2-7-09: New York Comic Con

I went to the New York Comic Con the previous weekend and had a blast. There are so many talented artist there. There is also a bunch of weird people walking around and it was fun to people watch. I finally purchased the "How to Make Web Comics" from the Web Comics Weekly crew and got a sketch in the book from Scott Kurtz and Brad Guigar. The only problem is with the sketchs in the book I'm afraid to mess the book up by reading it.




The highlight of the Con for me was seeing Joe Bluhm work. I first was introduced to Joe Bluhm online. He's a illustrator and caricature artist out of the New York city area. I think I found out about him by listening to Stephen Silver's podcasts. His youtube videos are great and super educational. I bought his book Sketch Infectus and watched him do caricatures of con attendees. He worked in pen and colored pencil sticks. As he worked I noticed that he always did a quick gesture drawing on a separate piece of paper before starting in with the ink pens. The gesture drawings were really amazing and I was interested in what he was going to do with them. When I asked him he said he was planing to throw them away so I asked him if I could have them. He seemed to be a little puzzled as to why I would want them but gave them to me anyways. SCORE!

2-5-09

2-1-09

1-30-09

1-29-09

----update-----
This isn't a Warren Millar quote after all. It's from the Three Stooges.

1-28-09

1-25-09 Annual Ski Trip part 3

What a great trip! I wish I had more time to spend with the family in California.

1-24-09 Annual Ski Trip part 2

1-23-09: Annual Ski Trip part 1

1-20-09: More to come

I've stockpile several more cartoon journal by accident. Well not really by accident. Lisa and I were just trying to catch up on Lost. Here's the first of many more.


So this entry wasn't exactly something that happened to me. I was just listen to This Week In Tech and I thought Mr Laporte had some funny advice.

More New Jersey sketches

Here's another quick little animation I did this weekend. It ended up taking longer than I originally planned. Mainly because I was on the phone with my cousin Jerrod while I finished it up.

Happy New Year

It's a new year and I had a day off. Here's a little animation I did in 1 hour.

I went home for Christmas

I went home for Christmas. Then I got sick again. I must be allergic to not animating. I'm always getting sick when I'm not working!

More New Jersey sketches

Speakeasy FX

The other day was the was the 75th anniversary of the 18th amendment that legalized alcohol and unofficially closed all the speakeasy in the country. But Speakeasy FX is still going strong. Check it out. They even list little old me!

http://www.screenmag.tv/feature.aspx?fid=2816

Back from the Dead . . . maybe

I'm finally getting situated here in New Jersey. Animating for Speakeasy FX is great. We have a great team and there is only one guy there I really don't get along with. That guy happens to be me so there's nothing I can do about it. I haven't been doing too much outside of work, but I've been trying to keep up my "draw everyday" credo. Not having the time I would like to do my animated doodle comics, I've started doing sketching out quick drawings of my day-to-day experiences. Here's an assortment of those sketches.

Chowder!

Animated Doodles

Sorry for the poor reproduction quality but my scanner's in another state and all' I have is my little point and shoot camera.

It's Been A Busy Month

I've been busy at work and trying to finish up an animation for the Animation Mentor Alumni project so my blogging and my comicing have fallen behind a bit. Sorry. Here's an update of what I've been doing . . .

A couple of weeks ago the animation team at DXD went on a pilgrimage to Laugh-O-Grams studio. This was Walt Disney's last animation venture before he moved to LA. Over a half century ago, years before Mickey Mouse was thought up, Walt was slaving away in Kansas City.

From right to left: Steve, Lee, JP, me, Tim, David, Chris M, and Chris S (big thanks to Carson and Tim for the pic)

Animated Doodles

Sandbagging It

Being a freelance animator does have it's challenges. Like when your living in another state for a short period of time, how do you get a good workout in? I've be doing Crossfit for the past 6 months as way to supplement my mountain bike training. But here in Kansas I don't have access to my brothers Crossfit gym. I tried to do equipment less workouts for awhile and that was fun, but you can only do so many push ups, sit ups and squats before your mind starts to wander. So Joe sent me a link about working out with sandbags. It only cost me about $60 for 200lbs of sandbag fun. Here's a picture of some of what I used to create my sandbag.




The sandbag definitely adds another element to working out. Keeping proper form is a bit more challenging. On lifts that start on the ground you have to get down way further than with a bar. Grip is a big issue. Not only is it more tiring my first approach lead to bloody knuckles. I've got that figured out now. Grip does slow you down a bit because every time you drop the bag picking it back up takes a bit longer as you have to go through a little process. That process might be avoided if my outer sandbag fit the inner sandbags better. I have to watch out for the metal clip that secures the top of the duffel bag. It really surprises you when in hits you in the mouth. Also it can be harder to "rest" with the weight. Say you're doing a thruster, it is difficult to hold the weight on your shoulders because the weight is constantly wanting to shift around. But honestly it is a lot of fun. I think everyone who does crossfit should give it a try to throw in an extra variable into the mix and help you from getting stale.

Yosemite!

I've been animating in Kansas City at DXD for about three weeks now. But before I left for the home of Superman and Dorthy I went backpacking in Yosemite. Here's some pictures.

Driving into Yosemite Park.

.

5:00AM on our way up to the top of Half Dome.

The Poop Mules! (see below)