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

Never Not Funny Fan Art

Hey Everyone.  Happy Holidays! My favorite Podcast for years has been Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo. His good friend Matt Belknap is his co-host and another long time friend of his, Pat Francis, is a guest/co-host several times a season.  Every year on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) they have a 12 hour marathon podcast called the PARDCAST-A-THON for the charity Smile Train.  I was able to get tickets this year. The Never Not Funny Pardcast-a-thon has raised more than $500,000 to help more than 2,000 children around the world.

I was super excited to go and thought to do a drawing of an incident that happened on the podcast a few years back. Jimmy was trying to get some thoughts across and Matt and Pat were talking over him. We've all had that time our best friend wouldn't shut up and we wanted to throw something at them, well Jimmy had a mic in his hand to do just that. Pat and Matt didn't know what happened and Jimmy stormed out.  After a short break Jimmy was back in the room and they were all laughing at what happened. I had this image in my head for quite a while so I scrambled to get it done by the Pardcast-a-thon hoping to get it to them somehow.  Luckily I was able to approach them afterward and I thanked Jimmy and gave them the framed drawing.  They seemed to like it, I'm hoping that's the case.  It's the least I could do for all the laughs I've gotten from them.

I highly suggest you check out the podcast.  Here's a link to Never Not Notes which has a recap on that particular episode: Never Not Funny Episode 523. Scroll down to 40:00 to read about the mic throw.  Never Not Notes has almost all the episodes logged there. You could also find a link there to get that individual episode. Lucky for me the website author Darryl Asher posted enough pictures on the webpage for me to see what they were wearing and haircuts and such.

The text and banner were done by Eric Firth. I wanted to use a Logo that had already been done for the show and I thought his was the best for the picture.  Of course the characters were done by me.

UPDATE:

This was just posted the other day on Never Not Funny's Vine account.  Click in the lower right for sound.

Family Guy Pencil Test Animation - Der Kommissar

Hey Folks,

I came across this clip on my computer today.  Back when I was on family guy as a revisionist I got to do some pretty fun pieces of animation.  This bit here was a take off on the Falco video for "Der Kommissar."

I got the video and exports the key poses to use as reference.  The tricky part was to animate the puppet like it was a marionette where the motivation of movement was coming from the strings and not from the character.  I always was marveled when i'd see that in Pinnocho, and here I got to do a little of it myself.  

http://youtu.be/pCfehiAYLIs - Family Guy Clip

http://youtu.be/_w4Xulsjo5I - Falco Video

Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja Rough Animation Using Toon Boom Storyboard Pro

I was working on a scene the other day that had quite a bit of animation in various stages.  I thought it would be fun to share the process. Some of the poses started out extremely rough, almost indiscernible. Movement comes first. You can see how I clarified things and also use the software to reuse or repurpose bits of drawings to make life easier.

Pete Venkman Ghostbusters Collboration

Hi folks!  Long time no post I know.  The pace over at Randy Cunningham has been relentless. Not much time or energy for outside projects.  I did squeeze out some time the other day for a drawing I signed up to do.  It's for a Ghostbusters collaboration that @patrickfedo threw a call out for.  He's a big Ghostbusters nut and I couldn't pass up throwing my pencil in the ring.  I thought I might have had to pass but I had a little extra free time the other night.  I took a few screencaps on my ipad, did the initial sketch on paper, scanned it in and finished it up in Storyboard Pro.

The Summer Ghostbusters came out you couldn't go anywhere without hearing the Ghostbusters song or seeing something about the movie.  I must have played the cassette of the soundtrack hundreds of times. Watched the movie dozens of times when it came on HBO, then VHS, then DVD.  Now it's on Netflix streaming. Back then there wasn't the internet and mobile devices to barrage us with an over saturation of entertainment.  You didn't have the next best thing at your fingertips to distract you from the experience you just had. A movie stayed in the theatre for a few months if it was popular, and Ghostbusters was. Films that were big permeated society for weeks.  Only one or two big movies were out at a time.  

