More Ducks. Further Tales!!

Did I hear somebody say MORE DUCKTALES??? No? Well this is awkward. Cause I kiiinda already went and made more fanart and whoops!

Now it's on the internet. No undoing it now.

Yes, I've still been watching Ducktales, though less recklessly now. Maybe I'll slow down a bit and try to savor the last few episodes before I launch myself back out into the Show Void (or just rewatch more Ducktales).

I've just come out of a kinda weird week - I had the chance to spend each morning watching my brother and his classmates deliver their senior thesis speeches (online, of course) which was good change of pace but a killer for my productivity. I felt like I was mastering quarantine two weeks ago - making a piece for the Character Design Challenge, exercising, and even taking an online class on perspective drawing (my old enemy). But last week (although I did complete all my major goals, barely) I still felt a little off each day, maybe due to starting work around 2 PM or maybe even burnout from the week before. And it didn't help that my final assignment for the perspective class came up pitifully short of my expectations, despite all the cubes and planes I had been drawing the week before. Comparing these weeks (in addition to watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off) has led me to consider what really is the best way to use all this quarantine time. On one hand, this is an incredibly rare time in American history where productivity isn't a priority. We're encouraged to stay home, dabble in new hobbies, and watch brothers give amazing speeches on astounding topics. What a gift! But the competitive side of me considers how much more I could get ahead if I use this time to better myself and my craft. Get off Twitter, read quality literature. Stay inside, and take online classes. Maybe I can use this time to set myself up better for a career. Maybe I can exit this summer/covid break with a defined and impressive resume of achievements and learning. Surely that's what the people I'll be competing with for jobs are doing? If I don't will I fall behind? Even when life gets put on hold, the worries of someone aiming for an artistic career keep on going :P

And as I wrote a few weeks ago in this post, there are better and worse ways to spend leisure time, but can you leisure so hard that it becomes work? Whether in times of quarantine or no, I strive to use each day wisely. And as in most things, the wise way is probably the intermediate between slothfulness and busy-ness. I've noticed the days are passing by almost as quickly as they do in college (which is a super busy time for me). So maybe it's time to find ways to appreciate the moment. But I also do earnestly think that this is a great time to create, and learn, and (just possibly) draw in accurate perspective. That last one may not happen, but I have HIGH, 3 POINT HOPES. And so I'll keep doing those things too. I've been trying to read good books and watch good movies (which at this point means Return of the King and Kung Fu Panda 2) which feels like a good mix of leisure and learning - filling the mind with good things and experiences that I can draw on once this whole thing comes to a much anticipated end.

Speaking of that glorious moment, I cannot WAIT to go to a zoo. Is this just me? Cause I really miss it. Drawing animals, the earthy and somewhat bad smell, the themed areas and architecture - I am so ready to get back into it all. Who knows when that will happen...

But until then, and hopefully after, I will be here, rambling about things and hoping they're at least somewhat helpful to you :) Oh and before I go here's that Character Design Challenge piece I was talking about earlier:

a big thanks to nurses, past and present!

May you continue to weather these times with grace, courage, and creativity!
-dh

DUCKTALES!! (Woo-oo)

BLATHERING BLATHERSKITE!

Sooo.... I've been watching a LOT of Ducktales (2017) recently. Like a whole lot. For the first part of quarantine I was in a show-less void but after watching clips of Ducktales' recent spy and Daisy episodes I figured it was time to jump back in. Seems to be a common theme of this quarantine for me - catching up on good shows that for some reason I stopped watching. But now, I am back. Everything is ducks. Life IS like a hurricane, as the theme song had tried (in vain) to warn me. I'm now in the late second season (and part of the third, I've been hopping around :P) and man it just keeps getting so good! Perhaps it's just because the show provides a timely escape to a world where you have ample funding for globe-trotting adventures, or a world where one can go globe-trotting at all (and in close proximity to friends, no less!) Or from a more intellectual standpoint, I think the show and its creators have really figured out who the characters are and can now just have fun with more nuanced storylines. I dunno, this is just all one duck's man's opinion. But the most recent episode did have both emotional storytelling and incredible aerial robot battles and any show that can do both is worth my Disney+ subscription!

All this Ducktales and derring-do has had the effect of strengthening even more my desire to really get out there and get a job in animation. Not that that hasn't been one of my goals for a while now, but watching good shows always gets me more excited about someday working on good shows - maybe contributing a prop design or two, or pitching some boards... And although Ducktales will likely be finished with production by the time I'm in "the industry" there's got to be similar stories just waiting to get made! And I want to be there makin' them. Ducktales' focus on adventure has also gotten me thinking about the next big upcoming adventure in my life which is the question of what's gonna happen after college. Not that I haven't been thinking about that for a while now, but now that I'm kinda a senior (I refuse to admit it until I actually step back on campus) the question grows ever more pressing in my mind. Of course, the answer will likely be something I did not plan and hardly could have expected - that's often how God works.

Such is the life of an adventurer ;)
-dh

Little Mandalorian GIF - and Molly!

