Snow Stopping Me Part II: Bad Boy. Can't Stop. Snown't Stop.

Last time I updated, it was totally snowing. And now I'm updating again- and it's totally snowing again! What are the odds of that. . . in the month of February.

Well, it's fitting because this post is kind of a sequel to the last post. I'm still fixing up the head library for Ronin Dojo Community College DX. Right now I'm on Barry. Watch him evolve:

Eh the skull was kinda just for fun. I don't know why I drew everyone with such flat pointy heads, and hair stuck straight to them. It just goes to show how much your skills can progress even within a few years. Or if you want to see it half empty- it just goes to show that you never know how much you suck until it's too late.

And in continuing with the sequel-ity of this update. Here are the t-shirt designs I finished for the band The Heat Machine.

And here's the other one I posted the other week that the band didn't end up using.

I hope they turn out good on the shirts.

I was gonna draw another snowy girl drawing, but I already did a lot of drawing today and I'm all drawed out. So next time, another girly drawing.

There Snow Stopping Me From Updating

Mr. Matt Burnett (the other half of For Tax Reasons) and I had a fun radio interview last Friday. We called in to the Popmedia Primecast, to have a chat with Dom and Dusty. The show was originally broadcast on KANE Radio AM 1240 but you can listen to the whole episode in mp3 format here. We kinda rambled a lot, so if you get bored with hearing our voices, check out the other episodes they've got posted. There are some sweet guests talking about fun nerdy pop culture stuff.

In other For Tax Reasons news, I've started updating all the head files for the Ronin Dojo Community College DX characters.They were originally drawn on paper and scanned in. So I'm redrawing them straight into the Photoshop using my Cintiq. Making them hi res enough for HD, and doing some slight redesigns along the way. And by that I mean, fixing my shitty drawings.
I've also been working on some sketches for this band The Heat Machine. They're an awesome ska band from Nebraska, or NebraSKA as I say. I definitely urge any third wave fans to go to their myspace and check 'em out. One of my favorite new bands out there for sure. Or at least, new to me. They just released a "No Coast Dance Party" on Asbestos Records. BUY IT. It is good.

Not sure which of these we're gonna use, but I thought I'd post the roughs here anyways.

That's all for nows, I'll post the final stuff when it's done.

New Sites!

So after spending a couple weeks wrapped in code, I've finished redesigning the websites for both For Tax Reasons and Ben Levin Dot Net. They're a bit easier to maneuver and link around, and no more ancient iframes.

I also drew some new banner artwork for my site. I call it A Circle Pit Landscape. Here it is in stages- as I like to present things.




Also, the Teenage Bottlerocket video is up on Youtube. Now you can watch it in sharp HD quality. Thanks goodness, I didn't sit around for months drawing in 5806 x 4158 pixel Photoshop canvas' for so everyone could watch a small chunky compressed version. I sat around for months drawing in 5806 x 4158 pixel Photoshop canvas' for so everyone could watch a sharply compressed version. Oh yeah. So sharp you could cut Gouda on it. Go ahead and put a hunk up to your screen and (as Bravo says) watch what happens.

New Stuff For 2010!

Finally, some new stuff coming out. Firstly, you might have noticed I've got a new blog header. Thank goodness, that other one was old and had not aged well. If you want to see a bigger version, you can check it out on my Flickr photostream.

In a year, I'll probably be sick of this header too. Maybe even a couple months. Hell, I may not like this drawing tomorrow. Man, you know what? This drawing is crappy. I'm scrapping the blog altogether.

Ah, I can't do that. Not while you were halfway through reading this post. Or if you're a bot, skipping straight to the bottom so you can make nonsensical comments about iPhones. So time for the second bit of news.

I finished my Teenage Bottlerocket music video for the song "Bigger Than Kiss"!



It's premiering today on Myspace in the videos section right up there with Three Six Mafia and JD from Le Tigre. What a motley crew.

Really glad to have it done and out for the public to see. Hope people like it. If not, well screw you, I drew it all by myself.

If you still haven't bought the new album, They Came From The Shadows, I highly suggest you do. Got onto a lot of Top of 2009 lists on Punknews.org, and if bearded Lawrence Arms fans like it, it's gotta be good.

I believe that's the last of the leftover projects from 2009, so I'm ready to tackle 2010. Matt and I have some new For Tax Reasons projects planned, most importantly a new Ronin Dojo Community College DX series. So stay tuned to your internet tubes.

Evolution of a Shot

I'm nearing the 7th inning stretch with the Teenage Bottlerocket music video. Thought I'd share some drawings and show the magical metamorphosis of a shot.

We start with the larvae, a detailed storyboard.

It's amazing how much information I can convey, with several deft strokes of the digital brush. Next, the shot wraps itself in a cocoon of sketchy blue lines and enters it's pupa or "rough" stage.

Finally, after hours of pupation*, a clean drawing emerges and thrusts it's gloriously detailed wings to the world.

In the coming days, the shots will fill itself with a rich palette of hues and tones. But these moments of glory are fleeting, for the lifespan of a typical shot of animation in this music video is merely a second. Such is the nature of animation.

Thanks for reading this far, and for letting me stretch that metaphor paper thin. As a show of gratitude, some extra drawings.

* First time ever using that word.†

† Look at me, I'm David Foster Wallace-ing the shit out of this post.¶
¶ I mean that in the nicest way possible. ®
® I'm sorry.

Exposure Therapy

Crowd shots and walk cycles. Two of my least favorite things to animate, and coincidentally, the two shots which have been plaguing me for the past week. They're both for the Teenage Bottlerocket video I'm working on, and I finally finished cleaning them up, and they look pretty coool- so check 'em out.

First out the gait (wamp wamp) is the walk cycle. This was a little tough because it was a 2 point perspective walk. Here's the initial rough test. Matt helped me look it over and figure it out. I didn't approach it with the best geometric planning, but eventually I came out with this.

Here's a quicktime version for better viewing.



Next up is the crowd shot. Oy vey, this took a while to do, but to see it in motion is pretty satisfying.




Surprisingly, it doesn't take too many drawings to create a convincing loop of a jump. The two characters jumping in the back are only 4 drawings. The girl in the front has a little hop and some extra follow-through, so she's 7 drawings.

What it looks like with all the layers on at once

The head nod of the girl with glasses took a little bit to figure out. In the end, it was also only 4 drawings of her moving her head up and down in an even motion. At first, I had her jerking her head up and down, to try and emphasize her nodding to a beat. It looked too much like her boyfriend with the glasses was ramming her from behind, so had to scrap and rework it. I think the final product with looks fairly non-sexual, so I'm happy with it. But the seed has been planted, so maybe now that's all you can see in it.

That's all folks, for now. Sweet dreams until I finish another interesting shot.

Some Sneaky Peekies

Lot's of work going on right now, mostly on stuff that cannot be posted on the internet. However, what I DO have to offer is a sneak peek at the video I'm working on for Teenage Bottlerocket.



It's for the song "Bigger Than Kiss" off their Fat Wreck Chords debut "They Came From The Shadows". Which you should go buy right now.



The album is awesome. All of the songs are rad pop punk jams- there's some love songs, some sci-fi songs, some fast angry shit thrown in there too- it's sweet. I don't know why I'm not writing music reviews for a living. Anyways, if you don't believe my 90's surfer-bro critique, check out the video for the track "Skate Or Die".



My video should be coming out in late November, but I'll have more updates before then, hopefully some tests and colored-in stuff. Until then, catch ya later most excellent blog dudes.