Bottom of the Ninth

Good afternoon, everybody. 

I am so excited to share with you an interview I did with Eric Allen, the 3D developer of the new animated graphic novel, Bottom of the Ninth.  Have you heard of this?  It looks Absolutely Amazing!! Incredible art, coupled with animation, humor, and a story about a heroic girl all wrapped into a graphic novel.  You have got to see this. To get you all excited about it here's the trailer:

Crazy, cool, right?

Great, on to the interview with Eric. 

How would you describe this animated graphic novel, Bottom of the Ninth? 

It is a new way to read and enjoy a variety of mediums in one setting. You get the fun of a comic with word bubble that are read to you. You also get animated panels on each page. The comic seems to live because of these effects. In addition to this, you can click on other panels and they will play an animated short of the scene. All of this really creates a world that pulls you in. It is easy to immerse yourself into this book and feel the emotions that the characters are going through. The interactivity makes you feel like you are there with the characters.

What sets this graphic novel apart from others you can read on i-pads?

As far as we know it is the first of its kind so there are not really any others to compare against. There are interactive books and other media, but we think this is the first interactive comic made for IOS devices. It is basically a short film that is wrapped within a comic. There are easter eggs all over to find. Ryan Woodward is the creator and producer of this comic and most of the credit really goes to him. He is an extremely talented artist and very humble about his abilities. He commissioned 5 or so artists including myself to create the app with him.

Would non-baseball fans enjoy this read?

Most anyone would easily enjoy this interactive graphic novel. Kids will either be drawn to the baseball or the female lead character. Adults will love the interactivity as well as the educational value of having an entertaining book that reads along with you.

Tell us a bit about the lead character, Candy Cunningham.

This is really the story of Candy Cunningham and the world she lives in. Set 200 years in the future, gravity modification has warped the way we play baseball.  We follow Candy on her struggle to become who she was meant to be. Stereotypes and judgements about her ability play with her mind as she struggles to prove herself in this intimidating world.

When did this project start? 

The concept was thought of in 2005. We began production in January 2012

How long did it take to complete?

We finished up all of the development for it in the beginning of June 2012. So that is roughly 5 months.

What was your contribution?

I was the 3D developer in charge of creating the 3D world. The awesome Paul Gerla was hired in Feb/March to assist as the production was ramping up. The 3D world was growing at a pace that we needed two artists dedicated to it. I built and textured roughly 90% of the models. I also helped a little with the motion graphics at the end of the production process.

(@llie here: My son loves this fan guy.)

Tell us one of your favorite parts or scenes.

I love the panel where Candy is ready to pitch into the batter box and it is lit up. Ryan wanted this to be so overwhelming and distracting that it would seem almost impossible to focus while pitching. I helped with some of the motion graphics for this shot and I think we all made this really show his vision. I also love any of the stadium shots. Overall, pages 7, 10 and 12. are my personal favorites. I am a little biased though. 

What influence do you think this graphic novel will have on those in the future?

I hope that it ushers in a new medium. I love the amount of craft that went into this app in all levels of the production. Somehow, we had time to make this really look nice. Ryan's attention to detail made this comic what it is. He is truly a stellar artist.

How can we view/purchase Bottom of the Ninth?

Ryan woodwards "Bottom of the Ninth" app is only $0.99 USD in the Itunes store. 

Website

www.bottom-of-the-ninth.com

Wow, that was So much fun. Seriously. Thank you, Eric, for sharing your time with us.   This graphic novel is absolutely incredible!  Be sure to check it out!

Making some Business Cards

About two months ago I won a free offer from The 36th Avenue of 250 business cards.

I was super excited and that next day started working on my free cards from U Printing.

The site is really easy to use and I had a great time playing around with everything.

First I designed my front:

Then I worked on the back.

I liked the design...but knew it wasn't quite right.  The back was too plain and too similar to the front. 

So I left the project to give it some time to think about it.

And...I may have forgotten about it a teeny bit.

Today I realized I had only 5 days left to redeem this offer, so I figured I'd better get serious and commit to some ideas.

