Zeblog

Kickstarter appeal

2012-01-18T16:11:00.000-06:00

We just launched our appeal for a project I have been working on. It's a bedtime routine app to help parents get their little ones to bed. If you can, please help us towards our goal. Thanks!

Pass-a-Hug-and-Smile Day

2012-01-17T19:50:00.000-06:00

Untitled from My Wonder Studio on Vimeo.

Here's something I worked on awhile ago that just got posted on MyWonderStudio. Hope you like it!

A Christmas greeting from Zebtoonz Productions

2011-12-17T18:41:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Jesus is Born makes the best seller list!

2011-12-15T13:35:00.000-06:00

Tiny Bible Treasures 4 - Jesus is Born made the best seller list at WorshipHouseKids! It's the first time one of my animations has made it that far. Cool!

Tiny Bible Treasures now available on WorshipHouseKids.com!

2011-11-18T11:04:00.000-06:00

Check out Worshiphousekids and you'll find the first 5 Tiny Bible Treasures for sale. Also, just to update everyone on our car, we were able to get the transmission fixed--thanks to the generous gifts from family and friends--and are back up and running! Thanks everyone!

The Day the Honda Died

2011-11-08T20:40:00.000-06:00

Well, today the transmission on our old faithful Honda gave out! So it's either shell out to repair it or trade it in for a new car. Problem is, this was not in our budget. So we're trying to figure out what to do. Whatever we decide, we're gonna need some do-re-mi to pull it off. So this is a sad day indeed, but we still believe that God is a God of miracles and something will work out. So please pray and feel free to send a donation if you can and would like to. Thanks!

Upgrade to Harmony 9

2011-09-26T10:24:00.000-05:00

I just upgraded my animation software from Toon Boom Animate Pro to Harmony. Yahoo! Harmony is Toon Boom's top of the line animation software used in studios around the world including Disney which used it for their Princess and the Frog feature. It has some new tools as you can see in the clip above and allows freelancers like me the option of working with other professional studios. So I am really excited with all the possibilities! This is a dream come true and will hopefully be a big step in the production of more animations.

The Prince and the Magical Power

2011-09-20T08:00:00.001-05:00

I just noticed my illustrations for the Prince and the Magical Power are online. Take a look!

We moved!

2011-08-01T10:46:00.000-05:00

We moved houses last week. Whew! Am I glad that's over! For the past year my dear wife has been driving back and forth to college every day which took over two hours to do the round trip. We wanted to move closer and before the kid's school year began but the contract on our old house was for the end of September. So we took a step of faith and told the realtor we were going to move before the end of July. I mean, all we had to do was find a new house for us and renters for the old house for the month of August. Not so hard, right?

Well, it turned out to be miracles along the way. We found a great house 15 minutes away from college and some new renters will be moving into the old house by August 10th. Our new place is smaller but brand new inside, easier to clean, better insulated, new AC, etc. We really like it!

I got my office setup and am ready to roll on new animations, book illustrations and maybe even an internet video series. Who knows what will happen next?

I've gone commercial!

2011-07-10T15:47:00.001-05:00

I just opened an account on Sermonspice.com and will begin selling my animations there. I may look for other sites and opportunities as well. The first to be offered are my three Parables of Jesus animations. So they are no longer available for viewing on my YouTube channel. Please drop by and add'm to your shopping cart :-)

First Film Festival

2011-07-03T10:34:00.000-05:00

So my very first film festival came and went yesterday. I was able to give a brief explanation and introduction before each clip that was shown. There was a small crowd and I actually sold one DVD that the organizer had put together for me. Small beginnings but it was fun to see my work on a bigger screen and hear the audience laugh and applaud.

Spaceship

2011-06-27T12:21:00.000-05:00

This is a concept illustration for a spaceship that I posted on the myouterspace.com website for their Zenoids series proposal. Not much seems to be happening with it so I thought I'd post it here.

Waller Freedom Fest

2011-06-19T09:30:00.000-05:00

I've been invited to my very first film festival to show some of my animations! I will also give a short explanation of my work followed by a question and answer period. It will be July 2nd at 11:30 AM at the Waller Freedom Fest. Visit their site for more info and directions.

