Captain America's Pride

     Here's a fun new comic with Ol' Captain America.  His colors don't run, but his enemies do.

     You're against democracy?  Congratulations, your face is now a fist magnet!

     In other developments, Stall & Dean project is doing its namesake (stalling) while they hammer out some merger deal with a certain clothing company run by a certain rapper.  So work resumes once that's squared away.  And the next part of my Koth of the Conans summary will be soon.

     More to come...

Evil is afoot.

Cartoon Pilot in Progress: Koth of the Conans (pt.1)

     In the works for a while now is one of my most ambitious projects ever.  It's a cartoon called "Koth of the Conans", an idea created by me and my friend Demetrius back in 2009.  It all started with a joke about someone mistakingly referring to King of the Hill by its acronym, and from there it just blossomed into an insane concept that drew inspiration from classic Hanna-Barbera shorts like The Herculoids, with our own brand of bizarre surreal humor and incredible action!  No-holds-barred craziness in a land of perpetual carnage, that's the world of Koth!

     The show takes place hundreds of years ago on a planet of constant war called Gearth.  Man warring with man and beast and man-beast alike.  It's a blood starved world tearing itself apart, and among the fray stands one fearsome warrior with no equal in power and savagery.  That man is Koth!

     I designed Koth to looked buff and strong, but still portly in a way.  Not really sure how they got abs back in ancient times without Bowflex, but I think he looks fine with the gut 'n all.  Conan the Barbarian lies!  Koth himself is a man with an iron clad sense of justice and deals it without mercy wherever he finds evil.  Because of his reputation, he's always fighting against foolish challengers that try to outdo his strength.  He's so use to fighting, he doesn't even have to try when overkilling his opponents.

     As far as his powers go,  he's got super strength, able to make cunning tactical perception really quick in the heat of battle, is highly resilient to pain and can walk barefoot on most surfaces.  Most of 'em.  Originally his loincloth was a dinosaur's head he rammed his legs through.  He didn't even kill it before wearing it.  The eyes and still bleeding snout would've been on the front, but i decided to simplify it to make animating it less of a pain.  Koth knows not his age, only that he was born 30 years ago.

     Koth is kind of a solitary character, preferring to keep to himself and fighting alone since he's so use to carnage.  His only constant companion is his surrogate son of sorts, Hank.

  
    Hank is Koth's trusted sidekick and a shapeshifter, able to morph and distort himself into any shape and form he wants.  From giant revolvers to pelicans, Hank can assume any shape that'll help with any fight or situation.  I originally designed Hank to be a sort of midget, and since he's influenced by Gloop and Gleep from The Herculoids, he also originally talked only through grunts and such.  I decided to just make him the silent type, since there's so much more emotion and strength in a character's body language and expressions than there is in simple spoken dialogue (as I've stated before).  And his name is also a reference to King of the Hill.

     Here's a few other bgs, illustrating the landscape of Gearth, colored by Demetrius:

     That bonfire in the first on is full of warriors not worthy of joining Koth on a quest.  The second bg is called "The Oasis".  I guess it doesn't make sense that it's intact since they split up. :)

     With all the backgrounds, I wanted to instill a constant feeling of dread and danger.  Vast bgs with lots of depth and detail always adds so much atmosphere to a cartoon and makes it easier to get lost in that cartoon's world.

     Back in college, I did a promo type vid for Koth of the Conans as part of a class with my pals (credited in the end).  Animation duties were split between all of us.



     We didn't have time to complete that 10 minute story so we shortened it to this promo type vid and I set about animating the actual intro.  Here's the progress, and here's a bit more of the one punchy section.  I'm aiming at a minute and a half in length to this intro showcasing a quick display of Koth's power, and introducing his allies and enemies.  It's modeled after a speedy thrash metal song: fast, angry, insane, and leaving you beaten, bruised and on the floor for more!  

     In the next update I'll go more in depth with the details in the intro, more characters, and some stories.

   More to come...

Fat Kid Update and Shenaniggaz

     1) Finished up the animation from the last update.  Animated the background to show damage from the fat kid's landing.  Still thinking I should add more to that scene, but I'll get back to that later.  Gotta move on to the rest of the cartoon.

     Gonna record more sounds for it tomorrow.

     2) Working on a new illustration, something colorful, creepy, and NSFW (hence the center being covered for now. )  There'll be tons of grey, my favorite color beside green, in this one.

.lC_eaurnK

     3) "The Golden Idol" cartoon is coming along, too.  Still at a steady pace, not as fast as the fat kid cartoon.

My hero!

     4) These are a few concept sketches and art pieces for a show I and my pal Demetrius thought of called "Shenaniggaz".  The whole thing got started from a lousy pun, and from that we came up with the idea for this cartoon.  It's about three black youths living in the rolling hills of Jonesborough, Ireland.  They gain mystical powers from aliens and turn into a gang of troublemaking leprechauns!

     Their powers get stronger with the more mischief they cause to the townspeople.  They do it all, from heaving toilet paper at charity parades to leaving land mines under front door welcome mats.  They're a tremendous nuisance to all and a constant thorn in the side of the town mayor, who's a huge control freak obsessed with security and control.

Catch those... those... Shenaniggaz!!!

