Baby's First Storyboard Meeting - and Other Happenings

that's me in the red circle

Hello hello Bloggerfolk!

I'm back with some exciting news - I've just participated in my first story meeting ever :) After years of dreaming and reading about Cartoon Network story meetings where they pitch boards and hash out story details, it was fun to be in a similar kind of meeting - with my very own boards being screened in front of this handsome crowd! Still not totally sure if I'm allowed to say what I've been working on with this team, but I will say that's it's directed by Mike Nawrocki and based on his children's book series... so feel free to do more research if you just REALLY gotta know. I boarded about a third of it which is probably around 6 minutes of runtime altogether! This was my first time seeing my work alongside Naomi Bethel's and Tim Hodge's amazing boards, all with temp voices and music! And it's the first time many friends and classmates have seen my boards at all, and their kind comments have done much to reduce my imposter syndrome. (Even while the drawings remind me how much I still need to work on my draftsmanship... oh dear). I'm looking forward to seeing what my drawings look like when lovingly animated and paired with production backgrounds. Aside from GBR it will be my first time experiencing that too!

Oh and that character design that I was heavily hinting about in that last post is done! Here she is:

featuring the universal skating rink carpet

I've been listening to '80s music all summer so even though there were a few other concepts I almost chose, this one stuck! It was also a good chance to design a female animal character, which I don't often do. And honestly, I've been a little afraid to. There's such a wealth of offputting, uncanny, and flat-out-bad art of female animal characters and even icons of the genre still manage to mess it up (most notably the Blacksad comics). For this character I looked a lot at Shiyoon Kim's Gazelle designs from Zootopia - one of the few female characters that uses natural animal shapes and can still play the part of a stylish pop star. 

And even I messed up - there's a fully inked drawing of this character (that you will never see :) ) where she basically looked like an animal head on a human body. Gross. Somehow this alternate pose just worked better, and allowed me to show off her animal elements more - namely that long neck and hooves. And I would be remiss not to mention John Loren, who saved the rendering and color of this piece with a crazy good paintover(s). In a period where I've become increasingly frustrated with my rendering ability, I'm thankful for someone like John who can step in and make my life a little easier and my work a lot better. It's a big reason why I, now more than ever, recommend getting into a solid art-community, whether at a school or on Discord! 

In other recent news I've fallen hard for Lackadaisy, and binge-read the entire thing last weekend. Like many of my other tastes and interests I've stumbled upon it perhaps a decade too late, but I'm here for the party (which in this case means bootlegging cats in an alternate 1920s St. Louis). With all the buzz about a recent animated film coming up I figured it was finally time to test out the source material, and it did not disappoint. In particular, the dialogue is so smartly written - I don't know if it's due to jargon of the period or just the writer/artist's impressive command of vocabulary, but these cats talk GOOD. They also have great acting and expressions, especially for animal characters. And did I mention it's a story starring animal characters? So it's probably no surprise that I like it so much ;)

And this weekend I got to go on a little trip to Burgess Falls, actually my second time going there, but I don't think I've talked about it here before. Some friends and I had a lot of fun relaxing in the creek and small waterfalls, all while trying to avoid the rangers who were very much against that idea. We also explored Cookeville, which I've driven past dozens of times yet never bothered to visit. And who knew it contained this amazing neon sign!

so retro in the best way possible

As my friends Parker and Olivia can attest to, I stared at this mesmerizing sign for probably much too long on multiple occasions. And we were even blessed by a nighttime thunderstorm which when combined with this sign made me feel like I was in a noir movie. All that was missing was a trenchcoat, a haunted backstory, and a dozen egg creams... 

What else have I been up to? I went to church in person for the first time since quarantine started. We had a (very small) welcome back party for a friend who got out of quarantine/isolation. And I've been going to the farmer's market every Tuesday night! Lots of nice little things amongst these lingering tides of quarantine. 

I've also been catching little bits of Lightbox Online when they've fallen through the cracks of my otherwise packed schedule - Nicholas Kole's been doing some great talks and I plan on listening to the recordings over the next few weeks as I draw. And speaking of drawing... that's probably what I should be doing right now. I've got a pile of color thumbnails and the ever looming work of thesis still to tackle. But thanks for letting me share my decidedly niche interests in animal character design and tales of feline bootlegger-y with you today! 

