Daily Crapbook

Just one sketch today- I'm very excited about Watchmen so I've been doodling toony versions of the characters. Rorschach is my favorite of the bunch, possibly because he's a version (even if a psychotic one) of the Question, whom I really really like. Or maybe I just like any character in a trench coat.

Daily Crapbook

I'm more than halfway done with the boards for "Monkey Rag". I've been busy with house-hunting these past few weeks so thats cut into my artsy time. Until I have something substance to show for my efforts, here are some stray doodles.

Daily Crapbook

On Valentine's Day, Nate took me to Paris on Ponce to see the Dames Aflame- Atlanta's premiere Vegas-style burlesque show. It was very saucy, very raunchy, but with that overall sense of fun and lightheartedness which I always liked about burlesque. There was one particular number I liked called "Doodlin' Away", an image of which I doodled when I got home. If you are in Atlanta and at a loss for a cool place to take your date, I gotta recommend the Dames Aflame.

Daily Crapbook

I love the Andrews Sisters, so Pandora suggested I try a listen to another sister act specializing in close harmony- the DeJohn Sisters. Their version of "Mu Cha Cha" is so infectiously delightful- I just can't get enough of it.

Daily Crapbook

The storyboarding is taking me a longer time than I expected. I need to pick up the pace. Maybe I've just spent too much time doodling these past few days...

Electric Company Screen Credit

Proof for any doubting toms out there. See, there's my name way down near the bottom of the left hand column- that proves I've made animation for a TV show! Come to think of it, I never did get to see the credit roll for "Touch Me I'm Karen Taylor". I wonder if I got a credit...

"Monkey Rag": Bee Test

I've fallen way behind on my board-matic because I keep getting side-tracked. For instance, I wanted to see if I could animate this bee directly in Flash. Turns out I probably should have keyed it out on paper as usual. Tomorrow I swear I'll be a board-drawin' powerhouse.

"Monkey Rag": Otros

I've been doing a little boarding, a little character design, a little animation- I can't seem to just focus on one thing. I have today a sheet of sketches of the various other characters. None of them are tied down except for maybe the birds and the bees, since they're so simple. I also did a little animation test of the bird- I could upload a swf, so I made an animated gif. Please excuse the timing- it always feels a little off as a gif.

"Monkey Rag": Spanky

Spanky's been a tough character to nail: I had a certain posture and attitude in mind for him, but he kept ending up looking too much like Wilt from Foster's.  I just want him to be toothy and lanky- I hope no one accuses me of plagiarism.  

"Monkey Rag" Music Video

A couple weeks ago, I emailed the Asylum Street Spankers' manager to ask if I could use their song "Monkey Rag" and make a music video for it. He wrote back with an enthusiastic yes (they are a very cool band). I'm in need of a fun, uplifting project right now, so I decided to go ahead and start on the video. I'm hacking out the character designs right now, and hopefully by the end of this week I'll have boards done. So far, I've done exploration on "Mitzi"- zoning in on her look. Also, I did a bouncy dance/walk cycle for her. I hope Blogger will let the video loop.

Go See Coraline

Seriously. I just got back. I was expecting a lot from this movie and I wasn't disappointed. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that left me this satisfied- wholly and incontrovertibly. I feel like I've just eaten a huge Italian dinner- I don't want to talk or think about what I've just experienced. I just want to pat my belly and gloat over the perfect pleasure of it.

I've stated before how much I love fairy tales- REAL fairy tales. Coraline is dark, delicious, creepy, irresistable fun. Congratulations to everyone involved on the film: you should all be damn proud of yourselves.

Daily Crapbook + Update

Aw nut bunnies... I missed my Daily Crapbook deadline for Saturday! Ce tragique! (I know that's not spelled correctly, but I confess I am too lazy to look it up right now. Also I never took french in high school.) In case you haven't noticed, I've been trying to post one decent drawing a day to make up for my near-month-long dry spell. Though I had been drawing last month, I didn't like any of my drawings enough to post them. But this month I decided to grit my teeth and call myself awesome in spite of how I actually feel. Also I've been trying to line up work for the next couple of months, and so as to deal with the aggravation and keep myself excited about this lousy industry I'm in, I'm planning to do a really fun project on my own. I already picked it from my list of "A Thousand Films I Need To Do Before I Die A Horrible Untimely Death" and I've been doing concept all week. Hopefully by next week I'll have an animatic done. I'll start posting drawings and pencil tests tomorrow or Monday.

Daily Crapbook

Trying to ink again. And I like waistcoats.

Daily Crapbook

Trying out markers again...how does one stop all the bleeding...?

Daily Crapbook

More of Ezra, and that look she's always giving me...

Daily Crapbook

I've always loved Noel Coward songs, although I didn't always know it. Lately I've stumbled across a few that are just irresistible. This particular lyric is a favorite of mine, and is taken from a song that I think is called "When The Towel of Babel Fell" or "Useless Useful Phrases" (I'm not sure of the title because I think it was mislabeled on the album. That seems to happen a lot on old music collections- no one seems to take much care unless its on a motion picture soundtrack.) If anyone can identify the actual song title, I'd be much obliged!

Daily Crapbook

I guess I'm on a Dancing Girl kick!

Let The Right One In

A couple weeks ago, I went to see a Swedish vampire movie called "Let The Right One In". I didn't know what it was about, other than Swedish vampires, natch. Its a strange story of a lonely Swedish boy in the 1970s who develops a crush on his next-door neighbor, who happens to be a vampire. Its such a bizarre movie- I've been thinking about it constantly trying to work out whether or not I liked it. I may need more time to decide, but I would not hesitate to urge anyone to go see it. Even if I'm not sure I liked it, there so much originality and engrossing drama it completely worth seeing. It is definitely the finest piece of horror/suspense/coming of age/vampire/puppy love/psychodrama to ever come out of Sweden. Go see it!