Creative Block

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is SEAN KEETON! Sean is an art director, muralist, and gallery artist. They are the art director for Skull Girls and currently have a solo show at the gallery Thinkspace. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with Sean HOW THEY’RE ALL NAMED SEAN NOW, HOW SPILLING COFFEE ON A HARD DRIVE LED TO A JOB, PUNK ROCK HACKS, about so much more! While we talk, we dood...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is MAX LOPEZ AND SEAN MALONY of APARTMENT D FILMS! Apartment D is an indie stop motion animation studio whose work can be seen in Monster High and the music video for Ninja Sex Party's "Thunder & Lightning." Their original show, Ruff Ruff Danger Dogs, is set for release on December 13th! You can watch the trailer on their Youtube! Along the way, VEE...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is TY GOODWIN! Ty is a character designer, illustrator, and prop/effects designer. His design work can be seen on Craig of the Creek or in the anthology of comics and illustrations put out by the creative collective he manages, Good n Abel, called FETCH. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with TY about BEING A CARICATURE ARTIST AT THE ZOO, STORYBOARDING F...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is BENJY BROOKE! Benjy was an animation director for Love Death & Robots, supervising director for Scavengers Reign and Common Side Effects, and is partner at Green Street Pictures. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with BENJY about THEIR FIRST JOBS, FINDING REFERENCE POINTS FOR SCAVENGERS REIGN, STORY CHANGES, so much more! While we talk, we doodle...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is STUDIO FLIMPO! Studio Flimpo is an indie 2D animation studio based out of NYC. Their work can be seen in The Everything is Okay Show short film. They recently completed crowdfunding an original animated pilot called Mandelbrot Hall. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with MILO, REN, and REID, OF STUDIO FLIMPO about THE ORIGINS OF “FLIMPO,” DECIDING THE...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is JAYME LEMPERLE! Jayme is a director, animator, and illustrator that has worked for various brands like Gucci, Nike, and Girl Skateboards. He's also worked with various musical artists like Wiki, Gucci Mane, and Trippie Redd. He's currently producing work for his animation studio/clothing brand, Stale Bagel. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with JAYME...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is ADAM DIX! Adam is a character designer, illustrator, and prop designer that has worked on the Cuphead Show, Ducktales, and Rick and Morty. He's also an instructor at Art Center Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with ADAM about GETTING STARTED AS A DESIGNER, HOW HE GOT INTO TEACHING, WORKING ON A FEATURE WITH FRIENDS, so much more! While we talk, we do...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is MICHAEL SWEATER! Michael is an indie comic artist and writer. You can pick up collections of his comics Please Keep Warm, Puppy Knight, and Everything Sucks through the Silver Sprocket website or subscribe to his substack to get weekly updates to Everything Sucks. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with MICHAEL about WHY MAKING COMICS MAKES NO SENSE, G...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is VALERIE SCHWARZ! Valerie is an Art Director, Background Designer, and Painter, who worked on Ducktales and We Baby Bears. Check out her recently announced jewelry and home goods shop Friendly Folk. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with VALERIE about TYPICAL MEETING DAY FOR AN ART DIRECTOR, FINDING REFERENCES FROM BOOKS, GETTING A JOB OPPORTUNITY...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is SARAH SCHMIDT! Sarah is an animator, illustrator, and is 1/2 of the animation studio Sunshine Mall. You can see her work in the Adult Swim Smalls series Gassy's Gas & Stuff and her short Vegeversary on youtube. She also curates and hosts Malt Adult, an animation and zine festival Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with SARAH about STARTING...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is SAM GRINBERG! Sam is a character designer on the Simpsons. You can also see his work in the comic anthology "Rust Belt Review" and the recently released mega-sized issue of the ongoing comic "Scumburbia"! Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with PAYTON about MAKING COMICS AS A KID, INTERNING AT THE SIMPSONS, WORKING IN BLACK AND...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is PAYTON FINNEY! Payton is a character designer, 3D animator, and indie animator. He's an animator for Meat Canyon and recently released his pilot "Sludge Brothers" available on his youtube. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with PAYTON about LEARNING ANIMATION WAS A JOB, GETTING WORK FROM NEWGROUNDS, LEARNING TO COLLABORATE, and so mu...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is JJ VILLARD! J.J. is a writer, storyboard artist, and is currently working as the character designer on Spider-verse 3. He designed the Mutant Mayhem logo and is the creator of King Star King. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with JJ about DEVELOPING KING STAR KING, WINNING AN EMMY, SHELVED PROJECTS, and so much more! While we talk, we doodle on a...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is HARRIS FISHMAN AKA BEETLEMOSES! Harris is an illustrator and comic artist. His webcomic, Beetle Moses, is a regularly updating collection of his jokes and humorous takes on popular culture and media. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with HARRIS about COMING UP WITH THE NAME “BEETLEMOSES,” PITCHING, BUILDING INCOME, and so much more! While we talk...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is MARGO PIERCE! Margo is an animator, storyboard artist, and rigging artist, who has worked on Smiling Friends, Clone High, and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with MARGO about COLD EMAILING FOR JOBS, BEING CRINGE AS STUDENTS, ADVICE FROM PROFESSORS, and so much more! While we talk, we doodle on a MAGMA, where we draw...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is JEREMY POLGAR! Jeremy is a director, storyboard supervisor, and animator, who has worked on X-men '97, Centaurworld, and OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with JEREMY about ANIMATING ON SPACE DANDY, The OK K.O. PITCHES, FIRST JOB NAIVETY, and so much more! While we talk, we doodle on a MAGMA, where we draw from pro...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is AMI GUILLÉN! Ami is a storyboard artist, supervisor, and indie creator, whose work can be seen on Villainous for Cartoon Network and most recently made an indie short called Billie and Basil! Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with AMI about CHALLENGES OF WORKING IN MEXICO, BEING POPULAR ON TUMBLR AS A TEENAGER, GETTING ON VILLAINOUS, and so much m...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is JOEL TRUSSEL! Joel is director, writer, and executive producer that worked on Pickle and Peanut, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Captain Fall. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with JOEL about SELLING ET DRAWINGS FOR MONEY IN 4TH GRADE, GETTING HIS START VOLUNTEERING, THE IRREVERENCE OF PICKLE AND PEANUT, and so much more! While we talk, we doodle on a JAMBOA...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is BLAKE LEMONS! Blake is a writer, director, producer, and story artist for the shows Sanjay and Craig, Home: Adventures of Tip and Oh, and Arlo the Alligator Boy! Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with BLAKE about BEING ALLOWED TO EXPLORE AT PRATT, PITCHING SONGS FOR STORYBOARDS, BALANCING AN ANIMATION JOB WITH A CHILD,, and so much more! While we...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is MCKENZIE ATWOOD! McKenzie is a voice actor and editor whose credits include editing for Beavis and Butt-head, voicing young Zerofuku in Records of Ragnarok, and voicing Kelly in the short Kelly and the Kung Fu Gators! Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with MCKENZIE about BEING IN A EDITING ROOM, WORKING ON EDITING AND VO, STARTING AT CARTOON NETWO...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is THUROP VAN ORMAN! Thurop is a writer, showrunner, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He's the creator of the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack as well as the voice of Flapjack, produced and wrote for Adventure Time, and was a director on Angry Birds 2! Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with THUROP about PITCHING AND DEVELOPING FLAPJACK, SWI...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is JULIAN GLANDER! Julian is a 3D artist, animator, and director that was a special guest director on Amazing World of Gumball and Summer Camp Island before moving on to direct his upcoming feature, Boys Go to Jupiter. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with JULIAN about BEING ON JEOPARDY, BOYS GO TO JUPITER, MULTITASKING, and so much more! While we t...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is SEVAN NAJARIAN! Sevan is a VFX artist, animator, and director. MARS, an animated feature from The Whitest Kids U' Know which Sevan Directed and produced, is set to premiere at the Tribecca Film Festival. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with SEVAN about BUILDING HIS BACKYARD STUDIO, GETTING HIS START DOING CHANNEL 101, and so much more! While...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is Raj Brueggemann! Raj is a storyboard artist, writer, and director who has worked on Big City Greens, Jellystone, and Pinky Malinky! He's also developed projects at Cartoon Network and Disney. Along the way, VEE and SEAN chat with RAJ about STARTING AN ANIMATION CLUB IN COLLEGE, “HURRY UP AND WAIT” PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT, GROWING FROM DEFEAT,...

Welcome to Creative Block! This week's guest is JENNIE GYLLBLAD! Jennie is Kickstarting a memoir comic about her grandmother called Farmor Stina. Connecting historical research with personal photos and diary entries, the comic chronicles her grandmother's experiences in WW2 Sweden. A bit of a content warning, this project deals with a lot of heavy issues including war crimes, mental health...