Monday, September 18, 2017

New sketches, inspiration for Elemental Magic to begin to unfold at Finca Silencio!

Recently sketching and drawing up a storm.

As our new workshop comes together,
projects become more do-able
every day.


A sweet little hang out spot that I hope to construct high on out mountainside, 
a place for meditation, yoga, or just hanging out for the incredible 
sunset, a picnic or dinner...


Flowers in a decidedly Japanese style...


Inner Landscape


Emerging flutter-by...


Pure Plant Energy


Heading home with a newly purchased trio-pus, 
a handy little pet closely related to the octopus, 
that doubles as a household I.T. Expert.....


Sea to Sky, Sky to See

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Early Montage of Heck Flower effects test.....released for the first time...

This is one of the earliest
tests I did for Brett Morgen's 
'Montage of Heck' 
a recent successful documentary 
about the life and times  of Kurt Cobain.






The final version of the scene is very dark,
fitting into the film seamlessly, 
it punctuates Hisko Hulsing's exquisite
story-telling character animation sweetly
while not distracting attention away from it.

I owe a great deal of gratitude 
to Hisko for insisting that I animate this shot,
and pulling me out of semi-animation retirement....
From here on in I will be having multiple 
animation projects moving forward at any given time!

Animation is an addiction, an affliction....a gift..the
modern day equivalent of alchemy...



P & L

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Accidents will happen....


"Witnesses say a small bird was seen speeding away from the area at the time of the incident. Authorities later reported finding coyote remains, underneath the enormous rock..."



Friday, July 10, 2015

"It Becomes Everything"

Visual Effects created by nature, fluid, sunshine 
and millions of years of geological erosion.
....an exploration of 100% natural visual effects in an extended selfie! 

Amazing soundtrack courtesy of Easily Embarrassed.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Bucket Fire

One of the oldest effects animation training 
exercises is to try to animate a bucket of 
cold water pouring over a blazing hot camp fire. 
It's about time I did a live-action reference version!
Unfortunately the reason I was putting it out is because 
the local fire department authorities dropped 
by to tell me the small camp fire being used to BBQ on,
was against the by-laws of the town, and that he was responding to a
'complaint'.

Folks with nothing better to do
than shut down our peaceful and 100% safe 
little camp fire BBQ. We even had a huge bucker
of water on hand...




Thursday, April 23, 2015

Red Breasted Mergansers at sunrise, at 'The Spit' in Comox Valley

I caught these red breasted mergansers in slo-mo
doing some beautiful dance moves in the dawn's first 
light, near Comox Harbour, Vancouver Island, 
British Columbia.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Tons of brand new Effects Reference videos on Elemental Magic's YouTube page.....

Check out the new effects reference videos 
on my Elemental Magic YouTube page!

I am using my new Casio EX-ZR200 Exilim camera
to get some sweet slow motion reference in some of my 
favourite places in the world.

Stay tuned for a whole new world of effects video reference material
that I will be creating in my new Costa Rican jungle home this year!
The Elements, Earth, Wind, Fire and Water,
will be explored in a whole new way...
Elemental Magic goes
to Finca Silencio!



I have been shooting reference the last few days in the 
natural splendour of British Columbia's Vancouver Island,
where I am surrounded, as we will be in Costa Rica,
by gorgeous rivers and waterfalls, and endless gorgeous 
coastlines, all rimmed with majestic green 
mountains lined with stunning fjords.

Only difference is, the water will 
kill you by hypothermia in about 
20 minutes, whereas you can 
play ALL DAY in the 
Costa Rican ocean!

Monday, March 16, 2015

New super high quality reproductions of my paintings are finally here!



Emerging

Acrylic on canvas
36" x 12"




untitled

Acrylic on canvas
36" x 24"





last supper

Acrylic on canvas
48" x 24"



Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Please Tim, leave little Dumbo alone. No reason to go repainting the Mona Lisa now.....

I think that the original version of Disney's Dumbo is a unique and unsung masterpiece in filmmaking history. One of the most gorgeously crafted pieces of animation art ever conceived. It is not a mere story to be retold through a big budget visual effects loaded live-action Hollywood blockbuster, it is a timeless work of art. Why pick on this incredible piece of animation history just to come up with a story? This is clearly a shameless grab at producing a 'product' they KNOW people will go see,  because of their built in love of Dumbo, already planted there through the genius and vision of the original animated film. With all due respect to Tim Burton, he has had his go at a couple of Disney masterpieces now, Alice and Sleepy Hollow, and he did alright, they didn't stink. But please Tim, leave dear little Dumbo alone....

http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/03/tim-burton-to-direct-new-live-action-version-of-disneys-dumbo/



Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Guabo River, Finca Silencio, Silencio, Costa Rica....





