Frank Summers

Determined Space Kid

2011-04-03T18:01:00.001-07:00

Little Einsteins Coloring Book Drawings.

2010-08-11T14:37:00.000-07:00

I was digging through my old docs and came across a bunch of illustrations I did for a Little Einsteins coloring book. These were done around four years ago. I have no idea what ever happened to the coloring book itself. I don't think it ever came out. Here's a few I picked that I liked.

Hello

2009-12-30T19:48:00.000-08:00

Doodled a bit while watching Aliens tonight. Then, i decided to hook up my scanner, and then realized I havent updated my blog in a little bit. Ink on paper:

Little Girl

2009-11-18T15:34:00.001-08:00

Whoosh

2009-10-29T16:05:00.001-07:00

Nothing fantastic today. Just a few doodles.

Only one today

2009-10-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

Bloop

2009-09-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

Little girl

2009-09-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

New sketches

2009-09-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

Did these on Friday, and posting them up today.

More sketches

2009-08-27T15:17:00.001-07:00

The server's down...

Dirk The Daring

2009-08-25T17:24:00.001-07:00

Love me some Dirk The Daring. I started pulling Singe out of my ass, so he looks like garbage hah. I don't know who that guy in the upper left corner is. I pulled him out of my ass, too.

Hi

2009-08-19T16:06:00.001-07:00

Hello

2009-08-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

Here's a new sheet of sketches done when I had a few minutes at work.

Some sketches

2009-08-07T20:07:00.001-07:00

It's occurred to me that I haven't been sketching like used to in quite a while. I've been working a lot in After Effects at my day job, and thus I haven't been drawing much. I'm going to try and make an effort to fill an entire page in Sketchbook a day. Nothing special. Just doodles. Just something to get me drawing again. Here's the last three days worth:

GFG#5: "How To Hook Up The NES"

2009-08-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

So after around seven months of production, Phil and I wrapped up production on GFGames#5: "How To Hook Up The NES". My brother-in-law, Joe, kicked into high gear and turned around a fantastic soundtrack. Clearly, this is inspired by the Goofy "How To" shorts from the 40s and 50s. I hope everyone gets a laugh out of it. Head on over to the Shamoozal and scope it out!

GFG#5 Update

2009-05-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

I don't feel like re-typing stuff. Read more here. Me tired.

Short update

2009-04-19T20:20:00.001-07:00

I was able to sink most of my weekend into the new short for the Shamoozal. I'll wager I spent around 75% of my time sitting here working on the short. I decided to revisit the shot I posted the rough posted below from. Hah. Does that sentence even make sense? It's been a long weekend, so I'll make this quick and just get to the image.

Animation rough from new short

2009-03-24T20:12:00.001-07:00

It's been drawn to my attention that I havent updated this in some while. And you know what...it's totally true! I've been busy doing another short for the Shamoozal, and I feel like all my free time gets devoted to it. I don't know when it's going to be done at this point. I wanted to have it finished up last month, but you know how things go. The above image is an animation rough from a shot with Jacquo stuck in a very cramped space. Hopefully it'll be done soon! Wish me luck!

Suave Doodle Dude

2008-12-18T15:37:00.001-08:00

There really isn't anything special about this guy. I actually kind of lost interest in him as I went along, but I wanted to post something up here today just to try and get myself in the habit of making semi-regular posts again.

Some character designs

2008-12-15T14:42:00.000-08:00

I did a few designs in Flash for a project that I just wrapped up on recently. One of them got used, but these guys didn't. Oh well.

Eggplant Wizard

2008-12-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

This guy was great. I always loved the Eggplant Wizard from Kid Icarus. Though I've gotta say I love the Grim Reaper in it even more, so I may have to give him a shot this week, too.

