Posts by Jumping Toaster:
08/05/2011
August 5th, 2011We Invite You To Our…
Many of my readers have noticed my blog seems to be ‘inactive’ lately…monthly…well since last year. The reason being, I was busy preparing for my wedding that took place this past July! There was a ton of work that my fiancé and I have to do to get our wedding off the ground in time for the big day.
Part of my responsibilities was putting together the wedding invitations. I had a super idea but I wasn’t too sure if I could pull it off in time for the mail out. Being a cartoonist and previously working in the film industry I thought it would be super cool to put together a card that had some of those elements in it but remaining classy enough to be a wedding card. Our theme for the reception was titled “Elegance & Illustrations” so I thought of putting a red curtain inside the card that the invitee would rise up to reveal the invitation, kind of like a pop-up book! I also wanted to project the invitation using a simple flashlight on the wall, so that the card itself becomes a mini movie theatre. Could I do that? Yes, I could!
Shown above are four rough drafts of the pop-up theatre theme in many stages of completion. There were at least a dozen or more ‘rough’ cards created from scratch that I used to create the final printed wedding invitation. Tomorrow you will see the final product and I can’t tell you how exhausting it was to put each card together by hand myself. But it was well worth it, the fiancé/bride loved it dearly!
ALL MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED! Unless otherwise provided in writing from Designer. No person(s) may not make or permit alterations or manipulations of images beyond the requirement of slight or reasonable image enhancement (i.e. alterations of contrast, brightness, color balance, re-sizing, and cropping), consistent the reproductive needs, that do not materially change the integrity of any image. Alterations or manipulations include but are not limited to additions to, subtractions from, or adaptations, alone or with any other material.
Twas the Night Before Christmas
December 23rd, 2010Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the apartment,
Not a silverfish was stirring, not even a varmint.
The bug traps were laid by the foot of the bed,
In hopes that the insects will soon be all dead.
The girlfriend was nestled all snug in my bed,
While visions of electronics and gold danced in her head.
And a smoke in my hand, and gin in the other,
I had just settled down and couldn’t be bothered.
When out in the alley there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the couch to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like The Flash,
Tore open the blinds and broke the lamp with a ‘crash’!
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave light to the hobo smoking crack down below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a rusted old shopping cart loaded with beer.
With a little old driver, so homely and sick,
I knew in a moment it couldn’t be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his followers they came,
He whistled and shouted and called them by name.
Now, Derrick! Now, Eric! Now, Phil and Bill!
On, Craig! On Meg! On, Jimmy and Jill!
To the top of the bin! The empties they leave!
Now drink away! Drink away! As fast as you please!
As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, they choose to get high.
So up to the house-top the coursers they climbed,
With a cart full of empties, were they stupid or blind?
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof,
The thumping of foot steps which sounded like proof.
As I drew in my head and was loading my gun,
In came the little man, who was in for ‘No fun’.
He was dressed all in rags, from his head to his shoes,
And his clothes looked out-dated and he smelled of booze.
With a bundle of cans he had flung on his back,
And he looked like an addict who had just smoked some crack.
His eyes – how blood-shot and red! His pimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a berry!
His droll little mouth was drawn-up like a bow,
And the crusted old beard on his chin was as white as the ‘blow’.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad narrow face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed, gosh he was smelly!
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, and pee’d a little myself.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
“What the hell?” I said, “Get out of here you jerk!”.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
He shot the snot out, which landed on my toes.
He sprang to his cart, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like a nuclear missile.
But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,
“The aliens are coming!” And “Who wants to fight?”
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10/14/2010
October 14th, 2010Illustrating Techniques of the ‘Toaster’ Part 6 continued
Drawing a character such as Ralf Highmenhighmer here may seem easy at first. However when you realize that the characters facial expressions are limited, you start finding ways to deal with attaining the mood of the scene by using the other facial features available. Ralf’s mouth which resembles two donuts squashed together can be a challenge with more complex emotions when you really need a pair of eyes to aid the reader. His hair is curly but yet I draw it with direction to help with the expression; like with fright where the curls are drawn straight. There are few expressions where the reader would see Ralf’s eyes; Fright, surprise and knocked-out. Only these three expressions I illustrate using Ralf’s eyes popping out of his head, for it only further emphasises to the reader that this is an important mood/feeling/out-take.
Take an existing character of your own, subtract certain facial features and try illustrating some of the basic emotions I’ve drawn. Try directing the mood using the ‘Line of Action’ instead of directing with the characters eyes. Simple characters have limitations just like complex cartoon characters. They stop being simple characters when you have to convey shyness, when you don’t have eyelashes to flutter. However, incorporating the ‘squash & stretch’ technique to the character you can squash the characters head into their neck, much like a turtle would pull its head into their shell to represent the emotion of shyness.
