Show and Tell

At work, we've been doing a major update of our Showrooms (Dallas, Hong Kong, and New York) for the new product offerings we have for this year. Which basically means teaming with the marketing department and our showroom designers to create art boards with product designs and concepts, sets for product placement, and whatever else they think will help "Show and Sell" our products to the vendors and other specialty buyers.

I was able to finally get a glimpse of the Dallas Showroom today when one of the product managers let me in to see some of my totally cool product samples...based on designs by yours truly. Very nice to see. Different then the usual Halloween stuff, but in a most excellent way. I'm already planning on buying a few. :D And if they sell well, like most everyone that has seen these samples thinks they will, then yippee!! I get to design a full line of products similar to these that will make a hauntingly happy halloween family of design. But happy in a creepy way. heh.

Halloween product designs are the most fun...mostly.

I'm still somewhat confused about what gets sold when, though. And when is it all finally at the retail level available for consumers. Depending on the season, and license and vendor...it could be this year or 2007. Once I figure it all out, I'll post my mathematical formula. heh.

And then, for the vendor shows...I get to be a model and wear a couple of costumes. Joy. Yes, I'm dreading it in a nightmarishly hilarious fashion. Somehow, I can tell that these pictures will haunt me in a slap happy way one fine day in the future....

Meanwhile at the Home Studio....
I'm slowly getting adjusted to my new schedule. Which means working some later hours on my home computer, but that is the only way I'm going to improve. Practice! So, for one of my homework projects, I'm finalizing an illustration project to help me learn the latest Painter and Photoshop techniques. I'm planning on COMPLETING (yes, that is key...have too many projects that are always "Works in Progress") a digital illustration each month. This is in addition to my other 2D and 3D projects, but is manageable. Specially since I'm cutting back on my social budget until I get my new job. Gives me more time to update the old portfolios, finish up those projects and take that next step to be a visual development artist in the animation industry.

Here's the current state of my WIP "The Storybook Dragon". I've also included a detail image of the dragon's head and the Reader. As the days go by, I'll post some more progress shots of this and my other projects.

Strangely enough, my inspiration for the dragon is actually one of my rat snakes, Ghost. When I'm sitting here at the computer, especially in the warm afternoons, he likes to get himself in a comfortable spot in his tank and watch me.

Silly snake.

Reviews

We have employee reviews going on next week at my job. Curious to see how that goes.

Interesting thing is, they had stopped doing employee reviews a while back according to the remaining artists and designers that have been there for several years. Basically, the thought was that the company had an "open door" policy. Which is not a bad thing at all. Except that there must be something going on if you lose over half your art department within a year, all of them talking with HR at their exit interviews about the same creative road block.

Or so I've heard.














Home Schooling
My own homework review...well, it is about two months since I started my "at home" creative schedule, so it's probably a good time to step aside and see what's working.

And what's not.

As far as the 2D stuff, sketching and all that, I would give myself a "B". I've been doing quite a bit of sketchbook work and will be sending samples of that out along with some other work end of this week for some job prospects. And I got some insights from a friend that will help me target myself a bit better instead of settling for production assistant. Although, I seriously figured that was a good way to show that while I might have plenty of experience in other industries, I didn't see myself as an expert in any way in the animation industry so it was a good role to apply for. And, ideally I'd learn as much as possible about how the various departments work together.

Or not.

While that mindset got me my current entry-level job as junior toy designer, evidently I should be aiming a bit higher for my next job...my first job in the animation industry. Hopefully, this will be the next big step in my creative career as a visual development artist. Well, we'll see how the job application process goes this year. Didn't get me anywhere last year for production assistant. :(

Back to the review. My 3D work. Very sad. I give myself a "D" for good intentions. But, for all that I'm doing research and studying and what not, I haven't been doing the labwork. Very bad. Thinking about it isn't the same as actually doing the work and getting the practice. I can rehearse it all I want to, but that doesn't give me any practical experience.

So. What do I need to do....

I'm revising my next two month block of homework. Evidently my original schedule was impractical for 3D work. I'll need to rethink how to better get myself back in that again. I'm thinking that rather than work on my own specific 3D projects, maybe to get the refresher I need, I should schedule in some specific course work. Or that is to say, some specific tutorials. Hmm. I have lots of those, so it will be easier to schedule that once I've made the choice. No procrastination allowed.

I'll post my new schedule tomorrow. Should be an exciting 8 weeks!

Sketchgroup
I posted a couple of the sketches I did at today's sketchgroup meeting. Not that there was anyone remotely like these characters at the group that inspired me to create scenes like these. heh.

Boring

I don't know, but sometimes you're working on something and it just doesn't feel right. Maybe it's the product or the lame idea... Ok, my idea wasn't lame, it just wasn't quite working right. It wasn't inspiring me to build more. I was excited about the original idea...but not how I was executing this version.

While I've never had writer's block since I'm not a writer, heh; I have had times where I hate to admit - my art is boring.

Usually I'll just tell myself I'm feeling a bit of burnout and take a break. Go get some coffee, talk to the other artists for a fresh perspective or for something completely different...when you're working with a staff of artists, all kinds of topics can be discussed in a variety of ways. LOL.

The worst case of boring art I can recall was back when I was finishing high school, working at the local amusement park doing portrait art...up to 20+ a day...to raise funds for my college education. Joy. I was hating my artwork. I was a portrait factory. Yes, the continuous practice, the drawing from life, all that helped me develop an eye for capturing portraits and developing a creative talent I didn't really believe in. Eh, it was a "hobby". You couldn't make a living being an artist, right? Ok, ok, that's an old issue. Dropped.

Anyways, back to my boring art....

When it's concept art I'm developing at work, it's easy to get a fresh perspective from the other artists. Get their feedback. Critiques are awesome. If they hate it, they'll tell you straight to your face. And really, you don't care. Cause it's not your personal art. It's the company's. Everything you do, the company owns it. That's why you're a staff artist. You own NOTHING that you create for them. However, when it's your personal project...created outside of the office, in your own studio, on your own time...it's sometimes difficult to be ready or willing to show anybody else what you're working on. Granted, you don't necessarily want, "OH MY GOD, IT'S GENIUS!".

Well, ok, anyone would want that. heh.

But, realistically, those kind of critiques aren't worth it. Which is why I seldom post artwork on discussion forums anymore. Generally you get the kind of comments that are like "beautiful!" or "5 stars!" or whatever when you really are seeking a fresh eye and hopefully some feedback that makes you see where you can improve. Sometimes it's even a technique or point that you'd never even have considered trying that would give your illustration or model a different style that you might really like. That's why I love working with other artists in the jobs I do. When you have a great team, it's because you've left your egos at home and you are always trying to learn from each other, show new or different methods, and always grow as artists.

The bad part is, it makes it hard to leave.

