Graduation

Never before have I been so happy to hear Pomp and Circumstance. Good speeches, good pictures, and good friends. Quite a lovely night, if I do say so myself.

I did another doodle (this time in TECHNICOLOR) to mark this momentous occasion, and celebrate that shiny new diploma sitting on my table.

The Escape

On and off for the past few weeks, I've been writing the storyboard for a new animated short, The Escape. Compared to my first three, this one's plot has a little bit more meaning.

I have lagged a little recently, and the first few preparatory steps took a little longer than I planned. However, now that high school's over (PRAISE THE LAWD), my free time during the day has increased exponentially, and the animation process is in full swing.

This is a quick shot from the intro. A woman talking on her cell waits in traffic in front of the main character (blurred, in the back).



As all of my belongings (myself and my computer included) will soon be off to Pennsylvania, I can't give a definite completion date. I am really looking forward to finishing this, though, so hopefully it will be soon.

The Hazards of Love

Haven't done one of these since March. Lame.

I got the idea for this from The Decemberist's album, The Hazards of Love. The album is essentially about a woman named Margaret falling in love with a shape-shifting forest dweller. All in all, pretty weird and just a little gay. The music, however, is enjoyable.

The twisted branches take their lyrics from the second track, The Hazards of Love I (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles". The lines read:

"And there she came upon

a white and wounded fawn

singing ...ooohhh

the hazards of love."

Tilt-shift miniature faking

Tilt-shift miniature faking is a process in which a photograph of a life-size location or object is manipulated so that it looks like a photograph of a miniature scale model.

This is one of the most interesting photographic techniques I've seen in awhile. Through simply adjusting the focus in certain areas of a picture, you can manipulate the actual size (or the appearance of it) of what was photographed.

For example, here's a miniature fake of Jodhpur, a city in India:



And the original photo:




Miniature faking has probably been around for quite some time, but this completely fascinates me nonetheless. I love the effect. In fact, about an hour ago when I started looking into this technique, I stumbled upon tiltshiftmaker.com, a site in which you upload a photo, and it automatically adjusts the focus and creates a fake miniature.

HERE'S ONE I DID :D
I, of course, used a snapshot from one of our marching shows this past year. Hooray for being a loser. Here's the original:

And the modified version:

Fallingwater

Now, I normally work only in the two-dimensional arts (see blog title), but occasionally, being an architecture major, I'll work on projects

IN THE THIRD DIMENSION.

That being said, take a look at my latest project, a scale model of Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece, Fallingwater. This house caught my interest a little while ago, and this was my way of getting to know it a little better.

Here are some pictures from real life:

And this, ladies and gents, is my balsa wood, acyrlic paint, hot glued version. My landscaping didn't do the beautiful area of Bear Run..

..nearly enough justice, but I think I captured the entire house pretty well all the same.

SEXY.

(be on the lookout for my next animated short, currently in the works)

Ben and Martian

Whats new:

• Improved sound quality (Adobe Soundbooth and Rock Band mic).
• I may have let my imagination run a little wild in some parts.. so bear with me.

And now, for your viewing entertainment:

Ben and Martian: Part One - Friend

Even though there are times in which we have difficulty making friends, sometimes they can be found in the strangest places.

Now, my next video won't involve Ben or Martian, but here's what to look forward to:

• Better set design (hopefully with Adobe Illustrator)
• Catchier tunes.
• Maybe something with a little more meaning. lol

Contraption

this one, looking a little more machine-like, has been appropriately dubbed, Contraption.

doodlin'

last night, i sat down with my sketchbook and, lacking of ideas, started to draw whatever came into my head. it ended up looking a little odd, but i thought it was kinda cool so i'll post it.
the words wrapping around the curves:

i'm leaving the central states for shallow ground
call in the army corps of architects
flatten this city, and begin anew

..are from the Death Cab song, "Army Corps of Architects" (it was stuck in my head). the lyrics aren't exactly the way they are in the song, but oh well.

for those of you who ever were curious, this is what my thoughts look like.



i liked how this turned out, so there may be more coming. :)

fire drank

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I'm now posting at http://firedrank.com/

Click on Cartoons under the Categories section.

Thanks. :)

Series?

I've been putting a short together recently that i think i may make into a series, of sorts, involving the little guy you see on the blog title page.

Ben and Martian

should be done within a few weeks, barring school gets no more time-consuming than it already is.