The Funny Honeybee

New Blog!

2010-06-22T11:16:00.002-05:00

Hey folks,

I've been told that there are a few people still checking this blog, so my apologies for not mentioning sooner that I have a new one! Please come on over to How Roode! which has been updated with my new name and new artwork! Huzzah!

-Missy

Freelance Fun in Flash!

2008-11-16T14:04:00.002-05:00

Relient K - Sleigh Ride from gotee on Vimeo.

I recently had the fantastic opportunity to do some freelance Flash animation for the folks at Funnypages Productions (see link at right): former Disney animators Tom Bancroft and Rob Corley, who directed this music video for the Grammy-nominated Christian band Reliant K. Working as part of a small, international production team, we knocked the animation out in about 4 weeks, and it was one of the best projects I've ever worked on: good, clear direction, great team, fun work, and good-lookin' results. I hope everyone enjoys the video as much as we enjoyed making it!

My shots: All of the beginning up until the main bunny's friends first appear, and the later part when he goes PLOP! into the sleigh.

Drawing Dudes

2008-10-19T20:41:00.003-05:00

If anyone were to ask me about a particular artistic weak spot, I would have to say drawing dudes is what I find most difficult. The truth is that there just isn't an abundance of male models around, so it can be tricky to get adequate practice drawing a guy's anatomy from life. So much experience drawing women makes my lines too soft and mushy for the the male form, and most of my dudes come out looking like chicks. Based on these recent samples, I still have a long way to go, but at least you can tell it's a guy this time!

New Personal Animation

2008-09-07T21:31:00.002-05:00

Work has really picked up (huzzah!), and as it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, I thought I'd better go ahead and capture this animation, done back in June for the 11-Second Club (but never entered), before I ran out of time. It's got all kinds of fun problems - please ignore the lack of antennae.... I'm going to add the overlapping action later - but I was just excited to finish a fully-animated shot of this length. AND I learned a lot in the process: can't ask for more than that!

2008-07-14T21:44:00.004-05:00

More gestures and short poses from recent model sessions. All graphite except for the clothed ones. Apparently, I draw slower and a little less fluidly with graphite than with conte. Will probably try a few other media to see how results differ with those - especially ink pen and brush. Any and all feedback or advice is welcome!!!

Some Old Portraits

2008-07-09T19:12:00.003-05:00

These are pastel portraits completed in the Fall of 2005, when I was studying in France. They were photographed in less-than-ideal conditions to record the moment rather than the art, and as the originals belong to the sitters and are not available for scanning, the image-quality is pretty iffy. I learned this method of speedy portraiture while working at Hersheypark the preceding Summer. Kinda makes me want to get back into pastels, to see what else they can do.

More Figure Sessions

2008-06-27T08:22:00.004-05:00

Please view at least the gestures large. These are all from ASIFA-Atlanta's weekly model session, gestures 30sec-1min and short pose 15min. Enjoy!

Anatomy from Imagination, Take 1

2008-06-22T23:46:00.002-05:00

Just a quick image of my first serious attempt to apply all this figure drawing I've been doing, drawing relatively convincing anatomy without any reference. Thing is, I got so caught up in trying to get the anatomy right that I forgot some of my animation training: I only realized after the fact that if she's lunging on her left leg, she would be whipping with her right arm. Whoops. The whip is not meant to denote any particular detail of character, just the prop that came to mind when I was casting about for an action pose. More soon!

2008-06-18T17:26:00.006-05:00

New Drawings!

Right. So I sorta fell off the face of the earth. I have no legitimate excuse other than that I simply haven't had a break in work (which is a GOOD THING) since my last post. That, and a lot of my new art got swallowed up by the exquisite abyss that is Deviant Art. For any skeptics out there, it's not just horrid anime drawn by 12-year-olds, there's actually some mind-bogglingly impressive artwork on there. Being a part of the Deviant community is.... humbling, to say the least. Not that I'm on an ego-trip, anyhow - it's taken me this long to start studying art and drawing again, and as I'm extremely rusty, the results have been downright painful. Fortunately, I'm sticking with it, so there has been a bit of improvement. Here are some samples from the latest figure drawing sessions I've attended:

2007-01-18T23:55:00.000-05:00

Not everything that you learn in class is a total waste. That's the lesson for today.

