Chief O'Brien Freelance Work

Hello everyone. Today I have a freelance illustration I completed last month. I got a message from a friend I hadn't talked to in years about an illustration she needed and let me tell you it was definitely God's timing as I really needed the work.

Linda needed a drawing of the Star Trek Next Generation character Chief O'Brien for a friend's upcoming birthday. I tend to stay away from charicatures because they aren't really my strong suit. I know that may sound lame, but when I work for pay I always want to do my absolute best, and so I am a very harsh critic, and that always leaves me feeling like a charicature could have been better. ANYWAY, I took the job and got down to work.

The Chief needed to be in his wetsuit and kayak(which we see him with a few times when he is in the holo-deck on the show) that was the easy part. Getting it to LOOK like O'Brien was where I spent most of my time, and sweat bullets over the several klunkers that I scribbled out in my first pass. It took me 3 different drawing sessions (on my breaks at my day job) to capture him, but I finally got there. I get a lot of work done in the one hour of breaks i get over the course a 10 hour day at work(GE Aviation). Be on the lookout in the coming months for an illustrated guide to the Gospel of John that I illustrated almost entirely this way.

I think the step in the creation that took the longest on this illustration of Cheif O'Brien was the color work in Photoshop. Painting the color always takes longer than I budget the time for. I always try to create a dramatic, visually appealing black and white drawing that stands alone. This time though the color really helps to sell what is going on in the scene, I think it came out well. I like the way the purple kayak jumps out at you from the river scene. I went with soft, gentle colors and tones for the rocks and boulders. I love the round shape of the boulders, they remind me of the stylized hills I drew in the children's book The Little Leaf by Jairo Penaranda.

I finished this job up and my client was happy with the finished product (thank you again Linda!). I hope the birthday recipient enjoys it too. Thanks for stopping by and reading about this project, I hope you enjoyed it. God bless you.

Patriotic Project August, 2023

Hello everyone! Much has changed in my life since I last posted. My wife Angela and I gathered up our family and all our belongings and have moved to the midwest, specifically Winfield, Kansas. It has been quite a journey, with many unexpected challenges, and many blessings along the way. Today I have drawings from a freelance job I was blessed with last month (when our family most needed it).

I was asked to create some illustrations with a patriotic theme, to be eye catching and brightly colored. For this project I was sending my client original artwork, instead of the usual digital files. So I set to work trying to figure out what images would convey patriotism. As you can see from these roughs I started out illustrating the song America the Beautiful. Then I tried charicatures of founding fathers, and great presidents. Abe was a winner, but I couldn't capture George quickly, so I gave up on that concept (I've never been great at charicatures). I also tried an Uncle Sam whom I have tried to draw before but never done a good drawing of, and of course a bald eagle.

America the Beautiful was just a little too ambitious, in the space I had to work with. I never progressed beyond thumbnail sketches with it. If I could have done each section and put them together digitally that probably would have worked, but it still would have taken too long to produce.

The Liberty Bell and the waving flag elements worked and were an easy choice. All those stars on the flag proved a big challenge at the size I was working at. So I switched to waving stripes.

Patriots, a minute man, another tighter, more refined eagle, and a colonial flag round out the group of final elements that I roughed out. I ended up using all of these as guides for my final drawings. Below is a draft of the Liberty Bell. I've never drawn it before, and I wanted it to be accurate. I think it came out pretty good. I looked at these tighter drawings in my sketchbook, using them as reference for the final drawings.

And here we have scans of the final artwork for the project. The client was happy with how it came out, and so was I. I hadn't used colored pencils for a piece of finished art in quite some time. It was fun to do something different for a change. I hope that you have enjoyed this break down of the process, seeing the rough work, and my final illustrations. May God richly bless you my friends, until next time.--Ryan

Sunday Sermon Series - Luke Chapter 12

Good day everyone, I hope you are well. Today I have an illustration for you from a passing comment in a sermon by Pastor Dennis on Luke chapter 12 verse 24: "Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!"

