Re-resolution

My New Year's resolution last year was to learn how to cook. Aside from a botched batch of chili and the occasional lumpy pancake, I didn't get that far. This year, however, I'm all over the kitchen. My girlfriend even invited me to her parents' for New Year's Eve to help them cook up some lobster.

This was our thank you card to her folks, letting them know that our little lobster pals made it safely to crustacean heaven.

If you guys have any recipe recommendations, send 'em in. If I try your dish out, I'll post the results.

50 days...
(remember to always check out the countdown links...this one's particularly good)

A Stroll Through Gamma World

A new year means a new campaign and the Dandies have kicked off 2011 with a romp through the post-apocalyptic wastelands of Gamma World. The game was DM'd by Everett Downing (left), but fueled by Lanesplitter's and Gordon Birsch.

Our pal Dovi gave us all electronic d20s for Christmas. They light up when you roll a natural 20. It's pretty sweet.


The party approaches a criminal outpost.

The best part about gaming with a bunch of artists is that you inevitably come out with some amazing character sketches. Here are a few from our first session:

The enigmatic conspiracy theorist Karnsen, played by Ross Dickenson. Sketch by me.

The gruff gelatinous mutant Grimm, played by Chris Chua. Sketch by Chris.

The genetically-engineered prescient, Dr. Eustace Plebe (aka "Slit"), played by yours truly. Sketch also by yours truly.

The cyrogenic super-computer Artech, played by Erick Tryzelaar. Sketch by Emma Coats.

53 days...

One Dream Studios Interview

A follow-up to the "How to draw Rex" tutorial I posted last week. The interviewer is my highschool friend Vic Jimenez of One Dream Studios, and we talk about the greatest animator of all time, the best animated feature of all time, and how to get into animation if you never made it to college.

Oh, and sorry about the blasphemy at the 1:13 mark, I get a little carried away talking about animation cycles.

53 days...

Happy New Year!

What better way to kickoff 2011 than with a bit of iPadimation? This was doodled on Animation Creator HD, a must-have for anyone with an iPad and a serious animation addiction.

My New Year's resolution is to finish all the projects I started in 2010 (and prior). For me, creation is impossible without inspiration, so I thought I'd share my top ten most inspiring discoveries of 2010. Now some of these aren't necessarily new, but they were new to me, so lay off.

1. Comic Con
2. Scuba-diving
3. Black Swan
4. Flogging Molly
5. Nerd Fighters
6. How to Boil Water
7. The Venture Bros
8. Red Letter Media
9. The Trip
10. The Jeff Lewis 5 Minute Comedy Hour

Honorable Mention: Twitter

55 days...

CHADES CHALLENGE XLII:
CLAUSTROPHOBIC KELPIES

Kelpies are vicious creatures from Celtic mythology who lure children to lakes, drown them, and eat them. They can take the form of horses or beautiful women. Either way, when you try to ride them, their skin becomes adhesive, bonding you to them, and they drag you to your watery demise. You know, that old chestnut.

Little Kimberly discovers why you should never tear the tag off your pillow.

If you have any kelpie designs of your own, let me know and I'll post them below, along with these fantastic artists. Or you can join us January 14th for...

CHADES CHALLENGE XLIII:

WINTER WOLFMEN OF WESTEROS

Storyman extraordinaire Vi-Dieu Nguyen and I usually come up with a random adjective and noun to form these challenges, and it's odd how fitting they are sometimes. For this one, we also added a random location, for which I (being a huge fantasy nerd) chose Westeros. Those of your familiar with George R. R. Martin's fantasy epic, A Song of Ice and Fire, will notice how fitting "winter" and "wolfmen" are with the location "Westeros."

Vi-Dieu Nguyen

Megan Nicole Dong

Zane Yarbrough

Nate Villanueva

My previous countdown was for Gallery Nucleus's Breath of Embers show, which has unfortunately been moved to October 2011. There was only one event as countdown worthy as a gallery of dragon artwork:

58 days...

