Bust of Power

Finally finished this fan art piece I started a while back of my favorite Legend of Zelda villain. I think Twilight Ganondorf is my favorite design. Done in Photoshop CS5.

Edit: Changed the bottom half of his body because it looked too bad. (11/2/11)

Figure Head Study

Figure head study I did in class last Friday. Added a light layer in Photoshop CS5.

D. Pug

Painted a picture of one of my favorite animals! I didn't like the way my previous pug drawing was coming out, so I completed this one instead.

Head Study

I was looking at a bunch of Kevin Chen's figure drawings, and got inspired to do a study of my own. I'm pretty satisfied with the result, because I feel like my observation skills are improving.

Hand Sketches

Spent most of my Saturday drawing my hand.... lol It took between 20-30 minutes per drawing.

Self Portrait Painting

I did a self portrait because I hadn't done one in a while. I wanted to try painting it, which was a pretty fun challenge, because I've never done one before. I want to try digital painting more often. I'll also try to post to my blog more often, too.

Cartoon Brew Article and Gobelins!

Hello! Sorry I haven't updated my blog in a while, but I've had a very busy month! I just completed my thesis film, and graduated from college last weekend! Now that my schedule has been freed up, I plan on applying for work, and drawing a lot more!

Anyway, I got a message last night from my good friend, Christina Manrique (http://itsakiki.blogspot.com/) informing me that we were mentioned in an article on Cartoon Brew! (http://www.cartoonbrew.com/student/inner-city-animator-wins-gobelins-scholarship.html). I was aware of the article, but I was unsure whether or not it would go up (especially as fast as it did!). I am grateful for Cartoon Brew for posting my story, and the help of, Teri Bond, who was a major help in making this possible!

Most of our friends already know, but we both got accepted into the summer character animation program at Gobelins! I am truly honored to have the privilege of studying at such a prestigious school! This trip will be a major experience for me as an up-and-coming professional animator, and I can't wait to go to Paris, France in July!

None of this would have been possible without the help of all the people who believe in my abilities, and contributed greatly to my growth over the past four years at LMU. Thank you to all of my family and friends for their support!

Bus Sequence Stills

I've been making great progress on my thesis, and it's exciting to see everything start to come together! My friends Zach and Pat have been doing an incredible job on making my shots look polished, and without their help, my film wouldn't look nearly as good as it is. Very happy with the turn out!

Pug Study

We had to pick an animal to study for our animal drawing class. I like pugs, and I'd like to own one someday, so it was the best pick for me. I'm going to paint it in photoshop, and I'll post that version once it's done, which should be sometime later this week. Good night!

Page Museum Drawings

I drew these today during my animal drawing class. These were fun studies! I realized later that the bison skeleton's head wasn't going to fit, so I did a detailed study of his head below it... lol

Process and First Completed Shots

Mom Sees Bus Coming from Dante Buford on Vimeo.

Boy Bites Hand from Dante Buford on Vimeo.

I was curious to see how far I've come from my storyboard version of this shot, to the final composited one. I slightly alter the angle and zoomed out the view, which I think gave it a better looking composition. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the final look. These are the first couple of shots that my good friend Zach Wong helped me complete last weekend. Hope you like them!

Story

Struggling to support her small family, a pessimistic single Mom, accompanied by her two young children, makes her way to an important job interview that will hopefully change her family's circumstances. Along the way, however, a vindictive Sexy Woman discovers that she is competing against the Mom for the same job, and stops at nothing to sabotage her. Luckily, her children are there to foil the Sexy Woman's plan.

Yes, "Sexy Woman" is her real name. Sorry her character isn't depicted in this image. I'll upload some screen shots featuring her soon.

Thesis Backgrounds

I want to kick off my first post with some backgrounds from my animated short film, "Interview". Done in Flash CS5.

I'll post some animation and final screen shots soon. Until then, I hope you enjoy these!