2007-04-28

One Mighty (difficult) Mouse (to draw)

Lesson 9A / 10 (Model Sheets) - Part 4 (Mighty Mouse)

(This is either Lesson 9A or Lesson 10, depending on whether you're following JohnK's numbering or the number at ASIFA.)

The $100,000 Animation Drawing Course - Lesson 9A/10 (also seen at ASIFA-Hollywood)

Notes:

  • I continue to struggle with proportion -- notice the size of the head realtive to the body.
  • I do a better job when I make my copy larger than the orignal. Everything seems to fall apart when I make my drawing smaller than the original. (Less room to cheat, I guess.)



Model sheet:


My stuff:

Assignment_Model_MM_pg1


Assignment_Model_MM_pg2


2007-04-27

Truth in advertising

If potato chips were advertised in this manner, I wonder if I'd like them any less. Nah... I didn't think so either.

2007_04_27_truth_in_advertising

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.


2007-04-24

Trying To Fill the Hole

One sure clue as to whether we're being motivated by aspiration or expectation is that aspiration is always satisfying; it may not be pleasant but it is always satisfying. Expectation, on the other hand, is always unsatisfying, because it comes from our little minds, our egos. Starting way back in childhood, we live our lives looking for satisfaction outside ourselves. We look for some way to conceal the basic fear that something is missing from our lives. We go from one thing to another trying to fill up the hole we think is there.
~ Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen

via Integral Options Cafe


2007-04-23

A 2 year old's brain - part 2

Craig commented that part one of this series was missing a "endless for/next loop for when said two-year-old doesn't instantly get what (s)he wants." Craig, this one's for you!

2007_04_23_2_year_old_pt02

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.



2007-04-21

Shifting seasons

Make no mistake, I LOVE my summers! I just can't remember the last time we had a significant spring.

2007_04_21_shifting_seasons

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.


2007-04-20

I am NOT the nanny

Tired of being mistaken for the nanny just because your kids look exactly like their father? Make it clear with humor! Check out my Cafe Press store.

I am not the nanny


2007-04-18

Relative weights

According to Dr. Phil:

It takes 100 "atta girls" to erase one "you're not worth the trouble."

Though Dr. Phil typically uses this phrase in reference to raising children, I suspect a similar ratio applies to adults. When was the last time you called yourself stupid? When was the last time you gave yourself a pat on the back?

2007_04_18_relative_weights

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.


2007-04-17

puppet: with raincoat

This was created at our local Ontario Early Years Centre.

raincoat_puppet_decorated


For instructions please visit Craft Day.


2007-04-16

A 2 year old's brain

There's a reason why people refer to this age as the "Terrible Twos."
2007_04_15_2_year_old

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.


2007-04-15

Foray into Cafe Press

Based on demand, I've opened up a Cafe Press store for my Motivation and happiness doodle.

While, it is not my intent to make this a highly commercial site, I am happy to entertain requests to create Cafe Press products with my images. If there's an image you'd like to see on a product, please leave a comment on the post in question or send an e-mail to the address listed at this blog. Products will be offered based on demand and my resources.

I don't plan on announcing every new image I make available. For your convenience you can check the "buy me at Cafe Press" link on the sidebar.

Lastly, does anyone know of a comprehensive Cafe Press type business that ships out of Canada?


2007-04-11

Right or happy?

[Edited to add Cafe Press information at bottom of post.]

"Would you rather be right, or would you rather be happy?"

I don't know the origins of this quote, though I do know that Dr. Phil uses it often.

I wonder how much happiness fails to get experienced because people would rather be right than happy?

2007_04_11_right_or_happy

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

(Items with a variation of this image can be purchased at Cafe Press.)


2007-04-10

You thought we wouldn't notice

[Edited to add some links about protecting images at the bottom of this post. ]

You thought we wouldn’t notice is a "site dedicated to pointing out those thing's that give you that feeling of 'haven't l seen that somewhere before?' " Today's post is very interesting.

Other links about that post:

It got me to thinking. What would I do if someone copied something I did? And made a tonne of money from it? Blech.

(I've already had someone reproduce something of mine while violating the terms of the Creative Commons license, and I haven't been successful at getting that sorted out. But at least they didn't take credit for it!)

