Sketchbot Prototype SDCC 09

What a difference a year makes.

Last year this time I had just completed two hand sculpted and painted prototypes of the first version of Sketchbot. I brought them along to SDCC, had one on display at Toyqube's booth, and the other I carried with me and showed to whomever would stop and listen to my spiel. I received lots of positive feedback and even some constructive criticism. The plan was always to revise the character to be more animation friendly, in addition to further refining the shape and features. It was also important to settle on a cohesive branding strategy for all the various elements that comprise Sketchbot Studios.

Today, I'm proud to announce that Sketchbot is now in full production as a designer vinyl toy!

The new prototype will be on display at the DKE TOYS booth at SDCC 09. I'll be in attendance Wednesday during "Preview Night" and wrapping up my visit end of day on Friday. I'll have a batch of the newly designed stickers and business cards with me, so hit me up for some free swag if you see me wandering the vinyl toy aisles.

It's been an exciting journey since I first began this venture over a year ago, and the future promises a plethora of surprises for Sketchbot. See you all in San Diego!

Sketchbot Prototype Final

Here's a quick update on the Sketchbot prototype. Two full sets were delivered yesterday from the awesome Crystalline Models! One will be fully painted and on display at the DKE booth during SDCC. The other will be delivered to the factory where it will be used to create the master molds. Some key improvements are removal of the grooved eye, which doesn't lock me into one shape, and better defined grooves in the arms and legs. The figure has been scaled up by 10% to take into account the shrinkage factor when it gets cast in vinyl. Also, the enlarged right hand and accessories have been completed and look great. You can see a size comparison with a mini Munny up on my Flickr. I'll post pictures of the painted proto before heading out to San Diego for Comic Con.

It's iPhone 3GS Day, and V2.0 Sketchbot Wallpaper!

Truth be told, I'm gonna miss my original 1st gen iPhone. I really liked the look and feel of the casing, and OS 3.0 ran just fine on it. However, I couldn't wait to finally upgrade to 3G, as the Edge network is slower than molasses. Of course, having a slight bump in camera resolution, along with being able to shoot video clips, is a nice plus. I just hope I don't regret this come same time NEXT year. We'll have to wait and see if the fourth iteration of the iPhone will be evolutionary, or revolutionary.

In the meantime, I'm offering up some fresh iPhone wallpaper with V2.0 graphics. It's refreshing to update the brand across the board with the latest imagery. Enjoy!

Sketchbot Customs... In Glorious 3d!

Sketchbot DIY MadL from Steve Talkowski on Vimeo.

This project started out as a proof-of-concept for setting up the Sketchbot blinking eye rig. I haven't started to rig up the bot itself, and thought I'd apply the animated texture map to a 3d MadL that I cranked out. I've been in a 3d customizing mode the past week, and figured I'd explore my first MadL concept. Possible candidate for the next artist series?

If you have the capacity, I encourage you to download the HD version of the animation on my Vimeo page.

I've also been presented with two paper templates to customize, and thought it'd be great to bring them into 3d and do some photo-realistic rendering. The first one is a design from Sharim Gubbels, called "Ghostboy." The second template is by Gareth Lancaster, aka "moopf".

I do have an original paper toy based on Sketchbot in the works and hope to have something available for download in the not-too-distant future.

Sketchbot Update - Stickers and Quotes

Lots of exciting things going on behind the scenes at Sketchbot Studios. First, you'll notice a new masthead at the top of the blog that represents the updated logo. This redesign carries over to a new batch of stickers, which include artwork for each of the 6 planned colourways and the DIY blank version. I'll be including a sticker inside each box. Unfortunately, I have to conceal all the amazing versions until those variants become available (gotta keep the suspense alive!). The good news, everyone gets to follow along with Variant 1, and here's the final artwork:

And, yes, that's a sparkling new URL that will be the official home for the Sketchbot brand. It's currently under construction and I'm working on some killer content for the site. As always, you can continue following the adventures of toy production and other going-ons right here.

The following image represents but a third of the ginormous sticker run I recently had completed by the fine folks at Stickerobot. My design is currently featured as their Sticker of the Week! I highly recommend them for any of your sticker needs - tell 'em Sketchbot sent them your way.

Here's a quick comparison between V.1 and V.2 - the design sorely needed updating, and V.2 is now consistent with the revision to the actual 3d model.

Finally, I've been having lots of back-and-forth conversations with two factories in China, presenting my plans for production and getting those much needed quotes. Financing is going to be challenging, but I will not compromise on quality for my first release. I think all the fans of Sketchbot will appreciate the value that is going into bringing this character off the page and into reality. I'm still shooting for a release before the holidays, so keep sending those positive vibes in our direction!

Honey Nut Cheerios Sci-Fi Spot

SciFi Cheerios "if" Spot from Steve Talkowski on Vimeo.

I worked with Hush on this spot a few weeks ago. My role entailed rigging up and animating the bee character, modeling the honey wand and subtle honey animation, and full lighting of the character. A hero Cheerio was animated landing and bobbing in an imaginary plane, and this was repeated numerous times to fill out the foreground splashing bits of cereal. The spot was composited and colour-corrected in After Effects.

Check out Hush's website for more killer work, including another spot I animated on, Sony Ericsson's "Dance Off"

KickToys Launch Party @ Toyqube

After enduring a hellish 45-minute traffic clusterf*ck on the L.I.E., we finally made it to Flushing for the Kicktoys' Launch Party at Toyqube. There was a great turnout for such a modest show, considering there were only 10 custom pieces on display. Met the entire Kicktoys crew, who are really nice people. Congratulations on the launch, and we are definitely looking forward to some of the newer projects that were displayed on the video monitor. Funny how the ride home took less than 15 minutes!

KickToys Custom Teaser

Here's a little sneak peak of my custom BEit Dude for the Kicktoys launch party this Friday at ToyQube.

New Moon: Interpretations of the Chinese Zodiac @ MPH

Here are my pictures from the My Plastic Heart opening that took place on Friday, April 10th, 2009. Lots of excellent work on display, and it's always a pleasure viewing more customs in person from non-local artists. The show runs thru May 10th, so be sure to stop by if you find yourself in the East Village.

Sketchbot Update - Blueprints Completed

I can't believe it's been six weeks since my last post! I've been incredibly busy, with two back-to-back freelance gigs taking up the majority of that time. Fortunately, I also had the last 7 days off and have spent the entire time focused on completing the Sketchbot turnarounds for all seven planned colourways. This included designing and modeling five additional accessories that will each accompany a unique colour variant. And, for all you customizers out there, I'm also going to do a decent sized DIY blank run as well! This is going to be an ambitious first release, and I can't wait to get the ball rolling with manufacturing. I'll be submitting my blueprints for quotes to see exactly how much this is going to set me back, then - provided the actual cost doesn't give me a heart attack - proceed to green light the start of production.

I also have a collab series with Drilone to complete, and will be doing a custom for Toy Qube's upcoming Kicktoys show in May.

For now, I'll share the turnaround for Sketchbot Variant #1, Pencil Edition. The others will be kept secret until the release date gets closer. Stay tuned for some additional, exciting developments in the near future!