While Dennis talked about not worrying, I sketched this raven. He's not worrying. He has plenty to eat, and fine clothes too.

I didn't get to spend a lot of time on this piece, we have been quite busy around the Loghry household the last week. We are preparing for the arrival of the latest Loghry baby. A joyous and exciting time to be sure.

I'm happy with how he turned out, except for his shadow, that doesn't look correct to me. Also I really wanted ravens to have a bright yellow band in their eyes, but they really don't. For a quick piece, it is good enough though. He has character, I like him, and the slobby way he is chomping his seeds.

This pencil sketch was done with a Pentel .7mm P207 mechanical pencil in a Pentalic Sketchbook on 70lb paper. It was scanned and then colorized in PhotoShop. I hope you enjoyed this post, and that it encouraged you, made you think, or challenged you. God bless, and have a great day! --Ryan

Ordinary Day

I was stuck on the phone earlier this week with Centurylink, a telecommunications company that routinely disrupts our family life out here on the edge of the wilderness. They are a frustrating company to deal with at best.

As I spoke with their representatives, waited on hold, explained again, waited on hold held again, waited, explained, etc. etc. I doodled the happy/adorable (hopefully I pulled that off) hearts and clouds and rainbow you see here, as a way to keep myself from falling into the sin of anger.

Don't get me wrong. Jesus is much more than a smiley face I focus on in frustrating times. God is there in good times, terrible times, and all of the run of the mill, mundane times I face from day to day. Allistair Begg said in a sermon (The Mystery of History at Truth for Life) on the book of Ruth, that God is still at work in the ordinary things of life. The series of sermons he did on the book of Ruth (God of the Ordinary) are excellent by the way, you should give all nine of them a listen.

And that put me in mind of something we discussed in Sunday School recently about keeping our focus on God. Not as a lucky charm, or mental diversion. I keep my focus on God because that is how I should live every minute of my life, because Jesus is the example of how I am to live(Ephesians 5:1). Because if I am doing that then I will remember that the person on the other end of the line is a person that Jesus loves just as much as He loves me. And I can remember that even if it takes them 25 minutes just to pull up my account, that I should treat them just the same as I would like to be treated, kindly. With respect. Love one another baby.

So as I waded through the customer service call I doodled and thought about that sermon, and the lesson from Sunday School, and about Jesus, I rested in the truth that Jesus walks with me through every kind of day. I kept my temper. I spoke pleasantly (but sternly) with the Centurylink representatives. I didn't do it through gritted teeth, I did it sincerely. Not through my power, but through His.

As a bonus I now have this little animation to share with you. May it bring a smile to your face. More importantly may the words I have written here encourage and or challenge you. God bless, and have a great day! --Ryan

Sunday Sermon Series: Colossians 1:15-23

Good morning everyone, I hope you are well. Today I have an illustration for you from a sermon by Pastor Shaun Hart two weeks ago(to listen to that sermon click here). This illustration became so complicated that it took me longer than usual to assemble all the pieces.

The main point I took from this sermon and scripture is: Jesus in all things is first and foremost. Through Him all things were created. He is one with the Father, and through Jesus I am saved. Keeping my focus on Him both helps me through times of trouble, and keeps me from other troubles.

One illustration Shaun used to drive this point home was the story of Odysseus and the sirens from Greek mythology. The sirens if you recall were half bird, half fish creatures who would beguile or lure the sailors who were passing by. The sirens sang a song that was so beautiful the sailors would either sail right into the rocks, be shipwrecked and die, or they would jump overboard and try to swim to the rocks and be killed that way. When Odysseus heard of this he decided he could fix this problem. So he stopped up his ears with wax and tied himself to the mast so that he could not be seduced. In the Argonauts Orpheus tells Jason he has a different plan. Orpheus played on his harp a greater song, so great that the sailors never even heard the sirens.