It definitely was something that shaped my view on entertainment and film. Saying it was a big deal to me as a kid would be an understatement.  Few things hold up from childhood and THE BOYS IN GREY more than hold up. They are timeless.

Here's the transcript of the scene from Ghostbusters:

(Carnegie Hall - Outside) 

(Dana and a male Violinist exit the Hall.) 

Dana: I don't know where they get these guest conductors. Someone should tell him that it's not going to do much good to scream at us in German. 

Violinist: Well, I don't think the man is competent to conduct a major symphony orchestra. 

(Dana looks up and spots Peter.) 

Dana: Um, could you wait here a minute? 

Violinist: Uh, sure. 

(Dana walks over to Peter.) 

Dana: Dr. Venkman, this is a surprise. 

Peter: That was a wonderful rehearsal. 

Dana: You heard that? 

Peter: Yes. You're the best one in your row. 

Dana: Oh, thank you. You're good. Most people can't hear me with the whole orchestra playing. 

Peter: Hey, I don't have to take this abuse from you. I've got hundreds of people dying to abuse me. 

Dana: I know. You're a big celebrity now. Do you have some information on my case? 

Peter: (indicating the Violinist) Who's the stiff? 

Dana: The stiff happens to be one of the finest musicians in the world! Now do you have some information for me, please? 

Peter: Sure, but I'd prefer to give it to you in private. 

Dana: Why don't you tell me now? 

Peter: Well, okay. I found the name Zuul for you. (reading off a piece of paper) The name Zuul refers to a demi-god worshipped around 6000 BC by theÖwhat's that word? 

Dana: Hittites. 

Peter: Hittites, the Mesopotamians and the Sumerians. 

Dana: (reading) Zuul was the minion of Gozer. What's Gozer? 

Peter: Gozer was very big in Sumeria. Big guy. 

Dana: Well, what's he doing in my icebox? 

Peter: I'm working on that. If we could get together Thursday night, I'm thinking nine-ish, you know, we could exchange information. 

Dana: I can't see you Thursday, I'm busy! 

Peter: Miss Barrett, you seem to think there is something wrong up here in your mind that says: he enjoys taking his evenings off and spending them with his clients. No. I'm making a special exception in your case. Because... I respect you. It's corny but I respect you as artist. And as a dresser, too! This is a magnificent coordination you have going here today. 

Dana: All right. I'll see you Thursday. 

Peter: I'll bring The Roylance Guide and we'll eat and read! 

(Dana goes back over to the Violinist and they begin to walk off.) 

Violinist: So! Who the hell was that? 

Dana: Just a friend. 

Violinist: A friend? 

Dana: An old friend. 

Peter: (yelling) Right, I'll see you Thursday! I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you, sir! And I'm glad you're feeling much better. You're still very pale, though! A little sun... 

Violinist: What's he do? 

Dana: Oh, he's a scientist. 

Tombstone Warm Ups - August 2013 update

What's this?  The first post in months?  And with an actual fresh drawing?  Yeah yeah I know.  Hey, it happens.  First I was actually doing animation for something that I can't show anyone yet, BUT I did learn how to use Toon Boom Harmony to do traditional animation.  Then/now I'm working on a new show that hasn't aired yet so I can't show anything from that. BUT I learned a good way to animate traditionally in Photoshop.  Both are great projects that I'm excited to see come to fruition.

I'm also fielding some Q & A stuff over at Animator Island.  Check out the initial post at  http://www.animatorisland.com/animator-qa-ask-now/ . So when I actually have time to just Draw for Drawing's sake, I've been working on finishing up a small comic I'm doing and that's the backgrounds.  Even though I'm enjoying doing the backgrounds - I found a cool retro style that I really like - I am really jonesing DRAWING.  So last night after working on both of those, I had some time left before bedtime but I couldn't think of something so I pulled up stuff on youtube and found Tombstone.

I did a warm up drawing of the two guys shaking hands (at bottom).  Then I wanted to do a fun character face and exaggerate it.  Not really caricature, but just have fun.  So I snapped the pic of Kurt Russell and his mustache and had at it

I started with just some basics to get the cobwebs out.

