ZIG ZAG

Lost in a wasteland...

2008-07-31T01:05:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,

Please forgive my absence. I've been tied up in all manner of things, but finally this week I've had enough time to bang out a concept piece for this month's Gnomon forums contest. The topic is 'wasteland'. Hope you likes.

Been a Little...Busy...

2008-01-21T23:43:00.000-08:00

Please forgive the absence of posts. I've recently had the fortune to be hired on as a Creative Director to a wonderful firm, and well, I've thrown myself into our new project so completely that I haven't allowed any time for updates.

But, we're nearing launch of the project, and I thought I'd just toss up a teaser image.

I don't want to get into what it is, but let's just say it may be good to click around the web sometime around February 3rd.

Hope you all likes.

More Geek Boys

2007-08-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

Just a couple more random characters...

Geek Boy

2007-08-12T00:43:00.000-07:00

Among my many small personal assignments is a list of geeky kids to design. Here's one...

Taurus

2007-06-19T00:50:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd come up for air from my current gig finally. My apologies for my absense...been working on something that's been quite all-consuming.

Anyhow, here's another character in my zodiac series - Taurus. Enjoy.

Valkyrie

2007-03-02T10:32:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, a buddy of mine, Dave Peixoto (see link to the right) started a blog for those of us in our studio. Like the blog done at Blue Sky, this blog tackles a different subject each month, and posts the original works done by artists here.

The first subject was valkyries...mythological figures who fly over battle scenes and choose soldiers who died with valor. They are often depicted with ravens as their symbol.

Here's my attempt:

Teen Girl Portraits

2007-02-27T00:22:00.000-08:00

Forgive the delay in posting, everyone - I've recently started a new chapter in my life that is keeping me up all kinds of stupid hours, and thus preventing me from doing much outside stuff. But tonight, I've managed to upload a quick warm-up series that seemed interesting at the time.

A Teaser

2007-01-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

My good friend E. Coltrane Kirby (writer and compositor extraordinaire) and I have been working on a project off and on for some time now. It's going back into production and will be ready for print later this year. We're keeping almost all of it under wraps, but I just wanted to float a couple of jpegs at you guys to see what you think of the style. Enjoy.

Guitarron

2006-12-30T10:57:00.000-08:00

Some quick sketches for a villain on some show we're developing at work...

Grendel's Dam - Part Two

2006-12-10T23:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a slightly more fleshed out version of Grendel's mama...

I'm Somehow Related To These People

2006-12-06T21:40:00.000-08:00

These are all folks taken from an old family photo taken 64 years ago in Brooklyn.

Bedroom

2006-12-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

Quick pastel color study for a children's book of mine...

Marsh

2006-12-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

Grendel's Dam

2006-11-28T21:43:00.000-08:00

Among my other many-curious pursuits is a series re-designing Grendel. His mother is one of the most interesting characters described...here's my rendition.

Clarinet

2006-11-22T11:45:00.000-08:00

Warm-Up - Guard

2006-11-19T23:38:00.000-08:00

Some kinda strange armor concept...not sure where this one came from...

Lesser Panda

2006-11-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

Yet another endangered lil' critter...with a name apparently meant to instill lack of self-worth.

Warm-Up

2006-11-17T23:15:00.000-08:00

Titania and Oberon

2006-11-17T00:10:00.001-08:00

Shakespeare is often a good resource for characters to design...

Fancy Diplomat

2006-11-14T23:16:00.000-08:00

Suckers

2006-11-13T00:17:00.000-08:00

Post-It Sketches

2006-11-11T13:17:00.000-08:00

Occassionally, I forget my sketchbook...so I grab some Post-Its and a brush pen...

Kitties

2006-11-07T22:07:00.000-08:00

This series was some development I did for Sony a few years back...for a very odd and whacky idea. I used the brush tool in Flash to get out some quick and dirty roughs...

CLICK THE TRIANGLE inside the image to go through the entire series.

Larger Version

Bishop

2006-11-06T02:08:00.000-08:00

Among my many ongoing series is one dedicated to Chess pieces. Here's a bishop.

Old Soul in New Duds

2006-11-02T01:01:00.000-08:00

Not sure where this one came from...

Trick or Treat

2006-10-31T14:39:00.000-08:00

This next one goes out to my lil' girl...feel free to check out My Personal Side for the inspiration.

Gaff and Roy Studies

2006-10-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

I was playing with my watercolors this evening while 'Blade Runner' was on...