But, back to my boring art...I've been wrestling with the way I was originally introducing my main character in my graphic novel. I mean, it worked, sorta, but it really wasn't attention grabbing. I didn't feel that the first few panels would pull the reader in and want them to turn the page. That first page can be so hard.... I thought about showing it to a couple of friends of mine, but I'm just not ready for that. Yet. So, I worked on a couple of other things and also made time to re-read bits of some of my old favorite books that are targeted to "tweens" - the audience I'm hoping will be interested in reading my own stories.

And I did some thinking and doodling. Little mini-projects like experimenting with matte painting in Photoshop. And besides, I like to doodle. Ok, let me be the first to admit...I really like to procrastinate. A thing I'm too frequently fond of doing...especially on my own personal projects. But, I wasn't doing that. I had a problem that I needed to mull over. And I finally found my character again. She's just as fiesty, fun and imaginative as I was hoping. Finally seemed to jump out at me and take over like I thought she could. Can't wait to introduce her to everyone.

I will. One day. Soon.

Tell Me What You Want!

We've been working on various Disney licensed products for three different major retailers this past week. Yet again, another set of projects that has to take top priority over everything else on the art log...this time because of the retailer review deadlines.

Originally we toy designers were actually looking forward to this set of projects because of earlier meetings with some of the Disney production staff about working with their new lines of seasonal designs. Basically, while we'd be provided with various styleguides to use for these particular retailers, we were supposed to be able to develop our own designs and concepts as long as it fit within the individual styleguide requirements (color, character treatments, icon elements, fonts, etc.) and was approved by our Product Manager and the Disney Product Approval staff. So, no "cut and paste", but original concepts using their licensed characters.

Notice that I stated above, "Supposed to be".

I have this feeling that because our art staff is rather small, we have rather alot of products we need to concept for (close to 100) and our new production deadlines have for whatever reason been shortened (they're all due next week and we just started working on these Monday), our creative manager/art director has interpreted the use of styleguides to be "cut and paste directly from the styleguide to create all concepts". I don't know what exactly is going on, but I do know that myself and the two senior artists and the Licensed Product Manager have been confused by this new direction. Particularly because this is totally opposite what development information our artists got from the meetings they had attended. In the past, if we've presented "cut and pasted" artwork directly from the styleguide, we usually get negative commentary from the Disney approval staff about why haven't we been original with their characters as long as it fits within the styleguide they've given us. And the artwork is generally not approved. Unless the deadline is extremely tight...but then again we've even gotten change requests after sample production.

On the other hand, previous projects I've worked on with other companies that use licensed characters...it could go either way. Generally, I think it depends on the approval managers and the strength of the concept artwork that is developed. When the artwork that's presented is consistently high quality and interesting and is "on model", than the Disney staff is more than willing to see what new and original concepts we artists can come up with.

So, the team was getting more confused since our creative manager's direction was "cut and paste", while the original direction we'd gotten from Disney was "be original" within the styleguide guidelines. In fact, it even has typed on the final page of the styleguides (I checked, heh) that artwork within the styleguide are examples and not to be used directly. Very confusing. Right? Imagine our extreme surprise then when our CR tells us that he just got off the phone with Disney and we need to "cut and paste directly from the styleguides and that's what they want." Period.

For one thing, many of our products are unable to go directly by the artwork that's presented in the styleguide because of factory production requirements. He knows that. We'll simply end up getting all the artwork returned with negative comments and change requests...but I guess we'll have met the deadlines!

All I know is, the art team is rather unhappy with our creative manager. Again. His communication skills and art direction "needs improvement". Plus, we've been demoted once more to the level of junior production artists. As one of the guys said, "I didn't know I couldn't draw until I started working for this company." ha.

Thanksgiving in July
Lunch today was most excellent. We all got stuffed. heh. Everyone loved my pumpkin pie/cheesecake combo and I got a few requests for the recipe. Sweet! It all went so well we're planning on doing a monthly lunch theme. Totally cool. I like cooking. :)

Got My Shot

So, I'm back from the 2005 San Diego International Comic Convention. Wow. What a fabulously cool event!! My first visit, and I'm already looking forward to next year. For a variety of reasons.

heh.

Didn't get to do everything I'd hoped for, but I did a heck of alot. For example, I got to see a "private" screening of the upcoming movie, Serenity, by Joss Whedon...even got to meet him and get his autograph. heehee!! Why not! :D I'm not a "browncoat", in fact I haven't even seen a single episode of the Firefly series, but I have to say I really enjoyed the movie and I'm looking forward to seeing it again come September. The trailer I've seen for it didn't do it justice. And now I seriously plan to watch the DVD's of the series to see how it all got started.

Meanwhile, I'm still organizing my notes and playing with my new toys, but I'll be posting more pictures and some of the notes I took in the next few days (or at least sometime this weekend). I'm surprised at how easy it was to access some of the artists and writers I was interested in meeting at the comic-con, but that was a total benefit! Unfortunately, I didn't get the autograph from Bruce Campbell for Theron (it was the only thing he really wanted)...but, standing in line for 2 hours or more just to get his signature is NOT my thing. Too much cool stuff going on that I would've missed.

I did manage to talk to Scholastic about my graphic novel and they're interested, so that's extremely cool. Now I just need to finish the line art and coloring for the 2 chapters along with my outlines for the remaining chapters and then we'll see how it goes. Kinda scary, but it's one of those things that I've been wanting to get done for awhile.

I did bring some art samples with me but after seeing the long lines of newbies waiting to get a review, I figured it would be a better idea to do an individual planned submission instead for a studio role as visual development artist. Personalized to the studio and professionally creative. :) No...I'm definitely not giving up on that dream!!

OK...my pies are calling me. We're doing a Thanksgiving in July for lunch tomorrow with the art and sound departments. I decided to bake a couple of pumpkin pies, one with cheesecake and pralines, too. Yummy!

Oh, and my pink hair is fading. More like the coppery reddish tone I think I originally wanted. Hmm....maybe I'll add some more pink this weekend. ;)

Inspiration

Today I attended the Industry Giants presentation hosted by A Bunch of Short Guys and various other sponsors. It was really cool to hear industry professionals that work with animation of all kinds...from the director of a feature 3D animated film, to a couple of professional animators, to an F/X artist, to an animation reporter and producer...talking about their jobs and their careers, how they got started, and why they love it.

Here's my subtext: I'm totally jealous. But, hey, it's only been just over 10 years since I finally realized what I would really love to do with my career...and I've been trying ever since to gain those skills to get my first creative job in the animation industry. Yes, my first demo reel sucked. Surprise. At the last ABOSG meeting, one of the guys from some local studio even said...as soon as they see that it's from AID, they trash the tape. That's nice. That's real. Seems that everyone feels that way about their first demo tape, tho...even if it really did suck or maybe was the best thing ever. Not mine, ha. I'm sure I can find a few more ways yet to reinvent myself and find something good about whatever fucking job I have...I've had so many: telemarketer, McDonald's staff, cleaning lady/janitor, kennel help, credit collector, admin assistant...I could go on and on...and no, I don't put any of those on my resume. Ever.

