BeenJamins Bulletin Board

Everyones written a love song!

2012-02-27T15:29:00.000-08:00

One way or another. These are cupids I drew based off of musicians.

From left to right:

1. Shane MacGowan (the Pouges)

2. Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead

3. Jim Skafish (Skafish)

4. Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad)

Enjoy the show.

Motivation

2012-02-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

There are many things that motivate me get up in the morning (despite the thought that once I leave that bed, I am in work mode and my day is focused on my film.)
The thought of a wonderful breakfast...
A good mile run...
Maybe getting a pay check...
Seeing my folks... (unless it was like this morning, where I woke up to me ma yelling at me to clean the bathroom)
A good bone crack...
A nice drive through the countryside (the old road to CalArts)...
Some Canadian punk, thats a recent motivator...
...lunch.....

Well, all these aside, I drew this, which didn't motivate me at ALL!!!

While i'm at it,
I'm 43 scenes into about 100, so I'l almost half way there. That makes me pretty happy. So, by wednesday, I should be up to 50 scenes.

Enjoy the show! Hope you are all healthy and well.

Strawberries

2012-02-21T18:38:00.000-08:00

I have been working on this character lineup since I started visual development on my film. I just never got to it... I have been wicked excited about it, but most of these character never show up in the film, so I decided that I didn't really gave a hoot if I finished them or not. But then I got to thinking....

Strawberries. I want Strawberries...

And with that, the character line up wound up being finished. Funny how thoughts evolve.

They were fun. :)

Enjoy the show.

Love!!!!!

2012-02-14T11:56:00.000-08:00

I don't think I have to say much about this, as it is on this day and... obvious.

Anyway, happy valentines day my dear friends. I hope you get to spend the day with people who love you (not always someone you are intimate with). Classmates you know I do, ALL OF YOU... so please love me back :)

I love you all for being you and interesting. Have a pleasant day.
And enjoy the valentines specials (I hope Charlie gets the little read headed girl. He deserves it.)

Friends....

2012-02-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

Its been a while.... I know. I'm sorry I haven't called. How are you? Hope you've been well. You've lost a lot of weight...

anyway..

Sorry I haven't posted in a while (i say to myself), my film has been a killer. Its been going well. I'm 22 scenes into animation out of 80. I'm on a good track, but it is stressing me out, as I have no time to draw for fun.... I sob quietly to this.

So, as an act of rebellion to myself, I drew these guys:

I miss asking you guys to enjoy the show...

So enjoy the broadcast.

Ben wants YOU! To Audition for his film!

2012-01-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

I made a promise perhaps a month ago that I would post something every week. Well... i lied. I didn't uphold that and I am sorry. More to myself really, cus that was a commitment I brushed off to play Legend of Zelda. :) Maybe I'll do a Zelda drawing. OH MY GOD! That sounds fun...

Well, anyway. My film is underway. I have over half the backgrounds done for my film. I need to get flash installed on my computer and then I can start animating. BUT, as the process of film production is underway, I have a shout out I must make:

I AM LOOKING FOR A COMPOSER AND TWO VOICE ACTORS FOR THIS FILM. This is my flyer:

If anyone knows someone who is interested (and can do a convincing irish accent) I would love to hear them out. This is my info incase it is too hard to read:

Benjamin P. Carow
jawsofoblivion@mac.com
818-442-8384

I hope to hear back from anyone interested :)

Enjoy the show (when it comes out)

2011-12-01T11:58:00.000-08:00

This guy has been utter hell to design. But after several pages of crap and critiques, i think i hit some gold. This is Aaron.

I've stated animating, even though the story in't entirely hammered out, but its getting there. Its lookin... pprreeetttyyy good (in my opinion.

Enjoy the show.

The revolution is at hand

2011-11-29T22:09:00.000-08:00

and by that, i mean my hand hurts from painting this propaganda.

this is for my film. Aaron, my main character, is part of the revolutionary party that is planning to overthrow the british rule in 1900s france. It takes place a year before the revolution started.

enjoy the show

Thank you

2011-11-24T17:28:00.000-08:00

Today is thanksgiving. It smells absolutely delicious down the hallway and I can't wait to gobble... gobble... gobble....

