The Chad Frye - Illustration GuyGot 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.
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.
Yesterday it was Father’s Day here in the States. While my pop doesn’t look like a desert hare, he did grow up in Arizona and always thought of himself as a cowboy.
So, this is dedicated to my dad, Cowboy Dave – the roughest toughest hombre to work in a suit and tie in Jersey City, but always wanted to wear his cowboy hat.
A couple of weeks ago I posted a sketch of a frog about to dive into some water. I still had froggies on the brain, so a few pages later in my sketchbook, a full fraggle of froggies filled a page. (Don’t ask. I have no idea what “full fraggle” means.)
Just one week ago I was in Philadelphia for the National Cartoonists Society’s annual Reuben Awards convention. I hadn’t spent that much time in that city in years, and I loved it. I love the history in that city, and wish that more of the colonial times had been preserved there.
I was disappointed that each day I tried, I could not get into Independence Hall. I just thought you could show up and go in like Nicolas Cage did in National Treasure. Turns out that you probably need to book your admission months in advance. Thanks for the misinformation Nicolas. Sigh.
Anyway, I got to doodlin’ in my sketchbook the other day, and came up with this man from the colonies with a stowaway on his rad ponytail. After finishing it, I realized it was an idea I had seen before in an old Disney cartoon called Ben and Me – the man & mouse part, not the ponytail set-up. Seek it out if you haven’t seen it – Benjamin Franklin owed all his achievements to a mouse.
With schools finishing for the year and the temperatures rising, the swim season has begun! Hope you get some time to enjoy the lakes, rivers, oceans, ponds, pools, and puddles out there with fun and safety!
Here’s a little sketchbook doodle with a Dark Brown Prismacolor pencil portraying some summer time well spent…
When I open a blank page in my sketchbook, often I don’t know what will fill that page until the pencil hits the paper. In a way, it’s a bit like improv – free association thinking once the first line is drawn. Thus was the case with today’s piece.
This sketch started with some eyes, then the idea of making it an elephant came along, then the idea that he should be dressed in a tweed jacket and bowtie, which led to the glasses, and finally the idea of putting the intellectual mouse on his shoulder.
– Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980)