Hope you're continuing to weather these times with grace, courage, and creativity!

-dh

Music Reccomendation: Aedan recently showed me Josh Ritter's "Be of Good Heart" and it's so good I cry almost every time I hear it. Vintage, autumnal, with well placed... oboes?? anyways it's real good

Last First Day (of school) Ever!

Hi all!

No art to post today, just wanted to write a little something to mark the occasion - it's my last first day of school ever! Senior year has begun, and I'm off to a roaring start with ... just one class to attend today. Just like everything else this year my class schedule is a bit wonky - with three of my classes meeting only once a week, this semester is gonna require a lot of discipline in order to stay on track and make good use of the numerous and lengthy plots of free time I expect to find dotted across my schedule. 

But I do have art on the way! I've been working on this month's Character Design Challenge while not working move-in shifts and I think she's almost done! The prompt this month was "animal skatepark" - after last month's disappointing/challenging fairy prompt, I felt like they were really throwing me a bone with this one. Speaking of that fairy prompt... I don't think I ever posted it here! So ha - we DO have art to post today!

Anyways, animal characters are much more my cup of tea. I've even been getting some help from John Loren (resident jellybots discord teacher and paint-over master) who helped a ton with my dino rider design a couple months back. Should be good!

So far school's going fine (thanks for asking!) but it's really too early to tell. Unfortunately covid has taken a lot of the oomph out of the celebratory start of the year but we're hanging in there and actually going to class! Which, in this crazy world, is kinda a Big Deal. And in RA meeting tonight we had a words of affirmation session which was just what the doctor ordered after a long and very draining move-in week. So I'm feeling a little warm and fuzzy right now, and full of cheap Monday-night tacos. Not a bad way to start a year! 

To my fellow students, best of luck! May you continue to weather these times with grace, courage, and creativity.

-dh

Checking In with a Troll

 Hi all!

I wanted to make a little post since I recently drew this guy and wanted to share him here:

i just think he's neat

He's my design for a Hilda troll - the show's social media was doing a trolls design challenge and it was the perfect low pressure prompt to fit in while on the many breaks that have been happening during RA training. A combination of mostly online training sessions and a new RHD with a different leadership style have meant that we have a surprising amount of free time (which was NOT the case last year). In reality, there are very few things that are like last year. And it's been tough! Some of my favorite RHDs (RA bosses) quit and moved off campus, my best friend resigned from being an RA and moved off campus, and of course there's loads of covid info and worry to deal with. I'm also adjusting to wearing a mask throughout much of the day which was not the case at home... 

Around this time last year my work involved a lot of furniture moving and physical exhaustion, but this year's burden looks to be more on the emotional and mental side. There have been some tough days, some real downer Zoom training sessions, and it's weird being on campus yet still being so isolated from the other RA teams. It's not going to be like junior year, and that makes me kinda sad. Cause junior year rocked. I got to make a short film, hang out with a large RA community, go to plays and christmas tree lightings and Hutchmoot. And this year just seems ... not like that. 

Funny how all the optimism and gratitude of my previous post would be tested pretty much immediately - I guess it's one thing to be excited about returning to community but then another stay excited when that community is much different or less than you imagined. It's a challenge to be grateful for the food when you're still a little hungry, if you know what I mean. 

Some things are like last year. I've had several long talks with old friends. The girl RAs are putting up with building frustrations and general chaos. Despite being a new hire the the Johnson RHD makes things feel just like they used to be with her overflowing (even if unintentional) sense of humor. And I think as move-in day gets closer, and with it my animation friends, things may start to feel less strange and worrisome. As I watched the animation upperclassman zoom the other night I was reminded that this week of training isn't college. College for me is RAs and animators. And musicians. And everyone else who makes up campus that is not here yet (which this year, will include my brother!) And even those off campus who have made this time feel special. 