This upcoming weekend, Saturday December 13th, the Shamoozal crew will be holding another live NES marathon for the Child's Play charity starting at 12 noon to 12 midnight. We're going to try and mix it up some, and not just have a couple of guys in a living room try to beat Mike Tyson (again) from Punch Out!!. We plan on doing some sketches of classic NES characters live and posting them up on Ebay where 100% of the money will go towards the charity. So, I'm trying to ramp up a bit to get in the mood this week, and try to knock a few of these out before the marathon begins.

Head on over to the Shamoozal for details!

Yay!

2008-11-26T12:08:00.001-08:00

Been a while

2008-10-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

What can I say? I've been a busy little bee lately, and there hasnt been much time to post these days. I'm trying to get into the Halloween spirit so I doodled up this little cartoony Frankenstein.

Speaking of Frankenstein, Phil did a new short for the Shamoozal, "Frankensteiner: Muscle Quest" last week over a 10 hour time period. By popular demand, Phil brought back Frankensteiner who was first seen in "Crapfest Force" when Jacquo tried making his own cartoon. Phil has been looking for an excuse to break out the SNES and do an old school short using strictly Mario Paint. Premiere was used to edit everything together. The results would make Jacquo proud. Check it out!

"The Last Copy" is done!

2008-07-07T14:00:00.001-07:00

Hey all. The past few days have been spent finishing up our latest short over at the Shamoozal, "The Last Copy." Head on over and scope it out. We also have a variety of snazzy hi-def versions available for download to put on your iPod or media player of choice. Check it out!

In other Shamoozal news: in lieu of our regularly scheduled podcast this month, we are having a 24 hour NES-a-thon to try to raise money for Child's Play Charity. The event is starting this Friday, July 11th, at noon and continuing into Saturday morning. Stop by Shamoozal.com for more info, but I can promise a nonstop parade of classic gaming goodness including the likes of the SMB trilogy, Contra, Castlevania, Mega Man 2, Kid Icarus, and many others. We plan on streaming it live via UStream so one can check out a room full of grown men whither away playing retro video games on a 20 year old NES. Awesome!

Hang'n Out

2008-06-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been crammed with working on the new Shamoozal short, "The Last Copy", however for the past few nights I've been working on a skateboard deck for the Three Feet Hight show at Maxwell's in Hoboken this upcoming Monday night. I haven't touched real paint in like eight years, but I've been looking for an excuse to give it a whirl again. I was a little nervous, but I think overall I'm happy with the final results. So here's my addition to the show, "Hang'n Out".

The final version.

Indiana Jones is awesome

2008-05-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

I think I've been thinking nonstop about the new Indy movie for about two weeks. I think it blew my mind. Indiana Jones may be my all time favorite character. Despite all the negative criticism out there, I frigg'n loved the hell out of it. Sure, there were a few goofy moments, but that's just what they were. A moment that lasted for maybe one minute of screen time that I forgot about because Indy was kicking ass the next. If you care, I wrote up a spoiler-filled review at the Shamoozal.

Fencers

2008-05-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

Once apon a time, I used to fence. Its been years since I picked a foil up and I do miss it. I never did it competitively, but I could hold my own. Who knows if I'll ever have the time to get back into it again. Oh well...besides I don't think I'll fit in my jacket these days :)

Random stuff

2008-05-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

Like many times before, I'm trying to devote about 30 minutes of my day just doodling. Animating is fun, but drawing the same shapes and characters day in and day out has a tendency to cramp your drawing skills up. So from here on out, I'm going to try to spend some time just letting it go and come up with some loose stuff before I start work.

On a side note, does anyone else think the "newer" 21 inch Cintiqs aren't as good as the "older" 21 inch ones? I own one of the first 21 inch models at home and work on the newer ones at my job. They have a slight bevel to them along the screen, and have a harder drawing surface. I prefer the softer feel of the old ones. Anyone else?

GFG background

2008-05-05T15:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a new BG that's going to be in the next short. A nice little chunk of it takes place behind the GFGames store by the trash.

