after much enthusiasm and some pestering by Owen, we made a go of a new stop-motion test with both original music and voiceover by the talented Owen. 

on the lookout and scouting what’s ahead.

the birds are called oxpeckers, they eat ticks off of the elephants and which is a good thing but they also pick at open wounds which i expect probably hurts. but these 2 guys are the comic duo of this troupe.

Scout ( idont have proper name for him yet) is a little on the small side, and sometimes his ‘bigger than his britches’ attitude gets him into trouble. the elephant (also without a proper name) adds the necessary brute strength, stamina, wisdom along with an impeccable memory.

an elephant made from leather work gloves. took a bit longer than i anticipated, but thats typical around here. yet another go at keeping a minimal palette and composition.

some sketches and turns of the scout character and elephant design

along with some progress of the elephant build

i was asked if i would participate in an exhibit of non-traditional kokeshi dolls called KOKESHI: From Folk Art to Art Toy for the Japanese American National Museum in los angeles http://www.latdamuseum.org/kokeshi.html curated by Christina Conway www.2winks.blogspot.com

over 100 artists were supplied with a wooden blank that consists of a ‘body’ shape with a ‘head’ shape.  no limbs or surface variations. traditionally the dolls were only painted with no modifications to the surface. for a little history on the dolls http://web-japan.org/atlas/crafts/cra02.html

The official public opening is Saturday, July 11, 2009. The closing date will be October 4, 2009.

i couldnt resist cutting into my blank and modifying it.

kokeshi