I'm actually eating duck this year instead of a turkey, and I won't complain. I feel bad for all the turkeys that butchered on this holiday, but so many animals get butchered regularly, poking accusations on just one day is unfair.

To all ye pilgrims out there, happy thanksgiving. Those who aren't... i'm very sorry.

Give thanks to all the wonderful things in our lives that we take for granted. I love my life, the wonderful people in it, my awesome family and the beautiful lady whom I can't wait to see later tonight (whom I hope can make it!)

Have a great thanksgiving and enjoy the shows (i.e. the Charlie Brown thanksgiving special. Popcorn on thanksgiving? Too good to be true.)

Hey there, PRILGRIM.....

2011-11-20T20:20:00.000-08:00

Here is a character turn of a pilgrim I designed. I call him Petey Conwheel. He plots to kill his roommate, who is a talking turkey whom nobody in his town can see except for Petey.

Enjoy the show!

I PITCHED AT DREAMWORKS

2011-11-09T22:15:00.000-08:00

and it was brutal. I pitched my film idea to dreamworks (strictly educational purposes, I made no money) and I got some real good feedback. I have a lot of faith in this project and iI feel it will work up to my expectations.

Here is a redesign of one of the characters from my film.

I went though a lot of designs to get to this one, as you can see. I like the effect of putting the sketches behind the finished design :)

Enjoy the show!

My dear friends...

2011-11-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

I've realized something today... I do not make NEARLY as much blog posts as I should be. With all the crazy amounts of work I am doing, school, film and personal, it is downright ridiculous that I am not posting on a regular basis.

So I am setting up a challenge to myself. I need to make at least 1 blog post a week, be it anything from school, film, comic, stupid sketches, etc. I PLAN to keep this up, as it is important to me and I shall do that.. starting RIGHT NOWWWWWW!!!!!

This is a character exploration of the main character of my film, Aaron. His designs started very much uninterestingly and I decided to play with his design and make the character I felt he needed a spice and i think i found it... i'm not fond of his colors now that i think of it.

Enjoy the show!

Further Progress

2011-10-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

I've been expanding the style and shading of my film a little further to other characters in the film:

Enjoy the show.

BREAKTHROUGH, perhaps?

2011-10-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Oh MY GOD!!!!! I'm digging through the muck and finding something I am LOVING!!! AAHHH.
Thanks babe!

Enjoy the show, I know I am. AAHHH

Whats your preference?

2011-10-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

For my next film, this guy is my main character. I guess a little on his is that he was raised an orphan as his father abandoned him at a young age and the film follows his pursuit of his father... in a way...

So i'm trying to fight a visual style for this film. Both here have qualities that I absolutely love, but I can't decide which one I am more attracted to......

Friends, what do you like?

ps. Enjoy the show :)

I've been Drawing

2011-10-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

And thats all I have to say on that :)

Enjoy the show? I damn well hope yall would.

MY TRIP TO CANADA

2011-10-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

Hey der. 'Ows it goin, aye? Just a cupple o' weeks ago, I was in da great city ov Ottawa in Ontario Canada. I was der for the Ottawa International Animation Festival, in which I was volunteering. I freakin' love Canada, and the festival was really fun. I got to see a whole lot of really awesome films while I was there, and I made aboot 60 dollars worth of coins on teh street playin banjo. It was a hoot, aye. I spent most of my free time playing on the street, but when I got the chance, I did some drawings:

Yesterday was thanksgiving for the Canadians, so I wish you all a great one (or wish that you all HAD a great one) and enjoy the show (as I am sure there are several going on at least at this particular moment).

WALK CYCLE!!!

2011-09-29T01:33:00.000-07:00

I haven't animated since the beginning of the summer..... I must admit, I missed it. So, here is a walk cycle I did for my 2D animation class. It's goofy as hell, but I had a lot of fun doing it.

