Continue reading »]]> Here is a fun parent-child cartooning class I will be teaching in San Francisco at the Cartoon Art Museum Wednesday December 28th, 2011.

December 28th (Wednesday) Critters, Creatures and Monsters
Ages: Parents and Children (7 to 12 years old) recommended
Time: 11am – 1pm
Cost: $10 per person (all children must be accompanied by an adult, ideally no more than two children for each parent)
About: Adults and Kids team up to learn how to create their own Critters, Creatures and Monsters wheather they be scary, cute or something else. The class will teach basic cartooning skills mixed with lots of fun creativity challenges.
All classes are taught by instructor Brian Kolm (Atomic Bear Press) atomicbearpress.com.

(((CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TODAY!)))

Continue reading »]]> I will be teaching a parent-child cartooning class at the Cartoon Art Museum on Tuesday December 27, 2011.

December 27th (Thursday) Heroes and Villains
Ages: Parents/Guardians and Children (7 to 12 years old) recommended
Time: 11am – 1pm
Cost: $10 per person (all children must be accompanied by an adult, ideally no more than two children for each parent)
About: In this Adult/Kid combo class we will learn how to create our own Hero and Villain characters while learning some of the basics of cartooning.

Celebrate the end of 2012 with fun classed that will have adults and kids teaming up to cartoon at the Cartoon Art Museum over the winter holiday break December 27th and 28th. All classes includes materials and admission to the museum.

(((SIGN-UP ONLINE HERE)))

Continue reading »]]> So, for my first post on the San Diego Comic-Con 2011 (SDCC) I thought I would post some pictures and talk about an exciting trend that, to me seems to be altering the convention forever.

These pictures are from my first day in San Diego, Wen July 20, 2011. The convention was going to kick of with it’s Wednesday Preview Night and I had arrived early enough to sight see and take some time to explore. I arrived at where I was staying in the Gas Lamp district and the first thing I saw was this…

note: click on the images to see a bigger version at Flickr.com

At the top of the building is an inflatable of two of the most popular animated characters on TV today, Jake the morphing dog and Finn a funny kid with a hat with bear ears from Adventure Time! They are best friends and live in the land of Ooo where they have adventures fighting monsters and rescuing princesses. The show is one of the best things on TV today and it’s fresh and original and attracts fans of all ages. I am myself a big fan.

Let me take a few steps back to the last time I was at the SDCC, in 2009. One of the new things that year was that the Sci-Fi Channel (SyFi) had partnered with a local restaurant a block from the convention center to transform the business into Cafe Diem from the series TV Eureka. That meant that instead of having a big booth in the convention center, they choose to basically have a restaurant as their temporary home. That meant that they were not dictated by the rules and hours at the convention center and the business they partnered with stood out even more then they would with out the new branding. CLICK HERE to see what it looked like this year.

The idea of breaking out of the convention center into downtown was so cool and different…fast forward to this Summer, 2011. Now there are many of these temporary pop-up businesses that have skipped the convention center and partnered with local businesses. This year there was the 3rd year for SyFi Channel  joined by Spike TV, Conan O’Brian, South Park/Comedy Central, EA Games, some Marvel monster truck thing, a stand alone video game convention and more. But there are two pop-up businesses that stood out to me…

The characters above were part of Cartoon Network’s take over Ciro’s Pizza to the hit show Adventure Time. Outside you are meant with graphics that feature a graphic of Lady Rainacorn (a magical creature and girlfriend of Jake the Dog) and an inflatable candy person (the Candy Kingdom is a major location in the show). Inside all the walls were covered with a digitally printed mural of the locations and characters and enhanced with colored lighting and TV’s played clips from the show as well as interviews with the creators and fans. Here on the walls we see images of the snowy kingdom of the evil Ice King bathed in blue and purple lighting by the Soda Machines and then transitioning to more bright and sunny lighting at Finn and Jake’s tree house and over to the Candy Kingdom.

