Electronic Entertainment Exposition 2006

Or E3, as some call it. It's an industry expo for video games and computer entertainment. This was the first year I went to the show, and it sure was fun. I traveled down from Seattle to L.A. for about a week with some friends from work and tried out all the unreleased games, stood in lines, got hypnotized by flashing neon everywhere, and got all touristy around Hollywood.

The prestigious Olive Manor Motel. Enjoy the complementary coat hangers in the beds and water-less pool!

We got some drinks at the famous Smoke House the first night and caught a good stand-up comedy show there. Warner Bros. Studios was near the motel, and we spotted the iconic home of Yacko, Wacko and Dot.

The LA subway was eerily deserted. It's gigantic size and lack of crowds seemed strangely dramatic.

We arrive. Notice the tanker truck filled with Mountain Dew. "Gamer Fuel," apparently.

The Nintendo Wii (previously Revolution) was definitely a highlight of the show. I'm really excited about the new Super Mario Galaxy game coming out for it.

Adam West was there.

The famous Pink's chili dogs.

Best. Photo. Ever. At the famous Bob's Big Boy.

We also stopped by the "I am 8-bit" art gallery, which showcased some awesome art based off ancient video game history.

On the Hollywood walk of fame, and the Chinese Theater. Bette Davis, Clint Eastwood, and Marilyn Monroe.

Our last stop was sunny and colorful Venice Beach. I expected it to be crowded on a Saturday afternoon, but because of it's vast size, it still had tons of space. Interesting people sure do hang out at Venice Beach. It was a great end to a great trip.

Monster and sketchy Link

A monster, or dinosaur, or dragon or something.

A sketchy Link.

Stuff I've Done Part 1

My first animation job was at a very small and new company called Moral Productions. Their first project was a CG movie on DVD called “Agents of the Spirit: The Phantom Influence.” It was in much the same vein as “Veggie Tales,” and featured a crack team of highly trained secret agent fruits. They would fight evil-minded bugs to protect kids from doing bad things. It sounds pretty weird, and it was, but it was also pretty funny and action packed sometimes.
Moral was just starting out, and didn’t have a lot of experience or resources. There were eight employees and four computers, meaning I and three others worked the night shift. Most people there were straight out of school like me, so the whole project was something of an extended learning experience. As such, the film’s art was never anything to write home about, though it did have it’s moments. Unfortunately, Moral has since closed down, but I’m sure our team could’ve made the sequel ten times better from what we learned on the first one.

We originally planned to put extra content on the DVD, one of those features being redesigns of the characters by each artist. Here are my versions of the Agents:

Moral’s website for Agents of the Spirit isn’t around anymore, but in looking it up I found it listed on imdb.com. Of course, this means I’ve made it big since only famous people get their own imdb page.

Crystal Creature

More watercolors on this piece. This guy's just hangin' out in his cave eatin' crystals. He's eaten so many, his teeth and bones have turned to crystal themselves!