grant alexander

Cobraaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!

2012-02-05T22:57:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-05T21:18:00.000-08:00

Art of Cars 2

2011-07-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-26T18:37:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

Notes from another dead idea.

Artocritical

2011-05-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-29T23:27:00.001-07:00

Heading home, after a good days work.

Gainax at Pixar

2011-02-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Days End

2011-02-17T22:24:00.000-08:00

A pastel from last year. After a day of painting I couldn't turn it off and squeezed out this last piece while the Baltazar's grilled in the backyard. Man, hard to draw straight's with these soft pastels, drawing issues aside, I felt I captured the feeling of the light at that hour. It's like stealing a bit of nature and holding it hostage on a small scrap of paper. Pretty amazing we can do this.

Grey Morning Plein Air

2010-09-24T15:37:00.001-07:00

Pastel on Canson 9x12

Another Pastel done during a class with Bill Cone. Early morning in the hills, very hazy with a thick layer of fog, subtle light and shadow.

Silhouette

2010-09-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

I love cartooning and as all cartooning is based on life, it's nice to sit and observe more carefully your subject. Alex Toth was a big proponent for silhouette drawing, capturing the gesture or quality about a thing in it's simple outline. These are drawn in that manner, being sensitive to silhouette read. Not that I drew an outline around the entire thing first, but slowly crawling around the outside, maybe indicating some internal detail to keep proportion in check and geography clear and then continuing around the outside until I have captured the person. Try it out!

Sketches

2010-09-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

Some sketches, playing around, just exploring.

Rough Comic panel

2010-08-07T15:42:00.000-07:00

This is an abandoned panel for a good friends comic project. I think the project is abandoned too. haha. Well, maybe one day.

Harriet...

2010-06-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

...although I don't know your name, you seemed like a Harriet. Possibly pruning your garden on a Sunday afternoon in white gloves and a lemonade to quench your thirst.

Spent the day with friends talking about artistic goals, approaches, sketching and nerding out. One of the amazing people I spied, lounging outside at the cafe. So much character, some people practically draw themselves.

Yoichi Kotabe draws and animates

2010-06-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

Now I really need to buy a Nintendo DS. First Colors and now Flip Note. Too Cool!

Yoichi Kotabe is a legendary animator, a comtemporary to Miyazaki (they and many more, were trained by YASUJI MORI, I believe that's where the Ghibli "look" evolved from) who worked side by side on many early Toei and Nippon animation productions such as Heidi and Marco. Animal Treasure Island is another one of many. He left Toei to work with Miyazaki and Takahata at A Pro and later to Nintendo. He is responsible for contributing many appealing designs and illustrations for Nintendo, including Mario!! I mean he didn't invent Mario, but it's similar to the way Freddie Moore made Mickey Mouse so damned appealing after the black and white era. That's the Mickey we know today.

This is a fun clip of the master drawing and animating on the Nintendo DS using a program called Ugoku Memo or Flip Note. Looks Cool!! It's got skinning so you can animate, almost like flipping. Neat. He draws Mario first then the animation begins about 2:37 seconds in and it's just so great to see him plunk down a few well chosen lines and breathe life into them.

Plein air

2010-05-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

pastel on canson 9x12

It was an extremely cloudy overcast day at Dillon Beach near Bodega Bay. It was a real challenge without any light/shadow contrast on the rock forms and land.
So it became instead, a study in the abstract/interlocking graphic shape patterns and colors of stone and plantlife.

Armand and Huy were there to attest to the almost alien complexity of the rocks. Whew!

Old Age

2010-04-16T11:09:00.001-07:00

Right now, old age terrifies me.

It felt like childhood was going to last forever. I remember hot summers, swimming, riding my bike then coming home for lunch and to play Metroid with my friend Eugene, a spoiled Chinese kid, but he was my pal none the less.

Highschool seemed like an eternity. An eternity of insecurity and socializing. What a tumultuous time high school is (even still). So full of challenges to my heart and ego. But you somehow live through it all.

When you hit 20 then 21 all kinds of new freedoms open up. You've left your teens and suddenly you're "grown up", but in reality you are still just as dumb as you were a couple years earlier.

It wasn't until I began to creep toward 30 that I really began to think about my mortality and what "this" all means.

With a family now, a daughter, a beautiful new son, life begins to force you to shift, whether you are prepared to or not. Thoughts of, what kind of example you are leaving your children? or How will they navigate the world? Begin to flood your mind and heart.

It was easier to coast through life with very little forward thinking or plan for the future up until my mid 20's, but life comes knocking and you realize that you only have so much time.

Whittling away at what's important to you and what will best serve those around you, family, friends, colleagues and community. It's also a time when your world begins to shrink more and more. As you return to the virtues and values you were given by your parents and friends growing up.

Hopefully, we were given some decent tools to set out with and hopefully we meet friends and folks along the way who will help us fashion new tools to fill the gaps in our toolbox.

Boiling it Down

2009-04-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

Teaching a class has done wonders for my analytical process. Things I'd taken for granted, things I'd forgotten to apply in my own artistic life, come to the forefront.

One thing in particular that has caught my attention is the need to "Boil things down". You don't need a lot of something to say a lot about that same something. You just need the right something to tell your story.

It could be the right fold or the right angle or the right expression or even the right color and on and on.

This "Boiling it Down" is at the heart of what makes something powerful and rich, for me. Something that when staring you in the face, doesn't appear to be incomplete, because everything that is there, says it all.

It's something that, when you see it, you know instinctively, it is exactly "the way it should be."

Slaves

2008-09-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

Gesture Class has been incredibly inspiring and I feel like I'm finding myself artistically, more and more these days. Which is a good damn feeling. Tom Gately has got my curiosty and excitement for drawing, burning again!

Other than that, I was reminded recently to keep moving, keep trying, keep reaching, loving, being patient, humble, to be a friend, to ask for what you need and not to fear the future.

C'est la vie.

Totoro Forest

2008-08-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

The Totoro Forest Project has been a big success so far. Most of the tickets have sold out, so it should be an awesome event. There will also be on-line bidding available, so this thing could get zany! This is of course to help raise funds for the Sayama Forest, the very forest that inspired Miyazaki's Totoro!

I have contributed a small painted piece that will hopefully help the cause.
Please check out the Totoro Forest site to see the art as well as the blog for more updates and cool artist introductions. There is a great walk through Sayama Forest via google maps.