Sketch-ercise #52

Wednesday 30th Nov's Sketch-ercise........ BRAKKA!!!

Poitier & Stewart...

-M-

Sketch-ercise #51

Here's Tuesday 29th Nov's Sketch-ercise... So the theme for that week was "Performance, Acting, Emotion & Believability", but forgot to mention I had chosen to explore this through characters in situ of being shot... "why?"... I guess I felt it'd be a good challenge. Have you every really watched people in movies [particularly 80's/ early 90's action movies] get shot...? more specifically, by a machine gun...? it's kinda like some sort of interpretive "tribal dance"... almost "ballet" when in slowmotion or over-acted, as this re-edited epic clip from "Commando" so exquisitely shows [skip to 1:15 to see Arnie "Matrix" unleash a 100x ultra combo on Benetts ass]. I've always wondered whether stunt-men have training workshops on this sort of thing; like how to convincingly move their bodies to accent the impact of bullet hits etc...

Anyways, I digress, but that's pretty much my reasoning for choosing this as a concept for my theme... to explore the physics of how the body might move & react in this situation; & convincingly capture pain/ emotion in facial expressions & body language.


Here's my other favourite "Ren & Stimpy" scene; this time for the performance given to little Anthony's Dad. I love the slow pace of it & the little personality traits/ gestures given him that really sell his character as this traditional hard-working, authoritarian dad. Watch this opening scene where he has them up against the wall, then skip to 1:40 where he has them trapped in... the DEN!!!

A few more Silver Screen greats.

















-M-

Sketch-ercise #50

Hi guys! Here's Monday 28th Nov's Sketch-ercise... "What delightful theme could this possibly be" I hear you ask? Well, for a little while now, I've been feeling like I need to work more on the "Performance, Acting, Emotion & Believability" of my characters/ general design... I've never felt I've fully understood the laws & intricacies of these key subjects, so over the next few weeks, I'll be looking into them further as the basis for my themes...

I really believe, like actors, characters [creature or human] should convey a strong/ clear sense of emotion & expression relating to whatever situation they're in or personality you've given them. I think it's safe to say, anyone can draw a circle, add a few lines to create an angry, sad or "smiley face" & have pretty much everyone in the world recognise it as one of those generically basic emotions; but to capture the little things... subtleties... or those, what I call "sub expressions" like cautious, weary, ashamed, snide, anxious etc, again, like acting, they need time & lots practice to make them truly convincing... and so the study begins!

I've always been a huge John K fan, & I remember listening to this interview one day where he was explaining how there are many more expressions that can & should be explored using those basic happy, sad, angry, tired etc emotions... Over at 'Spumco' [early 90's], when "Ren & Stimpy" was in full swing, he'd always encourage his team of animators to really push the variety of expressions... Although in this case, the "Ren & Stimpy" style of expression & acting focused on hyper exaggeration, but the true principles of "Performance, Acting, Emotion & Believability" was very much applied... Here's one of my favourite "psycho Ren" scenes, where Ren looses it with his Austrian cousin "Sven" & as usual, Stimpy too; the performance given to Ren in this is brilliant!

Something also worth checking out when you have the time is this "Label" compiled list of blog post by John of all things under "Acting"... This is a GOLDMINE for any animator or illustrator out there; some seriously informative stuff worth noting/ practicing.

Lastly, here are two of my all time favourite actors, Charlton Heston & Kirk Douglas... BELIEVE ME, I could spend another hour on here, writing on what I love about both! But alas, it's already like 4am here in London, so I'd better retire now.

Well I hope I haven't bored you too much with my thoughts, ramblings & run-on sentences folks.

Later!

-M-

Sketch-ercise #49

Here's Thursday 24th Nov's Sketch-ercise... I did & still do like the design of this guy but, can you guess the head/ face was the last thing I had time to throw in? Cop-out...? ummm, probably.

-M-

Sketch-ercise #48

Hey folks! Still snacking away on Christmas left-overs...? Yeah, me too!

Here's Wednesday 23rd Nov's Sketch-ercise... Meet Gas-Bot6 AKA "Mustard Mouth". A WWI chemical warfare unit- who's air-tight helmet wasn't quite thought through enough during design stage... Doh!

-M-

Speed paint #47

Here's Tuesday 22nd September's Sketch-ercise... Meet the Pin-stabber bot 2000... He likes to stab things.

