'Nother blog

For those of you who don't already know: I started another blog for funny stories, writing, etc. It's not going to replace this blog (don't worry). It's just another creative outlet. I'll still post art stuff here.

This new one's a humor blog. Sort of. It's all true anyway. Mostly. Sooooo.... if you want a blog about Facebook, dreams, werewolves, biking or whatever, and maybe some laughs this is the place. And after reading it we can all cozy up somewhere, and put down a few root beers and share stories about the time we almost made the team.

I hope to have some new drawings up here shortly, anyway.

And... We're BACK!

Well, that's embarrassing. Time just flies by and I don't own a scanner, so this post was a long time in coming I suppose. No good getting into the program, but we don't give up.
In the meantime, I've been drawing like crazy. Here are some tidbits from my latest sketchbook that I will soon be putting to rest:

I feel like I'm improving, the Figure Drawing class has... in the long term... done me some good. And I've been working on capturing peoples gestures more.


I promise that I pay attention in Church.
This picture I drew reminded me so much of Anthony Holden's stuff. I don't know why. Probably because it's loose. Or weird.
I was really proud of this page from marketing class. Did I mention that I'm having fun too?
These next two are more representative of what most of my sketchbook looks like, not just the best tidbits.

I think "tell OIT their stuff is crap" is the funniest thing my marketing teacher could have said.
Root Beer at Brick Oven...
And I like this one so much... I couldn't draw on the other page to mess it up. Also, this was a real person on campus, yo yo, mustache, superman shirt and all. He's like a bad sandwich.
Stay tuned folks!

Wow! It's been over a month since I've posted. Wouldn't you know it, I've been busy getting my Animation application in... And today was the day! I hope to know within a couple a weeks if I've made it in, so your prayers in this matter would be appreciated.

Then later today I got sick in the 1st 5 minutes of work and Shannon was kind enough to come pick me up. So what did I do to pass the time? I drew! In photoshop! I've never really spent enough time in photoshop... This is what I drew.

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

It's here! My final animation for the 160 class! For the assignment we had to animate the cougar that will appear. The cougar alone was over 80 hand-drawn frames and hours and hours of work... which after you watch this will make you ask, "Is that it?" Yes, comrades. Yes it is.
Enjoy, and feel free to comment.

Hurray!

Well, it's official. I'll be applying for the Animation program this August! I'm really stoked but also pretty freaked out. I have so much work ahead of me!

Sorry for the long time since the last post, I've been hard at work on my final animation. I'll have it up here by Wednesday!

Kung Fu Panda is...

Awesomeness!!! I got to see a special free screening in Sandy yesterday, and let me just say that Kung Fu Panda is now one of my all-time favorite CG films!!! From start to finish, it was hilarious, amazing, exciting and even... heart-warming? Dreamworks Animation definitely threw a sucker punch with this one. After the bland Shrek movies (the first isn't bad), and the eco-preachy Bee Movie, Kung Fu Panda shows that they really are capable of amazing flicks! Jack Black did an incredible job of pumping energy into the movie without throwing it over the top. The intro to the movie was great and carried a high-level of "bodacity." And the closing credits were just pur-ty. I want to see it again but, due to budgetary issues, will probably have to wait for the dollar theater. GO SEE IT!

(Kung Fu Panda is the property of Dreamworks Animation. But I wish I'd come up with it.)

NAMO: Prince of the Sea Monkeys!

I've been developing an idea that I had the other night about the Prince of the Sea Monkeys who is from a lost city of Sea Monkeys and is trying to avenge their untimely demise. It's not really a serious story (as evidenced by the very PRESENCE of Sea Monkeys). Sort of a tribute to all those old comics, especially the ones with the Fantastic Four and the Sub-Mariner. Once Summer term ends I might try and squeeze it into my free time. It actually spun off the idea I had of Shipwreck and Lobsterboy. Trying to develop a good visual style for it has proved difficult... My original idea wasn't executed very well, so I've been playing with it. This is the latest incarnation, done on my Wacom Tablet:
Due to the diminutive nature of Sea Monkeys his enemies will naturally be small; however, Namo possesses uncanny strength. Well, I better stop now; the more I write about it, the stupider my idea sounds.

Do you see bananaman?

So, for this assignment we were supposed to create a bipedal walk cycle... I placed my man in a banana suit. The question is: is it subconsciously related to the Tally Hall concert I saw on Saturday, or something much more sinister? (ie a potassium deficiency)
Anyway, here it is, for your scrutiny:


In other news, the Tally Hall concert was A LOT of fun. Shannon and I had a blast dancing and going deaf. Other good bands we saw included De Novo Dahl and Carolina Liar.

Long Live BANANAMAN!

My wife is beautiful...

This picture may not be the most representative of that.

Also she smiles, just not right when I was painting this with my tablet on the computer. I caught her while she was intently cross-stitching.

IT'S SENSATIONAL!!!

Here it is for your viewing enjoyment: The Flying Flour Sack!



Hear what the critics are saying about it:

"Sensational!"
-Ebert and Roper

"It gave me chills..."
-D. U. Isaac of the Chicago Times

"Almost 3 times better than the Amazing Bouncing Ball..."
-P. Mighty of Rolling Stones Magazine

"An adrenaline rush... More exciting than Iron Man."
-G. Strang of WIRED

"I could just watch it over and over again..."
-A hippy

"It's the best movie I've ever seen!"
-Shannon

And now a word from our sponsors...

