joseph giardina

Jam Tomorrow Color

2011-12-20T10:11:00.001-08:00

There's a lot that I could go into when talking about the style and color I am trying to achieve with Jam Tomorrow. Unfortunately, to tumble down that hole would take time, and time is not something that I have a surplus of these days. With the holidays around the corner, work, and trying to meet some self-imposed deadlines I am spread a little thin.

So instead of blabbing on and on about color and whatnot, I figure why not let the drawings speak for themselves. The image attached is a color/texture study I've made. This is the direction I'd like to go with Jam Tomorrow. Its been steadily evolving over the last few months but this is the style I'll be finishing the comics in. Its simple to do which is good for keeping on schedule.

A special thanks to all the returning visitors, your support is keeping me going. To any new people stopping by today for the first time, thanks for taking a look at my work. I hope you'll stick around.

TITLE UNKNOWN NO MORE

2011-12-17T19:09:00.000-08:00

I've finally sorted out the tile of my new comic. Up until today I've been referring to it as my new comic. Which is all well and good in the development phase, but I'm getting pretty darn close to publishing it and up until today I've had no idea what to call it.

More after the jump.

I've decided to call the comic strip Jam Tomorrow.

The story behind the name Jam Tomorrow is a long one, one I will eventually tell. The reason I'm being cryptic is because of a storyline that will develop in the first weeks of the strip. Once it starts to unfold I will delve a little deeper into what inspired the name Jam Tomorrow, why it's important, how it represents the comic, and what Jam Tomorrow means to me personally.

I'll be publishing Jam Tomorrow three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays starting January 2012. In an effort to continue posting something everyday in the mean time I've included a model sheet. The attached image is an emotion guide that I use to help remind me of all the complex and subtle emotions that Swanson can express. As far as his design goes he isn't much to look at, but I love how complex a character he is turning into despite his simple design.

In the upcoming weeks I will start a facebook page for Jam Tomorrow, as well as some other web-type goodies. If you like what you've seen so far make sure to leave a comment below and spread the word on facebook and twitter.

Thanks for the support!

rough comic strip

2011-12-16T17:56:00.000-08:00

When I started drawing these characters the first doodle I did was Swanson holding a skull doing the monologue from Hamlet while Vincent watched. For some reason this just cracks me up.

The two panels here are part of a full three panel strip that can stand alone as a joke but it also plays a part in a longer storyline that spans several days.

Vincent!

2011-12-15T07:28:00.000-08:00

This little guy is Vincent. He's the other character in my new comic. When I was a weee little boy, a long time ago, my Aunt Sina wanted to purchase an outfit for me. The perfect outfit for my first day of Kindergarten. When she asked me what I wanted to wear on my first day of school I replied, "I want to wear a three piece suit."

SWANSON!

2011-12-14T11:11:00.000-08:00

This guys name is Swanson, and he's from a new comic I'm putting together. I have a bunch of strips roughed out and written and a few of them inked so far. When I have about 20 inked and colored I'll start posting them here a few times a week. For now I thought It would be fun to post a few sketches and development artwork. As always I'd love some feed back in the comments.Later dudes.

New Comic Coming Soon

2011-11-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

Coming Soon....

a new comic?

maybe....

Watercolor Wash Illustrations

2011-07-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Here we have three illustrations that I did this week using the watercolor wash technique. There's an amazing resource called the ASIFA - Hollywood Animation Archive that has a post dealing with the Famous Artists School from the mid 20th century. Tons of really great stuff.

There are things I like about the these illustrations and things I don't. Some of it works and some of it does not. Its a learning process and I think I'm getting better... at least I hope. That's the whole reason I'm posting these now, so down the road I can look back and hopefully see some improvement.

As always I welcome comments. Let me know what you think, and if you've tried a hand at watercolor and you have some tips I'd love to hear what you have to say so drop me a line.

thanks for taking a look.

Ink - Watercolor - Gouache on 120lb cold press watercolor paper 6x9 inches

mossome 17

2011-07-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

Meh... Im soooooo sleepy today, I had massive nightmares of floods, riots, and my teeth falling out. It was an all together crazy night of dreams which makes me feel as if I never slept. This is now two nights in a row.

Anyways, I've been practicing new watercolor painting techniques for the past few months on and off, but this week I really buckled down and started applying them to actual paintings. I need to get my scanner hooked up so I can post some of them.

Without further ado
I present to you
Moss, lots of moss

click image for enlarged version

mossome 16

2011-07-14T06:21:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, when I wake up in the morning it feels like I never slept. meh... I'm so exhausted today! I wish I could curl up on this nice bed of soft moss and sleep all day.

Mossome 15

2011-07-13T06:30:00.001-07:00

mossome 14

2011-07-12T06:27:00.001-07:00

click on the image to see it in full resolution

This giant rock covered in moss looked like it could have been straight off the set of lost.

-

Mossome the 13th

2011-07-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

like a Wendy's cheeseburger this photo tastes better cause its square. I have a lot of pictures from this spot and all of them look similar because I was just snapping them off one after another.

Mossome 12

2011-07-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

Today's moss is brought to you in glorious HD!

mossome 11

2011-07-07T15:48:00.001-07:00

I like moss a super a lot.

Mossome 10: poquito moss

2011-07-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

I've recently taken on the task of updating my blog with pages that display the variety of work I do. It's a work in progress that I hope to have finished sometime this week. You can click on the page headings above to see specific things like the comics I color, my short film produced by Cartoon Network, and various other neat stuff. Not all of them are up and running yet but its a start.

