Still trying out Conroy’s new 3 spiked hair cut. A while ago I got rid of his hat because he looked too much like other 40’s-50s cartoon crows. I’m still sticking with Conroy in hopes that he will stand out as an original character.
Author: mattdowns
Lost Art: Clash of the Elements
It took 9 years but I finally found it: One of my best cartoon drawings as a teenager.
I’m guessing I drew this in (probably) 2001. I had a huge idea to draw Globber-Man and the other Element Agents fight against the equally powerful Man Made Agents in a all out battle royal that would fill up an entire page of violent chaos!
I have begun to hate myself for my drawing skills in the past. This was all done in pencil, but was all drawn on the first try. Now days, I draft line all of my characters in action and it takes longer to finalize them. Back then I was so confident in my line work that it seemed that my pen or pencil was doing all the work! I am amazed at how much is really going on in this drawing and it was a nice little reminder of how passionate I was with this little character and that I would spend my whole afternoon to draw 20+ characters fighting and evading each others attacks.
Looking at this really inspired me to re-draw it with the new drawing skills that I have learned since then. Who knows, maybe soon there will be a “10th Anniversary” rendered print of this piece.
Gator Golfer
This was the first character sketches for Ajax. I didn’t know what kind of style I was going for to show Ajax’s playful yet competitive nature.
I thought about switching gears and making him retro and small, more of a rascal. That wasn’t the case either. Most of the time I mix and match to create a final character design. For Ajax, I took one of the simple stout designs and fine tuned some of the tooth and scale details from another.
It didn’t take long to come up with a jerk for Ajax to go up against. Brent Steele is the compilation of every tool, jock, and rich snob I have had the “pleasure” to meet.
The following are some sketches and gestures of gags for the story.
I was playing with the idea of Ajax having some sort of Florida Crane or something to be his caddy.
WAIT!
Have you ever felt like the world was just going too fast for you? It’s like there just isn’t enough time in the day to do everything that you plan to do. Lately I’ve felt like this drawing. I had time to doodle this one evening when I was able to get a small break in my day.
Camel Country: Senior Film
Camel Country was my senior film. It focuses around the adventure of a lost camel trying to survive the harsh elements of the Canadian north. For more info and art on my film, please visit the Camel Country blog! (also click the Camel Country banner on right hand side of this page!)
Emmitt’s Revelation
My first lip sync.
“And the truth shall set you free!”
-Jim Carrey Liar Liar
Rockaway Tee Time
“Fooo!! That ball goes sailing up into the sky, holds there for a moment and then!!………GLUNK!”
-Kramer: Seinfeild episode The Marine Biologist
Marine Biologist
“I dont know if it was devine intervention or the kingship of all living things, but I tell you Jerry at that moment………….I was a Marine Biologist.”
-George Castanza: Seinfeld episode The Marine Biologist
Weight Lift
Ah the weight lift, a must in animation mechanics. If it was 2D I would be all over it, but this is the best I could do with BasicMan.
Key Animation thumbnails
Double Take
I’m not too thrilled about doing CG animation, but I am glad that I took these classes. Now I know what kind of tedious work goes into creating animation for Pixar, Dreamworks, Blue Sky, and Sony CG films.
This is just a Double Take exercise using BasicMan.
Key Animation thumbnails