Preparing to move into this jungle wonderland in Costa Rica.......the ultimate experiment in Elemental Magic......

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Sneak preview, working title card for one of my upcoming animation film projects...


What stories would the animals tell,
and pass on down to their children 
through the ages, about us modern day humans, 
and our legacy on planet Earth?

How have we re-shaped the animal's reality, 
after they lived in perfect balance with nature
for millenia, minding their own business,
and peacefully raising their families
for countless generations?

For millenia even us humans lived in relative
balance with nature as well, relying on its fruitful 
bounty for sustenance, but never 
taking more than needed, or hoarding, 
or controlling another sentient being's food source.

But modern man?
We are a species unto ourselves.
A species that lost its way,
and began taking more than it needs,
more than it gives back...


the legend is told.....









Thursday, December 18, 2014

Musicians With Guns - Cometa (Mandelbox Version)

This is a wonderful example of what fractals are, 
and what they are capable of creating. 
I LOVE this stuff. 
Alot.


Sunday, December 14, 2014

"There's no market for 2D animation any more...."

When I was working at Walt Disney Feature Animation at the turn of the century, we were just finishing Lilo & Stitch. After that film came out, Disney went public saying that box office returns were just not good enough to justify making any more films like Lilo & Stitch. No more '2D' animation AT ALL in fact, sadly for everybody, they had there minds made up to shut it all down.

HOWEVER.....Lilo & Stitch's budget was $80 million, and its total domestic total gross was $145,794,338. 

Compare that to 'Minority Report', the blockbuster science fiction feature film released the VERY SAME WEEKEND as Lilo & Stitch, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Cruise and Colin Farrel that cost 102 million to make. 

The domestic total gross? $132,072,926.

So, CLEARLY there would have been no market for another big budget science fiction film starring Tom Cruise...or a Steven Spielberg science fiction film for that matter. I mean, it cost more to make, and earned less, so CLEARLY it was an abject failure. Right? NOT!! We were sold up the river, for whatever reason...it was all fabricated. It baffles me.

The math is extremely simple.

It noteworthy as well, that in international markets Lilo & Stitch also did extremely well, eclipsing Minority Report once again at the box office. Additionally it spawned a couple of successful TV series for them,  and multiple relatively successful sequels, AND it made billions off of toy sales as well. Minority Report? Nada.


Hmmmph. I think there should be an investigation, and the pin headed executives that made all those  short sighted decisions should give us our studio back....

What think you?

Saturday, December 6, 2014

This generations "the Wall? A new animation/live action film?

This sounds interesting for sure....."a mix of animation and live action" yeah? 
Director Brett Morgen has given an outline of the Kurt Cobain film 
he's been working on for the past five years....

"We're hoping the Cobain film, that'll hopefully be released in 2014, will be this generation's The Wall – a mix of animation and live action that'll allow the audience to experience Kurt in a way they never have before. It's very ambitious. "

Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/kurt-cobain/68002#iL2SguPjsh0Ow5Ir.99


I really very interested in seeing this, I have always thought one of the best ways 
to utilize animation is to combine it with live action as a fantastic
atmospheric story telling tool, so I'm intrigued to see how 
Brett Morgen has integrated it into this upcoming film.

New animation in mainstream media is always a good thing!

Friday, November 28, 2014

Pas de deux





When I saw this film for the first time, I was stunned. Deeply moved. It was the first thing of its kind, it took insane hours and exacting calculations on an optical printer with staggered exposures done with exquisite timing.....and it is just as beautiful as ever today. Thinking of good old Norman McClaren...whom I was lucky enough to meet almost daily for some time, at the NFB in Montreal, mid 70's.


