A Few Good Men

As always, please click the image to enlarge

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Here’s the first model sheets — yeah, I know these aren’t “traditional” model sheets. That must be a big shock, because I’ve always been soooo traditional. Yeah, right.

In studying model sheets over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that everybody has their own take on format. But calm down, I will make some more instructive model sheets in the near future. These are really to get across who the character is in lieu of putting together a “bible” for the project.

What I’m Listening To This Week

Boston Spaceships “Brown Submarine”

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Rob Pollard of Guided By Voices continues to put out more tunes than any other human. Pollard is always hit or miss, there’s some hits here.

The Dirtbombs “We Have You Surrounded”

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This came out earlier this year — nobody told me. If a garage band can evolve, then these guys are evolving. Some good rockin’.

Kaiser Chiefs “Off With Their Heads”

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“Never Miss A Beat” is the infectious single here.

New Characters

I don’t like to talk about things that aren’t done or finalized, but I also like to keep posting. By that I mean that I’ve been doing a lot of drawing, but the blog doesn’t reflect that all the time. I’ve been working on an animated sitcom based party on my days in New Brunswick, NJ.

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So here’s Ben, our hero, and Amy and Evie, the two abusive shop girls of the Liquor Palace.

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Ben’s girlfriend Liz is fed up with his behavior.

Batman and Wolverine at the Dive Bar

Okay — it’s done! While I was 99% finished several months ago, I had a problem with the multi-planing in the opening scene. It took me some time to ruminate over it, but the problem was the relationship between the windows on the black buildings and the tavern — an optical illusion made it look like the black buildings were sliding sideways –so, all better now. I also added the move-in on the bar, which allowed me to experiment with the glowing bar signs finished in After Effects. Music was created in Apple Soundtrack and everything was mixed in Audacity (although I’m moving to ProTools) and then everything assembled in Final Cut Pro.

The New Brunswick Of My Memories

The Internet conflicts with my memories, insofar as I’m now able to take a virtual walk through the city of New Brunswick, thanks to the innovative folks at Google. But the New Brunswick I left in September of 2000, is to some extent gone. Many of the stores, bars,eateries, buildings, people and culture have disappeared. Many parts of town are unrecognizable, due to expansion of the hospital and related medical facilities. At some point, the city seems cut in half, with nothing but bland, clean offices and parking decks, separating one neighborhood from another. One thing on the Google Street View that matches my memory is New Brunswick always seemed overcast.

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For me, in the 90’s, New Brunswick was the “funnest” place on Earth. It had great quirky record, comics and video shops, every possible kind of food, clubs, bars, and an amazingly talented and thriving underground music scene. Had New Brunswick been anywhere else in America other than 45 minutes west of NYC, it would’ve gotten as much attention as Seattle. I used to call New Brunswick “the town where the parents went away for the weekend and never came home.” We were free to do whatever we wanted, for as long as we could stand it. Continue reading “The New Brunswick Of My Memories”