I have fought with Photoshop. I mean tooth and nail, fisticuffs, the whole nine yards. We've had a relationship marked by impatience and a lack of cooperation. Mostly, I've just been so discouraged by my few feeble attempts at digital painting that I've simply avoided Photoshop altogether, using it only for touch-ups to scanned work. I think it makes the program feel rather underappreciated.

While tutorials, random experiements, and other advice seem to leave my skills as worthless as before, a SUDDEN inspiration hit me the other night..... What if I simply took a layering technique taught in a materials class (this was.... 2 years ago?) from college, and applied it directly to Photoshop, mimicking the opacity and stroke of each physical media? Using an existing line drawing (the original appears on my official site), I gave it a whirl.

I have little experience painting without a model, so there are, naturally a few issues. HOWEVER, I would like to label this work "Success," because it marks a breakthrough for me in my digital art abilities. Comments are quite welcome for this piece, since the whole idea is to learn from it. Many thanks and check back soon for Round 2!

2006-11-19T23:12:00.000-05:00

Every artist has their pet stories: mine is that of the White Rose, a Student Resistance to the Nazis during WWII. If you're interested, the best sources to consult for information on these brave individuals are either "The White Rose" by Inge Scholl, or "A Noble Treason: The Revolt of the Munich Students Against Hitler" by Richard Hanser. I'd urge anyone interested in the true story to avoid online sources, as they tend toward the sensational, rarely the truth.

AAAANYWAY, though consulting photos of Hans and Sophie Scholl is easy enough, over time, I've developed images of them in my head. These were done quickly at the urging of a friend, so their Photoshoppy-goodness may seem a bit unpracticed. Here is Hans, Sophie, and a quick stab at the man who condemned them (pun intended), Roland Freisler. More soon!

2006-08-04T19:54:00.000-05:00

New Drawings, really! and a Job!

Alright, so the latest and greatest is that while I've obviously taken my sweet time getting my official website updated (www.funnyhoneybee.net, see above), a lot has happened in the last couple of months. For one thing, I've been working on new material A LOT, much of which may be seen at said website. Also, I now have a freelance gig at a nifty animation studio in Atlanta, Georgia: Radical Axis. For news on the Comedy Central TV show that we're working on, check out this article on AWN: http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=search&range=all&search=Radical+Axis&newsitem_no=17451

So what's next? Well, if the current trend holds, there are going to be some late nights at Radical, but I'll still be workin' on my own artwork in the meantime, especially some upcoming concept work and some more animation (yay!). Occasionally, I'll be attending some local model sessions for figure drawing practice, examples of which I'm posting here. The models don't really do too many asymmetrical poses, so the drawings are a bit short on dynamism..... and I'm also just a little rusty, but I note that just one workshop with drawing master Glenn Vilppu has dramatically improved my understanding of volumes. I highly recommend his books.

And here are some early scribbles for that concept work I mentioned, loosely associated with the Blizzard Entertainment art contest that's going on. Hope ya'll like it and comments are appreciated!

Starting off on the right foot.....

2006-05-31T15:13:00.000-05:00

Okey-dokey, folks, here it is: a little sketchblog to give me a kick in the butt to keep working, keep improving, and to provide that all-important feedback from you fine people. Things I'm intending to work on and subsequently post in the coming weeks: layout and production design, character design and macquettes, drawing men (if you visit my website, you'll note that I have all lady-drawings, because I just always seem to miss those sessions where they have guys. Or maybe there just aren't enough men out there willing to bare all, I dunno....), and various sketches.

For starters, I'll be just copying my favorite artists and then adapting their styles, but over time, I hope to develop something unique. You can see my current portfolio at my main website, http://www.funnyhoneybee.net/ (to be restructured within a week), but as I don't want to be so repetitive as to post the same stuff here that you can see there, I'll just throw in some sketches from Fall in France and color thumbnails from various illustration projects. Any and all feedback is welcome! I'll try to post more within a couple of weeks (currently engaged in graduation activities). Toodles! (or doodles, whatever....)