Drawing and Doggerybaw.

The Grasshopper Band

2012-01-19T21:15:00.002-05:00

A fictional band that totally exists!!!

Watercolor, 12x18.
Lovely lady on the right is Carter Calvert, whose babysitting money I will use to pay for my wedding dress. <3 THANK YOU!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

2011-12-25T19:10:00.002-05:00

There's some awesome indie Christmas music up on Noisetrade for free right now, if you'd like a respite from the stuff on the radio that loops every hour. I hope everyone has an awesome Christmas and New Year - SEE YOU IN 2012!!!!!!

The self-portraits!

2011-12-23T12:19:00.003-05:00

I finally drew something on the first page of my new sketchbook. (been drawing on the inner pages because I'm a wimp.)

Also, Sketches for the save-the-date invitations. (With Matt's notes, ha.) :D

A lament we all share

2011-12-14T19:20:00.000-05:00

Not that I have any time for freelance lately. ;______;

THIS ISN'T LORD OF THE RINGS!

2011-12-09T06:48:00.001-05:00

Maybe I should've posted this one on Halloween, huh? :)

Also, this is a pretty song.

In the Storm

2011-12-05T06:42:00.001-05:00

30 minute doodle-sketch; watercolor pencil, white ink and ballpoint pin.

ELF!

2011-11-30T06:37:00.001-05:00

Here, a curvy elf lady for you! I like this curvy elf lady. I might have to draw her some more. curves are fun. ^___^

Faces with and without facepaint

2011-11-28T21:53:00.007-05:00

So, this past Friday I went to a rock show down in Covington KY and got to see WALK THE MOON headlining, with Shadowraptr and the Young Heirlooms. it was a FANTASTIC show. if you don't know who Walk the Moon is, you have not been reading this blog very long. Go watch music now. :D

SO! LOTS OF FACES!!!... and also the statue of Eve from the Cincinnati Art Museum. Her page needed to be filled.

Drew with black ballpoint pen, and two Pentel pocket brush pens - one with black ink, one with green. GREEN. Also, in the page below, Mr. Snark on the far right is one of the guitarists from Young Heirlooms! :D

And, the bottom four faces there are the Walk the Moon dudes:

THANK YOU FOR SUCH AN AWESOME SHOW, GUYS!!!!! You rock my world. :D

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

2011-11-25T09:23:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone YESTERDAY WAS THANKSGIVING!!! :D hence, the somewhat food-related comic! HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GOOD DAY OFF!!!! And if you have a retail job today, I am very, very sorry. :(

My family had some friends over for the feast, one of whom was a rather older lady named Mary Jo. She told me a story that I really, really want to make into a comic:

In Covington Kentucky years ago, there was a neighborhood by the Ohio river that had a horrible time with river rats. They would get into the sewer pipes, and climb up into peoples houses. one lady in this neighborhood even saw a rat climb out of her TOILET. Now, there was another certain lady in this neighborhood, who was very helpful and devout. She prayed to God to please make the river rats leave, because everyone was scared and miserable. Then, one morning, this devout lady walked out onto her back porch and there were nine tomcats sitting there, quite at home. She was very puzzled, because tomcats as a rule do not get along and hate each other. but, being a kind woman, she went back into the house, got some food and fed them. Over the next few months, those tomcats kept hanging around, and she kept feeding them. At the same time, the river rats slowly started to disappear.... until there weren't any left, in the whole neighborhood. And when there were no rats left, the tomcats disappeared as well. The end.

I do enjoy drawing cats, as most of you know, and this story just has such a funny root. I would be so happy to be able to draw it some day. :)

But Sir! What happened to your face?!

2011-11-10T07:09:00.000-05:00

And now, some more concepts and illustrations! Here are some faces for some of the secondary characters:

Because the job was so rushed, I actually didn't get to use all the characters that I'd designed. Ah well, se la vie. Here are some more illustration planning/thumbnails:

I was really inspired by the work of Mark Schultz around the time I was doing these - he had come to SCAD this past spring quarter as an artist-in-residence, and I got to know him a bit - such a kind, amazing person! and HIS ILLUSTRATIONS. O LAWD HIS ILLUSTRATIONS.

The play of light and dark to control mood in a single, unmoving is a lot more difficult than it might seem. in animation, you can utilize the motion to get more out of each scene; in Comics you can play out the action and lighting over many panels to create the effect. I think one of my problems here might have been how much I was trying to cram into each illustration, because I knew that I didn't have time to do a lot of smaller illustrations. Pros and cons, pros and cons.

Sunderland Town Market

2011-11-03T07:10:00.000-04:00

As promised a couple MONTHS ago, a BIG FAT UPDATE on Gary Blackburn's film Elyn and the Pirates of Sunderland!!! This was an extremely interesting and new sort of film for me to conceptualize. In one word: STEAMPUNK.

At the beginning, while helping Gary finalize the script, I did a TON of research, and after a lot of doodly beginnings, first laid out a general map of the entire floating island that is Sunderland Town. then, I zoomed in and laid out the town itself, and figured out a rough course of action for the characters.

I don't necessarily care if it doesn't make any sense to you. this was the beginning of the town; without this plan I couldn't have gone on in any sort of organized manner.

Next, the main points of interest! the first being this fruit stand:

and a fish stand nearby that our main character would be running around later. Gary was very specific in that he only wanted to model the set pieces vital to the camera movements; the rest is to be matte-painted to flesh out the look that he's going for. that is why the above map/plan was so vital to figure out exactly what would need to be designed first.

Now, buildings! I had the buildings marked on my map, so I knew exactly which ones would be needed for close-ups and part of the action.

I still don;t think I pushed the steampunk aspect far enough - machiney things are not my natural forte. But to go much more in-depth into research would've taken more time than I had on hand.

Next, I did flat map drawings of each side of the street, to be absolutely clear on building placement, scale, and to give more facade details.

And now, what was a lot of fun - a bit of prop design. :)

The signs for a lot of the buildings were fun to research and design - I'm not sure if they'll be used, but I don't mind.

Here's the production blog on Facebook for the film - if you scroll through, you can already see some of the models made from these sketches. It's amazingly unreal to see them that way. :D

Oh, Creepy Sorcerer-man.

2011-10-31T07:01:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween, dudes and dudettes! :D here is a creepy illustration for you:

DEAD DEAD DEAD!

On a completely different note, anyone who's never heard of the composer Joseph Curiale needs to go check out his stuff right now. NOW! :D

As Tiiiime Goes Byyyy....

2011-10-26T19:36:00.009-04:00

....I lose track of it. And I suck! But enough of that! My life is crazy, and so is everyone else's. Let's see some concept art!!

