Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Shanes Car Painting First Draft
Here is a Private Commission I di d for a friend of mine, Shane. This is him in his Volkswagon Bora tearing around a race track somewhere in europe.
DisFunktional
Here is some myspace Avatar designs i did for Dublin Hip Hop Act DisFunktional
“Hailing from the sometimes mean streets of Coolock, Disfunktional have taken the classic line up of three emcee’s, Mike Check (Paul), BDG (Gary) & Shep (Kevin) and one DJ, Dj Carnage and used it to produce what may well be some of the most freshest and innovative hiphop this island has ever heard. The emcees unique vocal skills slickly gel together over some skilfully crafted beats. Check the horns to the max sax attack of ‘This Funk’, the spiky g-funk punch of ‘Leave Me Alone’ or the mellowed bliss of ‘Aim’. Their album ‘Good Times’ will be available this winter…” – Fenster, Connected Magazine.
"Disfunktional, three emcees and a DJ from north Dublin, would put you in mind of the Beastie Boys. They have the same bouncy, energised influence, matched with tight lyrics. All in their late teens and early 20s, the group has already found its feet..." - Ali Bracken, Irish Times.
The Gudmen - DrUnK'n' DiSoRdErLeE
DVD Front Cover
Above is the DVD cover with stills from the video.
Below is the artwork from The Gudmen - DrUnK'n' DiSoRdErLeE single. I wanted to get proper Beermats done up but we didnt have the money or time to source it properly.
The cool thing about this single was we had the Video on it when played on a PC or Mac.
I designed all content in Photoshop.
CD Front Cover
CD Back Cover
The website is gone but the myspace Bebo and youtube still exist.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Martin Malone Interview - Kildare artist and cartoon animator has plans for graphic novel
Martin Malone interview in the Leinster Leader click herePublished Date: 12 March 2009
The world of animation is something that Ireland has excelled at in recent years, and currently there is strong international interest surrounding the much hyped animated film, "The Secret of Kells".
Kildare man and freelance artist, David Butler, has worked on a number of animated projects for Channel 4, including the BAFTA award winning 'Sir Gawain' and 'The Green Knight', based on the Arthurian legend.
David says that he was interested in drawing and sketching from an early age; "I remember being about seven years of age and friends of mine were out kicking football and stuff, but I didn't want to do any of that..."
At that tender age he had a fascination with the mechanics of what made action work on the screen, and recalls seeing a behind the scenes documentary about the goings on during the shooting of the Superman film. Later, inspired by the film, 'Dark Crystal', he started to draw his own characters. Primarily sci-fi figures with beetle shell armour and so on.
"Comic books were also a major influence...'2000 A.D', which had Judge Dredd and similar characters in it. I latched on to the idea that this had been created closer to home, than say the likes of Spiderman and Superman. As a kid it somehow escapes you that you don't have to travel a million miles to make this stuff."
Around the time of his Junior Cert, an Irish animation production company was making the hugely successful "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". The hit cartoon series hadn't initially been expected to create much of an impact on its release but it went on to become a global commercial success.
"The Sunday World published a piece showing the different poses of one of the turtles walking and this – well, this was only happening up the road in Dublin."
There and then he knew this was the sort of work he wanted to do. Subsequently, he studied at the Dun Laoighaire College of Art and Design and graduated in 1999. Shortly after graduating he was contracted to work with Moving Still Productions in Dublin.
"This was a real eye opener – the company was based on the quays and were working on a TV series called 'The Tales of the World' concerning myths and legends to do with a particular country. At the time they were working on a story about Fionn MacCumhail."
Financed by the Channel 4, this Irish tale sold into 60 countries and was translated into 18 different languages. This was David's first major production and lasted for about a year. The film itself runs for 12 minutes, an indication of the working time involved in bringing an animated film to the screen.
"David Kelly (Strumpet City, Glenroe, Mystics, Willy Wonka...) did the voiceover of Finnegas who coveted the salmon of knowledge."