A greater song. Such is the song that Jesus sings. His song is so much better on so many different levels that the songs we hear in this world. So much so that when we listen to Jesus, the songs of this world have no appeal to us. When Jesus is at the helm, the wind at my sails, and the very ship I sail only then can I manage this world.

As I worked on this illustration (which I would dearly love to have time to animate!) I listened as I often do to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. Through no coincidence I am sure, I was surprised to hear Alistair relating the same story to illustrate the exact same message. Here is the link to that sermon: Truth for Life. I had to go through quite a bit to find that link for you, apparently the archives for listening through your phone are completely different than those on the web here. Thankfully on the mobile app you can share a link to a sermon, so I shared it with myself and got you the link. Ovey. The whole sermon is great, the part I reference specifically is about 17 minutes in. You should give it a listen.

This pencil sketch was done with a Pentel .7mm P207 mechanical pencil in a Pentalic Sketchbook on 70lb paper. It was scanned and then colorized in PhotoShop. I hope you enjoyed this post, and that it encouraged you or challenged you. God bless, and have a great day! --Ryan

Sunday Sermon Series April 2, 2017

Howdy friends and neighbors! This week's drawing was inspired by a sermon by Pastor Shaun about seeing. Shaun's sermon was about what Jesus saw, specifically in Zaccheus (who was as we all know a wee little man, and a wee little man was he!).

This got me to thinking about how we as Christians see those around us. Do I see those in need around me? Do I share the hope that is Christ within me? Those were the questions I asked myself as I drew this.

I started with a scene I am familiar with, a bus commute. I spent 8 years riding buses and trains back and forth from Clark County to downtown Portland. Once the pencil drawing was completed and I had started on the colorization I realized I had dated myself. Not one of these commuters is looking at a smart phone. When I rode back and forth people read books, newspapers, some of the women knitted, I sketched. There were no smart phones. Make no mistake though, people were just as able and willing to turn the outside world off.

I thought about rendering the type in 14 different fonts, to make it more appealing to the Instagram crowd. But that's just not me. I kept the colors to a minimum, to help convey a glum feeling for the lost people on the bus. I purposely chose ugly colors for the bus seats, because I think it is fun to use those nauseating colors that were used everywhere in my youth. At my friend Matt's suggestion I colorized "Everyman's" hair so that it stands out from the blinders he wears. The pencil drawing is much "sketchier", or looser than my usual drawings posted here. This is not for effect but because I didn't have time to redraw any of it, so I just used my original sketch.

This pencil sketch was done with a Pentel .7mm P207 mechanical pencil in a Pentalic Sketchbook on 70lbs. paper. It was scanned and then colorized in PhotoShop. I hope you are encouraged by this post. God bless, and have a great day! --Ryan

Sunday Sermon Series March 5th, 2017

Hello everyone! Last Sunday I listened to Pastor Dennis Fuqua preach on Jesus' last big prayer(John 17). While the main topic of the sermon was how Jesus prayed, the concept I focused on is visualized in the illustration below. I think a lot of us spend too much time thinking of what we can ask God for (myself included here), and not enough time recognizing God's grace, and God's glory. God's glory is revealed in His creation. What does that have to do with a giraffe you ask? Well, let's see.

We all know giraffes are tall. Did you know that the giraffe's heart is approximately 18 inches long? It has to be huge in order to supply the pressure needed to push blood all the way up that long neck to the giraffe's brain. If that pressure was kept the same for a giraffe who is standing upright as it is for when it bends over (to say drink some water) the giraffe's head would explode.

So God designed the giraffe with a system of blood vessels like sponges and tiny spigots in the arteries which close when the head is lowered to keep the giraffe from suffering from a hemorrhagic aneurysm (yes, I had to look that up to spell it right), or as I call it: Explosive Head Syndrome. Then, when the giraffe stands back up the blood is released back into the system at pressure so that the giraffe doesn't pass out from lack of blood to the brain.

