Feeding Pig Shadow

Poor Pig Shadow hates being confined, but at least Lizard keeps him fed. Here's a step-by-step piece featuring the duo.

Central Canada Comic Con 2009

This was my first time as an artist sitting in "Artist Alley" at this year's C4.
Thankfully, the annual event is getting larger and this is its second year in the Winnipeg Convention Center.A big thanks to everyone who stopped by my table and enjoyed my artwork. I hope I can give you more to enjoy next year! (buttons, magnets, stickers, you know...fun stuff)
One of the big events that made my weekend great was actually meeting Mr. Adam West. A down-to-earth, funny guy.Since I was too busy checking out all the people in costumes and other people's tables,I never started making original sketches until the last day of the event. A mistake that I hopefully won't repeat next year. Here are a few examples of what I doodled today.Hope you blog readers out there enjoy my spot here on the web and remember to stay tuned for a new site in the future. All the necessary info will be posted here when it becomes available.

The Making of "A Quick Lesson in Skiing"

Back in school during 2008, we were given the task of making a cut-out animated short using After Effects.
I started by scribbling down several ideas that had very simple premises. Different locales, different plots, but all generally based on the idea of timing the story to classical music.
I was inspired by Disney's Fantasia 2000, especially Eric Goldberg's sequences "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Carnival of Animals". I also was inspired by Friz Freleng's classic Warner Bros cartoons, "Pigs in a Polka", "Mouse Mazurka", "Rhapsody Rabbit", "Rhapsody in Rivets" and "The Three Little Bops". When you animate a cartoon to music, the timing is there for you, all you got to do is build an endearing story set to the tune. Easier said than done I'm afraid.
I settled on the music of Camille Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals: Finale" after seeing the Looney Tunes TV special, "Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals". I found the music pretty catchy while being highly addicting.
When listening to the music, I always pictured a chase of some kind with it's "up and down" melody, but settled on an actual funny moment from my life. I went on a ski trip quite a few years ago and will always remember trying to conquer that mountain without falling down. I slid down that slope on my final day with such grace until I reached the bottom, coming to a dead halt on my face. Hey, at least I made it all the way down the hill.
I started sketching out rough character designs and story ideas for my story.
I quickly started researching my favorite animated pieces that dealt with mountains, both snowy and not. I also searched the web for photos that reminded me of that faithful ski trip.After settling on a character design, I quickly started sketching out a rough storyboard timed to the music by Camille Saint Saens.We were instructed to create an animatic of our storyboard before moving to final animation. Enjoy my rough-as-heck sketches animated to the music here:

After timing everything out, I finalized my character poses and finalized each piece of animation in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.Now after 3 months of work, please enjoy the final short complete with color in all it's musical glory.

I was flattered to find out that my cartoon was the opening headliner of the school's Extreme Design Film Festival. Now if only I had the time to bring my other ideas to animated form.

A Looney Family

This is a caricature piece I did that was going to be used as a present. Apparently, the family is "looney tunes" so this is what I came up with...

Coffee Shop Doodles

Here are a couple of pages I sketched out as I was enjoying some time at Second Cup today...

Bulldog Baseball

Here's a character design piece I did for a friend.
Notice the bulldog is left-handed, it took me a while to work out a good pose...

Sketchbook Frog

A sketchbook drawing I cleaned up and threw into Photoshop... he's a happy little character, ain't he?

D.Y. Inspired Doodles

Here are some sketchbook doodles that were inspired by Wildsville: the Art of Derek Yaniger.
http://www.amazon.com/Wildsville-Derek-Yaniger-Masters-Lowbrow/dp/0955833639

Sneek Peek

B.B. Wolfe is back with another comic story!
Here's a sneek peek of some rough story sketches that pits B.B. against a few "pork-bellies"...
(don't worry, I stayed away from swine-flu gags...;))Hopefully it'll be ready for posting next wed!

Taking Pig Shadow Home

At least that's what Lizard thinks.
"Pig Shadow" - the ongoing adventures of a Pig Shadow that craves excitement but is often held back by Lizard's giving nature.

Babysitter Steep

Steep the Lizard decides to take his nephew to the park one afternoon, but babysitting proves to more difficult than he counted on...

Elastic-Mouse VS Wrecking Bull

Just a couple of my Super-Critters characters having it out. Tried playing with line weights on this one...

Steep the Lizard Re-Design

After creating this character nearly 20 years ago, I figure it was time to update Steep the Lizard.I may have plans to revive my cartoony character but time will tell.
To learn more about Steep's origins, follow the link here.

More k-Tel International Cover Designs

Just some more examples of freelance work I've done for k-Tel records...

Sketchy Strips

Here's a few examples of comic strip gags I've been sketching in my spare time...
Just put the pen to paper and this is what happened. Color added with Photoshop.

Dingo Dawg Sketch

Here's a quick sketch and color added with Photoshop...

I Dabble With Photography Too!

Here's an example of the photos I've snapped here and there. I try to use my knowledge of composition and design when I take these snapshots.You can see more by checking out my Flickr Photostream here.
There is also a permanent link in my list on the side. Feel free to leave comments!

