The best part about CTN isn't that you can see and hopefully high-five your animation heroes--while that is terribly inspiring--it is the energy that bubbles from the talented and young artists who all have the same passion for the medium as I do. I've been twice and each time, I am recharged with a Brad Bird sense that if I took any random handful of attendees, we could create something amazing and rock the animation world.

An unexpected perk of the job fair in disguise is that every business card and handbill in the convention is a beautiful and expressive piece of art. They are as abundant as dust in the air and usually collect on a stagnant table outside the main hall. By the last day, there are hundreds desiring to be picked up and employed. It may not be the intent of the creator, but I like to pick up the best ones and hang them up as prints on my wall.

In 2011 I swiped a stranger's handbill and a year later I turned it into a functional model. When I saw the handbill, created by Joey Mason, I was sucked in. The story is multidimensional despite it's flat aesthetic. With so much information and back story and intention and emotion exploding from the scene, I had to model it, and so there it is.

Check out Joey's portfolio. It's loaded with tons of other great characters.

I was dreading the hair until the very end for obvious reasons. The best way to go at it--in my mind--was with ZBrush as you can see. I didn't match the hair strand for strand, but what I think I did capture, was the feel. That lady was wronged and as soon as the perpetrator walks through the door, they're going to be at her mercy. The frazzled hair adds to the idea that she's been waiting for hours and wants revenge more than to take care of herself. Isn't that what you see too? Oh yeah? Well great!