The Cintiq has landed!

I finally got my Cintiq in the mail the day before yesterday.

It truly is a thing of beauty. From the packaging, to the sleek design, to functionality you can really see how much care went into this product. It wasn't too hard to set up, the only complaint I have with it is so far is that I find it easier to just duplicate my monitor, but that means I have to lower the resolution on both screens to 1280x800, also I think I have to find a way to balance the color between my monitor and the Cintiq so they match exactly. Overall I'm am completely in love with it.


(*the wallpaper is based on a Dumbo, pink elephants, concept piece that Michael Sporn posted a week or so ago*)

I'm still figuring everything out with it, but here are a couple little images I've done so far.

Gilligan splashing around.


Sleepy Gilligan


Claude and his super fantastic flying turtle!


Claude may have inadvertently enlarged his turtle, or shrank himself... he's still not sure.


Pirate a Day

Pirate a Day II


On that day all the townsfolk celebrated! They had a huge bacon feast and held the first ever annual Our Little Hero Memorial Bacon Day Parade!


After all the festivities were over our little hero finally got some much needed sleep.


A couple of notable things have gone or will be going on this week in the internet art community. First off the Art and Story crew finished up their big Kids Read Comics event and it seems like it was very successful. If you haven't been keeping up with it they recorded a bunch of podcasts during the weekend and even a couple funny audioboos. Overall a great listen and some of the kid stories they share are priceless.

The other big event is the Pres-Aid auction being held this Sunday June 20th. The auction is a benefit for animator Pres Romanillos who suffered from a relapse of leukemia. It's amazing to see how the community has really reached out and jumped in to help him, not to mention the great resources and art pieces that are being donated. I really wish I could go. If you're in the LA area you really should check it out. I hope the event goes great, and that Pres get all the help he needs and the bone marrow transplant is successful. Thanks for the inspiration everyone!

Like what you like!

Between watching old Disney videos on youtube, the CalArts history video, and listening to Brad Bird (who trained under Milt Kahl) on the Spline Doctors Podcast, I've really found a lot of similarities in their approaches and advice. Disney himself had a passion for animation, but it was fueled and influenced by all of his other interests. CalArts approached and still approaches art by trying to give the student a broad view of what is out there by mixing music, with dance, theater, visual arts etc. Also while listening to Brad Bird speak he talked about what he thought animators should do and what he observed the 9 Old Men doing and that was to get inspiration from everything, and feed your outside interests. Don't just stare at your paper and pencil, but watch how your loved ones interact with others, pause to see how the trees blow in the wind or how your little puppies play together outside, play a musical instrument or in Walt Disney and Ward Kimball's case fall in love with trains. All of these unique views, special interests, and outside knowledge will only help inspire and influence your art. Thanks for the inspiration!

Camel Gilligan

Gilligan performing with his sock puppets.

Claude and his turtle going for a ride.


Claude and his turtle having a dance party.


Pirate a Day


Pirate a Day section B


As soon as our little hero got back to town, a crowd began to form around him. Everyone was wondering what had happened to the monster, how did he get back, and most importantly what was in his gigantic gunny sac.


Once our little hero had settled the crowd down just enough, he threw open the bag and out poured the most delicious scent any of the towns people had ever smelled. Right when they started to wonder what that mouth watering aroma was, the skies seemed to rain bacon.

Speaking of Animation (the podcast) put out another fantastic episode this week. They got the extremely talented Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois talking about my favorite film I've seen so far this year, How to Train Your Dragon! I've loved Chris Sanders drawing style for quite a while and it was fascinating to hear about his and Dean's process. From learning about the evolution of their Nightfury design to old stories about Mulan this is a podcast that can't be missed!

Just a couple quick bloggestions

Another fun night of drawing.

Gilligan celebrating Earth Day a little bit early.

Mr Money bags and his turtle, I mean Claude.

Pirate a Day.

Our little hero just wanted to go home, so he got out of the pigs lair as fast as he could. Feeling so relieved to be free, he hummed to himself all the way home. Something akin to what might now sound like Zippity Do Da.

A few nights ago I talked about the trailer for Disney's new animated feature Tangled. John K also posted an entry about the movie this weekend, which has been garnering quite the attention of the animation community. He makes some very valid points, I'm not sure I agree with everything, but no matter what it's well worth the read.

I don't think I have nor can I enough recommend Inspector Cluezo's Blog. Sandro has quite the resume from working as an animator at Don Bluth, Fox and even Disney. Most of all he always has something inspiring to post and he loves Milt Kahl.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Avast me hearties!

Responsibilities, necessary daily tasks, most parts of life in general... I wish there was some way to condense them all into one lump of time, or get rid of them all together. I know, I know it's supposed to be everything in moderation, but if you do that how do you ever focus on something and hone you skills. Alas, a dilemma for another day, or rather drink up me hearties, yo ho!

Gilligan and his favorite stuffed Gilligan.

Claude's turtle having a relaxing afternoon.

