Space Puppy Midterm Review-Update 3-Minute-Presentation-for-3-Minute-Video

Happy midterms! Here's what I have been up to:

Japanther Mock-Ups

Poster/flyer comps and a mock-up for something I was making for an upcoming show. For now, the show's canceled - me and a handful of my Columbus friends are pretty bummed. I'll be crossing my fingers for another lineup that's this good to come to town (and, by all means, I'll be crossing my fingers for Japanther to finally come back to Columbus).

BUFF CAT!

Hey! This week was absolutely great. The cartoon I've been working on with friends since my winter break is complete. Say hello to Buff Cat! I helped slap together things in After Effects and animated  about 19 of the animated shots. I'm so glad I have found people to do this kind of thing with. I had the most fun I've had working on a project yet. Thanks Matt, Pat, Scott and Tara - you guys rock!

Mr. Buffcat is voiced by the talented Greg, who is awesome.
Everything is awesome. Everything is cool when you're part of the team.

Next week I will have a good chunk of thesis animation to show and maybe some other projects wrapping up.
Until then, I updated my website's sketchbook collection:

This week, the internet told me:
- Why Middle School Girls Talk Like Babies
- “Putin Will Teach You How To Love”
- Lilly Allen Titles New Album Sheeus
- These Neopets Have Been Alive for 13 Years
- How To Get A Concept Artist Internship: Breaking in at Riot Games
(Hey, one of my classmates was in a Chris Oatley ArtCast! That's pretty rad!)
- At Titmouse, Animators Spend One Day a Year Creating Five Second Films

Tine for Valentimes

Happy Valentines
(or, well, Happy Post-Valentines)

This week meant a few things. Finishing my first project at my new internship, punching together the Cat-Cartoon I've been working on with friends, and hitting up a much-needed bar show. That's love.

Cat-Cartoon? It's almost here.

I took a Valentines-Break to draw a little something. It's been a good while. There are some things I'd like to fix at a second pass - the puppy ear, the missing necklace pieces - but that's besides the point. It comes from listening to two songs and thinking about how obnoxious puppy-love can be.

Weekly Fun Readings [for me and] for you:
- Kim Gordon: Life After Sonic Youth
- Sriracha Hot Sauce Catches Fire With Only One Rooster
- Interview with New Found Glory
- Mossless in America: Morgan Ashcom
- Ellen Page Comes Out as Gay: 'I am Tired of Lying by Omission'
- Why Fads Fade: The Inevitable Death of Flappy Bird

Buff Kitty Cat

Things are wrapping up with Buff Cat. I thought I wold share some smear-cats and weird inbetweens!

In the meantime, while trying to bust Buff Cat out, I have made a little progress on Space Puppy. Here's where we're I'm at for now:

Weekly fun links to share with you:

- McGruff the Crime Dog goes to jail.

- "Selick, unlike many of the people in the Character Animation Program, “liked the darker things, bits from Fantasia, and the more experimental things. I’d been exposed to a much bigger world of art and music already, and a lot of the folks in Character Animation were very insulated. I mean, it’s kind of like they were studying from Disney to do Disney."
...cool, lengthy read about the influential CalArts animators. 

- My friend Ross and his project, Unsigned Ohio released a new compilation of songs by locals.
Check it out (it's free)/support a nice chunk of the central Ohio scene!

- A shout out to my photo/illustrator combo friends, Kat Skaff and Aaron Behnk, who just put up a cool show on campus!
Kyle put up some really good stuff, too.

Animals and Aliens!

Happy February! Let's see how consistently I can post this month. A post a week? Yeah, let's do that. A lot has happened this week, but on the lighter half, I made some doodles of animals as a way to brainstorm for a class project. Also, I made an alien and started animating my thesis (below).

This week, I unearthed some of these character designs to throw together into one image for an application to a career fair. I also came to the conclusion of a masterful pun for him… he is Man-Bat. For next week, I've got a gig poster due, a little something for Unsigned Ohio, and a thumb nailed storyboard for class. Busing around Columbus for internshippin' has been fun. I made it into a picture! Buff Cat is almost there! Here's some links that I have recommend from the week: - A very insightful blog post for animators - A very compelling story about the Grammys and a much loved game - The saddest penguin on Youtube

Senior Year Full Swing

"Oh hey, don't mind me, just calmly figuring out how to make everything work out!"

Today is Sunday, and tomorrow will be the 3rd week of the semester. Everything is picking up pace really quickly - I am trying to hammer out thesis animation, I am finishing/doing clean-up animation on the Rad Fortress cartoon I've been working on with Tara, and I started a new internship downtown (thankfully, a 40 minute walk is actually very good for my physical and mental health).

The good thing is, I have been taking 18 credits nearly every semester up until this one - now that I'm at 12, I feel pretty good than I would otherwise at managing my time. I also am taking a finance class to hep myself stay in-line (as well as Philosophy of Visual Art followed by Criticism of Literature and Art - prepare yourselves for well-versed, promise-to-not-be-yuppie Sarah).

As I posted two weeks ago, I have a class which helps me keep on my feet about my thesis. The class has us proposing "gap projects" while taking time to contribute to a bigger, collaborative project (which I will be making quick designs for this coming week). Lots of members of the class are opting to aim almost all focused time to their gap project - I am admittedly slightly concerned with how much time I can spend on things other than my thesis, as well, but will be doing my best in the meantime. Here's what I had to make to turn in for class (proof that I'm not sitting on my butt):

I have recently gotten some serious feedback of the weight of my thesis project. The piece will be three minutes long - something that is considered "a lot of animation" - my feelings after some serious thought this weekend might call for a future blog post all in itself. Yes, three minutes is "a lot of animation", but that in no way means it's impossible. Animation is a very valid form of art, and to me, it's worth the investment of time and commitment. Having witnessed great shorts by the dozen from channels like FOX ADHD and Rug Burn - not to mention completing my own short this summer and collaborating with/supporting friends over the past seven months - I feel a better understanding of what I feel like I can accomplish.

That being said, this semester will take a lot of focus. A lot of aliens. And a lot of coffee.
Also, here's some a glimpse of what my sketchbook looks like right about now.

"Yes I spell things like chupacabra wrong"