Words of Wisdom 4

When darkness, stress, and loss surround you, go out and find some fucking fun. Tom Parker taught me this wonderful wisdom. I was having a horrible day, the stress in the room was so thick you could cut is with a chain saw. Tom saw my dilemma, grabbed me by the tortured soul and took me to the Billy Goat in Chicago. We had a blast and when we returned to the room of doom, everything was fixed.

Aquarium

Placeholder page. A very convenient animation that will hold the spot of any area of the HF website that is still under construction.

Bob Camp

I talked to Bob Camp yesterday and I can only be reminded of all the great and talented people I have met in my career. Bob is the type of rare artist who possesses great artistic skill, along with a great mind, and the generosity to share it. So many artists approach life with a unhealthy dose of paranoia. Bob is not one of them. We talked about the business and some creative ideas and I was struck about how forthcoming and willingly helpful he was. He is a genuinely funny guy and truly a "white hat" (good guy). I have been lucky to seek out and find some great artists and friends who share the same code, that it is better to promote one another than step on someone's head. Bob and I will do something together hopefully, but if not, someone should be taking notice of his special talent.

Final FISHIES

I adjusted color in Photoshop using channel mixer. This tool gives all the designs a more unified color. Wednesday, I will actually animate the fishies and create a quick placeholder until the music is finished for the Hula Girl sequence. Fun.

FISHIES vectored

Here is another version of Fishies for my virtual aquarium.

Couple of Sketches

Couple of sketches I did on the plane to Florida representing people both real and not so real.

MO' FISHIES

Sketched some more designs for my virtual aquarium. Don't really know how many I will need. Finish the whole mess over the weekend.

Another Version

May go with some more analogous. Always liked Channel Mixer in Photoshop.

Plan B

As many of you know I have been trying to get a website up for Horrendous Fiasco for some time now. Unfortunately, several people who had offered to work on the support materials have just been too busy to work on it. My little Hula Girl sequence must be put on hold briefly while music is composed. Some of the site still needs some actionscript and so forth and so on. Such is life in the fast lane. So instead of sitting on my hands while I wait, I have decided to get going on a simple place holder for the main page. I am going to do a small aquarium sequence, little Gav fishies swimming along while tiny bubbles gurgle and pop. Started on the design today, will have the whole thing done Friday. Quick down and dirty. (and still had time to finish some other work in studio). Color very preliminary.

Painting VECTORED

I took an old portrait and vectorized it for the web using a program called "Vector Magic". Interesting result. The ability to change images utilizing any number of computer programs is creating a whole new tool and in some ways a whole new art form. Animation and Photography will never be the same due to image software. I am trying to roll with it.

Version 2

Another version...of Gav as Che

Khaki Jones

I have just learned that Khaki Jones is leaving the Cartoon Network. She was a great person for the network and an experienced developer who always was quick to respond and knew the value of positive direction. She knew how to encourage an idea. It is easy to tear down an idea, it is the essence of power gone wrong when a network executive turns their nose up and torpedoes a good idea for no solid reason, it reminds us all that they are in control and at the same time, out of it. Khaki didn't work that way and it is to her credit. She had strong opinions but communicated her direction gently, always allowing the creative to find the proper solution. Many of my ideas, some of them flawed, were at least able to appreciate the full consideration they deserved due to her unique perspective, the complete creative journey that all decent ideas are worthy of experiencing. She totally understood that positive and constructive feedback assisted an idea in its growth and that negative "tear down" only kills the energy an idea so needs. Can't wait to see what she is up to in the future.

Words of Wisdom 3

When Happiness is lost, try retracing your steps to where you had last found it.

Version 1

Although there are only minor changes evident so far....I thought I would post. I will probably do anywhere for 3-7 versions of this Bad boy

Words of Wisdom 2

An old man in a whirlpool once said, "Some days it doesn't pay to get up" and I wondered why is he "paying" to get up, it's free isn't it?

Another Bio Self Portrait

While waiting around for some of my web materials to come in, I have decided to continue doing some self portrait work that will appear on the bio page of my website. Although unfinished (both image and certainly composition), it is a good start. Fun too. Reminds of my college days when I did a whole series of drawings of my professor Sid Hurwitz as famous people, my favorite being Sid Hurwitz as Golda Meir.

On the Cheap

Got a call the other day from someone who wanted to do a 30 minute film in flash for under 3G's. Yikes!!! If you are wondering how this could happen, well, to me it is a direct symptom of the willingness of many animation companies and individuals alike who are more than willing to "whore" themselves out just for the job. Animation always seems to be in quiet desperation mode. I will write more on this another time. No I didn't take the job.

Breaking the Rules of Engagement

Making an impact as an artist can be difficult even for the insanely talented. I have had many many gifted artists work for me over the years and watched them struggle in spite of their prodigious talent. Why? I have no clue. But I do have one suggestion, break the rules. Not in terms of your art, but in terms of gaining new business. We have a tendency as artists to think that our work is the only barometer. That one look at our portfolio and the pearly gates of destiny will sweep open and rose petals will be floated in our path to grand success. I only wish it were true. Our work either sets us a part or shows that we are capable of doing the work of any given work provider. That's it. The most important aspect is how you present yourself, are you a creative, and inventive person. That doesn't mean wear black nail polish, dye your hair blue, and talk about the spirituality of rodents. Don't freak people out, be inventive. Find an interesting way to present who you are. Find an inventive way to make contact and be noticed without burning down the building. We once needed information from agencies that they were no longer willing to give out. What did we do? We represented ourselves as a professional agency information service that would help them keep track of creative services of any agency. We cheated, got the information we needed and were never heard from again as The "Creative Directory", but this was also before caller ID.

Words of Wisdom 1

There are many ways to skin a cat, but it can make your neighbors very angry.

A Weird time

Many of the producers I have talked to lately have been truly struggling in this economy. Not only are the banks holding on to OUR money (stimulus package), everyone else, agencies, clients, seem to be holding on to their money as well. What to do? Work, R&D, whatever you can think of to improve your position in this wacky world. The one thing this economy cannot not touch is an artist's commitment to his/her work and its production. So quit crying about how it sucks and get moving, maybe other things will begin to move as well. I am flipping broke but that isn't stopping me from producing new projects and keeping active creatively on three new fronts. Denial, Stupidity, and Self destructive behavior, wait I mean, working like a fiend, being creative every day, and producing great NEW work.