CTN Animation Expo!

This Saturday I went to the CTN Animation Expo in Burbank and had an absolute blast. I love ComiCon and I love Siggraph, but there was something special about this event--it felt intimate, but it attracted a lot of talented animation and art professionals. It felt very satisfying to meet artists I've admired for years like Eric Canete, Robh Ruppel (who turned out to be a big Red Dead fan!), and if that weren't enough, J. Scott Campbell, who I happened to catch at a moment when there wasn't a line to see him! (impossible to imagine were it at ComiCon).

Me and legendary comic book artist J. Scott Campbell after he signed two of his books for me. He and Jim Lee were the artists who  most influenced the way I drew comics when I started in the early 90s.

This week I'll be looking at the websites from all the business cards I collected, as well as working on a new sketchbook which will be 100% focused on heads. I got the idea after speaking with artist Michael Buffington, Jr., who was selling his sketchbook filled with a whopping 1,000 head sketches. He did it in just over a month, so I think I can do it in less than three for sure.  I also saw the presentation that my company, The Third Floor, gave about previsualization at one of the convention rooms, and it felt exciting to be a part of such a forward-thinking company in an industry as new as previs. Needless to say, I'll be attending next year.

2010 "Proof-of-Concept" Pumpkin

Argh. I always look forward to carving a Halloween pumpkin each year, but this time I couldn't pull one off due to time constraints. However, I was able to mock something up in Photoshop in honor of the new "The Walking Dead" TV series:

Click here for some sketches I did of the Walking Dead TV series panel at the 2010 ComiCon.

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Now Available

New day, new Red Dead post. You can now purchase the Halloween-themed "Undead Nightmare Pack" through the Xbox or Playstation online stores. I hope you enjoy it!

Earlier posts on the Undead Nightmare Pack: 1  2

Comedians I Like: Fall Sketchbook Dump

So I'm mostly moved into the new place in L.A. and have been able to make some time to colorize some of the sketches I've done over the last month. Apologies for the lack of polish with some of these and varying degrees of commitment to a caricature-y style. 

First up is Greg Fitzsimmons. I haven't seen him live yet, but I've been listening to his podcast lately. He's been behind the scenes of many TV shows over the years and has a very sharp act.

Earlier this year my wife and I saw Bill Burr destroy at the Brea Improv.  He is one of my all-time favorites, and I have been meaning to do a drawing of him for some time now.

Dave Attell is a standup legend, and I had the pleasure of seeing him on a weeknight at the New York Comedy Cellar a few years ago. I was right up front and he did some back and forth with me, which felt surreal. His recent appearance on the "Blue episode" of Marc Maron's WTF podcast had me nearly crying with laughter.

I never miss Marc Maron's WTF Podcast, which features long interviews with the best comedians working today. He's a true original, and digs much deeper into his personal life than most comics, providing material which is very raw and fearless. I did an assortment of drawings for him, one of which came out looking a bit like Steven Spielberg:

Update 12/31/10: Me with Marc Maron after his set last night at The Comedy Store:

Now onto two looser sketches. The two on the left are Joe Rogan, from when I saw him perform at the House of Blues this summer in San Diego. The show started late, and at least four people got kicked out for disorderly conduct, but he handled it like a pro. Joe hosts his own podcast and first gained fame from the underrated TV show "Newsradio" before he watched people do things like eat maggot-ridden cheese and punch each other in the face.

To the right is Kevin Pollak, is an actor-comedian you'd recognize from The Usual Suspects. Like many other comedians in this post, he hosts an excellent online video podcast/chat show. His recent hour special is titled "The Littlest Suspect."

Marc Maron recently interviewed comedienne Kristen Schaal on the WTF Podcast, which inspired me to sketch her and her co-author Rich Blomquist (a Daily Show writer). They have a book out now.

And lastly, Mike Dawson and Donny Misraje, who both work on the Adam Carolla Show, which I did another illustration for here.

New "Daily Geology" Page by John Peña

John Peña is a longtime friend of mine and a terrific artist. He's currently a fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Over the years he has worked on a wide range of projects, including commissioned murals, a "Conflict Kitchen" that cooked popular dishes from foreign countries the United States has troubled relations with, and "Unnatural Translations," a series of natural events (rainfall, tides, etc.) as acted out by human bodies.

Over the last year, John made a series of playful line drawings where he would draw a significant memory that happened to him on that day. They are now all scanned and posted online to view at http://www.dailygeology.com/. Like the rest of his portfolio, I recommend checking it out.

More on the Conflict Kitchen.

Red Dead Redemption » Undead Nightmare - Launch Trailer

The latest spookiest trailer for Red Dead's "Undead Nightmare" downloadable content.

