BlackUniGryphon's Animation Work Through The Years [Feb 2019] N Goals

I just wanted to post my Animation Work through the years, and follow it up by including some of my goals.

* PLAYLIST:
Here's my old Vintage Stuff from the 1990s-2000s from UARTS N AIPH (Philadelphia):

It's mostly an archive of clips. I did have a demo reel or 2 or 3 but I kind of hate it by now and also can't find it/them at the moment plus they had copyright music on them.

* PLAYLIST: 

My UMASS Boston Animation N Art Stuff

(Still wrapping up the last few goals N projects still):

* PLAYLIST:
* Post UMASS Boston:

This is a compilation mash-up music video of the Motion Graphics Animations from UMASS Boston N Post UMASS Boston from 2016-2018:

* My Current ArtStation Portfolio

* My Current Vimeo Filmmaker Portfolio

A slapped-together mash-up of some of the ideas n conceptual stuff i wanted to do since UMASS Boston (2017) which I'd also included in some pitches & proposals. But I still have my own original vision of them as well. They're very rough:

So, progress takes time... but, sometimes it also means taking breaks, which is a hard lesson. Anyways, that's just the rough conceptual stuff. I've definitly blogged about those before, so I'll skip the details. Those will remain rough for the moment. I WILL however be pushing to move more into the Traditional Animation direction, but with the fusion of digital & traditional art.

Once I wrap THIS stuff up this year, I will NEVER be doing puppet animation a a main focus EVER AGAIN in my own PERSONAL WORK. I AM MOVING ON FOREVER. But, I am reaching a number of my own goals with the digital end, and learning the software. But, the more I do puppets & curves animation, and stuff like that the MORE I KNOW IN MY HEART that I am a traditional artist N animator, and that COMPUTERS ARE TOOLS and NOT a substitute for ART and ARTISTS. 

I will STILL defend artists that do vectors n puppets because they have value, so I won't become a big snob over that stuff. It's JUST not for me tho'. I actually do like a lot of motion graphics stuff tho' like moving pictures/scenery or "Plotographs". 

But for now, it's just a Work-In-Progress:

Addressing Narrative Bias N Story-telling Work:

Look, I get it. Not everyone goes to study film in Academia, so people are conditioned to BELIEVE that cinema, films, and cartoons MUST therefore ALL tell a story. 

* I also realize MANY of the criticisms literally are coming from children pretending to be grown-ups online, or even older men that never studied in academia about Arts & Cinema and have a skewed ignorance about what "Experimental" means. (Also the irony that ignorant stances of folks get triggers by pointing out that its ignorance without understanding what the definition of "ignorant" and "ignorance" means and taking it as tho' it were a derogatory word, when it isn't.)

* It's also very odd to have people literally condensed to me about my work, and when I explain it they accuse me of being condescending. *face-palm* 

So, I will eventually be doing story-telling stuff. I mean, if you follow my Snapchat, I tell stories ALL THE TIME just by being ME. But I DO NOT WISH to make a full story of ANYTHING unless I can have more time & practice with things like mood, timing, lighting, software, and practicing the animation itself.

A major problem I personally have with "Tweening Animators", "Curves Animators", "3D Animators", "Puppet Rig Animators", and many forms of "digital animators" is they often flagrantly ignore animation rules, but not as a form of comedy but due to laziness or ignorance. 

And, I'm not saying they MUST follow animation rules because I say so, like some arrogant old punk. But, I just want to strive and do better FOR MYSELF. I CAN DO BETTER, BE BETTER, and STRIVE for a better expression of art, THEN THAT IS WHAT I WANT FOR MYSELF.

Me wanting MORE for myself doesn't detract from YOU as an artist or an ANIMATOR. 

I can be open minded enough to love, support, and VALUE your work as a whatever kind of animator YOU feel happy and comfortable doing N being, but I can also hold those views N stances WITHOUT having to be a conformist to them. 

Look, I AM A TRADITIONAL ANIMATOR in my heart. I will ALWAYS BE THAT. Right now, I'm doing a lot with digital stuff, and there's room for Traditional Animation & Traditional Art within the Digital worlds and vice versa. 

I'm STILL on this journey... 

Maybe you can't see what I see, or get it. Maybe you can't understand it. 

But, I am a LOT of things, and I MUST be TRUE N Authentic TO MYSELF BEFORE I can be true to you, and anyone else. There's also NO reason ANYONE ought to feel threatened by these things either. I am also a Philosopher, and Photographer, and Filmmaker. So those things won't be going away. Accept me FOR ME. Because I CAN be open minded enough to accept YOU for YOU. 

