Contribute...Be Challenged...Learn

I seem to be great at giving advice to new or junior level artists about what they could do in order to grow in their field. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be listening to my own advice.

Last Saturday, in addition to hearing about what the job outlook is like for women wanting to get into the game development industry...I brought in some of my recent sketches and one of my print portfolios to the WIGI event to hopefully get some feedback from people who actually work with games. I spoke with art directors and human resources peeps and game designers from companies like Midway, Ensemble Studios, Microsoft, Paradigm and Sony Entertainment.

What I specifically heard from the art director at Ensemble Studios was that my work was totally great but that I had a definite marketing problem.

I should be posting my artwork on forums like ConceptArt.org. D'oh!

I needed to send out my work. D'oh!

Tailor the submissions to the company I am sending my portfolio to. D'oh!

Like I said, it sounds like I haven't been listening to my own advice. However, I also have not been sending any submissions to companies in the game industry because I've been targeting the animation industry for my dream job. Unfortunately, at least so far, they don't appear to want me.

Boo hoo.

I just know it, I'll have to start my own studio...and I seriously know the headache that that's going to cause me. But, that might be the only way I'll ever get the experience I'm seeking. We'll simply have to see what happens in the next few years.

In the meantime, I'm doing weekly contributions to the ConceptArt.org forums and I'll be doing the same on CGTalk, one of my other favorite hangouts. My "At Home" projects for the next two months (in addition to the job search which is the number one priority now) include the following, some of which I've mentioned previously:

- Creating an Elephant (modeling/texturing/rigging/animation) tutorial for Maya that I got from Lost Pencil
- Updating the Portfolio (online and print...a new round of submissions goes out this week...weeee!!)
- completing Mermaid Morning and other Illustrations (in both concept and "final for print" forms)
- Wicked Kids maquettes (a sculpting skill I'd like to add)
- A children's graphic novel
- The Gnome (revising storyboards and layouts, new character designs and environment concepts)
- Children's Picture book submissions (I have three in various stages of development, I need to submit the drafts to the editors I know for review)

I think I'm going to be a little busy.

Concept Art methods

I got to see a really interesting demonstration by Mark Behm, full-time animator part-time concept artist, at the ABOSG meeting last Saturday morning. The image that I posted above is the final color concept that resulted from the sketch that he brought with him at the start of the demo.

Unfortunately my co-workers who were really interested in checking out the demo couldn't attend for one reason or another. So I scheduled a creative session at work next week to give my own demo of what I learned about the Mark Behm concept art development method.

Should be fun. :)

Chick Challenge on ConceptArt

Well, I turned in my art entry, although I wasn't quite finished with it. sigh. No matter - I wanted to show my support for the ladies of the ConceptArt forum...and have a bit of fun with an illustration project that I just don't often have the time to create. :)

And I did have fun! Soooooo tired today, though.

I've posted some of my WIPs here to show from thumbnail sketches to "finished" product. I'll be doing the last updates to it over the weekend and then post it. Maybe include a before and after kind of thing, heh.

The final image was composited and colored in Photoshop from various scans of the detailed pencil drawings that I did. The pencil work was done on a Hot Press Illustration board at approximately 12" x 18" in size which was scanned in at 300 dpi. I drew the elements with a 2H pencil mostly, with the occasional 4B here and there for a few patches of darkness.

Here are a few (not all) of the thumbnails sketches I did first to explore the story and imagery that I thought could be told by the lyrics of Delerium's "Fallen Icons":

I considered these as primary elements - dark woods, snow, fire/lightening, golden arrow, fortress ruin. And I thought about these themes - self discovery, becoming the hunter, rage at the enemy, change, resurrection, once upon a time long ago, legends, fairy tales. So I came up with these kind of scenarios or Character stories - rising up from the grave, being turned into a vampire, the monster inside, changing into the monster, from the seed to a tree (Shannara style), etc. So, after considering the words, "In a dark woods paved with snow living all alone, I forgot long ago what I'm looking for...", I finally thought about taking an old fairy tale like Little Red Robin Hood and looking at it in a different way. Like maybe one of her descendents has just found out that she's about to become a werewolf (there's the self discovery!) because her many-times great-grandmother got bitten when she got lost in the woods (long, long ago). :) I blame the recent movie series "Ginger Snaps" that I watched and the Patricia Brigg's book, "Moon Called" that I've already read twice for additional inspiration.

Besides, I still have a fondness for "The Company of Wolves" and I do like Angela Carter's other interesting stories...

Here are scenes from my dining table of the pencils in progress:

The project took about 20 hours to get to the above "finished" state. Breaking that down into blocks of development time, I'd say I spent about 6 hours on research and rough sketches; about 10 hours on the detailed underdrawing and 4-5 hours on coloring. Which is why I'm not finished. :)

I have about 4 more hours of pencil work to do on the missing characters and then about another 6-8 hours coloring that and doing the over-painting. I'm going to try and get that done over the weekend. By next Wednesday for sure.

Cause I've got too many other projects I want to work on!!!!

Bwa haha ha ha!!!

Busy Saturday!

Two events going on Saturday that will be keeping me busy!

