I’m all about pushing myself… whether it’s implementing our Monday Morning Motivators or working on my digital painting, I think it’s important for every artist to keep practicing and learning. So with that spirit in mind, I joined a cool new group over on Deviant Art called Design-A-Character. Every week brings a new character design challenge for members to participate in. From designing characters out of simple shapes, to re-imagining existing characters in totally new styles, the exercises are great practice and really fun to do!
Here I present you with my "Warrior Bear!" He’s one of my recent designs for the group. Notice the progression backwards from character rotation, to color mock-up, to the initial sketch created out of a simple shape. It’s really cool how just a random shape can evolve into a full-blown character.
So if you’re interested in pushing yourself to design some cool new characters, you should definitely go check out the group. It's a blast! ;)
This week's SweetIM is the first from our latest batch of animations. I had a lot of fun with this one. The follow through of his gnarly ponytail beard was particularly memorable, and I love his sour attitude. I can see myself using this one a lot. For example, it's perfect when someone asks for animation revisions. ;)
Continuing on the subject of 2A!'s work for Mattel, I thought it would be fun to share some of the hairstyles we created for Barbie’s Snip ‘n Style Salon game!
We had to create all the visuals for this game, but the most challenging was all of Barbie's hairstyles. We needed long, medium, and short versions of each style, so that took a lot of planning and organizing!
Considering how much work went into them, I'm really happy with how they all turned out. We helped make Barbie look cuter than ever! ;)
When we asked for suggestions for this week’s Monday Morning Motivators theme – the letter “F” – we got a ton of great responses over on our Facebook page. While the gang chose to sketch feet yesterday, there was one other suggestion that was so absurd I just couldn’t let it go unsketched. So here’s a little follow-up, suggested by our very good friend and colleague Michelle T. Lehman. Sorry Michelle, I couldn’t help but add you to the pic! (PS... Blame Mark ;)
Also, below is an earlier version of a more stereotypical Fabio.
If that cup of coffee isn’t enough to wake you up, then take a whiff of today’s Monday Morning Motivators! This week’s theme for the letter “F” was suggested by John McGinley over on our Facebook page. Thanks, John!
Next week is the letter “G,” 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!
I've already made myself out to be a big nerd here on Fun Art Fridays, so I figured there was no point in trying to hide all the Warcraft Fan Art I do.
I drew this as a Valentine's Day card for my boyfriend. It's depicting our WOW characters sitting together on a heart-themed floating island like those you find in Nagrand. The card was a hit, so it made it fun and rewarding to draw! :)
I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day. Love is still in air here at 2A!. The only problem is that it's coming from a rather unwelcome source. Check out the SweetIM video above to see what I mean, and watch out because this character may be popping up again in the future. ;)
Last but not least, 2A! finishes up our KidzChores fashion show with the dad avatar. We used the same inspiration as the rest of the family while trying to design the dad's styles. This was a little challenging though, as we wanted some of the outfits for the dad to look more dorky than others, yet still have a cool male vibe to them.
Go ahead and check out KidzChores.com and see what your family looks like with each of the avatars. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results!
These cute Arctic hares are the online personas of Chef Holmes and her daughter. Chef Holmes is a real-world chef and author who recently teamed up with Sifaka World to help teach kids all about cooking. I also threw in a color mock-up of another child bunny (far left) that I think is totally adorable. ;)
Head over to the Sifaka World blog to learn more about Chef Holmes and read her posts. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for her in Sifaka World, where she'll be hosting all sorts of fun cooking games and other activities.
Like the fresh smell after a summer's rain, here's another installment of Monday Morning Motivators! I hope everyone had a good weekend and a Happy Valentine’s Day! This week’s theme for the letter “E” was suggested by Arline Tancsak over on our Facebook page. Thanks for the suggestion, Arline! ;)
Next week is the letter “F,” 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!
Now, on with the sketches... “E” is for Earthworms!
As I mentioned before, I'm often asked to draw Garbage Pail Kid versions of various characters from pop culture. This week I thought I'd share a few preliminary designs for some sketch cards I'm working on right now. They are of James Hetfield (lead singer of the band Metallica), bounty hunter Samus Aran (from the videogame series Metroid), and arms dealer Destro (from the G.I. Joe toys). I'll be sure to post the full-color finals when I'm done.
It's always interesting when putting these pieces together how just a voice can completely change the feel of a character. This is a SweetIM animation of Cupid that we did for Valentine's Day. When I think of Cupid, I think of him as kind of a man trapped inside a child's body, so I liked an older, more suave voice to contrast the cute cherub design. Ultimately it was decided to go with a more youthful, innocent voice to compliment the look. They both work, but give the same animation a completely different feel. You can check out both versions in the video above, as well as the progression from animatic to final animation.