I am planning on doing some Commentary videos with animation to address a lot of this stuff FOR FREE.

Anyways, all of this stuff I just posted above is for practice, and I will be eventually creating my Qilin Film! 
That's the first big goal!

Hopefully within the next 2 years, I'll be a able to make it there! But, I'm having a funding problem at the moment, and I STILL need a WACOM Cintiq! 

Much of my motion graphics works are to help me with coloring, lighting, timing, digital keyframing, and software practice. These things make sense to me. 

But, I do actually have 2 other stories that I still have, and have also been blogging about for a few years.

They were 2 concepts that I started since my teenage-hood. I did recently acquire some software to help me get there, but things can only be done step-by-step but as 1 step at a time.

Those 2  STORY concepts are:

"Eyewitness" (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)

and 

"Zenith Beyond Eclipsing The Dragon's Rue" 

(ALL RIGHT RESERVED)

 But, I am a LOOOOOOOOOOONG way away from reaching N achieving THOSE 2 things.

But, I BELIEVE I CAN REACH IT! 

I hope my dream might become YOUR DREAM AS WELL. 

Anyways, like I keep saying in my older blogs: I only have the rest of my life left to live, so I'd better do what matters to me as an artist.

Also, narrow minded N prejudiced folks are gonna need to get over the fact that I'm also a photographer, and that I shoot video N film/cinema. 

I'm NOT sorry that I like those things, and include them within my art, because I'm NOT WRONG. 

They will NOT be going away, at all, ever.

Me in Cosplay in a TV project still WIP, in South Field.

Me in another TV/Video clip I'm still working on in North Weymouth

Me a Weymouth Great Pond in South Weymouth

Still frame from "The Holy Maple Tree" which is my friend Roland's film, shot on set in Brockton Mass. Actress: Shevon as "Moonbeam" the Hippie character.

Production Still from "The Holy Maple Tree" shot on location in Rhode Island. Actor: Raidge

Filmed at BTV for "The Holy Maple Tree" ("speak of The Devil" fake news show on fake "Heaven N Hell TV" Channel in Bridgewater Mass. Composit, Graphics N Animation by me.

Camera Crane Jib Shot Slate filmed on Location in Rhode Island "The Holy Maple Tree"

Bokeh Maple Leaf Shapes Screen Tests: Shot in Connecticut Papa Joe's band

Gorgon After Life Scene: Shot at BTV & Weymouth by Me. Compost & VFX also by me. "The Holy Maple Tree"

And that's all I have to say about that for now.

Update Doing Well on NewGrounds

Well, Let's just say I'm doing well on NewGrounds. :)

My Final Jackalope Film is finally finished, and it also got a 3rd Place Trophy Last week:

I also got Cinema 4D and not only was I obsessively playing with it, and learning simple stuff, but I started doing my Logo animation/motion-graphics with a new NURBS Extrude. Here's a compilation of the older stuff and the new Cinema 4D. (I also have Houdini but I don't understand it at all)

My animated video content seems to do rather well. My views on YouTube don;t even get counted most of the time, tho'. I've tested it.

I did THIS Waterfall particles bit using JUST that CC Particle World in After Effects. It took several tries over a span of 3 weeks.

Oh, and I have Red Giant's Trapcode Suit! ^,^ So, I made a simple smoke test. I think this was the 3rd try, but it was rather easy. However, I must've obsessively looked up SO MANY tutorials for Trapcode that I didn't even do much with it, and it was THE PROGRAM PLUGIN I wanted SO BAD! 

I also got some cool plugins by Video Copilot, but haven;t used them yet.

It's just that I got so obsessive with Cinema 4D, plus I often have a problem with pesky hackers. I honestly HAVE ZERO INTEREST in becoming some kind of 3D artist. But, I like using some bits to supplement my artwork. I DO NOT like the idea of 3D REPLACING ME AS AN ARTIST, NOR REPLACING MY ART. 

I'm also a TERRIBLE Tweening animator, and I'm not good at curves N vectors.

Anyways, I am constantly looking up tutorials, demos, and resources to learn the various things I can do, often in combination, with the software I have now. 

I'm curious to try to get Blender also. 

The 2 main things I want to use 3D CGI Software are only a few things. For the most part, I prefer doing animation as a Traditional Animator, frame-by-frame, hand drawn. But I like VFX, and I like things like particles, extrude, and props like furniture, background elements, buildings,  machines, architecture, and camera movements in an environment. 