I took on a job a month or two ago to make some illustrations for an independent fantasy novel. It was a super-rush job, so I often had to go with only the first or second version of an idea that I came up with - a challenge, and I wouldn't say I like all of the results, but it was quite fun! Let's start with some characters:

It was a nice change to be able to just work with the face and body type of a character. I'd gotten rather used to character designing for animation, with full turnarounds and detail and prop designs and such. Just going with the flow was lovely.

Here are some page thumbnails:

I drew with whatever color struck my fancy at first, but later I used the different colors as a good way to differentiate my different drafts and ideas, even when I was sometimes drawing on top of myself.

And for a treat, here is one of the finished illustrations:

My clients are working on making the book available on E-Readers right now. I'll let you know more information once there's more to tell! :D

A study in Old Stuff

2011-08-16T20:12:00.001-04:00

A roundup of museum moleskien sketches today! Cincinnati has some lovely museums. I love studying historical portraits. People are funny.

Cooooooows.

On a completely unrelated note, the original Ghost in the Shell soundtrack is delightfully creepy.

Dr. Sketchy and Post-it drawings

2011-08-13T10:16:00.004-04:00

Dr. Sketchy's Drink n' Draw was this week! my first time going. Twas fun; wished I didn't have to leave early for work the next day. Next week is "Cincinnati Pilseners and Pencils"; will hopefully be fun also. Here's my favorite sketches of our sexy astronaut:

And here are a few logo design ideas and post-it sketches for some other projects. :D

Electric Sharpener

2011-07-28T06:27:00.004-04:00

OK, you're right, the cat comics are kind of a filler. That's because you all probably would not be too keen on me posting a 35-page script up here.

Today's strip is brought to you by Mark Kneece.

Rain Dance

2011-07-20T07:20:00.002-04:00

Okaaaay, Tyler said I could post this, so I WILL. This is one of my background paintings for the film Rain Dance by Nate Swinehart. It's my favorite one so far! I'm actually working on my LAST ONE for the film currently! OOOOH SO EXCITED!!!!! :D You can view the animatic for the film HERE.

If it looks like a bunch of evil hills.... that's what it is. :D

OH, see.

2011-07-16T17:59:00.007-04:00

Lest anyone think I've died, A POST. A lot has happened since May 20! A sort of brief sum-up (which will probably explain my lack of time for updates lately):

Since May 20, I have become an alumnus of the Savannah College of Art and Design. Though I have left many friends behind, I am still working on a lot of their projects; currently that includes background paintings for Nate Swinehart's film Rain Dance and concept art for Gary Blackburn's film Elyn and the Pirates of Sunderland. I have moved from Savannah back to Ohio, and have yet to get all the stuff from my apartment in Savannah into my old bedroom. I have also driven to Vermont and back, Oklahoma and back, and Indianapolis and back (twice for that one). I have acquired a job in the marketing department of a good company, and so I spend most of my days pretending to be a graphic designer and learning more about farming and mining equipment than I ever thought I would. This job also happens to be an hour away from my current home, keeping me away from my REAL work for eleven hours out of the day. But I'm still drawing whenever I can - obviously, mostly concerning the two projects mentioned above, but I'm still working on my own comic book series Band Quest! Just a couple days ago I completed the script for book 1; it will be about 71 pages long. And the script for book 2 is currently about 60% done.

And now I should really get to painting, so I'll leave you with these:

Item 1: character concept for what will hopefully be a future animation project directed by me.
Item 2: doodles on post-it notes. CLASSY. Oh look, there's that character again. I really hope this project pulls through; she's so darn cute.
Item 3: one of my concept sketches for The Pirates of Sunderland film. I've only just started, and this is the best sketch so far; there will be many more (and better ones) in the future.
K bye. :D

Professional Wordage

2011-05-20T23:28:00.002-04:00

More talking cats for you! These three got their words courtesy of several professors here in the SEQA department at SCAD. Never a dull moment. :) I now have strips for three books of talking cats; be looking for them if I make it to a convention near you!!

Adventures in screenprinting

2011-05-17T18:49:00.016-04:00

Okay... If you've been around me in the past several weeks, you'll know that I've been screenprinting an entire book, like a good little masochist. now that I'm near the end of production on these things, I thought I'd share a bit about them!

The book is called "That's Amoure!" and is based on a true story. Elves included. So, I got the idea to screenprint the whole thing from Duncan last quarter - it's all his fault.

The biggest problem was getting this:

successfully onto a sheet of brown paper; two colors. my biggest trouble arose from just getting the two colors lined up. by the bye, a HUGE thank you to SCAD's working class studio for letting me use their pressure washer and exposure table!!

I went through a LOT of transparencies for the guts of this book, as you may well imagine.

And, having THIS happen to my scanner while I was printing;

courtesy of THIS silly creature:

complicated things, but TO NO AVAIL!!! I was able to complete enough good pages for 29 copies of the book. here are the covers, laid out to dry:

Just seeing that monster stack here is enough to make me proud, but once they're really finished...

Ah! it is a lovely feeling. Mind you, I still have 15 copies of this to board and bind, but they'll get done. hooray for PVA glue! and THANK YOU to my awesome roommate Renee for letting me borrow her drill!!!

And nooooooow my brain is shutting down. If you'd like to buy a copy of the book, shoot me an email at Laurendsparks (at) gmail (dot) com. woooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooozzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Cats Talking

2011-05-04T11:25:00.005-04:00

So, for many, many years I have been in the habit of writing words down that my friends have said. Words are a recording of a person's brain! and, when taken out of context, can be sometimes amusing.

So lately I've been listening to my friends, writing down their words and making cats say them. because somehow, to me, this is funny. I'll be making a series of minicomics out of these; very short and fast. so that I can sell them at a low price. :) I've already got enough panels for two books, so why not have a sample? Why not two? :D

Also here's a journal comic.

Book of Elf, Vol. 2

2011-05-01T14:11:00.004-04:00

This blog has been neglected this last month, and I am sorry readers! Whomever you may be! ;___; This is my last quarter at SCAD, and it has been hectic, to say the least. but nonetheless, I am still producing work for page and screen, and hope to not neglect posting any more.

Here are a couple journal comics from what will be The Book of Elf, Vol. 2. Hopefully I'll find some cons up in the Ohio/Indiana and Northeast area that I'll be able to sell at once i graduate and move back north. :)

Band Quest!

2011-04-30T13:24:00.007-04:00

...Is a webcomic that I am working on! It is an episodic quest story that combines elements of fantasy, action and the idiosyncrasies of being a modern musician. I thought I'd make a pitch-post for it. :D

I had another Webcomic idea that I planned on pursuing, but I think this one will be better for starting out with. Right now, I have finished the script for the introduction and have begun drawing it; the introduction should be all drawn by the end of May! And, it will have a short cameo of the guys of Walk the Moon.

