On King of Kong and recovering from rejection

When life throws rotten tomatoes at you...

--You'd better duck! I should have at least braced for impact, but hindsight tells me I couldn't have known.

Every artist has these days and this week is one of mine. A "blue" period, a "dry" time, a little bit of soul searching. Ask anybody who's serious about their art and they'll tell you that you go through times of self-doubt - when you feel like all of your creative juice is spent - that there's nothing good left in you - and that all the joy you once had has left. You feel bitter, angry, depressed and lonely - as if no one else has ever felt that way (a lie if I ever heard one).

This is where I stand.

Back to the Drawing Board

It's been a long time since I've honestly done anything art-related. It's been a long process for me, but I'm finally ready to get back to what I love about animation.

On New Year's Day, my sister and I went to the touring Cartoon Network "ANIMATION!" exhibit which was at the Pacific Science Center, just a few blocks from my work at Seattle Center. I had been wanting to go because it was all hands-on and made especially for the kids. I wanted to go and see them interacting and remember what it was like when I was first learning and be inspired.

I got more than I bargained for. It was so much fun and it reminded me not just about my classes but why I did what I did. Because it's fun! I even got to do this cool bullet time jump where the camera takes about 10 photos from all angles and then spins you around. There was so much to see it's hard to describe it all. Marcie was a genius at the foley station - they had a Codename: KND clip you could make SFX to and she got to be this little dancing fly. It made everyone in the booth crack up!