Art of Niles Bontrager

Spring 2009 Animation Reel

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:48:00 +0000

Bumping my demo reel up top for anyone visiting from Ottawa.
Please feel free to contact me with your comments, I'm open to any suggestions too.

I had a wonderful time at OIAF this year. I met a lot of new and interesting people, found some restaurants that I should have found years ago, and above all I got to see my film premiered! More than anything though, this years festival has really inspired me to push myself hard again--just seeing what so many artists are capable of. I know I've got that somewhere in me, I've just got to put it to work. I'm planning on doing some more lengthy and more difficult pencil tests soon, anything creative at this point sounds like heaven.

The Busy Semester

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:34:00 +0000

This semester has been quite a busy one, seems right for the last hurrah though. Well, here's a giant chunk of what I've been working on aside from my senior film: a concept project that re-associates all the players involved in WWII to a dirtier version of the Sci-fi genre into a story based loosely on the events of the war. Here are all of the sketches that I have scanned in so far (there's just a few left unscanned) and even one that I put into digital paint. The goal for the project in the class is to leave with a full pitch-book for the project, and that is exactly my intent. So enjoy the mass imagery you've been missing out on while I was away!
Also, I included a quick little space-painting that I doodled up during class.

Long time no see

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:49:00 +0000

So I've been gone since July, sorry about the disappearance, but life does tend to happen, and updating my websites has fallen a bit to the wayside. Lately though I have been getting some good work done with animations, and what you see here is a cheetah run test for our final project in animation tech II, finished two weeks early so that I could have time to make another, and maybe some fun cycles of other things before time runs out this semester. Hope you enjoy it.

Commission: Sequoia

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:38:00 +0000

Here is my recent commissioned piece for Kat of her Unavisi character Sequoia. Now I have gone and set the bar higher for myself... and with something made for someone else entirely. Looks fantastic with the black background, and I hope you enjoy this as much as the commissioner did.

June Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:01:00 +0000

Here's a sampling of the best of my photography for this month. Catch a pattern? Yeah, it seems like whenever I took pictures of the sky, I'd get a few that looked pretty good, besides, there's not much else to look at on a long drive to Indiana from Detroit. I hope you enjoy them.

A Tribute, and a Life's Work

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:32:00 +0000

So I found out that Sunday evening George Carlin, a comedy hero and source of provocative thought had died. In memoriam I decided to do a little sketch of him, in appreciation for how he has affected my method of looking at the world, though I don't think I'll ever be anywhere near as pessimistic as him, I do think about weird things like why we drive on parkways and park on driveways.
Also, today I made what is probably my Magnum Opus of puns. I don't know if I can get any stupider with these, but here it is. "This is not Humerous"
...and it probably isn't.

Ramsey

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:17:00 +0000

The ram frog.
Y'know, they've got bullfrogs, but why not ram frogs? And what if rams and frogs actually bred to make them? This is me toying around to the point that if you saw it you'd say "what has science done!?" and then you'd probably just pat him on the head, and laugh as he and his kin headbutt in midair and flop around after landing. Fun times. Hope you enjoy him, just another one of my creature experiments.

The Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Tue, 27 May 2008 08:56:00 +0000

Well, I decided that since I've been having a rather easy time improving (hell it's never EASY, but it went smooth in comparison) that I should go and challenge myself to things that I'm not used to. So I've got something dark, and macabre... definitely out of my usual range, and in fact, I've ALWAYS had a hard time making things dark, both in color and in content. It's just not in me, but I feel that I need to be able to make it when the inspiration hits. Also, I have a piece done in marker, because I've done everything digitally for the past year, and I feel that I really need to make sure I keep the roots. Besides... there is no fixing mistakes once you step past the pencil. So, here it is, my challenges for myself over the weekend. Macabre, and giving up my Ctrl-Z addiction. D:

Earthworm Jim

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Wed, 21 May 2008 07:27:00 +0000

Oh man, I loved Earthworm Jim as a kid, and I still do. That's stayed the same, just like how much I suck at playing it.
Well, I'm pretty damn proud of this one, as of right now I think this one's set the bar again. I'm glad to see myself setting the bar over and over, one of my biggest fears at this school was that I wouldn't improve fast enough to make a career out of it, but for 3.5 years of taking it seriously, I feel like I've made huge strides.
So, I hope you enjoy this fan piece, as much as I enjoyed making it.

Back Log!

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:27:00 +0000

I've been neglecting to make some posts here, so here they be!
The first is my new ID badge for DeviantART, the second is fanart for The Maxx by Sam Keith, and the third is fanart for Okami, originally done for a contest on DeviantART.
Oh, and I got tickets to see Coldplay when they come to Auburn Hills! Woohoo!

