Animation Corner

Robotech on /b/

2010-08-30T17:13:00.000-07:00

Did a doodle from memory of a VT from Macross (Robotech) then posted it on the 4chan /b/ to see what would happen. It's not a long thread, /b/ moves very fast and it 404'd with in moments. But I managed to get a handful of comments.

Signature as a Censor Bar?

2010-08-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

So I've recently made friend with a talented artists on Deviant Art: enigmawing. I had done and erotic rough of one of her characters. Being the talented colorists she is, she wanted to finish the work. Who what I to object. You can see the final image here. (You'll have to be a member over 18years old to see it.) I don't know how she figured this out, but my signature just happen to cover her private areas! You can see the result below.

Sketches in Photoshop

2010-08-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

Some of my best doodles are created at the end of the day.

I always have girls and robots on the brain....

Everybody Duckface Tonight!

2010-08-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

When I saw the original gif of this woman doing the duckface, I instantly thought it required the Everybody Have Fun Tonight tune by Wang Chung in the background. I extended the gif to about 60 seconds and looped the intro music.

Doodle Pages...Erotica Ahead!

2010-08-19T20:43:00.000-07:00


I used a visual reference for this doodle.


Usually I do the sketch pages from my head; a train-of-thought if you will.

Brush Pen

2010-08-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

Out of my sketch book. I sampled Rhode's brush pen, I liked the results.

Cat Woman at The Drawing Club

2010-08-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

So my pal and coworker Melissa had suggested I join tonight's life drawing class, figuring it would be up my alley. She is right of course, and I had a fun time just sorta not trying to be so perfect with my sketches and really try to play. The Drawing Club is in Glendale, and I think because of the subject matter, it was a packed house. A lot of great work was being created. The guy who ran the place had the Tim Burton Batman 2 muted on a big screen with the sound theme music on a constant loop. A tad overwhelming, (and I even got distracted a few times) but I managed to calm down and relax. I stood the whole time, and although it may have seemed inconvenient, that's probably just what I needed to try and not focus on details and be bolder. I would say that $20 for 3 hours wasn't a bad rate.

The model did a really good job. She was dressed in a cat woman suit and knew how to get into the part. Rather than the academic poses you may get from a typical life drawing class, the sexual undertone of a woman in a catsuit really brought out some fun/sexy poses from the model. She knew what she was doing, and she knew what we wanted. So I thank the nameless model for doing such a great job.

Shark Week: Stealth Shark

2010-08-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

My pal and coworker Megan Dong is a talented artist and digs sharks. She's got the entire office doing shark images this week. So I finally decided to contribute to the fray; but I did it with my own spin.

Misfit for Ghostbot

2010-07-31T13:49:00.001-07:00

For my good friends over at Ghostbot who had doodled two versions of Xixa in my sketchbook while sitting in their booth at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con. I had promised to return the favor and draw their really cute character Miss Fit.

Xixa Cosplay

2009-05-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

Commissioned Illiara, the very lovely and talented cosplayer, to dress as my alien girl from the planet Xylem, Xixa.

There were hundreds of photos taken but Keith, and here is a sample from my cell phone camera.Make up was by Liz. Illiara was so very patient. She sat for hours to be turned green, and she didn't complain once!

The day was such a success. I can't wait to get all the photos from the shoot.

Transformers Satire For FrankTV

2008-12-03T20:45:00.001-08:00

*forgive the laugh track and the applause. This was shown to a studio audience*.

Titmouse did some animated shorts that satire popular cartoons and video games from the 80's for Frank TV on TBS. They gave me the Transformers short to direct.

I did the Storyboards, Designs, Layouts and Animated some of the scenes. The scene I'm most proud of is the classic scene where Optimus drive up to the camera, and as he transforms the camera fallows him up. Actually, I did all of the transforming scenes! But that scene I'm most proud of.

I should also mention that I storyboarded, designed and did the layout in FlashCS; as well as the animation. It was comped together using Final Cut.

