Another Way I Hurt Myself: Doors.

The other day...

Christmas Card 2012

Season's greetings to you and yours!  Here is the Christmas card I made to send holiday wishes to everyone I love.  (This is what you get when you decide to make your Christmas card at midnight on Christmas Eve.)  Click here to hear the bitchin' Christmas music that goes along with this.

Daily Crapbook: It's SAB-o-TAAAAGE!

The new year is drawing nigh, and along with my resolution to use archaic vocabulary, I am in a frenzy to finish Monkey Rag.  So I'm becoming more draconian (score!) with my production schedule.   Usually I would sketch whenever I wanted to step away from inking during the day, but now I save sketching for the pudding (British for dessert? I'll count it.)  But my problem is that I tend to reset my goals during the day.  For instance, I'm plugging along on a scene making good time and I think "Why this is a cake walk! (half-point) I betcha I can do both characters in one day!" And then I try to reach the new goal, and I run out of steam, and end up being too tired at night to sketch anything for fun.  So thats why I've been neglecting my daily crapbooking in case anyone was wondering.  However, I actually reached a good check point today so here's the pudding!  I think I might do a final animatic update before the New Year- I'm approaching 2:30 of inked/reworked animation.  Huzzah! (pudding). 

Merry Christmas Pin-Ups

Effie, Chrissy, and Santa Baby making a Merry Christmas.

Chirstmas Card 2012: Santa Baby

Didn't finish the entire Christmas card tonight, but I did get little Santa Baby done.  Will have to finish this all tomorrow.

Daily Crapbook: 'Nuther Xmas Sketch

I need to put more effort into my illustrations if I'm ever going to be happy with them, so I'm taking this one in stages.  Here's the "just feeling it out" sketchy messy stage.   

Daily Crapbook: "Mrryee Krshmsh"

Done noodling.  Moving on!

Daily Crapbook: Xmas Noodling

Kept noodling over more Xmas card ideas tonight.  Finished this sketch just in time to be an hour late for bed.

An idea for Xmas Free Art Friday...

An idea for #FAFATL that might pop-up around town tomorrow...

Harlots and Tiaras: The Calendar Girl Pageant

Davina & The Harlots presents "Harlots and Tiaras" on Jan 5!  Hours of hilarious burlesque fun with a calendar girl/beauty pageant flair.  I will play the ukulele. ... You should come anyway though.

Calendar Girl Art

"Calendar Girl" illustration for the poster- show info forthcoming later tonight.

Monkey Rag Color Models for Sc12 Flowers

Put off doing this for a while, but now the tedium of color-choosing is over for these extremely minor characters.  Back to inking.  Bah hah ha.

Calendar Girl Pageant Poster: Sketch

Pencil sketch of the poster I'm doing for show "Harlots and Tiaras: A Calendar Girl Pageant" on Jan 5th.

Another Stupid Way I Hurt Myself: Standing

Here's another stupid way I hurt myself: standing.  Some of us master it as children.  Some of us just fall over at random times.  Takes practice I guess. 

Daily Crapbook: Calendar Girl Show

Started sketching ideas for the Davina & the Harlots “Calendar Girl” Pageant Show on January 2nd.  Then bedtime happened so I stopped drawing.  Happens every night- what a drag.

Daily Crapbook: Christmas Card Character

More sketching around an idea for a Christmas card character.

Daily Crapbook: Sketchy Messy Idea for Xmas Card

Every few days that pass without my doing a Daily Crapbook, I get very precious about my drawings and pledge that my next upload should be something awesome to make up for the lapse.  Well, nuts to that!  I'm just going to upload anything I have even if its just a couple of scribbles- anything to take some of the pressure off and get my sketching muscles flexing again.  So!  Here are my "Harvey Girls" influenced Christmas Card idea scribbles for the day.

Daily Crapbook: Doodle Break

Took a break from inking to doodle a bit.  Sc11 is sooo close to being buttoned up, and once its done the rest of the inking should be a cakewalk!

Very, Very Old Fanart

I got a very sweet comment about my ancient, prehistoric Animaniacs fanart, which as it happens seems to be the only things that the internet has ever lost track of.  I found some really nice words someone posted about the old fanart on DeviantArt, so I thought I should release the old stuff back in the the wild.  But I'm probably going to do it in this format. 

Disney Bad Ass Girls

Like I said, I saw "Wreck-It Ralph" this weekend and really enjoyed it.  I was expecting it to feel more Roger Rabbit-y, but it was still very fun in the direction they took it.  This is one Disney movie I wouldn't mind a sequel to- I think there's a lot more in that world to explore and make fun of.  Also, I have a new addition to my "Most Favoritest Character Evar!" list: Calhoun.  I'm always a fan of an ass-kicking chick who doesn't suffer from "Good Role Model Syndrome."  Her character was so clever and fun, and most of the lateral humor in the movie revolved around her.  Best line: "She's programmed with the most tragic back-story ever."  The only other Disney female I can think of that was this level of intense awesomeballousness is Captain Amelia.  They're both futuristic characters, maybe it makes sense that would mash-up?

