thursday night made the "funnest night ever" list!
How lucky am I to have 2 really super fun nights in a row!?!? Thursday night officially *ruled* in my book and kicked The Walkmen show off my funnest nights ever thus far in 2005 list (but it still remains on the top 10 best shows of 2005 thus far!).Chris Georgenes is a fellow illustrator/flash animator who I have emailed & IM'd with forever, and finally we met! He's a phenomenal animator and has basically crafted this "2.5D" style with Flash that has him speaking all over the place, not to mention an impressive client list. He inspires me to stick with my illustration and actually start animating my characters more (something I haven't done in a long time!) and just overall he *slays* me with his mad talent! And on top of it all he's SUCH a nice guy!
When we found out awhile back he was going to be in town speaking at this years Flash Forward, we knew we'd definitely have to match up while he was out here! (He lives in Boston) So as it worked out, he joined us for a night on the town Thursday, first to EVB's Art show & then over to 111 Minna to see Adrienne Yan's show! Darren, Lyne, Jim & Scott came out, too & we all had such a fun night!!
> VIEW PHOTOS (Chris has a few that are really good, too - I'll see if I can post those when I get em ADDED! :)
As I'd mentioned, I've been a fan of Adrienne Yan's illustrations for a long time, which was our main reason for hitting this 111 Minna show. I'd emailed her probably a year or so ago, but since then she's been quiet & hasn't updated her site, etc. So when I got the announcement she was in a show with the Ultra Mega art collective at 111 Minna I was stoked! Later on in the night I had a guy help me find her & introduced myself & she remembered me! She'd seen me on the mailing list and was hoping I'd get it & be able to come on such last minute notice... I was so pleased she remembered. She's awesome (pic of us!) and her work is fantastic and inspiring. Move to SF, Adrienne! :)
So - not only was it great to finally meet Chris, then get to see my friend Jason at EVB, and then finally meet Adrienne at 111 Minna AND have all my awesome friends around me, but to top it all off the art was great, the beer was yummy - and we DOODLED!
"What?!", you say. See, when I get together when another artist - I just want to sit down & doodle! Hence why I love the Monster Drawing Rally - because you can actually watch other artists CREATE their art - which is the coolest part!! So after getting back from talking to Adrienne, Scott had a pad of paper they'd found with wine spills on it (that he was creatively turning into SPILLISTAN). So, when I suggested to Chris we draw together, he recommended we play a game where we each draw a little of a person, and then fold the paper down so the next person can't see what you drew but just knows you left off at the neck (for example) and then it keeps going. So me, him, Darren, Lyne & Scott played that a couple times and the results were hilarious! It was also so fun just to see Chris & I's different drawing styles and actually be able to watch each other draw in person! SO FUN!!!
It was a great crowd and energy at 111 Minna and I swear, sitting around and drawing with good friends, good beer, and good music - that is like my dream night! :) It was awesome.
The next morning I got up early & Chris got me in to see his Advanced Character Animation session at Flash Forward, and then I hit his Q & A afterwards. I was pleased that I knew most of the things he talked about, but I definitely gleaned a few great tips.. things like how he does his gradients... and how he assembles his timeline. De-selecting "sync" in the properties box to use a different symbol on the same layer (oh my god that is awesome!) and just to overall see how he approaches the animation. VERY. COOL!!!
He's mad talented and a super nice guy and I'm stoked to have finally met him. And, you know when someone comes to town and you want to show them a good time? Well Thursday night could not have gone better - we had so much fun. :)