I am also thinking about upgrading to a unique web domain name. Its a toss up between josephgiardina.com and tooncartoon.com. I'm not sure which one to go with... any thoughts?

anyways, here is my 10th post of awesome mossomeness.

just a little moss on a tree

Mossome 9

2011-07-05T18:16:00.001-07:00

presented without comment

Mossome 8

2011-07-04T09:31:00.001-07:00

This isn't one of my best pictures of moss but I like it anyways. It sure is a lot of moss in one spot. It must have taken years for it to grow like that. Also, look at those little mini caves under the tree roots, I feel like there must be some kind of creature living in there. Maybe its having a tea party or something.

excellent!

Happy gald to be rid of them Day!

2011-07-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't know, I'm not just an amateur moss photographer. I also spend a majority of my time each week as a professional comics colorist. One of the 10 features I work on each week is called Reality Check by Dave Whamond. This week Dave is doing a tribute to Calvin and Hobbes and Each daily will feature a comic drawn in homage to Bill Watterson. I had a fantastic time coloring these comics.

July 4th 2011 Reality Check

All the comics that I color each week can be viewed daily over at gocomics

here's the list of comics I color:
Reality Check
Moderately Confused
Scary Gary
Dog Eat Doug
Rip Haywire
On a Clair Day
Marmaduke
The Buckets
Freshly Squeezed
Cow and Boy

You can click on each one and it will take you directly to the comics page over at gocomics dot com

Mossome 7

2011-07-03T07:23:00.001-07:00

One full week of posting mossome pictures of moss has come to an end. I have about nine million more pictures that I can post. If you like these pictures of moss then you should leave a comment or something.

In the future I will continue to upload other random doodles and drawings on this blog as well but, for now I feel it is my duty as a budding amateur moss photographer to unleash the power of moss on the world. Check back tomorrow for a new picture of moss taken by yours truly, or, if you want these pictures sent directly to your email daily you can sign up at the bottom of this page.

I gotta go make some pancakes and bacon and then eat it.

stay mossome er'body.

Mossome 6

2011-07-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

presented without comment

mossome 5

2011-07-01T07:44:00.001-07:00

Why am I doing this you might ask? Its simple really, I like moss a lot and I noticed that the ratio of pictures of moss to people that use the internet is slightly off. There isn't enough cool pictures of moss out there. So I said to myself, hey, I got a lot of pictures of moss that I could show people.

I like the the ratio of moss to mushrooms in this picture.

oh, by the way, I made the trip to Maine yesterday and I'm posting this from the cottage deck overlooking the water. I've already spotted a few cool moss covered rocks that I am excited to take pictures of.

later mosshunters, and stay Mossome!

mossome 4 : Revenge of The Moss

2011-07-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to be posting this picture today, look at all of those triangle shapes the tree and the shadows cast on all that moss. There's so much negative space and stuff. Simple shapes are cool, but, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that a huge moss covered rock with a tree that is leaning a little sideways is cooler. But that's easy for me to say... right?! about as easy as falling off a log. What!

Mossome 3

2011-06-29T05:29:00.001-07:00

Wowzers, man alive! Look at that moss defying gravity. Somebody should write a song about this or something. What else can hang onto a wet rock at 90 degrees like that? Spiderman, that's the only other thing that comes to my mind, spiderman and moss. I think I smell a new superhero brewing.

MOSSMAN! with the superhuman power to cling to the shady side of buildings.

On a completely different note, but yet, on the same page. I'm going on a trip to Frye Island which is smack dab in the middle of Sebago Lake in Maine. I can only hope that like my trip to the Adirondacks last month, this one will yield a plentiful bounty of moss pictures.

check back tomorrow for Mossome 4 ; Revenge of the Moss

Mossome 2

2011-06-28T07:05:00.001-07:00

look at that moss! look at it !!!! climbing all over that tree and stuff. there's a few leaves in there and a little mushroom... Mossome!

Mossome 1

2011-06-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

I have what I can only hope is a healthy obsession with moss. I grow it in my garden, I look for it whenever I'm in the woods, and I love to take photos of it. I've taken about 300 photos of moss so far this summer and I'd like to start posting some of them here. I'm going to try to put up one a day under the heading "moss blog". These five photos were taken in the Adirondack High Peaks Region about 500 feet from the summit of Phelps Mountain. These were all taken in the same location, it was this amazing masive rock covered with tons of different kinds of moss.

cleanup and color

2011-06-21T08:49:00.001-07:00

Below is a Jim Smith drawing of John Wayne that I inked in Illustrator, The rough drawing was posted by The Amazing John K a few days ago. He offered it up to anyone that might be interested in practicing cleanup. It's been a few years since my cleanup days at Cartoon Network and I thought what the heck. I had so much fun inking Jims Drawing of John Wayne that I decided to cleanup and color one of my sketches (of Tom Hanks) from a previous post. Mine is... meh.. okay I guess. If I recall correctly I was inspired to draw the original sketch (of Tom Hanks) and all the other models from reading one of John K's blog posts a few months back.

the final ink and color

this is the rough on top of my ink and color to show accuracy

This is an image of just the fill colors.

