Atomic Bear Press

I Left My Star Destroyer in San Francisco

Brian — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:50:55 +0000

This clever video uses footage from the Star Wars movies and composites it over footage of San Francisco. Very well done and realistic. Find out more on the official Star Wars blog.

Technorati Tags: san francisco, star wars

Exciting new movies in the future.

Brian — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:44:35 +0000

I have to say there are three animated film I am excited about:

The Princess and the Frog from Disney. A return to 2D animation with a musical fairytale set in New Orleans. Check out the funny clip below to see a teaser for the film. Looking very cool. ALSO check out Disney’s new website for animation: http://www.disneyanimation.com/ to see concept art from the film.

and the 3D stop-motion Coraline, based on the childrens book by Neil Gaiman. Here are some making over videos from Rotten Tommatoes. The movie will be presented in stereoscopic 3D! Wow!

The latest film from Japan’s Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki - Gake no ue no Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea). We won’t see it here in the US for a year or so and even though it’s aimed at younger kids I am still looking forward to seeing what the master director shows us. Here is a trailer for the movie which is all ready well in Japan. The backgrounds are amazing and I love the way the Water is really creatures.

a short clip from the movie:

Technorati Tags: 2D, cliff, Coraline, Disney, frog, Ponyo, princess, stop-motion, stopmo

Recent paintings

Brian — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:31:13 +0000

Hey all, here are some recent paintings I did.

Enjoy.

The first one was inspired by the work of this artist, though it might not look like it. I started with a sketch in orange and then I did the lines on top.

This watercolor painting is from the Southwest Airline magazine I got on my trip down to San Diego.

This creature was a piece I did while teaching one of my classes at a Youth Center in San Francisco. The animals were suggestions by the young adults I work with.

The pirate was drawn completely in watercolor, starting with some blue constructions lines that are still there. The cats and parrot were done with patches of color and then the outlines were drawn on top of those.

Technorati Tags: art, Brian Kolm, Kolm, painting, watercolor

10 Witches

Brian — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:51:36 +0000

This is another challenge I gave myself while on vacation in SoCal, to draw 10 Witches. It was tough to go beyond the whole pointy nose and pointy hat look.

10 Weird Superheroes

Brian — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 10:00:18 +0000

Another exercise created while on vacation in SoCal. This one is to draw 10 Superheroes, who mostly came out as pretty weird. It was fun to come up with ideas on the fly, but a bit daunting too.

10 Combo Creature Evolution

Brian — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:02:09 +0000

Another exercise I did while I was on vacation this week in SoCal. This time it was to draw 10 creatures made up two different animals. I started with the Chipmunk/Turtle. The next one used the Turtle’s head and a new body, that of a rabbit. I continued on from there with the last drawing cycling back to the first one.

Technorati Tags: animal, combination, Drawing, evolution, experimentation, sketch

50 Pirates challenges

Brian — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:18:53 +0000

OK, I am on vacation following my swell time at the SDCC08. I have been taking advantage of some free time to do some drawing exercises. This one involved drawing the heads of 50 pirates.

I will replace with a scans when I arrive home.

Technorati Tags: challenge, Drawing, pirate art, pirates, sketch

Sketch-A-Thon day 4 (last day Sunday) at the SDCC

Brian — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:00:53 +0000

Today the scheduled guest at the Cartoon Art Museum Sketch-A-Thon are:

Sunday, July 27 (artist and times subject to change):

12-1pm: Alex Schumacher

1-2pm: Ted Rall

2-3pm: Luke Feldman

3-4pm: Loraine Sammy

4-5pm:

5-6pm:

Visit us at: Cartoon Art Museum booth at MZ11 on the Mezzanine Level

NOTE: These do not reflect any changes that have happened since they were written before the convention started.

Technorati Tags: cam, Cartoon Art Museum, san diego, sdcc, sketch, sketchathon

Sketch-A-Thon day 3 (Saturday) at the SDCC

Brian — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:00:24 +0000

Today the scheduled guest at the Cartoon Art Museum Sketch-A-Thon are:

Saturday, July 26 (artist and times subject to change):

12-1pm: Mike Gray, Doug Gray

1-2pm: Colleen Doran, Lisa Ann Wilson

2-3pm: Zach Weiner, Nicholas Ivan Ladendorf

3-4pm: Dan Piraro

4-5pm: Josh Ellingson

5-6pm: Debbie Huey

Visit us at: Cartoon Art Museum booth at MZ11 on the Mezzanine Level

NOTE: These do not reflect any changes that have happened since they were written before the convention started.

