American States United

Never forget where you come from.

U-S-A... U-S-A!

Movie Night

Went and saw Toy Story 3 last night, and it was even better than I expected. The animated short before the feature alone was worth the price of admission.It's also the best use of 3d glasses I've seen yet. It was the best short Pixar has created in quite awhile. The feature was great too, but for me the real charm was revisiting those characters that were such a part of me becoming an animator. Funny, well written and a joy to watch. Kirby gives it one paw way up!

The Closer.

I've been called many names in my life. The closer is my favorite. I take the slop that people throw at me and I make it into something useful. If there's ten hours left and the whole project needs animating, call me. I like to think of myself as the Mariano Rivera of what i do, but it's probably more like a Jonathan Papelbon. I want myself to be all cool and collected, but in reality it looks emotional and sporadic. Some where in the middle is probably most accurate.

In case you're wondering, my least favorite nickname has been lotion, but even that is kinda fun now that I'm older and can laugh at myself.

DANCE!

Happy Friday Ya'll!

It's a work in progress

So, I've decided to not set any more deadlines for kirby. The animation will get done when it's done. Forcing unnecessary deadlines on this project only makes it feel like work, and that's the last thing I want this to be.

PIG

The Return of Kirby... soon

Kirby has been absent from my life now for almost two weeks. While I've had a few minutes to work on the animation here and there, no real time has been dedicated to it for sometime. If you've been reading this blog than you probably know I've had somethings that have come up, that have kept me from having any free time..

I hope that after this week things slow down and I can have a few minutes to myself to contemplate whats next. I told Allie the other day, that I'm going to need sometime to disconnect from work and reset. I think, some time away from working for others and concentrating on what I want will help improve my outlook on this silly profession I've decided to pursue.

With more free time I'll be concentrating more efforts on finishing the Kirby animation. More detailed updates on Kirby the next time I post.

I haven't drawn in days which is terrible, sorry no new sketches.

Reclaiming Life

For a long time I've been abstaining from writing about work here on this blog. While bits of work do slip through every now and again, most criticism of it was left out. While I won't be changing that policy anytime soon, I will for this post break the rule.

Last month Allie and I decided it was time to purchase a house. After much searching we found a great house in a great location. The proper paper work was drawn up and we were in mid swing, when my full time employer decided it was a good time to let me go. Now, I won't go into names but certain people knew I was in the process of purchasing a house, and I'll bet money they also knew I was about to get let go. Regardless, As of last week I did not have a full time job any longer, which also meant I had no way of qualifying for a loan for a house.

So, the last few days have been pretty hard on both of us. For me, it's been this primordial feeling that the one job I'm supposed to do, provide, is not getting done. It's been tough, adjusting to the fact that this underlining feeling inside me, to provide, can not be accomplished.

After much soul searching and many a good friends helping me out in my time of need, I came to the conclusion that I was indeed better off. Although we would not be getting the house we hoped at the end of the month, I was free from the bondage that created such frustration and anger.

Such is the way of god and life. I've spent the majority of my career freelancing, and while at times it can be tough, I feel that I may be better off working for myself. I've never been one for offices or corporate mentality. Unfortunately, after talking with our realtor today, I realize that that freedom comes with a price. Self employed people must show at least two years of income on their tax reports to qualify for a mortgage loan. Since, I'll be starting over again with my self employment it may be sometime before we are able to buy a house.

What's done is done, and for now all I can do is be fortunate for what I have, my health, my family/friends, and the most supportive wife anyone could ever ask for. I have no great words of wisdom to end this post. I know that I will get up tomorrow, the sun will be shining, and I'll continue to live my life the best I know how.

Thanks to everybody for all the support they have shown Allie and I through this turbulent time.

Ball is Played

Many crazy changes in my life the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure how detailed I'd like to get into it here on the blog. I will say that they're not all bad, but possibly life changing. If I keep things in perspective, I can honestly say that these changes are minimal compared to things people are facing right at this moment.

Kirby report soon to follow.

Club Fred

I'm starting a new bike team. I'm calling it Club Fred. More later.

