Bill Drastal has a blog, whooptee freakin do.

New Project unveiled!!

2008-09-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Karen and I have been working hard on our new project. Check it out!!!!

Written by my awesome wife Karen and Illustrated by moi. It's loosely ,and I mean loosely, based on our own experiences being on the baby train. We're going to be updating every Tuesday and Thursday for nine months. We'll also be posting updates on our baby blog, so please go check it out at

http://www.webcomicsnation.com/karetoons/babytrain/series.php

And while you're there go check out Karen's awesome webcomic "Good Times" Updated every Monday and Friday at

http://www.webcomicsnation.com/karetoons/good_times/series.php

New Job time

2008-08-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

Man I have to get on this blog some more. Well I have some cool news for anyone that reads this for latest Bill news. Today I'm starting fulltime at my new Job. For that last couple of weeks I've been working part time at Lowry Digital doing digital cleanup work on films, and now I'm there full time. Hooyah!! This is really an ideal situation for Karen and I right now, the job means a more steady income than what I was making at Universal, and since I'll be working nights shifts, we won't have to worry about paying for child care once the baby shows up. Talk about a lot of stress off our shoulders. I'm hoping that I can try a theory about working jobs that aren't art jobs. It was Bobby Chiu that said he'd rather have a regular job than a bad art job, and my last fulltime job was definately a bad art job. I'm hoping to begin work on some personal projects now. One of witch is a strip Karen and I are currently working on about our experience being pregant. So things are looking up, and Karen and I are plugging along and doing quite well.

Also if you want more than just everyblue moon updates I'm on twitter now (www.twitter.com) under Billdrastal and I'm a twitter whore. I'm posting something up way to often. And please go check out Karen's webcomic "Goodtimes" if you haven't already. It updates every Monday and Friday and where getting more and more readers. So go check it out at http://www.webcomicsnation.com/karetoons/good_times/series.php

Billbacca

2008-07-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

No its not me as Chewbacca, its just me with my shirt off.

Hellbill

2008-07-11T00:17:00.000-07:00

HellBill and Karen, ..........she starts fires.

Marker Stuff

2008-06-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

I got the markers I'm going to help sell at the Anime Expo convention annnnnd they're pretty cool. They remind me of copix pens but these don't look they their designed to be refilled...
I'm assuming. Anyways their called "touch" and the come with chiseled tips, a fine tip, or a brush tip. Here's some various doodles I've done with them.

Summer means money...kinda

2008-06-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like Summer's finally here, evne though we haven't really started Summer Hours yet or are making usual summer numbers, but its hasn't been too slow at Universal. If anyone is going to be at Anime Expo here in LA, I'll be working at the Shinhan International booth. They're a Korean Art supply company and I've been hired to do art demonstrations with their products. Should be fun, so stop buy and say hi if you're there. Anyway here are some more Caricatures.

These people we're terrific, nothing makes a long 11 hour slow day at City Walk worth it, than having people laugh as much as these guys did.

This Lady was a nothing but fun to draw.

This Kid didn't really need a caricature to look funny.

Went a little looser on this one. Glad they liked it.

More sketches coming!!!

Work time is Fun time

2008-06-12T10:15:00.001-07:00

So fun it up!!

Work Sketches on day before Universal Fire.

2008-06-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

Universal Was on fire yesterday (6-1-08) and boy was I glad to be out of town. Here are some of the sketches from the Saturday before.

I started out with a drawing of Sam, and then realized that I could draw Rob's face from the negative space, and then I added Aaramando and myself for good measure.

Sam had me draw a picture of his friend. That's how you get the ladies, introduce them to your friends that will draw funny pictures of them.

These customers were great. They loved their picture, even though I slightly screwed up drawing the guys head.

I think this girl got mad because a lot of people were crowding around laughing at her picture.

Sam And Damion

2008-05-27T23:32:00.001-07:00

A sketch of my co workers Sam and Damion. I just can't resist drawing these guys. Really I can't.

And some sketches of Park patrons at Universal.

Batman in 08'

2008-05-13T08:40:00.001-07:00

Vote Batman!!

