Yes, I know.

I've not been frequent about posting and you've probably not even noticed. In the same way I transitioned to Vimeo over my own custom website, I'm considering moving the blog to another medium.  Then I'll keep up!

In the meantime, I'm active on the following sites:

https://www.facebook.com/claireandthekeys
This is specific to the angst-ridden production of my 20-minute animated film, "Claire & The Keys". There's photos of the production and shots-in-progress.

https://instagram.com/bluhawaii/
 A lot of life stuff, Schnauzer stuff, cilantro, Claire, and a mix.

https://twitter.com/blu_hawaii
Not as active, a lot of instagram hitching and so forth.

I'm starting my next one, a Dieselpunk action piece with Romance, Zombies, and instructions on your favorite alcoholic drink. Should be fun!

It's been a long 4 ½ years, and my testimony concerning the creation of a film won't add anything to the amazing dialogue already found on a myriad of blu-rays. The film is what it is.  The film has impacted my life more potently than can be described in a vanity like a blog. I do know I'll do this again; there's a possible three potential projects I could embrace and they're all good!
The artists who helped me get through this - Andy Beane, Sean Winburn, Brian Phillips, Brice Bowman, Toby Cochran - made me want to bring my A-game, made me conscious of quality and cost and craft.
In the meantime, I'm going to start some storyboards but at the same time..... catch up on some video games and movies and vimeo!

Ernest 'Et Celestine!

Had fun at the Oscar-Qualifying screening of "Ernest and Celestine" on Monday night in Burbank. Cohorts: you know who you are! Good times!
http://www.asifa-hollywood.org/gkids-ernest-celestine-screened-for-asifa-membership/

Distracted!

So, this is me animating.
Or getting distracted.
Guess which one!
(Hint: there are no Tigers to animate)

Rocky and I Share Interests... Almost.

Rocky operates better at night.
Rocky is aware and has better concentration at night. 
Rocky likes night.

The sun is too bright for Rocky.
The glare hurts his eyes!
Rocky is worn out from his nightly jaunts.
Chemical encouragement works wonders. (Rocky: vodka. Me: caffeine)

(I use Rocky to introduce painting and light to Character Design students).

Piper Knows You're Busy.

What a Slacker!

 

I'm a total slacker. I haven't updated this blog in over a year.  That's even slower than my normal pace! In the meantime, though, I've been pressing hard to tackle that monster-of-a-film-project of mine. I took this picture while my wife and I were out on errands - so I got to see clouds rather than monitor glow.

 It's a wonderful experience. Getting to draw, act, compose, edit, color, edit, re-block, edit, all the time, every week towards a large goal is just fantastic. I have gotten some valuable help, too, though this is largely a solo effort. My 'brain trust' offers many suggestions which I weigh heavily - but ultimately I fail or succeed on my own. This was my whiteboard of goals (frames completed) at the end of December last year.

 

I stay up late more often than not. Usually working until 3, on a good night 4. My ADD much favors nighttime as most of the world and it's distractions lay sleeping.  On this night, I was so tired I started humming "Puff the Magic Dragon", and decided a little painting would change my scenery.

 

I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my Dad.

 

He'll see my work when I'm done. 

I really like working in Toon Boom Harmony - a nice software package with one hundred percent of the interface dedicated to an animator's craft. I've used Toon Boom Storyboard, Animate Pro (or Digital Pro), and Harmony and they're all solid software packages. What I don't like is that it's essentially software rental and not ownership.
 I have to remind myself that updating is only necessary when everything else is updating. Software packages can be your art tools without it. There are great studios out there creating great work... on Photoshop 3!

There are many reasons I retired my website. I was tired of looking at it, and I've got big plans that necessitate a change of image. I'll honestly miss it. It was bloody hard to update too - I now favor the low-maintenance of a Vimeo page. My film has diminished my freelance presence, so potential clients aren't looking for me as much as they did 3 years ago.

So that's been my year. I'll update more often.

Sketches

A few sketches from my small sketchbook:

The Lost Little Dragon

I was 'secretly' taking a class through the summer to refresh my polishing skills on digital painting. I sketch quite a bit, but was a little out-of-practice and needed a review of the basics anyway! I found my 'flow' when I did these thumbs:

I chose the ocean one, cause I love the ocean.

Something in the Bushes

Trying to paint more contrast in, but this is the general idea.

The Angel Michael.

At least, how I kind of imagined him. Kind of a "Heavenly Badass".

Bigger. Maybe better? This (and the post before) is an illustration for an upcoming book by James A. Beane about the 3D production process. He's quite knowledgable, so it should be good!

Lite Infographic

This is my version of the CG Animation pipeline that I'm creating for a book. There's a few revisions, so this isn't the final. I do love bunnies, though.

Rocky is a Gerbil with a checkered past. And he wants to party. With you.

Unnamed.

Drop Dead Diva

I know it's been a while.

Eventually, I'll have a balance between producing actual work, and posting it. I posted some of the animations I did on Vimeo. I had to produce 9 animations in 15 weeks (about 6-7 minutes of animation), the most I've ever had to produce. For me, it was an exercise on what was possible, a proof-of-concept, if you will.
Thank goodness I had help! Animator Toby Cochran, assistants Kevin Johnson and Katherine Taht, compositor Christina Hall, and background artist Sean Winburn.

I also created backgrounds for a candy company, Toxic Waste Sour Candy. They were looking for a traditional cartoonist, so I tried to make them happy. Here's some highlights:

This character's MO is a facade of environmentalism covering a toxic habit:






Same character, but under his mansion:

More sketchery - of members of faculty, and 'other'. Not as emotional as the last group, so not so good to grow my former position as a Story Supervisor...

Sketchbook Project, Pt. 2

More sketch-foolery.

Sketchbook Project, Pt. 1

I've happily been particpating in the Sketchbook Project, and it's provided me with down time where I can sketch freely and explore ideas that don't fit anywhere else.