Blog Update

 Hey Folks!

Thanks for swinging by! For the time being the blog won't be updated, but please take a look around since there is a lot of artwork I'm very proud of.  It's sort of a "side-portfolio."  Some of my actual portfolio pieces are also posted with stories about how they came to be.

Please head on over to my main website www.joshuataback.com 

For personal 1-on-1 drawning lessons visit www.drawniversity.com

and

Follow my Instagram to continue to follow my artistic adventures.

(Click on the logo to go to Instagram)

Tinkering with Comic Draw

I've been tinkering around with the Comic Draw app for the iPad Pro.  I'm digging it a lot!

Longmire

If you're not watching Longmire on Netflix you should.  Just saying.  It's a procedural cop show set in a small Wyoming town.  It's more in the vein of Columbo, Rockford Files and Kojak than Law and Order.  As the series goes on the characters get more fleshed out and interesting and more of the plots are character driven.  Great Cast, beautiful locations and solid TV writing.  It's based on a series of books called The Walt Longmire Mysteries. The show started out on A&E for three seasons and Netflix picked it up for it's fourth.  I'm glad they did because it let the show out of the "network reigns" (pardon the pun).  Without having to have commercials it gives the show about 20 extra minutes to let the scenes breathe. 

Curious to see more about Longmire? Click here for it's IMDB webpage.

I've been wanting to start doing character line ups and I was inspired to get started while I was watching Longmire. I learned a few things about rendering and tricks in Photoshop that I'm gonna apply to my next line up.

Longmire A&E Webpage

Robert Taylor as Walt Longmire

Katee Sackoff as Vic Moretti

Lou Diamond Phillips as Henry Standing Bear

Bailey Chase as Branch Connally

A Martinez as Jacob Nighthorse

Cassidy Freeman as Cady Longmire

Zahn McClarnon as Officer Mathias

Adam Bartley as The Ferg

Reysie Duck. The Quack Awakens.

Inspired by my friend and Star Wars fan, Daisy Edwards, saying there wasn't enough Daisy Duck merchandise at Disneyland.

For those of you out of the Star Wars loop, here's the main character from the recent films.

Eye On Springfield Art Show

Here's the piece I did for the Eye On Springfield, Simpsons themed art show held at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood.  Thanks to Nico Colaleo for having me be a part of it. For those of you who are Doctor Who fans you'll recognize the scene from the episode entitled "Journey's End."

(art created in Photoshop CC 2015)

Here's some of the reference I used from the episode of Doctor Who.

Rock Solid Podcast: The Who

Here's another piece I did for the Rock Solid Podcast.  One of my favorite bands The Who was the topic.  I made one version that would fit around the Facebook graphics and one that is a stand alone.  I Loved doing this piece.  Listen to the Episode HERE, iTunes or whatever podcast App you have.

Rock Solid Podcast: Comedy Songs

Here's a piece I did for the Rock Solid Podcast. The subject that week was Comedy Songs. I've had to whittle my podcast listening list down because I'm so behind, but Rock Solid is a stays in the rotation. That's Pat Francis on the right and Murray Valeriano on the left.  Pat also made an appearance in another drawing of mine for the Never Not Funny Podcast.

Mom, There's a Frog in My Celery!

A while back my sister called me up in a panic.  She had just come back from grocery shopping and was pulling apart a bunch of celery and there was a small dead frog in the middle of it.  Needless to say she was majorly freaked and I was majorly amused - as was she after she calmed down.  She did have some anxiety around celery for a while after that.

So This drawing was the result, then I put it on an apron for her.

Here's the apron for purchase if you'd like one. For those of you with the same sense of humor.

 

Frog in My Celery - Apron Standard Apron by joshtbck
Get your cooking aprons personalized from Zazzle.

Back to the Future Art Show

I was recently part of an art show honoring the 30th anniversary of the movie Back to the Future.   The show was curated by my friend Nico Colaleo and held at the Nerdmelt Gallery at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood.  

Click here to read Nico talk about the show

Here's my piece for the show

It was great to be a part of something that so many people showed up to and enjoyed.  There were a ton of great pieces in the show done by artists that are obviously in love with the film.  A lot of in jokes that die hard Back to the Future fans would totally appreciate.

Bob Gale, The Co-Writer/Producer Of the Back to the Future films, also came by. My buddy Eugene Abano and I were lucky enough to chat with him for a bit and get a picture.

Back to the Future: A 2015 Art Tribute from Nico Colaleo on Vimeo.

For Those of you who aren't familiar with the scene I took my inspiration from, here's a clip fro the movie

back to the future - my density has popped me to you from Joshua Taback on Vimeo.

Kadoodling

A couple years ago I was approached by a friend of a friend to do some animation for the pitch of a show.  The idea was for comedian and actor David Koechner

 (who also did the voice of Mac Antfee on Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja) to interview funny celebrities and cut away to doodle type animation that depicted the funny things they were saying.  

It was a fun project and it was great to bring something to actual completion with my own hand. Creatively it was interesting because I found a style by accident that I really liked.  
Time constraints prevented me from doing fleshed out inbetweens, but I didn't want a popping staccato look that lesser finessed animation usually has.  So I chose my moments wisely.  I popped quick poses and compensated by fleshing out the follow through and overlapping animation as well as some "cushion drawings."  There are some poses here and there that are on more than 2's. 

I just felt it out to see what seemed right. The vibe was supposed to be doodles on a place-mat that come to life.  The process created a real kinetic energy that I got a big kick out of.  I made a point to fully inbetween a scene but it was so smooth it didn't feel right.  It lacked the quirkyness that the style had created, so I just stuck to it

I've waited a while to put this up because they were still pitching it around town.  But recently I found out that was't in the works anymore so here it is.

KADOODLING from Joshua Taback on Vimeo.

The animation was done TRADITIONALLY HAND DRAWN in ToonBoom Harmony. With the aid of some digital tricks such as copying and pasting pieces of drawings that didn't have to change.

The live action clips were taken from already produced shorts from Dumbdumb Films.  You can see the whole interviews in their original form here: http://dumbdumb.com/videos/ Just scroll down to where it says DENNY'S.

If you're not familiar with some of the animation terms above feel free to leave a comment asking about them or watch this video: https://vimeo.com/93206523

To further honor Hand Drawn Animation, here's a tidbit about The making of Snow White http://youtu.be/M2ORkIrHUbg