Well, I am back home.
I had a great trip to Colombia....I must say it was a very rewarding experience working with the students there. I was there for the last week and a half of an 8 week process where they were making theirs first animated films. Many of them have never had an opportunity to do animation and were so thrilled to be learning about it and to have the chance to work on a film. I helped them as they animated their shots, and taught them how to use the software to get fluid looking animation, as well as any tips I have on acting and the process of animation.
For the most part I had a translator which made things pretty seemless, however I picked up a bit of the language....and of course I learned the important things, like, how to order coffee.:) I was amazed how little english was spoken there, It is a pretty big barrier to go and not know the language. I would definately want to have a better hold on the language before I ever visited there on my own
Cool things about the trip
1.) Like I said ...a very rewarding experience helping these guys with their films
2.) The food.....so many options of fruit and fruit juices for breakfast...as well as cool fruit sauces on most other things I ate. Fruits I have never heard of as well as ones that are so expensive here....were all local and cheap there.Great!
3.) The weather.... so beautiful... Even though it was "winter" season there and you could see the rains coming in off the mountains like clockwork every afternoon... when the sun was out in the morning it was beautiful and hot.
4.) Traffic...It's crazy there... there are no rules on the road, as long as you are all travelling the same direction, all is well. all sorts of cars, open back trucks, motorbikes, guys pulling carts of food...all just weave in and out of each other in this confusing yet fluid stream of traffic
5.) Christmas....just because there is no snow, does not mean they do not celebrate Christmas.... It's huge there, I think they even decorate up more than us!!!! Huge displays of Christmas characters all along the street, made of tin or these garrish shiny metals....in strange colors... blue yellow and orange...so different.. but very cool!
6.) Guns..... Its still odd to me to see a security guard at the school come in with a rifle over his shoulder, you see this everywhere.... it can be a much more dangerous place there... so you see barb wire, security guys with rifles all over the place..
7.) Partying with the guys at the school... they are crazy...but alot of fun
8.) Oh yeah... how could I forget....(see illustration) there was a llama for sale on the side of the street in this open air market style place that sold like....chickens, birds of all sorts, dogs, cats, any kind of animal...I totally would have bought the llama if I didn't think customs would have a problem with it.....Hey Celeste!!!! I'm home!!!! Look what I brought you...ha ha ha
Thats is all I will put for now, but as I think of more I'll fill you in.

Wow... when things get busy....... they get busy.
I posted last that I had just gotten back from a week in Ottawa...and I walked back into work...into a crazy intense show schedule that is just ending today.....seriously like 13 hour days. Needless to say the last 2 weeks have flown by...
and now
I am off to Columbia.... on Sunday.... for a week....
crazy eh?
I am going down to a small animation studio there that has been partnering with the studio where I currently work, and I will be helping them finish up some projects they are working on and try to pass on some animation knowledge to them as well. I am very excited...This is my first time traveling out of Canada, and I definately feel as though I am jumping in on the deep end with this trip. I have been reading and listening trying to learn Spanish over the past week. Apparently, I will have a translator there and I am sure I will pick up bits here and there, but I am still nervous about the language barrier a bit. Also, it is obviously very hot there, and I do not handle heat very well, so we will see if I melt or not.
So, sorry for the no updates over the next week... but I will have lots of pictures when I get back!!!!!