This school year is going to be different, and hard. It may not even be all on campus. But it's the year we're given. I'm going to mourn the loss and seek the present joy, strive for contentment and yet avoid apathy. I won't do it perfectly, and I'm really hoping the adventurous and even optimistic attitude I cultivated during the summer won't vanish during this new season. Cause despite it all, I'm still really excited about the future. I still want to get out there, live life, and draw All the Things. It's just difficult to balance that with all the caution (both well-advised and excessive) that's telling me to stay in, lock down, and wait this thing out. 

I'm not going to attempt to resolve that moral quandary now, but will be figuring it out with each new day here on campus - and hopefully there will be many. To my school friends - I'm excited to see you guys soon!

May we continue to weather these times with grace, courage, and creativity.
-dh

Show Recommendation: I've been watching the British comedy game show Taskmaster a TON over the past month. Although the humor may feel a little foreign at times, watching entertaining people finding inventive ways to tackle crazy tasks makes the show a fun watch for anybody! The show's official account has put several seasons on YouTube for free, so you don't need to pay a subscription or resort to piracy to watch it!

The End of the Longest Summer

dino racers - july's CDC

I've now reached the end of what has been my longest and last summer break ever. (And I'm counting March, April, and May as part of this summer, because my mind was totally on summer break the second I was sent home from school.) It was wonderful to spend so much time with my family, work on personal improvement, and play a delightfully large amount of badminton games under the sunset. Of course, Covid sucked, the news was bad, and I've lived in constant threat of my senior year being cancelled. But I'm tried my darnedest to make lemonade out of Covid-lemons. (you should probably not drink that lemonade, by the way.) 

This has actually been one of my most productive summer breaks ever, perhaps because I set weekly and monthly goals rather than summer long ones (which gave me much less time to procrastinate). I had the time to read a few books (last two Lord of the Rings, Adorning the Dark, Desert Solitaire, and the Wind in the Willows). I'm actually quite happy to look back on the three online classes, five character design challenges, sundry fanarts, and various portfolio pieces I was able to do. Maybe I'm becoming more adult? Or better at keeping deadlines? Or maybe it's just the benefit of being given a few extra months and being forced to spend them at home without friends? Who knows. But as someone who places a lot of value on achievement and doing and progression, it's nice to see that I didn't just sit on my bum all this summer.

In fact, I went to the opposite extreme. Being stuck at home produced very strong urge to get OUT and live life in a way that was full, exciting, and fulfilling. This was satisfied in small ways by running and biking and exploring new areas of my rural neighborhood before it becomes fully developed and paved over by actual neighborhoods. And also in big ways, like driving across the United States and seeing the beauty of the desert for the first time. Which, ironically, involved a lot of sitting on my bum. 

It's strange in such a dark time to see so many pinpricks of light. Lots of little wins, and happy days amidst the general chaos and frustration of this present era. I've been featured two more times on the Character Design Challenge site (and once on their Insta!), been offered a freelance story position, won an ASIFA scholarship, and got to try out for a very exciting super secret opportunity! 

I say all this not to brag, but to log God's faithfulness while in the middle of a very dark time. Perhaps I've been able to to see these evidences of God's faithfulness more clearly because the world has felt more crappy recently. Either way, God has been faithful, both in good times and bad. Praise Him! And if/when more bad times come, times when my work is seen by no one or I barely feel like working at all, I'd like to be able to look back at this post, remember, and hope. And rest in the assurance that my worth is not found in how much I do or create or win, but in Christ. Which is something that I tend to forget :P

Cause the future is very uncertain, and success is not guaranteed! I'm about to go into my senior year of school, and as if the question of where I will go after graduation wasn't uncertain enough, now there's Covid-world I have to deal with! But God has been faithful this summer, providing opportunities where there seemingly was none, and I'll have to see what He has in store for this next exciting stage of my life. It's sure to be an adventure, and after this summer, I'm ready for it!

But for the time being, I'm excited to go back to school and attempt to establish some level of community. That's probably what I've missed most about being at Lipscomb. I was thankful to find an online community to be a part of this summer (Nicholas Kole's Jellybots Crew), and would be remiss to end this article without talking about them. They've become my at-home-studio-mates, providing friendly advice and banter, and it's been refreshing to be part of an art community even while so distanced from my physical art community at Lipscomb. I hope to stay a part of this community even while reconnecting with my Lipscomb one. But I'm also very excited to get burgers and see faces and maybe even get a little annoyed when someone plays their music too loud in the art lab - you know, all the good things that come with a physical, in-person community. 

