Inspiration

The idea for this post came about with gathering all my stuff of my computer at the games company. I was having to make sure my work was accessable for everyone else once I'd finished and so, after dumping all of that onto the server, I also dumped a bunch of stuff I'd collected as reference whilst there, for those who it might be useful. A friend of mine who'd started there a few weeks beforehand, was having a look through it and commented on the diversity that was there.

So, this is by no means my be-all-and-end-all list of influences, just some stuff that I'd compiled in the time I was employed there, or brought in from what I had at home and thought relevant. I'm certainly not one who has a list of certain artists that are their inspiration that they can run off by rote.

Most of these are somewhat animation relevant, and that's generally how I've come across them. There are certainly varying styles, but all of their work is solid and well-structured and has a certain "Appeal". I like lots of things, and for varieties of reasons, but it is generally the presence of these solid drawing skills and draftmanship that I look for and am attracted to.

Here's at least some of the list...

Shiyoon Kim

Claire Wendling
Walt Kelly
Frank Frazetta

Michel Gagne
Gil Elvgren
Jamie Hewlett
Regis Loisel
Adam Koford

Arthur de Pins
Chris Battle
Chris Sanders
Dean Yeagle
Shane Glines

Ooh, the Pin-up Girlies show up a bit there don't they?

There are also many animation artists whose particular style of drawing which is evident in their rough drawings that I admire, but I'll save that for another day...

Desperate Husband

Talk about a gift horse...
I kinda raced through this one a bit too quickly in hindsight, not that I think it matters much.

Forgot my Son

Back into the caricatures...
As distinct an actor as this guy is he was quite hard to do.

Pathetic really...

I know, I know. I start a new job and forget everything.
Well, I'm back into 2D animation and loving it. Currently working on designs for a new TV series and then into storyboards. I'm having lots of fun drawing corrigated iron, tin sheds, blue singlets and blundstones. Generally trying to draw somewhat like Ken Maynard.
This isn't exactly what I'm drawing but will give you a general idea of the look. Maybe as we get into it more I'll post up some work.

I also don't have a scanner currently hooked up to my computer at work yet, and haven't had time at home to scan anything. Excuses, excuses.

As for the forgotten week and the caricature answers...

Sexy was Jessica Biel

Player was Ronn Moss

and Different Sexy was Eva Mendes

Different Sexy

Not a personal favourite of mine, but apparently she rates up there on "the List"

Player

Sometimes they're just too easy...
And here I s'pose lies the constant battle. Those "strong" features are great to grab onto and exaggerate, but those people with subtle features are quite difficult to find the "hook" that sells them.
My Wife will surely get a kick out of this one.

Sexy

Damn, pretty girls are tough.
I think I'm pretty close with this one tho'.

Best Dressed

I'm wondering a bit where I'm going with these sometimes. Some I think work as caricatures, others seem to be bordering on portrait. There's the challenge I suppose, not all the pickings are necessarily so easy. There was a couple of abandoned attempts last week, but the ones that made it were-
Special Agent... was Kyle MacLachlan
and Toy Soldier was Sean Astin

Here's hoping this week starts of well, moderately happy with the result, I've tried to get the warp back on.

At last, some more game stuff

Here we go, for those who've been hanging out for some more game concept art. It's funny looking back at some of it now, as I've also been at work in preparation of my departure; it's had quite an evolution, these top two drawings show that it deviated down the combat path for quite a length of time considering it was supposed to be a platformer.
This character was modified from how he currently looks in the game.

This character was cut.
This was me having a bit of fun with a "medic" character. Some alien cheesecake. Alien plant.

Boxworld paintover.

Cinderella Bow

Here's another scene from "Cinderella 3". This one's from near the end of the film where Cinderella thanks the fairy godmother. The dress as it appears here was later altered before being cleaned up because as it was put so aptly by our character lead "No woman working on this team would be caught dead wearing a dress like this". It was awful, even though the full extent cannot be seen here. There were bows and sashes galore along the bottom edge of it, that caused a number of us to start lampooning her dresses in the film.

