When my Mom and Dad met in 1981

My Mom was a reporter for the LA Times Newspaper. She wrote a column
about the cool shows and events that were going on in town. She saw a
band my Dad was in, "The Boys from Brasil." He played the Pandero, a
Brazilian type of tambourine.

Kitty Wrestling

Here is the "Monster on Vacation" series I did for the Aurora Coffee art show. I took photographs from my recent travels to Arizona, California, and Hawaii and drew a monster in them. I printed them 22"X12" on 1/2" foam board. They turned out pretty good. I'm selling them for $50 each, so if you're in the ATL area this month you can stop by Aurora Cofee in Virginia Highlands and pick one up.

I already sold this first one.



This one is the beach where they shoot "Lost." This was very exciting. Nearby is where they shoot the survivor's camp and Mr. Ecco's church is still there.

My little brother Andre is curating an art show. The last one he put together was really good, and this time a series I'm working on will be on display, "Monster on Vacation."

The piece above is titled "Superstition Mountain, Arizona." You can buy your very own copy of it at the show without all the words on.

NEW MR. CHILDREN-FOR HANDS

IT IS SAID THAT WHEN RENDERING FROM AFTER EFFECTS YOU SHOULD INITIATE CAPS LOCK TO MAKE THE RENDER GO FASTER. I HAVE NINE MINUTES LEFT OF RENDERING BEFORE I CAN NO LONGER WRITE ON MY BLOG.


HERE IS MY IDEA:

A SHOW ABOUT TWO BILLIONAIRE TYCOONS WHO OWN A YACHT. BUT THIS IS NO ORDINARY YACHT, IT'S A TIME-TRAVELING HOVER YACHT THAT TALKS IN A SASSY VOICE. AND THE GOVERNMENT HAS ASSIGNED ONE OF IT'S BEST (AND HOTTEST) AGENTS TO WORK UNDERCOVER AS IT'S JANITOR. SO WHEN BADGUYS COME TO HANG OUT ON THE YACHT, SHE ASKS THEM POLITELY TO LEAVE, AND THEY USUALLY DO BECAUSE SHE'S HIGHLY TRAINED AT DEALING WITH BADGUYS.

MOST OF THE SHOW WILL REVOLVE AROUND THE LOVE TRIANGLE BETWEEN THE TWO BILLIONAIRES AND THE AGENT WHO THEY DON'T KNOW IS AN AGENT. SHE'LL TRY TO KEEP THEM OUT OF TROUBLE, MOSTLY BY REMINDING THEM TO NOT DRINK TOO MUCH, OR TO WEAR A LIFE VEST WHEN WATER SKIING. THEY TIME TRAVEL OCCASIONALLY, BUT USUALLY JUST TO A COUPLE DAYS AGO SO THEY CAN PAY THEIR CREDIT CARD BILLS ON TIME. BECAUSE THAT'S HOW RICH PEOPLE STAY OUT OF DEBT, TIME TRAVELING BACKWARDS TO AVOID LATE FEES.

AND THE YACHT WILL SAY SASSY THINGS FROM TIME TO TIME, LIKE "NO WAY," OR "I DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING."

THE NAME OF THE SHOW WILL BE "THE LOVE HOVER TIME YACHT."

SOMEHOW MY RENDER HAS GONE UP TO 16 MINUTES. I DON'T TRUST THIS CAPS LOCK TRICK.

This my company's entry into the International 48 Hour Film Competition. I directed it with Layne, the Senior Designer here. It was a lot of fun, but it was brutal making a cartoon in three days. We got the genre, prop, line of dialogue, and character we had to use friday night at 7pm, and had to mail it off by Monday (yes, not actually 48 hours). So at least 3 days of 19 straight work hours, and then one of only about 14.

And you can watch it in HD at the vimeo site if you want.

We made a cartoon last weekend as part of the International 48 Hour Filmmaking competition. It's sort of the style from this image, but with handheld video footage. Three days of shooting and animating and editing and making music and SFX. It was exciting, but I'm still kind of tired from it (and from working all weeek). I'll post it online soon.

Also, the new Mr. Children-for-Hands will be done very soon. Hopefully this week. It just needs some audio mixing and color correcting. I think I even like how it's turned out.

The Bark-Bark Outer Space Friends Holiday Movie Adventure Spectacular is here!


(click the image to link to the movie)

I'd like to thank Mollie Brock for her brilliant voice acting and the exceptional cello and cinematography of Geoff Bremner, as well as the collaborative input of the many clever people at the office, and my boss for paying me money to do this for almost a week and a half.

You can print out the characters and make a movie with them yourself. And you can check out other projects we've done (mostly commercials) at www.bark-bark.com.

(it's back up! click and watch enjoy!)

I had some art up in the ASIFA Atlanta (the Atlanta chapter of the animation society). here are some pictures.





They're still hanging up at the Eyedrum on Memorial Ave. if you want to see them live. I'm asking $200 each, but if you really want one or both, we can work out a deal I'm sure.