Happy 2009!

The new year is upon us and here is the first doodle of the year!This little "kalf" will probably be developed more over time and appear as a regular in a strip series I've been putting together.
2009 should be a good year for more artwork! Stay tooned!

Happy Holidays!

Just a little Christmas greeting to all that take the time to visit this little blog 'o mine...

I Like Storyboarding

If there's one thing I enjoy about video projects, it's the development stage.
That's where the creativity lies and you're free to explore your options as it takes shape. I have always enjoyed sketching out storyboards to make the script come "alive".
Much like a comic strip, it lays out the action as the story goes on.
Here is an example of a storyboard I sketched out to explain how to animate in Flash for a group project when I was taking Digital Multimedia in school.

More K-Tel Designs

Here are more examples of the album covers I've been designing for K-tel International.
The artists range from Country to Soul to Lounge...

Cat & Mouse Step-by-Step Process

Here's a little step by step thing I did to answer someone's question on DeviantArt.- Rough Sketch - Defined Details - Inks - Photoshop Treatment
These are kind of fun to do!

Inspiration for Graffiti

I came across this picture of Roger Rabbit themed Graffiti Art located someplace called Byron Bay in Australia.Looks like some fan art I did of Roger was an inspiration to the artist behind the graffiti. I'm touched!

Designs for K-tel

Recently, I've been given the opportunity to do some freelance design work for k-tel International.
Here are some examples of album covers that I've designed for soon-to-be-available iTunes listings...

Happy 80th Birthday Grampa

My fiance's Grandfather celebrated his 80th birthday so I whipped up this little present for him.
Mickey Mouse's birthday was a few days before so I put the two together.I'm glad he liked it despite the fact I should have included wooden shoes which would pay homage to his Dutch heritage. D'oh!

Wild Take Doodles

Just a bunch of Tex Avery-ish wild takes I doodled in my sketchbook and put into Photoshop...

Tricks or Treats

A Witch Whey strip I created to celebrate Halloween! Have a good one everyone!

Puppy Doodle

Why does it always seem that quick sketches and doodles always have more style and character than a cleaned up version?

Stockboy Syndrome

An idea for a fan art piece I thought of when watching old "Raw Toonage" episodes on tape:
Bonkers talks Jitters into taking a stockroom job with him at the House of Everything. Comedic hilarity ensues..."Bonkers D. Bobcat" & "Jitters A. Dog" copyright Disney Inc.

Halloween Greetings

Witch Whey, Jack and Charcoal want to wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween season!

Witch Way?

Another Halloween-inspired sketch!
A wacky witch and her cat on a joy ride!

A Paw in My Face 2: The Hate Issue

The locally distributed zine is a collection of various local artist's work based on a theme.
The second issue of A Paw in My Face deals with "hate" while the first issue from 2007 dealt with "love".You can view the issue online if you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy from various Winnipeg shops...
http://apawinmyface.viewbook.com/vol_2_hate#/1/
Can you spot my piece in this page spread?

Roger and Bonkers: Prince Ali reprise

Well it seems that my current most-popular piece from Deviant Art, "Rabbit meets Bobcat" was popular enough to spawn a music video of sorts...

I don't get the connection, but free exposure is free exposure!

Happy Halloween

A quick sketch to celebrate October 31st!

An Art Trade

Here's my version of a fellow DeviantArt member's characters.
Sammy & The Gang features characters "Kenny Kat", "Harold Hippo", "Peter Pizza", "Sammy & Sally Squirrel" and "Frankie Fox".The original artwork by Crazyass246 can be viewed here.

Coming Attraction

Here's a teaser image for an upcoming story I have planned for the Super-Critters.
The "freshman" newbie from the first story is tired of not getting any respect from his fellow Henchmen so he sets out to catch Fast Quack. Capturing the fastest Super-Critter is bound to get him some admiration, but will it be as easy as he thinks?For those of you who don't know who the Super-Critters are, follow the link to the first story that was actually a school project. Introducing The Super-Critters

Weapons of Mass Distraction

Here is my submission for Color Blind's first issue theme: "Zeitgeist: The Spirit of the Times".The first issue should be released sometime in December or January...

Playing the Legislative

Here is a new drawing I've completed for use by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.

Looney Gangsters

Here's a little fan art of those two thugs from the Looney Tunes gang,
"Rocky & Mugsy"!There were 6 classic cartoons in total starring these two (solo and together):
1. "Easter Yeggs" (1950) - Rocky wants Daffy Duck to lay golden eggs.
2. "Catty Cornered" (1953) - Rocky holds Tweety Bird for ransom.
3. "Bugs and Thugs" (1954) - Rocky & Mugsy go against Bugs Bunny.
4. "Napoleon Bunny-Part" (1956) - Mugsy is Napoleon's guard trying to catch Bugs.
5. "Bugsy and Mugsy" (1957) - Bugs has fun tormenting Rocky and Mugsy.
6. "The Unmentionables" (1963) - Bugs is "Elegant Mess" taking on Rocky & Mugsy.

Sudden Visitor

A Friday night sketch. I like how this one came together.