The Master Copy assignment

Our painting teacher Tim assigned us to choose a painting done by an artist we admire and paint along their lines. I think this was a great assignment, I love to take the time to appreciate a still image and learn every line of it.

first draft and correction of line drawing

working print

Our class is tomorrow. Today I ran into Pete Emslie, As always, he was kind enough to spare his time and look at my work. "It looks like you worked hard on your behalf" he said "But what kind of brush are you using?" He read right through it "A very old brush I need to replace" Pete went along and explained the kind of brush and method that would boost up a piece like this from his own experience. I love Pete's critiques, he hits the nail right in the head. I feel lucky to have such a good cartoonist, and a genuinly good person around!

Read Between the Frames

My proposal for the 2007 Sheridan animation t-shirt, inspired by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, creator of the original graphic t-shirt. If you'd like to wear this design make sure to vote, your opinion counts.
Note that my character is using top pegs, I'm an anarchist!

Caricature Night

Nothin' like a drawing night with fellow cartoonists.

From the left, your hosts: Brock, Amir and Mitch. Picture by Melanie

Those two caricatures of Brock were my favorite

A later caricature of Mitch. He may look innocent but he gets MAD, lemme tell ya!

Babes on a train!

Transit Sketches

Another version of the same chap.

Peace.

Animation Assignment

This is a three part assignment: head turn, lip sync and expression change--ACTING! I went an extra mile with this one, T'was our first chance to choose a character we loved, make it act and have total freedom with it. This is personification, how I would react if I slipped a "Meoww" instead of properly whistling at little red riding hood.
for those of you who asked, I didn't physically act it out, I did it with thumbnail drawings.

I love Tex Avery's cartoons, but he wasn't an influence for the animation itself.
More direct influence came from my favorite golden age animators: Rod Scribner (for Bob Clampett's Looney Tunes) and Jim Tyer (for Terrytoons), their acting was over the top, and very physical, which made it look believable.
Our animation history teacher, and brilliant cartoon animator, Kaj Pindal, noted Gertie the Dinosaur looks believable when scratching herself. When a well animated character touches itself, we believe its alive.

And for students who inquired, the characters are taken from RED HOT RIDING HOOD.

Posing Assignment

Reads from right to left.


This is the most recent character design project,When my teacher Enzo saw these, he said he was inspired and wanted to draw. the best thing I heard all week!

Copy isn't a four letter word!

Every once in a twice I break away from school work to do some hardcore cartoon copying.
There's no shame in that, vice versa, if you learn from established greatness, you don't need to re-invent the wheel, We have yet to see it invented better than by the first generation of Hollywood cartoonists.
Following the lines of the ol’ masters helps me to look at my construction skills, see what needs work and what’s already working. Trying to emulate my heroes and choosing my favorite drawings also helps me keep my integrity, in case it has been sitting on the bench following instructions for too long.

It's hard to explain the appeal of Coal Black, simply because there's so much of it!
Leave alone it's politically incorrectnesses, it's one of the most explosive and lively short subjects ever made, I love Snow White, but the immense range of emotion and expression Clampett cramps into a seven minute short was never topped by Disney storytelling, even with complete features.

Mitch Kennedy and I keep talking about the what-if of animation history, can you imagine what would happen if the Clampett unit was handed to Rod Scribner instead of Bob McKimson? and if Fleischer had outlasted Disney?

Over the break from school I would copy one cartoon and one anatomy image every day, here's an unfinished page.

Braden of the Apes

An amazing action ape who idolizes Korgoth of Barbaria.

When Braden isn't drawing, he growls to remind us of his might,
This was captured in a sketch

And a picture of a sketch

Plus a drawing of a caricature of a picture of a sketch

Yay, Reading night!

Sarah's reading nights are fun, we gather around, read amusing texts, act them out and sing ye olde folk songs (mostly improvised). As you may have guessed I draw caricatures even while I'm on break from drawing, here are 3 of the popular participants.
When Guillaume saw his caricatured self, he gleefully uttered "I'm cooool" with his heavy French accent. how right he is.

Marilyn in Gouache

This is the last of the series...for now. I need to pack my things and head back to Oakville, School starts monday!

Bogie in Gouache

The drawing took about 2 minutes and the painting about 2 hours. Believe it or not, the Non-symmetrical eyes are intentional. I never really liked Gouache, but now I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. (Haww Haww!)

Wolves

I've been focusing a lot on human characters lately,
so I thought I'd try some animals.

I think what connects people with animals is that they show pure emotion. Since they have no sense of consciousness, they don't disguise their reaction to suit the situation. That's the tough part about seeing a hurt animal, their expression of pain is pure, they never "hold it in".

This is an Oldie!

Drew this a year ago for my Sheridan portfolio, The pose is taken from Marlon Brando in Streetcar Named Desire. I've posted other drawings of the Frobster character in the August archives.

No more misreports, please!

Kaj Pindal and yours truly
Picture by Mitch Kennedy

Readers of Cartoon Brew know what I'm referring to, The great Grim Natwick has also experienced a similar mishap when he was in his 80s. Please don't rush false notions.

Kaj is an inspiration to so many of us. A warm and giving person, experienced animation history first hand. In his lectures, accompanied by many behind the scenes stories, He exposes us to many brilliant films, saying "I want to give you an impression of what hasn't been made, so that someday, you may do it yourself"

He Created a very good show called "Peep and the Big Wide World" encouraging kids to put aside the chips and remote and keep being curious about the natural world.

I drew a caricature of him as he appeared in the documentary "Laugh Lines", made in 1979 by the National Film Board. When I gave it it to him, he said "I'm going home to show it to my wife"

Screenshots from "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" Animation by Kaj, Direction by Derek Lamb.

"I'll have to learn all your ugly secrets!"

Here's my contribution to the "Wall of Witches" in the animation lab.
Most people point out they like the nose hair.

Caicatures re-scanned

I re-scanned these for better quality

Plus all new Napoleon and Friends!