The giraffe is an amazing example of the beauty in God's design, and God's glory is revealed in the creation of the giraffe.

This pencil sketch was done with a Pentel .7mm P207 mechanical pencil in a Pentalic Sketchbook on 70lbs. paper. It was scanned and then colorized in PhotoShop. I use the brushes created by Kyle T. Webster, and highly recommend them. I hope you are encouraged by this post. God bless, and have a great day! --Ryan

Celtic Cross Autumn

Good morning everyone,

Here is the latest in my Celtic cross series. This one is a bit more involved, not in the intricate design on the cross itself but in the background, as you can see.

As usual I created this with a pencil and paper. The color is all done by painting on a single color layer in PhotoShop. I originally sketched the concept out last year, and spent a few evenings last week working out. The last time I spent this much time drawing leaves was when I illustrated Jairo Penaranda's book "The Little Leaf" which is available here. Like most people I enjoy fall, the bright colors in the trees. I'm especially enjoying it this year as we had such a hot dry summer here. I'm very thankful for the cooler temperatures, and the rain.

I chose simple colors, and gradations of a single color for each leaf, instead of multiple colors for the leaves. After spending a few days on the drawing I don't have the time to spend making a photo realistic painting (I've never enjoyed that style myself, why not just take a picture, and save the wear and tear on your hand and wrist?). I like to keep it simple too, it appeals to me.

This is a close-up of a portion of the pencil drawing before I colorized it in PhotoShop.

Thank you again for stopping by my blog. I hope that you enjoyed what I have shared with you here, and that you have a terrific day today, God bless. --Ryan

Snowy City Scene Animation

Good morning everyone!

Today I am sharing a rough animation I have created. I created this scene for my annual Christmas card and animation.

First I drew all the buildings and the train in pencil, scanned them, and colorized & knocked them out in PhotoShop. Next I rendered an animation(quicktime movie) of each one, then I took all those quicktime movies into After Effects and rendered each one with snow falling. On each piece of my "set", as they go further back into my scene I added a little camera lens blur, I did all of this to add to the depth of the scene.

I'm really disappointed with the compression on this. It looks SO much better on my computer here at home. Maybe some day I will find the right settings, that will make a clean and clear video that is small enough to upload from my connection here at home. I will try to replace this video at some point with a version that has better compression settings. Also, I'm not sure why but the animation is cropped. I created a 16x9 animation and this is not as wide as it should be. If you want to see it un-cropped go to my Vimeo page and view it there.

Next I will add riders on the train, and people in some of the windows in the apartments. Some of them will be animated, just a little. I'm only one person and I only have until the end of November. This animation was a huge first step though, proving I could create the look I wanted.

One thing that I needed to learn how to do again (because it had been two years since I did it last) was how to create a snow effect in After Effects. I watched this tutorial by Carlo (sorry if I spelled that wrong) on YouTube. The best thing about the internet is people sharing knowledge, helping each other out. His turorial was quick, concise, and he showed and described everything he did. Very helpful. Thank you to Carlo.

I hope you enjoyed this project, I hope to post a couple updates as I work on this over the next couple months. As always feel free to leave a comment, and to share this post with others. I hope you all have a terrific day, and thank you for stopping by.

Sunday Sermon Series: Prodigal Son July 26, 2015

Update!

Hey-howdy-hey, I made time to do a color version! Well, I needed a break from the chickens I had been drawing for weeks(and will be drawing for weeks to come, but more on that later...), so I spent the last four mornings colorizing the prodigal son and the pigs. this time I made extensive use of underpainting, which I don't normally do. I think it adds richness, and depth to the color. anyway... I hope you all enjoy it, and that you are staying cool.--Ryan

Howdy folks. Today's illustration is another in my Sunday Sermon Series, from this week's sermon at Hockinson Community Church. The sermon was about the prodigal son parable Jesus told and is found in Luke 15:11-32.

