Jeff is Not Artsy Fartsy

Waiting at the Bus Station

2012-01-20T11:48:00.002-07:00

Wanted to play with composition ideas, and I've totally been crushing on this short lately. Anyway... back to work.

Another True Story: Milk

2012-01-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

Done in a little over an hour for Ryan Woodward's Storyboarding class.

Take THAT Semester!

2011-12-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

Wow. 1 more semester left.

A True Story: Fajita Night

2011-11-23T15:30:00.001-07:00

Hey dear! How about we get some of these for the fajitas?

Aren't those supposed to be spicy? You can get them but don't put them in mine.

Don't worry. You'll never know they were around.

Shannon (OC): Make sure you cook that habanero seperately!

Don't worry! I remember.

Taste test time!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Hey dear, how's dinner coming--

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

There, there.

I'm going to try and sautee them to see if that makes them less spicy.

Sizzle

Dinner's almost ready.

Oh good I'm starv--

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Yum

2011-11-22T16:58:00.001-07:00

Pretty hungry right now...

CTN was a blast! Met great people and caught up with other great people! I was really glad that I went.

Moment of truth though: I didn't really hand out the comic. I got cold feet. It was riddled with problems and I realized that I didn't want it to represent me. I'll be working on it though. I see it as more of an outline now. A first draft. Stay tuned...

I'll be at CTN on Saturday

2011-11-17T16:06:00.001-07:00

I'll be driving out to CTN in Burbank tomorrow morning with Scott Gwynn and Josh Talbot (sorry Josh, I don't know your blog's URL), and will be there on Saturday, wandering the aisles and feeling diminuitive and inadequate. In preparation I made a (very) mini comic, and printed out about 30. If you're there and want one, let me know and I'll give you one. If you're not going and want one, I can give out however many are left over.

click to enlargenize

I found the whole process to be both exciting and frustrating. There are only about 3 panels in the whole thing that I actually like, but I learned some lessons and will definitely be doing more of these. I loved working in ink. But there's so many problems with it, things I would have fixed and tightened if I hadn't tried to do it all in a couple days. I'm almost too embarrassed to have anyone see these, but we must start somewhere right? Big thanks to Jake Parker for the good advice earlier this week.

Oh, and I'll be posting the whole thing when I get back.

Hope to see everyone at CTN!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T12:18:00.000-06:00

Halloween is A'Coming...

2011-10-20T14:26:00.000-06:00

(click to enlarge)

Watch out for zombie road gangs.

Done in sketchbook with ink. Colored on computer.

Analog v. Digital

2011-10-06T09:09:00.003-06:00

I love watercolor. I'm rubbish at it, but slowly improving.

Lesson learned: It's better to pencil in orange than magenta when planning to watercolor on top.

The next stuff was done at BYU Independent Study entirely in Flash with a large dash of inspiration from Emmanuel Briand (don't ask me why everything doesn't format together correctly; ask Google). The items are intended as carnival prizes in a game.

So...

2011-09-20T21:17:00.000-06:00

I had all these great intentions to let everyone know how my summer went in an amusing and informative manner, but who remembers the summer anymore? This is September! Middle September at that! Lemme just say that Sony Pictures Animation was awesome, and that the people I got to hang out with are both talented and incredible. Expect a really great movie from them in about 2-3 years (it's a surprise). Also, California is a swell place and the weather is nice.

In the meantime, I am still drawing. And still directing Estefan, which is shaping up to be really great and fun. Every time I see something move in 3D I realize what a great opportunity I have here and what keen classmates I have.

In conclusion, don't pollute the ocean, or Grouchy, the fishman, will know and come for you.

This is your final warning.

Warming Up?

2011-07-26T16:34:00.000-06:00

I've been taking advantage of the Cintique I'm using at Sony to do little warm-ups and try and diversify the look of my finished products. Here's some.

Drink Your Water, Kids

2011-07-22T10:48:00.002-06:00

This really ~~happened~~ is happening.

PS Internship at Sony is GGGGGGGRRRRRRRREAT!

I'm going to write this book.

2011-06-17T10:43:00.002-06:00

Havin' Phun in Photoshop

2011-06-13T11:13:00.000-06:00

His Name Might Be Stu

A Fishman Learning the Language

The League of Undersea Evil

Things That Should Never Be Done Simultaneously...