First thing:
The ABOSG April 2006 meeting: presenting Mark Behm, a concept artist AND animator, speaking about digital painting and character development. "Lighting, value & color, visualizing form and process will be discussed and demonstrated. The medium will be digital although the approach applies to traditional methods as well."

I'm always curious to see another artist at work - you never know what interesting things you can learn about...and maybe incorporate into your own workflow. ;)

And then:
The Women in Games International (WIGI) is hosting an event over at the SMU Guildhall about Advancing Your Career in Game Development: The Women's Perspective. I figure it's worthwhile to attend in order to speak directly with some of the women who actually have a career in game development, as well as get some feedback from recruiters and other game artists on my resume and art samples; particularly since I realize that toy production is simply not the career for me. Since I'm not getting anywhere at the moment with my job search in the animation industry (4+ years but who's counting...ah, me...darn it, sometimes it just gets depressing)...I think it would be a good next step for my creative career, especially since I don't have any intention of living in China in the near future. :)

Also on the positive side, working as a concept artist in the game industry I can hopefully get some real practice with 3D modeling and texturing, something I'm not able to do at all with my current job.

Sunday is going to be crazy: I need to finish my entry for the Chick Challenge.
Fun, fun, FUN!!!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Random Email

I got this random email the other day from someone named Ashley asking the following questions:

"Hello, my name is Ashley.

For my art class we have to research an art career and i choose visual develpoment artist. could u tell me a little bit about it? and tell me any school requirments? any talents needed for this? what kind of education do u need? do u have to go to college? for this project we must also come up with an project to show of. this will be my first time doing this got any advice or anything. i hope u dont mind me emailing u like this but this looks like an interesting art career. well i hope to hear from u soon. have a wonderful day. bye.

Love Always and Forever, Ashley."
---------------------------------

Every once in a while I get a random email from someone who has either seen my website or seen one of my posts on some forum or wherever. I have to admit, I've sent out a few emails with questions myself. So if it seems legit, I will send an email back. :)

Here's what I sent in reply to this latest one:

Hi Ashley,

I'm not sure what grade your art class is in, elementary or high school, so if you need more information then I've provided here please let me know. :)

You asked if I could tell you a little bit about what a visual development artist does. Well, the title pretty much tells you exactly what it is - you visually develop products and ideas through your art.

In my current role as a visual development artist in the toy industry, I create concept art for a wide variety of toy and novelty products. Sometimes that means a quick pencil or marker sketch to help the product manager communicate their idea to a buyer. Sometimes that means a very detailed illustration with character turn-arounds with callouts of fabric materials, product dimensions, pantone colors, and a picture of the product inspiration if there was one. I have also worked as a children's book illustrator, a multimedia artist, a software interface designer, a portrait artist, a web designer, a graphic artist, a veterinary assistant, a gift-wrap specialist, and so on. I would love to work full-time as an artist in the animation industry one day, too. :) I have two degrees: one is a BFA in Communication Arts with a minor in Marketing, and the other is an Associates degree in Computer Animation and Design. All of those experiences and more have helped me in my on-going creative career as a visual development artist.

As a visual development artist or VDA, you would be responsible for helping to generate new ideas and concept drawings for the company you work for. You might also take those conceptual drawings into what could be called "final art" which would be very tight, clean b/w line art or color illustration (or series of illustrations or storyboards or character turn-arounds and so on) or 3D model of the idea and see it through actual production - whether that is for animation, game development, toy production, advertising, automobile production, book illustration, etc.. There are many industries that benefit from the assistance of a VDA.

School requirements for this job will vary. At the very least, some VDA jobs may require an associates degree and 2+ years of professional creative experience in a particular industry, or a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree (BFA). Other VDA jobs, depending on the industry, may require an Industrial Design degree (4 years) instead. From my own experience, I would say that any education that can help you learn draftmanship skills (drawing, sculpting, painting, CG art), that provides you with a variety of experiences, creative and otherwise, and keeps you interested in learning, inspired and self-motivated...and most definitely teaches good communication skills would be a good school to attend. As a visual development artist, you have to be able to communicate your vision to the people that hire you - so you need to be a good artist and a good communicator (writing and speaking) and have a ton of ideas at every moment. The more you know, the more original or new and improved ideas you can provide.

Talent? Talent might help get you started and keep you motivated to improve your drawing and other creative skills. But, you have to be willing to practice, practice, practice. Ask any artist and they will be practicing their craft every day. Carry a sketchbook around with you so that you can draw in it every day when you're on the bus going to school or instead of just sitting in front of the tv. You know what I mean. :)

To help you better focus your interest in becoming a visual development artist, I would say decide what industry you would like to work in, and then do some research about the kind of education and experiences that they would like to see in their creative employees. You can often find out by visiting those company websites and seeing the job opportunities they post and the requirements for those jobs.

I am not sure what you mean by your last question:"For this project we must also come up with an project to show of. this will be my first time doing this got any advice or anything." Do you mean, what kind of project would a visual development artist do?

I hope the information that I've provided is what you need for your report. Please let me know if you require any additional info. And - good luck with your project!

t

Elephant sketches and Chick Challenge

The first step in order to do the 3D model of an elephant (as per the tutorial): create sketches of orthographic reference views of the object - front, side and top. I've posted the front and side view sketches of the elephant that I did.