Paperman: Love By and Of Paper

Saw "Wreck-It Ralph" this weekend, and liked it very much, but my soul was shattered by the preceding short, "Paperman."  The technical achievement is staggering.  It represents to me the greatest leap CG animation has taken since early Pixar.  For so long innovators have struggled to make things more realistic, but Disney took a left turn.  The precision and technical possibilities of CG combined combined with the hand-drawn aesthetic is something I was holding my breath for and didn't even know it until I saw this short.  And I think its is so appropriate that it is a love story about paper.  The paper is how the characters meet, the paper is the vehicle for overcoming the obstacle, and then the paper becomes self-aware and facilitates the happy ending.  Given the subject matter and the aesthetic, am I nuts to think that this is also a love letter to paper itself?  By the end of this short, I had tears in my eyes for so many reasons.  Bravo, Disney.  Now do this again, but as a feature. 

(PS- I know these characters aren't named Jim and Pam, but... Dunder Mifflin is a paper company.  Paper again!  It's too perfect.)

FAFATL: Sally Mustache

Going out today sometime around lunch o'clock.

Sally Mustache for MOvember

Just wanted to do something for MOvember, so I sketched a tomato and I call her Sally Mustache.  I'm turning her into a #FAFATL drop tomorrow.

Monkey Rag Sc_11: Reworked

Scene 11 was one of the scenes in Monkey Rag I was most eager to animate.  I just had a picture in my head of the little interaction between them and I was anxious to get it translated onto paper.  But my original pass was time consuming, so the longer it took, the more I was willing to put off fixes and details for the clean-up stage.  I figured if I could just get the general idea down, it would be easy to go back and work on the flourish later.  ...Not so much, as it turns out.  The more time that passes, the more I want to change everything about my horrible, lazy, old drawings and start from scratch.  I won't allow myself that luxury at this stage in the game, so I just have to try and fix what I've got.  Since I've spent so bleedin' long on this scene, I thought I would present the original animation alongside the reworked, inked animation.  I am reasonable happy with it, all things considered.  But if you can't spot the differences, please don't say so until I've had time to decompress.  (If these videos are too low quality, you can check out my tumblr for better res.)

Ready For Tonight To Be Over...

This is about as political I expect to ever be on this blog.  Enjoy my election fatigue.

Ah'm On A BOAT!

In college I drew a picture of Calamity Jane.  Then a few weeks ago a nice lady in England asked if she could use it as a decal on the family canal boat.  I don't particularly like the drawing, but I'm so pleased its on a boat.  On a BOAT!  In England!!  An English BOAT!  Brilliant. 

Free Art Friday: Forest Friends Puzzle Pieces

These critters are going out today!  I hope someone wants to hunt all three.   Follow #FAFATL or me, @jothezette for clues.

Free Art Friday: Forest Friends

Trying something different for this month's Free Art Friday.  Three pieces that megazord to become one.  This isn't quite what I had in mind, but Friday is in a few hours so I had to go with my first sketch.  Hopefully this will make hunters want to hunt my stuff!

Stupid Ways I Hurt Myself: Hit With Faucet

I do this more often than I care to admit.

Stupid Ways I Hurt Myself: Sprained Head

I don't know if I'm just getting older or if my gazelle-like grace is simply atrophying through neglect, but I tend to hurt myself in very stupid ways.  I thought I'd start sharing them as they happen.

I Want This Dress

I was poached for a dress on eBay recently, so now I'm on an eBay binge trying to fill the fashion whole in my heart.  I came across this one, and I love it, so of course its too small for me.  Ah well...

Daily Crapbook: Upton Downstairs

English period drama is keeping me company these days, rewatching Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs.  I still cry when Lady Marjorie goes down on the Titanic and her lady's maid goes mad with grief.  Her Ladyship was ever so lovely.  ARG!  They got me thinking in British now!  Why are these characters so appealing??

Happy Mole Day!

Happy geekiest holiday of the year!  I celebrated by drawing a fancy mole.

Daily Crapbook: Sombrero Dachshund

Today's mood was definitely "dachshund in a sombrero." 

Raccoon and Baboon Color Model

Worked out the color model for Raccoon and Baboon... Since these characters only have a couple scenes, I splurged and used a lot of painted line.  Apologies in advance, colorist volunteers!

Sc. 05 Progression Reel: From Boards to Color

Have some more color, why doncha!

Daily Crapbook: Why Internet Not Love Me?

I just noticed that there seems to be an inverse relationship between how hard I work on a drawing and how much people like it.  Is there some nugget of wisdom to be discovered here, or is it just Chinatown?

