I Haven't Posted For A While....I Am Sorry

I never thought that posting things on the interweb could be so time consuming! Then again everything is in one way or the other. My purpose for this blog was to get me into animating, drawing, and learning about art. I think I just need some help is all with how I am going to keep up with this thing. I try not to write articles that other animation web sites talk about but I think I am going to have to break that rule once in a while. I am sure that I have mentioned the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog before but I will say it again you have to check it out! If I were in Los Angles I would definitely visit the animation archive in Burbank. There are some cool videos that are posted on the animation archive and an interview with Eldon Dedini a comic illustrator that is famous for his Playboy strips with "Satyr & Nymph". I will be posting some of that stuff and old advertisements that are nicely illustrated. I apologize in advance for not asking the blog owners if I could use them for my blog. Forgive and forget I suppose.

A Cool Article I Found A While Back

This is an article that I found while looking through a magazine called Wired. The issue is the December 2006 issue and the article in it is about an exhibition where an artist made accurate skeletal structures of famous cartoon characters. It's pretty awesome to see unfortunately I think the exhibition has been over for a while. Too bad it would have been cool to see the rest of the skeletons. I sent this article to a certain site I like to read with no response. They just seem to be too busy but what do I know anyways.

Treasure Hunt At The Library

I was going to a local library when I found a very peculiar looking book entitled Walt Disney and Other Assorted Characters: An Unauthorized Account of the Early Years as Disney's by Jack Kinney. The cover at the time made me nervous but once I started reading and flipping through the book itself I was transported to another place where the mouse had not become a big giant at the animation game. It was so hard to put done the book with the great illustrations done by Jack Kinney himself. Who is Jack Kinney you ask? Well he was a native Utahan who joined Disney on Feb. 9,1931 worked his way up to be a story man and eventually director. Some of his screen credits include The Brave Little Tailor (1938), Dumbo (1940), Der Fuehrer's Face (1943), Motormania (1950), The Lonesome Chipmunks (1954) and others as well. From 1958-1960s he has worked in his own animation company Jack Kinney Productions working on some cartoons like the 60s version of Popeye and The New Three Stooges(1965). He died at 82 of natural causes four years after writing the book I am showing you. After reading the book you will think highly of Jack Kinney. There is a caricature of himself can you find it?

These Are Some Of My Sketches

Sorry folks for the wait but I am not sure that I can keep up with the demands of day to day life with this blog. I will though do my best to post at least once a week. To prove that I am an artist here are some sketches that I made watching some horror movies. These particular doodles were made from the following movies; Dead Men Walk (1943) starring George Zucco, The Mad Monster (1942) starring George Zucco and Glen Strange, The Giant Gila Monster (1959) starring Don Sullivan, and The Fatal Hour(1940) starring Boris Karloff(the same actor that played the Mummy in the classic black and white Universal Studios Production). The life drawings were from a life drawing class that was $3 every Wednesday at Cogswell College. I was always interested in using white and black charcoal on a tan paper to see how it looks. It turned out OK but I think the scans do little justice to how I see the originals. By the way check out cartoonbrew.com there is an article about a Russian animation director called Fyodor Khitruk that worked on a Russian Winnie the Pooh and it is spectacular! If Woolie Reitherman (One of Disney's Nine Old Men) said that it was better than his you better believe it. There is a video of it posted so check it out yourself, you don't have to take my word for it.

WonderCon 2007

Sorry to break topic on all of you but I must explain the "Wonder" of WonderCon. For those of you unfamiliar with comic book conventions this is a small one held in San Fransisco. It is not just comics it is also popular culture artifacts as well. Since I like a bargain I volunteered for about three hours to get on the convention floor for free by my efforts at volunteering I got a cool Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Siege Tower Troll Design Maquette which is just a head on a stick like a cool paperweight. I had the chance to see the real live Brad Bird host a panel on the upcoming movie Ratatouille. Got to see in the flesh Bruce Timm (Batman the Animated Series, Justice League) which was exciting until I talked to him....no further comment there. I saw Arthur Adams(An extremely talented comic book artist) in person though I didn't talk to him because he was always surrounded by people. Then I saw some more familiar faces that I met before like Maxwell Atoms (The Grim Adventures of Billy And Mandy, Evil Concarne), Alberto Ruiz (pin-up cartoonist for DRAWN! magazine), Sergio Aragones (MAD magazine cartoonist, Groo the Wanderer, Fastest Pencil in the west), and last but not least a good friend if I say so myself Sean "Cheeks" Galloway (Animation Character Designer and Comic Book Artist). Here is something Cheeks wanted me to post because as an artist sometimes you blow yourself away at what you can do so here it is for all to enjoy.