Gamma Quadrant 2

Ok ok, so here's the real design I did for the Space Cowboy blog:


Dash Cavalier - Dash is a brazen, headstrong space cowboy whose righteousness knows no bounds. Either do right by the law or get out of Gamma Quadrant 2. However, Dash's intentions are greater than his ability to realize those intentions. This is due to his one true weakness: pride. It is pride which clouds his mind and lets enemies gain advantage over him. Luckily, a chance meeting at the local Hometown Buffet put him in contact with a certain Chalmers Butterfield.

Chalmers Butterfield - You may be thinking Chalmers Butterfield...the mid-century photographer? No, not that Chalmers Butterfield. This Chalmers Butterfield comes from a race of turban wearing space monkeys, whose goal in life is to bring good upon the Universe. They are humble to a fault and will take no credit for being a hero. Chalmers Butterfield helps Dash beat the wrongdoers of the Universe, although Dash is unwilling to accept that a monkey is saving his butt day in and day out. Without Chalmers Butterfield, Dash would not be able to beat his greatest nemesis, Vincent Billingsley.

Vincent Billingsley - Vincent was born into a wealthy family who provided for all he could ever want...except love. Because of this, Vincent never understood real love, and displaced these feelings and desires towards material posessions and wealth. And so, Vincent grew to be a shrewd and calculating businessman who is always looking to profit through any means necessary. No amount of wealth will ever be enough to fill the void in his heart.

Woody Lightyear

My friends and I decided to design a Space Cowboy for a blog, so I though I'd do both in one!...and it's an original creation, like Rickey Rouse, or Monald Muck!

Nature and Films

I went sketching with my friend Chris Palmer in his hometown of Morgan Hill. We took a little drive and went hiking up in the hills. It was nice to get out in nature again and I could have hiked all day. We stopped at one point and sketched by a bridge. Later on we met up with some friends at Borders in Santana Row. I decided to try and capture some of the faces I was seeing around me.

The next day we all went to TGIF to celebrate the wrap and sending off of two of our films to the Ottawa International Animation Festival. We always have fun working together to make films and these were no exception. So keep a lookout for "T.N.E.I.T." and "The Princess and the P."

Wild Sushi and More!

Instead of drawing underwater creatures, I went scuba diving and brought along my underwater polaroid camera. I went in search of the real rarities, things you don't see in science journals, encyclopaedias, or any other kind of reputable source. Here's a list:

1. Whuppy - You might think whales are easy to spot, but not when they're the size of guppies! A Whuppy is a cross between a whale and a guppy making them the smallest whale species.

2. Armored Shark - A shark with lobster armor! It has, like, 4 fins! Cool!

3. Wild Sushi - Just slice and serve fresh!

4. Cela (see-lah) - The Cela are simlar to mermaids, but with a squid-like tentacle instead of a fish tail. Unlike their mermaid cousins, the Cela are not spiteful but instead a curious and inquisitive race.

The 'Zoo

About a month ago, myself and four friends got a chance to go to Kalamzoo to compete in the Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) Cartoon Challenge. The challenge is to produce an animated 30 second PSA in only 3 days!!. It was a blast! We didn't take home the prize but we were extremely happy with our end result and more importantly we exceeded our own goal to have fun! We met some great friends and competitors and KAFI took really good care of us. We also ran into our old friends from Pratt that we met out in Ottawa last year and our ACME peers in southern California from Laguna. It was nice to see some familiar faces. Here's just a few pages from that trip.

The sketch on the left was a lot of fun. It was at a place called Bell's Bar where a live band was playing. I decided to do some blind contour of the band and I loved how it came out. I've been trying to work in some blind contour to practice my line quality and really get that genuine feel. The sketch on the right was of the SJSU team before we left. You can see out five faces and the airplane on the bottom (more blind contour).

Cave Troll!

Well the semester's over and for our intermediate 3D class we got to model the Cave Troll from Lord of the Rings. I spent the semester honing my modeling skills, learning how to texture better, learning the basics of rigging, and capping it off with animation! At the beginning of the semester it would have been hard to believe that I would be able to get to this stage in 3D. But with great teaching and hard work I was able to get here. To showcase it, I have both a posed model (based on a WETA maquette) and a walk cycle. (I'll try to get better resolution videos up soon, right now they're pixely)

I've learned so much and have been asked to teach the intro Maya class this Summer! (It's funny how much you learn by teaching!)

London Sketches

Over Spring Break I was able to go to London through the school. It was a total blast! We visited all sorts of museums and small studios. It's great seeing a differet type of working environment in the smaller studios (Double Negative, AKA, and others!). I have a few sketches from the V&A Museum that I found in my sketchbook (and a sketch from the Royal Academy of Arts on the bottom right) The center sketch was from a sculpture called "Athelete Struggling with a Python" by Lord Leighton Fredric. It was one of the most intense sculptures I've ever seen, and was very much masuline. In contrast, the museum had feminine sculptures nearby. The sketches at the top right are from the sculpture "The Bather" by Toft (i think). The sketches at left are from one of the most beautiful and feminine sculptures I've ever seen, calles "Eve" by Thomas Brock.