As per every 3D project I've done in the past, I sketched the three views of the character I want to model. I also did a rear view, just because. In this instance, however, since I am following a tutorial, I am keeping my sketches somewhat similar to the samples as provided by the tutorial so the elephant is fairly realistic. After this project is done it would be worthwhile to do a more fun, cartoon version that would still apply what I've learned from the tutorial but in my own style.



Chick Challenge
Conceptart.org is hosting a challenge in the Thunderdome arena for the girls of the forum. Sounded like fun so I'm joining in.

Challenge: FEMALE CONTESTANTS ONLY art battle
Medium: Your choice. Have fun!
2D Digital and traditional media are all acceptable.
NO photograpy (or photo manipulations) allowed.

****Subject: Visually Interpret a Song of Your Choice****
Contest ENDS / ENTRIES DUE BY: APRIL 24 2006 11:59pm PST

Of course, the prize is pretty decent, too:
THE TOP 10 ARTISTS OF THIS CONTEST WILL RECEIVE TUITION PASSES FOR THE UPCOMING CONCEPTART.ORG MONTREAL WORKSHOP

But I'm doing this for fun and to have something recent besides the ever so cute Christmas stuff to put in my portfolio. The best part is that you also have to post WIP's so it will be a good way to show how I develop my projects. And I'll get to see how some others do their work as well. There's about 70 different girls signed up to participate, from students to professionals.

Happy 100th, Animation!

According to ASIFA, today is the 100th year for animation.

"The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is celebrating Animation's 100th Birthday on April 6th. From its humble beginnings with J. Stuart Blackton's film, "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces" first released on April 6th, 1906, animation has gone on to become one of the greatest American creative contributions to the arts, second only to Jazz."

Seems like such a short time for such an interesting art form.

Toy Design: the Technical Artist

While my own current role as a toy designer/product designer requires more of the creative skills of a traditional artist (drawing, inking, painting) along with the usual Photoshop, etc.; some companies would rather have a more technical CG artist to assist in the product development pipeline.

For example, I saw this posting and description the other day for a toy designer / 3D modeler:

"...has worked with top studios and designers from consumer based product to high-end collectables - to limited edition “high-art” based licensing with Internationally renowned artists.

We currently are seeking talented and experienced (Maya) modelers with a strong aptitude for 3D modeling tools and capturing character details from style guides for toy production/rapid prototyping.

Ideal candidate will have a working knowledge of outputting to a rapid prototyping machine (converting from obj. to stl.), however, studio is willing to train the right candidate. Modelers must have an eye for detail and be able to work off of 2D specs, designs/turns and capture the product and style (of design) flawlessly and ‘on-model‘. Most projects are character and or prop based (stylized cartoon to ultra-realistic props, action figures and or vehicles), some environmental design from time to time. Strong technical and IT background a plus. Must be self-motivated, responsible, and driven, to work with our fast paced environment. Must have a genuine enthusiasm and passion for toy design.

Must Have:

• 2 years professional industry experience in toy design and or (industry level) character based modeling (Maya)
• Must have experience in working from specs, turn-arounds or style guides and be able to translate from 2D into 3D.

Plus:

• Some knowledge of outputting to a rapid prototyping machine.
• 2 years traditional art background with experience in design, drafting and hands on figurative sculpting."

So. Even if you don't have all of the traditional art skill from years of practical experience, university education, or even raw talent, you can still get a fairly creative role in the toy industry. :)

My Cat Likes to Floss

My cat, Marco Polo, likes to floss his teeth.

I'm not sure how or even why it all got started. I mean, it's not like he can hold the floss between his paws...well, not exactly. He's managed to train me how to do that for him. He is, after all, a charming poser kind of cat. He's all black and happens to understand how beautiful he can look when he's framed by the doorway, laying down on a red blanket, or sitting 'just so' on the window sill. Maybe that's why he likes to keep his teeth shiny and white. Maybe it was originally the sound of the floss being pulled out of the container that attracted him. Maybe it's because he likes to play with string when I let him have the chance. Only when supervised, of course. I'm sure he'd be happy to swallow it down, given the chance, and then impact his intestines or twist them in some horrible fashion that would require surgery at the very least. That's just one of those crazy things cats do.

This is the same cat, after all, that electrocuted himself a few years ago by chewing on my desk lamp power cord. Got the shock of his life, literally. He never chewed on wires and electric cords again, thank goodness.

Interestingly, he's very particular about which brand of floss he likes. It has to be Crest Glide floss in mint flavor. Believe me, I tried cheaper brands once I realized how demanding he is about flossing regularly every night. But, no, it had to be Glide.


He's much better and persistent about flossing than I am. Every night as soon as he realizes that I'm about to brush my teeth (and hopefully floss afterwards...like I said, he's better than I am), he sits patiently at my feet and waits. Waits till I open the right side drawer. Waits till I pull out the floss container. And if I immediately don't offer him some floss, he will ask for it. The demanding type of meow that lets me know he wants something. Now.