We managed to find some original SoundFX from Season 1 of Transformers, however, it seems the production at FrankTV took them out and replaced them for legal reasons perhaps.

Also, for legal reasons, I wasn't allow to design the Transformers exactly like the original characters. Again for legal reasons. Hence why Bumble Bee is green, etc.

Originally aired on Frank TV
Production Titmouse inc www.titmouse.net

Women in Boxes Complete!

2008-11-26T22:48:00.001-08:00

I finished last night and I fedex'd the drawing off today. It should get to NYC by Monday.

Here's the flier to the show

I'll be flying in to NYC for the show too; see you there if you go.

Too Art for TV Too (UPDATE)

2008-11-11T12:23:00.001-08:00

With the 24th of November as my deadline I have finished more than half of the boxes. I did not finish the last two on the bottom left because I ran out of materials! A cropped version down below to demonstrate what I am going for with this project.

To Art for TV Too

2008-09-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

So my very talented sister is having a gallery opening featuring artists in the animation industry. The name of the show is To Art for TV Too. You can read an article about it on Cart oon Brew. I thought that the show would be a perfect opportunity to explore my Woman in Boxes exercise but in a much larger scale. I'm so happy with how it's turning out, I wanted to share my work in progress.

4'x4' masonite with a grid of 225 boxes at 3"x3" each

I've always wanted to try this, and the Show is a good excuse to try it out. Basically I had a masonite board cute to a square of 4'x4'.

A detail of what a roughed box looks like before I color

Each box is the same size as a standard postit 3"x3". I set in a boarder for the board at 1.5" leaving me with 15 boxes across, and 15 boxes down which add up to 225 boxes total!

I was introduced to carandache crayons during college '93 bfa film/video

My medium is Carandache Neocolor II crayons and I use a very small palette. A light orange, a redder orange, navy blue, marron, peach (for my hot highlights) and black (for my outlines).Each pose could be repeated but will never be treated the same.

Unlike my digital work, the I don't intend for each finished box to be perfectly rendered. I want the observer to see the marks I laydown on the board.

Exteme closeup of one completed box

So as long as I can finish at least 4 boxes a day, I'll have the work done in time a week before the show Dec 5th.

Pepper Jade

2008-09-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

I had a hankering to draw a cute bondage type gal wearing latex long gloves and thigh high boots. The result was this little spit fire of a girl.Pepper Jade (c) Edward Artinian 2008

Pepper Jade (c) Edward Artinian 2008

Sexy Warrior Cat Girl

2008-09-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

Celine Bleu is a warrior cat girl I came up with a few years ago. She's one of those designs I have that tend to evolve over time as my style and skill level change.

Celine Bleu (c) Edward Artinian 2008
After I did this image above, I was inspired to draw a more erotic/cheesecake image of her. I haven't drawn her nude very much in the past and I felt as though I should I like the results.

Celine Bleu (c) Edward Artinian 2008

I always appreciate any comments.

San Diego Comic Con08 Part 3 (video clips)

2008-07-27T23:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a sample of various clips I captured while at the Con. I think it gives off a little more of the atmosphere than you might see from a still photo.

For the rest of the videos, head over to my youtube channel.

San Diego Comic Con08 Part 2 (Toys)

2008-07-27T15:04:00.001-07:00

Macross (better known as Robotech in the U.S. market) has been one of the biggest influences on my work when it comes to scifi robot creation. I alway make a point to stop by this booth so that I can snap the latest photos of what ever Macross toys and figures are available.

I just love the detail that is put into some of these display figures. I gravitate towards the sexy babes and the robots.

End of Part 2

San Diego Comic Con08 Part 1 (Cosplay)

2008-07-27T13:40:00.001-07:00

Here is a huge collection of photos that were snapped with my digital camera at the SDC08. I was really impressed with the amount of cosplayers I saw this year! A real good mix of popular and original designs. It's really impressive with the amount of time and detail these people put into their craft.

A humble reward for buying these two lovely ladies milk and cookies.

