Life at the Light Table

Twilihate.

2011-11-22T01:31:00.029-05:00

So, I went to see the newest entry in the unintelligible Twilight series. Why? I'm not sure. Apparently I hate myself.

Bella (who still has only one facial expression) and Edward (the sparkly one) are getting married. Her parents are THRILLED with the idea.

Apparently, no parents in Stephanie Meyer's inane, messed up universe thinks it weird that an 18 year old girl is marrying a dead dude, and eventually turning into one. It's cool.

NOT COOL.

After finding out they're getting married, the wolf dude is pissed off about their love so he runs into the woods and stays there doing things for a while. No one cares.

At one point, Jacob and Edward argue with each other about how 'what happens on the honeymoon' might kill Bella. SHE IS STANDING RIGHT THE HELL THERE. Two overbearing stalkery dudes arguing about hypothetical futuresex? That my friends, is ROMANCE.

I've always wondered (no I haven't) where a vampire would go his honeymoon. Well, question: answered! Obviously somewhere where he can show off his true sparkle. Why not the sunniest place ever? RIO.

This is when things get messed up.

Bella ends up with bruises from her new hubby after their first night together because he's like, totally so strong? Edward apologizes for giving them to her, followed by HER apologizing for being so weak to incur them.

Yeah. I'll let you figure out what's wrong with that.

Edward then no longer apparently wants to touch her. So she has to chase after him like Pepe le Pew chasing after his cat, but less fun. Yep, a few days after getting married they're already bored of each other, now Stephanie Meyer and Kim Kardashian have something in common.

My theory is that Edward just realized some things about himself. It's cool, man. We all knew.

When Edward finally decides to touch her again, Bella gets insta-preggers. This is followed by Edward wondering 'how can this happen?!', freaking out and brooding more. Someone apparently had time to do everything during his life but learn where babies come from.

Then, a demon baby ends up eating Bella from the inside. This was the only character I could relate to, as I understood her motivations, and we both wanted the same thing.

Yes, while there's a seizure inducing scene where Edward performs a c-section with his fangs, my favourite part came right at the end when Jacob "imprints" (falls in love) with the baby.

A GROWN MAN, FALLS IN LOVE WITH A NEWBORN BABY. LEGITIMATE, I WILL MARRY YOU (hopefully when it's actually legal) LOVE.
EVERYONE IS OK WITH THIS.

I miss the days of real vampires. And actual characters like Buffy, who you know, DID things instead of just...sitting around waiting to be told what to do. Hopefully this doesn't influence what girls growing up today think of what dudes should be like.

Also, all I could think of for the entirety of the time that the wolf dudes were on screen was this:

I had a couple of thoughts while watching the film as well, much to the chagrin of the twitards sitting around me.

Screw Stephanie Meyer and this series. I'm done.

New York!

2011-03-21T23:39:00.025-04:00

So, yes. It's been quite a while. I could go on with excuses as to why I haven't posted in forever, how it won't be this long til the next time, and how I'll try my best to update more frequently. But I won't ;) I've been having quite the adventure lately and I wanted to share some of the things I've learned along the way:

I'd often heard the rumor that New Yorker's were quite...ill-tempered, so this was what I imagined happening in the off chance (read: when) I got lost.

Nothing, however, could be further from the truth (I sincerely hope I'm not giving away a secret here...) New Yorkers are extremely, extremely nice and helpful. My theory is that it's due to so many non-natives, so everyone understands what it's like being new. Although, be wary of getting in their (our?) way during rush hour traffic on the subway.

The one thing I knew I'd miss about Toronto were the people. My friends, family and everyone I'd gotten accustomed to seeing week after week over the last year at our favourite karaoke spot and around town. But, I've met some amazing people and made some fantastic friends!

But, some things are in fact, irreplaceable.

One thing you always hear about New York is the dangerous amount of crime in the city. You do have to be aware of your surroundings, but there's no reason to be remotely as paranoid as I thought originally! It's actually one of the safest cities per capita in the US.

I'd heard about all these cockroach and bedbug infestations, and was not looking forward to dealing with these creatures. Luckily, I've only seen 2 with my friend Vadim...at a restaurant...that was REALLY good and had been open 27 years (the owner made a point of telling us this multiple times.).

Something I was looking forward to, as much as I love driving, was giving up my car. Being a driver, you hate pedestrians. Being a pedestrian, you hate drivers. In Toronto, I was both. But in NY I was looking forward to picking a side, so to speak. There was one minor thing I didn't forsee. Carrying big box items home on the subway.

Bumping into people in Toronto wasn't that uncanny as we all usually hung out in the same few areas. However, in New York, in a city of 8 million people - it is absolutely astounding that you can still bump into people you know anywhere, like in the middle of a crowded SoHo street.

I really thought I would miss Toronto a ton. There's a charm there that I thought no city could really capture. Til I got to New York. It has it's own wonderful charm. There's so much to see, do and explore, it's absolutely overwhelming and ridiculous. But, so far I've found some of my new favourite landmarks, restaurants, shops and parks.

There is nothing like just waking up, grabbing a bite and walking for literally hours trying to find the hidden corners and stores that are indicative of this city. Especially while being in a state of "everything is awesome and new all the time!"

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I've drank the New York Kool Aid and well...

More coffee!

2010-10-14T02:37:00.004-04:00

My friend Rachel, who is awesome, knows how much I adore coffee. Last week, she invited me to a local Starbucks to try out their new flavoured instant coffees. How to win me over? Feed me bunches and cups and oodles of coffee with no end in sight. I then ended up heading to my life drawing class shortly thereafter. Needless to say, my hand coordination was ... less than stellar (read: jittery as hell)

More coming next week.

The Social Network

2010-09-17T02:46:00.016-04:00

I was lucky enough to go check out a pre-screening of David Fincher's film, "The Social Network" which is more commonly known as "The Facebook Movie". Fincher has previously directed Se7en, Benjamin Button & Zodiac. The film is written by Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing).

The film was so preventative on piracy that they took our cellphones. To say the least, I felt somewhat uneasy about this, some might even say naked, but it was essentially akin to a coat check. We got them back without a hitch.

I'm usually more on the skeptical side of films. Especially ones based on seemingly plain subject matter, such as websites. The entire idea on the whole sounded preposterous to begin with. Let's just say that by the end of the film, I was left chewing on the remnants of my words.

There's something to be said for the fact that I've been experiencing a barrage of films as of late due to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and this was an absolute stand out film that wasn't even part of the competition.

The performance delivered by Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland) was extremely, extremely top notch. Up until this point, I'd considered him the 'poor man's Michael Cera'; as in, when Cera was unavailable, Eisenberg stepped in. Sometimes being unable to tell them apart in trailers.

Apparently I'm not the only one that has this problem. This is a picture caption from the Toronto Star from a couple weeks back. Notice anything ... odd? (hint: read the caption)

Yet, Jesse Eisnberg's choices of films to take definitely led me to believe that he could expand his acting scope, so I was on the lookout for something that would let him expand/explore a single character. His portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is really something to watch unfold.

It was refreshing seeing a well directed, well written, well paced film with great acting and above all, have it be incredibly entertaining as well. It also helps that we all walked out of the theater feeling like a million dollars.

But you know, as one of the characters in the film says, a million dollars isn't cool, a billion dollars is.

Aim high.

TIFF10:Anticipation & Excitement

2010-09-12T02:25:00.007-04:00

If you know me, you know that I love watching films, in theaters or at home. So, this is a particularly exciting time of year in Toronto for film lovers as the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is taking place. This is the second year that I'm partially attending TIFF. Last year I did a grand total of 3 films (Waking Sleeping Beauty, Micmacs & Up In The Air) and vowed to do more this year.

Sometime in August, I decided I should look into buying ticket packages. I had a list of must-see films and was looking through all the other films playing as well. I decided I would get the 25-30 film package.

As I clicked 'buy tickets' - an evil red screen of doom quashing my dreams to get the most out of the festival appeared. The packages were sold out.

Stunned, I read it over and over and vowed not to miss the day single tickets went on sale. I went through whatever measures I needed to.

The morning of the ticket sales, I woke up to my alarm and immediately hopped on my computer to buy the tickets I wanted.

The system was overloaded, making it akin to choosing electives in college. Sitting there I refreshed the page again, and again, and again...

...and again and again, and again, until I was about to abandon all hope, until finally...

SUCCESS! I ended up getting my top four film picks:

1) Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist

2) Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan

3) Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams

4) Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins

and thanks to the generosity and awesomeness of two fantastic friends...

5) Danny Boyle's 127 Hours

6) Wuershan's The Butcher, The Chef & The Swordsman

I also plan on seeing Ben Affleck's "The Town" and saw Anton Corbijn's "The American" last week. Reviews coming for ALL of them.

This is going to be a busy little blog for the next little while!! Come back soon!

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World vs. Deep

2010-08-16T00:10:00.008-04:00

On Friday, I went to see a film I'd been anticipating and extremely excited about since it was announced - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I've been an enormous fan of the books, I re-read the series in it's entirety every month or two, so it's safe to say I had a bit of trouble concentrating during the work day.

A bunch of us had organized going to see SPvTW after work on Friday, so I headed there straight after work. When I got to the theater with 30 of my closest friends and some family, the anticipation hit it's peak. I begged the spirit of Hollywood to not disappoint and live up to what I'd imagined.

Even though I already knew that there was much to differentiate between the film and the books (which again, I'm an enormous fan of) the nerd in me began to immediately compare scenes and events with the book. But then, I quickly realized that comparing the two was trivial, especially since Brian Lee O'Malley helped collaborate on the screenplay.