Hi all - 
This post is preeeetty much just an excuse to post this gif full size since Instagram is not quite ready to handle my somewhat wide cinematic stylings at this current moment. So without further ado-

BAM. The Mandalorian. I've been watching the show off and on throughout the past few months and just finished it last night. Despite the baby yoda flood it induced I really like it (and therefore find it strange that I was able to wait so long between watching episodes... hmmmm...) It honestly feels like the most Star Wars-y Star Wars that's come out since Disney bought the franchise. Proof that you don't need 100,000 star destroyers that are also death stars to have compelling stakes and powerful heroes. I honestly really liked the relatively small scale of the project - the show kinda stuck to it's own corner and then made that corner super fun. And I really respect that. And the Mandalorian himself was so well handled - you could tell what he was feeling even though the helmet stayed on. (Ever notice how in Marvel movies they always have to take the helmets off? IN FIGHTS???) I was so afraid that the were gonna take Mando's off too early - glad they saved that reveal until the right moment. And with Taika Waititi working his signature charm on the final episodes it just really made me want to draw something. Which is always a little dangerous since that kind of inspiration typically fades when I actually have to draw the armor and perspective and character and what have you. So I took a page out of GGDG's work and just tried to simplify everything as much as possible like she does in this Samus/Metroid comic. I always feel a little bit more unsure when I do this - since there's less paint on the page it's harder to judge if it's actually good or not. But after some eye-blasting pinks that definitely weren't in the actual show I think I made something that channeled that inspiration without getting discouraged. So yeah! 

I also made this art of Molly from Animal Crossing recently - she moved into my village a few days ago and is Just the Cutest Little Duck Ever Wow.

I've been in a big simple+cute kick cause I really don't want to draw details right now :P And I've also been digesting 100% cute due to the amount of Animal Crossing I've been playing. (I'm building a little North Carolina barrier island town - come visit!) And while we're talking cute art here's a caricature of Sam Abner I did for our department's annual show (now online due to covid)

I didn't have a whole lot of time for caricatures this year since I was busy drawing caricatures for the Good Boy Richard credits (ironic) but I wanted to make sure I got one in for Sam since he's been a big part of my college experience and is also GRADUATING (wow). This year's senior class includes many of my closest friends at Lipscomb and I wish I could draw them all. But the truth is I did Sam's on the day of the show which was ALSO Good Boy Richard's premiere and I didn't have much time for anybody else. :( Both Sam and Molly were styled after ieafy's work - I love how slick and unapologetically digital her pieces are and it's a fun style to cycle back to now and again. 

Now with summer so close on the horizon I'm excitedly looking forward to the potential it holds - most of my internship offers have been getting cancelled, but hey a blank canvas technically has the most potential (and also a paralyzing multitude of options but we'll ignore that part). I'm planning on doing some more personal work and taking some online art classes. Hopefully I'll follow through and actually do those - the doing is the hard part :P Maybe I'll even open up commissions! I've never officially opened for that kind of thing cause no one's asked and I've always had a general "contact+pay me and I'll draw for you" policy going so I never thought it was necessary. 

I'm also excited to go to the movies - the experience of actually going to a theater with lots of strangers just feels so foreign right now and almost mystical. I am ready. And waiting. Hopefully not for too long, but who knows at this point. In the meantime I've also been wanting to make a bit more video content while my Adobe Subscription (Quarantine Edition) is still active. Maybe a process video of a past piece with commentary? What say you, bloggerfolk? Just let me know --

May you continue to weather these times with grace, courage, and creativity.

It is the way.

-dh

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

WE DID IT! Good Boy Richard just took home the prize for Animated Audience Choice, Best Poster, and Best Animated Film at the Five Minute Fest!!! I'm so blown away - and was totally frazzled for all of the patched-together-zoom-call acceptance speeches. And we're going to the Nashville Film Festival next!! (Lord willing, and it's not shut down.) I did not expect any of this - my fellow animation majors have made such strong films and it really was a close competition. And a huge thanks to the GBR crew! To quote Rebecca Sugar, "The crew makes the show! THE CREW MAKES THE SHOW!" So proud of what we were able to make this semester and I'm glad it's out there in the world for people to see. And ERIC STARS - man what a dude. He really kept this film on track and was the one putting in the late nights at the end. 

Sorry I'm just using this post as another mini acceptance speech but doing one on Zoom was HARD and I was just so happy in those moments and I'm not sure if I really got the chance to say things as I should. Also you should check out the crew's work - it's in the video description. They do good work. 

 

Although I miss being with the crew and the celebrations we would have been having tonight, it was special to get to experience this moment with my family at home. They did a lot to make me feel celebrated and the night memorable. 

hot DOGS

Hope you enjoyed the film and the festival and aren't tired of me talking about Richard yet. ;)

-dh

Good Boy Richard

At last year's Five Minute Film Festival I made a public promise that I would return with something, big or small, to show next year. I had no idea what that would be, and despite my grandiose plans for a junior year film (currently not a thing at Lipscomb) I expected to turn in some ramshackle joke of a film animated over a couple weekends. I could not have guessed that it would be my Storyboarding 2 final, brought to life by a team of close friends, with full background art and some of the best animation in the program so far. And I also couldn't have expected that the same festival, with the reserved tables (coveted) and awards speeches (joyous), would be transformed by a global pandemic.