Birthday Zombie time

2008-04-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

Well I'm 26 today and as you can see the years have been good to me. My skin is a healthy greenish glow, and I've grown very well through the years. This birthday should be fun as I stomp a city to the ground.

Even though turning 26 isn't really all that of a milestone this birthday is something to remember because its the year that Karen and I become parents!! We're both still jazzed and anxious at the same time, but so far everything is going well, and we have a lot to be happy about this year. So we're still crossing our fingers for a Halloween baby zombie or otherwise.

Ugly Baby Time

2008-04-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

With a baby on the way I got an Ugly baby drawing contest going at work. Here's some of mine.

I can only pray that doing this doesn't earn me an ugly baby of my own.

Spring Break Sketches

2008-04-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

The 2 two weeks we have of Spring break were very Busy. Here are some of the sketches.

AHHHHHHH Baby!!

2008-04-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

We're having a baby!!! Well we will be having a baby, but yeah the news is out Karen is pregnant and we're eagerly anxiously expecting a bouncing little baby!! The whole thing is completely unexpected, and totally blowing our minds, but we're also excited at the idea of being parents. So everyone keep their fingers crossed we're hoping for a Halloween baby. We've also started a Baby blog as well which we'll keep updating as time goes on.

One day....

2008-03-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

So I'm working with my pal Chris Meesey and we find photos of this guy lying around the booth.
This guy is so funny looking we decide we have go for it and draw up some quick sketches of the guy.

Of course we can't stop there so we draw some more and see what more we can do with this guy's face.

This one's awesome!

Now I'm realizing that the side view and the front view of this guy make him look like completely different people. The front view got him smiling with big grinny teeth and squinty little eyes, while the side view makes him look kinda like Shia LeBeouf. So I tried to reconcile the two views.

Weekend sketch dump

2008-03-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

I have too much fun with Karen's new camera.

I couldn't tell if this kid was a boy or girl. The kid's name was Cory or something like that. Luckily the mom told me to not make him look like a girl, but I think I'm too late.

Caricature Explosion.

2008-03-13T22:54:00.000-07:00

Apparently people invest in caricatures when the economy is tanking. More to come.

Today's Caricatures

2008-03-06T22:17:00.001-08:00

Hurray!! Here's some funny looking people!!!

Political Cartoonists

2008-02-12T09:17:00.001-08:00

Link

Some great videos about a political cartoonist's assessment of some of the candidates. Great stuff, its also a nice little window into some philosophy of caricature. I think this guy could be a little more outrageous with his exaggeration, but the finished works are still very amusing. I wish as a theme park caricaturist I had a chance to get to know my subjects more, but I only get 3-5 minutes to capture a person this guy gets days.

I laid off hurray!!!

2007-12-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

Well it finally happened, I got "let go" from my crappy job at "Age of Learning" I'm upset because it came completely out of the blue, and for terrible reasons, but I find myself, happy, because hey, now I don't have to work there anymore!!
Hurray!!!!!

Now who's up for hiring a talented and capable artist?

Mo Crapiness!!

2007-11-10T17:10:00.001-08:00

Too go along with my Beowulf rant, here's some more of that wonderful process called Mo-crap I mean Mo-cap. "

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation » Worst. MoCap. Ever.

I mean seriously who looks at this stuff and says "WOW now that's entertainment!!! I gotta make a movie with this!!

Thoughts on Beowulf

2007-11-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

Okay so I read this article on Animation Magazine .com and heres a short quote.

Beowulf is a very good film. Even my wife, who is not so much an animation fan, really enjoyed it. In addition to offering a great story and compelling characters, the movie represents something that we really need right now. It’s an animated movie for adults, and it’s opening in wide release in the United States. This is huge, folks. If the film does well, it could open all kinds of doors. Studio execs who only see dollar signs in cuddly critters making broad jokes to pop-music soundtracks will wake up and realize that audiences want to see different kinds of stories told with digital technology. For moviegoers who don’t normally attend animated films, Beowulf could also be the perfect vehicle for easing them into the fold. They won’t be jarred by something that is too far removed from live-action, and they won’t be embarrassed to show up without a kid. Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille and 20th Century Fox’s The Simpsons recently laid a bit of groundwork in this area by stepping outside the family film box and capturing the imagination of grown-ups, perhaps even more than the small children they brought with them or, more importantly, didn’t bring with them.