The humor, filmmaking technique and action scenes were what really stood out for me...the more I watched, the happier, more entertained and visually astounded I became until...

BAM! I was kicked in the freaking face by pure, unadulterated AWESOME.

Edgar Wright, Michael Bacall and Brian Lee O'Malley (along with everyone else involved) have created a brilliant film that speaks true to it's subject matter, while retaining it's own voice. I'm really glad Universal allowed this film to be made and for Edgar Wright to see his vision through.

I'm totally going to see it again.

PS. The soundtrack seriously kicks ass. Buy it here

Intermission II

2010-08-09T23:13:00.003-04:00

Cupcake Girl

I sincerely despise the length of time between these posts. Definitely going to need to fix that. Life, fun, friends, summer and work have all been keeping me incredibly occupied. So much has happened in the last three (!) months - hopefully I'll figure out a way to share a bunch of it. I recently took a trip to San Diego & LA for comic-con and to hang out with some of my best friends on the west coast, and in the process made some fantastic new ones. In any case, here's the intermittent post, a doodle and some sketches from around Toronto, but mostly the subway.

I swear there's a new post coming. Ideas a-brewin'.

As always, comments and crits appreciated.

Coffee!

2010-05-12T02:26:00.031-04:00

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I love coffee. So I thought I'd do a little post on why I love it and how I became so...for lack of a better term, obsessed.

It started one summer during school when I had an office desk job as a summer student. The job was very much a 'run out the clock' situation.

5pm couldn't arrive fast enough. It was a constant fight.

I've always loved the smell of coffee, but yes, even to those who know me well, there actually was a time where I couldn't stand the taste of coffee.

Even still though, if I could somehow set up a timer to wake me up to the smell of coffee every morning, I would, although that would definitely up my chances of burning things down due to faulty wiring...or stupidity.
The cafe at the front of the building had a self-serve type deal - it smelled absolutely wonderful with flavours like 'vanilla bean hazelnut', 'orange mocha' or 'clever chocolate'. They all tasted the same, the most vile tasting sludge ever.
One day, my cousin was visiting Toronto from Florida due to work, and he asked me to try his then favourite drink, a caramel macchiato.

The experience was enlightening.

I remember the first time I ever had a triple shot of espresso, I came home wanted to get something from my room. The next thing I knew I was at the top of the stairs without remembering climbing them at all.

Gradually, I became less and less accustomed to sweet drinks, where at one time I loved them, I can barely stand a Caramel Macchiato now.
Slowly I started to warm up to coffee and grow accustomed to the different tastes and essentially 'found my drink'. Currently either an Espresso Macchiato or an Iced Americano.

It wasn't until I moved to LA and went to what became my most favourite coffee shop ever, that I discovered what good coffee was.

For the first time, I tasted straight espresso that was creamy, rich and sweet - with hints of vanilla, hazelnut and chocolate. With no additives! It was love at first sip.

Now, mornings usually don't start til I have coffee. Without some, I'm a useless pile of blob. The staff at my local Starbucks can attest to that.

Coffee also brings people together. A few friends and myself have been able to go to one of our new favourite coffee shops in Toronto, Lit Espresso Bar, and be very productive, social and relaxed all at the same time. Coffee is the new beer.

After visiting so many coffee shops (so, so many) certain things start to jump out at you. Especially when they're reoccurring. As a result, I've been able to discern a certain number of barista 'types'. These are a few of them.

My friends Jon and Jeremy created a drink at Starbucks they lovingly refer to as "The Killer". I decided to be daring and try 3 shots instead of the recommended 2. The results were less than favourable.

I'm hoping that one day it rains coffee from the sky. If that happens, the world will be a more pleasant smelling and delicious place. It may also become faster paced and crazier, but we'll ignore that for now.

I sincerely think there's a whole untapped market for coffee flavoured/coffee influenced products. Someone should get on that and make it happen.
I'd buy it.

I think I have a problem.

Studies

2010-02-10T22:57:00.008-05:00

Head Studies

Compositional Studies

Sketches in Ballpoint Pen/Pencil/Pilot Pen

I'm working on some more stuff to post soon - in the meantime, any requests for any movie reviews?

R.

Sketches!

2010-01-31T23:56:00.007-05:00

from facehunter

Sorry once again, it's been so long - been a busy couple months. Here are some sketches I did around town (subway/cafe/whatever) in a brand new awesome sketchbook. I also recently visited Montreal, and had the chance to go to a great french comic book store and check it out. I ended up buying two simply fantastic, amazing and beautifully stunning books - the first being Joann Sfar's "Gainsbourg" which is a 400 page collection of his notes/sketches and the like from making his comic, as well as his live-action biopic of the great french singer, Serge Gainsbourg.If you're a fan of Sfar's work (which you should be, because he's AMAZING) this book is pure, pure gold.
The other, is Bastien Vives "Dans Mes Yeux" which is a brilliantly drawn comic (pen and pencil crayon) which is basically a love story, told literally through the male character's eyes. Lovely.
Also, check out this ad for the 2010 Olympics that the BBC commissioned, and was co-designed by the super talented Jon Klassen, and co-designed by Studio AKA's Marc Craste.

Til next time!
R.

Taken @ La Brulerie St. Denis in Montreal, Quebec.

Twilight.

2009-12-04T12:33:00.018-05:00

So, last week I was convinced/tricked into going to see Twilight because of my friend's unhealthy obsession with werewolves. I thankfully, didn't pay for the atrociousness that was about to be put before me.

Although, my friends have figured out ways to trick me into doing things.

As I turned the corner, I saw a line up that put a 1999 Britney Spears/Spice Girls crossover concert to shame.

Waiting in line was an ordeal that my friends and I were not very appreciative of. There was a lot of squealing coming from the various Twitards*.

*Twitards: Fans of Twilight, obsessive and usually under the age of 16

I had somehow managed to bypass the Twilight phenomena from the last movie and the books, so I went into this one knowing nothing.

That's right, in the magical world of Twilight, not only can vampires GO OUTSIDE DURING DAYLIGHT (because they live in 'the cloudiest city in the states' called FORKS) but instead of BURNING TO DEATH INSTANTLY, the Twilight vampires SPARKLE. That's all.

They sparkle, you guys.

There was a moment in the "film" where the head vampire douche, Edward Cullen was asked by a teacher to repeat a passage of "iambic pentameter" from Romeo & Juliet, as the camera slowly trucked in on him looking distraught and slightly off to the side trying to act badass, I gazed out into the audience, and saw girls swooning, smiling and clutching their jackets as if they'd just seen the most wonderful display of romance ever put on screen.

Makes you wonder, if you had lived hundreds of years, were immortal, and could basically do anything, would going back to HIGH SCHOOL really be at the top of the priority list?

Girls apparently think stalking is sexy, as in this scene when Edward shows up in Bella's room while she's at school and just sort of ...stands there gazing at her things. Nope, not creepy AT ALL.

Then came the stupid werewolf boy. Every chance he got, it was off with the shirt. He also wore jean cutoffs...reminded me of Tobias from Arrested Development.

Edward would do anything to protect his beloved, especially knocking her around every chance he got.

Edward then decides to leave Bella forever because he loves her or something. To which Bella shows just about as much emotion as she would to a piece of toast coming out of a toaster. Edward then leaves her stranded in the woods to fend for herself during rumoured werewolf attacks (because he loves her). Swoon.
The movie ends at some point thereafter, it's kind of a blur.

"The many faces of Robert Pattinson, Professional Knob." or "Acting with Eyebrows"

"Look Girls!! Now you can buy Twilight inspired makeup and read about how to 'snag your Edward'!" (pictures taken at a local pharmacy)

Never have I seen a movie where the lead actors, supposedly real-life lovers (which I'm sure was the brainchild of a brilliant publicist) have so little chemistry and barely even tried moving their mouths to talk. Perhaps it's because there isn't enough teen angst in me, perhaps it's because I'm slightly upset at the complete vampire overhaul that Stephenie Meyer has done, or even how they managed to make even werewolves slightly uncool (I say slightly, because let's face it, werewolves are pretty awesome); but this movie set a new standard in terrible - it went from being bad, to hilarious back around to being bad again, to me wanting to gouge my eyes out. Here's the best review I've ever read of it told entirely through LOLcats (thanks, Lissa) Also, here's why Breaking Dawn must be made into a movie (warning: profanity and major offensiveness.)

In short, I can't wait for the next one - apparently it will have 50% more sparkles. Maybe Joss Whedon will direct it :)

Team Werewolf (is that a thing?) all the way.
R.

Sketches!

2009-11-11T01:32:00.000-05:00

City sketch study.

Compositional Studies @ Grange Park (it was cold)

This woman was so bundled up, it was awesome.

Starting a new sketchbook.

Randoms

Some little random sketches I liked.

Some very recent sketches from traveling around downtown Toronto, I switched to pencil for the time being to try something different. See how long this lasts til I begin pining for a pen again. If you're in Toronto, the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is this week! Definitely heading down there for some sketching sometime, it's always a blast! Thanks to everyone who's been commenting - it's really much appreciated! While I've been looking for a job and amongst doing a few other side projects on my own, Matt and I have started on a short film, and set up a production blog! Check it out!

Also, if you haven't had a chance yet, I'd definitely recommend going and checking out Where the Wild Things Are. Spike Jonze has made, in my opinion, an absolutely amazing, stunning and poignant film - some tend to disagree, and I've really only found two opposing opinions of the film (love or hate) with very few fence-sitters. Definitely one to catch.

