Whiskey Bar
Over the weekend, I made this bar for MKG Productions. It uses a few old whiskey barrels and some 1×3 lumber stained to match. The barrels still had some whiskey sludge inside them (As you can see from the last photo!)
Read more »Sesame Street – Hip-Hop Penguin CD cover
I had fun designing this CD cover for a pair of Hip-Hop Penguins… there are a whole mess of Photoshop filters that I don’t ordinarily get a chance to play with, so it was a blast to go berserk with lens flares.
Read more »Sesame Street – Elmo Crayon Drawings
I’m like Elmo’s ghost writer, except with crayons. (actually, these were drawn with Stabilotones – they’re supercrayons!)
Read more »Logos for The Michael Showalter Showalter
These logos were created for a spoof public television program named “The Michael Showalter Showalter,” on a network named “PBT”. I was given quite a bit of leeway – the client wanted a red logo on a white background for the program, and a brown oval for the network logo.
Read more »Rocky Pedestals for DeBeers
I made these pedestals for a display of new jewelry at DeBeers. The rocks are made from polystyrene foam, and coated with concrete (for the rough rocks) and foamcoat (for the smooth rocks.) I had help from Andrew Bunch and Tom Smolenski with sculpting and finishing the 50 artificial rocks that went into the display.
Read more »My new career as a male model for Ralph Lauren
I went on a tour of the Ralph Lauren office when I was working with them on an illustration project, and we met an employee in the hallway. They asked me if I could draw pants, I replied “Yes,” and that’s how this whole thing got started. I made these illustrations from reference photos – [...]
Read more »Silent Library – Machine for simultaneous Punching AND Kicking!
I’ve made things that punch people, and machines that kick people, but here’s a machine I made that kicks and punches people at the same time! Increases productivity by 100%! The foot and fist are both set in motion by pneumatic cylinders, with a foam foot inside the boot and a foam fist, so that [...]
Read more »Silent Library – Hand Tenderizer
I made these urethane rubber hammers to smash the hands of Silent Library contestants, and set up a pneumatic mechanism to make the hammers swing up and down.
Read more »Silent Library – Stinky Gelatin Octopus!
I’ve never had to cast an animal before, but there’s a first time for everything. To keep the hot plaster from melting the octopus into a pile of reek, it was frozen. Its tentacles were flattened against a sheet of aluminum foil so that there wouldn’t be too many undercuts on the mold. Katie Akana [...]
Read more »Silent Library – Executive Stress Machine
This prop needed a revised mechanism to clobber Silent Library contestants in the head (I changed it to work with pneumatics instead of the original electric motors .) I also cast the giant foam balls which did the clobbering. The balls have volleyballs in their centers, to save the cost of some expensive polyurethane foam.
Read more »Silent Library – Pasta Haircut
This pasta wig was made to be eaten off the head of a senior citizen on Silent Library. I cooked the pasta lightly so that it would be flexible, but not mushy. I held all of the pasta together with some remarkably sticky gelatin. I shaped it to be one of those sideways haircuts that [...]
Read more »Kikkerland – Giant Cloud, Giant Lightning
I made a giant (12′ across!) cloud and lightning bolt for the Kikkerland booth at the ICFF this year. The components were made out of several sheets of blue foam sandwiched together, with an MDF and solid wood backing for support. I put together a homemade hot-wire cutter to shape the foam, along with my [...]
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Silent Library – Electric Chicken
This electric chicken mixer was made to scratch Silent Library contestants with its sharp talons! I removed the guts from an ordinary hand mixer and modified them so that they would fit inside a rubber chicken; I’m very happy with how it came together, especially how the power cord comes out the chicken’s mouth.
Read more »Submarine Sneaker Spheres!
I assembled these hollow acrylic spheres so that they could hold three sneakers underwater, inside a giant swimming pool. The joints needed to be carefully glued and sealed so that they wouldn’t be destroyed by the water pressure!
Read more »Sesame Street – Robot Makeover
This red robot needed some modifications so that it would not look like a toy commercial for a specific brand when it made an appearance on Sesame Street to illustrate the word “activate.” I disassembled the robot and removed the speaker and some random ear-popping and eyebrow-raising functions, added some details, and painted it a [...]
Read more »Interview – Frenzer Foreman Animation Forum
This week, Fran and I were interviewed for the Frenzer Foreman Animation forum. I just listened to the episode, and I was surprised to learn that Fran and I sound totally different. Nobody ever told me that we don’t have twin voices! Also, I goofed on the identity of Baby Bear’s puppeteer. Sorry, Baby Bear. [...]
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Once I was a Godzilla, and I breathed fire on healthcare.
For this video, I designed, constructed and puppeted the Godzilla-style creature. (there are some shots of the process of building the puppet over here) I also made a few of the props for the city and helped to dress the set. I worked with Ryan McFaul (director, camera, props, set) and Katie Akana (props, set, [...]
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J. Views “Come Back Down” Music Video
I made some marionette puppets for the J. Views music video “Come Back Down” (the boy, girl, birds, and turtle.) The puppets were made out of blue polystyrene foam and acrylic paint and dressed up in bits of foam and some bright fabric from socks. Some tiny wire hinges kept the puppets joints loose enough [...]
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Miles Kurosky – Dog in a Burning Building
A music video that Fran and I made for Miles Kurosky is up on the internet this week. Hooray! I can finally show you all some pictures and video! Amid Amidi did a ‘lil writeup on Cartoon Brew over here: Cartoon Brew Fran is a big Beulah fan, so when we made The Upstate Four [...]
Read more »Happy Valentine’s Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Here’s the Valentine that I’m sending out this year (on the left) along with the rejected Valentine (on the right.) Let’s get some half-price candy tomorrow.
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Sundance Channel – Mondays Interstitial Animation
Here’s the finished project for which I made all of those cardboard props! Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata helped take the pixellated photos of the props and costumes, and even helped out by wearing them. When I brought everything into After Effects, I had to scale Max and Ru horizontally to make them chubby enough [...]
Read more »Sesame Street – Miscellaneous Graphics
One of the things I make at Sesame Street is graphics for some of the packages and labels that appear on the show. (And sometimes a sign for the dressing room of a guest too.)
Read more »Sesame Street – Video Title Cards
These drawings were made to look as if they were drawn by Elmo. But they weren’t!
Read more »Yearly Valentines 2005-2009
I make these every year. Don’t worry – I’ll remember to send one to you this year because I love you. (maybe I just don’t have your e-mail address.)
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