"ch ch chaaa... ch ch cha cha chaahhh..." [inside joke- Nathan]

-M-

Speed paint #46

Hi guys! Hope you're all well & getting into full swing of the Festive season? Sorry it's been a little while since I posted on here; been pretty tied up with various Christmas/ work related to-do's + a whole lot of planning for 2012...  Over the next few hours, I'll be uploading all of my unpublished Sketch-ercises for you to see; most are just random little characters, but I figure I should share them anyways.

Here's Monday 21st fo November's Sketch-ercise. This week's theme being, "Robots".

-M-

Speed paint #44

Hi guys, here's Last week Thursday's Sketch-ercise... Meet Frank- the greasy auto mechanic.

-M-

Speed paint #43

Here's last week Wednesday's Sketch-ercise... [done last week Wednesday]. Meet Charlie... he owns a newspaper stand. Has never had a day off & can be found in his booth during the worst of weather conditions, still running business as normal... "One thermal flask'a hot coco + whisky, a can'a'tuna & the latest issue of Popular Science... that's aaall I need!"

-M-

Speed paint #42

Tuesday's Sketch-ercise [done on Tuesday]... Having less & less time to prepare myself for these now after I get home from work so probably will be little to no colour on the next few posts; at least till I have time to go back on them... Meet Stefano... Restaurant owner & rare wine collector... He's a self indulgent tripe an idiot.

-M-

Speed paint #41

Monday's Sketch-ercise... Hi folks, so things are getting pretty busy at the studio I'm currently working at, so my posts may become a little more sporadic... Meet 'Joe'... He enjoys nice walks through the park, urinating on park benches/ many other indecent things to do in public. He also has an [as yet] unexplained obsession for Canned Tuna... * shrugs shoulders*

Check out last week's pieces...

Oh PS: This weeks theme? ROMANTIC COMEDY... yep!

-M-

"Jimmy & the Android"

PRESENTING...















Hi folks! So here's a final poster-page compilation of all the characters I came up with for the week Mon 7th- Fri 11th Nov of my Sketch-ercise sessions. The theme I decided to go with was Sci-Fi/ Horror [in the format of animated series or feature animation].

Here's the rough story premise:
The O'Neal's are a middle-class Irish-American family based in the city of San Francisco; existing in the mid 20th century period where space exploration, technological advancement, communist paranoia & national security ideals [particularly against the Soviet Union] were front page news.

However, in the midst of all this uncertainty & mistrust, many commercial organisations see the area of technological advancement as a potential not just for national defence, but also an opportunity to improve daily life for the average american family.

Shortly after WWII & the capture recruitment of the genius Nazi German rocket scientists [Operation Paperclip]; as well as serving the US military in the growing arms race, a select few of these men, including the great Wernher Von Braun are removed to work on a new project titled, The ADL [Artificial Domestic Labourer] Program... Leading the team, Von Braun is ordered to engineer & develop a new & totally synthetic home helper... A non-gender, command driven domestic assistant to fulfil all household duties without need of food, rest or sleep.

A few short years later & ADL 0.1 [factory name] was created with full scale distribution & installation into homes across the US within the first year... The O'Neal's are by no means an exception as they too opt in & have one installed... VIKTOR.

As if daily life at that time wasn't already full of anxiety & suspense, things for the O'Neal's from here on get a little more uncertainly... eerie.


CHECK OUT THE CHARACTER PROFILES TO FIND OUT MORE OF THE STORY:
Viktor
Jimmy
Kayleigh
Betty
Reece

And that's it folks, let me know what you guys think of the concept & if you or your kids would [or if you'd let your kids] watch this as an animated series or feature... who knows ; )

______________________________________________________________________________

***All work featured here, illustrated or written [unless otherwise stated] is under the copyright & ownership of 
Maxwell. A. Oginni. All rights resereved 2011***


-M-

Speed paint #40

Hey folks! Another week's worth done. Here's this evening's Sketch-ercise... Mrs Betty O'Neal. Wife of Reece, mother to Kayleigh & Jimmy...

CHARACTER PROFILE:
Betty is the dream wife of any red-blooded American man in the fifties [& any man now I imagine]. She cooks, cleans, looks after her husband & kids, bakes cookies & always has a pie cooling on the kitchen window ledge; and if that wasn't enough, she even holds down a part-time job of her own as a switchboad operator... Betty is perfect!

