better living though art & animation

Discordian Tattoo

2011-06-08T17:29:00.003-05:00

Here is my tattoo design done for a good friend. I've been stuck in a world without Photoshop, Maya, and Zbrush lately (tools of choice), but a box of colored pencils is doing alright to get me by.

Home again

2011-06-01T17:58:00.002-05:00

Wow.. I've been busy lately. I'm back in Missouri working ever so diligently at my new vocation in the Air Force. Before joining I never really understood the value of discipline or the true meaning of it I think. My whole life is changing and I'm looking to start over. Sarah health is still up and down but our marriage has been transformed and renewed. It is strange how seemly horrible events in your life can have such brilliantly positive transformative outcomes. Basically we are starting over and making a new life. The only downside to working at the base is being away from my workstation and animation. My sketchbooks are always at hand but it just isn't the same.

I'm going to be pursing a masters here soon thanks to Uncle Sam. After four secondary education institutes (if I count tech school and I do) I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to go back again (i.e. loan debt) - now I can get my MFA because of my service. I've also been bitten by the teaching bug. After being a leader in tech school and a mentor in my video conference animation group, it just seems like the right thing to do.

Napping for Humanity

2011-04-09T19:13:00.002-05:00

Today was another fun day with volunteering. I took part in a couple of Habitat for Humanity projects. Basically we turned giant piles of earth into nice level yards and filled trenches. I'm glad that Humanity will have some more Habitat to live in and nice yards to boot. It really took it out of me so I came home and took a nap. I was fighting it though. I went from writing, to lack of concentration, to watching some Morel Orel, to listening to Morel, to passing out. Body needed rest.

Goal progress

2011-04-03T10:18:00.009-05:00

Charity & Volunteering

Yesterday I went out and helping to feed the homeless. People ate, got to laugh, talk, and smile in a safe environment, and everything went great. I also got to play with a cute baby. If playing with cute babies was part of all volunteer work I would definitely go out more. I do feel better about life, living, and everything so am going to look for more opportunities. I'm sure this will be a naive statement about the homeless and greater socioeconomic factors play in, but they seemed just like everyday people who had obstacles in their lives that just got the better of them. I talked to a man who was ex-Navy, was undergoing asbestos exposure treatment, and was a divorced after he got in a car accident. That is a rough ticket. Others had chemical dependencies and mental issues. Regardless, everyone wanted to have a meal and sit and talk.

Hydration

I'm going to drink this giant bottle of water today. The sticker said it was my recommended daily allowance of water.If you can't trust a giant water bottle sticker I don't know who to really trust in this world. I mean.. look at this bottle. It is silly big.

Art

I drew some really ugly drawings yesterday. Several pages of ugly drawings. My biggest drawing hurdle right now is character drawing. I never worry about drawing from life, but keeping vitality and life in designed characters isn't a skill that I've acquired yet in 2d. So right now I'm doing studies from the legendary Fred Moore and Hanna Barbara designs via John K Stuff's blog. When I start making some better drawings, I will be sure and post them.

Guitar

No progress. Waiting until I move before I start this new endeavor.

Things I want in my life

2011-04-02T09:32:00.001-05:00

Animate more! Draw more! Make Art. I want to create more art pieces. Things to put on the wall or the fridge. I want to decorate my life. Kids coloring produce more work in a day than I do in a month. Why is that? I want to pour myself into it and just enjoy. I need to let myself make bad art. I give myself permission to learn and make mistakes.

Drink more water. I have gotten off of soda and candy. This is big for me, but tea is my current drug of choice. So more water for me. And milk. And less tea (to make room for the milk and water).

Volunteer more. I have mixed feelings on this. I feel like helping society is a responsibility and I should be a part of that. I don't get a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings from it though. Mostly it is hard work without tangible rewards. So here's to social responsibility – maybe I'll buy a bear to have something warm and fuzzy. I'm working at a soup kitchen today – I'll post more about that.

I want to learn guitar. How cliché is that? Still – I've always wanted to rock out. So why not.

The Gallery is Up

2011-03-20T19:42:00.002-05:00

My portfolio is up on the portfolio gallery page. (Coincidence?)

Spring Cleaning

2011-03-20T18:55:00.002-05:00

Well - it is time to dust off the ol' blog and get back to posting. A lot has happened lately.

Right now I'm finishing up tech-school in Pensacola, Florida - I'm learning to fix airplanes. Joining the Air National Guard was a great decision and has really saved the family after Sarah developed her condition. I never thought I would be here a year ago, but things are going well.

Art is constantly on my mind (you would think that aeronautical maintenance would be but mostly art occupies the mind while I'm here). What would I do without a sketchbook? On that - I've never been much of a sketchbook person (some of my friends are never without theirs and it shows). I always just worked out whatever project, design, or art piece that came to mind. Granted I always had them around -- anyways, some people are sketchbook people and some people are not -- I wasn't but I think I am becoming a convert.

Now I just need to get a gallery up on here and keep drawing.

The bad part of being away from home is that I miss my studio space. I miss my desk and books and supplies. I need to get back to animating just as soon as I'm home.. it is a _need_.

Hola mi Amigos!

2009-03-09T23:32:00.002-05:00

I'm in Mexico City!!! WOOooooooOOOOoooo - today I climbed a pyramid. Life is good.

News and Chiu

2009-02-15T08:25:00.003-06:00

Wow.

I would like to say thank you to Bobby Chui. He is an amazing artist but even more so, he is an amazing motivator. I was drawn to Bobby's work when I first happened upon him on CGTALK. I think the first painting I delighted over was a picture of a a boy in a whale suit. I still love it. Anyways, I was slacking the other day trolling though youtube and thought about Bobby Chui - sure enough, he had some videos. I was bowled over; instead of talking about the work he was creating in the videos, he instead speaks about what it means to be successful. He talks about visualizing your goals, working hard, and overcomming the pitfalls we set up for ourselves that prevent us from achieving our dreams.

I'm listening to Bobby's sage advice. Last night I animated and I loved it. I animated for myself and for the joy of art and animation. I worked instead of slacking and got up earlier in the day. I am an animator and I am going to be a professional soon.

Just thought everyone should know.

The Visitor

2009-01-27T14:58:00.002-06:00

Photomanipulation

2009-01-19T22:46:00.002-06:00

So I made a photo-manipulation image. It isn't great, but I'm feeling happy with my first attempt.

Jim Erickson is a man Inspiring

2009-01-14T20:23:00.004-06:00

I've never been a great lover of photography. I just don't understand what make a great photographer from a good one - I'm not much of a photographer. Or a potter... pottery and photography.. never really had the knack or understanding. But I know what I like and I like Jim Erickson's work. He is truly phenomenal.

http://www.jimerickson.com/

Tentacle!

2009-01-09T10:43:00.002-06:00

Woohoo.. the modeling and texturing are completed. And it looks like a tentacle so that makes me happy - better than a finger in the eye. On to rigging then animation planning.

Goodbyes

2009-01-05T10:53:00.002-06:00

I just got home from my Grandfather's funeral in Florida. I feel so drained and I need to go into work. This has been one of the most emotionally exhausting weeks in my life.

Before he died he told me to keep on the right path and to do what I loved. I loved him and he will be greatly missed.

Eyes and Tentacles

2008-12-21T02:17:00.003-06:00

Well.. I'm working on a project with a monster in mind.. because "The Goon" movie is coming out and working at Blur on it would be a dream come true. Just testing a rig idea.. putting the beach animation on hold.

And.. eyeball :O

Here goes!

Workworkwork

2008-12-12T08:57:00.002-06:00

So..here is a little work on a unity guy.. figuring out this stuff again..sorta.

I know this sucks at the moment.. but I'm working.. so :P

Sick again

2008-11-25T17:08:00.003-06:00

Sick again.. I sound like I'm killing a duck when I talk.. I slept most of the day.

Being sick sucks.. you're off work, but feel to bad to accomplish anything.

Head hurts.. write more later.

Set backs

2008-11-21T09:22:00.002-06:00

So I'm still having some set backs.. the hair I made just isn't that great for rigging..so I'm trying blend shapes with the rig to see if I can fix this mess... referencing is still a no go so that sucks. Also..the undead have infested the city and my brother and I are trying to make it to Mercy Hospital..

Roadblocked

2008-11-12T08:34:00.004-06:00

So.. I'm stuck.. I can't get my Katerine rig to work right... her legs refuse to stay where I put them... luckily I have Thaddeus Parkinson (a technical director at ILM.. sweeet) looking at it. I'm sure between us, things will get worked out.. sucks though to be stuck.

Edit: (futzing around in maya for awhile later)

Weee... I can make it work..but not how I want.

