Animatic

Production 1
temp sound is from Camera Obscura and Os Mutantes
tagline: A despondent man disovers a sense of wonder through a magical encounter with a raindrop.


Basic over-all paint-on-glass look

Flipbooks

These flipbooks were made during my second week at USC

Rainbow Spirals

I just came across this one from last summer

A Cat and KCAL 9

I spent all day today rescuing my cat, Tommy, from a 4 story telephone pole he'd been up on for 3 days. The ladder is the height of the roof.



KCAL VIDEO LINK

I had to go on the news and threaten to climb the pole myself in order to get the city to come out and help! Life is strange.

Prod 1 Character Design

new production 1 idea
character design examples:
First inspirations (chubby, red-headed Bill Gates, as my brother commented)

Its simplified version:

Another random one of many character designs...

Getting closer to the final version. Marker on glass with light oil-paint:

Prod 1 Backgrounds

paint-on-glass brainstorming

Brainstorming, First Prod 1 Ideas

Beginning to create landscape imagery led to the image of myself meditating and reflecting on the river rock event in Sedona. While meditating, the scene becomes surreal as water pours from under the cushion. As I look into the water, my face is reflected. This transitions into a dreamy memory of the river rocks. Later, my reflection morphs into the image of my father reflected in the window as I'm meditating again. I eventually canned this overall concept for being too complicated for a one minute piece. Here is some of the beginning of the scene:

Production 0

An excerpt from Production 0, a 5 week project we did during our 1st semester at USC, Fall 2006:

Here's where I fell in love with the paint-on-glass technique, a la the wonderful Caroline Leaf. I decided to use this technique for Production 1, our 2nd semester animated project. It's a perfect tie-in with my love for painting.

First Semester at USC

Fall 2006

I love this little, furry, white, crotchety, old guy. am really inspired to do a stop-motion project next fall. I've always adored Rankin Bass, Will Vinton studios, Laika, Jan Svankmeyer, and the Brothers Quay. I hope to eventually combine traditional techniques (nothing compares to the quirkiness) with either live-action (aka Michel Gondry "Science of Sleep") or CG.

claymation was fun, though I can use some work on my lip sync! hey, it was my first try.

Getting Warmer...After Effects

playing with after effects and now animation started to seem pretty interesting and i began applying to MFA programs

(notice the spirals)

One Toe into Animation

2005
first pencil tests
gotta have a leaf:

and a walk cycle

and "Jesus Saves"!

a nod to my catholic upbringing

Watercolor and more painting

more random paintings

"caught", watercolor
inspired by a cheesy 70's calender image

"ice cream and a kiss", oil on panel
elysian park

"echo lake", oil on panel
echo park lake

"sticky", acrylic
Spirals anyone?

Landscape Oil Painting

and then I became inspired to visit touristy kodak-moment type places that had become rundown and a little abandoned, literally or figuratively - places that exist more as photos than as real. spending an afternoon with these views, sometimes turning halfway around from where I'm supposed to look. a fresh perspective. a form as overdone as a postcard. a few examples:


view from the "not a cornfield" public park/art phenomena outside of chinatown

"waiting" closed snackshop at Griffith Park

"She Talks to Rainbows - Hollywood Forever" Johnny Ramone statue at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery

"without the horses it looks like jail" (I wish I could paint the horrible feeling I got from hearing a repeated off-key loop of carusol music for hours)

"Echo Lotus" biggest lotus garden at echo park lake this side of asia (this view never existed because it was covered by hundreds of people with cameras and tripods)

Oil Painting

In 2005, I discovered oil painting (great new invention). I also took a couple of classes at the Barnsdall Art Center with a great kind teacher there, Aaron Donovan. I fell in love with doing completely dorky painting, returning to learning foundational techniques. Here are a few examples:

Yum


uh, sick...

"Left Behind"
inspired by internet pictures of bunnies waiting for the slaughter and surreal apocolyptic religious theories which spawned the "Left Behind" tv mini-series

Acrylic Painting

In 2003, I began painting. Mostly acrylic on paper. Looking for an extension of the drawing style. Inspired by personal and collective simple symbols, repetitive techniques, mythological landscapes, and gesture.

This one was inspired by a hill that caught fire across the valley from my house in Mount Washington. It's called "Fire on the Mountain"


"concealed driving"

"reflecting pool"
Notice the spirals. My favorite symbol. I can't seem to stop doing those.

"foam playback"

"bubbles"
this one could be an animation

In the Beginning

In brief:
At Maryland Institute, College of Art I mostly made video installation and sculpture. I used a lot of plastic epoxies and enjoyed transmuting materials. For example, putting resin on soft creamy silk makes it transparent and brittle. Beyond undergrad, I continued experimenting with materials and formats in 3-dimensions, and kept a studio in Eagle Rock. I moved away from toxic methods (resins, etc.). Instead, I used natural materials from the surrounding environment and home craft techniques. I made things like sand sculptures.

Throughout it all, I continued to make hundreds of quirky and spontaneous drawings.
like this

and this

this

and this

And So it begins...

Let's start from now and work backwards. I've taken on the formidable task of creating, in one days time, a general blog archive of my work from the past few years. And you thought I couldn't do it... ;)

victory!