Like her husband Reece, she too is unaware of Viktor's hidden intentions, although her acute female intuition occasionally picks up on some of the signs... More and more she begins to feel slightly uncomfortable around him, especially when Reece is out of the house. She once caught Viktor staring at her with an almost sentient look in his eyes... On another occasion, whilst was placing some groceries into the fridge, as she closed the door, Viktor was stood right there behind it. Startled, she gave a deep gasp of shock, dropping the grocery bag which still contained a few items... Viktor after a few seconds staring at her slowly picked them up, placing the damaged items in the trash before then continuing with other duties. Betty later that day told Reece of the incident but only as a passing comment; not enough to flag up as being more than "oh... well, must be my imagination".

Betty still occasionally feels Viktor's eerie gaze on her.

REFERENCE IMAGES:

***All work featured here, illustrated or written [unless otherwise stated] is under the copyright & ownership of 
Maxwell. A. Oginni. All rights resereved 2011***

-M-

Speed paint #39

Here's Thursday's Sketch-ercise...
Guess who just got back from a long, hard day at the peanut factory?
Introducing Mr Reece O'Neal... [father]

CHARACTER PROFILE:
Reece is the epitome of the stereotypical 50's dad. I'd group him in the white-collar worker category as he works as one of the higher execs at a large peanut production factory. Reece loves his wife and kids & works hard to provide for them. Due to his poor childhood & disciplined upbringing, he's a man who appreciates the little things in life & believes in good moral/ family values... He's by no means the toughest guy on the block, but he's a real family man. Never goes a day without somehow slipping into a conversation, "Yes sir, I think America is the greatest country in the world" [homage quote].

Of all members of the O'Neal family, Reece is the most obliviously deluded of Viktor's ambiguous personality & grim intentions, & therefore the most important but toughest person Jimmy has to convince. And it's this delusional nature that's what keeps the story going each episode.

REFERENCE IMAGES:

***All work featured here, illustrated or written [unless otherwise stated] is under the copyright & ownership of 
Maxwell. A. Oginni. All rights resereved 2011***

-M-

Speed paint #38

Wednesday's Sketch-ercise... Jimmy's younger sister Kayleigh O'Neal.

CHARACTER PROFILE:
Kayleigh is quite possibly the purest little 5yr old you'll ever meet. She's very innocent & incredibly trusting. Naive in nature & very curious, she trusts everything & everyone; which results in her practically having no fear of any sort... A well behaved child, but Kayleigh has never actually spoken a word since her birth "a very late bloomer doctors say", but a short stare into her deep green eyes would suggest otherwise. She has a lot of quirks I imagine... it's always a struggle to allow her mother to cut her hair, so often has it dragging behind her picking up dirt & various objects which end up there as storage; she preferes walking barefooted & drinks milk like it's water... Get's on well enough with people but like her brother Jimmy, a little detached from her peers.

Kayleigh is completely trusting of VIKTOR & can often be found digging for worms in the back garden with him. In fact, the day Jimmy's skepticism of the ADL [Viktor] was confirmed, it was in that very same situation... Kayleigh was in the back garden digging plant holes with the ADL, with their backs facing the house; Jimmy was cautiously watching through the kitchen window, when all of a sudden Viktor's head slowly turned 180º to face him, pausing for a moment then slowly giving a fiendish smirk as the rest of his body simultaneously continued tending the flowers & placing them into the holes... almost as though suggesting the impending fate awaiting them all.


REFERENCE IMAGES:

Awwwwww...

***All work featured here, illustrated or written [unless otherwise stated] is under the copyright & ownership of 
Maxwell. A. Oginni. All rights resereved 2011***

-M-

Speed paint #37

Today's Sketch-ercise... Jimmy O'Neal.

CHARACTER PROFILE:
Jimmy is an above average 10yr old kid with an above average over-active imagination [for a boy his age]. He's a well behaved child with lots to say. He has an unquenchable thirst/ interest in conspiracies, urban myths & legends. An intelligent child, Jimmy reads newspapers more than his dad does & collects articles on UFO's & Space travel; in fact, many a mornings as his dad sits down by the breakfast table to read the morning paper, he often opens it to find little rectangular patches torn out... A little detached from his peers due to his interests, Jimmy is sometimes teased at school [but it's nothing he cant handle]. Well informed of the current political situation in the US regarding fear & protection against the communism movement... although to Jimmy, the word "communist" simply means "the bad guys who want our house". As a result Jimmy is incredibly protective of his family.