Some storyboards from the next GFG short

2008-05-01T07:57:00.001-07:00

Here's a few stills from the next GFG short for the Shamoozal. The animatic is done, and we're about to roll forward with animation production. Hopefully, it'll be done sometime this month.

Shamoozal short: "Tactical Espionage Retail Simulation"

2008-04-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Head on over to the Shamoozal and check out our latest entry into our GFGames series, "Tactical Espionage Retail Simulation". Grey is dealing with a snotty, know-it-all customer while Jacquo looks to take advantage of the situation that would make Solid Snake proud. Enjoy!

Let's go Flyers!

2008-04-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

Let's face it, the Flyers probably aren't going to make it into this year's play-offs, and even if they do I can't see them making it beyond the first round. Ahh well...at least they aren't loosing every game they play this year like last season.

I was flipping through my hard drive and I stumbled across this sketch. I apparently started to clean it up and stopped for some reason. It was just a little over two years old as it was originally created on May 1st, 2006. Its possible I posted the rough version of it up here some place, but I don't remember. So, I finished its clean-up and splashed some color in there. Maybe I'll get around to giving it a shadow pass at some point...probably in another two years from now :)

Dragon guy!

2008-03-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I posted anything here that wasn't Shamoozal related. I've been busy getting the next short done in any spare time I have, but tonight I wanted to basically just scribble and have fun. I feel like I force myself to work in a tight line all the time, so I just wanted to toss some shapes down and let loose. I kind of like this guy a bit. Maybe I'll play with him a bit more later on.

Speaking of which, the new Shamoozal short will probably be done sometime next week? A large majority of it is done. All shots with the "Hipster" character have been done, and I was dropping in some BGs last night. Hopefully I'll be able to make a post here soon about it!

Character design for next Shamoozal short

2008-02-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

I'd like to introduce you to "Hipster", a new character that will be in the next Shamoozal short my bro and I are working on. This was a slow week for production, but hopefully we'll get things moving along a little faster next week.

New short is done!

2008-01-28T21:15:00.000-08:00

Head on over to the Shamoozal to check out the new short, "Rated 'M' For Molester". The next one is currently in progress and should be done with in a month or so, but in the meantime scope out the newest one!

New shorts on the way!

2008-01-20T17:56:00.000-08:00

So me and the rest of the Shamoozal staff have been busy little beavers lately. Around early December, we decided to step things up a bit at the site. With the new year, we wanted to try to do a new 1-minute short and record a new podcast once per month. So we've been designing new backgrounds, revamping the characters, and have a slate of scripts already in the pipe. So far, so good. And of course, we're running behind schedule hah! Hopefully, it'll be done by the end of this week.

Here's a storyboard panel I did for it.

Time to move on...

2008-01-14T19:03:00.001-08:00

Hey all. Its been quite a while since I last updated. Its been a busy time. I've been occupied with what's going on at Shamoozal.com and busy with the holidays.

This past Friday, my time at Curious Pictures as a drawn animator on "Little Einsteins" has come to an end. I've been there for the past three years, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have worked with so many talented people. I learned a hell of a lot, and its hard to believe that its all over. I felt ready to move on to another project, but it didn't strike me how much I would miss it on the 4th floor in the Hot Pocket until I was half way out the door. It is very unlikely that there will be another season ordered of the show, and the lease on the studio space we were stationed at is being let up. It certainly is an end to a very important time period in my career.

However, I feel very strongly that drawn animation can be pushed further forward. I think our team has proven that traditional drawn animation can be done effectively, affordable, be delivered on time, and most importantly be done here in the States. We were only a small crew, and I know we can carry the ball even further with a larger team in place.

While going through my files, I came across a handful of thumbnails that I did several years ago of the kids. I remember I was asked to drum up some poses by my director, Mike Luzzi, and these were what I came up with. Some were fleshed out and were fully animated for the show. I thought I'd share them with you.