The script for the first chapter is also underway; it's probably about 80% finished. In short, Band Quest! will be episode/chapter-based - each chapter will have its own set of main characters. This will allow me a bit of freedom to explore the dynamics in personality between very different sets of characters. It will be drawn in a Sunday-strip layout, and the first chapter will feature a band with a lineup inspired by the great music of the Seedy Seeds.

If you all haven't had the chance to meet me at one of the Conventions I've been to in the past couple months, then you won't have had the pleasure of seeing this little book yet:

I had the idea for this band-questing concept over a year ago, and it first manifested itself in this little book. And I was planning on starting a webcomic up, but with a different story - however, when my friend Pranas read the Radical-Righteous Band Hippie comic, he suggested that I develop THAT concept further. And indeed, when I polled my friends between the two stories, there was much more interest in this Band Hippie story. So, I decided to roll with it. :) THANK YOU PRANAS!!!

Above are my original Band hippie concepts - he'll look most like the top center drawing.

As for technical stuff, the comic will be drawn, as said, in a strip-format similar to newspaper Sundays. The final artwork will be drawn traditionally in graphite and sketchwash/watercolor pencil, and then monochomatically toned in Photoshop. My main reasons for making the artwork traditionally are A. it looks better, and B. so that perhaps later on, I can make that artwork available for readers to buy and have a piece of the story as their own.

I'm working right now on the website design... ooooh, Comicpress is a doozy. But the overall design of the webpage is inspired by the old Bill Graham poster art for bands in the 60s-70s; weird-beautiful stuff!

SO, I will continue to post progress up here under the tag "band quest"; and I hope whoever's reading will stay along for the story. :D

sketchbook pages and coming attractions!

2011-03-30T21:46:00.007-04:00

Well, this has been a hellish uninteresting month for updates! But here are some sketchbook pages - the faces are from my last day in Professional Development for Animation class; the animals and tree are from a trip to the Oatland Wildlife Preserve during spring break (spent a considerable lot more time on that tree than any of the animals I saw). Said spring break was incredibly, wonderfully uneventful! And this week begins my very last quarter at SCAD. Cue introspection, sadness, happiness, and general emotional upheaval.

In other news, after discussing and polling my friends, I have decided to develop The Quest for the Radical-Righteous Band Hippie as a webcomic. It will be laid out in chapters, with virtually no recurring characters between chapters except for the Band Hippie himself. I will be putting considerable more meat into the stories of each band (in the original minicomic, each band's story was only two strips long).

I very much like the idea of this episodic, chapter-by-chapter setup - it'll give me a lot of wiggle room to explore into this world of action, adventure, fantasy, and the idiosyncrasies of being a modern musician. If all goes well, expect to see visual development for this project up here in the coming months; and if I plan correctly, a website with some initial content in June. HERE I GO!!!!

February Journals

2011-03-05T19:55:00.009-05:00

The SCAD Minicomics Expo today: SUCCESS!!! I would have come out with more money if I hadn't spent it on comics before I left, haha. But how could I pass up original art by Pranas, a super-awesome book and screenprinted poster by Ralph, and a dinotopia-esque compendium by Nate Marsh? ANSWER: I COULDN'T. :)

I still came out in the positive, though! I learned that a lot more people enjoy sketchbooks than I anticipated, because I completely RAN OUT. I will have to be sure and print more before Captain's Comic Expo in a couple weeks.

and now, in celebration of this first artist alley, a few of my favorite journal comics from The Book of Elf Vol. 1 (which I sold and traded a few of today!) I've done a fair amount of journal comics before, but i never nailed down a consistent size or medium so that they would feel as though they had some kind of continuity. But anyway... now you can know just how much of a dork I am. :D

Updated Con Schedule:
3/19: Captain's Comic Expo - EXHIBITING
4/23: Fluke Con - Exhibiting (if I get there early enough)
6/5: Heroes Con - Maybe attending... it's the day after graduation. Blar.
9/10: Small Press Expo - Attending (mostly so I can bother Pranas, Renee and Kyle.) :D

Branding Assets

2011-03-02T09:37:00.005-05:00

...May be the most exciting subject line I've ever typed. ANYhow, update! I am currently building a portfolio website, and coming up with designs to go with that for my resume, business card, reel case, etc. has led to some new artwork to complete the whole design, so I thought I'd post some!

Fun Fact: my overall design aesthetic was inspired by a Donald Byrd album cover from 1958. WOOHOO BLUE NOTE JAZZ DESIGN!

Comics, Comics EVERYWHERE!

2011-02-26T21:37:00.003-05:00

That's right, people-types. Lauren is gearing up for the cons. :) This is just the beginning; I've got so many stacks of comics to assemble, I'm getting a worse headache just thinking about it!
so here is the small starting list, and the first one isn't a con:

Mar. 5: SCAD Minicomics Expo
Mar. 19: Captain's Comic Expo
April 23: Fluke

Captain's is up in Charleston, SC; Fluke is up in Athens GA. I guess it's good to start small. I'd love to go to SPX this fall as well; I shall have to consult my MASTER LIST.

If anyone has any suggestions for smaller comic cons within a few hours of Savannah in the coming months, or a few hours of Cincinnati in the summer, I would be EVER SO HAPPY to hear them!!! :D

The Radical-Righteous Band Hippie

2011-02-20T21:46:00.004-05:00

...is a series of one-shot strips collected into a minicomic. I came up for this idea in my brain... somewhere between the thoughts of, "I love music", "RPGs are so much fun", and "LARPers are entertaining".

I'll be printing more copies of this in the next couple weeks... maybe I'll have some news about my other comics projects then too. *dies*

*back to work*

Portfolio book cover

2011-02-01T16:52:00.003-05:00

So... it turned out pretty nice.

Makes me want to design some orange/blue theme buttons. :)

Base Image

2011-01-25T11:46:00.003-05:00

And yet again, I screw myself over.

Next assignment for Duncan: a book full of drawings derived from or based on one original drawing. so of course, I make my first drawing way detailed - that's how I draw!

But then I found out that We needed to finish 20 of these... by tomorrow. needless to say, this is the only other drawing done at the level of detail of the Tarzan above.

Link is awesome.
I ended up redrawing both of these without backgrounds and with heavily simplified details, but the same pose. Still OK. Too bad I didn't just do that in the first place.

Flower

2011-01-24T18:18:00.003-05:00

Made in less than two hours during Duncan's minicomics class.

And thank you Alyssa Ciaccio for letting me borrow your markers!!! :D

Witchy House

2011-01-24T17:36:00.002-05:00

A couple backgrounds for Kevin Hobson's senior film!

Coloring style heavily inspired by the backgrounds from Adventure Time.