Toy Soldier

Forgive my slackness with posting this week, I've been trying to tie up loose ends here at work. I'll post some of that stuff soon too.
The last couple of days, I rather struggled with the caricatures. Sometimes they really click and other days you wonder whether you should just give up. I think some people are just easier to find a "hook" with.
This one's a second attempt and still probably in the "safe" zone.

Special Agent...

Sorry for the delay, resigned from my position at the Games company on Friday and consequently set the cat amongst the pigeons so to speak. I have a bit of prep work to do before I leave next friday and move onto a fun 2D animation project and get back into the olde comfort zone.

Answers from last week- 

"I used seven helicopters" was Michael Bay and here's the Commonwealth Bank ad

Cool was John Travolta

"If William Shatner can, I can too" was Jeff Daniels

Dance Man was Gregory Hines

and "Life is supposed to get Tough" was Frasier himself, Kelsey Grammer

Here's one who must be one of David Lynch's favourite actors...

"Life is supposed to get Tough"

Dance Man

"If William Shatner can, I can too"

I had a few options for a title for this one, but decided to go for something a little obscure; the title is an ironic song of his about celebrities turned singers.

Cool

This one started off a bit tougher than I thought.

A bit o' Animation

I've just finished doing a bit of freelance animation on a short film (in addition to my daytime job at the games company), and aside from being "cranky Daddy" who's always got "work to do" and in dire need of sleep, it's been a funny sensation sitting back at the old animation desk after an 18 month absence.

It was kinda like stepping into an old pair of shoes; turning the disc, flipping the pages, all at my old Disney animation desk. Ahh sentimentality, or have I just gone potty. I don't know, there's just something magic in bringing drawings to life. I can't talk too much about the film, NDA stopping me there, but once it's all cleared and released I'll put some worthy stuff up. I was taking over from someone else who had pulled out of the project with the final couple of acts to go; the film itself is not my cup of tea, but I figured it was a chance to get acquainted with some of the players in the local scene, and also the local funding bodies and also to get back into some hand drawn animation.

Soooooo, rather than just waffle on, I thought it might be time to revisit some of the old Disney Stuff. This one is from "Cinderella 3" the last production at Disney Australia, and it's of Prudence who is the head housekeeper of the palace. We'd done a bit of character study acting workshop prior to starting animation and I really got into this character. Unfortunately the scenes of her were slated for a little later in the pipeline and as it turned out, it was right around the time I went on leave for my wedding and honeymoon so I missed getting them all to myself. I got my hands on this one though and had lots of fun. Several people said later that my showreel need only consist of this scene and about two or three others. Her dialogue is "I can assure you that there has never ever been a single, solitary..." and someone off screen screams "Mouse!". This scene marked the start of the unravelling of her composure. It was also one of those scenes where the rough pass looked almost identical to the finished product.

This scene ended up being flipped later, there was some uncertainty "regarding crossing the line".

Click on the showreel link on the right hand side to see it as part of my showreel, although it is slightly trimmed there.
But here's a step-through of the keys and ruffs.

"I used seven helicopters"

Okay, last weeks answers are-
Scruffy was Ashton Kutcher
Eddie Murphy's discovery was Chris Rock
Iconic Teenager was James Dean
and No longer in the Pitts was Jennifer Aniston

This guy below is probably not so recognizable, he's more famous for being behind the camera, but he appears in a rather kooky ad at the moment for the Commonwealth Bank, which should give away his identity to all the aussies.

No longer in the Pitts

This one started off as a bit of a challenge, I think I did alright in the end.

Iconic Teenager

Eddie Murphy's discovery

This guy was initially a little harder than I thought, despite being quite happy with the end result.

Scruffy

Sorry for the delay, been really busy.
Alright, last weeks answers- Nathan Lane, Clark Gable, Laura Linney, Christopher Guest( as Nigel Tufnel), and Zsa Zsa Gabor
Here's the next one, and I've got some catching up to do.

