Andreas, Hans J Sandnes and The Electric Mayhem featuring Kermit wish you
Merry Christmas!
December 25th, 2011The Scandinavian Muppet Art Blog
December 12th, 2011I’ve started an art blog together with fellow animator, Muppet fan and Scandinavian, Hans Jørgen Sandnes. We opened The Scandinavian Muppet Art Blog officially 1/12.
Originally we wanted it to be kind of a casual blog, where we’d post Muppet art every now and then, our own stuff and other artists’. Then we thought we’d start off with a christmas calendar, one drawing per day up until christmas.
However, we’ve gotten so many great pieces so we’ve decided to keep the one-a-day-formula until 31/12. After that the blog will continue and we’ll post stuff whenever it comes in.
Today’s blog post is by my good old friend Johan Peitz. Johan is a top notch game designer, one of the owners of Gothemburg based Muskedunder Interactive. Johan’s internet cult game Icy Tower has been played by millions of people worldwide. As an avid retro gamer I’m thrilled about Johan’s pixel Muppets. Let’s hope he makes an actual game of it someday!
Hans J. Sandnes is an accomplished Norwegian animator. He studied animation for Richard Williams (Roger Rabbit, The Animator’s Survival Kit)! If you’re familiar with animation language you’ll know the meaning of “appeal”. Hans’s films are the embodiment of appeal! His animation studio Sandnes Media just released a collection of short films based on Alf Prøysen’s classical children’s songs. The films have been airing on NRK (national Norwegian TV) for a while. The Disney distributed DVD is called “Musevisa og åtte andre Prøysenklassikere”.
2011 has been the year of the Muppets, thanks to the release of the new feature film The Muppets. The Muppets used to be huge in Scandinavia, and Scandinavians always had a special place among the Muppets…
We wanted our blog to be a forum where Scandinavian artists and others can express their appreciation for the Muppets and other Henson creations. We could never have dreamed that we’d get so many great pieces of art sent to us. Make sure tune in at least once a day to The Scandinavian Muppet Art Blog, and you’ll be up for a treat!
“I shopping och kärlek är allt tillåtet.”
November 29th, 2011
Årets spel är här: Ullaredspelet! Spelet är skapat av Pia Forsberg på Krabat i Lund. Jag har illustrerat kartongens framsida, samt varorna som man kan shoppa i spelet. För grafisk formgivning står Jerry Söderström på S&S Design.
“Spelet där allt kan hända, precis som en helt vanlig dag på varuhuset. Du köar, springer på bekanta, tappar bort maken, campar, fyndar, fikar, flirtar, går vilse…
Samtidigt som du är indragen i ett rafflande, skoningslöst och makalöst roligt kundvagnsrace!”
Spelet finns att köpa på Gekås Ullared och Krabat i Lund, Klostergan 14 (Bytaregränd).
Citylogistik
November 18th, 2011Studio Qassim takes a new turn with this animated information film for the Copenhagen municipality project Citylogistik. The project aims to replace heavy transport in the inner city with more environmental friendly alternatives.
Sådan virker Citylogistik from Citylogistik on Vimeo.
The film is basically hand drawn, but animated in Flash. It was edited in Premiere and After Effects. The cut out paper collage coloring of the backgrounds were made in Photoshop.
The film was made in collaboration with Alfred Gunnarsson and Niklas Ström. Alfred designed the website and logo for Citylogistik. We were both involved in shaping the script for the film together with our friends at the Copenhagen municipality. I designed, storyboarded and animated the film. Niklas did the outstanding sound work. In fact, the three of us had so much fun doing this project that we will definitely work togheter again. We’re currently in the process of forming our own animation bureau, and we’re already in the talks for our next project. I’ll let you know once we’re up and running.
Big thanks to Johan Rünow at S8AN Communication for helping us out with After Effects!
The Muppets Comic Strip
November 16th, 2011The Gilchrist brothers Muppets comic strips from the 80s continue to inspire me. The perfect way to unwind after a hard day’s work. Super simple in content and style, they still make me smile. Or maybe I should say they make me smile because of their simplicity. Or is it the innocent sweetness reminding me of my childhood?
I really like Guy Gilchrist’s drawing style. The characters are boiled down to the essentials, interpreted in a personal way. The weight of the ink lines are well balanced, the volume of the characters is solid. You don’t find a single superfluous line. Every line has meaning.
I love these collection books. The strips are pure black and white, which makes you appreciate the ink work a lot more. I got them through Amazon from various second-hand bookshops. Cheap, fast, carefully packaged. I like to think about how these books were once in somebody’s home. There’s a history to these items.
The only thing I miss are the half and whole page strips that I used to collect from various magazines as a child. Does anyone know if there are collections of these available? The final strip of the Muppets series according to Muppetwiki:
Guy Gilchrist worked on many comic strips, like Nancy and Sluggo, Mudpie, Today’s Dogg and The Muppets. He even helped create The Muppet Babies cartoon series back in the days.
Guy Gilchrist is also a country musician. You can check out what he’s up to these days here. Everything in this post is ⓒ The Jim Henson Company.
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