Artistic Manifesto

2011-01-10T18:38:00.004-05:00

NOTE: I'm right-handed.
For Duncan's Mini-comics class.

Witchy World

2011-01-07T09:50:00.006-05:00

Hello All! I didn't have time to draw a Merry Christmas OR Happy New Year card this year, and that makes me sad. But, oh well. So I'll start this new year 2011 off with some concept art!

These background concepts are for the student film Mother's Craft by Kevin Hobson. These are images of the interior of the house, where the majority of the film takes place.

I tried to create the props in a way to make their combination in the house equally homey and humorously "witchy". The two characters in the film are witches, but as you can see, they keep a tidy house.

the room is actually a normal rectangular room; I have stretched out the perspective in both of these images to get a clear idea of the prop layout.

These designs are in no way final; there have already been some changes made in the last week or so. But you'll see how they develop in the coming month.

Sleeping Bear and Happy Portrait

2010-12-27T21:27:00.002-05:00

Winter is time for hibernation.

Both Photoshop; from life. At least somewhat.

Christmas is the time for Concerts!!!

2010-12-21T21:30:00.010-05:00

OK, so there was a Christmas concert up in hamilton... Orchestra, kids choir... this is boring, the better concert is the second one.

one of the girls in the kids choir had HUGE hair.

and it was cute, so I made a character out of her hair. I think she probably lives down the street from sour berries kid.

So then there was a WALK THE MOON CONCERT AT THE MAD HATTER. An UGLY (or just misunderstood) SWEATER PARTY. and it was CRAZY fun. and I'm sorry for my handwriting; that's what happens when it's dark. Painted under my sketches in photoshop.

Everybody and the WTM dudes were sweaterfied...

Especially Sean. Kevin's sweater may have been pink, but Sean's had cats AND flowers. WIN.

the videos I took at that show are uploading AS I TYPE THIS. I got WTM's album at the show, as well as an EP by The Pass - love 'em both! Music is a wonderful thing.

Burning Things

2010-12-16T22:17:00.004-05:00

Drawn in Ballpoint.

Burning Christmas catalogs and ads is so fun, it's almost evil. MOOHAHA!

F*cking Shakespeare

2010-12-16T21:47:00.001-05:00

An intellectual discussion at the office.
Pencil on Post-it.

OH LORDY

2010-12-15T21:57:00.007-05:00

Lordy Lord... Lord of... Rings. Lord of the Rings.

drawings from The Two Towers.

Wormtail is surprisingly fun to draw.

So I showed these drawings to my Professor to make sure they were within the assignment boundaries, and he said "yes, but I wish you had more full-body studies and gestures." That was when I realized.... I should probably just stop watching Peter Jackson films for the rest of the quarter. :)

Here, have a hand, too. It's not going anywhere.

I'll have some o' those full-body type gestures up next. Donald O'Connor, anyone?...

The Great Sketch Dump of December 2010

2010-12-12T20:49:00.009-05:00

AND SO IT BEGINS.

...with a true story about a whiteboard, John Webber and manatees.

and a manic insomniac greaser dude named Neem. why Neem? it's fun to say. tried a color scheme for him in photoshop, looks pretty good:

and last for the moment, a collection of faces from around Montgomery Hall. Most on this page are from Jason Maurer's awesome Senior 2 class. :) (even more awesome now that it's finished!)

MORE IS COMING... BEWAREY. Random notes:

The Pass and Eat Sugar are two bands playing with Walk the Moon at the UGLY SWEATER show down at the Mad Hatter Saturday. AWESOME LOCAL BANDS YO! Check 'em out! If not in person, at least on their web-o-sites. :D

Also, band Pomplamoose is helping out with a book drive for a school in Richmond CA. you donate a book, you get to download their Christmas album for free! and I must say, it contains the most lovely sounds.

Can you tell I have this thing for music? Ta.

I was born...

2010-12-09T22:44:00.006-05:00

A UNICORN. A unicorn with a big butt! I found an old mix CD a friend made for me back in 2005 today, and it has the unicorns on it. they make me happy. :D

so, this random drawing is dedicated to the animation club at Walnut Hills HS. you guys were so fun!!! It's a usual thing for people to not know what I'm talking about, but it's unusual for them to actually be interested. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

SO, I've still got sketches from Webber's sketchbook to scan. I left Savannah before Thanksgiving, but it was only 5 days ago that I got to Cincinnati to stay (for the next month). Been rambling around Indianapolis and Chicago. I've gotten my computer set up now, but the pickle-scanner's still in it's box. that will be remedied this weekend.

I'm working for Plow Digital this month! I'm a temp/freelancer/intern to help them finish animation on one of their current projects - a Facebook game. I animated an awesome waterfall for it last week. My supervisor said "that's way cooler than what they're paying for". harhar.

ok peace out.

2010-11-15T08:44:00.002-05:00

OK dudes, the quarter is ALMOST OVER! I'll be getting my sketchbook back from Webber later today, so I'll have a METRIC TONNE (OK maybe not) of sketches to scan and upload; realistically not til after thanksgiving, but you never know.

To tide you over, HERE. have an AWESOMELY HAPPY music video by Walk The Moon. LOVE THEM. BUY THEIR ALBUM. :)

L'Illusionniste Review

2010-11-11T13:08:00.004-05:00

The first emotion that I felt when The Illusionist ended and the credits began to roll was pure awe. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so impressed with the maturity and beauty of a film (animated or no). The second emotion was depression. It’s difficult to believe that I’ll ever be able to animate with such control, beauty and finesse. Maybe I’ll just draw comic books instead.

The most impressive thing to me about the film is the visual style and execution of it. The backgrounds looked to be drawn in ink and then painted with watercolor; I assume with the ink and different watercolor treatments on separate levels. Watching the time of day or the sunlight change over the different locales the Illusionist and Alice visit made me catch my breath a few times. The animation itself could be described with a lot of the same words as the backgrounds – very subtle, with attention to detail, and enviable control. No movement is wasted with any of the characters – every movement that they make has something to do with that character’s personality.

Because The Illusionist has such a quiet story, it allows for humor at things much more subtle than outright jokes. Indeed, since the actual dialogue in the film is so minimal, there ARE no actual jokes. All of the comedy lies in the situations the characters find themselves in, and in the eccentricities of the characters themselves; and though the ending of the film is somber, it is a story with an unexpected amount of humor.