Some fantastic stuff is being posted to James', Nick's and Jenny's blogs. I can't say enough nice things about these guys but definitely give them a look if you get a chance.

Princess and the Frog is being released VERY soon in NY and LA, and on December 11th everywhere! Check it out! And, a really cool Disney TV special from 1981 has been posted on youtube in conjunction with the Illusion of Life. Thanks to Cat Hicks for that one.

Winter's a-comin'.

Circuit Paris

2009-10-29T18:38:00.013-04:00

(Slightly cut off - click through to play proper ratio)

In keeping with the trend, I realized I hadn't uploaded my film that I completed in my final year at Sheridan College, so here it is. Roughly about 4 months doing storyboards, a month doing layout, design and art direction/color styling and 3 months animating. The voices were done by Vadim as the cab driver, and Matt as the Old Woman. I've posted some process work in the past from it, which you can check out here about halfway down the page to the bottom. It was an enormous education (there are a ton of things I'd do differently) and an amazing experience - one I ended up wishing we'd had more of a chance to do during our time at school and I can't wait to make another.
100% Hand drawn - colored in Photoshop and composited in After Effects and Premiere.
Also, My buddies Vlad and Matt just uploaded their kickass films, so I'd definitely recommend watching theirs as well and checking out their awesome blogs. Also, Matt's been posting some pretty hilarious comics of him and myself - we're working on a little project together that's brought out some...material.

And here's a couple of quick little sketches:

Comments and crits appreciated! Til next time.
R.

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!

2009-10-12T15:20:00.008-04:00

This weekend in Canadaland, it's thanksgiving! We celebrate it much like the Americans, what with the delicious, delicious turkey and other such fine foods.
Why do we celebrate it in October?
Because we're awesome.

Or, it could have began by the explorer, Martin Frobisher marking his homecoming from safely finding a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean, avoiding death which had befallen his predecessors. After which, the french settlers, having crossed the ocean and made it safely to Canada, held huge feasts of thanks from 1604 onwards.

(depictions of the french may be grossly exaggerated)

So that's how Thanksgiving in Canada began!
A Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Here are also some sketches I've been doing in the last little while:

Til next time!
R.

Intermission.

2009-09-28T09:55:00.012-04:00

Back!

It's been a while, and a busy month or so, but I'm back now! I have a rule to not post videos on here ever, but I had to make an exception for this since it's personal work. If the player/embedding gets annoying or gives anyone issues, let me know and I'll just make it into a link.
Anyway, the video is my last assignment from the Disney internship, where by we had to storyboard out a musical sequence. The music was chosen by our mentors, mine being the AWESOME Aurian Redson who chose the Green Hornet theme.

Also, AURIAN REDSON FINALLY HAS A BLOG. Go visit it NOW. Aurian is one of the nicest guys around and can draw like no one's business. Check him out!

I also went to a few films at the Toronto International Film Fest, which I'll post about soon - they were Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Micmacs", Don Hahn's "Waking Sleeping Beauty", and Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air". All I'll say for now is if the opportunity presents itself, go check any of those out.

I've also posted a ridiculous doodle, and some drawings done around the city and at the zoo, and unfortunately I've had to enable the spam security on the comments, been bombarded lately. Hopefully it's not too much trouble.

That's all for now!

R.

"Four Times the Awesomeness!"

Black Bull Tavern

Aroma Cafe

Zoo

Downtown Toronto - Queen/John

Journal Page from Florida trip

The Shining.

2009-08-12T02:36:00.005-04:00

I hate horror films (mostly because I scare easy), but I decided to watch Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" the other night for the first time because, well, it's Kubrick and certain people had been raving about it for a while, so I figured it's high time I suck it up and check it out.
Of course, during the following sequence, which in my opinion is one of the creepiest of the film, it started to rain like crazy outside, followed by thunder and lightning. How's THAT for pathetic fallacy?

(click to enlarge)

I also drew out a couple other random shots:

Obligatory.

I just really liked Shelly Duvall's expression in this one.

This was another great one. Danny is playing with his cars (which are arranged to lead your eye to the point) sitting at a spot which points directly off screen, rolling his car back and forth over the point, as the mysterious ball comes in from off screen.

I think this my most favourite shot in the film - it's amazing to actually see the staging in this. The room opening intersecting with Jack's head and leading your eye to the mirror, which reflects his bizarre expression and his eyes staring directly at Danny, leading you to Danny and Jack's hand, and so on. Even the pants laying on the stool lead you straight to Danny. Genius.

It's absolutely incredible to see the way this movie is set up - the entire first 3/4 of the film is foreshadowing and set up, like an elastic band being stretched to it's limit, to a point where it all just...snaps. Brilliant.

Also, I was dragged into seeing G.I.Joe...review coming soon.
R.

California 09

2009-08-07T16:27:00.007-04:00

San Diego Comic Con 09

Pacific Beach - San Diego

Airport

Secret Journal

Coffee

Great trip to San Diego/LA for Comic Con and visiting friends, applying for work (still looking!) and just hanging out. Who knew I'd start loving LA so much? Weird.
Bigger, more entertaining post coming very soon. Promise. If you're in Toronto, Jeff Smith of Bone will be signing at the Indigo Bookstore at Yorkdale mall on Saturday August 8th. His new documentary DVD is awesome, pick it up if you can - it's called "The Cartoonist: Jeff Smith, Bone and the changing face of comics" Also, one of my favourite books that I picked up at the Comic Con besides Torch Tiger, was Kevin Dart's "Seductive Espionage: The World of Yuki 7" Simply stunning concept, execution and artwork. Really great. Check them out if you get a chance. Also, Kerascoet's Jolies Tenebres (published by Dupuis) is amazing as well, still trying to read it (french is rusty) but brilliant stuff. I'm absolutely in love with the simplicity and fantastic clarity in their art. Ronnie is much more eloquent than I in explaining it.

R.

Canadia!

2009-07-01T23:30:00.002-04:00

Whenever I'm in the States, people always ask me what Canada is like. Today being Canada Day, and Canada's 142nd birthday, I figure I should finally give an accurate description, as well as clarify some myths about us neighboUrs to your North.

FACT: Canada is directly above (to the north of) the United States of America. We have 10 PROVINCES instead of STATES, as well as 3 TERRITORIES.

FACT: Our national colours are Red and White, and our flag features the Maple Leaf.
FACT: We have a Prime Minister instead of a President.

FACT: Our National Police are called the RCMP.

FACT: Each Province has their own Police force as well. Ontario's are called the Ontario Provincial Police.

FACT: Canada's national food is Tim Horton's, a "coffee" chain named after a famous hockey player.

FACT: Smarties in Canada are different! Instead of bizarre rolled up multicoloured chalky candy which we refer to as "rockets", Smarties are a delicious multicoloured chocolate. You are supposed to eat the red ones last.

FACT: It is always cold.

FACT: Fortunately, because we have winter all the time, we've gotten used to it and have acclimated to it.

FACT: We eat delicious Canadian chocolates called "Bueno Bars"

FACT: We go on maple syrup hunting expeditions riding moose into the wilderness.

FACT: In Canadia, Beavers are a man's best friend.

Note: Some of these facts may or may not be entirely ... true.

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

Transformers 2

2009-06-30T01:05:00.008-04:00

So, last week I made the mistake/choice of watching Transformers 2 - I *am* glad to say that there was no forking over of money on my part, thankfully. I thought I'd post my review/experience.

From the minute the opening credits rolled, the experience that was Transformers2 began. My life would never be the same.

Akin to the astronaut Dave from one of my favourite films 2001: A Space Odyssey, I may have seen Beyond the Infinite, I'm not entirely sure - as one never really can be.

I felt as though Director Extraordinaire Michael "KABOOM" Bay was actually physically inside my head, punching the very knowledge and being out of my brain for the 9 hour long duration of the movie.

I can't really remember when/how I stumbled out of the theater, it's all such a blur...this is the best rendition I can come up with based on the information I've pieced together.

It's not a blur for Michael "KABOOM" Bay though! He's laughing in his giant mac truck, painted like Optimus Prime, all the way to the bank.

I'm sorry that there aren't more details about the plot - or spoilers - as I can't really tell you what happened. There were explosions, loud colors, even louder noises. The entire movie looked like this to me:

I was reading up on the psyche of Michael "KABOOM" Bay, and I think this quote was amazing:

“Visual-effects supervisor Scott Farrar was in charge of turning Industrial Light & Magic’s computers up to 11 to create the new characters and told reporters that the sequel features 40 new characters. That and the increased resolution of the characters for new IMAX footage nearly exhausted ILM’s render farms: After one hard night of rendering computer-generated footage, some of the hardware actually exploded.”

Even the computers of ILM couldn't take the AWESOME that he was about to put on screen. He overcame, you guys.

I think this is the best movie review I've ever read

In short, you can clearly see that I really think you should go see the movie. It's a cinematic masterp...aw hell...It's the loudest, longest, eye-ringing, head-smacking movie I've ever seen, shock after shock of you wondering, "wow, how could this make any LESS sense?" and the question being answered over, and over, and over again.

If you do see it, don't resist it, don't try and make sense of it, let it take you. Whatever you think meets your eye, it's more than that.

KABOOOOOM!
R.

Clownin' Around.

2009-06-12T18:16:00.013-04:00

Designs/character exploration for a comic/short project I'm attempting to develop.

Random Doodles

Here are a bunch of gestures I did this week while traveling the subway, and sitting in coffee shops. Been trying to work on some stuff I've been learning from the Stanchfield books. Still a long way to go, but hopefully these are going in the right direction.

