AM Weekly Sketch: STAR WARS!

Don't have much time so I won't say anything more about this than Chewbacca is awesome. On another note, blogger now lets you upload movie files so I'll probably start posting more homework.

Beaver and Steve #300!

My favorite comic (web or otherwise) these days Beaver and Steve reached the 300 comic milestone. That's quite an accomplishment for a creator who pumps out two comedy infused comics a week for no pay other than the glory lavished on the creators of web comics. Here's a link to number 300. Enjoy! I command you!

Siggraph 07 Here I Come!

I leave in eight hours for the AM Graduation ceremony and the Siggraph 07 conference. I'm super excited! I've really been cramming today to get my demo reel, resume, and cover letter in shape. You can check out my demo reel here (or click on the link on the right navigation bar).

http://www.jakekalsbeek.com/temp%20demo%20reel_ex.mov

Octopus Attack version 2

I got some great suggestions and comments from some of the comic pros on the flight forums.

http://www.flightcomics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=107612#107612

So I made a quick second pass on the Octopus Attack comic. I decided that Andrew's suggestions about the impact of the octopus grab really required a complete redrawing of the entire comic to get it right so I just tried to make the best of what I had. Also Andrew's comments about the panel where he flicks on the garbage disposal would require me to pull back the camera and break the rhythm of slowly pulling in. That might still be the best way to go but again it would require me redraw the entire comic to keep a consistent flow. Or maybe that flow isn't as important as I think. Either way I decided that having a tentacle wrapped around his head might be a nice compromise even if it isn't the best solution.

Octopus Attack

Here's a short comic that a made to work on my storytelling skills. Haven't you ever wondered how a garbage disposal works? Or worried what if whatever was inside the garbage disposal got too hungry? I do it's what keeps me up at night.

AM Weekly Sketch:Fighters

Just playing

Drawn in pencil, painted in black and white then scanned and colored in Photoshop. I'm trying to learn about color . . . and value . . . and I guess texture too.

AM Weekly Sketch: Weight

This weeks topic is weight. I guess a proper animation student would have drawn more of a force in action drawing, but I just had the urge to draw a fat cowboy.

Wall E viral marketing add

I want a Wall E!

AM Summer Sketch

Elephant was the topic of the week. I quickly sketched out an All-Star inspired mascot.

Bobby Chius video podcast

Bobby Chiu's video podcasts are always fun to watch and inspirational. He's sort of a modern day Bob Ross.

Zombie Quiz

Well it looks like I have only a so-so chance of survival when the zombies attack.

59%

This week's sketch club theme was "tattoo". I'm not a big tattoo guy so I went with an Animation Mentor themed tattoo.

Two More Paintings

A whole week of no school! That doesn't mean I don't have anything to do but it is a lot easier to procrastinate and play with no deadlines looming.

McCloud

Lisa and I went camping last weekend with my brother Joe and his wife Kate and my Mom and Dad at one of my favorite spots in the world. McCloud is in the Mt. Shasta area and is a really cool place to relax and check out a part of God's more wild creation. I've never kept a sketch journal of a trip before and thought it would be fun. Here it is. Enjoy.

My brother Joe wanted to start the campfire with a piece of flint. It is alot harder than it looks in the movies. But gasoline helps.

My beautiful wife on a hike we did on our first day up there.


This is my attempt at drawing a 4 legged 3 tentacle Wollywompus. But don't blame me if I didn't get it perfect, the little guys don't hold still.

There was this log laying across the creek that we had to cross. Getting down the other side was a bit of a challenge.


Our second day up there Joe, Lisa and I hiked on the east shoulder of Mt. Shasta. We hiked up to around 9,000 feet at the edge of the tree line and were surrounded by snow and rock. The last 5,000 feet of elevation looked intense.

On our way down Lisa used her wind breaker to slide on the snow part of the way down. This was the best way to get down the ridge we climbed up but it started a mini avalanche/mud slide that made a crazy sound.

Joe likes seasoning.


Camp on the third day.

I went on a ride and while I was "crushing it" over a bumpy section at around 20mph my chain got caught in my front derailure and my pedaling motion sent me flying over the handle bars. Luckily I was thrown about six feet further than my bike and the trail broke my fall. I escaped the whole affair with a flat front tire, a bent front derailure, a minor sprained wrist, and a few scratches.

My Mom scares easily and Joe got a little carried away.

Drifting and I see you

I finished these guys in May but I forgot to scan and post them.

Attack of the Paper Owl

Awesome!

AM Short Update!

http://www.jakekalsbeek.com/AM/609VV_spline_ex.mov

Here's the latest and sort of greatest. I'm working on getting it into spline mode.

Castle and A Glass of Liquid

I haven't posted any of my sketches from AM's weekly sketch thread/group/association/thingie. So here ya go. Actually the thread has been pretty quiet lately, which is too bad since drawing is so important to animation. But if you don't believe me about the importance of drawing maybe you'd believe these guys.

Temple of the Seven Golden Camels (read parts 1 and 2 of this post too)

Spline doctors

The more I understand animation the more I realize how hard it is to get right. You have to be a master at so many things before you can master animation. I admit when things get crazy I don't get to draw as much too. But even a couple of minutes here and there is better than nothing.

Calvin and Hobbes Cartoon?

Is this for real?