Prince and the Magical Power

2011-06-16T11:05:00.001-05:00

I just finished working on some illustrations for a story that I worked on many years ago. The story got rewritten and updated so I did the same with all new art. I decided to try a "no outline" style which required a bit more work but I really liked the results.

Tiny Bible Treasures 6 - He's Alive!

2011-06-02T13:18:00.000-05:00

One more Tiny Bible Treasures is now online. This one is a special Easter episode.

Xara Outsider May 2011

2011-05-23T12:44:00.000-05:00

My animation "Two Ducks and a Frog" got a plug in this month's Xara Outsider. Thanks Xara! Here's the text:

Movie News: See what the two ducks & a frog get up to in this short animation from Zeb. All artwork is created in Xara Designer Pro (the animation is done in Toon Boom Studio).

200 YouTube subscribers!

2011-05-22T08:46:00.000-05:00

Whoopie! Eight months ago I announced that my YT channel had reached the 100 mark and just now made it to 200. Not exactly "viral" or outstanding by any means but I thought I should place a marker in my blog as a reminder. Some day I hope to hit 2,000. That would be cool!

Tiny Bible Treasures 5 - Jesus' Little Lambs

2011-05-01T20:19:00.000-05:00

Little Lilly's Polka Dot World

2011-04-29T15:04:00.000-05:00

This is a short 25 second animation I did for a new client, Wendy Grimm, who wrote and illustrated a children's book. Hopefully, we will soon be able to produce the entire book. Take a look and leave a comment on her channel and let me know what you think as well. Thanks!

From Missions to Animations

2011-04-26T18:50:00.000-05:00

That's the title on the post that just appeared today on the Animax35.org News and Needs page. I had never heard of this site before but apparently it highlights Christian animators, artists, and comics. So check it out and I'd like to say thanks to them for posting this about me.

Parable 2 - The Two Builders

2011-03-30T09:35:00.000-05:00

I did this animation awhile ago but am just now posting it on my YouTube channel. I had hoped to become rich through the sales of these animations but alas, haven't figured out how to do that yet. So here it is for free. Hope you like it and if you do want to send a donation click the button on the right. Thanks!

The Latest News in Christian Animation

2011-03-20T17:44:00.000-05:00

The Family Media Channel was the subject of another post on the Latest News in Christian Animation site. Michael Foster, a terrific Christian animator who runs the site, commented particularly about the Unmerciful Servant animation. He said, "The acting of the animated characters in this particular short has really improved. I look forward to seeing more from them." Thanks, Michael!

Careful What I Do animation

2011-03-17T08:49:00.000-05:00

I just discovered an animation that I did being featured on the Cherub Wings website. It's called Careful What I Do. Enjoy it while it lasts as I'm sure they will update their page at some point and put something else.

XaraXone March 2011 Featured Artist

2011-03-13T13:01:00.001-05:00

This month's XaraXone featured artist show featured cartoonists and animators. I was fortunate enough to be included along with two friends of mine, Dave Cockburn and Paul Söderholm. We all use Xara Designer Pro to do our final art. I think this is about the third or fourth time I've been featured on the XaraXone as either a one man show or along with some others. Cool! And thanks, Gary Priester for thinking of me!

Parable3 - The Unmerciful Servant

2011-02-15T09:52:00.001-06:00

Here it is as promised, my latest animation and third in a series of Parables.

Parable 1 - The Sower

2011-02-05T09:14:00.000-06:00

My first in a series of animated Parables of Jesus. Art done with Xara Designer Pro, animation done with Toon Boom Studio.

Xara Outsider January 2011 special edition on cartoons

2011-01-27T12:18:00.000-06:00

I just got a whole lot of free advertising compliments of Xara.com by having my work highlighted in their monthly newsletter, the Outsider. There is a link that takes you to their Inspirational Art page that starts off with my cartoon slideshow and some tutorials I've done and, if that wasn't enough, they included a link to my animation "Little Pebble." In addition, they updated my gallery with some new art at the Xara Gallery. Whew! So check it out!

One thing I don't understand about Little Pebble is how few views it has gotten. I felt it was one of my best animations to date. Hmmmm.

