Wow.

So, its been a while since Ive updated my blog. Lame, I know. Things have kind of slowed down creatively. I guess you could say Ive hit an artistic snag. I sat back today and looked at the last few weeks and Ive decided to get back on the band wagon... so expect new work asap. I have a few tattoo designs that I am currently working on and am also helping out with a friends senior film. Im hoping to get some freelance work with Thunderbean Animation and also with HappyTrails Animation. These would be great opportunities for my reel. Hope everybody else is being crazy artistic. See you soon!

Meetings, Drawings, Working, Interviewing

Things out here have been pretty good. Ive had meeting with a few different studios Laika, NWEA, and Xplane, and I will soon be meeting with a guy from Flying Rhino. Im excited about it. Im still working a bit, but I am going to need to get another job to help pay for my expenses. Working in a bar is not helping my productivity at all. In other areas, Ive become pretty politically active, which I will blog about, but I did want to explain the artwork that I post.

Busy Busy Bee

Keeping Busy..as usual. I have a job at a little bar in Portland now, to pay the bills before I get a real job. Ive been applying like crazy. At PSU, Laika, Aquent, Respond2 Communications, and quite a few more. Ive also been looking into some of the comic companies in the area. There are quite a few small ones around here. That would be a great job for me. I think. This is a really cool area, very different culture than Detroit. I miss home alot. But thats expected.
On another note, be sure to check out the artclub challenge blog...artclubchallenge.blogspot.com Its a great little club created by Jared Hart, so the CCS crew can continue to stay creative with one another.
Here are some of the sketches that Ive been working on. They arent finished...but thats obvious. haha.

Art Challenge 2

This is my art challenge two piece. Draw with the opposite hand from what you are used to. Ok, done. I drew my right hand with my left hand. Here we go. I miss Detroit.

A Serious Lack of Harry.

Im upset. Harry Potter release date has been moved back to the summer of 09...for financial purposes. Lame. I can handle this loss of intimate time with Harry. Hah.

My senior film

As usual. Its still in the works. But for now, I am happy with it. I will be posting my other collaborative projects from the Iron Animators Competition and The Kalamazoo International Animation Festival Cartoon Challenge.

Wolves from Liz Davis on Vimeo.

Dinners Ready.

This is a rough collaborative piece done by myself, Esther Aikey, Tim Kafantaris, and Kali Koslowsky.

Almost all the videos are now available on youtube and vimeo

Dinners Ready from Liz Davis on Vimeo.

new stuff...sketches and things.

As usual

As usual. Im keeping busy. Bought a new sketchbook, and Ive been drawing like crazy. I, feeling really creative right now, possibly due to the lack of employment. Haha. Im feverishly attempting to get a job. Im about to work at the local grocer if I cant figure it out soon. That, or the army.

I dont know. Im starting to get really worried about paying off my student loans. The armed forces offer up to 65 in student loan repayment. Thats a hefty chunk of what I owe. And Im not going to go further into debt. 5 or 6 years isnt that long of tim, when Im only 22, and Id love to travel around anyways. Somebody please talk me out of this. Or hire me.

Staying Busy....

So basically Ive been coloring like crazy, trying out new things, trying to broaden my horizons. Ive been searching for a job like no tomorrow. Ive applied for Laika, finally, as well as Dark Horse Comics, and Xerox. Im pretty sure that none of them will go through, but if they did I would basically be crying all the time. Im just ready to get started at a job where I actually get to be creative. Im really scared that Im going to end up serving food for the rest of my life. I dunno. Pray for me. Let me know what you think about everything Ive been working on. Im going to start messing with Flash again. I have to figure out if I can flip out my Adobe suite for a professional one. hmmm....anyone have anything to say on that one?

Alrighty welp, more later. ps. I love Portland, but my heart is still in Detroit.

Portland Oregon....my new home!

