Tim Lahan

I'm absolutely crazy about the subtle humor behind the work of Tim Lahan.  His tongue-in-cheek, and sarcastic attitude toward life are a bright spot on any mundane day.

Missile Command

Shot from MeanMug Loves Guns Episode 5.

Hollywood

Love the animation style Greg Sharp used in his animation for the LA launch of Loopdeloop. So gritty. So Hollywood.

Saudi Aramco

Well it's happening. These icon driven infographic animations are becoming more and more commonplace in the work environment. Clients are asking for them at a higher frequency and more animators are creating them. This trend has lead to Sebas & Clim creating over 100 animated icons to illustrate more than 50 interviews they were given. That leads me to believe that in a short matter of time websites like iStock will be chock full of these things. Now I want to be clear that I not only think these icons are well designed and animated, but are a great source of inspiration. However, it scares me a little to think that something I do so often in my professional work could be replaced by stock art. This means in the future I have to do a better job of taking these fact heavy scripts I get from clients and transforming them into a story that flows seamlessly from beginning to end, while taking the viewer on the same journey. A journey that is less about stating the facts and more about the viewer coming to their own conclusions.

MeanMug Loves Guns Episode 5 - Storyboard

Without trying to give too much away I am going to start showing more of my process as I create each new animation. Riding high on the energy from the 4th episode of MeanMug Loves Guns, I decided to storyboard the 5th episode. Normally I come up with a funny idea while driving to work and then just start to build it from my brain. However, I wouldn't recommend this way of working to anyone as it often leaves me with many gaps in the story that I have to come up with later while in the moment. To avoid this and make the process a little less "fly by the seat of my pants" I'm going to start story boarding every episode so that I know where it's going before I start building assets. This is more necessary now because of the longer, more complicated episodes that I'm trying to produce. Hopefully the upfront work will make the production phase faster as well. As you can see I don't spend a great deal of time on my storyboards, but I figure, why waste the time on complicated drawings when I just want the big picture. When you see the final piece you can come back to this and see how closely I stayed to it.

McDonalds 'McBites' - Little World

Blink brings us an awesome little ad for McDonalds and their new menu item, McBites. I guarantee it won't be too long before I find myself on a late night making a pilgrimage to McE Dee's for some of these tiny morsels. I really love how they made the art look like real pen marks. Normally you would just make the stroke blue or black to match the ink, but these guys went the extra mile and made it look like the ink is actually pressed into the paper, much like a real pen line would be. Bravo!

MeanMug Loves Guns: The Sniper Rifle

Finally completed my 4th episode of MeanMug Loves Guns, The Sniper Rifle.  This is the longest episode yet and for many reasons.  First off, this is the first episode that actually has more than one shot.  It actually has a lot more.  After watching my 2012 reel I knew I wanted to try and mix up my angles a bit more and start to plan my work with a more cinematic eye, ergo the need for more shots.  Although this makes the process of making an episode a little longer, it made doing the audio for this piece more fun because it took place in a few different locations that were all somewhat near eachother.

Now I know people think this is a pretty fantastical premise for a show, but at the core of it all a great deal of inspiration does come from true life. For instance I did own a rusted out El Camino for 7 years and loved it.  Another little treasure that I couldn't possibly make up is this episode's cameo appearance by my uncle Chuck.  Don't believe me? See for yourself right here.  See I told you.

So this makes 4 out of 10 episodes I want to do for this series.  I think I'm going to do 1 more MeanMug Loves Guns and then take a break for an episode outside that realm.  After that I will finish off the next 5 episodes over the course of the next few months, but until then enjoy this now because it's here.

P.S. Party Palms do exist!

Late Night Work Club - Ghost Stories Trailer

I gotta say I have been anxiously awaiting the first full length video from Late Night Work Club for a while now. Unfortunately all I can give you today is a trailer, but it has definitely got me fired up again for what's in store. The Late Night Work Club is a collection of some of the best animators around, and I believe this collaboration process has only elevated their collective work. I can't wait for their first episode, Ghost Stories, coming this Spring.

Shugo Tokumaru "Katachi"

It's amazing what one can do with enough time and paper. 