Reading Rainbow Muppets

2006-10-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of designs I was recently contracted to do for a revamp of 'Reading Rainbow' for PBS Kids. The day I was asked to design some muppets was a good one.

Lords of Death

2006-10-19T23:35:00.000-07:00

Back in the wondrous days of 1986, one of the greatest movies came out - it was to be the harbinger of all things wonderful in action/adventure storytelling. And it would go completely ignored for years.

Until it hit television.

When "Big Trouble in Little China" hit the little screen, people started to take notice. One of those folks was a lil' punk in Woodland Hills - me. I fell for it, and today I started an homage series to one of the greatest films of all time.

Here's a starter - one of the three Lords of Death gang members that kidnaps Miao Yin at the airport.

For you fans, enjoy.

King David

2006-10-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

Quick random warm-up that seemed to turn out interesting. I liked the idea of David being around 15 years old, with his body still changing. Also tried to emphasize his arms a touch, since I figure they must've been somewhat developed to do such damage.

Palooka

2006-10-13T18:14:00.000-07:00

Here's an old ditty from back in the day at CalArts...Doug Gallery's pup, Palooka. What a great pooch.

Gerenuk In Color

2006-10-11T00:44:00.000-07:00

After looking at the earlier drawing, I decided that a color version was warranted...

Sumi-Elders

2006-10-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

I was working with my ink and brushes the other night when an idea occurred to me...

Jair-Uh-Nook

2006-09-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

along the way as i was doing these endangered species, i was asked to do a gerenuk (see title for pronunciation). i had a lot of fun with this lithe creature, and i was just about done inking when i received a call with some good news, and some bad news.

the good news being that the gerenuk is not, in fact, endangered. someone goofed.

the bad news was of course, my drawing would not be used for the project. fortunately for me, i liked the drawing, and have a place to put it. enjoy.

Scorpio Reading

2006-09-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

One more pose for good measure. Just wanted to exlore the idea of her poses mimicking the resting form of a scorpion...enjoy.

Scorpio Standing

2006-09-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

with each of my zodiac kids, i'm attempting to do at least one action pose, and one still pose, just to force myself to deal with different ranges of emotion. here's the still for scorpio.

Scorpio v1

2006-09-20T00:46:00.000-07:00

here's a new piece in the same vein as the earlier one about aries. this time, it's scorpio, in a bit of an action pose. color to come soon.

Salome

2006-09-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

There's a tradition in art history for painters to depict the dance of Salome...well, add my humble name, and the drawing below, to that list. I'll be adding a few more veils for fun, as well as a color version to follow.

A Calmer Aries

2006-09-01T00:28:00.000-07:00

Decided to go a bit more subdued with this one - not just in pose, but in style of bg as well.

Stayed up WAY too late...

2006-08-28T12:34:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are considering having children, a word of advice. Don't stay up 'til 3 a.m. coloring your doodles if you know that they're gonna wake up at 6:00.

Anyhow, here's a color version of the Aries doodle below. Enjoy.

Capoeira Pt. 2 - Aries

2006-08-28T01:42:00.000-07:00

I've been developing a series of characters for some time now based on the zodiac (another one of my self-inflicted assignments). Anyhow, I enjoyed the capoeira pose (below) so much that I wanted to see how it'd work on another character of mine.

sketches

2006-08-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

couple o' bits from the sketchbook...

Capoeira

2006-08-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to push my posing ability, with an appreciation and emphasis on dance and martial arts. I've been feeling the need to get past the same static 3/4 front basics. Here's one of my first attempts:

Grumpy Bison

2006-08-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

Had a chair fall apart on me the other day...made me feel like doodlin'. I've been on this bison kick, so this quick one kinda flowed.

Cheetah

2006-08-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering, these are warm-ups for a lil' freelance gig I'm working, having to do with endangered animals.

Humans can be such a-holes sometimes.

Bison

2006-08-22T00:44:00.000-07:00

Just another warm-up that seemed to work out...

Warm-Up With Dwarves

2006-08-16T23:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a little warm-up sketch for kicks...took about 10 minutes, not including the p-shop time (for display purposes).

Lineup

2006-08-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

Here's another lineup from a show that is stalled in development. While the process of getting a show from development into production can be arduous...I always enjoy the chance to come in at the front end of an idea. It's the time when everyone is excited about the project, and happy to try interesting stuff. Of course, it's up to you all to decide whether or not these are interesting, but...that was the endeavour.

One More Pastel

2006-08-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

Another quick color experiment...