So. I got into Portland about 3 days ago. Im already looking for a job, I love craigslist.  Alot of great things are going on in this area. I live just outside out the city, in Milwaukee. Its a really nice area and Darkhorse comics is right around the block. In walking distance. That would be amazing, but unfortunately they dont have any internships available. Lame. Im looking into a couple of other opportunities like some local galleries and other graphics places...and whatnot. I am hoping to take a visit to Laika in the next week here.  I also have yet to visit the coast. Which would be awesome, cuz Ive never been the the Pacific before. Anyways, my bed is being delivered right now....ok, later. more updates o the artwork in a bit.

more work will be posted soon.

So alot of really great progress is being made.  Since I got my wacom I am having a ton of fun.  I am also ready to start working in Flash again. (its been awhile). I ve made some pretty huge decisions lately. In 2 weeks I am moving to Portland Oregon, its official! I am really excited about the move.  It is something that I have been thinking about for a very long time, and I think it will be a good experience.  Maybe Ill be able to get a real job! 

In other related news, I have decided to sell my tattoo equipment. This was not an easy decision to make, but I need to make some extra money before I leave to start my new life.  Not only that, but my tattooing experience is based on me knowing people, and since I wont know anyone in Portland, I feel like it is the right decision to make right now.

there are things happening in detroit!!

i finally got my wacom tablet in the other day. i am loving it, its even bigger then the last one that i  had! ive been having fun getting used to using it, messing with some old work, and working on some digital portraits for my pals and family. tattooing is coming along great. and im getting really really excited about moving to portland. my website is almost done.

so...progress....

i realize i am posting different versions of the same basic thing...over, and over, and over again. but hey....seeing the development is good right? here are the final layouts for Maudies Closet. As well as other nonsense. 

I am putting up my website this week, and hope to put out my resume by the next week. I need to get something lined up before I move to Portland. But I figure that I will have a better ahcnae of getting a job out there, if I already live there.

Alright. PS. Brian Boardman is the greatest web designer ever.

I need a wacom tablet. desperately.

So, the apprenticeship at BABYDOLLS TATOOS is going great, though I have decided officially to move to Portland.  Its a ridiculous move.  But I think I am up for the challenge, plus there are some great studios and creative companies out that way....and there is nothing here for me in Detroit.  Here is some more of the stuff that I have been doing. The last post involved some flying elephants and hula pin up, I really want to finish those digitally, along with some zombie pin ups 

I have been working on, but apparently it is going to take longer than expected.  I am working 45 hours a week to save up money to go.  But I still have to find time to put up my website, and get my portfolio finalized.  My resume is going to be posted soon.

Wish me luck...and let me know if you want a tattoo, its really fun to do.

Posting some new and old work. Random.

So school is finished! i am officially a graduate of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit MI! There are a lot of really exciting thing going on right now.  I have started tattooing alot.  I got a great apprenticeship at BABYDOLLS in Taylor MI.  While that is all getting underway, I have also picked up some freelance work with Thunderbean Animation, with Steve Stanchfield, it should be some good stuff to put on my reel.

Big NEWS!:: I am moving to Portland Oregon in August. I am definitely excited about the whole thing and I really want a job at Laika, but we will see where I end up.

anywho, as promised, here is some work.

graduation is looming in my future.

i think we are all freaking out right now.

no seriously though, I love CCS. its really has been a great experience. I will be posting my final senior work shortly.

New Work Continued.

More work in Illustrator.

Graduation!

So im on the move again, busy as hell and actually feeling productive. Ive had a new art flame lit under my butt, and Im getting productive as heck. I hit a snag for a mionute there, but started some new projects just long enough to get excited about my senior project again. Im feeling good about getting it done and actually graduating. Once it is finished I will be posting it.

