WHITTY REMARKS

Save The Date

2011-03-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

I've been working on save the date designs for my wedding. Here's the one I'm happiest with, sans text.

"CTY_CLR"

2011-01-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

I went to watch Tim Schweiger play some acoustic songs at County Claire here in Milwaukee last night and made a few drawings while I was listening. I also recommend the Sugar Stems here in town if you haven't heard them by now. I didn't realize that a few tracks from a mixtape Tim made me were from the band, and Betsy from Sugar Stems played them in amazing form last night.

"Here to There"

2010-11-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

I currently play bass in the midwest folk band Conrad Plymouth.
A few months ago I created a video for our song "Here to There" from our self-titled 10" clear vinyl EP. The amazing visual geniuses over at Urbagrarian captured our performance of the same song live at the High Noon Saloon in Madison, WI.

Here are both pieces for you to enjoy!

Live:

Conrad Plymouth "here to there" Live @ the High Noon Saloon from ryan heraly on Vimeo.

Music Video:

Conrad Plymouth "Here to There" from Whitty Remarks on Vimeo.

"Daydream Johnny"

2010-09-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

A little over two years ago I holed up inside my house and spent two weeks with a four-track cassette recorder with the goal of recording a loop journal intuitively. The end result of these attempts have surfaced in various formats, but none more exciting to me than its return to cassette. The Daydream Johnny EP will be available for the first time on a limited run of 50 cassettes to everyone when Golden Coins plays at the Cactus Club here in Milwaukee on October 4th with the spatially-resounding Strand of Oaks.

You can listen to and download the Daydream Johnny EP here:
http://goldencoins.bandcamp.com/

I would also suggest giving Strand of Oaks the old college try over @ eMusic.
It's a wonderfully crafted album that dives in and out of folk-ish black metal and 80's-style synthesizer work. "Pope Killdragon" is the baby of the bearded one they call Timothy Showalter.

"The Crooner"

2010-06-14T10:34:00.001-07:00

I forgot about his guy, which I finished around Valentine's Day for a window display right before leaving the store. I should have taken the photograph in color, but I neglected that notion. This was sketched out in pencil and then finished in India ink. The background texture is red acrylic.

"For the Record"

2010-06-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

I used to work a record store here in Milwaukee and forgot that I had these. Just thought I would post them to show you the kind of pieces I did towards the end of my time spent working there. Nothing too special, but I would consider these relatively acceptable portfolio pieces.

"The Big Let Down"

2010-05-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a design for the upcoming Tim Schweiger+ the Middlemen show featuring my band Golden Coins as the opener. This design feels a bit Van Halen-esque, but I like the way it tends to lean toward the punctuation style of drawing I've been working with. Let me know what you think...

"The Cougar Code"

2010-05-25T20:27:00.001-07:00

My girlfriend is a teacher here in the Milwaukee Public School System. I was asked to make posters for specific areas in the school, with a uniform layout and interchangeable text. This is the first stab at the project. Their mascot is a cougar, and I was told he is too wimpy and looks high. So another post with revised drawing will follow. For now, I have failed to appease the school's elder council of rule posters.

"Jaundy the Octopus"

2010-04-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

Awhile back my pal Mitch sent me a drawing he started and asked me to finish it as a collaborative effort to see what would happen. I didn't have access to a tablet until recently, so the other day I felt it was time to finish this guy. I inked and colored this drunken jaundice-stricken octopus that Mitch started in colored pencil.

" *uncollected voices, on The orchard moan "

2010-04-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

Every now and then you come across art or music that really inspires something in your own work. Old Earth (Todd Umhoefer) is usually one of my artistic muses. His music, poetry and general well-being are continuing sources from which I draw (in this case, quite literally). So here's a quick portrait of Old Earth, who is sharing his most recent collection of music and poetry tonight at Mi-Keys on Jefferson St. here in Milwaukee. I'm also working on an animation for his anchor piece "orchard" from the 20+ minutes of music and spoken word titled "*uncollected voices, on The orchard moan".

"Congratulations on Your Garbage"

2010-04-10T15:49:00.001-07:00

I wasn't a huge advocate of the last MGMT full-length, but I liked some of the songs enough. I heard the new one recently and this pretty much sums up how I feel about it.

"The Quivertail"

2010-04-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

My pal Mitch told me "How To Train Your Dragon" was awesome, and it inspired a blog he draws for to run with a dragon theme for the week. Here's my contribution, which will be posted on the Toilet Rice Comics blog tomorrow. Check out their other artists, there's some really thoughtful stuff happening over there!

"Hoppy Easter"

2010-04-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

A little holiday cheer.

