I’m Giving A Talk On Freelancing At The CTN Animation Expo

The CTN Animation Expo is without a doubt a “must-see” event for anyone interesting in working in the animation industry. On Nov. 18-20 hordes of animation lovers will once again be descending on the Burbank Marriott Convention Center for three days and nights of animation goodness. There’s still time to register if you’d like to attend.

It’s just been confirmed that I’ll be giving a presentation on freelancing on Saturday, Nov. 19. at 4:30pm in the Exec Boardroom. My talk is titled “Be Your Own Boss: Freelancing Tips and Tricks”. Here’s a summary:

In the current economy more and more companies are hiring artists as freelancers. Unfortunately many talented people wind up earning less than they could, or miss out on opportunities altogether, because they haven’t learned about the business side of being an artist.

Cedric Hohnstadt has owned an illustration studio for over fourteen years and has created work for end clients such as Hasbro, Disney, DreamWorks, Verizon, Best Buy and Target. After working on hundreds of client projects he’s learned a lot of tips and tricks the hard way, and now he’s here to pass on some of them on to you. He’ll discuss how to know if you are cut out for freelancing, how to promote yourself, how much you should charge, how to talk to clients about money, and look at different areas where an artist can find work outside of the animation industry.

As a freelance illustrator and character designer I draw a lot of inspiration from the animation industry. This talk is my humble way of giving a little back. If you’ll be attending the Expo and you have any specific questions about freelancing you’d like me to touch on, feel free to contact me and offer a suggestion. I’ll be happy to consider it as I prepare my talk.

You can register for the Expo or get more info at www.ctnanimationexpo.com.

EDIT: I’m told that my presentation is part of a limited series of workshops that are pre-pay only. Most of the seminars at the event are free to attendees but the organizers have designated mine as one of a few for which seating is limited and there is an extra fee to get in (in my case $5). I’m not sure but I guess you have to log back in to your registration account to sign up and pay for the workshops. I’ve also been told that there are only three open spots left for my workshop, so if you want to get in you’d better act fast.

New Client: VeggieTales

I’m excited to announce I’ve recently completed some props and costume designs for an upcoming VeggieTales animation project. I can’t show any artwork yet but I have their permission to announce them as a client.

I’ve worked with Big Idea in the past as a character designer for the “3-2-1 Penguins!” TV series and I’ve done some VeggieTales work indirectly for Scholastic, but this is the first time I’ve created concept work directly for the VeggieTales animation series. They’d approached me twice in the past but both times I was too busy to take on anything new. I’m glad it finally worked out. They’re terrific people and I hope I can work with them again in the future.

Animation for “What’s In The Bible?” Vol. 6

A new promo has just been posted for volume 6 of What’s In The  Bible?, an ongoing project from VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer. It’s a terrific series that uses a combination of puppets, live action, and animation to walk through the Bible step-by-step re-telling the stories, explaining their significance, and answering tough questions. There’s a good balance of humor and depth that should appeal both to kids and adults.

At the end of this promo is a cartoon singing choir which was designed and animated by Yours Truly.

What’s In The Bible? is available on DVD or as digital downloads (full episodes and smaller bite-size segments). More info at the official website.

Good Disney Documentary at a Great Price

Dream On Silly Dreamer is a low-budget but nicely done documentary made in 2006 by Disney animators chronicling the massive layoffs handed down by Disney management in 2002. It’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the Disney studios following the massive success of The Lion King all the way down to the “official” end of 2D animation at Disney. Animators recall the wild ride from uber-celebrity status and massive paychecks all the way to pink slips. It’s a must-see for any animation fan and not nearly as depressing to watch as you might think. I own a copy on DVD and have watched it twice, enjoying it both times.

While browsing around iTunes I happened to notice the entire film is available for purchase for only $1.99. That’s less than what it costs just to rent most movies. I have no idea how long it will be available at that price so you might want to snatch it up while you can (also available on DVD at Amazon, including extra footage and some good special features but minus the bargain price).

While you are at it you might want to follow it up with Waking Sleeping Beauty, Don Hahn’s new documentary about the Disney “Renaissance” under Michael Eisner. The two films together are a great combo for studying the modern Disney 2D-animation era, one during its rise and the other during its fall. Waking Sleeping Beauty is available on iTunes and Amazon.

Christmas Gift Ideas For The Artist In Your Life

If you’re looking for any last-minute Christmas ideas you might want to browse through my Amazon.com store, Cedric Hohnstadt Recommends. It’s a collection of books, DVDs, and other resources related to art, animation, and freelancing. Each item is something I have personally owned, used, and found to be especially helpful and/or inspirational.

Full disclosure: If you order any of the items from Amazon after clicking through my store I’ll receive a tiny percentage of the sale as a kickback (you won’t pay any extra). So you’ll not only be filling someone’s stocking but you’ll be helping me support my iPhone app addiciton.

CTN Animation Expo – Videos

I forgot to mention that you can view videos of a few of the seminars from last year’s Animation Expo on the official website. There are about twenty clips to watch and they only represent a small portion of what was available to attendees. You can also find a few more videos on Vimeo.com (just serach for “CTN Animation Expo”). Most of the videos are not very artwork-heavy which I imagine is due to legal copyright concerns. But there’s still a lot of great animation-related info to be enjoyed.

My understanding is that some videos from this year’s Expo will also be uploaded to the website soon so you might want to check back.

CTN Animation Expo 2010 Recap

This is long overdue but now that work has slowed down a bit I can finally get back to regular blogging.