I'm in Tattooed Babe Heaven

The Cake is a Lie

Molotov Cocktease and Venture Brothers Creator Jackson Publick

Enjoy the Collection:

End Part One

Twilight Fan Art

2008-07-18T13:09:00.001-07:00

So under some peer pressure from Kristine, I finally read the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and soon to be a motion picture.

I think the book is fine, if I were a 16 year old girl. But overall, it wasn't my cup of tea, and I wont be reading the next three novels that continue the bizarre love story that is Edward and Bella. I will say, however, that it did resonate with me on some level and I am curious to see how they pull off the up coming movie. Since I don't have cable, I'm not seeing the heavy promotion that's going on MTV, but you can't deny the popularity of the books; so I guess theres something to it.

The image I'm posting below is my impression of Edward and Bella. After reading it, I really got a sense of the dynamic between the two 'lovers'. Edward at some point in the novel said (and I'm paraphrasing) "The lion falls in love with the lamb...". That one sentence stuck with me. It was like a light going on in my head, and it makes perfect sense as to why Edward behaves the way he does with Bella. "She's MINE" is what keeps popping into my head.

"Lion and the Lamb"
Edward and Bella (c) Stephenie Meyer

Kinda fun to do, really. Something that I normally don't draw and it was nice to do something that is a change of pace for me.

Five Seconds With Xixa and Pink

2008-02-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

The most amazing thing happend yesterday. The studio I work at (Titmouse) gave us the day to work on 5 seconds of animation and it can be what ever we want.

What do you think the first thing that came to mind?

Animated using a Flash CS in a traditional method. That means I roughed cleaned and colored all in Flash.

Xixa and Pink (c) Edward Artinian 2008

This was the greatest gift I've received professionally in a long time. I mean how many times does your employer just say: "hey today, you get to do your own thing for eight hours and we'll pay you"? Not often I can say. I've been animating for 14 years, and I have yet to have a day of free form work.

Needless to say, it was a like a creative jolt in the arm for all the members of the studio. Some worked by themselves, others got together to create the work. But everyone had to participate. It didn't matter if you didn't know how to animate, you had to create something.

The moment of truth was today, and we watched all of the short films. The diversity and personality of the studio was there for all of us to see. I couldn't believe how talented everyone was and I was so proud of all those who participated.

Truly, this is one of those moments I wont forget and will hold in my heart for a life time.

Pink Tentacle Monster Final Color with Rough

2007-10-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

The final official turnaround in color.

The rough turnaround done in Flash
Pink Tentacle Monster (c) Edward Artinian 2007
Created using FlashMX

Work In Progress for Green Idea using Flash MX

2007-10-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm back on another gig with my client Russ Mumford and his company, Green Idea. This time, I'm splitting the work (and money) with Jody Schaeffer. He will be doing the animation, while I will do the storyboard, backgrounds and character layout. Here's a sample of what the opening shot of the spot looks like.
Created using Flash MX

Xixa Model Sheet

2007-09-13T00:55:00.000-07:00

A turnaround of my sexy alien girl, Xixa of planet Xylem.

Roughed and cleaned up in Flash; Colorized in Photoshop CS2.

