Depth Of Field!

Nice write-up over here from Patrick at Depth Of Field:

1985 Vol. 5 Page 4

A Primer on Primer!

Some food for thought on one of my favorite flicks!

Biz Markie - La Da Da (2000)

This came my way right after the 'Masters Of Illusion' music video (which was my first animated project). As it turned out, Groove Attack Records, who were involved with the 'Masters Of Illusion' single, were also featuring Biz Markie on a compilation.

News came my way that he was interested in a music video for his single. It was a bit intimidating being that it was Biz, but also that it would be my second video. I met with the label owner and got the song, all the while I was working at FOX as an animator. One day my phone rings and it's Biz himself. The conversation was brief, but he simply requested that he have a small afro, and make it like Fat Albert, yet not to make him too fat.I came up with a design, to which the label responded "He's WAY fatter than that!!". I submitted a redesign.

I had a sizable budget, and about a six month deadline. Around the same time, FOX had announced that our department was to be closed, and all employees would lose their job (this was to be the final axe of the 'dot.com' bubble).

The conditions couldn't have been more perfect considering I had some more time to make this happen. I got started, and after about 2 months, with maybe 20 seconds finished, I noticed that things weren't looking too good. I didn't even have one background completed.

A lot of it had to do with the methods I was employing to animate him. I sketched all of the shots, traced each frame in illustrator and colored them. It was a painstakingly tedious method, but I'd hoped it would keep the hand-drawn integrity. This method made the animation rather 'jumpy' and was almost impossible to smooth out. The timing on it of it seemed off as well. I literally spent the last 2 months of the project trying to sync everything as much as I could.

I ended up delivering it on time, and played it for the folks at the label. They all just sat and watched it and bobbed their heads. I took that as a good sign. The video ended up airing, and I never did get to hear Biz's reaction, but, it led to working with him on a few other projects, it was huge honor to work with one of my heroes.

Empty LA

Cool new book of photos imaging the southland abandoned. If you're ever in town on a holiday, this should give you an idea of what the roads are like:

"Los Angeles plans to hit taggers' parents in the wallet"

Check out this story in the LA Times. It looks like Rocky's get tough strategy has reached the graffiti strata. Go get em Rock!

"City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo and Councilman Dennis Zine said they would pursue passage of an ordinance that would allow private property owners to turn responsibility for graffiti cleanup over to the city. That, in turn, would allow city prosecutors to sue for damages if the property was vandalized."

The Saga Continues

Train Hoppers

Always been a fascination of mine, given the 'train' aspects. Modern hobos DO exist, and there seems to be an entire class of folks out there who ride the rails from town to town. My comic strip 'Blurb' involved this subculture to a certain degree, and seems to pop up from time to time in a lot of my work. Slate.com just ran a series of photos, which you can find here:

Homeboy Sandman

Now do yourself a big favor and check this out. More madness from the madman!

2010 Tour

I was asked to come up with a tour shirt design for the upcoming Mayer Hawthorne Tour. I had mentioned that he'd reminded me a little of Dexter, so, we decided to try a caricature version in a couple of designs. The 'Ganesha' character was chosen, and here's a sketch version, cleaned up full color, and 3 color version.

Concept Art

Really cool seeing some of these old sketches finally being made into something with motion!!