When I mention the amount of time involved in creating such a short piece of work, David says that the timescale depends on the type of style used, "There are many different styles – for that particular animation film everything was hand drawn and hand coloured. We drew it in pencils and they were coloured in pastels – it has a shimmering effect. The process was really time consuming."
In addition to the experience, David was making money from something he liked doing and at which he was very good. When his contract ended he moved into doing whatever jobs he could find in addition to continuing to work freelance on TV ads, CD covers, infrequent work, which is often the lot with freelance writers, actors and animators.
A short while later, David was contracted by the same production company to work on what was to become a BAFTA TV award winning project, 'The Green Knight'.
"This Arthurian legend was drawn in a unique style of stained-glass window, based on the work of the famous Dublin based artist and illustrator, Harry Clark."
David worked on this project for 18 months. The film is 25 minutes long, twice as long as Fionn. Again, contract completed, David resumed freelancing and also working in other employments. He hoped to work for the same company again, building on their success.
Unfortunately, despite its major victory, the company downsized before ceasing to trade. For David being part of an award winning animation film did not open the doors he had hoped its success might have done for him.
"Within six-months the studio went from employing 14 people to a staff of three – this was about 2002 – hard to believe that the studio beat off the likes of Cartoon Network to lift that award and within such a short timeframe was gone."
He shrugs and adds, "I haven't worked in animation since then – I became a father and the responsibility and necessity to have a job where the pay was constant and dependable had to come first."
Moving away from Dublin involved losing contact with people in the know.
"When I lived in Dublin I was able to meet up the producer and the writer all the time..."
By now David was developing an animated cartoon series for TV.
"It was about a character called Frankie and how society had turned him into a monster – he's anarchic – I worked with a guy called Paul Woodfull who used to front the 'Glam Tarts', the house band on RTE'S 'Good Grief, Moncrieff show."
David says it was great to hear Paul bring his cartoon characters to life, to lift them off the page.
"We approached the Irish Film Board with the idea. They were very keen and we got some development money from them - it looked like we were going somewhere with Frankie."
Although RTE liked the premise of the idea and the characters they had no money to invest in production; as it turned out they'd already pumped funds into the Oscar winning animation film, 'Give Up Yer Aul Sins'. They were invited to return when the coffers were replete, but a shift of decision makers pulled the curtain on Frankie.
"It was quite disheartening. A real blow." So disheartening that David actually turned his back on animation for a while.
"A friend of mine was involved in hip hop music and one of his songs was called 'Why?' – Rapping in a Kildare accent about suicide."
David rang the singer and said he'd like to do something with it. Although hesitant about it, saying it was personal, the singer listened to David's suggestion. The first thing David did was to get permission from the families of the bereaved.
"We got this and then contacted the Samaritans to see if they'd like to have an input into the making of this short film and they were a great help."
David made sure that what they did was responsible. They shot the video, treating it in black and white and it was accepted in a few festivals and well received by audiences and adjudicators. Then the band involved in the film's music asked David to become their manager. "They were called the Gudmen," David says, "I was surprised that they asked me. But I said I'd give it a try. We booked a few gigs and did some music videos – we got a slot at Oxegen – we were really flying. We were a hip hop and a rap band. Before Oxegen we got a lot of pub gigs and the like, and were playing to full houses."
Within a year the band had had enough and split, but not before releasing their debut and only single 'Drunk and Disorderly' on the weekend of Electric Picnic. Ironically, David had managed to secure the band a spot on TV, "...a show on TG 4. By the time it was aired we had split – you can catch the gig on You Tube."
David's move into a house brought him back to painting. He wanted something for above the mantelpiece but found out that there was a dearth of decent material, and anything that was half-decent was way too expensive. He smiles and says, "I painted a portrait of Podge and Rodge in acrylics and then on canvas. Then I painted a tiger in a jungle setting for my father... and on word alone I've been getting a lot of business – which has surprised me, so I'm busy."
David paints the sort of material that you don't see too often in shops, and he's acutely aware that many people in this recessionary period can no longer afford the luxury of paying out sums of €200 to €300 for a painting, so he offers a more customer appreciative service. Unlike many artists he has awards to his name; an approved and certified validation of his work.
