The Evil Eye

The other day my son came to me and said "Blog?". And I proceeded to tell him that Daddy's been very busy and hasn't had much time to do anything for his blog. He just stared at me.

It's Been Too Damn Long

It has been a while since I've posted ANYTHING. Wholly Crap!

You may be asking yourself, "Where has Jim Brown been?" Well that's a damn good question. I've started a new job and haven't had time to do much, if any, artwork. I've recently been hired at Industrial Light and Magic and am knee deep in everything ILM. My day consists of doing my job and learning HOW to do my job. My last job I had a little free time to do a bit of doodling here and there. So far at the new gig? NONE!! It's not a bad thing. It's just a lot of work right now. The good part is I'm an animator so my work consists of making characters move. So work really isn't "Work".

Anyway, to those that keep checking in. Keep checking in. I'll be putting up some artwork again soon.

Cheers.

Morning Stretch

There is nothing like a good morning stretch.

Through a Child's Eyes

So I thought that my child would always look up to me with admiration. I guess I was wrong.

First Pass

Here's a work in progress. It's a bar front and in need of some detail, more shading and a name for the bar. Bar name suggestions welcome.

Let's Make Some Noise

To those of you that are checking out this site. Make a comment. I know you're out there, lurking in the shadows and watching from a far. Please feel free to join in the fun. Make a comment or two about anything: an older post, a new post, my grammar, my spelling, tell me to post more pictures of my son, more drawings of monsters, more drawings of landscapes, whatever comes to mind. Make a comment, "Jim you suck." or , "You RULE!!" or "Post some pictures of your cousins from LA." I'd love to hear from you.



However, even if you don't post, it's nice to know you're out there. Thanks for checking in.
Cheers.
-Jim Brown

Larger Than Wife

Shark Attack

Shark attacks in the San Francisco Bay Area seem to be on the rise as of late. Maybe it's Global Warming? Maybe it's less available food? Whatever the case, here's one my wife and I witnessed on the drive over the Bay Bridge!! Luckily it just took a bite of the truck ahead of us and took off.

Vacation and Chase

So I took the last couple of weeks off from work and tried my best to unplug and get away from the computer. I did spend a significant amount of time drawing, but nothing to share at this time. However I did spend a lot of time with my little man, Chase. He's growing up so fast that I cherish the time I spend with him. He's an awesome person. So what better post than putting up a pick of my son. I love you buddy.

Ralph Color Test

This is Ralph. He's had a long day. This is a test to see what colors work with Ralph. You may see him again one day.

Chase and Pete

Here's a picture of our new pet Pete and our one year old son Chase. Boy, those two sure have fun together.

Feeling Sick

So I'm feeling pretty crappy tonight, but I didn't want to leave you with out a drawing. This one is what it feels like in my nose right now. Mmmmm....

Colin and Mike

Here are a couple of characters I came up with one night while I was working late. There was no one in the building, I was getting a little lonely and I decided to make my own friends. Colin is the squirrel and Mike is the beaver. They live together and like to have a drink now and again.

DISCLAIMER: These two are not based off of anyone I know. They are completely made up and fictional. I never had roommates named Mike or Colin. Nor did either of them like to drink beer.

Action, Adventure, and Spicy Brown Mustard.

This is Clive Stone. He's just saved three children, a labradoodle, and his roast beef deli sandwich from a burning building. The only problem? He must jump from the thirteenth floor to save himself. Good thing he's a superhero.

That's One Angry Rodent

Caught?

What happens when you walk in on your roommate and catch him in an odd position?

It's Really Not That Bad

Bus Stop

Fat Lip

No art to post today, but I'm working on something fun. In the mean time here's a photo of my fat lip I received while playing soccer at lunch today.

Light Test

After a long day at work Randal finds a dark corner and lights up.

It's Never Too Late To Wacom

My Supervisor, Blair Clark, let me borrow his Wacom Tablet. I haven't painted with one of these in years. Here's a little experiment I've done. The colors are experimental as well. I'm really out of practice, but what the heck. Enjoy.

