Duker

Scaredy Squirrel board

2010-11-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

My summer the Stanchfield's way part1

2010-10-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

So this is what my study of walt stanchfield look like after 6 months since I picked up the books.

I envy everybody who actually had the chance to study with the guy.

Such an inspiration .

my summer the stanchfield's way part2

2010-10-15T08:14:00.001-07:00

My summer the Stanchefield's way part3

2010-10-15T08:03:00.000-07:00

Life drawing

2010-09-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

vacation part2

2010-05-26T19:32:00.001-07:00

vacation part1

2010-05-24T21:05:00.001-07:00

So here ,some of my cafe drawing I did during my trip to the UK.

I didn't know how to poste this stuff .I had so many of them, I came to the conclusion this was the best way ,might be busy to look at .Oh well!!!

Keep in mind I started to do cafe drawing last march ,so I am fairly new at it ,but definitly learning a lot .

storyboard test part 5

2009-03-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

storyboard test part 4

2009-03-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

storyboard test part 3

2009-03-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

storyboard test 2

2009-03-25T11:49:00.001-07:00

Storyboard test

2009-03-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

I did this storyboard test on my free time for 2 reasons ,
1- I realized that working with flash and toonboom for to long ,you actually forget how to draw
2-Never storyboarded before (profesionally ) so I just wanted to check if I had the potential to become a storyboard artist.

Far from beeing perfect ,that test got noticed by some people at Nelvana ,and starting on March 30th 09,I am joining the storyboard crew on a show call Scaredy Squirell.The show is directed by Jason Groh and I'll be storyboarding with some really amazing guys like Blair Kitchen and Mike Smukavic.

Surrounded by such talented artist, I have no doubt, this is gonna be an exiting year ahead of me . I sure do have a long way to go to keep up with my co-worker, so may as well start now:))

Here some part of my test.

The show is "Spliced"

and I've been animating on it for the past year, it will be on T.V next Summer (I think) and without a doubt one of the funniest show I 've seen .The 5 sequences I am posting are self-contain and don't follow up with each other .

Sorry for the format but this is my first time dealing with board so I wasn't sure what way was best to post the sequences.I also removed all the technicals notes for clarity. Hope you guys like it, I sure had a lot of fun doing it .

I'm back... with someone else style!!!

2008-12-19T14:42:00.000-08:00

If anyone still look at this blog, I would like to start by saying that I am not proud of myself, its been over a year without posting. Not because I wasn't drawing but mainly because 2008 turn out to be, me taking new directions and learning other medium. As always, I 've been focusing on my paper animation, but also, selftaught Maya to myself and still in the process of becoming a storyboard artist. Definitly busy but not much to show for. Even if work used a lot of my time, I always keep a side project rolling . My earlier post on this blog already showed , that one thing I like to do is study an artist that I respect and try a project with that person style.

I already did ...

Humberto Ramos with Phillip Pulman's His dark material

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4710/2166/1600/darkmaterial.2.jpg

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4710/2166/1600/16-joker.psd.jpg

The french artist Cyril Pedrosa with Lemony snickett

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4710/2166/1600/violetklaus.2.jpg

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4710/2166/1600/sunnyolaf.0.jpg

Really popular retro flat style with Pee-Wee play house

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4710/2166/1600/cast.3.jpg

and some others not on this blog (yet !!)

Do I succed to emulate? I dont know, always hard to say but one thing is sure, I do learn a lot doing those kind of exercise.

For me the best reward is to end up respecting even more those guys that I liked in the first place. By understanding the complexity of their work, I gladly raise my hat to their talent even more .

This time Cheeks-74(Sean Galloway) and Dapper Dan(name unknown) were my 2 inspirations for my new project based on the HBO show "Carnival".

For some reason the black eyes that Cheeks used aint something I can make work. I guess it's harder than it look to make a character look alive with black eye :))

Hopefully It didn't turn out to bad and as much I did learn a lot, it was too much of a challenge to actually become a natural way to draw for me.

To Sean and Dapper Dan, you guys rock and please keep doing those awesome and inspiring artworks who just remind me how talented you guys are.

Work "was" on progress

2007-10-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

Here a maquette I started to sculpted a while a ago as a personal project about the show(Grossology) I was designing for.I was only 40% done at this stage but definitly in a direction I was happy with .Saddly I had to moved and the sculpture got badly damaged .
Since I started to work on another show and that keeped me away from it to long.Now it all dry and grainy, so just before throwing in out in the garbage I though sharing my rough stage of what it could had been.

