SDCC 2011 Day 1

Posted on 07/21/2011 by artofthecartoon

The actual first day of San Diego has come to a close, and as an animator today was that first wave of creative energy and inspiration that comes over an artist amongst not only his peers, but also the fans of the medium.

When it comes to SDCC, I’m definitely more of a panel person, more specifically the smaller ones and the ones that deal with my interests. Today my panels were the CCI-IFF film school series: pre-production and screenwriting, Alex Niño, How to use CG in comics, Bill Plympton, Classic Cartoons: Tom & Jerry/ Looney Tunes, Robert Rodriguez, Jon Favreau & Guillermo Del Toro, New Generation of Spike & Mike Animation, and Kung-Fu films…

I won’t even attempt to go over each and every panel I went to, but I will give you some of my main points I took away:

Film is an art (duh), start small and practice your craft, know your tools and how they can make your workflow easier, I have a deeper appreciation of Tom & Jerry more so than before, Guillermo Del Toro likes to cuss, and I really need to re-watch Police Story starring Jackie Chan.

The highlight of my day was the Spotlight in Alex Nino.

It was like listening to my Filipino Uncles tell stories, except this uncle was into drawing, inking and comic books. I asked him about the restrictions of being an artist during the Marcos Regime in the Philippines and his thoughts on the difference between the animation medium and comic book medium. His answers were brief yet insightful. He recalled his censorship of his artwork during martial law, and he waxed poetic about his freedom as a comic book artist as opposed to the team environment of animation.

If I had some regrets, it was that I didn’t have enough time to chat with these panelists afterword. SDCC is so huge now, it seems that someone is always just more aggressive than I am, plus when I have limited time to jump to the next panel it makes it even tougher. I think next time I’ll try to leave a larger gap between panels esp. with the folks I really want to meet.

It was a good and inspiring, yet tiring 1st day of SDCC 2011. I’ll definitely need more of these tomorrow…

Art of the Cartoon… moving forward

Posted on 01/02/2011 by artofthecartoon

I only have a couple of readers left, but if you were wondering where I have been the past 7 months (and most of 2010), I was busy finishing up school at Animation Mentor. The last few classes definite required more attention on my part, but in return I now have this:

It’s not the greatest reel in the world, and in my eyes it’s not even that good, but the key thing I learned was the basic foundations for me to keep animating and keep my critical eye out on the world we live in.

A couple of changes I have made to sight. Artoftecartoon.com will now act as my professional sight. My name and contact info as well as my reel and my other artwork is now featured in the fun tabs above. Check them out! 1. About, 2. Demo Reel, 3. Artwork, 4. Resume, 5. Contact

Worry not though, I will still post my musings on art and animation and I promise to try to post more in the upcoming 2011. The old favorites like Bootleg Classics and Set the VCR will return, and reviews will come around from time to time.

Check out some new links I added on the sidebar, and here’s to happy, healthy, and successful 2011!!!

Coming up: Best Animated Features 2010…

PS: If anyone knows of any animator job openings, hit me up!

Filipin@s: Ricky Nierva

Posted on 01/26/2010 by artofthecartoon

Speaking of the First Quarter Storm, I thought this would be an appropriate time to bring back my Filipin@s post. This time I would like present Ricky Nierva. Yet another Pixar important person, he was a story artist on Toy Story 2, the character designer for Monsters Inc., the art director for Finding Nemo, and the production designer for Up.

Click here to hear the Spline Doctors podcast with Ricky Nierva

So the best run of animated movies since the 90s Disney movies and a Filipin@ is involved in much of the look and design… hmmm….

First Quarter Storm: 40 Years Later…

Posted on 01/26/2010 by artofthecartoon

Yesterday marked the 40th Anniversary of the First Quarter Storm in the Philippines, which was a series of protests against a corrupt and unjust Marcos Regime. The significance of which was the catalyst that eventually started the People Power Movement and the ousting of Ferdinand Marcos.

Now how does this relate to animation, comics, and cartoons? Well, the First Quarter Storm also produced a creative spark that artists have been feeding off of for the past 40 years. I know its inspired me, and has also other more well renowned artists. And its something I WE keep in the back of my OUR mind(s) as something that drives me US as I WE progress (slowly) through my OUR (neverending) process of learning animation…

For now, I present to you a video of a poem by Carlos Bulosan called “If You Want To Know Who We Are.” Produced and voiced by Ron Antonio (yes the same dude from here)

I have talked with many folks who feel that its best if politics stay away from art/ animation/ cartoons/ etc. NOT ME, as far as I’m concerned, no matter what, politics is always involved, and that makes the art that much more powerful. But you know what, I’m always down for dialogue.

Adidas Originals x Star Wars

Posted on 01/14/2010 by artofthecartoon

Anyone else as excited as I am?

Let’s see, David Beckham, Snoop Dogg, Calle 13, Daft Punk, and a great cameo by DJ Neil Armstrong!