Coming soon - The Unmerciful Servant

2011-01-21T17:59:00.000-06:00

I haven't written much lately as to what I've been up to. Well, I've been doing a few different freelance projects here and there--caricatures, logos, new art, etc. But for the past two months I have been working on another Parable animation. This will be my third in this series. It is called The Unmerciful Servant. I just have a couple more scenes to do and it should be ready in the next couple of weeks. So stay tuned, you won't want to miss it!

The Story of Tommy

2011-01-11T12:24:00.001-06:00

This is a story that I did the illustrations for some time ago for the site Tommy's Window. Take a look at their site for more inspirational slideshows.

Green Gas

2011-01-03T09:45:00.000-06:00

This was my entry in the Toon Boom/MyOuterspace contest. It came in fifth and I won a free copy of Toon Boom Animate Pro2.

Official Toon Boom contest post

2010-12-24T14:24:00.000-06:00

Here's the official contest results post and video on MyOuterspace.com. It says I deserve "an interstellar shout-out," whatever that is :-)

Toon Boom contest results

2010-12-23T08:17:00.000-06:00

The results are in! I'm not sure if I came in fifth or fourth but I won a copy of Animate Pro which was my goal! I'd like to say a big "Thank you!" to everyone who voted for me and for your support, votes and prayers! You can see the final results here. Merry Christmas!

Two Ducks & a Frog

2010-12-19T13:14:00.001-06:00

This is one of my first animations done about two years ago.

Xara Xone Holiday Group Show

2010-12-15T20:40:00.000-06:00

Here's my contribution for the Xara Xone Group show. You can see it here. Merry Christmas! Oh yeah, looks like I'm around 4th place in the Toon Boom contest. Thanks for all the votes!

Vote for me :-)

2010-12-10T13:16:00.000-06:00

I know this is a shameless plug, but please vote for me! I made it into the finals of the Toon Boom/My Outerspace.com animation contest. My entry is the one entitled Green Gas. There are 12 finalists and of those, the top 10 will receive Toon Boom Animate Pro, their professional level animation software worth $1999. So please vote. You can vote once a day between now and December 22nd. The winners will be posted December 23rd. Thanks!

The Nativity Story paper models

2010-12-01T17:19:00.000-06:00

You've gotta check out this fantastic Christmas giveaway from my friend, Didier Martin! He just posted a nativity model that is completely free to download! Check out his blog at My Little House. If you've ever done a search for a Christmas nativity paper model you'll know that this is a terrific find!

Tiny Bible Teasures 4 - Jesus is Born

2010-11-30T13:01:00.001-06:00

The Best of the Xara Xone Featured Artist Gallery - 2000 - 2010

2010-11-15T22:31:00.000-06:00

I was honored to discover today that I was included with 29 other Xara artists in this recent Xara Xone gallery. There are some amazing illustrations included in this exhibit. My hat is off to these remarkable artists who have accomplished such masterpieces.

Xara Outsider October 2010

2010-10-27T10:40:00.000-05:00

I got another mention in the Xara Outsider newsletter. Take a look, it's at the bottom of the page on the right. They highlight my cartoon slideshow on YouTube. All the images were created in their program Xara Designer Pro.

Tiny Bible Treasures 3 - A Plan to Help a Friend

2010-10-25T09:53:00.000-05:00

Tiny Bible Treasures 2 - Fish! & More Fish!

2010-10-19T11:17:00.000-05:00

Latest animation projects

2010-10-17T12:35:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't posted much lately, I've been pretty busy. Let's see, I just finished animating another Tiny Bible Treasures--Fish and More Fish--and it is currently getting the finishing touches by my friend Andrew who is adding the music and sound effects. So you should be seeing that on my YouTube channel soon. I also completed two animations which I can't really show you since they are copyrighted material. One is for the Cherub Wings series and the other is for a new series called Brother Francis.
For Brother Francis I did a more realistic style animation showing the story of Jesus from the Last Supper to the Ascension. It was quite a challenge trying to make it look good and learning how to lip sync realistic characters. I got the idea of how to do it by watching some anime cartoons. In general, they only use 3 poses for the mouth--closed, partly open, more open--that's it!
Next on my to do list is another Tiny Bible Treasures--the story of the sick man who is lowered through a roof--and animating a song. I will, of course, publish anything that I can so you can see what I'm up to.