Last month I attended the 2nd Annual CTN Animation Expo in Burbank. Once again it was a smashing success. Hundreds of animation artists converged in the Burbank Marriott to immerse themselves in everything animation. There were dozens of workshops and seminars given by top names in the biz, live drawing demos by industry legends (i.e. Andreas Deja, Eric Goldberg, etc.), portfolio reviews from top animation studios, free life drawing sessions with costumed models, and a show floor packed with artists and booksellers exhibiting their wares. As an extra bonus the event was bookended with special screenings of The Illusionist and Tangled.

I was given the honor of being one of the artists chosen to give a live drawing demo. I was also selected to interview for a freelance position with an established animation studio known for its work in television series and commercials. Too early to tell but overall I think it went well. At the very least I was able to get my toe into one more doorway in Hollywood.

One of the greatest benefits of a weekend like this is the flood of creative inspiration that washes over you. I packed light knowing that I’d be bringing back a suitcase full of books and DVDs to keep my creative juices flowing.

Live costumed models posed in the lobby throughout the weekend for impromptu drawing sessions.

Just one small portion of the jam-packed show floor.

Artist Sergio Pablos discussed his pitch for Despicable Me (the film was based on his original concept). Unfortunately I’m not allowed to show slides of his sketches but I can tell you his artwork is *amazing*.

How To Train Your Dragon co-directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders discussed the process of creating the film. Throughout the production they recorded their progress and insights using pocket video cameras and then edited the clips into a documentary called “Finding the Story”. As a bonus, attendees of the session were given free DVDs of the documentary. (I’m told you can also watch it on the How To Train Your Dragon blu-ray using the BD-Live feature.)

Master concept artist John Nevarez gave a live drawing demo using a Cintiq.

Disney lead animator Andreas Deja (Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Hercules) gave a live drawing demo.

Peter de Seve and Carter Goodrich are accomplished illustrators-turned-character-designers. They showed slides and discussed their work on such films as Finding Nemo, Ice Age, Open Season, Ratatouille, and Despicable Me.

Another live model posed for an open drawing session.

Several of the seminars were attended by overflow crowds. This was my view standing in one such line—and there were more people behind me.

The CTN Expo is becoming a must-see event for the animation industry. Next year’s Expo is already being planned for Nov. 18-20, 2011. It’s not too early to pre-register and reserve your spot!

Sketchbook Update: Pose Studies

As I wrote in my last post I’ve been trying to get back into the habit of keeping a daily sketchbook in addition to my client work. Some days are better than others but overall I’m making good progress. Even after fourteen years working as a freelance illustrator I still enjoying finding new ways to push myself to grow and improve as an artist.

Case in point: Last year I attended the CTN Animation Expo in Burbank, California. While there I shopped my character design portfolio around a bit. Several animation professionals graciously gave me some very helpful feedback. One thing I kept hearing was that although my character designs were strong overall there was not much expressive acting in my characters. Most of the people and animals I drew just stood around, usually with one hand on the hip and the other in what Kyle Baker refers to in his book How To Draw Stupid (Amazon.com link) as the “hand of death” pose. They encouraged me to say more about a character’s personality and breathe life into the drawings through expressive posing.

The Expo is coming up again and I want to be ready with a new and improved portfolio. So tonight I took some time to experiment with posing. I quickly whipped up a very generic looking character and then tried to make him act, express, and emote. These few rough sketches are the result:

It’s a challenging exercise. The more I started to draw the more I realized how weak and cliched my mental acting library really is. While these poses are a vast improvement over the work I was doing last year I still have a lot of room to grow. It all goes back to a basic but very solid principle of drawing: Don’t just look, see. In order to draw well you really need to study and analyze the world around you. I need to be studying live people as well as other actors and especially animators. It will be an ongoing process but one I’m looking forward to.

Pixar Comes To Omaha

Thursday I’ll be driving to Omaha for the annual meeting of the North Central Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society. It’s going to be a fun weekend with several NCS events planned that will be open to the public. The headliner will be Pixar story artist Josh Cooley.

Josh will be giving a keynote presentation on Friday night called “Coloring Outside The Lines And Other Creative Ways To Make People Worry About You” (tickets can be purchased here). There will also be presentations by various artists on Saturday at the Kaneko Bow Truss (free and open to the public) including a panel discussion, “Sketching As Story”, where yours truly will share the stage with Josh Cooley and award-winning cartoonist Glenn McCoy. I feel a little bit like the guy in the mascot costume from the local minor league sharing the stage with a couple of pitchers from the Yankees. But I’m also very excited and honored.

To flesh things out there will be a cartoon art exhibit at the Bemis Center in Omaha and several of us will be giving talks at area schools on Friday (I’ll be giving a presentation to a filmmaking class at Omaha South High).

If you happen to find yourself in Omaha this weekend you’ll be in for a real treat. Here’s the full schedule of the events.

100,000

Two months ago an animated piece I did for Living Waters went live on YouTube. As I write this it has had 99,990 views, just ten short of the 100k mark. YouTube does not update their view counts in real time so its very possible that by now the actual number has already passed that landmark. I’ll know for sure when YouTube posts the updated view count in a couple of hours. [EDIT: Yup, we are now over 100,000 views.]

The animation is about five minutes followed by a one-minute promo that was tacked on by the client. An alternate version of the animation was also posted on YouTube, identical except with a shorter promo. That version has received considerably less views (18,312 at last count) but if you put the two together we passed the 100,000 mark a few days back.

I am totally blown away by these numbers and by the overall positive feedback I’ve received. This project was personal for me and I poured a lot of myself into it. I also hired two excellent animators to help me out (Michael Foster from SaltyGraphics and Chance Dodd from Little Wolf Pictures) and they also worked extremely hard. It’s very rewarding to see that it has gone this far and I’m grateful to everyone who has taken the time out of their busy lives to watch my little cartoon.

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