Richard's production cycle has been full of highs and lows, and challenges from an artistic and organizational standpoint. I'm thankful we had so much time to work together in person, yet we did finish this film remotely, from several different states! And now it's out there in the world, on Youtube and Vimeo! I hope it brings you a laugh and smile. And it's an honor to be nominated alongside Sam Abner and Joel Guthrie, two of my biggest friend/mentors and actual geniuses. Whoever wins tonight, it's gonna be a great show.

I'll probably be posting some behind the scenes stuff over the next few weeks but as for now, here's the film! Hope you enjoy it, and please share it if you do! I'm praying that this film will be seen by the right people, and you and your friends may be just that!

Stay safe, and watch out for dogs with knives.

-dh

A Little Win :)

Hey! What's that? That piece next to the bear butt? 

IT'S MY ART. 

I'm featured on THE Character Design Challenge Tumblr!!!!! I'm just so blown away right now. It's just crazy to see something of mine up there in between so many heavy hitters! The little capybara that could. I'm so proud of her :)

I feel like I'm frequently seeking validation of my art skills. And even though I try to toughen my skin, every internship rejection and Character Design Challenge loss (that Fenrir piece lost btw) still hurts and reminds me of how far I have to go in my art journey. That I'm just not good enough yet. That I'm not to the point where I can consistently make professional or remarkable work. But then something like this happens! And I'm not saying that this little win proves that I'm some great artist or am industry level yet, but it is a little win! And I'll take that little win! And share it here on the Roost, as is the custom :)

Hope you're finding those little wins amidst this time of quarantine. 
-dh

The Binding of Fenrir

Hello again! I'm back, and much sooner than you expected, no?

The past few posts here on the Roost have been very much life-updatey, which is totally fine. There is a lot of life stuff going on right now that I feel a great need to set down on digital paper. But I claim to be the proprietor of an art blog, so I think it's time to talk about some art as well! To be honest, talking about the art/philosophy side of things scares me a little bit more, cause it takes more thought and preparation to write, and sometimes I just don't want to put in that kind of effort :P

But today is different. Cause today I have something to show! So let me give you the pitch and origin story for this piece I'm calling The Binding of Fenrir -

It's a little bit more grim than your average Daniel Haycox piece, and perhaps not as grim as it should be (I'm aware of my limitations, somewhat) but I'm pleased to present it to you and to have made a substantial piece of personal work despite being home with the ever-present temptation of the Nintendo Switch. For those wondering, it took about four days of sporadic work.

This piece is my entry in March's Character Design Challenge. For those unfamiliar, the Challenge is an international contest/facebook group where everyone can contribute one design a month based on a particular theme. Although I don't anticipate becoming a character designer someday (many others are much more gifted for that task) the Challenge provides some helpful structure to my personal work and a reason to create other than "just making something cool." Which, ironically, was essentially my motivation for making this piece. I've given up the idea of winning the challenge - I have no idea how they judge this thing, winners are sometimes far better and other times about as good as what I can produce (I'm aware of my limitations, somewhat). But the Challenge nevertheless provides an arena where I can display work in a community, and that is still worthwhile in my book :)

The Challenge theme for this month was Norse Gods - which I was excited to try. Despite my familiarity with the myths, I don't think I've ever actually drawn one. Due to my recent study of Anna Scott's work and canines (seriously, I'm working on an uncommon amount of dog projects right now) you probably could have guessed that I wanted to do a take on Fenrir, the monstrous wolf doomed to gobble up Odin and be A Pretty Big Deal In General during Ragnarok. But I wanted to depict him at his lowest moment, when he's finally bound by the gods using the magic ribbon Gleipnir. It's this really cool contrast between a delicate, unassuming ribbon that's holding back the strongest, baddest monster. And although that's where I began, the emotional element of the piece started to become about betrayal. Even though Fenrir probably would have eaten Odin anyways (that's the problem with prophecies) I imagine that the gods' betrayal and treachery is actually what cemented the badness in Fenrir's heart. This idea runs through Neil Gaiman's telling of the myth, which I referenced a lot while making this piece. Although the story should be a moment of triumph over a monster, Gaiman's telling is pervaded by sadness, especially because he builds up a friendship between the god Tyr and Fenrir. (That's Tyr's hand in Fenrir's mouth btw. Hard to recover from something like that.)

There were several things about Gaiman's telling that I could not use, and I took significant artistic license in general when concepting the piece. For one, Gaiman describes the ribbon as nearly invisible, which would obviously not be a great pick for a visual representation. I chose a light pink ribbon instead because it more directly communicated the delicate idea I was going for. Also, Fenrir should have been bound into the ground, not hung, but I felt like the hanging symbolized Fenrir's helplessness in this moment a bit better.

And from there I was off to the races! And by that I mean the incredibly daunting task that is Making the Thing. I tried to find some sad music to listen to while I drew, but my music taste is so incredibly upbeat that the closest thing I could find in any of my playlists was Jess Ray's "Humble Heart." So I listened to that a couple times and then just tried to make do with other stuff.

