Tong Daeng color

A while back a friend asked me to help out with some color sketches on a short film he was putting together about the King of Thailand's beloved dog, "Tong Daeng."

A progression of color for the fire sequence.

The overgrown temple, badly in need of repair.

Fire destroys the building.

Above: A small selection of sketches from Tong Daeng.

The main goal with these sketches was to provide a strong atmosphere for each of the environments. These were imagined in an almost impressionistic way to fit each of the story moments. The sketches would then be used as a guide and inspiration for the Imagimax artists.

Thailand has been such a great inspiration for me over the years, and it's always a pleasure to explore beautiful Thai landscapes and architecture.

All images (c) 2015 Imagimax

The Book of Life: 2D Flashback 002

Above: Some key color frames for the 2D bullfighting flashback

One of the key themes in The Book of Life was that the main star, Manolo, was unable to kill a bull in the ring. He did defeat a bull once however when it was struck by lightning. Which is the moment this key frame illustrates. Of course Manolo goes on to defeat the grandest bull of them all... with love.

Below: Some color day time color exploration.

Comics Alliance Reviews The Noble Approach

As the first anniversary of The Noble Approach: Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design draws near... great reviews are still coming in for the book! This time from Patrick A. Reed of Comics Alliance.

Read the post  HERE! 

Shaw Cable Valentine's Spot

Not too long ago I was asked to help design an ad for Shaw Cable. This was one of a series of commercials produced by Liaka House, and directed by the multi-talented Aaron Sorensen.

Above: Color studies.
For this particular spot I was asked to push the color and lighting by adding subtle hints of yellow, purples and aquas not found in most Shaw spots. Even this subtle approach was a huge leap for the client... who in the end decided on a more muted version.

Above: More keys and exploratory sketches.
A number of people have asked me about my approach to color scripting. As you can see... it's very simple. Many designers get caught up in making beautiful art, and forget that it is the final film image that matters most. I've found that it's far better to put down a lot of quick loose ideas than spend a lot of time on a few highly rendered keys. Yes, there is a time for that too! But not in a rough color script. This method will give the client and director more to choose from... and increases the chance of getting something interesting on the screen.

PERSONAL NOTE: Most of this year has been spent balancing freelance, teaching, and a new son! Thus I've been unable to post as often as I would like. But thank you for checking in every once in a while for new updates and posts. - Cheers...  tod

Episode 14: Licito Color

By episode 14 of El Tigre we were over half way through the season. The color for the main locations of the show had been fairly well established... so I was able to focus more on parts of the story that were unique to the different episodes. For E 14 I wanted to play the cool exteriors off the warm interiors for maximum contrast. I wasn't allowed to change the character color over the course of the show... so I simply tipped in characters from the color model sheet to test how they would read on the backgrounds. 

To see the rest of the El Tigre color scripts visit HERE!

El TIGRE Color: Episode 013

A number of years ago I worked on a show called "El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera" created by the multi-award winning husband and wife team of Jorge Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua. My main job on the show was creating the color scripts that would help guide the art team. 

Though all the episodes of "El Tigre" have a similar feel... I tried to give each episode a unique pass of color that would describe the story and emotions of the characters. Often I would give a "straight" color treatment that I thought would fit the story well... then try another pass of something a bit different. That was the case of episode 013.

This episode was in fact one of the most difficult to design... just for the reason that there were LOTS of characters. I was very fortunate to have directors that were willing to let me experiment. Most of the time these experiments lead to interesting ideas... and other times... well ... looking back I often wonder what I was thinking about. :)

At the time of this post I am working with "El Tigre" creators Jorge and Sandra (as well as "El Tigre" art director Roman Laney) on Jorge's feature film "The Book of Life." It's been a joy... and we are getting to do a lot of the things that weren't possible in TV.

To see more of my color scripts from El Tigre... please go HERE!

Car Colors

Above: A first pass

Not too long ago I was asked to create some quick color boards for a series of car commercials. Having never worked with this particular client before... it took a day to get a handle on what the director and art director were looking for color wise. I made several passes on most panels... which were then discussed and adjusted for the final color pass. (not pictured)

Above: A second spot
The later spots went much more quickly... and the art director was willing to let me experiment a bit more. I have yet to see the spots... so am unsure how much the color boards influenced the final commercial.