Sketch Outing to Music Hall

Jeb Brack, Christina Wald, Sarah Rocheleau, Amy Bogard, Vanessa Sorensen, Margot Madison, Darcy Vorhees

A group of us (Jeb Brack, Christina Wald, Sarah Rocheleau, Amy Bogard, Vanessa Sorensen, Margot Madison, Darcy Vorhees Van Horn) went sketching at Music Hall March 7th.

I have wanted to sketch Music Hall again for a while and we were filmed as park of a segment they are doing on me for Arts Bridge on CET.

Here are some of the sketches!

The sketchbooks! Photo by Amy Bogard

Sketch by Jeb Brack

Sketch by Sarah Rocheleau

Sketch by Vanessa Sorensen

Sketch by Christina Wald

Our next outing is to the Cincinnati Zoo on March 23rd at 9am before the next illustrators lunch at Dumesh. Hope to see you there!

Reminder- Animator Event tonight!

H everyone, just a reminder about the meetup tonight!

1) Bring your portfolios for review and your questions for answering.
2) Win Anomalisa Stuff + get free Anomalisa stuff
3) Bring your art supplies that need to be re-homed

This is taking place at Essex Studios, Studio #268 (thank you to David Harz, it's his space) at 7:00 pm on Thursday Jan 28th

2511 Essex Pl, Cincinnati, OH 45206

The door to Essex is kept locked but we will be there to let people in at 7:00pm,. If you RSVP I will look out for you. If you're going to be late or if you arrive late you can also text or call me (Darcy) and I will come let you in- (513) 304-9780

Directions to the room: Once you're standing in front of the giant genie in the Essex parking lot, turn right and walk to the wooden steps.  Climb the steps and enter the door at the top of the steps. Once you're in the building, walk straight back til you hit a wall, then turn right and walk straight.  Studio #268 will be on the left side.  See you there!  Call or text with questions!

Cincinnati Animation Network Meetup this Thursday

We are having a meetup! Important facts:

1) Bring your portfolios for review and your questions for answering.
2) Win Stuff + get free stuff
3) Bring your art supplies that need to be re-homed

This is taking place at Essex Studios, Studio #268 (thank you to David Harz, it's his space) at 7:00 pm on Thursday Jan 28th aka in a couple of days.

2511 Essex Pl, Cincinnati, OH 45206
The door to Essex is kept locked but we will be there to let people in at 7:00pm,. If you RSVP I will look out for you. If you're going to be late or if you arrive late you can also text or call me (Darcy) and I will come let you in- (513) 304-9780

Please email me cincycan@gmail.com or reply to this post to rsvp so I know how many chairs to bring!

More details:

We will be giving away free Anomalisa posters to everyone who comes and we will also give 4 lucky people a free Behind the Scenes book about the making of Anomalisa since it is in wide release now.

Evidence of free stuff!

If you have a portfolio that you want reviewed or have any questions about anything animation related, also bring that along because this would be a good time to get that stuff answered.

AND

Bring any art supplies or other animation-related stuff that you don't want anymore but you can't bring yourself to throw away, we are also having a supply swap!

Other people having a supply swap! Ours will be cooler.

 You don't have to bring anything to take stuff home but its a good opportunity to get some use out of stuff that's gathering dust at your place, and saving someone money in the process.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Great New Animation from Flaming Medusa Studios about Coney Island

Darcy Vorhees and her team at Flaming Medusa Studios have continued their Queen City Chronicles series with this one about Coney Island.

Song of the Sea Viewing

 Join Cincinnati animators at Mariemont Theater Sunday, March 8th for the 4:30 pm showing of Song of the Sea

Brought to you by the animators of The Secret of Kells, this a great way to support feature 2-D, non-Disney brand animation...



 Synopsis: Ben and his little sister Saoirse-the last Seal-child-must embark on a fantastic journey across a fading world of ancient legend and magic in an attempt to return to their home by the sea. The film takes inspiration from the mythological Selkies of Irish folklore, who live as seals in the sea but become humans on land.

https://www.facebook.com/events/425998810900763/

Ruff Ruffman in Cincinnati

We are very happy to announce that a project we have been working on with WGBH Boston, for PBS KIDS, has launched!