Sam Island

They say no man is an island. Well, Sam Island is technically an "Island" and he's also technically an amazing editorial illustrator.  I can't seem to compare his work to anything else I've seen.  His color palette is something out of Doctor Seuss and his art style is akin to balloon animals.  His work is simple and straight to the point, yet you won't completely get it without some deep thought.  I think that's what makes any successful artist and Sam appears to have mastered it.

Deezer libère la musique (Music Unleashed) - CRCR - WIZZdesign (QUAD)

Not quite sure why QUAD created this, but the flow of this video is on another level. Everything seems to have a perfect bounce to it (even the little boobs on the little women) and everything transitions so fluidly. Put that together with a classic Mickey Mouse art style and you have yourself one sick animation my friend.

Paper Donut

Paper Donut is the work of Alexis Facca, a set designer from Belgium. I have no idea how big these actual sets are but I love the style, color, and feel of them so much. There is some really good stop motion opportunity here, or possibly even using video to record slow pan shots for a music video.

Jamie Stoker

Let's face it, with all the new technology coming out these days things are getting more and more complicated. That's why I appreciate artists like Jamie Stoker who take pride in the simpler things of life - like sunlight. Sure you can buy an expensive light kit, spend time painstakingly setting it up so that its perfect, sit your subject down, reset, and then take a photo. Or you can do what Jamie Stoker does and let the world's best light kit, the sun, do all the work for you. Sure you're at the mercy of clouds and the time of day, but the sun does something that light kits don't. It's real, it's natural, and by association it makes your subject look that much more real and natural as the warm rays drip into every wrinkle of their skin. Oh yea, and it's free!

Stuck In The Sound - Let's Go ( official music video )

Damn....I really don't have words to say for this music video for Stuck in the Sound's song Let's Go. This is one of those - put your life into perspective sort of pieces. I am really digging the mixture of animated and photo real elements of this piece as well as the cinematic angles used. The colors used and the overall style is like nothing else I've seen lately.

How to Create a Vector Cross Stitch Effect in Adobe Illustrator

Really interesting tutorial from Tuts+ on how to get that cross stitch sweater effect..  I can see a lot of humorous applications for this technique.  Time to go make some hilarious knit sweater designs that only my grandma could be proud of.

Photo of the Moment - Ádám

Ádám, a photo by golyovo on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Minolta Dynax 3xi
From my first roll of film :)

Impactist - Yeah

Do you know why I love Impactist? Aside from having some amazing design talent and an ability to animate with the best of them, Impactist also makes their own music. They currently have a new album out called, Undercast Is Overrated. And how do they promote said music you ask? By using their amazing design talent and ability to animate! So much talent here it's sickening really.

Valeriya Volkova

Help. I don't remember taking any LSD...But after browsing through Valeriya Volkova's website it appears that I am tripping balls.  Oh well, happy thoughts.

Desk Stationery from Daniel Emma Studio

Not only do I think these new desk stationary photos from Daniel Emma Studio make for some interesting photography, but I love the fact that they also have a legitimate practical use.  Simple and clean in design with a colorful quirkiness.

Live Action Toy Story

I thought I would share something a little more lighthearted and fun for a dreary Monday post.  The original Toy Story is and probably always will be my favorite Pixar film.  I don't know if it was the magic brimming from Pixar's first full length film or if it was the age that I saw it, but this film will always hold a place in the "childhood memories" section of my heart.  Similar to Star Wars Uncut, Toy Story has been recreated by fans using stop motion animation and real toys from the movie.  What I love about projects like this is that it's almost exactly opposite of what the original creators were going for in terms of production - it's not perfect by any means.  Yet, at the same time it's almost exactly what Pixar was going for in terms of emotion - something people can watch that will make them smile and laugh. So without further adieu, here is Live Action Toy Story.

Wilfrid Wood

Check out the amazing sculptural work of Wilfrid Wood. And yes that is David Bowie's head.

Dan Matutina

Every once in a while you come across an artist who really makes you stop and say....damn!  Dan Matutina is that artist today.  I really enjoy everything about his work. His style has that warm and fuzzy texture and nostalgia inspired design that I adore.  I also love his content. Come on, space and video games? You really can't go wrong with either.  Keep up the good work Dan, I'd love to animate your stuff sometime.

Jim Naughten

Some very dream-like photography from Jim Naughten during his documentation of the tribe members of Namibia.