I spent the last week up @ the Ottawa International Animation Festival...
I had such a great time....the studio that I work with was a big sponsor there this year...and I felt proud being up there with them, and just seeing the PSI name everywhere.....I saw a lot of great screenings....films...short films....learned a lot about....writing for animation ...pitching story ideas... and I even met Eric Goldberg (and for those of you who don't nerd out over animation...Eric Goldberg animated the Genie from Aladdin ...among other great stuff), and he drew me a little picture...So that was pretty awesome....saw some panels on the making of Coraline, Up, and Princess and the Frog...ahh...very inspiring
And since then I have come back to work in the middle of a show deadline....so 13 hours days all week so far......my poor wife...not to mention another big trip coming up in the next few weeks as well... I will post more about that in a few days....cause it's a big one....
anyways....just basically stopping by to say HI...and no..I am not dead:) here is me and Eric Goldberg

Very quick post today....... I am leaving for the Ottawa Animation Festival for the week ......I am excited..lots of stuff to take in, I will miss my wife though:)
Here is a picture of some characters I am starting to work with at work for a quick project...I had to design about 18 characters for this project... but here are a few

Ok...so here is the post I had intended for today...Its a bonus day....2 posts.....and by bonus I mean It's a 'Nathan is at home with not much else to do' day:)
Anyways....my laptop...I mentioned it was broken....it all finally came together....
Warranty's....who buys them? I mean like the extra package that Future Shop tries to shove down your throat with each purchase???? Seriously...I think they asked me at the counter if I wanted a warranty on the DVD I was buying.....um.........no thank-you.......I do think they are a waste.....the product should last past the warranty time. However, warrantys and product life span never go together with me.... When something I have bought breaks...I never have the warranty and end up having to buy a new one..... when I give in to the warranty pimping.....the item I get the warranty on never breaks....as it shouldn't....it's only usually a span of like 2 to 3 years...but I have wasted money on the warranty just in case..
anyways....my laptop needs repaired....kinda expensive....and what did I find....????Apparently I gave in and bought a warranty package from Future Shop when I bought my laptop, for a 3 year deal... and yes it is still with in the 3 years.....So yeah ...this time the system works for me...I was probably a little to happy shoving the laptop back to them to get fixed....even though...yeah the computer is only 2 1/2 years old and should not have broken anyways.... but in this case whatever...its getting fixed... the bad news...is that I am laptopless for 2 weeks.......
awesome eh??
Well Celeste and I are staying downtown Toronto for the next few days at a bed and breakfast....lost of exploring, shopping, food... to do....it will be fun!!!!

I just had an amazing morning so I wanted to share...
Its Saterday mornning and Celeste had to work this early this morning and I was up at 6:30 to drive her in...I had intended to sit by the water, after dropping her off, and read my Bible for a bit....but I had forgotten it at home, so I decided to get a coffee and walk down by the lake anyways,...I walked out on the dock, right to the very end and just stood there .... nothing else was in my peripheral vision except water and sky, and it was beautiful... every tone and shade of blue imaginable was on display in the clouds, all of them different shapes and textures, and they were all being lit in different ways....the water was just slightly wavy and was clearly reflecting every shade and color from the sky....so I stood there as the sun slowly came up....and the entire sky changed in front of me, the water moving, mirroring every change ...and I stayed there....really unable to move away... it literally taking my breath away...and I felt so aware of God who created it all.... and I just stood there and started singing every song I knew about how great is our God, especially ones about his creativity and creation.....which seemed to naturally lead into songs of thankfulness for my salvation (the guys fishing on the dock behind me probably though I was crazy..... but whatever)
and I was struck with the thought....As an artist I try to mix and choose colors properly to create art work that is impactful and beautiful.... and as an animator.... I try to create life (in a way) ...or movement that is appealing and beautiful to watch.....but standing there this morning watching the orange and yellows of the sun take over what was a cool blue morning....and being mesmorised by the movement of the water and how the waves carry the reflections of the sky ...every wave...every time, unique in its movement ...I realised how anything I do is such a inadequate, pale, reflection of what was being displayed in front of me...God really is the master animator, painter, artist....and I was so inspired by seeing his work, as it were, this morning...Really though.... we all stand around and cheer oooos and aahhhs for some cheap burts of lights in the sky every Canada day and New years..... I think we should all stand on the shore and ooo and ahh and applaud for God as the sun finishes rising each morning. Who else could fill an empty canvass like the entire sky with something so beautiful and unique every morning. Anything we can create is only initations of what He has done already.
And then I navigated back through the mountains of poop that had been deposited by about 75 seagulls who had accumulate on the dock behind me. A little scary....Hmm maybe they liked my singing :)
....Well thats all..... I could go on for a long time...and I know I don't do posts tthat are so introspective that often....but needless to say I felt completely refreshed and renewed , so humled and awestuck by God and his creation, and very thankful to Him this morning thatI had to share it here.Take some time to enjoy whats created around us...Its amazing!!

