
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008

Recently I had Teacher in Residence appointment at The Harrisburg Academy. It has been long term goal for me to pursue a career in teaching. Being a product of Independent School Education, I recognize the value of excellent and attentive instruction.
Most importantly, my intension is to inspire children to have the desire to think creatively, and hopefully they will have this to take away from the experience.
I Gave a presentation of a body of my work which represented projects and productions that I have worked on during the course of my career. Including fun shows for some major networks like Nickelodeon.


I tried to share with the students the joy I find my work. But also, the importance of collaboration in the creative process. Which is so important in the professional environment.



I described the structure of the art department for a studio production; including the types of duties that I had as a character designer. Such as designing character expressions and poses.


Emphasizing the importance of developing ones craft, working on such fundamentals as drawing. Keeping a sketchbook is key to an artists success!

Klasky Csupo is famous for the “Rugrats” and The wild Thornberrys”, and was where I got my start as a Character designer on “Aaaah Real Monsters”. I had no idea what I was doing, but this is where my on-the- job training taught me the fundamentals of my craft. More importantly, I was now getting paid to draw silly pictures!

“Anatomy of a Design Job” : Here I demonstrated the process of designing a character for a children’s publication in Beijing, China. Taking the students through a series of designs which finally developed into the final character. Describing adjustments I made in order to meet the client’s needs.

“Anatomy of a Development Project”: From the blank page to the screen. A project invariably begins with only a script, and perhaps a few designs. I explained to the students that all studios have development projects that may eventually become shows or movies, but that many of them are never seen by the public! Here I gave them a tour through the visual development Stage of a 3D animated project that I Art Directed at a Studio in Beijing.


Development starts with a pencil and is followed by lots of drawings. The challenge is always to make the characters interesting, and to develop their individual personalities!



We also paint environments to decide what approach to use when designing their world…

We then took the final designs and modeled the characters in 3D Studio Max. The final result was a success, and a satisfying conclusion to so much creative collaboration.

I expressed to them the challenges of starting a project; collaborating with writers, producers the clients and most importantly the director. How we must deside on character concepts and the overall design approach. Not to mention working with an all Chinese Design crew, for whom I needed to learn to describe design concepts in Chinese!

We will always be challenged in the workplace. However, through this process there is so much to be learned. A process of growth that will never end.

Always back to the drawing table with new designs and ideas. I love the drawing table!


The outcome of my teacher in residence was quite a success. Who would have guessed that so many students would be interested in cartoons. They asked intelligent questions throughout my presentations and workshops, even stopping me in the halls outside of class. The feedback from students, faculty and parents continued even after the workshop was over.


Monday, January 7, 2008

Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)