Kirby: slow and steady.

Work

Finished this animated piece before the vacation. I'm proud of it for the fact that I designed, directed, and executed it with little help. It's nothing ground breaking, but it's perfectly suited for it's purpose.

Happy Friday everybody!

Alvaro Espinoza

I came back into the office today after a weeks vacation. To my surprise a colleague of mine had left me a shoe box full of baseball cards from the 80's. Now, I love baseball, and I realize how un-hip it is to admit it, but it's true. So it was fun to dig through all the cards and see all the bad mustaches and mullets. Since it's a transition day for me, I thought I'd take some time to do a drawing of one of my favorites. I don't even know who this is but the glasses and mustache sold it for me. Maybe I'll do a few more of these.

As for the vacation it was great. Saw the fam,went to the beach, and relaxed. But, as all vacations go, I am glad to be home. Didn't get much done as far as Kirby animation goes, but fear not. I'm back on the job, and will post updates soon.

My Grand-Ma

Here's a photo of one of the sweetest women to ever grace this earth. I'm flying back to North Carolina tomorrow to visit her, my mom, and the rest of the family.

I'll still try and work on the animation while I'm over there. Doing a lot of 2d hand drawn stuff right now, so I'm bringing a sketch book and my favorite pencil.

The Original Kirby

Here is the bear that started it all. My grand-ma gave him to me many years ago. I've moved around a lot over the years and I've always made it a point to keep Kirby around.

ElectricPig

Best Laid Plans

Scene 4 of Kirby'Sock. Building this scene was definitely a learning experience. It's been a difficult road thus far but I'm sticking with it until the end. Allie is helping with the coloring now, so with any luck the process should move faster. Of course I've been saying that in every post, maybe this time it will hold true.

Good, Fast, and Cheap, pick two.

I really wanted to have scene four completed last week and posted on the blog. But, if you've been following along you know that my best laid plans, fall short very quickly. I've had to redo scene 4's dope sheet, and it looks like I'll be redoing it again tonight. All the drawings have been done, I've just got to sort through the jumbled mess of numbers and abbreviations I made myself. As soon as it's sequenced and timed out, I'll post the scene. This has definitely been a learning process for me, and I really hope to take what I've learned and apply it to the next scenes.

Thanks everyone for all the encouragement, and for sticking with me thus far.

Illustrated

Here's two samples I sent my friend for his blog. Their still not finished but I wanted his opinion on the direction I'm taking. Both are very different, but I think we're going with the more realist version as apposed to the stylized one. I've never claimed to be much of a draftsman, but I do enjoy it.

In other news, I stumbled upon two blogs that are documenting the making of their respective animations. The first is Slim Pickings Fat Chances. This animated short is being produced in Holland (I think). It looks great, and I'm excited to see the finished product.

Another blog I discovered, is dedicated to the production of an animated series called 'Adventure Time with Finn and Jake'. The style is awesome and the pilot episode I watched was clever and fun.

Kirby'Sock scenes 1-4

Here's a sneak peek at what I've been working on the last couple of months. These scenes need backgrounds, shading, tweeks, and what not, but this should give a good sense of the direction I'm going. The last scene is just the rough 3d, and should give you an idea of my process.

Kirby's Prologue

these were done about a year ago leading up to production of the first kirby cartoon.

dope sheet, kinda

Some details about the image I posted last night. In the crudest sense it's what we in the animation industry call a dope sheet. The idea being that these graphs help time out the animation and line up each drawing with the corresponding drawings.

For the scene I'm working on currently, I felt it would be quicker if I separated parts of the characters body onto different layers. While there is 44 frames of actual animation not every body part moves through out those 44. If I separate say the left arm, once it stops moving I can just hold that drawing on the rest of the body for the duration of the scene.

On a true dope sheet, the time line for the entire scene would be broken down, including the hold frames. For this scene I'm just marking where the hold frames will be with an "H" or #.

Here's what an actual dope sheet looks like.

to travis

dope-sheet

Faces

If there's one thing I feel good about drawing, it's faces. Mostly cartoon faces though.

