Revisions to Easy Rider

Noticed I left a frame out, needed more frames here and there and some extra grassy FX. Looks better.

Happy birthday Dad!

Actually, it was three days ago. I got way too ambitious with this one and couldn't get it done in time. Anyway, happy birthday, Dad! Love you, and see you soon!

Happy birthday to my little brother

My brother's birthday was yesterday. Because I spent the weekend getting a reel together for a maybe job, I didn't get around to making a little birthday animation til late. So now I'll be late making one for my dad's birthday, which is today.

Anyway, happy birthday Dave. Love you lots.

Also, smoking is bad for you.

Xmas GIFs

I went ahead and bought the full version of ProMotion NG after realizing how much easier animating pixels would be using layers, so I'm experimenting with some fun Christmas animations before getting back to my little Visionaries thing.

Actually based on my house and wife's car.

Leoric Animation Update

Calling this one done for now. Once I get more animations to a good enough level, I'll go back and give them all a polish pass.

This one below will feature the owl emerging from the staff and granting Leoric the power of Wisdom!

Visionaries: Leoric Transformation WIP Update

Visionaries: Leoric Transformation WIP

Had to start with Leoric's lion transformation! Just so many fun ways to go with it!

I've still got a lot more to draw and animate with this one, but this work-in-progress shows where I'm going with it.

Knights Of The Magical Light

I like doing pixel art and animation. I've decided to take a short break from animating in Maya to do some new pixel pushing.

I've chosen The Visionaries toy/cartoon from the 1980s as my inspiration since it's pretty obscure and had a ton of unrealized potential. My goal: Pretend I'm working on an officiallly licensed Super NES game adaptation and do animation sets for a few of the characters, along with whatever else I come up with.

Here's what I've got so far:

Leoric. Just standing there to establish the look I want.

Starting with Leoric there, I'd like to do run, jump, attack, transformation and totem spell animations for a couple Spectral Knights and Darkling Lords. Doing a vehicle or environment would be fun, too.

My dream Visionaries game for the Super NES would be a classic, side-scrolling action game in the vein of X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse or Captain America and The Avengers (see images below).

X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (Super NES)

Captain America and The Avengers (Arcade)

Character Design Challenge

I started submitting to the Character Design Challenge on Facebook back in August. I haven't done October's yet, but here's what I've done so far.

August's theme: Insect Warrior

September's theme: Candy People

My honest opinion: No matter how well I do on these, I'll never get more than 30 likes. There's a lot of great work submitted, but there's also a lot of garbage that barely meets the posted guidelines and still gets 500 likes. So it's mostly bullshit, but it's a good excuse for me to draw characters the way I want to draw them.

Unemployed: The Sequel

My last post was in Spring 2016. I had just been interviewed at Wargaming Seattle and was about to be hired as a professional video game animator again following a tumultuous year in my life and career.

It is now Autumn 2018. Wargaming Seattle has been closed since May, and I'm an unemployed video game animator yet again. I've written of the event in detail privately, because as we know, video game people don't like it when you write about the goings-on at video game studios, so I'll keep it to myself for now.

Not that the details matter much. What matters is I received a decent severance out of the deal, which not everyone got in a summer of high-profile studio closures, so count me among the lucky unlucky ones.

What also matters: It's not the end of the world.

Of course it's good to be working and making money to pay those bills and progressing forward as a gainfully employed adult with a real job title and a neato little business card.

But it's also not such a bad thing to to step away from the fray for a while and be able to manage it without the lives of you and your little family being affected by it too much. Not that it's been easy, but as far as Dom's concerned everything's peachy, so that counts for something.

Mt. St. Helens - Aug. 2018

So it's been a summer of applying for jobs I probably didn't want but felt like I should try for. Have written many a cover letter -- actually several revisions of the same cover letter. Along the way, I've signed more NDAs than I care to count.

Animation tests: Assignments studios give to job candidates. I've done 7 or 8 of them since May. Some were done over a weekend. Others gave me a week or two. No matter how much time you have to complete it, you end up spending every waking moment making it as good as you can. A dedicated post about this will be coming from me soon I think. Until then, I'm working on putting together a reel of the highlights -- NDAs be damned.

So I've been drawing more. Sharing my work more. Making whatever art I can. Being Dom's Dad and making sure I always fucking rock at that. Keeping my dreams alive and finding the time to spread my wings. It feels good to spread your wings. Why don't I do it more, and why has it taken me so long?

Why don't I get my bike tuned up and start riding it again?

Mil Mi-24 Hind Rig & Animation Demo

Model from tf3dm.com.

Rig and animation from me.

M1A1 Abrams Tank Rig & Animation Demo

Quick demo I put together for an application at Wargaming Seattle. I think they like tanks over there.

Christmas Card 2015

Forgot to post last year's Christmas card. Didn't get it out til mid January, so technically it's this year's Christmas card. The space between the W and A bothers me.

M1A1 Abrams Tank

Downloaded a free tank model from tf3dm.com. Skinned, rigged and animated it over the last two nights. Cheated on the treads and just animated the UVs.

Thank You Card No. 2 Of 2015

Quick Rig Test

Nothin' fancy. Just playin' with a rig to make sure it works.

Thank You Card

We got so many nice gifts from friends and family far and wide, I felt compelled to send them an original thank you card. Still waiting for baby Dom to get here, but I've gotta feeling we'll be meeting him this weekend.

 

How To Draw Super Heroes

As part of my drawing practice, I dug out this book I've had since childhood. As much as I wanted to, I could not draw super heroes well in 1983, and this book did nothing to help.

Thirty-two years later, I'm gonna finally show that I can draw Superman, Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman in their full '80s glory.

The book's inside cover.

As you can see, my child self's attempts to draw Superman were rather feeble.

Behold: 1983 Superman drawn in 2015 by my adult self. My Superman looks a bit less sure of himself than his portrayal in the book. I gave him different proportions as well.

Batman is next.

Smoked Salmon Dot Com

Smoked Salmon now has an official website:

http://www.smokedsalmoncomic.com/

It's still a work-in-progress, but it's a start.

Smoked Salmon No. 3