"There are two types of painting that I do: one for myself and the other for whatever people might like me to paint for them, such as a portrait or a landscape, something they'd like done for whatever reason: birthday, anniversary, shop front..."
Also these days David is freelancing and has already published a comic online, "I met Tommy Kelly who manages http://www.roadcrewcomic.com/ and he asked me to do something for him and I said maybe...and I got round to drawing a guest strip for him."
The response by readers has been so positive that David is already putting other scripts together, but he isn't too enamoured by the prospects of running a daily script and wonders if it's what he actually wants to do, "...it'd require a lot of time – a big commitment."
He has other projects in mind, including a graphic novel featuring Frankie, his cartoon character, who like a true anarchist hasn't entirely gone away.
David is contactable at http://www.anithingireland.blogspot.com/ 086 8974863
David says that he was interested in drawing and sketching from an early age; "I remember being about seven years of age and friends of mine were out kicking football and stuff, but I didn't want to do any of that..."
At that tender age he had a fascination with the mechanics of what made action work on the screen, and recalls seeing a behind the scenes documentary about the goings on during the shooting of the Superman film. Later, inspired by the film, 'Dark Crystal', he started to draw his own characters. Primarily sci-fi figures with beetle shell armour and so on.
"Comic books were also a major influence...'2000 A.D', which had Judge Dredd and similar characters in it. I latched on to the idea that this had been created closer to home, than say the likes of Spiderman and Superman. As a kid it somehow escapes you that you don't have to travel a million miles to make this stuff."
Around the time of his Junior Cert, an Irish animation production company was making the hugely successful "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". The hit cartoon series hadn't initially been expected to create much of an impact on its release but it went on to become a global commercial success.
"The Sunday World published a piece showing the different poses of one of the turtles walking and this – well, this was only happening up the road in Dublin."
There and then he knew this was the sort of work he wanted to do. Subsequently, he studied at the Dun Laoighaire College of Art and Design and graduated in 1999. Shortly after graduating he was contracted to work with Moving Still Productions in Dublin.
"This was a real eye opener – the company was based on the quays and were working on a TV series called 'The Tales of the World' concerning myths and legends to do with a particular country. At the time they were working on a story about Fionn MacCumhail."
Financed by the Channel 4, this Irish tale sold into 60 countries and was translated into 18 different languages. This was David's first major production and lasted for about a year. The film itself runs for 12 minutes, an indication of the working time involved in bringing an animated film to the screen.
"David Kelly (Strumpet City, Glenroe, Mystics, Willy Wonka...) did the voiceover of Finnegas who coveted the salmon of knowledge."
When I mention the amount of time involved in creating such a short piece of work, David says that the timescale depends on the type of style used, "There are many different styles – for that particular animation film everything was hand drawn and hand coloured. We drew it in pencils and they were coloured in pastels – it has a shimmering effect. The process was really time consuming."
In addition to the experience, David was making money from something he liked doing and at which he was very good. When his contract ended he moved into doing whatever jobs he could find in addition to continuing to work freelance on TV ads, CD covers, infrequent work, which is often the lot with freelance writers, actors and animators.
A short while later, David was contracted by the same production company to work on what was to become a BAFTA TV award winning project, 'The Green Knight'.
"This Arthurian legend was drawn in a unique style of stained-glass window, based on the work of the famous Dublin based artist and illustrator, Harry Clark."
David worked on this project for 18 months. The film is 25 minutes long, twice as long as Fionn. Again, contract completed, David resumed freelancing and also working in other employments. He hoped to work for the same company again, building on their success.
Unfortunately, despite its major victory, the company downsized before ceasing to trade. For David being part of an award winning animation film did not open the doors he had hoped its success might have done for him.
"Within six-months the studio went from employing 14 people to a staff of three – this was about 2002 – hard to believe that the studio beat off the likes of Cartoon Network to lift that award and within such a short timeframe was gone."
He shrugs and adds, "I haven't worked in animation since then – I became a father and the responsibility and necessity to have a job where the pay was constant and dependable had to come first."
