The Ringmasters

Odds and ends that fell through the cracks

"I AM BIG BIRD"

The creative adventurers of Copper Pot Pictures are bringing to the world I AM BIG BIRD, a documentary about Caroll Spinney also known as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Caroll has been the soul of these childhood friends since 1969 and is the last of the original puppeteers.




Support the project until Thursday, August 16th HERE...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/iambigbird/i-am-big-bird

And visit:
www.iambigbird.com
www.copperpotpictures.com

Side note: I revisited the 1985 film Follow That Bird last night while working on this illustration. Just for fun, here is Big Bird singing with Waylon Jennings...

Breaking Bad

The blue meth on the show is actually cotton candy flavored rock candy. The show itself is as addictive as the blue meth.

Santa Sangre

Peak Condition: a film by Laura Jane Favela

Here is my wife Laura's thesis film Peak Condition; a glimpse into the world of a naive raccoon and a confidently psychotic toast with delusions of grandeur. Below is my own slice of fan art to accompany this strange and amazing stop motion film. Commoners, enjoy!

"The world is incomprehensible. We won't ever understand it; we won't ever unravel its secrets. Thus we must treat the world as it is: a sheer mystery."
~Carlos Castaneda

COMING SOON TO THEATERS...

Sorry, that's a lie. I just had the urge to create a poster for a psychedelic-western-action-horror-comedy. But now that I made this poster, I think I'll start writing it. If I quit my job I'm pretty sure I could be done animating in 20 or 30 years.

Old Mother Moth

Never misses a sunrise.

Just passing through...

Sending love and healing energy to everyone in Japan.

Little Street Fighter

This illustration is a tribute to my wife Laura who, at eight years old, bravely street fought the older boys at the local family restaurant arcade. No amount of exhaustive and futile button mashing could keep her from returning to her parent's table for more quarters.

She has the heart of a true street fighting champion.

more...PROCESS

The illustration below began with a lack of ideas. One night last summer, I felt the itch to create something but I couldn't seem to move beyond staring at a blank page. So in a creatively-blocked act of desperation, I hopped on google images and typed in random words; "angry monkey"..."old man"...whatever popped in my head. I collected about 20 different images, threw them into a desktop folder and began creating a collage in photoshop. INSTANT ILLUSTRATION IDEA!

I redrew my collage in sketchbook pro, then into photoshop for coloring and textures. Here's a bit of my process below. I strongly recommend this collage trick if your creative brain juices are ever running dry.