Exaggerate and Make Them See It!

Great advice from Don Bluth today! Realism doesn't always work, and details sometimes pull you away from the focus.. so exaggerate and make them (the audience) see it!

Working Slow...

Have you ever had those days wheneverything is going fine, and you're making progress like usual, but then you realize it's way later in the day than you thought. So much to do so little time. Gotta work on getting faster. Like the saying goes first you get good then you get fast then you get fast and good. Well the more I think about that phrase the more I need to work on all aspects of it.

Exhausted Perspective!

Trying to get the feel of a more applied perspective.
Some of you may remember the Ye Olde Ham Hock Inn from Little Hero Episode 1.


Here's last weeks basic walk cycle in 3d and 2d using Maya and Flipbook


Today's exhaustion is EXTREME!


This week is gonna be a personality walk. That means.... time to be sneaky!
Here's some goofy video reference that Rhys helped me with.

Visualize

Visualize Visualize Visualize!

Last night I finally signed up for Don's Club, the Don Bluth Animation course, now I'm kicking myself that I didn't do it sooner. Tonight was my first class and it was chock full of information. I don't usually take notes, but I ended up with a page full of notes and a page full of drawings.
The main theme he had for us today was Visualize. What makes creative people valuable is that they can never really be replaced. As Rual from ManvsArt says, "be yourself cause no one else can be" or something to that effect. That being said our creativity and our skill come from our visualization, before you do anything visualize what you are going to do and try to get as close to that as you can. Whether it's animating, caricaturing, drawing, story-boarding, illustrating, whatever visualize, visualize, visualize!

Here's a quick glimpse at today's notes. (Note to self: use darker pencils!)


(second page of just notes and like always click to enlarge)


Today's concern week pose is Sorrowful Concern.


Here's a little concept design I'm working on that I might turn into a logo, or menu for the site later on.

(Gilligan, Claude's Turtle, Claude, and the Little Hero)

Simplify and Exaggerate

Finally got around to listening to an episode of the Ghettomation podcast. What a surprise! Not only did it feature the fabulous Kevin Cross of Art and Story and the always entertaining Raul Aguirre Jr of Man vs Art, but they had on the ever inspiring Sherm Cohen of Cartoon Snap. This latest episode is absolutely worth taking the time to listen to. The big take away that I grabbed out of it was something Sherm Cohen said to the effect of, Cartooning: it all comes down to "Simplify and Exaggerate!"

Here's a sneak peak at the theme song for "The Little Hero".
(Oh, and I know I've got to reencode it to have the audio and video perfectly match up, but I thought you might get a kick out of it anyways!)

The strength continues...


A little revision of one of the poses from double devastation week.


This weeks joker themed sketchgroup entry.


(small)

(large)


(wallpaper)

Miltdusa

Sometimes you just need to take a little break. I was noticing the I'm too tired warble in my final line work today after work, so even though I wanted to get tonight's drawings done right away, I knew I needed to step away for a bit. Lo and behold the rest of the drawings went pretty smoothly.

Gilligan keep on truckinging.


Claude tries on his new toupee.


Pirate a Day


With our little hero feeling good in his fancy new duds he paid Theodore the Tailor in the towns favorite currency, and went on his way.


I got to watch part of the Rescuers last night, after not having seen this movie for who knows how long, and hearing and reading lots about it (since it was one of the last things Milt Kahl worked on) I was happy that it still stood up to what I was hoping it would. I really picked up on a lot of the things Walt Stanchfield has been talking about regarding drastic angles to emphasize the pose and to really get the gestures across. (Drawn to Life Vol 1) I wish they would have developed the Madame Medusa character story-wise a bit more, cause Milt Kahl delivers an outstanding performance. Thanks for the inspiration!

(Check out Inspector Cleuzo's posts on Madame Medusa for some great Milt Kahl drawings!)

Opportunities and Goals

Sorry about last night's update being a little late... I got caught up roughing and retouching up the Preston Blair run cycle. Overall I think it turned out pretty good, but I've got to remind myself to keep to deadlines and although perfection is key you have to keep yourself on schedule.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Gilligan is kind of a scared-i-cat.