The scene that stands out the most to me for humor and suspense is more than halfway through the film. The Illusionist has just returned from a rather harrowing night attempting to be a garage hand. When he gets back to the hotel room that he and Alice share, she has dinner ready (prepared from a cook book lent to her by one of the hotel’s other eccentric inhabitants). Alice has made enough to serve several of her friends of the hotel, and is constantly going in and out of the room with bowls to take up to them. In one moment when she is gone, a breeze from the window blows the pages of her cookbook, and the pages rest on a recipe involving rabbit. The Illusionist – and we – are left in suspense for the magician’s rabbit; naturally he is loathe to eating his soup, and his worry and searching for the rabbit every time Alice is gone is just wonderful comedy. The timing of this scene – and all in silence! – is just perfect.

The overall story is such a difference from the majority of American animation! Probably due to it having been written in a much more subtle era of film. The majority of American animated features are a joke every other minute. This film’s story was so quiet, it allowed for attention to detail and humor in the smallest things. It also gave time to just marvel at the gorgeous artwork; to breathe and just LOOK. Some of the most memorable scenes were actually subplots with side characters – I don’t know if these little vignettes were in Tati’s script, but whoever is responsible for them did a wonderful job.

possibly still living

2010-11-11T12:49:00.007-05:00

All of the animation for my senior film.... is hereby FINISHED. *cockroach under my desk tries to chirp like a cricket and fails*. This has, in terms of workload/sleep deprivation, been my worst quarter at SCAD thus far, but it is almost over! With my senior film finished, I have only to take Craig's portfolio/reel/website/everything else class next quarter and I will be finished with my major. With that, I have three classes left to my Sequential Art minor and I will be, ladies and gentlemen, a SCAD alum. *cockroach scurries away under the bookshelf*.

If anyone is still around to read this after all the neglect this blog has gotten the past couple months, here's a doodly doodle of a girl who could possibly be named Anna Sun, after that Walk the Moon song.

Speaking of which, people, Walk the Moon's album release party is THIS SATURDAY. if you are anywhere near the Cincinnati area, you should totally go. They are the epitome of awesome, especially Nick, because I said so. Info about that show is heeyah.

Last week I had the immense privilege of seeing a TON of awesome moving pictures at the Savannah Film Festival; one of the biggest highlights for me being Sylvain Chomet's new film The Illusionist. It will be released in New York and LA sometime in December to qualify for the Oscar, but it is also screening at CTN Expo next week so maybe it's got a few more gigs around the country as well; I don't know. either way, it's a GORGEOUS film (by Sylvain Chomet, it's impossible to not be gorgeous). if you have a chance to see it, please do. I wrote a review of it after the screening, and will post that up here in a little bit.

ta.

The FLASH MASTER

2010-10-12T11:20:00.002-04:00

Drawn last year, brush pen... during one of Tyler's lectures. shaded today, photoshop, for another of Tyler's lectures. BOOM.

This is what I look like

2010-10-06T20:47:00.007-04:00

I need a haircut. Drawn in my little sketchbook... upside down. because I am a genius. Stanford Non-photo blue/Prisma Col-Erase pencil. Ignore the paint blotches; they're from me slapping some not-quite-dry watercolor doodles on my scanner for a project for Walk the Moon.

Back to The Story Ship...

Color Treatment

2010-10-05T01:25:00.006-04:00

Today is my widdle brudder's birfday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN YOU ARE 14 WHICH MEANS I AM EXTRA-OLD!!!! Oh wait, it's 1:30 now; so your birthday was yesterday now. Whatever.

here we have color treatments for a teeny illustration in my senior film... for continuity's sake, I was going to use brown; but honestly the blue looks better. what opinions have you, internets?

BLOOD SPLATTER YAY

Build your house on a firm foundation

2010-09-30T21:23:00.014-04:00

A series of illustrations for a teeny-tiny little section of my senior film. Thank you Troy for teaching me how to draw water!

Warmup of the day

2010-09-29T20:29:00.002-04:00

Book Toss

2010-09-28T23:00:00.003-04:00

Haha, I forgot about this. This was the final project for Troy's 2D Effects animation class this past March. Completely killed a hardcover copy of the Goblet of Fire shooting reference for this.

Take-React

2010-09-28T19:40:00.001-04:00

For Webber's 2D Character I class....

An American in Paris

2010-09-27T10:10:00.004-04:00

some sketches from the titular "American in Paris Ballet/Dream Sequence" from that movie. for Professor Webber's sketchbook. :)

2010-09-19T09:32:00.000-04:00

Warmup of the day.

O____O SCHOOL

2010-09-12T17:45:00.004-04:00

AND SO THE FINAL YEAR BEGINS!!!

I feel like I haven't been in school for a year, but it's only been 6 months. I guess because it's been an eventful 6 months. At any rate, I start back tomorrow with 2D character animation I, Senior Project 2, and history of animation (which I've been saving for YEARS to take during senior 2).

and now, my star wars RPG character. she's a force witch. :D

Margot Tenenbaum part deux

2010-09-07T17:01:00.002-04:00

used an old photo as reference for the backdrop.

I collect old photos - 19th century-50s, but my favorites are 20s-30s. I'm thinking of starting another blog to catalog and share them with the world...

if and when I do, I'll give the link here :)

Rhys

2010-09-07T16:36:00.006-04:00

Back in 2007, as a project for a photoshop class, I used Gail Carson Levine's book The Two Princesses of Bamarre as basis for a bunch of character designs and such. so, here's a BLAST FROM THE PAST!!!

some of these are ok, and some I still love, but some make me wince. :)

Elf slightly goth

2010-09-07T13:08:00.002-04:00

warmup of the day.

Animation for The Story Ship going swimmingly! I hope I can keep up something like this pace once school starts next week. o___o

Margot Tenenbaum

2010-09-06T18:37:00.003-04:00

A portrait of guess who :) it isn't finished - this is only the flat colors. I'll be painting a lot more texture into it.

I also did another Blanche drawing, but this is the only good part of it:

9-3?!

2010-09-03T09:27:00.004-04:00

It's September 3 already. Time sure flies when you don't want it to. :P

Animation is moving along for The Story Ship; I've finished cleaning and coloring one scene and compositing another, but I'll have to get permission from my boss to post stuff here (and try and remember a good compression method so that I can actually upload the clips. :P)

Here's another spare-time monochrome Blanche doodle:

And now, a rant! I don't know what all music you listen to, dear reader, but I have noticed in the general populace of young adult America there is an acute lack of classical music. I'm not talking about movie soundtracks, here! I'm talking about instrumental music written for the sake of music. Like abstract painting just for the sake of color.

I don't like all classical music, but in general I do and I have a good group of favorite composers, and a ton of respect for ALL composers whether I like their music or not (probably stems somehow from growing up with 12 violins and 5 pianos in the house).

