John wastes paper

FLEABAG ADMIRATION DEPT: So, I've been struggling with a four legged run– something that is really tough to do well. Go ahead - try it yourself! Anyway– I went looking for examples to study and found this cool bit-of-business from FAMILY DOG. A simple shot of a dog scratching himself, but done so well! What a greatly observed caricature of dog behavior. There's some great arc reversals happening here every time the dog's foot digs into his neck. The animator has given the dog solidity and a wonderful looseness all at the same time. Great stuff and I just had to sketch it out for myself to figure out what was going on frame-to-frame. Blue ballpoint pen on 8.5" x 12" sketchpad. Here are those sketches arranged in order and played back on 8's so you can see what's going on for yourself. These of course weren't drawn in register to each other so the effect is rough, but it gives you an idea of the arcs and opposite actions. The original

RETIREMENT FLYER DEPT: Here's another example of a retirement flyer. And again, it boasts a retirement to the Hawaiian isles. You'd be amazed at the number of State employees who can afford this tropical retirement destination. I know I can't :) Funny story about this illustration: I was given this project when the caricature by the first illustrator assigned didn't meet the client's expectations. Apparently it did not resemble the subject enough. However, by the time I began work, the client was not available, nor were any reference photos of her. So I just winged it and drew blind. I did know that she was a blonde and looked fairly young for her age, and so just drew a standard pretty-blonde-girl type of face. I probably spent no more than 20 minutes to sketch and ink this. Word came back later that the client loved the caricature and felt it looked just like herself! Heh! Sometimes you just get lucky :) The caricature was sketched on marker paper and i

MISGUIDED EFFORTS DEPT: Here's an illustration piece that I'm all at once both proud and ashamed of. In 2010 we were tasked with preparing art for an exhibit at the California History Museum here in Sacramento - "Extreme Engineering - The State Water Project at Fifty." For one of the exhibit's panels we needed to illustrate the six "Big Benefits" of the SWP to the people of California. We decided on using a rotating tri-fold billboard because its motion would be eye catching, for which I would produce three illustrations, each showcasing two of the benefits. I wanted these illustrations to suggest the human side of our engineering achievement. I also wanted  them to reflect the popular culture and art styles of the era that the SWP was developed in, the 60s and 70s - simple,  rounded, and uncomplicated shapes seemed appropriate.  In thinking about this, I could come up with no better example to follow than Mary Blair's wonderful advertising w

FOND MEMORIES DEPT: Way back in the spring of '97 I had the opportunity to attend one of Richard Williams' 3-day Animation Workshops in San Francisco. I had no business being there other than I could, at that time, afford the price of admission. I wasn't working in the animation field, I wasn't an animation student (not officially, anyway), and I did not have a lot of animation experience (not of the character-animation sort, anyway). But I just had to be there. I knew about Mr. Richard Williams and how revered he was in the animation industry. Heck, he was a legend. And I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to hear any words-of-wisdom he might deem to pass on to us mere mortals. So there I was, way in the back row of the theatre that had been rented for the event. Timidity prevented me from sitting any closer. But there I was, shoulder-to-shoulder with more deserving folks from Pixar and PDI who knew not of my pedigree. Mr. Williams walked out and began to spea

STIGMATIZED TRAINING METHODS DEPT: In the world of art and design the word "tracing" has a definite stigma attached to it. It implies cheating or the use of a crutch technique by the unskilled. All reasons that I've avoided it like the plague for years. But the other day, while going through some old notes, I was reminded that it can be a valuable training method and has been used so by some very skilled folks. Case in point: years ago, I attended a seminar by Richard Williams (sage animation master - look him up ) where he mentioned that, as an occasional exercise, he would disappear into the camera room to trace-off an old Bugs Bunny Witch Hazel scene, or some other bit of animation by one of the Warners or Disney animators. He would do this to study the spacing and timing used, and would try and identify the keys and breakdown drawings and reproduce the x-sheet to get inside the head of the animator to understand why they had made the choices they did. Well, if