It’s dawned on me recently that I really am an Animator. I don’t mean that I carry the title of one in my job profession (I actually don’t currently), but that I have an instinct and desire to be an Animator, and really not much else.

Any artist or creative type knows exactly what it means when another refers to “being in the zone.” That’s the time when everything stands still, and it’s just you and your art tool(s) of choice. I’ve never really been into meditation, but I have to assume it’s very similar. All of your cares, fears, and frankly all touch with outside reality just wash away, and what you’re left with is a direct connection between you and what you’re creating.

As a young artist, I floundered for a LONG time trying to find my way in the art world. I knew I was creative, and I knew I had a passion for art, but I could never pin down what I had a knack for. Modeling felt tedious to me, rigging was far too technical, and particles and FX were neat but just didn’t give me the performance result I was looking for.

Animation almost escaped me completely. As you can most likely tell from this site, I can draw enough to get ideas across, but I’m nowhere near the level of skill needed to be a 2D Animator. My one brush with 3D Animation, which occurred during art school, resulted in such a horrible result that I almost brushed it off as yet another “not for me.”

However there was one thing I kept going back to in that piece: There was one gag that I actually pulled off enough to communicate what I was going for, and that one bit actually got a laugh from the folks watching it. That sparked something in me, in that it opened my eyes to the connection Animators can have with the audience. With animation, for the first time, I was able to create a performance that could evoke real emotion from people. I had found my niche.

That’s not to say I jumped right on it, or fully comprehended what I had uncovered, but years later it was the one tent pole I found myself returning to again and again when I found myself once again considering a career in art. It just so happened that this time, my desire to make a go at being a professional artist happened to sync up very nicely with Animation Mentor getting off the ground. I jumped in with both feet, and never looked back.

Keep in mind that I was working anywhere from 40-60 hours per week at my day job while attending AM, and pouring in 20+ hours a week to the school at night. I would often get asked by a friend or family member, “Do you ever feel like you’ve taken on too much?” I suppose at times I couldn’t help feeling that way, but it was always on the day job side of things. At night, I was “in the zone,” and those hours whisked by as though they were seconds. It was the first time I had experienced truly being in the zone, and I knew I had found my place in the art world, as a CG Animator.

I was bringing characters to life, and watching the response it garnered from people. As I honed my craft, I had a blast (even if it was slightly terrifying at times) seeing if I could achieve my desired response from the audience, whether it was to laugh, scream, or anything in between. It took a long time for me to overcome my technical ineptitude (something I still struggle with) and just focus on the performance, but I slowly got there over time.

While I now deal with animation on a daily basis at work, as an Art Director for Microsoft Studios, I rarely get to do any hands-on animation in my day job. Yet there I am at night, some 5 years after graduating from Animation Mentor, pouring in those same 20-30 hours per week, animating and trying to better myself in my craft. I’ve since attended iAnimate as well as Motivarti, and for the last 18 months or so, I have been a freelance Animator on the Lucy Project. I still get asked the question, “Does it ever feel like you’ve taken on too much?” and the answer is still the same.

I don’t know if all of my dedication and hard work will ultimately lead me to other opportunities, or if it will remain a time-consuming (and somewhat expensive) hobby of mine. In either case, I couldn’t be happier to find what I enjoy doing, and be afforded the opportunity to dedicate so much time to it. Outside of hanging out with my family and friends, it truly is the one place I feel at peace.

I am an Animator.

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Done and done! (Those donuts were kind of a pain in the tush!)

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I can’t wait for all of you to see this thing when we’re done with it!

Smash cut to today. It was 52 and pouring down rain.

Summer is here!

Someday I’d like to create a proper website to house all of these strips, but until that time comes, I thought I’d kick out a few here and there on a Facebook page. They probably won’t hit in any specific order or frequency, and I’ll just post random strips from the archives.