I pull out the floss, wrap it around my fingers, bend down and present it to him. He immediately starts to purr and starts chewing up and down the line. It is the most hilarious thing I've ever seen this silly cat do. He's extremely focused and will have the most bizarre expression on his face with his eyes bulging and tongue rasping along the floss strand. He will even move his head side to side to reach the front and the far back teeth. When he's almost finished, I'll release one side of the floss so he can grab that end with his mouth and like a string of spaghetti in reverse, I'll pull at the floss so it goes through his front teeth. He likes to do that a couple of times before I say, "Enough".

I wonder how long this will last...

Harryhausen: You're the Coolest

So cool to see and hear from an artist whose work I've long admired and whose movies are a blast! I still get all silly when I watch some of my favorites, especially "Mysterious Island", "Clash of the Titans" and "Jason and the Argonauts".

Thanks to A Bunch of Short Guys (Dallas Animation Group) and Janimation and the other sponsors for putting this together.

Yup, I got the book, The Art of Ray Harryhausen; AND got it autographed. Had a fun discussion with a singer from the Dallas Opera while I was in line...it helped make the wait to meet Mr. Harryhausen go by faster. It made me think that I need to get me a ticket or two for a show again and listen to some fine music. Not that I'm a major opera fan, but I did notice in the brochure I got the other day from the Ft Worth Symphony Orchestra that they're putting on a Warner Brother's Cartoon Music set called "Bugs Bunny on Broadway". Now THAT sounds like a whole lotta fun. :) And what a great introduction to Bass Hall - I'm sorry to say that I still haven't been to a musical performance there yet.

But back to Harryhausen...

I was so impatient to go through the book as soon as I picked it up that I missed when they started letting people in. D'oh! Turns out that the guy that ended up sitting next to me is running a small 2D animation studio where one of my former co-workers is now animating. Based on what Anthony had said before about the place, it reminds me alot of the multimedia group where I first started learning some animation and layout after university. Lots of long hours, some really fun stuff, and so much to learn from some seriously experienced artists. Sounds great! I'm glad to hear that he's doing well.

Now for real, back to Harryhausen....

We got to see the short film of a new production he was involved with called "The Pit and the Pendulum", which is based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe. It was really cool! Made me want to rethink the offer I had earlier today to work on a stop motion project. It would totally be on our own time. I need to talk to the guy again tomorrow and see if we can't get something going. Why not? It would be fun.

Spring 3D Tutorial

It's Spring! Time to start new things....or at the very least clean out the closet. :)

After the not so steady progress I had with the 3D book tutorials to keep up my modeling skills, I determined that since I wasn't going back to school (again) that a strong video tutorial might be a better idea and a better fit for my wacky non-work creative schedule. While I won't have the direct teacher contact and can't turn to the student(s) sitting next to me to ask about what I missed...I will be able to watch someone build the project, and follow those steps rather than reading about it. Plus I can still post my progress on one of my favorite modeling forums for added feedback. The DVD's that I currently have aren't necessarily project specific, but do give good walk-thru's of the various 3D programs. What I really wanted was a video that took me thru modeling, rigging, texture/UV, and finally basic animation with one project.

I'm gonna build me an elephant in Maya. :)

Check back soon - I'm on a schedule, so I'll be posting my progress regularly. Or at least, more so than I did with the book tutorials, heh.

My first task: research! Always fun. I need to find some good elephant images so I can sketch my poses for the modeling portion. Also, it probably won't hurt to get some good skin references while I'm hunting down elephants for the later texturing part of the project. I've already found some excellent references of elephants in motion from the BBC Motion Gallery for the basic animation portion of the tutorial set. It's my favorite online video library. I also (surprise!) already had a book on African Elephants in my library that I probably got from Half-Price Books at some time. I have a good reference library. ;)

Other Random Projects
One of my co-workers has offered to show me how to design the pattern and sew a plush toy based on one of my critter designs. I'm hoping I'll be able to pull in an hour or two at the office after I've signed out so that I can use some of our sewing room equipment. One of the reasons I want to do this is because I happen to like plush toys. :) I've also always wanted to make a few, for myself, similar to the Steiff type of collectible plush toy made of mohair. There's also a Russian artist who does some hand-made ones as well. They are sooo cute! Maybe one day I'll have my own limited edition line made right here in the U.S.A...not in China or Germany.

I've been learning the flute. To make sure I keep up my practice for that, I'm scheduling some music time during each week for flute as well as some relaxing time at my keyboard. I'm totally a hobbyist with my music and have no intention of being anything more than that. I'm just glad that I took all those piano lessons when I was a tot so that I can enjoy playing as an adult.

Sculpting a Maquette. I'm doing a couple of sculpts based on the line of Halloween dolls that I designed at my job. While I'm sure the final samples that the factory produces will be quite interesting (I hope) and will be a fun mix of vinyl/PVC and plush...and even include animation (the robotic, motion-sensor kind) and sound; I like the designs well enough that I'd like to create maquettes of a couple of them. One of my co-workers has also promised to show me how to make a cast of my final sculpts.