The problem appears to be referencing... or how it is being handled. It is probably a user error (my fault), but I don't know what I am doing wrong.

Referencing is great though.. if it was something you could do in the real world, it would be amazing. Like say you had an object like your car.. referencing lets you pimp your ride without it sitting in the shop for a month. I wanted to get the majority of my animation done and then if I felt like it needed extra polish (like cloth or animated hair.. whatever), I could just edit the base model in another file and then go to my scene where all the animation would still be applied and the character would get updated.

So I'm going to try with no referencing because I want to keep moving(and keep trying to figure it out how to get it to work).

On to blocking

2008-11-11T19:22:00.002-06:00

So I worked out a pose... and saved my file (been saving multiple files.. incrementally saving). I quit Maya.. open my file.. and Kat is moved and in a different pose.. in all the saved files. What the hell! Arg..hours of work.. ohh well.. I'll push on and hopefully figure out why my saves aren't working.

Tragic Beach

2008-11-10T17:58:00.003-06:00

Here are the characters for the short that I'm working on. Katherine is the dying girl on the left and Tom is her fiancé. These two young lovers have a really bad day at the beach..

As always, special thanks to Animation Mentor for being such a wonderful school and providing me with such lovely rigs. (Animation Mentor Bishop Rigs - textured and with hair) If you have interest in animation and are trying to decide on the right school, look no further than your computer and AM.

Feeling quite a bit better

2008-11-09T09:08:00.002-06:00

Hooray.. I don't feel like my head is going to explode (scanner style).

So the project is going forward and back again. We have hair and texturing - and textures that are animating when they shouldn't. I messed with the uvs after the model was weighted.. not a good idea (i had forgotten that). So, back to base models and retexturing..

P.S. - Puppies are awesome..but so tiring :o

Sick..sucks

2008-11-07T08:24:00.001-06:00

I'm sick.. it sucks..

hear hurts with fever.. no fun

this is cool though

http://www.guerrillacg.org/

Go learn

What happened to Spiderman 3

2008-11-01T22:05:00.003-05:00

So Sarah and I popped in 50 First Dates tonight and it had a preview for Spiderman 2. Spiderman 2 is awesome (and the poster looks like my friend Thad, even though Alfred Molina does not) - it is such a fantastic movie. So what the hell happened to Spiderman 3? It pisses me off to think about the movie.. we both left feeling disappointing. The story felt disjointed.. Venom was a weak character.. the Sandman angle was just wtf? When I think of it I get all mad..

I know this post is a year too late but I guess I was repressing the feelings.. it is good to let it all out.

So I just thumbnailed out my new scene.. blocking out the poses tomorrow. I still don't quite know how I want to stage all of the scene. If it is successful (on completion) hopefully you'll get a bit teary watching it. Here's hoping.

Hooray for Walking

2008-10-20T22:35:00.003-05:00

I made a vanilla walk cycle tonight - more animations to come. It is all coming back to me.

Hmm.. I need to buy quicktime again so I can compress these.

एनीमेशन फूं

2008-10-18T08:16:00.003-05:00

Last night I completed a walk cycle for hips & legs (no upper body on the character.. I'm moving on to that tonight). It is coming back to me.. it feels good. In more good time fun news, I've been hanging out with my brother online. Also good time fun - Drew is great. He is a genius and hopefully one day build robots or an evil AI that enslaves humanity or creates a utopia. I'm trying to talk him into going to MIT to study awesomeness (it is part of the curriculum) and hopefully pick up a Boston/Texas hybrid accent that turns his speech into a music of sorts.

More to come and videos to post..

Bound and determined

2008-10-17T16:17:00.002-05:00

Woot.. blog post!

I am going to become a professional animator. Right now I'm an animator (because I'm animating again!!) but no one is paying me for it. I think the path to becoming a professional animator lies mostly in the later half of the title. I need to eat, sleep, and drink animation. I want Sarah (my lovely wife) to say, "Scott, you're not spending enough time with me and the dogs because you're animating too much." or "Why do you take a break from animating and come eat."

Last night I animated a quick Taylor jump (Taylor is the Animation Mentor equivalent of a squirrel.. he is a ball with a tail) and started a lower torso walk. I plan on jumping onto the next animation session challenge in Cgtalk and working working working.

I'm fired up about being fired up.

I want this blog to live up to the title. I really want my life to become better though cg & animation. I've vested all this time in my life into studying animation and art. Time and money. Apart from our abysmal credit card debt that we are paying down (no more plastic.. hooray for budgeting), the majority of our financial burden comes from my student loans. And am I paying it off with animation makin' money? Nope. So screw trying to look for other jobs that might pay more than my current one (I really love my job at the moment, but not as much as I would love to be an animator.) If I spent half the time I play Team Fortress 2 or online poker on animation.. well.. I would be animating a lot.

In other news I'm working on an art project with my buddy Clint (www.knrpg.com) for his new game. So far I've painted many shotguns.. I'm frustrated as hell trying to design a character (I rely really heavily on reference and I can't get reference for what I want to do.. hopefully this will make me grow by not having a crutch to lean on). I'll get him done and post sexy pictures of him being rebellious on here. As far as I'm concerned, if I'm painting, drawing, making art, modeling, or animating with my time, I'm on the path to my goal.

ROCK!!

Birthday fun

2008-08-18T19:08:00.002-05:00

Sarah will be officially old in two days. Hooray!!

I other news, I've started playing Dwarf Fortress. If you like both Dwarves and Fortresses I highly recommend it. But don't take my word on it.

And if you think.. hey.. I might like it. Read this.

In recent news

2008-08-14T21:48:00.002-05:00

Smallville!!! Poker!!! Juggling!! All these things rock.. and I'm now obsessed with all three.

So.. Lex Luthor is awesome. Smallville is Buffy with Superman - how great is that? I know I'm in a geek time bubble, but appreciate this. I've just watched the first series for the first time.. I'm in love! Geeking out is great.

Poker!! - Online poker is such a wonderful diversion. I'm a big fish right now but I'm getting better.

And Juggling!! Check out http://www.expertvillage.com/ . If you want to learn..well.. all kinds of fun stuff via video, go see. What a great thing.

Anyways, I'm going to work my way back into blogging. So.. hooray for life.

4th of "Can't Catch my Breath" July

2008-07-04T12:55:00.003-05:00

My chest feels like I got kicked and I can't seem to catch my breath today. So..just trying to get though the day. Wish me luck and have a happy 4th of July. Oh! And here is some good news about bad news for once.
for once.

Onion Boy

2008-07-02T02:11:00.002-05:00

Here is a drawing from the midnight oil (well.. the 2 am oil). Presenting Onion Boy.

New Compy

2008-07-01T23:27:00.002-05:00

New Compy Haiku:

New compy you rock
Hardcore, kicking so much ass
You rule completely

I love my new computer so much.. it looks like a sports car pin striped in electric blue. It's blazing fans make little cyclones around my feet and it responds with mongoose speed. It is the first computer that I've built and I'm hooked. There are just so many slots and bays that want to be filled in it.

It has become.. precious to me.

Abstract no?

2008-06-16T23:39:00.002-05:00

Late night doodling in zbrush and photoshop. I love my new toy.. once I learn more it will be more than an abstract painting creation engine. I also make a little clay looking goose in it.. but..not so good.

creative title here

2008-06-01T14:43:00.003-05:00

Blog!

It is a cleaning day.. hooray for cleanliness and a nice home. Work is work and I love my wife.

In other news, I'm obsessing about Spore. I haven't been this excited about a game since I saw the Mac World video for Halo.. when it was a mac game and the Xbox seemed like a lame idea. It is a game (that might be too limiting of a word.. Sandbox Toy God Simulator?) that blows my mind. You started at a microbe level, evolve creature though game play, go from the ocean and take those first important steps onto land, successfully mate and become evolutionary fit (or die), form tribes, technology, wage war, make cities, more tech (you get to design your buildings and vehicles), more war, get to space, engage in galactic conquest (there is a planet destroying weapon..hello Deathstar), terraform planets, seed new life on alien worlds (you can design plant life too), and make contact with alien races. Spore designs ecosystems - you can make 4 assed, 2 headed 1 tentacled critters (and hopefully they'll become the dominant life form.. hooray for tentacles!!) This game is so geek (and accessible to men and women, boys and girls alike).. I'm stoked.

So here I am..waiting.. impatiently... stupid September being 4 months away.

On the cg front - I'm trying to learn Zbrush. So.. I'll post pictures as that comes along.

I can't say enough about the game.. and I haven't played it yet.

Can't get enough of the World

2008-05-23T17:50:00.002-05:00

I can not get enough of this commercial... it is less a commercial about the Discovery channel and more about how awesome our world is (which is kind of what the Discovery Channel is about..hmm). Anyways.. I sing it all day.

