History, animated.

About a year and a half ago I posted (here) about a series of animated segments I was helping to create for a documentary film. I'm currently updating the animation section of my website and thought it would be fun to show some of them here before I finish building out the site.

The producers of The Powder & The Glory came to FableVision looking to use animated reenactments to illustrate moments in history. The film tells the story of two prominent women entrepreneurs who essentially founded the American beauty industry—Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein. Our job was to recreate moments in their lives that were never captured on film or photograph. Additionally, they thought it would be appropriate to match the animation style to make it contemporaneous. Meaning, an event that happened in 1930 should be animated in a style current to 1930.

Over the next week, I'll be showing a few of these shorts. The first, which you can view below, tells the story of how Elizabeth Arden decided on the name she used to launch her company. We took some visual liberties, but the story is accurate. The style is straight out of early 20s animation (my favorite period!). I did the character design, storyboarding and final artwork, and teamed up with the talented Dustin Wade on animation. The audio is a rough cut, and a little quiet, so you may need to turn up your speakers. (Hopefully it loaded while you were reading!)



I believe the film is due to air on PBS at some point, and has had several screenings in festivals over the past year or so. It is a truly fantastic documentary, and I couldn't be more proud to have been part of it. You can learn more about the film at this website, including dates of upcoming screenings.

UPDATE: I just heard great news that PBS has indeed picked it up. It's scheduled to air on Monday, March 23, 2009 at 10PM. Congrats to Arnie and Ann Carol!

Related Posts:
Flappers and Lipstick
Helena Rubinstein
A Robbery! (animated)

SpongeBob News

I have fun news to share with frequent visitors of Jinx the Monkey and Drip! Some of you may remember a couple SpongeBob related posts from the beginning of the summer (1, 2). The primary reason I drew those studies was because the fine folks over at Nickelodeon Magazine had asked me to pitch ideas for SpongeBob comics. They ended up selecting one of my ideas, where SpongeBob goes a little crazy with a Polaroid camera, and gave me the go ahead to draw it up. I finished the inks in July, which they proceeded to color and finalize.

I recently received word that my comic (a two-pager) will appear in the December issue of the magazine! Even better, today I got the green light on another pitch—one where Plankton schemes to steal a Krabby patty. It's all been pretty exciting for me, as I'm a huge fan of the show. In the midst of doing my own comics, I'll be keeping busy drawing the gang from Bikini Bottom as well.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Comic Book section of the magazine, head on over to NickMag where they've made a ton of Nicktoons comics available online. Better yet, pick up the magazine! They also have a great blog that regularly posts on upcoming comics and features.

I'll post the comic later in December when the magazine hits the newstands. Until then, here's a snapshot.

Don't get so bent out of shape!

I got lost in a mess of twisted body parts when I was drawing tonight. This was actually a lot of fun—a good way to unwind before I hit the sack. As I was coloring, I began to notice how much the image changed if I made the characters significantly darker than the background color.


The drawing was constructed in line.


But as the color approached the value of the line, the silhouette of the design became more apparent. I found that I liked the silhouette as much as the line, if not more so. So I continued to darken until I arrived at my final image, which was something of a balance. See a related post from April about cartoon silhouettes.

Song and Dance

Don't forget to get up and have a little fun!

Crazy Kid

I just watched John Hubley's Moonbird and was completely drawn in by the childrens' expressive eyes. A lot of the time they form into these teardrop shapes, darting back and forth. So, brimming with inspiration I created this crazy kid.

A Little Help?

More Jinx

In the midst of lipstick politics,
I took another stab at drawing an old friend.

For better or for worse...

...my impulses get the best of me, again.

Hi, Jinx!

I was struck tonight as I was drawing. I've been revisiting past characters and doodles as I try to wrap my mind around creating stories for a series of comics. I have a bunch of characters, doodles really, who I find fun to draw. So I'm sitting a bunch of fun characters who I need to spin into fun stories. And I arrived at an interesting question: what about Jinx? (if unfamiliar, go to Jinx the Monkey and watch the animation).

It's silly to think I've overlooked him for so long. How many times a day do I see the words "Jinx the Monkey"? He's one of a handful of characters I've animated...even rarer that he has a voice (my voice, pitched up). More importantly, Jinx was a character who I created with a story in mind. It was a simple idea to put him in the context of a carnival and do my version of the cartoon trickster. He had a friend named Wheeler—I even created a couple adversaries (Louie and Dijon). I cranked out the animated short for my senior thesis, exhausted myself in the process, and decided to table the idea post-graduation. It was his first and last act.

After drawing him again tonight, there's something I find really appealing about his design. I also noticed I didn't draw him the same when I compared this sketch to the benchmark of 6 years ago. He's not as happy, either (maybe resentful?) I couldn't help but ask myself if he's a character worth revisiting, in comic form. I have a bunch of characters to work with at this point, but I'm gonna entertain the idea for a bit.

Crayons and Pumpkins

The other day I was scanning some photos my mom let me borrow. This little guy is me, drawing at the table with my Nana behind me. I'm guessing I was probably 3 or 4. I tried to make out what I was drawing. It looks like a bunch of scribbles, but my name is fairly legible (B-O-B-B-Y). I don't remember not being able to read, and I don't remember not enjoying to draw. I guess because I did both at an early age. My Grammy (not to be confused with my Nana above), used to sit with me and have me practice drawing shapes. The most advanced thing she showed me how to draw was a pumpkin—clever of her because they were made out of the shapes she was teaching me.

I was 4 when my brother Shawn was born, and was expecting a baby sister (because I already had a brother, Matt). When I heard the news, I cried. My parents turned me around pretty quickly, though, and to welcome him into the family, I wrote Shawn's name and drew him a pumpkin. I don't have it handy; it's probably tucked away safely at my house. To this day, they appear in my doodles quite a bit.