WORST CHARACTER DESIGN!

This particular character was just too horrible to ignore.  Usually I try not just hate a design outright, I think it's more productive to talk about technique, philosophy of design etc.  However The Skinny Cow character is an assault on the eyes and it was right in front of me.

 

This might be an titillating character for the furry crowd, but I don't believe the average ice cream eating public wants a mutant human woman cow peddling dairy treats.  This fits in with an earlier post My Biggest Character Design Pet Peeve from January.   My last character design problem was Pixar's animated short Lava.   The man volcano is a rocky volcano with a face, created from the foliage and stone.  The female volcano is a tall thin human looking volcano with long hair and feminine features, a really bad design that is hard to find an image on the internet, no surprise. Maybe at some point I'll list my top 5 most hated character designs.

For Charlie

HERE AGAIN!

Just in time for the holidays, I'm back.  Getting caught up in work and not posting is a very bed habit that I get into.  Today let me do a quick tip on baking Super Sculpey.  Recently I re-sculpted my Big Violent Rabbit character.  The original big sculpture from 2001 was sold long ago so I made a new one.  The toaster oven I use for baking my sculptures is really nice one cubic foot of interior space, plus a timer.  It's a Hamilton Beach it might still be available through Amazon. 

Taller sculptures fit nicely, but I have to be aware how close the top of the sculpt is to the heating element.  In this case I will create heat shields out of doubled up foil, then alligator clips on armature wire to hold them in place.  All the baking with none of the burn.  Also I use a separate thermometer for temperature accuracy.  There is another piece of wire holding up his arm just so it doesn't sag, then after it's done I filled in the hole with a bit of epoxy putty.

He turned out nice, but still big and violent.

DAVID PRESSLER ART TO LIFE, LIFE TO ART!

A fantastic 3 part series where I am interviewed about my art, process and other nonsense produced by Eric Minh Swenson is up and ready to watch here.  The first part I talk about animation and my

first efforts in stop motion animation.   The other two video are about
sculpting, and my general philosophies on the Pop art scene in Los
Angeles.  Enjoy!

Take Your Robot For A Walk!

Take Your Robot For A at the Gabba Gallery is my next group show.  I'll have two new pieces in the show.  

The ultra flat paint sheen is what I go for, I mix gesso as well as matte medium into the paint as I build up the layers then finish with a flat varnish.  I will be at the opening hope to see you there.

EPISODE FOUR!

The latest Episode of How To Do Everything With Garrick And Marvin is up.  How To Cook is the subject.  For this episode I wanted to rig an actual flame device for Marvin to light the coals.  A butane torch with an extended hose did the trick, ignition was achieved by a lit votive candle hidden in the fire pit.  Kevin Clash was on hand to puppeteer the monster.

We ended up having to cut a much bigger hole in the stage to accommodate the puppeteering.

 

Intern Sydney with a monster hand, that's the way she is normally.

We will be working on more soon Garrick And Marvin will be back.

NEW EPISODE!

How To Do Everything With Garrick And Marvin has a new episode here.   The latest craft trend of rainbow loom bracelets doesn't seem to be too difficult for most people.  This was shot using about twenty thousand rubber bands.  At first I ordered five thousand thinking it would be plenty, they didn't even bury the characters.

Also getting the bands not to move around unnecessarily near impossible, so at a certain point we just move forward and make the show.

The monster puppet was made by my good friend a master puppeteer Kevin Clash, I was lucky he had time to help with my little production.  I made rough sketch and he was able to interpret the shape and make an awesome monster come to life for the show.  I rigged LED lights for the eyes, and sculpted the teeth and horns out of L-200 a dense yet flexible foam.  Kevin made the body and inner head and fur.   The monster is just the embodiment of mean, he will be making more appearances in future episodes.. 

Stay tuned!