Environmental Studies

2006-08-06T23:08:00.000-07:00

Every so often I crack open the pastels to break away from the digital world, and attempt some environmental color studies. Here are a couple... the first being inspired by the work of Tyrus Wong who is still, to me, one of the unsung heroes of animation design.

Rejects

2006-08-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

Had to do some Egyptian henchmen for a sequence at work...and just as I was wrapping up the design, the director got a brilliant idea - 'Let's do that entire scene in hieroglyphs!'

So, I took these home, cleaned 'em up, and posted 'em.

Sketchbook Scribbles Vol.1

2006-08-02T23:49:00.000-07:00

I've been wrapping up a sketchbook lately, and I wanted to just go thru and scan some hilights. Enjoy.

Squishies

2006-07-27T00:35:00.000-07:00

These two characters are part of a larger concept for interstitials...shorts...mini bits, if you will.

I wanted to develop a gender-neutral form, a creature, that can be all kinds of things, but take on very strong emotions. I wanted a being that could be adorable in one moment, and pulverized in the next - while maintaining maximum character quality throughout.

I went through many renditions, and finally, I arrived at these lil' buggers. I have no idea when I'll ever get 'em animated, but hey, it was a fun exercise.

Marooned

2006-07-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

Another quick 20-min study...black and white only in p-shop.

gimme da ball

2006-07-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

jus' some over-eager footballer from back in the day...60 second scribble with some quick markers after.

Flip Flop

2006-07-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

Another assignment:

This one was an odd one - I wanted to somehow combine the gestural qualities of some anime character designs with something (kinda) flash-friendly. I'm not always sold on the idea of an outline when it comes to flash, as that can complicate the animation, but in this case, I felt it was helpful. Anyhow, her name's Flip-Flop. She's a cheerleader. Enjoy.

Poor Bunny

2006-07-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

I have no explanation for this one...just know that no animals were harmed...blah blah blah...

More Watercolor Thumbnails

2006-07-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

here are a few more...all of these are no taller or wider than three inches.

Watercolor Thumbnails

2006-07-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

In an effort to keep my color and landscape chops semi-tuned, I often do watercolor thumbnails of whatever comes to mind. I try to keep to only landscapes, for no reason other than preference. The penny was obviously included to show scale. Enjoy.

Unfinished Project

2006-06-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a lil snipit i did for a show that went into, and subsequently fell out of, development. Of course I can't say much bout the show's specifics, but this was one of the several pieces that seemed to be received well.

enjoy.

Thumb-Bots

2006-06-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

Had a spare moment this evening...doodled some thumbs of bots.

Monster Doodle

2006-06-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

this was one of my occassional monster doodles that made it through...gave it some quick color in p-shop...

Plump Shepherd

2006-06-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

did this a while back - always seemed like the guy was shepherding his flock into his kitchen...

Quixote Windmills

2006-06-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

The windmill scene in "Don Quixote" has always been an interesting character design idea to me - designing a fantastical creature whose structure is based on a piece of architecture. I recently did this quick one-off of a test of some color and form ideas I was having.

Fruits

2006-06-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

There's a pretty popular book called "Fruits", and it documents the underground fashion culture in Japan. Highly recommended for those who are looking for some real creativity when it comes to clothing design.

Anyhow, as I was working on a recent episode, i did some doodles of some age-appropriate versions of the people in that book. Here are a few that didn't make the cut.

Jimi Thing

2006-06-16T01:23:00.000-07:00

just doin' a warmup in painter, and this came out - reminded me of good ol' hendrix...

Old Man

2006-06-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

Just a quick value/color study...a warm up.

Creature Comfort

2006-06-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

Every so often I like to dip my toe into the creature pool and see what happens. Here are a couple of variations on a theme of a certain kind of creature made for riding.

Honey Butter

2006-06-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine saw this piece and gave it that title...please forgive any offense it might cause to those panthers viewing this blog.

Re-Design Part Two - Clockwork Orange

2006-06-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

Here's another one of my redesign assignments. I took Clockwork Orange and set it during the Spanish Inquisition. It seemed like a natural match to me, as it allowed for a similar exploration of the concept of the state 'reprogramming' deviants. Anyhow, below are some results, beginning with character designs, and leading into more overall setting and background designs.

Minister Brodsky - the head of the specific church that tries to 'cure' Alejandro (above) of his deviant ways.

A local tramp - he's got leprecy. Why not.

A couple of townspeople.

