Now I owe Jen twenty eight smoothies.

Because I'm going to start animating at Disney! I just got word yesterday. And I'm really really excited to try animation and to work with Jen and Minkyu. But also a little sad that I won't be doing story for the time being. Story, I will not forsake you!

Anyway, to celebrate, I'm posting my reel! This is what I gave to Disney, along with some of my other gesture drawings that are previous posts here. All my animation was done in two and a half weeks of crunch time before films were due my fourth year! (not recommended). Hope you like it!

If I were a super hero my super power would be...

Font identification. Lame huh? I know. I can't even come up with a good superhero name. But I can recreate these logos with ease because I know their fonts!

(I got to work on the Olympics when they came to Salt Lake City!)


same as:same as:

same as:same as:

Ha ha! I worked in graphic design for two years before I went to CalArts. So for a little change of pace, I thought I'd put up some of my more recent adventures in graphic design! This first one is not done at all and I don't really know why I'm posting it. I haven't shown it to my friend who it was designed for. And I still have to do the flame. Oh well.
This is the title logo for my film!
This is a design from some dog t-shirts my work had me do like 6 years ago. It got me an American Graphic Design Award! My friend and I are trying to reinvent them and get the website started again.


And lastly, Jen asked me to design her Animation Reel DVD cover for when she was applying to Disney:


She didn't go for it.

"Is this like...art?"

Something stupid I said to my friend when we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art last week and were confronted with this!


Sharks may be too awesome to be contained in a drawing. Which is maybe why this guy took a shark, stuck it in formaldehyde, and called it awesome. And called it art!

I've recently become obsessed with drawing them.



Ha ha that top right one is pretty stupid. Maybe shark will become the new gator!

Crocs

Haven't gotten all the crocs out of my system yet. Can't imagine I will have anytime soon.

Monkeys

One day you will get tired of me only posting gesture drawings. Today is not that day.

Justin Wright (March 8, 1981-March 18, 2008)

I've been putting off a post like this for a while because I just feel like there's nothing I can say that can sum up Justin. There's nothing I can come up with to express how much he meant to me. And I can't say anything as meaningful as what he deserves. So in an effort to at least put something up in his memory, I'm just going to keep it short and say that I'll miss you Justin. And that I'll save a place for you in my heart forever.

And by next week I mean next month.

Well! Here's gators! As promised!




I like to draw them chubby. I have a problem.

Sketchbook Scribbles

Wow. Well in an effort to revive this dead dead blog momentarily...I post some sketchbook drawings!





Kind of random. I know. Tomorrow (and by tomorrow I mean within the next week) you can look forward to more alligator drawings! Because I can't stop drawing them. Later!

My Alligator!

I'm not very good at posting on time. Here's my try at a vicious alligator.

Reptiles are cool.

Haven't updated for a while. Here's a drawing!

Yeeee-Haw!

Here are some scribbles I did at a rodeo I went to last week. Maybe I'll use one and turn it into a cooler drawing. We'll see!



...I secretly wish I was a barrel racer.

So the story goes...

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. Mostly story and writing stuff. And I decided, since I want to do story, I should probably have some story stuff on this blog! Here's a couple of excerpts that I thought were cool. This one is from Joseph Campbell:

"The wonder is that the characteristic efficacy to touch and inspire deep creative centers dwells in the smallest nursery fairy tale- as the flavor of the ocean is contained in a droplet or the whole mystery of life within the egg of a flea."

So cool. That the smallest story can still capture the essence of life!

This next one is from a book by Stephen King called On Writing. Which is awesome and I recommend it to anyone that is interested in story. I read it between my first and second year at CalArts and it's one of the things that really turned me on to storyboarding and the power of visual storytelling. Here's a part I thought was neat, about the process of coming up with a story:

"I believe that stories are found things, like fossils in the ground. Stories aren't souvenir tee-shirts or GameBoys. Stories are relics, part of an undiscovered pre-existing world. The writer's job is to use the tools in his or her toolbox to get as much of each one out of the ground intact as possible. Somtimes the fossil you uncover is small; a seashell. Sometimes it's enormous, a Tyrannosaurus Rex with all those gigantic ribs and grinning teeth. Either way, short story or thousand-page whopper of a novel, the techniques of excavation remain basically the same."

Isn't that the way it feels when you're boarding out a film? You uncover one chunk but there are holes in other places, and you just have to discover them! So they all fit together as a story! Pretty awesome.

So here are some of my story boards from my portfolio this year. Some are much rougher than others as you can see! Alas. Haven't decided if I will put the rest of them up here or not. Hopefully I'll get some new stuff up here soon.







P.S. I love Surf's Up. Go see it. And support it. And love it too.

I Love CalArts

There seems to be a lot of hate out there right now for CalArts. So I just wanted to spread a little CalArts love! And maybe it doesn't mean much. I worked really hard to get into that school. Everyone did. And it didn't let me down at all. I feel so lucky to be a part of that department. To be surrounded by so many super talented people, in the classes ahead of me, the classes behind me, and the students in my own class. We all work our guts out. We all have a real passion for animation. You guys are the best! Here's to CalArts Character Animation!!

If Gandalf were a dog...

he would be an Irish Wolfhound!

I'm Free!

I'm finally free! I can now draw whatever I want, whenever I want! I'm hoping to update more frequently now. But right now, I'm still posting some stuff from my film. Hope you don't get sick of it!

These are my favorite pans! So, here you go!

Dear Pirates 2,

I hate so much about the things you choose to be.

Sincerely,
Heidi Jo Gilbert

A bit of silliness

These are best left with no explanation.

Film Shots

Well here are a couple of shots from my film. Jen and I spent a while trying to figure out how to color this without really coloring it! I need some limited color for some story points of the seasons changing. And I liked the monochromatic feel. Feels more like a fairy tale out of a book, which is kind of what I'm going for. But anyway, here's what we ended up with.

Kimono Dragon

This post is for Nick. My twin brother. He wants me to screen this on a t-shirt for him. I have no time. So I post. Nick, now you can look at it endlessly. Maybe you'll get your shirt in May.



Here's a picture strip of Nick and me. Don't we look like twins? We're making the exact same face! The second one down is my favorite.


PS: Updating is easy when you post old drawings!

2007 Here I Come!

Hey everyone. I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I've been busy with the holidays and I'm trying to crunch on my film so I can't promise that the updating will get any better! But here's a baby skunk drawing to make you instantly happy!