And to that note, I should probably go- I'm moving in today and I'm not going to take even moving boxes in the Nashville heat for granted. If this year is any example, nothing is guaranteed to us except God's grace, so I'm going to try to enjoy every second of it and every bite of cafeteria food. 

May you continue to weather these times with grace, courage, and creativity. Until next time!

-dh 

Music Recommendations: Most of Cory Wong's recent work has been fantastic, but I particularly like Bluebird. If you ever wanted to hear mandolin funk, here it is! I also listened to his breakdown video for the song, where he talks about his reluctance to follow up an incredible mandolin solo with a guitar solo of his own which (tangent time) is really similar to how I felt on my recent storyboarding job! Working alongside Naomi and Tim, both incredible artists and story people, I quickly started feeling like my scratchy, rather off model boards failed to live up to the appeal and charm of the rest of the storyboards. This may have been mostly in my head, since Tim and the director seemed fine with the quality of my boards (hard to tell exactly over email), but I couldn't help but feel a little out of my league. But as Cory says in the video, "it's not a competish." As long as my boards or his solo are contributing successfully to the impact of overall piece, it doesn't really matter whose particular parts looked a little bit better. They're all serving the same goal.

Not at Home

Hi all!
As usual, it's been a while, but not as usual I have been all over the place! Literally! (and somewhat metaphorically I guess, but thankfully more literally than metaphorically.) I thought this summer was going to be so boring but I'm glad God had other plans - mainly a cross country road trip followed by a more stationary stay in the Smoky Mountains. I'll start with the road trip - me and some school friends travelled to LA (the city not the state) with our brave boy Sam Abner who's staking his animation claim out there. I always imagined doing a cross country road trip while in college - experiencing the romance of the open road, eating a bad hamburger while sitting on the hood of a yellow convertible, chasing the sunset while listening to something vaguely vintage - you know, that kind of trip. And I'm pretty sure our trip checked at least a few of those boxes. 

the DUDES: Joel, Aedan, Sam, and me

Our drive took us across the American Southwest, taking several stops along the way. While doing so I quickly realized that almost all my preconceptions about what a southwestern road trip would be like were shaped by (1) Blacksad comics (2) the Route 66 Overwatch map and (3) the esteemed and not-Oscar-winning movie Cars. All these present a very nostalgic and very 60's view of the southwest, which has not really stuck around in 2020. In every state was the same chain businesses, with a conspicuous absence of chrome plated diners and sketchy, but very charming, motels. (For the record, we did stay in a sketchy motel on this trip but it was NOT charming.) All the tourist traps had been sprung and were withering away with peeling paint and no cars in the parking lot. By about day two I was realizing that my idea of the classic American road trip may had just rode out with the ghost of the cowboys. 

But that's not to say it wasn't a great trip, or that we DIDN'T see actual cowboys (in an In-and-Out Burger, no less). Although the roadside businesses may have become homogenized and somewhat unremarkable the natural wonders and views were still stunning. I was surprised how each state had a different landscape that changed almost the second you crossed the borders: marshy forests in Arkansas, Texan wind turbines scattered amidst amarillo fields, New Mexico's scrubland overshadowed by purple mesas, and finally trees, pine trees, again in western Arizona. We also stopped along the way at several natural landmarks which were my favorite part of the drive. 

We hiked through the red sandstone base of Palo Duro Canyon, and on the way there I also DESTROYED the only tumbleweed we saw when it tumbled in front of my car. 

palo duro

the artist in the wild

The hidden gem of the trip was Petrified Forest National Park which offered views not only of petrified wood (very cool, predictable), but also painted desert vistas (surprising!) Aedan and I opted to take the scenic route through this one and I do not regret it. 