A booth at the "Corona Hooka Bar" - the substitute for the Korova Milk Bar in the story.

A detail of some of the possible hookas at the bar.

The brothel where the boys confront another gang who is about to rape a prostitute.

The church bell tower from which Alejandro leaps after being 'converted'...momentarily.

The central altar of Minister Brodsky's church. A (not-so) subtle attempt at inserting innuendo into bg design.

Dodgeball

2006-06-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

A quick homage to a favorite rite of passage for all kids growing up in this country...

Mech Knight

2006-06-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here's another mech...a quick character study. This one took me bout 30 min. in p-shop. Enjoy.

Expression Sheet

2006-05-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

Just in case there are those of you who don't have this doc, this is a very often-used scratch sheet of random expressions done in a simple way. I've used this countless times over the years when it came time to add a lil' more character to a design, or just do some expression sheets...like the one i did below for a show in development at Sony. It's a pretty good file size, so please feel free to download and print.

Enjoy.

In Line at Baja Fresh

2006-05-31T01:11:00.000-07:00

Among my many favorite sketch sites is Baja Fresh - any Baja Fresh. Such an interesting clientele arrive there.

Caught this guy waiting for his to-go order last weekend...

Samurai Robot

2006-05-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I like to combine a couple of often-designed ideas to see what happens. This time around was the combo of the two words you see above - samurai (more specifically, a ronin), and robot. I put 'em in the scribble blender and this is what came out:

Quick Color Study

2006-05-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

Another assignment. I love Tyrus Wong's stuff. In case you don't know him, he was one of the lead concept artists on 'Bambi'. He's a master pastel artist, and was instrumental in developing the look for the backgrounds in that film. His work led to further development in the world of BG design throughout the ages, and called on future painters to use color more effectively, as well as composition.

Anyhow, I've developed a love of the art of indication vs. rendering...and I wanted to see if I could do up something that seemed like it belonged to that world. Just a 15-minute study, but I think it's one of the more successful ones.

Hot and Cold

2006-05-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

Here's another one of my assignments. I attempt to take two opposites and design them out in whatever context I choose. Only other rule is that each concept must have the opposite concept within it.

This time, the topic was 'Hot and Cold'.

I wound up designing two busts of characters, in an attmempt to get more comfy with vector creations. Seein' as how masters like Ragnar are showing us just what can be done with a clean line, I figured i'd try my hand at it.

The top woman is more cold than hot, but her features are appealing and I imagined that she'd be a nice naughty June Cleaver when you get her alone. The bottom one is more literally hot than cold, but her stare and eyeshadow color helped lean the character a lilttle cold.

At least that's how it worked in my head - you decide for yourself.

Trick or Treat

2006-05-24T22:05:00.000-07:00

Every so often I crack open Flash to just doodle a lil something. Most of my practice stuff gets tossed...but every so often one works out. More to come...

Zoo Watercolors

2006-05-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

I like to take a small watercolor set to the LA Zoo every now and then and get down some gestural images. Contrary to asssumption, though, i tend to use a flat one-inch wide brush. I find that this brush makes you choose your images and strokes very carefully, while at the same time forcing you to act quickly and decisively. In the end, working this way has helped me not only see the subject's form and weight better, but also how light and color play off of the animal.

Over time, I'll try to post as many of these as possible, to give you some furthre ideas of not only how I work, but of how an image can be captured in a very short time. Enjoy.

Man-Bat

2006-05-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

every so often i like to do my own take on pre-determined characters...i was workin' out some redesigns of man-bat, when i doodled this:

Bratz Test

2006-05-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

a little over a year ago, i did a test for a spin-off show based on the horrible bratz characters, called 'bratz petz'. yeh, a winner.

i was intrigued, however, because they were pursuing a very kirsten ulve-like style for the show. flat with texture...and an attention to fashion and detail.

the test was to design one 'cool guy' character - line only. so, ever the one to take it a lil' further, i went to town, and submitted five options, and one full-color version. see below.

i got the gig, and was so psyched about it because i'd have the chance to work under the master director, gary hartle (he-man, calamity jane, etc). gary's rep in the industry is legendary among those who've worked under him. several friends and colleagues spoke of him as one of those rare gems.

so i showed up for my first day of work bright and early, ready to roll. i had already done some more kids (figured we'd eventually use 'em as incidentals), when 11:00 rolled around, and i was informed that the show was killed. poof.

gotta love this industry.

anyhow, enjoy the designs:

Hot Pants

2006-05-18T00:33:00.000-07:00

i have no alibi for where this design came from...but once the doodle was done, i had to finish it.

