An Accident...

Sunday is for Church

Today I went to church for the first time (Other than Christmas mass in 2004-05 and some random visit in Karnataka while sightseeing) and attended a sermon with Dhaneesh.

It was... interesting. Ironically, when I went in, I thought of a movie I finally caught up with this year, The Passion of the Christ, and the priest happened to talk about it during his sermon.

I also goofed up pretty much of the time when it came to the whole getting up-sitting down-bow-getting up routine.

I wouldn't mind going again. And next time, when I go in, I'll think of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (no blasphemy intended).

My New Lapto... er... "Mobile Workstation"!

Hello out there!

I haven't posted in a long time (this is kind of apologetic is common behavior amongst most bloggers I've noticed - probably best to avoid it from now on).

A few days ago I finally got the new laptop that I'd ordered - the DELL PRECISION M6300. It's a monster of a machine and it's actually referred to as a "mobile workstation":




The Precision is very, VERY powerful. The speed of my work has suddenly shot up on this. I'm sure a lot of people working on Hi-Definition digital graphics would know what I'm talking about when I say that technology can be a big limiting factor when it comes to creativity.

On my old PC, the render times for previews themselves would make me edgy and impatient. And rather than trying out all the options and variables that I had in mind, I'd settle on the first or second test simply because I didn't want to wait for another long render.

No such problems here. This baby has a 2.4 GHz Intel Pentiun Core 2 Duo CPU, 4 GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M graphics card. It really screams. Add to that the fact that I have mobility and access to the wireless connection all around campus ensures faster work and more blog posts in the near future!

Let me take a final moment to say goodbye to my old desktop PC. I had it for three years and we had some really good times. So... goodbye desktop; hello "mobile workstation"!

Prince Achmed Poster

A poster I made for an NID Film Club screening:

A line test a day keeps the doctor away...

I've decided to re-learn and refresh my animation skills and what better way to do so than animating some simple tests every now and then?

BLACK HOLE by Charles Burns

I haven't posted in quite a while. So I thought I'd get the blogging juices flowing again with a brief book review.

As you've probably come to expect from me, the book in question is a graphic novel (can't go beyond picture books these days - I've spoiled myself!) called BLACK HOLE by Charles Burns. I read this quite some time back and I really, really enjoyed it.

The book is about a group of teenagers in a small town in America who start spreading a strange STD which has different symptoms for different people. The approach that Burns takes is a heady combination of teenage angst, suspense, sex and horror. That's one formula that can never go wrong.

I especially related to one of the main characters, Chris (a girl in this case) on whom the effect of the disease is that she sheds her skin just as a snake does, at regular intervals.

There's an in-depth analysis of the book here. I totally recommend this book for it's wonderfully stark black-and-white art and the story which is top-notch. I recently heard a rumor that the book might be adapted into a film by none other than David Fincher himself. Frankly, I think this is a bad idea and I hope nothing transpires. The art of the book is integral to the story and the medium is perfectly suited for this tale.

Speaking of the art, I was surprised to notice similar looking artwork in one of the films from the Fear[s] of the Dark trailer. And surprise, surprise... that particular short has been directed by Charles Burns. It's very interesting to see his style applied in an animated format.

Saturday Sketch

I'm at home on vacation and I took my WACOM Bamboo along. I decided to try out Corel Painter. Here's an initial, if somewhat default sort of sketch. Hopefully there's better stuff to come.

Bonkeshwari reviewed on Wet Paint

Hot on the heels of the Cartoon Brew post, Bonkeshwari has gained a positive review on the animation blog that I discovered today, known as Wet Paint. You can read the review here:

http://wetpaintblog.wordpress.com/2008/01/09/bollywood/

If you think I'm plugging this for all it's worth... then you're right!

Rani Bonkeshwari got Brewed!

Cartoon Brew, like Drawn!, is a site I visit almost everyday for news and inspiration. I decided to send in Rani Bonkeshwari in the hopes that they would post it, and guess what? They did!

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/advertising/rani-bonkeshwari-by-rohit-iyer#comments

I'm very, very happy and I'd like to thank those guys for considering this.

Of course I'd also like to thank Manuscrypts who runs the Brantings blog for reviewing this first, over here:

http://brantings.blogspot.com/2007/12/of-content-being-king.html

I'm on cloud nine!

Agent Smit

Click for bigger image!

Another poster.

This one's for the pre-diploma display that my batchmate Smit Shah put up. Made this overnight in a few hours in Photoshop. Just a bit of photo-manipulation. His name is Smit, so the idea for the poster was kind of obvious.

I'll be putting up pics (and hopefully a video too) from MY predip (which took place in December) soon. Keep an eye out!

Vaibhav's World

Click to enlarge

A poster I made for a talk with the NID alumnus and popular Indian animator, Vaibhav Kumaresh. I tried to capture Vaibhav's own bold and sketchy style. His characters Simpoo, Bhoot, Chulbuli, etc. are very well known in India as mascots for TV channels and consumer products.

Vaibhav's been having these Baatein sessions every year at NID, when he comes to take the Stop Motion Animation course.

It's true! YouTube DOES bring back childhood memories!

Grin... And Bear It!

I regularly read the SuperHeroHype Boards for discussions on Nolan's upcoming The Dark Knight. I also love looking at the great fan art that people post there.

After lurking for a long time, I thought I'd participate in the thread myself with a go at Ledger's joker. Here are the two versions I posted here:



The portrait was sketched and painted directly in Photoshop and the background images are not mine. I think the joker card is a Bob Kane design.

Click on the images for larger versions.

Rani Bonkeshwari

She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes,
She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes,
She'll be comin' round the mountian,
Like a gigantic, frantic fountain,
She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes!

Written by the disturbed brain of Mr. K M Ayappa, the creator of the brilliant Porok, and animated by yours truly... Isn't It Iyeronic presents the queen of pleasure, in great measure...

RANI BONKESHWARI!



UPDATE:
I've put up Rani Bonkeshwari on YouTube as well (that place seems to get more traffic). So spread the word!

Yippeee! Got a new Drawing Tablet! - THE SEQUEL!

If you've been reading my blog for quite some time, you probably remember this post.

Well, the old drawing tablet was down for the count. And it was high time that I get a spiffy new one. And get one I did - the WACOM Bamboo Fun.


This thing is absolutely lovely. It really does feel like pen on paper! To celebrate, here's a quick sketch...