Joel and I paid slightly too much too much to look down into the ever so big Meteor Crater.

those are people way down there in the bottom right

And the last major stop was THE Grand Canyon, which was just so immense it was hard to believe it wasn't a painting or something. The canyon stretches so far out of sight that you almost lose track of the space and end up compressing it in your mind. I would love to hike down into it on a future visit and really feel the grandness of the place. 

that's me way down there in the white shirt

I had never really thought I'd make it to the Grand Canyon but I'm glad I did!

And all this was before we made it to LA, where we got to hang out with good friends, play a lot of smash, and eat amazing takeout. We were stuck at home for pretty much the whole time but it was a great group of people to be stuck at home with! And we did get out a couple times to get food, walk around town, and see the sequoias. Which were really, really big! Hard to believe they weren't a prop or something - after seeing imitations of world wonders as a child at Disney World most of my adult wonder is found in the fact the real thing is in fact real. A strange twist of experience only possible in our American world of entertainment, I guess. 

I turned 22 while out in LA - and since this is my one chance to make this reference, yes I am really feeling 22. Which in my case means I've now lost the "I'm an adult and it's cool" swagger of 21, and instead I've been thinking a lot about what's being left behind in childhood. How things are different and a new stage of life is beginning. It's that kinda of early John Mayer energy (Room for Squares album) when you think about your parents getting older, that your childhood home is owned by someone else now, and that without really realizing it you are now older than every Stranger Things kid and if an '80s mystery bike adventure does somehow become a part of your future it will be accompanied by an unshaven beard and worries about your career. This feeling was perhaps even more amplified by my recent playthrough of Night in the Woods, which really captures a bit of what I feel when I come home each summer and despite it still being home, things are just different. I've wanted to play it since it came out in 2017, which coincidentally was also the year I graduated high school, my family moved, and I went to college... big changes.

take a moment away from my existential dread to enjoy this delightful badgerclops cake my friends made

I've felt this way each summer I come back to North Carolina - kinda like Mae in Night in the Woods it takes coming back home to reconnect with and reassess my childhood and current state of Being an Adult. And often it makes me a little bit sad, since I'm not a big fan of change and also wish I had enjoyed childhood just a bit more before it all went away.

Then I go to college, forget about all that, and love being an adult again. Because I'm freaking 22! And I can drive across the country, and smoke pipes, and wax nostalgic, savoring these new moments as I wish I'd savored childhood. And even though this is in some ways a sucky time to be a young adult with big dreams (most of which require some amount of non-quarantine and un-social distance) I still want to get out there and do Cool Stuff! I've tried to avoid writing about the many ways covid affected our trip - from day one we were having covid scares and having to change plans, although everyone ended up ok and healthy - because honestly I'm just so done with being bummed about covid and I'm ready to find new ways to thrive in this new world. After naively thinking that this whole thing would go away after 1-2 months in quarantine, I've had to come to grips with the fact that covid is here to stay and the rest of my life's story will be different for it. But guess what - I'M HERE TO STAY TOO. And to that point, I'm gonna live my life! I'll be safe about it, I'll be informed - cause I want you to live your life too, but I'm not gonna watch Netflix and work remotely for the better part of my 20s. I'm gonna wear the raddest mask and go do STUFF. And to that point, here's some pictures of me trying to do that during my other trip this summer, to the Smoky Mountains. (nailed that transition, daniel)

these bikes were like real life mariokart

linville gorge

Shortly after my LA trip I got to go to the mountains with my family - after not seeing them for two weeks it was great to get a lot of time with them again! I hiked through wilderness and creeks, taking lots of reference pictures for my Super Secret Senior Short Film. The Smoky Mountains are such a nostalgic place for me, which is a big reason why I'd like to tell a story that's set there. 

There's a lot more to tell, and you can ask me about it next time I see you. But now I'm back home with lots to do - I'm getting ready for another year as an RA (somehow I did not realize that I go back to school on the 8th) and I've also just been hired to storyboard! It's remote freelance work but I'm working with people I like doing something I like. Which I think is pretty cool. I should have more art to share by next time - but take a peek at my portfolios in the meantime! I just updated my visual development one with some new props I've been working on this summer. Summer is always my little prop design time where I beef out that part of my portfolio, and I even got to do a collab with my brother on one!