Stuart Little 3 Development

2006-05-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

back when i was wrappin' up season 5 of jackie chan, i was fortunate enough to do a quick stint on 'stuart little 3', before the man, dave colman, took hold and kicked the crap outta my designs. lesson learned - don't get near his animal designs unless you're prepped for some eye-poppin'.

anyhow, after i saw how he just ruled on that show, i tossed most of my stuff. but a few roughs held on. of course, they completely changed this character in the end...but hey...ars longa.

(that means 'art is long'...in latin...comes from the old latin saying 'ars longa, vita brevis' - art is long, life is short. gotta love dem classics.)

Charlie and the TOY Factory

2006-05-15T20:32:00.000-07:00

every now and then, i give myself an assignment - take a known entity (story, play, movie, myth, whatever...) and remix it.

this time around, the victim was 'charlie and the chocolate factory'. i wanted to do some more production design work, so in this incarnation, i decided to envision it as a video game.

in my rendition, charlie is an 18 year-old girl...a scrappy daughter of a poor tinkering inventor. the contest commences when Mr. Roboto (yeh...styx...cool) notifies everyone in the world that inside his latest robotic toys, there are hidden five golden microchips. if you find the lucky chip, you're granted the coordinates for his secret, lost fortress factory. once you arrive, you are challenged to break in, and find the central command center. once you get to the command center, you place your chip inside, and activate the factory. the first person to get to the finish gets to own the factory.

what can i say...it worked in my head.

anyhow, so i was off to drawing some stuff...and here are those that made it:

charlie

charlie's sub (couple of versions)

the cockpit of charlie's sub

the approach to Mr. Roboto's iceberg fortress. on its outskirts you'll see giant fiberglass panes that undulated randomly, thus changing the shape of the fortress when seen on radar...making it undetectable.

charlie decides to enter from beneath the surface...as she approaches (bottom corner of bottom image), the security system is alerted to her presence.

charlie breaks in (i got so tired of this piece that i just left it unfinished...please accept my apologies for the sub at top-right...please forgive the slackin'...)

the central information center

Mix Master

2006-05-15T01:58:00.000-07:00

here's a character for a concept in development...maniac dj...ya know...the basics.

style inspired by the man - jose lopez...though i have a feelin' he'd do it better.

Quickdraw McGraw

2006-05-15T01:52:00.000-07:00

waiting at a stoplight, i spotted these two kids yappin' on a corner. i wasn't driving, but i had the sketchbook ready.

but still, don't try this at home.

10-Min Value Study

2006-05-14T00:55:00.000-07:00

every so often, as a warm-up, i give myself 10 minutes to do a value study in p-shop or painter.

most of 'em i toss...this one i kept.

Rejected Viagra Ad Comps

2006-05-14T00:41:00.000-07:00

every now and then i like to combine character design with advertising and submit them to the company for which the ads are designed.

i had no delusions that they would print these, of course. but sometimes an idea just has to be done...

Bond Villains

2006-05-14T00:02:00.000-07:00

if you're ever hard-pressed for an exercise, just go huntin' through the web for the catalog of james bond villains. such a wonderful resource...

yup...that's a young benicio del toro right there...

This Guy Looks Familiar...

2006-05-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

...can't quite place my finger on it...

A Tad Bit of Street Cred

2006-05-13T23:51:00.000-07:00

one of the notches on my resume is the incredibly fortunate experience i had workin' under jose lopez on jackie chan adventures - season five.

and when i say 'working under'...i'm referring to the distance in talent levels. i was clearly beneath him, and cleaning up and turning his roughs (if you can call 'em that - SUCH a tight line!) was like going to school. i'm still convinced i didn't do his stuff justice. but hey, that's learning.

anyhow, here are a few of the pieces i was allowed to go through with on my own. clearly not as solid as the man, but when paired with my other work, i've been told that they show some range...though i'm open to believing otherwise.

ah, humility - every artist's curse and blessing.

jade gets taken over by the spirit of the frog demon - here's stage two of that.
that's dj fist in commando gear on the left (based on a design JL did for one of the other demons...gotta give props). and drago, in his season five costume. drago, the main villain was originally designed in season four, but i got to redress and slightly adjust his character for s.5.

Random Pin-Up

2006-05-13T23:42:00.000-07:00

i don't usually do pin-ups...but this one seemed to work out as a warm-up.