As always, here is the new work that I ahve been doing, as well as th first few tattoos that I have done. They were all great successes.

maudies closet and other recent work.

so. silliness has ensued. i bought a tattoo machine, and just tattooed my own foot. it reads "in defens" "nemo me impune lacessit" it is the motto of the scottish and british coat of arms. it means, in my defense god me defend, and no one shall harm me with impunity. i like it alot. between the two phrases i am going to put a thistle, the official flower of scotland. 

i have been doing a lot of work on my cartoon pitch. as well as beginning a new short film called bubbles. my senior film is basically on hold right now. im really over worked on it. i just cant finish it right now. i dunno. im pretty sure that i just wont be an animator. i want to play a big role in story development and character development, but i dont want to animate. im sure i will finish the "wolves" film, but it is going to take me quite a while. 

i am also beginning to put together the buttons for my website. my friend brian is going to put it all together for me, but i am going to put the elements together. here is some of my recent work.

I bought a tattoo machine!

Im making pretty good process in school right now. I actually feel motivated to finish this film right now! WooHoo! Its going to feel so good to get it done and over with, and decide what I am going to do with it. I think I want to color it in colored pencil, which is the craziest thing ever. 

In other news, I bought myself a tattoo machine, and Im determined to be good at it.  Its something Ive always been interested in and the last 3 years Ive really been struggling to decide whether or not to invest in one.  Well, I decided to splurge before my student loans are all gone. I went out, bought some grapefruit to practice on, and I need to get more supplies. Its funny how any little things are involved in the process. Most of the time people just think its a needle and a paper towel. Haha. Well we'll see how it goes.

Im uploading a picture of my first grapefruit tattoo--experiment....

Im also uploading a new pin up girl design..which i would love to tattoo one day!

And im uploading one of the main character designs for my pitch Maudies Closet.

on a smaller note,

Reviews and My Biased Opinion

 about some of the movies that have been released recently.

Ok, so I recently went to the movies and saw

Be Kind Rewind- I had huge expectations for this film, after "science of sleep" I was sure that this was a great platform for Michel Gondry.  This was an opportunity to bring back the silly special effects that he is so well known for.  They were great, the hands and crafts special affect were great, and the interaction with random people made it the better.  The idea of the movies being remade by the community, was really instrumental.  It helped the plot along, but it also made for some interesting acting.

Cloverfield-I loved this movie. I have heard many many people criticizing this film, without really understanding the film.  I really feel like this film brought me inside the film, I got to experience the shaking of the camera while running, to see the monster up close, where the character stood looking up into its mouth.  It was supposed to feel jarring, the camera was supposed to help you experience the film.

Graduation in two months!

So this is whats on my mind at the moment. First off, Im excited to be done with school. Considering that I have been in school, continuously, my entire life. Basically. Secondly, Im terrified of not being in school. Because I have never had a real job. I mean freelance is fun, and a few days of this and that is good. But I have no concept of actually doing what I love to do, and getting paid for it. A job situation is going to be so much different from the school experience. I mean, Ive had jobs, harsh ones, but I need to do this! Agh! Im freaking out. Basically.
Wow, that was alot of rambling.

updates:
Senior Studio-School is going good. 10 week review for senior studio is next week. I need to put everything together and start to see how it will work with the song by owlwood. Im pretty sure itll be good. Im exciting to get them all into the right format, and add doodads and bushes and trees and things. I think Ill feel like I accomplished something.

Pitch-Im reworking the Maudies Closet character designs in Illustrator. I feel like the pitch is better formed to a flash program, or after affects. Ive got one down and Im pretty happy with it. Im kind of nervous about approaching the environments though, just because its something new. The story is fleshing itself out nicely. Ive been writing a short story which introduces all the characters and their background histories. Everyone seems to be relating very well to Katie, the main character. She has a great sense of sarcasm and is very practical. This is why it is so difficult for her to have moved on top of a vintage clothes store surrounded by hippies. The adventures that Katie, Evie and Jack go on are going to be really great.

Practicum- This is a great lesson for all of us in class, so we can learn how to respond to clients. Its interesting how difficult it really is. I know that if someone was paying me to continually redraw characters, it would be fine. Its very hard for the team to understand why we havent decided on a style or main character. But its hard on their part as well, With different opinions about the sketches. I guess we will just keep giving them what they want. Hopefully, the plan is that we will spend extra kind reworking this character style, so that it can continue through the total 8 films.

pitching..any advice?