"Isopod Bieber Fly Dance Squad"

2010-03-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

I saw an article online today about a creature that latched onto a submarine scraping the bottom of the ocean. When the sub surfaced, they found the "giant isopod" stuck to the side. I googled the thing, and after much thought decided it would probably want to try out for Justin Bieber's dance crew because they're so hot right now... but to whom, I'll never know.

"Chester Clyde Falls on Hard Times"

2010-03-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

I stole a pal's idea of starting with a shape to create a character. This is the second drawing from that exercise. If you have ever spent time with horses, you know they have a sweet spot for peppermints. This bruiser is hard up for one or two.

"Klaus Jeffries Ventures West"

2010-03-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

This is the first character I tried throwing together when I first started using a tablet again. It's pretty crude, but I think he's worth pursuing at a later date. Give me your two cents.

"A Return to Drawing"

2010-03-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a Wacom tablet as motivation to draw again on a regular basis. It's been too long, and after this first exercise I realized how out of touch and uncoordinated I've become. So here's to attempting a drawing a day... the first in cartoon modern style.

The Rural Alberta Advantage- "Don't Haunt This Place"

2010-03-01T06:33:00.000-08:00

This piece is a music visual supplement to Saddle Creek band The Rural Alberta Advantage and their song "Don't Haunt This Place" from the album Hometowns. The footage is a pairing of newer 24p SD narrative clips and 16mm scratch film animation. Credits to Peninsula School of Art's summer Create and Animate workshop 2008, James Barany's kinetic drawing class 2006, Todd Umhoefer as the protagonist, and some camera work by both Todd Umhoefer and Erik Holman.

If you scroll down a few previous posts, you'll notice how drastically different the final version turned out. This song was originally centered around a seance, though I found that idea to be too literal to the title of the song. I liked the idea a lot but didn't want to muck it up, so I chose a more abstract and textural process.

"Spoon NYE @ The Riverside (Milwaukee)"

2009-12-21T05:21:00.000-08:00

Along with the Rural Alberta Advantage video for "Don't Haunt This Place", I've been working
on the motion graphics side of animation to see where it takes me. Animation as advertising is a relatively new concept to me, but I thought I would extend my abilities into new areas to see where it moves. This was just a quick test to re-familiarize myself with After Effects and to support an amazing venue here in Milwaukee.

"Interview w/ Claude Cloutier"

2009-10-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

This might help supplement the last post:

"Sleeping Betty"

2009-10-28T05:37:00.000-07:00

I found this while charging through a bout of Youtube videos. This is another reason why I would love to move to Canada, and also continue to promote traditional animation...

"Don't Haunt This Place"

2009-09-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

Recently I was lucky enough to meet up with an extremely talented

new band called The Rural Alberta Advantage. If you haven't heard their album "Hometowns" yet,

I strongly suggest giving it a good listen or seven. Here's a link to their music: http://www.myspace.com/theraa. I (along with some pals) am working on a music video for a song on the album called "Don't Haunt This Place", using the theme of a seance along with old film visual effects processes to make it appear as dated as it could on a digital video format. I've also scouted out two places to shoot. One

being the Pritzlaff building in the 3rd Ward here in Milwaukee, and the other an extremely old barn loft out in Hartland, WI. The boards below are just photo references from images I was moved or inspired by on the internet. More to come soon, with the video hopefully being finished by the end of October...

"Peninsula School of Art+Escape From Gizemboob"

2009-08-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hello all. It's been a long time, but now is as good a time as any to jump back into things. From here on out this blog is dedicated to all things animation+video+sound related outside of my recent graduation from MIAD and success with showing the Bro Zone. Thanks again to everyone who helped make it happen and the patience you carry in copious amounts.

Last week I was asked to return to Fish Creek, WI to teach an animation workshop to young ones ages 9-13. I did this last year and had a great time doing it, so I felt honored to make it back up and work with the kids again. Also, if you haven't visited Peninsula School of Art, try to the next time you find yourself in northern Wisconsin.

For those of you reading who were in the workshop/parents of students in the workshop:

The programs we used for the week were iStop Motion, which is relatively inexpensive if you own a Mac. You can also work with the program MonkeyJam for PC if you are a PC user. All you really need aside from the appropriate program is a still photo camera and Sculpey modeling clay (or Play-Dough) like we used in class. If you have anymore questions regrading the process from last week, feel free to e-mail me @ traviswhitty@yahoo.com

All of you in the class made things happen in such a short period of time. I can't stress that one enough! I was impressed with everyone I had the opportunity to work with, and the ideas that sprouted daily. I hope that you all had as great a time as I did...

