Yoooo Joe!!!!!!!!!!

Digital/Photoshop

Duke in action!!!

Cobraaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!

Picked up the boxed set of the entire GI Joe run. So many fond childhood memories.

Also, been looking at some of my Future Boy Conan cels. I think I might scan and/or shoot photos of some of my originals collection and share. :)

DEBT LIMIT – A GUIDE TO AMERICAN FEDERAL DEBT MADE EASY

Art of Cars 2

Some samples of work from my time on Cars 2. Thank you to Jay Shuster and Harley Jessup for helping me grow as an artist and designer. All art is copyright Disney/Pixar.

American Dream Animated

This is a great animated short about the financial system and power structure. Entertaining and educational!

Take a break for a moment from video games, tv, your Ipad, gossip etc... Get educated!! Please check out my other blog for more info.(link on the right)

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered...I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies... The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs." -Jefferson

Tone vs. Line

It's important to respond to different situations with different solutions. Responding to the things in front of you in a way that is most efficient and yields the best results.


Tone when used in a heavy direct lighting situation is much more powerful in describing form and shape, than line is. Even a loose, abstract collection of scribbles can begin to conjure an image.



Lastly, I have posted a new video documentary that I URGE everyone to watch. If you truly want to understand what is happening with our economy and the world economy. Greece is bankrupt, Ireland, Protugal, Spain, America, and on and on. The U.S. dollar is dying. This is not a new phenomenon, banking and financial families throughout history have destroyed countries and gobbled up their assets. Please we must get educated!!

Project Notes

Notes from another dead idea.

Artocritical

I have created a new blog so that I can express my views on the state of our country and hopefully share new information with those of you who, like me, have ignored for too long the important issues facing us and are concerned for our future.

This blog will remain for those who still check-in for art updates.

The newest post is about the Information War we are in. The U.S. wants to step up it's propaganda machine. Our news system in Amerika is almost completely compromised, we MUST seek Alternative Media to get any view other than that of corporate or government propaganda.

Transit

Heading home, after a good days work.

Gainax at Pixar

Last Tuesday I was treated to an awesome afternoon hanging with some talented staffers at studio Gainax !! I have been following the exciting work of Gainax since highschool when I experienced the phenomenon that was Evangelion. It truly struck a cord in me and began my fascination with everything Gainax.

I soon discovered their earlier works such as Wings of Honneamise and Nadia. And stumbling upon Otaku No Video was a real treat. It is a glimpse into the beginnings of the fledgling studio as well as hilarious snap shot of geek culture in Japan.

We started the day with a tour for them around Pixars facility and then they were kind enough to show us a quick reel and then answer some questions. Bobby(rubio) and I were very concerned that the turn out would be poor and we’d feel embarrassed but not the case! We were happy to see so many Pixarians show up and ask many great questions!!

On this day we were visited by Sushio (Animator), Akemi Hayashi (Animator), Masahiko Otsuka (Director), Kumiko Sano (production staff), Hiromi Wakabayashi (creator behind PSG), Toyonori Yamada (Director of Photography) and Satsuki Yamashita (our awesome translator in addition to manga/anime translator). Satsuki was so kind to take multiple pictures for everyone! :)

Sushio, a very talented Gainax animator, who was really born to hold high the Gainax style. You can read a quick bio about him here. He generously handed out his latest awesome Doujin with animation cuts from his Gurren Lagann Parallel Works short film “Kittan Zero”! Killer!

Akemi Hayashi is a talented female animator and very much one of the sensitive, emotional hearts of Gainax. I asked her about her short for Ani-Kuri, I was curious about it’s meaning, it is very emotionally suggestive. “I wanted to create a story for women…maybe coming home from a day at work and sitting down to watch this…”

“I’m always trying to push emotion and pull everyone (at Gainax) back toward feeling…Gainax already has so many boys for the big action sequences…”

I was happy to hear this from her. I shared that I felt that Gurren Lagann suffered because of it’s manic attitude toward important emotional moments. They would creep up on touching emotion-filled moments and then spoil it all with some bit of slap stick that I felt was a disservice, at times, to the scenes emotional investment.