ANYhow. Here's some good stuff, I guarantee - music that is emotive and sounds like a story; my favorite kind. This is a list I put together for cleanup animation:

And none of it comes from a movie soundtrack, by gum! With the possible exception being Bernstein's symphonic dances; but really what Bernstein did with those was take the most prevalent themes from his musical West Side Story and rearrange them into a classical suite. picky, picky. :)

and speaking of music, this is rather intriguing - Brian Wilson reinterpreting George and Ira Gershwin! I'm a much bigger Gershwin fan than Beach Boys fan, but this really sounds neato.

Macaroons

2010-09-01T21:27:00.007-04:00

AUUUGH I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S SEPTEMBER ALREADY

also, RENEE IS AWESOME

O HAY look, Brian Lee O'Malley totally drew me and I look awesome:

heheh. that was fun to make. DANGIT I SHOULD'VE MADE MY HAIR GREEN OH WHY oh why am I in such an allcaps mood? ...Interesting.

ok bye!

cleanup

2010-08-30T12:34:00.006-04:00

So, this is what I've been working on for the last half-a-week... and the cleanup is almost done on this shot, thank goodness. then on to the next!

This is a girl I saw at the grocery yesterday... all I remember was she had short reddish hair, a narrowish face, gun tattoos and a green shirt. I made the rest up.

ARM

2010-08-25T19:17:00.004-04:00

Animation is in full swing for The Story Ship! on a break, I felt like drawing an arm. so here you get a Blanche doodle. GOODBYE!

I looked up a little bit of Jazz Maynard earlier today (though not much) so that was the beginnings of inspiration for this cel-shaded monochrome goodness.

I get the weirdest draw-cravings sometimes...

By the bye, I've been listening to the SEQAlab Podcast while doing cleanup animation - it's really entertaining and informative. They won't be recording new shows until fall quarter so I've actually been re-listening to some of my favorite shows, and re-listening is good because I'm exquisitely talented at forgetting things. And it's also where I heard about Jazz Maynard. YAY!

A Hoofer and Wes Anderson

2010-08-15T16:41:00.005-04:00

So, here's the sketch from Friday all colored up. yay...

...and a portrait of Wes Anderson. My roommate lent me like 5 of his movies, and I seriously think I'm developing a middle school crush on him. O__O

Showgirls

2010-08-14T00:04:00.009-04:00

BREAK from the wand of dreams. The inspiration for this sketch is equal parts The Producers, Fred Astaire, Lorelay Bove, UPA and lack of sleep. And also store-brand semisweet chocolate chips.

The little chorus girls were so fun to draw, I did a drawing of just them :D

Here's the sketch, for kicks

and a sketch of a chorus boy too :D maybe I'll color him tomorrow, he's cuuute. :)

the last of the crowd!

2010-08-13T18:32:00.004-04:00

for The Story Ship.

YESSS... this is the last of the crowd characters. now, back to the main ones! X___X

Story Ship Promotion

2010-08-13T15:15:00.002-04:00

more color keys

2010-08-13T11:02:00.003-04:00

for The Story Ship! Churning these keys out like a machiiiiine

and by the bye, Scott Pilgrim was quite good. I like the books better, but the movie still made me happy. and now I am very tired. :)

Glasses of Water

2010-08-12T21:13:00.003-04:00

...Is a really good song by Coldplay.

Was listening to the song, had an idea, drew it. eh. O__O

Not-So-Happily ever after

2010-08-09T22:36:00.003-04:00

yeah, it starts off pretty... but there's trouble a-brewin'.

for The Story Ship.

Happily Ever After

2010-08-09T14:39:00.003-04:00

The opening shot for The Story Ship's new production. Whew!

Crowd Characters Part 1

2010-08-07T10:41:00.004-04:00

Taking a small break from backgrounds... here's a first batch of color keys for characters in the angry mob scene, with their weapons of choice. :)

All characters are for the new production for The Story Ship!

Backgrounds, backgrounds, backgrounds!

2010-08-06T20:37:00.006-04:00

OK then! Having obtained permission from my boss, I can now show the wide wonderful world what I've been working on for The Story Ship!

A good background doesn't have a point of interest; there is no real subject. a good background looks like it is just waiting for the character to walk in. saying that... just backgrounds can be kind of boring. but, here they are anyhow.

Note: in order to circumvent a ton of shadow animation, I deliberately left out most specific cast shadows; just leaving the atmospheric shadows. we don't have enough time to animate everyone's shadow. O___O so... it is perpetually "generally sunny" in fairytale land. :)

(Don't worry; there will be a phone in that phone-machine later.)

("what's with the pink doormat?" the mice are blind; how can they tell the difference?) :)

I just had a long scanning party for all of my character sketches for the crowd scene... you'll be seeing those in the next week!

2010-08-05T16:16:00.003-04:00

experimenting with flat colors like Lorelay Bove. (Peck 'N' Paw And The Black Mirror came in the mail yesterday :D ) Sometimes I wish I worked at Disney.

OK, back to backgrounds...

Scanner

2010-08-05T11:26:00.007-04:00

The scanner Pickles gave me is now (on the 3rd installation attempt) WORKING!!! so, I can scan some things that I'd been meaning to for a good while...

a self-portrait from back in March when I was drawing Tim Burton-style for one of Larison's projects:

The cover of the Walk The Moon minicomic i've been putting together:

and a sucky little journal comic from a couple weeks ago at Gordon's house.

Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

2010-08-02T14:55:00.004-04:00

This is what happens when Montgomery Hall is closed.

being used to games like Legend of Zelda and Pokemon where it can take 60 hours and upwards to beat the game, this was a completely new phenomenon to me.

Ben Lapps Album

2010-08-02T13:07:00.004-04:00

hey blogosphere. Yet another project has come my way - young guitar picker Ben Lapps, who attends my old high school, asked me to do the packaging for his new album which he'll be recording in September. so, here are some color concepts that we will NOT be using. :)

Walking Downtown

2010-08-01T17:06:00.001-04:00

7-6-10

2010-07-24T16:33:00.002-04:00

(Sorry Foy)

WOOT

2010-07-20T09:06:00.002-04:00

YESSS. Montgomery Hall access gained!!! I now can readily use a scanner.

been working on some character concepts for my bestest friend Amanda Scott, who is an awesome writer. once I get some more drawn those will be up!

