October Pictures in... December

I didn't have a chance to participate in Inktober this year, but I did get to do some digital doodles for fun while I was finishing up my demo reel. Nothing too fancy, but I hope you like them. :)

DEMO REEL!!

Over the years there's been a few times where I've been asked about a demo reel. Problem was, I had primarily worked as an instructor, rather than producing content. That's still the case; but thankfully, while teaching, I'm usually drawing more than just stick figures. So, I've gathered up some of that content and compiled it all together into a nice little demo reel. Some of it you may recognize from earlier posts, and others may be newer; either way, I hope you enjoy it!

Where'd The Old Art Gallery Go?

For various reasons, I've taken down my old art gallery.
Apologies to all those that enjoyed perusing my older artwork. You can still check out all the pictures I've posted here, on my blog, and I will be posting more for sure; and, if all goes well, I may even consider creating another gallery of sorts. Will have to wait and see what the next month or two has in store.

Health Update - August 2016

For those that follow my blog, you might recall me mentioning back problems, causing paralytic issues with my right leg, and then later problems with my drawing arm. While I’ve had a bit of a reprieve, it seems neither have actually gone away. Although I had an operation in my lower back repairing the severe sciatic condition; for a while now, I have been having recurring symptoms similar to what I had prior to my surgery. Likewise, the pain to my arm has mostly been held off by medication; but the pinched nerve causing it, has actually been getting worse.
Unfortunately, I’ve been told that another operation on my back would be considered extremely dangerous.

The wear on my body hasn't gone unnoticeable either. I've lost over twenty pounds in just the last few months alone. I haven't been this weight since high school! I wish I could say it was due to proper diet, sleep, and hard-core work-outs; but if anything it's been the opposite.

Thankfully, none of the pain has been anywhere near as debilitating as it was before. I’m doing everything I can: continuing to take medication to stave off its effects, doing traction therapy to help the spine and neck stay aligned, light exercise to keep all the muscles surrounding those bones nice and strong, and of course, I’m seeing doctors regularly to keep an eye on things.

I’ll be having another major scan in the upcoming months, and will keep you all updated as things progress. In the meantime, I'll be continuing to draw as long as I can hold a pencil. :)

Anime North 2016

On May 27-29th, I had the opportunity to join Palladium Books at their gaming table at Anime North, a yearly convention held in the Toronto Congress Centre. It was great seeing the Palladium gang after having missed their Open House last year, and it was my first time at Anime North. While there, I even had the pleasure of bumping into some other old familiar faces who I haven't gotten to see in quite some time. Overall, Anime North was a fun show with tons of stuff there for any anime or manga enthusiast.

While not the usual crowd I'm used to compared to GenCon or Origins, it was still cool to see a few Palladium and Robotech fans show up to the booth. Though, because of my injuries (which are doing much better these days), I didn't have much new art to sell; but that didn't stop me from drawing character/fan-art sketches for visitors!

Here's a few I grabbed photos of:

Sylvannas Windrunner from Warcraft

Black Heart from Neptunia

Tracer from Overwatch

I decided to throw on some quick colour on the Tracer sketch, just for fun:

Tracer from Overwatch - Coloured

Wakfu

Over the last few months I've been on a huge WAKFU kick, and thought I'd draw up a piece of fan-art based on its main characters:

Percidal, Evangelyne, Amalia, Yugo, and Ruel

But what is WAKFU?

During my travels, teaching animation, WAKFU was the single most asked about animated series, the world over. Naturally, I set out to find out as much as I could, and I'm so glad I did.

WAKFU is a heroic fantasy animated series that follows the quest of an orphan, Yugo, who sets out to discover his origins. It was created by France-based studio Ankama, inspired by their turn-based MMORPGs (also created in-house) called Dofus, and it's sequel, Wakfu.

What makes WAKFU stand out from other animation is that it's heavily made using a cut-out style (characters are like puppets), but the movements in the series are beautifully fluid, and doesn't shy away from strong dynamic poses and camera shots, not normally associated with cut-out style animation. What makes it even more impressive is that it was also created using Adobe's Animate CC (aka: Flash).

Former students of mine have all heard how I've long since parted ways from Flash's use of symbols, and its traditional animator un-friendly interface. Though it has gotten much, much better, proficient Flash users still get a lot of my respect for working with the software, and Ankama ranks the highest up there.

Ankama's secret though is that the animation for WAKFU is actually created traditionally, on paper, first, and then cleaned up in Flash, using cut-out where, and when possible.

Traditionally hand-drawn keys of Yugo

For some of the more complicated shots, creatures, and contraptions, Ankama even utilizes 3D software, helping them to push angles even more.

Suffice it to say, that a lot of hard work has gone into creating the animated series, and it shows, in spades. Not only is the animation amazing, but the story and world-building are also a delight, and I highly recommend it for anyone that hasn't seen it.

Mind you, that's the most upsetting thing, as it's not widely available here, in North America. Thankfully, Netflix does have both Seasons 1 and 2 online, as well as the movie, La Quête des Six Dofus Eliatropes (don't worry, it's in English).

And if you still can't get enough, might I also recommend their board game, Krosmaster Arena (also available as a PC game). It's a turn-based skirmish miniatures game that battles it out using similar mechanics to their video games. And while the game itself is a blast, the physical miniatures you play with are irresistible! (Check out a live Table-Top game play of Krosmaster Arena here).

Enjoy!