Animation Mentor Newsletter

For those that are unaware, in my spare time I enjoy mentoring for a program called AnimationMentor.com . It's THE online school for animation. It's a great school with some amazing people involved. The program was started by three top flight animators Bobby Beck, Carlos Baena and Shawn Kelly. What separates AM from the other schools is the mentors (I swear I'm not bragging about myself here). The mentors are working professional animators who, over the course of a term, review students work and give one on one feedback directly to the student. It's rare to get such feedback from people who are in the industry. It's a great place to learn and get fired up about animation.

My point to this post is the people at AM have decided to put ME in their monthly newsletter! What an honor. I've been a mentor at Animation Mentor for two plus years now and every term is an entirely new and exciting experience. Check out the newsletter and maybe learn a thing or two about animation.
CLICK HERE FOR THE NEWSLETTER

Father's Day

A couple of weeks ago my sister called me and said we should go in on a gift together for our Dad. She said she'd get the presents if I made the card. Not a problem. Good deal for me. Then this last week she calls me and says, "Don't make me look stupid on the card." I told her not to worry, but she said, "I don't trust you." Well I hadn't considered doing such a thing until she brought it up. Here is the result of the card for our dear 'ol Dad:

Envelope:


Front:


Inside:


Happy Fathers Day Dad. We love you.

Chase is now ONE!!

My son had his first birthday on Saturday. To honor his birthday my wife made a slide show of some of the highlights from the last year. I can't believe how fast the little guy is growing up. Happy Birthday Chase.

The Tal-BOT

My friend from work Jeremie Talbot, his last day at Tippett Studio was Friday. To honor his leaving I made him a Tal-BOT. What is a Tal-BOT you might ask. That's a good question. Jeremie and I have been hiding a monitor connection piece on or around each other's desks for about a year now. Jeremie even sent it to my house via US Mail. Well last week I was out of town and Jeremie decided to get an entire box full of these parts and hide them all over my desk. I even found one in my cup of coffee that was left over from the morning prior to my departure. So I did what any animator with too much free time would do; I made a robot with all the pieces. This wasn't easy seeing as all the parts were hidden in places I hadn't looked in YEARS. However after finding all, or "most" as Jeremie says, I was able to start construction. Below is a picture of the final product.



Here's Jeremie with his Tal-BOT. He's normally a lot jollier than this photo, but it was his last day and he was "sad" Jeremie that day.




Good Luck at Pixar Jeremie. We'll miss you over here at Tippett.

Had a Few

I did more drinking than drawing this weekend, so there's no new artwork at the moment. Congrats to Matt and Beth Branda for a kick ass wedding.

Drunk Aliens

Faces, Faces, and more Faces.

Okay, so after doing some skull studies, I've come to a new conclusion about how to approach the face/head. Here are some of my results:


(I did not draw the skull in this drawing. That was drawn by my Supervisor Blair Clark.)

There's something I really enjoy about drawing a face. I love the fact that you can convey an emotion with the swish of a line.

Skull Studies

Lately I've needed some inspiration in my drawings. This usually means I've exhausted my image vocabulary and am drawing the same things over an over again, boring myself to tears. When this happens I like to go back to real life and do some studying. Now I don't own a real human skull, but I did borrow a plastic one (not perfect mind you) to study. Here are some of the results of those studies... I think I need to study more, especially from non standard angles.

Some Oldies

I'm hoping to put up some recent artwork, but in the mean time here are a few pieces I did a number of years back. I still dig 'em.

My Wife Rules

You ever have one of those days where life kicks you in the balls and then points and laughs at your pain? It's not as if it's the end of the world, but it's painful. Anyway I had a day like that recently and my wife was there for me. She's pretty damn cool. I'm just saying.

Pencil Test

Lately I've been into animating in 2D. I'm not very experienced, but there's only one way to learn, right? This is a simple test I did of a guy throwing a couple of punches. Good times.

The Beginning

Welcome to my blog. I've never liked the word blog. It sounds like one of those crappy acronyms Sorority girls use to talk to one another... or was that just the women I knew? Anyway, my cell phone sucks since my son put it in his mouth and I'm not much of a talker, so I created this as a means to keep people in my life, or anyone else for that matter, informed.

I hope you enjoy some of the things I post. My hope is do it for at least a week.