the Kobb Cave

Finally scanned some doodles from a couple months ago, inspired...

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:47:00 -0400

Finally scanned some doodles from a couple months ago, inspired by a forum RP thread that sadly died right as things were about to get good. Krax and a couple other krogan (one of them nearly old enough to remember the salarian uplift) get trapped in the ruins of an old hangar/bunker during a massive sandstorm on Tuchanka. Tensions immediately flared, especially since Krax’s armor betrays him as Imperial (the forum timeline saw the formation of a fledgling Krogan Empire, which not all clans support)…

BWD update’s now live! Also with an announcement on the...

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:18:00 -0400

BWD update’s now live! Also with an announcement on the inter-chapter hiatus that’s coming up!

~~fire 8U’~~

What are studios looking for? How can I get into a...

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:25:00 -0400

What are studios looking for? How can I get into a...:

anthonyholden:

What are studios looking for? How can I get into a good animation school? What should I be studying?

I get a lot of these types of questions now and again, and I never know how to answer them. I can’t be sure of what studios are looking for, I don’t control admissions policies to schools, and I have little idea what makes for a current and relevant curriculum. There are a lot of variables in your bid for a career in animation, and it’s kind of impossible to control most of them. You must be crazy to want this job!

I find it helpful to focus on the things I can control. Among those things are your study habits and how you spend your personal time. It’s good to work hard and have goals—without them we would get nowhere. Study hard and make decisive strides towards achieving your art goals. But in the heat of that pursuit, don’t forget to go out and live your life!

If you spend any amount of time looking at artists online, you’ve probably figured out by now that there are about a million dudes and dudettes in internetville who draw better than you (I relive this realization daily). Once your have done your best to rise to their level, the only tool you have to compete with these crazy talents is your background, your personal character—is you!

Consider developing your whole self with the same raw focus and intensity that you develop a particular skill set. Get focused. Go out, have adventures. Run, jump, skin your knee, fall in love, root loudly for the away team at a baseball game, barely escape a crash of stampeding rhinos, live to see another day. Experience things big and small. Go for a walk. The world is full of wonders.

I know this advice is not particularly animation-specific, but maybe that’s for the best. At any rate, it is something I feel strongly about. Animation is great, and there are few things that I enjoy doing more than drawing and storytelling. But in order to have stories to tell, first you have to live them.

Be good, and see you soon!

PS, if you were looking for advice on draftsmanship you should probably be reading this.

Y’all are following this man, right?? Amazing advice, which I need to follow more often.

(Click the link to see the picture post, which the above text is merely a supplement to. - it’s very long, very good, and I’m trying to prevent people who might follow the both of us from having duplicate long posts on their dash, heheh. Go! READ!)

Season Five of TMNT 2k3

Mon, 13 May 2013 21:10:00 -0400

darthempress:

I was very disappointed by season five of TMNT 2k3. I was fast-forwarding through episodes just to get through it. I didn’t feel like anything really sparked with any of the characters, and I didn’t care for the Ninja Tribunal at all or even Tengu Shredder’s origins. I should’ve loved it because I’m into Japanese mythology and everything, but it seemed so bland and just didn’t resound well with me.

I think season five was a missed opportunity and, even though I enjoyed some episodes of Fast Forward and Back To The Sewers, I think the 2k3 series should’ve ended with a fifth season, but with a completely different storyline. I really wish the writers had gone with Peter Laird’s idea of having the turtles split up and go their separate ways for a time. This hasn’t really been done before in the TMNT universe and I think with the 2k3 series especially it would’ve been a great opportunity to showcase their brotherly bond being threatened and the travails they have to endure before finally being reunited. And maybe it’s not a happy reunion. Maybe they grow too far apart for things to be as they once were…

Read More

Agree’d so hard, on everything. While I liked parts of the 5th season, overall it didn’t really do much for me. Super Mystical Anime Turtles completely lost me, and… I don’t even remember finishing it. At least I lasted longer than my “let’s give it a second chance” shots on the Fast Forward and Back to the Sewer seasons, ugh. Seasons 1-4 = TMNT 2k3 as far as I’m concerned.

I like my Turtles pretty mundane. The less scifi and mutant-of-the-week, the better. (I make an exception for the Triceraton stories in the comics/2k3 show because come on, they’re rad.) Once the guys had these ridiculous mystical weapons and started calling their attacks (and I guess they turned into dragons later???) it didn’t feel like TMNT anymore! Nor did futuristic weapons, ability to walk the daylit streets of future Earth, or going to the internet to defrag Splinter ausldjfkl

hoy-small-fry: This isn’t just an episode highlight, it’s one...

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:54:47 -0400

hoy-small-fry:

This isn’t just an episode highlight, it’s one of my favourite moments of the entire season. Everything about it is awesome

bespectacledsloth: Happy Mother’s Day

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:14:28 -0400

bespectacledsloth:

Happy Mother’s Day

not-quite-normal replied to your post: EDIT: will throw my TMNT thoughts for “The… Yeah...

Sat, 11 May 2013 13:53:00 -0400

not-quite-normal replied to your post: EDIT: will throw my TMNT thoughts for “The…

Yeah this episode went through a LOT of rewrites (half the dialogue was scratch tracks) and defs not the strongest, it was kind of a weird one. 8I Glad you liked the animation though!! That’s all that matters to me hehe

I don’t know if I’m biased because I pay more attention when I know your studio worked on it, but IMO y’all’s episodes have looked nicer than the average (even when the writing’s not as solid). The lipsync, expressions, and general kinetic action animation just seem better and less prone to wonkiness. I always look forward to the next one, heh :B

EDIT: will throw my TMNT thoughts for “The Pulverizer Returns” under a cut, just in case...