Oil painting. I've got the canvas and the paints just waiting for me to find some time. This year seems a good year for that. The painting I've been planning for awhile is based on a photo that I took at the Ft. Worth Zoo some years ago in the bird exhibit. My thought is to try and recreate some of the style that I have with watercolour but in oils. It will be a fun project. :)

Me Day. Today was my birthday so I celebrated by having a "Me Day". It was nice and relaxing. Yes, I did actually start cleaning out my closet. I think it's going to take all week. Doh! My co-workers knew I was taking the day off today, so last Friday they took me out for a lovely lunch at Cozymel's (tableside guacamole, YUM!) and we all shared a birthday cake later that afternoon. Although I was out, some of my friends (you know who you are) sent me a lovely flower bouquet that made me smile all afternoon. Work is just a few miles away, so after "Night Watch" was finished (I treated myself to a matinee), I swung by the office and brought the flowers home to enjoy for the rest of the week.

Communicating Vision: Developing Trend Boards

I'm rather surprised that I didn't learn how to use or develop trend boards until I was already a senior web designer. That was about 6 years after graduating from University. Granted, I did focus on Illustration rather than Advertising Art so maybe I simply didn't have that class, but even so... What with the variety of products I've worked on as a professional artist, not to mention the fact that I attended a four year university program to gain my BFA in Communication Arts, I should have run across them before.

Trend Boards are SO useful!

While the Fashion Industry uses boards all the time to help determine the next season's designs, they aren't the only industry to benefit from working with trend boards. There are a variety of reasons that trend boards would benefit any product, whether software or automotive design or publications like magazines or film development or toys - it's a great way to communicate your product's design vision in a visual way that most people can immediately understand.

Trend Boards for Toy Development
Concept boards are used in the early stages of product development to coordinate the efforts of everyone on the design team. Having a visual indicator of the design direction helps in the decision process by narrowing down the different directions from various ideas proposed by the team. This also provides a consistent vision from the design team to the product managers and buyers. From what I've read about the fashion industry, boards are used in selling apparel internally to the manufacturer’s sales force and externally to retail buyers; much in the way they can be used to present concepts and themes of products to the sellers and buyers in the toy development industry - or so it has been with my experience as a toy designer.

We've used single trend boards to show references of inspiration; and other boards to show colors, fabric, fonts, along with the particular style of art specific to the trend. Other times with other projects, we've used one board for presenting color, one for the trend theme (which included fabrics, materials, animation, fonts, characters, story), and another to show the concepts developed within the trend theme.

Trend Boards for Web and Software Design
One of the ways we developed trend boards for web and software application design for clients was to have them select product designs and layouts that they preferred because they liked the colors, they liked the layout, they liked the use of white space, they like the fonts...they felt it could convey their brand, or fit the image that they wanted their product to present. A quick way to do this would be to have them pick out web sites and send us the links. However, back in the early days when there simply weren't that many websites (or there were few sites that didn't have every color and font the browser provided plus a GIF animated flashing logo...horrid!); we would provide a big batch of magazines from all kinds of industries and interests in one of our conference rooms (or the client's specified workroom), tear out sheets, and have a half-day or all day exploration of what key elements they wanted as part of their product design aesthetic. It was always a fun day. :)

Trend Boards for Animation?
During the Disney work session, the Disney creative directors and their design staff provided trend boards for the licensed products that we'll be working with in the next year. But that was for consumer product development. I don't know how or if trend boards are used in developing animation. I have no actual experience with animation development (outside of my brief internship); and have not read any information about it at all in any of the "Art of..." animation books and others that I've picked up over the years. Maybe I just haven't run across any mention of it yet, or they go by a different terminology in animation development.

Here are some examples of design trend boards that I found on the internet that have some similarities to boards that I've created or worked with in the past:

Trend Boards sample 1

Trend Boards sample 2

Trend Boards sample 3

Ho, Ho, Ho....eh?

Yup, it's Christmas time. Again. Just plop a Santa hat on it and you're done. ;)

Our product development schedule runs at least a year in advance, and that has to include enough time for concept development, sample development and various stages of approvals from product managers to licensers (in some instances like Disney for example) to vendor buyers (like Wal-mart). So, what I'm working on now you might see in stores late 2007 or 2008.

Last year, I listened to Christmas music to try and get in the Holly, Jolly spirit of Christmas. Just couldn't do it this year. Instead, I'm trying to do something new and different (and listening to whatever is on my iPod...NOT Christmas music). Something that, after almost two years (my, how time flies), I feel more comfortable about doing since I have a much broader understanding of what we have produced, what products of ours will be in stores this season and next; and, what our competitors have been doing. Plus, because of the popularity of some of my designs with the buyers and our product managers, I can push out something completely different and call it my own. :)

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, of my concepts survives the final cut and sell. Guess I'll find out Christmas 2007...

In Other News...
I got an email from the AI Alumni association a couple weeks ago asking for my assistance in their Mentoring Program. I politely replied with an email that basically stated, "I'm nowhere near to the new career path that I planned to have (a creative role in the animation industry) after graduating from the Dallas Art Institute. I would have nothing positive to say to any AI student as a mentor at this time."

The job that I currently have as a toy designer utilizes NONE of the new skills (admittedly, quite junior level) in 3D production and design that I learned in order to gain my associates degree at AID in 2004 (my second degree). Instead, my current job which is junior level since I had no prior experience in the toy design industry, relies on skills that I already had developed from the years of practical experience working as an artist after receiving my BFA from UNT in 1992.

