Colors?

I've still been sewing like a madman, but I decided to take a break today and return to my film. I've worked more on the animatic, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I'll post it shortly. In the mean time, I was working out an overall aesthetic for the film. Here's what I came up with. I couldn't quite decide which color variation I preferred, so opinions are encouraged.



I think I'm leaning towards the second one.

And yes, those trees are made out of bacon and gummy bears and the clouds are made of marshmallow fluff.

I have the sneaking suspicion that compositing the character and bg will be an enormous pain in the rear, but we shall see.

Gettin' Crafty

So in the midst of trying to find animation employment I've been left with a lot of free time. For a few weeks I sat around and scratched my head wondering what to do next. Then it occurred to me that I should probably do what my mom always told me to do- sell purses online. This has since expanded to other things such as iPod cases, hair accessories, and now wallets. I opened an Etsy store called VAppleB (so perhaps people would associate my caricature signature with my store). Check it out HERE

Or if you're too lazy to check that out here's some photos:

interior

I sold this one to my step grandma. Ha. I was really fond of it.

interior details
the following are all hair barrettes

I also made an amazing vinyl wallet as a gift for someone, but I'll refrain from posting pictures of that until it's been received.

So BUY BUY BUY! or feel free to commission me to make something custom. The options are endless.

Some Silly Faces and The Continuing Epic Quest for Employment

So it's been far too long. Apologies...

I actually had a job for a while! Hooray! I was working at Flickerlab doing clean up and a little animating here and there for Hooked on Phonics. It was AWESOMMMMEEEEEE. I made friends! Woohoo! Now that's over and I'm back to the same place I was only 2 months ago. I'm trying to resume an internship at Curious, but this time as a stop-motion intern (which is something they don't normally have). Hopefully that will pan out for me, or if I could be so lucky, perhaps I can get another real paying job in animation. Either way, it's a little disappointing but I knew this would happen eventually.

I've had a few caricature commissions here and there over the last 2 months. I just finished one today for a woman in New Jersey as a thank you gift to the groomsmen for her wedding. Check it out.


Some of the colors are oversaturated since I created it with a CMYK color profile, but you get the idea here. I spent way too long on this one, but I rather like it.

Soooooo if anyone has any potential ideas for how to go about getting another job or where I should be looking at the moment, don't hesitate to share!

The New Face of Polaroid

Being a long and loyal lover of traditional Polaroids, I have mixed feelings about this new advancement.

Polaroid Digital Printer Camera Doohickey

I suppose it's better than nothing, but it still isn't the same as watching that magic rectangle develop in front of your eyes. I also believe that not having the ability to pick and edit Polaroids is half of their beauty.

Brace yourselves, I'm about to rant about digital photography for a moment. Digital photography in my opinion, has greatly facilitated vanity in human beings. Think about all of the little teeny boppers on Myspace and Facebook who take hundreds of pictures of themselves looking sexy. You know they delete 8 out of 10 pictures they take because they didn't look perfect. With a Polaroid you can't do that. A picture is an investment, both monetarily and artistically. You grow to appreciate the candid nature of these shots in a way you never can with a digital image.

But now with the LCD screen and editing options you are no longer stuck with the unflattering pictures. With the click of a button they can be simply erased. There will be no more strange Polaroid finds on the side of the road. What will Found Magazine have to print? FOUND Polaroids

No one will print the awkward shots. There's something about that that doesn't sit well with me. I like the idea of not being able to erase a moment- no matter how unflattering or awkward it may have been.

A Polaroid is a piece of physical evidence of a moment, which is what makes it so awesome in the first place.

Like I said, it's better than nothing, but it's still not the same. That film won't be compatible with my SX70. :(

R.I.P. little guy.

NEW! flash player!

So I'm continuing to teach myself bits of action scripting. I still don't really have a firm grasp on what I'm doing, but I'm learning a bit here and there. I'd really like to be able to take a class on it sometime. I'm sure it would be mighty helpful. Anyway, here's what I made:

FLASH AWESOMENESS!!!!

The bunnies are so damn cute I couldn't help but squeal when I was animating them.

Let me know if you have any problems with it or have suggestions to make it more user friendly!

Total Bummer

So I finally heard back from Soup2Nuts:

"We have received and reviewed your test and unfortunately your skills do not coincide with our current job openings."

This was disappointing to say the least. I wonder what was so bad about my test that I didn't pass. I've always been told by people that I'm very strong in Flash, so why can't I get a Flash based job?

In ToeJam and Earl there's a present called TOTAL BUMMER. When you open it, it kills you immediately. Unfortunately I'm afraid I just opened one.

Rainbow Rabbits and the Employment Drought of 2008

I illegally downloaded Toonboom (don't tell anybody!) a few weeks ago. I finally decided to give it a go. I thought it was ok, certainly a nice drawing interface, but I suppose I'm so acclimated to the Adobe setup that it took me a while to get used to it.

Then I decided I wanted to play around with some stupid effects in AE, since I had never really explored the possibilities of cheesy particle generators and such. Here is the result- strange I know.

I finally called Curious Pictures today, only to find out that they don't want me to start until MID JANUARY! OH NO!!! I was originally told I was to begin in mid December. Now I have a month of nothing to do and my parents continually breathing down my neck to get a crappy job at Target (this is not an exaggeration). At least when I'm interning my parents leave me alone because they feel like I'm doing something productive. I was so excited about starting there so soon. I can't believe I have to wait another month and a half. What the heck.

PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO ME:

So I've begun the never fun task of sending out rounds of emails searching desperately for paying work before I debase myself and ask for an application at another department store.

I saw another RISD friend the other week (also unemployed and living with the 'rents). It seems most everyone from my graduating class is in my shoes. Who knew 2008 would be such a bleak time for artistic opportunity?

I need a Christmas Miracle.

In some good news, a nice man whom is a friend of a friend's family found my page and referred it to a founding father of Curious. Apparently it was then sent on to the talent/development people. HOPEFULLY something good will come of this. Looks like I've got more emails to write!

Some day in the not too distant future I plan on getting back to my trampoline film. More of that to come.

But.... I am now a volunteer at a cat shelter! Kitties!!!