So im looking into pitching my story to a few places. Im looking into contacting Cartoon Network, because Ive already had communication with them before...and I figure it is worth a shot, but the smaller studios will probably recieve it better. Im still in school with only a few months left, so I figure it is a good time to get ready to jump into that part of my career. Not that Im expecting it to get picked up immediately, but it is a very solid idea and Im pretty confident in it.
Anywho, so that is basically where I am at in the whole scope of things. My senior short animation is finally on the ball. Ive had some pretty serious health issues Ive been dealing with and it threw me off for a minute, but Im happy to get started on it all again. Im planning on having it fully animated by the middle of May and hopefully be well into coloring. Ive decided to color with colored pencil, which sounds crazy even to me....but I think it suits the style of my animation better than any other option.

Anyways, about the pitch, if anyone has some advice for me, as I dive head first into this idea, please let me know. Im currently working on character ideas and each character Bible is almost finished. I have about 3 different ideas for plots and Im hoping to come up with about 3 more. This will hopefully cement the themes behind the show, as well as the characters.

So. What Im up too......

Ill be posting some of my Flash rendered traditional animation, as soon as I figure out how to do that. lol. Im still teaching myself Flash, its a labor of love I guess. I have some more character and environment design that I am working on rendering in photoshop, painter. I usually do my final renders in colored pencil, after all I am a traditional kind of girl...but this time Im going to try and keep up with the generation of today, plus I think itll go alot easier. Here is a link to the deviantart account of a fellow student here at CCS. Shes brilliant, check her out.
http://anathemasremedy.deviantart.com/
continuing to push through my last smester....and loving it.

staying busy....

ive been getting alot of work done, on my film and on my other work...trying to mix things up so i dont get too bored, i just uploaded a few older pieces, that i never got around to putting on the internet....im proud of them. colroed pencils are fun!

i think that i found my soundtrack for my student film. its by an artist called Owlwood, from Toledo. The song is called "wolves", ad it basically embodies the idea that Red Riding hood was wronged in more ays than one. Im really excited to start arranging my shots with the climax of the music.

I will keep you all posted on how my progress is going!

new photoshop and stuff....

me.

shannon smith. my pal

kimo...my bf.

been having fun with photoshop pictures and my friends pictures. Here is some of it! i should be getting my scanner next week. I have 2 HP scanner printers, but neither of them will work with my mac. Apparently there is a big problem with that. O well, im gonna buy an epson.

Freelance possibilities.....

So today my practicum class sat down with the Toyota/Detroit Science Center Engineering Theater Team, and discussed our opportunities to be involved in 8 short shows that high light the possible engineering careers. I am really really excited about it. The animation is going to be fun and slightly campy. But the real kicker is that this is a gig that could continue after I graduate. It is some animation that will be shown to thousands of people who visit the Detroit science Center each year. Its a really great chance for all of us to get some work and stay in the Detroit area. Im really really excited to get to work on the project.

In other news, classes have begun again, and Im very excited about all 4 of them, Senior Studio, Creative Writing, Advanced Environments and Characters, and Practicum. All 4 classes are going to keep me on my toes. But my creative writing class is going to give me a chance to write short stories about the characters in my environment and characters class. Well the semester has begun and it is my last one...So i hope I dont get behind, and make it count.
More Artwork soon to come.

this is it.

yay! i finally am up to date with today! i got my iMac in the mail the other day and am set up with my high speed internet and all. ive got to buy my programs tomorrow. thank goodness for student loans. by monday i should have my flash, adobe after affects, photoshop, and illustrator all installed and working.
i am so geeked to be able to work at home on my senior project. i think it really is going to give me an advantage this next semester.
i cant wait to start school again, and i can believe that i am done in may.
alright. thats it for now. more later.