Pirate a Day

Our little hero, never one to let a good opportunity get the best of him, jumped on top of the fallen choking swine beast, grabbed his broken skewer, and with all the strength he could muster thrust it through his mouth and out the back of his skull.


On Friday night I got a chance to watch part of Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time in quite a while. Wanting some sort of a new twist I put on the commentary track and Gore Verbinksi and Johnny Depp have some pretty decent insight into one of my favorite movies. Out of everything the movie has to offer, I think they really captured the atmosphere and feel of Marc Davis' original concept.

To my surprise, the next morning Michael Sporn posted some of my new favorite Marc Davis pirate illustrations. Some of the images are so iconic to me and pictures I have loved since I was little, but between Mr Sporn's post and the Disney and More blog post I've found a few new treasures. Not only do I admire Marc's draftsmanship and the amount of energy and life his illustrations exude, but his subtle color choices mixed with a few vibrant highlights make the scenes look historic and fantastical at the same time. Thanks for inspiring the little pirate inside me!

Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.

So excited! I ordered my Cintiq last night! I had to have Rhys push the purchase button for me though, sheesh that's a lot of money. I'm starting to shy away from my 2H Kimberly pencil in my daily drawings, lately I prefer using a sharpie and just a Dixon Ticonderoga HB. Both of these options seem more permanent so I'm less likely to noodle a line over and over again. Also I find with the mechanical pencil (Dr. Grip) I push way too hard even though I really like the clean line I get. Plus having the lead break just plain sucks. I'm sure I'll change again in 2 weeks what I like, especially once I get the Cintiq! Oh, check out this great article over on smomotion about different pencil types.

Gilligan chasing his tail.


Claude playing a rousing round of flip the turtle.


Our little hero couldn't have asked for a more perfect shot.


Pirate a Day


I stumbled across a new (to me) artist today Dean Yeagle. He grew up loving Disney and wanted to become an animator there. Eventually, he worked with them, but he is most famous, most people would say, for his pinups. The thing that really attracted me to his work is that he can blend cartoon style with real anatomy seamlessly. The expressions and fluidity that his characters portray seem way too over the top for a normal human, yet somehow he makes it all look natural. Treat yourself and take some time to truly admire some his work. The way he draws makes me want to get better, and his body of work makes me want to believe that drawing in a more cartoon way can still be realistic, so much so, that even critics would have a hard time not seeing it for it's true artistic value. Thanks for the inspiration!

Today's quote, "Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere", comes from G.K. Chesterton, and from this Dean Yeagle drawing.

...for the 10 year olds...

Spent a good portion of the day trying to find a good deal on Maya and I'm continuously contemplating getting a Cintiq. I've been really motivated the last couple of days, and getting a decent amount of time to work on a lot of the projects I have going. At the end of the day I still feel like I should be getting more done. One day at a time!

Gilligan-Man


Claude and his turtle taking a little nap in the comfy chair.


Pirate a Day


Our little hero wondered to himself why he missed the landing and then he realized he had landed square on a rock pile. Seeing a good sized stone close by, our little hero swiftly grabbed it and hurled it towards his foe.


First off, I know most everyone has been talking about it today, but if you missed it, you have to check out the new trailer for Disney's Tangled.


It looks fantastic. Albeit, I wish that they could have kept with the original 2Dish idea, but I love the way they treated the 3d in this movie. It almost looks like a 3d oil painting. Simply Gorgeous!

Last night I put on Spirited Away, which I hadn't watched in quite some time. What a treasure. The first time I watched it, I really thought the story was a little too out there, but watching it again last night, which I think was my second time ever, I really felt like the movie was almost a Alice in Wonderland story for a new generation. I was so energized after watching it last night that I got up early this morning to watch all the behind the scenes featurettes. I wish I spoke Japanese just so I could really understand Miyazaki in his own words. Even through translation and subtitles you can really feel his energy and love for the medium. I hope to keep his ideal true that he had for this movie, in all my work. "For the people who used to be 10 years old, and the people who are going to be 10 years old." Thanks for the inspiration!

Strive to resent the limitations of your imagination!

Got a little bit of a late start today, but really focused and knocked out everything pretty quick. I still have to mess around with the Wacom tablet a bit today *daydreams about a Cintiq*. Also I've been really enjoying Andrew Loomis' Figure Drawing for All It's Worth, so hopefully I'll have some time to spend with that as well.

Gilligan posing for his C&R photo shoot.

A young Claude and his turtle.


Pirate a Day


Our little hero made a remarkable escape attempt but didn't quite stick the landing.


Had some time to read a bit more of Frank and Ollie's Illusion of Life. Wow, they are so full of knowledge, I can see myself rereading this book over and over again. They mainly were talking about the start of animation (mainly Winsor McCay), the foundation of the Disney Animation Studios, and Walt Disney himself. The way they described him was perfectly summed up in a quote they gave of his, "I resent the limitations of my imagination." Wow, I hope I get to that point some day where the only thing I resent is that I can't imagine more. Thanks for the inspiration!