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.

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

The Poop Mules! (see below)

Backpacking and Batman

I'm going backpacking this weekend and so I'm going to miss the opening of Batman.

DXD Here I Come!

The reason behind my lack of posting lately is because I've been super busy getting ready to start a new job. Bright and early Tuesday morning I'm flying out to Kansas City, Missouri. I'll be taking on a freelance gig at DXD. I'll be working on their series called Rainbow Valley Fire Department, an education series that teaches preschoolers about fire safety. I'm super excited and ready to animate!

Unfortunately that means Louie is going on a bit of a hiatus while I devote my energy to animating. Comics are super fun but my first love and the job that pays the bills is animation. Hopefully I'll finish up Louie in 2009.

Pardon Me While I Bare My Soul

I have to admit that these last two blog posts came from Joe Carroll's blog.

Funny

Lack of updates

Sorry for the lack of updates folks. Regular posting should resume shortly. Don't worry I got some cool stuff up my sleeve. Here's a quick scribble I did of my favorite X-Man to hold you over.