Currently I am working on concept art for Joe Shakula's "Escape From Gizemboob", which is an amazing idea+animation created right here in the heart of Milwaukee:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN9aKJSI7xU

Joe made the episode almost entirely on his own. It took him a solid year to animate, and many more before that to realize all of the characters and environments. He, along with Erik Holman and a few others are working to re-vamp the style and story. Thirteen episodes are currently being planned out and executed. More on that soon. If you want more concepts, look at Erik Holman's blog on my RECOMMENDED toolbar.

Thanks for reading. Hope your endeavors are just as well.

"Exhibition Video Documentation"

2009-05-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

Here lies a short video documenting the space the animation+installation

was/is showing in at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design's 2009 Senior

Exhibition. The post below this one is the Bro Zone in its entirety. Enjoy them both.

"Bro Zone:The Final Brodown (Episode One: For Peete's Sake)

2009-04-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

Well folks, here is the animation. The quality is muted a little so that if anyone wants the high-quality version, they can pick up a fully-packaged DVD version through me for a small fee. If you would like a copy, please contact me via e-mail: twhitty@miad.edu. Thanks to everyone who helped me out in this process. You are all kind and generous friends. Enjoy, everyone!

"Still Gallery of Gallery Stills"

2009-04-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

Salutations, everybody. Here are some photos of my workspace+work from this past year. I am still working on getting the full animation up for those of you who weren't able to make it to the gallery. However, if you're in Milwaukee in the next few weeks, call/contact me and I will take you to MIAD to see my work as well as the work of 130+ others who completed work under the same event! Hope these paint a good picture for you. More to come soon!

"More Stills"

2009-04-17T12:28:00.000-07:00

Hello again, everyone. The animation is finished, and tonight is the main exhibition for the entire installation! I thought I would leave anyone checking in here with some more stills. I'm still unsure as to how/when I'm going to put the finished animation online, but it will happen. I want to put together the animation as a DVD bundle, complete with extras/process/stickers/ect. That will come soon enough. Until then, enjoy the stills. I will have photographs from the show up in the next week or so. Thanks for looking!

"A Snack Before Bedtime..."

2009-04-06T17:48:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post this to get anyone who is attending

the gallery show a little more excited. No sound yet.

A week from today this animation and its installation components

will be present in the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design's

senior exhibition. Thanks to all who have helped me along

and made this more than I knew I was currently capable of.

See you all soon. Be well.

"Skills on Stills"

2009-04-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here are a few frames from the beginning of the animation:

"Oh, You're Such a Tease..."

2009-04-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

... one short clip minus sound from the whole

animation that will be done in about a week!

"Cabinet Artwork"

2009-03-05T13:41:00.000-08:00

This is the finished side art for the Bro Zone cabinet.

It will be quite large (20"w x 24"h) when it is printed.

"Homeboy's Gameboy"

2009-03-04T07:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a group of music samples I've created and compiled

together that will ultimately end up in the Bro Zone

as the soundtrack ... I made them by using a hacked Gameboy

cartridge called LSDJ. It works as an 8-bit note/drum/noise

sequencer program. Pretty neat stuff when you start to get the

hang of it. Go over to www.8bitpeoples.com to hear more of

these sounds in much more intricate compositions.

It's Bro-liiiiive!!!

2009-03-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

... something quick for you!

"How We Live"

2009-03-02T15:19:00.000-08:00

I am currently in the middle of the animation process,

but here is how Peete's room has changed since the first pass...

This scene is being worked on right now.

"Cinematically Speaking, Of Course..."

2009-02-25T18:30:00.000-08:00

Woah. I got to these faster than I thought I would. These scenes will play out in the beginning of the animation/installation if no one presses play on the arcade cabinet. It gives a back story of how the hero came to be and just why there are bros and wooties in the world... Can't wait to animate and share these with everyone at thesis time. For now, enjoy the stills!

"Greetings..."

2009-02-24T13:08:00.001-08:00

It has been quite awhile. But rest assured... I have been working a lot towards my goal of destroying the Bro Zone layer. I will post a few things next week to keep anyone who is reading and watching this blog updated. Above is a postcard from my travels thus far...

"Bumpin' II: 8-Bit Boogaloo"

2008-12-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

The Whitty Remarks bumper is done!

Let me know what you think if you have time...

"Bumpin'... "

2008-10-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

... I recently finished the Whitty Remarks bumper
to introduce the animation. This will tag along with
the bumper for my mock-game system Nostalgia (seen above).
Here is a still from each of them...

"Character Re-Introduction"

2008-10-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

... As promised, here are the characters

with a little bit more detail attached to each

of them. You will also notice the newest character,

"Kelly the Woobot" is present. Enjoy.

