It has been a very windy week in the neighborhood. I’ve been compelled to record the wind with my phone, and finally decided to animate something in an Altoids tin. This is a quick one. I wanted to do a camera test and play with the layers and light. I say it was a quick one, but it took a week to get this, after several false starts and abandoned takes.
Thanks for looking at this. I plan to do more elaborate attempts next.
Be well, stay safe and enjoy the autumn.
Have you found yourself wondering how, in 2020, sound scientific advice is ignored? I have.
Here are the last of my vintage Altoid dioramas. Trust Science, my friends.
I was asked to do a talk at Towson University last spring about having a home studio. In this time of quarantine and working from home, why not make art at home?
I mention in this video that most of my home is dedicated to making art, in some form or another. But, most people cannot, or would not do that. Which is fine. I’ve excelled with much less space in the past, too.
I used to do a great deal while commuting to work – thinking in my car, drawing/writing/working on the train. If you need to sit on a toilet behind a locked door with a sketchpad in order to work, then do that. Do whatever it takes to create what you do. Make your art, find your joy.
It seems like I made this years ago now. I hope you are keeping safe and well.
During non-pandemic conditions, the Sweaty Eyeballs animation festival opens with live musicians accompanying a silent animation. Since this year’s festival is online, Phil Davis decided to try the reverse, where animators add film to Baltimore musician’s recordings.
Phil asked me if I’d be willing to do one, and I asked to work with the band WUME. They sent me a track called Indigo, and this is what I made.
I started working on this in August. I listened to the song, wrote the lyrics in my book, and let the images appear. I like narrative, and the more surreal, the better. I threaded certain images into the loose narrative, and some key elements repeatedly show up.
I made dozens of puppets and props for the scroll, which ended up being 45′ long. I began the actual process of animating on September 27th, and finished on October 11th. The video clocks in at 4:11.
It is an honor to participate in Sweaty Eyeballs. I’ve drawn such inspiration from the programming there, as well as the time I’ve known Phil Davis. We have all done our best to persevere during these weird times (please make sure you vote – and as Phil said, please vote for people who support the arts).
I hope you enjoy this. I had fun making it, and fun with this opening!
JD