This is just the cleanup lines

This is the original rough by Jim Smith

Tom Hanks cleanup and color

Tom Hanks rough

2011-05-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

Nick and Tom

2011-05-13T16:13:00.000-07:00

Manny and Khan

2011-05-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

The short I made with my good buddy Josh Lieberman is nearing 30,000 views :) for those of you who haven't seen Manny and Khan yet, here it is:

new...old characters

2010-11-19T23:44:00.000-08:00

I was talking with Josh the other night and our original idea came up (the one that preceded Manny and Khan) Bigfoot and the Gnome. Well, thats kind of what I've been working on the last few weeks. That and a few other comic ideas that have been floating around in my brain. Anyways, these two roughs are my re-imagining of Bigfoot and Gnome. I sent them to Josh and he was cracking up. Don't get me wrong, I love Manny and Khan and all but it was fun taking a step back to where it all began.

Then Josh went and did the drawings below of differnet versions of Gnomes and Bigfoot (Bigfeet? Bigfoots?...). Man his drawings really got me laughing.

if you get a chance swing on over to Josh's blog and check out the tip sheets he is doing for storyboarding. his links over on the right ---->

Later

animation backgrounds

2010-11-19T23:27:00.000-08:00

I went a little crazy coloring this one. Im trying out different things and some of it works and some does not. I think Im going to do this one again and try to keep it simple like the rough drawing.

animation backgrounds

2010-11-19T23:13:00.000-08:00

these are two kind of different ideas I had, not sure if I like them and all. the roughs were really small drawings, only 4 inches by 3 inches. I like the grass a little. but Im not crazy about them yet. would love some input if anyone wants to drop me a line.

animation backgrounds

2010-11-19T23:06:00.000-08:00

Here are some rough backgrounds that I did the other night. I haven't painted these yet but I've started painting some others in photoshop and I'll post them next along with the roughs for comparison.

thanks for looking :)

The Awesome Chronicles of Manny and Khan Update

2010-09-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is a Manny and Khan Update:

The M&K short is doing very well on youtube, we've been getting about 300 views a day for about a month now and we just broke 17,000 views today. There is also a new fan page up on facebook, it was started by the awesome Daramfon Anwana and his friends. If you want to support Manny and Khan all you have to do is join the facebook fan page by clicking this link. It's free and takes about 10 seconds to do. Also, if this is your first time visiting my blog and you havent seen the short that Josh and I created for Cartoon Network you can watch it on facebook or you can stop on over to my youtube page and watch the full short for free. watch the short

a bunch of little post it doodles from a long time ago

Giant Background got bigger!

2010-08-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

Its a work in progress... and it is currently 22 inches by 51 inches (just about 2 feet by 4 feet) .

Giant Background

2010-08-22T14:05:00.001-07:00

Last week I drew some characters that I like a lot So this weekend I have been trying to figure out where they live. I was hoping it would just come to me like a bolt of lightning but it hasn't. When something like this happens The only thing you can do is start drawing and see what happens. yesterday I sat down, pulled out a pencil and started to draw. Below are some progress photos of the location that I am working on. It is a work in progress and it keeps getting bigger. I keep adding more and more paper onto it. I really like it, but it doesn't fit the characters yet so I plan on continuing to draw and expanding on the layout until it feels right. This could go on for days... even weeks.

marker doodle dump

2010-08-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

In an effort to keep posting on a regular basis Ive got a few doodles of some new characters I've been working on. I really need to get the cord to my scanner! anyways, here they are...

Steve

Matt

Gorden

As always comments are more then welcome.

Painting Practice

2010-08-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

I had another quite morning so I decided to get some painting done. My scanner isn't hooked up so I just took a photo. I think I might touch these up a little bit and then scan them in. The photo just doesn't cut it. But, I wanted to try and post things on a regular basis. anyways, these are both acrylic on 8x10 canvas panel. enjoy :)

some Oil Pastels

2010-08-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

It was a nice quite morning this morning and I was able to clear my head and work with my Pastels. Im not very good with them, but I'm trying to get better. I've been using soft oils but Im thinking about getting some harder Pastels. If you get a chance drop a comment and if you have any tips for working with oil Pastels let me know.

Later Gators

even more doodles

2010-06-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

holy cow, I'm going through my sketch book and I found a bunch of drawings I think would be fun to post. I don't have a scanner so the quality of my iphone photos are a little crummy but these aren't really intended to look good anyways. Most of these dont need any introduction, they are just very random doodles in my book.

The image below is from an idea I had to do a commercial that mocks the iPad and use monsters hands fumbeling with an old speak and spell. I think it could be funny... we'll see if I ever do it...

The image below was done with oil pastels and its really small, maybe 2x3 inches

Lastly a self portrait

More Doodles

2010-06-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

I've been on a trip to NYC this past week and I found myself with a little time so I thought I might post a few more doodles.

marker doodle dump

2010-06-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post a few doodles that have been collecting on my desk before I head down into the coal mine. These were all done on a small 5x8in scratch pad that I got from my friend Laura. I love the paper cause it is surprisingly thick for a note pad. I apologize for the quality of the images, I had to use a camera because my dog chewed through the wire connecting my scanner and my computer. All of these were colored with fibracolor markers. enjoy:)

Manny and Khan Officaly Online!

2010-05-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

Manny and Khan made it up on the Cartoon Network Website :)
click here to watch the video

Peanuts Color

2010-04-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

Last but not least the fifth and sixth features that I color each week is Peanuts short and tall. Coloring Peanuts is an awesome experience for me, despite the fact that all of the colors are already established and all I really do for these strips is apply that established color to the old dailies. It's still a sort of surreal experience every time I open up one of these comics on my computer.

That's about it really, all together I color 36 dailies a week and I couldn't be happier. I hope you've enjoyed my most recent posts. I'll try to continue this healthy stretch of blog posts through out this month.