So.. I was thinking about movie time travel today (because.. you know.. I'm a geek). So.. terminator time travel doesn't work. The whole movie's idea is that we make our own fate, but things are predestined (the savior of the human race sends his buddy back to be his own dad. Its a self referencing loop..so..no go). Now Back to the Future time travel works okay (except for the fading Marty which is lame and doesn't make much sense).. everything Marty does in the past retroactively effects his future. The only problem is that Marty_A goes back.. affects his parents and future.. parents have Marty_B.. then Marty_A returns to the present. He thinks that he is seeing himself go off in the Delorean but Marty_A is really watching Marty_B go off into the past. So where the hell does Marty_B go (presumably back in time..affecting his parents future resulting in Marty_C and so on). The best thing for Marty_A would be if Marty_B never makes it back his past.. Marty_B goes to the Permian period and got crushed by a Dimetrodon. Apparently this doesn't happen because as soon as he gets back to the present, Doc takes him to the future with those nifty hoverboards. Who the hell is this future Marty? Is this Marty_C perhaps? Marty_B must have gone back.. got his parent together and instilled positive thinking in them.. and then took his trip to the Dimetrodon footwear store. And this Marty_C didn't hang out with Doc and go back in time (his 1985 was pretty good now). Sooo.. Marty_A and the Doc go to the future to help out Marty_C's kids? How weird is that.. and why do they care..if thing aren't predestined (as shown by new and improved McFlys of 1985) what can you possibly do in the future (accept buy cool new toys that affect your past)do for you? Marty_A couldn't have been seeing himself in the future, because he removed himself from the time stream. He was looking at some alternate Marty that really wouldn't be him (good thing he learned not to be such a hot head though..way to avoid that car crash that screwed up Marty_C's life). So.. the movie's time travel works with a minor paradox and some missing information.

Lets assume that the law of conservation holds true.. we can't create or destroy matter.. there is a finite amount of energy in the universe. So.. as Marty_A makes Marty_B with the time machine, some small star.. or guy in Cleveland.. or a school of mackerel.. dematerialize to make up for the new Marty_B (We've made a machine that not only displaces matter though time, it also redistributes energy in the universe (I'm thinking the flux capacitor..king of black box technology.. makes this work out ).

Wow.. while thinking about this, I did a Google and this guy's website hits these points and a lot of other movies more thoroughly than I do (but less humorously I'm sure).

There is a movie that did time travel really well and I can't remember the time.. its like.. hmm.. machine.. mechanical term.. torpid.. Primer!!! Wow.. witness my brain in action!! Not sure where torpid came from but it brought forth Primer. If you want to watch a very nerdy movie that is only enjoyable if you're a nerd (and awesome in that right) watch Primer.

Sickly

2008-05-20T18:17:00.002-05:00

I am sick.. fever and body aches.. I've spent the last two days on my couch drifting between pain and sleep. It sucks. I thought I would try to get up and play on the computer or work on some art. But my head hurts.. I think I will just go lay down again.

Mama day

2008-05-12T20:14:00.002-05:00

So I had a nice time visiting my parents - I got my mom some jammies to sleep in. We had a nice ham dinner and played poker with family (typical when we get together - I love it). My dad put together some fishing gear for me too. When I got home, I caught a fish 'this big' (from my elbow to my finger tips). It was the biggest fish that I've caught in memory.. a largemouth bass. Our little pond is catch and release, so maybe I will get him again.. I hope so. Man o man, there are a lot of turtles out there.. snapping and box turtles galore. I like how this post really doesn't have much of a tangent.. just thinking in text.

Sarah and I want to buy a condo here - we'll save on rent that way. And we want a baby..so we're going to go to the doctors to get all checked out. If they give us bad news, I hear we can order one from China. So.. no worries :).

Ah-nee-mahls!!

2008-05-07T21:07:00.002-05:00

Little Dade has inspired me..

I was going to put these guys in a hot air balloon, but I swear I've seen that somewhere before. So what should they be in or on?

Time to get back on the horse

2008-05-06T18:42:00.003-05:00

I've been getting so caught up in a cycle of work and crash that I haven't been focusing on the things that really make me satisfied. It is the whole rut of 'I've worked all day and I'm tired.. so I'm not going to do anything once I get home'. This is probably a luxury actually but it is proving to be unhealthy for me. Take writing this blog for example.. I haven't been doing it. And I get a lot of satisfaction from it. Sloth sucks. And daily sketching - I was climbing a ladder and fell down quite a few rungs. Here is one for today - photoshop was being a bit sketchy (pun intended) tonight. My brush kept deciding to not work and then affect layers I wasn't working on. Weirdness really. Animation & CG - more things that I want to get back into the swing of. I'm going to start slow and hopefully build momentum as I go.

On other notes,a family crisis is occurring with my sister and I can't get a hold of her on the phone. Sarah and I (hell - everyone I'm sure) did a lot of stupid rebellious things growing up and I'm sure that is what is going on, but it is scaring my folks. We love her and miss her - its tough to get perspective on things you can only see from one vantage. On the flip side, Talking to my brother now is like trying to draw blood from a rock. He is a genius and someone I really admire and love, but at the same time dealing with all the _joy_ of the family and being a teenager. Not fun so I understand.

Tonight I am going to exercise some. I need to get in better shape (which shouldn't be hard when I'm in poor shape right now.. any exercise should lead to better shape). Hmm.. hungry.. going to go make some food and do push-ups and squats.. while watching Transformers. The new formula shall be fun + geek + improvement = awesomeness.

Love ya people!

Bad Blogger

2008-04-28T17:33:00.002-05:00

I haven't written a post in a week.. Bad blogger! Bad!

So here is an update.

So whats up.. I've had some crazy weeks. Lots of groups to take care of at work..I've just been really busy.

Sarah got a bad virus but she is getting better now. Its no fun when your sweetie is ill.

I got me some new clothes! I look like a preppy stud now... hello Banana Republic! It is so nice to be wearing new clothing.. I buy clothes about twice a year.. I really needed some. The best part is new socks!! Hooray for good feeling feet.

Art.. nill. CG.. nada. More like Better Living though exhausting days and well rested nights.

Golfin

2008-04-21T19:01:00.005-05:00

I played my first game of golf yesterday and man do I suck :). Golf is great though for the following reasons:

1. You get to drive around in go-carts. In a sport. How cool is that?
2. You get to swing clubs. Apart from baby seal hunting, how many sports have clubs? (Not straight sticks.. little f'ed up sticks!)

3. Although I haven't gotten to the advanced stage of the game, apparently drinking heavily is required as you advance in skill. The go-carts have coolers that fit 6-packs. Again...wow.
4. Like most sports, you wear funny outfits and use specialized equipment. In golf the specialized equipment sometimes looks like this:

5. You can play the game (and still suck at it) until your ancient. This is also very accepted.. so.. bonus.

Downsides:
1. Kinda pricey.. unless you happen to work and live at a golf course (hooray for me!)
2. Juggling ferrets is easier than this sport.
3. If I took the game more seriously (and I'm an extremist..I like stuff a lot when I like it), it is probably the most frustrating thing in existence.
4. I really suck at it.. the ball just doesn't want to go where you want it to and seems to be just as hard to find when it does fly in the right direction.

In the cg front:

I've started a walk.. go me.

In the cg hindering yet fun front:
I've started playing Dwarf Fortress. You must play.. it is.. hmm.. rad.

Peace out.

Ready to Rock!

2008-04-15T16:08:00.001-05:00

You ready to rock?! I'm ready to rock out with my manly extremity out. Schlump-time over - I'm fired up about being fired up. I am a beautiful animal, I am a destroyer of worlds, I am Scott, F'ing McElfresh!!

Clint - get that list of pictures sent to me.

Self - get off your ass and start some animating!

WOOOOOO...

(Runs off with axe, torch, and furry hat!)

Rockin Dream

2008-04-12T18:26:00.002-05:00

Wow.. what a killer dream last night. I can't make out all the details - its a dream after all, but I was hunting in the woods with my family. We had short bows and a deer came up to nuzzle us (apparently we weren't hunting deer). Then a brown fox came up and licked my face (not hunting them either I guess). During this family outing, I looked into the sky and saw strange flying machines and airships coursing though the clouds. We immediately hopped into our van (A-Team style.. my family has never owned a van), and were racing away from large bald-headed humanoids. We fled into a warehouse where I ran into one of the Aghartanians; I shot him square in the face with the bow. The arrow pitifully bounced off and he smiled at me. I can't recall the conversation, but human lives were akin to games they played. As if, our lives as we lived them where characters they roleplayed in games. How weird is that? He then went on to tell me that I need to keep creating art.