I took a few notes during the IG presentations, whenever there was enough light or some point that was mentioned seemed of particular value. While quite a bit of the presentation today covered techniques that character animators use to bring life to their animations, I felt that it could also be applied to illustration or even layout for story art. So, while I'm not a 3D animator or character animator/performance artist, those points mentioned were definitely worth considering for developing my next illustrations and layouts. Maybe a different language but the end result or goal is the same. Sorta. Feels that way to me anyways.

Awesome stuff we got to see from Disney Animation: Destino by Salvador Dali, and Lorenzo by Ron Barbagallo. Loved the Dali surrealistic art of the one, and totally laughed at that cat character and his crazy tail in the other. Both showed excellent animation, but even better were the different ways of combining traditional and CG animation. I'm really curious about the proprietary software that David Bossert mentioned, called "SABLE". Evidently the artists can paint on their "computer canvas", but somehow the brush strokes are also recognized and presented as 3D. Not like 3D Paint. Something else. You just have to see Lorenzo and then you'll see what I'm talking about. There's a mention of the process in the Lorenzo link I included.

And no, I'm not going to post all my notes online here. Maybe elsewhere. I'm just too tired right now and I have sinus headache. Bleh. But when I do, I'll post a link on my blog.

On a side note, it's kinda funny how in the past five years or so, I've gotten to really know the names of various artists and animators in the industry and what the studios they work at are doing or not doing. I like that. I guess I'm an animation fan-grrl. heh.

My next "shot-in-the-arm" for creativity is the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con. Can't wait! It's a wonderful chance to talk to other artists about what they do and how they do it. Hopefully, I can get a few pointers on how to improve my own work. Even if I don't it will just be so cool to simply be there.

Color This

By the time I was in high school, I was legally blind.

Without glasses, all I saw was a mass of color. No shapes. No pattern. I could wear glasses to read and so on, but I was so near-sighted that the thickness of the lenses in the frame against my face pushed my glasses to the tip of my nose.

I don't have a big nose. I hated my glasses.

Anyways, thinking back about the artwork that I did around that time, when I was working as a portrait artist (and infrequent caricature artist) at Six Flags...capturing in pastel the happy faces of the amusement park patrons...one of the comments I remember that my boss and creative manager said is how my pictures always looked so great from a distance when the colors somehow all came together to form the final finished portrait...yet how they were almost a mass of almost random color when seen up close. No, my work was definitely not of the quality of Impressionist artists. But, when I took Art History years later at University and studied that period, I found their studies of color and attempts to capture on canvas what they saw in a particular moment...color and light and subject and mood...and the different ways of creating that work of art...expressed some of what I was trying to do based on my "talent" and my experience with how I saw the world without my glasses.

It was an interesting time...becoming an artist. But, I chose to study veterinary medicine when I first went to University.

After I'd been at Texas A&M for a year or so, I happened to read an article in the Sunday newspaper about a new experimental eye surgery, called myopic keratotomy, that a team of surgeons was performing in Houston. The medical procedure had been stumbled on years ago when a person in the Soviet Union had been in an accident and glass had gotten in their eyes. The eyes weren't punctured, and all the glass was successfully removed. Amazingly, when the eyes finally healed, the patient had gained improved vision. This technique just happens to be one of the early versions of what has become lasik eye surgery today. Anyways, these doctors were part of a larger specialized medical team that were flying small teams of eye doctors to remote areas in South America, Africa and a few other places in the world where this eye surgery technique was bringing clearer vision to patients that were legally blind and had great need or were in desperate poverty.

Can't really say that I met any of those conditions, not since I was going to college, albeit on a full scholarship, and studying biomedical science for veterinary medicine, although I was practically blind as a bat. I did clip out the article though, and sent it to my mom as I thought it meant there might be a possiblity in the future that this type of surgery would be something I could get. Considering that my last prescription for glasses had cost close to $1000...and that was with insurance...and that I needed new glasses every year...you can understand why I was very interested.

She and my aunt somehow managed to get me involved in the new eye surgery program down in Houston so that I could have the surgery. Took them almost two years from when I sent the article. But I had the surgery, my insurance paid for most of it, and for a brief time I could see almost 20/20.

It was horrible and wonderful. The surgery I had they call "barbaric" compared to today's processes for lasik. I don't think I could ever do it again even so. I can still see the ridges from the stitches I had in my eyes some twenty years ago.

Color at Work
Yesterday we reviewed the new style guides from Disney for our 2007 licensed products. Some were new, some were "classic". Each of them related as well to various design boards that the Disney retail team had developed to show us their recommended design themes and color trends for that particular set of style guides.

Since we also work with seasonal products in our toy lines, we have to keep in mind the color trends that the consumer market will be looking for. How do we do that? Well, one of the ways we can do that is by attending conferences or exhibits for fashion, clothing or interior design, as well as toy fairs...we can also learn from the style guides that we receive from various licensors like Disney for example. Their creative teams will also be keeping account of what the latest and potential up and coming trends are so that their collectors and new buyers will want to buy their licenses.

It's hard to see the future.

Color Me...Pink
It's called Hot Rod Red on the bottle.

I've been experimenting lately with color on my hair. Why not? I play with color and palettes all day in the concepts I create for our toys. It was an easy switch to play with the color of my hair. Being blonde for most of my life has been something I like. My sister is brunette. I appreciate the contrast. ha. So I felt like adding a bit of interesting contrast to my hair. I started out with getting low lights...adding a dark blonde tone to the back part of my hair.

It looked OK. I wanted more.

I started adding red. First it was just a touch. Then it wasn't enough. I tried a new temporary color called Copper Pulse. Oooh. I liked that, too. But it didn't last. Faded and got washed out after just over a week. I wanted more!

I decided to try a "demi permanent" option. It would eventually fade and wash out over a month or so. Depending on how light the original hair color is when the new color is applied. I did some research because this would last longer and since I wanted a more intense red, almost flame-like color, I wanted to be sure to pick the right product. I thought I found it with Hot Rod Red. Doesn't that sound just...mmmmm, yummy. LOL.

Well, all I can say is...the color is definitely intense. Bright even. We'll see what it looks like tomorrow after I wash it all for the first time. While the contrast to my blondeness is certainly there...and the candy cane striping that happens when I twist up my hair and pin it up is rather interesting.

But, PINK?!?

I'm thinking of trying Blue Mayhem next.

Technique

At work, I have various projects in different stages of development which is the usual way the toy product development team has to work.

Basically it's a revolving process of getting an art request, coming up with different concepts (usually rough sketches), submitting that to our creative manager, doing some tweaking as needed after getting his feedback, then submitting it to the product line manager for approval.

While you're waiting to hear back from the specific product manager, generally one of 6, (depending on the urgency or availability of the PM, you may go directly to their office for feedback, send an email and hear back that afternoon, or send an email to China 'cause they're at one of the factories and get a reply the next day); you get to work on the other art requests that you're juggling in various stages of development - just started, got first set of comments and approval to go to final art, got first set of comments with a ton of changes, got 2nd set of comments and additional revisions, etc., etc..

