Wall·E Revisited

Okay, so after seeing Wall·E again, I would like to take back everything negative I said previously (except for the real/CG humans thing). It was much more enjoyable for me the second time. Good job, Pixar!

Grandpa and Wall·E

I was asked to throw together a design for a t-shirt for our family reunion coming up... and I thought of all the cheesy (and poorly designed) reunion t-shirts I've seen in the past. Does anybody wear those in public after the reunion? I wanted to make something that would be a little goofy but still funny enough to wear in public. Mission accomplished? We'll see how the family reacts...

(That fine looking gentleman is my grandpa circa 1970. The quote is an old Coca-Cola slogan from the early 1900's.)

On a completely unrelated note, my wife and I saw Pixar's "Wall·E" yesterday (and are going again today). I went in with high hopes...and left kind of discouraged. Pixar did an absolutely masterful job with the main character--who knew that a robot could be so expressive? The visuals were amazing as well. I just have a few beefs:

1. I found myself getting extremely bored whenever Wall·E wasn't on screen-- I didn't think the other characters were quite as engaging.
2. The mixture of real humans with CG just didn't work for me. To me, the goal of film (and especially animation) is to transport the viewer from their theater seat into a totally different world. But the illusion of life just wasn't there -- the CG humans and the real humans didn't look like they belonged in the same world (I guess 700 years will not only lower your bone mass but also make you look more like a cartoon).
3. I read that the premise of the film wasn't too preachy, but I kinda thought otherwise...

Again, Pixar does absolutely incredible work (Ratatouille changed the direction of my life) and who am I to question them? This film is getting rave reviews, so what do I know? I think I just went in with too high hopes...I'm seeing the film again today, so maybe I'll have a totally different experience.

Sketchbook Sampling

Here are a few of my favorite selections from a recently completed sketchbook. The first is a caricature of one of my wife's teachers (done while I was visiting the class). The second was for a personal project of mine (that is still "in the oven" of my mind). The third was more of a random doodle that seemed to come out pretty well.



I've just begun my trek back into the world of art school, so all my insecurities are coming back to haunt me. My work needs more polishing, my figures need more volume, I need to improve on shading, and on and on... but I'll get better (the only way is up!).

#614: Salad-Fork Ron

This is my own rendition of one of e-Hobo.com's legends of the boxcars, Salad-Fork Ron.

Special thanks to Campbell's for lending some inspiration (and delicious tomato soup!).