Fat Laces

2006-05-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

i've been developing a series of characters based on homies i knew back in the 80s...

this here is Lupe...he used to work at this record store in the valley. he loved kool moe dee.

not much more to say bout that.

here's a closeup...

This doesn't happen often...

2006-05-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

i'm not a name-dropper.

i don't take pictures with celebrities unless they ask for one with me in it. that almost never happens.

but every now and then, i have a singular experience that i like to get down on paper.

a while back, i was hired to direct a series of shorts for the u.s. dept. of education on the history of jazz. it was coordinated through the thelonious monk institute of jazz (), and i was to write, design, direct and animate almost the whole thing.

now, when i like to get into a project, i like to know as much as possible about it. i like to become as close to a pseudo-expert as possible. granted, i'm not gonna get a degree in it or learn how to hang with the masters, musically speaking. but i want to be able to hold my own, and walk the walk.

so i asked if it might be possible to meet up with someone at the institute and chat it up a bit...get the scoop on jazz.

the client did me one better - they told me that the shorts would feature the one and only herbie hancock, and that he, wayne shorter, terence blanchard, and t.s. monk (son of thelonious) would all be at the institute one weekend, listening to auditions for the masters program at the institute (housed at USC).

they suggested that after the auditions wrap up, that i might be able to come by and chat it up with these four greats...if i was interested.

WHA?? if i'm INTERESTED?!?

yah, i was there very early. i didn't care that i had to wait outside for a bit...ok...three hours. i had my ipod. i was listening to as much jazz as possible...learnin' how to keep cool and not wet my pants in front of these greats.

anyhow, the auditions wrapped, and i went inside, and just listened for a bit as these cats talked bout their families, they caught up on normal stuff...and then my client introduced me. needless to say, like most artists at the top of their game, they were the nicest gentlemen i'd met in a long time. we talked about jazz and the project for about 90 minutes. i asked them questions, they answered. they suggested ideas for the shorts...references...and even a wonderful similie i found fascinating. i asked them, 'what other non-musical creation is most like jazz?' they thought for a moment, and terence blanchard spoke first: 'Basketball,' he said. the other men called out like it was church and the preacher just told it on the mountain-top. they all chimed in on how jazz is EXACTLY like basketball.

'you all are working toward an end goal, and the way you get there has its rules.' said mr. shorter.

'ah yes, but the way you get from one end of the court to the other is up to you.' added mr. monk.

'yeh...sometimes you get some serious airballs, and sometimes...man, it's just kareem and magic all the way!' mr. hancock exclaimed. he's an LA man...

and mr. blanchard added further, 'yeh, but sometimes' he pointed to mr. hancock 'that man has tossed me a no-look pass on the court and i was lookin' the other way!'

they all erupted with laughter, and i tried to just capture the moment - knowing that the odds of me being in a situation like this was most likely never going to happen again. watching friends, highly-respected colleagues at the top of their games, talking excitedly about the thing they love the most, and how to share that thing with children.

yeh, that was a good day.

and i managed to sketch a couple of doodles, too.

...when the project's done, i'll be sure to post a link to the short.

Vintage Troublemaker

2006-05-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

often, i'll take a stab at a random character using a random technique. i've created a list of styles, tools, character ages, and other characteristics, and i'll go through the lists and create an assignment for myself.

for instance, this one broke down like this:

style: flat
tool: illustrator
age: 8
gender: male
other: troublemaker

so i put those into the virtual boggle box, and gave it a shake.

here's what came out:

A Starter

2006-05-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

...might as well post some artwork, eh?

this one is a painter piece - ironically, it has nothing to do with animation, but i think it shows one side of me. ya know...when you're doin' toons all day long, it's nice to flex some other muscles...

An Introduction

2006-05-10T23:43:00.000-07:00

greetings, everyone!

my name is david zweig, and i'm currently employed as a supervising character designer in los angeles.

i believe that there is no need to explain my reasons for beginning this blog, as the medium has proven its worth in our industry, and in the larger artistic community as a whole.

instead, i'll simply present what will hopefully be appreciated as a varied approach to design for entertainment. i work in a variety of mediums and styles, because i've always believed that the more one can do, the more gigs they can get. for the most part, i'll be focusing on character work; but occassionally, i may drop in some of my web, graphic, vis dev, or flash work.

so sit back and enjoy what will hopefully be a methodically schizophrenic series of visual expressions.

...and i promise not to sound that high-falootin' in the future...(jeez...who writes like that?!)

:D