SNEAKY PREVIEW: the character's name is George, and at some point in the story he parachutes out of a Cessna right before it crashes into a cliff. :D

Like Lightning page 1

2010-07-16T10:31:00.004-04:00

Speaking of "Like Lightning", I just realized I have a finished looking draft of the first page that hasn't been posted. the 5th page also is far enough along to have a look at.

for review, "Like Lightning" is a 9-page full-color comic about a photophobic man who finds a lightning bug in his dark room. when night falls, he leaves his haven to try and find the lightning bug a new home.

and here's a WAAAAY rough sketch of the cover.

sketchy dump

2010-07-16T10:06:00.005-04:00

sooo, I *acquired* access to a scanner this morning and was able to scan in some stuff that I've been wanting to, including a non-sucky rescan of the short comic I made based on Walk the Moon's song, "the Ballad of Sebastian Jackson". (yeah, you see that comic in the blog shoutout about me? that's the sucky scan. cuz I had a sucky scanner. there are ton more tones in there than what came through. but this one looks oh-so-much better.) I'm thinking of printing it as a minicomic; gonna ask Nick if he wants copies for the band merch table. INDIE COMICS AND INDIE MUSIC TOGETHER!!!!

and here's a character design I've been messing with; inspired by black-and-white photos of Audrey Hepburn and Cyd Charisse. man, photographers used to know how to PHOTO. they kept it simple. I love all those old BW publicity/portrait-like photos. so clear and awesome.

I honestly can't remember if I've posted any drawings of her before, so here they are again. o___o

her name is Annabel. there's a story for her mouldering in my cranial cavity.

and now, some random stuff. A house next to the church where my brother takes violin lessons:

also, here are lame character sketches of my titular photophobe for the story "Like Lightning" which I have been digitally painting for some time and it is taking FOREVAAAAR. oh well. it'll be done eventually.

the character proportions are inspired by The Windwaker concept art. those dang Nintendo people are AWESOME.

The Story Ship

2010-07-13T11:40:00.004-04:00

Woohoooo! got started yesterday evening on the project that Zelda Vinceguerra and I have been hired for - nailed down some tentative character designs. we'll be starting storyboarding this evening. I'll check with our boss as to whether or not we're allowed to post concept art etc. on our blogs... stay tuned!

In the meantime, I'm compiling a couple new minicomics and really need a scanner.

ciao!

Diddlebop

2010-07-08T20:05:00.002-04:00

after being visually assaulted by submissions for Sketchoholic by Chrystin, Matt, and Zane - pretty much all at the same time - I figured I should prooobably check it out. :D

sooo, this is for the shut up and draw contest of the day! time to put those typing and babysitting muscles to rest and get the drawing and animating ones up to scratch once more. .... looks like it may take a little while. :D

THOUGHT PROCESS ON THE DIDDLEBOP: when I read the word diddlebop I first thought of little bunny foo foo, bopping whatever on the head. (yeah, I was a Barney watcher about 18 years ago. looks like some of the other participants were too.) :) and then the word itself, diddlebop, eventually struck me as something that Dr. Seuss would make up. so, there you go.

Excuse me while I go put some aloe on my delightfully tomato-shade of sunburn on my left arm. yup. I'm back in Savannah!

Colourz

2010-06-15T22:44:00.004-04:00

quick quick... some old drawings colored for practice. :)

Youth Orchestras of Northern Cincinnati

2010-06-12T08:57:00.006-04:00

is an organization/kids orchestra that my mom and her friend Carolyn Quinn run. and they're darn good, so they deserve a darn good looking brochure. :)

the wonky violins were fun to draw.

in other news, I'm watching "The Spirit" movie, and it's GORGEOUS. Gorgeous LOOKING. the first 5 minutes and 30 seconds are all right, but after the opening credits are over... well. nobody can deny Frank Miller's a genius for layout and cinematography. it just can't make up for the awful story. doesn't mean my eyes can't be inspired though. :)

Very, Very Betrayed

2010-05-22T12:33:00.003-04:00

For some reason, this morning I felt like drawing something somewhat finished-looking; and also dramatic/violent. So! more concept art for Matt Scully's story "Iron Maiden". :D

as far as I know, the Queen doesn't technically get shot when she's betrayed. but, this was fun. referenced a bit of Hades animation by Bolhem Bouchiba for her expression.

nature girl 01

2010-05-19T21:46:00.001-04:00

used photos of ornamental grass for the fill. (I think I took those photos at the Cincinnati Flower Show.)

SKETCH DUMP

2010-05-16T21:16:00.012-04:00

been moleskine-sketching like a fiend, in allllll sorts of places!! not to mention all the stuff that's oozing out of my head all the time.

crowd people and Walk the Moon dudes (concert in Newport):

Walk the Moon dudes and crowd people:

character concepts on sticky notes and sketches from Mason HS production of Annie Get Your Gun:

random stuff from Union Terminal Museum and a Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra May Festival rehearsal:

more CSO rehearsal, which took place in Music Hall (which is a lot taller than I made it look):

some Seedy Seeds, Mad Hatter crowds, and some random chick from my head:

....and Josephine Baker.

I'm not sure if the Josephine Baker is due more to the documentary I watched about her yesterday, or the sketch that Chrystin did a while ago. or maybe the sketch subconciously got me to watch the documentary.

whatever. :)

Groggy Peekie-Lookie

2010-04-28T22:09:00.004-04:00

"Groggy? at 10 pm?!" "yes. I've been up since 5, so shut up." <3

so this is a screenshot adding textures to what I've been working on lately; backgrounds for Chrystin Garland's senior Film. I'll post the finals if she says I'm allowed. :)

Piano Recital

2010-04-23T22:07:00.003-04:00

MOLESKIN SKETCHING!
so I went to my brother's piano recital this evening, and LO there were children sitting on a piano bench, SITTING STILL, for a whole minute or MORE! so that is why here we have a lovely example of "A Lot Of Children (almost) All Doing the Same Thing (And a Dad)."

in less interesting news, I've been listening to Owl City's song "Tip of the Iceberg" over and over and over. it's like a story... I can see it in my head when I listen. I'd really love to do some sort of story animatic to the song (not a full-scale animation - won't have time, and I'd rather be paid. :) so, here are some character sketches.... the boy is based on Adam Young, a bit, naturally; the girl is loosely based on mah boss-director Chrystin that I'm currently drawing backgrounds for. because she's 100% awesome and 100% adorable.

there will most definitely be AE snow. and something to do with ice skates. :)

Waking Sleeping Beauty – a rambling, ranting review (since that appears to be the only kind of discourse I’m capable of creating.)

2010-04-14T20:56:00.003-04:00

By Lauren Rasmussen, 4-14-10

The last movie review that I wrote was for The Secret of Kells. I wrote that review because Jacques told me to. This one I’m writing because I said I would.

I saw Waking Sleeping Beauty at the Lucas Theater in Savannah; the screening was sponsored by the Savannah College of Art and Design, the wonderful and expensive school I attend for 2D animation and sequential art. I went to the theater with a group – we were rather early. I stepped out to the entrance of the theater to make a phone call, when a friend poked me in the arm and said “do you see Don Hahn standing outside?”

I instantly commenced quaking in my proverbial boots (literal tennis shoes). Don Hahn? The producer of Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame? HIM? HERE??!?! Well, there he was; on the sidewalk talking to Professor Moorshead. As I continued to quake, Professor Jantze walked out to join them.