I'm FINE with using the 3D programs and elements AS A TOOL. 

I am NOT 3D's bitch, 3D IS MY BITCH! It is MY TOOL! I MAKE THE ART. I AM THE ARTIST, and NOT THE MACHINE. ARTISTS ARE NOT MACHINES. (I feel the same way about this as I do about "the industry", but also aspects of academia, politics, herd psychology, social presuppositions, and many other things.) 

So, what is it I wish to do? 

Well, as always, I have a number of concepts that are LARGER GOALS, much longer down the line, but totally doable... Some day, I wish to do those things. 

SOME DAY

THIS WILL BECOME A REALITY! 

BELIEVE IT!

I KNOW it can be done because a BIG inspiration to me that proves to me it can be done is the beginning part of Titan AE:

The GRASS in the open planes and savannas. THAT is what I NEED it for!

Some of my old work:

Inktober Butterfly Puppets for a Short Film

Basically, I'm participating in #Inktober, and making Butterflies on REAL PAPER with INK(S). 

ONLY INK as a MEDIUM on PAPER, then SCANNED. 

NO DIGITAL and NO "Undo" command. 

If the original drawing was NOT done on PAPER with REAL INK, it DOES NOT count as part of the authentic #Inktober. 

Otherwise PRINT OUT the drawing onto a piece of paper, THEN trace over it IN INK, and make a NEW drawing WITH INK. 

I struggle with ink myself, and often HATE IT. THAT is WHY the challenge came about. 

REAL #Inktober originates from HERE

If you are NOT using ACTUAL REAL INKS then its NOT #Inktober but actually #Drawtober (which has rules and a calendar) or #Sketchtober

I have ZERO interest in ANY #Drawtober or #Sketchtober for THIS project. NONE. 

It's real media, done by hand, mistakes and all. I do NOT care if it's perfect, I only care if you at least gave it your best try, or at least an honest try. 

There is NOT "UNDO" with ink. There's many kinds of ink based tools & utensils. Markers, pens, felt, ball point, quill, calligraphy, and I'll even include watercolors because they have the same or similar origins.

_________________________________________

The butterfly consists of 2 main parts:

* A basic body piece

* At least 1 wing

That's it. 

Draw by hand on Paper with INK like pen, markers, or watercolors, the 2 basic parts.

No I am NOT actually a Lefty.

Rough Fairy body piece shape & Wing

I will only use digital software to make the puppet to format the shape(s) in Photoshop, and build it in Adobe After Effects.

Basic Construction:

Butterfly Guide/Templates:

Having Trouble Drawing?

Watch Highlight: Inktober Butterflies n Fairies TEMPLATE from blackunigryphon on www.twitch.tv

Watch Highlight: Animation N Inktober Fusion from blackunigryphon on www.twitch.tv

Download a Free Template, print it out and make your own version:

 Download Butterfly 
 Template HERE 

Angel or Fairy Style (this piece was done as a hybrid of pencils sketch & digital coloring but this project will NOT be doing this. This just shows the body pieces for the puppet):

A fairy template HERE

Example of Fairy Version 

(No Template available, unless u want to use mine)

Original Sketch:

 Cleaned Sketch:

 Colored Body piece  w Halo layers n lighting effects:

Cleaned & Colored Wing and Mirrored/Flipped Symmetrical Wing: 

 The Back Story:







1 thing I LOVE about #Inktober is it's an excuse to make stuff to use later on other projects.

THIS project is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and it's coming along. It's a bit slow, but it's progressing. I've shot a LOT of B-Roll with my lanterns and sculpture stuff.

I'm gonna incorporate this work into my TV show at WCA9  TV.


* Here are the Animation/Video Puppet Tests I did at UMASS Boston in Fall 2017 (a year later) in Adobe After Effects CC 2017:

Angel Based on same Butterfly Flapping technique in After Effects:

Caduceus Based on same Butterfly Flapping technique in After Effects:

It started out HERE:

The Chinese characters on the wing are 忍 Rěn = Endure/Forbearance done in vintage makers

Another one with Chinese characters: 任 Rèn = Task/Duty/Responsibility

This one was made by my daughter which was a representation of a different "ren" meaning person, but no character, since this butterfly is personified. circa October 2016

仁 meaning "benevolence" or "kindness" also pronounced "ren" in Chinese. This one was painting in Traditional Chinese ink & marker b y Li Wang (my husband) in October 2016.

I had originally intended for the flapping butterflies & lanterns to be a part of my film at UMASS Boston. But, no one knew how to help me with the flapping yet again, in After Effects CC 2016.

