Merry Christmas

Cards have never been my forte. Happy Holidays anyway.

What's My Line?

Some guys can work really clean and it’s amazing to me. I’m always comforted by seeing the rough work from the great animators. Here’s a cool piece by the legendary
Fred Moore. It gives me hope to know these guys did a lot of searching for the right line.

Too Late To Save The Tiger...

Generally I’ve been using this blog as an extension of my portfolio and therefore it’s been about ME ME ME, but, I was digging through some stuff and came across these great Tony model sheets. These are a kajillian
copies from the originals, but they still show how cool Tony was. For the history fan, you can make out the Quartet Films Inc. logo. This was the place whose main directors were Art Babbit, Stan Walsh and Arnold Gillespe, all guys from John Hubley’s first studio Storyboard.

Different Style

This is an attempt at a different design style I’m trying. It’s a little hideous, but seems right for the story. I see some really great work from people these days but it’s becoming kind of generic and all looking alike to me, kind of like what happened when everyone started emulating Disney back in the golden days.

Bless the Hippo Lover

Some great people have taken an interest in my Bathing Beauty Hippo. I’ve been busy casting them up. It’s getting surreal around here.

Heather

Came across this pencil drawing of Heather, a friend’s daughter, while going through my ‘catch-all’ drawer. It was in the 80’s when I drew it. Now she’s a young woman. I have no idea where my friend or Heather is today.

Sentimental Journey…

Going through a book of mine for reference I glanced at the autograph at the front and recalled the great opportunity of meeting this legend of Animation. It suddenly dawned on me that I’ve been blessed to have met three of Disney’s Nine Old Men: Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Ward Kimball, all in good health and productively vibrant. Here are others I’ve met and am glad I shamelessly asked for autographs: Chuck Jones, Ray Harryhausen, and one I treasure for the brief time I spent with him, a fellow fan of Laurel and Hardy, Joe Ranft. Thanks guys, for inspiring us all.

So Long August...

Thought I would post something before the month ended. This is from the series I’ve been working on. You can definitely tell I’m a child of the sixties.

Tom Oreb

One of my many heroes: Tom Oreb. If you don’t know this guys work, get a copy of Disney’s “Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom” for starters. Then, “Sleeping Beauty”, then “101 Dalmatians, and then anything else he ever did.

Cartoon Inspiration

I've no way of proving it but I’m pretty sure Wilhelm Busch (1832-1908) inspired cartoon directors to put in motion a lot of visual gags he had worked out years before in print. The posting I’m showing isn’t very good, you may want to click on the image to enlarge it, but you can clearly see gags that are now considered cliché. There is the steamroller gag where a character is pan caked into a silhouette, an eye pop ‘take’, multiple limbs and digits, enlarged body parts and a morph into one large eye to show surprise. Busch is already recognized as the inspiration for the comic strip “The Katzenjammer Kids” but I suspect he inspired the Avery’s and the Clampetts as well.

No Moose or Squirrel...

These are some images from a series I’m doing. The style is limited but I hope appealing. The closest thing I could equate this project to would be Jay Ward’s Bullwinkle. I’m enjoying working on it a lot.

Hippo In The Works...

I can’t get the detail into these pictures and will probably take them off when I get better ones. But here is a digitally colored image of the hippo sculpture I’m going to cast in resin.

Click on images to enlarge

Animator's Nightmare

Shades of Roger Rabbit, I swear this was really something I dreamed one night.

Maquette In The Works...

The scene this is based on is in my opinion still one of the most perfect pieces of acting in animation. I don’t think I’ve caught the abject horror but I tried to pick a moment that had some movement to it. I’m not finished yet and may be able to fix this thing.

Life Drawings

There’s something about the quick gesture sketches that I just can’t seem to get into my longer poses. I think it’s the sense of movement that is lacking. Also the longer poses look labored where the quick sketches are more free and flowing. I’m working on it.

Click on image to enlarge.

Bill Peet and Me?

Pamela Camel belonged to the Brinkerhoff Brothers Big Top Circus a long time ago. So starts the story by the famous Disney story-man Bill Peet. After helping craft many classics like 101 Dalmatians, Sword in the Stone and Jungle Book, Peet parted company not on the best of terms. He quickly started a new career as author/illustrator of many beloved children’s books. Now my question is who did Peet know from the Brinkerhoff family? It’s not a name one just thinks up. Thanks Jim for bringing this to my attention.

Maquette Also

I’m a little frustrated by my crappy pictures. This guy is about six inches high.

Maquette Continued

This is the finished piece. From planted foot to the top of the flying ear, it’s about 6 and a halve inches tall. Next, something with cloth.