Must Do Something About This Blog...

...because unfortunately, the laws of the Internet prevent me from somehow ever being able to delete it. Like with an unplanned child conceived in one night of uncontainable passion, I'm going to have to pull myself and learn to do something with this abandoned bastard.

But what? A while ago I did progress logs for all my art projects. Maybe I can do those again to show that I'm still alive and well. Perhaps my thoughts on the world, politics, sexuality, zebras, or nature?

I'll figure out something. And I'll have to do it fast.

No Substantial Post Today

Mostly due to a whole of time spent with friends and actually doing things. Which is a considerable step up for my social progress, although I'm still to realize how much hanging out with people prevents me from getting any of the work I want to get done for myself finished. I haven't added a rough page to the Avatar: the Last Airbender comic since Monday. As the school year goes by and the homework starts piling up, I'm sure I'll get time to myself to both study and work on my projects. Maybe.

As you can see, I've been making progress

I did these sketches of Katara today to get a feel of her character design. Since she's going to be the star of the Avatar: the Last Airbender comic I'm doing, I should definitely learn how to draw her right, and make her emote and act like a real cartoon human being. Boy, is she going to go through some Hell in my comic...

Speaking of Avatar, I finally saw that wicked pencil test of Korra kicking some ass, without even Bending! This has me even more excited than I was previously when I learned that creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko would be personally writing each of the twelve episodes themselves. Talk about dedication.

I'm going back to school tomorrow for the second semester, and this time I'll know exactly what to do as far as doing schoolwork and properly raping the facility of its resources. I'm glad I got most of the important outlines and developments for certain projects done during break, which means I can give my focus to those since I won't have enough time to devote proper attention to the less-than-solid ideas and stories.

It's a mighty fine coincidence that I happened to start reading The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History before seeing The Social Network: they're essentially the same story. Someone has a potentially brilliant idea for a [television show/computer network], and, after a lot of backsliding and betrayal, suddenly the idea turns into a success beyond the creator(s)' imaginations, which in turn leads to lawsuits about who actually deserves whatever amount of money for intellectual property theft. (Don't worry, I haven't spoiled anything.) History repeats itself, I guess, and the whole Facebook debacle and the creation of The Simpsons are solid proof of that. Anytime a cultural phenomenon happens, we all want to know who was the one person responsible for it. Facebook, The Simpsons, Star Wars, The Beatles, Youtube, whatever: these were all the product of their generation, and it took more than one person to realize how to transform that potential into the light of people's lives. So many countless, anonymous people have had their careers destroyed by these freak occurances, but you never hear about them.

Except in The Social Network, a film I honestly was skeptical about at first because: 1) it's a movie about the creation of Facebook? Lame!; 2) David "Fight Club" Fincher is directing? Why? I'm glad I was persuaded to see it. It's probably the most important film of this year, and a great one at that. Everyone should seriously see it. If anything, it's a shockingly entertaining film. And Jesse Eisenberg? Never knew the hapless nerd could play should a brilliant, yet almost despicable guy.

And while all this is going on, I'm seriously considering becoming an atheist. Reading up on The Simpsons and George Meyer, one of it's chief creative forces, certainly influenced this, but it was a long time coming anyway. That doesn't mean I'll be an asshole. There are enough assholes as it is. And besides, I'm not even remotely good at being an asshole. And thank God for that.

Now I Know Why First Drafts Suck

“The first draft of anything is shit.” - Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway was right, and for me personally, I finally understand why.

As any Writing 101 will probably say, it's one thing to have the inspiration and total image of the story you want to write in your head, and quite another to make the whole thing work on paper. Transferring anything from your mind to the visible and tangible medium of choice—be it the canvas, the page, the camera, the computer, etc.—takes a lot of effort if you want to do it effectively.

For my writing, I've come to see the first draft essentially as a placeholder for every single rough idea I have, while is then surrounded by my feeble attempt at unifying these ideas with “cohensive” storytelling. Working through a first draft involves coming to terms with the fact that the medium, like any other, has its limitations. For example, writing involves the sole usage of words and their arrangement on the page (the latter is most especially important to poets, but occasionally you'll find unconventional sentence and passage structure in prose).

This is another reason first drafts are so scary. It's here that all writers receive the terrifying realization that they don't know entirely what they want to say, nor how to actually say it within the medium. This uncertainty and vulnerability is what probably scares off so many aspiring writers, even—or especially—the most talented ones.