Toon Boom contest

2010-09-22T22:28:00.000-05:00

Well, I entered a contest today after working on an animation to submit. It took me four days to put together from concept, storyboard, designs and animation. Of course it's only 25 seconds long--that was part of the rules. My main motivation for entering is to possibly win a free copy of Toon Boom's higher end software Animate Pro worth about $1500. After the judges go through the entries, 10-20 will be up for public voting, starting November 18th. My entry is entitled "Green Gas." Not so catchy but if you see it you'll understand why. Anyways, please pray that I win as I think it'll be a help having this software.

Tiny Bible Treasures - Back to Life

2010-09-15T12:16:00.000-05:00

Here's a new animation just completed yesterday. The story and all of the artwork was done by my good friend Didier Martin. More episodes in this series are in the works and they will be animated as well. I also had some other friends do the voice acting and adding music and sound effects. This not only helps speed up the production but also, in my opinion, makes for a higher quality production. Hope you like it! If you do, please let me know!

Can We See God

2010-09-09T22:46:00.001-05:00

Can We See God?

Here's a slideshow I illustrated recently for My Wonder Studio.

Construction Crew animation

2010-08-28T17:53:00.000-05:00

Just finished it yesterday. Hope you enjoy it!

Zebtoonz 2010 Cartoons

2010-08-23T09:07:00.000-05:00

Here is a slideshow showing some of the cartoons I have done over the past year. All of the images were done in Xara Designer Pro.

The Herbert & Bert Show

2010-08-17T11:05:00.000-05:00

I got an idea for a new animated series. It's tentatively called "The Herbert & Bert Show" based on a couple of fish characters I invented some time ago. The idea is that each episode would only be one minute which should help them to be face paced, fun and easy to produce. All the characters would be fish or some sort of sea creature and the settings would be, naturally, underwater. The subject matter would be lessons taken from the Bible or other morally uplifting material.

Anyways, that's the basic idea. I'm still working on the concept and even with the two fish above I'm trying to figure out which one is Herbert and which one is Bert :-)

Zebtoonz Productions 2010 reel

2010-08-12T12:28:00.003-05:00

I just finished posting a compilation of animation work I've done over the past couple of years. It was pretty easy to do, just went around picking and choosing some of my favorite scenes, dropped them into Sony Vegas, added some goofy music and that was it! Hope you like it!

New Book - A Fábrica de Ovos da Felicidade

2010-08-12T08:32:00.000-05:00

Last year I did the illustrations for a book in Portuguese written by a friend of mine, Mauro Morisson. It came out in print this Easter and he sent me a copy. It came out very well, IMO, and I'm currently working on a second book for Mauro. You can read more about Mauro and his work in Brazil by clicking here.

100 YouTube subscribers!

2010-08-07T12:14:00.000-05:00

Yay! Whoopie! I just hit the 100 mark on my YT channel. Interestingly enough, the 100th person just so happened to be one of my daughters, Gela. This was by no means a coerced action but purely voluntary and coincidental, really. Anyways, I know it's not such a big deal but I thought I'd landmark it here in my blog just for the record.

New animation project - Back to Life

2010-08-05T13:44:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it? I'm already working on another new animation idea. I'm a little over halfway through with the Construction Crew animation when I got inspired to work on this new idea. My artist friend, Didier who did the artwork above, is working on some Bible stories. The artwork is all done and the text is written. After seeing it I got the idea of bringing it to life in a very simple animated style. I also will be having some of my other friends helping with this project doing the audio narration and music. So please keep this project in your prayers.

Little Pebble

2010-08-02T23:22:00.000-05:00

I decided to upload my animation "Little Pebble" to my YouTube channel. Hope you like it!

July Xara Outsider

2010-07-29T09:14:00.000-05:00

My Xara Designer Pro YouTube videos got highlighted in this month's Xara Outsider newsletter. They call them "great movies" :-)

My Wonder Studio

2010-07-13T11:56:00.000-05:00

Some of my artwork is being posted on the My Wonder Studio site. Currently "Call Me Friend" and "Great Things Fathers Do" are available for viewing.