Thursday, November 27, 2014

Elemental Magic effects experiments

I have started compiling a variety of visual effects experiments, many of which are actually
science based fluid dynamics experiments that are continuously being created by students of physics. Remarkably, I have taken my Elemental Magic animation workshops down the exact same path that science has taken, engaging my participants in dynamic, real-time physics experiments in order to better understand the dynamics we wish to achieve in our animated visual effects. At Harvard and MIT they are doing the exact same thing in their fluid dynamics physics studies, in order to observe and prove the various theories and that have been previously developed and observed around flow and turbulence. I think it's fantastic, that through both hard science, and through the flowing creative vibe that I try to generate in my animation workshops, we have arrived at the same process of understanding the world around us, rolling up our sleeves and engaging with the real stuff of life, real physics, the way things work....we study the exact same thing, as animators, or scientists.

Got to love that!

As you'll see, some of my student's visual effects experiments are just a little bit more 'on the fly' than a well put together Harvard graduate science experiment. But we learn just as much, sometimes with the most rudimentary of experiments. At the same time, my workshop's experiments are increasingly becoming slickly put together, with quality high speed cameras, good lighting, and some pretty solid fluid dynamics experiments are being put together. I am compiling more and more of the fantastic experiments from my workshops, soon to be posted.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Eating

 Another old favorite of mine, I'm so glad I caught this rare video, this guy used to hang around all the time, don't even know his name, I couldn't get rid of him when there was fresh caught wild salmon around. Serious freak this dude, but pretty entertaining, so we'd let him hang around.....


Things that make you go hmmmmmmm............

I can't believe I actually found a jar full of live active leeches,
on a sweltering hot early summer day in Bulgaria, amazing!

Flash Balls

An oldie but goodie of mine, a rather unique use of Adobe Flash, taking pre-animated effects 'symbols' that I animated by hand on a Cintiq, and repositioning them as abstract elements....almost, working with vibrant colours, and a vibrant and unique soundtrack...courtesy of...(still waiting to officially receive permissions) Aphex Twin

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Sitting at a desk, animating on paper, for fully forty years now....

I'm so glad I have this priceless photo of me 
doing my animation thing, back in 1980, in 
Montreal, working on 'Heavy Metal' The Movie. 
I had been at it already since 1974. And now, 
in 2014, it is fully 40 years since I started drawing 
animation on paper on a classic animation 
disc with back light.

Hard at work on Taarna...


The Montreal studio on Bishop Street, 
was the hub of the whole Heavy Metal film production.
Several studios, in Toronto, Ottawa, London, Los Angeles, 
etc, worked on sequences that were all compiled and brought 
together by the director Gerry Potterton, in our downtown 
Montreal studio, Heavy Metal Productions.
A very dear friend of mine, Thomas Haegle,
who has been the director of the world famous
Filmakademie School of Animation in Ludwigsburg,
Germany for many years, is leaving his post.
Thomas has been an absolutely pivotal person in my life,
his input and encourage led to my entire
Elemental Magic journey, my books and workshops.
Between him and dear friend Ed Hooks,
I was practically led by the hand,
to get myself published and start
a whole new way of life.

I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to these men.

This is a little something for Thomas......


Monday, November 24, 2014

LIQUID PEACE: Ultra-Slow-Motion Water Effects

This slow-motion fluid effects reference is beautifully shot. With hi-speed cameras widely available
and affordable these days, I have begun implementing them into my Elemental Magic Workshops with great success. This is a very slick example! Thanks to verticalhold! Gorgeous video.

My first 'live' quick note......


Here's an update folks, my first 'live' video 
 update, from my YouTube site, Elemental Magic
.....on all the stuff I am working on 
that I can not talk about....

It's wildly out-of-sync, I know.....


Saturday, November 22, 2014

There Are No Good Guys, There Are No Bad Guys



Throughout my forty years as an animator, I have always made a great deal of music on
'on the side' so to speak, even getting a couple of pretty active and successful bands off the ground 
along the way. Music compliments animation brilliantly, demanding of the artist a knowledge of time/space, timing, phrasing, the space in between, anticipation, 
follow-through, overlapping elements, etc.
Exactly the same components that make up any
great animation performance.

This music video for my song "There are no bad guys" 
is the basis for a music video project that I am starting up,
a project that will eventually cover many songs by many diverse artists
from different cultures around the world.

I'm doing my best to get this out there, and get it viral if I can. I think with the lyrics posted, 
like subtitles, it gives viewers a better connection...what do you think?

Please, help me get this video going really viral,
post it, send it to friends, play it up, 
because I PROMISE you,
I will make the final animated 
musical/animation/cultural extravaganza,
based on this song, recorded around the world,
well worth the wait to see it, mark my words!

