Animation Drawings

HEY APATHY! Animation Drawings

Okay, so the story goes like this: for the past 8 or so months I have, among many other tasks, have been working on an extensive hand drawn animation. These films involve several thousand illustrations and take a long time to produce. In fact after 3 quarters of a year I’ve yet to actually make anything move. So under the mental duress of a mounting pile of un-photographed stills, in essence a movie lying dead waiting for the resurrection, I cracked. Putting the detailed and tedious work aside I grabbed a pile of scrap paper and decided to make this “flip book”. The goal being to see what I can make, start to finished film, in one day. Well the drawings were no problem but the transfer to video stretched out for three days before I got what I’ve posted above. The primary, if not only, reason for the extended work period seemed to be my slow learning curve on the software. I’m doing my best but I am terrible with computers.  At any rate the film is up and I think I could cut the post way down next time. With a tight ship and functioning computer I am confident I could produce shorts much better than this on a regular basis. Animation is fun.

Happy Birthday Mr. Ellis

Happy Birthday Warren

Weird Comics

Murals at Longboard Living

Mural

Comic Book Art "In the Trenches

Last week's late webcomic. Drew the damn thing a week early but never lettered it, got busy, and well the dogs ate the aliens who stole my quill pens ... more comics soon

Comic Book Animation tests

HEY APATHY! Comic Book Art

The CITY OF GEARS! From a distance the city reveals itself as an ominous gear propelled by an endless sea of faceless denizens. Who are these people? What is the metropolis? And where do I fit in? The “City of Gears” 3d animation (test shown above) is the first digital installment my animated artworks. Working with graphic wizard Laurie Ronne, we have started to bring the ink drawings to life. I have been working simultaneously on a hand drawn stop-motion version of the Gear and the two finished artworks will be displayed as a diptych. One of the most interesting aspects of the two interconnected projects is the real time comparison between the differing processes.

The hand drawn animation is a time consuming and labor intensive activity involving thousands of hand made drawings and a sort of improvised approach and aesthetic. I do all of the work for these animations myself, giving me complete control over the output, though that also means total responsibility for all menial tasks.

The 3D process, from my perspective, is almost the total opposite to the hand drawn production. In this case the majority of my process involves conceptualizing and describing the movements/ideas to the artist, like a film director, with absolutely no hands on work. Laurie then takes my instructions into computer land, makes tests and consults me. It is also an extremely precise approach and aesthetic in which little room is left for improvisation. The frame rates and movements must be mathematically configured to the finest detail in order for Laurie to recreate what I see in my mind. In the meantime I go back to the drawing table and two things happen at once.

Not only are the two drastically different approaches to animation being developed congruently but they are also moving towards a cohesive juncture. By using the same image for both the hand drawn and 3D graphics compositions the two pieces introduce a public conversation between the past and the present while also expressing a shift in my own artistic progress and ultimate acceptance of technology. The amazing outcome of these experiments so far has led me to insurmountable and indescribable ideas, plans, even schemes for future artistic assaults…

Comic Book Art Animation test

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HEY APATHY! Comic Book Art. 3d Animation test by Laurie Ronne

Comic Book Drawings, Process Shots and Camera Troubles

this weeks commission progress shots finally retreived from the camera, sort of.