ALL MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED! Unless otherwise provided in writing from Designer. No person(s) may not make or permit alterations or manipulations of images beyond the requirement of slight or reasonable image enhancement (i.e. alterations of contrast, brightness, color balance, re-sizing, and cropping), consistent the reproductive needs, that do not materially change the integrity of any image. Alterations or manipulations include but are not limited to additions to, subtractions from, or adaptations, alone or with any other material.
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10/12/2010
October 12th, 2010Illustrating Techniques of the ‘Toaster’ Part 6
Character construction of the tubular/cylindrical kind may seem like an easy task at first. Like drawing a snake or a worm, but when you start subtracting major facial features it becomes a bit of a challenge expressing an emotion for a character. To correct this we use the ‘Line of Action’ technique. Even with these simple facial expressions shown above, I started by drawing the LOA which lays out the basic flow/mood. To express sadness with my character Ralf, the LOA would be a skinny upside down ‘V’. The nose is drawn drooping/sagging, the hair on Ralf’s head is pulled back & down. For awe, the head is tilted back with the nose up. The nose would point to the subject and the mouth would be slightly open.
ALL MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED! Unless otherwise provided in writing from Designer. No person(s) may not make or permit alterations or manipulations of images beyond the requirement of slight or reasonable image enhancement (i.e. alterations of contrast, brightness, color balance, re-sizing, and cropping), consistent the reproductive needs, that do not materially change the integrity of any image. Alterations or manipulations include but are not limited to additions to, subtractions from, or adaptations, alone or with any other material.
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07/26/2010
July 26th, 2010Illustrating Techniques of the ‘Toaster’ Part 5
Animation characters can be broken down to a basic formula. This makes it easier to reproduce and ensures uniformity through the comic strip or film even if there are several artists working on the same project. Starting with a rounded mass with perspective guidelines, you will be able to place the eyes in the correct position just above the horizontal guideline. Using this perspective technique makes constructing the remaining details (eyebrows, ears, nose, etc.) that much easier to place on the face.
Like an actor, the animator/cartoonist must be able to master portraying emotions within their comic strip/film. Without proper emotions the expression and mood of the scene is lost! Through continual practice and use of ‘squash & stretch’ techniques you will be able to portray a wide variety of expressions with your characters.
Here we have Beany in a wide range of emotions incorporating the ‘squash & stretch’ technique. Try to pick out some of the ‘standard’ expressions to create your facial emotions for your character. You may note I used one face to represent ‘yell/laugh/shout’ this is because the facial expression for all three would be similar to one another. You don’t want to get carried away and start creating facial expressions that look similar if one would suit the emotion for the scene! Try looking in a mirror when creating your characters facial expression, you’ll see the different jaw movements and eyebrow lifts for each expression which you can then exaggerate with the ‘squash & stretch’ technique.
ALL MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED! Unless otherwise provided in writing from Designer. No person(s) may not make or permit alterations or manipulations of images beyond the requirement of slight or reasonable image enhancement (i.e. alterations of contrast, brightness, color balance, re-sizing, and cropping), consistent the reproductive needs, that do not materially change the integrity of any image. Alterations or manipulations include but are not limited to additions to, subtractions from, or adaptations, alone or with any other material.
07/23/2010
July 23rd, 2010Illustrating Techniques of the ‘Toaster’ Part 4
Cartoon head construction is pretty simple, you start off with a rounded mass; either ball-shaped, pear, or egg-shaped. Several people might be working on the animation so keeping the head and body elements in a circular or rounded form makes the job that much easier to reproduce the character. If you do intend to animate your illustrations the follow-through looks much better and you have more room to play and exaggerate the facial expressions with ‘squash and stretch’ than with a square/box or triangular mass.
Using a simple ball-shaped mass and dividing the face down the middle lengthwise and then across the midsection, you can set the guidelines for eye placement. Even though your character will be changing expressions constantly to portray emotions the eyes will remain anchored just above the horizontal guideline. It’s also important to realize that emotions rely on the tilt of the characters head. A subtle tilt of the head changes the perspective of the characters expression, which is especially important in dialogue scenes where you must portray the emotion even if there are no spoken words!
Here we have Beany Barfalamue in a range of emotions using the above technique for constructing the head. You may still be able to see the guidelines from this scanned image and the rounded form before adding the other features, note the eyes remain in the ‘fixed’ placement even with applying ‘squash and stretch’ to exaggerate the emotion.
