Crash Bandicoot - Original spin sketches

Here's something for the Crash Bandicoot historians out there. More obscure development art I've rediscovered that's never been publicly seen before. 

This is from early 1995 in the days of Willy the Wombat. One of the things they wanted to do at the time was work out a motion for Crash that would give him the ability to spin as part of the game play. These are the initial sketches I came up with to help Naughty Dog with the animation. I'm not particularly enthusiastic about the quality of the art. I was just trying to communicate information that would be useful in the production process. The drawings themselves were loosely arranged on each page. I organized them a little more along with the accompanying notations for this presentation. I wasn't attempting to impress anyone with the images. If I knew back then that I'd be publicly featuring the sketches in the future I would've made a better attempt at drawing them out. Alas, it is what it is and they are what they are. So here ya go! I hope Crash fans will enjoy and appreciate them.

What are they talking about?

These little guys are the result of a class demonstration when I was teaching at California State University in Northridge back in 2007. I rediscovered them by perusing through my archives and thought they would make a nice entry for today's post.

Then I thought to myself... What could they be talking about? Lots of different ideas came to mind and then I decided why not turn it into a cute promotional ad for my school. 

Strange dress

Ever come up with a doodle and then ask yourself what were you thinking? That's kind of what I've experienced just now as I rediscovered a composition I created when I was learning Photoshop a few years ago. The initial drawing on the left was a concept sketch that I scanned and then used as a foundation to do some simple digital illustration.

J&K - The Road to Daxter - Part 1

One of the characters I had a hand in developing that turned out to be among the most lauded is Daxter from Jak and Daxter. He won the Best Original Character Award in 2002 at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, California that year. Something equivalent of an Oscar in the gaming industry. There was a lot of excitement about this when it happened.

I developed the look of Daxter over an extended effort providing a large variety of designs and approaches. A completely original design which I developed without any visual reference. Contrary to the text of the announcement Naughty Dog issued upon winning the award I might add. This is where the journey started. I'll be following up in days ahead with much of the work I did up until Daxter was finally realized. I generated more concept designs for this one character than perhaps any other character I worked on in video games. I won't be showing every design I created. Some of them I'm not happy with but the ones I feel good about I'll be sharing.

The road to Daxter started here with the sketches...  

Oldy but goody - When brush tip markers were new

Back in 1984 I was working on the second season of the He-Man animated TV series at Filmation Studios. One day a fellow artist introduced me to something I hadn't experienced before. Magic markers with a tip that simulated a paint brush. They're common today but back then they were a new novelty. Tried it out on this doodle for the first time. I used the marker to block in solid black shadow areas then embellished the light areas with some color pencil and a little white-out to give it life. I attempted to emulate a Frank Frazetta style. He was a great artist and perhaps the greatest fantasy illustrator that ever lived. I found this image in an old sketchbook I recently rediscovered.

Animation Day - Artist Power

I've always believed that art and animation can make a difference in the crazy world we live in. Back in 2007 I was conveying that message to the animation community through graphics I created for the concept of an Animation Day on April 1.

I started with this idea for a symbol of power for animation artists...

Then I added a floral pedal design emanating from the core graphic...

Then it became a nice little pattern of power flowers...

Wishing all the visitors to this blog well. Thanks for stopping by and spending time. 

Crash Nitro Kart - Road to Velo - part 8

Here's the last entry in the series of design work involving the development of Emperor Velo from Crash Nitro Kart in 2002. If you're familiar with the character and the game then you know that the Velo you were seeing was not the real Velo. It was a mechanical version of this fellow. A weak little megalomaniac creature who needed a robotic illusion to control his minions. This is the original concept sketch followed by his rotation.

Marker board notes

I thought it would be fun to publish some photos of the lessons I give when I use the marker boards in class. Sometimes I take pictures of my lessons to have them handy when needed. these shots were taken earlier in the year. They deal with character rotations and also facial expressions. they're from the Character Design 1 course I teach at my school The Academy Academy. Maybe artists out there can pick up on the lessons.

At Walt Disney's Grave on his birthday - Dec 5 2012

This is something different for the blog. Last week on Wednesday, December 5, 2012 it was Walt Disney's 111th birthday. Every year on that day I take a trip to the cemetery to honor his memory. Afterwards I upload pictures of my trip on the AnimationNation Forums which I've been maintaining since 1999.

This year I also recorded video of my visit. I have a strong affection for Walt and while I was recording the video emotions were high when I thanked him for all the good he's done while he was in this life. As a result I hesitated on posting video of my time at his grave but I've since dealt with my feelings about it and went ahead and shared the experience online. 

You can see photos and the video from my excursion to Walt Disney's grave by following this link to the AN Forum topic. Walt was a truly great man and it was a great privilege to pay my respects on behalf of the animation community.

Country bear couple

In 2005 I was teaching an illustration class at the Burbank Adult School. It was mostly a community service gig but it was fun none the less and got me involved with the local school system. While I was there I gave a watercolor demonstration during one of the sessions. I sketched out a simple concept for a country bear in blue pencil. Not quite as hillbilly as what you'd see at the attraction at Disneyland. I drew the image in a pose appropriate for CG modeling. Afterwards I redrew it on watercolor paper and applied pigment. I followed up with a female counterpart to the bear and thought they'd look nice together. Everybody needs somebody you know. Bears need bear hugs.