Peanuts
by Charles M. Schulz

Marmaduke Color

2010-04-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

The Forth Feature I color every week is Marmaduke by Paul and Brad Anderson. These Daylies are by far the hardest to color. The Line work is so awesome and raw that it is nearly impossible to color. When trying to select areas to fill with color I find myself having to zoom all the way in so I can close off all the little gaps in the lines and fill in all of the tiny little holes . It's very time consuming, but at the same time its really cool to color Marm.

These posts are getting really long and the links to the images I am using from comics.com are really big so I condensed some of them and just uploaded the comics from my desktop. If you want to see more Marmaduke click here

Marmaduke
by Paul and Brad Anderson
Color by Me:)

Moderately Confused Color

2010-04-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

The Third Feature I am coloring is called Moderately Confused by Jeff Stahler. This comic, much like Reality Check, is changing everyday, so I have a lot more freedom when coloring. This one is my favorite to color, I really like the color palette as well as the use of white in the negative spaces. Jeff Stahler is an amazing artist and I really feel lucky to be coloring his comics.

Moderately Confused
by Jeff Stahler
Color by Me:)

Reality Check Color

2010-04-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

The second Feature I color is called Reality Check. It's created and drawn by Dave Whamond. I really like coloring these dailies, every comic has a new situation and new characters which leaves me with a lot of room for creativity. As you can see the color palette is a lot different then The Buckets.

Reality Check
By Dave Whamond
color by Me:)

coloring comics

2010-04-15T02:53:00.000-07:00

So, there is a completely good reason why I haven't posted in a long time and that's because I finally got a regular freelance job. About 5 weeks ago I started working for Virtis Communications, which is a company out of my home town Buffalo, NY. Virtis is contracted by United Feature Syndicate, Inc. to color and distribute their comics. My job is to color those comics all day and I love every minute of it :) Right now I have six features that I am coloring, which amounts to 36 strips a week. All of them are different as far as the style and color. It's really keeping me on my toes bouncing from the different comics. Below I've posted "The Buckets" created by Greg Cravens. Its a funny comic and I really enjoy coloring it. When I started five weeks ago I was given a color guide which plots out all of the regular colors like the characters hair and shirts. Those colors stay the same through out, but the fun part for me is coloring all the stuff that isn't set in stone like the background panels and the one-off characters. It's not the most creative job, seeing how most of the colors are already established but I enjoy it. Basically I have to make sure that I color the Dailies while keeping with the general look and palette of the Sundays.

The publishing dates of the comics below are March 29th through April 15th.

The Buckets
by Greg Cravens
colored by me:)

Yeti December: Madness

2009-12-09T07:13:00.000-08:00

yet another Yeti drawing

Yeti December... and hands

2009-12-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

Yeti Yoga, I've never actually done yoga before so I'm not sure if this is even a yoga pose. if it's not, then it should be and I would call it Yeti Crotch. Im just sayin'... try not to stare at his man bits for to long.

and more hands, ignore the dark black hand that looks like a very badly drawn darth vader glove. I couldn't seem to figure that pose out.

Yeti December Again

2009-12-08T16:41:00.001-08:00

Yeti on the move... looking for some Baked Beans.

11x17 Charcoal on Paper

Make sure to check out all the Yeti's on Hats Blog, and make some time to draw a Yeti and post the link to your artwork in the comments on Hat's blog. That way he can keep track of all the Yeti December Madness.

Later,

Joey

Yeti December

2009-12-03T19:48:00.000-08:00

Here is my first Yeti drawing for Yeti December... maybe I'll do another tonight. check out Hat Lieberman's Yetis they are spectacular. He is also responsible for declaring this month of December, "Yeti December".

So if you feel like it, do a drawing of a Yeti post it on your blog or what ever you have and then leave a link on Hat's blog. or on mine if you want.

Later

Figure Drawing

2009-11-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

Feet, hands, and a naked lady... Its good to do some figure drawing now and then. I wish I did it more often. I've got some more stuff to post in a little bit. It's gonna be a big blogging day for me :) let me know what you think about this stuff will ya!

Manny and Khan Online... again...

2009-10-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

OK so, its been a while since I've posted. In my last post I was talking about the BG's from Manny and Khan and I was going to follow it up with a few more posts about the paint but, I've been kind of slacking in the blogosphere and I apologize for that. I would still like to do a few posts someday regarding our paint and the work that Big Star did but for now im just gonna post the actual short with good audio.

It was a few months back when Manny and Khan was inadvertently leaked on Big Stars Website and then found its way onto youtube. Since then its been re-posted twice. The second time it was posted on youtube it was with all the Cartoonstitute shorts which as most of you know now was not done by Cartoon Network because all the shorts were taken down after about a day. Since then I've seen copys of them popping up again here and there form other youtubers that ripped the videos. Now, the version of Manny and Khan that has been posted on RacattackNow's youtube channel has been up for almost a week and it hasn't been taken down yet. Which is weird, I'm not sure why this is. Anyways, seeing how it hasn't been taken down, Josh and I decided it would be a good idea to post a version of M and K with a high quality video and audio. Which will most likely come back to bite us in the ass. oh well, there it is anyways! MAN-HO!!!!

Thanks to all all the amazing comments on Racattacks youtube channel and on Toonzone. You ROCK!