I've been in an interesting place with regards to style recently, and I wanted this piece to be a real step forward into something new. I've been most influenced by Saira Vargas recently which has been a huge help to my art, but also leaves me feeling like I ought to branch out and do more detailed, rendered work. So I've been studying Anna Scott, who has such a natural sense of detail and texture without losing simplicity. In particular she has these glorious wolf characters with such rich and subtle hair textures - which you may very likely see some callbacks to in this piece.

The problem is that rendering terrifies me. I don't really know how to do it, and I'm worried about over-doing it. I also like knowing if the piece is going to work pretty early into the process, which is actually doable when working very simply. But rendering pushes that "yes, we're not gonna die" moment later into the process which is very uncomfy. But I can't stay in the boiled down, simplified zone forever. Time to move. So this piece ended up becoming a fusion of Kole, Vargas, and Scott influences, which hopefully produced something very Haycox by the end - but you'll be the best judge of that. I've prepared a couple graphs to show what I mean:

It also does this:

Which maaay prove a problem as I try to enter the industry. I just love the simplicity of TV and the richness of feature design! And perhaps in personal work like this I don't need to try to fit myself into one of the two hirable boxes, but just explore a little and figure out what the Haycox style should look like. And draw some wolves with dude's hands in their mouths. Cause I guess that's what I do now. That's my brand. 

Just kidding. Style's a weird thing, and the best metaphor I've found for it comes from a Nicholas Kole interview in Character Design Quarterly:

"I like to think of artistic style in the same way as dress-sense: with clothes, you give yourself permission to go through phases. You might try new looks as your tastes change, and shed old age-inappropriate items as you grow. All the while there will be colors, cuts, and looks that you continually gravitate towards even as things change, things you just know feel 'like you.'"

I think about this a lot when it comes to discussions of my style or others', and hopefully it's a helpful metaphor for you too! A lot of people stress about style but if you see it as something natural and already a part of you, then you can focus more on nurturing and growing it without a big sense of urgency. Also, Nicholas, if you read this blog, let me know and I'll try to avoid so many fanboy moments in the future :P That's one of the problems with writing for the internet... you just have no idea where this stuff lands! 

Hope this post finds you well, weathering these times with grace, courage, and creativity.

-dh

P.S. Comments should be working now on this blog, let me know if y'all run into more issues. 

Experimenting with Leisure

Hello from NC! How's quarantine treating you, bloggerfolk? 

As for me, I have not left the house for over a week now (not counting walks/runs). A fact that I only realized today. After 9 days. And while I'm still sorting through what this means about my general lifestyle, I figured now was as good a time as any to describe and vivid and thrilling detail everything I've been doing while I've been sitting on my butt at home. 

Before I had given my days entirely over to Instagram and Animal Crossing (more on that later) I was fortunate to come across Joshua Gibbs' series of coronavirus writings which have proved a helpful guide to figure out what to do with all this time. As an enthusiastic planner as well as a social media glutton, I tend to alternate between two lifestyles while on break - full busy-ness or total slothfulness. Gibbs suggests something different for these differing times: "to experiment with leisure." By this he refers to leisure in the classical sense, i.e. anything that doesn't directly relate to our human survival. It's a wide category, including some things we may think of as work: challenging reading, making pastries, understanding classical music. Not all leisure activities are created equal - it's easy to see how some activities waste time while others are genuinely profitable without actually being "work." Usually I (and I would assume many others) are too tired from long workdays to care about the profitability of leisure time. But now with such an excess, we have space to experiment, and to find some sort of sound investment while we're banned from monetary work. 

I for sure haven't been doing this perfectly - I've spent more time more time on Twitter than I care to relate (mostly due to Animal Crossing, more on that later). But I have been making good headway into The Two Towers and even dabbling in a bit of coding in addition to personal art pieces. Being house-bound makes me even more excited to go walk or run, or sit in the sunny front lawn. And unlike times of pure business or abject slothfulness, the days pass by slowly. I think this has been the longest week I have experienced in a long while, and I mean that in a good way. 

And then there's been Animal Crossing. After seeing what a phenomena it's become amongst nearly all my friendgroups, circles, and the nerd/animation world in general, I had to join in. A perceptive Twitter user has pointed out that it's basically the reverse of the Pokemon Go trend from a few years ago: instead of everyone going out to play together, now everyone's staying in to play "together." I've never played an Animal Crossing game before, but I feel like New Horizons has been a great place to start. And the game could not have come out at a better time. The game has a huge multiplayer element and visiting friends is easy and well integrated into the game. Meanwhile, visiting friends in real life is practically illegal. Even though going to visit a friend's AC island pales in comparison to the experience of visiting a friend's physical house, it feels somehow similar. There's even an element of hospitality, at least to me. I'm excited to prepare my island to be a fun and welcoming space for visitors, and even fell a bit embarrassed when visitors come before I've tidied up.

blathers, the adorable, yet bug despising animal crossing villager

It's been a nice opportunity to practice hospitality in a time when I don't own a house (not to mention the state of the world). I also love how the game is like a tiny little garden that I can tend and grow, all in its own little space. My main hesitancy with giving this game too much praise is that it is not nearly as worthwhile, or difficult, as real gardening or hospitality, but I do enjoy being able to do both in a low-cost and simplified setting. So could it be a way to be faithful in little, faithful in much? Or did I just take that scripture way out of context by applying it to a Nintendo game? I'll leave that for you to decide ;) 