"I meant to do that."

2007-11-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

Glass Joe

2007-11-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Andy, ask and you shall receive :)

Metroid

2007-10-20T12:24:00.001-07:00

If there's something I love, its Metroid.

Painterly Pumpkin

2007-10-17T05:15:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to draw out side the lines today and play with color in Sketchbook. I want to loosen up a bit more and not worry about making every line perfect all the time. I started out by just plopping a big orange blob down and working from there. I might do a few more of these later on as this was kind of fun.

Owls

2007-10-12T14:35:00.001-07:00

Old people

2007-09-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know why but I've been doodling old people alot lately. I think its because they have such interesting features that are fun to characterize. Anywho, here's a few:

Anime stuff from a pitch

2007-08-17T22:51:00.000-07:00

I did these for a pitch about a month ago. Nothing came of it, so I figured I'd post them here for you consumption. I cleaned up and coloured (look! I'm British!) the one in the upper left corner as a sample of what a final rendering would look like.

The Doctor Is In

2007-06-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

Just being polite

2007-05-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hey Mike, what does one say when they're letting someone else go in front of them while waiting in a line?

Oh, thats right!

Hey now! New Shamoozal Short "Crapfest Force"!

2007-05-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

Hey all. I know its been a while since I last updated. However, I have not been resting on my laurels so to speak. My brother and I have been working away into the late nights to wrap up our latest short over at the Shamoozal, "Crapfest Force." Its a tour de force that will make you laugh, cry, think, and maybe even make you a millionaire after you're done watching it. Hah! As usual, our ever so talented sound guru, Joe, has done another awesome job scoring the music and giving our short a professional level soundtrack. Head on over to the Shamoozal and scope it out! Enjoy!

Guess who?

2007-03-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

Sketchbook:

New short BG

2007-03-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

So I've been working on a new short for the Shamoozal. Its all boarded and timed out. Some rough animation is in place, and we've been trying to knock out a few key BGs. Below is one. It'll probably get some tweeks here and there before its done, but this is what I've been up to lately. Enjoy!

Da Bears

2007-03-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Goof'n around with bears. Joe should posted his, but he deleted it. Hah. I used the term "deleted" in association with sketching. Oh digital age, i <3 u.

Office drone

2007-03-06T07:10:00.000-08:00

New Shamoozal Podcast

2007-02-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

Head on over to the Shamoozal and download the newest podcast staring your favorite nerds. We do the usual Shamoozal site updates, take some listener feedback, and play a game of 8-bit Music Trivia. You can get it from the site, or search us out on iTunes. Scope it out!

Nanny

2007-02-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Potts inspired:

Yum!

2007-01-31T14:23:00.000-08:00

Link!

2007-01-23T21:45:00.000-08:00

So, in my spare time I've been playing the hell out of Zelda. I finally have some free time after wrapping up some freelance, and this game needed my attention. I've gotta say, its one of the best games I've ever played, period. I finished it off about two weeks ago, but I've been thinking about it alot. Link! He come to town!

Coloringbook! A Kano Special!

2006-12-22T15:04:00.000-08:00

Whew! Finally done my last coloring book page for Little Einsteins! I took one look at the breath taking drawings done by Kano whom I was working with on this project, and I couldn't help but get inspired. Enjoy!

Ninja and new holiday podcast

2006-12-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

Whew. It's been a while. I've been busy crank'n on freelance, and pitching in on the latest Shamoozal short, "Ninja", when I got the chance. For this one, I did the storyboading and the animatic. My bro Phil pretty much handled all of the animation. May I say I think it looks really good. Of course, my brother-in-law, Joe Mosceriello, handled all the music and SFX. I think it looks and sounds really good. So head on over to the Shamoozal and check it out! While you're there, say hi to the gang on the Smorgas Board and engage in some nerdy frivolity!

