Teaming up with Scott Bantle at Fox Sports was a chance to help quarterback some groundbreaking animation with his Creative Service Group under his tutelage. The idea was to show “from concept” sketches, character development, key cells, and motion mapping … all stations were truly exhilarating work. Working together with the Bantle team, the end result was a stop-motion surreal world presenting an impressionistic view of the college football game we all love and know so well.
“This spot was my chance to help author the story, go beyond concept and illustration, and enter the 3D realm direction. I had the privilege of working with an extended group of talented painters, animators and set builders … truly a game-changing moment in my career.”
This national spot for Fox ran as a cross-promotional TV commercial featuring the NFL season games and the MLB playoffs during the month of October. I was commissioned to create large illustrations to be used as part of the set, as well as Fox network IDs. The illustrated pieces were also a key part of the print promotion attached to the project.
On the NHL spot I got to participate in concepting, cell animation, illustration and set design. The project afforded me the opportunity to enter the arena of set building where I was responsible for building large scale props and mechanical-motion set pieces … and even some sculpted set pieces. The finished product was an impactful imaginative piece that took you into a nostalgic world of an old carnival and the midway fair games that were played back in the day. The story was carried by a beautiful symbiotic convergence of animation, live action, and transformative set design.
“My work on movie sets and in art departments over the summers during college really gave me an advantage and made the transition into set design and concept building almost seamless.”
The intro to The Best Damn Sports Show Period was a heavy illustrated stop-motion animation. The intro ran as part of the show, as well as extended into print and promotion. In addition to working in motion, lettering was also a concentration working throughout the spot. This piece worked in conjunction with other Fox promotional ads, showcasing a catapult launching TVs. This action aptly represented the attitude and personalities of the show. We strategically set out to build all the elements for stop-motion, including the catapult, “flying Zeniths,” and the show hosts themselves. They were not terrible to work with.
DALLAS BLONDE – DEEP ELLUM BREWERY
This is a promotional spot for the rebooting of the Dallas Blonde Ale can. I took the "cupie doll" debutante, kept her "ooh-poo-pi-choo" expression and attitude, and gave her a neon sign to hold the title. One of her pumps is gone loose, cuz that's just so Dallas Blonde. The background illustration is an anatomically semi-correct bird's eye view of Deep Ellum in all its glory. Kind of a "Where's Waldo" exercise if your looking at the scene behind her.
PEROT MUSEUM CREATIVE SERIES – “ART OF THE CAN”
I was invited by the Perot Museum to participate in their Social Science Event for the "Creativity" Series. The theme of the talk was "The Art of the Can," what's behind the creation of the Deep Ellum Brewery beer can labels. I got to speak about my life as an illustrator, and my time living & studioing in Deep Ellum, and how I began working with DEB on their line of beer cans. Each beer, lager, stout, pale ale, has its own identity, in how it's made, and its final composition and taste. Deep Ellum, where the brewery is located and hails from, is all attitude, creativity, a little grime, and lots of music. It was my job to inhabitate all these realms, and creatively build characters to extend these identities to each label. Two of my favorite things to talk about - art and beer.
