At Toys R Us-Times Square, New York City

I took this picture at the Toys R Us in Times Square a couple weeks ago.

Sometimes you work on something so much that you forget what it is you're making. Deadlines, extra work hours, and lack of weekends is all that you think about. "Circus Star" was like that. I was new at the studio, and I started working on this during the last third of development. There was a huge amount of props to be created, but yet, everything was finished.

I'm proud of this game. It's the first game I've worked on to be published, and I've grown a fond attachment to it's quirkiness. But what seeing this at Time Square reminded me of, is that anyone in the United States can buy and experience something that I've worked on. So often I forget about that. It's amazing to me. If you wanted to, you could go to a Gamestop, and buy a game I've worked on. I'm proud of that.

When the work keeps coming and I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, I stop and think about all those families that bought this game. That is what makes working on games entirely worth it. That, and the fact that it's sitting on the self next to a copy of "Ghostbusters!"

Learning Curves

Work has slowed down in one area, and has increased in another. Currently I'm teaching two classes on Monday and Wednesdays, with a help lab for both of them on Tuesday nights. I've been trying hard to restructure my delivery of the information so the students learn better. Overall the students seem to follow me better.

The 12 principles of animation are the most important aspect of learning the art. It doesn't matter what medium you use, if you don't have a solid grasp of the principles, you'll never be a good animator. I try to convey this to my students. Along with this, I want to create some examples of how the principles help. A simple animation before and after the principle is applied. Squash & Stretch, Anticipation, and arcs are easy to demonstrate. However, timing (both physical & theatrical) and character appeal are more difficult to show without being in front of them. I need to do a little more brain storming before I figure this out.

At the studio, we are in between projects. The art department is not yet in full get in development of our next title. There's a air of discovery and growing improvement to our pipeline; at least this is how I feel. I have been given the task of creating the main player characters for this game, to which I feel humbled. I did not think I would be given the chance the model any main characters for several years. It feels great to be doing what I am best at. At the same time, I feel a huge responsibility to the project and the company. I am the first artist touching the game, and so what I do will set the bar for the rest of development. I have many more days of working on these characters, but I am challenging myself to make these the best characters I've made.

A New Day, A New Plan

At the moment I'm a little all over the place. I decided to finally...FINALLY, sit down and create a website that I've been thinking about for over a year. Not knowing anything about web, I feel restrained about the creative process. What I want and what I can do is limited. It comes down to time and knowledge. I would be putting more time into the creation of a fancy website then my actual trade, and the trade skill is paramount right now.

Regardless, the site is up. Bare bones, but running. I have a bunch of images to workout for the background/banners.

Working on this makes me realize that I need a better design for my logo. It has to read better. Some people see the jellyfish, others don't. I want to design it so you know what it is the moment you see it. It feels like poor design right now.

I need to fire off some new renders of recent work. Period. A large portion of my flat book is out dated.

A new demo reel will follow of all this. I'm delighted and terrified at this.

In the meantime I'm getting ready for all this by getting back into Twitter, CGSociety, and creating this blog. I'm hoping that if anything it'll give me other outlets for communicating my thoughts and ideas.

It's time to get rolling....