Before I go, I wanted to take the opportunity to post a few pictures of my trip to Black Mountain from way back when I still thought I would be returning to campus after break ... ah, those sweet, ignorant times... I was wanting to make a full post out of it but I'm not sure I'd have enough to say. It was a good trip with great people, staying in a beautiful place and hiking everyday. But as the purpose was primarily restful and leisurely, I don't think I have much in the way of epiphany to report here. But I do have these photos, so you are going to see these photos, and you are going to like these photos, cause this is the ROOST and you didn't come hear to learn about the stock market, you came here to see these photos!

 from left-ish to bottom-ish: aedan peterson, sam abner, joel guthrie

 tried not to feel too much like smeagol as i scampered behind this waterfall

lookout vista views

I think that's about it for now - I should have a new post coming soon with this month's Character Design Challenge, but I need to obsessively check it a few more times to make sure it's perfect. Hope you all are weathering this time with grace and kindness and courage. 

Thanks for reading :)

-dh

So Long, Junior Year

hello, summer? weird spring?

So they announced it today - school is cancelled. And not only that, but I've got to move out! And soon! I've been using my RA powers to hide out in my room over break, but Lipscomb's really taking a strict stance (warranted) and they want everybody outta here. And since I don't want to drive 7 hours back to Nash to get my stuff later, I'm just taking it all now.

It's all kinda ironic cause I just got back from a trip with some friends (related blog post coming shortly), had just bought some groceries and was ready to hunker down with some Zelda for the remainder of our Super Break. But this has just been the craziest time and twists like these are probably gonna keep happening until this virus gets the heck outta here.

Of course, school isn't really cancelled - we'll still have online classes. And junior year isn't really over.

But it does kinda feel that way.

I won't have access to lab equipment and software for the rest of the semester, so I don't know how much work I can be asked/expected to do... And I won't be able to hang out with college friends, or perhaps friends in general cause we will all be social distancing. And this will be my last night in my cozy little dorm room underneath my Princess Mononoke poster. I've really liked having a room to myself this year and I'll be very sad to leave this homely place...

But tonight we feast! Eat frozen pizza and drink copious amounts of marble soda! And make mug-cakes! As of now I have packed exactly one box and have already started procrastinating by writing this Roost post and taking pictures of my room. (sorry mom) I'm definitely bummed by the way things have turned out, but I've slowly been making peace and finding moments of joy along the way... Plus this turn of events should give me plenty of time to finish The Two Towers and Breath of the Wild.

Hope to talk to you guys again once I'm back in NC. Also hope Coronavirus will take the hint and realize that we don't want it to stick around anymore.

Stay strong, bloggerfolk -
dh

Calm(?) before the Storm

As promised - my submission to the Character Design Challenge for February! Hope it was worth the wait. The theme was Carnival of Brazil and I just really didn't want to draw mostly naked ladies, so I drew a mostly naked animal instead :P This is perhaps my favorite thing I've drawn all year, all bubbly and happy, which is all the more strange cause...

This is such a weird time. And if you're reading this near the time of me writing it then I'm sure you know why. Coronavirus is sweeping through the world and although I've held off writing about it here on the Roost, I think it's time. And I kinda hate to talk about it, because the virus has been in LITERALLY EVERY conversation I've had or overheard for the past week. We had the first few cases here in Nashville about a week ago, back when we were talking in hushed GroupMe messages about a possible outbreak at Vanderbilt. And now Tennessee's in a state of emergency, the whole country's in a state of emergency, and I'm just waiting for the wave that's been building for the past few weeks and months to come crashing down in full force. But it hasn't yet. And so for this and many other reasons I've been living in a state of dread. Not fun.

But I think I need to talk about Coronavirus, or at least log it here in a historical fashion, because it's now affecting my art journey (a topic that I may talk about from time to time here at the Roost).

Lipscomb just extended Spring Break, and could likely move to online classes for the rest of the semester. Which would be a nice break if I weren't working on a short film. But, for the first time ever, I AM. And our premiere date, the Five Minute Film Festival, just got postponed, and likely cancelled. And most of our team of artists are forced to head back home, away from the lab and software. So less than two weeks from our film's completion, the floor has just been cut out from under us. And now we're just falling into uncertainty. I've tried to keep my head down, to keep working, but it's hard. For so long, I've been looking toward that finish line, that festival, the finished film, but now the finish line is gone. Not moved, just straight up vanished. It's hard to relax anymore. I don't know what to work on. I don't know if I should be working. And with all this, I don't even know if the summer internships I applied for will even happen. This was supposed to be 2020, my big chance to get ready for a career next year. But the cracks are starting to show.

All this kinda pales in comparison to what our seniors here at Lipscomb must be feeling - they're being robbed of their last semester at college, and (for animators) the hope of getting an LA job must be getting immensely complicated. It's a time of laments, mourning the death sentence of a semester that we'll watch bleed away (remotely, with WiFi!) over the next few weeks.

These are dark days.

And even darker for those that could be harshly affected by the disease, whether financially or physically. Maybe that's you, bloggerfolk. Stay strong. And know that there are so many people out there who care about you. One of whom is me. So let me know if there's anything I can do.