Also, I shot this on my webcam at the only angle I was able to capture it in, so the image is a tad distorted. Deal....

Enjoy the show!!! :) Its due at 7:00 pm today.

HELP! Some guy just stole my purse!

2011-09-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

Wanna see a dumb story board example I did for the kids I taught over the summer?

DC, eat your heart out. Enjoy the show!

My Summer Spent 2

2011-09-13T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the second half of the sketches I did over the summer. A lot of these I did of kids from work, vacations to San Francisco and San Diego.... A lot of bus rides as well....

I had a lot of fun this summer, and I hope that you all did too. Enjoy the show!

My Summer Spent

2011-09-12T21:32:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day of my second semester at CalArts. I can hear the crowd in my head applauding, as it still feels just as awesome to be here as it was the first time I was here after being accepted. I met some of the new first years, whom all have a slight look of utter fear in their eyes, but the sense of excitement brewing in their bowls (i can smell it).

It started with the reuniting of an acquaintance of mine. A pretty lady whom I have fallen head over heals with over the course of a few weeks, leading up to a summer of soft kisses, long nights, gentle touches and sweet nothings. I then spent the summer working downtown as a teacher for the CAP Program. On a bus ride home, I came up with the complicated story that will be my 2nd year film. I wrote the story after my job ended I then started storyboarding. I began working for a Drivers permit, which I got on my first try after my job ended. I went on a vacation with my girlfriend to San Diego, and when I came home, I took my driving test and passed. My summer was well spent....

Over the space of this break, I drew a lot. I have a sketchbook full of drawings that i am excited to share with you all. These are the LAST drawings I did over the summer... as i only have one sketchbook with me at the moment. Check check check it oouuutttttt:

Tomorrow, I'll post some more.... once i get to use the scanner at school again, because the ones I have at home can't handle this immense collection of AWESOMENESSSSSS!!!!

Enjoy the show!

The Reign of Jerry Brown

2011-09-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

My little brother asked me to draw something for his homework. When it comes to drawing something, my family is very kind to ask me to do it for them (at the price of living expenses and freeloading). So, to my little brothers exact descriptions, I have made this "political cartoon" of "the Reign of Jerry Brown":

Goffy stuff. Enjoy the show.

Wet Kisses

2011-08-21T22:53:00.000-07:00

For those romantics out there, we've all been there. Sometimes, we just use a too much tongue :) And complain, I shall not.

Enjoy the show :-*

Childhood Dreams

2011-08-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've told many people this but when I was younger, I wanted to be an Astronaut. At a young age, I was wild about deep space, the final frontier, all those clichés. I was curious about what was beyond earth and how distant worlds environment would be like. I think i'm an explorer at heart...

When I was told that I needed to be a scientist and be good at math to follow my dream, my heart was shattered and I dropped all hope, quietly, of traveling to space. I still have dreams of floating in the void looking at new worlds...

For those of you who don't know, NASA shut down the manned spacecraft program not too long ago, saying that the time of the man in space is over. When I heard this, the sadness I had when I was told I couldn't be an astronaut returned, knowing that the dream was over.

Think Jetsons, who thought that by our time, we'd be living in space, not to mention the 60s where the "space age" fad or the future was ever preset in at least American culture. We all saw living in space as our future, and now that man is no being catapulted into space, it feels like that idea for the future was all just fiction. And that saddens me.

So in honor of my shattered childhood, I made this:

I hope that the show will go on, and we will all be around to enjoy it.

With my Banjo on my knee

2011-08-08T23:13:00.000-07:00

My dad sang a song to me the other day after a deep conversation about how stupid I am for leaving my underwear underneath my girlfriends couch for her parents to find. It wasn't on ppuurrrpppoooosssseeee!!!!!

"Oh Susana, oh don't you cry for me. I've come from Alabama with a Banjo on my knee."