Ruff Ruffman stars in these YouTube-friendly, animated comedy shorts called Ruff Ruffman: Humble Media Genius, in which he shares information about media and technology. This brand new resource from PBS also provides families and teachers with important information for our ever-changing digital lives.

The series has been spearheaded by Senior Executive Producer, Bill Shribman and EMMY-winning writer Gentry Menzel, has been funded as a pilot project by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and was produced by Cincinnati's Flaming Medusa Studios Inc.

Watch them Here! And share some pretty art here :)

Gesture Drawing Session at Manifest!

Hi guys!

The folks at the Manifest Drawing Studio are so cool- I emailed them to see if they would be down for hosting a gesture life drawing session that is good for animators- short poses no longer than 10 or 15 minutes as well as short ones, mere minutes (or less!). And they are totally doing it!

Since we animators have such a volume of drawings to get through its really beneficial to be able to draw quickly and capture motion quickly- and this is how you develop that skill.

SO! Come to the session! Show them that animators need access to short poses!

Saturday June 7
11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Cost: $20 ($10 for college and high school students)
(participants still must register in advance or upon arriving at the Drawing Center) 

For info or to register visit the Manifest website!

Flaming Medusa Studios Interviewed on WVXU Today at 1PM

Darcy Vorhees Van Horn will be discussing  their animation series Queen City Chronicles on WVXU (91.7 FM) today at 1PM EST, the "Cincinnati Edition" show.

http://wvxu.org/post/telling-tales-local-icons-animation

Article about Flaming Medusa Studios in Soapbox

Darcy Vorhees Van Horn and Tom Beuerlein

 Great write up on Flaming Medusa Studios about their animated series on Cincinnati iconic companies:

25 most iconic Cincy companies captured in video

www.soapboxmedia.com/features/040814-queen-city-chronicles.aspx

FMS also just did a really cool animation for WCPO celebrating the Reds Opening Day:

http://www.wcpo.com/news/cintagious/video-knock-it-out-of-the-park-reds-hope-springs-eternal-for-opening-day-and-beyond

CAN Meeting: How to not get screwed as an artist

Make money, not starvation!

We are having a Cincinnati Animation Network meeting about basic business stuff like how to start a business, why to start a business, what it means to start a business, basic business terms, payment and invoicing, and how to apply business principles to your art. And also what some basic business principles are, because no one bothers to teach us these things in school:)

Please join us!  It really doesn't matter what kind of art you make, it's basically the same.

It will be on March 28th, at 7pm.

at Flaming Medusa Studios
3047 Madison Rd Suite 206A
Cincinnati, Oh 45209

email Darcy at cincycan@gmail.com to rsvp! I need to be sure I have enough chairs set up....

Portfolio Review Jan 30th 4pm-6pm

Image from:
 http://www.mydesignshop.com/design-critique-services

Just a reminder that the Cincinnati Animation Network's portfolio review is this Thursday Jan 30th from 4pm to 6pm. 

We will be meeting in room 3A of the main branch of the Cincinnati Public Library.

Allison Craig (a super talented animator at Titmouse) and Christina Wald (a super talented illustrator who runs her own illustration business) will be there to give feedback on portfolios and answer any questions or concerns you may have about working in animation/illustration. And I (Darcy Vorhees) will be there too, doing the same.

The room we're in has wifi, so that's good. I will bring a PC laptop so we can look at stuff online.  If you want to bring printouts or a select group of originals or a laptop or other device to show your work on, feel free. I'd prefer not to have to transfer files onto my computer though.

Christina suggested that parking on Court Street would probably be the best option.

Feel free to email me (Darcy) at cincycan@gmail.com if you want more info or to let me know if you're going to be late.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Flaming Medusa Studios and Ted-Ed

I haven't totaled it up yet but this represents a lot of work....

Hi everybody! I thought it would be nice to do a little post collecting the educational animated videos that Flaming Medusa Studios did for Ted-Ed last year. We made films on a variety of subjects from Sacajawea to Computer Architecture to Voting to Time Zones, and more. If you have some time to kill just click on through!

'Tis the season for giving... and also for saying thank you for a great year.

The University of Cincinnati Athletic Department came to us at Flaming Medusa Studios because they needed an animated holiday card that would both thank their donors and also give them the opportunity to include UC Athletics in their holiday giving. So we made this! We got to animate their old mascots too- this was a pretty cool project. I also got to do some actionscripting!