And don't forget, there's frequently other requests from sales and/or marketing with vendor feedback on samples that were produced and changes that they would like to have in order for them to actually buy the product for their retail stores; or sometimes we'll get ideas from consumers or vendors about what they'd like to have us create for them specially. So we have exclusives for that kind of thing.

And hey, as product designers or toy designers, we even come up with some original ideas of our own which occasionally end up as actual products. :)

One of the reasons I get certain product requests instead of the other artists on my team is due in part to the illustration work I've done in the past. Which is why I found it rather fascinating to recently check out the online portfolio by Kinuko Y. Craft, featuring illustrations for children's books and fairy tales. My traditional technique has some similarities to her production process; although I've had to modify mine somewhat because I finish the art digitally for most of my clients these days.

I originally got to know about Ms. Craft and her art because of a poster she created for the Dallas Opera, Madame Butterfly of which I bought a print. She has also illustrated most of the recent covers for a long time favorite fantasy author of mine, Patricia McKillip. Craft's style is definitely very recognizable. I especially enjoyed reading the part about her art technique development time, "...Sometimes a two page painting can take up to a month". Ha! I am lucky when I get a week. So, these days the quality of the final product is not up to my usual standards. Disappointing. But, I'm still expected to maintain the high quality finished look. Faster, faster!!!

Ah, well. I'm doing my best to educate my clients and their expectations. And for the moment, I do the stuff I sincerely enjoy at my home studio for my own projects.

For now.

Unsung Heroes

Last week's Illustration Friday topic was "Heroes". I came up with a couple of ideas which I didn't get around to posting before Friday.... It was my first time to doodle something for this group, and for some reason I thought that you were supposed to post it on Friday as opposed to getting a new topic that day. Oh, well. Next time maybe I can do an official picture in time.

Anyways, here's the two ideas I had. The first was a sketch based on a personal experience of mine when I was a kid. The second idea I got after watching a tv news report this past week about a garbage man coming to the rescue of a woman held hostage and tortured by three robbers in her own house. An unexpected hero.

I guess a lot of people think of firemen, or policemen or others that maybe serve in the military when they think of the real heroes that aren't the comic book superheroes. I like to consider the unexpected or unsung heroes that surround us everyday. Whether because their efforts provide an example for us to follow, or because in some way they inspire us to be more than who we are because of something they've done. Mentors, teachers, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers. An older brother or sister. An historical figure.

Heroes of the Past
While I'm not an active supporter of the U.S. military (I have my reasons) even though my father and uncle enlisted (Air Force and Army), and I was offered a full scholarship to attend West Point (huh, whatever), and I currently have two almost-nephews that are in the military (one in the Marines, the other Navy)...I do like to take a moment to reflect on both the military and civilian effort it took to create the United States, to finally become an independent nation. Something I actually don't do much at all on Veteran's Day. Shame on me, I suppose. So this 4th of July weekend, I think about the historical facts that I've been taught in various public schools, as well as the books that I've read (both fiction and non-fiction)...

How many were the little moments that we will never know where people were for even a brief time a hero in someone's eyes during the fight for Independence?

While I don't know any 230+ year old that lived during that time (or at least not that I'd admit ha), I do know people that survived other, more recent battles and have listened closely to their stories...it's the civilian perspective that I can relate to, not the military. Not a fight for independence, but the need and the will to survive something you have little or no control over.

There are stories my mother told me about events that occurred in her village when she was growing up in Germany during the end of WWII. For example, the Allied soldiers that were hidden in the old village barns to escape the Nazi army. The Black Market network that helped provide food for so many hungry families in the village, during both the Nazi and the Allied army occupations. The foolish, but brave things my aunts did to help the family (my mom has 8 older sisters) . My grandfather's racing pigeons that were a bit more than that. My grandmother's occasional trickery.

One story that all my cousins know (remember, there were 8 sisters...and they all had kids) was about the time a cow was butchered to provide meat for all the families (it really was a small village) and the soldiers found out about it and came to take all the meat for themselves. One of the neighbor boys saw them coming to the farm and ran quickly to warn the villagers that they were coming to collect their share.

Everyone was in a panic.

My grandmother pretended to be deathly ill and jumped into bed, but first took the various packages of cow meat and hid it under the covers with her.


Evidently her "illness" and the wailing my mom and her sisters did, as well as the comments from the helpful neighbors who were at the house visiting the "poor, sick woman" disturbed the soldiers enough that they hastily left the house, believing that there was no butchered cow but some kind of serious, contagious disease.

Moo.

Rough Moment

My fingers are a little sore from holding my pencil too tight while I was sketching, heh. But I feel I got a good bit accomplished for my roughs today. Next step is to take all of the rough sketches and clean them up for scanning and coloring in Photoshop.

This sketch here is one of the characters from the story. Obviously not finished, but then I consider it a rough version of a rough. ha.

Alright, think that's enough for the evening. Another lovely week starts tomorrow in toyland. Oh, joy. Funny, I think too much sometimes about that elf in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer that wanted to be a dentist. LOL

Moving Right Along

Plenty of stuff going on...as usual. ha. And time is running away from me. Well, at least it feels like it. There's always something to do, goals to meet, people to see. Or not.

My Books
Well, the plan today is to finish the roughs for the first two chapters of my graphic novel. This particular project was started about three years ago when I first came up with a character that I thought would be perfect for an adventure series for girls. But, boys can read it if they want to. heh. So far, the reaction I've gotten from my target age group (girls 9-12 or "tweens"), has been really positive and they all wanted to see more of the story, so I'm determined to get sample chapters out this summer to a couple of art directors and editors from the children's book publishers that I met when I was working in New York and get their feedback. Then it's off to get me an NYC agent (Texas publishing and art agents don't do much for you AT ALL...and I say that from personal experience). Fortunately, I already have a couple of recommendations from people I've met through SCBWI.

Of course, that's not the only book I have on my creative project list. However, the others are in more of a pre-production stage, although I do know which one I'll be working on next. It's on my big "To-Do" list right in front of me on the big white board. :)

Comic-Con
And part of my things-to-do includes getting ready for the San Diego Comic-Con. It's my first time to go, and I'm so glad that my friend SJ invited me along! She hasn't been before either, although we've both heard about it from various people we know. In fact, one of my co-workers got his first visual development job in 2D animation working on Spawn for HBO when he was living in California. Needless to say, I'm listening to everything he has to say about what to do (toys and comics!! woohoo!!) and what to bring with me so that I can do some good creative networking.

Speaking of creative jobs and networking opportunities, Walt Disney Feature Animation is still actively recruiting! Sounds good to me! I found another posting this time on the HighEnd 2D Job Board from 6/23 for an upcoming recruiting event. This time more information was posted so I can follow-up on it ASAP. I'm kinda wondering if they're also going to be at the portfolio reviews at the Comic-Con and SIGGRAPH. Well, if so, I'll be happy to talk with them in San Diego. heh.