"Aurora BROealis/Fesh"

2008-10-21T11:54:00.001-07:00

Alright, ladies and gents. I finished the boss character,

but also learned a few things along the way. From now on

I think a little more detail will go into the characters, backgrounds,

and props. I was playing Earthworm Jim the yesterday and really admired

the attention to detail that the artists put into the game. Also, with the

suggestion of subtle gradients, Erik and Nate were able to help me resolve

a lot of doubt that I've been having with these characters. So the next post

should be a re-structured version of all of the other characters.

Thanks for checking in.

"... Some More Old Sketches"

2008-10-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

... an old cabinet sticker idea

... hero walk cycle mocking mario's walk cycle

... the original idea for the interior
of the arcade cabinet. this idea still holds.

"Ross" Character in 8-Bits 'n Pieces

2008-10-02T12:13:00.001-07:00

I wanted to show you all a bit of

my process in putting these dudes together...

They all start with rough sketches that I scan in

and then tediously square brush over the top of

by making separate layers for each part of the body...

I bet there is an easier way to accomplish what I

am doing, but if anything I feel like the effort I put

forth on the computer ends up making up for

the time I don't get to spend at the light table

anymore for this particular project... So...

How these guys start out:

Here is the finished version of the fourth Brobot,

the burnout "Ross" (took the name from David

Schwimmer's low-life character) ... I was originally

going to have his shirt say " 'Laska " , in reference

to the whereabouts of the Bromuda Triangle, but

I thought the Fesh pun would be funnier. I might

switch it out again. It's never too late.

I am working on Fesh/Aurora Broealis,

the final boss characteras we speak...

I'll post him soon.

"... From the Sketchbook"

2008-09-26T10:29:00.001-07:00

"Post 'Em All Up..."

2008-09-19T11:50:00.001-07:00

As promised, and sooner than I thought...

here are the things that I have been working on

lately. I have two new characters sketched up,

the logo squared away, and the story finished.

I will post the story soon. For now, enjoy the

old and the new...

(the boss character. his name is both

Aurora Broealis and Fesh. half herring,

half light particles from the northern lights.)

(the logo. greek/frat font.)

(brobot three. skater/hippie.)

(the first finalized hero drawing.)

(older drawing of hero break-dancing.

notice his shirt says "protect the

bro zone layer". it has since changed

for the better...)

(an old boss battle drawing.

the boss has changed dramatically.

he was originally going to be an

accumulation of everything that

falls onto a bar floor.

piss,blood,beer,sweat... you name it.)

(the hero's room.

i think it will look a bit different

in the final version... i will

still pay an homage to k and

states rights records. check them

out when you get a chance.)

(this is the original thumbnail for

the installation as a whole.)

(old storyboard #1.

thanks to animationmeat.com

for the pdf layout.)

"Inspirado"

2008-09-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

A lot of my ideas for the Bro Zone are my own,

however I have been inspired by a lot

of artist's work to get to where I am right now...

With that said, here are a few websites to browse

if you have some time... You may recognize these

artists, but I felt it was appropriate to share their work

to let you know where I am coming from artistically

on this particular project ...

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/soa/dmc/cory_arcangel/

http://www.ralphsteadman.com

http://lambiek.net/artists/w/watterson.htm

... and so on and so forth...

I have my finished story and two new characters

for the project, and I will post them all up

when they are finished and ready...

"Characters/Backgrounds"

2008-09-03T07:32:00.001-07:00

Here are a few of the featured characters:

( if you click on the image it opens a new window

with the characters in full scale and detail. )

Lead Brobot (name to be determined)

Straggle Brobot (name to be determined)

Bro Hero (name to be determined)

I really want to create a nostalgic 8-bit video game world

in which these characters exist.

Some of the ideas will pay homage

to a lot of the early greats, yet hold their own.

A few of the backgrounds ...

(again, click on them

to see the image full-scale.)

Most of these things might get re-made

now that I have a better understanding of

how everything works in translation

from Photoshop to After Effects...

I am pretty happy with the three main characters thus far,

but I want to introduce at least two more.

That's what the next month is reserved for...

See you then.

"Whitty ReStarts"

2008-08-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

In accordance with Nate Behmlander and Erik Holman's wishes and thoughts, I've also (as they have) created a space here in which I will be able to share my progress for the senior project endeavors about to take place at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. We recently were granted our own studio space, and I think it will be worth anyone's while to check in with each of our posts to see how we are doing week to week. There are some really talented folks here at school and I think come this April, we will have an amazing thesis show on our hands. So for now, reference my Youtube link for the "demo version" ...