Technorati Tags: cam, Cartoon Art Museum, convention, san diego, sdcc, Sketch-A-Thon, sketchathon

Sketch-A-Thon day 2 (Friday) and the SDCC

Brian — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:00:03 +0000

Today the scheduled guest at the Cartoon Art Museum Sketch-A-Thon are:

Friday, July 25 (artist and times subject to change):

12-1pm: Keith Knight

1-2pm: Jon “Bean” Hastings, Molly Hahn

2-3pm: Batton Lash

3-4pm: Scott Sava, Mark Politi

4-5pm: Mark Todd

5-6pm: Karen Luk

Visit us at: Cartoon Art Museum booth at MZ11 on the Mezzanine Level

NOTE: These do not reflect any changes that have happened since they were written before the convention started.

Technorati Tags: cam, Cartoon Art Museum, san diego, sdcc, sketch, Sketch-A-Thon

Sketch-A-Con day 1 (thursday) at the SDCC

Brian — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Today the scheduled guest at the Cartoon Art Museum Sketch-A-Thon are:

Thursday, July 24: (subject to change)

12-1pm: Felix Kramer

1-2pm: Tamer Youssef

2-3pm: Cathy Bites

3-4pm: Urian Brown, Brian Kolm <= ME

4-5pm: Tanya Roberts

5-6pm: Jesse Hamm

Visit us at: Cartoon Art Museum booth at MZ11 on the Mezzanine Level

NOTE: These do not reflect any changes that have happened since they were written before the convention started.

Technorati Tags: comic-con, con, convention, san diego, sdcc, sketch, Sketch-A-Thon

Off to San Diego

Brian — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 07:59:59 +0000

Well, I am off to sunny San Diego CA for the San Diego Comic-Con. See you all soon.

Blood Bound Oath prologue trailer

Brian — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:26:19 +0000

This is the trailer I helped create with artist/writer Alexis E. Fajardo for his graphic novel: Kid Beowulf and the Blood Bound Oath. Alexis created the art and I colored the work with Watercolor as well as the motion graphics for the trailer. If you are visiting the Comic-Con, check out Small Press Table P15 to see the trailer in higher quality.

Technorati Tags: Beowulf, comic, Fajardo, graphic novel, Kid Beowulf, trailer, video

Schulz Museum Summer Camp 2008: Animation

Brian — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:19:07 +0000

I taught an animation class July 7-11, 2008 at the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa CA. The class was a lot of fun and the kids worked really hard.

First off is an animatic (a filmed storyboard) for our own action packed cartoon "Super Surf Knight." I came up with the concept and characters and the kids helped storyboard and design the characters and settings. The kids also did the audio.

We also had fun doing some stopmotion animation too….

Technorati Tags: 2008, animatic, schulz, stop-motion, stopmo, Summer Camp

Zine Fest this weekend (July 19-20, 2008)

Brian — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:32:42 +0000

I will be at the Zine Fest this afternoon. Last night I saw a special tie-in event at the Cartoon Art Museum where the artist read there comics aloud to projected art. What a great way to get ready for a comic show of unique voices. I will probably be hanging around with the talented folks from the Cartoonist Conspiracy like Doc Pop , Kraig Rasmussen, Mike Hales, John Cowan, Michael Capozzola and Jeff Plotkin.

Here is the official info:

What is the SF Zine Fest?

It’s a FREE annual two-day conference for independent and underground publishing. Exhibitors come from all over the West Coast, and while the focus is on zines, all walks of DIY life are represented — comics, arts and crafts, literary presses, and more. SF Zine Fest was founded in 2002 by Jenn of Starfiend Distro.

SF Zine Fest 2008 is brought to you by the hard-working folks at Family Style, Michael Capozzola, Just Visiting, John Isaacson, and many other wonderful volunteers.

When and where is the SF Zine Fest?

Saturday, July 19 from 11:00am – 8:00pm
Sunday, July 20 from 11:00am – 7:00pm

SF County Fair Building
(formerly Hall of Flowers)
9th Ave. at Lincoln Way (in Golden Gate Park) map

Why the new location?