And to even stand out more, they had a group of young guys who were dressed as Finn and passing out tokens for a free slice of Pizza and a Drink from 2pm to 4pm every day of the con, how cool is that.

And they also have a parade of characters from the show twice a day for a meet and greet.

Most of this would have been impossible to do in the crowded convention center, but this temporary business was one of the stand-out elements of the event.

Another of the standout elements of the SDCC was Trickster, a pop-up store featuring the art, comics and other goodies by some of the hottest artists today. The Trickster was set-up by a group of artist frustrated with the heavy movie/TV heavy attention at the convention and wanted to focus instead on art and artists. Inside a converted wine shop there was a FREE retail space filled with drool worthy merchandise and room for small classes that cost extra. At night they had live models, drinking and partying and someone outside was selling sushi. Words can not explain the energy in the place. Here are some photos at a quieter moment on Wednesday before the crowds invaded.

During the convention they had great artist signing books and meeting and greeting peers and fans alike. HP was on hand to print out files for free and the publisher of the Trickster hardcover book was on hand to discuss printing services. Simply an amazing achievement and possibly a game changer for the identity of the convention.

So, the question on my mind is where will this trend of pop-up businesses for the convention go next. I can clearly see it being doubled by next year as some of the biggest players forgo the convention center for a more visible spaces in the Gas Lamp district. That is good since there will be more room in the hall for some that could not get a space and the big companies can take their brand to new levels on the outside. We’ll see what happens in July 2012.

Continue reading »]]> Well another fun Summer of classes at the Cartoon Art Museum for Cartoon Boot Camp 2011 is over  with our last week focusing on Storyboard to Animatic (June 27-July 1). But what is a Storyboard and what is an Animatic?

Storyboard’s are a visual script to help the creators of films, videos, video games, theme park attractions and other forms of entertainment plan there production before money and time are spent to produce them.

The Animatic (or Story Reel or Pre-Visulization) takes the storyboards and brings them to film or video where they are edited to match the shots of a proposed film along with temporary sound effects, voices and music to simulate what it might look like in real time. The processes has become fairly standard as a way of showing what can be with out spending a lot of resources, especially for expensive live action special effects extravaganzas where the film can go over budget if not careful.

For our class we had six students who broke into four groups to produces a short story or segment of storyboards that were then scanned into the computer with audio and special effects being added.

All of our students did a great job and really brought a lot of creativity to their projects. Congratulations to all of them for their hard work.

Let’s see what the final results are…

The first team done were Eric and Leo who did a short and sweet gag story…

‘The Walnut’ – Cartoon Boot Camp 2011 – Storyboard to Animatic from Cartoon Art Museum on Vimeo.

Next was Danie who did this short gag of transformation…

‘PlantMan’ – Cartoon Boot Camp 2011 – Storyboard to Animatic from Cartoon Art Museum on Vimeo.

Then Leslie, our youngest student did this short educational story…

‘Giggles New Food’ – Cartoon Boot Camp 2011 – Storyboard to Animatic from Cartoon Art Museum on Vimeo.

And last, but not least was Javon and Dont’e with a scene from a martial arts epic…

‘Chickens of Fury’ scene animatic – Cartoon Boot Camp 2011 – Storyboard to Animatic from Cartoon Art Museum on Vimeo.

Further exploration: The same techniques used to bring Storyboards to video or film as an Animatic have also been used for the final productions that uses Picture Book Illustrations (Reading Rainbow, Rabbit Ears videos) and Comic Art (motion comics like ‘Watchmen’ and ‘Batman: Black and White’) To find out more about re-purposing artwork into animation, check out my posts on Motion Comic Magic.

Continue reading »]]> Hey all, below you will find a video slide show featuring artwork my students created for the Character Design Cartoon Boot Camp at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. The goal of the class was to design and draw a character the students could call their own for a final project and I happy to say that all the kids did a great job.

