Is a fine book to remind you how people were living just a little more than 100 years ago.
The base of the book is non-fiction and revolves around the Chicago World Fair that was held in 1893.
Intertwined with the story of the architects of the world fair is the work of a serial killer that did his evil close by.
All of that is sometimes as much fun to read as a long wikipedia entry
BUT
I would still recommended it for the small tid bits of actual life one gets out of it.
How people lived, what their expectations were… how sickly their skin looked…
There are things to take from the book apart from all the easily forgettable historically important details, like the fact that most people washed their feet only ONCE a week back then.
ONCE A WEEK!

BONUS EMBARRASSING INFORMATION:
It took me a couple of chapters to understand what an engineer named FERRIS was trying to build out of steel that could surpass the Eiffel Tower.
It needed a sentence that ALSO contained the word WHEEL until I had my “AHA!” moment.

——————————————————THE GRAPES OF WRATH

Want to read something else a bit historic that is fun and full of joy?
Well THE GRAPES OF WRATH sure does fit that bill.
People starving, people with dust in their faces, people being at their lowest and people struggling.
There is hope too but it comes with more dust.
Oh and it’s a good reminder that there really is no REAL depression (crisis) as long as people are able to buy stuff at Wal Mart and have a car that chugs along.
Or at least that the current one contains less dust-in-the-face.

—————————————————————GOON

Someone at work recommended this movie and being now based in Canada, it seemed like something I had to watch.
And it’s fun! Well done dialog, R rated humor/gore and generally speaking: A good sports movie.

The real point that made Goon special for me was realizing that Stories with “dumb” or “slow” characters as the main protagonists are really appealing.
The audience does not feel threatened or annoyed and experiences more “basic” emotions with those characters.
Happy, Sad, Hungry, Angry. Homer Simpson! Son Goku! Fred Flintstone!

(this is the first Google Image result when googling “dumb character”)

I’m currently struggling with a protagonist and I had trouble figuring out how he reacts. How he talks, how much he is pondering over things… what he does when faced with a problem and adversity.

And watching GOON reminded me of the appeal of a slower, dumber character when you are dealing with a fun, humorous adventure type story.

It’s weird how much digging it sometimes takes to come up with stories and characters.
It starts with a quick flash of an idea and then its just all about shoveling, coming up with stuff, dusting it up, throwing it away and finding totally new things.

Also:
Season 5 of Voyager, not my favorite!
It might be in need of some Mark-Ruffalo-Hulkness to give it more comedy juice.
Hulk on Voyager, now that is some fanfic writer’s hot dream!

Bought stuff, met people, ate things, watched the Avengers!

Visitors from Germany were also in town and that led to showing off Canadian inventions like Poutine and the moderate North American way of handling breakfast:

Here are other highlights:

And speaking of KOYAMA, my favorite purchase of the show was

Jesse Jacobs
BY THIS SHALL YOU KNOW HIM

There is an interview with some preview images HERE!

Also super good:
Ethan Rilly
Pope Hats #2

A preview of the comic can be found HERE!

A fun print by an unknown artist (I forgot the name and there was nothing attached)

NOTE TO SELF:
Always make sure to add small prints/business cards/stickers to things you sell, so people can remember your name/web site after the show

AAAAHAAANDD

NEUFUNDLAND!

Made for the German Comic Clash its the prettiest comic I was ever allowed to be a part of.
It looks great, it reads well and the paper smells like good printing ought to smell.
Amazing stuff and not expensive. You should buy one!

Here is a PREVIEW

Oh and if you liked it, please vote for us at the Comic Clash website.
Because winning feels good!
Until next week!

BONUS LINKS
1) More great stuff about Storyboarding by Sherm Cohen: 7 Hidden Patterns of Successful Storyboards
2) Videos from the Animation Expo
3) And this

It’s not enough anymore to pitch static boards, clients want SOME movement in their frames.
Working digital has made it easier and possible to add camera moves, sound and small gesture animation without going over budget.

All of this made me want to get better and more efficient at putting together animatics, so I came up with small scenes that I can work on in my spare time.
Here is one:

1) Thinking and doodling

2) More final


3) And the finished file

Some great resources for this subject:

- Toby Shelton’s blog
Amazing storyboards that really come to life when you watch them in full screen and start clicking really fast.
A great example for usage of blur at the right places.
His Mega Mind work blew me away.

- Derek Thompson’s Conceptual Storyboarding DVD
This DVD shows a good work flow and Derek is excellent at being able to let you in on his thinking and decision making.
Helped me understand the importance of layer comps and scene set-up better.

- Netflix
For watching obscure documentaries about film makers or re-watching old movies.

- Mark Kennedy’s blog
The one everyone is already reading.
Super great insight and valuable resource.

- Bonus

IN ANY CASE:
I did some illustrations for super writer Dylan Klymenko and that was fun!

His article is describing various personalties (turned into monsters) that tend to share a subway car with you and as a daily subway user, I can attest to them being 100% real.

A sneak peak into some of them:

The guy that eats the most disgusting stuff and smells like warm cheese with butter and garlic toppings

The person that needs to check in the windows if her makeup/hair/dress/shirt is still as awesome as it was when they left the house/office 3 seconds ago

That individual that constantly looks like it’s about to break out crying because there are too many people around them. No touching!

Some process sketches:

Cheerio and until next week!

Haha, headaches, fun stuff!

Deadlines coming up, more on those next week!

Step TWO
Doodle some characters on the side that would be fun to draw, realize that you have no clue how to draw a cool dragon creature.

Step THREE
Feel good about the first draft, buy groceries on the way home and do a rough version of the story in photoshop.

Step FOUR
Remember some other deadlines, panic and work on those.
Don’t forget to cook for your wife.

Step FIVE
Be unhappy with the characters, question yourself a lot and look for the “FUN!” in your drawings.
Doodle while watching “Celebrity Apprentice”, making comments about Aubrey O’Day’s hair and that she would be an amazing hardcore art agent to have.

Step SIX
Do another storyboard, this time with the new character design and an extra page to show more passing of time

Step SEVEN
Watch movies while drawing, watch movies while drawing, take breaks to play Xbox, watch movies while drawing, watch movies while coloring
Don’t forget to talk to your wife!

Step EIGHT
Finish up, hate Photoshop for flattening layers it was not supposed to flatten, turn everything into PDF’s, upload, breathe, worry about another deadline.

Step NINE
Be exited about holding the printed product in hand and say “thank you” to the nice people that invited you to participate

Oh and here is the finished page one:

This stuff could kinda turn into a gimmick, a lot of animated rain, water and other things that are do-able in two drawings.. but I think it does add a bit of visual interest..and does not take anything away from the joke.
More experimenting needs to be done!

OTHER THAN THAT:
Here are two drawings from the panel-graveyard-of-comics-that-are-dead-for-now:

AND:

Thanks to TIFF, people in Toronto are currently able to watch pretty much every Ghibli movie in the theater.
My nerd-missionary instincts told me to educate my wife on those films and so we went and watched some!
In particular “My Neighbors the Yamadas” looked really great on the big screen. The watercolor textures were rich and it’s overall a great example that animated movies can be very abstract while being compelling if the characters are strong and believable (human).
Hooray GHIBLI.
As somewhat of a contrast

“THE SWEATBOX” has re-appeared on the internet. Interesting stuff about the in-house workings of Disney and how Sting tours around the world with a I-just-bit-into-a-lemon face.