Montreal





Just when you think you are getting good at drawing... you happen upon the French! :) We found some AMAZING comics in Montreal this weekend. French Artists are incredible, and there is such a diversity of style and content! We had a hard time escaping the bookstore. I picked up a book by Aude Picault and one by Michel Rabagliati, and a couple random children's books. Its all very inspiring, and helping me get better at speaking French. Visiting the Motherland was quite nice, though I didn't see any LaPointes on the obelisk of the first arrivals... guess farmers don't get obelisk recognition. C'est la vie. Haha, here are a few of my sketches from the trip:

Pauline's Pizza




So besides having some very delicious pizza, turns out they also have the best tables to draw on! A combination of white stock paper covering white, polyester ribbed fabric makes for a nice texture. Combined with a small bucket of broken crayons.. awesome. We went to town on it! Its possible we made a spectacle of ourselves...but SO many interesting people to draw in the Mission. Its a gold mine of characters!

APE!



Hello viewers!
This year I'm actually going to be part of APE, not just visiting! Thats right, its going to be the CHICK Pixar Artist table (independently of the studio of course). Its down to the superbly Katy Wu and myself, but isn't that reason enough to visit? Have you seen Katy's work!!? I'll be selling "Mermaids in the Desert". Its a first attempt for all of us at an official-table set-up. Maybe it will rain again this year too. Terrible if you were buying prints, awesome if you are from the East Coast and miss rain. :) See you all there! Come by and say "hi" to us, we will be somewhere in the back, table 216!




Flamenco





So, my best friend Sara is an amazing dancer.  Really, she walks and its like a dance. Well, I went to visit her for the last time in LA before she leaves there, and got to sit in on her Flamenco dance class, Advanced. Needless to say I was in awe.  It looks pretty tough to learn, so fast, so much rhythm.  Well, drawing dancers is always tough, it really works that brain muscle of trying to take quick stills in your head and remember them as long as you can to get something down. I ended up doing mostly tiny quick gestures to get the basic movements down. 

SketchCrawl!











SketchCrawl is awesome!! Shame on me for not getting out sooner! It was really a great day, and so refreshing to simply take a day to draw.. and in my favorite city, San Francisco.  North Beach had the Autumn Moon festival going on in Chinatown and an Italian Festival going on, simultaneously... easy to love SF.  The San Francisco Boys Choir drawing is probably my favorite of the lot.  The seals at Fisherman's Wharf.. um, smell pretty terrible, but its hard not to gawk for a while.. so MANY of them!!  I also met a lot of new, very talented artists, and got some solid sketches in.  Here are some of the results.



Evolution of ME Style



My friend Sara sent me a link today.  This kid is brilliant.  I thought, wow, well I was never as cool as this kid, but had my fair share of eccentricity of style with where I was...Virginia Beach.  And I started doing a drawing of my outfit I thought was SO awesome in 6th grade... had these red and white stripe tights.  If another kid ever made fun of me, I didn't hear it.  Plus I wasn't in a mindset to care if they had... probably a more odd eccentricity of middle school than clothing.  By 8th grade I was tiny but wearing skirts my Mom wore in high school in the late 60s! (and she thought she was fat?!)  Well, I decided to draw some outfits from grade school, from first day of Kindergarden up to High School.  Just a few, and really, these aren't the most bizarre ones obviously, but some of the favorite ones I remember.  I have to say, I still love drawing outfits, I don't know how other lady-artists feel, but I was always disappointed in the lack of outfits in cartoons.  


Okay, I had so much fun doing these that I went back in and added 'college' and 'now'.  Now is with a coat...what can I say, thats San Francisco. 

8 Storyboard/Life Tips from Justin Wright

Having reached Justin's birthday, March 8, and brinking on the anniversary of his passing,March 18, I thought it would be nice to put up some things I learned from him.  8 is my magic number, and another factoid of it is that Justin and I were born exactly 5 months apart, on the 8th.  Here are my 8 Storyboard/Life Tips from Justin Wright:

1.)  "Draw Everything!" 
 And he meant, everything.  "That lamp. That desk..."  He would say to practice drawing all types of objects, and if I'm not mistaken, added in drawing things in different perspectives.  Cause, yea, you are going to be doing some rather quick and difficult perspectives regularly.  