It was this couple's 6 month anniversary - Marcia and Charles.

This was my good friend Matt's band "Silverlane". You should really check them out by clicking here.

Some gesture studies of the band

Some cool stuff I've found on the interwebs this week: Multicolr Search Lab lets you search Flickr by color. The new Gobelins films are out, too. Check out my friend Ugo's "Jelly Sunday"
Also, I recently started re-watching HBO's underrated series "Carnivale" - if you have some spare time and are wondering what to watch, definitely check it out. It got cancelled after two seasons, but worth it. Lastly, Jenny over at Blackwing Diaries has made a great post about Up, and animated films in general. Definitely worth a read.

New post coming soon!
R.

Bunch o' Nonsense

2009-06-04T00:11:00.008-04:00

A weird little idea I'm toying around with - perhaps for a comic.

Here's some stuff from the last couple of weeks:

These were done (really quickly) at a new music night at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. The band playing is The Superstitions. They were rather good.

I liked the attitudes of the characters on this page.

I was attempting to simplify with this page, I think I got something with
the girl on the top left.

Not too much to write - UP was awesome, want to congratulate my friends Vlad Kooperman and Guillaume Chartier, as well as Pete Docter, Ronnie, Nick and all who worked on it for an amazing job. Also, if you haven't seen the Beatles Rock Band debut trailer, I'm assuming directed by Pete Candeland and Designed by Robert Valley, check it out here. Lastly, I was reading the Walt Stanchfield book, and something jumped out at me, I'll leave you with this:

"Drawing for animation is translating and action...into drawing form so an audience can retranslate those drawings back into an experience of that action."
-Walt Stanchfield

R.

Unforgiven + Doodles.

2009-05-26T00:59:00.010-04:00

"'spose you wouldn't mind lookin' in on m' youngsters while I'm gone..."

"Hey KID! It's ME! Will Munny!"

"No...But I ain't armed..."

I just watched Unforgiven the other day, for the first time, and taking a cue from Leo, decided to do a couple of quick shots that I thought were great. Clint Eastwood as William Munny, Morgan Freeman as Ned and Gene Hackman as Lil' Bill star in an absolutely astounding film. A great story, structured amazingly, brilliant shots, and amazing, engaging characters all directed by Clint Eastwood that made me realize why he's given free reign on anything he wants. He's really, really earned it.

And now, some doodles and observational sketches:

Also, I think I forgot to post this! The Princess and the Frog trailer is out! Go watch it!!
Comments are appreciated!
R.

sketchy.

2009-05-15T00:18:00.006-04:00

Well, THAT wasn't a long time between posts at all, right? ...Right?
Here's a bunch of drawings I did all over the place, but mainly in my favourite spot (anywhere that sells coffee). Trying to really focus and concentrate on gesture and character in the above, hopefully some of it comes across. Also really trying to push the poses more - pesky brain likes to straighten things out as vertical as possible.
I've been reading the Walt Stanchfield books as much as I can since I got them, and they are incredible. Thanks to Don Hahn for putting those together - I love the fact that no matter how many times I re-read it, something new always comes to light. I'm not big on quoting, but the following struck me as something I continually attempt when doing gesture/observational sketching, so I thought I'd share:

"Completion of a drawing does not depend on material representation. The work is done when that special thing has been said."
-Robert Henri

Met some fantastic artists this weekend - including the illustrious Scott C., Graham Annable and the awesome Kate Beaton.

Also, go see Star Trek.

R.

Gals

2009-03-31T20:44:00.002-04:00

Just a few quick doodles trying out a new brush. More soon!

R.

Warning!: Bad Drawings Ahead!

2009-03-18T00:57:00.004-04:00

So, I tried something different. While having coffee at a wonderful new coffee shop I discovered (not the different part) on Friday of last week, I attempted to draw with my wrong hand (read: left). The results kind of surprised me and were interesting enough to post on here I suppose (that, and I needed to update). The drawings are unedited, the first four pages are entirely done with my wrong hand (the first page being the first drawings I drew with it and so on) and the last page was just some random doodles I did while attempting to brainstorm.

Ronnie Del Carmen illustrated the UP tie-in book! Check out his post and some preview page goodness here. Bolt apparently comes out on dvd next week! Check it out! I also saw the most amazingly terrible movie this past weekend...more on that in the next post! Also, Nicole posted a St. Patty's day challenge, and Lissa solved it. Also, for fans of Scott Pilgrim, I'm sure you all know a movie is coming out (or you've heard me not shut up about it and how amazing the casting is) but how cool and hilarious is this?

That's all for now! Comments appreciated!
R.

Movies!

2009-03-09T04:48:00.008-04:00

Pulp Fiction

Drawings! I watched Pulp Fiction for the first time this past weekend (I know, I know, missed out on movies growing up, terrible tastes back in the day, etc.) and it was pretty cool. Unsurprisingly I'd assume, my favourite parts involved Jules Winfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta).

Garden State

Garden State is a movie I used to watch a lot when it first came out on dvd. I hadn't seen it since then (number of years) and was worried it wouldn't live up to what I remembered. It did, albeit in a different way. Not really amazingly shot or anything, but he made good with what he was working with, I think. The emotional core of the movie, which I think is contained in Sam's (Natalie Portman) character was really endearing - she's (I think) extremely likable and I love the way she opens Andrew up to not shying away from life or running from his problems.

Speaking of running.. Nicole, Lissa and I were walking back from lunch whereupon Nicole attempted to catch a piece of dust. Unsuccessful, the dust attempted to retaliate, and tried to attach itself to Nicole like an evil parasite. Nicole ran.
The dust was defeated. This drawing was created as a commemoration to the event.

The Walt Stanchfield books are coming!!! Can't WAIT! Put together by the legendary Disney producer, Don Hahn, check out his site for an exclusive trailer!
Don't know who he is? Clay, Mark Kennedy and Will Finn have posted great accounts about the man himself.
Til next time!

R.

Doodlies!

2009-03-02T04:14:00.003-05:00

I'm totally setting a record for my blog for the new year. Two posts in two weeks! Take that, world! Unfortunately, this post is pretty anti-climactic due to just having a page of doodles which include some very bizarre bat-rabbits. Ah, c'est la vie.
Links! Don Hahn's Walt Stanchfield books are poised to come out sometime in the next 3 months...I could go on and on about how immensely amazing his notes are and how you should totally buy his book because having it collected in 2 volumes like this is indispensable, but Mark's already said it better. If you're into gesture sketching in cafes/subways and the like, this is really a must-have. There's a little trailer on Don Hahn's site too.
Also, Nina Paley did a feature length animated film all on her own called "Sita Sings the Blues", which the website describes as: "Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Nina is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by e-mail." It's set to the old Indian mythological story of the Ramayana, and is now completely available in full for FREE here!
Thanks for everyone who commented on the last couple posts, much appreciated.
R.

Attack!!

2009-02-18T00:16:00.008-05:00

So, it's been a while since I posted...I've..been busy?
Sorry.
Anyway, here are some drawings:

ATTACK OF THE GORGONZOLA!

Inspired by a friend saying that every time she hears the word "Gorgonzola", she thinks of an endangered species. I thought of this. No idea where THAT came from.

Some life drawings that I did around LA - the first at a bunch of cafe's around while searching for the perfect coffee - still doesn't beat the first place I found thanks to James. And the last was done at my new favourite sushi shop on sushi row in the Valley. Thanks to Johnny Drama for that one.

Lastly, some awesome links: I've been reading Outliers the past couple days, and so far, it's pretty awesome. Some things are hard to swallow, some make a lot of sense even if you don't want them to. Either way, one of the most interesting things I've found is what Gladwell calls the "10,000 hour rule", I'll let him explain: the 10,000 hour rule
Also, I implore you, if you haven't seen Dr. Horrible yet, GO WATCH IT.
Nicole started a blog!! Go to it! And Lissa's blog too, because it's awesome and she hasn't posted in a while and maybe this will make her. I added links to the side for both their blogs, along with Tealin's as well.
Kate Beaton's valentine's day drawings are the best things ever (my favourite is the Curies)

That is all for now, as always comments and crits are appreciated!!
Post again soon!
R.

Another post!

2009-01-12T20:34:00.003-05:00

Wow, two posts in two weeks. Looks like I'm getting back on track. I was watching the Globes last night, and one of my favourite movies this year won pretty big. Slumdog Millionaire directed by Danny Boyle - who, as a director amazes me with his genre jumping. I'm glad someone actually made a modern "Bollywood" movie that didn't suck. Even the soundtrack was pretty catchy...Anyway, I saw Boyle accepting last night, and felt I needed to caricature him, for obvious reasons.
Also, re-reading everything of Calvin and Hobbes I own and brought with me to L.A., Bill Watterson is genius, as is his strip. For those of you who haven't read it since you were kids and have learned a lot since then, I suggest you read it again. It holds a whole new meaning besides nostalgia. Amazing.

R.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T13:59:00.002-05:00

So, how awful of a blogger am I? It's been a whole 3 months since I posted. Not for lack of work, just lack of time. I'm currently a story trainee at the House of Mouse - so they've been keeping us super busy, I'm learning an inordinate amount though. Kicks the pants off of school for sure. I just got back from visiting home in good ol' Toronto. Friends, family and the whole nine made it a great break. All to quick, but great nonetheless. Good to be back at work and in the swing of things, even though I've caught a little cold. Hopefully this vile thing won't last long. 2008 was a whirlwind/rollercoaster of a year - graduated, got a job, got another job, moved to a different country where I knew no one etc. Friends got awesome jobs and are all over the place now and met some amazing people. Here's hoping 2009 brings even more awesomeness to the front.

