The Art of Eldar Zakirov - Regal Felines

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Hello once again friends!  I was lulled out of my blogging slumber (aka full-time work and school) by something that I just couldn't pass up: the regal feline portraits courtesy of Tashkent Institute of Architecture and Construction graduate Eldar Zakirov. The cute factor is there by kitty default, but these exceptional portraits aren't your typically brimming to the top sugary-cuteness, but something much more subtle, and classic. Check out more of his fine portraits after the break!

Wayne The Stegosaurus

Poor Wayne. So incredibly charming and pink, but filled with such a strange, deluded sense of the world that's it's kind of endearing. Animated by Aran Quinn with co-direction by Jeffrey dates, Wayne was inspired by a poem by Kenn Nesbitt, which is narrated throughout the short.

Absolutely loved the style of the short, which seems to be a mix of CG and hand animation with some really playful shaders that make Wayne look like he was filled in with a crude painted style for each frame. The birds were animated in Flash, while Wayne was created using a mix of XSI, Maya and Zbrush.

A Horse Throat

DavidBK animated A Horse Throat in just 48 hours as part of the 48 Hour Stuttgart Animation Jam in Germany, and he really did an awesome job tapping into a common annoyance. Ever been at a movie theater and have someone sneeze every 5 minutes during a movie? Stay at home buddy. Featuring a small pinata horse with an inability to stop his coughing, we witness the patrons of this restaurant being to slowly lose their minds until an unlikely solution is reached.

Really liked the choices that BK did to get the most out of this animated short, such as applying a textured background to cover up the nonexistent backgrounds, and the flat colors to differentiate the different customers trying to mind their own business.

Acorn

Animated by Madeline Sharafian, Acorn is a tale chronicling the challenges of growing up from an acorn's standpoint. When a gust of wind blows him down from a tree this acorn finds himself in a very unfamiliar, but exciting new landscape filled with all kinds of strange critters and new sensations.

Following a good bout of exploration, he ultimately realizes his true goal: To germinate into something much larger and beautiful. Madeline Sharafian also created Omelette, which was one of our favorite shorts of 2013.

Motorbike - An Incredibly Cute Short By Mechanical Apple

Animated by Jason Pamment and Ari Gibson of the Mechanical Apple collective, Motorbike is a charming, colorful short about a young boy trying to make it to his date in time in a quaint town. It's rare to find animated shorts this cute, and simple in their premise yet executed at a quality level of this caliber.

The entire aesthetic that they created for Motorbike, especially in the background elements and color palettes definitely reminded us of the likes of the critically acclaimed Ernest and Celestine. The town itself actually felt like it was straight out of Kiki's Delivery Service, which had a similarly colorful, sunny coastal town feel.

Rain Check!

Animated by Ryan Shannon, Rain Check is a short about a bunch of girl friends who begin to feel the pressure of growing up in a small coastal town. In an attempt to embrace their impending entry to middle school, they take on a job at a local cafe and find out that they're not quite suited for the task.

After having played my fair share of the last dozen or so Animal Crossing installments, this is kind of how I imagine a western cartoon adaptation of the series would feel like, straight down to the silly musical score. Never lose touch of that youthful side!

A Crow Is White - "Fake!Fake!"

It's always pleasant to stumble onto an awesome piece of animation, even better if that animation is accompanied by an awesome song. Japanese band A Crow Is White is ramping up to release their 2nd mini-album June 4th and to get us hyped they've released this ridiculously adorable music video to go along with their single fake!fake!.

As you might already know I'm a giant sucker for bright colors and fake!fake! hits that sweet spot in a 3 minute and 24 second long animation of pure adorableness. Cuteness and pretty colors aside, the animation itself is an all-around awesome experience, providing the craziness you'd expect from Japan's animation talent while providing an awesome accompanying piece for the track's vibe. 

Don't even get me started on the music (yes, that's a good thing). As of recently I've fallen into a hole of Japanese pop and rock and I can't seem to find my way out. There's something incredibly upbeat and happy about J-rock/pop that I can't quite put my finger on, but as long as it keeps my tapping my feet I won't complain. 

Fake!fake!'s fast and poppy instrumentals are something to expect from an anime intro, but the accompanying vocals adds quite a lot more to song. Sure, A Crow Is White's vocalist might fall into that "kawaii" category you'd come to expect from a J-rock band, but they hold a somewhat soothing quality that melds well with the songs upbeat flavor.

It doesn't look like any plans for the mini-album are set outside of Japan, but if you'd like to find out more you can head over to their website here for more info on the band (as you'd expect, the website is in Japanese). 

Rude Foxes By Eglads

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They look so damn cute, but don't judge these books by their cover. An adorably rude series of illustrations by Eglads (Erin Gladstone) featuring an eyelash-clad fox with anything but friendly intentions. You can pick up one of these rude fox shirts on Unamee (One of those daily shirt sites) for today only, $12. Check out some more rude foxes after the break!

Alex Konstad's March of Robots

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Robots. You like 'em, We love 'em. So it should go without saying that we love Alex Konstad's collection of bot-themed companions from this past month. March of Robots is a month-long online event devoted to brainstorming hilarious, impressive, and imaginative new automatons.

Konstad's series is centered on consumer-based machines; Sentient food vendors, corporate-sponsored window washers, floating car-repair bots, and bipedal gas stations. We've featured some of his work before and this new batch certainly continues to impress. Check out the rest of his March collection after the break!

The Tiny Worlds Trilogy

Rushes is an award winning international VFX Company based in the heart of Soho, London. As part of a fun mini project to show off their chops in compositing, 3D and 2D animation, Rush used public sidewalks as their stage to bring their tiny worlds to life. We witness a tiny submarine emerging from a dirty puddle to take care of some business, a miniature logging truck and a bulldozer doing their part to clean up a little corner. It's a cute little project that will ultimately serve the purpose of attracting clients to Rush.