2.) Learn to draw hands.  Well, this is just something he was helping me with specifically, and he made some worksheets for me.  See them attached. 

3.) Comp layers.  Okay, so HE used these in Photoshop, I never do, but he found them extremely useful when doing pans or tracking shots.  In fact, I SHOULD get in the habit of them to make smoother boards that move.  Justin was super adept at Photoshop tricks.. he picked a lot of them up working fixes on Wall-e

4.) Be friendly.  Justin knew so many people!  He had worked doing so many odd jobs I think at Pixar.  He was a P.A. first, back when they were at Point Richmond.  And he had a LOT of respect for people in all types of jobs at the studio, knowing first hand, the demands of different jobs. Plus, he was just a fun guy to talk to. 

5.) Having an opinion without being a Jerk. Anybody who knew Justin knew he had very strong opinions, and while he might have come off TOO strong to some, you'd have to figure out that he just had a lot of passion, and was one of the most open-minded people. Having an opinion in Story and backing it up with ideas, explanation is good. But also being a listener and taking in what others say is equally as pivotal in order to come to the best possible solution.  

6.) Brainstorm with a like-minded friend.  Now, I'd have to say that Justin and Matthew had more of this going on then even me and Justin, but when having to come up with story and gag ideas, there is nothing like having a like-minded friend to bounce things off of.  That magic connection between friends gains the snowball momentum and the next thing you know you have some brilliant solutions. The absolute BEST DAY I have ever had at Pixar thus far was the first story day on PRESTO, with Justin, Ted and Doug.  I never laughed so hard, consistently for so long.  A whole day!  They were hilarious.  Can you imagine, your job, for a whole day is to make up jokes about a rabbit, a magician and two magic hats?  The drawings were ridiculous and the memory fantastic. 

7.)Let yourself be excited.  This, I feel, was just a great thing about being around Justin.  He never lost enthusiasm for working at Pixar.  I'm serious, if he complained, which of course he did often as we all do, it seemed to revolve more around things that might affect the culture or creativity in a negative way, and ridding them.  So.. that might sound like a conundrum:  to complain about complaining or something...but there you have it.  The ends of the complaint was to a positive.  

8.)Working on relationships is just as important as working on work.  The last time I spoke to Justin, he had come by to ask me if I wanted to go over and watch some of the Wall-e scoring in the main theater.  He stepped in my cube, clapped his hands loud next to me and I jumped out of my chair terrified.  (He did this to me a lot.)  He laughed hysterically then gave me the thumb up, arm movement saying "Come on, lets go."  I declined cause I had a lot of fixes to get done that day.  It had passed through my thoughts that I had missed a moment there, but then thought back of how many lunches, coffee runs and games of pool, I had with Justin.   We hungout a lot at work and still managed to always get our work done anyway.  There are a few times I regret not having spent the opportunities with him and Ashlee, on a double date though.  Times when we could have, but we were too tired or had work.  I feel very blessed to have had the time I did with him though.  He had a strong impact on a lot of people, including myself, with skills and with less tangible improvements.   So, remember folks, working on relationships is as important as working on work.  


PS:  I am still working on a 
'Justin' book.  But yea, 
this one is going to be a lot longer coming than even "Mermaids in the Desert"... WHICH, that one is being printed!! HURRAY!!!

















Yea!!! Ashlee actually found a new photo with me and Justin in it:  

Lolly's Box.. yea you can finally watch it for free

So, every once and a while I have to do a google search on myself to find out where my films are. Sometimes I get emails, sometimes not.  USC owns and distributes your films if you ever made a student film there.  Which is mostly good, and they don't really retain prize money or anything (I don't think).  Though, alas, little did I know USC put my film on the internet.  Well,  Lolly's Box at least.  This quicktime is pretty low res.  The original is actually HD and really crisp.  But as far as I know USC is one of the only places with HD projector.  wha wa (that was a sound effect by the way).  Its run its course in film festivals.  This little film has done wonders, including getting me to Annecy, France and gaining a student Academy Award nomination (had to throw that in there... it shocked me!)  .. OH, and to end yet again with alluding to another masterful film of someone elses, you should check-out a True student Academy Award winning short, my friend Shih-Ting's film:  Viola: The Traveling Rooms of a Little Giant (thats part of it anyway).
 















