Monday, May 4, 2009

To my friends..

Thanks for all of the kind comments from everybody on my art. I won't be able to post anything for a while as my G5 just went tits up. Until I get it fixed I'll be happy to answer questions about cartooning or whatever.

59 comments:

Gregor Nekdo said...

Hey Bob. I got a question about cartooning: Where is a good place to start? I've been doing doodling, but i'd like to get started on cartooning and really to start make proper cartoon images, but i have no idea where to start. Would you happen to have any suggestions about stuff that's essential to cartooning, and what will help you later on?

Unknown said...

I feel for you. My G5 died on me back in February, what a crusher it is. Luckily I am in transit right now and been able to use Uncle Phil's computer to work.

Shawn Dickinson said...

Hey, Bob...hope you get things back in order soon. I love your cartoons and I enjoy every post!

Bob Camp said...

Hi Limbclock,
Be observant! Look at everything around you and draw it. Do caricatures of all of your friends. keep drawing the same person over and over until you can distill them into the simplest cartooniest shapes then draw them from memory and put them in funny poses.
I reccomend getting all the Harvey Kurtzman (Hey Look, Pot Shot Pete)you can find and practice drawing like him. Study how the poses and expressions are one and the same. Every drawing is funny.
Look at Dr. Seuss too. Freeze frame 40's Warner's cartoons and draw the construction. Deconstruct cartoons and figure out how they work. Make a storyboard of your favorite cartoon. I did this with Deputy Droopy and learned a shitload.
Study everything you can find about layout and design. Go to Museums and draw the paintings.
Draw draw draw!

Bob Camp said...

Thanks Ironbob. A friend is going to help me open her up and figger out what's wrong. I hope it's something simple and cheap. Good 'ol Uncle Phil!

Hey Shawn,
Thanks, me too.

Eric Noble said...

Hi Bob. Sorry to hear about your G5, whatever that is. (As you can, I'm not very techno-literate).

Anywho, I read that you said you should storyboard your favorite cartoons. Can this also apply to your favorite live-action movies, in order to study how directors cut and stage scenes?

BoneDaddy said...

Sorry to hear about your G5, I myself am an electric curse--it seems like every piece of electronic equipment I touch slowly goes to shit.
But hey-at least pens and paper don't get malware/spyware/viruses/popups, etc., huh?

Anonymous said...

On the topic of art. I'd like to promote this guy

david said...

Hey Bob. I hope you get your computer problems fixed asap. It sucks having a computer down. Good luck, and thanks again for all the great stuff you have shared with us!

Bob Camp said...

Hi Weirdo. Yeah you could do that for sure.

I'm with you on that Bro-grimm.
Gimmie a pencil and some nice velum any day!

Thanks David. I'm happy to share my stuff and as soon as I'm up and running I'll upload some new stuff.

Zane Asylum said...

Hey Bob,
If Hollywood made a movie about your life who would you like to see play the role of Bob Camp?

Kevin said...

Hey Bob - Hope that computer gets fixed soon. I had an old G4 and finally broke down and bought a new iMac. Hope you backed up and backed up again.

Good tips as always too. I haven't drawn a old cartoon off a vid in a while, gotta get back to that.

Here's a good site too for boarding practice 1000 frames of Hitchcock.

http://www.hitchcockwiki.com/wiki/1000_Frames_of_Hitchcock

Bob Camp said...

Hey Zane,
That's pretty funny. I can't imagine somebody making a movie about me at all much less finding sombody to play me. I got no idea.

Hi Kevin,
Good tip on the Hitchcock boards. In fact while I was writing the above comments about boarding I was thinking about the Hitchcock boards. another good idea is to look for Miazake (SP?) storyboards for his films. They are amazing!

Nancy said...

I would cast Daffy Duck to play me. Who says animators have to use live actors anyway?

Ricardo Cantoral said...

"Bob Camp: The Musical" XD

I also got a question for you Mistah C. The drill sargent you played in the Ren and Stimpy episode "In The Army", was most of that dialogue improv or what ?

Zane Asylum said...

Hey Bob,
Nancy's comment sparked my imagination. What creative property did you want to work on but because of one thing or another, never got a chance to?

Roberto González said...

Hey Bob, an inusual question, I guess. I'm curious about your work in all this blockbuster animated movies. How much of your work is actually used in those films? Are there some specific gags or scenes that you create for Ice Age 2 or Looney Tunes: Back In Action?

I find it sad that they don't give people of your talent a lot more freedom to add whatever they want in those features, so I'll be happy to know if you get away with it once in a while.

Bob Camp said...

You're right Nancy. animationis the way!

Hey Rick,
The Drill Sargeant was pretty much performed as written on the Storyboard, which i did. i may have taken some liberties during the recording.

Zane I have lots of creative properties that I'd love to do. That doesn't mean that somebody will let me do them:)

Hi Roberto,
it takes a lot of people a long time to storyboard a movie. most of them are changed many many times during the production and scenes get redone by many different artists. it's rare that a scene reaches the movie screen the way it was boarded at first. By the end it's hard to say what was done by who.

Ricardo Cantoral said...