Here's the Paper section bits from the film:

Needless to say, a lot of my original ideas were cut out from the film due to time, ignorance of program software, a major gaping lack of adequate help & assistance, the fact that no one else knew how to do what I wanted in After Effects in the 2016 CC version, as well as wasted time commuting.

Here's the Ripple Part w/my audio design I did in Adobe After Effects CC 2016:

So, this was my film Final in Fall 2016 (I also did all the audio design):

It was my first major project of any important in HD which I had no idea how to work in. 

I'd also been wanting to finish my sculpture instillation art project (Whimsical Boho Decor teapot Lantern). 

I did a brief project for my Presentation Final in Cinema Studies in Fall 2017 which is a min documentary:

Here's my full length documentary. I gotta tell u, studying experimental films really helped me to learn A LOT about Documentary.

This year, I want to include a lot more people with this butterfly flapping stuff in Adobe After Effects CC. 

But, I'm decent with it now.

I asked my daughter to make a new one for Inktober, and also my friend Drakenhart. 

So, I hope to really create something nice for my TV Show, and expand upon my previous film. 

The Butterfly motif actually comes from a Chinese "philosopher" of sorts Zhuanzi Zhou 莊子 who dreamt he was a butterfly and forgot he was a human man, but when he awoke he;d wondered if he were a man whom dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly whom was dreaming he was a man. In both experiences he was unsure. 

This is what he wrote:

昔者莊周夢為蝴蝶，栩栩然蝴蝶也，自喻適志與，不知周也。俄然覺，則戚戚然周也。不知周之夢為蝴蝶與，蝴蝶之夢為周與？週與蝴蝶則必有分矣。此之謂物化。

Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things.

Sketching, Animation, Filming, N Arts: Summer 2018 So Far

Here it is on DeviantART

Where to start? I'm more than sure I'd doodled out a concept sketch or 2 of this since Winter 2017.

I want this one to be fairly nice, but also simplified ACCORDING TO MY STANDARDS. Not everyone else's version of simple nor simplified is the same as mine. 

I want to do MORE than JUST motion graphics, and since I've been sitting in on classes by AMB Animation and Aaron Blaise since May. But, My goal in doing so much motion graphics was to learn the programs, and these things take time.

I had modified this concept for a proposal I had JUST submitted at the Boston Convention Center. They didn't choose it tho'. That's fine, because Now I can do whatever I want with it.

I'll just post the Proposal versions here:

Here's the proposal version for Boston Convention Center's very long panoramic screen in the lobby:

But, my original concept kind of sprang from my creative whiles of wanting to rec recreate stuff I've seen in Anime, or Mainstream cartoon Intros or Outros but more of a Western Animation style, as interpreted and re-interpreted as my own style.

I want to animate in layers, as I do all things with Adobe, but also in Toon Boom. It's time consuming tho'. I'm less interested in narrative at the moment, and more interested in Subjective exploration, or Mood, or World Building to some degree. Or, even character.

I'm also more interested in composition and framing. I'd spent years on making many images as a whole composition, but it's still. What if that image moved? But, not a narrative. Some old Silent films where a bit like this from France.

However, my muse or inspiration is a really old cartoon from the 1980s (I watched it in the early 80s, but it might be older), ironically, also from France, but produced in Japan: Mysterious Cities of Gold.


It the Outro they have this very simple Motion Graphics & Simple animation that makes use of editing styles/tricks to evoke mood and exigence.

Honestly, I DO NOT care for the ugliness of the anime style or look of the characters at all. I remember loving this show as a little kid, but growing older and trying to watch it was awful. The story telling ability leaves MUCH to be desired. But, the way it evokes mood, and the use of composition is SO GOOD! The use of space, negative space, textured graphics, design, negative space. It's all there. 

So, I wanted to do my own version with my own character(s). 

THAT was the reason I did THESE rough animations last year:

They weren't just some random animated bits. There was a reason, and purpose behind them. I had discussed this concept WITH my classmates at UMASS, so they know it. Actually, if I had been allowed to peruse my studies or projects as I'd wanted to, THIS would've been what I'd have produced. It was also on my List of Goals/Projects I'd been wanting to do.

But you need to learn to crawl BEFORE you can learn to walk. This is ALSO a stepping stone to the larger things I wish to do. Start smaller, then get bigger over time. I've done the motion graphics bits I'd wanted already since the winter. But, they are more still, and emphasize mood, but also clean-up N layers.