The Awesome List Of Awesome People Who Posted Awesome Comments...
Racattack
chdr
Mickialla
The Huntsman
Daxdiv
Pogorikifan24
soundmonkey44
HEATXZ
Chazooma
Raguoc
Dr.Pepper
dothesmartthing
Sketch
~Shoяe
Aj1
Foxface321
Pogorikifan24
PalmelaFC
El Dahveed
Comics_the_QB
Chazooma
Master Toon
nakak
Mini Garbonzo
CCFridays
stargirl
Rho
DeanBurrito25
Jack_6428
tehsquirreldude
12gerard

I tried to get everyone but I'm sure I am forgetting somebody who has posted something nice about M and K in the last few months. If I have forgotten someone I am sorry, please know that your comments mean the world to me. Thanks Again!!!

p.s. How amazing is Danger Planet!

A little Background info on Manny and Khan (part 1 of 3)

2009-07-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

In these next three posts I will attempt to go through our experience creating the look and feel of Manny and Khan's world.

We had a little less then three weeks to establish a style in the rough drawing phase. Not to mention create the 40 or so rough layouts that we would send to Bigstar for reference. So we turned to "dream-boat" designer Chris Tsiriotis.

We meet with Chris and showed him some concept drawings that we had done and the final rough drawings of our characters.

We talked about shows and styles that we liked.

We wanted to create a forest that felt dense without having to fill the entire screen with trees. We also wanted it to stay true to the natural organic way a forest grows but still feel cartoony, that way Manny and Khan looked liked they belonged. Our plan was to create a sort of vignette style with lots of negative space that would eventually be filled with a base color that would carry through all the scenes. We also wanted the drawings to feel very loose. We didn't want to hide the fact that it was drawn by hand, we wanted to celebrate it. We also wanted Manny and Khan's tree to look as if a meteor had smashed through it, leaving a giant chunk missing.

Below are just three of many drawings that Chris did after our first meeting

After seeing his first pass we went through and discussed what we liked and didn't like in all the drawings. Josh and I naturally gravitated toward the middle drawing above because it was so loose and rough. We asked him to explore that drawing some more and he came back a few hours later with the drawing below.

It was so close to the rough, hand-drawn, vignette we were going for. All it needed was a little variety in the types of trees, some perspective to add depth, and a little more of the roughness that he captured in the original pass. We talked some more and then Chris came back with the drawing below.

And the style of Manny and Khan was born.

check back soon for part II - painting the BG's with Tim Barnes...

And thanks again to all the amazing people at Toonzone, you're Awesome!!

Manny and Khan....online?

2009-07-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

Well, to quote my very good friend and co-creator of M&K Josh "well...this happened."...

The last few days have been to say the least, interesting for both Josh and I. On monday morning I woke up (like I all ways do), made myself a hot cup of coffee, and sat down in front of my computer to peruse the interwebs. When my completely average monday turned into one of the most surreal days of my life. In an attempt to NOT boor you to death with the "hows" and "whys" (which I am not entirely sure of yet) I will < cut to > "The Chase". One of the most trusted and respected animation blogs on the internet Cartoon Brew posted a bootleg copy of our short and oh boy do people have something to say.

Before I get into THAT, I feel something needs to be addressed; Even though it may seem to some as if we are amidst the darkest hour for CN. With live-action's bulking muscles aggressively attempting to conquer the last safe haven for cartoons. I find it impossible to believe that a studio founded on cartoons will completely abandon a truly wonderful attempt to bring creator-driven shows to the masses (which is what we all want... right?). Cartoons have been around forever and Im sure they will continue to be around for a long time.

I also believe that we the viewers have grown too accustom to the instant gratification that the Internet provides us. We want our cartoons and we want them NOW! All our shows must be genius, clever, and the funnest thing we've ever seen...every time. They must be new... but not too new cause the old stuff is awesome... make sure you keep that in mind... but don't make it feel like anything Ive seen before...... The truth is; we all want and like different things. Josh and I were lucky enough to stand beside some of the industry's best for a brief moment in time. With the goal of learning how to make a cartoon. A cartoon that WE wanted to see. A Cartoon that maybe, just maybe, other people would like too.

Josh and I were given seven minutes to create a world, introduce our characters, set up a story, tell the story, and prove that this world could continue on if given the chance to do so. I think that for two young guys with limited experience to fall back on; we did a pretty good job considering the whole thing is about two friends... and a ball.

Running on limited experience we turned to the people, shows, and movies that we respect and admire. We tried our best to see where they came from, who their heroes were and whom they referenced. Looking back in time and learning from others that have come before us.

There is no doubt that we are fans of John K and Spumco but we are also fans of many other great Cartoonists and performers like; Max Fleischer, Milt Gross, Maurice Noble, Tex Avery, Laural and Hardy, The Three Stooges, and the list goes on and on.

I don't see anything wrong with admiring these great artists and trying to learn from them but, I can't stress this enough; in no way shape or form was this the only thing we did. Due to our tight schedule we didn't have enough time to think twice about anything let alone take the time to make a conscious decision to make something look or feel like something else. Almost all of the similarity between our short and the works of our heroes was subconscious. Which is not surprising to me in the least they are the reason I love cartoons and story telling. They are the reason I strive to do what I do.

Now, I can only assume that we the fans will someday in the future get to see The Cartoonstitute shorts in all of their glory. Presented in pristine HD and surround sound. Whether its on TV, The Web, or DVD does not matter, what does matter is that you get to see them the way the creators intended them to be seen. Not a copy of a copy of a flash movie, ripped and then compressed into a youtube window. A version so deteriorated that all you hear is the audio peaking out on every word. Something so obtrusive that you can't appreciate the beautiful score or brilliantly funny voice acting. Not a version where amazingly drawn frames are dropped and others merged together at the whim of a supper computer. Where skips and jumps happen and endings are cut off.