Bob:

I really loved the "dialogue". XD

"HEBOUT !!! PACE !!!!!!!!!"

Brubaker said...

Bob,

Okay, I'm curious. Do you have any original Ren & Stimpy cels in your hand? Could you scan them?

Bob Camp said...

Thanks Rick.

Hi Brubaker,
I do have a couple of cells but they are in frames and I don't want to have to reframe them. I actually have very little original art from the show. I may have some more drawings and xeroxes somewhere that I can scan.

Anonymous said...

Who is your favorite living artist?

spleenal said...

What was it like back in the day?
When did you get your big break?
Or was it a bunch of little breaks?

Bob Camp said...

Favorite living artist? hell that's real hard to say.
I guess Moebius.

Hi Spleenal,
Back in the day it was always about survival, taking whatever kind of art job I could get and learning more and more of my craft. It's always about paying dues. I got breaks along the way but it boils down to constant hard work. Gary Hallgren introduced me to Larry Hama who got me into Marvel Comics back in 1980. Then in the mid '80s Jim Meskimen got me a job at Rankin Bass working on Thundercats which was my intro into animation.
And of course we did get a big break on Ren and Stimpy with Nick.

Lluis Fuzzhound said...

Bob!!! you really inspire me!!! thanks so much!!! You seem like a real down to earth guy!! keep up the great work!
It seems back in the day, like most things, it was sheer hard work that got the results. I like that!
What do you think of modern cartoons?

Bob Camp said...

Lluis, thanks for the kind words. I'm glad my work inspires you.

I find most modern cartoons to be kind of boring and cliche'. The problem as I see it is that the system encourages it and dosn't reward originality. I think animated features are getting better though.

Anonymous said...

Were you interviewed for the spumco book?

Ollie said...

What are you working on right now? And wolud you ever go back to doing comics again?

Bob Camp said...

Hey Queeeeef,
There's a Spumco book? Figures.
I'd be surprised if I was asked to be involved. The only way that'd be interesting or even worthwhile is if John and his minions have nothing to do with it.

Hey why don't they make a Docudrama about all that?

Hi Ollie,
I'd go back to comics in a heartbeat if I could got a chance to do something good that payed well enough. Also I'd want to do anything with Larry Hama.

chrisallison said...

Hey Bob, you rule! Get that G5 back up and running so class can continue to be in session.

Anonymous said...

Hey Why so much anger toward John? He speaks highly of you on his blog.

Lluis Fuzzhound said...

Yay to the docudrama!!! hahaha

Ollie said...

You should create your own comic character. Something like Hellboy or The Goon, but even more cartoony.

Bob Camp said...

Hey Chris thanky!

How's the cartoon coming?

Hey(whoever you area) I'm not angry at anybody.
I gave that shit up a long time ago. I'm allowed to be annoyed at being a character in the John K story though.

It's nice that John says nice stuff about me. Thanks John!

Anger uses too much energy and I'd rather be having fun!

Ha ha Lluis, Get Oliver Stone to direct!

Hey Ollie. OK maybe I will!

deanaaa said...

Hey bobcamp Im new i was just wondering was there ever a time that you were angry on one of the artists for not doing what you have said during back when your working on ren and stimpy.

Anonymous said...

What the hell was it like working with Gilbert Gottfried? Guy is the funniest comedian ever! I love hearing him on Howard Stern. Did he try to get a lot of free stuff?

Bob Camp said...

Hey Deanaaa,
Sure I got angry sometimes, but mostly the artists were the greatest and my anger had to do with the politics of the series and not with the work of the artists.

Hey Queefb...

Gilbert was hilarious to work with! We had so much fun and yes I think we gave him some free swag.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

What would you say has been your proudest moment in animation so far?

Anonymous said...

"Hey Why so much anger toward John? He speaks highly of you on his blog."

How magnanimous.

Bob Camp said...

Hey Anon,
I've had many. The proudest for myself was when we had a screening party for Stimpy's Invention (which I wrote and boarded) and everybody was laughing so hard tears were streaming down everybody's faces.
When i went to see the Pixar exhibit at MoMA in NYC and saw toe work of so many of my friends on the walls I was deeply moved.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Mr. Camp!

If there's a limit to asking you more than one question, then I'm sorry in advance. I also appologise if my questions are a bit bland.1. Throughout the years working in the 'industry', do you have any regrets?

2. If you won the lottery tomorrow, would you still continue with your profession, because the hardest part is when you gotta worry about where your next paycheck's coming from?

3. Do you have any pet peeves about the animation &/or comic book industry these days?

4. As a cartoonist, do you believe that you must create the right character for the right role? If so, do you believe readers/ viewers have to expect certain types of characters in certain roles? Because some of the most successful cartoon characters have been built up and succeeded because, preversely, they usually don't look the part.

5. Any advice for an up-and-coming cartoonist that is becoming a bit pessimistic with the current state of the animation industry?

Closing things out, I'll ask my final, generic question: Where do you see yourself within five years?

Have a good one, Bob!

dom said...

My question:
If you could choose any of your original characters to have a TV show, which would it be and what would the show be about?