Not really any links to post to, though, if you haven't already you should watch "Slumdog Millionaire", Danny Boyle's latest. Always astounded by his non-genre conforming ways. Also, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was quite good as well, and finally got around to watching "Real Time" with Jay Baruchel and Randy Quaid (also interesting and good) and About a Boy with Hugh Grant, which was really good.
If you get a chance, check out my friend and co-worker Lissa's blog she has some hilarious and awesome stuff. I've also started reading a couple of hilarious web comics, some of which I've been reading for a while now. Most notably, Kate Beaton and Xkcd.

Happy 2009! Hopefully I won't be waiting another 3 months to post!
R.

Television and Life

2008-09-26T00:52:00.003-04:00

Back again! I decided to do some long overdue caricatures of two of my favourite shows which just started up again for their 5th seasons over the last two weeks. The Office's Dwight Schrute played by Rainn Wilson, and the amazing Dr. Gregory House played by Hugh Laurie. The House sketch still needs some work, and I'm going to keep attempting it - it's his smugness that I find hardest to capture. The third drawing is something I did while at a mall in Montreal over the weekend (went to visit some family) and I forgot my sketchbook in the car, so we were drinking coffee and I took that sleeve thing and just did a few quick sketches on there. Any crits (especially for the caricatures) are very welcome.

Just some stuff around the net I found interesting: James Robertson did a fantastic post about how he thinks about story as he dissected a short from a great film called "Paris, Je T'aime" - his passion for filmmaking and understanding of story and film structure really comes through. Go support him and comment so that he keeps doing them. Special congrats to my friends Vlad Kooperman and James Higuchi for placing first and second, respectively in the Most Promising category in the Teletoon Animation Scholarship which took place in Ottawa this past weekend. Last, but not least, is a little golden book that is now available on Amazon of Pixar's short PRESTO! and is illustrated by none other than the amazing Teddy Newton. That's all for now!
R.

Sorry...

2008-09-15T22:26:00.007-04:00

Sorry for neglecting the blog for so long, I think this is the longest I've gone without posting since I started the thing, or maybe it was the stretch during the film. Thanks to all those who've been coming by, I really, really appreciate it. The above drawing was a quick drawing done just as I got off the subway.
Anyway, it's not like I haven't been drawing - I've been commuting downtown everyday, and as a result have been filling up a sketchbook a week, focusing on one aspect of a drawing that needs improving (read: all of them) at a time, be it faces/heads, hands, compositions, posing etc. Re-reading the Walt Stanchfield notes as well, and they're making a whole lot of new sense all of a sudden. Fantastic stuff. I've been spending the weekend getting around to scanning the sketchbooks and tying up some other loose ends, so hopefully by the end of the week I will do a large sketchdump.

Also, Ed Catmull is my hero, there's a new podcast of his that can be found here. Definitely worth a listen. Nick Sung, one of the most inspirational (to me) artists I've had the pleasure of speaking with, reminds us about the value of hard work something that's easy to forget, so a welcome reminder is always appreciated. There's been a lot going on, and once again I apologize for not being able to post more, but I'm back!! I promise! For a while, at least.
More on the way,
R.

Cintiq

2008-08-07T13:13:00.004-04:00

So, there's much to report after coming back from ComicCon and L.A., I'll do a full comic con/L.A. entry with pictures soon, been really busy with a bunch of stuff. I've had the chance to play around with a Cintiq lately...and now I see what all the fuss is about. This little device is AWESOME. Here's a quick little doodle I did on it - will be posting more soon.
Also, if you haven't heard about it already, here's a lecture from the "Last Lecture" series run at Carnegie Mellon University by a professor named Randy Pausch who, at the time of this taping, was recently diagnosed with cancer with no more than 6 months to live. He passed away last week, and this lecture is amazing and definitely worth the time to watch it, or listen. Do yourself a favour and check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

I'll be back real soon.
R.

Nerd Prom '08.

2008-07-24T04:26:00.004-04:00

I've been off the radar for a while, due to applying for jobs (still looking) and prepping for the trip to San Diego and Los Angeles. I'll be gone for the week, but will report when I get back. Here's a little quick doodle I did at Starbucks while waiting for my friend Jon to show up.
R.

Sketchbook Dump: Subway & Starbucks

2008-06-11T14:46:00.009-04:00

I finished off another sketchbook before I had time to scan in any of the drawings for a smaller update. Most of these drawings were done either at my local Starbucks or on the subway back and forth from Toronto. The monkeys however, were not on the subway or in the Starbucks, those were done in the zoo.
Lately, more so than before, I've been attempting to put more story into the sketches I do, as a result of a reminder from Kris. One of the funniest people I know and a super nice guy to boot. I've also been using the Signpen again a lot this summer after James told me about it two summers ago, it's almost like using a Sharpie, but with slightly more control. If you haven't seen James' work for some reason, head on over there right away, his stuff is fantastic and yet, somehow keeps getting better. His drawings have a great sense of story, design and shape/form - something I'm really striving to do myself.
In other news - Andrew Stanton has confirmed that he's writing the script for John Carter of Mars, an old sci-fi serial by Tarzan scribe Edgar Rice Burroughs. This could be awesome. Also, a few Dreamworks artists including David Pimentel, Ken Morrisey and Jenny Lerew are part of an anthology called Scrambled Ink published by Dark Horse, you can learn about it over at Jenny's blog.
AICN via The New York Licensing show has some sneak peeks at Dreamworks upcoming projects such as Monsters vs. Aliens and How to Train Your Dragon. The ultimate Wall-E Toy is now available.
Last but not least - the End Credits to Kung Fu Panda are available online on the website of the studio which animated them, Shine.

That's all for now, more later.
R.

Bye..

2008-06-05T23:36:00.002-04:00

R.I.P. Sparky
May 18th, 2000-June 05, 2008

Dog.

2008-06-03T22:56:00.004-04:00

Here are some drawings I did of my dog Sparky (my brother and I were young when we came up with this oh-so-original name) around the house. When I get bored, I like following him around, the "problem" is that he then notices I'm following him around and wants me to play with him, which I inevitably end up doing.
No real news to report this time. More to come soon.
R.

Drawings!

2008-05-25T23:55:00.007-04:00

So I'm trying to do a lot more on location sketching - these were all done either at a mall or the local Starbucks. There's always a great variety of people around, and I've gotten much more accustomed to doing sketches with locations (what a novel concept...) The first one I was attempting to nail down the pose and character with as few lines as possible (my dog is in there too). Hope you like them, comments and critiques are appreciated.
In other news - one of my favourite artists has his own blog - Alessandro Barbucci, creator of Skydoll - which Marvel is actually reprinting in a translated version, seemingly different from the earlier Heavy Metal.
Jim Hull of the on and off blog "Seward Street" has a blog devoted entirely to story called "StoryFanatic", definitely worth checking out.
AnimationMentor has a couple of articles about ergonomics that should be read if you are working at a desk all day, regardless if you're an animator or whatever. They can be found here and here.
Last and most definitely not least, I wanted to once again congratulate Vlad Kooperman, animator extraordinaire, on his winning "best animation" in the Toronto International Film Festival 2008 Student Showcase. His film "C-Block" kicks ass.
Kung Fu Panda is awesome. Go see it when it comes out.
That's all for now, be posting again soon. Comments are greatly appreciated.
R.

Better late than never...

2008-05-15T20:24:00.004-04:00

The drawings above were for the Sheridan 2008 Flipbook/yearbook.

So, I'm a little late with this post, but here goes.

School is over, industry day has come and gone. Four long yet short years in animation and one VERY short year in Art Fundamentals later, it's all over. Time really does fly when you're having fun. It's been a great ride, wish everyone the best. It's kind of impossible not to stay in touch these days with all of the social networking tools we have at our disposal, so I'll definitely be seeing a large portion of people online. To the class of 2008, great job and all the best. Also, awesome job to Group D!
I'm still in the process of looking for work and will post up my film as soon as I figure out which festivals (if any) require you to not post your film on the internet. If anyone has any information about this, feel free to leave me a comment or e-mail me.

Now, some articles of interest...
The McKinsey Quarterly has an article/interview with Brad Bird entitled "Innovation lessons from Pixar" which is worth a read; this article in Fortune talks about how Apple design guru Johnny Ive influenced the design of EVE in Pixar's next film Wall-E. Also, if you (all 5 of you reading this blog) have a chance, make sure to get your hands on The Office (the American version) one way or another, it is brilliant. Last, but not least, one of my favourite bands, "Gorillaz" are coming out with a documentary, filmed over a few years called "Bananaz" about the creation and making of the first successful virtual band.
This, I'm pretty sure I've posted before, but for those who forgot about it or whatever, is the keynote address by Dr. Ed Catmull at Stanford University last year - if anyone is thinking of starting up a studio or running a business of any kind, you should listen to this. Unfortunately, it's in a format that few people use (realplayer) but you can download Media Player Classic which will play it without you having to deal with the actual RealPlayer.

That's all for now, been drawing a lot, so I'll be posting up some sketches and hopefully a portfolio later on this week.

R.

DONE!

2008-04-15T16:39:00.006-04:00

So, 8 months of solid, hard work accumulated into 2 minutes worth of screen time, but the film is DONE. Now, working on portfolios and hoping I land a job on (or shortly before or after) the approaching industry day. I'll post more soon, but here are some screenshots.