I know it may seem like I am mad that Manny and Khan was leaked but I am not. I am actually quite happy. I could have very easily contacted Youtube and had the video taken down but I didn't. I truthfully was VERY interested to know what people thought of it. So Josh and I just sat back and figured "someone" would eventually take it down. The strange thing is, three days later and its still up with 2,513 views and the comments keep pouring in. Some good, some bad and after three days I feel compelled to respond.

To all the people that posted the countless positive comments I say THANK YOU! Thank you for overlooking the poor quality of the copy and seeing the good in our short. Thank you for thinking this could someday be a show. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for being so kind when you could have easily been hurtful. Thank you, We made this for you.

To all the people that kind of liked or were on the fence and gave constructive criticism I say Thank you. We are listening.

To all the haters I ask you this; If Manny and Khan was produced by two random guys that had no connection to CN would you have been so quick to hate? Because the truth is; besides Craig McCrakken and Rob Renzetti (whom you could hardly call executives) there was absolutely NO other creative input from anyone other then the artists that made it. It was for a lack of a better term "Executive-Free".

I can only assume that you the haters are NOT in the business of making cartoons and I come to that deduction quite simply; Anyone who IS would never leave a purposely hurtful comment just to make themselves feel better. Anyone who is even remotely connected to ANYTHING creative knows truthfully what goes into the process of making something for others to see or hear. They wouldn't do it even if it was bad.

A final thought before I sign off; Far to often people refer to Cartoon Network as if it is an entity of its own. An all powerful being capable of deciding what stays and what goes... but, its not. It is a group of wonderful people; some like minded and some not, all coming together for one common goal. Which is to produce the highest quality of entertainment possible with the given recourses available. I am proud to say for a brief but wonderful time in my life I was apart of that.

Thanks again for all the amazing comments on Youtube, Toonzone, and Cartoon Brew. And Thanks to the people at Cartoon Network responsible for giving me a chance to make a cartoon. And Thanks to My best Buddy Josh!

Joey

p.s. to all the people that like the backgrounds in the show; I will be posting an article soon dealing with the BGs from our show.

Manny and Khan

2009-07-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

It's amazing what you can stumble upon while surfing the net. I sat down about two hours ago to write and post this drawing but got extremely distracted. It's awesome how you can get sucked into different blogs just by going over to the side links. So much awesomeness... so much awesomeness...

AM SESSION

2009-06-09T23:43:00.000-07:00

I just did this artwork for the band AM Session. They're an awesome band that you should check out. click HERE for their myspace page, click HERE to download some of their songs for FREE, and when you fall in love with them click HERE to buy their album for only $6. They are working on a new album right now and are playing a show in Orange County this weekend. heres that info 6/13/2009 9:00 PM at Yorba Linda Bowl 18171 Imperial Hwy., Yorba Linda, California 92886 Cost: $5

The Awesome Chronicles of Manny and Khan: part 1000

2009-02-16T19:45:00.000-08:00

The BG's in our short are a traditional paint style with no black Ink lines. I did this today for fun. I wanted to see how our two awesome guys would look on a BG with a little more ink. I think it looks pretty great. If we are lucky enough to do another episode we will defiantly have to explore this a little more. I love the raw dirtiness the ink gives off.

The Awesome Chronicles of Manny and Khan; Part 7

2009-01-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

Who is Khan and why is he so fun to scribble?

For more info on who/what Khan is see Josh's post from Monday, January 26, 2009

The Awesome Chronicles of Manny and Khan; Part 6

2009-01-26T23:37:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photo's of Josh and I during Pre-production.

(image below) Craig, Me, Rob, and Josh going over our Background reference list

(image below) Josh afraid of a T-Rex

(image below) Josh doing some work on his fancy computing box

(image Below) Me daydreaming about cheeseburgers

During Pre-Production Josh and I would leave eachother little post-it notes from time to time. We kept all of them, and over the span of four months we acumulated quite a few. So Josh and I decied that we would end all of our blog posts about M&K with one of them. hope you enjoy!

Khan stuck inside the computer

The Awesome Chronicles of Manny and Khan Part 5.

2009-01-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

Here are a few drawings I did a ways back of Manny and Khan. They don't have anything to do with the plot of our show but I think they are funny drawings.

"OH NO A T-REX!"

Just a couple of guys hanging out... wearing jean cut-offs

More to come in a bit...

Awesome and Out!

I'm back!

2009-01-26T19:42:00.000-08:00

There are so many things to talk about I hardly no where to begin... The last time I posted was in November. Josh and I had recently shipped our show The Awesome Chronicles of Manny and Khan to an overseas studio in Korea called Big Star. At which point I took a much needed vacation. I traveled back east and spent a week with my friends Tony and Annie in the Big Apple. Then Tony and I drove upstate to our home town Buffalo New York for our 10 year High School reunion which needless to say was a blast. I then spent two and a half weeks in Buffalo eating Chicken wings and Teds Hotdogs. I visited with family, drank cheap beers with old friends, and watched a lot of Law and Order Criminal Intent. Oh yeah, I cut my beard off and left my mustache! I kept it for a few weeks but it became too much for me to handle so I shaved it. I miss it.