I was listening to a lot of Tom Waits recently as well, and somewhere in between these two moments, this image popped in my head. I had to draw it and I felt like playing in photoshop a tad more, which I haven't done in a long while.

Heres the product. Enjoy the show.

Old People

2011-07-20T21:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't made a blog post in a while. Hu...

Well, I made this card for my Grandfather and my Uncle, who both share the same birthday (along with sharing similar opinions of each other). My grandfather liked it and then changed his mind when he realized that I didn't draw him. Perhaps I should draw myself less...

Well, either way, happy birthday. I wish my family wasn't so distant, but I am happy that they are around.

Hope you are all enjoying the summer show.

Looking Up

2011-06-14T22:07:00.000-07:00

Life has been strangely excellent as of late. I can't help but feel that I am jinxing it every time I say that I am happy with the way things are turning out... so I should calm down my boasting.

I felt like making a new self portrait.... so this is what it turned out to be.

Enjoy the show.

LA Caricature

2011-06-12T00:26:00.000-07:00

For a project that I am working on, I made this background, and it is the most complex painting i've done in photoshop to date, so I'm proud of my amatureness, and felt it was worth posting. Its a production shot:

Enjoy the show, when it comes out :)

Marie

2011-06-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

I had some wicked insomnia last night... where I went to bed at 10 and slept for maybe 2 or three hours and then rolled around looking for comfortable positions....

So at one point, I said, "Screw it, I have't painted in photoshop in a while, lets take advantage of the opportunity?" I said that aloud to myself as I have no one to talk to at 4 in the morning.

This is Marie:

I'ma try to sleep now. Enjoy the show.

BFA 1 Completion!!!!

2011-05-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

My first year of CalArts is over (wwwwoooooo) and I can now say that I have not been challenged this hard since I struggled to fight the pressure of leaving the womb. Thats a horrible joke, I'm sorry mama. Anyways, I have posted up my first year film (the short version) on my vimeo page, where I will begin to post up older films I made too. For now, here is my film, "Here I Come, My Love."

Enjoy the show!

Buff Men in Loincloths

2011-05-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

Today, I came up with this character. I was really feeling his shape and I felt like playing a whole lot with him. I did not stray too far away from his original design because I absolutely loved it, but I'm sure if I kept posing him, I would have found issues with his design.

These bottom two are just people I expect him to beat up.

Enjoy the show!

Some films just leave you breathless

2011-04-28T00:04:00.000-07:00

This a mutual reaction to "Milk Milk Lemonade" when I saw it at the Bytown Cinema back at Ottawa. It was a very well done film that deserves recognition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr88eiIzwkQ

Enjoy the show!

The egg hunt!

2011-04-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

My friends, I'd like to wish you a happy Easter Sunday! Today it is kind of cold. A small breeze is coming in from the west and it's rather grey for Easter. There is a giant bowl on my table full of chocolate eggs and gummy "krabby patties." I hope that you all enjoy the eggs, bunnies, christmas carols (cus it has something to do with Jesus) and a wonderful sunday dinner.

For my friends in the real world outside of the United States, I hope Easter Monday is awesome too... even though it's a monday :)

Enjoy the show.

Luisiana Crock Fest

2011-04-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

Film season had beaten me senseless. All the suffering has yielded results I am proud of, and I will have my first screening tonight during story class. Until then, I have some crocodiles I did for character design class. I also have Portal 2 downloading on my laptop.

Hope you enjoy the show.

A nerd Moment...

2011-03-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

I'm an adamant Team Fortress 2 fan. Whenever I manage to score a break, I take the time to enjoy the slaughter of the some of the most interestingly designed characters I have seen. This is a little panel I made after a long night of getting owned:

Here is a link to the Team Fortress Two Website:

http://www.teamfortress.com/

Enjoy the show.

And this is where it all ended up...

2011-03-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

So I was at a creative loss while I was scanning in a scene from my film. I opened up old files I had on the computers at CalArts and i found this one. I stared at it for several minutes thinking about what I was going to do next with it. but then I decided "screw it, I like this the way it is." So.... here it is:

Enjoy the show.

