Little green (Scottish) men...

What you see here is an animation test for a new programme I'd purchased (stop motion pro). I really wanted to try my hand at lip syncing, but I also wanted to imbue the character with a bit of nuance through hand gestures, eyebrow movements etc. So I recorded the voice, then recorded a video of myself doing the hand motions and what not and used them as a reference. The end result is a bit on the choppy side (the webcam I used isn't ideally suited), and the mouth syncing isn't as tight towards the end, but then it did take me an entire Sunday to do and was a bit burnt out towards then end! (*cue tiny violins)

Thanks to my good friend Rob, I was able to recover this video which I thought was lost forever with the death of my PC. Remember kids, always back up your files, ESPECIALLY your stop motion files! Enjoy!

Down, Right, Left, Down, Right, Left...

If you've never played the fantastic 'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time', then this post will likely mean little to you! However, those who have will know that this image (that I hope to get onto a T-shirt at some point) was inspired by one of my favourite moments of the game. How does one enlist the help of a stout, tribal leader? By playing him a jaunty tune on your Ocarina, of course! (see video embedded beneath image)

Edit: Updated with new version. With shading! Prints, tees and Iphone/Ipad cases featuring the design can be purchased here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/mrlunarbeam/works/10094393-hot-goron-beats?ref=work_carousel_work_portfolio_1

Version 1...

Hot beats herein!

Full of (Dar)win!

During my stint at university, I proposed a project to construct an interactive installation based on the works of the legendary Charles Darwin. The idea was that it would be an educational tool for children, and would see them pick up objects (such as a model of the HMS Beagle, the ship that ferried Mr Darwin to places such as the Galapagos Islands), move it across a specially designed interactive desktop, and an animated Darwin would pipe up and tell the child all about it. Ultimately, the project never saw fruition, but I did manage to get this short test animatic done, which I had a blast making! Click play, evolutionists!

(Oh, and internet-points to to whoever spots the embarrassing error! That'll teach me to barrel in without doing my research!). 

A Sneaky Peek...

So, I've been trying to get back into drawing lately. I've also been getting into my comic books thanks to some great recommendations from a friend. I have combined these two elements in the hope of creating a series of short graphic tales, penned by my friends, drawn by me. It's a slow process, and finding the time isn't easy. I've also found that drawing the same kind of thing over and over to create a sequence of frames is quite testing on the old patience module.

The upshot of this is I'm getting quicker at drawing and really rediscovering my style. I've not got a huge amount to show you, but please have a look at the first page (which is a work in progress) that has been penned by my friend Jon. It's called Push, and is a tale of of an ever-oppressed young man with a strong imagination and a penchant for wrestling, violence and revenge.

Jurassic Mecha...

Another design of Baraldia, I envision this to be some kind of sentry or guard. I started this design with a samurai dragon in mind, but it soon became some kind of cyborg Hadrosaur. I have a tendency to draw things with big beefy shoulders, so this time I wanted to try something a little more pear shaped!

The sketch languished on my wall for over a year before I finally pulled my finger out and scanned it to be painted in Photoshop. I think I've inadvertently channelled a very Dead Space-esque colour scheme, but hey Dead Space is awesome. Robot artist par excellence Don Figueroa was a huge influence in the making of this. 


After and before images below...

A Familiar Face...

In my first post (Halcyon Days), I discussed a mascot for a band. Here, he returns, this time as a character from a tale I hope to one day tell. Since the time I drew this, his look has gone through several revisions (in my mind, of course), but I still quite like this one!

OMG, RAGEQUIT!

Here we have a self portrait of yours truly in the throes of a thoroughly enjoyable online shooter. I don't have much time for gaming these days, but had you caught me on a Wednesday night circa 2008, you probably would have seen me pull this face as a pre-pubescent American teabags my corpse whilst lambasting my noobishness in a game of Halo 3.

Damn, I miss those days. Really, I do.