I don't think my education at AID was a complete waste because I love to learn and I did gain a better understanding of 3D production. I also appreciate the time and effort it took for me to both work (sometimes part-time and sometimes full-time as an internet consultant and designer) and be a full-time student again for what I considered "continued education" in order to change my career. So. I don't feel that I can mentor any student as an AID alumni until my job reflects and builds on the skills and career path that was my whole reason for attending AID.

Makes total sense, right?

Anyhoo, I just got back an email from one of the alumni coordinators in response to my comments about my lack of qualifications to be a Mentor for their students. Basically, how they hate to hear of my disappointment with the progress, or lack thereof, in my career since graduating from the school. And what they can do to assist me.

Assist me?

Hmmm...I'm thinking there's really nothing they can do today, particularly if they couldn't help me before when I was fresh out of their program. I found more job leads on my own than from what I got from the job search program, the AI staff had no industry contacts that they could directly refer me to; and honestly job leads is really only what I would or could expect from them at this point.

EDIT: The online mentor/mentee for all of the current AI students and alumni could be a good thing...if more alumni participate. In any case, I went ahead and signed up that I was looking for a mentor - "a successful 3D modeler working in the animation industry, not game development, who could provide guidance and advice." :)

Disney

The Disney work session last week was great!
Southern California was beautiful!
The weather was awesome!
The creative team was most excellent!

Hmmm...I think I must find another opportunity to get some work there. ;)

Bliss...

Bliss is having hot water.

The boiler for my apartment complex was out for a few days because of some kind of repair work. The gas company had to shut off service until the repairs to the boiler were complete...so we had no hot water. Of course, this was perfectly timed to coincide with drops in temperature to freezing. No hot shower. Bah. Boiling water on the stove-top was my temporary solution to have some hot water for washing. While I was dealing with the situation, I kept thinking of stories my mom told me of her childhood in rural North Germany where winters meant ice on the windows inside the bedroom and extremely short visits to the outhouse. And everyone took a bath in the big tub in the kitchen where it was warm.

Needless to say, I was very happy when the hot water returned. While I happen to enjoy the occasional cooler winter weather that we get here in Texas, I enjoy the hot summers more. I like polar bears, but I'm not one for bathing in cold water.

Love that hot water. :)

New Things

As an artist, I always have something new going on...both at work and with my own evening and weekend doodles. This week has been strangely productive when I consider how swamped I've been at work and I've even been doing job stuff at home.

I've been studying wrinkles. Something I don't usually do. It's not something I like to focus on when I'm looking in the mirror, anyhoo.

ha.

Ah, those lines and lines of endless wrinkles. Some of my characters this week needed good wrinkles to help get them a bit more creepy. Aging can do that, when added to the right personality. The final characters I'll be working on next week will need turn-arounds as well so that they can be sculpted by artists in China for animatronics. It's interesting to see the end results a month or so later.

And everyone seems to visualize age somewhat differently. Or, maybe I felt that more since I was focusing on female characters for a bit. It's amazing how adding a bit of "make-up" even if it's only by pencil on paper, makes the critic think the female character is a little younger or age appropriate. At least that's been my experience lately. LOL. And a little plastic surgery a la the eraser helps things a bit, too. So, here's some of what I sketched to get some wrinkle inspiration.

Guess what! Another cool book!

This one is called Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels by Tom Bancroft. I totally recommend it to anyone interested in character design. While I already have my own methods to create various characters in the many products I develop (toys, novelty, illustration for books, etc.), this book also has some great alternatives and methods of rapid production that can come in really handy...particularly when you think you've finally run out of ideas for yet another new character. :)

At work, the new things I've been developing these past couple of weeks have jumped back and forth from scary life-sized Halloween animatronic characters that will be sculpted in China for the next six weeks, to saccharine-sweet Valentines and Easter designs. If I had to pick my least favorite commercial holidays, those last two would be it. The first is a constant knock on the head about how unsuccessful and yes, pathetic, you are as a human being if you're not involved in any kind of romantic relationship; and the second has art requests that are 100% focused on bunnies, eggs and other fluffy toys rather than the religious significance of Easter. I have to admit, I always have a laugh when I think of all the Easter bunnies I'm developing...particularly since the original association of rabbits for Christian symbolism in art was how sinful Bunnies are because they're always having sex. Ha! Those sexy Easter bunnies... Of course, there are pagan associations with bunnies as well having to do with fertility and the renewal of life and so on. Ah, those pagans. :)

After work when I can, I've been focusing on my latest portfolio submissions to the various animation and game companies who've been looking for visual development artists or concept artists. Since I'm now submitting to game companies as well rather than just animation studios, I've been pulling together at least two types of portfolios to better match the needs of the two very different industries. Hopefully, I'll be hearing back from one or two in the next few months.

I have to admit, I'm nervous as heck about all of this. It's what I want to do more than anything, but so far I seem to keep missing out. I don't know what else to do, but try, try again. If (when!) I finally get an offer, it will be a big change in many ways. None of these companies are in Texas, so it looks like I'll be moving permanently for awhile. New places, new people, new experiences. While I was consulting, I lived for months at a time at various locations around the U.S. to be at the client site, but usually stayed at various hotels during the week and almost always back in Texas on the weekends. I haven't done a full "home" relocation since I was an Air Force Brat.

