Groupthink

The Fast Film

Super-8 time lapse of Boston done over the course of a year. Circa 1983

Big Bite - Part 2

... The fun continues...

Big Bite - Part 1

This was done back in the old Olive Jar days...

Bee

This is the first computer animation I ever did, circa 1993
Done on an Amiga Video Toaster 2000

Devil Skull

Another very early computer animation I did on my Amiga Video Toaster 2000

Seth Jethro

An early attempt at strange

A Cone Alone

_/\_

P42

Pee for two, and two for pee...

Anty Griffith Show

One of the first computer animations I've done

Believe it or not, I got a job...

Smile City

Hi!

Newest RRMama redux

Added and changed some more...

And:

R&RMama's PDX

A version with a Portland, OR style

Urban Hip Hop

One version for Rock 'n' Roll Mama's more East Coast

Keyboard Kid

Another Rock 'n' Roll Mama animation...

Friendly Neighborhood....

Spider Clam, Spider Clam,
Like a spider but in the sand,

Spins a web, from his side,

Catches thieves, in the tide,

Watch out!

(Pow! Bam!!)

Here comes the Spider Clam...

Puss n Briefs

In light of the last post, I thought I would add some levity to my blog...

I don't know, I just thought this was funny.

Looking for John Galt

Man! I wish I had a $$ zillion... I would tell these clients to kiss my butt and shove their creative comments up their..... but I can't, 'cause I don't have a $$ zillion. I don't even have a few
$ thousand, so I'm really just biting my tongue at the moment

I have this conversation frequently, it involves what I do for a living as being irrelevant, "not a real job". I actually had someone say that, an insurance salesman, asked me what I did and I told him. He looked at me like I was a drug dealer or pornographer and actually said I didn't really work. Another person, a friend of mine's dad, doesn't understand or respect my profession as well, (but he spends half the day in front of the TV... see the irony?) He told me to use my MBA to be an "analyst", and get into real-estate. Now, one thing I learnt in biznuss skool, (and you don't have to be f'..n Greenspan to figure this out), but you basically have to break the law to be a financial wizard, personally I like sleeping at night. Ironically my friend (who's dad this is) has a cushy job at Intel, makes lots of $$ and has a nice car, and he's asking me how to become an animator! (frustrated artist) want's me to make a movie for him, he's got a bunch of great ideas, wants to make a feature like LOTR... I tell him he's crazy.

So anyway, here's my point. If these much smarter and wiser people think I'm wasting my time making pretty pictures for the TV, why then do they keep watching TV? So I asked them; do you watch TV? (yes, FOX News) And do your kids and grand kids watch TV and movies? (yes, of course, it keeps them out of their hair) And what was that toy you bought your kid? (could it be one of those new-fangled Wii's) And then I ask: How do you think all those pretty pictures are made and are able to come out of your "motion picture box"? Their answer: computers. Seriously! They actually think there is no effort or human involvement whatsoever to make TV and movies, they seriously think Sean Hannity is solely responsible for all the cool graphics that adorn him during his show, and if there is a human being making any of those slick graphics fly by the screen, than they're probably either doing it in their spare time on a volunteer basis, or they're social misfits with severe drug addictions. I kid you not.

This is what I propose: Lets stop making pretty pictures for these assholes and see how long they last. That might also shut the clients up, you think?

Yeah, I know, I know.....

R'n'R Mamas, Graffiti

Part of something I'm working on for the "Rock 'n' Roll Mama's" documentary...

I'm using a technique combining Flash and Maya, and I'm totally digging the look and workflow. It kind of gives the Flash a 3D and organic look (sort of) and I have the flexibility to change, move, adjust elements around while all the time utilizing the Maya camera.

So my next question is, how do I sell this style and do something really cool with it. My tendency is to say I want to make a feature film doing it all this way, and I guess I could. What it then come down to is getting a hold of an intriquing story, (I have notebooks full of them), and then sitting down for about a year and cranking it out.

I tend to be my own worst enemy, my worst critic, and in turn I usually don't ever get to the projects I love. As you can see from above I end up doing all this cool experimental animation for other people, and that tends to be a tad on the unsatisfying side.

So from now on I'm going to approach things differently.

Casual Clients

A friend asked me to draw a picture of her to go on her website, (as a favor, for free mind you) She wanted to add some fun whimsy to her otherwise sharp and corporate Internet driven style. Okay. The caricature of her shouldn't be anything "weird" (whatever that means) and should reflect a persona of Sophia Loren, or better yet, Sarah Palin (?!?!) My response: And I was completely serious with this warning, "You don't know what you ask, I'm reluctant to do this, It could possibly affect our friendship"... But, I agreed to do a quick sketch, very rough, don't expect Rembrandt.

Rock 'n' Roll Mama's

Part of a project I'm working on for the film "Rock 'n' Roll Mama's"
http://www.rockmamafilms.com ...

...through my new company Magnetic Ted Animation.

Ringo Flamingo

Any ideas for the other three?

Canadian Girl

Experimenting with Photoshop. Taken from a sketchbook picture I did awhile back.

Oliver! The ad campaign

A little graphic art I conjured up, with a little help from a friend...

...doing some work for the theater... or is it theatre?

Cowboy Fun

I don't know what I was thinking when I did this...

...must've been a dream.

Maximilian - Demo

This demo shows some experimenting with animation technique and look.

Maximilian Kolbe (January 8, 1894 – August 14, 1941), was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of another prisioner in the Nazi concrentration camp of Auschwitz. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982. He is the patron saint of drug addicts, political prisioners, families, journalists, prisioners and the pro-life movement, and is declared “The Patron Saint of Our Difficult Century”.

Lunar Energy

I was fooling around with Flash again and pondering what is really going on in the Middle East. It doesn't seem so bad to me.

Messing Around with Flash

Psychedelic: adjective - Imitating, suggestive of, or reproducing effects (as distorted or bizarre images or sounds) resembling those produced by psychedelic drugs -Merriam-Webster Online

Little Rock 'n' Roll Girl

Another one of my ideas that remains in limbo, about a little girl who's parents are... well, out of the ordinary. That's about all I'm going to say about her at the moment. This particular design is heavily influenced by Shane Glines; http://www.shaneglines.net/ a favorite illustrator of mine, except his characters usually wear less clothes and are far less innocent. More on the Little Rock 'n' Roll Girl to come.

Bone Boy Flash

Here's a little Bone Boy Flash animation I did a few years ago while I was teaching in Denver. I always liked this concept and the way the animation of the skeleton boy turned out. Flash is a favorite tool of mine.

Bone Boy - 1

Okay... here we go. I'll start with something I've been half-baking for years. This is one of my favorite ideas I would someday like to finish. But here are couple of test runs I did. These are done in Maya 3D with Flash elements. Except for some of the BG artwork, I did everything.