More animation coming soon, but FIRST:

I created this poster for work, and since they pay the bills, I suppose I'm just displaying the sponsors. I think the subject matter speaks for itself. I love me a BBQ!!!

PS. I fonted the wiffleball part ma'self!

Stay tuned for some flour sack drop action within the next couple of days!!!!

Hey! Hey!

So here it is... the rough draft of my first animation.  I reckon I have quite the future in store after this....

J/K  In the words of what's his name from Heart of Darkness, "THE HORROR! THE HORROR!!

Oh well, it's my first effort anyway.

Out of Silence...

Whoops! Ya get busy with finals and this is what happens: Weeks in between a single post. Life is a constantly changing ball of weird. But you didn't come here for philosophy, you came here for pictures and stuff!

I created this for a small information thing I have to give at work on how to use this program called "Pinnacle." It seemed boring without a robot or something to liven it up.

FYI: From here on out I'll probably post more sketches than graphics as I'm changing to my major to Animation. Where as placement with a Japanese degree isn't very high, (unless you want to be a translator, which I don't) my Animation teacher was saying that placement in the Animation program is 98%. Why fumble around in darkness trying to find something that I want to do, when I can choose what I want to do now and be almost certain to get a job at it? If only I'd decided this sooner...

Bunnies!

I don't know where this came from... Sometimes you just need to make a bunny in a gas-mask and sometimes you don't. I only wish I knew how to make t-shirts!

BTW, I sent that Baseball graphic to the client (that sounds weird... fellow student maybe?) for his paper and after some who-forgets-to-actually-attach-the-file-to-the-email-anyway confusion I got a good word from him. I guess lots of people dug the graphic and he liked it as well. He even gave me a helpful list of pros and cons (mostly pros). I had fun, that's for sure. Stay tuned! More to come in the future! ZOUNDS!!

Sometimes this is just how I feel...

My wife, Shannon, asked me to make a picture for a big group paper she's making that they can put on the cover page. It's about mounting stress because BYU has no spring break (boo).
The attentive person will of course notice the incredible Hulk t-shirt. There are so many great things you can put on a shirt, especially classic superheroes; I started doing Spiderman but opted out for the Hulk. Also I've been working on a new Jeff is Not Artsy Fartsy banner for the top that I think is a little more expressive of what I'm capable of. So hold on, cause it's coming.

GO JAPAN!

Here's the further work on the Japanese Sports graphic... I've been mulling over what it needs or what's not working and I'm still not quite certain. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to let me know.

You can dream...

Here is my first draft for the third of the 3 sites I was asked for help with (see the post
with the viking long boat and the robot). PS. For those who don't hablo Japanese, "yume" means dream and is pronounced exactly like "you may".
This next one was just for fun というか... I was playing with colors and different things to try and create some effects.

Batter Up!

Here's the 1st draft of the Japanese Sports graphic I promised. Nothing says Japanese sports success like Ichiro, I think. But what do I know?

Shipwreck and Lobsterboy!

So I've been mulling this weekly comic idea for a little while now, and thought I'd put up a quick sketch I did on the computer. One is a foul, selfish devourer of anything; the other is a small-time superhero who's never faced such a challenge. Can you guess which is which?

Work in Progress

I've been commissioned (is that the right word?) to come up with some ideas for graphics and logos for some websites... I'm actually really excited about it, and I've been working hard to come up with good ideas. Here's two that I really like:
This is for an internet marketplace site called Dragon Spaces... they were thinking along the lines of having a market on a dragons back... in making this it turned into a viking longboat somehow.
When the guy first talked to me about this site he called myminipages.net the personal webpage of the future. Naturally I thought of robots and space, and this is the first concept I came up with. I'm also going to make one with a guy in a retro space suit when I get a chance.

There's another site too that they want to see ideas for, but I'm still working out some ideas. I'll post them when they come up.

On another up side, a guy in one of my classes has taken me up on the offer for free custom graphics while I build my portfolio. He wants some Japanese Sports type graphics. So we'll see what happens.

Okay, cool. Later!

Street Fighter 2 Turbo!!!

I remember the good old days, playing a 16-bit fighting game, when the most elaborate thing I had to remember was down+down-right+right+punch. Then my character would throw a flaming ball. Naturally, my opponent would jump over it and kick me in the head which would end the match. But I remember that it was the closest I came duking it out with the bullies at school. They couldn't jump. Yet it didn't matter because I couldn't throw the flaming ball anyway. (sigh)

This one was for my first Japanese presentation... also an experimentation with textures.

From the Vaults

Vaults? These are really only a few months old but, until I can find time to use the scanners at school and scan my sketchbook stuff, they must suffice.

PS Braces are SOOOOO not awesome.

The new beginning...

Well, here it is: the blog I've been meaning to make for several months now. This is where I shall post my creative pursuits...
Already bored with the chit-chat? Me too!

This is the opening graphic I created for my second presentation I gave in my Japanese 443 class. I think it's by far the best I've created, but somehow the spiral color didn't translate (it's supposed to be orange). I'll post some of my older stuff soon, as well as stuff from my sketch book.