You can watch the card here: http://www.animatedcincinnati.com/UC/happyholidays.html

Cincinnati Animation Network Meetup

Darcy Vorhees Van Horn of Flaming Medusa Studios has started an animation group called Cincinnati Animation Group. Here is the blog: http://cincinnatianimation.blogspot.com/

They have a meetup next Friday:

Cincinnati Animation Network Meetup

Hey everyone come join us at Fries Cafe and Bar on Friday June 21st at 6:30pm to meet your fellow animation peeps! It's very informal, just for fun so everyone can meet and see what's up.

You should get an email invite too, if you don't and want one, email me (Darcy) at info@flamingmedusa.com and I'll get you set up on the email list

Fries Cafe
3247 Jefferson Ave
Cincinnati, OH ‎

Illustrator News: Darcy Vorhees profiled on Soapbox Media

Darcy Vorhees (Flaming Medusa Studios) was just interviewed for Soapbox Media.

http://www.soapboxmedia.com/founders/060413DarcyVorhees.aspx

She also gave our blog a shout out!

Hi guys- I just added another post to the Smartists Blog, it's called:

"Secrets you need to know about the client who asks you to do work for free"

I wrote it because I figured this could be helpful to everyone who gets offers like this and who'd like to know more about what's up with that.

Caricature kind of

Hi guys- I was just messing around last night, wanting to try something that's new for me and this is what happened. It appropriate because she likes making these weird faces in photos so- hey!

Twelve-Way with Cheese Debuts!

The first episode of Tess+Tedman is now available in the Twelve-Way with Cheese comic anthology!

Twelve-Way features the work of Cincinnati artists: Brennan Bradford, Bruce Chrislip, Daryll Collins, Jerry Dowling, Tim Fuller, Brian Hagen, David Hartz, Woodrow J. Hinton III, Bob Kahnman, Darcy Vorhees, Christina Wald and Viki Woodworth, with a foreword by Justin Green.

108 pages, full color, paperback. Go to http://www.comixpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=1673 to order your copy today.

And check in often at http://www.tessandtedman.com or the Tess+Tedman Facebook page for more episodes!

Smartists Inc. blog

Hey guys I started a new blog for business issues specifically relating to artists- I also just put a poll up it would be interesting to see the results so please vote on it!

Here's a link to the blog please stop by and follow if it is this is a topic you're interested in or have ideas about:

http://smartistsinc.blogspot.com/

Flaming Medusa Studios is Born

Cincinnati, Ohio (April 26, 2010)- DarcyVDesign, Inc. last appeared in the news in conjunction with the creation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 25th Anniversary Movie. Now the company would like to announce that it is renamed Flaming Medusa Studios Inc. beginning April 26, 2010.

The name change is being carried out to further focus the company’s branding on animation, and to reflect the company’s strengths, personality, and belief system.

The mythological figure of Medusa was chosen to represent the company because of her fame in ancient lore, and because of Medusa’s inherent ability to captivate. The underlying feminist thread of her tale also provides food for thought for the woman-owned company.

About mythological Medusa
The legend of Medusa originated in Libya, where she was worshipped as a serpent-goddess. Her tale then moved to Greece where she assumed the name Medusa, the translation of which means “sovereign female wisdom” in several languages. The idea of Medusa’s head as a threat or weapon was also developed during that time. Some researchers view her eventual beheading as a symbolic silencing of female wisdom and expression.

Medusa’s famous serpentine hair also adds to her mythology. The serpent is representative of the cycles of nature. It also symbolizes immortality, as the serpent was at one point believed to shed its skin indefinitely.

About Flaming Medusa Studios
Flaming Medusa strives to make every one of our client’s projects legendary by utilizing outside-the-box creative solutions combined with state-of-the-art creative techniques to provide animation, illustration, and graphic design. Let us use our knowledge and experience to create, perpetuate, and enhance your company’s mythology.

Remember: mythology doesn’t just form your business- it can also transform your business, and inform the public. Let us put mythology to work for you.

For more information on how Flaming Medusa Studios puts mythology to work, contact Darcy Vorhees:
+1.513.539-7725, darcy@flamingmedusa.com or visit www.flamingmedusa.com