In the slide show I included two images of my choosing as well as their final piece. The two pieces I picked for each student were tough choices since I had only to work with the images we had time to scan into the computer. So, the art presented in the video below might vary in it’s subject matter for each student, but shows their creativity and process.

I hope you enjoy the video sideshow below and visit the Cartoon Art Museum when you get a chance.

Character Design – Cartoon Boot Camp 2011 from Cartoon Art Museum on Vimeo.

Note: the music was created by Kevin MacLeod who licenses’ it for free through the Creative Commons. by http://incompetech.com/. Excellent work.

Continue reading »]]> I will return this summer to the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa CA.

July 11-15, 2011 – Drawing 101

MONDAY–FRIDAY ? 9am–12:30pm

Have a fun-filled week designing and drawing your own characters—from superheroes to cute critters—and developing stories and comic strips. Join cartoonist Brian Kolm to learn the basics of cartooning and create your own mini-comic book.

Continue reading »]]> Just an update of where you can find me this Spring and Summer

Looney Toons Family Fun Day at the Cartoon Art Museum – San Francisco CA (ages 10-14)
Saturday April 30 – all ages with admission to museum

CAM-JAM 2011 : Animation – Cartoon Art Museum – San Francisco CA (ages 10-14)
May 22, 2011 – Artist event

Cartoon Boot Camp at the Cartoon Art Museum – San Francisco CA (ages 10-14)
June 6-10, 2011 – Story Board to Animatic
June 13-17, 2011 – Intro to Stop-Motion
June 20-24, 2011 – Dynamic Character Design

Kids on Campus at Chabot College - Hayward Ca
June 20-24: Cartooning: Monsters & Critters
June 27-July 1: Cartooning: Star Wars Art

Schulz Museum – Santa Rosa CA
July 11-15, 2011 – Drawing 101

July 21-23, 2011 – appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con

Continue reading »]]> I will be teaching again this Summer at Chabot College in Hayward CA for the Kids on Campus summer program.

Cartooning: Monsters & Critters
Whether it’s a graceful unicorn, a slithering dragon or a more modern beast, we have been telling stories of fanciful creatures of all sorts since the beginning of time. This class will feature lessons on drawing classic beasties, the structure and construction of four- legged animals, and designing original creatures as well as a technique for presenting a final drawing.

Kids on Campus – Summer Camp 2011
Weeks of June 20-24 and June 27-July 1

Sign-up at: www.chabotcollege.edu/comed/kidsoncampus/kidsoncampus2010/

Continue reading »]]> Friday March 25, 2011 I had another great session of cartooning at the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa CA for their very rainy Spring Break week. I taught two classes:Mutants, Mermaids and Monsters and Drawing Superheroes and Sidekicks. Both of the classes were really fun, even with the heavy rain outside.

The morning class was all about drawing creatures and mixing up animals to make your own. The kids were really into it, but I have little to show for it by way of my own sketches and drawings. Except for these…

above: mash-up animals

above: lizard+human with a bad topee

After I got a quick lunch break the next class began and was on drawing Superheroes and Sidekicks. The class was a smaller group so there was more time for one-on-one instruction. I gave the young kids (ages 8-12) some tough challenges to do, but they all did a great job of following along.

We started off creating a description of a superhero (gender, age, powers, weaknesses, etc) and then I had the class follow along as we created the character with the their input. This character was: male, middle-aged, mental powers and flight with a meekness of a fear of snakes. Part of the process was having one of the student pose for reference. Next we created his young sidekick too.

above: Father and son superheros

One of the best parts for me of this afternoon class was that I got to sit down and do some one-on-one drawing demonstrations while everyone was focused on their work. For example one challenge I gave them was to create a Superhero and Sidekick with a set superpower: Super Gift Wrapping. I got to sit down with the kids and did this drawing…

click above for a bigger image at Flickr.com

Over snack time I got out my favorite inking pen out (Zebra brand)  and did the drawing below with input from a few students…

click above for a bigger image at Flickr.com

When class resumed I had the students create a character with the motifs of Spiders and Pirates. Here is my drawing…

click above for a bigger image at Flickr.com

And then towards the end when things were winding down I did this drawing mash-up hero and sidekick, borrowing from some favorite characters of mine. Any guesses which ones?