This is a necessary evil that all writers must face. Some writers are better at handling it than others. Once the writer can actually put SOMETHING on the page, then they can shape it and rearrange it and add to it and subtract from it so that the final product fully expresses what they want to say. It's like dumping all the colors of paint that you know you want directly onto the canvas, and then having the supreme luxury of being able to manipulate the colors to the areas you need them to be to having your ultimate painting, your ultimate statement.

What Irony, or: Love, Sex, and Frank Zappa

How's this for irony:

I've finally finished reading a wonderful article on the psychology of love and sex, and near the end of the article is the following passage and warning:

I’ll be honest here and say that this view is not at all popular in the U.S., and especially not in San Francisco.

WARNING

Some material on this website may be banned in California schools.For the approved California version,click here.

And what have I been listening to for the past half-hour for the first time in my life? Frank Zappa's We're Only in It for the Money, probably the biggest musical slam on 1960s hippies (especially those in San Francisco) culture ever produced. Surely Zappa had the same views on love and sex as the author of the article did, since it goes as far as to denounce classical romance in it's first few paragraphs.

Now, to be fair, I haven't actually read the California version of the article, but when something's titled "easy way," that's almost always a fair warning for bullshit.

Thanks again, Frank Zappa, for steering us the right way. And with excellent music to boot.

"Who Needs the Peace Corps?" - Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention

Quote for the Day

"How do you want to die? Driving your car, getting hit by a truck, or fulfilling your dream, doing what you love like a man?" - The Human Bird, 2010

Out of School, Into Animation/Acting School

Now that I'm officially out of high school (not to mention on my way to college!), I can finally put more direct focus into the things I want to do for a career: drawing, writing, and making movies; everything that goes into animation, of course.

This summer will be one heck of a training course, because I'll be taking lessons from two of the most reliable sources in the field of acting and animation:

I. Richard Boleslavsky's Acting: the First Six Lessons

I've talked about this book a little bit a long while ago, and now that I've finally printed out the entire book (it's free domain, so I won't be sued), I can have the lessons with me at all times. This is probably the quentessential acting book, and certainly the best I've ever read. It's amazing how easily these principles can be translated for character animation. I have to thank animation historian Michael Barrier for referring to it, as it was always a source of inspiration for the late great Disney animator Bill Tytla. Interestingly, I have to thank another animation historian (not by title) and Ren & Stimpy mastermind, Mr. John Kricfalusi, for referring to this next book in his blog:

II. Preston Blair's Advanced Animation

Now this is probably the quentessential animation and drawing book. I'll admit that it's restricted to the solid, constructed drawing style of the best American cartoons (NO ANIME ALLOWED!!!), but since that's what I'm aiming for, it's the best thing to get me started.

With these two wonderful books to refer to for technique and practice, I'll be having a very busy, and very rewarding workout this summer and beyond!


Links for the two books:

Acting: the First Six Lessons by Richard Boleslavsky

Advanced Animation by Preston Blair

First Animation Done!

I've finally completed and uploaded an animation! Technically, it's the second animation I've ever done, but the first I get to share. It's called "Smile."

It's a basic smile, and I took twenty-four drawings done in one day and processed to make a full two-second clip.

I have actually learned quite a lot just from just brief experience. For example, I've learned to treat my key frames as a guide rather than a rule; get the main frames down, and use the inbetweens to make the flow even more smooth, fleshy, and lively. Just like playing the piano: it's not enough to know the right notes, now you have to make them flow.

I really like this process, and I really can't wait to do more complex and interesting animations.

Character Heads for Manga Project

These are the five protagonists of the punk rock band manga that my friend and I are working on. A bit rudimentary, as expected, but these are the agreed ideas. Actually, four of them are entirely based on real people around me, which I know is a pretty common technique. The dude in the shades has a Donald Fagen-esque appearance because he has a Donald Fagen-esque personality.

I really need to get started on this story again; hopefully my friend and I can finish something before we graduate.

When One Battery Means Two

Immediately after having finished reading The Tao of Pooh for the third, but most complete, time, my stepfather sent me out on a minor errand: go out to the garage and turn the battery charger off by turning the dial to off. I was angry to have to outside in the cold to do something that only interested him, but I went out anyway, ready to put the Taoist practices that Benjamin Hoff and Winnie the Pooh kindly demonstrated to me in motion.

