Now See This!

I could start this post like 82% of the rest of art bloggers and say, "Been busy. Haven't had as much time to post as I've wanted. But doing lots of work. Doing lots of reading. Finally got back to drawing in my sketchbooks instead of just writing in them. Doing lots of writing. Planning on having a new blog in the near future that will be a lot more organic and a little less definitive in its context. Also planning on revamping my website. Expect lots of updates and new stuff soon! ", but I won't do that.

Instead, I'll give you a quick update that is clean and stripped of the fat:

Nickelodeon gave a sneak peak of Fanboy and Chum Chum last week on TV
"Dollar Day" (Full Episode): http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/dollar-day-full-episode.html

In the full episode of "Dollar Day", you can see the Frosty Freezy Freeze machine that I modeled at approx 00:01:40


Today this was announced:
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/tv/meet-the-new-nicktoon.html


Until next time.

Fanboy and Chum Chum

Here's a link to a website for one of the shows I've worked on in the last year:

Fanboy and Chum Chum are coming.

http://www.nick.com/shows/fanboy-chum-chum

Penguins on DVD

Madagascar 2 released today on DVD. It's even better than the first. The DVD comes with lots of added bonus', including two episodes of the show I work on, THE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR. The two episodes are 'Popcorn Panic' and 'Gone in a Flash'. If you buy the movie on Blu-Ray then you can see these episodes in HD.

Watch a Sneak Premiere

In case you can't catch it on TV. Here is a link to the full episode of the sneak premiere of "The Penguins of Madagascar":

http://www.nick.com/turbonick/?extvideoid=111613

It might play a different video first...but you should see the penguins icon and it will play the full episode when clicked on.

Real Quick

Hey Everyone,

I'm working hard on my next short film and also trying to do a lot of writing. Expect posts soon...also some work I did on Tak and the Power of Juju aired just these past few weekends and I'll be posting that work here soon as well.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the premiere episode of The Penguins of Madagascar. I'm so excited to finally see this show hit the TV screen. The final product looks fantastic and the episodes are hilarious. It's airing after Thanksgiving on Nickelodeon. Here are the airing times and dates...I just checked my Direct TV Guide and I found The Penguins of Madagascar. It looks as though it's premiering at 8:45 pm on Friday night between episodes of Spongebob. However, here are the official dates and times:

Premieres:
Friday, 11/28, at 8:30PM

Repeats:
Saturday, 11/29, at 10AM and 9:45PM
Sunday, 11/30, at 12:45AM and 7:45PM

Three of the interstitials: "Tug of War," "Fully Armed," and "Move it, Move it" will air throughout the weekend.

Be sure to check it out. And as of a few days ago, The Penguins of Madagascar has been picked up for a second season, before airing. I'm so fortunate to have been able to work on the show. Be sure to catch the epidode this week...it's "Gone in a flash". This is a fantastic episode and I look forward to seeing what everyone thinks.

Also here's a webpage for The Penguins of Madagascar on Nick's website:
http://www.nick.com/shows/penguins/index.jhtml (For some reason I can't get the link to be clickable...but you could copy the address and paste it in the URL address bar)

I'll post work soon (Maybe maybe, I'll have some test render of work I'm doing on my second short),

Also I recently added myself to the Internet Movie Database as well as Grim Fetch:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3170516
It's a very lengthy process of getting data on IMDB and getting it listed correctly. The episode work on Tak and Penguins isn't accurate yet.

John



maybe

Smupdate! (aka "Small Update")

So I'm planning on updated with a lot more...but have been caught up with a few more hours at work...and for some reason gaining an interest in furnishing my apartment. However, although not many updates are taking place...I'm still working. I have my scanner out of the closet now and I'm getting pics ready to post with work. Soon Soon!

For now a teaser (Only a snippet, but first anything being shown publicly regarding my next film):


and a slight update to the painting from my previous post:


Still a lot of work to do to it...but I think I like the brighter, yellow light hitting his face compared to the previous version. A lot to do to it...but it's a slow thing with me and that's fine.

I'll let you in on a slight secret...I'll be doing about 7 + paintings for a slightly odd use of them in a coming project...more on that later :)

Additionally, I added a slight update to GrimFetch.com along with an update to the screenings and times. As of right now I have another fest I'm waiting on and will plan on applying to more once I mail that fest my dvd.

'til next time, whenever that may be...never, you ask? Of course not never...what comes just before "never"?

-J

Philm Phest-eeVal

Welp! It appears Grim Fetch is still alive and kicking. I received word today via the tele that it has been accepted to the Temecula Film Festival. This is awesome cause they have hot air balloons down there. How sweet is that?

With that said I've been modeling the first set for my short film I've started work on. It's going well...motivation is strong. I should have some renders here pretty soon (sans textures or lighting).

And now a bit of art for your viewing...err, pleasure? Keep in mind it's a work in progress...it's not a finished piece...so, uh...enjoy my unfinished shtuff.

Enjoy, I've employed the same techniques in your typical How To Draw/Paint books and show you each vital steps needed to paint such a picture. I know the proper steps: It's easy as 1, 2, 3!




(The artist claims no knowledge of how to paint nor should he be taken seriously on the subject matter. In fact by viewing this "painting in progress" you've just lost a brain cell or two. Sorry for the inconvenience have a nice day!)

Fireside Chat

Good Evening Friends,

For those that were wondering...no I didn't die. I've merely been swimming in my own creative sludge...figuring out stories, drawing, starting to paint again. This is a sign of whats to come...lots of work about to pour out...lots of ideas finally growing from being planted previously

I'm currently writing a feature film...I really love the story I'm developing...whether or not it's actually anything anyone wants to read or see on the big screen might be another story...

