I've Just Added A New Link In Links Area

Benerator Art Machine is a great blog to visit. Not saying you shouldn't stay here and look at my art but, this guy is a very good artist as well. The blog says his name is Ben Nunez and he's a fellow Colors! DS user who enjoys painting robots. I haven't posted anything there in a long while because I can't figure out what to paint. When I do I'll post something nice.

On another note, I'm about to study Lou Romano's artwork among several others. He worked on Disney/Pixar's "Up." For examples of his work check out his Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/lar72 and his blogspot address is listed there as well. He's a pre-vis artist and very good at establishing atmosphere in his paintings.

Nostalgia of Cartoons from the Past.

Nostalgia of cartoons from the past. This past Christmas I had the pleasure of receiving a DVD collection of a cartoon series I've not seen since my teen years. And, I've been more than a little nostalgic for sometime now. So, as an homage to my teenie bopper years I've decided to create some art based on some of my favorite cartoon characters starting with "Lum" from Urusei Yatsura. That's "Those Obnoxious Aliens" for those of you who don't know. Without further adieu here's some sketches I've done in Flash 8 Pro. Enjoy! :)

For some unknown reason I can't upload any image files to this blog right now. Maybe later I'll have the ability to do so. I had to use a work around.

I'll post more art of this character later.

An Old Sketch But I Wanted To Post Something Today

A friend of mine wants me to create a painting of Dora the Explorer for her daughter. Here's an initial sketch I did from a coloring book. I've been looking for concept art and character turn a rounds of Diego, Dora and, her pet monkey but, only found character art and a coloring book I bought for this project. Fortunately, the final product will be all analog and not digital; using color pencils and acrylics. It's been way too long since I've used them. So, in the near future I plan to start back painting with them and watercolors. My interest in using non digital painting methods have been peeked again because of some the beautiful watercolor and gauche paintings I've seen exhibited on other blogs. Sometime this year, I'd like to spend maybe a week to paint on location somewhere I've never been before. That would be a very welcome vacation away from my everyday life. :)

I may ink this image in Flash. Nichelodeon owns the copyright to these characters. If not, I'll do the research and post the correct copyright.

Moonshine : Artists after dark from alexis wanneroy on Vimeo.

Sometimes, I would like to get away from the computer and be creative and get dirty with it in a clean way.

Comics Coming Soon...

Soon, I will post some screen grabs of my work flow with Manga Studio EX 4 which I received as a Christmas present from a relative. Yes, true believers. I will start posting several web comics next year. This is a much needed software to speed up production of my graphic stories. Previously, I would have used Flash to ink my comic art but, now Manga Studio EX 4 will be my app of choice to bring to graphical life my imaginings of comic proportions. EXCELSIOR! (Any Stan "The Man" Lee fans oughta know what I'm talkin' 'bout.)

Where or when I'll post these comics I'm not sure. Unfortunately, most of them are only in idea form and not fully fleshed out. Although, there is a comic I'd like to work on sooner than most of the others but, I haven't nailed down a style for the characters or the full story. One thing is for certain, I don't want to use an "anime" or, "manga" style of cartooning for it. Rather, I'd like to give it a nineties indie film aesthetic with some cool cinematography. I plan on this being a multi volume story that takes place during the span of several years in the lives of the main characters. If you know me you'd know that I'm mostly a sci-fi freak who's into anime, bande designee, and manga. (I asked my best friend to buy Scott Pilgrim the first volume for me as a Christmas present. I read the first chapter of it online and it seems pretty good so, I'm looking forward to reading it. On another note, I still haven't read 'Koko Be Good' by Jen Wang nor, 'Bone' by Jeff Smith. "If you don't know what bande disignee is... oh well.") You konw I will still use Flash to create some illos of somethings like photo-realistic images and some inked art to paint within Photoshop 7. Also, there's a blog with print ready color pallets you can use within Flash. In addition to this functionality, there's also a NTSC safe version as well. I'll post the links later. I'll check for a PAL version for those of you who may need it.
Until later, ciao. :)