So, upon opening the garage door, I instantly notice a lone, tiny green light. The battery charger, it must be! This will be easy. I turned on the lights and was face-to-face with a smaller battery charger. But no dial for off and on. Only a switch helpfully label "voltage selector." Where was the dial? I turned to the charger round and round, but to no avail. Where is the off switch? Suddenly, I needed to go to the bathroom. I started to panic: WHAT IS GOING ON? I calmed down, remembered what Hoof and Pooh finished telling me, and looked at it again. Same deal. I simply unplugged it and went back inside.

My stepfather asked if I switched off the dial, to which I replied there was none. Equipped with a flashlight, I went back out to the same charger for the same battery, only to find nothing of the kind that he described. Now, having the flashlight, I neglected to turn the garage lights on. Because it was extremely cold and dark, I entertained myself by blowing my breath into the stream of heavy light. It was pretty fun.

After a while, my stepfather came out to see what the hold up was. He instantly went to a second, larger battery charger, partially hidden behind a few cable, I think, and asked what was so hard to understand. He told me that if I had looked carefully, I would have seen that two batteries were being charged, and then common sense would have told me that two battery chargers were at work. He reminded me that once I was out in the real world (I really hate that term, by the way), I would have to use my brain to figure things of this nature out. The pure monotone and logical air of his speech made me furious and sad that I wasn't smart enough to deduct this myself.

Actually, this was a very helpful experience. Not only did it aid me in fully understanding the Empty Mind--not being clouded by Brain and being able to see what's in front of you--but the vagueness of language. I went about achieving my objective on the directive to turn off a battery charger and not the battery chargers. Therefore, I only looked for a battery charger, and upon finding one, I believed that this was the battery charger. However, the description of the on/off switch he gave me didn't fit what I was seeing. Did he make a mistake? Is this a new battery charger than he mistook for the old one? It really did never occur to me that there was another battery charger at work, despite there being two connected batteries on the table. That is precisely when the Empty Mind should have seen two batteries and concluded that two battery chargers were working.

I believe I know what I did wrong. One of the things I am trying to work on is not doing things just to appease others. I believe a part of me still tried too hard--a big no-no according to Taoism--and followed only the core of the instructions: battery charger = turn off. The rest would follow. But it didn't, for this charger had no dial or even an on/off switch. (The back label was not helpful: it told me that before I unplugged the charger, make sure the batteries switches--IF ANY--were turned off.) Immediately, I blamed him and not myself. While technically he did make a mistake (and whether he was testing me or not remains a mystery), two wrongs don't make a right. I failed to see with my own two eyes that two connected batteries meant that two battery chargers were in use.

I still feel a bit like a failure, having realized how I screwed up screwed-up instructions, but this couldn't have happened at a better time. Now I know exactly what I need to work on to get better, and will do what I must to work towards it.

Thank you, stepfather, Benjamin Hoff, and Pooh.

Preparing for Eighteen Years on Earth...

Eleven days from now, I will be eighteen years old. Eighteen years is a long time, and I'm sorry to say I've wasted most of it with my fear of reality and life. I have sources of blames that are highly credible (all of it has to do with childhood, of course), but I am going to put all that behind me and totally start over. Among the bests I must do better are be a better Christian, a harder worker, and a more knowledgeable self.

In preparation for the big one-eight, I will make a list of things I would like to improve in my life, as well as the things I'm most ashamed of. I hope to have this complete (as much as can be) before the big day.

I have a bad habit of breaking my promises, to myself and to others. This needs to stop. I apologize to all those who have given themselves to me and whom I have simultaneously let down. I can't promise that it won't happen again, but I can certainly work to prevent it myself...

Too Afraid of Failure to Progress

I have come upon the exact same problem again. I research, take notes, procrastinate, become lazy... I do all of this to avoid the risky business of doing the work. To do the work, whether it be writing or drawing, is to make my statement and send it out into the cruel world, where it is vulnerable to criticism, discouragement, failure...

It comes with life. Why do I constantly have to go in a circle and suddenly re-realize this? No matter what I do, the answer is the same: do the damn work!

Put your art out there, reveal yourself, fail, get criticized, and then do better next time. I keep researching techniques and keep off working in order to gain "life experience." What I've been forgetting is that "experience" is not just (for lack of a better word) limited to life. In fact, for an artist of any sort, a crucial bit of experience needed is the experience of having created.

Here are a few rough sketches for two separate projects that I'll be putting more effort into each tomorrow. The procrastinating, though, must stop today...