Mildly Offensive

I think now is a good time to discuss the possibility that my film may be mildly offensive. I think it would be off putting in the way that Pee Wee Herman or Ren & Stimpy was to my parents in the 80's. Not so much disturbing for adults, but possibly for children.

Now, from my point of view, it's humorous and perfectly suitable for kids. But my opinion is very different from what others may think. In the end what may make it offensive to some viewers is what makes it charming to me.

Here's a good test: If you find my infamous penis & balls sketch offensive, chances are you'll probably find my animated short offensive too.

Spammed!

Uuuuh, some lovely spam group has targeted my site for some serious Japanese ad spam. PLEASE DO NOT click on the Japanese links in some of the older comments. I've tried to clean out some of them, but many persist. Because of this I've had to moderate the comments a bit more now. It's too bad, cause I really liked the open forum.

IN OTHER NEWS:
A friend of mine has been writing a blog called PDX Dad. Its about being a stay at home dad and all the fun that in sues. He's a great writer and has asked me to do an illustration for his title bar. I'm excited to get started on it, should be fun.

Sleepy Turtle

I already have a concept for my next animation. It involves a sleepy turtle and a rambunctious bird. It's gonna be great!

The current animation continues to come along at a snails pace, but at least it is still moving.

More soon.

BUSY

WOW, very busy week all around. I'm still chugging away at the animation, but have no time to post anything new. Please, check back next week and I'll have something then. Thanks for your patience.

Happy Birthday Sweety

I love ya

Tuesday

Do you ever feel it's incredibly hard to make time for the things you really want to do? That is how I've felt the last couple of weeks. The animated short has been coming along so slow, but the things that have kept me busy are things I can not neglect.

The work I was doing two weekends ago was for a not for profit, so I can't complain that I will not get paid, or that it took away a whole weekend of Kirby animation time. Last weekend, Allie and I went out of town to visit her family. Again, something I can't complain about (we had a great time), but again no time spent on Kirby. Oh well. Things have kicked off again so at least I am making progress.

I decided last night that April may be a bit overzealous, to finish production. One of my weaknesses is under estimating the time it takes for me to do my job. I've heard in the past that you should take your estimated time of completion and triple it. This saying holds true in animation, maybe more so than anywhere else. SO, my new deadline is June. I know some of my readers are probably already getting impatient and want to see some progress. After consideration, I decided to post some clips of the animation, soon.

Until then, another drawing from the sketch book.

And finally today, Allie gave me this great book for Valentine's Day called The Making of Mr. Fox. It a "behind-the-scenes look at the creation of [the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox]." According to amazon. Inside are beautiful photographs, great interviews, and concept sketches of the movie. I highly recommend it if you are a fan of animation or foxes.

Happy Tuesday All.
Thanks for reading.

Ode to Yogi

Seeing as how I'm creating a bear themed animation, how could I not have been inspired by the most famous animated bear, Yogi. I decided to add a subtle nod to Yogi in the animation. I can't tell you how, so you'll have to watch the short and see for yourself.

And speaking of inspiration, one of the most influential animators for me, Bill Plympton, has recently start a blog with fellow animator Patrick Smith. I moved to Portland, OR a few years back, and didn't even know he lived here. One of the first things I'd did here was attend a screening of his feature film Hair High. I always get awkward in social situations, and even though he was there and had a Q & A session after the showing, I never said anything, or even got up to shake his hand. A year or so later, I saw him at an animation festival. I sat next to him at a screening (I don't remember what it was) and again said nothing to him the whole time. I think it's silly to go up to someone you admire and gush all over them. Maybe one day, I'll meet him and get the courage to actually talk to him.

Finally today, I wanted to point out John K also has a blog, although his has been around for sometime. He too, has been a great inspiration in my work. There are many others, that have influenced me, but I should really get back to work now. I'll try and cover more obscure animators in the future.

It's a Bowie Day

"Oh no love! you're not alone
You're watching yourself but you're too unfair
You got your head all tangled up but if I could only
make you care
Oh no love! you're not alone"
-David Bowie
Rock 'N' Roll Suicide

Thanks Dave I needed that.