Screamin Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You

I've only heard the recorded version of this song, where he does sound odd snorting and grunting. So to watch this live performance of him is just amazingly nuts. Anyone that can sing like this, and have a smoking cane, is just impressive in my books!

John The Animator Guy: The Difference Between Being Influenced By and Cop...

John The Animator Guy: The Difference Between Being Influenced By and Cop...: "No artist develops in a vacuum. From the moment we open our eyes, we are affected by what we see and feel. Some things attract us in a pleas..."

These are some wise words of wisdom from the veteran animator.

Twinings Gets You Back To You

This will probably be the best TV advert of this year... mainly for the cover, as well as the nice animation aesthetics.

Photographs from Guernsey (circa 1996)- Sand Drawings

During that trip to Guernsey, we must have ended up on the beach in which me, and several other classmates, decided to draw on the sand. I'm not which classmate did what, but I can make an educated that I was trying to draw out an igloo on the sand- I must have understood comic irony back then.

Photographs from Guernsey (circa 1996)- Boat Trip

I discovered some photograph strips in my room the other day. They had no printed photographs, just 2 sets of negatives in an envelope. I worked out that it might from my school trip to Guernsey.

The first batch were all taken on a boat trip. You can probably tell that I was learning how to take pictures- and on an old-fashioned flash camera- on an experimental level of my surroundings.

Animation Mentor Newsletter

Animation Mentor Newsletter

I might be starting to go nostalgic over those Animex conferences I went to, but I did meet this guy in person, making this anecdote sound very real and fascinating.

Animation Magazine ; TV Broadcast of Persepolis Divides Tunisians

It is quite a predicament for the broadcasters for that station, as they have transmitted the film in its original language... but these people seem to be offended when it is dubbed into their native language? I'm only making an observation, rather then taking sides on the matter.

Bare-Knuckle Boxer- 'Refined' Doodle

I guess I was transfixed on some of the stuff I have been working on with the Loomis book to draw this character. I was also inspired from the TV series, Who Do You Think You Are, which found that one of the celebrities was descended from a famous bare-knuckle boxer.
It is not a brilliant character sketch, but I know I might be able to improve on it by using some of the techniques in the Loomis book- I still need to upload whole chapters of my studies onto this blog soon.

Trigger Word- 'Much'

It has been a while since I have done a trigger word. This word was 'much', as in 'great in amount or degree'. So I illustrated with the concept of having too much pizza. As much as I like the middle photograph, I have to go for the bottom photograph because of the dramatic shadows on the figures.

Here are some close-up shots of the before figure, showing them opening a pizza box. Again, I find the best shot at the bottom for its dramatic lighting, although the top one does frame the figure well without the arrow.

In addition, here is the figure after eating the pizza- it's a bit bloated from all of that! The bottom photograph does have a subtle shadowing effect, but it does have the arrow cropped in the corner. Therefore, I would go for the top one, as you cannot see that arrow at all near the object.

What Do You Think?- Refined 'Doodle' on Carboard

I don't normally draw on cardboard, but I ended up doodling on the front cover of my current A5 sketchbook- which I think is spelling out the obvious- and have decided to refine the lines to make this cartoon. It's okay, especially as this is the first time in drawing something of the top of my head for a few months. I should try and show you what I have been drawing inside pretty soon.

Mayerson on Animation: Steve Jobs as Walt Disney

Mayerson on Animation: Steve Jobs as Walt Disney

It's an interesting argument about Jobs being more of the showmen in the computing industry then as an innovator. It's a good point making that contrast to Hollywood's most prolific producer in family entertainment.