Restaurant sign

2010-07-02T15:41:00.000-05:00

I recently did a logo and sign for a client who is opening his own restaurant. Here is a photo of it. So, if you're ever in Romeo, Michigan, drop by! BTW, Chube's is pronounced with a long "u," as in "tubes."

Freehand drawing in Xara Designer Pro 6

2010-07-01T14:59:00.000-05:00

Cartooning with Xara Designer Pro 6 tutorial

2010-06-29T12:29:00.002-05:00

Can We See God illustration

2010-06-27T11:15:00.000-05:00

This is a pic I did for a recent project. Since this is destined to be on the web in color I decided to do it without black outlines for a change from my usual style. I also added more texture as well.

Construction Crew clip #1

2010-06-25T12:09:00.000-05:00

I added the background and objects that my friend artist, Didier, sent me plus camera movement and more depth. It's coming along!

Opening sequence

2010-06-24T18:43:00.000-05:00

Here's the first run on the opening sequence for Construction Crew. I had to do this scene twice as my computer crashed after the first round and I hadn't saved it. Oh well, live and learn.

New animation in the works

2010-06-23T18:43:00.001-05:00

Here's the main character in a new animation I've been working on called Construction Crew. The soundtrack is a song done by some friends of mine and I thought it would be cool to animate it. It's all about building people up with our words instead of tearing them down. Another friend of mine is working on doing the backgrounds so this will be one of my first collaborated animation efforts. Check out his blog here.

Xara Designer Pro 6 launched today!

2010-06-16T18:41:00.000-05:00

No, the guy in the picture is not me! It's a sketch I did in Xara's latest version of their drawing program. It has a new name, Xara Designer Pro, and has lots of new features. Some of the features include pen pressure sensitivity so that you can have thick to thin to thick lines as you draw. The sketch above was done using this feature. I used to have to select various stroke styles to get the same effect but now I can do it just through my pen. Of course, there are a lot of other features, if you are interested, take a look at Xara's What's New page.

Hospital followup visit

2010-06-08T17:20:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally had my doctor appointment after having been in the hospital almost 3 weeks ago. Last Friday they did another x-ray and to make a not so long story short, I'm fine! The "gray mass" in my lung has shrunk considerably and so it was only an infection after all. Wow! God is good! I want to thank everyone who has had me in their prayers 'cause they sure worked! Thanks a bunch!

May Xara Outsider

2010-05-30T13:10:00.001-05:00

My Wide Mouth Toad animation just got highlighted in Xara's monthly newsletter "Outsider."

The Unbeatables

2010-05-27T08:51:00.000-05:00

I decided to post my pilot show for a proposed series called "The Unbeatables" on my YouTube channel since I don't foresee continuing the series for various reasons. In any case, I really enjoyed working on this animation--done over a year ago--and have learned a lot since.

In the hospital 6 days

2010-05-20T11:46:00.000-05:00

Yup, you read it right! I had been sick for almost two weeks when I finally visited my doctor who has been treating my asthma. So they did some blood tests and a chest x-ray. The x-ray revealed a large gray mass in my left lung, 4x8 cm. So off I went to the hospital to find out what it was. Top of the list was TB or cancer. At the hospital they ran all these tests and at this point, all my tests for TB have come back negative. A CT scan seemed to indicate that the mysterious mass was not cancer, yay! They still are not ruling out TB or cancer 100% but they are leaning more towards thinking it is an infection of some sort and are treating it with antibiotics. I'll have to do some follow up tests and visits to see how I am progressing. So, needless to say, please keep me in your prayers, okay? Thanks!

Little Pebble is finished!

2010-04-25T12:57:00.002-05:00

I just finished my latest animation and it should be appearing soon on The Family Media Channel. Until then, here is a clip.

The Animated Christian

2010-04-13T08:49:00.000-05:00

The Family Media Channel just got added to The Animated Christian site, a blog highlighting Christian animators. The post was done by Michael Foster, a friend animator of mine. Thanks, Mike! You can see some of his excellent work at his blog.

