a few props

a few bg designs

here are a few initial bg designs...

some pre-pre-production

here are some original pre-model sheet development drawings of these characters when i was still playing around with their designs...

leroy and sb mouths

here are some mouth charts i did for these guys.
i never did a profile for either and only a front for sharkbait cause i just couldnt see myself using that weird looking front or profile view for leroy at any point.
if you ever want to mess with your mind, try doing a rotation with a character whos features dont actually work...zoink

leroy dorsalfin

i thought id start posting a few things from the new project im working on called "leroy dorsalfin".
these are my original model sheets for the two main characters, Leroy and Sharkbait...

since ive been working with these guys for the past few months, these models are feeling a bit dated, partially because after drawing them over and over i can now see all of my mistakes i made with these original turn arounds.
but i figure i will try to post what i can in the order that they were created, which might be a fun way to see how it has evolved along the way.

i realize i never post any artwork on this blog anymore...

but here is a nice little write up about county ghost on 4mations...

vote for the ghost

county ghost is 1 of 20 finalist in the anima mundi internet animation festival.
if you wanted to click on over and give me a vote any time until july 25th, i'd be happy to have you do so.

thanks!

gravediggaz

i got inspired last night to do a quick drawing in dedication of one of my favorite albums of all time, the gravediggaz' 6 feet deep... from back when hip hop was still fun to listen to.
if anyone is feeling like they could use a punch of awesomeness in their day, i strongly suggest finding this album.

county ghost 4 on the fred

annecy screenings

its a busy little weekend for my films
cuddle sticks will be playing 7 times over the next few days with 3 different venues in annecy as part of the politically incorrect program, the spike and mike program, and the animation film party, and the county ghost episodes 1 -4 will also be playing back to back to back to back at the le comptoir de la folie ordinaire on saturday night.
hot holler!

supa rain

my friend jamie aka "hobo divive" designed a character called "supa rain" and has suggested downloading it and using him in your own way...
so here is my version

if anyone else has a few spare minutes in their day,
i would urge you to pop over to jamies blog and try one yourself!
no drawing needed!

just another day in animation

so i recently got an e-mail from a skateboard company that i did an animation for in the past who asked if it was cool if they posted my new animation on their site.
obviously not understanding, I said "sure, but what new animation?"

as turns out, someone had done another animated short and posted it on newgrounds based on the same character, and "inspired" by mine.
and by "inspired", i mean traced "or possibly trace bitmapped i cant tell" frame for frame my walk cycles and poses.

which, to be honest didnt really bother me that much.
the character isnt mine, and im all for fan art style projects.
but with the world being the fair and just place that it is,
this fellow has pulled in 133000 hits and was posted on the main page of newgrounds with 350 comments about how great his animated short is that he just traced off of my work,
while my original animation, is sitting on youtube with about 3000 views.

well BRS from Whales....
alls i can say is,
youre f*%#king welcome.

two more from yester...i mean a few years ago...

a little interview over on the VFS site

a little interview i did over on the v.f.s. site where i pretend to know what im talking about...

me cameos...

here are some screen shots of a few of my 15 minutes of fame when some designers decided to add me into the background of their shows.

the first one is from a show called olliver's adventures (im the fella in the grey hoodie looking mesmerized by the fancy juggling) which i believe was drawn by curtis carey.

and the second is from an episode of yamroll (id be the sushi on the right with the larger size headphones) designed by ariel villaverde.

both stunningly flattering of coarse.

some mouth comps for those dudes

hellfire and rain

since ive been having so much trouble with color lately, i thought it justifiable to make a character out of a rainbow.

i hate color

so, ive been doing pre-production of my new project for the past 4 or 5 weeks now.
script done, models done, rotations done, props done, bg locations done, and now voice records done.
so today is the first day of "color", and i gotta admit, i havent felt as lost as i am right now in a long time. if you ever noticed, i like to stick to a few colors that i am comfortable with and pretty much hang out in the same area of the color palette no matter what im working on. unfortunately this project takes place in a bright sunny atmosphere with white clouds and beaches, which is a drastic change from the normal browny darkness that im used to.
so i am feeling kinda completely out of my element here, and am realizing that where in the past, i would mix in darker tones to add depth, adding white doesnt work oppositely to make something brighter. it just washes out the color that you originally had.
this is messed up!

earth science

here is a little animated intro i did for a friend of mine who asked if i would help make something for his clothing line called earth science that he is doing in conjunction with a shop called livestock (which is a canadian sneaker store if you are unfamiliar).

a little bit different than my normal cartoonery, but a fun change of pace.

H is for HUH????

a few more from a random notebook i found...

some of my work at various venues

a few of my films will be playing at the following festivals and events over the next few weeks. it doesnt look like i will be able to attend any of them, but would still be happy to have you show up and support some great animation celebrations.

annecy animation festival june 8 - 12th in annecy france


the red sticks animation festival in baton rouge april 22nd - 25th.


the melbourne animation festival june 22nd - june 28th


animation industry night next thursday the 23rd in toronto


in portland may 1st as part of the spike and mike festival


comic con 2009 as part of the spike and mike program july 23rd - 26th


also, one of my cartoons was the 5th most watched on the 4mations site last month, which means i won an award!

a few cottage sketches

lettuce and tomato

the original title of this post was "vegetables", until i remembered that it should actually be one vegetable and one fruit.
in case you also felt it odd that a tomato isnt actually considered a vegetable, i found this...

The confusion about 'fruit' and 'vegetable' arises because of the differences in usage between scientists and cooks. Scientifically speaking, a tomato is definitely a fruit. True fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, and contain the seeds of the plant (though cultivated forms may be seedless). Blueberries, raspberries, and oranges are true fruits, and so are many kinds of nut.

still though, i just cant see myself putting any of those in my fruit salad, no matter what "scientists" want to call them.

friends!

its been a busy week of moving, trying to enjoy the sunshine, and working on a new project, so instead of trying to squeeze out a random post about nothing in particular, i thought it might be nice to give an update on some rad projects that some of my friends are working on these days...

if you are in toronto on the 17th, magic pony is hosting a show by jon izen which i can guarantee will be worth a stop in...you can find all the info here.


yo gabba gabba just threw up an animated piece called "listen" by the ever talented lori d as well as a blog post about her cartoon.
no emdedding available, but you can watch the animation here on the yo gabba gabba site if youd like.


the forever on fire mr mirco just snuck up another "sloth in the city"... brilliant as usual.



alright, this is beginning to feel a bit like an animation news blog post, so ill end it here.
hope you all have a great weekend in the sunshine...

new chuck gammage site

chuck gammage recently released their new website in which i am one of the directors.
the studio is run by a great bunch of people and are a company that i am extremely proud to have a relationship with.
they have uploaded quite a bit of work that they have produced over the past few years to the new site, so feel free take a look around if you have a few minutes, there are some real animation gems up there to enjoy.