ALL MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED! Unless otherwise provided in writing from Designer. No person(s) may not make or permit alterations or manipulations of images beyond the requirement of slight or reasonable image enhancement (i.e. alterations of contrast, brightness, color balance, re-sizing, and cropping), consistent the reproductive needs, that do not materially change the integrity of any image. Alterations or manipulations include but are not limited to additions to, subtractions from, or adaptations, alone or with any other material.
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07/21/2010
July 21st, 2010Illustrating Techniques of the ‘Toaster’ Part 3
Creating reference drawings for your characters is crucial for any illustrator/cartoonist. These drawings will help identify the relative shape and size of your characters to others you wish to add to the scene. When you construct your cartoon character with specific proportions it makes it easier when you start giving your illustrations a dimension of depth. You’ll be able to quickly identify how tall your character stands in the scene, this is very important when you are trying to create a perspective and foreshortening within your scene/background. Without the simple cartoon construction of specific proportions to your characters you might never know how tall or short your characters actually are in relation to each other and the background!
A lot of cartoon studios take their cartoon characters and size them in height based on ‘head size’. Beany Barfalamue which is the main character of my comic strips would typically stand 6 and ½ heads tall, where as Ralf Highmenhighmer (shown above) would only stand 5 ¾ heads. Using the head size of the main character, you will be able to quickly size other characters in the scene based on this proportion method.
These fundamental are very important should you wish to have other individuals/artists assist you with your work. When you have proper guidelines and relation to size reference drawings for your main characters the job of your fellow illustrator/animator becomes that much easier!
ALL MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED! Unless otherwise provided in writing from Designer. No person(s) may not make or permit alterations or manipulations of images beyond the requirement of slight or reasonable image enhancement (i.e. alterations of contrast, brightness, color balance, re-sizing, and cropping), consistent the reproductive needs, that do not materially change the integrity of any image. Alterations or manipulations include but are not limited to additions to, subtractions from, or adaptations, alone or with any other material.
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07/19/2010
July 19th, 2010Illustrating Techniques of the ‘Toaster’ Part 2
I’ve been an illustrator/cartoonist ever since I could pick up a pencil and put it to paper. I’ve continually worked on my character development and constructing the vast world in which they live in. Using my vivid imagination, I’ve written complete comic books/strips, created character origins and continually developed my own cartoon style. Over the years I’ve had numerous art teachers, mentors, and artisans who’ve helped me discover and develop my own sense of cartooning. There were also numerous cartooning and animation text books I’ve utilized to further develop my own artistic style, one in particular that made a huge impact in my career was the ‘Cartoon Animation’ book by Preston Blair. Recently I’ve revisited this animation bible to refresh my skills as a cartoonist and I thought it would be a great topic to write about on my blog!
It’s pretty exciting to create and construct a cartoon character from scratch! A lot goes into this process, from making your character believable and lifelike to the personality they will portray in your comics. As an illustrator/cartoonist you’re going to need to know how to entertain your audience; from presenting the joke/gag to presenting a deeper message in your stories. You’ll also need knowledge in screen writing, plot, premise, conflicts, crisis, dialogue, and so forth in order to really create something that people will want to come back to read.
But let’s take it slow and start with character construction. It’s all about proportion, when constructing your character(s), keep in mind the relative sizes of their body parts. Specific proportions are used to create different character types. Here we have Beany Barfalamue, a very thin ‘goofy’ big eared fellow with an over-sized nose. He’s one of the main characters of my comic strips/stories, and is shown here in front & side perspective drawings. You can see the different size of ovals used to construct Beany, which is important because his nose blocks a lot of his facial expressions. However, once you understand the overall proportions of your character(s) you will be able to overcome this hurtle. Using reference drawings such as this one, you as the animator will be able to quickly refer to the proportion guidelines when drawing the character in different poses and actions.
Later we’ll look at Beany’s sidekick; Ralf and his specific proportion guidelines and how they compare to Beany Barfalamue!
ALL MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED! Unless otherwise provided in writing from Designer. No person(s) may not make or permit alterations or manipulations of images beyond the requirement of slight or reasonable image enhancement (i.e. alterations of contrast, brightness, color balance, re-sizing, and cropping), consistent the reproductive needs, that do not materially change the integrity of any image. Alterations or manipulations include but are not limited to additions to, subtractions from, or adaptations, alone or with any other material.
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06/15/2010
June 15th, 2010Visit the Vancouver Aquarium and enjoy a unique experience for the whole family!
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06/14/2010
June 14th, 2010Visit the Vancouver Aquarium and enjoy a unique experience for the whole family!
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