Congrats Animation Mentor Graduates!!!… Now What?

Congrats to my fellow Animation Mentor graduates! We did it!

Yes many of us have been done since either last summer or this past fall, but the ceremony, show, and pomp & circumstance all happened this past weekend. For an online school like Animation Mentor, these events are even more thrilling, as we finally get to meet-up with all those folks we’ve seen only through the eyes of a lowly webcam. It amazes me, that even though we’ve never met in “real” life, I can start up a conversation with them like I had known them for years.

The events of this past weekend are a definite high, but the real question comes after. Like coming back from a conference, or an expo, the quintessential thing we must ask of ourselves after all this is… Now What?

There are some graduates out there that already have found themselves a job, and for them they have answered their “Now What?” I’m proud of them, but I’m also proud of everyone else that graduated that will either now or later attempt to do something that not many people ever accomplish… Realize a dream.

For me, I’m not going to stand still through this high. I’m going to go back to where my inspiration lies:

It’s time to give this piece an animated facelift that I have always envisioned it to have. After about 2 years, I think I owe it to all those organizations that fight for social justice, especially those I organize with, to do something positive for the people. And hey, if I get a job in the industry at the same time, even better.

Carlos Buloasn Test Character Rig

I know my fellow AM graduates have other shots they’re working on as well, and the main thing, like I’ve always stated each in week in my videos to them, is to keep inspired and most of all, HAVE FUN!


Yes for some it’s a struggle, but that’s why we’re here. Yes we observe life in order to create the illusion of it, but at the same time by animating life, we can change it as well.

If you want to know who we are, WE ARE REVOLUTION!

Congrats once again AM Graduates!

Dear Playstation: FFXIII

Its been quite a long time since a new Final Fantasy game came out and after many years Final Fantasy XIII is finally here! I’ve been watching and anticpating this one for the past couple of years, HOWEVER seriously, I have no time to play it right now, or any other video game for that matter. So I decided to make a Dear Playstation ad…

MLK Day: A Message to Animation Students….

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and I got many hits for my previous Bootleg Classic post about it. Well, I decided that I had to say a message to not only animation students, but anybody else that wants to listen about the importance of yesterday, and the vital dialogue and work needed to fully realize Dr. King’s OUR dreams.

I kept it vague, and I probably could’ve added more of my own commentary, but I think folks are smart enough to have their own opinions…

I only hope that folks are listening…

Adidas Originals x Star Wars

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!

I Ain’t Done With You Just Yet….

With the new year comes a new look, some new goals, more artwork, new blog posts, and a new… well, many things to look forward to in 2010.

HOWEVER, don’t go anywhere 2009. I ain’t done with you just yet…

Most places have (stupidly) already done a 2009 year in review waay back in early December. Not me! I’m going to chew on 2009 for a bit before I make my final decisions. Yes, I’ll have a best animated movies of 2009 post, but I gotta finish writing about them (This is what happens when I take 3 months off). Anyway, I hope to have a “best of” by the end of the month. But until then, you all can look forward to seeing a write-up of all these 2009 animated movies:

Now I have already seen all these movies, save for one. I still need to see Princess and the Frog to complete my 2009 animated feature list.

Don’t worry I will watch it though, anyone want to come with me? Let me know…

I’ve got lots of writing to do ^_^!!!

And The End…

It’s amazing really…  It has been 3 months since I last posted. In that time, I started a new “part-time” job, and tried to “focus” on school. Didn’t really work out out on both accounts. New job feels almost like a full time job, and haven’t been really able to focus on school. Yeah, things got rough and I’ve stumbled these past few weeks, so much so that I’m going to retake this last class. Anyway, witness my class 3 reel:

On the surface it may seem alright, but now that I pick it apart I see all kinds of things wrong, and I see why I need to keep learning…

Along the way, I’ve lost sight of many of my inspirations. It’s no coincidence that once I stopped writing, many of those inspirations that kept me going vanished into thin air. But luckily there are things like this that bring me back:

And then there’s _______. Okay, so I promised that I wouldn’t do sappy-ass cryptic posts, so I’ll just say this. I think I can officially close the chapter on HER…

As always, as one chapter ends, the next one begins. Yeah, it’s been a rough past few weeks. BUT that’s why they call it a struggle…

Art of the Cartoon is in for a revamp… and I’m up for the challenge.

2010 I attempt the impossible…

ISANG BAGSAK…

I’m Back! MTV’s ABDC: Constructive Criticism

What’s up beautiful folks! Sorry I haven’t posted anything in a minute, an explanation is in order, but before that, here’s a fun little comic strip I came up with.

Here’s the backstory. I don’t watch a lot MTV ever since they stopped playing music videos. I have been watching on occasion America’s Best Dance Crew. The first 3 seasons we’re pretty good. I still think Jabawockeez were the most unique and best crew they’ve had, but I’ve enjoyed Beat Freaks, Quest Crew, Sup3r Cr3w, and Kaba as well. This season, season 4, Massive Monkees (from Seattle) was one of the crews. Even though I thought Massive didn’t need to do the show since they were already world renowned, and former world b-boy champions, I was still excited nonetheless. However, the crap that was put out this season was terrible!!! I think it was easy to see from the outset that the two best crews were Rhythm City and Massive, yet those two are nowhere near the finals. The most unique was Vogue Evolution, and the rest, well, they were ok, but nothing memorable. The dancing was eh, the mixes were bleh, and for some reason the judges comments were reduced to this…

abdccc

Oh, and even though I think what Kanye did was disrespectful and messed up, I have to applaud him on the fact that a) he spoke his mind and didn’t a fuck what anybody thought and b) made the this year’s VMA’s somewhat memorable. If not for Kanye, all we probably would’ve remembered is what the fuck was Lady Gaga wearing and why did she start bleeding.

One last note: How does MTV still have a Video Music Awards when they hardly play videos?

The Ron Antonio Dance Project Part II: Blocking…

Here’s part II of the Ron Antonio Dance Project. You can either scroll or head here for Part I. Anyways, my final animation assignment this quarter is going alright, after careful planning I now attempt to block out my animation, Keep in mind, these are only the key poses and a couple of breakdowns, so its not going to be smooth. Check it out:

Anyway, I had to change a couple of things. Some of the poses had to be polished, and I needed a better beginning and ending, here’s my next attempt:

Stay Tuned for Part III: My initial pass into adding the inbetweens and smoothing everything out…