Entertaining Friends

Artist's Thoughts,
"Entertaining Friends." I've been thinking about this focusing line quite a bit lately. It's the most important thing for me to remember. It's what drives me.

I really enjoy watching cooking shows. Even though, it may not be about a meal I'm preparing that evening, it's the fact that cooking is an art. I love the arts. One of the things that I find fascinating is the chefs are "all into" what they're doing. I enjoy how they explain their process in such an entertaining way.

Art includes the presentation, in this case culinary arts. Yes, the taste, but it's television, so the visual is very important. I'm not an expert on the methods, just speaking in terms of creativity.

How does it inspire my work? I desire to present the best art that I possibly can. And, as long as I keep the focus ENTERTAINING FRIENDS, it's such a joy. I'm trying to be more aware of negative thinking. Every artist struggles with it from time to time. What is my positive reinforcement? You.

This is a heart-on-sleeve moment...

It is important for me to let you know that you matter. As I stated before, I will say this many times, what is this without you?  Thank you friends.

A Simple Greeting

Artist's Thoughts,
  For the next few weeks I will be devoting more time to writing. I will be thinking about you, of course. I appreciate your support.

Candle Dance Picts

Artist's Thoughts,
You may or may not remember the story I introduced to you a while back called "Candle Dance." It's one of my favorite stories. As the process sometimes goes, rewrite, rewrite. What I also decided to do was recreate more scenes in 3D. Here's a few picts.

Composing the music for this story is really challenging. It's a mix of modern and classic styles. At first, I felt out of sync working on multiple pixeltunes, but I'm starting to get into a creative zone. This method works for me. Process can sometimes appear random, but at some point...it comes together. I'll share more of the story as it reaches it's finish.

Ten Favorite Animated Films

Artist's Thoughts,

I am really excited about, and looking forward to seeing the new animated films showing this summer. I thought about some of my favorites. Here's my top ten at this time.

1. Polar Express
2. Toy Story (All 3)
3. 101 Dalmations
4. The Incredibles
5. The Prince Of Egypt
6. Spy Kids (R.R. Rocks!)
7. Finding Nemo
8. Ratatouille (Spelled right?)
9. Cars (Previews of the sequel looks great)
10. Alice In Wonderland

I know I could add to this list tons of awesome animated films. But for the sake of time, I'll stop at ten. Kudos to my fellow animators!

The Music Side

Artist's Thoughts,
My approach to music is to start with a rhythm track, which helps to keep the beat, of course. From there, I either work out the chord progression, or a bass line. Adding feeling to a song comes when I imagine who or what I am singing, or composing about.

I enjoy writing out the notes to each instrument's part.

There are a lot of stereotypes of artists. However, I can say that many creative people that I have met tend to be on the quiet side. I think this has to do with the process of creating. Some say, we are 'deep thinkers.' Imagine seeing a pearl on the bottom of the ocean and diving in to get it.

That's us when we get an idea. I believe the term is "in the zone."