I've been working on comedian caricatures again, so keep checking back for new ones. I saw Paul F. Tompkins and Janeane Garofalo at Largo last week and I'll definitely do renditions of them eventually.

New Official Trailer for the Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Downloadable Content

For those who are looking for a new spin on the Red Dead Redemption universe, here's Rockstar's take on ZOMBIES:

It was the last project I worked on at Rockstar San Diego, so I know it's fun as hell. I hope you gamers that read this blog end up picking it up and enjoying it.

Shades of Death wins "Best Visual Effects" at Project Twenty1 Film Festival

Over the last two months my I helped create a humorous samurai short film called Shades of Death for the Project Twenty1 film festival in Philadelphia. The other members of our team "Creative Meat" were in Toronto, but from San Diego I was able to assist with writing the script as well as making the DVD jacket and promotional posters. The theme we had to incorporate was "reading between the lines." My friend Mark Driver headed up the team by directing the short film, which screened in Philadelphia over the weekend and ended up bringing home the award for "Best Visual Effects," as well as nominations for "Best Editing" and "Best Sound Design." It was a lot of fun to make and I'd like to congratulate the other members of the "Creative Meat" team on the win. I can't wait for the next contest!
You can watch the film and a B-roll clip on the Creative Meat Vimeo channel.

Shades of Death | Project Twenty1 | 2010 from Mark Driver on Vimeo.

Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare Debut Trailer

The last thing I worked on at Rockstar San Diego is almost here...

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare DLC!

New characters, a new story, and more gore and twistedness than you can aim a Blunderbuss at. Comes out this month.

New job!

After more than five years and three games at Rockstar San Diego, I'm moving on to join the previs team at The Third Floor in Los Angeles to work on feature films and game cinematics. I'll miss the excellent teammates I came to know at Rockstar over the years, but I'm excited to be moving on to work in the film industry.
For those curious about how the previs process works at The Third Floor, here's a video they made for Autodesk:

'Thick Kids' Blog Mention & Latest 'RDR' News

The new comedy art blog "Thick Kids and Their Thick Parents" has my Brian Posehn and Louis C.K. caricatures reposted on it. More of my stuff might appear there as I create more comedian caricatures, so give it a look every once and a while.
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In Red Dead Redemption news, here are some of the latest web articles to be posted this week:

Brad Pitt to star in Red Dead Redemption movie?  (a complete rumor, but that hasn't stopped people from pitching their own casting ideas)
Take-Two Trumps Estimates, Rides Red Dead Redemption to Q3 Profits
Red Dead Redemption Hits 7 Million Sales
And finally, here's G4's verdict on the recently-released "Legends and Killers" DLC for Red Dead Redemption. Pick it up now!

Life Drawing: Rockstar

I've been helping out on a short film in my spare time this week, but I promised myself I'd post a couple times a week, so here's a stitched-together scan of a drawing I did at one of the life drawing sessions held at work a while back. I wasn't able to finish the rendering, but I liked the pose and how it started out:

New Animation Reels

I uploaded three new demo reels to YouTube. Each contains a different slice of my body of work. They are broken down into the Main Demo Reel, a Keyframe Only Demo Reel, and a Mocap Only Demo Reel. For shot breakdowns, visit my portfolio site. YouTube videos always exceed the width of my Blogger column, so the best way to view them is off the link to the YouTube site itself.l There's lots of little details in them, so make sure your resolution is set to 720p.

Main Animation Reel (best of keyframe & mocap) YouTube Link


Keyframe Only YouTube Link


Mocap Only YouTube Link

Animation Exercise: "Excuse Me"

A little keyframing piece I've been doing to mix it up from all the mocap at work. The final version with a higher-quality image is available to view on my portfolio website on either the Main Reel or Keyframe Reel videos. I animated it on the free "Norman Rig," and the sound clip is from Blazing Saddles.

Comics I Like: Sarah Silverman

Although I haven't seen her live, I've known Sarah Silverman's work since the early 90s when I first started loving stand-up comedy. She's huge now, and has carved out a very memorable niche for herself. This caricature still falls short for me in terms of finding a good harmony between exaggerated and realistic, but it was good practice nonetheless. In some ways I think the original drawing flows better than the final Photoshopped piece, though:

Comics I Like: Doug Stanhope

When I was first lent a Doug Stanhope CD, he was described to me as a comic with "good bar stories." It's no wonder: his delivery style is profane and crude, and he loves questioning societal conventions from the ground up. Many of his filthy and hilarious stories are from his time traveling out on the road. I was able to see him, inebriated and shaggy-haired, at a packed dive bar in Ocean Beach a few years back and his rants absolutely slayed. If you like blue comedy, he's one of the best out there.

For the caricature, I decided to make him a sunburnt, annoyed hitchhiker alone on an Arizona highway, complete with a cigarette and a beer, and wearing the "Libertarian" baseball jersey he wore for a special he put on in New York when he ran for president in 2008.

