Passing Friendship

Yesterday I attended the funeral of a dear friend. She was a lady with a big heart, and an enthusiasm leaps and bounds greater than anyone who happened to be in a room with her. As a testament to her infectious personality, the church was filled beyond capacity to standing room only – quite a feat when most funerals of senior citizens are sparsely attended.

Knowing that among her many loves were causes that helped care for animals, I created this image last week in her honor to give a smile to her family in their time of loss. Her passing is a loss for all of us who knew her.

 

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Animals Art: Inking Character Designs Sketchbook

The Incredible Jurassic World

Two of the summer’s hottest films are Pixar’s The Incredibles 2 and Universal’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Both serve up thrills, chills, laughs and excitement. They also both serve up amazing soundtracks written by the same composer – Michael Giacchino!

Incredibles 2 has a boffo score that jumps and jives with the best energetically melodic groovy jazz, while Jurassic World 2 soars with classic intrigue and adventure in the vein of the musical path first blazed by the legendary John Williams, while taking us to new places of big teeth and terror.

So, what if for their next sequels, both movies were combined? What would THAT soundtrack sound like?!

 

A little Elastigirl – Jurassic World epic battle mash-up! How would you score THAT, Giacchino?

 

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Animals Art: Animation Art: Inking Art: Painting Art: Photoshop Character Designs Disney Film Music Illustrations Monsters

Gator Waiter

Not sure I’d be able to trust the intentions of a waiter with that many teeth and that eager to serve me.

 

You can draw anything with an oversized Sharpie. Just kidding. I couldn’t do that detail with a pen that large. Actually used a brush pen and a skinny marker.
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Animals Art: Drawings Art: Inking Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook

Dino Dentist

Perhaps it’s just me, but I thought the two T-Rexes in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom looked super fake. See for yourself…

 

I do dino impressions. This one is of a T-Rex mime trapped in an invisible iceberg.

 

In actuality, the dinosaur behind me made an appearance in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure many years ago. It is one of the Cabazon Dinosaurs out by Palm Springs which is part of a creation museum. If you go there, tell ’em Large Marge sent you.

I got to thinking about how silly that ol’ photo was, that another silly dino joke came to mind, so I sketched it up when there was a little window of free time.

 

Tiny arms make it impossible to floss.
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Animals Art: Inking Art: Photoshop Cartoons Character Designs Monsters Random Doodles Sketchbook

Happy Birthday America!!

Yep. Today is the good ol’ Fourth of July. I put that in caps because around these parts, that’s not just a date – it’s also the secondary name we Americans call Independence Day. We pinpoint our official beginning as a new nation on July 4, 1776, since that is when our Declaration of Independence from King George of England was signed.

I was sketching the other day, and this bold eagle came forth. It being our national bird, it seemed like the right time of year to put our flag behind him. Not sure how he rolled up his “sleeve” to get busy defendin’ & workin’, but that’s how red-blooded Americans have always been.

To my fellow Americans, enjoy the celebration today. And to my English friends, thanks for sharing the colors red, white, and blue.

 

I wonder if the founding fathers envisioned that we would celebrate by cooking hot dogs and hamburgers on a grill?
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Animals Art: Photoshop Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook

Unexpected Encouragement

Got out the ol’ sketchbook the other day and felt like getting a monster out of my brush pen – a monster who might have had a tough day at the office, and was cheered just a smidge by a bird who lit upon his nose.

Happy Monday.

 

Well, it’s less embarrassing than a zit on your nose, right?

 

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Animals Art: Drawings Art: Inking Art: Photoshop Character Designs Monsters Random Doodles Sketchbook

Al Hirschfeld’s 115th Birthday!

June 21, 2018 marks the 115th birthday of one of America’s greatest artists, Al Hirschfeld.
 
With what seemed like just a few simple lines on white paper, Hirschfeld made it look easy to capture the best and the brightest in our society as he wielded his pen. He vacationed with Charlie Chaplin (a story he told me himself), had Marlene Dietrich over to his brownstone for breakfast, created movie posters for the Marx Brothers and Judy Garland, album covers for folks like Frank Sinatra, Aerosmith and everyone in between, inspired the Genie in Disney’s “Aladdin” and a sequence in “Fantasia 2000,” and drew just about everyone who appeared on Broadway in his lifetime.
 
Every day Al traveled up three flights of stairs to his studio that overlooked the bustling streets of uptown Manhattan to create more inked goodness. It was those same three flights of stairs I would traverse on my annual visits to the master when traveling back east for the Christmas holiday. As you’d near the top step of the last flight, you could see Al sitting in his famous barber chair at his well-worn desk hard at work on his next masterpiece.
 

I’m not sure why he dedicated his wall to me, but I sure was flattered!

 

Yes, I was honored to know Al, and am forever grateful for those visits to chat about what’s new, and to hope a little of his artistry would flow through his arm into mine when we shook hands. It’s hard to believe that he passed 15 years ago, just a few months shy of his 100th birthday. Here is a picture that hangs in my studio of one time when my brother and I stopped in to Al’s studio.

 
Of his desk, I asked Al why there were such deep grooves in the wood. He replied, “Well, I find that it is helpful once in a while, to cut a piece of paper.”
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Art: Drawings Art: Inking Art: Photography Caricature Chad's Editorials Disney Illustrations

Mulan at 20

June 19, 2018 is the 20th anniversary of Disney’s Mulan. I couldn’t believe the time has passed so quickly. Mulan was the first movie I ever worked on, and as a result, it holds a special place in my heart.

I had landed a job at my dream company (Disney Feature Animation) a year before on July 7, 1997, and was able to work for the next year on this great movie. It premiered at The Hollywood Bowl on June 5, and it would be the last time the whole Disney crew was invited to the actual premiere – probably because the Hollywood Bowl can seat 30,000 people, and we only made a small dent in their seating capacity. Then, on June 19, it was unleashed on the U.S.A. movie-going crowd.

I was not an artist on the film, so there aren’t any old drawings of mine to share with you. However, I maintained a sketchbook that is filled cover-to-cover with sketches from my colleagues over the six years I worked on Disney movies. I chose this gorgeous sketch by Mulan co-head of story Dean DeBlois to show you. These days, Dean directs How To Train Your Dragon movies for Dreamworks.

 

 

Congratulations to the whole Mulan crew for a great achievement, and a special congratulations to co-directors Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft. You have brought honor to us all.

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Art: Animation Art: Inking Disney Random Doodles Sketchbook