Daily Crapbook: Harley Quinn Costume

Over three years ago, I gave into a feverish dream and bought a Harley Quinn costume.  It was the most disappointing, ill-fitting, poorly made $50 bucks I ever spent.  But I kept it, and every Halloween since I've tried it on again just in case pixies had secretly visited and magically tailored it into an awesome, authentic-looking costume.  Or I just kept it to torture myself into never being so foolish with my money again.  But this year, I decided to eBay it let it molder in the back of someone else's closet.  I'ma be a flapper this year.

Monkey Rag Progress Report

 Its been a while since I posted a big Monkey Rag update, so I thought I'd cobble together a little Sc.06 progress reel to show you all a glimpse of color.  Yes indeed, color!!! I've been revising animation and inking as much as I can- I'm on Sc. 11 now fixing Raccoon and Baboon.  Oof, do they need a lot of work.  But I suspect that once I get through Sc. 12 its all going to go much more quickly.  Even with all my backpedaling, I have a stack of inks that my industrious-bordering-on-magical husband Nate is working on scanning and prepping to send to my awesome coloring volunteers.  The pipeline is working splendidly with coloring in ToonBoom AnimatePro and using DropBox as a server, so the color work can all be done long distance!  All in all, while I may be behind of my ideal schedule of being done last year, the fact that things are moving forward keeps me happy. 

Owl for Free Art Friday

Dashed out an owl for Free Art Friday tomorrow.  Who's going hunting?

Daily Crapbook: I Love Paper

Animation paper is expensive, and thats the most eloquent reason to switch to a digital pipeline.  But I because I'm crazy, I'm still doing Monkey Rag on paper and budgeting for the paper supply.  But in an amazing someone-up-there-must-like-me moment, my last shipment of animation bond arrived double the amount I had ordered.  I am set for the rest of the cartoon.  Jo does, indeed, love paper.

Daily Crapbook: Pensive Flapper

I made a neat background today, so I drew this flapper to go with it.

Daily Crapbook: Frankenmutt and Count Poochula

I had some sketches of dogs, then tonight I put costumes on them because why not.

Daily Crapbook: Goofy Fish

Never really doodled fish before- would like to come up with some interesting ones for Monkey Rag.

Daily Crapbook: Grillin' out

Summer's nearly over, but I still have grillin' out on the mind.

Raccoon and Baboon Color Ideas

Just noodling around, its gotta start somewhere.

Monkey Rag Color Models

Forcing myself to decide... I would love colored line/no line, but that takes so much time.  I allowed the luxury just on Mitzi's hair.  Boy, I am good at putting off decisions.

I Want This Dress

Another dress I want, but a sketch will have to suffice.

Today's Mood: Hedghog

My moods are complex and layered and can only be described by cryptic animal metaphor.  ...or I just had this scribble of a hedghog lying around and kinda liked it.  Whichever.

Brother Scanner on Sale

Just wanted to give anybody who is interested a heads up: a newer model of the Brother scanner that we used in our animation workflow (I just posted the Tutorial the other day) is on major sale here: http://www.buy.com/prod/brother-mfc-j6710dw-color-inkjet-all-in-one-printer-with-up-to-11-x-17/219044384.html
I'm trying to rationalize buying another one for the distant future when we set up a proper studio... Argh!  Its overkill, but I'm such a sucker for sales!

Daily Crapbook: Rocket Girl

At Dragon*Con I stopped by the DerekArt booth for a bit and pawed through dozens or gorgeous original artwork, all done with copic markers.  As Derek Yaniger was the quintillionth awesome artist I knew who swore by those markers, my resistance meter drained and I bouth three copic markers: black, grey, and red.  And they were expensive.  I better get good at this... 

Today's Mood: Derpie Platypus

Derpie derpa derp.

Daily Crapbook: Talk Like A Pirate Day

I don't know about you, but the Dread Pirate Roberts is my favorite swashbuckling sea dog.  So talk like a pirate?  As you wish.

Tutorial for Traditional Animation in ToonBoom AnimatePro

So you may recall a few weeks ago I had an online hissyfit about the workflow for finishing Monkey Rag, specifically, the apparent impossibility of it.  After lots of crying, footstomping, scotch drinking, and a visit from a wonderful ToonBoom associate- we got it working!  It requires some rather complicated workarounds that I don't understand, so my husband Nate sat down and made a tutorial to serve his own memory and to explain our system to anyone who is marginally interested.  Its nearly 40 minutes long, and just about scanning drawings in to AnimatePro, so you can be sure it is meticulously detailed.  I hope it can help others who were suffering similar situations, or perhaps it will invite someone with special knowledge to inform us that there is a more elegant solution to our problems.  Here's the playlist, enjoy!  

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmfZMeLlhvf5p2NrffuWuIovguUg9khX0&feature=view_all

Daily Crapbook: Bunny Jammies

Its late and I want a cup of cocoa.  Made by a bunny.  In jammies.