December 30, 2010

More "When Santa Got Sick" Art

As promised yesterday, here are some more of our When Santa Got Sick storybook illustrations! First up, Mrs. Claus and the Elves are trying to solve the problem of how to deliver gifts without Santa.



Below, a few Elves step up with solutions, but they aren't very good ones.





Finally, one little Elf comes up with a solution that even Santa likes!




Head over to the iTunes store to download the app and get the full story!


© Food 4 Thought Productions Inc.


December 29, 2010

"When Santa Got Sick" iPad App


2A! helps spread some holiday cheer!

We were recently asked to create some fun illustrations for a new iPad app called, When Santa Got Sick! The app, which is currently available at the iTunes store, is an interactive storybook written by Greg Perkins, that tells the tale of what happened when Santa was too sick to deliver presents one Christmas Eve.

2A! designed the characters and penciled the illustrations, while the final pages were painted by the gang at Burton Design Group (who also produced the app). Check out some of our work below, then head over to iTunes to download the app for yourselves!

Here is the approved line-up of our designs for Santa and his elves.



Below is one of our favorite pages, including both the rough layout and tightened character pencils.




We'll try to follow-up with some more of our favorite images tomorrow. =)


© Food 4 Thought Productions Inc.


September 23, 2010

Pinocchio wants to be a what?!



We all know Disney’s classic tale of Pinocchio, but what happens when College Humor slaps their irreverent wit on it?

Find out in this hilarious spoof, which recently premiered on CollegeHumor.com, and explores what would happen if Pinocchio questioned his gender.

2A! animated this short in Flash, with our good pals at Snark Rocket Studios producing.





Copyright © Connected Ventures, LLC

September 14, 2010

Character Designs: Bear Snacks!


Thought I’d share our human designs for College Humor’s Bears are Bears animated short.

These kids were fun to work on... They were all drawn with the line tool in Flash. If you look closely, you’ll see how all the guys share the exact same bodies. That’s right, with the exception of their heads, all the male body parts are the same symbols, just colored differently and resized.

Unfortunately, these kids end up as lunch for a group of ravenous cartoon bears. At least they give us a few good laughs before they go!


Copyright © Connected Ventures, LLC


September 10, 2010

College Humor - Bears Are Bears


What do cartoon bears really eat?

Find out in this amusing video, which recently premiered on CollegeHumor.com, and tracks the eating habits of your favorite cartoon bears!

2A! animated this short in Flash, with our good pals at Snark Rocket Studios producing.





Copyright © Connected Ventures, LLC

August 27, 2010

Fun Art Fridays: Mega Man Rocks!


I've been feeling nostalgic for simpler times lately, so I decided to draw one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite NES games... Mega Man! I spent way too many hours of my youth playing the first 3 games. =)

I've also included my WIP sketches below... Hope you like!




Illustration © Joe Costantini


August 17, 2010

College Humor - Drunken Internet Distractions


Here's another short we animated for our friends at Snark Rocket Studios.

The animation, which recently premiered on CollegeHumor.com, takes a look at what happens when an ordinary college guy browses the internet while under the influence. As you can imagine, this one ain't for the kiddies! :P

2A! animated this short in Flash, with Snark Rocket producing. Check out some screen shots below, then watch the movie above.





Copyright © Connected Ventures, LLC

August 09, 2010

Beetle Busters: Freeze & Collect Game!


2A! catches beetle mania with the Beetle Busters: Freeze & Collect Flash game!

We worked with our friends at JMH Education to create this online game which helps spread awareness about the Asian Long Horned Beetle, or ALB for short. The ALB is an invasive pest that destroys trees and threatens our industries and wildlife habitats.

In the game, players use their magnifying glass to identify the ALBs and then freeze and collect them. See how many points you can earn by collecting as many ALBs as you can spot, and help stop them from spreading. Don’t forget to answer the bonus questions between levels to earn extra points!

Check out more screen shots below, then head over to www.beetlebusters.info and play the game! Good hunting!