This is the first pandemic I can remember living through, and I wish it wasn't happening now, or ever. And in this way I feel like Frodo. 

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

I'm almost near the end of reading The Fellowship of the Ring and I'm glad it's brought lines like this to the forefront of my mind. For these are dark days. Disappointing, frustrating, scary days. But they are still our days, and we get the gift of deciding how to use them. We can act from a place of hope. The good news of Christ means that what is broken can be mended. That joy will come from sadness. That resurrection is real, and is coming for us. From broken earth springs new life. From these broken plans will come God's promise. I'll admit that that's even hard for me to see. Those who know me know that I am a planner, but perhaps I need moments like these to break me out of my own ambition and put me in a spot where I need to ... trust. Not comfortable. Not easy. Yet the perfect soil to cultivate a humble heart.

So know the facts, and be grateful, bloggerfolk. Mourn, and be joyful. The storm will pass. And I will keep blogging right through it (Lord willing.)

blessings to u

-dh

spring

THE MARCH 4 ROUNDUP: yee haw

Hey bloggerfolk! 

Been a while since I visited the Roost. Looks like I'm going to average about a post a month this year, and that's ok. As long as that pace is due a good kind of busy-ness rather than just slothfulness. And boy have I been busy! But since the functional animation lab on campus is currently an asbestos danger zone (one of the not-fun parts of sharing space in a 50+ year-old science building) and the cintiqs in the other lab (yes, we now have two labs!) are more buggy than an ant farm, it seems as good a time as any to stay in my room and write. Since last post was a nice venture into the philosophical, this one will probably be more life update-y and art share-y! 

First - I may have mentioned before that I'm directing a short film now?! So exciting. It's based on my storyboarding final from last semester which you can check over on that Storyboard Portfolio tab. Since my end goal dream job would be showrunning for TV, it's been a great experience to lead a team and make some cartoons. While learning to cope with a TV-length production schedule! And by that I mean that it is SHORT. We're going from storyboards to final film in about 2.5 months, to meet our nearly divine mandate to finish it for the 5 Minute Film Festival here on campus. It's been great to see the team really rally and make some amazing stuff: Aedan Peterson crushed it on the background art, and Jon/Joel/Hayley E./Lorna have been making some incredible animation. It's the first time I've seen my boards transformed into something bigger and better and it's amazing to watch! It's also incredibly humbling because I feel like most of my non-directorial contributions aren't measuring up at the moment. I've been trying to animate this one shot for the past couple weeks and am feeling super rusty :( I think this whole thing is also causing me a lot of background anxiety?? I just get this gross feeling in my stomach sometimes and I don't really know why. But I think it's because I want to make this film really good and really on time and those things don't always go hand in hand. But we will do it! And I will recover my animation mojo! And you will see this film on March 26th! I'll probably tease it on Instagram pretty soon but since you guys read the blog you're getting this info first!

Overall the semester has been really frontloaded and March is the time when things will finally start to wrap up. I already wrapped on a month long comic coloring gig (I'm doing freelance now! Yay :D) I'm nearing the end of internship applications - really hoping/praying for the best this summer. And as I mentioned earlier the short film will be complete by the end of the month too. I'm looking forward to having time for my other classes again and actually being able to do some meaningful work on my senior film independent study. I've discovered that one man cannot serve two short film masters and so my senior film has been unfortunately pushed to the backburner... 

Over the past few months I've gone into survival/going through the motions zone to get stuff done and it's not been particularly fun. I'm not opposed to a solid routine, but it's hard to make those special college memories when your weekends are filled with internship apps and long hours in the lab... But perhaps this is a season of preparation so that I can have some really cool experiences this April and beyond. Cause I can't get an internship without applying. And I can't get a short film without months of work :P And perhaps this glum pre-spring time is the perfect opportunity to get that kinda stuff knocked out. And the end of the tunnel will be here soon enough. 

Some good news - I'll doing some official stuff for Zeldathon! (That's a dream list item, in case you forgot). They put out a call for artists a few weeks ago and they like my stuff, so I'll be making a few pieces for them that you can win if you donate! I'm very excited. 

I'm now an official "Featherhead" which means I'm officially approved to talk to anyone and everyone about the upcoming re-release of The Wingfeather Saga. The new edition of the book series features the work of two of my favorite illustrators (Joe Sutphin and Nicholas Kole) supporting the epic tale told by Andrew Peterson. My feathers were initially a little ruffled by having a childhood favorite get such a significant update (I'm rather nostalgic for the old look) but after seeing the new books in person I think it's for the best! So if you like fantasy, fangs, and getting emotionally invested in the lives of characters then check it out! It's a great read aloud book if you've got a family or another group of people that you read to. And it's a great brothers story! Which means I CRY.

