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Today I want to talk about setting goals and finishing your projects, both client work and personal projects.
Sometimes life gets in the way of our art and that’s just the way the charcoal crumbles kids.
The last couple of months have been really busy for me. I have tons of projects going all at the same time.
Professor Raul.
I recently started teaching 2 classes at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood. Their administration brought me in to help out the digital animation students by developing the history and principles of animation class as well as the timing for animation class. They want me to emphasize traditional animation techniques and relate them to the digital curriculum the students are taking.
A snapshot of me in my classroom.
The thing was, I had to write the syllabus from the ground up. So I spend a lot of time each week prepping materials and lectures for each class. But I think the effort is well worth it.
Mijos!
At the same time I’ve been brought on to produce the first act of an animated pilot based on the Mijos property by David Gonzalez. For those that don’t know the Mijos are the “little kid” version of the “Homies”. Remember them? The little bad ass Chicano figurines that were all the rage?! I’ve managed to storyboard the first act of the 22 minute script written by Victor Saga and based the art from David’s designs. Check out David’s press kit for the Mijos.
Mijos By David Gonzales
The Producer Father Masseo Gonzalez, is David’s brother. He’s been great throughout the whole process! A week ago I sent in my storyboard and the notes I got were very positive. A few adjustments here and there, which I am working on now. They want me to produce an Animatic for the first act with my boards and a temporary voice track which I recorded with some help from Jim Lujan.
Big whoop Raul. What have you done for me lately?
What did I do in the week between? Well I managed to finish my latest Citizen Sanchez short for the “We Don’t Need No Stinking Badges” independent animation show on Saturday January 22nd which went really really well! I actually emceed the show and had a good old time! Check out episode 19 of the Ghettomation podcast for the wrap up of the show!
Citizen Sanchez Cartoon “Por Flavor!”
photo courtesy of Jim Lujan
I used ToonBoom Studio to make this latest short and was very happy with the result. I’ve been trying to streamline my animation technique and really explore the possibilities of limited animation. I drew my characters on paper, scanned the inked drawings and colored them in Photoshop. I then created separate mouth shapes and eyes for blinks etc. and a few different hand positions. Then I cut up the characters at the joints and saved them as .png files with an alpha channel. This made the “white paper” disappear and I ended up with clear cells with only the character elements visible.
I managed to do it in two days! Barely finishing it in time for the show!
The Independent Animators of We Don’t Need No Stinking Badges!
Dominic Polcino, Raul Aguirre Jr.,Grasiela Rodriguez, Jim Lujan, Steven Sievers, Jose Cabrera, Ted Seko, and Ken Mora.
Sergio Aragones called....He wants his moustache back.
I introduce the nutty Steve Seivers!
The Lovely and Vivacious Hortencia always in full support of my events!
Raul Aguirre Sr.! That's right! My Dad was there and laughed his butt off at the cartoons!Check out the dude yawning in the background! LOL!
Here is a segment actorsreporter.com did on the show! Indy Animators up the waz!
click the pic for the video!
My Opening Speech for the Animation Show.
Video courtesy of Ken Mora.
Photo Courtesy of Dominic Polcino.
click the pic to see the vid!
Saturday morning and afternoon was spent preparing my DVD for the show and writing my opening speech for the show which I did dressed up as a mexican bandido!
By Sunday I was pooped, but spent the day preparing for my Monday class History and Principles of Animation. That evening I took the land vivacious Hortencia out to dinner to our favorite steakhouse and came home and watched Lotte Reineger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed, a feature length animated film made in 1926 that was all silhouette paper cut out animation! Phenomenally cool!
The Independent Animation Media Blitz Continues Unabated!
photo courtesy of Jim Lujan
On Wednesday I was asked by my friends Richard McManus and Ben McCain at Time Warner Cable to come into the studio to be interviewed for a special on the Southern California Indy Animation Scene. As we all know Animators are experts at making a scene! Get it?!
I asked if I could bring my colleagues Jim Lujan, Ken Mora, the Supa Pirate Booty Hunt guys Steve Seivers and Dahveed! Richard is the cameraman and producer and Ben is the host of SO cal’s best on channel 101 that spotlights rad stuff in so cal!
It was great! Turns out the studio is across the street from Gnomon school! Right there on Cahuenga Blvd just south of Santa Monica Blvd! Ben and Rich decided to shoot the interviews out on the streets of Hollywood and we had a blast! I’ll be posting the interview so keep an eye out!
Here is a behind the scenes look at our Time Warner Cable Interview courtesy of Ken Mora!