Speaking of nerds, our holiday podcast has gone live as well. So while you're over at the Shamoozal, check out the podcast to see what nonsense we're up to. Here's a hint: we play a new holiday themed game, talk about the Wii, and go nuts about all things nerd. If you've got iTunes, just do a search for "shamoozal" in the music store and you'll fine us. Otherwise, head over here!

Aww yeah.

Long time no post.

2006-11-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

Had some down time:

Woosh!

2006-10-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

Yuck. It's been a while. I've been busy with some freelance and it hasn't left much time to do much of anything let alone some down-time to do some sketching. Plus, I've been neglecting my Shamoozal responsibilites, so I feel really crappy about that, too. Anywho, here's a quick one to toss up just for fun and to loosen up a bit!

An old sketch and a new podcast

2006-09-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, my fellow Shamoozal-ites and I recorded our third podcast for the site. It covers a few topics of what's happening over at the Shamoozal, a game of Nose Hair Bouquet, and a bevy of other nerdy topics from video games to the new Star Wars DVDs. Head over to the site and get it from there, OR you can search for "shamoozal" on iTunes. Enjoy!

I was flipping through an old sktechbook and came across this guy. I liked him, so I decided to share:

Stuffies

2006-09-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

Cozy

2006-09-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

Fall's around the corner...

Giddy-up!

2006-08-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

Sketchbook:

An unfinished color sketch

2006-08-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

Here's one I did a few days ago but never finished. I submit it to you.

Gangsters

2006-08-16T21:38:00.000-07:00

Outta' Time

2006-08-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

I watched Back to the Future this past weekend:

Whoop!

2006-08-04T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hey. So here's a few sketches. Whoop!

Some storyboards

2006-07-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

Hey all. Its been some time since my last post. In my spare time I've been putting together a rough storyboard and animatic for the next sode on The Shamoozal. The Shamoozal staff (myself included) just recorded a new poscast this past weekend. Its basically a bunch of guys yelling at each other over a bunch of nerdy crap. My bro was working on getting it uploaded in iTunes, but you can snag it off the website also.

Below is a few panels from the next sode currently in production:

Justin Williams FTW!

2006-06-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Look! Paper! These were a few sketches kicked out while watching the Carolina Hurricanes win the cup tonight. It was great seeing Brind'Amore hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. Anywho...these were black colerase on moleskine sketchbook with some gray marker action going on for fun in the upper right corner one.

Sketch'n

2006-06-13T15:47:00.000-07:00

Had some time to rip these guys out...kind of a strange grouping. Maybe we can construct somekind of story out of all this nonsense?

Me bad boy!

2006-05-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't been posting. I'm a total turd. I admit that. The project I'm currently on will be wrapping up soon so hopefully I'll have some more free time to post.

Another thing I really want to get is a new SCANNER. I still DO sketch on my down time, but lately I've been prefering to do that away from my computer as I feel like I'm chained to this thing. So, maybe I'll spring for a new scanner soon and I can get some actual drawings from a real live sketchbook up in this joint.

Booyah! Who loves ya!?

Hockey play-offs!

2006-05-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a rough I did a little while ago. The Philadelphia Flyers already washed out, but there's nothing like play-off hockey!

Quick one...

2006-04-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

It been a while since I was able to post anything. I've been pretty busy over the last few weeks, and really haven't had much time to sit and sketch. So tonight, I had a few moments and wanted to get something done and stick it up here just to let all three people who come here know I'm still alive and kicking :)

Ebonyc - Part Two!

2006-03-30T20:30:00.000-08:00

Here's the second illustration for Kano's filmstrip:

Ebonyc - Part One!

2006-03-28T21:29:00.000-08:00

My buddy Danny Kimanyen is putting together a little film strip featuring guest artists' renditions of his characters from his self-published comic, 'Ebonyc'. This is one of my submissions. I penciled them both with Col-Erase, scanned them in, and gave them the 'ol Photoshop treatment. The second is still on the presses, so I'll post that one when its done (tomorrow maybe?).

