So much great art is going up on Channel Frederator RAW, I thought I’d try and get us to showcase it as it’s posted. So…
Today’s cool stuff nine pieces by Saxton Moore and 15 pieces by spacesick.
–Fred
George Pfromm is an animator and illustrator in Boston. He also teaches animation and character design 2 days out of the week, which George claims is just an excuse for him to leave the house.
If you ask me, I think that’s a pretty cool reason.
This week George’s music video Georgette Plays A Goth for the group, Tullycraft, was featured on Channel Frederator.
1) How long have you been animating/drawing George?
I’ve been drawing pretty much non-stop since I was a little kid. My dad was actually a very good artist and he would sit down with me a lot and show me how to draw stormtroopers, Cylons, and Darth Vader correctly, since that was all I was ever interested in. I started at it professionally around 1993, doing storyboard work for ad agencies, then took a traditional animation class and went after flash work.
2) How did you hook up with Tullycraft,and what was your process on creating the video for them?
“Georgette Plays a Goth” is a song by the Seattle band Tullycraft off of their new record “Every Scene Needs a Center”. Being from Seattle and living out in Washington most of my life I’ve known those guys for a long time. A few of us were roommates for a while back in the early to mid nineties. I know one of the band members used to always suggest having me animate a video, but Sean who wrote “Georgette” said that this song reminded him of one of my storyboards, so he let me go at it.
As for the process, I just started scribbling out boards in one of those little Moleskine storyboard books, scanning them and then putting them into Flash. Then I busted out the backgrounds, character designs, started keyframing and animating.
3) Did you ever go through that whole Teen Angst “Goth” Stage in high school?
I never did go Goth in high school, but I threaten to now, almost daily.
4) Do you have a Favorite goth band?
The Gothic Archies, hands down.
[*Editor’s Note: Nice Answer. I love whatever incarnation The Magnetic Fields are.]
5) What are you working on Currently?
I do a fair amount of illustration work, teach animation and character design a couple of days a week, and am making a lot of new art for some upcoming events and shows next month and early next year. I have also been working on an animated property of mine, The Queen Bee, and posting the work as I go over on Channel Frederator Raw, which has been a lot of fun.
For more of George’s coolness, Go visit his site, Honolulu Dogfight (dot) com, or his blog-title of the same name.
Thanks George!
George is on Channel Frederator RAW, Are YOU?
Sign Up Today on the All Animation Social Networking Site made by animators and Cartoon Lovers FOR Animators and Cartoon Lovers.
If you’ve been thinking about getting a Cintiq, but have been waiting for a lower price, wait no longer. Well, wait a bit longer (depending up-on location), as it is available from December 2007 in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Thailand. For specfic pricing and availability information, contact local Wacom offices or distributors..
The Cintiq 12WX features
- Premium wide-format 12.1-inch display with WXGA (1280 x 800) resolution.
- Wide viewing angle of 170 degrees to easily share work with others.
- Patented professional pen technology with 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity and 5,080 lines of resolution for the best experience.
- DVI, VGA, and USB connectivity.
- Single integrated cable keeps your desktop clean and uncluttered.
- External video control unit provides standard video, USB, and power connection for maximum system compatibility while reducing weight.
While it’s not the highest end setup, it’s no slouch, either.
-Floyd Bishop
Andrew Huang directed this video for the group Minipop. It’s hard to peg down what it reminds me of. It’s kind of like Edward Gorey combined with Monty Python, but cool in it’s own light.
-Floyd Bishop
New Meth Minute is UP everyone! Enjoy!
“Cavalcade of Laffs” is the 10th episode of The Meth Minute 39 cartoon series by Dan Meth. Here we are introduced to Sir George Flinchley, an eccentric ram who manages a menagerie of stand-up comedians. George is insane, however, and his combination of untalented acts and inappropriate venues combine to produce chaotic results. In this installment, George unleashes an insecure mantis on a roomful of geriatrics.
“Cavalcade of Laffs” was created and written by Dan Meth and Ryan Van Winkle many years ago and is finally being let loose on the internet.
For more please visit http://www.methminute.com
-Jeaux Janovsky
We’re slowly trying to get our technical house in order here (blogs next! I promise) and one of those things is integrating all our various Frankenstein sites. Our search button in the upper right column of the Frederatorblogs page is now a Google search that allow you to search the whole Frederator universe. So, from there, you can find anything from Channel Frederator, RAW, whatever. We’ll add the box to the other sides forthwith.
