Sunday, December 28, 2008

Artichoke Hearts (black and white)


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In the desolate American gated suburb of Artichoke Meadows, a misanthropic middle-aged critic and an annoying ten year old boy, two neighbors, decide to stay home from work for a day of R & R. Hilarity, and the awareness of a universe in which everyone is alone, ensues. Can Angus Grant and Teehan Delko get through today with their faith in love and humanity intact? My animated senior project from the last glorious year at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Fullscreen view this mother-effer.

Mesmerini's and Hallucinations

Some Post-graduation catching up here. The first comes from the summer period; I co-created two characters, the Mesmerini brothers, two vaguely molest-intent intensive twin brothers who had inherited their occupation from a long line of hypno-mesmerists. They take baths together and have a roughly 9-year old's conception of sexuality, but they like embarassing women and hugging each other, before retiring at twilight time to their ancestral mansion with their controlling mother (not pictured).

The next comes from Last Christmas (2007) when I was a-visiting Boston to see my comrade and home-skillet, Alex, (whose blog you can find in my links section). We were tripping on acid, and I seem to have translated my class frustrations and fear of 1970s swim coaches into this strange piece of work. there are pizza grease stains on the paper.

I also 'stumbled' upon some nudie art blogs I'm very in love with; I've always fearfully considered my place in erotic art, maybe I'm still too much of a prude though. I'm adding Hellstroem, Colleen Coover, and @$$ and Siouxme to my recommended readings list!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Angus n' Teehan; The Animated Series

a little more then pencil tests from my huge-ass senior project that I am struggling to finish as we speak, Artichoke Hearts, concerning major league sourpuss Angus Grant and minor-league pussy willow, Teehan Delko. Soon this will look like it could be on TV, I promise.


Doubting Tommy





Another comic assignment I did for class that I'm considering for conversion into animated form sometime in the near future, perhaps in the pristine days when I am no longer brutally assaulted by schoolwork. Vaguely based on Johnny Cash music and 'All these Things That I Have Done' by The Killers. The style reminds a little of Scott Campbell's?

Peach Blacke comic






Just a quick comic I did for class about a character I wanted to write about for some time now- a living dead guitarist cowgirl who sells her soul to the devil (the the debbil, and folks in the south call him) an then wanders the earth and does that whole thing. I was finally given chance to fit my character into a class assignment, I saw my chance, and by god, I took it! God bless this great nation of ours!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Space Kelly Revision

Some modifications to the Space Kelly model, both the famous cartoon smash hit Space Kelly, and Wilem Yamagata, a colonial security contractor with no memories. I kind of based one style off Hank Ketcham's and Russell Patterson, the other off a mixture of Eduardo Risso and Mike Mignola.




Saturday, July 19, 2008

A Guide To Dating Myself

A did a little comic for Tuesday Bassen's zine thing, the Tuesday whose blog you can find in the links section a little to the left of this post. I guess the comic is about dating me in some obscure capacity. I am way to bored and burnt out to explain anything, but even if I wasn't, I wouldn't know what to say. I think maybe that dating me is a pretty bad idea.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Le Chat Noir

The Europeans rule the new wave of 2d animation! For some time I have maintained that we are overdue for another golden age of animation, with Disney reinstating their 2d department and Pixar blazing the way in academy-winning cartoons. Hot on the trail of Gobelins (search that name on youtube if you don't already know about it, you'll get some pretty slick student animated shorts), another art school, Lycée technique des Arts et Métiers of Luxembourg, is putting out some good stuff too. Le Chat Noir is made by Xavier Gogol, Rony Hotin Sebastien Genre and Yoann Robert, and is posted below in its bohemian, absythe-soaked goodness.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Updated Boy Named Sue Animatic

A NEW ANIMATIC that is now inked and contains MORE THAN TWO new gags!You can see my original character sketches ovah' here.

True-Life Horror Stories


In case you didn't know, it's now official that torture was approved for military use in Afghanistan and Iraq by Cheney, Bush and Rumsfeld. John Yoo drafted legislation that is pretty clear cut concerning torture, and now the information is out there and nobody is doing anything, and that includes me. I think the New York Times ran this story on, like, page 30, because America's leaders squeezing out a turd on the constitution and Geneva Convention just doesn't sell the papers like it used to. Britney Spears is more important I guess. I still get slightly queasy with each re-reading of this, and the cold realization that world has a new supervillian, and I'm funding them. . There we go, rant over. My face is a portrait of disgust, a mixture of expression I make when I'm confused and when I'm severely constipated.

Reel, version one

My hopefully-very-professional-looking animation/illustration reel. Cut together with some baroque music from Chan Wook Park's 'Oldboy'. Hopefully the combined effect of the images and sound will produce the inexplicable desire to hire me in the hearts of executives and business-types. fingers crossed.


Monday, April 28, 2008

Angus and Teehan

My senior animation project is a short, mostly dialogue-free animated film about two neighbors, Angus Cooke, a stuffy middle-aged intellectual, and Teehan Carter, an effeminate, destructive ten year old boy, who is super in love with Angus for some reason. They both live in pretty much self-contained worlds of loneliness and misunderstandings, and struggle with their lame-ass lives as best they can. Above is the first sketch I ever did of them together, and below are a copy of color schemes that I may use for it. Haven't decided which one yet. Tell me what you think.




Chicken Spheres

Concept art I created for Brad Pearson's art school film "Once In A Lifetime" (2), involving a fictitious fast-food company, Chicken Spheres. In the story, I guess Chicken Spheres (tm) commissions some students at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design to create a new logo for their unscrupulous company, whose only philosophy is to create a perfect sphere of chicken meat for every customer. If it has an edge, it's not a sphere. If it's not a sphere, it's not a chicken sphere. Watch out for the last few logos. they're pretty intense.

