The Mysterious Traveller

Perhaps it was the creation of such a grand feat of design built in the side of an impassable cliff face. Perhaps it was the fine threading and comfortable lining that the skin tight uniform had to offer. Perhaps it was none of these things and was actually down to the ridiculous set of antlers sticking out of the side of his head; whatever the reason, the Elkboy felt impelled to drink his brew at the entrance of his magnificent lair, where he was gifted with a heroic but meaningful stance that struck fear into his enemies and admiration from himself.  There was a strong wind. The Elkboy grinned with a smug approval at this and recalled the vindaloo dinner the previous night. As the two red suns gently set below the Jenga mountains the ambience was suddenly interrupted by a clumsy hullabaloo from inside. The Elkboy swivelled around, spilling tea over his new outfit (muttering in dismay) but with a stealthy posture that demanded an explanation.  Unfortunately for the Elkboy, as...

So the new year brings a new show reel, finally. I hadn't edited my old one (or indeed add anything new) for nigh on three years ago, creating a minor existential funk that needed to be amended. I have slotted in more animation from projects I have been involved with and also with snippets of my own work (including new creations George the Knight and Alan the Stegosaurus ). I think it's generally healthy to remake the show reel every twelve months perhaps, depending on if there is actually things to add of course. Mainly because it's good practice; editing at least.  When I get the chance, I continue to work on the Mortal Kombat animation alongside co creator Steven Cummings  and brother Harold, who has been working on the authentic techno music. This has been an incredibly lengthy process, but each stage presents us with an optimistic sample of what will finally be assembled in the near future. The video above is only a simple test animation u...

I recall a promise I made to you folks, or perhaps more of an incentive, so that you might keep reading my blog posts. I  was originally going to begin each post with a description of the dream I had the night before. Or a culmination of dream state highlights. It was also seen as a source of story telling fodder because my dreams are so fucked up and imaginative that some sort of tale could be taken from it. For example: the opening scene (or creature) from my dream last night. Spider moth ( biggus-dickus-arachniphobus) I mean, COME ON!!! Look at the size of this thing! This was flying towards my face at a frightful pace. So much so that when it reached impact I awoke in one of those 'jumping' fits as if I had fallen from a great height. And I hate spiders. So, of course, it took a considerable amount of bravery on my behalf to turn the light off again.  I don't even have the heart to divulge into the rest of the dream. It involves too much from my past (al...

I have now got at least five different projects to keep me busy over the course of the next year. Some can be done in a matter of days, some will obviously take months. Two have recently became of high priority due to the spontaneous enthusiasm (or sponthusiasm as I call it) and has led to mountains of ideas and quick fire development. My good friend and fellow animator  Ashley Lightfoot  is helping me spearhead one project which will essentially be a music video for indy pop band  Los Campesinos!   This is the current music video for the bands song 'You, Me, Dancing!' and as you can quite tell, it is already animated. I remember playing this song to Ash about six months ago and his reaction was a little hysterical; in the sense that he laughed at the chorus and screeched it at me from time to time in the animation studios. Such a silly tall man! Anyhow, it seemed to grow on him and we both had an idea of a vague storyline that could accompany the song if we woul...