"An Okay Place to Eat" (2010)

In 2009 I worked as the board artist, background artist, and an animator on Sonic Bunny's "An Okay Place to Eat" pilot. It was a lot of work, especially since it was all on the side (I was fully employed at a studio). But, it was worth it.

[Selected] Storyboards:

[Selected] Backgrounds:

Animation:

"Where Unicorns Come From"

About a year ago my friend Scout Raskin (of Sonic Bunny Productions) came to me with an animation request: she wanted me to bring to life a dream she had, where a bunny eats a toddler and poops out a unicorn.

I was all too happy to help.

I mocked up some rough storyboards:

Then worked on character/color design:

Then came the backgrounds:

Finally, the animation:

And here's the final version:

What a ride! Thanks for reading!

Freak & Freak Illustrations

In September/October of 2012 I worked freelance for, you guessed it, Sonic Bunny Productions. They were pitching a show idea, "Freak & Freak," to a network and needed illustrations to fill in some gaps in their pitch bible. What I submitted was b&w linework, but I added some tones for this update.

The show would have been a stop-motion animated comedy about a school of circus freaks. Here's what I contributed:

Character Illustrations

Willy, the lizard boy:

Latyr, half-goat, half-boy (and best friend of Willy):

Three-Headed Girls:

Scene Illustrations

Opening illustration:

"The Walkabout" (Willy and Latyr find themselves on a spiritual journey full of hallucinations):

"The Costume Caper" (Willy and Latyr scheme to steal the ringmaster's suit):

"King Miba's New Pet" (Willy and Latyr must rescue their friend, Sherman the Merman, from a ruthless cannibal king):

"Goose is Loose" (an escaped chicken and rabbit interbreed  releasing a horde of hybrid offspring, and it's up to Willy to catch them all):

"Lice Alert!" (The school is hit by a plague of lice, hijinks ensue):

"Barter Stars" (Latyr goes from rags to riches in the barter game, while all Willy wants is his stuffed bear):

ZMED!!

In 2010 I helped on a show called "Zombie Murder Explosion Die," or ZMED for short (trailer here). It was helmed by animator Jeff Campbell, and produced by Scout Raskin's production company "Sonic Bunny Studios."

I was asked to design props, either from an existing design or from scratch. When I worked from scratch I would compare what I was designing with the character Robbie holding an axe to help keep a consistent style.

^^My muse^^

Chainsaw: One of the first props I designed. As you can see it went through a few revisions. The first one looked too bland, then the second one didn't look trashed enough- since the show was set in a zombie apocalypse, they wanted the props to look "used."

Lighter, Hairspray, Hockey Pucks- Self explanatory. The phrase "Never Knows Rest" is a reference to Fooly Cooly.

Controllers- "Like the PS Move controllers, but with stars instead of balls"

Boom mic and clapper-

Arcade Sign- I was asked to come up with a sign for "Noah's Arcade," and this was my first attempt:

They liked the idea, but they said it wasn't clear. So, this was what I made instead:

Arcade cabinets: Working with a layout that was sent to me, I created arcade cabinets that had to be powered, then slightly damaged, and then really smashed up when a car bursts in from stage right.

Van: Like the arcade above, I worked from an existing design. Because the doors had to open, I had to create a visible interior as well.

And there you have it! It was a real pleasure to work on the project. Last I heard the show has not been picked up yet, but it's still being pitched around.