I don't really review movies but I have to say that Dreamworks latest movie is strong beyond belief. I saw it on opening night with my wife and we were both blown away. It is the kind of movie that would make a kid want to be an industry creative or just work in the arts on that type of production. Its good to see a well balanced animated movie with action and heart. When you get on a roller coaster and you want to go again, that was a well constructed ride. I am really excited to own this movie and I am hoping that they put out a good double disk, but that is not really a Dreamworks thing.
I must have liked it a lot to do a drawing based off of the movie..shiiii
Moving forward together!As creative people we all have ideas that we think are good and will enhance the team’s efforts.There has always been a major issue when everyone has a “good idea”… the issue being too many chefs in the kitchen.The team members have to come together at some point on the strongest idea and most of the group needs to step back and let the leaders push forward.So it may not feel like you are moving forward together but for the sake of getting things done efficiently, most of us have to bite our tongues.
This is not a bad thing; it is just the way it is.A lot of studios have been developed out of the frustration of working for the larger ones.The feeling of not having your ideas heard leads to a lot of creative people wanting to get their vision out to the public… “let’s start a studio!”Eventually that studio will also become a place where other ideas are placed on the back burner because no matter where you are too many chefs spoil the soup.
Moving forward together is not about everyone having a ‘say’… it is about everyone on the team working in their role to the best of their ability and understanding the goals at hand.When the time comes for you to have your voice heard, make sure you are able to articulate with a sense of the higher level goals in mind.If you are asked to share your visions with the rest of the team, put your best foot forward and then you may get a bigger chance to shine.You will inspire others to do the same and make the team stronger.
One of the biggest components of a strong team is the bond. The bond is built by the coach...team leader...etc. They are in charge of creating the foundation, culture, and path to success. This task is what will help make the team feel secure and believe in the leadership. Then the team relies on every individual.
The team looks to each other as family. Of course there will be disagreements (just like a biological family) and other issues that arise but everyone understands that no one person is above the team. If anything, the team members will push each other to be better. If the team members do not believe in itself entirely or if the bond has been tainted in a way that makes the outlook towards success questionable, then failure is eminent. Not because the team is going to purposefully do a bad job, but that the COMPLETE FOCUS of the team is not on the finish line. The vision becomes distorted.
The focus goes towards selfish reasons to do a good job.
If the opposite of the above is in place...the focus of working hard becomes selfless and leans in the direction of making something great that the team can be proud of. Over time something great happens... the team begins to learn from each other and understands how one another thinks. The bond becomes very strong and everyone is making the trek towards the finish line TOGETHER with the intention of winning. The formula is pretty simple: take care of your people and they will take care of you.
So many times I sat and worked with the making of stuff repeating over and over. Glen and Bruce popping up on the screen and making animation sound like the best job in the world. Andreas speaking on the animators that came before us and being so passionate about the work. So many animators who passed through the doors of Disney and left some kind of mark. The privilege of being around the guys who got learn from the 9 Old Men or the few that were still around to learn from is priceless. I had a taste of that history, that effort of passing down the knowledge that was given long ago. Sitting talking with Glen and Bruce have been some of the greatest moments in my animation career thus far.
I have no idea what my fate is going to be at the studio... but what is fate...
these are some of the main keys for the dancing part... I am flushing out the turning around to begin the dialogue. It is taking forever to work on this but its nice to do so when I have time between walking a tight rope.Man it has been several years since I have "really" animated some refined 2D work. hard to see this clip..whatever
I finally got tired of looking at the lame logo at the top of the Pencil Test Depot. This idea was inspired by a character that BJ is going to animate for the site at some point. In the meantime, I wanted to get something up there that had a bit more fun to it. CLICK THE PIC and check out some of the new posts!
Don't hurt your peers if you are at a studio by spreading negativity... Don't be a cancer and make the people around you feel bad about where they work. Do your co-workers a favor .... shut up!!!
knowing where to push the face and body has been an ongoing process for me and it will probably continue for a while. I found that drawing has helped me more and more in CG animation. The biggest thing I have found to be helpful is pushing all areas of the body to make a powerful impact. It is really fun to go way beyond with extreme poses and it is challenging to find the right balance sometimes; especially when dealing with realistic looking characters. Finding landmarks has been around since animation started. Using areas of the face and body that can be distorted and taken back to their original position is a great tool. Anyway, I was just drawing a bunch of stuff thinking about what I need to work on tomorrow in my shot and this is one of the few things I sketched.I am actually animating Rapunzel at the moment so this was just a test since I cant really show any of my pre pro stuff from the movie.
