personal projects | Flimflammery: Art by Bill Robinson

Help get ‘Caterwaul’ made!!

By Bill on February 26, 2011 in character design, concept art, inspiration, personal projects, video with No Comments

My good friend Ian Samuels is getting underway with his CalArts senior thesis in Directing. Ian and I have collaborated on numerous projects (including our upcoming children’s book) and he has a terrific imagination. If you can spare even $5 to help support his film it would be much appreciated!

Visit and donate at his Kickstarter page.

And just as a fun tease, here are a couple of designs I did for him early on for this film (they ended up being a little too muppety, and not lobstery enough. Based on that sentence alone, you know this project will be bizarre and entertaining!):

Scissorhands 20th

By Bill on February 20, 2011 in illustration, painting, personal projects, scissorhands, Uncategorized with 2 Comments

Really excited to be a part of the 20th Anniversary tribute for Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands. One of my favorite Burton films, for sure. My piece is a “reimagining” of the famous ice sculpture scene, given a new context. I had no idea how hard scissor hands are to draw.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

By Bill on February 14, 2011 in personal projects, Uncategorized, vintage with 1 Comment

Happy V-Day from Sugar Plum and Lil Cupcake. (An old friend asked if I wouldn’t mind drawing this for her and it sounded like fun…so I did.) My valentine is out of town, but I will be celebrating by going to see The Decemberists kick off their new tour at the Fox Theater in Oakland! Hope everyone out there has a good day, whether or not they buy into the manufactured Hallmark version of Valentine’s.

X is for Xylophone

By Bill on January 3, 2011 in animation design, children's book, personal projects with 5 Comments

I’m happy to present my piece for a new ABC book project for Tools for Schools Africa. A while back I was invited to participate by friend and illustrator Mike Boldt. I was intrigued to see that I got the letter “X” and had fun researching xylophones in true Ghanian style. (Did you know that xylophones were invented independently in both Africa and Asia?) All the pieces should eventually show up on the blog Mike has set up. (I love Alina Chau’s piece!)

I don’t usually post too much process stuff, but it might be fun for people to see:

First step: Rough sketch!

Step 2: This is where I decided to add a background, change the poses a bit, and start tweaking composition so your eye flows in a more circular direction.

Step 3: Laying in the background, working with my line sketch laid lightly on top and some palette ideas too.

Final piece! (After lots of painting, erasing, thinking I’m a fraud, and other artistic crises.)

CTN and updated portfolio!

By Bill on November 17, 2010 in animation, animation design, concept art, conventions, CTN-X, personal projects, professional work with 3 Comments

Hey folks, CTN is almost here! I will be at table T-41 in the “Talent Marketplace”. Please stop by and say hi if you’re headed to the expo. I will have books, prints, pins, magnets, postcards, and all sorts of fun stuff.

I have also updated my portfolio for the first time in a while. I’m not actively searching for a job, but I always keep my eyes open for fun freelance projects!

Purrcasso 2010

By Bill on October 31, 2010 in animation, animation design, illustration, personal projects, purrcasso, Uncategorized with 4 Comments

For the past three years I’ve been involved in the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society’s Purrcasso art auction. All proceeds go to the animal shelter to help out the cats and dogs there. The shelter suffered a devastating fire last spring, so we are really trying hard to raise funds this year. If you are an artist interested in donating, please visit purrcasso.org for directions. If you are an art (or animal) lover, please join us for the art auction this coming Saturday night or the craft show on Sunday.

Illustration Friday: Atmosphere

By Bill on August 22, 2010 in illustration, illustration friday, personal projects, Uncategorized with 21 Comments

I actually started this as an entry for a contest on Sketchoholic…the theme there was “nightmare”. I think it fits pretty well for “atmosphere” as well though! I think you’ll find a story in there somewhere.I was thinking a lot of The Rescuers when I did this piece. Madame Medusa is hands down one of the best Disney villains. I think it’s because she’s a true sociopath with great style. (And amazing Milt Kahl animation.) PS, the color on this looks great on my Cintiq, but I have a feeling it might be blown out on other monitors. Blerrrgh.

Buster!

By Bill on July 13, 2010 in character design, dog, personal projects, Uncategorized with 1 Comment

After I put up my post about Bandit, another dog commission presented itself. These are a lot of fun, especially when I get to personalize them with toys like a stuffed shark.

How cute is this little guy?

Happy Three Years.

By Bill on July 7, 2010 in animation design, personal projects, Uncategorized with 4 Comments

So my girlfriend likes pandas. A lot. She’s been hinting for a while now that she would like another piece of art to add to her growing panda collection and our third anniversary seemed like a good time. And yes, that is a Totoro panda. Watercolor and colored pencil on fancy paper.