Colossal: An Art and Design Blog

My sister just turned me onto a new design blog which she found a link to on Adobe.com's website. I've only seen the first page and it's absolutely stunning. Check it out for yourself. Here's the link. http://www.thisiscolossal.com/ The post that instantly caught eye is about Mattias Adolfsson. http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2011/12/inside-the-sketchbooks-of-mattias-adolfsson/ If I'm not mistaken he worked as a concept artist on an unproduced version of Superman that never made it theaters. I'll have to check on that and get back with you on it in a new post or an edit of this one.

To any of my DA friends who've followed the white rabbit and have seen how far the rabbit whole goes then you've now come to this destination and soon you will experience some pretty cool graphics from your's truly. :) Those of you I owe artwork should have it shortly after I finish it. For now, I'll get back to one of my favorite past-times, surfing the web.

Happy Holidays. :D

Preparations for Inking in Flash MX

This is something I've learned a short while ago and would like to share with anyone who reads this blog. If you've been following my work here you already know I use Flash MX & Flash 8 Pro to ink my art. What you didn't know are my Flash settings for creating the comic book pages I use. Here they are for both versions of this software.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

Go to File > Export Image. Name the image file with whatever your desired naming convention is. For example, "whatever_Name.png." After pressing Enter the Export Png dialogue box opens and gives you several options. (It is important to save your digital inks as .png files. The choice will become very clear once you take the inked lines into Adobe Photoshop. There's no white background. It's just black lines or whatever color you've inked your art with. That's the reason for the 24 bit alpha channel.)

Width: 3300, Height: 5100 pixels Resolution: 300 dpi (Do NOT Match Screen!)
Include: Full Document Size Colors: 24 Bit with Alpha Channel
Filter: None Interlaced:Unchecked Smooth: Checked
Dither Solid Colors: Unchecked

Lastly, Save as a Template.
Name ----- Comicbook Page 300 dpi
Category--- COMICS
Discription-- 3300 x 5100 pix, PRINT READY Rez
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Unfortunately, Flash will not save a file at 600 dpi. I've tried. And, Flash 8 Pro can not save a 3300 x 5100 pixels at 300 dpi file. Therefore you have to use a work around. And, here it is:

In Flash 8 Pro you will need to create a file with the following dimensions.

Width: 2643 Height: 4080 This approximates the ratio of an 11x17 in. comic book page.
Resolution: 300 dpi (Do NOT Match Screen!)
Include: Full Document Size Quality: 100
Options: Progressive Display > Unchecked
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Perils in Nude Modeling is a GREAT Short Film

If you're a visual artist and haven't seen "Perils in Nude Modeling" go watch it now. Even if you're a storyboard artist, cinematographer or, film art director this movie is for you. Each scene cuts on action. The lighting is moody. Yeah, I'm geeking out. I don't care. :) This is one of my favorite short films. This is right up there with Bladerunner. It's that good. To view the film check out this link: http://vimeo.com/7032260 And, IndiPix Films has an exclusive interview with Scott Rice, the writer and director of "Perils in Nude Modeling. You can listen to him talk shop and read more about him at the following link. http://www.indiepixfilms.com/promo/interview/scottrice.html

Perils in Nude Modeling from Scott Rice on Vimeo.

The Anime I Couldn't Think Of Yesterday Is...

Mind Game directed by Masaaki Yasa. Check out this link and read about him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaaki_Yuasa

And, here's the link for you to read about the film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_Game_%28film%29

You may want to check Youtube to view some clips of this anime.

WARNING: It's not for kids.

