Cigarettes and Old Books

This past Tuesday night, my friend Vanessa took me to this figure drawing session being held in the warehouse district downtown. It was held in someone's (awesome) loft, 10pm-2am; a 4 hour pose in 20-30 min sessions. Costumed models and good music (along with bitchin views of the city) made for a nice evening. I'll have to come back again next week, if I can keep my eyes open past 11! The theme from last week was, "cigarette girl." Just some different styles...I could not, however, do the curly-haired model justice, so she turned into a creepy old woman in my drawing :( Poo.

On the literary front, (well...sort of) I have been trying to listen to "Wicked" the novel by Gregory Maguire, on someone's iTunes at work. It started out strong, but quickly spiraled into an abyss of unending conversations about philosophy. Maybe it was just the fact that it was a book on tape, and I wasn't free to read at my own pace, but by the end it was Wicked vs. me, in an epic battle of will:
Me: "I swear to God, you will TURN AROUND AT THE LAST MINUTE AND BE INTERESTING!"
Book: "No!"
Me: "Then I have no choice but to LISTEN TO YOUR NEXT INTERMINABLE CHAPTER!"

In the end, it was a draw I suppose, because the entire book wasn't loaded yet, and it turned out the first 25 segments were just part I, but man, what a disappointment. But maybe I'm judging unfairly. Perhaps I'll give the actual book a go once I have a little time to read.

On Top Of Everything Else...

"Mind the Kitty" has been pushed back yet another week, so today was a day of copious Puffy animation notes.

But no matter. Here's some mediocre animal drawings from the LA Zoo on Sunday. I really need to get out and draw more animals. Compared to my stuff from this time last year, I haven't improved much--if at all. Here's a few samples, though...it was hit and miss. I didn't like my Dr. Seuss-y camel at first, but he grew on me :P

New Pitch!

I've started a new board to pitch to OY! I've heard that they're more willing to work with people they've already picked than anything else, soo....worth a shot, I figure! This one is called "Emma and Squirt," about a little girl and her little sister...who is really a cat in a human body. These panels are a montage of them getting ready in the morning, before they go outside to play and their adventures ensue. Since OY doesn't like "origin" stories, I figured showing Squirt acting like a cat compared to Emma acting like a human would get the point across about her being half human, half cat, without going into detail about how she got that way. What do yall think?

In other news, my own dear kitty is getting her teeth cleaned today. Poor kitty! :(




**UPDATE: I also forgot to mention I got to peek in at an advance screening of Corpse Bride last night! Amazing animation and design, although I do agree with other reviews that said the story fell a bit short. The songs as well can't measure up with "Nightmare," but then again, what can? ;)

And the kitty is just fine, and her teeth are squeaky clean! >^_^<

Family Portrait

A family portrait of sorts....awww! I went to my first all-staff meeting yesterday for OY! (Oh Yeah Cartoons) It was a HUGE group, and I learned all sorts of exciting things, like all the publicity blogs they run for the shorts at DeviantArt and Myspace, how diversity is a GOOD thing, and how your sound fx engineer and your composer will inevitably kill each other if left alone in a mix booth for any period of time.

It's a little sad to think that in a few short weeks, these guys won't really be mine anymore. Well, they will, of course, always be in my head, and I'll always love them to death...but Nickelodeon will own their images. When I draw them for the next few years, I will be drawing a Nickelodeon character, not just my own doodles. It's such a strange feeling. My little family, owned by a corporate behemoth! Aaaa! Run!!

Seriously, though, it's a fabulous experience, and a dream come true! I wouldn't change it for the world. :)

Lemurs and Ducks and Bears...Oh My!

Just had a schedule meeting yesterday for "Mind the Kitty!" I've nailed down my co-director and layout designers, as well as what I'm doing at Nickelodeon vs. Renegade. I am soooo excited! My start date has been set again for September 26. I can't wait!

Here are some doodles of various lemurs and bears. Wee!

More Painting

Still trying to get my painting groove in gear...here's a sample from two weekends ago, at Point Mugu. Scott and I went hiking and I tried my hand at some painting on the beach. For some reason, I kept thinking of Bob Ross, that painting guy who used to be on channel 9. "Let's add some happy little waves here! Good, good..."

Also, thanks to one of my directors at work, the fabulous Lou Romano (of Incredibles fame) will be doing a couple of paintings of the Duck gang! I am sooo excited to see them, I can't wait! I also picked up Art of The Incredibles, which is chock full of art greatness. The maquettes at the front alone--wOw!

Nothing much new on the production front, still just waiting for a contract. I have, however, submitted my logline:
"Three friends take a babysitting job and discover their "darling" charge is anything but! What will they do? How will they survive? And, most importantly, when are they getting paid?!"

Na na na na....

Na na na na...BATMAN!

I just finished this ink/gouache drawing of Batman and Batgirl for one of the directors at work. He liked it so much he's going to try and get his friend (who did some work on The Incredibles) to draw the characters from my short for me! I'm also hoping he can convince him to do a few layout designs for me as well--and maybe a title card!

A few complications with the short today. I have to call Nickelodeon tomorrow and make sure they know that I still want to direct! Primadonna that I am, I can definitely accept some help from a supervising director, but I just can't turn over my short to someone else. When does an opportunity like this come along, anyway? Definitely worth it to take the plunge and hop into the director's chair...now if only I could convince them that my hiney belongs in that chair!

Another Sunday in Glendale

Some crazy abandoned houses I passed yesterday while walking around Glendale. I spent the morning at Borders, taking cheap, illegal photographs out of art books I couldn't afford to buy, in order to gather some reference for "Mind the Kitty"s overall design. I may, however, go back and pick up "Art of the Incredibles" after payday next. I also discovered that Borders has no art books, aside from a few "The Art Of ___"s and some "How-to" animation texts. I was sorely disappointed.

After that, and mostly on a whim, I walked up Glendale avenue and decided to make a pilgramige to Walt Disney's grave. For those of you who don't know, Mr. Disney is buried at Forest Lawn Glendale in the Freedom Court...but I'm not telling you where the grave is. ;) It's much more satisfying to come across it yourself. I will say, however, that it is outdoors in one of those mini-courtyard things. Anyhow, no bolts of mysterious paranormal energy or enlightenment from beyond, but it was a nice walk and I got some great shots of the architecture and the L.A. skyline.

Breath of Fresh Air

So I guess some supplies and troops finally made it to New Orleans a week later...about time, yeesh. Earlier in the week I was toying with the idea ofphysically driving down with a car full of supplies--until I learned that, driving an average of 90 mph, it would take me roughly 21 hours of straight driving to get there. *sigh.* Well, at least I did what I could.

It's been really hard for me to get excited about drawing this week; there's been a sizeable funk hanging over everyone--understandably so-- and so I haven't done much. I've been doing a lot of browsing around at Cold Hard Flash and the Corpse Bride website...tons of animated goodness to be seen at both places! Here's to next week, and all the fabulous, wonderful drawings that will be created :) Until then, here's an older drawing of the Duck gang, off to see a movie--in an homage to a Wombat ad by Arthur De Pins.