Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Comic Fonts

Just thought I'd mention a site with cool fonts
http://www.blambot.com/fonts.shtml
The FREE fonts are located on the left hand side. (The ones with the red dots are the ones you have to pay for). Some of the decorative fonts they have could be used for cool credit intros to your anim. If you dabble in comics the fonts here are also nice.

-M :)

Links for building

Links for building Dreamweaver site. Just putting these here so I can keep track of them.

http://www.entheosweb.com/website_design/dreamweaver_template.asp

http://www.w3schools.com/htmldom/dom_obj_style.asp#scrollbar

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Interesting find...

Hey guys I found an interesting download while surfing the net (i finally got highspeed at home!).
Anyway...
http://punchandbrodie.com/leo/stanchfield/
i'm new to this sort of stuff so sorry if its not hyperlinked...i am a computer noob.
Its a very interesting PDF that goes over tons of animation priciples and what not. So, if you don't already have, then get it!

The reason behind the madness.


So I have been looking through John k's blog and lessons and if you have been carefully reading them you will kbnow that is he opening a new studio and is looking for artists. I knew there wasw a reason he was posting tutorials on line. I am kinda jumping ahead on this to so sorry guys if you are confused. this comes from lesson 9.

This last blog was posted on January 13, 2007 :

"This is a very serious message from me to you if you ever want to work on real cartoons, not phony-ass flat Nick stuff.

You have to teach yourself the principles of good animation drawing, because no school will teach you and I can't afford to train you on the job. I'm starting a new studio soon and need cartoonists, but do the work you need to.

All the most important things you need to know about drawing animation are in these model sheets I lifted from Steve's great Animation Archive.
http://www.animationarchive.org/

Do what I did when I was your age. Copy them all and learn the underlying concepts in these great drawings:

Construction
Line Of Action
Fluid Poses
Clear silhouettes
Appeal and cuteness

You kids have a head start. All this stuff was hard to find when I broke into the industry. Now you can just go to the animation archive and see some of the best cartoon and illustration art in history, and then come here to have me pick out the stuff that is the cream of the crop and the quickest to learn from.

Not every old model sheet is great. These are. I weeded the weaker ones out for you.

Take advantage and stop drawing flat and lifeless! If you can do it, then you can help me save cartoons.

If you have talent, and you copy these things carefully, and then apply the principles to your own drawings, you will learn very fast and you will be able to adapt to any style. Once you work at Nick or Cartoon Network, you can easily dumb down your ability. If you work for me, you will learn even more, but learn the principles on your own."


I am kind posting this to show my Friend emil as well that he he says he wants things copied exactly as they are.

Anyway happy drawing. I think it would be an amazing experience to work with john k. I want to do my best at this stuff.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

YOUR CAREER IN ANIMATION!!!!!!

Hosted by asifa east, the panel board metting thingy they had to night WAS EXCELLENT!!! I went into NYC with mindsiz3 and his lovely wife and my friend Michy09 showed up as well. They had an area of the museum( Museum of moving images) set up with a video game exhibit. the cool thing was that you could actually play the games for free. made me wish I had gotten there early but it was awesome non the less.

When the lecture started there was a surprise guest!! The one and only Dan Haskett!! as well as Bill plimpton and many other fabulous animation artists! I was so excited.


Haskett created the above catoon from sesame street. It really touched home for me cause I remember seeing that cartoon and how much it impacted me as a kid. So simple but so infuential. his work is so fluid and expressive and I must say it is an old favorite. Honestly though I didn't know exactly who he was untilabout a week ago when I read an article on him and I remember thinking OOOhhhh now i know how created that. He also designed minerva mink on animaniacs and ariel on the little mermaid! I have loved his work all this time and never knew it! anyway check out this cool article on him. http://www.seeingblack.com/2005/x020705/haskett.shtml








When it comes to animation i love his movement and sheer understanding of people and there habits. he work really is fluid and full of life. I strive to have that kind of life in my own work.

Anyway back to the lecture. It was simpley brilliant. I really learned alot and I was super excited to be in the city and at the museum. I think i learned more in a night there than i would sitting in class all week when it comes to the animationindustry and all the hard work that really goes into it. I wallked away inspired beyond beleif.

