Schoolism.com: “Fat Joe”

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I’m currently taking a character design class online through Schoolism.com. My instructor is Stephen Silver, a brilliant character designer with a long list of credits in TV animation.

Our first assignment was to create a character called Fat Joe, so that Stephen could get an idea of where each student’s skill level is. The description of Fat Joe was given to us as follows:

You are to design a concept sketch of Fat Joe based on the play, The Long Voyage Home. Take it as far as you like.

Description:
SCENE—The bar of a low dive on the London water front—a squalid, dingy room dimly lighted by kerosene lamps placed in brackets on the walls At the far end of the bar stands Fat Joe, the proprietor, a gross bulk of a man with an enormous stomach. His face is red and bloated, his little piggish eyes being almost concealed by rolls of fat. The thick fingers of his big hands are loaded with cheap rings and a gold watch chain of cable-like proportions stretches across his checked waistcoat.

I didn’t know much about The Long Voyage Home (i.e. time period, storyline, etc.), and I couldn’t find much visual reference on the internet. As far as I can tell, it has something to do with fishermen (the kind that wear wool coats and stocking caps), and that John Wayne starred in the movie version.

Fat Joe is described as a dapper Englishman (waistcoat, jewelry, gold watch, etc.), but in my mind I couldn’t picture the owner of a “low dive” that is “squalid and dingy” being such a classy dresser. But that turned out to be a good challenge as it forced me to really think through the character. Who is this guy? Why does he dress that way if he runs such a dumpy, greasy establishment? Is he a back-room mafia type who owns the place but doesn’t run it? Is he a washed-up socialite? Is he a B-list scoundrel trying to impress people with the one greasy suit that he owns? The more I thought about him, the more I wanted to play around and explore possibilities.

Unfortunately, time is not a luxury for me right now. I’d love to have spent several days on this assignment, but I did the best I could with the few hours I had. I don’t think I nailed the character. I certainly would have liked to keep playing and experimenting. But for now I’m fairly happy with how the first drawing turned out (although he looks more French than English). The fourth one isn’t bad either.

Dog Designs

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Recently I was hired to develop a cartoon dog character for a chain of gas stations. The final design was just completed, but I can’t post it until it has been made public. However, these concept sketches were ultimately not chosen so I feel pretty safe posting them.

Being Weird

There’s a “tag-your it” game going around the internet. The challenge is to list five of your weirdest habits. I haven’t been officially tagged by anyone, but I wanna play anyway. Here’s my five (as if you needed any more proof that I’m not normal):

1. I like to eat my cereal dry, with no milk. Soggy cereal = yuck.

2. When I’m making conversation and start gesturing, I have this unconscious habit of reaching up with my left hand and giving a quick tug on the seam on my left shoulder. I have no idea why I do this. Maybe I’m trying to shoo away the invisible parrot that keeps whispering cynical comments in my ear.

3. My sleep cycle is a mess. I can’t seem to go more than a few weeks on a “normal” schedule. Eventually I go through a persistent bout of insomnia, and finally I give in and wind up working nights for several days. Then my body “crashes” and I go back to normal. My wife is a saint for putting up with it. The really strange part is that I often do my best creative work during those night shifts.

4. Whenever I’m in a Wal-Mart or Target, I feel a compulsion to browse the DVDs. Even if I have no intention of buying anything, I still have to hover there for a few minutes.

5. I can recite all fifty states alphabetically, in order. When I was in elementary school our music teacher had us sing a song that put all the states to music, from A to Z. For some reason the tune stuck, and I can still sing the whole thing. Although I rarely get asked to at parties.

There you go. Other than those five things, I am completely normal. (Pause.) Quiet, Polly! You’ll get your cracker in a minute.

Online Drawing Groups

Being a freelancer is great, but its also very isolating. Thankfully there’s the internet, which allows me to make connections with other artists, share comments and ideas, and get feedback on my work without ever leaving my studio.

Over time I’ve found a few good websites that are designed to give artists a sense of creative community. Many “assign” projects for members to sketch or illustrate based on a special theme, just for practice or for fun. I can’t take part nearly as often as I’d like to, but when I can it’s a blast! The projects/themes give you lot of creative freedom (more than you would usually get with a client), and the feedback from other members is often very helpful.

Here’s a few I’ve participated in…

DrawerGeeks
Unfortunately this one is pretty much a closed group. I was lucky enough to get on board early on.

Illustration Friday
A word is chosen each week, then you do an illustration inspired by that word. Post a link to your work the following Friday. Open to all. Just sign up to have each week’s word e-mailed to you.

DrawingBoard.org
This website is a fun forum in general, with lots of interesting topics and loads of artwork from artists of all skill levels. Most of the participants are from the animation and comics side of things. If you dig around there are usually several “drawing jams” going on at any given time (warning: some Jams use pornography and/or immodest photos for reference). My most recent contribution was to a Jam about Dragons and a Christmas Cards thread (like I said, I can’t contribute that often). Open to all, but you must register as a member.

Strange Behavior Challenge by the CG Society
I just stumbled on this one recently. I hope I can take part, although I doubt I will have time. Open to all, but you must register as a member.

If you know of any others, please post them.

Pixar Shorts coming to DVD

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This looks super cool. Pixar will be releasing the Pixar Short Films Collection on DVD November 6. The DVD will include thirteen cartoon shorts plus commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, animation tests, and a featurette.

I currently own a VHS copy of Tiny Toy Stories, which contains 5 of Pixar’s earliest shorts. Although the computer rendering is crude by modern standards, the stories are rich with the delightful charm and humor that is Pixar. Watching all 13, plus commentaries to boot, will be a real treat.

Also on November 6 Ratatouille hits DVD, as well as a 2-disc platinum edition of Cars. I’ll probably skip the Cars DVD, since it was clearly Pixar’s weakest effort. (Weak by Pixar standards, that is. By typical Hollywood standards, Cars is still highly entertaining.) But if the special features are nice enough I may splurge. I have yet to see Ratatouille, but I’m really hoping to catch it before it leaves theaters.

Either way, on Nov. 6 I’ll be walking out of Wal-Mart with some new Pixar goodies.

Please Help

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As you may have heard by now, during yesterday’s rush hour the I-35W bridge here in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing at least 7 people and leaving approximately 50 cars still in the water. The bridge was located just 15 minutes from my house, and my wife used to drive it all the time. Everyone here is in shock. These kinds of things always happen somewhere else, but never in my city, right?

I can’t imagine the horror and pain that the victim’s families must be going through right now. Sure, I could complain about the headaches this will cause for local traffic, which was already clogged. 150,000 cars crossed the 35W bridge every day, and that traffic will now have to be funelled through town to a small handful of other bridges–for at least a year, maybe two, until a new bridge is built. But my grumbling feels selfish and petty compared to the grief of losing a loved one, or suffering a debilitating injury. I heard on the news that one car contained a family driving to a fun night out to celebrate a birthday or something, and now every single family member is injured and the mother is in a coma, possibly crippled for life.

Someone on the local news said that this is going to completely obliterate some budgets for the local Red Cross. If you can give blood or a monetary donation, please consider it. We Minnesotans would be very grateful.

To donate, go to www.redcrosstc.org.

One more thought: These kinds of tragic events remind us how fragile and temporary life really is. Our lives here on earth are just a tiny speck on the timeline of eternity. Death comes to us all eventually. Statistics prove it, one out of one die. When your time comes, will you be ready? Try taking the Good Person Test, it will certainly help.