Disney Inspire Days

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

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

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!

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! 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".)