Now imagine these styles of clean-up and layers with motion graphics & effects but applied to animated, refined versions of the stuff I had already shown you above.

As simple as that is, these things take time, practice, and work. I would've been done by now if the summer hadn't been as hot, because we don't use air conditioners, but when the temperature goes above 80-85F the video card doesn't work right, and I didn't want to destroy yet another one. Also, it often will refuse to open graphics programs the hotter and more humid it gets.

Honestly, I very rarely see people doing & creating the kinds of things I want to do and create, whcih really surprises me. But, I have seen a few I'd like to mention including 1 of my friend's beautiful animated motion graphics pieces she does:

Lizkay's "Welcome Home", "Majestic", and her whole Animated Gallery has some really nice polished work.

Other Anime or Cartoon bits I'd like to try/do a re-interpretation of are ones like these:

There are just SO MANY beautifully composed sequences in Intro & Outro sequences in Inuyasha which is a MAJOR favorite of mine. They're often VERY subjective, and VERY Emotive, with no narrative, with emphasis on mood. They're a mix & blend of some choice details with simplicity. Some things are TOO simple, like a sticker that doesn't move but moves like a motion graphic... which I kind of hate because it's too much like an animatic that's fully in clean-up. 

I was never really a fan of the old-school anime look, which I often found hideous and ugly with bug eyes or creepy doll eyes. But "Inuyasha" made an effort to make this style pretty, and they often remind me of Chinese Gongbi Art mixed with manga that moves. 

These styles are very calm, and slow moving, which is something I usually didn't do as an artist.

Here's another one I'd LOVE to do my own re-interpretation of. I believe these were produced in Korea. Everything that s is Storm is my favorite, but as a whole I like the entire thing. You CAN, however, tell where they cut corners tho', and didn't shoot on 1s or 2s.

Obviously, these do NOT compare to Disney, nor Glen Keane works such as:

Being that Tarzan is very fast paced, and dynamic, it has a certain look and feel. But it differs from this sequence in Pocahontas:

This Pocahontas Sequence is so good in how it's mood is more slower paced and still, composition-wise, but it has tension building, and flips the mood and emotions several times. 

It was originally storyboared by Glen Keane, and the lead supervising animation was done by veteran animation legends: John Pomeroy and Glen Keane. 

As for compositions in animation that are VERY ADVANCED which I don't think I can even reach yet, there's SO MANY in a lot of Macross series: Macross Plus, Macross Frontier, Macross Delta. And they also have slow emotive moods and fast paced, dynamic, action packed scenes everywhere. They do things with composition, to emulate a camera, that blow my mind.

There are SO many scenes in Macross Plus that use background pans and camera work that are CRAZY! They actually went to an American Airforce base to study aerial flight, and dog fights, and I have NO idea how they shot them, let alone design the background pans. It's all traditional work with lenses. 

By the time they got to Macross Frontier it was very digital, but still very nice, with exceptional clean-up artists.

If you like those, then Macross Delta has so many incredible scenes throughout it as well, and in various tones, moods, and pacing. The story is not the greatest for an entire season, but actually has a happy ending, unlike the typical tragedy-laced themes of Asian media, especially the Macross/Robotech franchise.

But there's no end to the gorgeous artistic visuals in Macross Delta. There's a flying jelly Fish event sequence that's AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS! And several scenes for Mikumo, AXIA, and especially a Scene with Freja falling out of the sky, singing.

There are, however, time where anime cuts corners, and keeps animation cycles an a minimal, and don;t shoot on 1s n 2s. But, the composition is fabulous. Despite the cut corners, many of the ways in which they use composition n storyboard, and framing are so advanced for me. 

So, I probably won;t be getting into anything like those anytime soon. I want to work on my own stuff for a few years, and take my time.

As for the other works I've been doing, it's also very related, even if most people can't see the connections as I do.

You can see some of my other project concept work mixed in on that first page.

This is another motion graphics & Animation sort of moving picture. I will animate the hair in layers, and I have already shot my cloud B-Roll all summer, and I have lots of it.

I will be including it into my Qilin film project.

This style is not anything new and I had seen many similar pieces of art (especially anthro foxes and cats usually in a kimono), but STILL compositions. I'd always wanted to do my own unique version with my own characters. It's basically 1 or 2 figures within a Chinese mountain side garden. I'd seen a lot of these kinds of things in China.

Back in 2002 I was at Antrho Con in Philadelphia and I bought a Portfolio and a few other prints by Dark Natasha including THIS one which I want to credit as my favorite in this style, which also somewhat reminds me of Gongbi paintings.

