Category Archives: Animation

John Henry Picture Book Animation

I'm excited to announce the launch of a new animation I created with the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. It's the 50th anniversary of his children's book "John Henry" and we created a 6 minute animated read-aloud. It was a great experience working with his original art work and making a video that is in keeping with his style. Hope you enjoy!

The Powerhouse in Jersey City

I spent the early afternoon drawing the Powerhouse building in Jersey City from across the street. I used Edge Touch on my iPhone to draw the building, light rail and cars, then animated in Fireworks back at home. I'm really happy with this one.

Peanuts in 3D

Charles Schulz ink drawings of good ol' Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang are a joyful display of jiggly, wiggly lines and anxious slashes of ink. It looks like some of those lines are finding their way in the new Peanuts movie. Even though the movie is in 3D the film makers managed to kept the personality of the characters and gave them some dimension. It looks like a great way to respect the original artwork so we don't get a creepy 3D reboot like Yogi Bear or Garfield.

Whale Facts

I wish I'd seen this animation by Drew Christie before reading Moby Dick last year. Learn about whales and more in "Song of the Spindle".

Tom Law’s 1000 Self Portraits Animation

Animator Tom Law drew 15 minute self portraits over the course of almost 3 years and put them together in an animation titled "I Always Look Angry: 1000 Self Portraits". It's cool seeing the evolution of his drawings over time.

Sliding down the Guggenheim

The James Turrell exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum gave me a chance to make a Vine animation of my daughters in the empty gallery bays.

Coloring a Crystal Pear

I've been watching episodes of Adventure Time with my daughters all week and it inspired me to draw a crystal pear. I created an array of radiating lines in pen, then created this Vine animation as I colored in the resulting triangles.

Shooting Vines

Vine is a sweet little smart-phone app that allows you to shoot short video clips and post them immediately. What makes Vine unique is how short the clips are and how it records video. It only records when you press the screen and stops recording when you remove your finger, up to six seconds. You can start recording on the same clip by touching it again, creating loops of images. Jump cuts condense time, as you can see in the Vine I shot of skaters in our studio building. A tap of the screen will get you one frame and with multiple taps you can start making frame-by-frame animation. You can go Benny Hill-style with sped up reality or more painstaking hand-drawn cartoons. There are some fun, new video makers out there, such as the pencil sketcher Pinot and the wooden man adjusting Ian Padgham. The Vine app is free so try it out! The check out these tips from Mashable to make your Vines even better.

Stop Motion Graffitied Building

This video is a cool way to see a graffiti artist at work. The time lapse photography slides and pans around an abandoned factory as the artist Sofles sprays tag after tag in a frenzy of aerosol.

Imagining Cars of the Year 2000

A world overrun with automobiles is the dystopian nightmare of the cartoon "Automania 2000" from 1963. So many cars have grid-locked that people have just been living in them for the past 5 years. The lively cartoon is a quirky anti-consumerist critique of 1950s excess. via Cartoon Brew Cross-posted on My Black Brick.

Hoboken Pudding

Dollops of art, games and tech