November 15, 2005
A Special Marriage; A Special Talent
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
Shefali Nayan was born 30 years ago in Ahmedabad, India. She fondly
recalls being raised in Ahmedabad, "I was surrounded by art and music
since I was a kid. I have been encouraged by a wonderful family that
has imbibed and created an aura of positive energy for me."
With this wonderful support, Shefali persued her education, earning a
Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) with Painting as specialization. Shefali met
Kat Caverly via her husband, Nayan, and began work here in 2004, about
one year after Nayan.
Now a fine art illustrator and painter, Shefali creates the
characters and backgrounds and her husband animates them.
Shefali loves the ability to be imaginative and creative while working
on her illustrations. And she is happy to know that her art is
appreciated. She states that her work with Kat Caverly allows her to be
more creative, both in terms of moods and characters.
When asked about her favorite projects, Shefali said "Each concept, each
character, each piece of music and all that they emote are so distinct
and nice in their own way, that in some sense they could all be my
favorites!" Since Shefali won't name her favorites, I'll tell you that
one of our most popular ecards is Queen For A Day, which is by Shefali and Nayan. And my
personal favorite by this husband and wife team is the lovely Joyous.
Shefali said that she is drawn to this work by her "urge for experience and
creation of the world and surroundings and also a sense of sharing my
aesthetic experience with like minded souls."
So it would seem that working for No Evil Productions is another perfect
marriage for Shefali.
Posted by photocartoonist at 12:11 AM
November 3, 2005
The Giggling Worm
Anders Worm was born in Denmark near Roskilde which, according to him,
is a known for 3 things:
1) The annual music festival (originally inspired by Woodstock)
2) The Viking ship museum (lots of sunken Viking ships in the fjord of
Roskilde)
3) The (protestant)church where the Kingdoms kings and queens have been
buried since ...well, since the Viking age...
Anders claims that between royal burials, every 30 year or so, "nothing
really happens." So he went to The National Filmschool of Denmark, and
became an Animation Director. After school, Anders worked in the
pre-digital animation industry. In December, 2004, he contacted Kat to
show her his portfolio. Several giggling, multiple-hour
telephone conversations with Kat later, Anders joined the company.
He is now 32, and lives in Stockholm, Sweden with his son and girlfriend.
Anders lists Alien Birthday and Granny Birthday as his favorite
projects. When I asked him how he made his selections, it came down to
how long & hard he giggled about them.
When you think about it, it makes sense: That's how he chose this
job.
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
Posted by photocartoonist at 12:52 PM
September 28, 2005
"I am over 30, love cats and any kind of design jobs."
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
No, that's not Kat Caverly herself speaking, it's No Evil Productions
Dream Team member Sai Ming Yiu. He could be saying this to flatter his
boss, but after nearly 5 years and over 100 brochures, print ads,
catalogues, and greeting cards (including roughly 30 animations), we
don't think Sai Ming's in any danger of losing his job.
Sai Ming Yiu is from Hong Kong. He's studied 3d animation and graphic
design at the School of Visual Arts in New York and British Arts College
and has worked as a graphic designer in Hong Kong. He met Kat Caverly in
October 2000 after graduating with a degree in computer arts.
When asked to discuss his coming to work for Katakismet, Sai Ming said
"I was looking for some graphic design job and we talked on the phone
for over 15 minutes."
(I know he must be lying about the length of time – people who
accidentally make 'wrong number' calls to Kat Caverly are on the phone
longer than that!)
Sai Ming continued "We have a lot in common; we both love cats and Hong
Kong actor Jackie Chan."
It's no wonder then, that Sai Ming is behind the development of Smuggly
the duck and his cousin Quacki.
Along with Smuggly and Quacki, Pearl the Puffer Fish is one of his favorite projects.
Posted by photocartoonist at 10:42 PM
September 21, 2005
Creativity: A River Runs To It
A look at Nayan Soni, one of the members of No Evil Productions Dream Team
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
Nayan was born on 18th July 1974 in an Jabalpur, India, a town famous
for it's river, the Narmada. He credits the river for much of his
inspiration, saying “(It's) free-flowing water taught me how to be
spontaneous in my life and my work.”
Like a river, Nayan has a physical source as well. He was blessed to be
born into a family of artists and musicians. His grandfather was a music
professor teaching the sitar. Both his grandfather and father we painters.
Young Nayan used to accompany his father on trips where his father would
paint landscapes in watercolors and Nayan remembers “that is where I got
my first "taste" of colors.”
Nayan graduated with a degree in Fine arts, with a specialization in
Painting. His post graduate work was in Visual Communication with
Animation Film Making as a specialization.
He believes destiny and humor are what led him to Kat Caverly's website,
The Photocartoonist, and credits the free-flowing spontaneity of his
river for inspiring him to contact her. He sent her an email with
samples of his work and on January 2, 2003, he officially joined the
team with this first assignment from Kat Caverly:
“I am working on a script that will feature a purple stegosaurus. I
loved dinosaurs when I was a kid and I want to create unusual
characters. This stegosaurus is a hopeless romantic and HE is purple."
On Jan. 23, 2003 Steggie was born.
Since then it's been smooth sailing for Nayan. As a member of No Evil
Productions he has done 150 animations. While Nayan cannot name any
favorites, saying all of them have the same amount of labor & love put
into them, users have made the following Nayan's most popular designs:
Feliz Cumpleaños
Happy Burp Day
Birthday Blast
Posted by photocartoonist at 9:28 PM
July 14, 2005
Mizaru, Kikazaru, and Iwazaru for the 21st Century
Shoot No Evil, Record No Evil, Write No Evil
No Evil Productions is named for the proverbial word to the wise, “See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil”. This saying is like a traffic tip on the road of life; you will avoid much trouble if you steer clear of the evil.
Illustrated by the three famous monkeys for hundreds of years, the concept came from Buddhism and originated in Japan. Now the monkeys and the motto they embody are known around the world as an icon of a simple truth in any society.
We always liked the monkeys. It seems like they’re having fun. We think that they seem curious, even when captured in their classic pose. We suspect that when we’re not watching they are off doing something else, nothing evil, of course, but probably something fun.
by THOMAS HUDSON REEVE
Posted by photocartoonist at 4:06 PM
August 28, 2004
Adventures in Fine Art
WJ Cunningham | Painter and Illustrator
Through the years, Cunningham’s style has developed by working in various media. Using oil, he applies paint thinly as in watercolor, working from light to dark rather than the traditional dark to light.
Posted by photocartoonist at 11:18 PM
August 16, 2004
Some Serious Funny Business
A Funny Webmaster and Artist Community
But seriously folks, for those of you whose business is funny The Funny Forum is devoted to funny business. If copyrights are your passion or you are looking for some guidance, this is a great place to start.
Many artists are not active on the Internet yet; some are turned off by all of the piracy. Host Kat Caverly hopes to create a community that will bring webmasters and artists together in an safe environment to discuss mutual interests and problems.
The forum requires members to have a website but if you are an artist contact the forum administrator and make a special request to join.
Posted by photocartoonist at 11:48 PM