11.15.2004

Ahh, DAGNABIT!

Last Thursday night, I attended a nice soiree at Crawford Communications for the guys of DAGNABIT! They were celebrating three years of being in existence and as anyone in this business knows, that's like 10 in animation-years. Quite an accomplishment. Congratulations, guys.



DAGNABIT! consists of John Ryan and Robert Pope, both of whom I worked with at my previous animation gig, Click 3X. The three of us flipped animation bond paper for about four years, until I left for Primal Screen in 2000. Ryan and Pope stayed at Click for an extra year before venturing out on their own with DAGNABIT! Before Click 3X, both Ryan and Pope were directors at DESIGNefx, where in the 90's, a large amount of the animation population in Atlanta had gotten some sort of experience there. (It's where I got my first internship and freelance gig.)

It was interesting working for those two guys, as I pretty much cut my teeth under their direction. John had more of a moving, illustrative style going for him, mastering Corel Painter, and at times could be found inking with real camel hair brushes. Robert was from the WB/HB/UPA/Marvel school, being the go-to guy for anything that required a clean, tight line. You would think that with such diverse styles that Pope and Ryan would mix as well together as oil and water, but they do make a good team, with both having a great knack for dealing with clients (of which I got to witness first-hand while at Click), and each owning a great appreciation for each other's talents.

So, here's to many more, guys. You done good.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the nifty write-up, ya big bum. You were sweet not to mention how mean I was to you all those years. It was a riot to play Scrooge to your Cratchit.
    see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya,
    Robert Von Doom

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  2. You may call it being mean, but I assumed that it was all a part of this animation mentor-apprentice thing. Plus, you never did give me a raise, even with Little Timmy on the skids. Thanks for nuttin'!

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