I’d only seen Mr. Hahn live (sort of) once before – a webinar that the Animation Mentor school did a year ago about the release of the Walt Stanchfield duo of books that Mr. Hahn and compiled and published. Over the webcam, he gave a presentation on the importance of gesture, clarity, and solid drawing skills that are gold to a good animator. (I took notes). All the other times I’d seen him were DVD extras. But now, here he was IN PERSON, standing outside the slightly-scruffy Lucas Theater talking to my professors. I quaked and geeked and squealed to Professor Jacques in the theater lobby, until he finally got impatient and said “so go and say hi to him!” So I did.

I must’ve acted like such a nerd; oh well. I know Don Hahn is just a normal guy, like my fiancée and my dad and everyone else. So I’m not really sure WHY I was so nervous. No matter. At some point in the short conversation I said I would write a review, so I am, starting NOW.

Waking Sleeping Beauty is about the changing state of Disney animation between 1984 and 1994. The changing state being, of course, going from a ragtag and nearly doomed department of really old and really young artists to a huge, flourishing animated movie house that the world would not be the same without.

The documentary uses nothing but archive footage, both professional and personal, to tell the story of the time; with voice-over interviews by the players. The use of only archival footage and voiceover with not one present-day “talking head” in sight was immensely refreshing and effective. It both saved a ton of screen time and effectively put the audience into the mindset of the film – a reminiscing; a looking back. The film overall also did a wonderful job of staying neutral – I think in the largest part because the views of the people who were all butting heads at the time were each allowed to say their piece, and they do so with feeling, but not with anger or animosity. I guess time is a good healer.

The film is informative in a way no DVD extra with an animated movie could be – it examines the politics of the studio throughout that 10 years, and the animated films produced serve as almost bookmarks to note what year it is as the artists just keep working and getting better. It also takes time to step back from the politics and talk about technological breakthroughs that shaped the animation department, while the whole time managing to be genuinely funny and entertaining while the people from the animation department have genuine fun themselves. (That is to say, if the artists are having fun, so are we.)

In summary, Waking Sleeping Beauty is a great memoir, documentary, drama and work of art all rolled up in a truly entertaining movie. (Be aware, this is coming from a certified Disney Geek, so I could be biased. Possibly.)

There was only one thing I wished as I was watching – as archive video and photos were shown on the screen, often the person narrating at the time and anyone they talked about would be labeled in the images, but nobody else. I’m beginning to think this is just my geekiness taking over, but I wish that the other people in the photos and video had been noted somehow – especially that photo of the first graduating class from CalArts. I just think it would be fascinating to be able to know who everyone was, because so many of them are still well-known in the industry today and it’s so fun to see where they started and know where they went. (And for recognition purposes. That 80s hair makes people look so different!) But who knows, maybe that will be an extra option on the DVD. I sure hope so.

Go see the film if you can! It’s wonderful! And shake Don Hahn’s hand if he’s there.

happenin' happenings

2010-04-14T19:53:00.004-04:00

A drawing of Blanche; pose inspired by Wybie in Coraline. Warming up to work on backgrounds for Chrystin's film Ma Monde. i'll have to ask her if I'm allowed to post those on here. :)

in other news, I'm back in Cincinnati for a little while - not sure how long. I might MIGHT be getting a freelance animation job from a really nice guy who's based in Savannah, so I'll be moving back there with Renee and Kyle if that pans out. if not, I'll be staying at Standex Electronics for the rest of the summer. at least it pays all right.

in other OTHER news, I shook Don Hahn's hand Monday evening. EEEEK!!!! I'm still geeking out! I got to talk to him just before the screening of his film Waking Sleeping Beauty. I said I would write a review for it, and I did; so that will be posted next.

we'll see what other exciting things happen the rest of the spring and summer.... If I could get married, that would be awesome. unlikely, but AWESOME. man, I really want to be married. YOU HEAR THAT, MATT? I REALLY REEEEALLY WANT TO MARRY YOU!

sigh.

Ta ta for now!

"Like Lighting" thumbnails and page

2010-04-01T12:36:00.009-04:00

A 9-page comic called "Like Lightning (or The Firefly and the Photo-phobic)".

So, here is the comic story in thumbnails. I wrote it this past fall and Professor Kneece said that it was pretty good, So I'm going to try and finish it off for the career fair next week. whether or not I finish on time is a bit... spotty. I'll do my best.

And here is one page that's completely done! Page 9. Always do the last page first.

Through the Door

2010-03-10T17:32:00.008-05:00

Final for Larison's Vis. 1 class. we were instructed to draw in a style not our own; so for inspiration at the suggestion of a friend (thanks Scully!!!!) I turned to Tim Burton.

Note - as for style of figures, his style is all over the place. it's a testament to how versatile he is. so, I picked an odd melding of "Vincent" and "Corpse Bride" looks, with a heavy, heavy dash of Burton textures.

Kitty

2010-03-10T17:26:00.001-05:00

life drawing with kitty. this is the one that fell out the window. she can be very entertaining. :)

Justin Time

2010-03-10T17:15:00.007-05:00

so, THE QUARTER IS OVER!!!! I only had to pull ONE all-nighter, and that was last night. x_________x

I do believe I never uploaded this story. written by Professor Guildersleeve, it is specifically designed to flummox young sequential artists. also, it's rather silly. but whatever. :)

warren county fine arts festival

2010-02-28T12:43:00.004-05:00

QUICK! ONE MORE POST BEFORE FEBRUARY IS OVER!!!!

so, I hope to be selling watercolor paintings at the Warren County festival of the arts in June. here are the pieces I sent to the jury:

$38

$45

hoooooow how how do scanners ALL always chew up and spit out my watercolor colors? they look better in real life, I promise. :P

(this last one isn't actually for sale; it was a gift for my fiancee.) <3 <3 <3

fantastical creatures

2010-02-21T00:28:00.001-05:00

I seem to have a thing for fairies lately....

Ahab!

2010-02-20T23:02:00.010-05:00

For Larison's class - from a script for a comics studio in London. I can't find the name of the studio, though. rrrg. if you know, please tell me! (if you can recognise anything my my sucky art.) <3

Sooooo.... trying something a bit different, in terms of character design at least. the character designs are heavily inspired by 50s animation. (Amid Amidi's book "Cartoon Modern" is AAAAWESOOOOME) the backgrounds, however..... well, one thing at a time. :)

Thumbnails:

Tight Roughs:

Fire and Smoke

2010-02-16T10:39:00.003-05:00

yeah.... check it out! cool! hooray! *dies*

I truly wish I had more time to update. perhaps this weekend... maybe.... ;___;