Gilligan doing his best greek fountain impression.


Claude and his turtle being kings of the world,


and then realizing that they aren't.


Pirate a Day


Pirate a Day - Article the Second


After a few hours of trying different looks our little hero and Theodore found one that worked perfectly!


Our little hero couldn't thank Theodore the tailor enough!

So life has thrown me quite a few twists since really following my dream to be an artist / animator. Some things have vastly improved while others have simply fallen by the wayside. I'm right now again at a crossroads in life. I was listening to the Asifa Hollywood Animation Podcast with Beth Sleven, and they were talking about which colleges were the best to go to for animation, which books were the best to read, what skills to practice and develop, and they came to the conclusion that it really doesn't mater as long as you really have the desire and motivation, along with some sort of talent of course. For example one of her fellow animators started out as a law student. Which reminded me of something Eamonn Butler said on the Animation Podcast. It was something to the effect of you never really know exactly what opportunities are going to come your way and you have to take advantage of everyone. Well here's to decisions, hard work, life, motivation, opportunities, and goals. Thanks for the inspiration!

Practice What You Stink At!

After using the Cintiq for a few days now I finally have started to draw quite a bit more freely. Doing my roughs and cleaning them up on a new layer has helped to make my traditional drawing flow smoother and faster. Even my repencils are going quicker finally!

(click to enlarge)

Gilligan suffering from a bit of gas.


Claude and his turtle are at it again!


Pirate a Day


Turns out the second outfit Theodore suggested for our little hero wasn't quite his style either.


Life's been a bit busy the last few days, so I haven't had much time to spend with my usual books, Drawn to Life Vol 1. and the Illusion of Life, but I have caught a few great little tidbits here and there. Kevin Cross and Mark Rudolph have been rather entertaining on Art and Story Extreme this week. I rediscovered the Toon In to Animaion Podcast and every episode seems to be full of rich history, interesting people, and fascinating interviews. I can't wait to get through the backlog. On a side note I really should look into UPA pictures more. They sound fascinating. Anyone have any good recommendations? Finally John K has had a couple of great posts this week on drawing exercises the best little tidbit out of them was "PRACTICE THE THINGS YOU STINK AT." Thanks for the inspiration!

The 3 C's Cintiq, Conan, and Cary Nord

If the Cintiq were a woman I'd marry it, and for the record not in a creepy way I just like drawing with it. It's so much fun. Wacom's Cintiq feels so much more natural than the old Bamboo I used to use. I still am trying to balance out my use of the Cintiq with traditional pencil and paper, but we'll see when I run out of sketchpads if I go out and buy more ... I probably will.

Gilligan Playing in the grass... I think...


Claude and his turtle still enjoying their time at the park.


Pirate a Day


Theodore thought the first outfit our little hero tried on didn't quite suit him.


I love Cary Nord's take on Conan. Frazetta is the Conan litmus test for sure, but Cary Nord just has a way with his line work that is truly appealing. That being said he hasn't done a Conan comic for quite some time, but it looks like he's going to be doing some covers at least again soon. I picked up Conan Vol 8 a couple of days ago, and if you are a fan of Conan, graphic novels or just illustration in general, do yourself a favor and pick up Vol 1 I'm sure you'll fall in love with the Cimmerian by the end of the first page. Thanks for the Inspiration!

Update running late...

Tonight's update is running a little slow... will be up soon.

*edit* Here it is!


Gilligan sneaking around.


Gilligan trying to dance!

Claude and his turtle's day at the park.



Pirate a Day


Pirate a Day episode II


Our little hero got up and ready for the day, but before he went out he stopped and took a look at his clothes. What a mess.


So before he went anywhere he first stopped at Theodore the Tailor's Shoppe.


I came across Ben Butcher's new Toy Story 3 Golden Book while I was out and about. What a treat. He really captured the old Golden Book era vibe. Check out his blog, Blips and Ifs!
Thanks for the Inspiration!