click above for a bigger image at Flickr.com

All in all a very nice session made better by some very enthusiastic students. See some of them below…

BTW: I will be teaching a summer week long session at the museum as well, so if you are a kid or parent in the area and are interested why not sign up…

Cartooning for Kids
MONDAY–FRIDAY ? JULY 11–15 ? 9am–12:30pm
Have a fun-filled week designing and drawing your own characters—from superheroes to cute critters—and developing stories and comic strips. Join cartoonist Brian Kolm to learn the basics of cartooning and create your own mini-comic book.

Continue reading »]]> I am going to be teaching 3 classes at the Cartoon Art Museum over the winter holiday break the week between Christmas and New Years Eve. December 28,29 and 30th 2010. Click on the links to sign up for the class on-line.

Start off the new year right with these fun classes at the Cartoon Art Museum over the winter holiday break December 28-30. All classes includes materials and admission to the museum.

Drawing Fun for Parents and Kids – Family Fun Class

December 28 (Tuesday)
Time: 12:30pm – 2:30pm
Cost: $10 per-person (only 1 to 2 kids per adult please)
About: What a better way to finish off the year then a cartooning class for an adult and child to have fun learning how to draw together. The class will feature many short creative challenges and drawing exercises that will both delight and stimulate creativity.
Reserve your space: http://guestli.st/38694

Intermediate level drawing classes for ages 10-14.
These classes are aimed at young artists who already are drawing and cartooning all the time.

December 29 (Wednesday) Crazy and Cute Creatures

Ages: *intermediate level/ages 10-14
Time: 1pm – 3pm
Cost: $20
About: Students learn the basics of cartooning while making up their own original creature characters who are cute and/or crazy. The class will work with drawing construction, design, expressions and attitude.
Reserve a seat: http://guestli.st/38703

December 30 (Thursday) Happy Heads and Fierce Faces

Ages: *intermediate level/ages 10-14
Time: 1pm – 3pm
Cost: $20
About: This class will focus on learning to draw the face and expressions and using them to tell a story. It will touch upon visualizing the head in 3D, showing different ages, emotions, exaggeration and using reference.
Reserve a seat: http://guestli.st/38712

All classes are taught by instructor Brian Kolm (Atomic Bear Press) atomicbearpress.com.

Continue reading »]]> The guy in the example below was an art sample to show my students in my Heroes and Villains class I taught at Chabot College this summer. The drawing was brought into Photoshop and color has been added, but is not finished, so it’s a Work in Progress (WIP).

His design is made up of some elements that are borrowed from two well knows characters. Do you know who they are?
Be the first to comment correctly and I will send you a free sketch of a character of your choosing.

Click to see a bigger image on Flickr.

Continue reading »]]> I just finished my second week of teaching at the summer program at Chabot College for kids. The kids were awesome and did some nice work that can be seen on my Flick page….HERE

To find out more about this fun summer program, visit: www.chabotcollege.edu/comed/kidsoncampus/kidsoncampus2010/

July 6-9 Cartooning: Heroes & Villains

From dashing comic book superheroes to beautiful Amazon queens with giant swords, to an evil half-man-half snake or a threatening villain who wants to destroy the world, what would stories be like without the good guys and the bad guys? Explore how to design your very own heroes and villain characters. You’ll learn how to draw the character’s features, design costumes and props, create a story behind your characters, and end by creating a presentation illustration to show your family and friends.

July 19-23 Cartooning: Monsters & Critters

Whether it’s a graceful unicorn, a slithering dragon or a more modern beast, we have been telling stories of fanciful creatures of all sorts since the beginning of time. This class will feature lessons on drawing classic beasties, the structure and construction of four- legged animals, and designing original creatures as well as a technique for presenting a final drawing.