Busy All Over

A lot has gone on this year. 

People got sick, people died, our home has been in disarray since our walls were gutted because of ice storm damage in February and the repairs were completed only a couple of days ago, and, work has also kept me busy, but ... I finally have a few minutes to post a few things. It's not much. Enjoy.

As usual, some girls ...

 ... some guys ...

... and a bit of "The Elliptical World of Snurd" where I am rethinking the villain design (again) and showing a few pages of thumbnails from the first chapter (of 11) from the graphic novel I hope to finish some day in the distant future.

That's it for now. See you at Christmas?

Back To Work ... and Busy

 Like a lot of people in the animation industry I had a forced break in employment for the first time in almost four decades. Fortunately for me, I was able to find work again after a four-and-a-half month break. During that time I finished my notes for "Film Grammar for Animation Storyboarding" which topped out at just over 240pgs (samples below) and I worked on some thumbnails for my graphic novel "The Elliptical World of Snurd".

Since getting back to work, things have been winding up and getting busy as more crew comes back on board for season 3 of "Alma's Way". It's nice to get most of the old team back at Pipeline Studios to work for another bunch of stories with the great team at Fred Rogers Production. 

I thought I'd do a post o wrap things up on an interesting year, and hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy.

A few of the many images from my "Film Grammar" notes.

A bit of playing with a "Snurd" logo using a custom "Snurd" font I made.

A halloween drawing ... one of my rare forays into doing colour.

And, finally, a bit of fun Christmas.

Until next year ... be safe.

Open For Work

 Like so many in the animation industry I am out of work for the first time in more than 39-years. Sad, but I am waiting for a pick up for Season 3 of "Alma's Way" from PBS and Fred Rogers Productions which is tentative for August. So, I am nervously taking the summer off and chipping away at working on my "retirement project" which is a graphic novel series for my "Elliptical World of Snurd" idea. So far I have done thumbnail roughs for about 60 pages of the first story. I am about half way on the first story of eleven parts. Here are a few samples of my thumbnails so far. Enjoy.

Lasty, a few random guys and gals.

That's it for now. Ciao!

A Little of This and That

 Sometimes you just have to doodle when things are in limbo.Over the past while I have been focused on working on updating my notes on "Film Grammar for Storyboarding" and fleshing out story beats and details on a personal project so my drawing pen seems to flit around drawing different things. The randomness makes for a lot of bad drawings which will never see the light of day, and some which don't make me cringe so much when I see them again. Below are a few simplified, random selections from the doodles from the last few months. Enjoy.

A few guys.

 A few girls.

And a few bits of "Snurd".

That's it for now. Ciao!

Production Fatigue (aka: Burnout)

Tired. 

I am glad we are on the back end of the production I am currently co-directing because I am seriously tired and burnt out. This season has been long, challenging and exhausting. I guess I am showing my age. After all, I have been doing this for +40 years so I am no spring chicken.

Taking a deep breath. Letting it out.

Even though my mojo is low, I have been able to scratch out a few things since the last post. A very small sampling are posted below. Enjoy.

A few girls.

I am still chipping away at a personal project "The Elliptical World of Snurd". I have finished beat outlines for the ten parts of the story and started roughing out a few pages of what will eventually be a graphic novel, and in between I scribble a few drawings when I have a free moment and am not too tired.

I was working on a Christmas postcard to send out to people, but I got lazy and will just post it here. If I don't post before the new year, I hope you have a restful and safe holiday.

That's it until next time.