High School Revisited

2011-02-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon my old high school yearbook. I thought it would be fun to draw some interesting faces from my graduating class. I also drew my older brother in his longjons:

Enjoy the show.

The outside world

2011-02-23T22:59:00.000-08:00

These are more sketches from my older sketchbook. Most of these are just people I saw at borders:

Enjoy the show.

Caricatures

2011-02-23T10:47:00.000-08:00

I found a slightly older sketchbook of mine recently that I felt had some cool drawings in them. So here are some of them:

I will be posting more sketchbook drawings as soon as I get time.
Enjoy the show.

HERE IT COMES

2011-02-17T18:48:00.000-08:00

This is the poster my new film. Its the first pass at it, but as I am already heavily in production on the film, I kind of think that making another poster is kind of at the bottom of the priorities list. Regardless, here it is:

Enjoy the show!

Oh Rats!

2011-02-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

Thats right, I made that stupid joke.
Here are some rats I did in my character design Class. Playing with the side of the pencil.

Enjoy the show.

VALENTINES DAY!

2011-02-15T00:35:00.000-08:00

This is a late post, as I have missed the holiday. Well, here you go guys:

I talked to a lot of people today who all seemed to share the same opinion of this holiday. For the most part, I am right beside you. The holiday was established to celebrate a saint and somehow it became an overly commercialized holiday about romantic love. Yes, this is indeed strange and rather awful for us single folks who get left out of the picture.

But, you know what? This holiday is a joke. Celebrating romance I think is kinda wonky. So many of us hate this holiday, but I think its because we aren't looking for the right thing to appreciate. This holiday is about one thing and one thing only:

LOVE

Any kind of love. I think we are meant to celebrate the idea of being loved. Not necessarily in a romantic sense, but also the feeling of loving other because we feel grateful to have them in our lives. Parents, friends, people we can consider loved ones...

My friends, I love you all, and enjoy the Holiday show.

Clever Title

2011-01-15T14:59:00.000-08:00

So here is a self portrait. When it was being made, my little brother asked me if i was drawing Mr. Potato head.

Enjoy the show.

Winter Weather

2011-01-04T00:23:00.000-08:00

There are parts of the world where the citizens are neck deep in snow. Ice has settled on the streets and storms are brewing. For people who experience the full gust of winter, it can be a difficult time. I guess this is where I should be thankful for living in Southern California where we experience sunshine, wind and a little rain, lows at 44 F, 7 C. This is our winter...
Well heres another photoshop painting:

Enjoy the show.

The Meaning of Life

2011-01-01T15:55:00.000-08:00

This is a film by Don Hertzfeld. I watched this about a year ago, I think, and I was completely moved by it. I hope you feel for it as much as I did. http://www.4shared.com/video/l1IoNnnu/The_Meaning_of_Life__Don_Hertz.html

Of what I heard, Hertzfeld submits a film to the Ottawa animation film festival every year. Last year, he submitted "Wisdom Teeth," which I had the great grace of having a film I worked on at CSSSA open up for. Perhaps next year, I may be gifted with the opportunity to meet him.

Enjoy the show!

New Year Royalty

2010-12-31T18:24:00.000-08:00

Greetings! The new year is a couple of hours away. I managed to finish this portrait of some Royal bunghole before the year began. I have been working on this guy since Christmas. Everyone, I would like to wish you all a wonderful new year and I hope that the new decade will bring many new and exciting things (that hopefully won't bring upon humanities downfall).

Enjoy the show! In this case, the ball drop and the fireworks and so forth.

Nothing Better to Do

2010-12-28T22:58:00.000-08:00

As I am recovering from tonsillitis, I have a lot of free time to do nothing useful of the sort at all. Just today, I did a few funky drawings that I actually took some joy in, one of them being what I have posted here. It's really just an experiment with shape in design. It's very simple, but a lot of fun to play with.

Enjoy the show!