Class of '08

2008-03-22T20:23:00.003-04:00

Taking the idea from the graduating class of 2005, I thought it would be neat to have a poster, sort of a "class picture" of our entire year's characters. This is a poster that Alan Cook and I put together the other day. Alan's been good enough to update it as more characters come in. He's also posted it up in convenient wallpaper sizes, for both regular anamorphic and widescreen. I can honestly say I'm extremely proud to be in a year with a ridiculous amount of amazing talent. Can't wait to see how great the talent is in the years proceeding us!

Progress on the film is going ahead. I can't say for sure at this point whether it's on schedule, as one day it's going great, the next day I'm slightly ahead of schedule and the day after that, I'm two days behind. Gotta love the film making process. I'll post up some stuff soon.

R.

Thumbnails!

2008-03-12T05:10:00.005-04:00

As a result of a life that is comprised almost entirely by the short film, I've been neglecting this blog quite a bit. Here are some quick thumbnails for a scene in my film, some of which were done at my desk, and some of which were done during a lecture by the great Charlie Bonifacio.
Special thanks to Matt for helping scan these as I was line testing a scene, and the broken gentleman for linking me as well. If you can, check them both out, very inspiring and insightful stuff.

R.

Quick Sketches.

2008-02-19T20:10:00.003-05:00

Just decided to post something to keep this blog alive. I was having lunch with a friend last week and was doing some thumbnails for a scene as well, and decided to do a quick cafe sketch or two while I was thumbnailing. So, here it is.
Will be back to normalcy eventually.
R.

Character Designs.

2008-02-10T13:12:00.000-05:00

Holy crap it's an update!
I never knew what my friends last year meant when they said they were so busy working on the film that they didn't have time to update their blogs...until now. I've been pulling ridiculous hours, hopefully they'll pay off.
These are some character design model sheets (boring...) of the characters in my film. They were done for the first and second years who are helping me out (so, so thankful). The second years who are helping me out are (in no particular order) Boris Maras, Amanda Zima and Amir Avni; all super-talented individuals. I'll post up the first years as well, once I get their blog addresses. Anyway, here they are, hopefully it won't be a month til I update next. The clean-up drawings were a test of the style of cleanup I wanted, however, I've gone with a different and somewhat 'rougher' approach to attempt to retain the life of the rough drawings in clean-up as well.
Also, special thanks to Monsieur Ugo, for being a huge inspiration for the woman and giving me some concepts to work with.
Back soon.
R.

Random sketches

2008-01-13T20:17:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to post something up as I hadn't for a while. The first is from the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, which happened in November. I'm a bit behind on the scanning front. The second and third drawings are done on the Via train just 2 weeks ago, I took a little trip to Montreal to visit some family and friends. On the way, on the subway, I saw a woman dressed in a ridiculous faux fur leopard print coat, and didn't have time to draw her while I was there, so I drew her once I got on the Via...I guess you could say it was a memory sketch. The third drawing is a random character I drew and the girl beside me, who's name was Kim, remarked that he looked like an evil toy shop owner. Hence the little caption.
Also, I just found out that today, my blog has been up and online and consistently updated for a whole two years. So thanks to everyone who's visited and commented on here in the past two years, you're all helping in my goal to become a better artist. Thank you.
R.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-23T19:06:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays everyone! All the best in the new year.

R.

Old Guy

2007-12-09T20:39:00.000-05:00

My friends and I went out in downtown Toronto last night. We were at a club and I saw this guy there that I drew today, he stood out like a sore thumb but was really enjoying himself. I busted out the ol' watercolors and tried to paint him...
More soon, the break is coming up so, updates! Huzzah!
R.

Haircut

2007-12-03T00:42:00.000-05:00

I went for a haircut on Friday and while waiting, I found a piece of paper beside me and decided to scribble something down because I was bored. I ended up drawing someone else who was waiting. Sorry I haven't posted much, but soon, the reel is almost done.

-R.

Girl

2007-11-27T03:02:00.000-05:00

Based on a girl I met this weekend, late night doodles after working on boards for hours on end. Just had to let loose and have a little bit of fun.

-R.

Jean.

2007-11-19T02:03:00.000-05:00

It's been about two months since I posted anything on here. I've been extremely busy working on the film and haven't had any time to scan things. It's pretty much been 3 months of boarding and constant reboarding, on a weekly basis - but I'm getting to a point at which I think I may be, perhaps, could almost be happy with what I have (barring a few necessary changes). I did happen to find someone to compose and record with the accordion for the soundtrack to my film (I love downtown Toronto) and he's been doing an awesome job. I thought I would just post a really quick character study of the driver now known as Jean.
Also, I recommend everyone go over to Spline Doctors and listen to a podcast of the man who may be one of my new heroes - Dr. Ed Catmull. If anyone is ever thinking of starting up their own company, is curious of the way Pixar works, or the philosophies, both for filmmaking and for business principles, it is a must hear. There is also a video of Dr. Catmull as the keynote speaker to the graduating class of the Stanford School of Business. It is one of the most interesting talks that I have heard, and he speaks extremely candidly about some of the issues that the company has faced. Thanks to Robin for pointing that one out to me.
I also bought the Ratatouille dvd, and was really surprised at the lack of bonus features in the single disc. Myself and two friends bought one of our other friends the Blu-ray disc, which has 2-3 hours of extra bonus material, including Brad Bird's animation critiques, a whole making-of featurette, a tribute to Dan Lee, and some hilarious extras which I won't elaborate on. Target in the States is also giving a special second disc with specially marked packages. Kind of infuriating.
Anyway, I will try to post more often and post more development work. Hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner...and our final storyreel screening.....oh boy.
-R.

Back at it.

2007-09-28T00:49:00.000-04:00

So it's been about a month since I posted. School happened. It's been a good but busy first month back. I've decided on the film idea, and I've chosen the Driver. Its going to be a busy bunch of months, so I'm buckling up for the ride. Getting back to life drawing has been refreshing also, seeing all the familiar faces and meeting a bunch of new ones has been fun.
I'm posting a cafe sketch, just to post something, and a guy that I designed while sitting in my Philosophies of World Religions class (also pretty interesting stuff). Hope you like them, and as always comments and crits are greatly appreciated. I'll be posting more stuff from the film (working on props and layout/background styling right now, as well as the story) very soon. Also, I'm just tossing this out to the blogosphere and seeing if anyone can help...does ANYONE out there know how to play the accordion and is willing to mimic/score a track for the driver film? Anyone...? Bueller...?
Thanks in advance!
-R.

More film stuff

2007-09-02T18:39:00.000-04:00

Here are some more development drawings for the films - some more spaceman designs, followed by some select toned boards from the rough story reel of the as-yet-untitled spaceman film (trying not to give away the story just yet) and some not yet toned boards from the driver story reel, which is still in the process of completing the first draft, tentatively titled "C'est La Vie". All the boards were done entirely in Alias' Sketchbook Pro.

EDIT: Mark Kennedy over at the Temple of the Seven Golden Camels blog has posted some advice for students who are making their own films this year. It's a MUST read for everyone who is doing so - go check it out.

Also - Spline Doctors has an awesome podcast with director Pete Docter (directed Monsters Inc.), it's pretty awesome, go check it out. Also CartoonBrew posted this awesome youtube video with legendary voice actor Mel Blanc on Letterman - it's interesting to watch as he's still funny long after he's gone, as well as it being really odd when he does the voices - it almost seems as though they're dubbed over because he's such a natural at them as well as the fact that the characters are so ingrained into our minds as the cartoons. Really cool.
Thank you everyone for the comments and critiques, I really appreciate them. School starts on Tuesday in full force, so we'll see what happens - I'm sure there'll be some snags along the way. I'm sad to see summer go, hanging out with great friends, befriending the Starbucks Staff and of course, the great internship at Red Rover Studios where I not only got to meet some awesome people, but helped my skills and changed my focus altogether. Hopefully this will be an awesome year and I'll try to post as much as possible especially with the progress of the film(s).
As always, comments and crits are greatly appreciated!.
-R.

Heartbreaker and A Blast from the Past

2007-08-24T14:06:00.000-04:00

First off, thanks to everyone who's been commenting. It's very much appreciated.
Here's a random character page I did based on this girl I saw on the subway, who definitely looked like a heart breaker. She obviously wasn't smoking on the subway (it's illegal) but she did have a cigarette in her mouth, ready to be lit as soon as she stepped out.
The second...at the risk of endless humiliation - on the left is a drawing I did in 2003, just as I was starting at Sheridan, straight out of high school into the Art Fundamentals program, as I was cleaning up my computer and its hard drives, I managed to stumble upon this drawing (among many other absolutely atrocious pieces) and decided to see what I could do with a similar, more correct pose now. The sketch took a total of about 10 minutes now with another 10 to color, and the one from 2003 definitely took WAY longer than that. It's funny to look back at where you were, makes you feel good until you look at where you have to go...then it's right back to the drawing board.
Also, apparently Gobelins isn't the only French animation school, this one called "La Poudiere" seems pretty cool too, although perhaps a little more "experimental" in it's film making. You need to be at least 23 years old to get in, unless there are "special circumstances". Clay over at the Animation Podcast has posted a new podcast of stop-motion pioneer Ray Harryhausen. I haven't heard it yet, but it should be good.
Anyway, let me know what you think of this stuff, I really appreciate the comments!
-R.

Film Designs

2007-08-13T14:30:00.001-04:00

These are some designs I've been working on for my two film ideas, the one about the Driver and the one about a Spaceman. The first three here are for the spaceman film, reflecting spaceman designs and the damsel in distress. The last two are research drawings for the driver idea - some cab designs and learning little details about Parisian streets and the interiors of cabs and such.
I've also posted a new link under "web sites" for Inspiring Reels a site which someone has created with links to animators of all kinds and their respective blog/websites. Pretty cool resource for all animators.
Edit: a GREAT interview with the great Andrew Stanton at AICN.
I'll be posting more soon. Comments are much appreciated!
-R.

