Tim Biskup: In Studio

Pop Artist Tim Biskup in his studio. I dig his sculptures and the quirky use of color in all his work.

Grave Digger: Old School Art

This is a good one to start October with. A long time ago I used to design T-shirts. 

I used seven different screens to create this design. I had to draw each color screen, in gray pencil, as a negative, on a separate vellum overlay, then shoot 14 x 17 halftone photos of each, on a camera the size of a refrigerator. These giant transparent films were then chemically developed by hand in a darkroom, before being used to expose the emulsion on the actual polyester "silk" screens.

 It was a labor intensive, technically demanding skill, now made obsolete by computers.

Ray Harryhausen

This is a compilation of every (?)  stop motion creature created by the great Ray Harryhausen.

Before computers and Jurassic Park, this is how it was done, one frame at a time by one guy, working mostly in his garage.

Phil Trumbo

Also teaching at VCU, when I was a student, Phil Trumbo directed the animated sequences in the opening of Pee-Wee's playhouse. See his current reel below.

An Angel

An old pen and ink Angel I did years ago. For all it's flaws I just always liked this one.

Frank Kelly Freas

This video features a good look at some of the work of the late artist Frank Kelly Freas.

Signed copies of his two folio books sit on the shelf next to my desk in the studio.

I met him on several occasions in the late 70s and early 80s when I was just starting out as an illustrator, and he offered this pushy kid great encouragement, and a good number of painting tips.  I was first introduced when he had a retrospective at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk Va. An amazing talent and a really nice guy. The Dean of Science Fiction Illustrators. 

Piggidy Giggidy!

This toy by j*ryu shows what would happen if Kermit and Ms Piggy took things to their logical conclusion. See his Flicker Stream here. Get info about the "Brain Evolution" Jumping Brain Show here.

Who Shot First?

Long before "Clone Wars" we created this whole card game illustrated with 3d models. I like to think that our little experiment helped encourage Lucas that a TV series could be done in a CGI style.  I tend to believe Greedo reached first, but Han drew and shot faster, then Greedo pulled his trigger in the spasm of death.

Don't Shoot!

One of the quick illustrations I did for Decipher's "Wars" TCG. My favorite part is the distressed robot bartender in the background. My friend Chuck Kallenbach was kind enough to pose for this one.

Grand Moff Tarkin

My 3d illustration of Tarkin for Decipher Inc's "Jedi Knights TCG."

Agent Smith illustration

This is an illustration of Agent Smith I did, where he is drawn entirely with Matrix Kanji/Binary code.

Nomads Draw: Wonder Woman

Check out Craig Harris's work at his blog, www.nomadsdraw.blogspot.com

The Amazing work of Chris Gallagher

My good friend Chris Gallagher has been working on this Star Wars effects video as a side project for some time. Amazing stuff! Also stay for the trailer about his latest media project at the end. It's a first view of something a lot of people will be talking about soon.

Charles Schultz drawing Charlie Brown

My New Website is Up!

My new website is finally up! You can view my portfolio and more at www.joeboulden.com

Speaking of Terri Gilliam...

Here is an educational video by the master himself! It's kind of long, but he demonstrates how he did all his cut-out animation for Monty Python. This is how we did it before Flash was invented kids.

Cyriak

Cyriak is an amazing animator. (Probably the illegitimate son of Terri Gilliam.)