On protecting images:

"If your image is so valuable that you want to be sure no one ever steals it,
then don't post it online. That is the securest and safest method of protecting
your digital images."


2007-04-09

Time to find new interests

Wouldn't it be lovely if everything you liked to do, commanded a huge salary?

2007_04_09_time_to_find_new_interests

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.


2007-04-08

Do you really know about your web stats software?

Thanks to Debbie for alerting us about certain stats-tracking companies that may be installing cookies without users' consent.
Read more from:


And from the StatCounter blog:

A few months back, StatCounter was approached by an advertiser, offered lots of $$$, and asked to include a spyware cookie on all of our member sites…we refused on the spot.

You install StatCounter to track visitors to your site NOT to open yourself and your visitors up to being spied upon by phantom advertising corporations.

It appears, however, that other players in the world of webstats were happy to take up this offer…


The alleged offending code has been removed from my websites.


2007-04-07

Send this to a mom you know

Moms need "pats on the back" just like everyone else. Send this to a mom you know!

2007_04_05_great_mom



The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.


2007-04-06

Kathy Sierra on "How to be an expert"

[Edited to add a terrific example a the bottom of this post.]

On March 3 of 2006, Kathy Sierra wrote this terrific piece on "How to be an expert." (Which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.)

I love this chart that she made:



Favourite quotes from the article:

  • It turns out that rather than being naturally gifted at music or math or chess or whatever, a superior performer most likely has a gift for concentration, dedication, and a simple desire to keep getting better. In theory, again, anyone willing to do what's required to keep getting better WILL get better.
  • Maybe the "naaturally talented artist" was simply the one who practiced a hell of a lot more. Or rather, a hell of a lot more deliberately. Dr. K. Anders Ericsson, professor of psychology at Florida State University, has spent most of his 20+ year career on the study of genuises, prodigies, and superior performers. In the book The New Brain (it was on my coffee table) Richard Restak quotes Ericsson as concluding:

    "For the superior performer the goal isn't just repeating the same thing again and again but achieving higher levels of control over every aspect of their performance. That's why they don't find practice boring. Each practice session they are working on doing something better than they did the last time."
  • So it's not just how long they practice, it's how they practice. Basically, it comes down to something like this:
    Most of us want to practice the things we're already good at, and avoid the things we suck at. We stay average or intermediate amateurs forever.
  • And if the neuroscientists are right, you can create new brain cells--by learning (and not being stuck in a dull cubicle)--at virtually any age. Think about it... if you're 30 today, if you take up the guitar tomorrow, you'll have been playing for TWENTY years by the time you're 50. You'll be kicking some serious guitar butt. And if you're 50 today, there's no reason you can't be kicking guitar butt at 70. What are you waiting for?

Back to the drawing board for me!

--

via Neatorama:

Huang Xiaohu, a 32-year-old Chinese man trained himself to write 10 numerals simultaneously using 10 fingers.

Huang Xiaohu told to Beijing Times he acquired the special ability through countless practices. "I want to prove myself by doing something that others can’t do," he said.

"I have no special talent. I did it entirely by practicing."


2007-04-05

Skill Acquisition pt 2 - Adults

In direct contrast with children, have you ever noticed how quick adults are to give up on learning new skills?

2007_04_05_Skill_acquisition_part_2_adults

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.


2007-04-04

Skill Acquisition pt 1 - Children

Have you ever noticed that children tenaciously practice at new skills until they master them?

2007_04_04_Skill_acquisition_part_1_children

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.


2007-04-03

Easter Bunny

This was created at our local Ontario Early Years Centre.


easter_bunny

For instructions please visit Craft Day.


2007-04-02

Out of the loop*

2007_04_02_Out_of_the_loop

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.


[*] - The characters in this doodle are fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is unintentional and purely coincidental.


2007-04-01

April Fool's or really good fortune?

You decide. Read today's XKCD's post titled "Syndication."

[Edited to add: It was a prank. He took the original post down and replaced it with this text in the header:

Re: April Fools: Balls to syndication. You guys are the readers I want! <3
Good one!]