Fatty Raccoon

A cut-n-paste cartoon from last spring. I can't remember where I pulled the critters from, but I know the ice cream came from an old copy of Wayside School.

Thoughts on PJ's Hobbit

What does Mr. Baggins hate? 

I saw An Unexpected Journey twice over opening weekend. First with a group of students and colleagues, second with a good friend.

The first viewing was like putting together a puzzle with pieces from two mismatched sets. I had recently revisited the book, so the whole 3 hours I was mentally parsing out what did and did not belong. Perhaps the next two movies will add more weight to the scenes that felt extraneous.

I’m glad I saw it a second time. While there are still poor bits, mostly in terms of storytelling and pacing, the good stuff overshadowed the bad.

The film’s best moments are when its characters are given room to carry the story forward without flashback, narration or extensive exposition. This is why the dwarves’ song in Bag End is such a stand-out scene. Yes, Howard Shore’s music is fantastic. But it also serves an important story point. The song tells us what the dwarves want – known as the most important story element; their primary motivation for the rest of the plot – while influencing what Bilbo wants. The dwarves sing of the wide world, tragedy and ambition – things the Hobbit has read about but never experienced. And the next morning, with yesternight's dreamlike events faded to quiet, Bilbo makes a small choice that influences the fate of Middle Earth.

(This, by the way, is my favorite moment of the movie and I believe the climax of Act 1. The camera lingers on Bilbo’s silent hall long enough for the audience to fill in the blanks and anticipate his decision. We put 2+2 together, making Bilbo’s farewell “I’m going on an adventure!” all the better because we’ve earned it.)

Middle Earth continues to be an amazing place on-screen, far bigger than what I visualize in the books. I love how Jackson’s crew utilizes the New Zealand landscape as an underpainting for Tolkien’s myths.  The vistas, design and architecture are what set these movies apart from most fantasy fare. As always, the Weta gang and production team are full of amazing artists at the top of their craft. Can’t wait to see what they've created for the next two films.

Letters and Monsters

I've been planning a new project this past month: an alphabet book based on myths and monsters from around the world. Hoping to complete it by February for digital publication, but this is my first go at a project of this length so you never know :). I'm happy with the thumbnails and sketches so far.

Below are the first three color comps. The first is nearing final rendering while the second and third are still in sketch mode.

To Bring People Back Home

"We have a language to celebrate waywardness, but not a language to to bring people back home." -Makoto Fujimura

Makoto Fujimura is illuminating a beautiful edition of the four Gospels. See the video below for a look at his exquisite technique and some great conversation on the subject of art and faith. (The above quote comes in around the 7:30 marker.)

His words struck a chord with me and make me wonder: In what ways can creativity, art and story orient us towards reconciliation? Can these tools beckon us "homeward"?

Three Foot Six and Underground

Like anybody who’s anybody, I’ve been re-reading the Hobbit before it hits theaters next month. And, like all the cool artists on the interwebs, I wanted to do an illustration or two.

Except I didn’t make it past the first paragraph.

The Hobbit is an illustrator’s dream, filled with spectacular scenes of distant mountains, grim creatures, jolly elves, burning pines and evil forests. “Never mind that,” I thought. “Let’s just start painting the very the beginning.”

In his opening line, Tolkien describes a sort of anti-Hobbit hole to better distinguish the squalor of most underground dwellers from the gentrified nature of Hobbits.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat, it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”

We could pause here and do a socio-political analysis, but let's not tarnish the fairy-tale, shall we? Here’s my visual take on The Hobbit, Paragraph One:

The unHobbit-hole. Nothing to sit on. Nothing to eat. Bits of worm.

I’ll leave the rest of the book to more accomplished illustrators.

Thicket

Here's a quick watercolor doodle. Eric Carle, did you crawl into my subconscious?

A Picky Peccary

I've never met a peccary, and I'm ok with that.

The not-so-Picky Process:

This lovely thing modeled for me on Google images:

Source

He looks unpleasant.

I did a quick pencil sketch and scanned for linework.

Watercolor time! Tried to not be too selective about where the color went on the page.

On to digital. I changed the character design halfway through painting – the pig’s “mane” needed taming. I wasted a lot of time manipulating the original watercolor to fit the new linework . Lesson learned: commit to a design before beginning the painting process!

The result lacks polish, but it has the texture I was after. And if you're wondering, peccaries prefer cactus!

Starting Out

Starting Out After Rail
by Thomas Eakins

Hi internet. What's this blog for? Mainly sharing my artwork and other creative projects. Since I'm a learner (aren't we all?) I'll be writing about techniques and what I'm finding out along the way. Oh, and expect some general thoughts on stories and what makes a narrative effective, etc.

For context's sake: my creative interests mainly fall under the poorly-titled category of Children's Literature, so a lot of the material here will be in that vein. 

Thanks for reading!