Suicide Food


If you're like me, you must agree that there's nothing more weird and pathetic than an animal mascot promoting a meat-eating establishment, especially when the meat that's being eaten is their own. Anthropomorphic salmon urging you to consume seafood, cartoon chickens selling out their brothers and sisters for perhaps just a few more days of sweet life. If there was a restaurant that served humans I would sooner perish with honor than prolong my tortured life by acting as a treasonous jester for my captors, but apparently many, many cartoon animals feel differently. The blog Suicide Food, which I am also adding to my links, is a list of these sad race traitors, it puts their faces up there on the internet for everyone to see so that maybe someday when one of these schmucks is out getting milk or renting a movie on some calm, normal night, BOOM! they get a taste of what they send their poor compadre's to every single fucking day. Justice.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Shapeshifting Owl Freakout

The editing for this video and the presentation of the owl's abilities are almost more hilarious than the owl's talents itself. Oh, wonderful Japanese TV standards. If mother nature gets any cooler we should bomb her.

Sue Barfight Extravaganzo

An illustration for the proposed Mission-Hill style environmental color scheme that I plan to employ in animated projects, like the recent 'A Boy Named Sue'.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

A Boy Named Sue Animatic

The animatic for my proposed music video project, set to Johnny Cash's immortal 'A Boy Named Sue'. You can see my original character sketches ovah' here. My Name is Sue! How do you do! Now you gunna die!

High Treason Characters 2008

Re-hashed characters for my High Treason concept, which is now best described as Rupyard Kipling's 'Kim' spy story set in an American High School.
Zach is the main character of the story, a roughly amoral malcontent/picaresque whose only reliable trait is a smattering of greed, lukewarm cowardice, and a distinct pliability when it comes to bribes and especially Eggs Benedict, his favourite food.His only, and possibly best friends are Oz, an insecure white middle class scruffball whose only loves in life are mean girls and his busted up Oldsmobile, and Zoey, a Nancy Drew-class teen detective, looking to solve her 23rd and final case before she graduates and becomes a cultural studies major. Cade and Grady are both senior high school monitors, dedicated to the heady aroma of power and duty. Sydney Dillon is the worst boy in the world, an effortless manipulator and medication addict with a flair for no-holds barred sociopathy, also the villian of the story.

Mysterious Mose-San

Another puppet-type animation short film, this time from the lonely volcanic island of Japan, located somewhere in the Asiatic seas. It's kind of a creepier, Asian answer to Mysterious Mose, done by the techno-pop group Denki Groove, and contains many actual spirits and monsters. The song is the intro for Hakaba Kitaro, an animated series about a one-eyed boy who fucks about with ghosts and stuff.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Character designs circa 2007


my character designs for Space Kelly, my comic about an androgynous space-bandit, Moonhead and Meisner, and High Treason, my concept work for two boarding school friends trapped in a surreal Village, and a high school drama, respectively, and for Teehan and Angus, my senior animation project for school. As of the end of 2007.

Moonhead and Meisner, Diana Sketch



Some sketches I churned out amid the tempest of finals. There's Moonhead and Meisner, best friends from Britain, and a japanese artist friend of mine, of dichao at blogspot. I think she's a comic major, maybe.

That's Mysterious Mose!

A brilliant puppet short film that involves cut out animation, stop motion, and shadow animation! Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh did this. It's one of the most engaging and encouraging pieces to come out of the animation world in some time. I believe their studio, screen-novelties.com, is working on a lot of exciting stop-motion projects right now, especially in collaboration with the Cartoon Network. The song itself is based on an old-timey ballad about a spooky black man. Go figure.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

A Boy Named Sue Character Sheet

The full character sheet for my ' A Boy Named Sue' project.

A Review

a horrible old hag who has no idea about the basic tenets of criticism or youth tries her hand at reviewing the delightful, albeit over-marketed Ellen Page vehicle, Juno. She makes a mess of it, and all over it, resulting in the literary equivalent of one of those videos where the guy tries to skate down a railing and crotches himself. This is collegehumor.com of reviews. I feel guilt, but not regret, for exposing anyone to it.
Phyllis Schlafly reviews Juno

A Boy Named Sue Concept Art

A character sheet for ' A Boy Named Sue', a project I'm storyboarding, and possibly animating in the future. Sue at various ages, his maw and paw, teachers schoolmates and victims, are all here. Overtly based on the Johnny Cash song, about a boy tormented by his father's absence and lack of parental skills. Give it a listen if you haven't already. And shut up.

Pierpoint on Quay


Just a very Miyazaki-influenced sci-fi drawing I forced from my syphilitic fingers.
also, if you have the time, inclination and interest, please read this article on transsexual body image written by a good comrade.
transsexual antinomy Very solid stuff.

The Real Bush

I normally try to steer clear of overt political commentary/humor in my work, both because it totally dates a piece and comes off as compassionless, un-subtle grandstanding. I made the exception here, because I thought i might be able to offer something more than the normal divisive name-calling, I hope I'm right in assuming as much.

Space Kelly Poster

Let's Rocket! (tm)

Space Kelly: Here's A Smirk 3



The final collection of pages from my Space Kelly: Here's A Smirk project.

Space Kelly: Here's A Smirk 2

More pages from the reptile-pitying, whiskey drinking, lady-seducin' (not in this comic) Space Kelly. Is he a boy or a girl? Why is she so angry? Is there another Skywalker? maybe.




Space Kelly: Here's A Smirk

Space Kelly is now an androgynous colony soldier on some Outer Rim Planet, plus a lovable cartoon. Plus a confusing comic project that I did.

Paranoia Agent

Paranoia Agent:
Subversive Anime by Satoshi Kon
The Best There Is!
Enter Li'l Slugger;