Animation Sketches
Part of my self-imposed work-at-home schedule includes at least three nights of sketching after work. When I'm not working on the Art Catalog for my job (almost done, yay!!) or the animation short or my graphic novel or updating my portfolio, I've been practicing my 2D animation skills. I love doing 2D animation as it requires a blend of my skills and knowledge in character design, drawing, understanding of motion and just a final touch of the computer when I composite it all. Unlike 3D animation. Well, at least with the 3D animation short we're working on, I'll get to work on aspects of all of that. I just don't find the 3D side of animating with curves and keys and a CG model as much fun or engaging. Although, I do know that other people seriously enjoy it. Yay for them! :)

So I've been working on a dragonfly animation based on the style and wing-timing developed by Osamu Tezuka... I was going to post my latest WIP from the animation, but I think I'll wait till I'm happier with the result. Still tweeking some of the inbetweens. I'll post it later for sure.

Modeling
Not doing as much 3D modeling as I'd like, but since I'm looking to get my first animation industry job as a visual development artist not as a 3D modeler, my 2D work has to be a top priority. I am also squeezing in an hour or so here and there to watch the Maquette sculpting DVD's. Soon as it's pay day, I'll be picking up a few things over at Home Depot so I can get my models going. And a pasta maker...amazing how much easier it makes Sculpey maleable rather than squooshing it between your hands for hours to soften it. And turns out there's a much better way to get the detail and poses that I'd like to have with my Sculpey models than with the aluminum foil base I've done in the past and that I started recently before I watched the DVD's. At least I haven't baked it yet...

Still Unpacking and Packing
I hate moving. I'm still unpacking my book and office/studio boxes from my move to this apartment last November. At least it also means that I'm doing some serious sorting with each box I unpack. In fact, I thought I'd killed my shredder last weekend, but I guess it just over-heated because it was working again yesterday. Thank goodness. Budget is too tight at the moment to buy another one and scissors just aren't as quick or easy.

Sorting also involves putting too many of my books into storage, but I just don't have the space for all of them in this apartment. Plus, looking on the positive side, it means I can quickly pack up and move when I get that job offer (soon, I hope!!).

Back to Work...
I had a friend tell me the other day that I'm working too much, that I need to have some fun. His suggestion was something like a margarita machine, a bunch of friends, and my own personal cabana boy. ha. Well, it's not that I don't want to have a bit of that kind of creative fun now and then, it's just not in the financial or time budget right now. I have two big goals that I need to focus on: getting my first creative job in the animation industry and paying off my student and other personal loans that got me through school. This job I have now as an entry-level toy designer isn't even as much money as I was making as a mid-level graphic designer over 10 years ago. I guess Dallas salaries just aren't has inflated as NYC ones.

The way things are going, I need to get a second job starting in August in order to meet all of my obligations. That means no time or funds for that kind of extra-curricular creativity. And I won't have much time for sketching or 3D work once that gets going.

On the other hand, I enjoy the art that I'm creating after my daily routine as toy designer. Most of the artwork I actually do at work isn't anything that I want in my portfolio to show propective employers. Surprise.

This week one of the guys and his wife are putting together a "Germanfest" for our art team at their house - cooking a variety of traditional German food along with some tasty German beer he brought back from China. ha! I'm looking forward to that. I'm also curious to taste their variations of the potato salad and saurkraut as even my mom and her sister cook different versions and they are both very German still for all that they immigrated to the US in their twenties. And there's most definitely a long weekend to look forward to and maybe some sushi if I can talk my two friends into adding that to our Saturday wine tasting....I looooooooove sushi. Expensive habit I got from my consulting days.

Talked with my mom this morning about going for a visit to Austria and Germany again in the next year or so, when my job situation is more stable (I hope). That will be alot of fun. And so inspirational for a visual development artist! ;) We're going to try and go traveling along the Amalfi Coast as well. Or at least a week up in Scotland since neither of us has been and we both had a great time together in London last time. It's at least nice to dream about.

So, while for the moment, my work is my life, I'm enjoying it (mostly). And have plenty of fun goals for the future...like dating, traveling, and a Ducati Monster 620 in red if you please!

Generally Speaking

Ran across an interesting blog by David Brin, the guy who wrote a couple of my favorite SF books, "Sundiver" and "Startide Rising," both part of the Uplift series. His commentary on SWIII ROTS is pretty much on target. :)

Here's a quote:
"...Hrm. With so many bad reports, what to do? Despite my longstanding criticism of the Lucasian zeitgeist, and its lengthy, high-budget toy commercials, I never kept my kids from playing with Lego X-Wings and such. When Eps I & II came around I was very mild mannered. I urged people to go to a half price matinee after waiting 2 weeks... but otherwise enjoy the crap because it's GORGEOUS crap. Lucas subsidizes 10% of the best artists on the planet."

Nice.

They call themselves, "A Bunch of Short Guys"
From what I understand, ABOSG was originally created to bring together those guys interested in discussing animation and independent short productions. Mostly animation. However, take a look at the speakers and the last couple of Industry Giants events, and you get the idea that they are interested in more than that. Specifically, the animation and film industry, and the parts that help develop those productions (storyboarding, modeling, software, rigging, character animation, VFX, etc.). So lately there's been a nice variety of presenters talking about their specialties and projects in a way that isn't over my head (mostly), in particular since I went back to school to learn about those things and have kept studying in my free time.

Today's presenter was Will Nicholson, the Senior VFX Supervisor of Lucid Dreams IA. Turns out he was also a founding member of ABOSG. He's worked on projects for Robert Rodriguez' Troublemaker Studios including "Spy Kids" (with ReelFX) and "Sin City" and "Flight of The Phoenix." (both with Cafe FX). His presentation primarily covered some of the production experiences he had with "Sin City" and "Flight of The Phoenix". It was rather interesting to see the raw footage of the "Sin City" film before all of the CG enhancements, because you realized how much work was really involved in making that movie. And for all that I knew that the actors were all filmed in green screen, there was much more 3D than I had realized. That is definitely one DVD that I'll be buying as soon as it's released.

Other bits that he mentioned and/or demonstrated:
- the rigging for the 3D cars used in the car chase scene
- the shader techniques they used for the ground and streets
- the particle fx used for the rain for "Sin City" and the sandstorm in "Flight of The Phoenix"
- being a Maya production pipeline guinea pig (Cafe FX is primarily a Lightwave studio)
- how things can go wrong because of lack of communication (experience gained on "Flight of The Phoenix")
- how bad Broccoli smells when it's growing (the small California community of Santa Maria has two main farming crops: strawberries and lots and lots of broccoli)

There was one other comment he made during his presentation that really stuck in my mind. He felt that people in California think in a very different way about working with CG. That most of the larger production studios in California rely heavily on their CG artists focusing on one skill or talent and developing it to the best of their ability.

So basically, if you're a character animator, that's all you do. If you're an organic modeler, than that's all you do. You become a specialist of your CG craft.