I have read this piece of scripture many times, and have heard at least two sermons that I recall on it. Pastor Andy's sermon had a little bit different take(as usual) than the other sermons I had heard. Andy has a terrific knowledge of life/society during Jesus times. I always knew that when the prodigal son asked for his inheritance and the freedom to leave that it was a slap in the face to his father. What I hadn't ever heard before was that it was so much more than that. In those times, and that society it would have been perfectly acceptable for the father to kill his son for the disgrace he had heaped upon him. So the prodigal son's sin could have, should have, cost him his life. But the father saw him coming and ran to him, forgave him, sacrificed the fatted calf for him, welcomed him back with open arms with no questions asked. "For this son of mine was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found." (Luke 15:24)

We suffer the same when we try to shake God off, and live for this world. But if we seek repentance God is always there, running towards us. The tag line sums up what I took from this sermon. I think we should routinely stop and look up from our busy, hectic routine. We should assess our lives, our direction, what we are doing and saying(and why we are doing and saying it), and see if it aligns with God's will(and please know that when I say we, I am most definitely including myself). It's easy to get off track in life, but it's also easy to get back on track. Just turn towards Him.

I did not have time to colorize the drawing this time. With the temperature back in the 90's this week I can spend very little time in my office. Also I have little time these days for work what with Angela, Stella and the boys and the house/chores needing my attention. I like the drawing itself, but am not one hundred percent happy with it. I was going for a more subtle expression of self realization/shock at his predicament for the prodigal son there. More of a "the fog is lifting "What the..." moment. As it is, he looks suspiciously like Marty Feldman if he stuck his finger in a light socket. That's fine because I always liked Mr. Feldman, but it wasn't what I was going for originally. But, with little to no time to rework things what you see is what you get around here these days.

As always I hope you enjoyed this drawing. I hope this post was informative to you and helps you in some way in your walk. Thank you for stopping by. God bless.--Ryan

Chip On A Bus

Today I'm sharing with you a sketch of Chip riding a bus. I'm working on a new story. Unlike the previous two picture books starring Chip this one is a middle grade book with illustrations. Probably a lot of illustrations, since I'm an illustrator/writer.

I have a lot of experience with buses. I used to ride an express to and from work in Portland each day for several years. I did a lot of sketching on those 40 minute rides.

Here we see Chip, and to a lesser extent his pal Fred who is sitting next to him. I have been drawing Chip for about 11 years now. One of the many things I like about writing a different kind of book like this (middle grade as opposed to picture book) is that I can be much more subtle. In a picture book you can't get away with the main character facing away from "the camera", in a big crowd. In a picture book your hero should be easy for the little kids to spot.

The guy coming up the stairs is a minor character, whose only job was to start the story off. But then I changed the whole beginning of the story, and this scene doesn't exist anymore. I won't tell you his name, because it was so good I'm recycling it and using it as the name of the antagonist in the new version of the story. Ha! Cliff hanger there.

As usual this drawing was done in a sketchbook, with pencil. No color on this because I don't have time to colorize a drawing I'm not going to use these days.

I hope you all are having a terrific day, take care, and God bless. --Ry

Sunday Sermon Series

Last Sunday our sermon was about the story of Ruth. Ruth is a story about how God redeems broken lives, brings light to the darkness.

One of the points Pastor Mike touched on was how Naomi's faith was highly visible to those around her. Naomi's faith made a big impact on her daughters-in-law, both of whom refused to leave her side even though their husbands (her sons) had died. Ruth went so far as to return to Naomi's homeland with her (a land that was a bitter enemy of Ruth's birthplace, Moab), and help provide for Naomi. Picture giving up your life here, moving to Iraq, or Iran for good to help your mother-in-law after your spouse has just died.

Rather than do what was easy or comfortable for herself, Ruth did what was best for Naomi. Ruth had seen something in Naomi that convinced her to do this. She had seen Jesus, she had seen "love one another" worked out day after day in Naomi's words and actions. It led me to think about how hard I try to "love one another", and how much harder I should be trying.