So today I finally got back to the Mijos project and made all the drawing corrections and scanned them in. I spent most of the day doing that and decided to leave editing the new artwork into the old board for tomorrow so that I could work on this episode of MVA tonight.
Somehow I still manage to hit my sketchbook every other day or so, keep up on the podcasts I listen to, juggle twitter and facebook, and spend time with my wife. As you can see my plate is full folks, but I wouldn’t be able to get half of the stuff I get done if I didn’t set goals and plan ahead. I try to be realistic and not kid myself about how long a task requires. Sure it’s easy to barricade yourself in your studio and go nuts, but in reality it’s impossible. I need to spend time with my wife, socialize with friends, network, make phone calls, email, answer texts, it goes on and on.
Here’s the trick. Every morning I set my goals for the day. This is what I want to accomplish by lunch…this is what needs to be done by the time Hortencia gets home. This is what I need to do before bed. Take it one task at a time minions and you won’t overwhelm yourself!
Ciao!
Raul
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:37 — 65.6MB) | Embed
Comics in his Blood!
Jav vs. Art
My guest on today’s show loves to draw and write! He is Javier Hernandez, a DIY cartoonist, painter, and entrepreneur. He is the creator of such comics as EL MUERTO, MAN-SWAMP and WEAPON TEX-MEX, which he publish
es under his own imprint, LOS COMEX.
Javier or Jav as his friends call him, served as the associate producer on the live action film adaption of El Muerto, He hosts the JAVILAND podcast, which features a rotating round table of cartoonists discussing issues relating to independent comics!
He is one of the founding members of the SGV Cartoonistas a loose collective of which I myself am also a part of, formed between friends to promote their arts and events in the San Gabriel Valley area of Southern California.
Check out some of Javier’s bold and expressive creations! Really fun and cool stuff!
Manga Muerto Page.
Weapon Tex Mex page
Man Swamp Page
El Grito
Demolition Dove
In this episode Javier and I talked about what else? Comics! Javier shares his thoughts on his technique and style, plus tells us about his major influences on his comic making!
Sergio Aragones’ and his new book
MAD’s Greatest Artists: Sergio Aragones: Five Decades of His Finest Works
The book The Art of Osamu Tezuka
The Book Origins of Marvel Comics Stan Lee
The Book Robert Rodriguez Rebel Without Crew
Javier and I are suckers for Peter Sellers. Especially as Clouseau!
I mean look at him in this clip! Sellers, an Englishman, portrays a silly French Detective disguised as a German Dentist trying to infiltrate the lair of his Ex-Police Commissioner boss Dreyfuss who has gone mad and become a Super Villain! LMAO!
For more of the talented Javier Hernandez go to his website,
Javier on Twitter
http://twitter.com/#!/javierhernandez
Javier Hernandez nominates Steve Ditko to the Man vs. Art Pantheon Of Awesomeness!
Steve Ditko by Javier Hernandez
Steve Ditko. The Man the Myth!
by Javier Hernandez.
“If the criteria for inclusion into the MAN VS ART PANTHEON OF AWESOMENESS includes being a “lone wolf, maverick,underdog, & rogue”, then the person I have to submit is Steve Ditko. Cartoonist, writer, publisher. Co-creator, along with writer Stan Lee, of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. Creator of his independently owned characters such as Mr. A, The Mocker, The Baffler, Miss Eerie and many more.
At the height of his career-defining run on THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, Ditko quit, issue #38 being his last. To this day, the reasons remain tangled in controversy, depending on who you talk to. He moves to DC, creating The Creeper and Hawk & Dove. At Charlton, he creates The Question. As the decades progressed, Ditko has primarily been interested in creating his own stories, with his own characters. Even while returning various times to work for Marvel and DC, he was never interested in going back to his old characters. He never drew another Spider-Man comic since he stopped in 1966. Not even when he could have most likely made a small fortune during the years of the Sam Raimi blockbuster movies series. Ditko does what Dikto wants to do. Creating new ideas, moving forward, has been a core Ditko mantra.
His strict personal code of ethics, influenced largely by Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, has turned off many fans and professionals, particularly as that viewpoint has often been the thrust of his comics. But he follows his solid path, and doesn’t ask people for handouts, sympathy or favors. For the last 20 years or so, he’s been self-publishing his work in collaboration with Robin Snyder. Even today, at age 83, he’s putting out about 4 new comics a year. 130 pages of new comics!
As an artist, a self-published comics creator, I can’t think of stronger, more honest, creative inspiration than Steve Ditko.”
Thanks for stopping by!
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