However, Nicholson feels the smaller CG production shops have a different understanding and because of that an advantage: their CG artists need to be generalists so that there's never any down time in production unlike the larger studios. And that's how the smaller shops will get the work out faster and cheaper, and will be involved in more and more in CG animation and film production. Nicholson himself worked as modeler, rigger, texture/shader artist, Vfx artist and compositer on "Sin City". He feels that this generalization will be the only way the larger studios will be able to bring their production cost down and compete with the smaller production studios who tend to use off-the-shelf software and have CG generalist artists.

But, to me, the very fact that he used the term "generalist" makes me feel that most of that kind of studio production work follows the old design formula: you have three variables where you can only pick two: Good, Fast or Cheap. If it's Fast and Cheap...it's definitely not Good.

Although I don't have the production experience that Nicholson has in CG and Film development, I have about 20 years of professional experience in graphic design, illustration, and multimedia development which also uses a wide variety of creative talent and production roles to create projects for clients and their various audiences. In my experience, being a generalist as a senior artist frequently lowers the quality of the end result because they're trying to do everything...although it can be an advantage when the creative director or manager has a broad understanding of the various roles and their tasks needed to develop a project.

As a junior artist, knowing a little bit about everything in order to develop an independent project or get that first CG job is what being an entry-level artist is all about. You haven't had the time or experience yet to develop a focus for your craft or skillset. That doesn't mean they can or should do everything in order to become an excellent CG artist. Jack of All Trades....Master of None.

And that's how I feel about being a Generalist.

New Developments

Some interesting news that I read today on CGTalk, one of the forums I visit at least once daily, and Yahoo News...

Evidently Walt Disney Feature Animation is doing some major recruiting. I also happened to catch a mention of that earlier this week through a letter sent to one of the colleges up in Toronto (amazing the things you can run across when you do some random surfing, heh).

Hmm...maybe that's why one of my former instructors at AID (Pashley, my figure drawing professor) was suggesting I send out some samples to Disney. Hmmm...

Other Possibilities
I may have the opportunity to get involved in a small 3D medical animation project. No pay, but I'll have the chance to learn and hopefully gain some practical production experience. And keep my day job. Don't know what the schedule will be like, but I'm sure it will be crazy. I'm looking forward to it. :)

Animation Short Progress
I've scanned the artwork that SJ left with me from our last meeting. I need to be able to reference it as I further develop concepts for our sets. We're also using the overviews to plan camera placement, so when I clean-up the storyboards I've already created they'll be more accurate. And if there are any potential issues, we can get that cleared up early.

SJ also planned to spend a bit of time sketching her ideas for the storyboards. If she has time while she's out of town. Heh, I know how that goes. In any case, our next meeting isn't scheduled for a few weeks in part because of her trip, but also because we wanted to get some additional work completed before our next meeting. I also want to post my boards on our project website and get some additional feedback before we do any finalizing of any of the storyboards.

This weekend I'm planning on reviewing the Gnomon Maquette DVD's that Joey lent me. I want to do some maquettes of a few of our characters, and get the first one started this weekend. Maquettes have really helped me quite a bit on other projects when I was doing character turns and storyboard artwork, so I thought it would be helpful in this case as well. Should be fun! I'm looking forward to working with Sculpey again.

OK...enough with the blog. I need to do some more work on my catalog project for "da company". Ashley saved me some files so I can do some testing tonight at home. Think I need to do some more research on this application, too...I know I'm not yet pushing it to do all it could be for us.

Assignments

Per my project calendar, I have 3D work tonight. Then sketching Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; a review day on Friday, and more 3D and computer time on Saturday and Sunday. However, because I do have a job and have the occasional networking I want to do (Saturday is another ABOSG meeting), I'm keeping it all flexible.

For example, tonight I need to work on a small project for my real job. Eh, sometimes you have to take work home to get it going. This is more along the line of figuring out a better way to catalog our past and current artwork and production art, while still being able to access the art (search, view, etc.) in a better format than what is currently provided for our product managers. Particularly since by that point, the actual concept and sample art is no longer referenced, just the actual product. Us artists need more information than that and better images than a 50 x 50 pixel square. Which can sometimes be the only reference that their application provides. So, our art team administrative assistant and myself are taking this week to come up with a working solution that we can present to our creative manager upon his return.

Information request
Also, this morning I got an email from one of the guys in the Sketchgroup in reply to an email I'd sent out last Winter...heh, he finally found the email. Anyways, it was a request to the professional artists and students in the group for ideas on how to help keep my art team inspired at work:

"To learn more about your craft or grow creatively? What are the things that your company does to keep their artists happy? ....Besides working on fun games. Or have you heard stuff from other artists that you wish you all could do at work? I've heard about figure drawing sessions, trips to the zoo or to the nearby mall, having visiting artists come in and do workshops...are there other things that you do or wished your company did for their art department? Like maybe company sponsorship to conferences, etc."

He replied with the following bits of advice which I'll add to the suggestions I got from other artists:

"I try to keep the artists on my team happy by involving them in all aspects of the dev cycle (letting them try things that they may not actually have experience doing) so that they can grow as artists. I buy them supplies, and let them take anything that grabs their fancy from my office (pens, paper, markers) if they are inspired to do so to try their hand and concepting. I send them to interesting sites, invite them out to sketchgroup, etc - basic mentor stuff I suppose. The company also buys training dvds in digital painting, etc. from Gnomon."

So, more good ideas I'd like to present to the other artists tomorrow and see how we can come up with a plan to finally get this need recognized by our creative manager and implemented in some way for our department. More stuff to do! :)

Random Thoughts

On Past Connections
Networking has helped me in my search for creative employment in the past. However, that's something quit different these days....I'm attempting to start a new career and my former contacts work in very different industries. I simply don't have the connections I need. Yet. And ditto for the experience. And 3D skillset. Ok, ok. I'm being realistic. That's why I'm marketing myself as a "Visual Development Artist" not as a 3D artist or modeler.

So, what was once a week or two off between projects when I was freelancing as a graphic or web designer is now almost the same as when I first started out as an illustrator fresh out of college back in 1992 - no one knows me, my creative enthusiasm, my strong work ethic, how well I mesh with my teams, my wealth of knowledge and my continued desire to learn...how I can grow more creative skills, have new and innovative ideas, improve the creativity of my team for my employer.

A cover letter and resume can only say so much. It's an introduction, not your history. "You need at least 1 year of experience for an entry-level role..." I know, it's often a ploy to weed out the totally inexperienced. And, OMG, the amount of resumes, demo reels and portfolios that get sent out by so many hopeful artists to studios...it's a wonder sometimes that any inexperienced artist can get hired at all. Talent, sure that helps. But, it can also be "who you know" and sometimes just plain Luck. That's happened to me before, too.

And then there's my portfolio....

