Surviving the Holidays

So pretty soon here we'll be in Holiday season once more. I know nobody likes thinking about it - especially this early - but what happens when it's the middle of November and a big deadline is looming and you've been so distracted with planning planes tickets home for Thanksgiving that you forget that your book needs to be at the printers last week?

Ouch.

Well, the best way I know of avoiding this scenario is planning ahead and setting boundaries.

The biggest part of planning ahead for me is knowing that I will be less productive during this season. Colder winter weather always brings me down, so I anticipate a few more free hours than normal just keeping positive. I do this by hanging out with friends more, by allowing myself more time on tasks and by just having some ME Time.

I make it a point NOT to work on holidays, like any other job. This more or less solves my problems for the second point - setting boundaries. Since I avoid working on holidays this lets me hang out when others also have more time off. (Of course this is easier said than done sometimes)

That's all nice sounding, but what happens when you're already THERE? When it's already the 11th hour and stuff needs to start magically getting done??

This my friends, is when we prioritize and out source.

First apologize to everyone around you. Next, look at the things you need to do or have done first. Focus on one thing at a time to decrease the overwhelm. Shut off Facebook and Twitter. You don't need to be reminded about everyone else having a great time skiing when printers are waiting.
If it's something you don't need to do - consider asking for help. There is absolutely no shame in collaborating or admitting you are human. Be reasonable. If it's a MASSIVE thing, scale it back into something that is manageable. Quality over quantity is a real thing. I know I'd rather see one awesome thing than a wave of boring, badly constructed things.

Lastly, don't hurt yourself for "failing." Failure is a good thing - refer to my PD1 audition on Youtube - you learn a lot more from it than from what you do right. Ask questions and have an extra sugar cookie - because YOU are going to keep doing awesome things. :)

Wanderlust: Gathering Inspiration & Reference while Traveling

Sometimes a thorough house cleaning isn't enough to get those creative juices flowing. About every five years or so I get an itch - the travel bug!

2007: I head to Japan with my camera and a blank journal. Man, do I wish that I had taken more pictures. I do, however, bring home many brochures from the places I went.

2010: I venture to New Zealand again armed with camera, blank journal, and rolls of tape. You can never take enough pictures. And it also helped budgeting to save receipts along with train ticket stubs.

Moral of the Story: Always bring a camera and extra batteries/charger. Also recommended is a blank journal or a sketchbook to take notes, scribble, etc. If you like doing this digitally - remember your charger! You never know what will inspire or aid in your next project, so start building your visual library now!! 

Who else has felt the itch of the travel bug? How do you appease it? How do you plan for trips and how do you save those memories?

The Life of Cut Paper

In which I ponder = coherently or not = the connections and nuances of my favorite art forms:

When I think about stop motion animation as a type of performance art, I am of course going to starting drawing some interesting comparisons: Various forms of Japanese theater influenced OniSan, including the puppet-based Bunraku.

Bunraku dates back to the late 1600s - in Osaka - and is a combination of musicians, chanters and puppeteers. That's not too far off of how we consume stop motion today - with a soundtrack, voice actor narration and animators.

Of course we see everyone on stage during a Bunraku performance, but to varying degrees we ignore their presence. For the Boxtrolls end titles we get to see Travis Knight animating in lightening speed as the characters wax philosophical about the nature of freewill - the reverse of the original intent to keep the puppeteers hidden.

Bunraku puppets utilize three actors that must be in perfect coordination for the performance. Some stop motion puppets can be acted by several different animators - but they all have to work together to make that character believable as one person.

The puppets themselves in Bunraku can be very simple and very elaborate. Some of my favorites are those beautiful ladies that have face mechanisms which reveal them to be scary demons. A particularly interesting trick they use on many female heads is a pin on the corner of their mouth - so they can bite their sleeve.

Stop motion puppets are getting more and more advanced, with tricks like Neil's belly-mover in ParaNorman or the watch-like facial mechanics in Corpse Bride. I was very impressed with the glow of the Boxtrolls' eyes - when you snap the faceplate off it breaks the circuit and the eyes dim, but when you snap the faceplate back on the circuit completes and Ta Da! Glowing eyes!!

What other connections do you see? How do your favorite mediums compare or contrast? 

End of 2nd Quarter: Never Too Late To Start Something

My host father told me that it takes 9 repetitions of a new word for a child to understand it, while it takes 36 repetitions of the same word for an adult to comprehend. At least, I think that’s what he said. My Japanese wasn’t great at the time. But what I understood from this was that it is far easier to learn new things when you are young than when you are older.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn new things or that you shouldn’t try to learn new things when you’re older. It’s just more challenging. And I applaud those who take that challenge.

I’ve passed a quarter century now and there are times when I feel old. Just typing out quarter century makes me feel it. It’s easy to forget how young that really is when all around you your peers start settling down and having kids. Kids who are your little brother’s age and younger are getting hired in management above you and trying to explain to you how to use the new iPhone. There it is again, that feeling of being ancient. I wish that could mean I could apply to assisted living. I would love some assistance with my chores.

