Thanksgiving Cartoon Challenge

I’ve been meaning to post this for a bit. I spent Thanksgiving with my dad’s side of the family that includes a 9 year old cousin of mine. She challenged me to draw any cartoon character she could think of. Since we had no internet, I had no way of looking up reference and it became a very interesting test of my own memory about current cartoon characters. She even drew Spongebob for me from her memory! 

woof.

familiar sci-fi faces

Dr. Who and Star Trek characters. 

new brush warm up doodles

found a new brush today and so i did some warm up sketching. here's the brush: http://stumpypencil.blogspot.com/2009/11/return-of-stumpy-pencil.html

Nice Teeth Contest Victory

My character Crab Tree placed 2nd in the Nice Teeth comic contest recently. Good job Crab! http://ashleylange.deviantart.com/art/DYOI-RESULTS-403501891

I made a comic to celebrate.

The other two in the comic are the 1st and 3rd winners. 

My old friend Era

Sketches of an old character of mine, Era (and Huan in the bottom image). Just wanted to try some redesigns on her outfit. No one should live in clothes designed by a 7th grader forever.

(c) me

Danny Doodles

It was a Danny Phantom kind of night.

Danny: "Um, Sam? Don't you think that maybe I should handle this one?" 

Tucker: "Dude! Don't be messing with her mojo! I want to live!" 

Crab Tree and Bunny

I decided to participate in a contest for the comic Nice Teeth. You had to design a character that would live on The Island. Check it out: http://niceteethcomic.com/

for those who can't read that small of print:

"Crab Tree is a spicy lass from the depths of The Island. Kind Islanders label her stature as “toad-like”, unkind Islanders just call her fat and short. Crab has a bad attitude and persistent frown, but she does get along with a few islanders. She appreciates the “honestly stupid” and regards the “uppity types” with contempt. Especially those who read. Crab can’t read (who cares about a bunch of swirling letters?). She isn't stupid, but she only trusts her own mind, and believes that those who trust in books are people to watch out for.

Crab met Bunny when he was just a tiny Tree Thing. Tree Things, native creatures of The Island, usually only grow to be 27 inches. Bunny, however, somehow managed to grow the size of the trees Tree Things are supposed to inhabit. Crab and Bunny are best friends as he is very often the only one who will listen to her three hour rant about the benefits of toast in every day life. They live together in a comfortably large house Crab built with Bunny specifically in mind."

more rigging doodle breaks

The skin weighting continues.

Rigging Doodles 4

Today's break doodles 

Toad Patrol character (c) it's owner which is not me

Rigging Doodles3

More doodling during my rigging breaks. 

Rigging Break Doodles 2

Yesterday's break doodles. Just a bunch of nonsense.

Rigging Doodle Breaks

I've been working on some rigging in Maya for my 3D senior animation film and to keep myself sane, I took a couple of doodle breaks. Here are the results. 

The Trio

These are three characters from a story I'm currently developing. It's sort of Wizard of Oz-esk. The toad was actually a prince that was turned into a toad by a witch at a particularly boring party. He's trying to find the witch to be turned back into a prince, or at least a frog (which is way more kiss worthy than a toad). Following him are his two companions: a fish that wants her memory restored and a large cat who wants thumbs so that he can at last fulfill his dream of playing the violin.   

Spring Quarter Finals Are Here!

Have you ever just reached that point during finals where you slip into a coma and just stare at your work? Because that's where I'm at right now. Just one week left until summer! Gotta keep it together!

Happy Mother's Day 2013!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, but especially my own. My mom is one of my best friends and I can't wait to be road tripping home with her this summer. This year she requested a cat picture, so I did a color sketch of a line drawing I did while observing some of the Savannah cats. Happy Mother's Day mom!

Also, be sure to pick up a copy of my new animated e-book "The Pick-up Princess" available now! animatedchildren.biz

7!!!! Featuring Kevin Garubba

ONLY 7 MORE DAYS!!! Today we look at Colorist Kevin Garubba!

"I had this Luke Skywalker action figure who was caught in an alternate dimension and had Dragonball Z powers and had to team up with my Toy Story toys to save the universe...  We saved the universe so many times.  It was a thankless job but somebody needed to do it. "

Kevin and I were in a class together when he heard about The Pick-up Princess project. We had just finished rough animation and he was wondering if there was any way he could help out. I jumped at the chance to add him to our team. Along the way, Kevin made some great contributions including some extra animation on a scene that gave it a special element of life. Thanks for all your hard work Kevin! Stay savvy! 

8!!! Featuring Margaretta Westerman!

Only 8 more days until the animated children's e-book "The Pick-up Princess" launches!! As a part of our countdown, I'm featuring one crew member every day. Today our story and art comes from Margaretta Westerman who was a rough animator on the project. 

"I had a lot of toys when I was younger but one of my favorite toys was a giant Meeko plush (from the Disney movie Pocahontas) that my dad gave me. I was living in England at the time and my Dad was sent to Texas for work. Well like most father's he brought back gifts for my brother and I and mine was this giant Meeko plush. He said he saw it and thought of me and since he had only brought one suitcase he had to stuff this giant plush into to his suitcase in order to bring it back to England. It's old and worn now but I still have it, he sits at the edge of my bed back in Virginia where my cats like to sit and sleep on him, he's just that fluffy still."

Margaretta is currently working at a Disney theme park soaking up all the artistic brilliance down there. I remember her animation being some of the easiest to clean up because she's one of those people who is good at hands and fingers. That may not sound like much, but trust me, hands are a nightmare! I'm completely jealous of her hand talent and was very blessed to have her on the Pick-up Princess team. Stay classy, Margaretta!  

9!! Featuring Catherine Huyck!

9 DAYS UNTIL OUR APP LAUNCHES! Today we look at the first person I brought onto the project. 

Catherine Huyck: Background Artist 

Back when I was a kid I was obsessed with collecting beanie babies. I don't just mean a few, I mean dozens. I had a huge Rubbermaid container full of them. But by far, my favorite was always Bones the dog. He was plain and simple, and always there no matter what. I could also easily stuff him in my pocket so I took him everywhere.

Working with Cathy was so much fun and she provided some of the best ideas for toys ever. Wherever you look in her work, there is always something completely off the wall; whether it be a walrus with a mustache or a Viking ship. Stay weird Cathy!

Smexeh Tree

This image corresponds to an animation I have in my 3D demo reel which can be found here: http://schellerdebbie.wix.com/debbieanimation

I created this as a thank you, but I sincerely think there should be more images of trees with sexy legs around. Where's the love for the trees at, guys?