"So say we all!"

It's hard to find good sci-fi. It's even harder to find good sci-fi on television. Now I can't claim to be as die-hard a Trekkie as Alan or Brad, but there's no hiding that Ghostbot loves sci-fi. The last well-done show that we've recently seen was Joss Whedon's Firefly, which as fans know, was poorly advertised and short-lived (however keep your eyes peeled for the soon to be released Firefly movie, Serenity). Then I saw the new Battlestar Galactica.

"Another remake?" I wanted so hard to not like it...but it's too good. I missed the premiere of the mini-series when it first came out. Instead, I happened to run across it when they recently aired it on NBC. At each commercial break, I kept thinking to myself, "ok, NOW is when they're going to screw it up and I can change the channel..." But it never happened. The intense plot, the flawed characters (a great cast led by the "war-beaten" Edward James Olmos), the awesome fx (done right by Zoic Studios!), the tasteful homage to the old series while crafting their own universe - everything was woven together into a gripping show. Instead of hating it, I kept muttering to myself, "this is really good...this is really GOOD!"

So now we're hooked, Tivos poised for lunch viewings. If you haven't seen it, you don't know what you're missing. All that and the creator Ron Moore has his own blog too...

ps. One of my fave episodes is "33". Holy moley.

Color me Bad Ass

The lovely and talented Jenny Hansen is one of the premiere colorist in the bay area. She is a classically trained artist, a charter member of the American Society of Landscape Painters and the primary color stylist for the Happy Tree Friends.

She just refreshed her site with lots of goodies including awesome painted landscapes, images from Bat Man, Mad Magazine and my personal favorite, Buddhist Monkey. Go Jenny!

Esurance Layout

For the second Esurance, since Erin was now at the beach instead of in a car dealership, I had the chance to go in and do a few extra poses for layout. I always try to work out as much as possible on paper before scanning the drawings in and creating vector art in Flash. There's just something about good old paper.

This pose actually never made it into the final cut, so I thought I'd post it here. The final vector art is below it.


ESURANCE ROUGH

ESURANCE 

Postcards from Erin

Following in Alan's footsteps, here are the bg style tests I did for Esurance "Part Deux". The client really wanted the beach sunset to be just right so they sent a lot of great reference. I created these in Flash and then imported them into Photoshop for a subtle touch of texture.

Esurance Reloaded

Here is an image from a commercial Ghostbot just did for Phil Robinson and the mad mad folks at Wildbrain. It's a second spot starring the sexy pink haired spy Erin. Phil supplied directing, I did design, storyboards and animation, Brad did layout and animation and Roque did the killer backgrounds. It's on the TV now, but hopefully we will be able to put it up when we get our site refreshed.

Thanks for all the support from family and peers, and an extra special shout out to the friend that is always looking out for our backs!

Dan Lee

© Pixar

We didn't know him that well but we admired him greatly. And it doesn't make the loss any less painful. Please spend the time reading some heartfelt tributes from friends remembering Dan Lee - a guy with a big heart and talent to match:

from Ronnie Del Carmen
from Jamie Baker
from Enrico Casarosa
photos from Amber MacLean

Bombaby!

Amaze Ink/Slave Labor Graphics just published a trade paperback of Bombaby:The Screen Goddess by the amazing Antony Mazzotta. Previously released as separate issues, SLG has done a fantastic job of compiling this limited series in a full-color, perfect bind, 5.5" x 8.5" edition. Antony is an outstanding artist, bringing influences like Bollywood, cartooning, anime, and just darn good drawing skills to the table. But what grabs my jugular everytime I open up this comic is how he's taken computer coloring to another planet. As you flip through each issue, you can see how the artist, not the tools, makes the difference. It's great to see Antony's progression and I can't wait to see what he does next. Kudos to SLG for letting him do a full-color book.

I was honored to be able to do a pinup for the TPB next to some other fine talent like fellowbot Arvin Bautista, Andy Ristaino, Junko Mizuno, and Bill Presing. Pick up your copy today!

Bombaby © Antony Mazzotta

Art imitates Animation Life!

Animation Runner Kuromi is a comedy anime that shows the pressure cooker of animation production. As an animator in the business I found this OAV hilarious and painfully true at the same time. I believe I've met each and every one of those characters before! If you have any interest in the animation world, check it out:
http://www.centralparkmedia.com/kuromi/

Dusty sketchbook

This post pales in comparison to Alan's image below but, oh well. We've been talking recently about posting up our daily sketches - good or bad - because that's always the cool stuff to see from other artists. I thought I'd start it off with this recent page of mine. If you can't tell, I haven't sketched in awhile. Like I said, good or bad.

For a more sophisticated approach to online sketching, check out Enrico Casarosa's fascinating Sketchcrawl.

Happy Tree Friends fan art

Here is a drawing I did for the Happy Tree Friends message board. Hopefully there will be more to come in 2005.

Happy Birthday Kyoko!

Kyoko is the official Ghostbot mascot!! Her special moves include "the Brad" (where she rams dudes named Brad in the crotch with her snout) and the "berzerker barrage" (where she spins around in a tornado to greet guests at the door). She is celebrating her 10th birthday today (70 in human). Here is a shot of her gathering lunch for the crew.

Commando

Commando

Feast your eyes on the all-new sculpt Snake Eyes. This original member of the Joe team is based on his quintessential version 2 design from 1985. As he should be, more commando than ninja.

Notice the new articulation technique hilighted by the injection-molded shoulders, allowing for better proportions without the oversized peg. Watch for it to hit the shelves sometime around February. Good times.

First Ghostbot Quotes of the New Year

Brad: Sometimes dreams do come true...
Alan: Shut up.

(quickly followed by)

Roque: I gotta blog that!