The CG team at Rushes has brought to life the everyday urban world around our feet. The Tiny Worlds trilogy of short films shows a humorous take on what might happen to the litter and rubbish on London's streets when we're not looking.

As a way to flex the Rushes CG team's creative muscles we decided to embark on an idea for a project suggested by the team themselves. We started with an initial concept, designed the vehicles, shot the plates, and went through the CG production process, before finishing it off by collaborating with Mcasso for sound design.

Unimagined Friends

Created as a bachelor film project by students at the Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark, Unimagined Friends offers a very unique premise as to how imaginary friends work. A series of imaginary friends are presented as a series of creatures hoping to get adopted into a kids imagination by being drawn. Until that happens they're all stuck in a sort of limbo, awaiting their chance to get imagined. For a certain cat, the wait proves to be more than he can handle.

Loved the mixture of hand drawn creatures and CG elements. This type of premise feels like it could be the basis of an upcoming Pixar feature with it's pseudo Toy Story/Monsters University elements.

Lil Bub's Magical Yule Log

With the chilly weather and Christmas drawing ever nearer, a lot of us are left craving the physical and emotional warmth associated with fireplaces, which we aren't all that lucky to own. Turns out that in my house the previous owners decided to seal off the fireplace, which still baffles me to no end. However fear not, as a rather awesome, hour long digital alternative (One of many) starring the e-famous Li'l Bub purring away happily will provide you with a pretty decent alternative to the real thing. Happy holidays and all.

The Cute Art Of Becky And Frank

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Whenever I see the work of Becky and Frank, I'm transported to a whimsical, care free land filled with heart warming designs that put a smile on my face. Channeling a style that seems to be a mixture of classical children's books and retro Disney animation. Part of that comes form the fact that the duo at times chooses to work in analog painting format, mixed with modern subject matter- Which creates a really fun contrast. It's as if artists from the 50's were tasked with doing fanart of popular shows like Spongebob or Adventure Time.

The New Zealand based duo also work on comics like Tiny Kitten Teeth, tour for conventions to sell their awesomely cute art and dabble with music, writing and other creative endeavors. Check out more of their great work after the break!

Metal Bum

Directed by Daniel Kim, Metal Bum is a heartfelt short about a turf war between a street musician and an unlikely pan handler- An obsolete robot model trying to survive in a cold urban setting (Assuming he has thermal sensors). When things come to a head, the robot is faced with a daunting decision.

Filmed using a mixture of live action and a composited 3D robot, Metal Bum is really taken to the next level thanks to the prowess of Black Rapid Media's excellent work on the sound design aspect, providing a silent film style score to this monochrome short. Loved it from start to finish.

The Art Of Tara - A Touch Of Cute

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Tara is a 23 year old illustrator from Tokyo with an absolutely adorable style centered around the things she loves in life and provide her with daily inspiration. Cats in all shapes and sizes, the works of Lewis Caroll and a traditional Japanese dessert called 'Taiyaki' ((鯛焼き), which literally means 'Baked Sea Bream.' The Japanese fish shaped cake is a surprising reoccurring theme in her pieces, although we're no strangers to artists who enjoy incorporating food into their work.

Tara's art is just pleasant to look at, easy on the eyes and created using pens and soft watercolor washes on textured paper to give each of her pieces a very tactile feel. Check out more of her awesome work after the break!

King Kababa and The Knight

While the weather turns ugly, I find myself in the mood for something cheery and fun.  This understated and silly short from CalArts student Jason Reicher fits the bill, and also includes a rather uplifting message.  A knight is sent on a task to put an end to King Kababa's choice of company (bugs).  But King Kababa makes his feelings known, by way of some lighthearted rhymes.  The art style reminded me of some Disney shorts that were popular in the 50's, but with a more modern animation style.

Deathigner

Deathsigner initially caught my eye as by it's charming style, showcasing an art style similar to many of Dreamworks' earlier hand-drawn animation. While the story is simple, a tale of of a young Grim Reaper finding it's talent in life, the execution is awesome and the inclusion of other bringers of death adds an extra level of style. Animated by a team from the National Taiwan University of Arts, Deathigner once again proves that the next generation of animators is something to keep an eye out on. 

The Art of Meg Hunt

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It's not often that I come across art that just makes me squee with delight, and proclaim "I MUST HAVE THIS SH*T ON MY WALLS." But today... Today is one of those awesome days. If you're a veteran Awesome-Robo follower, you just might know by now that I have a thing for all things cute (a Cute Mixtape is in the works, I know, it's been forever).  Portland-based artist Meg Hunt captures all that is adorable, but it's not over-the-top fluffy, cutesy work.  It's a little more subtle, and definitely has an awesome vintage feel.

Check out some of her other works after the break!

Runaway - The Story Of a Man And His Fridge

Runaway is probably as close to a new The Brave Little Toaster as we're ever going to get, but if it doesn't tug at the heartstrings at least a little you've got quite a cold heart. Telling the story of a man and his refrigerator, this short animation would feel right at home as a short sitting in front of a feature length movie. Runaway proves once again that student animators are constantly ahead of the animation industry when given creative leeway. 

SpyFox

Ringling College of Art and Design Students Yoav Shtibleman, Taylor Clutter, and Kendra Phillips collaborated to create this fun, retro-inspired animated short, SpyFox.  Since the terms spy and retro obviously go well together (thanks, James Bond), this concept wasn't too far out of the park, but we loved the fun story and typical, cheesy dialogue. Our spy protagonist is played by a clever fox, naturally, and he's on a mission to save the world, or the girl.  The 3D characters are simple, but have a lot of life.  Definitely a silly, lighthearted short to brighten up the afternoon!