This is a rough building sketch for an Avatar fan project I'm working on with another artist.

This is for a punk rock band manga project I'm working on with a friend at school.

Thank you, John Kricfalusi for inspiring this [recurring] epiphany. Your blog is much appreciated.

Tara Strong's "Drawn Together" Interviews

Research is going slowly, but I at least want you to see where this whole obsession came from. Drawn Together is probably the worst show of this decade, a complete exercise in shock and repulsion. After watching these sickening interviews, you'll have second thoughts about Tara Strong's artistic and intellectual credibility. Now, for the most part, I'd say it's unfair to blame voice actors/actresses for their lack of artistic credibility. I mean, it does start with the writing, and most of these people just work with what's given to them. In Strong's case, though, its just pure ignorance and idiocy.

I'll save the actual writing for the essay, but these interviews will serve as source reference, so here they are for you to say:

Drawn Together: Voice Actor Interviews - Tara Strong (Princess Clara)

Drawn Together: Voice Actor Interviews - Tara Strong (Toot)

...how can she stand Toot's voice?

Tara Strong, My Sexy Sadie

"Sexy Sadie, she's the latest and the greatest of them all."

For a long, long time, I always thought I was an extremely jealous boy. And while, in fact, there was a time when that was exclusively true, my recent streams of jealousy have been concentrated to a specific category of people: those with wasted potential. This definitely explains my Avatar: the Last Airbender opposition (which still goes on), because that show could have been the greatest thing on television, but poor execution turned it sour.

And thus, here I am, hypercritical now of voice actress Tara Strong. I used to love her so much for her amazing ability to alter her voice. What child wouldn't? Now, I find her career to have been an almost completely shallow dry run.

On a side note I'll admit I was furious when I hit puberty and my vocal stretched, forever limiting my vocal range. I am not so sour now--in fact, I am even more grateful for the angelic voices of such greats as Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, even Bob Dylan. But with Strong, my anger burns because, unlike the previously listed names, she doesn't channel her amazing abilities into any worthwhile project.

Anyway, I'll save the full critique for the actual essay, but I'll say one last thing:

My respect for Tara Strong vanished after Drawn Together; this former idol of mine is the official "Sexy Sadie" on my life. I'm actually lucky, too, because, unlike John Lennon with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, I don't new Mrs. Strong personally.

"Sexy Sadie" - The Beatles

A Technical Definition of Art

I guess when you really, really look at it, art is essentially the unique presentation of one or more ideas by means of a particular medium (e.g. paintings).

And if that is so, then the creative process is the process in which the artist finds unique ways to present his/her ideas through the strengths and limitations of the chosen medium; the strongest ideas (in the artist's eyes) make it all the way to the final product. As a filmmaker/animator, what I badly need, as Michael Barrier stated was missing in the post-Fritz the Cat projects of Ralph Bakshi's career, is "the artistic discipline required to bring those ideas to the screen in coherent form."

Inevitably, in most cases, personality plays a large part in which ideas are chosen in the first place, let alone how they are presented. In my case, for my new project I'm working on with a friend, my own struggles between living out existentialism or nihilism greatly informs the bulk of the story, in which two characters have actually become perfect manifestations of the two opposing philosophies.

This definition largely derives from Richard Boleslavsky's analogy, in his book Acting: the First Six Lessons, of dramatic action as a tree:

"Look at that tree. It is the protagonist of all arts; it is an ideal structure of action. Upward movement and sideway resistance, balance and growth...

"...Look at the trunk straight, proportioned, harmonious with the rest of the tree, supporting every part of it. It is the leading strain; "Leitmotif" in music; a director's idea of action in a play; the architect's foundation; the poet's thought in a sonnet...

"...[A director expresses that action in a play] Through interpretation of the play, and through
ingenious combinations of smaller, secondary, or complementary
actions that will secure that interpretation...

"...[I would expect an actor] To comply with nature's law of action, the threefold law you can see expressed in that tree. First, the main trunk, the idea, the reason. On the stage it comes from the director. Second, the branches, elements of the idea, particles of reason. That comes from the actor. Third, the foliage, the result of the previous two, the brilliant presentation of idea, the bright conclusion of reasoning...

"...[The author] is the sap that flows and feeds the whole" (Boleslavsky 56-57).

I highly recommend anyone interested in any aspect of theatre, film, or animation read Boleslavsky's book. It's downloadable for free at achives.org.