I'll update eventually, but you never know when :) www.valerielapointe.com 


Someday You Will Be Loved










































Interesting link. I guess this person decided to do a version of our video. What do they say? Copying is the greatest form of compliment? If you don't know... well... now I'm going to tell you: couple years ago, I worked as the head animator for a Death Cab music video for "Someday You Will Be Loved", concept by Ace Norton. It was a pretty excruciating animation process. The x-sheet was very intricate, having to shoot straight ahead (mostly for time constraints). I had gone through the song in Final Cut, breaking down the song to find the rhythm for the heart beat to sync up. We shot in a garage on a slightly too-tall green-screen set up (only for it to end up just a black background.. oh well). Fortunately two awesome friends and animators David Bazelon and Hsin-I Tsung (now married which is also awesome!) helped animate with me and constructed the rats from strange toys and clay bits. They are definitely unbeatable when it comes to patience and enthusiasm. I think my body took a solid week to recuperate from animating 3 1/2 minutes in 2 days, and might have knocked a solid week of the end of my life. BUT, in the end we were really proud of it. I made all the hearts, which, if I remember right were on something like a 4 heart cycle, then making big versions and small versions and scarred versions... yea it was pretty old school style animation. I gave Ace a few, but I have most of them still, in a box. 3 on my wall actually. I have to say I really love stop-motion. The tactile quality and permanence of the outcome. The real video folks. (which obviously was not put in the right ratio... again, oh well) And yea, we built up all that red clay, the bandage and respirator hands are mine, the band-aid one is Ace, the hammer arms are Hsin-I. And too top this off with something extraordinary in stop-motion: I recently I made a new friend at work, Carlo, who made an AMAZING animated short you should check out: For Sock's Sake.


Mermaids in the Desert... coming soon


and, here I am... putting something old up.  BUT the NEW news is that I'm actually UPLOADING images for the book.... to actually print it.  I've changed the title from "Jaune" to "Mermaids in the Desert" and painted a cover and everything.  Here is one of the pages, sort of sets the tone of what to expect.  Exhibiting a little Emily-Homage. 


Babies everywhere!!


Its raining babies!  Or at least in my world.  And while, thats not on my personal horizon for the moment, they are all around.   Including my soon-to-be-born, first, new NIECE!  Now, while I have only known my brother-in-law for a few years;  I have known my sister all my life.  The story goes, she was talking and walking at 9 months, speaking both French and English, and particularly tiny.  So, mix that with my brother-in-law's English freckles and red-undertones... I'm imagining something like this, by this time next year.

Corny Cole

Article about Corny

Corny Cole, an amazing artist and inspiring drawing instructor, lost the majority of his life's drawings and irreplaceable pets recently in the fires of Southern California.  Most of you probably already know and have been sending donations to help him out.  Corny is truly an amazing person, his art is incredible, but that aside, he is simply a very caring and wonderful human being.  He was certainly a highlight of my USC experience, and later spending time with him teaching at CSSSA up at Calarts.  Here are some photos I took from CSSSA 2005.  






There seems to still be interest in doing an Art Auction to raise money for him.  I hope the idea doesn't fizzle out.  I'll be working on a painting from  an older drawing I did while in his class.  Its called "Grace Crosses the Atlantic."  The drawing was on paper and I've been digitally painting over it to work out color.  Though it will be painted on a canvas with acrylic.  Color is still a whole new battle ground for me.  Anyway, if an Auction happens for Corny, this painting is the current plan for it. 