Sat, 11 May 2013 11:46:00 -0400

EDIT: will throw my TMNT thoughts for “The Pulverizer Returns” under a cut, just in case :d

…so is THAT what happens when the mutagen doesn’t have animal DNA to draw on (assuming existing mutants don’t count)? Eurgh. I’m getting flashbacks to 2k3 Stockman. Stupid, stupid, naive kid. :T

Before the body horror soured everything, I was really enjoying this episode’s animation. Some fun lines being tossed around, and the expression work was abnormally smooth and fantastic. Dat fightin’, too. c:

(also it pleases me that Donatello seemed to do the best at learning Splinter’s lesson, given that him being great at situational adaptation is my headcanon)

another EDIT: re: April not being around: Yeaaah, this is one of the reasons why 2k3 is still my favorite TMNT show. I really really like tight continuity, and 2012 is just looser about it. Not objectively a bad thing, but it could have been nice to have her show up in the background at least. Maybe use the opening to establish that she needs to study for exams or something?

Also, the weapon swap was played off really weird - in training is one thing, but out in battle? Especially after “Panic in the Sewers” when Splinter was terrified they were in over their heads? Didn’t sit right, and got changed again to no weapons instead of forcing the guys to actually adapt. Splinter, you know that it takes more than a single mission to learn a lesson.

I like how in previous TMNT media, the guys appear to be cross-trained with each other’s weapons, which just seems like a good idea in general. But hey, I don’t mind the chance to see that training in progress. Just wish it’d been less half-hearted?

This lady’s been in my head for a little bit - finally...

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:08:04 -0400

This lady’s been in my head for a little bit - finally decided to try drawing her (lady krogan wat do)

Also it seems to me that krogan of both genders would be unable to see the insult in the human phrase “thunder thighs,” because frankly that sounds pretty awesome to them. :v

safetybunny: meredith-stannard: i made a pixel avatar of myself with this thing omg [snip for...

Thu, 09 May 2013 01:22:02 -0400

safetybunny:

meredith-stannard:

i made a pixel avatar of myself with this thing omg

[snip for space]

Made one for my boyfriend too.

I DI IT

My sister and I played a round of ME3 multiplayer as a brogan...

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:34:40 -0400

My sister and I played a round of ME3 multiplayer as a brogan duo, and now my brain is made out of krogan again.

Krax needed an armor redesign anyway. u_u

Behold: Mask. I don’t like turtle OCs as a general rule,...

Mon, 06 May 2013 16:22:00 -0400

Behold: Mask. I don’t like turtle OCs as a general rule, but I made this fella years ago to try and do it “right.” All I really did was defy the tropes I hated most, and he still ended up pretty terrible.

And yet here I am, acting on a whim to draw him in the Nickelodeon style. I am so sorry.

[clarifying edit: I think he still looks pretty all right as characters go. It’s the story that went with him that was dreadful, heheh.)

Last night I was working on the final pencils for this...

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:13:00 -0400

Last night I was working on the final pencils for this week’s BWD page, and got stuck on one panel - couldn’t quite nail the expression. Suddenly I was animating the line to try and feel it out?

Today’s Free Comic Book Day haul! My shop enforces a...

Sat, 04 May 2013 13:49:08 -0400

Today’s Free Comic Book Day haul! My shop enforces a 5-book limit: TMNT and Mouse Guard were what I was actively out for, couldn’t pass up Mass Effect, and the other two slots I reserved for things I’d never heard of that looked like they could be interesting. Also dropped a couple bucks on #1 of that new Hawkeye series I keep hearing good things about.

This week’s BWD page is now up!

Sat, 04 May 2013 08:07:44 -0400

This week’s BWD page is now up!

GIF Sound Mashups

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:37:00 -0400

GIF Sound Mashups:

#I think I killed Tybs with this #and mael #and kobb #and we did it to ourselves

The music was my suggestion |||:) It’s like the snarky cousin of Yakety Sax.

And for you two who flipped out about me having a Dakkan plush, you’ll have to thank a couple...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:58:00 -0400

And for you two who flipped out about me having a Dakkan plush, you’ll have to thank a couple of my friends for that. When I was in college they bought an otter plush in Las Vegas and then made him a little tunic before giving him to me… for my birthday, IIRC. They are the best.

Soooo this happened this week. |:|D Golly, he’s so big -...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:19:00 -0400

Soooo this happened this week. |:|D

Golly, he’s so big - Dak’s mostly here for size comparison, and I thought he was pretty huge at 16” tall! Leo’s 24” and appropriately huggable - he is technically a pillow, after all.

retereretere: KAIROS Trailer from Studio La Cachette

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:19:29 -0400

retereretere:

KAIROS Trailer

from Studio La Cachette

Okay, time for my final Threadless pimp post! Mike is graciously...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:20:00 -0400

~~Okay, time for my final Threadless pimp post!~~

~~Mike is graciously modelling the T-shirt designs I submitted, which you only have one more day to score!~~

~~The links to those designs are here: [Rooftop Parkour] [Sistine Sewers]~~

Again, many many thanks to the people who have voted and got the word out by reblogging. Y’all are awesome, and good luck to the other Tumblr folks who submitted designs as well! I’m hoping they pick some really rad shirt designs I have to blow money on X)

It’s over! Looks like I scored pretty okay on the parkour design, but only time will tell if anything actually comes of it. Thanks again, you guys!