Hey guys. I'm going to try be a bit more active round here from now on. Post some stuff other then dinos.

I am back in Auckland. Though only for a few more weeks. Finishing my old Saurian Era animation from my diploma year at Freelance. Awful exciting stuff. Let me know if you're in the neighbourhood. Yeah?

Hey folks.
I have started a sketch blog!

[link]

Its mostly for me to stick up all my lifedrawings and work in progress stuff with the hope that, after time, there'll be some kind of improvement.
I'm really keen for any crits or comments for the WIP stuff, so make sure you visit often!

And hey, Id like encourage everyone, particularly all my good buddies from Freelance, to stick one up so we could get some kind of blog/sketch/community thing going to motivate us all to keep at it!
You know you want to! You know you need to! DO IT!

Over and out.

Hey folks. I'm in a great mood for no particular reason, why not update this 'ol journal.
Im seriously loving lifedrawing at the mo. Twice a week, Stu comes on tuesdays and its always great to shoot the shit with him.
This Thursdays session I ran into my first proper 'arty farty' person. By this I mean, they study art for the sake of learning what art is. You know what I mean, the whole flashing bulb in a blank room thing and calling it art, and hey, to some it may be. But the thing was, she wasnt the least bit interested in learning any skills. I mean just something simple like construction, line work, gesture lines. She pretty much just sat there and doodled the whole session. Going to a lifedrawing session is one thing, but actually pushing yourself there is another.
Ok, so I've been through animation and had all the rules drilled into me. Id never criticise anyone for not knowing any better. But even back when I first started, I hungered to learn more. Constantly reading tutorials and badgering people for tips and so on. I think I scare alot of people when we initially meet just cause my mind flips over too 'omg, this person knows stuff I need!' mode.
So, what erks me I guess, is the simple fact that, she doesnt care! (and I want her to care!)
Does she use it as an excuse for being lazy, or doesn't realise the hard yards you have to go through to get anything.
She saw my stuff, and said, 'oh, you must be an animator, you use all the lines and things.'
She goes to the same school as Stu and had seen his stuff.
Is there some other way to do lifedrawing I don't know about? Where you can can just show up and then use that to cement your position whenever you call yourself an 'artist'.
I mean, its one thing to talk about art, but if you don't do any work its all just wank, right?
That was a bit of a rant I've had in the back of my head for a while. It comes across kinda one sided, but meh, that was my honest gut reaction to it.
Ratatouille came out yesterday, so already got tickets booked for it tonight. Then Yum Cha tomorrow morning and some kinda party tomorrow night with Stu. Yay, beer!
That's me.
I'm going for a run.

Ok, ok, keep your pants on... or not.
Yes, had the interview, finally. I was late getting there. Didn't take into account the school kids on the bus drawing on the seats and the bus driver having to stop every 2 minutes to yell at them. Public transport - yeesh.
So five minutes late and looking my best, I stroll on in.
For anyone who hasnt been into the Weta building - its sweet.
There's a full size Lurtz (from fellowship of the ring) to greet you at reception and tonnes of the weta maquettes everywhere. Was then ushered into a boardroom with more toys to drool over while I waited. Two people walked in and introduced themselves to me, I shook the woman's hand first and went to shake the guys. As I was shaking his hand she introduced him as Greg Broadmore.
My eyes widened, Greg's hand cracked.
"Ow," said Greg.
You can see his stuff here: [link]
I am a big fan of Greg's. NZ is such a small place, I have loved his stuff since I first started seeing it in King Kong.
They went through my portfolio and peppered me with questions about my drawings, how I go about them and all that. It was pretty relaxed and I enjoyed it all up. Greg pretty much threatened to sue me at one point for a bunch of my dinosaurs, saying he'd already done that idea. Haha, fucking awesome guy.
In the end they let me know that, for the moment, they didn't have any positions for concept artists. Just for me to keep doing what I'm doing and Ill be fine.
Sooooo, didnt get to see Richard this time (though he does live just down the road so Ill probably bump into him tomorrow or something), and didnt get a job out of it either. At least my names in there now, so I can get my focus back into doing some more of my own stuff and getting more portfolios ready to send out.
Yee ha.