2011-05-19T22:44:00.000-06:00

Lest I Should Lose My Precious Blog Visitors...

2011-05-17T16:39:00.000-06:00

UNI-MAN! The power of the Uni-horn is with him!

I'm also pleased (and humbled) to announce that I'll be doing a story internship with Sony Animation this summer for 8 weeks! Hurray!

FUZZY PLANET

2011-04-21T11:04:00.002-06:00

And now... the moment you've all been waiting for... FUZZY PLANET. Watch first then scroll down for some director's commentary.

Fuzzy Planet from Jeff Call on Vimeo.

So Fuzzy Planet is something that has been floating around in my brain for many months, but by no means in this form. With my experimental animation class, I realized I could take the time to make the short and do something really cool instead of just another episode of Steve and Ringo. Unfortunately, it DID turn into another episode of Steve and Ringo. There were so many problems as I was trying to make this, including the rocket falling off the mountain overnight and problems getting the magnets to get the feet to stick, that I decided to give a tribute to that in the only way I could think how. If you feel disappointed with how the video plays out, imagine how I feel. Maybe someday soon I'll actually make this thing the way it was supposed to be.

I hope you enjoyed taking this experimental journey with me. Your responses have been encouraging and I really feel the desire to continue to do fun stuff like this.

Sophomore Slump

2011-04-06T22:56:00.001-06:00

So after the success of "How to Juice a Lime", I was all juiced up (oops, pun intended) to create some really great stop-motion and puppet videos. Alas, time was against me, and my knowledge was too limited to accommodate the potential that these ideas had. But it is an experimental animation class, and I was experimenting with things that I had never personally tried to do before. You'll find degrees of success surrounded by the grumpy faced large degrees of failure. You've been warned.

I'll be taking a different direction for my final for the class. I have a really great idea that I'm raring to try out, and 2 weeks to do it in! What could go wrong...

The Adventures of Steve and Ringo from Jeff Call on Vimeo.

Thumb War from Jeff Call on Vimeo.

How To Juice A Lime

2011-03-16T21:30:00.000-06:00

How To Juice A Lime from Jeff Call on Vimeo.

This is the first assignment I did for my experimental animation class at BYU. I've been wanting to do this for almost a year now and the assignment gave me an excuse. I'd also like to give a shout out to my wife, Shannon, for lending a hand with this (she manned the camera a few times and operates the newspaper on the wire). This was a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy.

I should also give credit where credit is due. I was most definitely inspired by this CalArts film: http://vimeo.com/11790948

The Jokes On This Blog Are Getting Worse

2011-03-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

Short deadlines for the film we're making means this blog is your one-stop shop for low-hanging fruit. I doctored this myself, though I wouldn't be surprised if this joke exists somewhere else on the internet. Sorry, kids.

Based On A True Story #1

2011-02-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

This is the first in a recurring segment based on real life experiences. This really happened. No. Really.

Water Bottles Are Obnoxious

2011-02-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

I hate how when you refill a plastic water bottle, if the water sits for too long, it tastes disgusting. So obnoxious.

I've Been Animating

2011-01-18T15:25:00.001-07:00

It's for work. In flash. I was inspired by Rocky & Bullwinkle. I have this vague memory of something kind of like this happening...

This one below is an old man...

Sorry the quality is weird... it's GIF. :( They look like animated cross-stitch)

2011 - The Future Is Here

2011-01-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated New Year Everyone. 2011 is going to a little busy for me. Last month my fellow students at BYU and I began digging into our Senior film project. Our goal is to be finished with our animated short about the World's Greatest Hairdresser in a year, which means working hard, smart and fast.

The following picture has nothing to do with our film. It's a campaign poster from the future, which I found in my sketchbook. I'm told that in the future, politicians will beam their slogans and commercials directly into our books. Apparently there was some sort of mistake. Regardless, when it comes time to vote for the Mayor of the Universe, I know where my vote is going.

I Am A Slug (or Evolution Is Not All It's Cracked Up To Be)

2010-12-30T00:28:00.000-07:00

Growing as an artist seems to = this weird evolutionary cycle. You try really really hard, suddenly hit this step of pure inspired drawing and think "AHA! Now we're talking! I'm in business", then when you continue, discover that you're back to drawing crude circles with tiny embarrassing arms. And then it's off to trying really really hard again.

