Ha, ha, ha...

Sometimes I crack myself up... Mostly I’m the only one and nobody else gets it though, as this here no doubt proves I guess. I thought it was hilarious at the time. The boss of this little downstairs shop f*cking a employee while calling his wife telling her he’s gonna be a bit late for supper...

...eh...

Just a crazy girl holding a box with a little birdie in it... loosely based on a actual event in the train.

...made this here sketch after our German neighbours had a number one hit called "Schnappi das kleine krokodil" (very annoying song by the way) but... eh... well... it doesn’t look anything like a crocodile now does it?

Train doodles (1)

V-Desk

Okay I got several questions and compliments 'bout my "studio" setup (...see my entry of January 08, 2006) So I thought: "Why not just post what I have left of those schematics on my blog!" (after this here !#$% back-up CD resolutely says that almost all the file's on it are damaged beyond reading... and there aren’t even scratches on the surface.)

But first things first... I made the whole thing about 5 years ago, when I was still living at my parents house. And had to make it so that the whole thing could fit in this tiny bedroom I had back then... 2 by 3,5 meters (Sorry folks, but in Holland we use the metric system.) So I nibbled a bit here and there to make it fit in there. Another thing that will complicate things now -without the rest of those schematics- is to know how big the MDF panels are in a store near you, and then figure out how to get the individual parts out of them in the most efficient way, as I did... Besides I always make some small alteration on the spot, because it doesn't quit fit right away. Alteration which of course weren’t on my original plans. The only printed copy's I DID had of those schematics were very beaten up from laying 'round the work floor, so they were trash material afterwards. BUT after some digging in a big pile of my old stuff, I did find this drawing of the "Desk" that's around the drawing table. It hadn't had the dimensions on it though... so I had to backtrack some steps. Hope you all can figure out the rest of the individual panels' dimensions from here... if you would like to make your own. (By the way… after a resent inquiry to someone I know, who has one of those original Disney D-Desk himself... I can tell you that I almost used the right dimension when I made mine. Only a couple of millimetres off)

Also know that the work surface itself is mounted on a simple tiltable (is that even a word?) drawing table I already had (so that too is kinda custom made to fit that particular table.) Hope yours is quiet the same 'cause it's not some kind of fancy contraption that is integrated in the big "Desk thing" (wanted though, but that would have taken even more time then it already did...)

As for the light-box... well that kinda is the work surface (one layer of it anyway.) As you can see, I can lay a lose board on top of this light-box, because it will rests on a strip of wood… and the separate boards have some aluminium strip at the back that hold it from sliding sideways (and incidentally keeps the board from curving up, because of the hole.)

Making the V-Desk I used some power tools like a electric jigsaw, drill, router, sander... But as far as materials goes I just used MDF (wood), some aluminium strips, more screws then I thought possible (so the whole thing is re-screw-able... also is that even a word?)... 6 grips and 4 hinges for the drawers and doors... A piece of tin foil, 3 TL-lamps, 2 switches and some cable for the light-box... 6 short table legs, with adjusting screw (so I still can vacuum under this piece of furniture and the floor will not be to damaged after a while.) And to finish it all off I gave every panel a good layer of transparent acrylic floorboard paint. So now everything is as hard as steel and easy to clean.

Edit: Blogger's max frame size is apparently 1024 pixels wide... bummer! ‘cause now the scale doesn’t compute. But if you want the correct version, you can always mail me though!

Aight!

I so like these col-erase pencils... just wanted to tell.

Viktor or Vector?

I find it kinda funny and weird my parents named me Viktor... Did they somehow know my (ink) lines would be able to look like vectors. I don’t think they even knew what a vector was back then?!? Some mysteries of the universe we’ll perhaps never know.

Original ink size was approximately 9x7 cm.

But still... by letting the computer turn my lines into real vectors made it much easier to manipulate them, so that the client could choose which one she liked best.

Phone doodles (1)

Made with a Pentel Brush Pen on smooth white paper...

Carpentry and how I work

As I am saying in my short bio: I like to do some carpentry now and again... You can make the stuff you need the way you like it. I'm a very spoiled artist and need a tilted drawing table with a light-box to work properly, so I made it myself (you can’t get these kind of animation desks in an IKEA now can you?) And because there were some big pieces of MDF (wood) to spare -whilst primarily making the desk and drawing table- I made a computer table too.

...still want to incorporate my Wacom tablet in the surface of that second table though! so that it isn’t in the way that much. I also made two loose work surfaces for my drawing table... which I can lay on top of the light-box, depending on what I have to do.

STEP 1:

Yes... drawing is still done traditionally

STEP 2:

Still-camera grabbing or scanning

STEP 3:

Testing the (ruff) animation and/or colouring

STEP 4:

Just for showing of to clients or friends

Great option in MSN

For those who chat via MSN (7.0) it’s always fun to use the whiteboard option... this is what you can get if you have a Wacom tablet.

Little sketch of my "future publisher" saying my work is crap... which is kinda true.

Sneak preview

Been working on a small pre-school animation again for Animation Works

After having other things on the shelf which had too be finished first, it laid dormant for a few months, and seeing it back still made me smile... can’t show the whole thing yet and I’ll have to do it as a animated gif (so the timing is crap) but it’s my first attempt at motion on this here blog so... I hope this works out okay.

More Duck

When I do cartoon's of Donald Duck, most of the time I want to put him in a pose or situation that makes him look even funnier or slightly off-beat in my eyes than he already is... although he still must look like the real Duck ofcourse (preferably like the Barks model.) But anyway... for these "small" cartoons we are more free, so I like making them a lot!

Artwork Copyright © Disney