SOME ANIMATION DRAWINGS

I just unearthed some of my old doodles and photos from a box in the garage. Some of these pictures are admittedly terrible and were never meant to be seen by anyone, but...what the heck...it's OK to blog about trivial things sometimes, isn't it?

The cat here (above) is even bigger than the dog, which is a mistake, but then again...this isn't a storyboard...it's just a visual way of writing a script. Oops! I spotted a misspelling but hopefully you won't see it.

Here's a REALLY quick doodle from some other cartoon. The dog and the human walking him are going in different directions because I changed my idea in midstream and didn't bother to redraw.

I saved this because it made me realize that there's something surreal about walking in a world where everybody else is walking at the same time. Anyway,
nothing ever came of this because it would have required too much animation.

I don't know why this would interest anyone except my mother, but here's (above) a photo of me at work at Filmation way back in 1980.

Above, the same timid dog we saw in doodle form, a little later in the cartoon. Even squirrels push him around. Once again, this is a fragment of a visual script rather than a storyboard.

I love writing prose but scripts work best when they're drawn out rather than written. There is one drawback to that technique, though. You can unconsciously lose your feel for structure when the story's drawn. That's why it's useful for an artist to outline a story first with words, if only in bullet points.

MORE RANDOM EDDIE SKETCHES

Here's some idea sketches I did for various projects I worked on.

Haw! I like the idea of an inventor who's harried by his own inventions. Here Igor tries to impress his master by making everything user friendly, and then has to live with the consequences.

This (above) is an excerpt from something I did for Theory Corner. Normally I can't draw John but for some reason I don't have any trouble doing continuity about him. Maybe that's the secret of caricaturing hard to draw people...you do a comic about them and a different part of your brain kicks in.

Here's (above) a sketch from another strip. How do you like the short bell bottoms John's wearing? He doesn't really dress like that but he used to draw other people that way and I picked it up from him.

Here's (below) a fragment of a different continuity, also for Theory Corner. It's about an acting class exercize....

...well, it went on for a couple more pages. This reminds me that I seriously considered taking acting classes at one time. I didn't want to be an actor, I just wanted to see if doing that would make me a better storyboarder. I didn't end up doing it because I became interested in something else instead...stage movement.

By that I mean how an actor sits, walks, gestures, enters and exits and relates to other actors. There used to be lots of acting coaches who taught this sort of thing but they're a rarity now. I couldn't find one, and I live near Hollywood for Pete's sake!

I had to learn stage movement on my own, being mindful of the maxim that says "The man who teaches himself is taught by a fool."

FROM MY SKETCH FILE

Here's a few sketches from my sketch file. This (above) is a title card I art directed. The expert lettering was done by Ted Blackman and the great character art by Jim Gomez. 

I did this drawing (above), as well as the others below. What the heck was it for? I can't remember.

This (above) isn't continuity, it's just a doodle that has sentimental value to me. The sketch on the lower right marked the first time that I realized it was possible to break the rule about silhouette value.

Above, no continuity, just more breaking of the silhouette rule, this time on the doodle on the lower left. I went out of my way to put shapes inside of each other and it worked...in my opinion, anyway.

'Just fooling around.

Above, a couple of unused panels from Spumco's "Fire Dogs 2."

Haw! This (above) was an unused idea from the theme park level of the video game.

Above, Little Miss Muffit, my favorite Nursery Rhyme character.

ANIMATING ON THE IPAD MINI

I promised to put up some of the animation I've been doing on but I'm still having trouble getting it online with the original timing anf framing intact. A friend has offered to help so I guess things'll work out soon. In the meantime, here's a few frame grabs from a recent film, if you can call something as short as this a film..

The time it took to do this? Less than an hour! It's amazing how fast you can go on these little iPad apps.

The key to working fast is to forbid yourself to redraw anything. 

If a line doesn't work, just draw a better one beside it.  

At this point (above) I accomplished what I set out to do...I sat a man down on a chair. All my tiny films have limited goals like that. When the film doesn't seem to be working I just delete it and start another.  If I don't have an idea I just start drawing and hope for the best. It's like doodling with animation.

I still felt like drawing so I added a table and a newspaper.

The man grabs the paper and opens it...

...and lifts it up to read. That's it. You can do zillions of these little shorts in waiting rooms and restaurants or while watching TV.

RANDOM EDDIE DOODLES (AND ONE BY JOHN K)

That's a John K panel above.  John's the best storyboarder in the industry.

MORE ABOUT ME (PART TWO)

Here it is, the second (and final) part of the "Uncle Eddie's Theory Corner" retrospective, summing up about 640 posts over a period of nearly two years!


Next to animation and cartooning the thing I've probably posted most about is architecture. It's easy to see why an artist would do that; architecture is art that you live in. My own preference is for architecture that's romantic. You picture yourself having adventures in it, it provokes your best thoughts, It reminds you that you're part of a culture, you want to show it to friends who haven't seen it yet.





I've done a lot of posts about dinner friends like John, Mike, Steve, Kali, Katie and Marlo (excerpts from two different strips, above). I've done a zillion "My Dinner with Andre"-type posts about John and I'd do the same for Mike if he'd let me. In Mike's case the dinners would be especially easy to write about because they all begin the same way: we sit down, Mike spots a beautiful girl, he shouts, "Eddie, Eddie, quick! LookLookLook!", I look, and Mike gets completely unhinged because I'm too obvious.


I've published a lot of sketch reference (above) over the last two years. I love the way real people look, as opposed to fashion models.


I've also posted a lot about fine art. Here's (above) excerpts from one of my favorite posts, showing the contrast between Roman and Renaissance (spelled right?) sculpture. The Roman bust celebrates the practical man of action, the Renaissance one, by Donatello, celebrates the sensitive, thinking, man.


I frequently censor pictures that make me look fat or ugly (above).


I did a few posts on my film, "Tales of Worm Paranoia." I'll do some more when I find the drawings I saved.


Lots of Greek stuff (above) on the site. Greek philosophy is refreshingly manly, clear and practical.


I've done several posts on the subject of cartoon anatomy (above). Theory Corner Readers have a scientific bent and frequently catch me on factual errors.


Once I did a whole post (excerpt, above) on patterns of male back hair. You won't find that in Burne Hogarth!




Sometimes I publish drawings from the projects I work on, but not too often. Most employers don't let me draw in my own style.



I've done lots of doodles (above and below) for this blog.



Smoking: it's a dangerous, filthy habit, but the rituals are soooo interesting!




When I draw in my own style I never have trouble drawing women. Women are simply men with long hair and breasts.


I haven't drawn anything for the blog since before Christmas. That's because all my free time is taken up with the computer. I'm determined to get comfortable with this machine and learn a little Flash and Photoshop.





Well, that's it! I'll have to do another retrospective this time next year! Good grief, I hope I don't run out of things to say by then!