The Anxious One

Dialogue Piece

2011-04-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Final_Take_25 from Steven Hickcox on Vimeo.

This is my first entry in the 11 Second Club's monthly animation contest.

The Crazy Path I'm On

2011-02-10T01:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back animating and it really feels great! Meeting deadlines along with the challenges of the creating the animations are stressful, but so far I'm finding the courage and confidence to rise to the challenge. I don't know where this path I'm on will lead, but I'm forever grateful for the support I've gotten from former classmates, colleagues, friends and family. It's easy to let myself be defined by what I do, which can change with the wind, versus being defined by who I am, which is a slow and ongoing journey of self discovery. I'm not an artist, as much as a person who has had a life long connection with art. I don't need to let that connection box me in, or prevent the other dimensions of me to flourish. While at the same time, I should not feel resentful of it nor diminish its importance in shaping who I am. What a crazy and amazing path I'm on.

Changes

2010-08-14T02:35:00.000-07:00

Over the past several months, I have wrestled with the idea of changing careers, mostly out of desperation to provide more economic stability with my family, but also because the volatility of the industry has worn me down. My first idea was to get my teaching certificate and teach (Math...and possibly Art). However, it seems that that profession also comes with a great deal of uncertainty. So I've decided to take a shot at getting into the medical field. That decision doesn't come without its own uncertainties, such as whether I can even succeed, or whether I have the stomach/nerves to handle the stress and challenges that come with a medical profession. I'm also wondering if I will truly be able to continue being an artist in my spare time. But when I think of my family and the kind of future I want to provide for them, this seems to be the best option.

I haven't been handling stress very well lately and exercise, which has been my saving grace for so long in dealing with stress, has been more difficult to come by under my current personal circumstances.

Revision

2010-07-21T23:54:00.000-07:00

Kheppa and the Cave © story adaption by Steven Hickcox

Chapter 1

Reaching out toward the warm air above the hot spring, Kheppa wondered if this is what sunlight felt like. Kheppa continued to squat on the large flat rock, listening to the sound of the water flowing, and thinking about what Papa told him. "When I was smaller than you, I would run between the shadows of trees into the bright, warm sunlight, hearing the echoes of laughter of my brothers closing behind me in a game of chase. We'd climb the branches to pick the ripest fruit and sit under the shade. Papa would tell Kheppa how delicious the sweet fruit tasted and Kheppa tried to imagine what it would be like to taste such sweetness. Kheppa pulled a mushroom from a nearby rock after reminding himself what he had been sent out to do and his mother would be expecting him back soon.

So he began to fill his leather pouch with mushrooms that grew on large, flat rocks near the hot spring. As he ran his fingers across one of the rocks, searching of mushrooms, he was startled by the sound of the breathing near him, but nobody called out to him. Kheppa stood motionless with all his senses keen to the strange presence. "Who's there?" he cried out.

"I am the dweller of this cave," hissed a voice. "Who are you and why are you in my cave?"

Kheppa did not move or make a sound, wishing that he was back with his family on the other side of the cave. After several seconds had past, his voice finally cracked, "I, I am Kheppa and I was born in this cave."

"Ahhh," replied the stranger. "So you've only known the darkness."

Kheppa, letting his guard down, proudly replied, "…but my grandfather has told me about the sunlight beyond this cave. He says that one day he hopes I will see it too."

"Indeed," cackled the stranger, followed by a moment of silence. "Well, you have taken something that belongs to me and I want it back."

Kheppa held the leather pouch close to his body, "My mother sent me to gather mushrooms. She is waiting for me to bring these back to her."

"Hmmm…I see," hissed the stranger. "Since you have been brave, I will let you take what is mine, but do not come back here unless you have something useful you can give to me in return," replied the stranger.

A faint whistle from off into the distance of the dark cave had Kheppa's feet fast into the air as he leaped from stone to stone until he reached the ground. "Thank you, mister, but I must go now," he shouted back towards the stranger as ran in the direction of the whistle.

Chapter 2

"You were out too long!" cried Kheppa's mother. "You know that it is dangerous to be alone in the cave for very long."

"Yes, mother," replied Kheppa, whose heart was racing from the strange encounter and the fear of upsetting his mother.

"Let us eat now." Kheppa's grandfather declared.

Update: Keppa and the Cave

2010-05-11T00:30:00.000-07:00

Portrait Study - digital water color

2009-11-17T17:38:00.000-08:00

Hardie Gramatky

2009-11-16T01:23:00.000-08:00

There are several children's illustrated books that have left a huge impression on me and one in particular, Little Toot, written and illustrated by Hardie Gramatky.

Gramatky was a watercolor artist who had attended Chouinard Art Institute in 1928. He later worked for Disney Studios as a senior animator.

Portfolio

2009-11-06T01:30:00.000-08:00

Most of these pieces are from more than ten years ago. I have not really sketched or painted, other than digitally, since I started working as a 3D Animator nearly a decade ago. ~ Steven

More Conceptualization

2009-10-28T02:55:00.000-07:00

I'm currently using Corel Paint and Sketch Pad, which has some really nice, painterly qualities to it that I can't figure out how to get with Photoshop or Sketchbook (Autodesk).

Kheppa and the Cave

2009-10-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

My father wrote a children's story several years ago and has wanted me to illustrate it ever since, but one of the challenges is that most of the story takes place in a dark cave where there's no light. So this past summer, after finally getting myself a Wacom tablet for doing digital artwork, I thought I'd give it a shot.

Here's my initial idea for the illustrations:

I'm hoping to get back to this soon as well as rewriting the story to fit into an illustrated children's book.