After almost four weeks back east in the cold and snow I returned home to sunny california to the best/worst early christmas gift a 28 year old man could get. A classic Nintendo Emulator with over one hundred games. I say best because I feel like a kid that just played Super Sloppy Double Dare and won a Toys 'R Us shopping spree and worst because my mom isn't here to tell me to turn off the game and go out side and play. After all was said and done I eventually found the will power to turn the game off and get back down to business. I had a few weeks before Manny and Khan would come back from Big Star. So to keep busy in the meantime i started writing out a treatment for an "adult" cartoon show. It's been brewing in my mind for a while now and it feels so good to get it out of my head and on paper. I can't go into to detail about it but I will say this; there is only one place on TV that would have the stones to air what I'm making. I only hope I can stay focused long enough to put together a solid pitch bible cause I'd love to pitch it this year. But, more on that later.

So just to sum it all up... NYC, Buffalo, 10 year, chicken wings, hotdogs, family, friends, Law and Order C.I., MUSTACHE, Nintendo, no mustache :(, and writing.

Now that everyone is all caught up on the past two and a half months I can move onto the truly exciting stuff. On Friday of last week Josh and got Manny and Khan back from Big Star. For the first time we saw our silly drawings come fully to life. I wish I could show you the whole thing right now! ...but I can't :( We have a 6 week post schedule which includes; music composition, sound design, The final Mix, and the final edit. This is a very exciting time for Josh and I and we look forward to sharing our show with you all. But until that day comes Josh and I will be posting more often then we normally have. Stay tuned in cause I have a few more posts to do tonight. It's good to be back, and Thanks so much for stopping over to my page.

Joey

Click here to go to Josh's Blog.

The Awesome Chronicles of Manny and Khan; part 4

2008-11-05T11:35:00.001-08:00

It brings me great pleasure to present one of our final painted backgrounds. It was painted by Tim Barnes - one of the most talented painters of our time. I am not sure how we got so lucky. Like everyone that has worked on our show Tim has brought something very special and unique to the table. Josh and I could not be happier. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

The Awesome Chronicles of Manny and Khan; part 3

2008-10-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

Our Characters; Manny and Khan

Above: A small rough sketch I did a few months ago
Below: Drawings done by our Character Designer Dan Thompson

The Awesome Chronicles of Manny and Khan; part 2

2008-10-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

Our Backgrounds

The Art Direction I am trying for is a sort of vignette style background. The idea is that the least important parts of the background will fade off gradually into the surrounding areas of the scene. creating a frame for the characters action in a sort of nonconventional way.

Below: Two rough backgrounds from our show. They were drawn by the amazingly talented Chris Tsiriotis.

The Awesome Chronicles of Manny and Khan; part 1

2008-10-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

Recording Our Script

On September 24th 2008 Josh and I recorded our script with the guidance of Kris Zimmerman our Voice Director. We cast Keith Ferguson to play the role of Khan and Adam Paul to play Manny. Both Keith and Adam added so much depth to our characters. Their phenomenal voice work made our silly drawings feel so real.

Above: Keith Ferguson, Me, Josh Lieberman, and Adam Paul in the recording booth at Cartoon Network

Above: Me and Keith eatin' some snacks

Above: Josh with our Voice Director Kris Zimmerman

Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy

2008-09-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

A few months back I did a logo design for a production company called Main Street Pictures which is producing a web series called Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy . The web series is a cavalcade of 1 minute short films produced by the creator of Family Guy - Seth MacFarlane. A new short will air every week for the next few months. I designed the title and the movie theater which is on the web page and at the beginning of every short. The shorts can be seen at Sethcomedy.com or on youtube .

Special thanks to the guys over at Main Street Pictures ; Mike Bodkin, Andrew Egiziano , and Aaron Parry. These guys are probably the three hardest working people in animation.

Character Clean-up and Character Layout

2008-08-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

This first page of drawings are my Cleanups of Shannon Tindle's character designs for Fosters Home

It turned out we needed 3/4 views as well. These second two pages of drawings are my Rough Character Layouts of the previous characters.

The End is Finally Here :(

2008-08-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

Three years, three months, eight days, and fifty-two episodes later and my work here on Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends is done. Not a bad run if I do say so myself.

Goodbye Susy

2008-07-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

My friend Susy is leaving Cartoon Network next week to work on the new Cleveland Show on Fox. A few years ago Susy was our intern here on Fosters back when I was working as a PC. She climbed the ranks quickly and when I moved from PC to Clean-up she took over for me. She has done a great job and I will miss her.

I did this drawing for her last night after work. I hope she is ready for the "Family Guy" sense of Humor cause it is just a little bit harsher then Fosters... just a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I think Family Guy is hysterical - Im just sayin'. This reminds me of that time...

The final color

2008-07-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

If you were wondering what the castle was going to look like after it had gone to color, wonder no more. The wickedly talented Sue Mondt colored the background below the other day. I think it is absolutely amazing. It is so crazy to see something that I worked on turn out so beautiful. It has been such a wonderful experience for me to work with so many talented artist over the past three years here on Fosters. I have learned more from them then they will ever EVER know.