Copyright © USDA


August 05, 2010

Intel Software Network Article #2


Last month I posted that I was writing some "how to" articles about Flash animation techniques for Intel Software Network. You can read my first article here. The articles range from beginner to advanced subjects and my latest, "Image Sequences or Vector Art in the Development of Flash* Games and Virtual Worlds?" just went live.

The Intel Software Network is a website that connects people with developers and Intel engineers. By joining, you can get expert advice from the developer community, join discussions, find out about software development products, and share your own specialty with your peers. It's a doorway to the broad range of programs, products, resources, and content available to the software community from Intel.

Click here to read the article online!
Download a PDF version here.





Copyright © Two Animators! LLP & Intel® Corporation


July 27, 2010

Critter Concept: Monster Blob


So here’s the last design in our series of cute, yet vicious little critters. Again, this little guy started with Sarah’s Sketchbook version (top) and then I did my version in Flash (bottom). First this dude blinds you with his obnoxious coloring, then he slimes you to keep you from getting away, then he eats your brains! Munch, munch, munch!

Copyright © Two Animators! LLP


July 26, 2010

MMMs: "Z" is for Zombies

We did it! We achieved our goal of making it through the entire alphabet -- that means a Monday Morning Motivators exercise for every letter! I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling pretty good about this achievement. It’s the little things that keep us happy!

Another big THANK YOU to everyone who suggested a theme over on our Facebook page! We really appreciate your support!

With that, we’ll be taking a break from our Monday Morning Motivators for a little while, but you can always check out our previous exercises if you get bored. Hey, why not give one a try yourself? If you do, feel free to post it over on our Facebook page for us to check out! We’d love to see what you come up with. ;)

Anyway, here is the final alphabet letter theme… “Z” is for ZOMBIES!!!






Copyright © Two Animators! LLP


July 20, 2010

Critter Concept: Monster Worm


Here’s the third design in our series of cute, yet vicious little critters. This little dude was really fun to draw! Sarah nailed his look pretty much on her first sketch (top), then I had my fun with the blue lines and color mock in Flash (bottom). I wouldn’t mind having this little guy hanging out in my garden -- of course, I guess I’d need to start a garden first, but anyway… ;)

Copyright © Two Animators! LLP


July 19, 2010

MMMs: "Y" is for Yorkies

Mark brought up a good point today... Did you ever notice how Yorkshire Terriers kind of look like Ewoks? Well, they do! I didn’t realize it before, but after sketching them today I found it easy to end up with something resembling an Ewok. Anyway, this week’s Monday Morning Motivator’s theme was chosen by Nataliya Platonava over on our Facebook page. Thanks again for the adorable suggestion!

It looks like we’re coming to the end of our alphabet exercise with next week’s theme... anything starting with the letter “Z." So anyone who hasn’t made a suggestion yet should drop us a line here or on our Facebook page. Become a fan, suggest a theme, and if we dig it we’ll draw it.

For those that don’t know… MMMs is our weekly exercise where we pick a theme and spend the first hour of each week sketching. The sketches can be loose or tight, but the point is to work out the weekend stiffness and draw something new.

Now without further ado, we present... "Y" is for Yorkies!







Copyright © Two Animators! LLP


July 16, 2010

Fun Art Fridays: Galin Modric


This character is the result of yet another fun exercise I did for the Design-A-Character group over on Deviant Art. The idea behind this challenge was to design a character based off of a provided name –- in this case, the name is Galin Modric.

So many things came to mind when I heard the name... a dark-ages wizard, a soul-stealing grim reaper, or a sci-fi bounty hunter (just to name a few). I chose to go with the latter. So, here you have it... Galin Modric, sci-fi bounty hunter extreme! Enjoy!




Copyright © Joe Costantini


July 14, 2010

Background Design: Future Alleyway

Is it a blast from from the past or a visit to the future? Either way, a little over a year ago we posted about our work on the Tier Drop! animated teaser. I was put in charge of painting the backgrounds for this production, so I thought I'd share some of my work.