Little Pebble screenshot

2010-04-03T10:38:00.000-05:00

Here's a screenshot from scene 4 of my upcoming animation "Little Pebble." It's moving slowly but surely along. For me, animating is not just a matter of doing it but also learning and trying out new ideas and effects as I go along.

Zebtoonz Productions now available for download!

2010-03-31T17:28:00.000-05:00

Yup, that's right! You can now download your very own high resolution copy of all your favorite Zebtoonz Productions over at The Family Media Channel. So do your part and help support your favorite cartoonist by getting the whole collection today! Thanks!

Little Pebble test

2010-03-23T09:52:00.001-05:00

This is a test clip for Little Pebble. I was trying to figure out how to get the texture on the pebble to move during the various head turns. I managed to do so using a clip mask in Toon Boom Studio. I also added a radial gradient to give it some 3D shading. Stay tuned for the entire animation--coming soon!

Little Pebble animation production begins

2010-03-21T18:26:00.000-05:00

Over a year ago I began working on an animation for a very cute story called "Little Pebble." Shortly after that I discovered that the story had already been recorded by some friends of mine as an audio drama. I figured the story had already been produced, at least audio-wise, so I shelved the project. But now that I'm in the swing with animating and since I had already done a lot of work with the character design, scenes, storyboarding, etc.,I decided to go ahead and finish it. So please keep it in your prayers. As soon as it's done I'll let you know.

My very first animation sale!

2010-03-19T16:58:00.000-05:00

Okay, well, this might not seem like such a big deal but today I had my very first sale of an animation! Hopefully the first of many! Somebody saw my "Two Builders" animation and wanted a copy for their church group. So they made a payment via PayPal and I sent them a link. Soon, all the animations on the Family Media Channel will be downloadable for a small fee of $.99 each. So get your pennies ready!

Toon Boom Animate 2

2010-03-13T16:13:00.000-06:00

Well, I wish I had $550 so I could get the soon to be released second version of Toon Boom Animate (hint! hint!). At the moment, doing animation is purely philanthropic and doesn't bring in anything to help pay the bills. Maybe some day it will. But I'll just keep on producing as it's lots of fun and I hope that people like them as well.

Two Builders animation online

2010-03-11T23:10:00.000-06:00

I finished the animation of the Parable of the Two Builders and you can view it at The Family Media Channel. Hope you like it!

Wacom Cintiq 12WX & Xara Xtreme Pro review

2010-02-25T12:52:00.000-06:00

Ready for another Parable animation?

2010-02-23T18:15:00.000-06:00

Just began work on a new animation. It's another parable and will be done in black & white with only music and sound effects for the audio. That's the concept so stand by and I'll let you know once it's done and online.

The Parable of the Sower is online!

2010-02-19T17:26:00.000-06:00

The Parable of the Sower is now online over at The Family Media Channel. Have some fun and take a look. It took me 13 days from start to finish to produce it. Whew! And that's just in my spare time.

Parable of the Sower

2010-02-11T14:18:00.001-06:00

I'm halfway through making a new animation called The Parable of the Sower. I got the idea of doing the parables of Jesus and this is the first one.

Cartoonist for hire

2010-02-04T13:03:00.000-06:00

Well, I finally took the plunge and made my availability to be hired more apparent on my website. On the one hand, I could use the additional work and subsequent income, but I just don't want to be overwhelmed with lots of requests. Just watch, I'll hardly get a nibble--ha! I also have not included doing animation on the services that I offer. Animation is a lot of work and would be difficult to do on the side. So, we'll see how this goes and hopefully it will mean some added income which would be a blessing.

The Wide Mouth Toad

2010-01-29T15:53:00.002-06:00

New animation.

Be Yourself animation

2010-01-23T11:13:00.001-06:00

Be Yourself animation was just posted on The Family Media Channel. Many thanks to Andrew Vee who redid the song and did a great job of finalizing this.

I'll Shine animatic

2010-01-17T09:40:00.002-06:00

This was the animatic I did prior to producing the final I'll Shine animation. Thought some might be interested in seeing a bit of the process of doing an animation. It really helps to do one of these so you can see how things will basically look in real time.