This has been going though my head throughout the day - tommarow is my day off and I'm going to see if I can work out a portrait of the Aghartan or maybe the airship. Or anything.. you don't want to piss of a large bald alien who speaks to you in dreams.

Not a post

2008-04-08T18:05:00.002-05:00

This isn't really a post. I'm not posting because I haven't posted in awhile. And nothing has really happened since then so there really isn't a point to a new post. I really should be doing things that would let me make a great post. How annoying is that. Mostly I've been destroying digital soldiers in the evenings and in the days, making coffee, making contracts, and making arrangements. But I really should be making other things in my time away from work.

I have an idea: give me an assignment to work on. You're my friends and interesting people - surely you have an idea that would be fun to make and animate. I want to build a set and props.. make characters and animate scenes. I'm in creative deadlock. I think of ideas.. like..hmm.. two guys..and.. one of them chops the other down with an ax. Creative? Not so much.. fun to animate? Possibly. Am I excited about it enough to take the laborious amount of time to animate it? Nope. Animation takes a great deal of time. And passion. I seem to have less passion after a long day of work... because.. you know.. I've worked all day and then the animation seems like more work. Instead of creation, fun, and art. I'm in a bit of a rut - I don't want to vent and bum anyone out. Good thing I'm not posting anything.

Me and my buddies.

2008-04-04T23:09:00.004-05:00

I just have to post these pictures. Just look at how amazing little Dade is. And his Dad is my best friend in world - he must have passed some amazing along.

Beatlemania and 4 Irish Tenors

2008-04-03T17:16:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a day of Bransontastic fun. Sarah and I took the day off together and saw some shows. One rocked my socks off; I had an amazing time. Sarah and I sang and yelled - the Liverpool Legends are about the closest experience you can get to actually seeing the Beatles in concert. In several ways it might actually be a better experience than seeing a Beatles concert.. you know.. less hysteria and deafening screams.. more music. I'll never really know until there is a zombie reunion tour. The Liverpool Legends sing the songs and play the instruments - no lip syncing here. Killer concert. On that note though.. Sarah said something disturbing before the show. Imaging seeing a Nirvana tribute band at a theater when we're 64... that is about the equivalent experience most of the audience had. Anyways - see the Liverpool Legends if you love the Beatles.

The 4 Irish Tenors were another thing completely. We saw the 10AM show (go free tickets..woo). Technically they are called the 12 Irish Tenors but only 4 are actually from Ireland. Basically, if I joined the 16 French Saxophonists, it would be about the equivalent. Sarah's biggest complaint (and it has merit) is that maybe 2 of the singers were the same as the ones on the billboard. This would be a better sign (and possibly a better show). I must admit - they sang very well. Not much Irish.. mostly opera and show tunes..very choirboy.. but very well. They were entertaining.

To top off they day, we had dinner with Sarah's folks at a great upscale southwestern restaurant. That reminds me.. I have a doggy box in the fridge. SCORE! Really good food..then we went and got rental movies and crashed in bed. Not a bad day at all.

On today's fun with work activities: I toured the Sight and Sound Theater. I don't think I'll be interested much in the content of there performances, but I have to admit, I want to see the shows. The stage is huge. The theater is beautiful. And how could I pass up a show that has animatronic hippos? My critique of a show I haven't seen: apparently the Noah gives the Ark over to Christ. WTH?? I'm no theologian but that seems to miss the mark Biblically. If Yahweh shut the door to the Ark, that would have some scriptural precedence but Christ? Like a omnipresent, pre-physical manifestation spirit Christ? No angel? Weird huh? On the nifty front: apparently there is a Temple of Nod in the production. Eat your heart out Command and Conquer.

Daily -

2008-03-31T19:47:00.001-05:00

Used my free time a bit.

Beautiful Boy

2008-03-31T17:16:00.002-05:00

This is my new buddy Dade. He is just about the best thing since the interweb. Not only does he delight at being burritoed up in swaddling, but he makes cooing noises when you play rocket-ship pilot with him on your lap (knee bouncing + finger hand holds + rocket noises). Just look at him. He is a beautiful animal.. a destroyer of worlds.. a paradox of power and babyness. I really want to bring a potential playmate or arranged marriage partner into the world for him.

So I visited my wonderful friends Clint and Cassie this weekend. They are frickin amazing (I also saw Amy - she is great too!). When I watch them, I see things that I want to bring to my relationship.. or just more of it. It is so nice to be around a couple like that. My parents are like that. They still kiss loudly before going to sleep (almost to ad nauseam); it is things like that that make me love them all the more. I'm being sappy, but by golly, baby Dade makes me feel sappy.

On a side note - Cassie's family really knows how to stab people in their souls. It is a neat talent.

Enough on all that.

Strange news from the work front: today I had lunch (which was great.. people brought chili and other good foodstuffs to eat) and we had a belly dancer perform. Never in my life have I been privileged to free chili and belly dancing at my job before. How 'bout that.

Wow.. I have time..to do things..that I enjoy. How to spend the time? Lets start with web-comics and go from there.. Life is good today.

BOOOYAHH!!

2008-03-27T19:54:00.002-05:00

Done!

WOOOOT. What a great game. Good job Armor games .. the bad news - I think the leaderboard is messed up.. it only shows 5 names on the board all with 0 deaths. I got to lvl 11 with 0 deaths but I can't imagine getting though the whole game that way.. and it only show 5 names.. NO MATTER. I finished it.. with a modest two thousand something attempts :O

I am free! Free at last. Beat the game.. sanity has returned. It is a strange accomplishment. I feel like I deserve a cookie. Or I want aliens to come claim me as their champion to have a killer early cg battle in space. Aren't those moments, when you succeed alone, just really strange? No just video game triumphs, but those moments when a glass falls off a ledge and you snatch it with your offhand like a deft cat-burglar. You hit a difficult riff that you're never ever able to repeat just the same. You cook the perfect steak or bake the most amazing loaf of bread. I love those moments in life.

I'm going to get back to doing what I love.. you know.. art and animation. On the same note, my wife gets home from a business trip tonight. Hooray.

Journey with me though insanity

2008-03-26T21:13:00.011-05:00

So I tried the Hardest Game Ever again.. let me take you though my journey

1-10.. I rule!! WEeeee..

Then it hits the fan. The game is without remorse. It leaves you no time or respite. You move or die.. and you die.. over and over. It is as if you had to play frogger and pong at the same time, while German police induced psychological warefare on you..the same techno song looping and looping. And screw you if you want to save. NO SAVE FOR YOU!! Some levels are puzzles.. great. Others are lemming suicide missions where you stagger around with milliseconds between survival and defeat.

This one.. lvl 23.. everything shifts.. back and forth..up and down.. and there is a damn pinwheel to smite you.

I highly recommend this game. It is fantastic. I'm going to play until my eyes bleed I think.. I had to stop tonight because I thought I might go blind.

I'm stuck on level 26..5 levels and I've beaten it. On 26 I can get each individual point. even 2 of them.. but inevitably I die trying to get the third. This digital nightmare will not beat me.

And the worse part of it all.. there is no reward except perhaps personal satisfaction that you're done with the game and no longer have a desire to play. How I yearn for that sweet sensation.

A mouse

2008-03-26T17:53:00.004-05:00

Look.. a mouse..

I'm excited about the weekend already. I get to visit family and friends.. I'm an "uncle" to a cute little spud. To top it off, I get to talk shop with my good friend and plan a body of work. How great is that.

If you're reading my blog for the first time or haven't commented, write me a little blurb. I love hearing from people out here on the edge.

Spotlight on Anju

2008-03-26T16:12:00.005-05:00

Hey people! Anuj Agarwal mailed me a little blurb about his slideshows - Neat little concept. I commend Anuj's passion for his work.

Fun stuff. Maybe you'll find a slideshow you like for you page at his site here:
Nachofoto Blog.

Wooyeah! Stupid game.

2008-03-25T19:18:00.003-05:00

I got past level 10.. and I got there with only 20 deaths.. then promptly racked up over 100 deaths getting though the level. Damn that game is difficult...

Then I got to here:

Lvl 10 but worse.. I don't think I'll be beating this game anytime soon.. especially when you can't save your progress :(. Mario has nothing on this nightmare.

In other news, the pollen is relentless. My throat has been replaced with fiery pain (only soothed by vitamin C citrus cough drops and jelly belly beans).

I made a new friend type person the other day. Our neighbor sings in the Yakov show and has the cutest little poodle. The doggies love to play together... if I ever recover my camera from our storage room (ie: spare bedroom), I'll take a picture. When I go in there, I'm reminded of the last scene of "The Raiders of the Lost Ark". Poor camera..