An Incredible Christmas Special

2010-12-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

While perusing through the comic category of Amazon, I noticed that there is now a RED HULK. I realized that this Red and Green combo must be some sort of set up by the marketing team to create a new Christmas special starring the incredible Hulk. I imagine a melancholy soundtrack by the Vince Gauraldi Trio, and in the end, both Hulks learn the true meaning of Christmas, while being fired upon by the US military.


click to enlarge

It should probably be noted that I know nothing about the Red Hulk aside from his color. The last time I read an Incredible Hulk comic, the green Hulk and the grey Hulk were pummeling each other inside of Bruce Banner's mind, while in the real world, Bruce Banner was kicking his own butt and embarrassing himself.

Coloring With Water

2010-12-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

So I've been dying to get a little watercolor kit that I can carry around and put down color really quickly in my sketchbook. Finally, we were instructed to do so (AKA I had an excuse to purchase) in my gesture drawing class . It's been a lot of fun. Here are some samples (click them to enlarge them):

Figure Drawings

2010-12-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

With finals finally behind me, I can get back to posting on my blog. First stop: I don't think I've ever posted figure drawings here. Here ya go. I was trying to loosen up with some markers.

A Perfect Storm of Babies

2010-11-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

The theme in the sketchbook for the week was 'Cute'. I'm not good at cute.

Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

2010-11-09T00:31:00.000-07:00

Click to Enlargenizate

When I was young I was ADDICTED to STAR WARS. I read the books, had the original trilogy memorized, knew the names and back-stories of ridiculously obscure characters, and loved everything about it. The prequels and special editions kind of ruined a part of it for me. These days, I just try to keep my chin up and not let George get me down.

As a side note, discussing Star Wars with family members who have only a passing knowledge of the movies is a great way to generate names like "Chewbacco".

Halloween Is For...

2010-10-30T20:56:00.000-06:00

EATING.

Click to Enlarge

Fall Is Upon Us

2010-10-17T13:46:00.000-06:00

Fall is here. The leaves are changing and falling to earth. And I just used up all the ink that came with the new Pentel Pocket Brush I bought. If only the BYU bookstore sold the refills, then I wouldn't have to pay S&H...

Alas...

Click to Enlarge

By Jove! They've finally done it!

2010-10-08T15:56:00.001-06:00

Click to Enlarge

At long last, technology has caught up with the major desire of high society people everywhere. That is: to keep their shoes from getting dirty. Silver Spoon Transportation, the leader in high class mobility solutions and exotic means of transportation, announces it's opening catalog of luxury vehicles specially selected for the discerning members of royalty, successful business people and other equally wealthy individuals. The catalog includes a variety of state of the art, ostentatious modes of transportation ranging from aerial Hat-o-Copters(tm) to the earth-bound Mobile Ballroom(tm).

"Wealthy people do not want to travel in something the size of their handbag," says Bonaparte DeVille, owner of Silver Spoon Transportation. "They want to travel in something spacious and exciting that matches the size of their personality, while sampling from a $6 million bottle of red wine. This holds true whether they are going to the Opera or attending a banquet with the Pope or the President. And they want to do it without having to be harassed by the envious and the vulgar."

Click to Enlarge

Silver Spoon Transportation is a privately owned firm and the leading-edge provider of the newest high-class methods for going from point A to point B, because your feet... are beneath you.

The Toaster

2010-09-22T16:07:00.003-06:00

My calligraphy marker was dying and thus got that cool effect that maybe didn't read as well after passing through an antique scanner. There was so much more that I wanted to do here, but alas, my marker just couldn't go any further.

Anyone know a way to create the same effect without having to burn through a marker?

On Sloths

2010-08-05T16:42:00.002-06:00

Very little has been written and studied on the subject of sloths. This is because among all the animal kingdom, sloths are far too boring to study with any real intensity. Scientists and biologists around the globe have tried and most have failed. Many scientists have been undone. This has led to more papers being written on the debilitating effects of studying sloths than on the actual creatures themselves. This is also why, at a sloth enclosure at the zoo, we find most children choose to stare into the sun.

Because of the dark history of sloth study, the scientific world was rocked on June 30th, 2010 when one Doctor Leon Spiegleburger released a paper entitled Sloths: What They Do All Day (And Why We Humans Have No Idea). The heart of Doctor Spiegleburger's thesis? Time travel.