My sore arm

2010-01-11T13:30:00.000-06:00

Yeah, that's right, my arm is sore. To be more specific, my right arm, the one I draw with. After our move in September I had to work on getting a desk, chair, etc., so that I would be comfortable while I work. I know that having things ergonometrically right is important. Well, I got everything I needed but, after awhile my right arm was getting sore. I was trying to figure out what was different in my new setup and the only thing I could figure out was that I didn't have a pullout tray for my keyboard and mouse/tablet.

So I found one at Ikea for $10--believe me, that is the best deal out there! Everything else was more expensive and some too complicated for my needs. So I picked one up and brought it home. To install it, all you had to do was screw it into the underside of your desk with 4 screws. My BIG mistake was using the only tool I currently own, my Leatherman (foldable pliers with foldout accessories). By the time I bored the 4 holes and cranked those screws into that tough pressboard, my right arm was what got screwed the most!

I could hardly lift my arm to drink my coffee. It was painful to shave. I thought, "Woah, if I mess up my drawing arm I am totally out of business!" I did some research on RSI and looked up treatments and exercises, etc. But the best thing was applying some cold compresses that I picked up at the pharmacy. That, and giving my arm a break from the computer for the weekend.

Now it seems to be pretty much back to normal, but I'm really gonna watch it from now on--take more breaks, exercise and take daily walks, etc. I'm just very thankful that it's doing so well so soon. I'd also like to ask for everyone's prayers at this time that I can fully recover and won't make the same mistake again. I'm a slow learner :-D

Writing for Animation, Comics, and Games

2009-12-29T09:47:00.000-06:00

I'm currently reading Writing for Animation, Comics, and Games in preparation for writing the next script for The Unbeatables episode 2. I'm just going over the section on animation at this point to see how much I can learn and hopefully it will be a help in doing the next story. Episode 1 of The Unbeatables should be online soon over at the Family Media Channel. I finished it several months ago and, if all goes well, I will have more than one episode :-) Please keep it in your prayers as my animation time is pretty limited at present.

Jib Jab fun

2009-12-27T17:10:00.002-06:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Family Media Channel launched

2009-12-22T17:25:00.001-06:00

Well, we're finally on the air! The Family Media Channel is up and running! I will be one of the contributors to this site and will be regularly posting new videos so make sure you bookmark the page. Over the past year I have done some animation work that I've been holding onto for when the site was ready. So now it shall all be revealed! The following animations are already posted including I'll Shine, The Sinking Canoe and Two Ducks and a Frog! Stay tuned!

I'll Shine Christmas animation

2009-12-21T10:06:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Here's my Christmas present for you--my recently completed animation "I'll Shine." This actually only took me 18 days to make from start to finish, believe it or not! It was done using Xara Xtreme Pro for the artwork and Toon Boom Studio for the animation.

On another related note, I just received this months Xara Outsider newsletter and was surprised to see a reference to my animation work and Xara/Toon Boom tutorial posted on my YouTube site. I have been surprised to see the number of views for my tutorials. I didn't really think they'd get so much attention but they are getting up to and passing 2000 views. Surprising! Guess I'll need to do more tutorials.

Featured art show

2009-12-15T08:27:00.000-06:00

The opening scene of my new animation (see pic on my blog here) is now part of a special holiday Xara art show. You can see it at XaraXone.

The World’s Most Famous Man

2009-12-09T23:13:00.000-06:00

There is a man whose birthday is celebrated every year around the world. Is there any other man that the world does this for? In general, a “great” man’s birthday is usually only celebrated in the country of his birth. Take for example men like Lincoln, or Washington. For these, their date of birth appears on U.S. calendars as reminders. They are not holidays for which we are given time off to commemorate. We only celebrate their birthdays by remembering them.

Can you think of any man whose birthday is remembered worldwide? Not only remembered, but for which we are given time off for? People around the globe take time off their work, children take a break from school, for anywhere from one day to two weeks. Of course, this man’s birthday is close to the end of the year and so the celebration of his birthday is combined with the end of the year and the beginning of the next. That would help to account for why this time off is so long.