JOSEPH GILLAND, new video on YouTube from ACM SIGGRAPH in Santiago, Chile...

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

ElementalMagicTrailer 001





Check out this great new trailer for Joseph Gilland's ever popular visual effects
workshops, coming soon to a dimension near you!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014




 Eggs
An Archive of sorts

 

This grows in my egg....
always.
Born in my Heart,
I nurture it with my every Joy,
And radiate Gratitude on it...

And my Sacred Fractal Flower
Waits patiently in its egg,
In the center of my Soul

Yearning to Share,
of it's blossom,
Its fragrance,
its nectar.
 


Egg 10.0

Perseverance
always pays off.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Newer better blog to see my work.....

Here's a new blog 
that I will actually be updating regularly
(unlike this one )
It features my paintings but will include 
work from all aspects of my creative endeavors. 


Has as yet no followers at all
and I am trying to get anyone interested in 
what I am up to to head this way OK?

 This blog may or may not become more active in the future, 
I am changing my online presence and approach 
somewhat, in transition at the moment.




Water 2
Acrylic on canvas 4" x 4"


Fire 2
Acrylic on canvas 4" x 4"



Wind 2
Acrylic on canvas 4" x 4"



Earth 2
Acrylic on canvas 4" x 4"







Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Elemental Magic Volume ll, The Technique of Special Effects Animation



It is out now, ready to ship from all major bookstore warehouses, and Amazon's got a crapload ready to go too! If you are anywhere near Vancouver or Vancouver Island, drop me a line when you get a copy and I'll arrange to meet you sometime and sign it and give you a custom drawing on the title page too. Alternately, drop me a line from wherever you may live, and if I ever chance to meet that destination in my many travels, we'll do it that way, wherever that may be!

http://www.amazon.ca/Elemental-Magic-II-Technique-Animation/dp/0240814797/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318354231&sr=1-2

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Painting Elemental Magic!

I have been digging into painting with acrylics, working like a madman around the clock almost, and although I've been coming up with some pretty cool and weird stuff. I still feel like I am still searching for my style a little bit, although the one thing I don't want to do is get 'stuck' in a particular style. Some of the pieces are safely within what could be considered 'my style' of drawing and colouring special effects like water, fire and stuff. But I am branching out into other styles as well, some heavily influenced by the tattoo culture's styles, that I have been studying and trying to learn for a couple of years now. Still others are purely decorative in nature, but still leaning towards an 'Elemental Magic' kind of a look, focusing on elemental energies as the driving force behind the paintings.....



This simple arrangement of branches was as much of a test as anything, to see how I could reproduce the complex and twisted bark of a gnarly tree, one of my favorite things to draw, and a beautiful decorative element always. I hypothesize in my second book that much of the art deco decorative artwork that flourished in the mid-twentieth century was heavily influenced by a study of nature, and natural elements such as smoke, fire, water and all things moving.







This wild painting was spawned by an interest in the local slamon's spawning ritual, as well as the furor that has arisen from the practice of farming salmon. The featured fish in the painting is completely at the mercy of the machinery surrounding him, and it is all fossil fuel driven. He is trying to spawn and propagate his species as he is chased upstream by the evil specter of industrial corporatism gone mad in an explosion of oil and gas...
























A simple water study, again a sort of practice run to get familiar with how to reproduce really good looking water with acrylic paints. I used many layers of glaze on this painting, only where the water is though, none on the background at all. The layers of glaze are built up so deep that the water effects, especially the large droplets, actually bulge quite far off the canvas, creating a very three dimensional effect.





This water study on a black background was another exploratory painting, as I intend to create quite a few of these watery studies, as a part of my purely 'Elemental Magic' influenced pieces of artwork, which I hope will be popular and successful as paintings people will want to own. their smaller size makes for a more affordable price and they are easier for me to paint than brand-new subject matter. Watery effects are, after al, my thing. On this painting as well, I built up a lot of layers of clear and slightly blue tinted glazes, really popping the water up and off the canvas. The background has no glaze and is a flat black and thus absorbs all the light helping the water to pop out even more.
















My sister brought over a cheap wooden frame as I had mentioned I'd be interested in painting objects like frames, lamps, you name it, just anything I might be able to decorate with Elemental Magic effects, or something like that. So I started a sketch on this simple pine frame, with Earth, wind, Fire and Water represented as it was on the cover of the first Elemental Magic. I think it looks absolutely amazing, and I am working feverishly on it, in fact it is already far more finished than the version here that I photographed this morning. I really love the way the elements are blending into each other and creating one image that is very integrated and whole.




