My laptop is broke I think..
It's actually been breaking for a few weeks now actually...
I used to be able to open my monitor all the way till it was flat....which is normal..right?? but slowly, the screen has been going black on me as I open it up... A few weeks ago I could only open it halfway, to about a 90 degree angle......but now this weekend I can only get it to open about 4 inches wide before the screen goes dark.
I have to contort myself into all sorts on weird angles so that I am able to view the screen....
I have such a sore neck today cause I had to do some stuff on it last night and I had to prop the laptop up on the couch and then crouch down on the floor under it in order to see the screen enough to work on it....... ANNOYING... the laptop is only 2 1/2 years old

Just a quick sketch post today... the "sketch wall" theme this week is "circus" and this is my contribution....

Ok I am sitting in Artisano's with a coffee...just to get some wireless action because for some reason it's not working at home...and I was asked to move from where I was sitting because someone was coming in to paint the walls.... Ok ....no big deal.....but now I am sitting watching this painter guy ...and he is sanding the walls......I can see the clouds of plaster dust practically billowing from the walls and being blown around the restaurant....Artisanos is a place where all the food is out....uncovered ...on display.....and there are people all eating around where he is sanding..... Is it just me or do these circumstances not fit well together....a layer of plaster dust on the bread surly can't make it sell better......hmph...what do I know.... maybe is good for digestion...
either way I suggest either tape off the area or do it when the place is closed and the food is not out

ooooooo....Fringe just had a "sweet" ending....loved it

Hey.. so its been been a busy week...you will have to excuse the hiccup in drawing postings..Here are my neighbours.... I don't really know much about them. Celeste and I met them when we moved in and they invited us to chill on their deck with a glass of wine.... but that is it.... I forget even their names..(I am not a very social neighbour...my bad)..
One thing I do know is that they like blowing leaves...... Now..as a bit of a back story..I hate leaf blowers...I am not sure where this feeling came from... but they are just too loud...and I guess I always see people using them to blow off their 2 foot by 2 foot deck...and I just think... "really..... do you need that machine and all the noise...when you could just sweep it in the same time, and probably less effort, than it took to get out and start up the blower." (and please don't try and convince me otherwise... because I am stubborn and my mind is made up....even if you provide a valid point I will not accept these machines are worth having:) )
So my neighbours.... they use it for everything at every hour of every day... the steps and the driveway in the morning... the lawn and the deck in the evening... the side of the house and the fire pit before bed...and then there are some random time where they just walk around with it on...It's like an addictive habit they can't break.... it drives me crazy.....and now that 'fall' is here I am dreading whats coming.... I picture him waiting inside his house, in the shadows.... or behind the curtain, with the leaf blower ...watching the lawn, waiting for a leaf to fall..........then bursting out the door with the blower and blowing the leaf off to the edge of the property, and then heading back to the window...HA HA
Oh well.... I suppose others are entitled to their fun....
Besides I am sure that ...... in the middle of dinner on their deck late one evening they don't appreciate the next door neighbours lights flipping on and a guy in his underwear chasing his cat around the kitchen table in full view of their window ....... would not be very appealing to them either.....hmmmm
not that that ever happens

By the way I love fall!!!! I just want to skip:)

I offer no explanation for this sketch..... the "sketch wall" topic this week is Manimal.....man + animal =..... you get the idea.....and this is what came of it


Here as well are some pictures I took when Don Hahn visited Sheridan this past week.... It was so inspiring to hear him talk animation and his passion for it....as well as show lots of artwork images and film clips....
I could not believe that he actually screened the Disney short "lorenzo" for us.... It was brilliant... I don't know why they don't just release it already.
Including watching Don's film "Waking Sleeping Beauty" at TIFF this past week, I feel like I have been downloaded with enough animation inspiration to last for months.... Definately a time where it feels very awesome to be an animator!!! Love it!!!