Jimmy is the only one in the family who categorically distrusts VIKTOR... He is the only one who know's Viktor's true sinister nature, therefor the main story conflict is built between the two of them. Jimmy believes that the manufacturing & distribution of the ADL's [Artificial Domestic Labourers] was a modern day trojan horse from the "bad guys", & that all model ADL's have an activation date to wage war, destroy the innocent & defile every bit of good the American way of life stands for...


He believes Viktor activated first... "it's only a matter of time before the others follow..."

REFERENCE IMAGES:

***All work featured here, illustrated or written [unless otherwise stated] is under the copyright & ownership of 
Maxwell. A. Oginni. All rights resereved 2011***

-M-

Speed paint #36

This evening's Sketch-ercise... This week's theme? Horror- Sci-Fi [chosen by the masses]. Introducing... VIKTOR

CHARACTER PROFILE:
Viktor [self-named] is an android owned by the O'Neal family... one in a series of ADL [Artificial Domestic Labourer] models designed by genius rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun & his team of engineers as non-gender, command driven domestic helpers. However, Viktor is... different... Unbeknownst to most, due to some sort of dubious "operator error" during his construction, he is a psychopath! Deceptive & extremely crafty, he has managed to charm his way into the hearts of most of the family members [especially Reece- the father] except Jimmy who knows his dark truth... Viktor secretly plots to kill all members of the O'Neal family.

At the end of a day, once powered down, Viktor is kept/ stays in a small broom cupbord under the stairs, hardly big enough to fit two people & crammed with cleaning products, tools, rags etc. Jimmy once ventured in there only to find the cupbord actually had a hidden extension Viktor had secretly made over a period of time, which on a gradual decline led you downwards, ducking under pipes & live wires shooting sparks and finally into a dimly lit den... It was there Jimmy discovered Viktor's sinister nature & intent towards his family. The entire den was plastered with various scraps of paper detailing the various comings & goings of each family member; from Reece's work schedule, the times he reads his paper, the meals Betty would cook during the week, the time it took to prepare them, to Kayleigh's favourite foods, her personality traits & even nap times... there was even a few post-it notes on Jimmy; everything from his known allergies to the few friends he had.

Viktor suspected Jimmy knew, so always kept a close eye on him. At the same time, he also knew how much of a part of the family he had been accepted as & often played on that fact, taunting Jimmy knowing no one would believe him if he told.

I described him as an 'Android Hannibal Lecter' during my Sketch-ercise session with the guys... excluding the cannibalism.

REFERENCE IMAGES:

There was an ambiguity in this illustration of a character Chaplin played that struck a chord with me regarding a dysfunctional/ possibly homicidal robot.



















***All work featured here, illustrated or written [unless otherwise stated] is under the copyright & ownership of 
Maxwell. A. Oginni. All rights resereved 2011***

-M-

Speed paint #35

Today's Sketchercise... I've now come o the realisation I have ZERO skill in the art of conversing whilst drawing... too much yapping/ not enough focus; I know that now. Although, somehow she did actually turn out a lot better than I'd hoped...  Probably flesh her out later in the week... [hold onto your wallets, she's a tricksy one].

-M-

Speed paint #34

Thursday's Sketch-ercise... *thud thud*.... *clink*.... *tsssssssssss*

-M-

Speed paint #33

Wednesday's Sketch-ercise... [worked up a little more after my session].

-M-

Speed paint #32

Today's Sketch-ercise... So this week's theme is a continuation on character exploration, but with the sub-theme "story behind the character"... In this exercise, the task is to generate character concepts for a fictitious animated series. The genre must be a Western & only one character per session... Focusing on the characters background, personality, who he/she is & how they relate to the other cast members; I think this is a great exercise in developing more substance, authenticity & dynamism in your designs...

There was a quote I once heard off either Greg Manchess or George Prat... [I forget] where he stressed, "every stoke you make with a pencil or paintbrush has to mean something, every line has to tell a story"... I totally believe this & try to keep it in mind whenever designing... As I'm developing a character I try to ask myself questions like, "why does he stoop like that? How did he get that lazy left eye? Are his hands this jacked up because he's an auto-mechanic?" & so on... I say "I try to keep this in mind" but honestly I still feel I could push this a lot more.

At the end of the week we'll compile all the characters together, giving a loose synopsis of the series & a short breakdown of the characters/ names etc... by the looks of it, mine'll end up being more of an 18th century 'rogues gallery' haha. Well, here's today's piece folks.

-M-