Below is a screen cap from a short I am currently making in my 2D Production class. The story is about a clown who is trying to stop a girl from crying. Despite pulling out every trick in the book, the girl continues to cry and needless to say the clown is pretty fed up with her. I don't want to give away the ending...be on the look out for it. The piece is animated in Flash with Photoshop filters added to background elements and will be composited in After Effects.

*NOTE: I am more than aware that I have "promised" showing some works on my blog, "First Bite" for example, and haven't posted it. I will be creating a Vimeo page where I'll post not only FB, but this clown piece and others too. I will make an official announcement when this happens so be on the lookout!*

In the meantime, keep stopping by! Almost at 3,000 view posts which is super exciting!! I am so appreciative and grateful for you all stopping by and for your support!!! THANK YOU :)

Here's a quick look at a character design I'm working on for my thesis film. The film takes place in a disco and needless to say the above character has a few hurdles to overcome. Nothing set in stone thus far but wanted to show you all my process.

The blue is my rough line work, and black is final. The red lines were me adding and correcting mistakes, like in the hands. I always like showing the "behind the scenes" of my drawing process. I hope you get a kick out of it!

Here's a great picture of my cat Ben. I'm not sure if I want to admit aloud, but I may have become a cat person...I mean, how could you not think a face like that isn't cute?!

I drew a facial expression sheet for my clown character. This was my favorite face on the sheet. I pretty much feel this way all the time!

Just want to say HELLO! to all my followers! Appreciate your support and interest!! Keep on watching!! :)

Below is a pre-viz painting I did for my 2D-Production class here at SCAD. I am very pleased with the outcome. I worked really hard on it and I feel as though it has paid off! Its pretty rare that I get excited about my own work but I have to say this piece is pretty sweet. Its an old concept I had for an illustration that I wanted to do post undergrad. I guess the moral is hang on to those ideas! They may come in handy later down the road!

Made in Flash 6 with a Photoshop overlay (to create that speckled look).



copyright Zak Shapiro 2012

I'm not really sure where the clown obsession has come from. I think I drew a clown once and liked how he came out and started drawing variations of him. In any event, I wanted to share this clown, I think I like this version better, with you guys. 

This is just a work in progress. As you can see, I am using Flash 6 and have a whole bunch of layers indicating pretty much everything you see in this scene. I am really happy with the color selection thus far. I like the Easter colors against bolder, flat colors in a heavy outline. It makes the characters pop off the page and feel like a traditional cel painting. This piece is actually a pre-viz painting for a 15sec. short I am making in my 2D Production class. Its going to be a lot of work, but I'm very excited to get cracking on it!

Stay tuned for more clowns and all things animated!

I was able to go home for a short while and got to see my three boxers. I miss them all so much. here is a picture of me getting some sweet, much needed loving from Paige aka The Princess, Queen Bee, Dog #1, you get the idea....