Moving away from Dublin involved losing contact with people in the know.
"When I lived in Dublin I was able to meet up the producer and the writer all the time..."
By now David was developing an animated cartoon series for TV.
"It was about a character called Frankie and how society had turned him into a monster – he's anarchic – I worked with a guy called Paul Woodfull who used to front the 'Glam Tarts', the house band on RTE'S 'Good Grief, Moncrieff show."
David says it was great to hear Paul bring his cartoon characters to life, to lift them off the page.
"We approached the Irish Film Board with the idea. They were very keen and we got some development money from them - it looked like we were going somewhere with Frankie."
Although RTE liked the premise of the idea and the characters they had no money to invest in production; as it turned out they'd already pumped funds into the Oscar winning animation film, 'Give Up Yer Aul Sins'. They were invited to return when the coffers were replete, but a shift of decision makers pulled the curtain on Frankie.
"It was quite disheartening. A real blow." So disheartening that David actually turned his back on animation for a while.
"A friend of mine was involved in hip hop music and one of his songs was called 'Why?' – Rapping in a Kildare accent about suicide."
David rang the singer and said he'd like to do something with it. Although hesitant about it, saying it was personal, the singer listened to David's suggestion. The first thing David did was to get permission from the families of the bereaved.
"We got this and then contacted the Samaritans to see if they'd like to have an input into the making of this short film and they were a great help."
David made sure that what they did was responsible. They shot the video, treating it in black and white and it was accepted in a few festivals and well received by audiences and adjudicators. Then the band involved in the film's music asked David to become their manager. "They were called the Gudmen," David says, "I was surprised that they asked me. But I said I'd give it a try. We booked a few gigs and did some music videos – we got a slot at Oxegen – we were really flying. We were a hip hop and a rap band. Before Oxegen we got a lot of pub gigs and the like, and were playing to full houses."
Within a year the band had had enough and split, but not before releasing their debut and only single 'Drunk and Disorderly' on the weekend of Electric Picnic. Ironically, David had managed to secure the band a spot on TV, "...a show on TG 4. By the time it was aired we had split – you can catch the gig on You Tube."
David's move into a house brought him back to painting. He wanted something for above the mantelpiece but found out that there was a dearth of decent material, and anything that was half-decent was way too expensive. He smiles and says, "I painted a portrait of Podge and Rodge in acrylics and then on canvas. Then I painted a tiger in a jungle setting for my father... and on word alone I've been getting a lot of business – which has surprised me, so I'm busy."
David paints the sort of material that you don't see too often in shops, and he's acutely aware that many people in this recessionary period can no longer afford the luxury of paying out sums of €200 to €300 for a painting, so he offers a more customer appreciative service. Unlike many artists he has awards to his name; an approved and certified validation of his work.
"There are two types of painting that I do: one for myself and the other for whatever people might like me to paint for them, such as a portrait or a landscape, something they'd like done for whatever reason: birthday, anniversary, shop front..."
Also these days David is freelancing and has already published a comic online, "I met Tommy Kelly who manages http://www.roadcrewcomic.com/ and he asked me to do something for him and I said maybe...and I got round to drawing a guest strip for him."
The response by readers has been so positive that David is already putting other scripts together, but he isn't too enamoured by the prospects of running a daily script and wonders if it's what he actually wants to do, "...it'd require a lot of time – a big commitment."
He has other projects in mind, including a graphic novel featuring Frankie, his cartoon character, who like a true anarchist hasn't entirely gone away.
David is contactable at http://www.anithingireland.blogspot.com/ 086 8974863
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Defect Efffect: Train of thought EP
Here is a CD design I did a while back for a limerick poet Defect Effect who produced this EP concentrated around the sounds of a train.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Brian Keenan's - "from an Evil Cradling"
I have an assistant animator credit on this. I mainly did some minor inbetweens and clean up work and colour fills on the spoon scenes.