I even got to shake Mr. Hasketts name and show my apreciation for his work and even meet his beautiful wife. Anyway it is great to put a face with the amazing work i have loved so long without knowing who made it or where it came from! Now I just gotta get him to mentor me. lol Yeah right like that would ever happen.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Classic cartoons you can watch online

This was a cool little thing i found. they have some classica cartoon shows on websites other than you tube. check it out. And thanks for the interview Emil i can't wait to read it.

http://video.aol.com/video-category/in2tv-animation/1718

http://www.retrojunk.com/list_tvshows/1990/pop-1/



A animator's story





I thought this would be a interesting interview to read about Jon Mcclenahan. If you don't know who he is, he is the director of such shows as Animaniacs, Tiny toons, Taz-mania, dudley the dinosaur and many more to name a few. I was very honored to have been taught a animation class from him awhile back and I ran accross this link is a very in-depth interview about his beginnings and experiences as a animator from working with Hanna-Barbera in the 70's to now, as well as his experiences with writers, studio heads, and experiences with other well known animators. As I said it's a very in-depth interview about 5-6 pages long so if you have the time for a good read about a influential and talented animator, then I suggest getting comfortable and giving it a read.


Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The awesome ness of Glen Keane

Ok ok i know I have posted alot in the last few days, but I am loving this thing. Reaserching animation and animators and the fact that you guys are here on the blog with me gives me a reason to post all the really cool things i stumble onto. Bad spelling and all. So with no further ado, Glean Kean. Animator on tarzan. He has a blog too so check it oout cause it is really amazing! http://theartofglenkeane.blogspot.com/

and here is the amazing stuff I found!


Asifa east hosting an event.

In friday january 26th Asifa East (an animation community of the east coast) will be hosting a discussion about the animation industry. Feel free to stop over at the web site for more information.

Go to the web site and check out the other events. http://www.asifaeast.com/

Sunday, January 21, 2007

A Post for silverleofirious




Ok so you were asking about good links for finding photoshop tutorials online so I thought I would make you a blog since I already have so many links on the side for all the lesson I found.
I folund this the other day in fact. The person running the site is a animator and she does a bit of furry art but her stuff in general I like. and she has a method of photoshop coloring similar to my own.

Iso here is the link to the tutorialspage and the link to her links pages which leads to other places you can find good art resources. I how this is helpful.

http://fern.junglestudio.com/?page_id=19

http://fern.junglestudio.com/?page_id=8


Anyway I hope this is useful. I will talk to ya later!

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Cats don't dance





I think this movie didn't get nearly the recognition that it should have gotten. It was one of the last really good traditional animated movies done before the wave of 3-d movies began. It brought back the nostalgic days of the old Warner Bros. cartoons and was animated with just as much care and life. The character designs were very vibrant and just full of life and movement thanks to the skill set of the animators and director Mark Dindal. If you're into typical animated musicals, 30's nostalgia, and anthropormorphic animals, then this is the one for you. Here's a You tube link to get a little idea of how great the animation in the movie is if you haven't seen it already.


Drawing a dynamic human figure


One of the best things I learned this year was how to really give movment to simple shapes and forms. It was one of those things where after some one told me I was just like, "why had I never thought of this before." Anyway here is a little tutorial I through together to share with a freind that asked me how to do it.

Fun with movement


These are just some of my favorite sketches that show a little bit of movement and expression. They're alot better than what I was drawing months ago but as much as I improved, I can always continue to get better. Hopefully this blog can progress that for me. In the meanwhile here are some of my fave sketches to start off with.


Freeze frame drawing

Some of my flcl sketches. I have been watching shows and freeze framing them to draw the actions as fast as i can. it is a great exercise for lerning form and construction as well as lets me analyze animation timing. Flcl uses allot extreme poses and distortion so it is fun to play with. The other one I did for class. We did freeze frames of pluto. after getting really warmed off it was fun. the most fun part was trying to keep up with my teachers drawing speed. The man is so fast! http://www.karmatoons.com/