     Like the Power Rangers, they turn into the Shenaniggaz when they unite their rings.  They can also summon the P.O.G pod for speedy getaways and general mayhem, and fly momentarily on rainbow beams.  The only one we named was the fat one.  His name is Reese Fallon.  The one with the jerry curl is just called Beirdshartd for now.

     One story we made has the mayor tax the townsfolk extra gold coins to create more security.  What they don't know is that the mayor uses their gold to literally create more security...

Tis gonna be a very good 'ear!

     ... In the form of The Golden Ear, a sentient cop with an iron (or gold?) cast focus on punishing all troublemakers.  Can he stop those Shenaniggaz!?

     I'm sorry, I know this idea is dumb.

Fat Kid Splashdown!

     Here's a new part (link) to my fat kid prank cartoon.  Wasn't as difficult as I imagined it to be.  Just carefully planned out the animatic of it in all the 10 minutes it took, then everything easily fell into place and splashed into one fluid animation.  The only challenge was knowing where to ease in and out and how fast some parts had to whip around.  I might add another frame or two later, and I still have to animate the background interactions/damage and the shadows.

This part was the toughest, because it was a pain in the ass to get that "tail" to whip right.  Might add another frame later.

Ha, my favorite part: him putting his pants back on in that huge mess.

All done!

     More to come...

May Update: More Stall & Dean Stuff and "The Golden Idol"

  

     Still working on Stall & Dean material, and here's a few screenshots of my shot at a retro look.  This is what I was talking about earlier when I said I would make the cartoon have an "old advertisement come to life" kinda look.  In the beginning of the cartoon, it's going to look like an animated version of those aged adverts for baseball cards and gear in the back of 1940 era comics.  This is also what I meant about combining the old with the young, by animating the olden art and quality with the new age flash look.  Check 'em!

     This one is meant to look more faded, but I'm still experimenting with masks and whatnot.  It's going to look more weathered and worn than the last screenshot, progressively looking more aged, then going back to more modern and clean looks.

     And this guy's head will morph into that bow and shoot out that arrow, which is Stall & Dean's logo, which flies and draws S&D's name out.  This, coupled with all the other screenshots I've posted before, are all going to flow into one another in one continuous stream of wacky morphs and transitions, like one quick and crazy journey.

     And here's more animation from my baseball epic "The Golden Idol".

     Pretty neat and gory, huh?  Originally there was blood glistening on his eyes/meat after the tear, but I took it out since it made the rip look slower.  And I didn't want to go overboard with the gore, so I also took out the splatter flying out.  This part was a pain to animate, as the eyelids, brows, nose, and eyeballs/meat were all on their own layers and were animated one at a time.  Otherwise I would've gone insane doing this whole picture at once.  The twitching was easy, though.  Just animated him furrowing his brow and tightening his eyes, then copy and paste normal raised brows between those frames.  The scene where he's shaking hands with President Obama was kinda repetitive, too.  At first I wanted to make all of the audience members unique, but that was taking too long.  I just decided to copy a few bodies and just change the heads.  I also reused the hands.  And I'm thinking of putting Osama bin Laden's severed head in Obama's hand, but I'm still debating that one.

     More to come later!

More Progress and Whatnot!

     My upcoming project with Stall & Dean looks like it's going to start soon enough.  I'm getting ready for all the work that will bring, but it'll also be one crazy experience that'll yield something really cool and experimental.  It's going to be wicked!  Feast your eyes on two more pieces from that project!

     And point your peepers at this work-in-progress of my own cartoon.  Still gotta rework a few frames and moves here and there, and it's not all the way done,  but it's awesome nonetheless.

This kid and his poor depth perception.

     More to come!

Quick Update and New Development.

     I've been in contact for a while with Stall and Dean, the folks that've been making sporting equipment/clothing since 1898.  They're really interested in all my surreal animations and want me to work with them.  In a nutshell, he wants me to create an animated history of S&D and everything they've accomplished from their birth to now.  Very interesting, these guys have a rich history entrenched in all the sports, including Babe Ruth!  Kanye West even endorsed these guys!  They've been around since the days where football players endured concussions galore with leather helmets.  What's funny is that most of what I know from all the olden days comes from Looney Tunes cartoons, The Three Stooges movies, and any classic films from the 1930's onward.  The guy in charge was amazed I actually know a thing or two of the past and its culture.  With the project I'm working on for them, I have complete creative control, and I get to play around with new styles and colors.  This'll be a helluva lot of fun.

     They want to connect the older days with the kids of today, and I fit the bill perfectly.  I combine the colorful art styles of today with the traditional, hand drawn animation techniques of the past.  And I grew up on Looney Tunes, so it'll be incredible to make a cartoon that'll emulate the cartoons that inspired me, the ones of Tex Avery and Chuck Jones.

BAM!

     I can't wait to start this project and put those pretty shots into motion!  It'll be my tribute to all the classical influences of the past that shaped my style today.

     Most importantly is what I've been working on now.  I was continuing work on the Dreams from Gin music video, until I got an awesome email.  Good ol Bill Plympton recommended me to Spike of Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation!  He saw The Guard Dog Global Jam I was in and asked for some works-in-progress that could be entered into the festival.  He liked this one the most.  So I've been working towards having this done in time for June.  It's coming along very fast and looking great!

     Also getting ready to contribute to a friend's project long in the works.  We'll see how that goes, as I cant wait to begin.

     More to come...