Vacation!!!

2007-08-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

Finally an update ,nothing big though .Not even sure it worth showing but I had to post something ,it been too long .It basically what I call my "computer lagging doodles".It pretty random ,from drawing the people I work with,to all the strange wave the people at work went through.(superhero tread to image of the week tread )I guess everything is good for inspiration .Summer ain't over yet and before I start focusing on my animation skill I really want to pump a finish project .Will see

Where my time is going !!!?

2007-03-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Hey there!
I am not even sure if people still look at my blog ,it been so long . I have been extremely busy lately with work.No new posting doesn't mean I didn't draw though .I will probably post some of them in the upcoming week.
I 'have been focusing a bit more on my animation .Resulting to finally decided to post my Animation reel .The funny thing is, looking my demo reel just bring one thing to my mind...sadness and frustration.
I've live in the wrong place ,in the wrong time.I am pretty sure If I would have been californian ,coming out of school in 1988,my demo reel would probably represent much more what I dreamed to become, than what I have to offer today .
Don't get me wrong ,I sure do realize how lucky I am,in that awful age for classical animation ,butchered by 3d,flash and by tones of student badly taught, hoping for money and fame, to have, all put together ,probably over 15 minutes of animation under my belt .
I just can 't help to think ,where did I screwed up?.
It is one of those time I really have a hard time the make me feel better with"The grass is always greener on the other side"
Anyway here it his. I am really sorry for the poor quality ,first experience with posting a video.If anyone have suggestion how to improve the the quality ,please share with me .

animation reel

2007-03-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

got to be carefull with your birthday wishes....

2006-09-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

small doodle for a big smile

2006-09-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

Girlfriend had a bad day,in particuliar because of the toronto buses.Knowing that she looooooove Totoro,I jumped on my drawing table ,did that 30 sec drawing ,and what do you know.......her end of the day didnt turn out so bad;))

Thank you all for the awesome comments!!!!

2006-08-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

Incredible how fast time goes by.Already 5 months since my last post.Why so long before I posted something new .Well let say lot of overtime at work ,been focusing mainly on animation lately and like every summer,need to balance the increase of the beer drinking with the gym;)

When I had to leave Yowza after Curious George,My main fear was,by working at Nelvana seeing my learning curved go down again .After 6 months of mentoring with Roger and Claude Chiasson(professional animation gods),I could hardly imagine myself meeting an equivalent match at Nelvana. Luckily for me I've been team up with 3 guys who just made my time worth it at Nelvana.Rob Risek http://dirtroadblue.blogspot.com/,Cory wilson http://houseofcool.blogspot.com/ and the amazing ...Faruk Cemalovic (no blog),one of the most talented guy I ever meet.Together we designed the population and the props for the upcoming show Grossology .
In a sad way( and an happy way) I just got transferred to animation for the same show.Leaving my teammates is kind of hard but necessary if I want to finally meet my peace with animation .
We had the pleasure last week to welcome my replacement ,referred by Charlie Bonifacio himself ,Perry LJ Osuna http://henchpekaso.blogspot.com/ .I love his stuff and no doubt he'll do well in his new team .
Good luck guys !!!
Like every new show,there always an adaptation time to get the new style.Grossology was a really challenging style for me ,but really great to learn.Here my earlier design who got rejected. Hope the show will do well.

2006-04-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

Finally back with something new!!!
First of all I just want to thanks everybody for all the awesome comment.It really mean a lot .

Second thing ...well I am really sorry I took so long to post something new .I 've been really busy with an illustration I've been asked for a coffee table book .Sadly I screwed up by misunderstanding what the client(http://www.1313midnitekreepshow.com/) really wanted and now my illustration won't be used. My bad but still enjoyed working on it ,definitely my kind of topic.The book is a compilation of horror illustration about turning the cereal mascot into serial killer .Being myself a big horror fan ,Clive Barker's Hellraiser was the first thing who came to my mind ,and who else than the Rice crispies guy for the role of the cenobites. The top illustration is the final,the one under is my first layout I had in mind but I've been ask to drop for the sake of the composition .

pitch for trapeze

2006-02-10T05:43:00.000-08:00

After working with all those angular character(like doodlez)I decided to pitch something back to a more classical cartoony look .Roundish is definitly my cup of the and I sure miss it .After creating the cast ,a co worker was supposed to layout a scene with my posing .Of course he never did it .After spending so much time on posing it kind of bug me to not having a layout to put them.So I did a temporary BG just for the sake of putting the pose in a context instead of a white sheet of paper .The layout ain't great but at least my posing is out there .The color was done buy a friend of mine Rene Daigle.Thank Dude!!!