If the name Leon Spiegleburger sounds familiar, it's because his 1973 paper, A New Football: Using Wombat Pelts To Revive The Dwindling Pig Population, nearly led to the extinction of both the wombat and the American sport of football. After the disastrous consequences of his work, Doctor Spiegleburger fell into well-deserved obscurity and prior to 2010 published only one more paper entitled, Can't Smile Without You: The Effects Of Barry Manilow On Depressed Baboons.

Doctor Spiegleburger's sloth paper was explained by himself at a small Q&A session in the airy gym of the Eldred Senior Center in the town of Provo, Utah. There to hear him was an audience of 7 people, including myself and the groundskeeper. The setting became even more intimate when the groundskeeper shuffled off to find a working microphone and never returned.

The Doctor's Sloth Theory goes like this: We humans see only one dimension of the sloth's life, the down-time, the vacation. When a sloth is not resting in a tree, casually munching on berries or climbing lazily, it is working. This most likely means patrolling the space-time continuum, making sure everything is in check, identifying and correcting paradox. According to Spiegleburger, the sloths are far more exciting and important to our existence than we give them credit for.

Doctor Spiegleburger claimed to have infiltrated into the most clandestine realms of slothdom. He told us that in the Sloth system the two-toed sloths work as time continuum janitors, making their way through the time stream and cleaning up the messes made by everyday choice and possibility. The three-toed sloths work as time continuum safety inspectors, investigating paradox, preventing time travel by humans, and generally working to make sure no choices are made that cause our timeline to collapse in on itself. He also noted that giant sloths (thought to be extinct for thousands of years) work as upper management, directing the smaller sloths, determining salaries, OKing vacation time and planning birthday parties.

His argument concluded thus: The side of the sloth that we always see is the one enjoying a vacation from stressful and difficult work. With their time travel technology, resuming their vacation from the exact same moment they left it before is a simple thing. Sloths play a more influential part in the lives of man than we could possibly realize. And what's more, they hold all the cards and will probably keep us oblivious to what they do for eternity.

This begs the natural question, what keeps the sloths from directing the course of history to their own ends and enslaving mankind?

With a knowing twinkle in his eye, Doctor Spiegleburger leaned forward and offered this: "Sloths are content with their lot in life."

Then there was a slight ripple in the air between us, a moment of disorientation, and everyone present at the Q&A swore that "content with their lot in life" was not what the Doctor had actually said. But when we went to ask him to repeat the answer, he was gone. And if you were to look up Doctor Leon Spiegleburger in any scholarly journal or even on the Internet, you would find that he no longer exists and in a more telling way, never did.

Portions from Dr. Spiegleburger's Notes:

Mitch

2010-07-22T16:18:00.004-06:00

This is Mitch. The result of experimentation with gradients in Flash.

Mitch can type 50 words per minute and handle a 10-key, has excellent alphabetization skills and decent organizational abilities, and knows how to use a multi-line phone. He currently works in security.

Reason for leaving his current job?
Looking for new challenges and opportunities.

Positive Man vs. Negative Man

2010-07-13T13:33:00.003-06:00

Negative Man: "These sketches are garbage."
Positive Man: "This garbage is better than the garbage I was drawing last week."

Colored Pencils + Me = BFFs

2010-06-11T11:41:00.003-06:00

I never liked coloring as a kid. It's still not my favorite thing, but having finished nearly 2 sketchbooks with colored pencil, you could say we're beginning to get along.

In the works: A short comic. And some animation! Stay tuned.

Moxy, the Unherdable Sheep, the 2D vignette

2010-04-22T21:23:00.003-06:00

Moxy, Howard, and the Chocolate Wrapper from Jeff Call on Vimeo.

What's this, Jeff? Posting again so soon? Sorry guys, but it's my 2D animation final. I don't know if we've talked about Moxy on this blog. But here he is! The audio is pulled from my favorite radioshow/podcast Wiretap. Check it out. You won't regret it, ever.

My 3D Animation Final

2010-04-20T10:49:00.001-06:00

This Is A Sad Monster from Jeff Call on Vimeo.

This my final for my 3D Animation class.

Recurring Problems When One Embarks on 3 Point Perspective Adventures with The Magic Hobo! (tm)

2010-03-31T09:45:00.003-06:00

click to enlarge:

Comic!!! The Grass Jumper

2010-03-18T00:32:00.002-06:00

Click to Enlarge:

Here Comes The Stuff...