More Subway sketching.

2007-08-06T18:06:00.001-04:00

At the food court of St. Bruno mall in Montreal, QC.

Outside on the patio of a Second Cup.

Some more drawings, mostly from the subway unless otherwise labelled. I may be changing up my story idea to a little gag idea about a spaceman, as I've been talking to a few people who've said that the driver idea is much too elaborate to pursue as a finished animated film by one person. I've also decided that my focus is going to be storyboarding, so don't worry, the driver film will be finished, in the form of a completed animatic, so expect to see some boards here shortly for both. The first pass of a very, very rough thumbnail animatic is actually done for the driver film, but I haven't decided if I'll be posting it up here yet.
Also, on that note, to all those making a film (students especially) in the (near) future, please do yourselves a favor and check out Spline Doctors for a podcast (also downloadable via iTunes) featuring the incomparable Ted Mathot and Mark Andrews, story artists at Pixar who delve deep into the story process at Pixar and discuss the common mistakes made by students making films among other things, and it's also hilarious to hear the soft-spoken Mr. Mathot with the outspoken Mr. Andrews.
Another huge inspiration of late has been the amazingly talented Deanna Marsigliese whose new book "The Art of Deanna Marsigliese" shows off an amazing new talent. If you haven't seen any of her stuff, I suggest you check out her blog and book. Definitely worth seeing.
After SDCC, Andrew Stanton has been doing interviews all over the place - check out his audio interview at ComingSoon.net
Lastly, thank you so much to everyone who has been commenting on the last few posts, your encouragement means a lot.
-R.

Sketchies

2007-07-29T23:08:00.000-04:00

edit: Aug.2.07 - quickie post-it sketch doodle.

Here are some sketches from the week, the last one was done during subway commuting time, and the other two were done while fiddling around on my tablet pc. The first sketch is some character designs for another potential film idea I have...the second is trying a paint-only sketch in Sketchbook pro and the last is a colored drawing of a girl on the subway as I was going to see the Simpsons movie (which was really good by the way, I suggest you go check it out).
-R.

Just so you know....

2007-07-23T22:29:00.000-04:00

moleskine sketchbook...

one of those little sketches no one is supposed to see...

Just so you know I'm still alive. I've been busy working hard on the film, I've posted some doodles I did at work while taking a break from using the computer - inspired by a stack of post-it notes sitting by my desk, and looking at James' blog what with his infinite inspiration and my knowledge of people doing things on the subway after seeing them day after day. These were the doodles I liked, a stack more went into their new home, the trash can.
The sketchbook page is from my iDea book, which I've been writing tons (and yes, that is my writing, and yes, I've been told repeatedly that I write like a girl) I've blurred some of the stuff, just because the story is constantly still evolving and I didn't want give it all away yet.
The last drawing is a VERY QUICK inspirational doodle/idea sketch that I did the other day (one of many) to allow me to figure out possible directions that the story could take. It doesn't really mean much, but eludes to a possible backstory.
That's all for now, post more as I get the time - I have a whole sketchbook of subway drawings and characters that I have waiting to be scanned...hopefully this weekend. Also, thanks VERY much to everyone who has been commenting, it is greatly appreciated, and great to know that people actually look at this thing. Thank you.
Till then.
-R.

Zbrush

2007-07-16T20:07:00.000-04:00

Sorry again for not posting for a while, I was out of town in Montreal and then ran into some arm/hand issues...prevented me from drawing for a bit, still taking it a little easier, but getting back into the swing of things. I've been playing around with zBrush a bit, in fact, this was pretty much my first foray into said program - I used it as digital clay and sculpted a bust of the cab driver character. I'm not really happy with the way the ears are from pretty much any angle, nor the eyes (especially from the side view) but it's as much an experiment into sculpting as it is an experiment in the program. It's not much, but it'll hold up til I get some drawings on here. Hope you like it. C&C welcome.

-R.

Story sketches & research.

2007-06-24T23:34:00.000-04:00

I have a ton of stuff I keep meaning to post, but everytime I look at it, I want to color it and make it look all spiffy for the interweb...and there's never enough time to do so! So, in the meantime, I did get around to quickly coloring up some story sketches I've been doing for the driver idea, as well as him in his original uniform, some location sketching, thumbnail boards and character body type exploration. There's a bunch more, subway sketches and the like to come, I've been sketching like mad; one of the upsides to a long commute down to work in the mornings. If it starts getting too long before the next post, I'll just post whatever I have, colored or not. In the meantime let me know what you think of this stuff, thanks for all the previous comments, much appreciated.

-R.

More Driver stuff...

2007-06-18T12:56:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, been incredibly busy and had a few personal things to take care of. I'm at work right now and am just posting a doodle I did in photoshop while watching the phones using the lasso tool, just like I used to way back when (read: last year). This is just a quick image to feel like I've actually posted something, I have a bunch of things waiting to be colored, so hopefully I'll be doing that today or tomorrow, time permitting. Thanks for the visits and thank you all SO much for the comments on the last post...I'll be starting to post a few thumbnail boards and stuff as the idea progresses. As always, it's great to hear what you guys think!

-R.

Passengers

2007-05-27T15:14:00.000-04:00

This woman was on the bus on the way home, definitely seemed like she knew what was going on. She was carrying a TON.

This one was done REALLY quickly as I realized that the subway was pulling into the final stop. Sometimes you neglect to hear these things when you have headphones on.

First off, thanks so much to the people who commented on the last post. I really appreciate it. Now, on to this week. I realize I missed a week in posting. Sorry. These drawings are all in the theme of passengers, all of them are pretty much from the subway, except for the first old lady. She's part of the cab driver story and ends up having the unfortunate luck to be in the cab on the wrong day. Most are done in pen and then colored in Photoshop, some were cleaned up and colored in openCanvas (which I just started using) .
C&C welcome and appreciated.
-R.

The Driver & the Guitar Player

2007-05-14T00:37:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post as I'm forcing myself to post every week (at least) with the amount of stuff I've been doing...
The first is a character for a possible story idea I have about a cab driver, and I tried my hand at painting it - not sure how well it turned out...
The second, was a guy I saw one day after work as I was getting off the subway. He was holding a Tim Horton's cup, with his shirt wrapped around his waist, playing the air guitar to high hell...with no sign of music anywhere. Whatever music he was hearing, must have ROCKED!
The third is just a girl I saw on the subway, standing in various ways.

-R.

Zoo and Cafe Drawings

2007-05-02T16:49:00.000-04:00

lion-tailed Macaques

Golden-lion Tamarins (if ever I was to get an exotic pet, this would be it)

Tapir and Orangutan

Grizzly Bears
Drawn in pen, colored with watercolors

More Golden-lion Tamarins

Cafe Sketches

"A mime is a terrible thing to waste"

Last week, Cliff, Emma, Matt and I all went to the zoo - it was a real refreshing day after months of solid work at school. Lots of fun. This past week, I've been enjoying the time off just cafe sketching and drawing up some characters - I've been experimenting with some coloring as well. Most of the drawings here are drawn in pen and colored in photoshop unless otherwise indicated.
Also, I'm going to Montreal this weekend to check out the "Etait une fois...Walt Disney" (Once upon a time...Walt Disney) exhibit at the musee de beaux arts, if anyone is going to be there, leave a comment, I think I'll either be going on the Friday or the Saturday.

-R.

The CHEF.

2007-04-27T16:07:00.000-04:00

Here's a character that I've been working on - right now simply called the Chef. He has but one arm...how? Stay tuned.
Also some other work that I've colored.
C&C appreciated.

-R.

Summer!

2007-04-23T23:34:00.000-04:00

School's out!! I'll be posting much, much more now...at least, I hope to. This year has been extremely interesting, albeit tough, but I definitely learned an incredible amount, about people in general, but most importantly at this stage, about myself as an artist and a person. I really want to thank all those around me, not mentioning any names - but you know who you are.
I've been trying some new stuff out in terms of technique and "style" - just experimenting really, I find I get really repetitive with the method I'm drawing in, the shapes I'm using, so I have to break it up and try and take a left turn to enhance my shape vocabulary. So if some of the stuff doesn't work as well as others, that's just me trying out new stuff...also, feel free to let me know what you think is working and what isn't, I'd love to hear opinions - after all, it's all about growing as an artist.
On to the art! More coming soon, got some more stuff I'd like to color!
C&C welcome!
-R.

One more week...

2007-04-08T15:01:00.000-04:00

The films are due in a week, I'll be posting up a link to it when it's done. In the meantime, I was able to steal away 20 min this week to go sketch in the cafeteria and some are other ones that I hadn't gotten around to scanning. Comments are appreciated as always.
Also, for any artist who's ever felt even remotely insecure about showing their sketchbook to someone (I'm pretty sure that's everyone) please do yourself a favour and check out Mark Kennedy's post on Carrying a Sketchbook Part one can be found HERE, he discusses the importance of carrying a sketchbook and feeling insecure about your art, comparing yourself to others and competing with yourself as an artist. Mark's blog is a must ready, so go check it out!
Hope you like these drawings!

-R.

Quick Post...

2007-04-01T19:18:00.000-04:00

Here's a quick post of some cafe sketches just to keep me in the habit of posting weekly - really busy with the film, will scan and post more soon. Comments appreciated!