PEE-WEE!!!!

2006-02-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

Big fan of the show ,I decided to use that retro/flat style just for the fun of it .Saddly ....It wasn't fun at all,lost interest in the project and decided to drop it .
For those who don't get the "word of the day" panel .The pink alien is a villain I found in the Pee-wee world.His name is Zyzzybalubah and you can see him in a episode call "Playhouse in the outer space".Not really proud of that set and might get back to pee-wee one day with a style I will enjoy more .Oh well...

avatar

2006-02-09T05:30:00.000-08:00

Scary but true!!!

2006-02-07T19:54:00.000-08:00

On my way home in the subway ,I had the pleasure to share my trip with this pleasant fellow.For 20 minutes that guy,who at first was reading a magazine ,started to yell at the top of his lung that I was a "F...ing NERD!!!!"Laughing at me and screaming every swear you could imagine ,followed by the word nerd .The funny thing is ,I consider myself border line of the nerdy ,geeky world.I never had a conversation with a friend about who would win between Wolverine and Edward scissorhand but I sure enjoy comic book .
So I could feel myself blushing ,now that my dark secret was out LOL!!.But for everybody else it didn't make any sense because I was sitting calmly listening my walkman .No geeky stuff I swear.So finally he hit my nerve and when I open my mouth to ask him what was his problem ,He stood up and got out of the train ,leaving ,of course ,behind him a huge stain and puddle of piss.
I don't know if there a moral to that story but I am sure I wont use it on my kid to make a point .....

Sooo desapointed;((

2006-02-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

As a french Quebecquers if there one thing I learn to hate like the plague itself is of course translated movies,songs and games.Trust me on that one ,I am still twitching from the last Jim Carey or Robin William movie I saw in french.It just plain awful.Like everything there always exception .Cheech and chong ,Slapshot are part of those exception .I wouldn't trade the Quebecquers version for nothing in the world.
Quebec version of the Flintstones is for me Translation at his best .I don't really care for the original version of the flintstones( in english) but man... ,probably one of the funniest thing I 've ever seen in my life .Anybody who can enjoyed the french version will ,without a doubt,second me on this one .
For me it was such a joy when I discovered the release of the Quebecquers version on the box set. I was happy to think my kids will enjoyed the same version I had when I was kid .Sadly the bubble busted when I bought last week end the fourth season .No Quebecquers version on it .What happened????I know they existed ,I saw them on TV.I really Hope season 5 and 6 won't disappoint me .I am just dying to hear great zazoo call fred "Gros Cave!!!"

My first movie..Sniff !Sniff!

2006-02-07T00:56:00.000-08:00

Last saturday I went to the premiere of the first 2D animated movie I worked on .It was an awesome time ,and I actually enjoy the movie quite a bit .I still think the first part of the movie is the best when it really focus on the relation between ted and george ,but still really entertaining .Hopefully it won't be my last one.On that pic,you have 4 of the most incredible talent I ever had the chance to meet .Former disney (australia) guys.From top left to down right.Steve Baker ,Mike Mcdougal,Nadine Wagner ,Me and Florian Wagner . Those guys been real friends while I was having though time to adapt from tv to feature .Of course while I 'm at it I would like to thank The Chiasson brothers ,Pierre ,Claude and my mentor Roger for everything they did for me.You guys kick ASS!!!!
http://www.yowzaanimation.com/

It all about a good story....

2006-02-07T00:07:00.000-08:00

sometime I am just amazed to see how crazy my idea jump in a same page.Good luck for relating those 3 togheters.

Advice from a Caterpillar

2006-02-02T04:51:00.000-08:00

saddly I lost the original and finish piece in a computer crash .This work in progress is the only thing remained of my hard work:(

You've been warned...

2006-02-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

Here my first Looneypost,
Still done really quick while computer lagged.
Hope you guys like the looney tunes because trust me...

Th...tha...that's not all folks!!!!!!!!;))

Rough!