Finally...One more week, and it's off to Disney for my first work session. I'm extremely curious to see how that goes. My previous design sessions with other companies have been more focused on the technology side with software and web application development with (mainly) corporate clients; and I'm usually part of the team leading the GUI and Information Architecture, along with prioritizing client content. Very little creative design really to my mind. I'm hoping this one will be more fun. :)

Got Legs?

I was reading a book the other day that had some six-legged Snowcats. I wonder if the author was trying to do a kind of homage to the Princess of Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I also remembered a somewhat similar book cover by Michael Whelan that had a multi-legged lion-like creature along with the usual scantily dressed Martian female. Anyways, I didn't like the Snowcat that was on this particular book cover, "Rebel Ice"...it wasn't as well done as the humans. So I decided to do my own concepts. Surprise!

I figure part of why I didn't like the artist's cat was that the body appeared to be too short to allow much freedom of movement of the extra pair of legs. Also, while the artist did use a snow leopard as a reference for the cat which fit the climate (mostly) that they were in, for the type of action required for the animals in the story (they carried riders and equipment on occasion), there did not appear to be enough size or strength to enable the cats in the illustration to do what they needed to do. Not that there ever was an explanation for why the critter needed six legs in the first place...it never used them for carrying stuff or grasping. I know, I'm fussing. But these questions did inspire me to do my own studies. :)

For my cat sketch, I decided to bulk up the shoulders for added stamina and strength; lengthen the torso to allow for larger lung capacity and space for extra vertebrae on the spine for a second set of shoulder bones and legs, while still leaving room for intestines and other viscera. Fun!

Later, while wandering around on the web, I happened to discover a rather interesting blog - "The Blackwing Diaries" by a story artist named Jenny Lerew. My thanks to the Seward Street blog for finding it and passing it on to the rest of us. :)

And for the final leg of my evening chat, my dear brother-n-law, Jim. He was injured in a driving accident last weekend when an oncoming driver veered into his lane and slammed into him and his truck. Lots of ouch to all. Surgery is definitely required, and recovery will take some time. I wish him the best! Hang in there, dude!

In the meantime, after the surgery I do look forward to having him as my new stationary subject for character studies while he's on the road to recovery. ;)

JK!!

Happy Chinese New Year!

The factories we work with in China are closed for the next week in order to celebrate the Chinese New Year. At work on Friday, we had a nice company lunch brought in from a local Korean restaurant which serves more authentic Chinese food (not the usual fried rice) to honor our Chinese co-workers. This year will be the Year of the Dog. According to the Chinese Zodiac, I was born in the Year of the Snake.

Not that I ever feel reptilian (ha), but Zodiacs are always fun to think about. The above picture is of me when I was only 5 weeks old. I was looking through some old photos today for a photo of a baby reference and I knew that I had a couple of me around somewheres. There's an art student that I occasionally mentor who is doing an illustration of a baby and I wanted a reference or two to help explain why there were some problems with the baby's pose.

This weekend has been an exercise in Halloween thinking and a bit of artwork. We have a meeting on Monday to discuss the Halloween 2007 styleguide with the Product Line manager, so I've been working on my bit of the guide as well as squeezing in some of my own stuff and wrapping up some Easter and Valentine artwork. For some reason, it doesn't feel like I had a weekend. I had to miss the ABOSG meeting on Saturday which was something I look forward to each month. It's a chance to hear a little bit about what's going on in the Dallas Animation Community. I'll have to go to the next one for sure.

All that thinking about Halloween reminded me of one of my favorite illustrators, Robin Jacques. He illustrated many of my favorite fairy tales and scary stories for kids. He also created artwork for a few adventure stories. His line work is very distinctive and something I've always recognized and appreciated.

Speaking of reptiles, after reading a new book this weekend in the Dragon Delasangre series, I did a quick sketch during the hour it took to feed my two snakes today, Ghost (rat snake) and Copper (corn snake). They're both about 16 years old, and have lived quite a bit longer than I figured. I guess I'm doing something right. At least, unlike the dragons, my snakes don't rip and tear up their prey...although they do choke the mice and swallow them whole. I'm glad they only eat once a month or so.

Why the Animation Industry...

A friend emailed me the other day, "Your work is too good not to end up on screen for some studio..." Believe me, I know it's not because he saw the cat animation I did when I was in school. Ha!

It's sweet to hear when someone appreciates my art, but seeing my stuff on screen is actually not why I want to work in the animation industry (it would be a bonus though, heh). It's really because of all the creative jobs I've either researched, done professionally or spoken with other artists about...well, it happens to be the industry that satisfies all of my creative goals:

- I am/may be involved in developing the story (storyboards, layout, character development, etc.)
- I would be able to work on projects that are kid friendly, and not solely for adults
- I get to work with a team or teams of artists
- I am not required to travel periodically to China
- I do not need to dress up in costume for sales shows
- I can use my artistic skills to illustrate characters, environments and props
- I get paid for doing creative work I enjoy

As a freelance illustrator, while I *might* write and illustrate the story, I do not have the opportunity to work with other artists which is something I really enjoy and have appreciated with almost every team I've worked with in the past. I get lonely working at home by myself. I like working with other artists, bouncing around ideas and discussing techniques and learning from each other.