-R.

Coming up for air...

2007-03-25T19:18:00.000-04:00

Here's some cafeteria sketching from this past week. Don't ask how I found the time to go and do it, it still baffles me. The following week or two are going to be insanely crazy, but I really appreciate the comments from everyone. I hope you like this new batch of characters, the first 3 pages are somewhat random characters from observation in the cafeteria, and the last drawing was one I found which looked like a friend. Cliff and I have been noticing that where ever we go now, we begin to notice people as characters more and more, almost...zoo-like. The world is pretty interesting, we don't realize that when we're going a 100 miles a minute, but when you stop to look at it (who has time to stop?) it really is impeccable.

Comments, crits and general ramblings are much appreciated!
-R.

So busy....

2007-03-18T19:48:00.000-04:00

Terribly busy with the film and schoolwork, that's right, AND schoolwork. Will update more soon, later this week or next weekend. Hope everyone is doing well!

-R.

Sketch Dump

2007-03-10T22:20:00.000-05:00

Here are a bunch of sketches done while on the subway and in the cafeteria and a few just playing around. I realized after putting so many sketches before, it was a pain to note any of them - so I've numbered them for easy reference! (Most of them, at least.) I really appreciate all the comments and criticisms, keep 'em coming! They're all very, very much appreciated. I've been trying some new things with designs and a couple of compositions, I'm planning on doing a lot more of those - been reading "Gesture Drawing for Animators" by Walt Stanchfield....just pure GENIUS.
That's all for now, comments and crits appreciated as always and until next time!

-R.

More Subway Sketching

2007-03-01T00:03:00.000-05:00

Here are some sketches I did on the subways in Toronto, love the people you find on the subway...Such characters. Thanks a lot to all who commented on the last post, they're MUCH appreciated. Comments and crits are as always, greatly appreciated.

-R.

Cafetorium Sketching - Part three

2007-02-18T12:43:00.000-05:00

Here are some more drawings done in the cafeteria at school. These are composited pages of what I think are my strongest ones...agree? Disagree? Comments and critiques are as always, greatly appreciated - thanks to all those who've commented already!

-R.

Cafetorium Sketching - Part Two

2007-02-13T01:52:00.000-05:00

Just some more sketches done in one of my sessions cafe drawing in the cafeteria. Nothing like grabbing a quick coffee, putting on some tunes, grabbing some inspiration, and just DRAWING. It feels awesome, hopefully I can keep this up as time goes on. I have some more stuff to post from last week soon - so keep an eye out for that, thanks to everyone for their comments by the way, they are MUCH appreciated and a very great source of encouragement!
Thanks!
-R.

Kiwi

2007-02-03T23:31:00.000-05:00

A little drawing I did using a tablet PC and Alias' Sketchbook Pro of a girl I had an urge to call "Kiwi". The hummingbird is a bit random, but it fits I think. Comments appreciated.

-R.

Cafetorium Sketching - Part One

2007-01-28T16:20:00.000-05:00

Here are some sketches which I did in the school's cafeteria, some really interesting people walking through an art school, most are observational caricatures, although some made up ones are sprinkled in there for good measure as well. I've been attempting to push my designs and retract from the safety zone which I've been in for so long. Time to break the mold.

-R.

Happy Birthday Blog!

2007-01-14T12:41:00.000-05:00

So it's been one year since I started this thing. What a crazy year it's been. Ups and downs, lows and highs, all part of life. I hit 10 000 hits the other day, and just wanted to thank everyone who comes to visit for their continued support, thanks to everyone who posted or posts comments and I hope you've gotten a kick out of checking my work. It's been a good year and hope this one is even better! Onward to 2007!

-R.

Merry Christmas!!!!

2006-12-24T18:42:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I'm aware it's been a while. This week holds a lot of updates, but first, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all who read and have read this blog. Thanks for a great year, and best to you and yours this holiday season!

-R.

cafe sketching...sort of.

2006-12-11T01:46:00.000-05:00

Tim Hortons is not considered a cafe in my opinion, but hey it works. these are drawn on Timmy's napkins with a signpen (thanks J!) and then colored in photoshop. Also, as an addendum to the last post, those are actually drawn on the transfers and the starbucks thingy - they're just only colored in photoshop.
Well, love to hear what you have to think about these - I'd love to hear some general (however harsh) criticisms about my work overall on this blog, seriously. I can take it!

-R.

Subway Sketching

2006-11-28T09:04:00.000-05:00

So it's been a while. I've been working hard on the film, along with all the other people, it's coming along nicely. We just had a huge story breakthrough, and are even more happy with our story now than before.
I took a small break from work this weekend and went to see the new Bond film, Casino Royale. Simply awesome. So action packed, great one-liners, awesome Bond girl restoring Bond to his original badass nature. Also, Saturday night, I was given the opportunity by a friend of mine to attend a PS3 launch party which had Metric playing a free concert. This was my first concert ever (hard to believe, I know) and man, what a concert. Just amazing, Emily Haines is as beautiful and talented in person as she seems to be on the CD or in videos, so I've become obsessed with Metric again - if you've never heard them, do yourself a favour and click here. Since it was downtown, I took the subway and really felt like drawing, although I had no paper, I did however, have a coffee cup. I tore off the holder of the cup and drew on that and on the way back, drew on a bunch of transfers. Everything is colored in Photoshop afterwards. Any comments and/or crits are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
-R.

Gangsters

2006-11-15T21:39:00.000-05:00

Yep, posting's been pretty sporadic. Still busy, I did some new sketches (finally!) when I just couldn't do anymore schoolwork last night. Had to draw some doodles. At 3:30am. Felt good though. I'm hopefully going to try to scan them this weekend and color them up roughly...if I have a few spare moments. Anyway, here's one that's a little older than that. Did it a bunch of weeks ago, when I was still hard in that noir kick. As always, comments are greatly appreciated, and thanks to everyone who's been commenting so far!

-R.

Well then.

2006-11-11T13:16:00.000-05:00

So, I've been more busy than ever before - so much work and all for the film so I haven't had any time to scan anything or do any new work really, but rest assured, it is coming. Here are two drawings I did not too long ago on the tablet, of good ol' Spidey and Batman. I was trying a different style, not sure if it worked too well...but I've since obviously changed up, like to keep things fresh and keep trying new things - although it makes me wonder if I should just stick to one and develop that. The film is coming along quite well, the boarding is well under way and the story is down pretty solidly so it'll be nice to see a tied down version soon.

Anyway, here's the art, enjoy.
-R.

Whoa...

2006-10-31T00:46:00.000-05:00

Good lord it's been a little too long. I've been WAY too busy lately, but it's good, keeps the mind going - sometimes to the point where you don't have time to think...but good nonetheless. Got quite a few good teachers this year - crazy tough markers, but hey, it's for the best. If we weren't getting our butts kicked, what good would school be right?
Anyways, here's a little doodle I did while in lecture last week, don't really know where he popped out from - but meet Farmer Dan!
Hope you like, and I've got a bunch of new stuff to post - so look forward to more!

comments and crits appreciated!
-R.

Happy Thanksgving!!

2006-10-07T18:56:00.000-04:00

Happy Turkey Day (or Tofurkey if you're vegetarian) to all Canadians! To all my american friends that don't know, Canadian thanksgiving is a month before yours. Here's a little drawing I did of the poor unfortunate soul that is soooo tasty.

-R.

Story Idea

2006-09-27T00:13:00.000-04:00

These were for a story pitch at school and consequently, an idea that just didn't gel. I like some elements of it, and I may use it in future events, or perhaps work on it a bit more in the near future. Too many ideas. Too little time. Which is messed up, as it's the exact opposite of the summer - where ideas seemed to have escaped my brain completely. Yeah, school's definitely a great environment to be in. I really need to start picking ONE idea and sticking to it...any advice from you guys as to how to approach it? Sometimes, exploring completely different ideas, helps your original, sometimes, it starts you on the path to destruction of your current idea.
Discovery is a wonderful thing.
Hopefully these are clear and concise, and there aren't too many questions about it. The basic idea is that the professor has come upon this jungle after spending his life looking for a certain lost tribe, and the closest he's ever come, is finding these artifacts. He sets up a camera, which we see him through, and begins explaining what the artifacts are. In the meantime, the crazy tribespeople appear in the background, using said objects for completely different applications. Once they notice our dear professor, they set a plan in motion to capture him and have him for dinner. Complete with giant pot with fire to roast/boil him in. Oh yes, they ARE cannibals...
Or just plain nuts.
Finally, one of the tribesmen comes and makes contact with the professor, and leading him back to camp (the professor, all the while, astounded at the discovery and at the fact that he's finally made contact with the lost tribe), ends up hanging the professor over the pot - the professor, still completely oblivious to the fact that they're actually going to KILL him, keeps talking to the camera as if nothing is happening, remarking something akin "and now, they've hung me up in a primitive fashion, wishing to worship me as their new god and saviour."
When he begins to be lowered.

End.

-R.

Cannibal

2006-09-24T18:17:00.000-04:00

It's evolving...the idea for the caveman has now evolved into something entirely different. Something...with a cannibal. Just a quick little rough digital doodle.

-R.

OoG the Caveman

2006-09-18T22:02:00.000-04:00

I was doodling while at my cousin's birthday party on Saturday night, and did this on the tablet. I'm thinking of using him for a story or something...more on that eventually. Let me know what you think.

-R.

ps. Thanks to all those who commented earlier on the last post...and thanks for not being too angry...except you Mr. Kennedy, I know you wanted to meet Glen Keane SOOOO Badly.