Please swing over there, and Like the page if you want to get a chuckle now and then, even if that chuckle is at my bad drawings. If you like what you see, you might also drop $10 clams and hit the link in the right hand column of this site to buy the book. I promise threw enough stuff in it to make it worth your while!

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This is no exception…

Chip Games
I’m still cranking out various chip games on a nearly weekly basis. This freelance gig has been going on for around 7 years now, and I feel SO lucky to get to draw silly little illustrations for them each week. Always fun stuff.

Motivarti
I’m also thrilled to announce that I was selected by Mike Belzer to take part in the Motivarti program! We met for the first time this past week to kick things off, and I was able to show him (with the blessing of Director, Ben Rush) some of my shots from “Lucy” that you guys haven’t seen yet. He had some very kind words to say, and then as I had hoped, provided me with a ton of feedback to plus them even further!

Lucy
Speaking of Lucy, the short film is coming along great! We were even told this past week that Ben Rush, our Director as well as amazing Dreamworks Animator, is going to try and animate a shot as well. Plus Jason Ryan wants to do another one, like his Scarecrow shot in the teaser below. The level of talent working on this short (present company excluded) is AMAZING.

ArtRage
I’ve also been trying to teach myself ArtRage. I love the program, even if I don’t always know exactly what I’m doing.

Sketching
At work we’ve been doing a lunch sketch session, where we all just crank something out in 15 minutes or so while we eat. I don’t do it every day, and most of the sketches are awful, but a few turn out okay.

Teaching
I’ve recently decided to take a teaching gig at The Art Institute of Seattle, and will be developing an Advanced Animation class for them! I’m excited, as I’ve lectured at various schools and done countless reel and portfolio reviews, but have never actually taught. Really looking forward to this, but the planning and preparing has already begun, even though I don’t actually start teaching the class until July.

Day Job
Along with all of this, I’m still cranking on some really amazing games that I can’t wait to share with all of you, but more on that later…

So there you go. Not dead, doing art stuff, and trying to survive. Sorry I’ve slipped on updating. Maybe the summer with bring some much-needed sun and some more consistent updates from me!

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I started using Pinterest around a year ago, but like many other folks I’ve heard from, I wasn’t really sure what to do with it, interest wore off, and I stopped using it. Around 3 months ago then, I got back into it… WITH A VENGEANCE.

The shot you see above is a screenshot of my Character Design board on Pinterest where I tag all of the images that I find on the site or various armpits around the web. Take a look at that image closely and you’ll see an amazing amount of technique and style variation in each of those pins. It’s a spot for inspiration for sure, but it also happens to be a crazy valuable resource at work for nailing down a particular style as well. I’m art directing a project right now, and was able to point them to some of the architecture photography I had pinned on a different board as a jumping off point for designing our world.

Last week I was doing a personal painting test, and wanted to better myself at painting folds and wrinkles. I was able to call back to some of my Pinterest pins, and found some amazing reference and inspiration.

Now I know some of you see me as that butthead at parties who is talking about how he, “…just bought this thing called a Prius. Have you heard of these? Turns out… THEY’RE ELECTRIC!” Yes, I know Pinterest has been around for a while, and I haven’t made some amazing discovery, but I kind of wanted to put this out to any of you who gave up on it early like I did. While I still feel there are some things they could do to make board/pin management much easier, overall it’s become a very useful tool in my art toolbox.

Feel free to check out my other boards by clicking here, and if you’ve got any suggestions for who to follow, let me have them.

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Let me be clear that I’m calling neither Honey, nor her Mom, cows. This was a play on words from the client, and I wasn’t trying to be hurtful in any way. I’ve seen the show a couple of times, and frankly feel like this family has it more together on some levels than many “normal” families I know.

That being said, it was a hoot to draw.

Original Post:

I got a rush request on a chip game this weekend. I’ve got it sketched up, but need to ink and color it before midnight.

Any guesses as to who this might be?

I’ll update the post once it’s all finished.

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