More Art I've Been Working On Recently

Black Friday was an eventful day indeed. I bought a white DS Lite to augment the black one given to me for Christmas in 2007. Anyhoo, in a previous post I showed a screen shot of a picture I worked on Macromedia Flash MX. Since then, I've given Flash 8 Pro a try and I've learned that even though I can't export an 11x17 in image from this version of Flash I can use it to export a smaller image in the same ratio. That's what I've done. In a later post I'll explain my work flow. For now, I'll show you a little of what I'm doing with this. Oh yeah, I'm using the object drawing mode. :)

Some Art I've Been Working On Recently

Here's the sketch I drew a few days ago and inks & colors added in Flash MX. Why use such an old version of Flash? Well, the most recent one I have on my computer is Flash 8 Pro. For some reason, that one does not publish images at 11 inches by 17 inches. Flash MX does. I'll upload a couple screen shots of the color version. Although, I'm not happy with the inked lines; it's digital and I will change them as needed. What's more I'm sure the colors are out of gamut so, I'll have to take it into PS to make them printable. Using the brush tool in Flash MX to ink this is an experience in itself. The tool is very responsive and I have to be very careful not to make mistakes which I do quite often. I'm using a Wacom Graphite CTE 430. And, anyone who has used one of these will know it's like drawing on a piece of slick plastic using a plastic tipped pen. I got a Bamboo tablet for Christmas last year that I haven't hooked up, yet. I plan to use that with my laptop after I get new software. Before attempting to ink with Flash, I looked for online tutorials about inking this way and I didn't find much on the subject. Although, I did come across some really great artists using other Flash tools to create really amazing graphics.

Here's a Little Sketch I've Been Working On

Erica, this is a painting I've been working on for an online friend of mine. The theme she gave me was 'kittens.' My computer crashed sometime ago and I lost the custom brush I used to paint this. As a result, I haven't started back on this for a while. This is not one of the concept pieces I'll give her. Instead, the painting will favor the kittens and not the secondary characters as in this painting. Later, I'll finish this.

Erica, I Plan To Post Art By This Thursday

Recently, I've been checking out The Chiu Stream on Youtube hosted by Bobby Chiu. He talks about drawing with enthusiasm, getting intense and, "getting crazy with it." I haven't done that in a long while. Although, I hope to get back into the groove now that I have some time to be creative this week. Here's the link if you're interested. http://www.youtube.com/user/digitalbobert I use Adobe Photoshop and a Wacom tablet to digitally paint onto my computer. When I'm not using that I like to use a program written for the Nintendo DS Lite called Colors DS.

Also, I plan to continue learning Inkscape. It's a vector graphics software I downloaded from Inkscape.org. It's a European software and it's not set up like any of Adobe's software at all. So there's a bit of a learning curve I've got to deal with. I intend to use it to design logos and images. I may sketch something and post it this Wednesday. Then, on Thursday start the actual painting of the pencil sketch. If so, I'll post the stages of the development of the image here. Send me an email. Let me know what you think. :)

Cool Art Will Be Posted Soon.

I'll post some art by this Wednesday. :)

Just Purchased A Couple of Graphic Novels

I bought "Koko Be Good" by Jen Wang and, "Bone" by Jeff Smith recently. And, I must admit I'm in the mood to create a graphic novel of my own. If you don't know who Jen Wang is just check out this little interview on MTV's website. http://www.mtv.com/videos/interview/576693/jen-wang-studio-tour.jhtml She's my new hero. I like comics and graphic novels so I'm really excited about reading these little gems. Koko clocks in at mild 300 pages while Bone is a staggering 1332 pages. Yes, that's one thousand three hundred and thirty two pages. Bone won 10 Eisner awards and 11 Harvey awards. I've got the complete cartoon epic in one volume. Hopefully, this the original and not the one marketed to kids. Now, I can read my old favorites like "The Whisperer Mystery" by Daniel Torres right along with these two graphic novels. After I finish reading them I'll post my recommendations. :)

