Dogs! - Illustration Contest

Thank you participants! Great work! Your illustrations and sketches were fun to look at. Enjoy these great dogs and leave some comments!

 
Kristi G.


So I tried sketching with a pen for my rough ideas. I hope you don't mind me sending you these along with the finished. I was pretty excited about them - I usually use a pencil and find myself using the eraser more than the side I should be using. I tried to not worry so much about getting it perfect, instead tried to capture the movement. I am more pleased with the sketches than the final. Liezl has been following Jingle around the house for the last couple of weeks with a paper and pencil in hand. She has not decided which one she wants to send yet.

(I just took a peek at the scanned pictures and they look pretty fuzzy - sorry)

Nate S.


For my picture I just compiled a bunch of sketches of different breeds of dogs that were high up on the popularity rankings and some that had unique characteristics. Mostly I just wanted to explore the world of dog lovers and see where it led me. My reason for wanting to work on dog pictures for this contest centers around a story I’m working on that centers around a little girl and her greatest wish, to have a dog. She’s young but at her tender age she’s a sort of scientist, categorizing the breeds of dogs and doing her own scientific sketches. It’s a work in progress and this activity helped push me in the right direction. I went with the pen-only approach which was harder than I thought it would be but an enjoyable challenge. Hopefully this contest was as beneficial to you as it was to me. Either way, thanks for participating with me.

Scott W.


I took some time to draw lots of reference (didn't include all of it in this selection...should've included a skeletal sketch, which was really important.) And the biggest drawing is the design I was going for. Fun contest though, lots of room to play and if I had more time, I probably would.

Also, on my personal blog, I'm posting a process post for my Paperwings podcast entry. Thanks for mentioning it on your blog and I'm excited to see how both websites benefit from these fun contests!

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

The Fantastic Flying Books Of Morris Lessmore iPad App Teaser from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.


I was recently blown away when I was introduced to an inviting story and a wonderful little app created by a team of artists at Moonbot Studios. What they did is nothing short of amazing. If you have been following my blog you may have picked up the hint that I'm a fan of animation and have been my whole life. This story and the presentation grabbed my attention and had me checking all over the web to figure out what they're all about.

Let me take a step back, if you aren't familiar with Mr. Morris Lessmore he is a character in an animated short film. Historically, short films have been used to push the boundaries of the art and science of animation and also to develop and foster growth and new leadership from the artistic team. Normally these short films are enjoyed by the audience but the love stops there...never paying the bills (or artistic team). To pay for the artistic work, feature films have been the expensive necessity (which would require even more debt or capital to fund any endeavour).

Mr. Morris Lessmore blew my socks off because here this team is able to think outside of the box, analyze today's new culture, and find a creative way to create a widget that people want and are willing to pay for. You received my applause Moonbot Studios in the form of purchasing the app and short film, an investment well worth it. The app is doing amazing right now in the Apple App Store (currently #27 on the Top Paid iPad Apps list). On top of that iTunes has made selling your short film to the public easy and affordable. Now for only a couple of dollars you can have access on your phone to the sweat, frustration, and tears of an entire creative team.

Inspiring work. Fellow contributors, think outside of the box, go places where no one has even thought of going before. New markets are opening up that will cherish your work and follow you, like you, and even inspire you to keep it up. Don't let anyone discourage you from pursuing your dreams...especially yourself. Some of the greatest obstacles you'll ever face were built brick by brick by your own two hands. It's not wrong to lay bricks...just make sure your paving a brick path that leads you on and up. Congratulations Mr. Morris Lessmore, you have my attention and admiration.



(Picture and clip are referenced from http://www.morrislessmore.com/ and http://www.moonbotstudios.com/. Check them out and let me know what you think.)

 http://www.morrislessmore.com/
http://www.moonbotstudios.com/

Paper Wings Podcast - A Fantastic Reference

Fellow contributor Scott Wiser has referred my attention to a great resource dedicated to assisting visual storytellers (illustration, animation, etc.) learn more about craft and connecting. The website seems like it's relatively new (could be older than the Shoebox though) but they have some great ideas they are working through. I encourage you to go check it out and see if some of their podcasts help you with the story process.

From what I've seen so far they have some similar ideas to the original ideas I had when I started this blog, some different too. Check it out today and let me know what you think. They are also sponsoring an illustration contest, but they're giving away prizes (good idea...wish I had money to do that...I'll think about it though). You guys are the best. Here's the link:

http://www.paperwingspodcast.com/

New Contest - Dogs!

For this contest I'm going to give a general topic and let you individually decide where you want to go with it. The subject is...dogs. I have a short story idea that centers around man's canine friend and I wanted to offer a challenge to the group as well as to myself. I just may let everyone look over my shoulder on this one and see what I've been up to.

Thank you everyone for your continued participation. Our deadline is set for two weeks out (remember that this doesn't need to be a final piece of art but a sketch or simple demonstration of ideas, composition, etc).

July 22nd, 2011 (7/22/11)

Send in your submissions to the blog's email. Good luck.