Tonight Sarah and I are eating mass quantities of meat.. RibCrib for the win! I'm excited about the meat... (thats what she said) Mmmm.. In other food news: I make amazing Eggplant Parmesan. The key is that you lay out your eggplant slices on paper towels.. salt heavily (kosher).. put more towels on top.. and then press for 30 minutes (Thanks Alton Brown.. you rock). It is amazing how much liquid comes out. Then rinse, dredge, bread, pan fry, and drain. Ooooh so good. I love cooking.. but hate cleaning up. Maybe I could have been a chef. They have dishwashers I'm sure.

Drawings on the rise.. posting later tonight. Wow.. blogging makes you feel good. I need to do it regardless of how I feel. Lots of love.. peace out.

He ain't pretty

2008-03-24T21:39:00.003-05:00

But he _is_ a sketch. Behold.. daily sketch.. drawn in pain and generally cloudheadedness. On the upside, I like the character. Not a great design but fun.

I miss my friends everywhere. Life has become work and more work lately. So.. friends out there, I love ya and miss ya! I hope that life is treating you well and that many happy fortunes will be bestowed upon you.

Mind numbing fun

2008-03-24T18:20:00.003-05:00

Just have to share this little bit of insanity with everyone. You will like this if you A: Like Games. and B: are a masochist. I'm thinking Cassie and Sarah will both be up for it.

Worlds Hardest Game

Good lord this addicting.. I got to level 10.. don't think I'll get past it anytime soon. I get to the bottom and lose :|. Go.. have mind numbing frustrating fun. I dare you.

Under the weather

2008-03-23T22:31:00.003-05:00

ARG

I haven't created anything in the past couple days and I don't feel so good. I'm not ill but I just feel..out of it. Like I'm getting over a cold or just started one. And I wasted my weekend.. Sarah and I did find a great house we would like to buy. Here's hoping the price is right.

YERG

My head hurts. This post is grumpy and no fun to read. And no daily or semi daily sketch up. I'm going to go take some advil and get some sleep. Then tommarow I'm going to have a busy day at work, come home, and make a new drawing. Even if I feel as out of it as I do now.. maybe a crappy drawing.. but it will be one none the less. Here is to tommarow.. when I'll start to live for today. (But really..not tonight..my head aches)

Pla-ti-num

2008-03-20T23:25:00.002-05:00

Here is a concept painting for "Dirty Clarence" - a Unity Underground black market dealer. This isn't really where I want to take the art.. I am going to push it more stylized and graphic. That means I'll probably need to get out the pencil and paper... I haven't been able to completely switch over to digital yet and get the same quality work. Its a start... time to sleep.

Sheets of rain

2008-03-19T16:40:00.002-05:00

So no drawings last night or tonight.. bleh.

Last night I got home and passed out in bed.. later I woke up disoriented and with fever. This morning.. oh so groggy and not feeling well. Now I'm fine. So I missed my post and sketch last night.. I'm sure under daily sketch law, there are caveats for illness.

Tonight I had a date night with Sarah. When went to the delightful stereotype of an Italian villa that is the Olive Garden. I had the minestrone soup... it is pretty much what I like there. Olive Garden in Branson is not like other Olive Gardens. For one thing, people can smoke in the restaurant. I told the greeter 'First Available'.. in Texas that means 'Patio or Interior'. Here is means.. 'choking or breathing'. Dumb dumb dumb.

The last time we went to the Garden, we sat in breathing. Our waiter was Johnny Monday. He was born on a week where it rained black and his mother beat him because he was ugly until he was nine. After working as a shoeshine boy with a burlap bag on his head for 4 years. Like the ugly duckling, he caught his reflection and saw that he had transformed into a good looking person. He thought to himself - I wonder if I can do that professionally? This led him to Branson where he now works as a performer slash model. Olive Garden is just for marketing in the off season. Johnny Monday bothers me because what I really need at Olive Garden is a waiter. You know.. someone to fill my drink, bring my food, and get my order right. Thats about it. Johnny, your calling is outside of the Olive Garden.. go out and live your dreams.. or work on becoming a better waiter.

Enough ranting (wait.. if I stop that, I have no blog).

Ranting resumed.

I'm starting a new project with KNRPG Productions. Art for a game in production called Unity Underground. I'm psyched about it.. I love projects. They channel my creative energy. They are the flux capacitor for my art. I'm going to start posting work in progress paintings on their steps to completion. I should have something up tomorrow. If not for Unity then some sketch.. hell. Now I feel guilty for not posting anything. I don't want to just throw up a scribble like I did the other day though... and I need sleep to have a productive day. Operation semi-daily sketch go!!

Ladies night..ohh what a night.

2008-03-17T21:07:00.002-05:00

Tonight I went out with my boss to a birthday gathering for a nice woman at the chamber of commerce. It was a nice gathering of cute professional women.. I was the odd one out. Long story short.. I had too much wine.. am going into work late tomorrow and my sketch has kind of suffered for it. I had fun meeting all the chamber ladies though. But ya know.. this is about the first daily 'sketch' that I've done. The rest have practically been completed works.. so no biggy.

I'm so busy at work. I had a stack to finish today.. much more tomorrow. That is pretty exciting actually.

I miss Lone Star Comics - (Fort Worth, TX). It is such a great little store.. I miss the people and the comic wall. The local Branson store...well.. it sucks. It has to be a tough market with Branson being a completely tourist driven economy (not really the comic reading tourist crowd either). I want the local shop to be good though. It makes me was to start a store.. but again. It would be so difficult to succeed here. I need to find an online option.

and WOW - Hooray for Portugal and people from Portugal. A Portuguese blogger left some praise on my page and filled me with an enormous sense of joy for blogging. Go global community!

Ohh So Much!!

2008-03-16T22:58:00.006-05:00

Wow.. so much to write and I want to get to sleep.

My parents came to visit this weekend and we had a grand ol' time. Ohh wait.. I don't want to talk about that yet.

More Pi

Thanks wikipedia for educating more about how amazing pi is. Get this: there is a collection of poems called Cadaeic Cadenza that corresponds to the digits of pi (well..not all of them..that poem would never end and take too long to read). I highly recommend the read - I attempted a small feat of pi poetry.. my results were rather dismal in comparison.

Fog

A Poem

I yearn leviathan to spread ahead
the dread creature appearing benefic
uncloaked she is the paradigm evil
always

My poor little poem corresponds to pi to 20 decimals (3.14159 26535 89793 23846). It makes for interesting language and is a fun mental exercise. Poetry is difficult enough without worrying about how many letters your words must contain. I haven't written a poem is years - try it out for yourself!

Moving on.

This is the first part of some sequential artwork inspired by Mike Libby's work at Insect Lab. Boy I love his sculptures.. I want to make some.

I'll finish the rest of the art tommarow hopefully. I need to come up with some stories before I start doing comics.

Back to parental visit: We went to watch Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede! yesterday. I think we all had a great time: we got stuffed on meat, got to watch horses, hear nice singing, and get an overwhelming dose of patriotism. My favorite part was the pig races and ostrich riding (thats right.. thats what I said). Good family fun show and food to boot. Now for some critique - if you, like many of my friends and sister, are vegetarian, you would have left the show hungry.. I think the mini corncob and potato wedge wouldn't have sated you. If you were Native American or First Nations people, you might have gotten somewhat offended about the neon painted white guy in a headdress chanting hey-yah hey-ya before summon a bird god. On a positive, the bird god flying dancer was quite a beautiful spectacle to watch. Good job! Splitting the audience in rival "North" and "South" groups is done to encourage audience participation -- I think it was done in a thoughtful manner and in the end Dolly informed us that we're all winners. (Except for the South.. they lost. you get Nascar and the Almond Brothers). Overall, I think it is a great show! Sadly, apparently at other Dixie shows, they have buffalo.. I love buffalo.. shucks :|

More Fun!!

Sarah and I had a grand scheme of seeing a double matinée of "Horton Hears a Who!" and "Penelope" - yahoo movies had different times listed than the Branson Imax however.. so we missed our showtime, at dinner at McFarlains (good food and prices... country home cooking - I had turkey dinner - *glee*), and then payed an exorbitantly large sum to see "Horton Hears a Who!" Blue Sky - cheers to you! I can't say how much I enjoyed that animation in the movie. Great job! (The crowd shots felt like some characters died.. a bit stiff & still..I can't complain though). The movie as a whole is a much bigger ball of wax. Horton is just symbolism layered on symbolism with a parable like quality that was almost overwhelming... really beating a dead horse by the end. I'm sure countless religious groups will be using it for their own ends (apparently Pro-life advocates have already making out the movie to be "Horton hears a fetus"..) the overall message seemed clear enough: be open-minded. I like that. On a stranger note, I had just watched the Messenger: Joan of Ark movie... lots of parallels between the movie that made me wish I could just enjoy the movie without thinking of everything else. I'll probably get the DVD. I love Seuss and Blue Sky. Again.. fantastic work. Cheers.