How to Draw Rex

Sketch for Japanese fan magazine during Toy Story 3 release

I did a little drawing tutorial for my old friend Vic Jimenez a while back. He said I could choose any Pixar character to draw, so I naturally went with the only dinosaur on the roster. You can catch more of Vic's interviews, tutorials, and short films at One Dream Studios.

17 days...

Breath of Embers
I've been invited to contribute to Gallery Nucleus's next show: "Breath of Embers." The theme is dragons and as you've probably gathered from my other blog, I'm a bit of a gaming nerd, so this is right up my alley.

Justin Gerard's take on Smaug from The Hobbit

The Super Big Micro Show will be up at Nucleus till January 4th, so you've got a few days before Micro Rex and his pals go completely extinct. If you're up in the Bay Area, and can't get to the Micro Show, you have till February 11th to see Micro Rex in his full animated glory at the Oakland Airport "Pencil to Pixel" Pixar exhibit. My friend Kristen sent me this pic she snapped flying back in for Christmas.

So did you guys have a good Christmas? Any uniquely awesome presents? Thanks for everyone who voted on the Christmas polls. The official winners are:

Best popular Christmas carol:
"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"

Best traditional Christmas carol:
"O Holy Night"

True Meaning of Christmas:
The Birth of Christ

Best "12 Days of Christmas" gift:
Five Gooooooold Riiiiiiiiiiiings!

19 days...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve, technically, but for obvious reasons, I won't be blogging tomorrow. Unfortunately, I don't have everyone's addresses, so I'll have to post your Christmas card here.

You can even choose a painting for the inside of your card. If you're a Star Wars nerd, let's say I painted this scene on the inside of your card...

If you're a Calvin and Hobbes fan, and want your own personalized snowman gag, how about this for the inside of your unique, personal card?

Then again, if you're a man after my own reptilian heart, I'd have probably sent you your very own Micro Rex painting. And if you went on a Hawaiian vacation (like my dad, who the actual card is for), all the better!

Finally, for those gamers out there (whether you're chaotic naughty or lawful nice), here's one I did for our gaming group, The Dandies. The incomparable Emma did the original sketch a long time ago, I just plopped the santa hats on.

Twas the fight before Christmas,

And all through the dungeon,

Not a creature was stirring,

Cuz they'd been savagely bludgeoned.

Or, if you just don't like cards, how about a festive ornament? This one's for my cousin Tracy's new baby Blake (not to be confused with her sister Kelli's new baby Jack Jack). The Madison clan's getting bigger all the time!

"Ooh...the CLAUS!"

1 day...but I'm not blogging tomorrow, so I'll say it now:

Merry Christmas!

Captain's Log
Part II: Stormy Seas

That should probably read "story seas." My new animated short, Nail'd, is in the uncertain waters of the story process. Some ideas are sharpie scribbled feverishly onto napkins to capture an idea while it's fresh in my mind, others (like this fantastic layout by fellow Sacramentan and CalArtian Tyler Decker) are beautifully painted explorational work.

A few weeks ago, we had our first meeting with a possible composer. Because music will be so prevalent in Nail'd, we wanted to get our composer involved as early as possible. No more cannibalized film scores for my animated films! The goal in the upcoming months is to assemble a story reel for our composer to write the first demo tracks. Things are shaping up, and we're getting a glimpse of what lies beyond the squall...

3 days...

Merry Christmas from Windsor

While gathering Shakespeare reference for this Christmas card to a friend (who hopefully doesn't read this blog too regularly), I found some excellent seasonal poetry. Here they are, for any of you Shakes fans out there.

At Christmas I no more desire a rose
Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth;
But like of each thing that in season grows.
-Love's Labour Lost

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh ho, sing heigh ho, unto the green holly;
most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remember'd not.
Heigh ho, sing heigh ho, unto the green holly:
most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
-Heigh Ho, The Holly

5 days...