The general public doesn’t care if something is mo-capped or key-framed, they just want to be entertained. So the fear that performance-capture movies will become the new standard is mostly unfounded. True, studios will largely favor their economic model, but the money they save by not hiring a room full of animators will be largely offset by the expensive stars they tap to perform the roles. Besides, the big key-frame studios aren’t going anywhere. Imagine the possibilities if Pixar suddenly felt free to create a PG-13 fantasy, action or horror flick. What if DreamWorks Animation believed they could make money by creating a CG graphic novel adaptation along the lines of Sin City or 300?

http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/7589

I can't help but respond

This film may be good for pushing the idea that 3D technology is not just limited to kiddy stories about talking animals and such, but its not going to be good for the animators as they are pushed more and more out of the process. This sort of motion capture ,Yes, requires animators to sit at a desk tweaking the movement and streamlining the performance, but it knocks the importance of the animator down. All the decisions on what the character does, oh he/she emotes, performs, its all up to the actor and director.
So I have to ask what's the point of translating the actor's to 3D in the first place? If its to achieve a stylized look, why not use a process like 300 or Sky Captain. I mean if the idea is to capture to realistic movements of actors, and even match the 3D models to look like the actors, why not just film the actors and leave it at that? You animate a story because you want to show something that isn't real, come to life, and that's what hand drawn, puppeteers, stop motion and 3D animated films do. Mo-caping an entire 3D movie like this seem like an extra process that's unnecessary. All it does is lessen the need for the craft that animators spend their lives learning to perfect. Animation is going to be reduced to a skill that is open to people who will only have to sit at screen and push a mouse around and follow directions. So no I can't see this being very good for animation.

And one more thing, common, Just because its presented in 3D does not mean its animated!!!

Any thoughts on this?
Lewis Black does

Rant time

2007-07-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

A rant

Karen and I can't be the only ones who think this. I mean don't get us wrong, we love Pixar and all the great films that they do, but when they make a movie that's all about finding great talent in unexpected places, one can't help but be like suurrree. I mean Rats maybe a be able to cook, but if they really want to cook, they should have gone to school at Cal Arts. Cause when it comes to looking for that great unexpected talent, they only seem to look in one place.

BTW I'll probably get blacklisted for this Like my pal Brian http://brianslifeasacartoon.blogspot.com/2006/03/chuck-jones-incident.html

Recent Doodles, zombies, anniversary and What not.

2007-05-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd update this ole' Blog. Here are some recent doodles and some new zombies which you can see up on our website www.10000zombies.com.

The real News is that Karen and I will be celebrating our 1st anniversary!! HOLY CRAP!!! Its been a year already?? Well I guess Time flies when you spend the year, moving, looking for work, geting work, woking, looking for new work, comic con, holidays, birthdays, and landing a new job. Still feels like we just got married yesterday or something, wow, still blows my mind. But its also been a year of fun, and adventures galore, so if this was the first year I can't wait to see what happens the second and the third, and well all of them :D .

Also wish Karen Luck, she's got a job interview for a PA position AT DISNEY FRICKEN FEATURE ANIMATION!!!! I know, she'll probably kill me for posting it here, but I know she's totally got the job. Anyways, enjoy!!

Mythbusters...awesome show
Clown Zombieness
Speedo Zombie even. Fat zombies (heck fat people) are just fun to draw.
If you didn't catch the season finale of heroes, you might as well crawl in a hole and die. Even more awesome show.

Website Plug Time!!!

2007-05-11T16:37:00.000-07:00

Even though the link is right on the left, I'm gonna Plug our website!!! Go check out the changes at www.10000zombies.com!! We've added more zombies, more links and even redid our movie section, so now its easier to view all our wonderfully old shorts!!! Check it out, and please feel free to leave some comments in the guest book. We'd like to know what you think, or like to know that you showed up.

Go Zombies!!