"Dahhlings"

Too easy...

"But this one goes up to Eleven!"

Two in a day!
I couldn't resist doing this one. Technically, not of the actor, but one of his characters.
I'm forever reminded of an old childhood friend when I see this guy, he too modeled himself after an amalgamation of rock stars.

Mrs Truman

They have been getting a bit tame these caricatures haven't they?
Time to start pushing things a bit me thinks, altho' I've never claimed to be Sebastian Kruger.
I thought this one would be a little harder than what she was, but here goes...

Who gives a damn?

Alright, the links are all in, in the previous posts.
I'm going to start doing the links and answers on a weekly basis, so I can hopefully see some more guesses in the comments boxes.
I'm also beginning to wonder what I got myself into with this 'caricature-a-day' assignment I set myself. The selection process is mostly out of my hands, although I am given some range to choose from, but it's all Movie Stars. It's certainly giving me a challenge, taking me outside my comfort zone. I'm having to pay careful attention to those little nuances of expression. These are all taking about half an hour, I'm doing them in my lunch break at work.
We've got an old classic today...

"You have to be loud...it's the theatre"

Alright, Yes Amy Gene Hackman, and then Minnie Driver.
This guy was my favourite Disney character to animate.

"Strangling the Cat"

James Bond uttered this great line about her character's singing ability in a "Bond" film

Tough Guy

Oh c'mon, Tom Selleck for the last one. Maybe a Detroit Tigers cap would've helped.
I'll start putting the photo links for them in soon.
This guy was tough tho', both in the characters he's play, but also to draw. I was wondering what I'd gotten myself into going and wouldn't have thought he'd be that hard to do. This is my second attempt at him. A bit closer to the mark, me thinks.

Mo'

Oops, there was a bit of a typo in that last title, all fixed now.
James Cromwell and Elijah Wood for the last two.
This one should be dead easy, mo's are almost as good as glasses in caricatures.

Forever Startled

Tuesday's caricature post here.
Looking at the finished pic here it could almost be another actor other than who it's meant to be, but no and I avoided adding the pointy ears.

Here pig, pig

Been very busy, sorry for the delay, will try and catch up.
That last one was meant to be Mischa Barton, anyone?
This one is for Monday, hopefully he's a bit more recognizable. I actually thought he was English, but no he's a native Californian.

OC

Yep, the last one was Mariska Hargitay.
I'm not that wrapped with this one, she was quite a bit harder to do, but we'll see who gets it. It's all part of the challenge of doing caricatures- most times you hit the mark, but sometimes you stray a little. The title should give a nudge in the right direction.

Jayne Mansfield's Daughter

I'm going to start trying to knock out some caricatures of "famous people", people we all should be able to recognize, not just my family, friends and work colleagues.
So, starting with an actor theme, I won't name them but allude to who they are, to see if I'm hitting the mark with likeness.
Here's the first one...

More Train People

Train people

Here's some sketches from the train trip home yesterday evening of unsuspecting passengers done with a fineliner pen. It was a bit of fun trying to pick interesting people to draw, the carriage wasn't overly full, so all people were seated, and I'd been hoping to draw someone standing in one of those various train-ride standing poses where they're trying to maintain their balance and either read or pass the boredom of the trip.

The funny thing about doing these sketches on this ride was that the fat guy I drew first in the top pic was deserted by his traveling companion halfway through the trip, and as he wasn't sitting far in front of me, must've figured out what I was doing and started watching me scope out the passengers and draw them. He kept trying to make eye contact with me, perhaps to get some sign of acknowledgement.

Hamish

Here's the hall monitor, ahh supervisor on the project I'm working on.
There's some good heads to caricature in this office.

Tool

There's been this 16 year old larrikin in the news a lot last week, who threw an open house party while his parents were away and attracted 500 "guests". As well as all the brouhaha about the police being called out and possible fines and his lack of remorse; his fashion sense has garnered a bit of attention.
Here's my sketch from on the train home one night with a bit of photoshop embellishment.