As much as I like her work, I don't want to do it exactly like hers, but my own version that is more me. I also cannot decide if I want to do spring or autumn, or even red maples.

To give you an example of my own styles of Qilin as Anthro I have THESE:

Obviously, I wouldn't be doing an animated cartoon piece anywhere near this detailed, but more simplified for animation.

I'm STILL working on figuring that out, including the composition layout and framing. I can;t decide how it will be yet. I'm getting closer, but I'm still not there yet. I will eventually get it, but I need to work at it.

The major frustration is due to not being easily able to access life drawing classes. I want a more formal and disciplined study for that.

As you can see in Dark Natasha's piece there's falling flower petals & leaves. SO, i'bve spent quite a lot of time learning & practicing custom making particles in Adobe After Effects CC. I did NOT know how to get that to work for a few years, and was very frustrated.

The Making of: Whimsical Jackalope In Spring: Art On The Marquee Full 001 from Kandice Zimbleman on Vimeo.

As you can see, the falling petals in this work is just pink triangles. Literally NO ONE I'd asked knew how to make a custom particle and all the tutorials were outdated and didn't work. NO one at UMASS knew how, and the curator, Jeff, also didn't know how. I must've asked easily 3 dozen individuals, and they also didn't know, including those whom taught After Effects in classrooms, or worked at gaming studios, and NONE of the people whom made tutorials would answer me on: YouTube, Twitter, and Email.

It was my daughter whom helped me to come up with the triangles as a compromise, and even programmed them. Then the curator, Jeff, helped me fix the programming.

Obviously, I've learned a lot more about particles since then, but I still couldn't get a custom particle to work. So, I had to reach out to Adobe and their people in the forum helped me.

So, these are the custom particles I came up with, plus using trackmats:

Watch BlackUniGryphon Logo Custom Particles Falling Leaves from blackunigryphon on www.twitch.tv

That was A LOT of WORK! 

Some of the particles are leaves. The leaf was an open source bit I borrowed online. But I want to actually custom make my own soon. I finally got a new scanner.

Other particles are my Black UniGryphon Logo. Some are like falling leaves, and other are like snow fall, or confetti.

So, you can see how a lot of these things are related. I'm often still perplexed about pre-compositions in After Effects, but I'm getting better at it.

Leaves, and Maple Leaves are gonna be a HUGE focus lately, especially since the film I'm a DP 7 Chief Editor & Graphics on is called "The Holy Maple Tree" and we finally did some filming for that. I'm NOT filming today tho'.

I've also been Live Streaming my work on Twitch:

Watch Sketching Anthro Qilin Unicorns in my Sketchbook n hanging out on my balcony from blackunigryphon on www.twitch.tv

But also the Animated Film I'm doing with my daughter is almost finished. It would've been done in July if not for the heat waves.

Watch Animating in Toon Boom Harmony from blackunigryphon on www.twitch.tv

Speaking of Maples Leaves, Filming, and Live Streaming on Twitch, I've been working on a headdress for a charter in the film.

Here's the rough concept sketch inspired by a fusion of Ozma, ATS, and Hippie stuff with wire wrapping, beading, and DIY. It will have maple roses like Ozma. 

Watch Highlight: Resume DIY Wire Wrapping Maple Leaf from blackunigryphon on www.twitch.tv

The character's name in Moonbeam, and is a contemporary Hippie. The main character is making his own religion, and she's a follower and groupie of his.

But. characters were recast multiple times, but the ethnic vibe is much better than the original stuff, even tho we did like to other actors. 

I was on camera in these and helped arrange & light this set. You can see my lights & lanterns, as well and my costume bits. this set was made in the Director's basement. That's him (Roland) with the slate. Shot on my beloved old kit lens with filters.

Location is Brockton MA

"Moonbeam" played by Shevon AKA "Muffin" whom is also a film director & recording artist.My 50mm prime lens

This lens is a 135mm F/2 CANON and it's $1K! Luckily we rented it cheap twice. Like the creamy Bokeh? Shot in Glen Park in RI.

135mm F/2 CANON

Shot at Brina's set in her house.

This film sucked up the majority of my time this year. It's exhausting. But, when it turns out, it's worth it.

I have a lot more coming up for some TV shows I'm producing. I also was doing Videography for HockeyTV. But that's stalled right now.

I expect to be doing more with video art, film making, and experimental video & animation. I've already shot a lot of stuff for those. I expect to film some more when the foliage turns colors.