"from An Evil Cradling" 1999
7'41" 2D Animated adaptation of Brian Keenan's bestseller. Narrated by the man himself. "It is from the outset as masterful an interpretation of the source material as is possible" - Tara Brady, Film West. Directed and Produced by Andrew Kavanagh and Keith Foran. Irish Language version also available.
Taken from Chapter 7 of An Evil Cradling the true live story of Brian Keenans hostage events. The book was also mde into a film titled"Blind Flight".
Produced by Kavaleer Productions
http://www.kavaleer.com/
For production notes try this link:
http://www.blogger.com/www.rocketanimation.com/evilcradpreprod0%2001.htm
"from An Evil Cradling" 1999
7'41" 2D Animated adaptation of Brian Keenan's bestseller. Narrated by the man himself. "It is from the outset as masterful an interpretation of the source material as is possible" - Tara Brady, Film West. Directed and Produced by Andrew Kavanagh and Keith Foran. Irish Language version also available.
Taken from Chapter 7 of An Evil Cradling the true live story of Brian Keenans hostage events. The book was also mde into a film titled"Blind Flight".
Produced by Kavaleer Productions
http://www.kavaleer.com/
For production notes try this link:
http://www.blogger.com/www.rocketanimation.com/evilcradpreprod0%2001.htm
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Film: Just ask Me
Allan The Writer/ Actor video blog
Allan The Writer/ Actor video blog 2
Visit Allans website here
Just ask Me Film shoot
Visit the first press on the film by frank Kelly who has written the music for the film http://frankasides.blogspot.com/2009/01/just-ask-me.html
Cast and Crew
Allan Clarke: Writer/Exec Producer also played Joe
Brian Talbot: Adam
David Butler: Director
John McDonnell: Producer
Dean Kelly: DOP
Dorothy Craven: Make-up
Frank Kelly: Music
Bench: as himself
This film was made with a unigue partnership set up on film Makesr Network.ie
Allan The Writer/ Actor video blog 2
Visit Allans website here
Just ask Me Film shoot
Visit the first press on the film by frank Kelly who has written the music for the film http://frankasides.blogspot.com/2009/01/just-ask-me.html
Cast and Crew
Allan Clarke: Writer/Exec Producer also played Joe
Brian Talbot: Adam
David Butler: Director
John McDonnell: Producer
Dean Kelly: DOP
Dorothy Craven: Make-up
Frank Kelly: Music
Bench: as himself
This film was made with a unigue partnership set up on film Makesr Network.ie
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
www.roadcrewcomic.com
Here is a gueststrip I did for an online comic http://www.roadcrewcomic.com/
It featured here February 4th 2009 Its a great strip written and drawn by my good friend Tommie Kelly from Ardee, Co. Louth.
It's about Jim Soundman and the antics of his road Crew.
Bafta Award 2002 (Best animation) Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
I worked on this for a year and a half as an Inbetween artist and clean up artist and some minor assistant animator (Clean key drawing's) on some scenes.
Channel Four Learning
IMDB database
gawainscript
Sir Gawain+ Green Knight Model Sheets
Channel Four Learning
IMDB database
gawainscript
Sir Gawain+ Green Knight Model Sheets
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
My Live Action Music Videos
The Gudmen - Why?
Eamon Mulvihill- Fly with Me
The Gudmen -DrUnK 'n' DiSoRdErLeE
The Gudmen - Why? (2005) from David Butler on Vimeo.
Eamon Mulvihill- Fly with Me
Eamon Mulvihill - Fly with Me (2006) from David Butler on Vimeo.
The Gudmen -DrUnK 'n' DiSoRdErLeE
DrUnK n DiSoRdErLeE (2007) from David Butler on Vimeo.
Painting: Podge and Rodge
The Ballydung "O' leapreacy" Brothers
I don't want to have a "picture of a bowl of fruit" or "some pressed flowers".
I know lets paint a picture of some offensive little Farming f**kers from Ballydung Manor.
And Eureka, why didn't I paint before.
Painting: Tiger in Woods :)
Tiger in woods :)
This was a present for my parents 30th wedding anniversary.
No it wasn't the only present I gave them. I'm not that much of a cheapskate... or am I?
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