While drawing naked, huge-breasted sexy women is something I can do, doesn't mean that's what I want to work on all day or that I have a sketchbook full of that kind of work. Maybe one. har. Good grief, it seems like half the time I talk or meet with other artists (and sadly, yes, most if not all of them are men, not women), the creative respect isn't there until they see how well you can draw a monster, a putrid zombie, or some busty babe. Enough to make my teeth hurt from all the grinding.

And, let's not forget - Location, location, location.

Dallas is definitely growing in game development and post-production, and there seems to be potential for studios in the animation industry. Especially compared to what was around in the late eighties, early nineties. But, I need a job now! I feel like I'm wasting my time in my current job....I'm not learning anything that will be useful to me or to whatever company I would like to work for in the animation industry...particularly since I have no intention of getting myself pigeon-holed as an artist for the marketing or licensing branch of any studio, Warner Brothers or otherwise. That's not my dream. Sure, I'm contributing like heck and I have pride in my artistic work and I have nothing but praise to say for the other artists I work with (except for my creative manager...most of the time..heh), but it's not the industry I want to make my mark in.

I've been thinking more and more again about moving to LA.

I don't have a family to relocate - no significant other and definitely no kids to worry about. I'd miss my friends. :( While there's certainly alot of people out there looking for creative work, it's worth a shot - there are plenty of people here looking for work, too...and fewer places that have openings. Since I'm not a complete newbie without ANY work experience and I do know people out there...and I could get a few introductions from people I know now that worked out there, it's something to seriously consider. And if it does work out, I can still come back to Dallas, get involved in growing the animation community here like I dreamed about years ago, and this time have the experience and knowledge that I can't get if I stay here.

At least I'm working. While it isn't my dream job or my industry of choice, I can still contribute some of my skills and mentor the interns who do want to be toy designers and help improve the creativity of my art team. And, "I get to draw all day!!" Yes, that's a direct quote from my creative manager as to why we should be loving our jobs. ARGH!!

False enthusiasm doesn't help. Fake smiles make my cheek hurt. Sometimes I just want to wallow in a deep depression. Then I think about some of my old jobs...huh, like I'd list THOSE on my resume...and I remind myself that it took time to get that first "real art job" after graduating and sometimes it was longer than I'd like before I got my next art project. That at least I'm not living during a time when women had few employment opportunities...and I'm not a starving artist living in some tiny attic apartment, freezing my poor fingers while I paint my latest commission for my "patron"...even if it was in Paris. Ha! We visited a graphic designer friend of mine in Paris last Thanksgiving and she had such a tiny apartment. I swear it was maybe twice the size of my walk-in closet in the apartment I have now!

Yes, I've been a starving artist...that was one horrible winter - no heat, no money for food, no health insurance, saving what I could for rent...and for whatever reason, I still didn't give up. Didn't draw or paint much, but I did when I could.

OK, enough with the pep talk. Yay...tomorrow is a work day...and my creative manager is on vacation all next week!!!!! LOL

Found a random connection the other day - a former high school classmate of mine, Aaron Sims. As I recall, he was a rather quiet guy in the one art class I took in my senior year. His work showed promise, and he was very much into airbrushing.

I even still remember two of his projects: one was a copy of a Hildebrandt brothers illustration of Smaug and the other was of a black leopard lying across a branch. What I didn't understand was why he got special projects to work on instead of the assignments our instructor gave the rest of us...particularly considering that there was a bit of rivalry going on as to who had the better talent. We all liked to show off our artistic skills.

Heh, that's part of the fun of art classes...pushing each other to do better, work harder and learn from each other. Finally found out why (my art teacher, Mrs. Betty Cantwell, never would really explain)...his father was a graphic designer in the Dallas area, and Aaron was just starting to work for another well-known illustrator, Don Ivan Punchatz, at the studio The Sketch Pad. Then he moved to L.A. about two years after we all graduated from high school. Long story short: Aaron is now an art director for SW Digital, the design division at Stan Winston Studio. Wish I would have had the will and the way to get myself out there then and follow my animation dreams. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20.

On Being a Toy Designer
There doesn't seem to much information available at the company I work for that could help me or our toy designer interns know more about the toy industry. I try and do a bit of research every week so that I can find out more about what the role of a toy designer could or should be, what ways we can improve our production processes and how we can learn about the toy industry from our competitors. While one of the artists on my team went through a toy design college program, none of the other artists I currently work with have. We've all come from a variety of creative backgrounds and have different experiences. And, yes, that includes our creative manager - no toy design background either.

So, I found a few interesting sites that I'm gonna share with the others tomorrow and hopefully get a fun discussion going. :) Sometimes, things can get lively. Always exciting when we start throwing stuff around (dare I mention the screaming rubber chicken...heh.)

The first was an interesting article about a couple of designers that invented a new kind of interactive toy that sold in the millions:

"Caleb and Christi Chung, a husband and wife toy design team, had just returned from their annual trek to Toy Fair, the largest toy trade show in the Western Hemisphere, held in New York City every February." Once again we were underwhelmed," Caleb, a former Hollywood special effects developer, says. "We determined, then and there, to stop working altogether, return home to Boise, Idaho, and take the plunge, spend the next six months creating a product we knew our background and knowledge would allow us to perfect and exploit." They invented the Furbies.

The other I found after some random google with toy design criteria...luckily it was the first link so I didn't quickly do a different search. The remaining ones on the page were not something you could open at most offices. ha! There appears to be an association for Women in Toys (feel free to guess what the other results were...or do the search yourself, ha!). I suppose like the animation industry, women have had a difficult time in the past (or maybe even currently, I don't know) in gaining meaningful employment in this industry that didn't require a skirt and/or working as the receptionist or secretary. No one has mentioned this group and it appears based on the content of the site to be something at least a few of our employees, designer or product managers, should be involved with, especially since I know at least a couple of them will be in NYC for the June Toy Fair and working in our showroom.

I'll have to find out more tomorrow....

Striking a Pose

We're on our way back to work after a mad dash to Toys R Us for some "reference material" - one of the guys had snagged a Dark Galadriel at the store close to his home Wednesday night and we all wanted one...so we grabbed our little interns after the company meeting and took off for the Lewisville TRU, heh. Since the action figure wasn't supposed to be available till July 1st...we wanted to be sure and snag one. Especially since the face and eyes light up all nifty-like when you push the button on the back. aaahhhh....must have one.... I even lent Theron my little LED stand that I have at my desk for my ROTK ghosts setup so that he'd get the uplighting to make the toy look even more dramatic. He said he was hoping I'd lend it to him. har.

Ok, ok...I admit that we all like to play with toys...at least we can say we're toy designers so we have a "good excuse" for the shelves of toys we're surrounded by...you know, getting to know what the competition's offering. ;)

No luck at the TRU store. Darn it.

Anyways, so we're heading back to work, chatting and what not, when I see this high school girl standing at the bus stop looking at the passing cars. It was her stillness and her stance that caught my attention. A very rounded head, in part because of her pony-tail hair style; but the rest of her body was so extremely angular. It was like she was a succession of "Z's" going left to right...her neck was a short stroke to the left, then another stroke to define the shoulders...yet another to the left and right to capture the arms and the angle of her elbow, wrist to hand, to hip, to knee to feet. And the very thinness of her body helped to contribute the angular effect and contrast to the very roundness of her head. Shoulda had my sketchbook with me. Oh, well.