The Dollar Store


So apparently Dollar Stores are having to scale back there selection... the economic "crisis" has effected even them.  Everything is a CRISIS these days.  I haven't heard a single topic on NPR that hasn't been labeled such.  So, now we have a DOLLAR STORE CRISIS on our hands.  Name-brand tic-tacs, cheap car oil... say goodbye to such luxury dollar items my friends.  Though if you too, are veering away from fossil fuel injected items and staying away from 'eating dinosaurs', the Dollar Store might not be your store of choice.  But, while I may have not stepped foot in one for a few years, I have to say I have fond memories: another product of 1980s childhood.  Though, in our book, tic-tacs were never so hot as the "braclets you can fill with candy" and other edible accessories.  So here is my next drawings for the post:  Shopping with Mom and another moment with cousin Beth.  

Les Mistons



A while ago, I saw this French New Wave short "Les Mistons."  I really liked it, and recently found it on YouTube.  Its by Francois Truffaut.  The image of the girl riding the bike is really  beautiful and the story from the point of view of these boys at an awkward middle-school age.  Its a pretty "French" movie I guess, not something that would have likely been made in the US at the same time.  I'm a sucker for narration as well, being TOLD a story.  Well, a little while ago I saw this poster in a shop in San Francisco, and it seemed to bring me back to the film.  From it all, I did my own little drawing...



August 8, 2008



So, August 8.  My birthday and (as I found out this year) the Feast Day of St. Dominic!  Also in the year of 8.8.8, which is pretty fantastic.  So my tribute for this awesome month:  The meeting of St. Dominic and St. Francis of Assisi,  an interesting story...

(alright, in all the flipping to correct their clothes and stuff, now I'm noticing they are shaking with the wrong hands... sigh... c'est la vie... maybe thats how they did it in the 1200s...?)

Girls!!


So apparently when I was little I use to call my older sisters "girls."  A duo of older siblings who took me as the monster baby who bit and pulled hair for a long time.  Ultimately I treated my little brother the same way they did me... fortunately, in the end, we all get along great now. Here's a little memory.  The live audio version of this actual event can be heard on a rough, bright yellow, fisher price tape tucked away in a storage bin in my apartment.  The 'radio play' performance of "Ewok Talk."  Nicky proclaims "Oh Chee Cha Choo Nicky, Oh Chee Cha Choo Cindy.  Oh Chee Cha Choo Nicky get mad!" While the 4 year old me screams:  "Girls! Girls can you let me in? Girls!"

Story Auction




A little late, but here is a post of the two paintings I contributed to our INSANELY successful auction at work, in the story department. We raised money to decorate our common hangout area (part of it is going to charity as well). So many of the guys (and other gal, Emma) made AMAZING work that went for deservedly amazing prices! Which, very early on I could no longer afford, and therefore have come out without purchasing anything. But it was really inspiring to see everyone's own ideas/styles on display. These paintings were each 5 inches square and go together as a little set. I'm actually not sure who ended up with them. Last I knew, two women were in a bidding match over them... which was a fun ego boost, I must say. :) These are in the vain of the sort of style/themes I've been working with. I like using flat space, well, sometimes with an occasional hint* of depth and some very bright colors. Thematically... hopefully coming off with some humor and not cringes. Its called "Tiger Lilly kicks Wendy." The blond hair inspired by the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan, and the idea coming from my friend Sara giving me the noun "feather" to run with.

On a smaller, more embarrassing note, I sang with the story band Plot Device, after the auction. It was nice that things have fizzled out, since I was nervous... silly I know, but I haven't sang in front of people since.... high school! (not counting karaoke ). But, I think I did alright... considering I'm not a singer. Man, singing with a live band.... a LOT harder than it seems... especially without drums. Another thing to add to the list of super respect for those who do it all the time. Rock n' Roll rock n' roll bands. rock n' roll.

Sam



Our family dog, Samantha had to be put down yesterday. The only animal I ever loved. Seriously, I'm not an animal person, but my dog was awesome. She was the best for night walks... since Mom would never let me go for one until I told her I was taking Sam. And she was a good listener, huggable and not a yippy-step-on-me dog. She had a lot of anxiety whenever we all left the house, always worrying about us. Her and the fat-cat combo gave us all a lot of laughs. She was a good dog. Often, when it rains, it pours.