Time to sleep.

Penguin!

2008-03-15T12:59:00.002-05:00

Behold! The majestic penguin.. that I wanted to draw at 2 AM. (What an odd thing to wake up for). I'm going to start working on some sequential art.. you know.. like a comic.

Pi Day

2008-03-14T23:11:00.004-05:00

I totally missed it.. thank you Thad for redeeming it for me.

When ink and pen in hands of men
Inscribe your form, bipedal "P"
They draw an altar on which
God has slaughtered all stability
No eyes could ever soak in all the places you anoint
And yet to see you all at once we only need the point
Flirting with infinity, your geometric progeny
That fit inside you oh so tight
With triangles that feel so right

3.141592653589793238462643383279
50288419716939937510582097494459

Your ever-constant homily says flaw is discipline
The patron saint of imperfection frees us from our sin
And if our transcendental lift shall find a final floor
Then Man will know the death of God where wonder was before

Yeah, I know this Pi shit backwards and forwards
Check it out

I did three chicks then I pointed at the door
A girl entered in so that made it four
I snapped one time in came another five
Add 'em all up and that makes nine
The average age 26.5
Now that's what I call gettin' some pi
Five of the chicks wore 6-inch heels
Two of the nine squealed like seals
514 was the area code
Quebec, Canada my winter abode
And my 1.3 million dollar chalet

Pi backwards, pi forwards, all night and all day

3.14159265358979323846264338327950288
4197169399375105820974944592307816406
2862089986280348253421170679821480865
1328230664709384460955058223172535940
812848111745028410270193852110556

Parental visit and working

2008-03-14T19:29:00.005-05:00

I had a great day today - it was a nice taste of my new job in full effect. The guy I'm replacing (he is going on to bigger and better things - good job!) last day was today. We had a nice little pizza party send off. I like that professional adults still enjoy a pizza party. And I didn't even have to read any book list books and take my list to Pizza Hut. How great is that? The pizza was from "Pizza World" - good stuff. I'm not a big fan of thin crust, but there were some good choices to eat; the crowd pleaser was the chicken/spinach. Delicious!

So I'm now the Events Coordinator for Thousand Hills Golf Resort in Branson, MO. It has a nice ring to it. Plus, it is a great job. Basically, I organize events: family reunions, wedding receptions, business meetings, and all manner of group get-togethers. If you're visiting Branson, I recommend our cabins - rustic log cabins.. very romantic.

Tomorrow my parents are visiting. I'm excited: I got tickets to Dixie Stampede. It will be the second show I've seen in Branson. I'm going to make a point of try to get to as many as possible while we live here. I love to be entertained. Hopefully everything goes well.

Well.. off to eat and and clean. Ooohhh - 16 days of daily sketches. I'm so proud :)

Reading is easier with pictures

2008-03-13T18:26:00.003-05:00

I found a great new comic today. I loves it.. and I think Cassie will like it too. Enjoy. It was a good day today! I helped a nice older couple find the perfect rooms for their 60th Wedding Anniversary. How great is that? I'm enjoying my job more and more. On the flip-side, I inhaled a bit too much ammonia while cleaning some tables in a conference room and tomorrow I'm cleaning out storage closets. Every job has its pros and cons I guess.

http://www.bunny-comic.com/

I've had enough portraits for awhile. Time for some exploration of things that a 11 year old and me would enjoy. Robots, monsters, explosions.. all kinds of good.

Baby Envy

2008-03-12T16:29:00.004-05:00

Damn it Cassie.. why did you have to have such a cute little baby? It is like a friend who gets a cool new toy that you don't have and really want. Now we really want one.. he has little feet and you can give him a bath in the sink. He is dis big |-(insert baby size here)-|! Whenever you two, get some vacation time, remember that Sarah and I live in the Missouri vacation destination numero uno. We miss you.

Hmm.. I think my work is sucking creative energy away from me. I'm sustaining my daily paintings but animation has slowed to a crawl. While making sales calls today, I did sketch out some rough posing for my couple animation. I'll keep on fighting the good fight... of making amusing animations.

So good

2008-03-11T19:38:00.003-05:00

Hmm.. my job is going well. Still quite a learning curve. I like hospitality, but I really have to work on my phone conversation skills. I no talk good on phone.

In other news, Sarah is awesome! She made lasagna, a beautiful salad, and get this: chocolate covered strawberries! What did you have for dinner? :P

DS 12

2008-03-10T20:11:00.003-05:00

Sunday day off woooo....

2008-03-09T01:44:00.003-06:00

It's my day off :) Have a nice day.

Picture book

2008-03-08T22:47:00.003-06:00

I was listening to the Kinks "Picture Book" today and the song has stayed with me all day. The Kinks are such a great band - I love all the British invasion bands (the Beatles, the Who, and the Rolling Stones) but out of all of them, I feel that the Kinks' sound embodies more of the style that I enjoy listening to in modern music. That is a bit backwards way of thinking about it I guess.. I've been stuck on the Decemberists, Neutral Milk Hotel, Elliot Smith, and Death Cab lately.. surely their music has been influenced in some way by the 60-70's era British music scene. The songs have such great narratives and some fun poppy rhythms... gotta love em.

Apparently I like a lot of "Emo" groups. What about this music makes kids want to write dark poetry, wear too much eyeliner, and get lame haircuts is beyond me. Do Emos exist or are they just a myth that has been popularized by the interweb? Hmm.. hippys.. punks.. head-bangers.. goths.. emos.. (weird.. Sarah and I were big grunge fans.. still am.. not group title? whats the deal?)

Piano man

2008-03-08T00:12:00.002-06:00

Tonight I went to a dueling piano bar - Branson has all kinds of fun.... all for a nominal fee. I crashed a birthday/going away party. Good times.

Sketch power!!

Fun with Work

2008-03-07T20:04:00.004-06:00

I really like my new job. I get to call people, setup contracts, solve problems, email and "touch base". The people I deal with are generally happy (so far) and most things I can plan well ahead of when they will actually occur. As a bonus, I never have to climb on to roofs or cling to ladders in thunderstorms. Awesome!

I'm liking these monochrome paintings. I can work completely digital and it is a style I'm comfortable with. I think I'll try to do a series of these (unless I decide to do something else..)
I'm short one for the week though.

Last night I took a long, soothing bath, got lethargic and had to sleep. I'll make up the drawing.. it bothers me that I didn't post one yesterday. Anyways : work = good. Drawings = good. Animation = weekend.

New Friend Fun

2008-03-05T19:39:00.005-06:00

I made a new friend today and that is always good. After work we went out for food and drinks and now I'll try to draw a picture. Slightly intoxicated drawing on the way.. it might be up tommarow but drawn today.

It was a good day at work. I learned a lot. The end.

Out.

.. oooh.. drinking and drawing don't mix. Here is my sketch of the day after my head cleared up.

King of the Humugens

2008-03-04T12:52:00.006-06:00

This little guy came from working solely with digital chalk and no idea in mind of what I was drawing. Stream of consciousness doodling I guess. I need to play housekeeper today..laundry time and unpacking.

Thanks for the comment Clint. I'll start working on some concepts for a game soon enough. If you have an ideas for concept art you would like to see, just let me know. Focus is always helpful for me.

Even though I'm sure it will be everywhere else too, I just want to note that Gary Gynax passed away at the age of 70. Be sure and roll a die or two in his honor. Salute to the father of roleplaying.

Pie of Slumber

2008-03-03T22:26:00.004-06:00

Today was my first day on the job - training day for the win!
I think it is going to be a good experience overall - customer service, hospitality, and sales. Good and good. And I am not going in tomorrow due to inclement weather.. and it was beautiful just the other day here.

Sarah and I ate some pie and feel asleep at 4 PM and slept for 3 hours. Now I feel kind of messed up. I'm glad the dogs woke me up or I'm sure we would have woken up around 1 AM.

Tomorrow I'm going to try and start blocking out my new animation. That and unpacking boxes so I can find my camera.. I need reference.

What do you think about this sketch? Sarah says thumbs down. I think there are some positive things happening in it. Either way.. each day is a fun learning exercise. One of the reasons I got out of bed was to draw my sketch.

Today was different than yesterday.