For your information, the sites searched will be:
www.channelfrederator.com
www.raw.channelfrederator.com
www.frederatorblogs.com
www.frederator.com
www.frederator.kz
www.newtoons.frederator.com
www.refrederator.com
www.wubbcast.com
The Wubblog (http://wubby.typepad.com)
The Teenage Roblog (www.teenageroblog.blogspot.com)
Try it, you’ll like it.
We’re slowly trying to get our technical house in order here (blogs next! I promise) and one of those things is integrating all our various Frankenstein sites. Our search button in the upper right column of the Frederatorblogs page is now a Google search that allow you to search the whole Frederator universe. So, from there, you can find anything from Channel Frederator, RAW, whatever. We’ll add the box to the other sides forthwith.
For your information, the sites searched will be:
www.channelfrederator.com
www.raw.channelfrederator.com
www.frederatorblogs.com
www.frederator.com
www.frederator.kz
www.newtoons.frederator.com
www.refrederator.com
www.wubbcast.com
The Wubblog (http://wubby.typepad.com)
The Teenage Roblog (www.teenageroblog.blogspot.com)
Try it, you’ll like it.
–Fred
So I finally saw “Beowulf”. There has been so much chatter among the animation community about this film that I wanted to see the film with as open a mind as possible, without the distraction of an opening day crowd. In my opinion, it was a pretty good film.
I have read several posts all over the web, in blogs, forums, and news sites that come at the film in a negative way, due to it’s heavy use of motion capture. For the most part, I think this is because most people don’t know what you get from motion capture, and what a team of artists do with that to create the film on the screen. This film felt more like the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride at Disneyland than it did the Disney film “Pinocchio”.
Now, in the defense of some animator friends I have who hate this movie with all their being because of the use of motion capture, I can understand some of their confusion. To hear the PR on this film, you would think the creators spent an afternoon with Angelina Jolie covered in ping pong balls and then the film was done. This is not so.
Motion Capture is just that: capturing motion. The artists and animators use this motion as a jumping off point to create the final scene. This is in much the same fashion as a texture artist might use a photograph as a starting point for a realistic texture. For those yelling fowl, please take a moment to learn a bit about the techniques involved before bashing the movie as the fall of animation as we know it. Video may have killed the radio star, but photography didn’t kill painting, Pixar didn’t kill the pencil, and motion capture won’t kill computer animation that doesn’t use motion capture.
As for the film itself, it was pretty decent. There were a few awkward moments where people giggled at a few lines of dialog, and (without giving anything away) there is a scene with some nudity avoidance via props, but it was a pretty solid film. I saw it in the Real D projection, and there were more than a few “something is about to hit you in the face” shots, but it was a good time. A few films from now, the filmmakers will probably avoid using such gimmicks. It didn’t really detract from the film.
Please post your thoughts, along with saying if you’ve seen the film or not.
YO JOE! I’m back on the throwbacks with a vengance. As a kid I collected G.I.Joe figures and indulged in the 80’s cartoon. One of the most remembered characters for me was Destro. Looking back now as an adult, he looks kinda pimpish, so I had to throw the Barroness in this pic. For the backdrop, I tried to replicate the toy packaging. I drew the characters on animation paper, scanned them in, then colored it all in photoshop.
http://www.youtube.com/v/5YjfGex5JHY&rel
NOW IT”S YOUR TURN TO DRAW YOUR FAVORITE JOE! BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF THE YEAR, DRAW YOUR VERSION OF YOUR FAVORITE JOE ( or Joes) AND SUBMIT IT ON FREDERATOR RAW FOR PRIZES! CONTEST DETAILS WILL BE POSTED SOON. START SKETCHING NOW BECAUSE “KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE!”
JOIN HERE!!!
Jon Burgerman is one of my favorite artists out there right now, filling the world up with his own smile inducing brand of frenzied doodles.
He’s shown in galleries across the globe in cities like New York, London, LA, Hong Kong, Paris, Melbourne & Derby.
Jon has worked on a variety of projects for MTV, the BBC, Snickers, Pepsi, Gortex, Puma, Sony PSP & Virgin Atlantic (Sick Bags! Hee Hee). He also received an A&AD Silver Award Nomination for his work for Levis.
His work has also graced the Guardian, Creative Review, Pictoplasma, Computer Arts (along with their sister title: Computer Arts Projects) & Stick ‘Em Up.
