Pillow Tie

At what point is someone considered a professional in their field? It is an interesting question. I once won a Taco Time wallet from winning a coloring contest. Does that make me a professional colorer? I once earned 1st place in a billiards tournament sponsored by Aspen Village Apartments in Rexburg, Idaho.  Does that make me a professional billiardist? We'll come back to this.

I am currently providing digital illustrations for a company called Pillow Tie. Earlier this year a friend of mine who knew the company's founders gave them my contact information and they hired me to do freelance work. Thanks Becky. If you're not yet familiar with their product, please feel free to familiarize yourself. It's a genius combination of form and function, sprinkled with a bit of tongue-in-cheek wit. The founders have been kind enough to let me post the finished images for my mini cult-following to see. (Yes I'm referring to all you sneaky viewers of this blog that slide in the side door, browse around, and then jump out the bathroom window without leaving comments. I've got cameras you know.) The company has been recognized by KSL Channel 5, NPR, and most recently on the Today Show, as well as several popular blogs.

I've been tasked with illustrating the many uses of a Pillow Tie. Featured below are the final products, complete with logo and a pithy one-liner provided by the creators.

Let us syllogize. 

A: To be considered a professional, one must meet a determined demand of duties and be credited for it.

B: I have been illustrating for Pillow Tie since April, and have been credited in the form of cashola.

C: I am a professional Illustrator.

If A and B, then C.  Right?

Dawn of Man

Here is my submission for an online animation contest. The rules were to animate 15 seconds or more of a live-action movie.  I chose 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I've realized that it takes a certain kind of person to like this movie.  I can see how one might find it extremely dull or just plain weird, but I see it as a major achievement in film and it's one of my favorites.

If you haven't ever seen it, I'm not going to recommend it to you.  But if my animation peaks your interest, go check out the movie.

And for those of you who have seen it and love it like I do, high five... on the side... down low... where'd it go?   OHHHHHHH!!!

You can see the HD version on youtube here.
Again, pardon the watermark that covers the entire thing.  It only shows that I'm poor and can't yet afford the actual animation software.

A Window to the Soul... or so they say

Speaking of eyes, here's one.  

I got a book in the mail this week called Digital Character Design and Painting by Don Seegmiller.  This quick painting is a result of one of the tutorials found therein.  It turned out quite a bit different than his, but I learned some good techniques about how to lay down color.

I'm sure there is probably a lot more I could have done to it, but it was just for practice anyway.

nude amphibians

Today I was quite fortunate to have a guest model for my figure drawing class.  You may not recognize the face but this is the lead stunt double for Princess and the Frog.  He sat down with us and told us stories of making the movie and how he always wanted to do stunt work.  You wouldn't think it but he's just a regular guy like you or me.  He laughed at all my jokes and chewed gum like anyone else would.  It's refreshing to know that there is still good talent out there that doesn't let the fame go to their head.

Here are a few of the sketches I made while he posed for us.

An alternate version of the story goes like this:  While in figure drawing today, I decided to change things up a bit by making the human model look like a frog.  Since I try to keep this blog G-rated for the sake of all my 0-12 year old fan base, I finally have some tasteful nudes to post on here.

someday i'll look back on this and laugh/vomit

Today's Feature:  My final project for Intro to Animation.
It was mainly just an excuse for me to get acquainted with some animation software.

The assignment was to animate someone diving into a pool.
A friend of mine, Steve Macleod, advised me once to always go above and beyond on my assignments in order to challenge myself.  I definitely went 'beyond' the limits of the assignment, but whether I went 'above' may be questionable.

This was done in Toon Boom Animate with a free downloadable trial, thus the watermark covering most of the screen.  The timing is off in a few places and it gets a little strobey sometimes, but hey.