Verizon Gorilla

(Click on the image to view the spot)

Mean looking, yah? This is that psycho gorilla I animated for a verizon commercial spot. The animation itself was about 3 seconds long, but you barely see it on the actual spot. Oh well. This character was modeled and rigged by the talented artists at Charlex, who is responsible for a lot of the verizon spots currently being aired.

The sequence is basically, he's on top of a mountain peak (I guess after spending a whole day wreaking havoc on the now ablaze village in the background) roaring and blasting his flame throwers in the air... I dunno, he's either really pissed that there's no one left to barbecue... or 'cause he can't get himself down from that mountain.

The peeps at Charlex are some of the most hardcore, talented folks I've ever worked with. A lot of my friends are there and many I've known since I first got into the business, so it was all good times. The Gorilla was conceptualized by Todd Winter.

The Adventure Of Walker And Ping Ping

I'm proud to announce that The Adventures of Walker & Ping Ping is now available on DVD! I was the character designer on this debut learning series about Walker, a young American boy and his friend Ping Ping, a young Chinese girl, as they embark on adventures learning about the world around them. Exerpt from the website;

The Adventures of Walker & Ping Ping is set in China, one of the world’s most dynamic and rapidly growing economies and a significant source of source of cultural and economic exchange with the West. Western interest in Chinese language and culture is growing by leaps and bounds, particularly for the next generation, as the century of China begins to unfold. In the U.S., Chinese language and history is being introduced in an increasing number of secondary schools, Chinese teachers are in short supply, and early learning classes are frequently oversubscribed. The series was developed to give early primary school kids a head start in learning about Chinese culture, language and history.

If you wanna give your kids a fun headstart in learning some basic mandarin chinese, please purchase the DVD at either the website or at amazon.com (a few customers already left very positive reviews).

The series is the first, original concept and creation of Little Emperor LLC.

Bull King

A character I designed a while back, based on the bull demon character from the Chinese folktale A Journey To The West. Probably the ultimate demon badass in the story. Not even the powerful Monkey King could take him down without finally resorting to trickery.

Best anime series of all times!!

These are some of my favorite anime series of all time. Not listed in any particular order, 'cause they're all awesome (click on the images to link to websites and trailers);

Samurai Champloo
Hip hop in feudal Japan... Sounds pretty out there, but the show works... and it is pretty out there in concept. Either way, it's really enjoyable to watch. The English voice over is really well done and fit the characters. Lots of kinetic action and funny situations, but it also knows to slow down the pace for more intimate moments.
Last Exile
This one caught me by surprise. The overall visual direction of the show was just stunningly beautiful. It's a story about two air couriers ,who get mixed up with two warring nations and later discover the secret of where their people were really from. The time period looks like an alternate 1920's era, on a planet similar to Earth. Highly recommended.
Cowboy Bebop: Remix
A classic, can't miss sci-fi series. All the characters have interesting backstories that slowly come to light as the show progresses. They always seem unable to make ends meet even after collecting a large bounty. The remix version of this series have been remastered in picture and audio. It's been aired on cartoon network on late nites along with Ghost In the shell: Stand Alone Complex and Samurai Champloo.
Ghost In The Shell:Stand Alone Complex
Another great anime sci-fi series from the movie of the same name. The series focuses on Major Kusanagi and her elite oranization called Section 9, which mainly combats cyber terrorism and other anti-government factions. The English voiceover is pretty decent and the musical score is spectacular. After the success of the 1st series, they released S.A.C. 2nd Gig and a new movie called G.I.T.S: Solid State Society. I can only hope they continue making the series.

Def Jam: ICON

So... this is totally random. I happen to find one of the screen shots I made when I was working on Def Jam: ICON; I was able to, thru create a player mode, create my own likeness within the game.

The game sucked though... I got friends still pissed at me 'cause they bought the game that yours truly worked on... still, I thought the create a player part was kinda cool... hehe...

Bloggin' like a fiend yo

...That's what happens when the IT dept. half-asses your machine set-up... You can't move on to your new assignments. Missing software, plug-ins that don't work, etc. I could load up Team fortress 2 and just play all day... no can't do that, when everyone else is busy with tons of work. I could help other animators out with their stuff... no can't do that, 'cause I'm missing the software and plug-ins required to do the work anyway. I could practice on my own animations... no can't do that, I left my sexy laptop at home.

Rant rant rant...Hey! check out this revamped design of a character I created way back when I was attending art school. Click on it and it'll take you to my CG Society portfolio page;

Here's another one I designed for a Chinese animation and fx company;