Channel Frederator Blog

This short by David Michael McClain broke my brain.
Literally.
I had to call my pal Ben Ross over to see if it would break his brain too.
It did.
I’m pretty sure it will break all your brains too.
Really.
David sat down with us and answered a few more questions, that broke our brains… with laughter.

1) Where did you get the inspiration to do Pirate Beargade?
It grew out of a fascination with kaleidoscopic effects and a love for the vinyl toy boom that’s been happening for a while now. I tried to imagine what goes on in the mind of those seeming innocuous creatures!

2) Who are some of your influences?
Devilrobots, Maxfield Parrish, Vera Brosgol, Alex Ross, Jack Unruh, Sergio Aragones… just to name a few

3) How long did it take you to create Pirate Beargade from start to finish?
Approximately 50 hrs spread over a period of about 3 months. The original was HD 1920×1280, fphew!

4) Did you look at a lot of kaleidescopes as a kid?
I loved kaleidoscopes as a kid! I still remember the first one I looked through, at least I think it was the first one. I couldn’t have been more than 4 or 5 because I hadn’t started school yet. I was on a blanket in my parents living room watching the Flintstones (I did that every day before my nap). It was amazing, I just could not figure out how they got all of those colors in the end of that little tube!

5) What are you working on currently?
Right now, I am juggling 5 different projects: An animated logo for a prepress startup, 4 15 second bumpers for a technology company, a video project for a building dedication, a ton of in-store signage for Rite Aid (print work), and a little 5 second spot for a good friend of mine named Frederator! Oh, and I’m finalizing a 30×40 inch caricature illustration containing about 100 individual characters - think Mad Magazine.

We love Mad magazine round these parts David.
Thanks for submitting.
-Jeaux Janovsky