Kongobot

This sweet little segment is from Golden Age, a short by Augenblick Studios, which was recently given, by AWN, a great review in Fresh From the Festivals. You can view the entire cartoon here.

Café Sketches

I love these Moleskine sketchbooks. It makes being sneaky in small cafés pretty easy.

CARtoons Magazine

Though I had been drawing for years, this little mag played a major role in pushing me as an artist. The cover's drawn by CARtoons legend Shawn Kerri. (Image above: CARtoons Issue Vol. 30, No.1, Feb. 1989)

Some of my other favorite artists were George Trosley (creator of Krass and Bernie), Joe Borer, who had a phenomenal gift for pushing poses, and Steve Austin (no relation to Stone Cold) who's style was always a lot of fun to look at.

Painting Ansel Adams

My senior year at CalArts I ran across a beautiful color photograph by Ansel Adams. For some reason I had to paint it. I think the actual size is somewhere around 51/2"X8" . This scan is from a 3"X41/2" color copy.

One of the Few Survivors

Upon my acceptance to CalArts, in the Spring of '94, most of my old life drawings from San Diego City College quickly met their fate at the altar of the Mission Beach bonfire. Somehow my parents were able tuck this one away. I'm kind of glad they did. I haven't done anything like this in years.

More Pianos

For some reason I'm fairly obsessed with pianos. Probably stems back to spending the better part of my youth staring at those ivory shackles, running through scale after scale. Notice I'll never really commit to one of these. It's usually just a quick sketch.

Jerry Lewis Portrait

Every once in a while I'll do one of these for a friend. I snagged the reference from an old photo and just left out Dean Martin. This one goes back to '97.

"The Simpsons" do "Pulp Fiction"

Back in '94 when Pulp Fiction was all the rage in L.A. some drawings leaked out of Film Roman. I don't know who did these, but they're great. Though I've got thirty or so of this series these are my favorite.

From the Vaults: Ben Balistreri

A lot of my archives were ruined in a flood a few years back and only thanks to my parents does most of my collection survive. These fun model sheets were drawn by Ben Balistreri in preparation for his end-of-the-year film (ca.1997).

From the Vaults: Jae H. Kim

While at CalArts, I was surrounded by countless, incredibly talented artists. Jae Kim was amongst the best. These two pieces represent a couple of doodles his did while sitting in my cubicle discussing a story outline for his freshmen film (ca.1995). It's important for me to note that the dragon was inspired by Mike Mitchell, our life drawing teacher, who brought in a slew of development work he had done. One of his pieces featured a dragon and Jae was compelled to try and reproduce the drama of Mike's incredible rendering.

A Robot

For some reason, when I have nothing to draw the first thing I vomit out is a robot. I don't know why. This one goes back (I think) to '97.

Pen Sketch

I just found this little 11/2" X 11/2" pen sketch in an old book I took to read while waiting for the opening of Eyvind Earle's last exhibition in Carmel (ca.1999/2000).

More Great Quotes

"Enthusiasm is the mainspring of the mind which urges one to put knowledge into action." -Wally "Famous" Amos (as quoted by Walt Stanchfield)

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." -Jack London

"Art is either plagiarism or revolution." -Paul Gauguin

Fantastic Book

I just received my copy of Three Trees Make A Forest, by Enrico Casarosa, Ronnie Del Carmen, and Tadahiro Uesegi, and am in heaven. They recently had a showing at the Nucleus Gallery in Los Angeles and still have pieces for sale here.

"300" (aka: The Manliest Movie of All Time?)

Never before have I seen a movie after which every guy exited the theater sucking in their gut and flexing every bulge-able muscle. Not one of these lunatics washed their hands after using the bathroom and for some disturbing reason this seemed to empower them. I felt a little uneasy being in there only to wash my face. I wanted to fart, or something, just to fit in.

Why I Love François Truffaut

Not only did Truffaut have a deep love for artists and great art, he believed in everyone's capacity for great art. Here are a few inspiring quotes from his fantastic book The Films in My Life. (Image from Truffaut's Les Quatre cents coups also known as The 400 Blows.)

"Today, I demand that a film express either the joy of making cinema or the agony of making cinema. I am not at all interested in anything in between; I am not interested in all those films that do not pulse." -François Truffaut

"People of the world are so imbued with their own stupidity that they can never believe that one of their own has talent. They appreciate only people of letters who are not of their world." -Marcel Proust

"Bad reviews preserve an [artist] better than alcohol preserves a piece of fruit." -Jean Paulhan

Wes Anderson Does American Express

For some, Wes' style of filmmaking is an aquired taste. Others simply just don't like (or get) him. However, I'm a big fan hence making the highlight of the 2007 Oscars his American Express commercial.
(PS: Those who are fans of Wes' work can find his original, 13-minute short film "Bottle Rocket" here on YouTube.)

Brad Bird Podcast

I thought you guys might like this. (Thank you, Spline Doctors!)
53-minute podcast interview with Brad Bird.

Azur et Asmar

Michel Ocelot's newest animated feature looks fantastically interesting. It's unknown whether it'll be released theatrically or straight to DVD, but it is coming to the U.S... eventually. You can read reviews of it at The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. (Both loved it, incidentally.)

Official Site
"Azur et Asmar" trailer (downloadable MP4)
Teaser (downloadable Quicktime)

Terry Gilliam goes commercial?

Gilliam made these ads in 2002 for Nike's "Scorpion Knockout Campaign."

Ad #1: "The Secret Tournament"


Ad #2: "The Rematch"

Great Quote

"A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist."
-Louis Nizer, English Lawyer

From the Vaults

Here are some older pieces I did for my thesis. Some are studies, a couple are test designs, and a few are just some quick scribbles on napkins drawn while bored at work.

Great Site for Reference

From Animation Podcast:

"On a little break I came across these clips that I just had to share. Each and every one of them is a goldmine of reference, containing those juicy moments that would challenge any animator. They’re clips of people discovering how to play the new Nintendo Wii. They are put in this room and given the controllers with no instruction. The range of emotions is beautiful to watch, and many times I found myself smiling as much as the people on screen. I hope you’re as captivated as I am by their expressions, body language, and reactions to their discoveries.

I found myself so immediately engaged in watching these people and it reminded me of the Freddy Moore quote from The Illusion of Life:

'They love to see the drawings move and the characters think! Remember that! It’s what they like to see in our scenes. It’s what they liked with Fergy’s Pluto, you know. We should always let them see the characters think!'

It’s also an ingenious bit of advertising to not focus on the graphics and tech, but on the people enjoying the game. Isn’t that what really matters anyhow? What a great way to sell the darned things."

Click HERE to watch and study.

A Sneek Peek