My Gym Partner is Freelance Cleanup

2007-09-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

Currently, as freelance I am cleaning up designs, props and even some backgrounds for My Gym Partner is a Monkey, airing on Cartoon Network. Before doing freelance for the show, I was the cleanup artist from 2005 - 2007 full time. The software I use for the cleanup is Flash MX.
I receive a rough and compose it for a sheet of paper, 8.5 x 11 on it's side. I then create a new layer, create a symbol on that layer, label the symbol the design name and then cleanup within that symbol. I also make sure to name the flash file the same name of the design that I am working . No doubt the production staff was happy about that. When I finish, I export the cleanup as an Illustrator file (.ai). Before I do, I make sure to turn the layer that contains the rough into a 'guide' layer. I never delete the rough because it's good to keep it there for any revisions or reviews.Generally, I will use a combination of techniques to cleanup a rough image. I will either use the brush tool and 'stroke' the line or if I cannot stroke the line cleanly, I will use the straight line tool using a line size appropriate for the volume. After I set the line, I will 'convert lines to fill' (which I have hot-keyed on my keyboard) and then use the black or while arrow to a just the line weight to give it the thick/thin feel. For revision purposes, I don't connect a lot of the cleanup lines that cross each other. I will 'group' lines that cross other lines which has two benefits. The first is that I can a just the line so as not to influence other lines I have stroked; that way keeping the integrity of my work. The second is at the tail end, if and when the cleanup needs a revision. The grouped line that is isolated is much easier to a just than a line that is connected and interlaced with other parts of the cleanup. Thus, revisions are quick, easy and relatively painless. (The only thing that gets bruised is my ego.)

The technique of cleanup for the show is a thick/thin line weight. However, there isn't a global use of thick on the outside, thin on the outside as is present in shows like Power Puff Girls. Instead the treatment of the line is to not only encase the border of the character, but to also handle the inside volume of the character. So a think outside line, will in some cases work it's way in to the volume of the character.
It's not a hard and fast rule that all lines on the outside are thick and the inside lines are thin. However, it is important that things like eyes and mouths, etc, don't become overly heavy with a black line. It is possible to go too thin for some interior lines that they become 'gossamer'.

Woman In Boxes

2007-08-31T01:35:00.000-07:00

For years I would draw the nude female figure within the confines of a postit. Now that I use Flash to draw all the time, I thought, why not give that concept a try with that software.

Software Flash MX "Woman in Boxes" Edward Artinian 2007

Action Show Developement

2007-08-31T01:02:00.000-07:00

Vanguard Force is a pitch Alain Matz and I have been working on since the spring. The inspiration is the Japanese anime from the 70's Gatchaman, or what it's more popularly known in the U.S. as Battle of the Planets.
This is Gunnar, an ex-top gun fighter pilot and the leader of Vanguard Force and flys a multi-purpose fighter jet that can go almost out of Earth's atmosphere and even can submerge into deep oceans.
Signy is the ex-champion race car driver and weapons expert who drives the most fastest and powerful muscle car on earth. The car even has a boost/flying system that KITT would be jealous of.
Vidar, a freed lab rat who can cyberneticaly link with his super cycle. Not only is the cycle packed with the latest armament, if launched off of a cliff, a para-sail deploys to help soften a hard landing.If a vehicle could be the star of a show, then this bad-girl is it. A battle truck that is both a refined cutting edge technological machine, and the business end of sledge hammer necessary for the futuristic battles in store for this vehicle. The driver is Lugg, who I'm still developing and will post soon. I don't want to forget to mention that all three vehicles can fit in the back of the Battle Truck and will have interesting and unique was each vehicle can launch from the back. Imagine the cabin of the truck, not unlike the bridge of a space ship, with Lugg at the helm and Gunner in the command chair.

The Big Field Trip Intro Animation

2007-08-31T00:39:00.000-07:00

I animated the intro the the Gym Partner special "The Big Field Trip" using Flash MX in 2006.

I was already on the crew doing cleanup using Flash, and I was given the opportunity to work with the director to create the special intro for the episode.

The director for the intro was John Mcintyre and he wanted the animation to feel like the 60's Pink Panther animated intros.

It was even featured on www.coldhardflash.com on Monday, the day after I posted it on my youtube site.

Note: the sound sync is a tad off and I don't know how to correct for it. sorry.

Second Post

2007-08-30T02:55:00.001-07:00

I wont be this systematic with the titles and descriptions. I'm just testing out to see if I can figure out my way around a blog before I start going full bore.

This is my alien Character Xixa. She lives on the planet Xylem and her best friend is a pink tentacle monster named, well, Pink Tentacle Monster. I created her by accident back in '05 and

she seemed to have grown in popularity, on Deviant Art ever since.

Here are a few rough sketches of her from around that time:

That is all for now. More soon!