Chris P. O'Connell

In spite of bearing certain interests and behaviors that have labeled me quite the "geek" or "nerd" throughout my life, I had never attended any kind of science fiction or comic book convention, until recently. This weekend, " MegaCon " is going on in central Florida, and in the spirit of both trying something new and just being a pal, I got to go for free while helping fellow artist Jeff Brennan work his comic signing table. I do have to admit it was quite a fun experience to find myself in a sea of humanity comprised of quasi-celebrities, racially-divergent anime characters, hopeful media merchants and painted faces (often resembling the late Heath Ledger). I walked among them all, wandering about while eyeballing all sorts of cool and fun-looking collectibles that my broke ass can’t currently afford and have no real space for anyway. I’ve gotta say, it was pretty fun. Mind you, my heart went out to certain actors and models signing autographs, as ...

Now that we finally have a decent one, it's more like a real holiday! :)

So, this weekend, my roommates and I did some grocery shopping and I couldn't help but to be amused and snap a shot or two of this promotional sand sculpture that Gatorade set up at our local store for Super Bowl Sunday. Given that Gatorade's slogan is " is it in you " one has to ponder how much the guy in front looks happy and the guy in back looks comfortable. Seriously, jeez! As if American Football didn't have enough intense clutching and thrusting already. Exactly how fierce is Gatorade Fierce ? Well, now I officially never want to know! :P Have a fun and safe Super Bowl Sunday, folks! :)

Over the past several months I've been whipping my digital 3D art skills into serious shape, and recently I've shifted my focus to animation. Over the years, it seems I've taken a crack at every kind of animation-oriented software you can imagine, be it from Milkshape to 3DS Max , or from Clickteam's products to those of Adobe … but now as I tinker and familiarize with the animation idiosyncrasies of Lightwave Layout , I find that the challenge of my focus is not simply on what or where to click . Ad mittedly, what a lot of people don't know about animation is for it to be truly effective, as with any art, established time honored principles must be acknowledged. Animation has to to maintain a performance that represents elements of reality through the building of image sequences that the viewer seamlessly interprets as motion, regardless of artistic style. While it's very important to know or understand the varying features and functions of any modern tool...

I hope everyone had a safe and happy time this past New Years Eve. With luck, 2009 will be way more prosperous and sexy than '08 was. Feeling a little under the weather the other night, I actually didn't do much exciting to usher in the new year. However, in the interest of keeping people posted on what I've been up to over my current holiday break, aside from beating MK vs DC at least once a day on the 360 and working on an illustration project for a good friend, I've also been continuing my quest to beef up my 3d art skills. The images below represent recent works in progress and are pretty much just for fun... but feel free to enjoy and offer feedback nonetheless. :) Gundammit all! :P Breaking down the concept: "pretty boy" Gotta get him some better hair plugs. :) .

This year, I'd like to extend fun and wacky holiday wishes in the form of a classic Robot Chicken skit... Enjoy! =)