The rising wings in this painting are a portrayal of a dream I had. The theme is rising up out of chaos, fear and danger, and flying into the ether on white gossamer wings, high above the suffering and pain of lost and angry souls bent on destruction. I used many. many layers of glaze, with a tint of blue in it, and several clear layers too, as I slowly built up the layers of light and energy. It was a hard one to stop working on, I always wanted to add another touch up here or there, but I have finally stopped myself.














This one started out as an experiment with wetting the canvas first and doing a sort of water colour style for the background of the painting. I did this with a blue wash, that dripped and blended beautifully, creating a canvas that just screamed at me to fill in the gaps. i had no idea what I was painting going into this one, it just sort of emerged from the abstract watercolour shapes that I had created with my wash. I see it as a look inside at the structure of the soul, as it goes through it's difficult trials and tribulations of life. The colours dripping of of the chin of the face represent the full light spectrum, from infrared dripping as if blood from the mouth and then up to the ultraviolet at the pineal gland in the center of the brain.... through the chakras, the spectrum of our visibly perceivable world.



















This one as well was done first as a water colour wash on the blank canvas, done with two different hues of blue. Again the image just sort of emerged from the shapes in the background. I was very divided on this one, whether or not to continue going with it and create a deeply glazed, magical piece, or to keep it simple and more raw. I decided to keep it simple and not embellish it too much, because I really liked the shapes that first emerged and just wanted to leave it on its own.








A sort of self portrait. This was one of my first paintings, but it sort of fell on the back burner for now, as it seemed to be getting over-worked and I wasn't sure what direction to take it in. I am waiting while I learn from the subsequent paintings I've been doing before I revisit this one. I think I will probably put a lot more work into it eventually, I still have a soft spot in my heart for this one. Think I need to make the eyes blue though..

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Elemental Magic Volume 2 is FINISHED and in the publisher's hands now!



Hear Ye, Hear Ye! I have finally finished with my end of the work on Elemental Magic Volume 2! It has been an arduous task, months of isolation and hard work, but it is done, and now the editing process is underway. There is no exact release date yet, but as soon as I know for sure I will let everyone know. I will be having a book launch party in Vancouver when the big day finally comes, and it will be greatly advertised here and on Facebook, to ensure that everyone who wants to gets a chance to attend!

Thanks to all for your overwhelming support and interest in the second book. I hope it does not disappoint. We had initially thought there would be a DVD included with the book, but it will be a website instead. The website will contain lots of video footage, tutorials, and various film clips from my workshops, and of actual animated effects sequences, mostly rough animation, so people eager to learn can watch me animate 'live' and also look at the final product. A great advantage of the website will be that it can be continually updated, and I can address people's specific requests for tutorials on specific effects animation questions. so please, if there is anything you want to know, drop me a line and I will address it whenever possible....

Also want to announce that I am officially open for tattoo business. Elemental Tattoos offers high-end tattoo designs and finished tattoos. I am starting with simpler work, no huge back pieces or highly complex tattoos for the first couple of months, but my skill level has definitely reached the point where I am more than comfortable tattooing a wide range of designs. Just let me know what you are looking for and I will get back to you soon! Check for updates and news on my tattoo blog!


Elemental Magical wishes to you all!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

FINAL COVER ART for Elemental Magic Volume ll

Well, after all the deliberating, it looks like this is the final cover design for Elemental Magic Volume ll, 'The Technique of Special Effects Animation'. I can't thank all of you enough. I received a great deal of feedback from a lot of people, and it was extremely helpful!



Believe me, I considered every comment I received. A lot of people really liked the black cover designs, as I did as well. But the final consensus was to go with something very close in overall look to the first Elemental Magic cover, rather than go for contrast. To create continuity in what will now be a book 'series'.

Elemental Magic Volume lll? Well, it's too early to say. I am at work on a couple of other book ideas that don't necessarily have anything to do with animation, but that's for another blog I suppose!

Right now I am deep into completing Volume ll in time for my deadline. And it is looking stupendous! I will post a sneek peek at some more images before the final release date. Look for ELEMENTAL MAGIC VOLUME ll to be available this spring! I have added a couple of images from the new book below...



Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Burning Man ~The ultimate special effects reference?