I have been reading and hearing a lot of conversations about studios, layoffs, projects, and so many negative things about the animation industry that my head hurts. All the conversations led to someone asking me why my reel was not posted on my blog so that studios could access it easily. I don't like thinking about reel too much, especially while I am trying to animate. Everyone thinks of their work differently and how it makes an impact on them personally. At the end of the day, we all have to find jobs and provide a good life for our families. Their are a lot of people I look up to; animators and artists a like. Most of the influential creatives have always tried to make a personal achievement within their work. Trying to perfect a brush stroke, sculpting the human form with precision, understanding anatomy through drawing, or just pushing the next level of your acting.
So it is just my opinion that focusing on what will look good on my reel will distract me from pushing my work. I like to say to myself..."focus on the subtext of your shot, the performance, make sure the mechanics are working, and think of interesting ways of handling your characters.... and guess what will happen...."
I have been trying to work really hard at the office and the days are flying by. I was on Facebook and I have to say it was pretty cool to meet up with people you haven't seen in years. As time passed I began to not speak to those people as much and they spoke less to me. It is just what it is... you grow apart from people and create lives as adults. Its cool to link up every once in a while to touch base. My career has taken me far away from where I grew up and only so many people stayed close to me. With that being said, Facebook has become another distraction for me personally. The constant glance at the site only to see someone has gained 100 crops in Farmville..? WTF is Farmville or am I just becoming old. It was fun while it lasted. I have to focus more than ever in 2010 because my family needs it.
Today was the 44th day at Disney... no there is no significance to the number or day. I just was curious about how long I had been there and to be honest it feels like I have been there for years. Everyone is open and the team is pushing together. I have been working away on my shots that are due this week; polishing and refining stuff. Even though the picture looks like I am going crazy...it is probably more like the stare of go hard or go home. I made this sketch between playblasts. I will do another sketch on day 88 or maybe sooner.
this is probably going to take me forever just because the amount of work I have to do in the studio and my thoughts are really focused on that... but I want to create this 2D piece as well so I am using whatever little time I get (between work and family) to create it. This is the second key pose out of the 6 I have made so far. I am exploring acting choices that will fit with the dialogue I recorded. I remember reading up a few animators that I look up to and one of the things that holds true is the amount of time spent finding those poses that will make the character come to life. I will keep trying to push and hopefully this thing will come out moving... I will try my best for believability.
well I guess this is an idea that is carrying over from the end of last year, but it is still new. The character designs and head model sheets I created for the cartoon version of myself are for an intro. (link the the head sheet: HEAD-SHEET) Between working at the studio and writing, I have been trying to hash out what the intro should look like. I got a flash and something came to me a few days ago. I roughed out a few versions but I think this was the one I am leaning more towards. This is just some rough thumbnails of how I see the character coming into the frame and starting. It should be a really short 2D animation but I want it to look as professional as I can get it. This is good for my nephew to see and hopefully he can use this in the future.
I think it should come out ok, but I am really going to have to squeeze it in since I am going to be working a lot of hours. Sunday nights look like my best bet for trying to get this idea finished...
I was going through old sketchbooks and notepads. Besides a bunch of stories and character designs I found something I had no idea how to create at the time. My first job in the 3D animation world was at a start up game studio. I was thrown into the lead animator roll after a few weeks and it was a true learning experience. I had no clue how to create an animation pipeline that would be effective for getting us from the beginning of the game to the end. The pipeline had to show the back and forth between the different departments and not just what the animators output. I wanted to post this because it is kind of a release to see that I could do this. I really appreciate John Sicat (EA Creative Director now!) for giving me the chance to prove myself. We have been good friends since then. You can do anything I guess when the pressure is on you to perform. Like Al Pacino said in Devils Advocate, "...pressure changes everything....some people focus..others fold"
researching some stuff for work and drawing some ideas..but I took a break and kept drawing. I used to love the Looney Tunes stuff that was drawn in the real world even though it looked odd. For some reason I was amazed by it and still at that point I didnt know I could do animation for a living (very young age). I found some fantastic stuff and I think it is really going to help out for next year. I will probably stop in the office tomorrow and work out some things that have been popping into my head over the weekend. I also had time to help my wife out with a logo for her math education blog.
If you have kids and need a good way to get them excited about math, my wife is creating an area that will give exposure to great ways of learning math. It incorporates real life situations, videos, and information that can help them excel in class. I will give an update when it goes live. Here is a sneak peek at what the logo looks like so far.
Aww Man homie... I have not been posting much stuff here or the Pencil Test Depot, but I did put 2 new pencil tests up go take a peek at PencilTestDepot. I showed my first shots for production today. 6 shots for the movie within the same sequence. I blocked out all six and wanted to show them before the holiday break. I didnt want to come back and have to wait for the directors to see...or just sit on the ideas that long period. I was able to show and got some good notes that I can hit the ground running when we get back. This wasnt the first animation I showed. The first bit of work I did was with the main villain of the movie. That test got sent off to simulation so that we could see everything working as a whole. I cant wait to see what it looks like.