Also this past weekend was our big guest speaker weekend for the semester, featuring animator/showrunner Bruce W. Smith! His Friday night talk was very lively and full of great stories - he kept having to censor them due to there being "kids in the audience" which made the stories even more mysterious since we couldn't have all the details... As animation director on Space Jam he had a lot of fascinating stories about the basketball players who were on set and his infamous match with Michael Jordan. 

bruce smith

A couple days before Bruce's visit, Professor Tom had offered us the chance to get our drawings critiqued by Bruce if we did a character design based on a certain prompt. The prompt was something about a 35-year-old bartender who was losing his edge but still thought he's "got it." This was a kinda awkward prompt since I don't think 35 is really that old and also because Lipscomb students shouldn't be very familiar with bartenders (no student is supposed to drink here. No matter your age.) But I still wanted to get my drawing in front of Bruce. So I gave it a shot! ;) I tried to do a human at first but was getting frustrated with the design/pose. And I wasn't having fun. So I hopped back into my fun comfort zone and drew an animal character! I was looking a lot a James Wood's stuff here, and his spontaneous sense of linework - something I've been trying to work on since my final lines often look very dead. 

At the Saturday workshop this drawing was on screen for approximately 20 seconds. :( Most of the drawings did not get a critique (not really sure why). And mine was one of those drawings. BUT when it was flashed on screen the crowd reaction was great! And Bruce commented that he liked it. So critique accomplished? Regardless, it's given me more courage to do these kind of quick designs for the Character Design Challenge (CDC) and really get some non-fanart work out into the world. On Sunday night I was even able to get jammin' and finish a piece for Februrary's CDC which I'm really proud of! But I'm not going to post it here yet - sorry for the tease :P

Nashville actually just got hit by a major tornado two nights ago and it feels weird posting my stock of light-hearted fun-times art when social media is appropriately mourning the destruction that's happened across our fair city. I'm ok, Lipscomb's fine, and today was a beautiful spring day. But there's a lot of photos on the news that are quite sobering - including the damage to a favorite hangout spot, the Soda Parlor. And one of our dear animation professors, Eric Stars, was near the worst of the storm and while his house is ok, he's still having to sort through a lot of other details. It's just not something you ever expect to happen, even though we usually have at least one tornado warning each spring. 

So stay safe, bloggerfolk! And stay inspired! I'll be back soon with that Character Design Challenge post I promised, but until then I wish you strength for your daily struggles and victories. 

-dh



Music Rec: 
Louie Zong just released his jazz album which I've been looking forward to for a long time. I don't know enough about music to really say what it's about but... it's got all the good and complex jazz stuff with the unique Louie instrumentation that updates it for a geek like me. Hope that makes sense :P

Bird in the Heart

hillside overlooking center hill lake 

Over the past year I've begun learning the bird species of North America. On my dorm windowsill I place a set of 3-4 illustrated flashcards that I cycle through as I learn (and sometimes forget) the species. This whole process is really a part of a larger desire to know more about the natural world and what's all in it. In a time when logos are easier to identify than trees I feel a deep respect for people who know the woods well, and I'd like to be among their number. I also figured that if I can identify every Pokemon currently in existence then learning the birds should be a very doable side project.

I've since discovered that the number of birds you can identify seems to have a direct correlation to the total number of birds you see. Especially the birds you like. I can't remember seeing a Tufted Titmouse a single time before learning its name. I didn't even know they lived in Tennessee. But now I see them everywhere, and could even give you an estimate of how many I saw on each occasion. Of course, those birds would be there whether I knew their name or not. But knowing their names has changed (or perhaps even enhanced) my sight. The knowing has called my attention to them, and given me a love for them that I would not have had otherwise. My recent reading of John Burroughs' work has provided a succinct and eloquent description of this phenomena: "You must have the bird in your heart before you can find it in the bush."

broken walkway at the top of burgess falls

Perhaps you've experienced something similar before. You meet someone new at school or work and suddenly you see them everywhere. You ride in a friend's car for the first time and over the next few weeks realize just how many other people drive that same model. The world is suddenly more full of Kias, or Hondas, or what have you. You care deeply about certain themes or issues and can easily spot them in movies, even when others think nothing of it.

I think the reason is that we can only pay attention to a limited number of things. And therefore we can only see and remember what we really care about. I think animals experience this too - and that's why so many of them are acutely tuned to seeing quick movements (that would often signify a predator). But while animal vision is motivated by fear, writes Burroughs, human vision is honed by love. You see your friend's car everywhere because it's your friend's model. Thus the act of seeing better as a human is really an act of loving more widely and deeply. It also explains why we can each experience the same events so differently.  I recently went to a Cory Wong concert which was full of crazy solos and instrumental genius - but how much more beautiful would that concert have been to a musician who could identify and appreciate what was actually going on? Likewise, I could spend an hour just looking at a misty waterfall on a foggy day but without my love for natural mystery and its frequent companion, fog, someone else may have seen all they need in a couple minutes.

foggy cliffside near burgess falls

And that's one reason why I think being an artist is so cool. Because in art we have the ability to share our sight with other people (fear not, non-artsy bloggerfolk, for you have this same power too). In every act of creation we have the ability to nudge others towards new things to love. The things that may seem apparent to us, but are invisible to others. Even in photography, art is ordered and cultivated toward a certain goal. That's one reason why I love stylization so much - it not-so subtly guides others towards the Cool Stuff in any particular space, design, person, or dragon. Take for example this piece I did based on a recent snowfall. The trees I saw did not look exactly like this. They had significantly more branches, significantly less petals, and (rather significantly) did not exist in a pure grey void. But I liked the petals, and the way their springtime charm played against the winter's snow. I liked the funny bends in their skinny trunks. And that's what I wanted you to notice with me. 