Then I threw a blue sketch layer over it and did some cleaner work on it.  Again I wasn't trying to reproduce the photo, just let my eye tell my hand what's going on and to HAVE FUN.

Here's one of the backgrounds (or BGs as we call them) from the short comic I'm doing.  You can see why it' taking a while.  I HAD to set it in a comic book shop.  Those of you Burbank locals might recognize the place a little.

Another Double Header of The Ninja! TONIGHT!

TONIGHT! Monday, March 25


Original Series - Episode Premiere. Another NEW episode!!

Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja

"Der Monster Klub/Grave Puncher: The Movie!"

Both episodes directed by Good ol' me

... (7:00 PM - 7:30 PM ET/PT)

"Der Monster Klub" - When Randy and Howard are forced to share a lunch table with the outcast group -Der Monster Klub,' they realize these oddballs are playing a dangerous game that could destroy the whole school.

"Grave Puncher: The Movie!" - During the premiere a new 6D film, the movie's title character comes to life and threatens to destroy Norrisville.

TV-Y7-FV

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Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja: New 2013 Episodes!

It's a Taback double feature tonight.  Both of the episodes are ones I directed! 

Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja "Stank'd to the Future/Wave Slayers"
(7:00 PM - 7:30 PM ET/PT)


"Stank'd to the Future" - When Dickie, a frozen student from the 1980s is turned into a crazy monster by the Sorcerer, Randy and Howard must reunite Dickie with his lost love, Ms. Ringwald, before the school is destroyed.
Guest Starring Bobcat Goldthwait as Dickie and Annie Potts as Ms. Ringwald.


"Wave Slayers" - Randy and Howard join their school's "Wave Slayer" team but as jet ski waxers. When Randy accidently damages the jet ski belonging to the team captain, Buttermaker, moments before their biggest race, he and Howard must step up and find a way to save the race.
Guest Starring Sterling Knight as Buttermaker.
TV-Y7-FV

Disney XD Randy Page

FEET IN ANIMATION - Part 2

Part 2 of FEET IN ANIMATION is posted over at Animator Island.

From my last post:

JK Riki over at ANIMATOR ISLAND posted part 1 of a Drawniversity Lesson I did on cartoon characters' feet placement.  The question was posed by a reader:

"How do you decide which way a character's feet should face?  Is it just a stylistic choice or does it in some way help the process or convey something in the character performance?"

The question referenced some Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny stills where his feet were pointing in very opposite directions compared to facing forward.  This plus a few drawing tips on BALANCE can be found in Part 1 over at  www.animatorisland.com.  Part 2 will be up next week and soon after that the whole lesson will be in one post over at the Drawniversity Blog, along with the other sample lessons.

Part 1  ~~~~  Part 2 

LINKS

Drawniversity Home Page

Drawniversity Blog

Animator Island

@cackphrase

FEET IN ANIMATION – PART 1

Hey Guys,

JK Riki over at ANIMATOR ISLAND posted part 1 of a Drawniversity Lesson I did on cartoon characters' feet placement.  The question was posed by a reader:

"How do you decide which way a character's feet should face?  Is it just a stylistic choice or does it in some way help the process or convey something in the character performance?"

The question referenced some Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny stills where his feet were pointing in very opposite directions compared to facing forward.  This plus a few drawing tips on BALANCE can be found in Part 1 over at  www.animatorisland.com.  Part 2 will be up next week and soon after that the whole lesson will be in one post over at the Drawniversity Blog, along with the other sample lessons.

LINKS

Drawniversity Home Page

Drawniversity Blog

Animator Island

@cackphrase

Drawing Hands 103 - Nailed It!

Hey everyone.  I received a comment from one of my last drawing hands posts over at Animator Island:

"Catplanet wrote:
I always get screwed up on fingernails because the make my hands look like claws and I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

Here's a lesson I did over at Drawniversity covering how to put the nails on fingers.

For the full 7 pg. lesson click over to Animator Island's Nov 19 1012 Post