I did a quick sketch of the memory because the pose captured my attention so sharply. I didn't quite capture her, but it was fun to do anyways.

Planning

For whatever reason, I have this sense of urgency. Like, if I don't get my ass in gear, I'm going to lose out on something. Not sure what it is, though.

Anyways, to help me get better organized...at least for my high priority creative projects (I have way many more than what I'm listing here, heh)...I'm updating my wipe-board calendar for the next two months. I figure that will give me enough evening and weekend work to:

• - update my online portfolio (update design and content)
  
• - create a new "book" to leave or send out to job prospects (yes, I really want a job in the animation industry and I'm definitely looking outside of Texas now for that first step in my new career...sad but true)
  
• - finish illustrating the first two chapters in my graphic novel
  
• - finish a dummy book for one of the three children's picture books I've been developing
  
• - finalize character designs for the animation short
  
• - tighten and update storyboards for the animation short (we should have about 3 meetings in the next 8 weeks.
  
• - schedule specific modeling and animation tutorials (gotta keep up the practice!!)

By setting myself a schedule like this, detailed and specific much like my old class schedules, I'll be able to better manage my list of "things to do". I figure that after two months, I'll re-evaluate and see what progress I've made. Hopefully, I can give myself an "A". :)

Creatively in Debt

I'm folding clothes (Sunday is my laundry day) and I happen to catch this financial show on PBS. Wow. This was an inspiring presentation. Makes me feel better about how I'm trying to get my creative career back on track...even though I'm certainly totally broke, and way in debt after finishing school again last year (2nd degree)...and unsure if what I'm doing is the best way to follow my career dreams, just like the recent grads she's financially advising in the show.

The show is Suze Orman: For the Young, Fabulous & Broke - "Financial advice for 'Generation Debt' (adults aged 25 to 40), which faces hefty student loans, a tough job market and credit-card debt." What really captured my attention was the example she gave of the shoe designer who was offered a job as a toy designer for $65,000/year (what?!? where was this info when I accepted my entry-level salary)...which she was advised to turn down because that wasn't her dream. She was still waitressing almost six months after graduating while she was looking for her first job as a shoe designer. A couple of months later, after turning down the toy designer job, she finally was offered a job with a shoe company. For about $30,000/year. She took it. Why? Because she could see herself growing with this company for several years. It would be a great start for her career as a shoe designer. A year and half after she had been there...coming in early, staying late, financially still in quite a bit of debt but loving her job, learning and contributing, and enthusiastic about the possibilities with this company...she was promoted to one of the lead designers. She didn't ask for more pay, but got offered exactly what she would have asked for (she was advised by Orman not to ask for a pay raise).

Orman said that today, what is most undervalued is not real estate or stocks, but our work-force...the most educated and enthusiastic potential workers the U.S. has ever had.

Looks like there's a book, too. I'll have to check it out. :)

Back to the Drawing Table

Howl's Moving Castle was GREAT! I remembered enough of the original story to enjoy the interpretation and vision that Miyazaki brought to the story to make it his own. But, I want to go ahead and reread Jones' story, see what the differences were. The kids I was sitting with also had a great time, although it may have been a bit long for the littlest ones. Excellent characterizations and the English dubbing seemed to be pretty well done, although I can't really tell for sure since I don't speak Japanese, heh. My only discontent was with some of the continuity of the character art, particularly for the wizard Howl. I thought it was a bit off in some of the later scenes. While I do recall that Sophie's character had fluctuations...that she went at times from being an old woman to being almost her original younger self due to the curse from the Witch of the Wastes, I don't remember that being so with Howl. There were times where his face was totally different and the proportions were off, too. Different artist maybe? Everything else was most beautiful. I was kind of surprised how much attention I paid to the matte paintings and sets...but maybe that's because of the recent work I've been doing. ;) After the movie as we were all leaving, they handed out a black folder to everyone - turns out it had a lovely print of Howl's Castle inside. Totally cool! I'm going to get it framed to go with my other animation movie posters.

One of my favorite books is Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn. I just found out some Good and Bad news from Animated News Weekly about the feature film version that's currently in production. I didn't realize, but he's also developing a sequel! Oooooo....

Yesterday I got my copy of Skwigly, a new UK animation magazine. I've just started reading it, but so far it looks pretty good. Since it's the first issue, I'm curious to see how they plan to differentiate themselves from others that are currently in publication. I'll post some comments about it once I've finished going through it.

Tomorrow we have some interns starting work in my department from FIT in New York. I wonder how much we will disillusion them about what being a toy designer is really all about...One of our previous artists was from that school. He chose to leave the company and return to NYC after almost 2 years of employment. His primary issue: our creative manager.

Reviews

Woohoo! Tomorrow after work I get to see a free screening of Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle" based on the book by Diana Wynne Jones, one of my favorite YA writers. Even better, Miyazaki is one of my favorite animation directors! Totally sweet deal all around. The Dallas animation group, A Bunch of Short Guys (horrible name, I know...you should see their Industry Giants' logo) is sponsoring part of it, I think... at least, that's how I got my seat. Thanks, guys!

At work, I'm developing concepts and some final art for a new product line. Looks like we're also getting a patent for it. Kinda interesting, but of some concern to me as well...will my art hold up to long-term consumer and competitor scrutiny if it's part of a one-of-a-kind piece that no other company can legally duplicate. EEK!! Especially when you consider the fact that everything at this job has to be created RUSH RUSH RUSH. And I have 7 more final pieces to create (all of my additional sketches were approved and I was told to go to final art). And they take about 24 production hours to complete just for one. And they want it all yesterday, of course. Not to mention the other 15 art requests on my list that are getting pushed back because of this new priority. ARGH! I'm sorry, but I am not going to work 14 hour days 6 days a week because the creative staff at the China factory keeps those kind of hours and then some! I'd like to have a life - do some of my own creative projects at my home studio, and occasionally have a social life and make friends outside of this job. It's almost nice to be needed, somewheres by somebody.

On a final note, I'm also in the process of reviewing a new animation book, Storytelling Through Animation by Mike Wellins. An excellent read so far (I'm only about half-way through the book), with examples from well-known movies, both animated and not. In addition, there are some interesting interviews and insights from a variety of professionals in the animation industry who talk about their specific areas of animation development. While this is primarily for beginning or intermediate skill levels in animation, it's still a worthwhile read I think. Especially if you've had limited exposure to animation history or are looking to create your own first animation short and would like some hints and tips on what to do and what problems to resolve to ease the development process. Ooooo....I even got to meet a couple of the animators who have a short on the CD included with the book, Patrik and Amila Puhala. They created a funny little animation short called 107.6 Degrees. Anyways, I'll post a more in-depth review of the book once I've finished reading it. :)