Until next time, may you continue to weather these times with grace, courage, and creativity! AND GO ROCK IT PEOPLE CAUSE IT'S 2020!!
-dh



Music Recommendations: Still listening to Sammy Rae - this time her singles Whatever We Feel and Denim Jacket. Very good and groovy!

Also three of my favorite people who also happen to be all siblings and all Petersons are making an album, and to that end, a kickstarter! I think it's going to be some really great stuff and I'm excited to hear it :)

Art Fear - and conversely, Art Courage

Hi all! 

I've been away for a while working on art and reflecting upon world events - it's no short order to say that a lot has happened since my last post! I've been trying to do my due diligence and educate myself as much as possible - but in the meantime, I hope you feel welcome at the Roost, no matter who you are! I want to do my very best to show love to all y'all with my words and art, but if/when I make mistakes, whether here or on Insta, send me an email and let's talk about it! Although I have been cooking up a longer post that gets deeper into art philosophy and/or the state of the world, while I was drawing yesterday I encountered something that I thought would make for a good little post on a topic that's important to me: art fear.

I'm scared pretty much every time I set out to do a new piece. As an artist, I always have a platonic ideal of the artwork I'm about to begin in my head and the entire process seems to be an attempt to not fumble that sportsball. Are the shapes as pushed as they could be? Is this pose as dynamic as possible? Is that line in the just right spot? Working digitally with nearly unlimited edit-ability helps me get closer to that image in my head, but it also fuels these tendencies because few marks are truly definite. For me, drawing frequently becomes an attempt to not mess up, rather than a joyful and haphazard exploration. I imagine that as I get better at drawing and I can nail the right lines more intuitively then I will be able to draw like that, but right now I almost feel like I'm working damage control or handling a very fragile art package through the art process. And with the pressure to make something "post-able" by the end, I'm even more cautious knowing that my art will be subject to the (brief, though important) scrutiny of what could be hundreds of people. 

I also find fascinating that a person's identity is often reflected in this part of their art making process. My friends who are typically less methodical and more spontaneous in life tend to go free-wheelin'-cowboy style when it comes to slinging paint. I'm a much more routine-oriented and obsessive-compulsive person, so I tend to like coloring inside the lines, a careful placement of elements, and rigorous double-checking throughout the process. Sometimes, this approach leads to carefully constructed pieces with high attention to detail, but sometimes it just leads to something that feels insincere, or even fearful. 

As such, I'm fascinated by artists whose work leans heavily to the spontaneous side - work that's based on gesture, almost unfinished at times. Work that exudes confidence even if it doesn't always stick the landing. Art that takes risks - for better or worse. James Woods is a good example - his lines are as loose as silk BUT (and this is a big one) there are very few of them. Usually you'll see loose lines in packs (evidence of the artist searching for the form) but James defines his characters with apparent quickness and boldness. This level of confidence takes practice, but almost on an equal level, guts. 

james woods

Louie Zong makes art that's at times uber simple and childlike - yet it still looks good. Louie's draftsmanship is pretty rudimentary, but his use of texture and color elevates what at first glance could seem simple, or even wrong. 

you knew i would use the wind in the willows piece, didn't you?

And I spent the better part of yesterday pouring over Anastasiia Platoshyna's art - which although most of her work is filled with meticulous patterns, she does have the guts to post something like this:

You can see that it's shot through with these loose ink lines that don't always line up with the coloring or fully enclose elements of the figure. And the left hand is barely even colored in! This image is clear, it seems finished, and yet... it's not! And I'm pretty sure that Stacy had the time to color that hand in. But instead, she left in these numerous imperfections to create this mixed-media feeling piece that's just so cool.

Even my friend Naomi Bethel does this. I loved her recent Velma art because of the shapes, but also because of how you can clearly tell that the sweater was scribbled in - no fill bucket tool required.

I guess what I'm really seeing in all these artists is a willingness to be wrong, make mistakes, AND still put those pieces of art out for public view. And even though they all have the power of digital editing, they choose to leave mistakes and gaps and wrong marks in their pieces. To me this kind of art feels like a last second basketball shot or a hail mary football pass - and it's amazing when an artist can consistently thread the line between an unfinished kind of bad and a messy kind of good. As I mentioned before, I suspect some of this is due to the artist already being pretty skilled at what they do. If you're great at basketball, you're gonna be at least a little better at buzzer-beaters than the next guy. But there's always a chance for failure, especially when you act quickly and take risks. There's reason to fear. Yet to still try, and to share this kind of stuff online is to me an example of art-courage. 