I was pretty much was satisfied with the front and wanted to keep it as it was.

The back however, I wanted to spruce up and make it more fun.

I decided I'd better start with this tree.

I made this tree when I was making the design for my blog.  I still really like it, but I wanted a different look for the back of the card.

I wanted COLOR!

So I colored it up a bit.

Here's my final card.

Front: 

 Back:

Now who needs a card?  I got plenty.

Casino Theatre Painting

I finished up this fun painting a couple days ago.

Don't you think it's Art Deco meets whimsical meets Casino Theatre meets John Held Jr. characters?

Well...that's what I was going for.

The woman for whom this painting was made for, made this frame with the intention of putting my painting in it.  Her husband built it and she painted it.  So I tried to have my painting match the frame.

  

Hope she enjoyed it!

Art Deco

I was contacted about a week ago to produce a watercolor painting.

She wants it to be an art deco painting...

of the Casino Theatre found in Salt Lake City circa 1920.

Featuring some characters ala John Held Jr. born in Salt Lake City.

Easy enough, right?

I'm finishing up the painting today.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Spring Swap Gift

Remember the Swap?

Well I got my three words:

vintage, fun, and romantic


Once I got my words I spent a couple days stewing on those words and trying to decipher what direction to take.


Since I'm a do-er I thought it would be much more fun to make something...then go out and buy items.  Because That's the way I roll. 


So I think I first headed out to pinterest to get some ideas.  I'm not especially Vintage or Romantic ( I can be fun, though) so I wasn't too sure where to start.


It was there that I came across this print from REStyleShop.


I thought it was quite lovely, but wanted to take that idea and make it by own.  I thought if I replaced the vespa with a vintage romantic bike I'd hit the mark more.


So, here we have my Life is a Beautiful Ride magnet.  It is 2.5" by 3" so I had to use my teeniest paint brushes.  It's painted in oil and sealed all ready to be shipped out tomorrow.

Truth be told I had a great time making that magnet...and half way through the project I thought..."Hmm, I think I'll make another one for my shop to sell".

So I repeated the idea and made one more for the shop:

Hope my swap buddy enjoys!

Lemon and Lime

I was contacted a couple weeks ago through the shop, to make these lemon and lime paintings.

They are on 4 x 6 canvases. I love the way they turned out!

Since they're painted in oil they still need several more days to dry before they're sent on their way to their new home.

Ideas.

My very first step of making my Quiet Book was scouring the internet for some good ideas.

See my post yesterday for whose ideas I liked best.

After some inspiration I sat down and sketched out what I wanted each page to look like.

Here are those original sketches:

Of course not all my ideas came to life.

This last sketch I never made:

Vote on a Shirt! --part 2--

Welcome Facebook friends of Camp Kostopulos!

We've already done our preliminary voting and are ready for your help in deciding the next Camp K summer camp t-shirt for this upcoming  2012 summer camp season.

Take a look at each of the six designs and decide on your favorite!

Here's a look at all of the shirts together.

Now is the fun part.  Please vote on your favorite!

If you'd like more information on Camp Kostopulos, a summer camp for kids with disabilities, please visit their website. 

Autumn Leaves

I think this is the most stunning photo. 

 It was taken by my husband two weeks ago, and edited by me of our son.  You can see his hand rested upon his lips, as he's a little uncomfortable being under hundreds of leaves.  I'm grateful he could be uncomfortable for a minute so we could have this beautiful photo forever.

This photo was entered into the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com

Fallin' for You.

I am admittedly not a Fall Girl--someone who thinks Fall is just totally amazing (you know who you are).  I am very much a Summer Girl. I think Summer is Completely amazing.  I love it thoroughly and somehow it never lasts long enough.

However, I'll admit....the Fall season is was growing on me.

It almost totally had me-- until it started snowing two days after these shots were taken.

Here's the Sweeties enjoying the Beautiful Weather while it lasted.

Can you see this amazing moon nestled deeply between these two trees?  So cozy.