This is the five hundred and first entry in the Midnight Mailman Show. I started writing six years ago in 2003, and the fifth sentence I wrote was, "maybe it could be like a tv variety show where i have puppet friends and special guests?"

I'm not sure I like this most recent rendition of the Midnight Mailman here, but it's interesting to see how my drawing skills have come these past several years. Maybe I'll put together a montage image of the different looks the Midnight Mailman has had. Maybe i'll forget and never do it. Either way is good, I think. And some day I'll be really good at drawing.

I've just about finished a new short puppet movie called "The Outer Space Friends Holiday Adventure Movie Spectacular" and I'm very happy with it. It has space exploration, friendship, tragedy, a big dance finale, and an activity kit you can download. We will be posting it to my company's website sometime in the next few days, and I'll add the link here.

And as a special added bonus, here's a drawing of a kitty. His name is Belvedere.

It's a little after one in the morning and I just finished doing some writing. I'm going to shoot a little puppet movie this week, and I'll post it here soon as I'm done. I'm excited about it.

There is a frog in a pond thinking about a pond with no frog.

I've got a project at work where I need to make a short video using paper cutouts walking around the city doing something. It's somehow part of the holiday gift we're sending our clients. I should shoot it tomorrow or Tuesday, but I don't have a really good idea yet.

There are three of the characters, and they're real boxy. One is a spacetronaught, one is a robot, one is a green monster. I think they'll walk around the city and talk about things that are profound and meaningful. They'll discover the true meaning of the Holiday Season and grow giant and it'll be exciting.

Maybe I'll just shoot a bunch of footage and then edit it to some funny dialogue. Surefire equation for success.

A drawing I did for the upcoming Sass Parilla The Singing Gorilla comic book my friends are putting out. It's going to be a fold out or something.

The comment I got was that it was nice, but conceptually I was off -- Sass is a man in a gorilla costume, and this looks like a real gorilla. I argue that he is wearing a really good gorilla costume, like he's in a big-budget hollywood movie with an animatronic face control.

I've been going to the ASIFA life drawing sessions every Thursday night that I can. I've been thinking that I really want to be good at this drawing thing, and life drawing seems to be a good way to go about it. I really enjoy it. Tomorrow I'm going to bring a big pad of newsprint, usually I draw very small, so it'll be interesting to switch to large format.







I've also been thinking about doing a Big Scary Monster Halloween stop motion project.



And currently in production is another movie with Mr. Children-for-Hands, "The Giant."



Things are happening.

(photo provided by the esteemed Matt Hutchinson. )

The three are standing by the side of the Highway. It is cold and the sun is going down.

Chicken is hanging from Portus's neck, dangling down the other's back like a cape made of brick. Chicken had long ago given up walking in hopes he would finally get around to learning how to float. Portus is a patient and giving friend.

Dante doesn't leave home much. He is amazed and confused by his surroundings. He points at the tall buildings and says, "Wow! That's amazing. Just look at that."

Chicken, Portus, and Dante are standing by the side of the highway. It is cold and the sun is going down, it will be nightime in just a few hours and the three friends have no sleeping arangments anywhere nearby.

Chicken says the best way to learn a new language is to immerse yourself in it and not give yourself a chance to use your own. Portus will often complain that his neck and lower back hurt. Dante will ask if anyone wants some Asprin, as he himself is getting some and can retrieve some if anyone wishes.

Cars whoosh past and blow an icy chill through the soft downy fur of three friends, three Bunny Rabbits who aren't familiar with this sort of coldness, the one that seeeps into your bones and takes a little of your breath for itself. There is nowhere nearby to dig a hole--everything is asphalt and concrete. Everything is hard or pointy or driving really fast, whooshing the air into icy chill blasts. Morning is too far away.

Once he learns to Float, Chicken tells his best friends that he will then learn about Jokes. If you can Float, that's great, but how are you going to make any money with that? Chicken explains that if you can tell jokes while floating, people will pay you good money.

"I wish I had some good money," says Dante. Dante has enough money to buy three airplanes (in coins), but he pretends he doesn't have any. A magazine once interviewed him about a company he owns, and a radio show did, too. Sometimes he teaches a Business Class at a private University nearby. Dante says, "I wish it weren't so cold."

A car pulls up and the window rolls down with a mechanical whirr. "Do you Regular Bunnies need a ride?" The woman inside is short and round and old. Her skin hangs in fleshy gobs from her face, her large rose-tinted glasses obscuring her eyes. "Get in," she shouts.

Portus eases Chicken into the back seat and climbs in after. Dante wiggles his nose at the woman behind the wheel. She points her glasses at him, the left side of her lip pulled savagely close to her eye. "I said get in," her voice like a chainsaw.

Dante nods his head and hops into the back with his friends. Chicken, Portus, and Dante drive off into the twilight in the back of a large American car. Three Bunnies who are called Regular Bunnies by old women, old women who aren't scared to pick up hitchiking wildlife. Three who are hungry, and ready for a nap.