Which brings me to another point. The end of the year. This same man’s life is the focal point of our calendar and the very number of the year in which we live from the beginning of recorded time. The years are numbered backward leading up to his birth. Then, from the time of his birth, the years are numbered forward. What other man has so profoundly and directly affected our lives?

Think of other great men and women. List them. I looked for a list and came up with the following on a website.

1. Martin Luther King Jr.
2. 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet
3. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
4. Nelson Mandela
5. Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa
6. Rigoberta Menchú
7. Aung San Suu Kyi
8. Abraham Lincoln
9. Terry Fox
10. Jean Vanier
11. Rosa Louise Parks
12. Dr. Norman Bethune
13. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
14. Diana Princess of Wales
15. Dr. Jack Preger
16. Marie Curie
17. Leonardo Da Vinci
18. Jacques Yves Cousteau
19. Louis Pasteur
20. Dian Fossey
21. Florence Nightingale
22. Aristotle

Nice list. Of the 22, there are 8 that I have no idea who they are. Of the 22, how many of them do we celebrate their birthday with a holiday or even one day off work or school? How many are recognized internationally? And, obviously, are there any that we set our calendar to? This is not to belitttle these people nor their accomplishments. But it does show the contrast of how one man’s life outshines them all.

He was not a politician. He was not a scientist. He was not a businessman. He was the son of a carpenter who grew up in the Middle East. His life was a short one, he was only 33 years old at the time of his death. It’s funny, even though he was, or has become, so famous, the cause of his death was by public execution. So much for this “famous” man’s popularity!

I’m sure you know who I’m talking about. Funny, his name doesn’t even appear on the above list of 22. His name was Jesus. Come to think of it, I don’t believe he even had a last name. Maybe, at the time, he went by the name, Jesus the son of Joseph. But the world remembers him more commonly as, Jesus the son of God. (Written Dec. 7, 2007)

Free start menu organizer - SMOz

2009-12-09T15:50:00.000-06:00

I don't know if you're like me but, after awhile my start menu ends up going all the way across my screen and is all upside down and backwards and it's almost impossible to find a shortcut. When it gets to that point I try to drag and drop various items into categories and sort it out into some kind of coherent order. I've tried various programs to help sort things out but nothing to compare with SMOz. This little app does the trick and brought my start menu back down to one column in no time flat! You can even create your own custom categories. Try it!

Joke: The Precious Persian Cat

2009-12-05T11:48:00.002-06:00

Kika for the first time on YouTube helping me to tell a joke.

Joke: The Dog Died

2009-11-30T14:11:00.000-06:00

Xara Xtreme Pro to Toon Boom Studio tutorial

2009-11-29T16:45:00.000-06:00

Would you believe it? I have done another set of 3 video tutorials on how I use Xara Xtreme and Toon Boom Studio to do animations. It includes creating a character in XXP and exporting as a PDF, then importing into TBS, rigging and animating a cutout character. Take a look at my YouTube channel.

Birthday card

2009-11-28T09:05:00.000-06:00

I just did a short animated birthday card for a couple of my friends whose birthdays happen to be today. The art is done in Xara Xtreme and the animation in Toon Boom Studio. You can see it on my YouTube channel.

Website illustrations

2009-11-27T11:22:00.000-06:00

I recently did some pics for a website. Take a look here. There are two pics so far but there will soon be a total of three.

Drawing & Coloring with Xara Xtreme Pro tutorial

2009-11-25T08:43:00.000-06:00

A couple of months ago I recorded a basic tutorial of how I use Xara Xtreme for doing my final artwork. I just finished editing it and am going to post it in 3 parts on my YouTube channel. Hope it's a help.

Christmas animation

2009-11-15T17:55:00.000-06:00

Working on a new animation that should be ready for Christmas. The above pic is for the opening scene. Don't miss it! It'll be on the HIM site sometime next month.

Slide show illustrations

2009-10-22T09:00:00.001-05:00

Here's a sample illustration I just completed for a PowerPoint slide show which will appear at the Tommy's Window website soon! I believe it will be a free download and it consists of 12 slides with all new illustrations of the story of Tommy, the Little Crippled Boy. So keep your eyes open for it.