Aimee Major: An Animator I'd Like to Meet

I recently Googled an animator named Aimee Major. Last night, I re-read some .pdfs I created from a few articles she posted several years ago. And, since I've started creating animation in Flash that looks like it was created in Flash I'd like to create animations that look more hand drawn and much less like it was done on a computer. Even when I was a kid, I wanted to create some really kick butt art and animation. Although, when I was growing up we didn't have anything like Flash. With Flash one person can animate a feature length film. It takes a while but, it can be done. And, [has] been done by two artists that I know of. Nina Paley creator of "Sita Sings the Blues" and, Tyler Gibb creator of "Minushi." I've only seen some clips of both of these films. Unfortunately, I didn't attend the Harvard of Art schools; California Institute of the Arts. CAL Arts for short. Fortunately, for me there are a lot of animation resources online for the aspiring animator. After looking at some of the resources created by artists who either attended or, taught at CAL Arts, and, taught or worked for Disney animation studios I've realized I didn't know as much as I thought I did about animation. Since animation has been created on computers for some time now, Flash has brought a childhood dream into being a reality. I can now make short films for film festivals and my movies can be seen all over the world. Back to Aimee Major. I've been looking for her insight on animation because she attended CAL Arts and is a great animator herself. (I'll edit this later to add more to it.)

Some Books On Story Development

I've met a young novice film maker who's looking for some books on film making and my list of books may help her in her quest to becoming the next Spielberg, Tarantino, Rodriquez, or one of my personal favorites Leone... Sergio Leone. I was utterly blown away by his use of sound in "Once Upon A Time In The West." But, that's another post entirely. I'll get back to that later. The following list of books are all personal favorites of mine and well worth studying.

She wants to use Adobe Flash to create a short film. Which is a very nice program to use for this purpose. Although, what I've read about Toon Boom Animate is it's a much better program for animation. It was built from the ground up to be an animation software for animators to create feature length films and commercials. The price tag keeps it out of the hands of most animators who aren't affluent enough to purchase the $2000.00+ software. On the other hand, Adobe Flash will only set you back several hundred dollars and is bundled with the Adobe Creative Suite. Which in my opinion is a much better option if you can't afford the much more robust Toon Boom Animate.

Here's my list of books to study. Starting from what you really need to create a live action movie to a fully animated film. These are all in my personal library. So, I can vouch for each one of them.

Film Directing Shot by Shot
Visualizing from Concept to Screen
Author:
Steven D. Katz
(This is the one I was thinking about last week but, couldn't recall the title of the book or the author's name.)

The 5 Cs of Cinematography
Motion Picture Filming Techniques
Author: Joseph V. Mascelli
ISBN:

The Illusion of Life
Disney Animation
Author: Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston
ISBN:

The Animator's Survival Kit
Author: Richard Williams
ISBN:

Don Bluth's The Art of Storyboad

FLCL Storyboard Book
Gainax Animation Studios
(Not Sure.)

Hollywood 2D Digital Animation
The New Flash Production Revolution

How To Write For Animation
Author: Jeffery Scott
ISBN:

From Word To Image
Author: Marcie Begleiter
ISBN:

Karen J. Loyd's Storyboard Blog
Visual Storytelling Advice for Anyone Who's Interested
http://karenjlloyd.com/blog/

To The Girl I Met Yesturday Who's Going To Japan...

Hi. Please, start your blog and link it to this one. I'll post some art here soon. Currently, I'm working on an animation project I conceptualized for an online friend to help with her school project. So, I may upload concept art, storyboards and, the animation here after I copyright them. Please, don't forget to leave me a link to your blog as well. :)

I Haven't Posted Anything In A While

I've been busy in RL with day to day things. I'll post something soon. :)

I Had Intended to Post More Art This Year... Oh Well

I've been busy creating art to be posted elsewhere and haven't made time to create some art for my personal enjoyment. For sometime now, I've been seriously thinking about creating a graphic novel about my personal experiences from several years ago. It would be great to read a slice of my life story in black and white. Anyhoo, that's the plan. And, I'm stickin' to it. lol. :D

No Real Post This Time

I haven't posted anything in a while and, I wanted to post something today. No art or prose to post just felt like typing on the ol' keypad. Ciao. :)