Just screwin' around...

Charcoal, coloured pencil, oils, photoshop.

Illustration friday.... wise

Wise guy. I'm cheating with this one, you may have seen it before, but it seemed to fit the week's topic.

LIFTOFF...nearly

Nothing like the closing stages of a project- increased pressure, sure, but increased energy too. As we finish our renders, our sound, and now compositing- we're getting there.

The little critters will fly.

Of course, I can't show you anything of the final animation. That sucks. Hope that changes soon.

:) JP

Cowboys and sketches

A fairly crumby elephant, but fun for warming up- charcoal.

We had my sons' birthday party this weekend. A wild west theme, that by the look of living room laid to waste at the end, was a success. I told the kids an improvised cowboy story with drawings, and my wife made the most awesome cake in history. Noah, in red, was immensely proud.

Oily critters

Sometimes, there's nuthin' like oil paints. Some use them to paint portraits, landscapes, abstracts. I am still at the level of cheeky, bipedal rodents. We're currently in a bit of crunch animating these characters, which will be Cg/live action mix. I just got a bit pixel sick over the week so threw some paint around to relax. Consider this a sneak preview.

I'm going to wash off the caked sand from a volleyball match. I was told I jump like a frog. Oh well.

Note to aspiring oil painters. Do not organise your colours like this. You will end up fighting mud. I just get excited and throw down some colour everywhere. Do it properly. Hey, check out empty easel for a few good tips.

Girl

A paintover of one of yesterdays' sketches- clearly attempting to channel the spirit of Alessandro Barbucci-

And the skateboard is by Alberto Cerriteno. If you don't know his work yet, GO. A stylistic rinsing of your eyeballs will ensue.

Been a long time

Sorry, both of you, for the long gap between posts- had a crazy trip to LA, ostensibly to sell and promote projects- some of which was fun but mostly a bit crazy. That was followed by a fun three days in Austin, Texas- I like that town! Stayed in a hotel and storyboarded a lot with my work partner Alex, trying to win a big project. Sheesh. Work. Hurry. Lately I've been pretty stressed- wondering how animation, of all things should be stressful- but it's pretty hard work making it, right?

Lately I've been in a 'letting go' frame of mind. It helps a ton. So I'm not yet where I want to be- so I my work needs to improve- so I need to pay debts... ah well. Life is still good. I have an awesome family and food on the table.

Above, meeting sketches from this morning.

Samurai

Or, big guy in kimono. I'm reading shogun on the train to work at the moment. It's awesome.

Banzai!

raiders of the lost chickenshed

It seems that my default doodle is chickens. Watercolour pencil.

Gurus, thousands of them

To be a top class guru, a top class set of dreads is in order. Pastel, ink, digital.

I'm just putting off the 100 storyboards I have to do.

...Must ... procrastinate....

...must...post...holiday...pictures...



Allright. Dammit. I'll get back to work. Have a good day. My daughter is the happiest person I know, so I hope she can cheer you up if you need it :)

JPX

what's with the beehives?

I love beehives and especially when they are matched with horn-rims. Comes from reading the far side endlessly as an acne-ridden teenager. The lady on the right is watercolour. Her design got out of my control but I feel she's somehow more satisfying than the digital lady on the left. If you can be bothered, tell me what you think.

Off to turkey for 5 days of floating on an air mattress, with a beer of indeterminate origin in my hand.

xJP

jelly doodle

A quick doodle while I wait for Toon Boom storyboard pro to download. Any one use that software, by the way? I'm trying to fix a decidedly wonky work pipeline as we work on 5-6 animatics at the same time.

monkeys

Crazy busy at work.... Still enough time to draw monkeys on the bus, though.

rarrgg

I was working at my desk last night and my two year old came in looking like a reject from a sacrificial ceremony.

There goes my new tube of red gouache.

Slowly slowly

I realised one thing talking to my wife last night. I am so freakin' impatient. One of the reasons why why my work never reaches the levels I want to get to. But we're all in the same boat, right? Constantly wanting to push to be better, facing discouragement, learning somehow to deftly sidestep it, -or not.

That's why, I'm deliberately taking my time over this silly painting. Just to see what happens when I do.

It's Friday morning- I love this time of the week more than any other. The community rushes out and shops, eats breakfast in the cafes, cleans house, and then the calm of friday evening descends, to prelude what should hopefully be a day of rest. Sometimes it is restful, sometimes the rest is elusive. I try to to practice one thing in particular on Saturdays. (maybe it's a sunday for you?)

Contentment.

The rest of the week can be for succumbing to the drive to push on for better things for me, my family. But what's better for them is that I learn to be content. So I practice, every Saturday.

JPX