Dick Figures on the Big Screen!

My pals Ed Skudder and Zack Keller over at Six Point Harness have wrapped production on the fourth and final season of the international web-sensation/religious experience of a generation, Dick Figures. As with all great series (X-Files, Firefly, Alf), Zack and Ed want to end Dick Figures with a silver screen finale. Preferably in 3D. On IMAX. At theaters with live organ players.

If you share the burning passion that may be gonorrhea, but is most likely an urge to see Dick Figures on the big screen, contribute a buck or two to their Kickstarter account. Pitch in $100 and you even get a free ringtone!

A $10,000 contribution will get you lunch with the creators...

A personal tour of Six Point Harness Studios...

And an original piece of art by Zack and Ed!

So please contribute! Zack and Ed will stare at you till you do.

22 days...

Always Coca Koala

I always thought a koala would make a better mascot than a polar bear.

24 days...

Hey Jude

Birthday card for my dear friend and fellow animator, Jude Brownbill. She's a Brit, her name is Jude...my task was clear.

25 days...

My Brother, the Iron Man

My brother, Andy, is always looking for ways to expand his crime-fighting arsenal. So, for his birthday, I got him Iron Man's bracelets from The Avengers (available at Think Geek).

Andy enjoys the occasional skydive, so I figured the Iron Man bracelet would come in handy under less-than-favorable circumstances...

Happy Birthday, Andy! And many safe returns!

27 days...

Obi-Wine Merlotbi

"May the corks be with you."

Happy Friday, everyone!

28 days...

Jennifer Holiday Eats Young Woman's Head

I'm not a fan of American Idol, but I did catch last night's finale and I must say the duet between Jennifer Holliday and 1st place loser Jessica Sanchez was uh-mazing! The facial expressions alone on Ms. Holliday, who is doing everything she can to bury Sanchez's career before it begins, are worth the watch!

I'm not sure if it's singing or roaring, but if this sort of gladiator-battle-set-to-music is American Idol, sign me up!

29 days...

Draw Something

Every once in a while, Draw Something lobs me a soft ball.

30 days...

Hulk Crush

"You don't want to see me when I'm randy."

32 days...

Chades Challenge LXXIII: Heist Gone Wrong

This one's for my buddy Vi, who I always imagined would be involved in a botched heist at some point in his life. To be fair, I'd most likely be the flaky driver who took off on him half way through the job.

If you have any ill-fated criminals of your own, let me know and I'll post them below. Otherwise, join in June 1st for...

Chades Challenge LXIV: Engineering Gatekeepers

Anthony "Sure I Can Shuriken" VanArsdale

35 days...

Last Day of AM/PM Class

Last night was the final class of my third semester teaching at the Academy of Art University. 

Brave's director, Mark Andrews, was our guest lecturer. Fresh from finishing the final cut of the film, Mark gave a talk on the slings and arrows of filmmaking and the story process. I think it's safe to say all of the students came bounding out of the lecture, their cups brimming with a fresh serving of inspiration.

We asked our class to bring in scenes where a character experienced victory, to celebrate the end of a successful term. This scene, in particular, fit what Paul and I put our students through and the vindication of passing our class.

The clip warranted a final whiteboard sketch.

As you may know, we have a tradition of bringing a dessert to class. This week it was my turn, and I wanted to send my class of in the most decadent chocolaty style.

Congrats to our class, and all you film students out there who are wrapping up a semester of hard work!

37 days...

The Avengers Reaches a Billion!

"You have saved our lives! We are eternally grateful!"

This week, The Avengers joined Transformers, The Deathly Hallows, and Toy Story 3 on the other side of the $1 billion mark. Congrats to Joss Whedon and his team for a fantastic film and all the well-deserved accolades.

38 days...

Happy Mother's Day!

Nothing says Mother's Day like arboreal marsupials. This was my gift to my mom, seen here with my brother and I.

You can blame her for my sense of humor, though she's much better with puns than I am.

39 days...

Happy House Warming, Kitt!

My buddy and fellow improviser, Kitt, had a house-warming party last weekend and I wanted to give him something special to brighten the walls. Kitt is known for having some of the most amazing Halloween costumes and by far his best has been the Han-and-Tauntaun combo. His tauntaun even had removable guts to warm your hands with. So the gag above was really a no-brainer.

Kitt also has one of those faces that's fun to caricature. He even gained a little notoriety at work for bearing a striking resemblance to the Lao Ming meme. 

 Happy Friday everyone!

42 days...

Ex-Stinked

This post is for Diana, who prompted me to post about Discovery.com's reports that dinosaur farts caused prehistoric global warming. According to researchers, the aptly-named thunder lizards created an estimated 520 million tons of methane gas every year. That's as much as today's natural and man-made sources combined.

Well, it's no wonder Noah wouldn't let them on the ark.

44 days...

Way to go, Hawkeye

After seeing The Avengers, I'm convinced a bow and arrow are our best defense against alien invaders.

45 days...

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Sure I'm two days late, but Honeybadger don't give a $#@&!

46 days...

Chades Challenge LXXII: Cantina Patrons

My Dad and I used to draw cantina characters all the time. If there's one thing I enjoy drawing more than aliens, it's drunk aliens. May the Fourth be with you!

If you have any additions to the Star Wars cantina, let me know and I'll post them below. Otherwise, join in May 18th for...

Chades Challenge LXXIII: Heist Gone Wrong

Colleen "Nerf Herder" Madden

0 days...Avengers Assemble!

Brave Lectures

Yesterday, I gave animation lectures at San Jose State and Cal. A note to anyone giving a lecture at Cal: don't open with, "Hello Stanford!" I thought I was going to be drawn and quartered for that one.

At San Jose State, I was greeted by members of the Shrunken Head Man Club, the campus's animation collaborative. The group is named after a fortuitous paint spill on one of the department stools.

The students at both campuses were fantastic, and I was more than happy to hang around afterward for questions and drawings. I even signed a few sketchbooks, Pixar postcards, and the odd sweatshirt or two.

These are actual notes for my lecture. How the students gleaned any information from my talk is a mystery.

0 days...AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

8-bit Cubism

Last weekend was a huge gaming marathon at my buddy Jay's house for his birthday. After about seven board games, I was getting a bit distracted. 

Luckily, Space Alert came with these little wooden counters which I quickly discovered could be made into 8-bit characters, like Devo here.

Or kicking Devo.

When our Space Alert battle station was attacked by an Interstellar Octopus, my solution was to send Boba Fett after the beast (though he hasn't fared particularly well against tentacled monsters in the past).

I quickly progressed to Frolicking Fidel Castro...

...The Grinch...

...Lorne...

...More abstract depictions of Santa Claus/Pokeball, Yoda, and The Creeper...

 ...And, of course, Jurassic Park.

We didn't win the game, but the 8-bit characters were a fun exercise and well worth the distraction. I heartily recommend Space Alert, if only for the 8-bit art potential!

1 day...

Scribblings

Yesterday I issued the Twitterverse the following challenge: What can you make of this scribble without erasing anything?

It's an age-old trick to get a fun, quirky design when your drawings start to look similar or contrived. The Twitterverse rose to the challenge beautifully, and the result is a bunch of fun (and very unique!) scribblings.

@liebestrauma

@jpidgeon

@jann_tastic

@JarettMiracle

@Matti_Mayhem

@munchanka (yours truly)

I'll have to do this more often! Or maybe I'll just write an app.

2 days...