CCS Film Showcase Article

Much thanks to Tiffany Esshaki for including my work is a recent article for candgnews.com. The article features information on the work by myself and a number of good friends of mine to be hosted at the CCS Film Showcase on, July 28th, by The Stratton Foundation. The article also mentions the ARMSmasters Project - promotion greatly appreciated as the Project itself furthers its Kickstarter campaign. You can read the full article here.

And as always, you can help make the ARMSmasters animated pilot episode a reality through our Kickstarter fundraiser, and get awesome swag for your donations!

Back from Ottawa 2010

 Another year, another wonderful stint at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. While I admittedly felt that the selection of films this year was a slight bit more timid then in years previous, it was an excellent time none the less, and the films that did stand out were stellar, as always. It was a great event, with great people - I met so many awesome animators - professional and student alike - caught up with old friends. As always OIAF delivered, and good times were had by all. I thought I'd share a collection of photos taken form this year's flimapalooza. Enjoy - my mates and I sure did! :)

1) The Television trolley markers returned again this year, rebuilt and schnazzy as ever. 2) How I spent the majority of the festival this year - screening dozens of animated short and feature-length films. 3) Niles and I enjoying breakfast at the fabulous Cora's.

1) Ottawa being positively lovely at dusk. 2) Heading into the bustling Byward Market late-afternoon.

1) I was fortunate enough to snag an interview slot with Disney during this year's Animator's for Hire event. 2.) My pass! :)

1) My roommates were also, consequently, my hotel roomies for this year's festival, which was great fun :D Niles, Patrick, and Kerry! 2.) How animators start their morning: Doodles and a hot cuppa Joe.

Disney Feature Animation's Patrick Osborne talks about his work on Tangled.

 1) Myself and my other half - OIAF 2010 gets official Nerd Approval. 2) The latest addition to our animated household. 3) Niles and Patrick, and a whole lot of silly to go around.

I also wanted to mention that I was fortunate to get pulled into a studio feature project recently, and it will have the brunt of my attention over the next few weeks, so my posts here may slow just a bit. However, commissions are back on and in-progress, so keep an eye out for those as I start posting those up once again!

Cheers,

Mel

MMA Vlog 001: Portfolio Madness!

My 150th post to this humble little blog begets its first video blog post. Do excuse my intensely haggard, under-slept appearance/voice here - it's been an impossibly busy roller coaster of a past few weeks in general, and the lack of rest is definitely whooping my butt by this time of the morning. Anyhow! Here's a quick update on what's going on at the moment (Swimming in portfolios! Eek!) and what'll be coming up soon. It may also be an interesting look into self-promotion for animators/artists, as I know I've got quite a few art students watching. :) I hope this is helpful.

This Vlog mentions:

• OIAF 2010
• Niles Bontrager
• Patrick Stannard

Cheers (And I swear, I'm going to go get some sleep now),
Mel

Color Pups and a New Look.

Dominic & Kayo

I actually drew this rather quickly months ago, and the sketch fell to the wayside. Between waiting on information needed to proceed with my next commission, having been illustrating so many humans lately, and knowing I have a couple of canine-related commissions coming up, I thought it'd be a good idea to get in some color-practice on something fuzzy. Also was the need to overcome a recent obstacle - my Wacom tablet has been DOA for months: I've been coloring strictly with the use of a mouse for as long, and hadn't yet really had the opportunity to tackle a stylized and timely method of coloring fur at length. This was the perfect opportunity to do so, and I enjoy the results.

A Spankin' New Look

Also, my newly re-designed double-sided business cards, created in eager anticipation for this year's Ottawa International Animation Festival. Last year's theme was a simple Caravan layout - this year, it's mirroring my new website at www.melmillerart.com. The print version, I should note, will contain my phone contact on the back as well. 

Cheers,
Mel

Animation

My ever-changing animation portfolio, as I'm constantly looking to improve upon it in any way that I can. This portfolio is typically 12 pages long. At the moment, this version is sans a page of character design concept work that is still under NDA, as well as a page of animal study drawings, which I'm revisiting entirely as this year's Ottawa International Animation Festival approaches (which yes, I certainly will be attending once again this year, my 4th year running. I'm so looking forward to it - always do!) That said, the portfolio:

Thanks for viewing,
-Mel

OIAF2009 Photo Recap

For the past three years running, I've attended the Ottawa International Animation Festival - every year, it's a positively wonderful experience. The festival, without fail, offers its attendees an absolutely inspiring host of animated films, as well as lectures and meet-and-greets with a number of industry pros and companies. This year was certainly no different - it was a stellar trip, and in all honesty, I'm already looking forward to next year's event!

Of particular excitement for my other half, Niles, was the viewing of his film CodeMonkey (Which I helped work on) at one of the festival's after parties this year to a positive reception. We also had the chance to speak with a number of lovely folks throughout the festival. I thought I'd share some of the experience through a couple of the menagerie of photos I took this year. I hope you enjoy!

Above: (left) The (Rather sweet) retro TV's signifying bus stops this year, as well as (right) a shot of the Bytown Cinema.

Above: Don Hertzfeldt sits down for an interview at the Evening with Don Hertzfeldt event - a wonderfully intriguing and entertaining experience. Below: (left) Don Hertzfeldt (right) and director Henry Selick (Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas)

Above: Story Supervisor Ronnie Del Carmen, during "The Making of Pixar's UP" Below: (left) Ronnie Del Carmen (right) and the Cartoon Network Animator's picnic, pumpkin carving contest and all! :)



Above: Last but certainly not least, one of the utmost highlights of my year - the opportunity to meet Mr. Eric Goldberg, whose work and wonderful spirit I both greatly admire.

More artwork to come.
Cheers,
♥Mel

OIAF 2008

A visual medley put together quickly today of photos and clips taken from my trip to the 2008 Ottawa International Animation Festival. Set to "Life in Technicolor" by Coldplay.

Available in a high quality version on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgo_gKMu4J8

-Mel

www.melmillerart.com

In anticipation for Ottawa (http://ottawa.awn.com/) this upcoming weekend, I've purchased a domain name for my up and coming website which, for now, forwards here to my official artwork blog. You can now reach this page through http://www.melmillerart.com, an address that is now featured upon my new Ottawa 2008 edition of business cards. On that note, here are my four new card designs, (which will be accompanying a 36 page portfolio for everyone's perusal) destined for Canada!

Take care,
Mel