First up, is the "Future Alleyway!" Seeing as our main character really only travels "two days" into the future, I just needed to reference some current alleys. ;) So I went with your standard dirty alley, which I found to be humorous since we expect the future, even if only two days into it, to be better, brighter and more wonderful.



Next up are my layout lines, which I drew in Flash and filled with blocks of flat color. We sometimes do this to choose our colors, then we'll take this into Photoshop and paint the shadows and highlights, etc.



Last but not least, here is Mark's original animatic sketch. As you can see, he laid out the very basic shot and I had to actually define and embellish all the background details.




Copyright © Supplier-Works


July 13, 2010

Critter Concept: Monster Snake


Here is the second design in our series of cute, yet vicious little critters. Again, this guy was started by Sarah in Sketchbook Pro (top) then tweaked by me in Flash (bottom). All of the designs in this series were concepts for a game where little critters like this would be attacking you!

Copyright © Two Animators! LLP


July 12, 2010

MMMs: "X" is for Xenopus

Xenopus may not be a highly-skilled warrior princess, but it is a highly-aquatic frog native to Sub-Saharan Africa. This week’s Monday Morning Motivator's theme was once again suggested by Michelle Costantini over on our Facebook page! Thanks again Michelle!

Next week's theme is anything that starts with the letter "Y," so anyone interested in making a suggestion can drop us a line here or on our Facebook page. Become a fan, suggest a theme, and if we dig it we’ll draw it.

For those that don’t know… MMMs is our weekly exercise where we pick a theme and spend the first hour of each week sketching. The sketches can be loose or tight, but the point is to work out the weekend stiffness and draw something new.

Now without further ado, we present... "X" is for Xenopus! Ribbit!







Copyright © Two Animators! LLP


July 09, 2010

Fun Art Fridays: Robo Alien Insect Dude!


This dude started as a doodle in my sketchbook one night... then I just kept adding lines here and there while at lunch or on the phone, etc. Sometimes it's just relaxing for me to draw without any sort of end plan for an image. Plus, I always love the chance to sketch on paper again!

I added some quick grays for a background in Photoshop. I may end up coloring him in the future, time permitting of course. We'll see...


Copyright © Joe Costantini


July 08, 2010

TikiToon: Cuckoo for Coconuts


Today’s post is a look back at a fun Web short we animated for TikiMon Island called, “Cuckoo for Coconuts!” We’ve mentioned it a few times here on the 2A! blog, but never actually got the chance to post it. So here it is!

The animation features an adventure with Monsoon and Ungowa, two TikiMon characters based off of the line of toys from Mezco Toyz. The figures were already in production when we created this short, so their cartoon designs were based off of the existing toys.

We had a blast working on this project, which included designing and animating this short, as well as a series of Flash games and the Tikimon Island website. Enjoy!






Copyright © Mezco Toyz, LLC


July 07, 2010

Background Design: Sifaka User Homes

We all need shelter; it's a rule of nature. We human's have homes, animals have habitats, and in Sifaka World you can get the best of both with user homes for your animal avatars!

Our user homes started with the idea of a basic hut, with a wood floor and straw roof, that players could customize to their own liking with various furniture items. Below is my initial sketch of the empty hut.



As you can see, the inside of the user home got enlarged from the initial sketch to the color mock (below). We needed to make sure these huts had ample space inside for players to decorate and move their avatar around.



Below is the final base hut built in Flash. Now we’re ready to start decorating…



Players can earn points to buy furniture and other fun objects for their homes by playing the various games on the site. Another exciting option of these homes is you can even invite your friends over. Just think how jealous they'll be when they see your big screen TV! Below are a few screen shots of how we decorated our user home. In the second image you can even see the grid we had to adhere to when designing the user home and furniture items for game play.




Decorating and furniture buying is a fun thing to do -- at least until you see the price tag! I'm still saving up to get a hot tube in my own user home. ;)


Copyright © Sifaka Productions, LLC