With the idea of exposing DIY zines, comics, and crafts to the widest possible audience, we decided to move the Fest yet again to a location where a larger and more diverse group of attendees could find us. The SF County Fair Building is over twice the size of last year’s location, and is located in beautiful Golden Gate Park, just a block off of 9th Ave. and Lincoln Way. We are expecting more attendees and exhibitors than ever this year.
The SF County Fair Building is easily accessible by bicycle (lots of parking right out front) and also by public Transit: The N train and the 6, 16BX, 43, 44, and 71 bus lines all drop you off within a couple blocks of the Fest! Parking can be more difficult, the adjacent lot is for loading and unloading ONLY. There are some paid parking lots in the nearby Inner Sunset district.

Technorati Tags: art, Comics, convention, fest, zine

Cartoon Boot Camp - Animation: People Stop Motion

Brian — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 06:44:12 +0000

Some more silly animation that we did today, the last day of animation class at the Cartoon Art Museum. I will be uploading the final project as well as animation from my class at the Schulz Museum by early next week before I leave for San Diego.

Technorati Tags: animation, cam, Cartoon, Cartoon Art Museum, cartoon boot camp, stop+motion, stop-motion, stopmo

CAM Sketch-A-Thon and the San Diego Comic-Con

Brian — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:01:29 +0000

Thousands of artist, writers, fans, film makers, sculptors, actors and everyone else will be heading down to San Diego for the big San Diego Comic-Con. The convention is a week away (July 23-27, 2008) I will be found working the Cartoon Art Museum booth at MZ11 on the Mezzanine Level (the space in the back that you pass on your way upstairs to the sails pavilion and the panels

Last year it was a $10 donation for a 5.5″ x 8.5″ drawing and $25 for a 8.5″ x 11″ drawing (with exceptions for some big name artists). The museum will have one to two guest artist at the booth every hour generally from 12pm to 6pm everyday. You just come by and request a sketch and the before you know it you have a one of a kind piece of original art. The prices are great and it goes to a great cause. AND since our location is a bit hidden we need you folks to come by and say ‘Hi.”

There are still lots of open spots for more artist to come and help out by drawing, Just drop on by and set up a time to help out.

Now the big question is who is going to be drawing. Well some of the artist you know and some you do not, but they are really talented. Some of the artist scheduled are: Alex Schumacher, Debbie Huey, Loraine Sammy, Josh Ellingson, Felix Kramer, Zach Weiner, Nicholas Ivan Ladendorf, Lisa Ann Wilson, Mike Gray, Doug Gray, Loraine Sammy, Catherine Smith, Mark Todd. Weshoyot Alvitre, Scott Sava, Mark Politi, Karen Luk, Dirk Tiede, Molly Hahn, Jesse Hamm, Tanya Roberts, Tamer Youssef, Ted Rall, Catherine Smith, Urian Brown, Brian Kolm, Mark Badger, Phil Foglio, Dan Piraro, Jon “Bean” Hastings, Keith Knight, Batton Lash, Molly Hahn, Karen Luk, Dirk Tiede, Katari Sporrong….and MORE.

You will never know who will show up, so stop on by. See you there.

p.s. here is some of the art I created last year at comic-con.

Technorati Tags: artist, cam, Cartoon Art Museum, comic-con, sketch, Sketch-A-Thon

Happy 53rd Anniversary Disneyland

Brian — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:22:22 +0000

It was on July,17 1955 that a new entertainment destination appeared…the first theme park. 53 years ago Disneyland was revealed and changed our idea of what an amusement park could be. Disneyland was opened on July,17 1955. I have not be able to go for a few years, but a trip is in order for my next big birthday.

The Disney and More blog has scans of the first ever souvenir book for Disneyland. Go check it out.

One of the best shows at the park is Fantasmic:

The classic Disney’s (Main Street) Electrical Parade (which is now at DCA):

Technorati Tags: disneyland

Cartoon Boot Camp ‘08: Pencil Tests of Flip Books

Brian — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:28:03 +0000

We did a pencil test today of some of the students flip books. There will be more added to this video in the next few days. These were recorded in iStopmotion.

Technorati Tags: animation, flip book, istopmotion, pencil test

Cartoon Boot Camp ‘08: Titan War

Brian — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:16:23 +0000

Stop Motion film made by the Cartoon Boot Camp students at the Cartoon Art Museum TODAY!

Technorati Tags: animation, boot camp, cam, Cartoon, Cartoon Art Museum, stop-motion, stopmo