The Great Hounds of America

2010-12-20T22:10:00.000-08:00

These rather elegant creatures are the hounds of the United States of our great nation. I wrote the names of the person caricatured next to the dog, so you should be able to tell who I am dogifying.

Enjoy the show!

FAT MAN

2010-12-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

This was a film I made at Innercity Arts in 2009 as part of the CAP program. Originally, I was in pre production on a completely different, much more serious film. Somehow, I wound up doing this instead and I am pretty proud that I did. I would have gone absolutely bonkers trying to make my other film idea.

Enjoy the show!

Take a look in the mirror! Oh my god, is that a BOOGER?!

2010-12-20T21:53:00.000-08:00

My color and design class asked us to do a bunch of self portraits. Being the full hearted narcissist I am, drawing myself several times over is not much of a chore. It was a fun assignment and I hope you get a kick out of looking up my nose.

Enjoy the show!

Nerds and Monsters

2010-12-20T21:44:00.000-08:00

These were an assignment for my Character Design class. We had to redesign Randall from Monsters Inc. as a human and give him a sidekick. This was my swing at it.

Enjoy the show!

48 Hour Marathon

2010-12-19T23:49:00.000-08:00

Some devine idiocy convinced me to make a film for this years 48 hour challenge at CalArts. I'm glad I did, as I was given the "Most Spirited Award," a kind gesture of public humiliation from my friends in my department. I won a "UP" bag signed by Pixar dopplegangers for my insanity. It's a wonderful memory and next year, I plan to do it again :)

Enjoy the show!

I communicate with Inanimate Objects

2010-12-19T23:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry to startle you, but yes I am indeed crazy. This film was made in 2009 at Innerecity Arts while I was a student at the Community Arts Partnership Outreach program. I was a student in high school.

Enjoy the Show!

Arabian Nights

2010-12-19T13:09:00.000-08:00

This was an assignment for my Character Design class. I redesigned the sultan from Aladdin hoping to make him seem much more authoritative and still be a bouncing buffoon. The other character is the king of thieves.

Enjoy the show.

Goofy Walking Tub of Water

2010-12-19T12:56:00.000-08:00

This is a Walk cycle I did in my 2D Animation class. First time playing in Flash and I had so much fun. This is kind of bad, actually, but I hope you giggle a little at it anyway.

I hope you can loop it. If not, then just keep your mouse on the play button and keep clicking. It's only 20 frames long.
Enjoy the show.

Strangeness exists all around us

2010-12-19T12:41:00.000-08:00

These are from the first two weeks of my Color and Design Class. The first ink drawing is of a Rock that looked very much like a sponge.

These two were from a picture taken from national Geographic. Both are painted.

Enjoy the show.

And then the Camera Exploded

2010-12-19T11:53:00.000-08:00

Currently this winter season, I am working with some old friends of mine form my old college in making an independent film. It is a VERY beautiful story that was originally a short story written for a class. I got the opportunity to meet with the original writer of the story (after making a complete fool of myself and asking her what part she played in the production. I am leaving a link to their Facebook page on this post.

http://www.facebook.com/8OnBreak

I have been doing drawings for them, which I think I will post later on after production is complete. However, I made this during shooting yesterday that the crew loved and I felt like sharing with you guys.

I think if you click on it, it may zoom in? I actually don't know. Still figuring this out.

Enjoy the show.

Welcome to my Blog

2010-12-19T11:38:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. This is my first post to my new art blog (YAY!!!!). My name is Benjamin, for those of you who may stumble upon this by some strange chance, and I am a Character Animation student at CalArts. I am really excited to get my stuff out there and start being involved in the art and animation community. I have made several films and I have done some professional work.
Thats enough self indulgence for one post. In the next couple of weeks or so, I will be updating this bad boy like a mad man, trying to get my films and my most recent work onto this page. If you come here before anything is really up, please do come back in a couple of days and take a look at the new stuff I am scrambling onto my blog.
So have a happy holiday season and enjoy the show.

-Benjamin P. Carow