Bob Camp said...

Hi Bruce,
1. Regrets, yeah, not paying attention in school or finishing college.

2. If I won the Lottery I'd pay off my debts, fix up my house put aside money for my kid's college and start work on my own projects and get them on TV or into theaters..

3. Pet peeves would be the way the importance of actual drawing and real animation is becoming less important. Frustration with the business aspect of the business I guess. I could go on but I'm getting tired of bitching as it doesn't do anu good.

4. Character is everything in comedy. Avoid stereotypes. Look around and start to notice the way people act and react to each other. Cartooning is about caricature.

5.Pessimisism only grows as you work through your career. That's why there are so many bitter older guys in the business. My advice is to focus on the fun you can have working with other talented guys or girls and enjoy life.

6. 5 Years? I don't really do that. It's pointless. it's good to have goals and shoot for them but it's best I think to stay in the moment, live your life now. Of course I'm sure I'm a lot older than you so my outlook would be pretty different..

Hope these answers help.

Hi Dom, I don't know, I like all of my characters really. I think getting a chance to bring them to life makes them special to me.

BoneDaddy said...

I've been reading through some of the comments to and from you on this particular post, and enjoying the advice. I bounce between your blog and Bill Wray's, never leaving empty-handed.

Bob Camp said...

Thanks, Bro..
Glad you like. Yeah Bill is full of good ideas and info.

Anonymous said...

Your responses were quite insightful, Bob.

1. Regrets? Yeah, not paying attention in school or finishing college.

I don't mean to sound nosey, but what were the circumstances for you not finishing College? Financial troubles, the work load, or was it the lack of motivation?

2. If I won the Lottery, I'd pay off my debts, fix up my house put aside money for my kid's college and start work on my own projects and get them on TV or into theaters.Makes sense, as we all got to eat and provide to our love ones.

3.Pet peeves would be the way the importance of actual drawing and real animation is becoming less important. Frustration with the business aspect of the business I guess. I could go on but I'm getting tired of bitching as it doesn't do any good.What’s even scarier is I’ve seen some brilliant artists that have come out of animation school that accelerate in all fields of art (life drawing, animation, and so forth). And yet, out of the thirty, only four, maybe five of them would apply what they had learned to their own work.

It’s as if they believe cartooning and life drawing are two different creatures that follow their own strict rule set. I’m not angry, but it sometimes makes me wonder for having such observational skills & talent, why they would suddenly turn it around and not use any of these abilities in the field they are applying for. Thankfully, I’m smarter than that, and once I get access to a scanner, I show you my work and (hopefully) you might examine it with an iron club.

But I do agree with your final statement. I’ll put such thoughts out of my mind and think of happy thoughts!


4. Character is everything in comedy. Avoid stereotypes. Look around and start to notice the way people act and react to each other. Cartooning is about caricature.Agreed.

5. Pessimism only grows as you work through your career. That's why there are so many bitter older guys in the business. My advice is to focus on the fun you can have working with other talented guys or girls and enjoy life.Just to let you know, if we ever do meet with each other in life, I’m 92% of the time positive and, for the most part, happy. I have also (for the most part) gotten used with working along side curmudgeons and their ilk. However, even I have my breaking point, but I usually try to brush it off and continue with my work.

I will take your advice and try to work with those who share my enthusiasm, however.

6. 5 Years? I don't really do that. It's pointless. It's good to have goals and shoot for them but its best I think to stay in the moment, live your life now. Of course, I'm sure I'm a lot older than you so my outlook would be pretty different.True enough. I guess living at the age of 50-something will have a different impact than living life at the age of 21.

Once again, thanks for answering my questions, Mr. Camp!

Have a good one, and I wish you the best of luck.

Anonymous said...

coolaroid

Anonymous said...

So Bob you've worked on a lot of shows. Were there any that you just hated?

Bob Camp said...

I can find faults with lots of shows that I worked on but there were always positive aspects of all of them.
Also I really am not about negativity anymore.

bill said...

What was it like working on Space Goofs? Do you have anything from the show?

Bob Camp said...

Hi Bill,
Space Goofs was cool. Jim Gomez and I supervised the storyboards, and directed all the voices for the first series in LA. We never went to France where the show was being produced. The shows were pretty funny!
We had a lot of fun because of the great cast for the show.

Brubaker said...

Wow, you worked on "Space Goofs" too? I remember watching the show years ago on FOX Family (now ABC Family). Thought it was hilarious.

The Barker said...

Hi Bob, thanks for continuing to put your great art on this blog.

I was wondering what are some of your personal favorite R&S cartoons that you directed?

Anonymous said...

Hey Bob, love your work!

I'm wondering if maybe you have any pics of your Cartoon Network pilot, Lucky Lydia, and if you could post them one day (whenever your computer allows you to do so, I don't know if your G5 breaking prevents you to do that). Actually, if you have the original short itself, it'd be so cool if you could post it on Youtube (if you have a youtube account).

Bob Camp said...

Hi Chip.
You're welcome.
That's a hard question.
I don't know, In the Army, Out West, Prehistoric Stimpy, Stimpy's Cartoon Show..

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