Home again, home again, jiggety jig. Thank god. What a trip from hell.

Feeling much better. Got a couple more storyboard frames done on the plane. It’s a time consuming process when you can’t draw. It’s not like I’m trying to draw masterpieces. They’re practically stick figures for christ sake. I think it’s a better idea to get the characters done in photoshop first and make a rough digital story board.

Of course if I’m sick in bed watching TV it’s usually cartoons. This week it’s George and Martha. What a great show. Nathan Lane and Andrea Martin are fantastic as the voices of George and Martha. Good vocal talent, real actors, can make or break any animation.

Sound (music and voices) is going to be a BIG stumbling block for Hermit Joe.

I’m on the road this week for my “pay the bills” job. I’m also sick as a dog. The past several days have been a feverish cloud. After getting back to the hotel from work I’ve been too exhausted to do anything but lie in bed watching TV.

I was really hoping to get some work done, at least the storyboard finished, but no such luck.

Everything I need to do animation is very portable. My laptop, digital camera and my sketch book. God bless technology. Still I find it very hard to get any work done when I’m traveling (even when I’m not sick). Just being in a strange city in a strange hotel room can be very exhausting. Hopefully I can get over this, because it looks like I’ll be on the road for most of February and March.

Home Movies is on. Great show. I’ll watch almost anything if it’s animated. Doesn’t matter whether it’s good or not. From Blue’s Clues to La Blue Girl. But Home Movies is great.

Most of Adult Swim rocks. Sealab 2021, Aqua Team Hunger Force, Brak Show, Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law, Space Ghost. Can’t stand Ripping Friends, but, hey, you can’t win them all.

Got another several frames storyboarded (is that a word?). I got through the scene where the specialists try various ways of curing the queen. It was a big stumbling block to get over. I wasn’t quite sure how to do it.

I probably wouldn’t have done any work at all today, but wanted at least something to post. I hope this site continues to guilt me into working.

This is a test composite I did last week to get a feel for the characters, scale, etc. It’s 640×480 which will probably be the resolution of the final project.

This is King Vasil Waterdragon talking to the Fish Doctor about the Queen. In the script they are in a hallway, not outside.

Click on image for full size view.

My primary focus right now is getting the storyboard done. I hate storyboarding mainly because I can’t draw for shit.

Still, I can already see how much it’s going to help in the long run. I’ve been referencing (rather than reading) Steven Katz’s Film Directing Shot by Shot. It’s a great book for my needs, focusing on storyboarding and scene setup that transfers very well to animation.

The site is mainly functional now. Today I got the main links written.

Introduction: Explaining the site itself.
My Studio: The equipment I use.
Hermit Joe: An introduction to Hermit Joe and what I have completed so far for the first short.
Old Crap: A collection of the first animation tests I’ve done.