Anyway... feels like going to the office everyday with the "Bruce Leroy" glow! Excited to be at work and eager to keep pushing forward to help make the production be something we all can be proud of.
Animation has always been a big part of my life. I used to sit in front of the TV at a young age and watch anything that was animated, even episodes of My Little Pony. I just loved cartoons at a young age. When my mother couldnt get us toys she would give me a stack of paper and pencils. Being a teacher, my mother had more than enough of both. My grandmothers house was just another place that fueled my head with ideas. Now that I am working as an animator, I think back to all those days. The moments of trying stuff, mimicking other artists, and just being curious. Animation is hard work and it is work that I love. I try so hard to be better, more creative, strong mentally, innovative, and so many other things to be good as I can be. Staying humble and remembering the struggle is what keeps me going day after day. I remember eating crap and staying up until the sun showed up for a new day and how that was a regular way of living. For me, animation is hard. I try so hard to get the ideas and character out of my mind and on to the screen, I am literally drained by the end of the day. I try hard because I want my mother and brother to be proud of me. I want my grandmothers to smile down on me and be happy their grandson is still trying. Trying to be someone they can be proud of.
The holidays are creeping up and I have been grinding at work pretty hard. Going in early and trying to push. I hope everyone gets to have a good holiday this year. I drew another yearly HOBO SANTA. I have a few of these I draw during the holiday season... something about the holidays and hobos... This is not the happiest mixture but I always find it interesting. I am in the middle of coloring this one... fingers crossed for the outcome.
***Disney Update: I have been working on a something to hopefully help define one of the characters for the movie. Its not set in stone but I have been getting some really positive feedback and I look forward to really trying some powerful acting.
So today was my first day at Disney and I was pretty 'geeked up'. You are already siked about it but once you walk through the doors its an even better feeling than you expected. Met with some old friends and spoke with Glen K. My friend and I walked around the studio and he introduced me to some of the team. I have to say that the projects look amazing and the artists are at the top of their game. Walking into an "animation" studio with so much history...a history that I have soaked up for a long time really hit me hard. I am eager and excited... a bit more than excited. My office door is open!
On another note... more art for JBToon and one of the last Key Frames from a test I am starting.
After playing with the shapes and placement of things, I think I got a good workable head. The rough drawings really felt good when trying to discover the best turning shapes. This was always one of my favorite things with 2D animation; creating the model sheets. It can be tough trying to figure out how the character turns, but the discoveries are worth it. There may be more evolution when the animation is started and I sure it will be for the best.
the day I was leaving to come back to California I did a sketch of my wife and I. She says I never draw us so...NO.. I dont like drawing myself. Just is a coincidence this month I guess. I made the cartoon version and played around a bit more. Kind of like our Cali post card. Dont be surprised if this gets used for parties or some other kind of invitation (insert address here). You see I left some space... ok.. back to drawing model sheets. oh! and I just realized that the shirt I am wearing is damn near the same color as the logo dude..uck
When I started getting the 2D animation bug again, I started playing around with a thumbnail mock up of sorts. Just playing around with some ideas and thoughts.
So in an effort to continue pushing my animation skill set I decided to create an animated intro for this site. Began to work out the facial shapes and structure. I have to refine the placement of everything so that the character will be solid when I start the animation. The body is still a work in progress. Not sure if I want to go with the thick to thin arms or anatomically stylized. I am going to be way more anal in this animation than the pencil test I posted. That was a fun exercise that got me really pumped to animated full steam ahead at home and work. (DONT FORGET TO SPEND TIME WITH THE WIFE SUCKA!!!) This should be an interesting undertaking after all of these years but there are no real excuses not to do it. Anyway..there will be some more stuff to come as I press on. Thanks to BJ for some extra inspiration. THE NEXT PHASE OF THIS FOR ME IS TO DRAW OVER THIS SKETCHES AND REFINE THE FACE SO I CAN ANIMATE IT EASIER.
In a few weeks I will be starting my position as an animator at Disney. My career has been a journey that seems to be never ending. I started out chasing the dream of becoming a 2D animator and always had Disney in my sights, but there was a time when 2D animation was coming to a hault and I had to jump on the computer if I was to have a higher chance of working as a feature animator. The funny thing is the entire time I was in Los Angeles I never applied to Disney. I can honestly say if it wasnt for one of the Disney featurettes, I probably wouldnt have continued to animate. I remember sitting in my room in grad school night after night getting frustrated, but I saw this guy on one of the DVD's and I was blown away even more. The idea that he was working there gave me more hope of being an animator. I started to really focus even more and pressed forward. NOW the idea that I get to work a long side soooo many people I respect is a major thing, not just in my career but my life as well. I try so hard not to take for granted what I do for a living. We as animators/ artists are given the opportunity to do something that is rare. Some people got on the path easier than others and some get there by sweating for it. Either way you have to appreciate what you do for a living and remember to continue to do what got you to this point, because it is what made you.