You can always tell the day after I get groceries...... (which is actually every 2nd or 3rd day) ha ha...I eat a lot of fruits and veggies.... however the day after my desk is usually extra stocked...people usually laugh when they see the pile on my desk and ask if I am actually going to eat through it all in one day!!! well, this is kinda what my desk looks like this morning... and yes I will get through it by the time I leave work....
and hey... in other news.. I am going to the "Toronto International Film Festival" tonight to see "Waking Sleeping Beauty". It's a film about the Disney Studios, the animators there, and the changes it went through during time of Little Mermaid to Lion King, Pocahontas....and surrounding times.. These films and the studio (the animators) at that time was completely the reason that I got into animation. I have always wanted, so badly, to have been a part of what was created at the time. Needless to say.... I am sure I will love this film....I will let you know how it goes.

Weekends ending always sucks.......

I had a great weekend exploring Toronto though ..... went down to the Harbourfront center on Saterday to the Vegetarian food fair......mmmmmm... so many yummy samples...and so many interesting people..... why do events like this bring out the most eclectic people in society? .... I wish I had brought my sketch book....

and then I also got down to Kensington Market, which is a few blocks of old houses in downtown Toronto that are being used as little vintage stores and book stores and pretty much anything unique and interesting that you would want to find. It was pretty great...It takes alot of time to dig through the stuff and search out what you what to find.....but there is some great stuff there.....

what else............ oh yes... I bought Fringe this weekend... I didn't watch it when it aired on TV....I am not sure why.....I think it conflicted with another program I was watching...anyways... If you know me you know I am a big fan of anything J.J.Abrams has his hand in.. Alias remains my favorite TV show..... Lost, I am addicted to... so I was pretty sure Fringe would prove to be a favorite too....I am 3 episodes in already and I am pretty sure I am going to really enjoy the next few months of going through the season.....OK...who am I kidding .... I'll have finished it by next weekend...

I leave you with the best quote I heard this weekend .. by a couple of girls shopping in one of vintage clothing shops in Kensington market

Girl 1 : Wow you are really into the flannel shirts right now eh?

Girl 2 : I know, they are so like.....'lets go hunt a deer' ...... but not.... cause thats totally wrong!

I love people :)

P.S........sorry no sketch with this one:)

Well.... its back from vacation....and back to work.... like it never even happened. It is so nice falling back into your own bed again after being away for a while.
I do love going home..... Its funny... my life has changed so much since moving here to Toronto.... things I do...my schedule... how I eat..... my whole lifestyle.....but there is always something comfortable, that I love, about going home. Its so nice.
Vacation was very busy seeing family, but we got to see everyone.... and that is definitely an accomplishment as it's getting harder and harder to do that as both our families seem to be rapidly expanding.
Here are a few of my favorite things from vacation.
1. Swimming outside...under the stars for half an hour before going to bed is so relaxing and very awesome!!
2. I love Halifax...I really would like to move there someday...such a great vibe from that city!
3. I love spending time with my nieces and nephews as they get older.. there is a large disconnect for me when they are babies.
4.The rug in the bedroom we stayed in felt cool to walk on with bare feet
5. Leaving work behind...if only for a few days ..... is good for Celeste and I
6. Lenny Kravitz and Natasha Bedingfield are great travel music
7. I think it's awesome that Ellen is becoming a judge on American Idol...OK that one is not really vacation related but I read that this morning and thought it was cool