Man-Bot!

2006-03-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

So, my bro and I run a website, http://www.shamoozal.com ,which is a home to our own projects. Actually, my borther does the majority of the work...I help when I can. Anywho, I finally wrapped on a short which introduces a new character into our canon: Man-Bot!

I approached this project by wanting to do something a little different. For the past year or so, I've been working with soft, rounded shapes that had no out-line. I wanted to go for a more graphic, hard edged look that at the same time was easy to animate. I think my design worked out pretty well! Flash 8 also sped the process along with its new line tool options.

Head over to Shamoozal.com and check out Man-Bot!

Friday Night Love'n

2006-03-24T19:52:00.000-08:00

Chickies

2006-03-23T21:52:00.000-08:00

Bunnies

2006-03-23T20:44:00.000-08:00

So I doodled this guy:

Gilligan's Island

2006-03-19T14:48:00.000-08:00

So a few buddies of mine started up a sketch blog with weekly topics. This week is Gilligan's Island, and I did a sketch of sweet ol' Mary Ann:

Your wish is granted...long live Jambi...

2006-03-07T21:16:00.000-08:00

Ask and you shall receive...

Anatomy and Squids

2006-03-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

So I'm feeling really crappy today. Not so much sick, but just a little un-inspired. I started doodling this guy and these hands from memory:

I still wasn't very satisfied. So I felt the need to try and let go with some very loose drawings. So, the idea of just doing a bunch of squid characters came to mind. These were fun and helped me open up a bit. I might do some more later on.

Day Dream'n

2006-03-02T08:32:00.000-08:00

Still playing in Sketchbook...

More Sketches

2006-03-01T14:15:00.000-08:00

Still have'n fun...

Here's Sarg

2006-03-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

So I downloaded a trial of Alias Sketchbook. Its pretty cool, but it doesn't have half the features of Photoshop. However, its a really cool app that has a really clean interface. Here's a sketch I did today with it:

Man-Bot

2006-02-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks, I've been working on a short animated in Flash. The idea is based off of an old character that my bro and I used to goof around with. He never existed outside of a bunch of audio skits until recently. His final design is very similar to these following conceptual sketches. I'm about 60% done the short, and hope to have it done after I wrap my current project.

Squirt

2006-02-03T21:50:00.000-08:00

Wow. Its been a while since I put anything up here, so here's a sketch of a fireman. Who ya gonna call?

Woof!

2005-12-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

Tonight I did a random image search on Google, and a pic of two dogs sitting on a bed poped up. "BINGO!" says I, and off into Photoshop with this one I went. I have no idea whose dog this is:

Kid and The Snowman

2005-12-08T22:09:00.000-08:00

Had a few moments to get back to this one. I wanted to give it a wintery feel, so I went for the long shadows and cold blue monotone.

Old Designs

2005-12-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

Once apon a time, I was a character designer and animator for a pilot called Kappa Mikey. Actually, I was just revamping it, and was asked not to deviate too far from the original designs. However, there were a few secondary characters that I was able to play around with. Kappa Mikey is based off of the whole anime deal, which is not exactly my cup of tea, but I gave it a shot. The show is now in production without me, and the characters have once again been re-designed. So, here's a few drawings I have laying around:

Early Draft

2005-12-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

Ta-Da!

2005-12-02T21:29:00.000-08:00

More Sketches

2005-11-30T07:28:00.000-08:00

I did these a little while ago, but thought I'd toss 'em up to share.

Ten points if you can guess who this guy is :)

Flash Sketch'n

2005-11-29T22:30:00.000-08:00

So I doodled this guy in Flash. Drawing in vectors is a total pain in the rear, but the upshot is that you can make changes really quick. And since I'm just playing with color here, it works out well.

Hello out there!

2005-11-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

This is my first post. EVER!