Inspired to do...a quick 15 minute sketch of Ron Wilson?!

Haven't had much time lately to do much digital painting. So while browsing some of the blogs of inspirational artists (some of whom got to got to ISCA--formerly NCN, this year). Some of the art i've seen blew my mind. Hard to believe how much improvement had taken place over a year, yet I feel like i've stagnated somewhat. Gotta draw more. This really sparked me to create something amazing. Well at least ATTEMPT to.

Unfortunately this quick 15 minute sketch was all that would come of it. I DID manage to sketch and paint this entirely digitally (usually i need to sketch on paper first for my best results), so i guess i am learning new tricks somewhat. But do i credit this trick to my new larger tablet?

I actually painted this while watching a Ron Wilson Q&A. Go Leafs Go? No?

A 10 second Animated short -- 'Dummy'

Here's one that's a tad longer than 2 seconds. We were to model an existing toy and create a 10 second bumper interstitial. Props to Yoshi's Island for the silly background music. Enjoy!

My Wooden Robot's Walk Cycle of fun

He's a pre-rigged, out of the box, robot....apparently made of wood. This is the walk cycle I sweated over for Sheridan's Computer Animation program. Tweaked him a bunch, and perhaps i'll even upload the funky weird ones i did too. Might start another blog with a peer to work on goofy lip syncing. That should be fun, yes?

Rookie the Shocked Cat and his new home!

Let's all congratulate my friends (including Rookie the Shocked Cat) on purchasing their first house a few weeks ago! Woohoo!! This was a greeting card done for them to send out to all their friends and family.

How to Get'er DONE efficiently! TimeOut Beijing November.

"...everyone in the engine room drowned..." -- Phyllis, The Office

I love that show, how fitting that i'm watching this episode as i write this. The engine room folks on the Titanic were a hard working bunch. Hardworking is GOOD but dont drown in your work like i almost did. The past 2 weeks have been insanity the manatee but here's how I dealt with it.

Once again it was time for another one for TimeOut Beijing. This was a quick turnaround that had to be done during a jam packed schedule and overall i'm quite happy with it. I was up to my neck in deadlines and projects. So what happens is when task after task is stacked up against us, we hyperventilate and get overwhelmed. The cure for fixing that feeling of overwhelmed-ness (is that a word?) is to make a plan.

For example: a commission with 2 subjects-- i will divide it into tasks such as:
1. research
2.sketches
3. composition/block-in
4. details for subject 1
5. details for subject 2
6. background
7. touchups

Even simply writing this out will make you feel more in control. So the above works out nicely to complete 1 task per day over 7 days + 1 extra day for buffer. This way you do not over commit yourself and drain your energy for other projects you have to do that day. Of course you will have to adjust your task management according to the amount of time you are given per project, which is why using a day planner or agenda is extremely useful. I always use one of these to remind myself of deadlines, events, and which tasks i should do and which day, how much time to allot to them, etc.

What do people think? i'd love to hear how other people manage their projects.

As for this piece above, my personal goals were to use more vibrant colours and achieve a cartoonier feel. Any comments and crits are appreciated.

[update] i got a comment concerning '7 days being a long time to do this illustration', which is true, in most cases for magazines you only get a day or two like the above. The example i used above is purely example, and is usually a timeframe easier to follow for caricature commissions.

Homage to Chuck Jones' "Transylvania 6-5000"--Happy Halloween!

Took an old sketch inspired by Jones' Dracula design (and one of my favourite Bugs' cartoons of all time) and played around in photoshop with different painting methods. Here's what i came up with. Any comments and crits compared to what i usually do?

Seems like a fitting sketch, yes? Happy Halloween!!

pro: duo monitors, con: small buggy dinky tablet

Just got my copy of Adobe Master's Collection CS4 and have only played around with Photoshop thus far. In fact, this quick painting below is the only thing i've really done with it.

Bonus: borrowing my girlfriend's extra 17" LCD monitor while she's away without asking..thanks Kelda!

i'm used to CS2 and so it was refreshing and slightly confusing shifting over to the CS4 interface. The brush options palette was hard to find at first but when I did, I tore it off and put it on my 2nd monitor. Along with it i placed my layers palette, the color/swatches, and this new 'adjustments' palette that I have yet to use or figure out. In the rest of the space I place reference photos and a smaller version of my current painting. This tip was taught to me by Bobby Chiu -- go to Window -> Arrange -> New Window for [filename]. This opens up a new frame your current window that I use to shrink down and keep as reference while painting. It's like when you paint traditionally and take a step back to assess the piece as a whole. Handy!

My only drawback is that i have a 4x6 tablet which is not suitable for widescreen, but the extra real estate really helps me organize the workspace.

Going to be working more on my desktop these days and less from my nearly-explosive laptop. If anyone knows where I can get an affordable larger Intuos3 (or better) let me know!