Here he is delivering the famous "Aristocrats" joke for Penn Jilette and Paul Provenza's movie (NSFW!):

As a guest on the excellent Charlie Brooker's "Screenwipe":

The Latest Red Dead Redemption News

Just wanted to post some RDR items, the first of which being that the new Legends and Killers downloadable content will be available online August 10th, and it includes models of characters from Red Dead Revolver, the "spiritual predecessor" to Red Dead Redemption.
-Check out screens here and the video at GameTrailers.com:

Video Games | Red Dead Redemption | Exclusive Legends and Killers DLC Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

-The second news item is that a team of young Dutchmen just broke the official world record for uninterrupted game playing. Which game sustained their fanatic attention for 50+ hours? Red Dead Redemption, of course.

-There's a great behind-the-scenes video of how the RDR soundtrack was created that you can check out here:


-A recent write-up of the biggest games of the year in the New York Times.

-Up next, a great webcomic about a fan's experiences in RDR over at 24 Hours Marston. (Press "Next" to start the comic sequence)

-And finally, LEGO Red Dead! 1 2

Comics I Like: Adam Carolla

I distinctly remember the first time I encountered the comedic stylings of Adam Carolla. My friend Carlton and I were doing homework together at his house, and he had MTV's "LoveLine" on. I had never seen it before and wasn't paying much attention at first, but he kept distracting me by making me laugh from his wiseass remarks and eventually I just put my books aside and enjoyed the show. Since that show, I've seen or heard Carolla for probably hundreds of hours on television, radio, film, and now his podcast with partners-in-crime "Bald Bryan" Bishop and Teresa Strasser. For the drawing I kept the style a little less cartoony than normal and colored the scanned drawings in Photoshop. I used the smudge tool to help soften up the rough graphite lines and help smooth out the tone variations in the skin.

9/19 update: I did another pass on this picture to punch it up a bit, added a text border with all the in-jokes I could fit, then printed out some copies and gave them to the Ace Man himself when I saw him over the weekend at a live show in North Hollywood. Here's the new version:

Here's a shot of the two of us after the show (I wore my Red Dead shirt because I wanted to speak with him about the game (He's mentioned it every so often over the last few months on his podcast:

Sketchbook: Caricatures

Eminem and Dr. Dre sketches, scanned and colored in Photoshop. A bit "meh" and needing of some more love, but I've been busy these days with other things and unfortunately I can't spend as much time on each face as I'd like:

And finally, animators Shawn Kelly and Carlos Baena, from a picture taken at Siggraph. After scanning in the drawings, I pushed the proportions with the smudge tool to the point where the hatchmarks are nearly invisible. I went for a loose, distorted look, which was a lot of fun. I think I might be onto something with this style, specifically with how nicely the colors get formed by drawing color out from the variety of values found on a drawing that has a color layer on multiply above it in Photoshop:

The photo:

Siggraph 2010

I went up to Los Angeles this week to attend this year's Siggraph expo. In addition to a show floor, demonstrations, panels, and lectures, Siggraph has an area called the Emerging Technologies show, where you get a sneak peek at a variety of engineering marvels from around the world. I took a few pictures as I walked through:

Clockwise from top left: adjusting the direction of a pair of synthetic eyes via joystick, my friend Sabine dancing with a small French robot, a set of sensors that could be positioned in any number of arrangements, tickling a holographic pixie.

Left: Two people testing a "scent sensor" that, when activated by a perfume-scented piece of paper, would bloom and attract bees and hummingbirds cast from a projector above. Right: putting my hand out in a scanning field, where it was then rendered on a computer in real time. It was like putting my hand underneath a falling stream of virtual water and seeing its shape appear on the monitor. Very cool.

On to the show floor. I stopped by the Vancouver Film School table, and saw that I'm now included in their alumni book. It brought a nice feeling of closure to see it.

Another real time 3D scanning booth, only this had a much larger field to step into. The render on the left was taken from my iPhone. 

This Tandent booth had some impressive technology. It was able to isolate the shadow layer of an image and remove it to show the subject as if it was evenly lit from all directions. There was one before/after shot that they had of a wrinkled receipt with the after version looking essentially like a printed-out text document, it was so clear. When applied to faces (in real time, no less) you got this result (original video feed on the left, then the isolated shadow layer in the middle, then the differential "diffuse image" on the right):

The man at the booth who was explaining the tech to me said that the main function they were developing it for was facial recognition software.

On the way out, I bumped into animators Shawn Kelly and Carlos Baena, co-creators of the world-famous Animation Mentor online school. Both were extremely nice and fun to talk with, and I was very pleased to hear from Shawn that Red Dead Redemption is currently very popular with his coworkers at ILM!