2008-03-02T20:09:00.005-06:00

I had a good day today. Kind of a lazy Sunday. Sarah and I went to visit her mom and grandmother. Visiting with Mom was nice - we were greeted with a variety of food. Ravioli, Meat Loaf, Salad, Gravy, Sweet Potatoes, and Cherry Pie. Not generally what I think of when I consider lunch, but I really enjoyed it and now we have left overs for the week. Hooray for food. We visited her grandma next. She is eighty years old - got back from a funeral before we visited with her. Funerals are an odd social function for the elderly I have decided. Hearing them talk about it was about like me and Sarah talking about coffee with friends. I found it really comforting. She is a neat lady with some down to earth advice - "Do what you want to do and when you want to." It gave me a nice little warm feeling that I'm doing the right thing.

Tommarrow is the first day of my new job. Hopefully things go as well as I would like them to.

One drawing and a creepy painting today.. I did the painting at around 3 am the other night. I've been drinking too much tea.

I'm excited at yet another new projects! Its everything that I talked about in a previous post on what I would like to animate. Zombies are on hold for now. I'm going to push to get the new animation out in 3 weeks. Here is the scene - Guy on screen and his lady dashes in from off screen; the guy scoops up his lady and they twirl and then kiss. Then he carries her off screen. Acting, weight, physical action, and two characters interacting. No real props or setting but I'm not worried. Oooohh.. I can model out clothing for the characters. And I can make the scene a period piece and figure out a nice background. I'm thinking a west end New York sort of setting.. the clothing.. no idea. Long dresses without any sort of cloth simulation would be killer. Unless the woman is in equestrian gear, when did women start wearing pants or jeans? Late 50's / Early 60's ?? Time to watch Audrey Hepburn movies (good idea - thanks sweetie!).

Guillotine Necklace

2008-03-01T22:05:00.004-06:00

I was thinking about faith and god today.. in particularly Christianity and Catholicism . Mostly about the fixation on pain, suffering, and death of Jesus. I'm by no means a religious scholar and really don't know much about it (I'm sure there are a multitude of great books out there on the subject), but what other religions focus so much on the death of their prophets & saviors? Birth, death, and resurrection.. shouldn't the religion be focused on life? After all; we're alive and it is kind of our principle concern. Yes yes..afterlife.. but who needs faith after you're dead? Just some musings..

On the flip side: would life be odd if the Roman empire had the guillotine? No fixation on pain and suffering.. drop and chop. What would churches be like? Crosses were an implement of death and suffering (crucifix coming from cruciare which means"to torture") and they are represented all over the place. Imagine guillotines and baskets outside of buildings all around your city and towns.. iron maidens necklaces hanging around peoples necks. I know that the modern usage of the cross and crucifix is more or less a symbol - a way of saying "me = Catholic or Christian". What a bizarre thing though.

I love my dogs.. no dogs go to heaven.. because dogs don't have souls. Eternal kowtowing. Wtf?

Gnashing of teeth and fiery brimstone.. Eternal suffering. Wtf?

Can we get some better options?

Enough on all this.. I'm bumming myself out.

Chores Ahoy

2008-03-01T13:23:00.008-06:00

Lots to do around the house today.. and hmm.. I haven't been doing much of it yet. So I'm going to write this and get started. Right now. After this. In a minute.

Daily Sketches.. bam

Daily Sketch

2008-02-29T19:33:00.004-06:00

Today did not go as planned :O. The good news is that I got my preemptive promotion!! Hired by the same company twice in a week.. wizard :D. (On that note, go see Juno..great movie.) I got absolutely no work done on photorealistic texturing or modeling for that matter. I did however, go on a job interview, get hired (again), get my car back from the shop and registered, found my scanner, and drew a picture to scan and paint. Go me. Daily sketch upload is the order for the weekend. We'll see how it goes once I start my new job.

Congratulations to my brother Drew on getting your learning permit to drive. Thanks for making me feel old.. er. Good job though really.

I also corrected a few editing mistakes in my demo reel - Thank you Thad for the suggestions.

Real stuff

2008-02-29T10:44:00.002-06:00

I've never done any sort of photo-realistic work in digital 3d before (sculpture has the benefit of being photo-realistic naturally). I want to try my hand at some visual effects work so highly detailed modeling and realistic texturing ahead. I'm going to take today to expanding my knowledge of mental ray materials and texturing techniques. Hopefully, I'll have some examples to post later.

I'm thinking about making some basic animation tutorials - not only will it be helpful to others (hopefully), I think it will a nice exercise for me. Anyone interested? Ohh! If you read this, please send me a link to your blog or website at smcelf@gmail.com. I want to see what is going on in all of your lives as well.

And it's oh so good, and it's oh so fine.

2008-02-27T21:18:00.007-06:00

Boom shaka lahka!!

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Demo reel.. done.

Well.. for now that is. I've already started working on designs for 'Appliance Wars' robots. Oh crap! Maybe the war is my fault and I shouldn't work on these drawings... nah.. Dade has got my back.

Anyways.. demo reel. I'm feeling happy. Ooh.. the job I just interviewed for called me back to interview for a different position than the one I was hired for. Preemptive promotion..sweet. Hopefully, it is something that I want to do.

Now to just get a job as an animator - my goal is to achieve this by September. I want to make a couple more animations for my reel. My early idea was the zombie supermarket (which I really like), but there are quite a few things that I want in the animation that isn't really in that concept.

Lets see whats in store for phase epsilon of my demo reel:

I want to see action.. characters being physical - moving, fighting, rolling, jumping, or running. Something that really shows great body mechanics and timing.

I want to see weight.. characters lifting, throwing, catching, or carrying.

Character interaction!! Multiple characters on screen (most likely two..lets not get crazy..). This adds work but interaction without dialog makes for a good acting challenge

Detailed props and/or environments. I've been dressing my sets pretty light and simple. I can model out props just fine. It takes time away from the animation but definitely adds polish to a scene.

Planning - character sketches, storyboarding, animatics, diagrams. This is generally a loose process for me and I work a lot of things out in my head and while I'm animating. Not really the best method, so I want to clean up the process.

So I know what needs to be involved in the scene, but my options are widespread. Brainstorming and storyboarding is going to be important. Also, I'm not sure if I want to make and model my own characters or use my stock Animation Mentor models. Ohh..and if you're reading this and have any aspirations of becoming an animator, I highly recommend Animation Mentor.com. The curriculum is great and the teachers amazing. Despite not being able to finish my full term with them (life happens at the worst of times), I can say enough positive things about them.

I'm drawing now - having my drawing workspace set up next to my workstation is great. The negative side effect to all this creative productivity is that most of the home is still in boxes. A heroes work is never done.. and I'm busy too.

Happy Birthday!!!

2008-02-26T22:10:00.003-06:00

Today at 8:59 PM, Dade Krause came into this world (like a Roman ruler) at a weight of 8 lbs. 6oz. and a height of 20 inches. His mother is all hopped up on the feel good drugs so she is doing just fine. Good work Cassie!! You'll be happy to know that Dade will lead the resistance versus the machines in the Appliance Wars of 2043 - without you mankind would have been screwed.

All kinds of good news today.

I got a job today as a Front Desk Service Rep with Thousand Hills Golf Resort today. So, hooray for income and employment in our new city. My best man has a new little man. As of a minute ago, the rendering of my old animations is complete. Life is looking up! And look.. I started drawing again. I really need to start working on some characters for KNRPG Productions but I'm warming up. I'm going to make some character model sheets.. get my draw on. (sadly no scanner hooked up yet.. and the webcam just isn't doing the trick.. I'll post some later on).

Here be some more animation.. double woot... I'm really pleased with how this turned out.

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Goblins R' Great

2008-02-25T18:07:00.006-06:00

Sarah and I saw Spiderwick Chronicles today - it made me feel like a kid again. Faerie folk and bullfrog looking goblins.. fun stuff. The animation was incredibly well done and all the kids in the movie got hurt by goblins. I'm not sure why characters getting bloody in movies (see Harry Potter) makes me so satisfied but I think that an added sense of a peril comes from pain. At my core, I can relate to pain and blood but not necessarily being attacked by a horde of goblins. I really think the movie would have been better if it has less story and more faerie folk and goblin fighting..the film makers wanted everything to resolve nicely and in a timely manner. I'm not going to grip too much about a movie adaptation of young reader books (especially because I enjoyed it), but boy.. the main villain ogre (he had a name that isn't too rememberable) just wasn't cutting it in the villain department. Apparently he is evil, wants power, and killed some hobgoblins in the past. Not really doing anything for me as a monster.

In contrast, I love G'mork from the Neverending Story. He is a big, scary wolf, who stalks the film's hero Atreyu in the hopes of spreading oblivion. He is the servant of the Nothing.. the ultimate nihilist. Now there is a monster. If Voldemort had an evil wolf sidekick (oh wait.. he did.. kinda..) he would have been even greater.