So as I listened to the sermon I drew this sketch. Jesus is seen directing Naomi. She is providing for a man, maybe a homeless man, I don't know, but a person in need. He definitely suffers from cartoony giant feet.

I hope you enjoyed this drawing, and thank you for stopping by.

Looping Seaside Animation

Hi everyone!

I spent the last few days creating this animation for the About/Contact page on my website. I asked a pal of mine(David Walters) how to avoid collecting spam through my contact page and he suggested CAPTCHA, which is great, but it would have taken me at least a couple weeks to dope it out and get it running right. I never have that kind of time. So instead I decided that it would be really hard for bots to scan and scrape an email address from a moving image, and since I love to draw and animate I went to work.

Ryan's Boats from ryanloghry.

I used muted colors, and pencil texture (in the pier, and the gull on the piling) to help this piece blend with my illustration style. I should have some artsy-fartsy, fancy pants reason, but I don't. I just really like the look of washed out color, translucent, so you can see the pencil work through it.

I was kind of bummed that the tops of all the buildings on the pier got cropped, but in order to get them close enough to see them, they were too tall for the frame. So Here is a small version of that drawing.

I also sketched some gulls sitting on top of the buildings, but they would have been so small, they would have been confusing. I might go back and add a couple 3D ones in though, so I can move them a little. We'll see.

Here is my original pencil sketch, all I had at first was the idea about the boats. When I put that scene together it looked so sparse, I knew I needed to add some more elements. So I drew the pier, and then built the clouds and the seagulls in 3D. The gulls were fun to animate. I still might add something in the foreground on the right hand side, to give the scene more depth.

I hope you enjoyed this peak behind the scenes. I sure enjoyed creating it. --Ryan

Celtic Cross

Hi everyone! Here is my latest drawing. As you can see I really enjoy drawing these Celtic crosses.

This particular drawing has significantly more detail than any other cross I have drawn so far. I added more Christian symbolism this time; the alpha and omega on either side of the globe, and the seven roses. The gears represent the intricate workings of God's creation. The distressed quality on the gears is meant to reflect the fallen nature of our world.

As usual this drawing was done with a mechanical pencil. This time I used a paper with a much smoother tooth, which allowed for more detail. I hope you enjoy it, as always feel free to leave a comment.

Pitching Sequence Third Pass

So here is the last pencil test version of this animation. I've roughed out all the frames I need to create a compelling and convincing animation. It will take me a couple weeks at least to produce the 34 final drawings of the main character, and then I still have to put a little action in the crowd in the background.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about and watching this process, and the end result when I get it posted. Have fun and God bless. -- Ryan

Secondary Pass

As promised here is the second pass of the pitching sequence animation. With my schedule the way it is anymore it took me a few days.

When I was finally able to view what I have here I realized that his back leg lands right next to his front leg, and if he were really throwing a pitch the follow through would carry his back foot way out in front of his front foot. Also, I need to speed up the second half of his motion, to give his pitch some ZIP. SO... I'll need to re-animate the last few frames, and add some more. Then I can get back to the crowd in the background. Once I get that doped out I can start on the final drawings. Easy Peazy.

Pitching Sequence

Here is a pencil test for a new project I'm working on. I threw the background in to make it a bit more interesting for you the viewer. I'll do finished drawings for the pitcher next, maybe add a little more exaggeration, and then I'll draw the crowd a couple times over, to give them a little movement, not much but just enough so that they aren't frozen. That crowd part will probably be take the longest.

I'm going to add a few in between frames to this, but I like the flow of his pitching action, so I don't think I'll make any big changes.

This is a small part of a bigger project I'm working on, a children's book and animation. With digital books/apps being what they are these days I'm excited about adding little clips of animation that the reader/viewer can activate within the story. I'm hoping it will add to the experience.