Continuing with the MyScene posts I've been writing, I have a fun new background 2A! created for the Beauty Studio game. This game is similar to the Shopping Spree game we mentioned before, except here we get to play with hair and makeup for the MyScene girls.
First, I created a few different background sketches to present to the client. They chose to go with the second version below.
Next, a more detailed color mock-up was made. We tried to go for a very hip, Soho-styled salon feel.
From there the final Flash version was built and the MyScene girls were added to complete the look of this game intro screen.
I'm really happy with how this background turned out, as it was a more ornate style that really allowed me to play with details. Check it out over at MyScene.com along with the rest of the Beauty Studio game. It's a fun time!
2A! will be showcasing our interactive services at this year’s Engage! Expo, from February 16th to the 17th in New York City.
The Engage! Expo is being held at the Javits Convention Center, alongside this year’s Toy Fair, and is the definitive “youth entertainment technology” event. Coverage includes social games, virtual goods, virtual worlds, branded apps, and online-offline toys.
Like a blast of fiery dragon’s breath, here comes another hot installment of Monday Morning Motivators! This week’s theme was suggested by our good pal Ben Price over on our Facebook page. Ben has a great blog that's chock-full of cool news and information about the industry. Go check it out! Also, for those interested, next week’s theme is going to be anything that starts with the letter "E." So drop us a line here or on our Facebook page with your suggestions. Become a fan, suggest a theme, and if we dig it we’ll draw it!
Now without further ado, I present… “D” is for Dragons!
Here’s another critter concept I recently drew… well, maybe he’s more of a monster than a critter. In any case, the original sketch of this bad boy (see below) was one of numerous proposed styles we came up with for a recent client project. This particular look wasn’t chosen, but instead of letting him disappear into the vast cavern of my unused sketches, I decided to have some fun and try painting him. My peeps know I normally like to ink my art, but I’m trying to expand my horizons a bit. So here you have it… one angry dinosaur digitally painted in Photoshop, sans any ink lines.
I think he turned out pretty sweet! I’ll definitely be playing around with more digital painting in the future, so stay tuned… ;)
Ok, I have a confession to make... I have no clever anecdote, tie-in, or reason to show this week's animation. I just like it. The closest thing I could think of was that I'm really looking forward to "Spring." Ha, ha! Anyway, we did this "Jack In The Box" animation for our batch of SweetIM Christmas animations. Check it out!
It feels like 2A! has gone a bit fashion crazy with all the costume designs we’ve been doing lately. Why stop now though? Today I present the outfits we designed for the KidzChores boy avatars!
Again, the boy's wardrobe follows closely in the footsteps of the little girl and mom avatars. I tried to make a nice blend of ethnic and every day clothing that kids on the site can have fun customizing. Also, with the boy I tried less fanciful clothing styles to try and make him feel a little cooler.
Why not try making your own avatar at KidzChores.com? With so many options, you're sure to have a good time!
2A! will be attending the 2010 KidScreen Summit next week, from February 10th to the 12th in New York City!
The KidScreen Summit has become one of the world’s leading conferences on “the business of kid’s entertainment,” hosting over 1,400 attendees from around the world. Top decision-makers, marketers, and creative alike attend to network and share new ideas to drive their businesses forward.
In addition to promoting our animation services, 2A! will also be pitching our new “green-themed” animation property called, Bagboy! Anyone attending the summit who would like to meet up can drop us a line. We look forward to seeing everyone at the show!
It’s time for another sweet installment of Monday Morning Motivators! This week’s theme was chosen by our good friend, Kelly Crisci. Thanks for the suggestion buddy! Anyone interested in suggesting an idea for us to sketch can either leave a comment here or join us on our official Facebook page. Become a fan, suggest a theme, and if we dig your suggestion we’ll sketch it!
Now, I don’t know about you, but all these cupcakes are making me hungry. So let's get on with it already… “C” is for Cupcakes!
Two Animators! LLP (2A!) is a full-service animation production and development studio.
Founded in 2001 by brothers Tom and Joe Costantini, 2A! creates content for animated series, shorts, music and explainer videos, commercial spots, games, apps and more. We’ve had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects during our 14+ years in business, from full-blown television series to online virtual worlds (MMOs) and mobile apps. Our team works in many different styles and can adapt to your specific production needs, and of course we’re always excited to design a unique look for a brand new property. We love creating new characters, worlds and storylines, and can help transform your ideas into fully developed IPs (Intellectual Properties) ready for pitching, producing or selling.
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