Barrier, Michael. "Funnyworld Revisited: A Bakshi Glance." michaelbarrier.com. April 4, 2004, revised May 9, 2004.

Boleslavsky, Richard. Acting: the First Six Lessons. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1993. Print.

Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick Interview

Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick founded and continues to lead the acid jazz band Incognito, one of the best bands of its kind and one of my personal favorite groups. The band, created in 1979, is probably best known for the tracks "Deep Waters," "Still a Friend of Mine," and "Always There," though I think my all-time favorites are "Positivity," "Yesterday's Dreams," "True to Myself," and "Chase the Clouds Away" among many, many others.

It pretty inspiring to me that Maunick composes the bulk of Incognito's music considering he plays only a small amount of the guitar featured (when there is guitar, anyway). He pretty much writes the songs as showcases for everyone else's talents, not in the least bits great singers like Maysa Leak and Imaani. His love for music always shines through in his groovy beats and smooth melodies.

But enough silly commercial talk. Grab an Incognito CD and listen for yourself.

Here are the parts to the interview:

Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick - Part One

Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick - Part Two

Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick - Part Three

Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick - Part Four

Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick - Part Five

Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick - Part Six

Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick - Part Seven

Too Tired to Post (Legitimately)

...must catch up on sleep...

"I'm Only Sleeping" - The Beatles

Posts for the Future

This is kind of a cop-out post, but I suppose it's better than nothing. Basically, these are some entries I definitely plan to post in the future:

A Tribute to the Nostalgia Critic - Doug Walker as the Nostalgia Critic has become one of my new top comedy acts in recent times, and I'd like to formally review and thank him.


What's Wrong with Tara Strong? - An examination of Tara Strong, a voice actress I once idolized, and her career, which I believe has, artistically, gotten nowhere, reaching an all-time low with the horrid Drawn Together.


Pixar's Nihilism, or When Random Equals Entertainment - Really just a response to Prof. Thomas Hibbs' writing on nihilism and pop culture, and how it just may apply to Pixar's latest films, among other movies.

Artistic Progress as Demonstrated by the Beatles - There's no way around the fact that the Beatles were the greatest band in the world, and rightly so. Their career is the perfect role model for the development and experimentation of true artists.

Of course, I still intend to post at least once a day, and obviously I can't produce a solid, in-depth entry like any of those I proposed in just a day. The interim will be filled with hopefully useful or entertaining things. Here's looking to the future once again!

Back from School Retreat; Feeling Great

I just got back from one of the best experiences of my life. Our school retreat is something I can't talk about much here (it's between us brothers), but I can say that my mind has cleared and become enlightened. I certainly want to make new changes. For example, I have recognized my porn addiction and am taken the steps to control it. Also, I may have ADD, and will take special measures to assure that I don't lose track of everything as I did before. Now my grandmother, a professional nurse, is sure I do not have ADD, because she's dealt with much worse cases. Fair enough, and I trust her, and these special measures can aid my general forgetfulness anyway.

There's too much I need to write about, and I will never find time to write unless I'm writing constantly. That's fine by me.

As for life and everything else, it's all about getting closer to God and to others, whether it be through art or real life interaction. Let's hope it's more of the latter, and let's hope I find a better name for it.

Being the Old Man, Appreciating What I Have

I am not as grateful as I should be. I am alive, I have millions of opportunities ahead of me that others would kill to have had. I am going to use them. I am going to get out of this nihilistic and apathetic funk and still caring about things. I shouldn't be despairing over the gloominess of my past, I should be out smiling at the bright sun in the sky. I should be out meeting girls, and so what I don't marry them, they are gifts from God, and I should cherish their presence and stop trying so hard to be a "spouse." I need to start drawing everything, learning everything, doing many more things, seeing many new sights, going to many new places, because this won't all be here forever, and there's no guarantee that I'll even be around tomorrow to live another day. I need to start loving things for their own sake and not just for how they benefit me personally--don't be like Walt Disney in that respect (thanks, Michael Barrier!).

I fancy that older people have a greater appreciation for life because their time is almost over. The little things matter to them. And if I should truly take in anything from the old timers, it's to live life to the fullest. At seventeen, I have already wasted enough time being introverted and defensive for fear of the pain and suffering life brings. For if I can't take suffering, joy and happiness are meaningless.

Thanks to the Rauch Bros. Animation for inspiring this epiphany.