Play on, play ooooooon ...

Voodoo by D'Angelo is my favorite album of all time. For better or worse, it almost single-handedly made me the music junkie that I am today; constantly searching for something that'll make me feel like I did when I first listened to Voodoo. With this digital painting, I tried to convey how the opening track, 'Playa Playa' makes me feel like I've been transported to some smoky jazz club. That opening still gives me chills more than a decade later.

I also used this to experiment with using a monochrome underpainting. I'm not really satisfied with the way it turned out. I think it looks OK when scaled down, but sloppy when blown up to full size. But I've already spent too much time on this and I need to move on to something new.

Sketch was done on paper, then scanned, cleaned up, and painted in Photoshop.

The Big Ol' London Olympic Sketchdump

It's several weeks late, but here are some of the results of a couple of weeks of sitting in front of the TV, trying to capture the thrill of victory and agony of defeat with whatever drawing utensils I had at hand. As you'll see here, I spent most of my time doing super quick and dirty figure sketches, trying to capture athletes in motion, as well as some caricature and likeness drawing here and there.

Badminton. Why was I watching badminton?

Gymnastics. I need to remind myself that the way these people can flex their spines is not something I should apply to when I draw normal people.

Volleyball. I swear I only enjoyed women's beach volleyball because it's a competitive and intense sport

Swimming. The 'dolphin kick' was my nemesis.

Track & Field. I think that's supposed to be Usain Bolt in the center.

Vertical

I bought an Ergotron LX arm last year after seeing this miraculous piece of video and thinking that it would solve my possibly-OCD need to have my Cintiq sitting at the same level as my Macbook display. Alas, the only successful examples I've seen of the Ergotron + Cintiq setup have been with the larger 21UX and now I know why. The 12WX just doesn't put enough weight on the arm to maintain a comfortable drawing position.

So I finally decided to try switch things up after the Ergotron tried to punch me in the face for the thousandth time. It's OK so far, I guess. The vertical arrangement takes some getting used to, and I'm missing the ability to rotate the Cintiq 90º. But my drawing sessions no longer involve bobbing and weaving, so ... progress?

... but I am keeping the Ergotron on the chance that I somehow find enough money to afford a 21UX. How much are kidneys worth these days?

Dynomite! Dynomite!

I was inspired to try to create some pixel art after seeing this piece of fanart on the Black Dynamite Facebook feed. I originally wanted to do an idle animation, figuring that this pixel animation stuff is kinda primitive and couldn't be that hard. But after three hours of work, I realized that pixel art is no joke.

My goal was to make something that matched the Street Fighter Zero/Alpha style and had a Ryu sprite sheet from that game to use as reference. But it's really not that close. I'm not feeling the pose either, so I have a feeling that I'll be revisiting this at some point in the near future. 

Baby got back

Back study that turned into a painting exercise. Even after this, the human back remains an area of great wonder and mystery.

Painted in Sketchbook Pro.

Bunches of Punches

Here's an exercise that I did recently to evaluate Toon Boom Animate and practice some action stuff for whenever I get around to doing something with Kinniku Fighter.

2012 California International Animation Festival

I'm proud to announce that The Turtle and the Monkey was selected for the 2012 California International Animation Festival. The festival itself is actually a month-long event in which the selected films are shown on KAZV-TV in Modesto, California at various times throughout the month of June. The Turtle and the Monkey falls into the "General 1" block which includes films that the festival committee rated for ages 7+. This block of films will be shown on the following dates:

• Friday, June 01, 2012 - 1:00 PM
• Thursday, June 07, 2012 - 1:00 PM
• Tuesday, June 12, 2012 - 1:00 PM
• Monday, June 18, 2012 - 1:00 PM
• Saturday, June 23, 2012 - 1:00 PM

KAZV can be found in the Modesto, California area on Comcast Channel 195 and broadcast channel 14. Sadly, I live only 15-20 miles from Modesto and can't get this channel :-/

All films are eligible for an audience award, so please vote for The Turtle and the Monkey if you feel so inclined.  Voting is open until June 30, 2012.