YAY!!!!!! it's vacation time.... we are flying out tonight to go out east for a week...it'll be short... but very sweet

makes me think of:

I was at the airport a few weeks ago... waiting for my brothers flight to come in and I saw the most awesome families....Their son had been away from them for the first time ever, for about 6 weeks, taking some sort of flying course or cadets or something like that....anyways... he had gotten his "wings" and his family was so proud of him...
All of them were there anxiously awaiting him to come though the doors... (the dad had filled all of us, standing there, in, that his son had just gotten his "wings")This guys girlfriend was there too...although she looked a little shy and clearly not used to being part of such a public spectacle. The family was holding up a big banner they had made made.... they had little flags....noisemakers. The dad kept standing in front of them analysing how they looked as a group and then re-arranging them....so they would look just right........then he'd run back and take his place....only to go out......look again......and do a bit more shifting around of the family.....or raise the banner up just a bit... everything had to be perfect..... It was so over the top but it was so great...It kinda reminded me of something my family would do.... they clearly loved him and were all so proud of him and missed him a lot... and it was just great to see such a cool family moment....
The plane was delayed for like 45 minutes...and I don't know how they kept up their enthusiasm for so long..... but when their son walked though the gates, face beaming.....wearing his newly earned uniform.... they did not disappoint......they hooted and hollered and clapped.....as did the rest of the people waiting around....and the poor guy turned soo red....
I think families like that are so important... and I loved being there to see that

just an update... I finally got my animation demo reel working
not sure why its sticks for a few frames at the beginning... but hey... its working so I'll leave it at that.... I need to get better at the technical side of my blog
here you go

My Demo Reel from Nathan Little on Vimeo.

I think I am a wimp..

but I'll let you decide.. My wife and I were sitting reading.....and all of a sudden we noticed our cat (Bessie) being wierd in the corner. So Celeste went over to check it out and discovered a mouse on the floor just under the sofa that Bessie had been attacking. She grabbed Bessie and quickly locked her up in the bathroom and I came over to get a closer look at the mouse...It was just about dead..... its arm would twitch a little every now and then and you could see labored breathing. All of a sudden I am in this dilema.....The mouse is almost dead already but not quite ..... so I didn't want to throw it out or just put it outside because it was obviously suffering and it would just suffer longer and die..... but the other option would be to kill it and put it out of its misery..... and here is the part where I am a wimp...I couldn't kill it....... I could not bring myself to do it.... If there is any humor in it... it would have been me standing there with a half dead mouse on the end of a spatula while Celeste and I try and think of humane ways to kill it...... "we could just throw it in the water"....maybe we could drown it first.." ......"squish it quickly outside"......"flush it"......but, no.....I could do none of the above... so I just set it outside on the ground and now its dead.....so thats all.... I couldn't bring myself to do it even though it probably would have been less painful for it..... could you have done differently????

hey...I will admit.. I am tired ... I just finished 14 hours at the studio today, not all of it was work though... I got to help a friend learn a new program, so that was great to meet up with him again.. still a long day though...

Why am I even online right now?

I am going to post and go to bed

Here are my sketches from my weekly "sketch unsuspecting students while they are eating at the school caferteria but not at all in a creepy way like it sounds" session..

I am working on a bigger sketch for the blog ...hopefully I will get that up before the weekend...

OK....I said I was going to bed

Hey..
hope everyone had the most awesome of weekends....
Today I am moving on to a new project in the studio...which means I am finished animating on "Guess with Jess"
Guess with Jess... was my first project working in 3-d and I am so glad I had the chance to try it out....I think I learned a lot about animation while on this show just by gaining a new perspective on how it can be done...I am not ready to decide yet if I liked it more than ToonBoom or not...(traditional 2-D still trumps both :) ) .....
but I can say I am anxious to get back to animating in ToonBoom for a bit... its still my comfort zone!!