2006-02-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

I got my first request today ....
I've been ask to post sketches instead of finish stuff .I know everybody do it but for some reason I always feel like my rough aint good enough to be showned.I guess the same way I was scared to have a blog ,it just a matter of breaking the ice.So welcome in my vault were no one ever been ....
Don't try to make sens out of them ,those a really quick doodles done while I am waiting because my computer at work suck and laged non stop.

The tunes

2006-02-01T04:49:00.000-08:00

This is once again the first look of a pitch done at Trapeze.I was told to really used "Shag" as a guideline .
That flat retro style is personally not my cup of the ,but I think it turn out not to bad.
The final show sure do look different now and doing extremely well.

Doodlez Time!

2006-01-30T20:07:00.000-08:00

Here a compilation of my favorite design I did on the show.Sniff!sniff!...the good old time

The stiff

2006-01-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

These are earlier design I did for a show my partner in crime ,Campbell Mackinlay ,was pitching at Trapeze animation .The show is still in progress and look amazing,but the show is now far from my version . Good luck Campbell

Trapeze Animation

2006-01-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

Make sure you guys take a look at this web site..
http://trapeze.com/
I spent 3 years of my life working at Trapeze and I still appreciate every minute of it .Great studio for growing, for exploring ,experimenting and pushing your skill artistically ,it was the best .
For those who still don't know what Doodlez is (that mean everybody outside Canada) you can watch some sample here:
http://cellardoor.tv/work_project.cfm?TID=15

modelsheet I actually used

2006-01-26T21:04:00.000-08:00

For this short I was animating ,I decided to use a style closer from the looney tunes.This was my model sheet for it(A bit old now but I still like it ) .Maybe If I find how ,I will post the animation also.

Duker 102

2006-01-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

To keep going on the subject about..... me .If there is ONE thing I love more than Batman is of course ...
CHUCK JONES .Chuck is the reason where I am today .I knew I wanted to be a animator since I was 5 years old but when, at 14, I discovered Chuck Amuck .What a turning point in my life !Not only I knew I wanted to be part of the animation business ,but Warner bros would be my new home ....
How thing did turn out for me, almost 15 years later ,well for having Warner bros as a home well....still working on it, but the worst is I never had the chance to meet Chuck ,or talk to him ,or even see his grave or any of is legacy .OH!! not true, I saw his star on the sidewalk of fame in hollywood(Hurray!!!the only thing I didn't give a .......)So if any of you got stories about the big man ,please feel free to share with me .
At this point you probably guess it .I love the Looney tunes .(the classic of course ).So be kind with me if you see looney tunes sketches popping once a while .I sure draw a lot of those.
Here my 2 originals layouts from Chuck that I bought . (And proud to be a sucker ;))

Duker 101

2006-01-26T04:53:00.000-08:00

Here a thing about me .I'm a Batman freak,So expect to see a lot of Batman drawing on this blog ;).Here a quick one I did of the joker in that same period I was studying Humberto Ramos .

still posting...old stuff!

2006-01-25T20:03:00.000-08:00

This one was created after reading the book His dark materials by Philip Pullman.For some reason I thought Humberto Ramos's style was perfect for adapting some scene .A lot of sketches were made but only this one ended up finish .My goal for this one was to avoid computer in the process,that explain why the piece still black and white(without flash or photoshop I am useless with color.)

The challenge now is to keep posting ...

2006-01-24T19:09:00.000-08:00

I guess for a while I will basically post my portfolio ,not a lot of new pieces are getting done lately because I am focusing mainly on my animation skill.Here some Character design I did after reading the first Lemony snickett book,almost a year before the movie.Funny how my count Olaf kind of look like Jim Carey.

That's it! I finally did it!!

2006-01-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe but... Yes!, I finally did my blog .Thank to my good friends Campbell and Jason who gave me an ultimatum last week end .They told me, I was doing it or they were doing it for me, filling that blog with every old drawing of mine they could put their hand on .Wow !! that's what you call pressure.
Because this is my first post,I would like to let the new comers know that I am French Quebecquer .Hopefully you guys will forgive me for my bad english .
Because I wasn't mentally ready to have a blog, I am not really sure where to start.....
I guess I will start with my last completed piece that I did .It a bit dated ,but those who don't know me won't know.I actually met Jason Alexander and showed him the work in progress.He really liked it and signed it. He was exactly what I was hoping for, an amazing guy.