The Fire Within Burns Again

Hello, everybody! Today is the start of the Winter Quarter at both SCAD-Atlanta and SCAD-Savannah, and it's also the start at SCAD-Lacoste and SCAD-Hong Kong, but I don't have any friends at those two locations, so I don't really recognize them. Though it's a little strange that the quarter would begin on a Wednesday, it just seems wrong somehow. Unfortunately I am not at SCAD for the second straight quarter, and so my break will continue until the Spring Quarter when my life will return to normal. In the meantime, my thoughts are with all of my friends as they go through the stressful moments that an art school brings.

The Period of Enlightenment

When the Spring Quarter of 2010 ended I found myself pondering and questioning my major Sequential Art because I wasn't having any fun with the art that I was producing. Fun and love is what fuels the passion that artists have for their craft, but as soon as one loses that passion then it just becomes work. That's exactly what happened to me. I wasn't enjoying my sequential art anymore. I took my first animation class in the spring, and I absolutely loved it. There is nothing more enjoyable for an artist than to see their art come to life. Unfortunately I did not enjoy the last two Sequential Art classes that I've taken-Drawing for Sequential and Materials and Techniques-and there was a thought that perhaps it would be better to flip flop my major and my minor, making Animation as my primary area of study. However, I am a very stubborn individual, and I decided to give Sequential Art some more time. Now with this extended period where I am not at SCAD-Atlanta I was going to take the time to find what I had lost, and it has truly opened my eyes to what the problem really was.

I think that I may have found the passion and the fire that I had for art when I first came to SCAD-Atlanta in 2008, and it felt great. I went back to areas that I haven't touched in a long time like painting, charcoal drawing, and pastel drawing, and it was wonderful to feel the fire burning within me again. I realized that I had fallen into a trap where I was producing artwork for a grade, not for art. It is a danger for all art students. I had lost my focus, but now...it's back. When I return in the Spring of 2011 I will no longer be the same lost artist that I was when I was last seen in a classroom. I'm back to my old form.

Looney Tunes

I'm continuing my work on the panoramic drawing of the Cartoon Universe, and I've just finished the Looney Tunes penciling save for the background although I did throw in a little of it in here that I way I could show Wile E. Coyote falling off the cliff. I've drawn for over fifteen years, and I've drawn Disney and Hanna-Barbera characters before, but I've never drawn a single Looney Tunes character until this project. It seems hard to believe that I wouldn't have attempted a Bugs Bunny sketch, but I don't have any old drawing of him anywhere. It turned out pretty well although Porky Pig may be a little too short, but I don't think that I will make an effort to re-size him.
The Hanna-Barbera Universe is next, and I chose to do them last because I had no idea how I was going to set it up especially when there isn't really a clear king of that universe. Disney has Mickey Mouse, Looney Tunes has Bugs Bunny, but who is the main character in Hanna-Barbera? The main character needs to be in or near the center of their composition. I decided to have Fred Flintstone as the main character in the Hanna-Barbera Universe, and now that I know that the rest of the characters are falling into place.

Final Word

I mentioned in the last entry about me being on deviantArt, but I probably should've said where just in case any of you want to see the art that's there. I can be found at http://thevampiremouse.deviantart.com/.  To my friends, whether you're in SCAD-Atlanta or SCAD-Savannah, I hope that you all had a great start to the Winter Quarter. This is Billy Wright, wishing everybody a goodnight. So long, Everybody!

Let's Hope that 2011 Doesn't Suck, Like 2010!

Hello, everybody!  Happy New Year! I am Billy Wright, and I welcome you all to The Boiling Teapot, but before we really get started let me tell you what you can expect in reading my blog. When I began thinking about setting up a blog, which was several months ago, I wondered what exactly would I talk about that would interest anybody. Well, I am an artist, and so I decided that this blog will be about anything regarding art, which expands over a large spectrum. I'll talk about art exhibitions, SCAD-Atlanta, movie reviews, and my artwork, etc., but don't expect sports or politics unless they affect art. So if you love art then you've come to the right place, but if you hate art and wish that all artists would dry up and die then...you should probably leave unless there's a chance that I can change your opinion. The most important aspect about this blog, it's also the most important aspect in art, is to have fun. That's what I'm here for, to entertain you all.

The Panoramic Drawing

Whenever I finish a piece of artwork I always post it on my Facebook page, and I also have an account on deviantArt, which I update with new pieces every Monday, but here, you'll be able to see works before they are finished.  Right now I am working on a panoramic drawing of the Cartoon Universe, and I've cut it down to three sections: the Disney Universe, the Looney Tunes Universe, and the Hanna-Barbera Universe. Each section will feature the classic characters from those universes. I got the idea on my birthday when I got a book about how to draw Mickey Mouse and his friends, and originally it was only going to be done on one 11x17 page, which would have been perfectly fine if it was just Disney and Looney Tunes, but adding Hanna-Barbera turns it into a mess. Fortunately, however, I also got a new camera for my birthday-a much, much better one than I had before-and it supposedly can create a panoramic shot. That's pretty much how the idea came about. Each universe would be drawn on a separate 11x17 page, but then they would be put together as if they were in the same place.

I began with the Disney Universe, and it included characters that I've never done before, which wasn't that hard as long as I knew what their primary shape was (mainly circles and jelly beans). When I was trying to figure out who I wanted to include that was a little bit more difficult. Goofy, Minnie, Mickey, Daisy, Pluto, and Donald were no-brainers, but who was going to join them? My mom suggested that I include Huey, Dewy, and Louie, and that makes perfect sense since they are important characters in the Disney Universe. That led me to decide to also include Scrooge McDuck, but I still had lots of room left for a few more characters. I decided to add Minnie's cat Figaro, Chip and Dale-who are on Ludwig Von Drake's head-and Pete the cat to the composition after going through some Disney books, but that left one more spot. Ludwig Von Drake was added near the last minute although I came close to going with Gus Goose instead, but Von Drake is a much more deserving candidate. There was a thought to include Walt Disney among them, but at this moment, I am not that great at drawing real people although I have lucked out twice. If I had included Disney then I would have had to include Tex Avery for Looney Tunes and William Hanna and Joe Barbera for Hanna-Barbera. I did look into it anyway, but I chose not to do it. Tinkerbell's addition was because of how Disney animated movies used to open with Tinkerbell flying up to the top of Cinderella's castle and using her wand.

At the time this picture was taken I was thinking that Goofy would be the only character who steps out of his frame and into the next one, but Pepe Le Pew's tail stretches into the Disney frame. Now I'm thinking of having someone from the Hanna-Barbera Universe doing the same that way all three frames are connected by the characters, not just the background. Speaking of the background, I'm still not sure what it will look like. I only know about the sky at the moment with having a Mickey Mouse shaped cloud in the Disney frame, a sun that resembles the Looney Tunes' logo, and a star representing Hanna-Barbera. There will be some changes made to this frame other than adding the background, I'm not that happy with the way Dale turned out, Chip is just fine, but Dale looks weird, and so I'll probably work on him before I start inking the drawing. I look forward to finishing it and sharing it with all of you.

Happy New Year!

As my mom said so well yesterday, "2010 Sucks!" and it is quite true, it did. For it was great in the beginning, but it dropped off in a big way in the summer. Hopefully 2011 will bear more fruit. I wish you and your family a Happy New Year and all the best in 2011. 

From the edges of space, to the craters of the moon, to the solar flares of the sun, to...Oh slag it! I came up with a wacky way to sign off, but now I can't figure out how to end it. Aw, well, I guess I'll just have to end it the classic way until I think of something more original. This is Billy Wright wishing you all a goodnight. So long, everybody.