When I first started animating I was turned on to these pencils... Black Warrior... I have to say that I became addicted. When I moved up to the NW, I had a panic because only office stores carried them and none of the stores here had them in stock. I had like 3 pencils left and the way I sharpen pencils...the go fast, even with the pencil extenders. Well obviously this character isnt me but...eh
this is the full concept of my front page. I made it in 3 sections so that I could play with the depth of field. This was actually for a larger concept that I had, but here is a piece of what I was thinking before the color
since I have been in transitioning and living in temp housing...I have been drawing on an ironing board and sometimes taking my laptop, opening a blank page, laying it flat open, and using it for a lite table. I guess its roughing it, but its better than drawing on the floor...been there, done that...but it does remind me of my childhood laying on the floor and watching cartoons.
I remember working on a project and someone talked about how storyboards were overrated... I felt disoriented and dizzy by the statement, like I was about to go into cardiac arrest. I know not every story person works with boards, but I know most AT LEAST work with thumbnails or beat boards to visualize their idea. So in essence, they are working with a type of story board.
the blue col-erase 20044. Sounds like a weapon, but I guess for most artists it is. This is has been my choice for many years. Even before I got deep deep into animation I used to mimic the comic book artists who had rough examples in Wizard magazine. You can see it all overFlorian Satzinger'sblog (great work). A definite must have for all artist and animators who love to draw, but there are a few similar pencils that 'kinda' have the same feel... buy em' by the box because they go fast (CLICK ON THE PICTURE)!
So I have had a lack of posts here on my blog, but putting a lot of posts at the Pencil Test Depot I am sure that will slow over the next month. I am moving back to Los Angeles and I have been preparing the move as well as mentally for the next part of my career. A lot of research and sketching... It has been an eye opener and refreshing to get back into the student mind state. I have always put it in my mind that I have a long way to go in my animation career (I will probably still be saying that at age 60). Funny how the path has been...and I have to thank my wife for being very strong through this transition. Its funny to see how you inspire someone with drive and passion...at the same time how you are inspired by someones calm and peaceful outlook on life. The perfect balance and another reason why I love my wife. New posts soon...
I created this blog because I was tired of going all over looking at pencil tests. I also have a bunch I have collected over the years that I will share with all of the people who like looking at rough animation by good animators. I have always found them very valuable and I have always studied them. Now there will be an easy way to access them from anywhere.
I was going through some of my old folders and found concepts from a project that never took flight with this online group. The concept was pretty funny, but you know how things go sometimes...draw draw draw and nada. Its cool though..I was excited at the time..."the experiences thats all you have are the experiences"
this was the fourth character design I created months back and when I started to do his head turn sheet, he needed a hat. I based his first hat from Lee Van Cleef then tried another. Ultimately I went back to my first idea. The other designs will be show in the sketch files/ making of.
so the short that I co-directed with Andrew Burke and Aaron Halifax got leaked early on the internet. The writing was done by Erik Wolpaw and Jay Pinkerton...funny stuff. Major thanks to Lars Jensvold, Jason Brashill, Mike Stevens, Bill Fletcher and Keith Huggins for helping us make it come all together.
so I have been wanting these for my collection for a while.. I saw the Calvin and Hobbes collection a while ago but it is was some $$$ and something always came up which stopped me from purchasing it. Luckily Nicole remembered that I wanted it and gave me a good surprise. Two good surprises! I had a feeling that the Batman Animated Series: The Complete Collection would be released as a bundle but it was just a speculation. A few months ago I saw it and was geeking, but still didn't want to shell out the ends at that time. If you love animation and art both of these are worth the money. I fell in love with the animated Batman and Bruce Timm's take on it. I was in high school when it came out and I watched it faithfully everday after school. So many cartoons mimicked the style after and Bruce set a trend.
Calvin and Hobbes is an American icon that I think if you are a fan of comics you should get it. The skill of coming up with short, funny, and clever ideas for strips is a great skill. Inspirational is the only word for it. Bill Watterson also hints to why he has never let anyone touch the characters. I am glad that they have not been animated. I know people have approached him to have them hit the tv screen and movie theatre, but I believe he has made the right decision in holding on to his work ....as is...
So I have been doing a lot of stuff at work and a big part of it has been doing beat boards and story boards. I can't say what it is for but you will get to see it soon. It has been taking time away from personal work a bit, but it is helping me grow in different areas. Our team is becoming tighter knit and we are moving forward with a lot of good ideas. Especially with all the economic issues going on..it is definitely good to be where I am at..and doing what I am doing.