As a toy designer, I do not have the opportunity to work on products or projects where I can develop stories or my own characters from stories I've written or have the time to get to understand the licensed characters I'm designing into products - production time is far too rapid for that. In some instances, the concept I developed that morning is already turned into a sample by the next day in China to sell to a client. And over half the time the end product looks like a step-child of my original concept. Bleh. Plus, the only way to advance within this industry, or so I've been told, is to become a product manager and/or travel frequently to China and work in the factories over there. Neither of which is an attractive creative career path to me.

As a game artist, I would most likely be involved in developing characters and environments that I have little or no interest in, particularly if I stayed in Texas where most game companies develop first-person shooters, and other kill- or be-killed games. My preference is developing projects for kids, not war games; additionally, as a game artist I would be expected to develop concept art and model and rigg and texture and animate. Game companies, at least at the moment and those that I am most familiar with, still prefer generalists rather than specialists. There would be little opportunity to focus on only 2D visual development or that and 3D modeling and texturing. Although, if given the opportunity to work on games for kids, I'd certainly consider it; but I would likely have to accept a much more junior level role because of my lack of experience with 3D development on a day-to-day basis. And, while I like to play Doom now and then (and EQ2) I definitely don't have a "passion for games" - a frequently noted requirement on game artist job descriptions.

My artistic passion is for animation, illustration and story development, not games. The animation industry itself has long fascinated me and has definitely inspired my artwork. If traditional animation was still a strong part of the animation industry today in the U.S., that's likely where I'd be focusing more of my career interest. Hmm... Maybe one day, we'll have a kind of Studio Ghibli here, too. Now, there's another interesting related goal to strive for... :)

My most satisfying creative job was working as a multimedia artist on a contract with Houghton-Mifflin where I did a bit of storyboarding, character design, layouts, interface design, inking, coloring and 2D animation. I worked with some awesome creative people and we loved the work we did and were proud of the products we created.

And that's part of what I look forward to when I finally start my career in the animation industry.

Texas Burn Ban

I had to call the police tonight.

Not something I was planning on for my Saturday night, not at all. Seems almost like a stupid, silly mistake, but the potential results could have been devastating. That's why there's codes and law upon law and additional precautions even added - we have had such a bad drought in our area that even using barbeque grills in your backyard in at least one county is illegal at the moment.

Some idiot neighbor of mine at my apartment complex was grilling with a charcoal BBQ grill on his balcony.

I told you, it seems like a silly mistake. But it's at least a $2000 fine. Could be even more right now because of the burn bans that are in effect over most of Texas. What makes it worse, though, is the city law here has been in effect for over 10 years and is a similar law throughout most Texas cities - absolutely no grilling on your apartment balcony; and any grills must be at least 10 feet away from any building structures. That's the law.

Now, the apartment complex does have to have tenants sign in their lease agreement that they have been informed of this regulation. And I remember signing it when I renewed my lease this past November because this same neighbor had been grilling on his balcony several times over the summer. I didn't say anything to him then, but I did tell the apartment office when I was there picking up some mail that one of my neighbors was occasionally grilling on his balcony. At that time I was informed that it was illegal and that there should be a sign posted on our balcony stating so. And that was something I'd seen at all of my previous apartment residences. I'd hoped that the apartment office would send out flyers complex-wide reminding all tenants about this law and if they didn't have a sticker, to let the office know so one could be posted. Simple, right?

There's no sign posted on my balcony. Still. I told them that at the office again today, when I was there to pick up my mail (my new dvd burner, yay!). I also asked them what I should do the next time I saw somebody grilling on their balcony or patio. Needless to say, this person wasn't the only idiot I'd seen grilling lately. They told me not to confront the tenant, but to call the police.

So tonight, when I saw my neighbor grilling, the flames leaping up out of the grill, and smelled the burning, I did. I called the police.

I felt bad. That's alot of money to have to pay for a stupid mistake. But you know what? This is the same idiot that during Christmas week when I was taking out my garbage one evening, I saw him grilling on his balcony...the smoke rising up into the apartment above him (he's on the second floor). So, I asked him, "Is that a grill?" He said, "Yes." And told me that he was grilling something for the company lunch at work the next day. I said, "Did you know that it's against the law to grill on your balcony? That it could be a $2000 fine?" He said, "No way!" Didn't know it at all. Had not had any trouble in the months that he'd been doing so. I told him to talk to the apartment office if he had any questions about it. And left him at it.

I told the police that it wasn't an emergency (I didn't call 911, but rather the listed number in the phone book), but that one of my neighbors was grilling on his balcony and that since there were so many burn bans in effect, I needed to know who to talk to about it and what I needed to do. They connected me with the fire department. And they came over.

They were glad that I called.

Maybe if I hadn't had the apartment complex burn down one street over because some idiot set off fireworks...maybe if a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have woken up to smoke in my bedroom because of the fire at another tenant's apartment unit only 10 feet away from my own home - caused by his neglected grill that set his own balcony on fire...maybe then I wouldn't have been so anxious and determined about calling to report this violation. I don't know.

Another house burned down today. It was caused by their neighbor grilling in his own backyard. The grass and then the fence caught fire. And a family lost their home.