2010-03-16T21:30:00.008-06:00

I feel compelled to share my innermost thoughts with all of you. Here they are in the form of drawings and sketches.

There's about a month and a half difference between the above sketch and the ones below. I really love drawing with that calligraphy pen.

And Davy Crockett, alongside the ghost of the bear (pronounced "bar") he killed when he was three.
The following is a drawing of Buster Higgins... I still don't know what his occupation is. Maybe I should have a Choose His Job contest?

Below is the chocolate milk cannon. The cow was drawn without any reference. I will regret this. He looks more like a dinosaur with horns.
Do I mention I do storyboards? The one's below are from real experiences and will be fixed up for finals before I turn them in.

And a little bit of Moxy, the Unherdable Sheep (tm) which is a work in progress story that I'm trying to get ready for the senior film pitch in November. This is Moxy in 6 panel storyboard form.

Dear James Dean,

2010-03-03T01:17:00.003-07:00

My wife doesn't like it when I call her "babe". What should I do?

Sincerely,
Sleepin' On The Couch

Drawing For Animation...

2010-02-09T16:50:00.003-07:00

Is fun.

First off we have our first assignment, drawing a beast of burden... something something... Oppenlander... I don't remember it exactly.

And the next is the assignment due today. The theme is Robot Wizards... mine uses magic to fix the Great Depression and cure polio (not necessarily in that order).

I'm Amiss

2010-02-06T20:11:00.002-07:00

Apologies for the lack of posts. My good friend, Scott Gwynn, says that I ought to post at least once every 2 weeks, to keep this sort of thing from happening. So I'm posting up a pic from a current storyboarding project I'm working on to help remind myself that this blog exists. This cityscape is based of a real location of Cappadocia Turkey. See you again in at least 2 weeks with what will hopefully be some sketchbook and other drawings.

Also, I did this for kicks a few weeks ago...

Ketchup

2009-11-04T20:21:00.008-07:00

Time to fill everyone in on what I've been doing lately.

Storyboarding (this is a mere fraction of the 143 panels I did for our sequence)

Character Design - This is a character I designed for our storyboard assignment. There's something appealing about drawing a sinister old seaman (choose your own teeth).

Digital Painting - The leeches pic is for a short story I started writing and will perhaps finish one day. If I do, I'll put it here.

And this was the flier for the storyboard.

Someday I will scan my sketchbook and put it up too. Ba da boom!

Sumo vs Squid

2009-10-27T10:21:00.002-06:00

This is a painting I did on the computer, inspired by the story we're currently boarding for my class. If the boards turn out ok, I'll post those here too.

Multipanel Assignment

2009-10-22T09:13:00.003-06:00

I forgot that I never posted my multipanel comic assignment. Here it is:

I'll put up sketchbook and storyboard stuff up soon...

Character Design Assignment

2009-09-21T01:38:00.003-06:00

Here is our first visual assignment for storyboarding class. We had to do a character design. Mine appears as follows:

He was a successful basketball player and given a 5 year contract when suddenly he became incredibly frail and old due to Late-Onset Hyper-Aging (a fictional disease that affects hundreds of Americans every year). Now, warming the bench until his contract is up, LeGeorge Winter must prove to his team and the coach, that he's got what it takes to get them to the championship, as long as it doesn't involve staying up past 7 PM. LeGeorge is in bed by 7 PM.

Style... And School is Cool.

2009-09-09T23:40:00.005-06:00

A week and a half in and school is great. I feel like class doesn't happen often enough. I just want to absorb as much as I can.

Unrelated to school, lately I've begun playing around (in Photoshop) with a certain kind of style. My big inspiration for this is Lou Romano and Scott Morse. I like the sort of stenciled look it has and the way I get to play with color and form. I would love feedback.

This first picture is the one that really started it for me. Before this, I had been mulling it over here and there. Fairly self explanatory.
After that I came up with a whole story based on it, that I catalogued in my sketchbook. This next one was meant to come after revealing the evil creators as "the sinister Martians!" Again it was super fun to play with the form.
I did this next one tonight. Mostly to play with the concept of moonlight. It has no relation topically to the Robot or the Martians.

