Category: Art: Painting

Green Eggs & Ham

Have any of you Netflix subscribers been able to catch any of the new Green Eggs & Ham show that unfurled last Friday? Did you like Green Eggs & Ham? Would you, could you watch them in a house? How about watching with a mouse?

Perhaps I haven’t talked much about it here on the ol’ blog, but I spent the last half of 2018 and the first half of 2019 working at Warner Bros. Animation on this terrific series in the story department! It was a blast to be able to work on an adaptation of my favorite Dr. Seuss book from when I was a kid.

I can’t show any of my actual work on the show since what I worked on hasn’t been released yet, but here’s a quick little ink & watercolor piece I did as a prize for our GEAH crew’s Friday night game night. Each Friday night after work, those who could would stick around for a game. One night I decided to contribute a mystery prize in an envelope for whoever the winner would be that night. It happened to go to Reem Aliadeeb, our show’s character designer!

Sam I Am in all of his green hamminess.
Categories
Art: Animation Art: Inking Art: Painting Art: Watercolor Illustrations

Jack Davis Exhibit

My friend James Martin teaches at the Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota, Florida, where they are currently having an exhibition of work by a cartooning hero of mine, Jack Davis.

Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture shows a variety of Jack’s work over a 60+ year career and will be on display until December 6. What James alerted me to, is that an illustration I did as a gift for Jack thirteen years ago happens to also be in the exhibit!

 

I was from the North, Jack Davis was from the South, yet we were still friends.

 

If I’m not mistaken, it looks like the drawing to the left of mine could be an original Mort Drucker sketch, and on the right might be a Dan Piraro. Yikes! Heavy company to be in.

Let that be a lesson to you, kids – when you do a doodle for a friend, make sure it is the best doodle you can possibly do. It just might end up in a museum!

By the way, HERE is a very complimentary review by Marty Fugate in the Herald Tribune newspaper that shows some of Jack’s work in the show. If you are in the vicinity of Sarasota, Florida, get out to see this show!!!

Categories
Animals Art: Drawings Art: Inking Art: Painting Art: Watercolor Caricature Cartoons Disney Illustrations Self Portrait

Heffalumps and Roozles

Back in 2009, I did a little series of watercolor paintings of characters I had become familiar with having worked on three seasons of the My Friends Tigger & Pooh television show.

Lumpy the heffalump, introduced in The Heffalump Movie, was a sweet character and was friends with Roo. The paintings weren’t done for anything official for Disney – just something on my own.

I’ve enjoyed drawing the Pooh characters ever since that show, and still get requests from kids from time to time.

 

A heffalump and Roozle are very confusal.
Categories
Animals Art: Animation Art: Colored Pencil Art: Painting Art: Watercolor Disney Illustrations

Batman & Robin

Happy Batman Day!!!

When I was working on the Green Eggs and Ham show at Warner Bros., I was chatting with some colleagues who shared an office with each other. Lorenzo Martinez was joking that he and Sarah Arakaki were Batman and Robin, to which Sarah commented that she was Batman in that equation.

I thought that image seemed funny in my head, especially since Sarah is a bit short, and Lorenzo is overly tall. So, when I had a moment, I decided to turn that into a real image. This was the result.

 

The Dark Knight and Boy Wonder instilling fear in the hearts of their enemies.

 

Hopefully you’ll find the image funny on its own merit since you all probably don’t know Lorenzo or Sarah. What you should know about them, though, is that they are brilliant animation layout artists. Those are the people who design the environments – the sets – in animation.

Lorenzo is a veteran going back to films like The Little Mermaid, and more recently was the layout supervisor for the animated sequences of Mary Poppins Returns. Sarah is new to the business with Green Eggs being her first show. She’s got a very bright future ahead of her! Together with Tyler Gentry who I worked with years ago on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, they make up the layout department on Green Eggs & Ham coming soon to a Netflix near you!

Categories
Art: Animation Art: Painting Art: Photoshop Caricature Comic Books Life Drawings

The Order of Cornelius

Earlier this year, I created this piece for the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society, otherwise known as The Order of Cornelius (OOC). It features the mascot of the OOC, Cornelius the Bear, who we hold in VERY high regard.

 

Bears really shouldn’t smoke.

 

I’ll have more to say about the OOC in my next post when I show you a medallion I designed for them, but for now, if you are interested, I encourage you to visit the OOC’s website by CLICKING HERE!

Categories
Animals Art: Painting Art: Photoshop Character Designs Illustrations

Bat Sweat

While a lot of schools may have started already, that doesn’t mean summer is over. It’s still pretty hot out there, and that heat can really slow down a superhero. There’s a reason Batman only goes out at night.

 

Spandex and sweat don’t mix well.

 

About that topic of schools starting in August – bleah! School started in my adopted town of Los Angeles back on August 13!!! When I was a kid, I’d still be splashing around in a pool, lake, or lawn sprinkler at that time of year! For me, school always started after Labor Day. (For you folks in other countries, Labor Day is a holiday we have here in the USA in early September.) I’m not sure what the rationale was for starting later, except maybe because most of our schools where I grew up in New Jersey did NOT have air conditioning. Even in early September, it could be toasty, but it would soon cool down as fall encroached upon our summer.

Of course, now I don’t go to school at all. So there!

 

Categories
Art: Drawings Art: Inking Art: Painting Art: Photoshop Cartoons Character Designs Comic Books Illustrations Random Doodles Sketchbook

Shark Week

I hear that this week is Shark Week. We’re gonna need a bigger blog.

 

“I’m not talkin’ about pleasure boatin’ or daily sailin’, I’m talkin’ about workin’ for a livin’, I’m talking about sharkin’!” -Quint
Categories
Animals Art: Painting Art: Photoshop Caricature Cartoons Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook

Dapper Duck

It’s Father’s Day here in the States today. I created this dapper duck and mouse companion a few months ago, and when it was done, it just made me think of my dad. So, I saved it just to post today.

 

And remember kids, smoking kills. Especially ducks.

 

To all those sons out there, give your dad a warm hug today. If you aren’t huggers, give him a hearty handshake. Tell him you appreciate him. Time together is fleeting – just like this duck will eventually fly away from this mouse.

Categories
Animals Art: Inking Art: Painting Art: Photoshop Character Designs Illustrations