But that feeling doesn’t mean you’re behind, that you haven’t accomplished anything. Even if you only have one major breakthrough each year - that’s only what 25? Year one you learned to sit up. That’s big. Year two and you can talk. MASSIVE. Those years keep passing and seem shorter since 1 year out of 6 takes ages but 1 out of 12 flies, by 24 you start forgetting people’s birthdays and leaving your keys in the fridge, so finishing one painting comes just as monumental. Did this painting finally make sense of light and color for you? That’s like learning to talk. WAY TO GO!! Seriously. I am super proud of you! Didn’t reach a goal? Don’t give up, just gain some perspective and try again. Watch this video: http://vimeo.com/84022735 Now watch it again. You’re welcome.

So. Do you feel like you’re too old to start a new project? To pursue your dream? Just because the year’s half gone? Give yourself permission to change the thought from I can’t, maybe later to I CAN AND NOW!

What do you want to start? What do you want to learn?

OAnniversary: Moving Right Along

It was this month, two years ago now, that I reached a pretty serious low in terms of my creative life. I had been graduated from school for a year so of course the loans were in full force, transitioning from one job to another - neither within my field and no way into the field I wanted to be in, I didn’t have many friends and what friends I had I was struggling to keep, and my family was two states away - as much as I wanted to move home I couldn’t, mainly because my room was already taken. This put me into a compulsive loop. I could not get past the first 8 pages of anything before starting over. Again and again until I just didn’t care to do it anymore. I went to work, I came home and I went to bed. My brain just went numb.

It was this month, two years ago now, that I was introduced to Chris Oatley’s podcasts. I hadn’t really been into podcasts before then, and I suddenly found them essential to working efficiently during my day shifts. Suddenly I was inspired to think of my approach differently. Suddenly I found the passion to start pushing forward again. It was announced that a new course was opening, The Magic Box. It was crazy reasonable in terms of price, but I was still a bit hesitant. I had also heard about Painting Drama. Which should I start with?

I messaged Chris and asked him, doubting that I would hear back anytime soon. He was after all a very busy man. But the very next morning a message sat in my inbox - assuring me that there would be more Painting Drama offerings and recommending starting with Magic Box. So I was one of the first to sign up when it opened.

In the first month of lessons I learned more than 1 year of computer illustration classes at the college I attended. I went to Denver Comic Con and met Chris in person and I connected with other OA students in the area - even went on a field trip to the DAM. Two months later I was on a steep upwards climb, energized by the other passionate students around me, all over the world, encouraged by everyone. I got critique that I could actually use. It was like I sat up and turned on a lamp. A few months after that I auditioned for Painting Drama and leveled up my compositional skills. Almost two years later and I’ve exhibited at CTN, made huge progress on my passion project, and left the miserable gray cube for a position at Laika.

I know right?!? Sometimes I pinch myself because it feels so surreal.

I just want to thank my OA family for having my back, for taking me seriously, for lifting me up and keeping me amply supplied with crazy cute animal pictures. And thank you Chris for being an amazing mentor, teacher, and overall fantastic person. I am working on a MOVIE and I wouldn't be here without you guys!! 

Raul will be leaving Denver towards the end of this month to join me here in Portland. We are both very excited for this new chapter in our life - and to see what adventures await for us. :) 

Sketch Dump!

Time just keeps slipping away...so this calls for a sketch dump! These are some of the ideas and such that I've been playing around with for the beginning of this year:

Settling in fine to Oregon life. Working very hard at the new job, but trying to have some fun too. It's a world of unexpected craziness and bizarre inspiration that's for sure. Anxiously awaiting the rest of my furniture and supplies - which should be here towards the end of next month when the lease there ends...especially looking forward to the return of the bed. Missing friends and loved ones, but I should be seeing them before too long. :) 

End of 1st Quarter: Spring Cleaning

A Monday Sunbonnet Sue...Baking.

This March 14-15th please join Raul at the Fossils & Flight Founders Symposium presented by the Western Interior Paleontological Society. It will be at the Green Center at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden. There will be all kinds of displays and lectures about dinosaurs, etc. Raul will have a booth and even be selling some pretty awesome stuff!! I can't make it unfortunately - but Raul will pass on all the hugs. :)


Spring at this point is more of a state of mind than an actual season in Colorado. More accurately it’s known as “Mush” since it can’t decide if winter is over or if road construction can start yet. This “Mush”-y feeling certainly inspires me to clean things…

1. Whistle While You Work: I try to work as tidy as I can - which isn’t very tidy I suppose considering the materials I use - but after each project I’ll clear off my workspace, put reference books back on the shelf, sharpen pencils before placing them in their respective slots, clean off the whiteboard, re-pin the styrofoam, replace the paper on the top of my desk, quick inventories so I can refill depleted items, switch out wallpapers on my laptop and bravely seek out the dirty dishes on Raul’s desk. (I don’t clean his whole desk mind you; I just do search and rescue for glasses, plates and forks - might as well if I’m doing the same for my desk) This will prevent me from early procrastination on my next project, so I’m not pondering messes while trying to brainstorm ideas for characters or waiting around when I’ve run out of col-erase pencils. At least once a year I do this to the whole apartment - sometimes I find more art supplies hiding away that I forgot!

2. Meditative Approach: Sometimes projects are emotionally draining which can be good and bad. I need time between projects so I can “detox” from the last subject to engage the next one with the same enthusiasm. This can range from a few days of relaxing (Read sleeping) to a week of “do-anything-else-but” activities - like traveling to visit friends and family, hiking, trying a new restaurant, giving the chihuahua a bath, holiday traditions, etc. Too much time spent away makes me feel equally “Mush”-y, so balance is key.

What are some ways that you participate in the spring clean?