The burning of the temple

My voyage to Burning Man this year was epic. From the moment I left Vancouver on my motorcycle, and headed East into the BC interior, I felt transported 100% away from the daily routine that most of refer to as 'life'. With the wind in my face and the promise of new roads in my heart, I felt released....free!

Burning Man involves a LOT of burning. The largest most impressive structures are lovingly handcrafted and built almost entirely of wood, and on the last two nights of Burning Man, the 'man' and the incredible Temple (different and unique every year) are burned to the ground. On top of that many art installations in the desert are set ablaze on the last two night.


An amazing dance party in the middle of the desert at sunrise...

On top of that, there are pyrotechnics galore. Every year the fire experts try to top what they came up with the previous year, and there are a dazzling array of fire belching, computerized machines of all kinds here and there around Black Rock City and out in the desert (on the 'playa' as they say). Just down the street from the camp where I stayed, they let me handle an incredible kind of explosive propane fire throwing gun that was absolutely incredible! Pulling the trigger released a tremendous explosion of flame that mushroomed out like a special effect from a Bruce Willis movie! It was such a rush. I only wish I'd gotten some film of me firing it off.


An incredible rainbow appeared after a
rainstorm on the first afternoon that I arrived

Although I did take quite a few photos, Burning Man is primarily a participatory event, and walking around taking pictures turns you in to an observer, not a participant. So I frequently left my camera behind, and just got right into 'being there' and absorbing as much as possible. From a special effects viewpoint, I can't recommend Burning Man enough. If this kind of stuff sounds interesting to you, then GO! Buy your ticket and set your sights on being there next year, and I'LL SEE YOU THERE!!



The sunsets on the first night of Burning Man



Pyrotechnics seen through the swirling dust



The 'man' burns...



The 'man' burns...an amazing fireworks display precedes the burning

Friday, July 16, 2010

Elemental Magic in JAPANESE!

I just got delivery of 'Elemental Magic' translated into Japanese! It looks pretty amazing, to see my book in a beautiful language like this that I can't understand. I can't help but wonder how they interpreted some of my more imaginative text. Hopefully I will get a chance to go through it with Japanese friends!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Playing with paint! A wonderful new direction for my art, and a fascinating exercise in Special Effects

I spent two days painting with my friend Autumn Skye, near Powell River. I have not painted anything since I was in art school back in the seventies, but it is something I have always planned on doing when I get 'older'. Skye is an incredible artist, and I was humbled to work next to her, but she is a generous and enthusiastic mentor. She was happy to answer all my questions patiently and turn me on to her painting 'tricks' of the trade. It was an amazing creative session, we worked outdoors under a large opened tent. Many, many thanks to Skye! Check out her phenomenal and inspiring artwork at:

http://www.autumnskyemorrison.com/

Since posting this painting on Facebook, I got an overwhelming number of positive comments, and I am extremely enthused and excited to launch into a painting career....on top of my tattooing work! Egads, will I have time for fishing?


The painting is as yet unfinished, and untitled. I will post it when it's finished and properly photographed. It was really just a practice run, I was playing and learning, and I didn't expect to come up with something that I actually liked. In fact, there is much about it that I do NOT like, but it still fills me with excitement, just to see all that glorious colour and texture come to life under my wiggling brush. Super fun, cool, beautiful medium. Hooked on acrylics! (Now I just need to buy my own paints!, Thanks Skye!)

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Cover for 'Elemental Magic Volume II'

Here a a few possible designs I've come up with for my next book, Elemental Magic Volume II 'The Technique of Special Effects Animation'

I'd like to get as much feedback as possible, so please, tell me your favourite picks, tell me which ones you hate, or fresh ideas!
You can leave a note here, or email me at joegilland@shaw.ca with your 'vote'.

I have no problem filling the inside of the book with animation goodies, but designing a cover is really hard. It's what everybody sees, and it should make an impression. I got very mixed reviews on the cover of the first 'Elemental Magic' book, some love it, some hate it. Of course I'll never make everyone happy, but you all matter to me, and I'd love to hear what you think of these. They are just preliminary designs, and I might end up going in a completely different direction, but the size and title and the font is pretty much the way it will look....So, send your thoughts, OK? Thanks!

Click on an image to see a full-sized version


Design #1

Design #2

Design #3

Design #4

Design #5

Design #6

Design #7

Design #8

Design #9

Design #10

Design #11

Design #12

Design #13

Design #14

Design #15