I applaud them. But all this does make it really difficult for me to study these artists. Cause although I can try to replicate what I see on the page, it takes that sense of courage to make an accurate study. It also begs the question of if you can analytically study and reproduce something that's intuitive and spontaneous... but I want to learn, so I guess I'm going to try. I almost laugh at myself as I slowly and carefully try to recreate a stroke that I knew took half a second to paint by the original artist. Maybe I'm doing it wrong? And trying to incorporate the principles and recklessness of these artists in my own work isn't just hard, it's kinda scary. But I think it's still worthwhile. 

Over the past few months I've been doing the Character Design Challenge, as you probably know. And although I didn't set out to do it this way, each challenge piece has been a pretty significant experiment into a new style or technique I wanted to try out. I've been testing a lot of things for the first time while making these pieces. I've been creating new Procreate brushes. Establishing whole new workflows. And I have been so surprised by the results of these pieces. Each one, regardless of its objective artistic merit, has felt like a big step forward my artistic process. Perhaps I've been showing more art courage. Or maybe it's just the result of careful study. It's probably both. However, yesterday I forgot all this and had a faceplant when trying to make a little piece inspired by Stacy's art. 

I wanted to do a little portrait about my new haircut, using a lion character since I don't particularly like drawing my face and I've been re-reading Blacksad's Amarillo recently. I wanted to see if I could take at least a little bit of that Stacy style and flair. But when I finished my first attempt, I couldn't help but be unimpressed. It seemed like something I'd made before. I'm only showing it here to make a point - I don't like this piece. Although this piece is using the right brushes and superficially has the same techniques as Stacy's piece above, it has lost a lot of the charm.

But after finishing it, I realized that it was probably more important to capture the sense of courage and life that's in Stacy's art, not the exact line patterns. I put on fast music, and tried to draw all the linework over the course of one song, and finish the piece after two or three. I used the lasso tool to border in the colors and was off to the races. Although I restart a few times (old habit), one sprint eventually finished here:

A marked improvement. A courageous attempt, I daresay. The shapes could be a little better. But I still really like this piece. 

. . .

Art-fear is something I've struggled with for a while and this struggle will likely continue - part of me thinks it's just in my personality. One of my friends once described my art style as "tightly controlled looseness" which coincidentally (or not) is pretty much how I live my life. While I think there's still totally a place for tightly controlled art (and I will likely continue making it) maybe I'll work up to the confidence where I can also be a paint slingin' cowboy someday. That could be cool. 

If you're also working though some art-fear I can't help but recommend Nick Kole's post on the subject. If anything, this post is hopefully a chapter 2 to the great things he started talking about back in 2013. 

Hope this has helped you, and maybe this look into my head has assured you that you aren't alone in feeling this kind of way! Making good art is hard (and that's an understatement).

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

-dh



P.S.
A quote that I really wanted to stick in here but couldn't find the place is from Peterson's Adorning the Dark where he says "intention trumps execution." This was a real breakthrough for me to hear, and perhaps a proverbial reason why messy and unfinished art can still look good and inspire me to such a high degree. It also gives me confidence to go out and make my thesis film!

P.S. (Level 2)
Music Rec. for the week: I've just been LOVING Sammy Rae's The Good Life and have been listening to it repeatedly since the beginning of this whole quarantine business. I'm pretty sure it's going to be my Spotify album of the year. Aside from it just being an amazing EP, I can't really explain exactly why I like it so much except for that it has a kinda vintage sound that complements the rest of my music taste. And the chorus of "The Feeling" is about as close to euphoria as you can get in a song. If you don't believe me, try listening to it while running on a sunny day, or driving if you really don't like running. 

P.S. (Level 3 TOP SECRET)
What was with all the sports metaphors in this post? Has quarantine awakened my long dormant, if not extinct, interest in sport?

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.