Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Boston Underground Ben Levin/Patrick Smith show...

I'm really excited to share the spotlight with fellow animator Ben Levin, who animated one of my favorite shorts of 2006, "She's a Bombshell", which premiered with "Puppet" at the 06 Tribeca Film Festival. Be sure to heckle us at the Q and A on Saturday, we'll both be there to be ridiculed. I'll be showing the trailer for my new film "Masks". Also screening in the regular BUFF program is "Bubblewrap" by my super talented buddy Arthur Metcalf.
Boston Underground Film Festival presents:
New York Spawned a Monster, The Animation of Ben Levin and Patrick Smith.
-Friday, February 27 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Space 242
-Saturday, February 28, at noon, don't miss a Q and A session with the two animators.

Join us at Space 242! SPACE 242 is located in Boston's South End at 242 East Berkeley Street, 2nd floor, between Albany Street and Harrison Avenue in Boston (The Medieval Manor Building).

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Kill Your Television...

Jamie Wyeth was asked about a recent sale of one of his paintings to the actor Tom Arnold. He replied, "Who's Tom Arnold?" I think Mr. Wyeth spends much more time working than in front of the TV. Note to self.. Kill your television. It's a strange relationship to be working primarily for TV, but not watch it. I discontinued my cable TV this week, and I'm really thinking that I'm not missing out on much. I did, however, retain my netflix account. Here's a few thoughts provided by turnoffyourtv.com:

"I don't really watch television, and I make my living out of it. It's not out of any great principle. I work at it all day. I'm traveling, at night I'm going (to give) speeches. Other than watching sports and the news, I just don't watch it." -- Talk show host Jerry Springer

"American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV." -- The Kaiser Family Foundation

"You watch television to turn your brain off and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on." -- Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer and Pixar

Recessions as blessings...

The best rise to the top in times like these, and the posers end up leaving the room. Do anything you need to do to survive, but don't waste time not creating art. -Patrick Smith note to self
(above: he's taken a beating, but smiling) One of the first things I learned about animation is that there is no easy way to do it, once you get over that fact, you can become an animator. Living in times of economic struggle is no different, simply put: nobody said it would be easy. Historically, recessions and depressions have been times when important and great works of art get made. Our cost for materials is relatively minor. It's time to create good work, stop reading CNN, or Cartoon Brew, get off of Facebook, and start working. When bad times hit and the economy is sucking, artists really need to elevate themselves and increase the quality of what they are creating. (above: stretching things thin) My friend John Dilworth once told me that when you hit the bottom, THAT'S when you will do something real. I'm happy to say that I think I may be doing something real now, John. I just hope I don't lose my house in the process.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Patrick Smith films in HD on Youtube...


I'm happy Youtube started to support a higher resolution option, it kills several of my complaints I had with this exhibition medium. Although I still think Youtube is an outlet for predominantly 14 year old zombies, I have to confess that this looks pretty darn good. Please watch my 2004 films "Handshake" and "Moving Along", or my most recent short "Puppet". Let me know what you think. I know it's not like watching it in a theater or at a home theater, but it's the best the internet can offer right now. For true believers you can still get my DVD for a more formal experience. oh, and it's my birthday, please make checks payable to Blend Films Inc. c/o save an animator birthday fund.

Monday, February 16, 2009

PSmith Graffiti spotted...

I've gotten a few of these video stills sent to me, the latest was sent from animator Alisa Stern, she grabbed these stills from "Dr. Who", and spotted graffiti of mine in the background.Oddly enough, I didn't paint this, someone else just copied one of my "Column" designs. I like to see my work where I didn't put it, makes me think for a second that there's other people who dig my stuff beside my parents, pink pigeons, and my blog readers (full props to y'all).

Friday, February 13, 2009

Birthday Greetings!

I ran into a bunch of my old MTV friends at a party the other night, my birthday came up in conversation (it's next week) and I was reminded of all the cool art and cards I've gotten over the years. here's a small sample of them.This first one (above) is one of my favorites, Bill Plympton gave me this card four years ago, I had just finished my film "Handshake" and he had just finished "Guard Dog", so he threw the two characters together for this card! it's one of my treasured pieces of art. Bill also did a great thank you card for staying at my place in montauk, I will post it soon!
These two cards above are two of many I got while working at MTV. The studio had a tradition of giving cards to everyone on their Bday, it would get passed around and everyone would contribute a drawing. Then that person would get wods of paper whipped at them by everyone, which was occasionally pretty painful, but you'd get a cool card out of it!
This one goes all the way back to Beavis and Butthead, and The Head. Brian Moore was the artist I'm pretty sure.
This one was from when I was directing on "Downtown", a show that had a truly talented crew, the colorful image in the character "Goat" drawn most likely by Dave Vandervort.