Lots of rendering and compositing going on today. I'm digging this wide format. Things are coming along nicely.

Riverhop and robots

2008-02-25T00:35:00.008-06:00

My riverhop animation is looking nice and sexy now. Despite that, if anyone reading ever has any comments, suggestions, or criticism, please feel free to post or email me.

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And on the topic of sexy: Ashley Wood's work is amazing.

I am completely envious and amazed by his talent and work.. and he has a cool blog -If you like things that are awesome, I highly recommend looking at his work. Androids fighting... forbidden planet.. fantastic work. Ashley's work really makes me want to get back into painting. I'm going to focus on drawing and animating everyday, just as soon as I get a job down here. Tuesday interview, here I come.

One down, more to go.

2008-02-24T17:26:00.003-06:00

This animation is done. It feels done right now.

- Here it is in full format -

Damn dogs

2008-02-24T09:59:00.005-06:00

I love my dogs oooh so very much. But after a lot of hard work, Bella has reverted to peeing on the carpet. I think that it is because of the move but it is so frustrating.. she is our problem child from a troubled past.

Oooh so fluffy, cute, and cuddly; full of piss and vinegar.

The job fair was a bit of a bust. I was expecting an expo and instead it was like a large bake sale. Lots of 'We're looking for dishwashers and housekeeping'. I felt over dressed but Sarah assured me that I wasn't. The good news is that I have an interview on Tuesday with a resort hotel. Hopefully I'll have good news to post on Tuesday.

On the Cg front, things are coming along smoothly. Thad showed me some old animations that I did -

Things look like this now..

When before, they looked like this.

Hooray for improvement!!

Lip syncin

2008-02-23T18:44:00.004-06:00

More progress on the reel.

24# Linen and neck popping action

2008-02-22T17:55:00.004-06:00

My résumés are now corrected, proofed (thanks Cas), and printed. Off to the job fair tommarow to buy a fat pig..of a job.. jiggity jig. Stay tuned for more from the job front.

I went to the chiropractor today for the first time. I have a straight neck due to a turned pelvis and a double 6 degree S-curve in my spine. It is strange to have someone snap bones into place on you and then enjoy medieval style entertainment on rack inspired furniture. The worst part is, after you have all this fun, they stab you again in the wallet. That hurts.

Just 45 frames of lip syncing left to fix. That is just under 2 seconds. Things are coming along well. What gets me is; why couldn't I do this right the first time? My friend Clint (www.clintkrause.com) chatted with me on the phone today and as usual struck some chords of greatness. I have been afraid of being bad at what I do and thereby unwilling to move on. Improvement is natural, but only if you keep doing whatever it is that you're doing. So now I'm going to try and just accept my work for what it is, take a step back, and then work to improve.

Do not despise the rungs of the ladder of success so much that you fail to climb it.

.. sandwich time...

Snow day

2008-02-21T16:13:00.002-06:00

And then the ice fell.. again. I haven't found my camera yet, but then again, I haven't unpacked all the boxes yet. I'm finishing up the lipsyncing today and tommarow.. résumés! That is typed a lot happier than I feel about updating and making résumés but it must be done. Job fair this Saturday: time to get employed again.

I have a sexy new haircut. Sadly..no cam to show off my sexy new haircut. You'll just have to trust in my sexy new haircut. Sexy new haircut.

Icy cold hands...

Clint: Read Mark Frost's 'The List of Seven'. It is a Cthulhu style story about the adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle. I'm working on it. I think you'll enjoy it.

Cassie: How's the unborn? I'll call tonight to check up on you.

Lip Syncin'

2008-02-19T17:26:00.004-06:00

Alrighty.. I'm in to the thick of things again. This weekend I'm going to a job fair and I'm dusting off the old demo reel. Right now I'm tightening up the lip sync on an old animation. Here is a playblast of my progress. I've got another 125 frames to go but it is coming along.

I've haven't eaten today so I'm going to go fix my self a Dagwood style sandwich.

Hooray!

2008-02-17T23:28:00.002-06:00

My lovely and talented friend Cassie Krause is about to pop out a little person. Wow! Hooray for new life. She is on bed rest at the moment which means she is currently bored and waiting for a baby to doing his best prairie dog impression. Sarah and I have already bought him a little hat.. because Missouri is cold.

Moving is going on like moving does.. at a retarded snails pace.

While taking the doggies out today, Sarah found a cuddly lost puppy. She looked like the RCA dog.. I think a smooth Fox Terrier.. with a bandit style eye patch and everything. I feel in love with her and wanted to keep her. Luckily a neighbor came by and decided to add a puppy to their family. So..happy ending.

Sarah and I saw Jumper tonight. Great popcorn movie. I think it would make a fantastic Sci-Fi tv series. Hope someone is working on that. As a movie, it was enjoyable. I didn't really care for the main character though. As a protagonist, he is kind of flat. They show that he is self serving and really doesn't change though the whole film. I wanted a kind of Jason Bourne or Simon Templar character but instead got a shallow pretty boy. I think the writer had a lot more going on with the story than what actually made it into the film. All in all it was a great effects movie that made me wish I could teleport.

On the BLTCG front: I fixed some lip sync on an early animation that I was never happy with. I'm still fixing it..more mushy dialog to clean up. I'm post it just as soon as I'm finished. Man I'm fired up about animation.. I feel a burning passion in my soul. I think I had given up hope and faith in my dreams and myself and now I'm regaining it. It feels good.

Headcold?

2008-02-15T18:06:00.002-06:00

All this thinking about zombies and moving heavy boxes in the cold has me feeling a bit zombie-ish. Zombies aren't evil: they're just really irritated that they're head hurts so much. Saying "Brains" so much is just them expressing their great discomfort. My head hurts.. and I'm hungry.

On another note, The Daily Affirmation with Kris Straub (halfpixel.com)and Scott Kurtz (pvponline.com) for about 3 days straight now. It is great. I think they are partially responsible for me pursing my dream of becoming a professional animator. They talk shop about webcomics, wax over great tv shows, random sillyness, and also express feeling of doubt and fears about their own creations and process. Its genuine and inspirational. Plus.. crazy awesome. Soon I shall be up to date with it and probably sad.

Ikea is great. But disassembling and reassembling their furniture sucks big time. My fnordi shelves like to collapse while I'm assembling it. Its almost done, but I fear with the last shelve, the middle pegs will somehow evaporate. **

** I want to be positive about unpacking and moving.. new start, live in the now.. new start...but my head hurts though**

More assembling sturdi forkendur furniture.

What am I writing this for if no one reads it? I know.. its textual masturbation. I like writing it and it makes me feel good. I should start the posts "Dear Web Diary".

Moving.. it sucks..

2008-02-14T17:38:00.001-06:00

Moving.. boxes.. taking over the apartment.. :|

Brains

2008-02-12T23:07:00.002-06:00

Drawing brains is fun. I've decided that brains have three distinct parts (per hemisphere). They have a big dome, a sidecar, and a baseball. As long as you draw these parts, and lots of wrinkles, you get a brain. Otherwise you draw strange potatoes and manatee embryos. Not a highly scientific analysis of brains but good for drawing.

Drawings/Pictures to come.. scanner still away.

Cleaning in Narnia

2008-02-12T18:29:00.000-06:00

Everything is covered in ice and snow. Nature gets pissed when we move.. why is it always so damn cold and icy when we move? Fate conspires against us moving.. even in Texas, it snowed on the day we moved. Nature is being extra tricksy this year.. I moved half our stuff down.. then an ice storm sprang into attack. Now I need to fight my way back to home and clean and load in the cold..again. I wish I had my camera but sadly its at old home.

This is more diary than blog I guess. I'm good with that.

Project update: Tonight I'm working on prop design. I want them to be nice and clean. I keep thinking of Gary Whitta's Death Junior, The Goon by Eric Powell, and Mignola's work. If I could channel an ounce of what I see in there work into my own, this animation will be great.

Bransontastic

2008-02-11T21:48:00.000-06:00

We just moved to Branson. It pisses Sarah off when I say that it is small.. but the city is comprised of 4 streets packed with country music performers, hokey comedy, and magic shows *abracadabra.. rabbit *. Now the my goal is to become employed as an animator by September 1st. Branson motivates me.. to leave it. Its a nifty place to visit... but now I live here.

Sooo.. time to get employed, follow my dreams, head to California, get some mulah, make some babies, start a hillarious sit com with my buddy Thaddeus and generally rock out.

I this all this is possible though zombies. Zombies are the key to my future. This I know.. zombies are a staple in modern culture. Who doesn't love the undead? More to come on this..