Rough Design: Dave Dunnet
Cleanup: me
Color: Sue Mondt
Art Drection: Martin Ansolabehere

Fosters Background Clean-up

2008-07-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hello all, sorry I haven't posted in a long time I have been very busy with the end of Foster's nearing. For the last few weeks I have been cleaning up backgrounds for Foster's, here is one I am particularly proud of. It took almost two full days to complete. Below it you will find the original rough Background designed by the amazing Dave Dunnet.

my cleanup (painted in grayscale - pre color styling - using Adobe Illustrator)

Dave Dunnet's Rough Design

goodbye card

2008-05-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

I am nearing the end of a three year journey here on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. My official last day will be on June 27th. I find it fitting that I recently finished drawing a prop the other day of a good bye card. I had to design all of the signatures for all of the Imaginary friends on the show and put them in a card. It isn't the best piece of art that I've done so far but if you look closely on the left hand side, just below center, and slightly to the right you will see a little shout-out to my home town Buffalo, NY. This isn't the first time I was able to squeeze Buffalo into a show. In the episode "Foster's Goes to Europe" The gang runs through an airport O.J. Simpson style. They run past a coffee shop that has travel posters on the wall and one of them is for Buffalo. It has a picture of chicken wings and blue cheese. I didn't actually draw that one but the background Designer Dave Dunnet knew I was from Buffalo so he put it in for me. I am going to miss this show.

Bigfoot "Glamour Shot" Rough

2008-05-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

Im planing on painting this one in the next week so check back soon.

Jackie Khones Private Eye, Case Closed!

2008-05-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

So, over a year ago I had the opportunity to pitch ten episode ideas to Craig McCracken, creator and director of "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends". Out of those ten ideas he liked two, and out of those two one was actually made into an episode of Foster's. The title of the episode is "Jackie Khones and The Case of the Over Due Library Crook".

When I pitched it to Craig all I said was; "Jackie Khones Private eye, Case Closed" and that was enough to get the ball rolling. I was invited to temporally join the story crew for the episode (I say temp. because my normal job is just drawing) and we sat in the conference room for half a day until the story was fully figured out. Then the amazingly talented Darrick Bachman wrote the script. After several months of hard work from tons of people the show was finally completed. It aired on Cartoon Network March 13th 2008.

I also did some drawing on the episode. The three screen shots below are from the awesome montage/ song about Jackie Khones.

Aaaand if that isn't cool enough, I found a very nice review of the episode on Firefox News (link below). So long story short, if you get a sec check out the review and the episode. I'm not sure when the next air date is but when I find out I will post another note.

Thanks for stopping by,
Joey

http://firefox.org/news/articles/1309/1/Review-Foster039s-Home-for-Imaginary-PIs-quotJackie-Khones-and-the-Case-of-the-Overdue-Library-Crookquot/Page1.html

Foster's Incidental Characters

2008-05-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

As always the original rough drawings on the left were done by my Character Supervisor Ben Balistreri and my Cleaned-up versions are on the right hand side. I cleaned them up using Adobe Illustrator and they are prepared specifically for Flash Animation. They haven't gone to the color stylist yet so they are still in grayscale. enjoy!

thoughts...

2008-05-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

I did this a while back on a lunch break. I was stressed out at the time and needed to escape for a few minutes.

Humanzee

2008-02-22T12:44:00.001-08:00

digital pen and marker 10x10

some trees

2008-02-22T12:40:00.001-08:00

pencil on paper 8.5x11

put 'em up! put up your dukes!

2008-02-05T19:44:00.000-08:00

Feisty the Snowman

MY FISH PURPLE

2008-02-05T17:37:00.001-08:00

Carl vs. My Autoimmune System

2008-02-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

got bug?

2008-02-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

So I've had a cold now for several weeks and I just can't seem to shake it. I think this is what is inside me making me sick. his name is Carl.

Fish-eye Camera

2008-02-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

I took this over the holiday during the national anthem of a Buffalo Sabres Game.

35mm film camera
fish-eye lens

Design Clean-up for Foster's

2007-12-06T13:09:00.001-08:00

The Original Rough Designs done by our Character Supervisor Ben Balistreri are on the left and my Clean-up is on the right. The clean-ups are done using Adobe Illustrator.

Design Clean-up for Foster's

2007-12-06T13:05:00.001-08:00

The original Rough's were done by the amazing Ben Balistreri. It is an honor to trace his work. "It’s eh…it’s not tracing, alright? I add depth and shading to give the image more definition. Only then does the drawing truely take shape."

The girls

2007-08-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of cleaning up some special poses of the Powerpuff Girls for a 10 year anniversary special set to air on Cartoon Network in 2008. I cleaned them up and colored them using Adobe Illustrator. These character models are broke-down and layered specifically for FLASH animation. The color is based on reference from the original series.

Illustrator Background Test

2007-08-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

I did these Backgrounds In Illustrator as a test for Craig McCracken to see if the Style from the Original Powerpuff Girls series would translate into Adobe Illustrator.

these were cleaned up in Illustrator and colored based on reference from the original traditional paintings from the Powerpuff Girls Series.

High Def Transfer for PPG Main Title

2007-08-24T13:27:00.001-07:00

Backgrounds and characters for the new HD (1920x1080) main title for The Powerpuff Girls cleaned up and colored in Illustrator (color based on reference from Original 1st season main title)

Illustrator Background Cleanup

2007-08-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

Powerpuff Girls Background Cleanup done in Grayscale (pre color)

Professor Utonium

2007-08-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

Illustrator cleanup

Monsters for PPG

2007-08-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

Illustrator cleanup

My Gym Partner Is A Monkey

2007-08-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

I cleaned these up in Illustrator for Cartoon Network Enterprise - they needed the original models cleaned up in vector for some marketing pieces - the color was based off of the Gym Partner Style Guide.

Beerfest

2007-08-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Illustrator cleanup and color

tidal wave full of sharks

2007-08-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

fun with photoshop

2007-08-24T12:13:00.001-07:00

Drawings and sketches

2007-08-24T12:06:00.001-07:00

Pencil

Digital

old stuff

2007-08-24T11:24:00.000-07:00