Monkeys and More

If you looked at the drawings before you read this the answer to your question is, YES, I'm working on a film that has monkeys in it. Some of you were probably wondering, what the heck happened to Craig  and why hasn't posted anything in the last year? The answer is, LIFE, which is at the present time overwhelming. Here's a few things that are keeping me busy enough that I am struggling to to find the time for my blog. I'm in treatment three times a week for three hours a each visit (I have to make up that time at work), I was teaching a night course (Story II) at Cal Arts once a week (7pm to 10pm, I would usually get home are midnight though), by the way that does include prep time for each class. We got a horse for my daughter which is a time vacuum, and of course the biggest taker of time, WORK. I almost forgot I took on a freelance gig directing an episode of the SuperBook series that CBN is producing (this was a huge mistake, the project really need a  full time  directing approach to execute it properly). Things don't look like they are gonna free up anytime soon either. I'll be teaching two courses this coming semester, I'll be continuing treatment and call me crazy but we now have two horses. 

 When I join a new production I have a habit of getting absorbed in the subject matter of that film,  in turn I tend to only draw things that are relevant to that film. If you look at my sketchbooks from the last twenty years you can tell exactly what films I worked on because they are primarily filled with drawing that pertain to the current film I was working on. So, to combat my own tendencies I started doing warm up sketches that are purposely not related to my assignment. It works sometimes and sometimes not. 

I have found that I'm not drawing as much as I have in the past. This current film is a daunting task with a ton of line mileage required for each assignment.  I thought "TEMBO" was a heavy film, with it's large cast of characters it meant that every sequence had multiple characters to draw, sometimes up to eight or more all interacting. It was tiring to say the least. This film is ten times worse, It's an ass kicker for sure. So here are some drawings of monkeys and more. Some are old and some are new and some are very sketchy too. See what I did there?

 

This a rejected panel of a sequence I was working on.

The head of story called for a wide shot but it was cut

from the final edit. That's story for ya, I always say,

"Oh well, it will make a good portfolio piece."

 

 

 A sketch of father time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This an example of me trying to break from drawing only monkeys.

This drawing was inspired by a photo in an old National Geographic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did I mention we got a dog? He is most awesome. He is

 like a little man, always letting us know how he feels.

 

  

 The background I drew separate from the Toby drawing

but I stuck him in front of it, Photoshop magic.

 

 

  

Drawing landscapes relaxes me. They are very forgiving, I can

 just free flow these vignettes without getting bogged down with

 the rules of what makes a good drawing or a bad drawing.

 

There will be many more of these coming now that I'm

a proud horse owner.

 

This is one of the oldest drawings I still have. 

  

  

 

  

This a sketch I did for my daughter. Her horse is a 

painted pony called Esperanza. She hates when my

daughter is riding other horses and not her. She is a 

very cute horse with a lot of personality.

 

I did this drawing last winter but I misplaced the file 

(my naming conventions can use some help). I just 

recently ran across it by accident, better late than never.