My wife thought at first it was a tree, then a wolf. I had meant for it to be a werewolf, but apparently I failed. I think it would have been better accomplished if the houses had sunk further below the horizon line of the field, so it would look taller. Anyway, it was fun for an evenings work.

This final pic was an image I was doing to go along with a web makeover contest at work. It got turned down... for shame... Apparently it was too creepy. I thought with a name like "The Ultimate Web Marketing Makeover" it needed something memorable and stark that would stick with people. But I've been known to be wrong.

Call It...

2009-08-26T00:56:00.003-06:00

My work asked me to make a funny picture based on a typo in which the year our SEO.com was founded was stated as 1003 instead of 2003. I spent hours on the picture below, only to realize that I had way overworked this and that it was too strange for public consumption. At this point, I refuse to work anymore on it. I'm calling it. (as always, click to enlarge)

I had a huge bucket of fun experimenting in Photoshop, but in the end started over with something far more simple and funnier. I'll let you know when it appears on the site.

The next picture I did use for a company blog post. If you don't know what PageRank is, just Google it. I think the B-Movie Poster influence is pretty clear. And I did it Flash.

Sketchbook Dump!

2009-08-25T16:04:00.009-06:00

Incoming!!! (click to enlarge)

There's really not much to explain with these. they came from my latest sketchbook.

The following is a drawing from a paper table cloth at a family reunion of one of the attendees. Shannon's grandpa ended up cutting it out b/c he liked it and giving to me. Consider it a drawing saved from destruction.
BTW (that's internet-speak for "wait I'm not done yet!") I officially begin the Animation program this next Monday. Consider me way excited.

The Viking Minstrels

2009-07-30T17:27:00.004-06:00

So the logo turned out to be a big hit. We stuck it in this neat circle. I've been looking into T-Shirt options. If anyone's interested let me know. If not, it'll just be me, Shannon, and Scott wearing them. Also if anyone knows of a really great custom t-shirt business, let me know. I'm currently looking at Cafe Press, but if there's anything better, I would be most appreciative.

The only adjustment I plan on making is to the text so that it follows around the circle.

As an aside, the Viking Minstrels won Bronze in the Biathlon. Clearly, the Nerf Gun practice paid off.

Svenrir: Might Viking Minstrel WIP

2009-07-28T22:00:00.003-06:00

Experience has shown that if I don't post regularly, I won't post for a very long time. I don't want to see that happen again, and chances are, if you're here, neither do you.

This is the 1st draft for a logo or t-shirt design for our team The Viking Minstrels. We will be competing in the Office Olympics at SEO.com. I only wish I had a t-shirt press.

Haven't quite decided what direction I want to take with this... Willing to take ideas.

Jeff Is Not Artsy Fartsy: The Next Generation

2009-07-25T22:44:00.004-06:00

With my entry into BYU's Animation Program, I'm making a couple of changes. Transition type stuff. DO NOT BE ALARMED.

Also, I turned myself into a fly man while experimenting with questionable teleportation technology. Oops.

Once I get around to setting up the scanner, SKETCHY SKETCHBOOK SKETCHES will follow.

'Nother blog

2008-11-04T19:13:00.002-07:00

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!

2008-10-15T08:48:00.004-06:00

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!

2008-08-01T17:39:00.003-06:00

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...

2008-06-18T22:49:00.007-06:00

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!

2008-06-16T13:37:00.003-06:00

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...

2008-06-04T13:30:00.003-06:00

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!

2008-05-31T19:54:00.006-06:00

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?

2008-05-27T22:34:00.004-06:00

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...

2008-05-20T21:30:00.003-06:00

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!!!

2008-05-16T12:35:00.006-06:00

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...

2008-05-15T16:42:00.005-06:00

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!

2008-05-06T19:08:00.003-06:00

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...

2008-05-02T15:17:00.004-06:00

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!

2008-04-11T13:25:00.005-06:00

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...

2008-04-08T15:10:00.003-06:00

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!

2008-04-03T21:57:00.003-06:00

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...

2008-04-02T19:41:00.005-06:00

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!

2008-03-29T19:11:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-03-28T09:40:00.001-06:00

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

2008-03-27T22:35:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2008-03-23T21:35:00.000-06:00

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

2008-03-22T17:01:00.001-06:00

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...

2008-03-21T11:49:00.000-06:00

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.