Since art doesn't depict exactly "what is" it gives us the rare chance to see "what is" as if we were someone else.  With our art, tweets, equations, reports, compliments, baked goods, etc. we can show others new forms of the good, true, and beautiful. Which is kinda a big responsibility. And also means we gotta have real good taste.

A lot of these ideas were brought to my attention during my Biology and Literature class that I've been taking this semester. Each week we have to go out to a nearby park and journal about what we see. The catch is that we have to pick a bench and write from that same bench EVERY TIME. As you might expect, I frequently resort to describing things in exquisite and lengthy detail. But this exercise isn't just teaching me to verbally dissect the tiniest nuances in a dead dogwood flower - it's also teaching me to pay attention, to look closer, and (you guessed it) to love better. And then in class each week we read from old bearded men who describe their natural experiences in loving detail (read John Muir's A Wind-storm in the Forests). All this has made for a really beneficial course where I'm learning to see in the field and also reading specific, stylized accounts of similar places. A seeing cycle, if you will.

These thoughts that I've been describing to you all culminated in my mind on a recent trip to the Tennessee woods (where all these polaroid pictures were taken). While I was hiking, I felt like something had changed in my heart since I had last been to the forest. Like most of the esoteric minutiae about a person's experience, the feeling is hard for me to describe and probably even more boring for you to read about... But it felt like all the attention I had been investing in learning the nuances of the forest was noticeably being paid off. It look less footsteps to find something interesting to look at. Spectacle wasn't bound to the size of an object - even this tiny waterfall was captivating. 

Without really recognizing it, the birds, the trees, the water - they had all found their way into my heart. Like any relationship I'm sure it will take work to maintain and grow this love, but now I know it's here. And I'm ready to go and keep finding it in the bush. 

What do you love, bloggerfolk? What grabs your attention? As Valentine's Day gets closer it's a good question for us to be exploring. Maybe through art? Or chocolate? I've experienced a lot of both recently.

Much love, art, and birds to you -
-dh

PS: Music recommendation - Springsteen's Hungry Heart as well as the rest of The River album has been on repeat for me recently. It's the kind of music that gets me ready for summer - which is still so far away...

Dream List 2020

At the beginning of 2019 I made this big list of dozens of things I wanted to do, not necessarily in 2019 but just ... sometime. Most of the things hover just on the edge of impossibility, but I did complete "Cook something other than nachos" which to be honest was kinda a freebie. But hey, I did it! And now I can cook muffins. And I made chili yesterday. I will spare you from seeing the picture(s) I took of it but just know I'm very proud... :) I'm grocery shopping and feeling very adult - I wonder how quickly the joy of grocery shopping will fade. Hopefully never! And I did "Get an internship in 2019" but I guess I should have been more specific about the going on the internship part. But hey, I got it!! And that's still something to be thankful for. 

I decided to repost and update the list - but it's mostly the same as last year. And if you are someone with the power to help me achieve one of these, LET ME KNOW! I'm very motivated to help ;)

My good friend Sam Abner will also want me to mention that I did "Work on a project with a complete jazz score" (last year's Animation Production film), but since the film was not released aaaand I only did one background for it I think it's safe to leave that one on the list. I also came really close to "Do something old school for Studio MDHR" when Professor Bancroft signed on to help with the Cuphead DLC, but I wasn't able to help. And Prof. Bancroft quit. But not due to my lack of helpfulness. I hope. 

Anyways, in no particular order I give you -

The Dream List

Be involved in the reboot of one of my favorite childhood shows
Have a hand in redesigning an iconic character
Hold a published/released something that has my name in the credits
Make a thesis film while in college

Work at Disney TVA
And Cartoon Saloon
Showrun for Cartoon Network
Work on the Wingfeather Saga

Help with Ducktales, Hilda, and/or Craig of the Creek

Be a part of Zootopia 2 (not just an audience part)

Be on a podcast

Be paid to teach art
Tend my own garden

Do something old school for Studio MDHR
Contribute official art for Zeldathon

Work on a project with a complete jazz score

Master an instrument
Finish The Lord of the Rings

Draw with Saira Vargas or Nicholas Kole

Draw in the Outback
Visit Ludo Studio

Host a nature show

Learn another language
Table at a convention

Collaborate on a project with one of my top 8 art heroes

Work on/direct a character voiced by Jack McBrayer

Direct something scored by Michael Giacchino

Work with Louie Zong and/or Insaneintherainmusic on something

Have a character I worked on made into a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day balloon

Work on an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows
Bring Back Dreamwork's Larrikins

And go on an Internship in 2020!

So there it is! Here's to hoping I can check a few things off in 2020 - keep me accountable, bloggerfolk! I'm also trying to come up with a few more non-art related dreams, but to be honest I really just want to make cool stuff with cool people at cool places (and that stuff often happens to be animation.) And therefore - art dreams! 

Wishing you the best with your dreams (art-related or otherwise)! And thanks for making it through my lengthy new year reflection - I promise my next post will not have as much to do with the fact that we are NOW IN THE TWENTIES (woot!)

-dh