Daily Crapbook: Another Stupid Way I Hurt Myself

Yesterday!  Hurt mah pride.

UPA Doc: More Maxine

Trying to nail down Maxine Davis.  Its always tricky when you're trying to represent a real person.

UPA Doc: Maxine Davis Sketches

Some rough ideas for Maxine Davis, secretary at UPA and once described as looking like "a caricature of a librarian."

Animaniacs Gloat

Went to MomoCon this past weekend and got a special treat.  I got out some production boards from Animaniacs which I had procured years ago, and got the bright idea to get the voice cast sign one of the pages.  It is now my most prized possession.

Illustration Friday: Space Exploratrix

Was doodling a space lady for this week's Illustration Friday, and decided to make it an animated gif.

Daily Crapbook: Cat Lady

Sketch for this week's GirlsDrawinGirls.

UPA Doc: Zack Schwartz

Finished my second model sheet for the UPA doc "The Boing Heard Round The World."  The design for Zack Schwartz was a collaboration with Fenway Fan.

Schoolism Assignment: Teens

Never enough time!

Monkey Rag: An Animated Short By Joanna Davidovich

Without further ado, here it is:

 

Thank you to everyone who kept following the progress of this short and offered words of encouragement.  Thank you to my husband, Nate Foster, for helping me make this cartoon a reality and for believing in me more than I did myself. When I first put together the board-o-matic, I had no idea it would mean four years of labor on nights, weekends, and any scraps of time I had between jobs.  I just thought it would be fun to finally make the kind of cartoon I had loved as a kid.   And it had to be on paper- the fun of drawing is something I don't come by often in my work anymore.  There were many times where I didn't think I was going to make it- what was the point, really, of abstaining from real-life events, missing out on sleep and normal human activities, to pound away at an outdated method of animation to make a silly cartoon that wasn't going to make any money anyway?  I still don't quite know, but it is done.  I hope that it makes people happy.  I never got tired of the song, and I love these characters.  Watching cartoons like "Pigs in a Polka" or "All The Cats Join In" still energizes me- there is something magical that happens when you marry great music to animation.  I'm glad I was finally able to give it a shot.

Here are some supplemental videos to give an idea of how everything came together:

 

Thank You ASIFA East!

"Monkey Rag" won 2nd place in Independent Animation at the ASIFA-East Awards last Sunday.  Thanks to all who voted, and it was a real delight to meet all of you!

Daily Crapbook: No Drawing Tonight

Daily Crapbook: Gnome on a Bike

Daily Crapbook: Swimsuit Waists

Silly drawrin' about swimwear style.

Daily Crapbook: Fred Astaire Sketches

Schoolism Assignment Time!

I gave myself a time limit this week.  Frustrating!

The Making of Monkey Rag

Monkey Rag is almost past the point where festivals would reject it if it were online, and I’m almost past the point where I don’t care about that anymore.  So in one week, I’m releasing “Monkey Rag” online for better or for worse (hopefully better.)  In anticipation of this event, Nate and I made a short behind-the-scenes look at the making of the cartoon.  We hope you enjoy it!  

Daily Crapbook: Superman Sketch

Never really sketched Superman before, thought it would be fun to give it a shot.

Daily Crapbook: Happy Is Harder Than Sad

Is there such a thing as emotional gravity?

Daily Crapbook: Bunhead

Daily Crapbook: More 80s Hair

Daily Crapbook: Poncho Lady

Mitzi FlipBook!

I got a cool toy from ThinkGeek a while back, and finally got around to put in a custom animation.  It isn't perfect, but I friggin' love the effect.

Daily Crapbook: More 80s Hair

Warming up for the day.

Daily Crapbook: How Do You Design the Perfect Artist Signature?

I'd really like to know.

Hipster Cat Redo

Just trying to work it out with more simplicity and clearer shapes.

Hipster Cat

I switched to a different reference photo, but its still not there yet.

Daily Crapbook: Schoolism Homework Fail

Just trying to work out my Schoolism homework for this week.  The more I try the worse it gets- moving on to a different photo ref.