2008 Demo Reel

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Wed, 07 May 2008 04:58:00 +0000

Evidence that I do something with my education.

Musical accompaniment: Obsession by ATB.

Chariots of Flour

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Mon, 05 May 2008 07:20:00 +0000

This is my flour sack animation from Animation Tech 1 this semester. Just a fun little bit on my way to learning how to animate. There's a lot of editing that I should have done to it to make it just a bit better with timing and all, but I am far more inclined to take what I learned from it and move on to the next one instead, seems so much more productive that way. Hope you enjoy!

Code Monkey

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:31:00 +0000

A tribute to the song Code Monkey, because it is fun. :D

D.O.A. --Dead On Arrival

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:58:00 +0000

Well, here's a collection of images from my final project in Environments & Characters called D.O.A. The story will follow Maxwell Adrene and his search for himself after suffering an amnesiac spell and waking up in front of a destroyed home, assumed to be his. With nothing to necessarily live for, as far as his memory recollects, he is convinced into joining the military and putting himself in line for military weapons experiments, thinking he should at least get a kick out of life, if he doesn't know what he's supposed to live for. Eventually, more and more of his past comes to light... and in the end he has quite the reason for joining the military.
This is, really the first time (except for an expressions project in this same class) that I have drawn the same character more than once, let alone several times in different poses and expressions. It presents quite a challenge for me, but not one I'm unwilling to take. It was really fun, I just wish it wasn't during finals... I would've taken a little more time, and done more than what was required. I am definitely considering this to be the beginning of my senior project as well. I think I could have a lot of fun fleshing this out.

Mass Art-Foolery

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:13:00 +0000

So here's a set of images that really have no relation to each other in any way. The first is a caricature I did of Harry, one of the most often used nude models at our school. The next two are projects from my sophomore year in Figure Illustration I. Both of which I was very proud of at the time, and I feel like I should post them because they've never seen the internet before. The last two are the first two of three maquettes that I'm making for my maquette making class. Yay sculpey! Though I am finding that I have a rather difficult time taking things from my imagination and putting them into 3D, no matter what I'm using, digital or traditional.

Some Photography Bits

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:29:00 +0000

Just because I dabble in photography now and then. I'm no one trick pony! (though I won't say I'm some sort of amazing photographer, let the one's who are actually good get their credit) These pictures are all of my own animals, which is awesome because my parents live so far away now that it's hard to get pictures of my furry little friends. Biscuit, the dog, is as smart as bricks... and the cat Ms Kitty (wow, isn't my family original?) is one of those cats that enjoys frequent lunatic fits, including but not limited to: insane yowling, running across the house as fast as possible, chasing things that don't exist, and beating the living crap out of the dog that's half her size. I love my cat.

Hooray for Random Old Finds!

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:22:00 +0000

This isn't mine at all, but it is of me, so I feel that's relevant.
This is a caricature of me done by Loy Bouttamy, my old manager my last year and Cedar Point. By the way, this is also me minus everything that makes me who I am today: no beard, no sideburns, no long hair and round glasses. Which is how they made me look while I worked there, so really, all the caricatures of me (if I can even find them) will look more like that. Eww.

Environments Galore

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:41:00 +0000

yet again, two more environment assignments... which I believe came out a bit better than the last. It's good to see quick progression, reassures me of my learning capabilities. Anyway, the assignment was bar, bus stop, or bank; and we had to pick two from the list. I chose the bus stop (top) and the bar (bottom). I also decided that I wanted to split them into a sunrise piece and a sunset piece, just to play with lighting effects. Environments are a bit much for me, so much going on, and I realize that there are bits here and there that are a bit unfinished, but I really wanted to focus on lighting and mood, as those are universally important just as much as I universally sucked at it before. Thus-- what I've learned with these even if I didn't enjoy doing them as much as other pieces, will make future stuff more awesome. Count on it.

dancin kitties

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:32:00 +0000

Just because.

Poeira, the Tribal Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:18:00 +0000

here we are with a good ol' progression piece, her name's Poeira. I really needed to post this... oh the day after I started this blog. I've been wonderfully distracted lately though. This isn't exactly fantastic, but it is cute, so it's worth posting. This is more the concoction of several different styles by artists I've found across this vast internet, but all from artists that influence my creative path.

Environment Number ZWEI

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 06:11:00 +0000

so here's the other environment I did recently. So why all this environment stuff? It's an assignment, that's why.

Start New, With Something New

noreply@blogger.com (Niles Bontrager) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:05:00 +0000

This is the first environment I've done in several years, and I'm not likely to do them too often, but I figured that for my new art blog I should start with something new and recent. I think I'll go for at least a semi-daily post just to try and keep things flowing.
This one was stared at for too long, and I just came to like it after about a week away from it.