeeee-py! The "pure flat-space" layouts made those scenes so uncomfortable I turned the lights back on for the rest of the movie. The DP definitely got his point across...sheesh...

The book that recommended this flick didn't have much to say about it, so I thought I'd offer my thoughts. Just make sure to set some hours aside if you wanna check it out!

Oh, you want a drawing...here, have a Leo master copy. I wanna reserve the fun stuff for their own blogs!

Lending a hand

2008-07-10T05:09:00.000-07:00

Get it? HAND?.......HAND?....HA-never mind.

I left you, the reader, with a relatively extensive links list. I did so mainly out of my own taste. I personally love the "Blogger dance" of finding one good blog that sends me off to many other FANTASTIC blogs and websites. Now I'm no Lauren Montgomery, but at least you stumbled upon the guy who'll send you her way.

Each link was either some art I drooled over, or a chunk of info that grew me an extra ounce of brain matter. It just goes to show you how open you have to be to various sources, plus how much you need to absorb. I still have a ways to go before I consider myself "employable", But I'd be doing a lot more "error" than "trial" without some of these individuals.

So go ahead. Browse my ever-growing buffet of artist blogs! I hope they're as helpful to you as they were to me.

sigh Just what this world needs...

2008-07-09T04:43:00.000-07:00

...ANOTHER SKETCH BLOG! YAAAAAY!! Welcome to my new blog. I was originally against doing this myself, as I am used to reading the blogs of ego-crushing giants like Robin Mitchell, Lauren Montgomery, Ben Balistreri, etc. But my friends made passionate and convincing arguments so here I am.

I was at a loss as to what to CALL this thing...I'll probably end up changing it, time will tell. I decided to name it after a life changing moment in my development as a geek. I dub this Blog, "Day of the Dumpster", after the first ever episode of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Aye, a Saturday morning of 1993' I'll not soon forget...

As a matter of fact, this could work out real well...I've been working on a sort of "portfolio-filler", and this could give me a reason to keep it up. I plan on "adapting" the MMPR world to a (pretend) Saturday morning cartoon format! I figure everyone my age knows those characters pretty well, plus how they look. So, like in Jeff Matsuda's "The Batman", cartooning them should teach me a lot about how I like to draw, as well as show employers an honest look into my personal drawing style.

Plus I'm always guilty of holding my art as "too precious to post". Since the MMPR are a copyrighted property ANYWAY, It'll be a lot easier for me to just draw, show, and take lumps.

I'm still working on it, trying to heed the words of authors Tom Bancroft and Ben Caldwell. I have a decent springboard for the characters, Trini Kwan and Kimberly Hart (who knew they had last names!?). The suited designs aren't an issue right now. The main challenge is translating the (surprisingly diverse and detailed) character descriptions of these 6 teenagers to interesting designs, along with the other wacky citizens of Angel Grove. I'll post some work l8er. But for now, enjoy this scribble I did (not to be confused with a "sketch". there's a diffrence, darn you!).

Day of the Dumpster

New Portfolio Packaging Art

Digital Storyboard: Floats

Digital Storyboard: Girl Scout Cookies (work in progress)

Prairie Settler (Clothed Figure Drawing)

Old Splash Page

Digital Storyboard: Daniel

Digital Storyboard: The Boy Scout

Final Character Lineup + Synopsis

Going Digital

'Jackie and the Giant'

Self Portrait Rough and Cleanup

Clothed Figure Drawing 2 Final

George Chung: The original "Machine-Gun Kicker"

The Emo Kid and My "CFD-2" Midterm

Clothed Figure Workshops with Bill Sanchez

Exploratory Sharpie Scribbles

Updates

Gesture Drawings + Coming Soon

Buy "Garfield: From The Trash Bin"!

"Hostages" Character Design cleanups

Magic Markers

R.I.P. Imagi Studios...

Disney Inspire Days

Character Turnarounds Under Fire

Kimberly Hart

New Banner!

Happy New Year!

"Penguin's Christmas"

More layouts...with pizazz

Pirate Kids

Layout Designs

Working on something...

Ursa Major

Comic Con 09'

How "done" does this look?

More Crayola Fun: GOLDAR!!

Fun with Crayola Pencils

Long live the King...

Just one big pressure point...

Power Roughs!

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

Updates & Old Friends

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

The Joe Henderson Legacy Big Band

The best tricksters are from Cali

Blue Sky Studios Submission, Pt. 2

Blue Sky Studios Submission, Pt. 1

Story Test: Complete + GITS 2: Innocence DVD

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

Spring Break

"Escarabajo Azul...VAMANOS!!!"

Death of a Sketchbook

Wondercon Recap

Phillip Rhee: The Best of the Best

Film History 2

The fate of AAU's Pixar Class

Academy of Art and the Pixar classes

Manhattan

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Penguin's Christmas: one of my favorite shorts...

Happy Holidays from The Dumpster!

Semester...over...*faint*

Character Study: Annie Oakley

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Clothed Figure: Annie Oakley

More Clothed Figure HW

Holy @&*#, Obama actually did it!

B-day Extra!

Clothed Figure Drawing HW

The End of Toonami

Reading Scripts

Before, and after Ben Caldwell...

TYRANNOSAURUS!!!

Intro to Anatomy Final

PTERODACTYL!!!

Maya 1 Final

A Model Revisited...

COMIC-CON 2008!!!

The Dark Knight

Semester...over...faint

sigh Just what this world needs...