Mouse Mouse House by Joel Brinkerhoff

Well, here's a book I did and almost sold.  The deal fell through after they decided they couldn't endorse housing fraud.  Oh well, I hope you enjoy it and can find the humor non threatening.

Ride the Dino

My grand kids and I visited the Walking with Dinosaurs exhibit at Omsi.  My grand-son wanted me to do a picture of him riding one.  Hope he likes it.

 

The Scribble Game

Here's a little game I would play with my kids when they were old enough to scribble.  My sister and I would play it when we were young and we evolved some rules along the way.  We would take turns with the first person making a scribble.  The second person had to make something out of it that included the entire scribble or as much as one could to make a picture from it.  You could turn the scribble around for a better angle and you could add lines but it was preferred to use the scribble as is.

These are some samples I did just for fun.

Animation Input Devices

Tangible and Modular Input Device

While I'm on the subject of digital imaging today as opposed to early on, I came across this device for inputting motion for animated c.g. rigs.  It's called a Tangible and Modular Input Device for Character Articulation.  And you can read about it at the links below.

http://www.gizmag.com/modular-3d-joystick-input-device-for-animation-artists/32745/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBX47JamMN0#t=23

There's also a movie here: http://youtu.be/vBX47JamMN0

This thing  reminds me of something called the Monkey which was used early on as a way of helping stop-motion animators to switch over to c.g.

We had one at the old Will Vinton Studios but I don't recall it having worked too well.  It's is very cool looking though.

Monkey

Digital Scuplting

I've started exploring digital sculpting and feel like I'm late to the table where it's concerned.  There are so many splendidly talented artists using the latest technologies and having wonderfully photo-real looking results that I'm completely intimidated by the whole thing.

To put things in perspective I've seen the evolution of computer graphics and the rapid increase in what one can do today as opposed to way back then.  I recall the method of sculpting a mesh was either with 'nurbs' or 'polygons' and I never fully mastered either one.  Now there are programs with names like Mudbox and ZBrush that can give you the most remarkable digital sculptures.

There is a whole new set of tools to learn and hoops to jump through.  I'm approaching this like a hobbyist and not ever thinking of doing this professionally.     

Here are some meager first attempts of mine.  That's supposed to be John Lennon in the later years and Paul in the early years.  Neither one is finished yet but I'm learning things along the way.

Delightful Designs

Hello, anybody out there?  Wow, it's been a long time between posts but I just haven't felt the desire till now.
Check out these sculptures by French artist Gilbert Legrand as he lets his active imagination soar by painting small details onto these everyday objects to help us see them the way he does. With the addition of a face and maybe some arms and legs, a paintbrush can become a mangled fox, a hinge can become a shady salesman, and a juicer becomes a woman emerging from a pool.

I find these incredibly inspiring and they remind me of a game my sister and I would play where one of us would draw a scribble and it was up to the other to make something from it.

Somewhere I blogged about seeing things, (it may be called Seeing Things), in the woodwork of a door or pattern in a tabletop.  This is a great extension of that idea and I plan to use it if I'm stumped for character designs.  

October is Here!

Yes, it's time for the Pumpkin Queen to wake up soon and make her Halloween presents known.

I thought I would try to make color separations from a black and white picture, and try to recombine them into a quasi color picture. This one of my grand daughter taken by her Aunt Joanna Zarzan and tricked out with kittens that I added is one of my favorites.  I knew if you had a blue and yellow plate you would get a green and red and yellow would make orange.  It only worked so so and the end result reminds me of those early National Geographics where the color was leaning toward sepia and looked like tinted prints.

It's got an old fashioned feel which is okay with me so Happy Halloween everybody! 

Poor Mans Cintiq Continued....

If you have read this blog for anytime you know of my desire for a Cintiq but the price even for a used one is too much to justify.  I had hoped they would become more affordable as time went by but not so.  Well, now the universe is conspiring to make it a feasibility to draw digitally with the quality and interface  I would like.  A relatively new, at least to me, South African company has the Bosto Kingtee which looks very attractive and inexpensive.  I've got my eye on the 22HD.  I'll let you know what I decide.

In the meantime  check out these vids and their site: http://www.bosto.co/products



Update: I just heard from Toon Boom that they have never tested Harmony on these tablets because they use only Wacom technologly.  This could be a big problem if the driver don't work right.!

Update:  I just heard from Bosto Kingtee and the 22HD has been updated with new drivers and chipset! Oh boy!