Oh and don’t forget Darth Vader!

What does this have to do with cartoons and animations?

EVERYTHING! I’m so inspired now!

From Concept to Completion: The Cherry & Daps Wedding Painting

Posted on 08/31/2009 by artofthecartoon

Happy One Year Anniversary to Cherry and Daps! For their wedding gift last year, I decided to do a painting inspired by the happy couple (actually its a thing I do for most wedding presents). Here is the finished product:

Not only to celebrate the one year anniversary of this happy couple, but also to give readers an insight into how I take an art piece from concept to finished product, I present the first, in hopefully many, From Concept to Completion segments. Hit the Jump to find out how I went from concept to completion… Continue reading →

Filipin@s: Al Robles

Posted on 05/05/2009 by artofthecartoon

A Melancholy Rest in Power to Manong Al Robles, who passed away this past weekend.

manong-al

Community Activist and poet, Manong Al was most known for his work with the I-Hotel community. Here’s the trailer for Manilatown Is In The Heart, which followed Manong Al Robles:

filipin1fall-of-i-hotel Even though this site focuses alot on animation, cartoons, comic books, and video games, this site deals not only with the things that are related to cartoons and animation, but also the things and people that inspire me to keep doing my art, to keep learning, and to keep me focused on the community and the people.

That is why I highlight Manong Al. His narraration, presence and poetry in the documentary The Fall of the I-Hotel directed by Curtis Choy was one of the big reasons why I decided to get my degree in American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington and soon after, begin my work with the community. This was the catalyst that helped me finally gain enough confidence to call myself an artist. This in turn, eventually lead me down the path of becoming an animator so that I could share stories of the people, of the community through the medium of animation.

Manong Al did so much for the community through his actions and his words. I hope I do half as much with my actions and my animation. And I hope we all remember the life of a great man.

Rest in Power Manong Al Robles…

Other Tributes to Manong Al Robles:

Prometheus Brown’s The Fall of the I-Hotel Review

Hyphen Magazine

Philippine American Writers and Artist, Inc.

League of Filipino Students – SF State

thaswassup

Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao vs. Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton

Posted on 05/03/2009 by artofthecartoon

Of course I was watching this highly anticipated boxing match between the Filipino People’s Champ, Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao and the proud Briton with a legion of UK fans, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton. Manny is the pound-for-pound #1 pugilist in the world, while Ricky Hatton was the lineal Junior Welterweight Champ and was supposedly one of the toughest fighters out there. Notice the past tense and the ”supposedly” when describing Ricky Hatton, because that dude got destroyed by the Pride of the Filipino People, Manny Pacquaio to the tune of a 2nd round KO! Watch the fight here:

more about “Manny Pacquiao vs Ricky Hatton on Vimeo“, posted with vodpod

I thought it would only be appropriate to use this as a film study to look at 2 basic principles of animation: Squash & Stretch, and Anticipation. Hit the jump to watch the breakdown… Continue reading →

Filipin@s: Gini Santos

Posted on 04/25/2009 by artofthecartoon

When viewing a video lecture for class, there was this one guest speaker that really got me inspired. I couldn’t help but have this feeling that this girl was Pinay.

page_mentor_05

I was SO right! This is Gini Santos, animator for Pixar.

Gini grew up on Guam, but was sent by her father to go study in the Philippines. Initially hesitant, the beautiful country, culture and people of the Philippines grew on her. She went to the University of Santo Tomas and took up a Fine Arts Major in advertising.

She got into computer animation when she was getting her Masters. She sent her reel to Pixar and well… here are some of the films she has worked on: Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille.

Here are two Pixar shorts she’s worked on as well. She was the supervising animator for “Lifted.”

It’s nice to know that a strong Pinay like Gini is working at Pixar…

Gini Santos , at one time, was a mentor at animationmentor.com (my school). Too bad she is no longer a mentor at my school. It would have been awesome to learn from her… maybe she’ll come back… PLEASE COME BACK!!!

Filipin@s: Jac Lim

Posted on 03/12/2009 by artofthecartoon

International Working Womyn’s Day was this past Sunday March 8. I feel bad since I missed the event that happened in Seattle =(.

Anyway speaking of strong womyn, I thought I would pass along this dope Filipina artist that I recently discovered about a week ago. Her name is Jac Lim, and on her deviantART page says she’s currently residing San Pablo City. She’s a Game Developer, cosplayer, artist, comic stripper, facepainter, model, graphics designer, senior penciller, video editor.

I’m not sure if she’s still doing her online web comic strip called “Pilya” which translates to naughty girl in tagalog. Some of it’s really funny. Here’s two examples:

pilya_5_by_jactinglim1

pilya_18_by_jactinglim

Check out some of the other “Pilya” strips here

Art of the Cartoon

Cesar Cueva: Character Animator, Writer & Artist

Category Archives: Filipin@s