Masahiko Otsuka is a true veteren of the animation business. He was an assitant director at Ghibli on Pom Poko and Whisper of the heart. He was such a genuine person, excited to be at Pixar, he wore a HUGE grin on his face the entire time. He has many, many credits including episode director on Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, FLCL, Gunbuster 2!

Enrico threw out a question and Otsuka-san spoke about the difference between his time at Ghibli and Gainax. “ Ghibli is like the father or grandfather’s generation…more serious…Gainax is like the big brother..very playful and light hearted..” Haha.

Later when we were all hanging out I asked Otsuka-san if there would be another season of Gurren Lagann and sadly he said “..I think it is done.”

They also fielded questions about getting things done by deadline! Maybe the downside to the big brother generation? Haha.

This is where Toyonori Yamada jumped in. “ Things have often come down to the last 3 weeks…it makes everyone come together and work hard! I enjoy it really, there is a lot of energy and excitement to do our best and finish!”

I told him their producer’s must be very forgiving… Toyonori made a motion, putting his hands on his head and slumping over, head drawn down. HAHA! Hilarious.

Toyonori Yamada is a Director of Photography at Gainax. Gurren Lagann and Shikabane Hime being some of his credits. He explained the job as, the person who composites the character animation and finished background paintings, CG too? and I’m assuming oversees the exporting of final shots in the film.

Yamada-san had some English understanding so we could have a little light cander between us later, when Bobby and I hung out with them after Q and A. He is a very sweet person and a pleasure to be around. He too was generous with cool shwag! Thank you Yamada-san for the awesome artbooks!!

Hiromi Wakabayashi is the twisted mind behind the initial idea for Panty and Stocking. I immediately asked who was responsible for episode 7 the transformers episode. It was him who wrote the script! Hahaha. Someone asked him about the inspiration behind the show. “ A few years ago I along with other Gainax staffers at an american convention were watching the American tv animation “drawn together” and we couldn’t believe they were showing such explicit things on tv….. I thought…why don’t we do that!” Haha. Everyone laughed.

Hiromi also sighted Power Puff Girls and his love for American shows like Glee and Gossip Girl. Hiromi is also a huge fan of American comics!

I also got an explanation about the big blow-up during Gurren Lagann production in which Takami Akai stepped down from his position Gainax.

Hiromi explained, “…the fans were upset at the quality of animation, but it was completely intentional on the part of Imaishi (series director). He wanted to parody the common occurance, in many productions of the past, to have huge dips in quality during the course of a shows tv production.” That is a great tidbit to know!

I assumed it had to be intentional, because a studio like Gainax could have easily executed Episode 4 just as the rest.

EDIT: A better way to translate what Wakabayashi was trying to say, instead of describing it as “low production quality“, it makes better sense to say that Imaishi was trying to homage the common occurance of TV animation drawings of the past, to go “off model” from scene to scene and sometimes episode to episode.

This could be taken as a drop in quality at the hands of less talented animators(and would be considered so by a director or animation checker) but is also sometimes tied to the strong individual style of animator's who were more concerned with great movement or action than about maintaining a characters likeness. This makes all the more sense coming from Imaishi as his biggest influence is none other than Yoshinori Kanada, one of the true “individuals” in animation history. Kanada was someone who frequently tossed out “likeness”, drawing off model, in favor of some dynamic movement or action.

Kumiko Sano was very quiet and not used to being in front of the public as her role keeps her behind the scenes more. But she was very sweet.

I want to thank Satsuki Yamashita for her AMAZING translation services. She made it possible for us to have conversations with all the staffers about whatever was on our minds! So professional and down to earth at the same time! Thank you!! She is also an accomplished translator working on many cool projects such as FLCL, Paprika, Code Geass. She was such a big part of making the day awesome!!!

I also want to thank Bobby Rubio for his passion and effort in pushing this visit foward!!! Thanks Bobby!!!

This was such a treat and dream come true for me! I’ve had an emotional attachment to Japan through this pop culture medium of anime and being able to meet some of the staffers at a company that I consider to be at the heart of animation/geek culture in japan was truly an honor. More importantly it was so nice to put faces to some of the very human people behind many of my favorite pieces of animation. I hope one day I can collaborate with Gainax on a project!!

GOOOOO GAINAXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!