Speaking of children's books, remember you can still get "The Little Leaf" (written by Jairo Penaranda Illustrated by yours truly) at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. If you have an iPad you can get an interactive version of my book "The Searcher" (written and illustrated by yours truly) via iBooks. As always thank you for stopping by, and have a terrific day.

New Animation Tools = New Animation!

Ice Skating Test Animation from ryanloghry

Hi everyone! Merry Christmas! I've been saving up for almost a year now, and last week for my birthday/early Christmas present I got the rest of the funds needed to get the Production Premium Adobe package I've been needing for a few years. Adobe has finally added inverse kinematics, and what they are calling 3D options, and I'm am very excited about the special effects possible in After Effects(like the snow you see in this animation). So I sat down over the weekend and put this little loop together. I only had a couple of hours to devote to it, but I learned SO MUCH. My hope is to continue to add to this piece, to make it more interesting. Here is the original Christmas card from last year, so you can see the starting point for this animation:

I just had to share the fun and excitement I feel. Enjoy! (P.S. I set the animation up to loop, so don't wait for it to end, cause it won't.

An Animated Interview with Cyrus

I created this animation in the spring of this year. "An Animated Interview with Cyrus" was done as an audition for a job that I still might get. One of the hazards of working for a group of people is sometimes you have to be patient while they decide what to do.

I really cranked this one out in a short amount of time, 4 weeks. Sounds like a long time, but consider I'm one guy and had to do sound recording, character design, lip synch, character animation(all be it limited animation), backgrounds, editing, and... I guess that's all.

An Animated Interview With Cyrus from ryanloghry.

The sweet banjo riff was provided by my friend Alan Hayes. We recorded in his bathroom(no ticking clocks in that room). Thanks again Alan! Cyrus is voiced by Cyrus Patton a friend of mine from church. I asked him a series of questions and he was a real trooper. (I asked him after he got to see the finished piece and he said he thought it was cool to see himself as an alligator.) I edited out the replies I felt were best, and created my master audio track to animate to, and went to work.

I scanned my pencil drawings and colorized them in Photoshop, creating the finished pieces I needed to animate. I then animated in Photoshop, and exported Quicktime movies which I then pieced together in AVS Video Editor (Unfortunately Adobe video editing suite, and no, I'm not going to rent it for $50 a month via the cloud thank you, I don't rent my skill saw, or a hammer when I want to use those tools).

The entire project was inspired by Aardman Animation's "Creature Comforts", which I highly recommend you check out if you haven't seen it already. I was going for quaint, cute, adorable. I hope I achieved that, I hope you enjoy watching it.

Gospel & Grub

Gospel & Grub from ryanloghry on Vimeo.
I created this animated short to promote a dinner and gospel sing night at Hockinson Community Church, to raise money for one of the missionaries we (and Yacolt E-Free Church) support - Jill Wellman. Jill is taking a team on an outreach trip this summer (2013). The deadline was extremely short, I had a week start to finish. I'm not thrilled with the audio quality, but I did the best I could there with no sound studio or professional equipment. I used the ipad and Wave Pad software to capture the sound.

As for the animation itself I scanned my illustrations and animated in PhotoShop using layers and then exporting frames as QT movies. Then I edited each scene's qt movie together with the sound .wav file. After I knocked off all of the scenes I took each mixed (sound and video) qt movie and edited them together. Easy peasy. The voice over styling of Iris Wellman, myself, and Roy Loghry were used in the piece, and that is Alan Hayes on the banjo in the intro, and exit of the piece. A big thank you to them and my wife Angela for all their help.

The animation is choppy, more so than I usually do, but that is due to the time constraints. There is also very limited secondary motion (arms, legs and other appendages moving about to create the illusion of life), again due to a lack of time. Another big time saver was re-using a background image from a farm illustration used in my children's book The Searcher.

I hope you enjoy the piece, feel free to comment here and share the link. -- Ryan