His Unique Animation has been played in numerous festivals (V festivals, Isles of Wight) and concerts (The Streets, Pop Idol USA, Destiny’s Child).
Jon took the time to answer a few Channel Frederator Questions, at least until the sun caught his eye. 
How long have you been animating/drawing/painting/doodling?
I’ve been drawing and doodling since I could just about hold a pencil. I used to do drawings with my mum in the study in our house. Then I got a baby brother and the study got changed into a bedroom, which I wasn’t too pleased about. All children draw though, so there’s nothing special about that really.
The problem was I didn’t stop and doodled all my way through school, being told off and punished countless times for it. There was no way I could just walk past a window steamed up with condensation without fingering
a little face on it, or open a new clean page in a jotter pad without scribbling a character in the margin. I used to rush through exam papers and then draw on the back of them - that got me in really big trouble. It was a little self-defeating, I should of paid more attention and learnt more things, oh well, it’s too late now…
Who are some of your influences?
When a tutor on Foundation (a pre-University course lasting a year) showed me a black and white photocopy of a Jean Michel-Basquiat painting I was really excited. I really liked his work and it blew a small part of my mind when I saw all his paintings, in colour too! Great stuff.
I was recently in a hotel in Paris decorated with photos of naked girls and instead of standing motionless for hours just gorping at them, I found a Basquiat book in the bedroom and was completely absorbed again in his work.
I have many other influences of course, some I’m probably not even aware of too. I like lots of other artists, designers, cartoonists, film makers etc.
Where were you born?
I was born in England. I live in the UK.
Did you go to school for Art or Animation? If so, where?
I studied Fine Art at the Nottingham Trent University. I had three enjoyable years there mucking about with screen printing, computers, animation, painting and drawing interspersed with lengthy vegetative sessions of watching bad films, listening to loud music and shivering in a drafty, mould filled house.
What are some of your hobbies outside the world of animation/art?
I like watching football (soccer) - I like playing football too but find it difficult to find other players of a similarly poor standard as me to play with.
Music, cinema, eating and cooking also occupy my non-doodling time. I wish video games occupied more of my time and I do generally like reading, sitting around and not doing much. That’s probably my favourite hobby, a slow, easy, quiet existence, blinking, breathing and thinking.
What are you working on currently in the animation industry/Art world?
I’ve got an exhibition in Amsterdam next week so I’m currently working on that. I’m also doing a large scale drawing on the streets of Derby, in the East Midlands of the UK. That should be interesting; working outside, exposed to the public, always throws up unexpected things.
I’m working on a couple of ideas with two separate animation companies at the moment, but they are still some way to being realised.
What company do you work for or have you worked for?
I’ve worked for many companies but why talk about them here now when it’s so nice and sunny outside?
What do you think makes a cartoon good/ or a great painting or illustration?
I like things I can relate to or stir some kind of emotion within me. And as I’m a dark void of self-loathing, an emotional dessert of sand and bug-eyed lizards, that can often be quite a tough thing to do. It’s harder to work out what makes a great painting as opposed to a great animation. A great animation doesn’t actually need to have great animation in it, just great story, characters, personality etc. A great illustration or painting can have anything it likes it in as long as it adds up to being great. It’s so subjective, I’m just waffling here, I don’t what I’m saying at all…
Did I mention it’s sunny outside?
Have you ever shown your art in galleries? If so, where?
Yes I have, from Nottingham to Peterborough, from London to LA and lots of other places too. My first proper show was in the Custard Factory in Birmingham in 1999, it was called Do You Want Fries With That?
That was a good group show, lots of talented young go getters featured in it.
What types of reactions do you get from your art at first?
Either, what the hell is that meant to be, or erm, that’s a bit like Guernica.
Do you have any advice for someone wanting to break in or just beginning in the industry/Art world?
Hmm just work, work, work, don’t sleep, just work. Also, the most important thing, be lucky.
Is there anything you want to say to the people out there in Blog-Land reading this?
If it’s sunny outside don’t sit down to write silly answers to any interviews. Also: Hello, how’s it going ? Thanks for reading this.
Wolf-Man by Jon Burgerman
Wolf-Man by Jon Burgerman
Thanks for the great interview Jon. To see more of Jon’s work and amazing doodles, make with the clickies over Here: http://www.jonburgerman.com
& Here: http://www.biro-web.com/
Good Luck in Singapore Jon! 
-Jeaux Janovsky
Castlevania: Dracula's Curse
