Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Feels Like Tartakovsky

I've been a bit of a cartoon freak ever since my college days, when what little time I had between classes and homework was usually spent with my eyes firmly fixed on the Cartoon Network's line of entertainment. I watched a ton of Dexter's Lab and Samurai Jack, but my favorite was always The Powerpuff Girls. I was recently turned on to a "lost episode" of the show, called "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey,", which pit the super girls against a villainous gnome with the power to give peace on earth. The gnome was SUPPOSED to be voiced by Jack Black, but he wound up getting voiced by Wakko Warner from Animaniacs.

Sai Lai Lufti de Santra Mekidu

Did I mention the episode was a rock opera?

I'm quite fascinated by the animation style of Genndy Tartakovsky, the show's creator. All of his character designs are based on very simple, prominent geometric figures (big bold circles, rectangles, &c.), but he is able to command a great deal of emotion with only a few lines. With a little time to spare this weekend, I decided to try my hand at some Tartakovsky-esque characters of my own.

I had fun with it, even if I'm not terribly satisfied with the background characters. I think I like how these simple designs allow for a lot of variety in body shapes, hair styles, and facial features. You may see me dabbling in these types of designs a bit more.

2 comments:

miss kristen said...

I love your sketches. They are so fun to look at (and you're getting really good!!)

Aldo said...

Definitely a great episode. Like some of Tartakovsky's best stuff, this episode is fairly darker and more mature than regular episodes. Also, I do think there should be an award for best 30 minute musical. TV can seriously surpass the quality and entertainment value of some 2 hour stage musicals.