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

work in progress

Thought I'd indulge myself in a little detail. I haven't used a ballpoint pen in years- using one today reminded me of being a teenager in English Lit classes, drawing excessively detailed margin drawings of blues men, random creatures, and comedy deformities. Will post the final, and you will be blown away.

maybe.

Jaffa sketches

Met up with two studio friends and sat on a hilltop in Jaffa on saturday. Thought I'd break out the brush and ink. Apart from the fact you've got to carry water, ink, and toilet paper for all the ink spills, it's a fun, fluid sketching medium. I liked laying down a light wash then defining it with some nice blackness.

Jaffa itself is a fantastic sketching area, mixing tasty chunks of ancient urban decay and architectural details with a slightly sketchy atmosphere, teetering on the edge of the sea.

This lady stood in the middle of the fountain, and made for a nice living statue as she looked out to sea.


I didn't get much architecture in, but worked on tree shapes for a while. These people are cooking something tasty on their grill. A national sport here.
Lastly, some middle eastern dude, sketched at home.

Tourist

Loving watercolour at the moment; I thought I'd put up a sketchbook page, with the tourist guy here. I must say design owes a heavy debt to the art of Sylvain Marc, particularly this post: if you don't know it, do yourself a favour, have a look. Here's somebody who use all the tools at his disposal to create work that is witty, tender, loose and beautifully designed.

Oh, and one more thing; all you Israelites that like to draw. (Yes, you two lurkers out there; I know who you are!) Join me in Jaffa this saturday for drawing crumbling ancient buildings and crumbling ancient tourists on the beach. 5.30 pm. You have my email.

The guru is IN

Brush, ink, and photoshop.

Hey, anyone know how Wall-E ends? I discovered my 3 year old daughter has the endurance to watch only 90% of a pixar feature film. So we sat outside, while my wife and son watched the rest. Parenthood is awesome.