Job off the starboard bow!

I'm in a piratey mood right now, hence the nautical title of this post. Yarr! I didn't manage to get any of the images I started finished to stick up hre because of a multitude of things that include a broken dishwasher, an ill cat, two ill family members and an interview. I'm not making excuses, things were just a little too busy to get anything I wanted done...done.

You can have a half finished doodle though:



I...don't really know. But it's kinda cute! In regards to the title of this post by the way, I start a job in normal-land for a while on November 17th. Hopefully I will still get to be at least 50% mental in it, if not i'll just dress like a clown and see what happens.

The Joys of a Root Canal...

Yes, the root canal is all booked for me for 2 weeks time. Yay! <--- hint of sarcasm there. It mean's i'll be drinking my tea with a straw for a wee while longer, and yes, so you know, it feels like the most unnatural pairing ever. Straw + Tea = Weird.

HOWEVER! On Monday I did manage to see the premiere of The Fantastic Mr Fox n support of Cancer Research Wales. There were some muscled suits there from 20th Century Fox to make sure nobody took pictures or filmed, and I have to say, they looked like the stereotypical security guards you used to see in Warner Bros cartoons. I was quite impressed! I quite liked the film too, it's nice to see a bit of stop-motion out there again, especially stop-motion that's more old in style.

The other thing I have to mention from the premiere, they give you a goody bag. Posters, sweets, wristband...that sort of thing. The the odest item came out of my gift bag. A banana. Yup, a proper banana. Odd. All the kids seemed as confused as me!

In upcomming events: I'm hoping to see either UP on the weekend, wanted to see it for quite a while now. And I am hoping to get one of my sketches up this week too. Oh, and my new flash gallery on the site. Argh! Flash!!

Books and things

Ok, so I can actually update with some news now, woohoo! Last week I finished that book cover I mentioned in the last post (Barbara Spencer) and it was accepted by the publishers on Tuesday (can't post an image of it up yet, sorry). Soon it shall be printed and I shall have my name on another kids book, which may hopefully lead to other work. Also been working on a few personal pieces of art which, when/if they get finished any time soon you will see.

On a down side to things, yesterday I was told by my dentist, after many hours of excrutiating pain, that I will need either my one tooth removed OR a root canal. Bad...bad....BAD! Currently, the pain killers are keeping me happy so I'll make a decision on it at the start of the week. All I can say now is "ARGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Long time (again)

It's been forever, I know. I've not been too well as of recent, but i'm starting to get back on track again. On a plus note, I managed to get some more illustration work off Barbara Spencer...so i'm working on that at the moment. I will update when I have something better to update with...

Maindee Festival

Yes, yesterday in Maindee Festival I was...a tree. It was an amazing amount of fun, and I thouroughly enjoyed it. Sadly, I didn't make it all the way through, as I started to feel very warm and dizzy, and to protect the puppet I pulled out. I carried on spotting for the rest of the festival though. I really did enjoy what I did, so thank you to everyone that made it possible!

You can see pictures from the day here: Maindee Festival

I will update some more arty things when i'm feeling less...vegetable like.

Busy week

This week is a little hectic for me on the animation/art front as it's the Riverfront Open Weekend this weekend...in other words...I'm trying to juggle like a mad woman to get back up to scratch before Friday!!! Argh!! I will post when I'm less skittish.

I Miss Annecy...

So for those of you who don't know, Annecy Animation Festival ('09) has been running since the 8th and has just finished. Sadly, this year, I couldn't afford/wasn't well enough to attend *cries*. I would highly recommend it as an animation festival to attend if you've never been before. The place itself is beautiful, the atmosphere is incredible and you will see SO many great animated works. Not to mention the exhibitions and the people you can meet!

A big congratulations to all of this years winners, if you want to read who they were, go here: ANNECY '09 WINNERS

And a special hoorah! for Felix Massie, who's film "The Surprise Demise of Francis Cooper's Mother" was shown in the short films out of competition category. Hope if went down well Felix, even with the lack of subtitles and French speaking Francis Cooper...

I'm definately aiming to go next year as it's the 50th Anniversary! And now, I shall leave you with a picture from last years Annecy to make me all nostalgic again: