Another character concept

I think this guy would've worked out okay for the He-Man series or something along those lines. Another idea that can be worked up.

Marker board notes - 2013

Periodically I take photos of some of the marker board notes I make in class from my lectures in Character Design 1at my school The Animation Academy in Burbank California. Last year in December 2012 I posted some pictures in a blog entry. This year I thought I'd do the same thing from a few notes ranging through 2013.

 

Here's what I've learned while reviewing my notations. I like to use the image of a teddy bear to get basic concepts across. I place an emphasis on the importance of drawings hands convincingly. Sometimes I'll write down things that have something and nothing to do with the subject at hand.

 

Maybe some artists out there might pick something up of benefit from these notes. It was a good year at my school and I had enjoyed teaching some talented individuals who were a lot of fun to be around.

 

 

 



Thinking about characters

Now that it's the season I have a little more time to get into a creative mindset. I've been imagining different characters and sketching them out. Here's some drawings I came up with a couple of days ago. Not sure who he is or what he's about but the initial concept process may lead to an interesting personality down the line...

Exploring a character

I had an image forming in my mind so I thought I'd get it on paper. Turned out different than what I initially envisioned but it's a good result none the less. Blue pencil on 12 field animation paper. This is the composition as you see it starting with the large rendered image then to the bottom right then the two small studies on the left. He looks like an alien humanoid. I'll work on this further in the future.

Jesus concept - Christmas 2013

Well here it is another Christmas Day. I was thinking of creative ways to celebrate and since I had my acrylic paints out and some illustration board I acquired earlier in the year I though I'd have fun painting a picture of Jesus the Holy Man. My painting skills are a little rusty as I haven't done much of it in a long time. But I'm resolved to get back into the swing of tossing around pigments once again and this kind of study makes for good practice.

This is a pencil sketch that I painted over. I was striving to give him a mystic feel like he could look right through you. When the painting was scanned the colors were off so I had to do some adjusting in Photoshop to get the right effect plus I did a little extra tinting to push the contrast between the figure and the background. Analog with some digital touch ups. Turned out okay for a three hour sitting.

Happy Birthday Jesus and Merry Christmas to all the great folks I'm blessed to have visiting my blog. 

Peace On Earth 2013

Happy Christmas from ArtShark

For a long time ever since 1998 I was having fun with ArtShark. He's the character I created as a mascot for my school The Animation Academy in Burbank and has become a brand of the company. A few years ago in 2006 and 2007 I came up with versions of him to illustrate a Christmas greeting from the Academy. One was ArtShark as Santa and the other as a snowman.

Here's the color version of him as Santa Claus...

Before that here's what he looked like in final line...

And before that he looked like this in rough sketch concept form...

   And the following year this is how he looked in concept as a snowman...

And from that I went straight to color on Photoshop...

I always enjoy myself when working on ArtShark. Maybe we'll be seeing more of him in the New Year.

In the meantime...

Happy Birthday Matt

This is for long time member of my blog Matt from the Worthing Boys Club in the UK. Thanks for hanging out and for being a part of the creative experience here. Your birthday is December 21 as I understand so please excuse the day late entry. Hope you had a fun celebration!

Hello again

Hey everyone! Hope I haven't lost too many of you. It's been a crazy crazy month so far. Capped off by a major ceiling leak in one of my classrooms that caused a lot of water damage to some very important and expensive equipment. Only one cure for a bummer like this and that is getting back in a creative groove.

I hope you're doing well. Happy to be back and sharing some artwork. lately I've been inspired by some research I've been doing into the Impressionists and also art I've been seeing from fellow colleagues at the Burbank Art Association of which I'm happy to say I'm president. So I thought I'd treat myself to an evening of painting in the Visual Development class. It's been a long time since I got my acrylics and brushes out. I used a piece of illustration board and slapped some color around. This is the result after about an hour and a half or so. Maybe going on two hours. I'm a bit out of practice but it was good fun none the less. Will be doing this more often on a regular basis if I can. Depends if the ceiling panels cave in again or not.

At Walt Disney's grave on his birthday - December 5 2013

Howdy everyone!

Yesterday I took a trip to Walt Disney's grave on the occasion of his 112th birthday. Here's what it looks like...

I do this every year since 2008. I shot video of my visit as I did last year and wanted to share it with you. Unfortunately the video hasn't showed up on Blogger's YouTube search yet so I can't embed it at this moment but I will later when it becomes available and I'll edit the post.

Meanwhile you can take a look at how things went by watching the video below. I had a mishap with the flowers but everything turned out alright. I get a little emotional when I'm at his grave as it's an intense personal experience for me being that close to him. What can I say! I'm a man of passion. :) Plus I have a great affection for Walt Disney.

Hope you enjoy this and hope it helps you keep him in memory. Thanks for participating in the moment...

There are many people of fame and notoriety that are buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. If you'd like to see photos of some of the graves of a few famous people, I posted them at this link on the AnimationNation Forums...

http://www.animationnation.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5040   

Checking in...

Hello everyone and thanks for continuing to visit my blog. I've been meaning to keep on my schedule of daily posting or as close to daily posting as I can. Things have been getting progressively busier and the demands on my time are at the point where something has to give. I really enjoy posting art and interacting with you good folks and am actively working towards clearing away things so I can get back to it. Shouldn't be too much longer. 

Meanwhile let me say how much I appreciate the attention and the input you've given the blog in the year and a half that I've been maintaining it. This has been a great experience and a lot of fun. Something I fully intend to continue. Thanks very much and I'll be back soon. Thanks again.