It's known that I bite off a lot to chew...however...I'll share those things that I'm chewing on now:
1. writing a feature film
2. working on some previously unfinished work posted here on my blog
3. figuring out 2 short film ideas
4. Modeling the set for one of the short film ideas...which I'm happy to say today birthed a ton of material and story for this short.

I'm very excited to know what my next short film will be...and I started modeling as of two days ago. I'll probably start writing it this week.
The set, which I'm working on today, should be completely modeled within a short amount of time from now.

I'll be applying to some more film fests as well with Grim Fetch.

Outside of that...doing lots of drawing and scribbles...always enjoy scribbling. I may post some scribbles soon.

Also...a big congrats to Sheldon Kruger who was recently hired on at Blue Sky.

Well, until next time friends.

What a days

This past weekend was the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival. What a treat. The festival is held in such a great environment; You can walk outside after watching a movie or two and catch some fresh air with crisp blue skies, mountains all around and a sun that nearly hugs you when you stand in it. The festival was full of such wonderful and talented people. Everyone was a pleasure to talk to and listen to. I think that's largely due to the location of the festival and the great staff and people that run the festival.

On another note, my film screened on Friday of last week. It was nice, there were Q&A's for every director which allowed them to tell us about the films they made...some great info in there. The awards luncheon was on Sunday mid-day.

Much to my surprise and enjoyment. Grim Fetch won for Best Animated Short....insane or what? That was absolutely amazing. I got to speak in front of everyone when I received my award...I'm not much for public speaking nor do I feel very good at it...but I got to talk for a minute and receive my award...what an amazing weekend and my family and girlfriend and I even got to go on a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in between screenings...such a blast.

This coming Friday will be the screening of Grim Fetch at the California Independent Film Festival. I'm planning on attending there as well. I'm really looking forward to it and seeing some more great films made by so many talented people out there.

Update on Creature

So here are the latest pics from the modeling of this creature. I'm in the process of creating a displacement map from the hires version you see here so that I can apply the displacement map to a LowRes mesh.

Creature

Here's a model I made in the past two weeks in the early hours of the morning before work. It's modeled after a sketch I made a little while back. I plan on making some changes to the model. I'll probably enlarge the feet and claws, there will be little bits of hair on this guy and I'll be taking the model into Mudbox and doing my best to learn that program and show off some nice textures on this character. I'll probably finish the model tomorrow morning and be pulling it into mudbox by the end of the week. Expect more posts, and much more often than this. I've determined that the best time for me to get artwork of my own done is in the early hours of the day prior to work so I'll be taking advantage of that time so I can continue to post on here as well as continue work on my next film. Will post again very soon.

John

Pork Chops and Apple Sauce

I'm currently creating the hair for my gnome. The eyebrows are able to move, I created blend shapes for each brow shape so they will match all of the movements of the brow area (as described in Jason Osipa's book). The beard is a work in progress. I was playing around with different types of brushes and then started painting the paint effects on and I created a "chop" by mere coincidence...thus, I had to create a pair of "chops" 'cause they make my gnome look so cool. I'll probably ditch the chops...but I was testing out the particular brush settings...I like how the chops look so I'll probably use that brush to create the entire beard. For now the beard can't move with the blend shapes...eventually I'll probably use wrap deformers to do that. I am hoping to set up some kind of small control system to allow me to shift the hair around a tiny bit. Once the beard is complete I'll move on to creating the hair on his head.

-john

"Debil and Mobicky"

The following are two images I created yesterday...I decided to go through my sketchbook and take a few images further...these were two sketches I did somewhere around 8 months ago...oh and MATT...Mobicky has an odd resemblance to your character...I don't know how that happened...but I did sketch this guy awhile back...and didn't realize the resemblance until I was putting the character definition on the page....Mobicky is the sickly looking whale and Debil is the dumb little horned creature.


With that I built all of my blend shapes for my Gnome...and am now testing their compatibility. Most of the shapes work pretty well together...but these are still WORKS IN PROGRESS...I will be creating more blends to correct some of the shapes not working well together...mainly in the brow area...some of the brow shows are causing sharp angles and causing the skin to penetrate the skull. Here are a few shapes though that I got after playing with the blends...my favorite is probably the Grampa face. This aren't complete looking either...because the lids do not close yet...the expressions will look better once the eyelids are able to move with the expression the character is making. And another thing that will add a lot to the expressions is when he will have eyebrows...those should be coming soon too...once all the blends work well together...I can connect my rig I created for him.

Happy Late Halloween

So it's been awhile...lots of good stuff going on...more on that later. Anyway I thought I'd post some pics.
First off, I've been creating the blend shapes for my Gnome (For those that don't know 3d stuff...I'm basically starting to create facial shapes that will later combine with multiple shapes to make different emotions and allow my Gnome to speak).
Here are a few pics of some of those blends (These are merely for the mouth...there will be many more for the brows, nose and such that will all combine to make more complete expressions...just seeing the mouth might look odd).



Outside of the Gnome work...these next two images are the result of about 20-30 sketches of possible establishing shots for the intro of my next film...these were the two out of 7 large sketches that I chose...I'm thinking I'll probably pick the one with the waterfall in the background...again these are just sketches...I'm sure I'll change these around a little and add more depth and fix perspectives and such.


With that, I've also made changes to my gnomes cane. Before I had beads that hung from the top down to the handle....I looked at that for a while and didn't like it...I actually liked the sticks that twist around the bottom and wanted to mimic that element...I've crated two exhaust/tubes that will animate when the Gnome smokes from his pipe and smoke will come out of the bottom of the tubes.



That's it for now...comments are welcome...I'll post again...sooner than later this time.

-john