Here are some images and a clip from Disney’s next animated feature: “A Day with Wilbur Robinson“. I believe it is based on the book by William Joyce. It is about a boy genius who creates a time machine. It is slated for release in 2006.
Character Animation, Films | Administrator | 
October 30, 2005 3:47 pm | 
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| Chimp – Oct 29, 2005 |
Digital Art | Administrator | October 29, 2005 6:37 pm | Comments Off
So I thought I would post my daily doodle here and archive it under the Daily Doodle Archive page. Today I decided to go one step further and create a 2d animation with my doodle!
 (Click for animation) |
| Elf 2.1 – Oct 28, 2005 |
Character Animation, Digital Art | Administrator | October 28, 2005 1:31 pm | Comments Off
So a bunch of guys from Pixar are doing a combined blog. Some neat stuff… check out the ‘Thoughts on Hand Poses’!
Character Animation | Administrator | October 27, 2005 9:21 am | Comments Off
Ok, so I’m attempting to do the elusive… to define art. I have a new page for this purpose (over there to the right – there should be a link called ‘What is Art?‘). It’s a tricky question and it’s going to take a lot of verbiage to get it done right… Also, it will be one of those things that I can’t get done in one sitting. So I will add to it and tweak as time goes on, but I think I have the preliminaries out of the way. So if you are interested, grab your thinking cap and a coffee and head on over!
Commentary | Administrator | 8:50 am | Comments Off
I have been waiting for this movie for at least 15 years. The series by Lewis has to be my all time favorite work of fiction. I hope they stay true to the story. I’m so pumped about this movie. Did you see Aslan the Lion? Man, that’s some amazing CG work. You can see the trailer here (get the supersize version if you can).
Films | Administrator | October 24, 2005 10:25 am | Comments Off
Why are we such chickens? I mean it’s just a blank piece of paper, or an empty scene file, or a blob of clay, or a new animation assignment… Have you experienced it? I’ve heard artists say that facing a blank piece of paper is intimidating. Why is it that we are afraid of placing the first mark on the paper or moving the first foot control? I certainly have felt it… but it seems irrational, doesn’t it? No one needs to be around, but we check over our shoulder to see if anyone is watching. Weird, no? It’s definitely fear. I think it’s fear of failure and perhaps a fear of being mocked. That fear can paralyze us and it can prevent us from becoming better artists. My advice to myself when this happens is: get over it. I should know by now that I am going to fail and when I’m learning I will make things that don’t look good. It’s part of the process. Who cares if it isn’t the Mona Lisa, I’m learning.
I think the first step in ‘getting over it’ is becoming more childlike. I don’t mean childish (you know, temper tantrums and that sort of thing), rather it is the quality that a child has that enables them to trust and not be afraid. It’s that quality that shows up when they create their first work of art. They will scratch and scribble furiously with their crayon on a page and then with a wide cheesy grin show Mom and Dad their wonderful creation. They trust and they don’t fear. When we look at their work we don’t judge it according to ‘professional’ standards, but we judge it according to the level that the child is at. We encourage and we praise their attempt to recreate the image of what is supposed to be the pet dog. Somewhere along the line to becoming adults, we tend to lose that childlikeness. The fear of criticism and the experience of past mockery transfers to a fear of the blank page.
Now that isn’t to say that we shouldn’t get past the scribbling and scratching. After awhile the drawing of the dog should start to look like a dog. But we really shouldn’t be afraid of the blank page. Let’s be more childlike and enjoy the process of putting down the first mark on the page. Let it be a doorway to exploration and creativity – just like when we were kids. After all, now we are just older kids, right? Let’s just get over it. Don’t be afraid of showing your scribbles and scratches. Don’t be afraid of starting to scribble. Remember these are just the stepping stones to getting better at what we do. It gives new meaning to ‘No Fear’.
Commentary | Administrator | October 19, 2005 9:15 am | Comments Off
Looks like another one of my instructors from Animation Mentor, Carlos Baena, has a turn for a grillin’ over at CGTalk! Don’t forget to check out Victor Navone’s and Jason Schleifer’s Q&A as well!
Character Animation | Administrator | October 17, 2005 8:16 am | Comments Off
So you’re back reading my blog again? Cool, welcome back…, but now, just git. Git on over to Strut Your Reel and check out the interview with one of my former animation instructors, Bobby ‘Boom’ Beck. Bobby’s credits include “The Incredibles”, “Finding Nemo” and “Monster’s Inc.” (to name just a few). There are some great pointers in his interview… when he says ‘planning’… he means ‘planning’! So git on over – but do feel free to come back!
Character Animation | Administrator | October 12, 2005 8:36 am | Comments Off
So… at the risk of causing a stampede…Strut Your Reel has snaffooned (is that a word?) Ed Hooks and Ed is going to put on an Acting for Animators class (how did you do that, Tim?). Not only will he be hosting a discussion about acting for animators, but he is also going to critique and give specific feedback to all animators who participate in the exercises. That’s simply ‘Totally Wicked!’
Character Animation | Administrator | October 11, 2005 11:07 am | Comments Off