Woohoo...

Oktapodi...

The Gobelins short Oktapodi is finally online. (Warning: Quicktime Link)

Life...

'Up' Character Design

Swing by the Pixar Blog and check out some photos from Comicon of the main characters in Pixar's Up.

Sorry about the weird format and the lack of posts. I am absolutely slammed in both my personal and professional life. I had to post this from my iPhone while eating dinner just to fit it in!

Anyways, I know I haven't been posting much art. I'll get to it, I promise.

The first trailer for 'The Princess and the Frog'

Check it out here.

Please be good...

Glago's Guest

A short clip from the new short film produced at Disney... Chris William's "Glago's Guest" - it will be screened with Bolt.

Super minimalist.

'Up' Teaser Trailer

Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2009

How come I had no idea they updated this program? It felt like Autodesk had left it by the wayside!

It doesn't look like there are too many new features of note... mainly just a minor update and rebranding... Either way it's great to see this awesome program is still alive!

[Update] The main updates that I can figure are better PSD Support, locking transparency of a layer, a slightly revamped look for the Layers Palette, and Bucket Fill (or Flood Fill, as Autodesk calls it). I hope it doesn't take three years for them to update this program again... but I'll take any updates to this program at this point!

Disney Lost and Found...

Looks like animation writer Charles Solomon has put together yet another interesting book, entitled "Disney Lost and Found: Exploring the Hidden Artwork from Never-Produced Animation" (Amazon Link Here).

According to Amazon...

Disney's Lost Art is a deluxe celebration of the visual development of shorts, scenes, and entire feature length films by Walt Disney Animation Studios that, for one reason or another, never made it to the screen. The book will be divided into three sections. The first part will focus on animation drawings, story sketches, and concept art created for vintage scenes that were cut from shorts and features including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Rescuers. The second section will be dedicated entirely to Wild Life, a Disney feature film that was never finished. Part Three will be devoted to My Peoples, another unfinished feature. Disney fans and art enthusiasts will delight in this exclusive look at an untold piece of Disney history.

Paul Briggs post to his blog stating:

I just got through looking over this and there's some really great images in it. Some wonderful Bill Peet boards, Andreas Deja character designs, and some amazing concept paintings by the very talented Andy Harkness.

Totoro Forest Project...

I'd be remiss if I didn't post about the Totoro Forest Project - A fundraising exhibition/auction established by Hayao Miyazaki to help preserve the Sayama Forest in Japan. These woods were the inspiration for the forest in My Neighbour Totoro.

There are fantastic artists who are involved in giving pieces for the project. Some of the headlines:

Ashley Wood, Andreas Deja, Bill Pressing, Chris Applehans, Dice Tsutsumi, Deanna Marsigliese, Donnachada Daly, Enrico Casarosa, Enrique Fernandez, Erik Tiemens, Erwin Madrid, Hans Bacher, Iain McCaig, James Jean, James Robertson, Jeff Pidgeon, Bobby Chiu, Kei Acedera, Kevin Dart, Lou Romano, Michael Knapp, Nate Wragg, Nick Sung, Pete Docter, Pete Sohn, Peter De Seve, Ralph Eggleston, Robin Joseph, Ricky Nierva, Steve Purcell, Tadahiro Uesegi, Teddy Newton, Vera Brosgol, and William Joyce... These are honestly just a few of the amazing list of artists...

Each of the artists has put up a piece for auction, which will be auctioned off at Pixar Animation Studios on Sept 6 - the proceeds go towards the Totoro Forest National Fund. A high quality catalogue of all of the works will also be available at the event. Also, the work will be on display at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Fran from Sept 7 - Dec 7.

Check out the project's website, which features a full list of the artists as well as the works, as well as info on how to contribute to the cause.

Fox Force Five...

Oh ya, I forgot - I do drawings sometimes....

Two plugs...

Two of my good friends have just started up their blogs...


First up is my good bud Matt Nealon. He is a crazy maniac and I suggest you keep on eye on his stuff! (Matt - I know you'll love the fact that I chose this image to advertise your blog)



Also, another one of my good buds Marceline Gagnon-Tanguay has restarted her blog! Definitely worth checking out!

Michael Turner RIP....

News came in that Witchblade/Aspen artist Michael turner has passed away on June 27th due to complications with cancer. Please check out this link for more info and how to contact his family for those wishing to send condolences.

The Unofficial Disney Animation Archive is Back....

For those who have been scouring the net for Disney Model Sheets, The Disney Animation Archive was the go-to spot until it disappeared and became The unofficial Dreamworks Animation Archive.

It seems that now, the site is back, but is missing much of the content due to data loss. Anyways, just thought I'd point y'all to it.. and keep checking bask for more!

House of Cool and Red Rover...

I've just got word that Toronto studio House of Cool has recently acquired another awesome Toronto studio, Red Rover.

Found the article on Kidscreen.

Sorry too to you intrepid blog readers. I've had to move, attend a wedding, had several trips around North America, and am prepping up to move yet again. Expect my posting to be sporadic.

2008 Annecy Gobelins Shorts...

The second year work of Gobelins students has been posted to the Gobelins website for viewing.

Eric Goldberg's Character Animation Crash Course...

I just got word that Eric Goldberg's quarter-of-a-century in the making book, Character Animation Crash Course, will be available starting in San Diego Comic Con this year, with a book signing on Friday July 25th from 2 - 4pm, and Saturday July 26th from 11am - Noon at Stuart Ng Books.

Yet another reason to go!

Ahh Youtube....

Pocahontas Rare Redfeather Pencil Test



Ken Harris Bugs Bunny



And Two Iron Giant tests...

Say Grace


Launch The Missile

More Disney Family Albums...

More of the Disney Family Album featurettes have cropped up on Youtube.

Ken Anderson


Eric Larson


Woolie Reitherman


Ollie Johnston


There are others available that I have posted before on Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Ward Kimball, and Marc Davis. You can find them by looking through my Youtube Channel.

These newer videos are courtesy of Youtube user Loosetoon.

Enjoy!

HP Tablet PC at Best Buy...

Hi there.. I forgot to post about this a while ago but I have lately been really lame with my blog. Chalk it up to being extremely busy!

Anyways, for your Canadian readers, I noticed that Best Buy is selling a very decent Tablet PC, the HP TX2108CA, for in between $999 and $1099 (depending on the week it seems) - For that you get a 2.0 Ghz Turion 64 X2 (Dual Core), 3GB of Ram, a 250 GB Hard Drive, a Geforce 6150 Go, and a 12" 1280x800 Wacom Penabled screen. I realise that a 12" screen is kinda lame and small, but people considering getting a 12" Cintiq would probably be much better off getting this instead. Also, it seems that 12" screens are the overwhelming majority nowadays on tablet pcs (unfortunately). Anyways, the PC behind the tablet also seems to be decently spec'd, so it seems good enough for animation purposes.

Anyways, Cintiqs and Tablet displays are the greatest thing ever, and I would highly recommend any animator to have one. It doesn't really get more affordable than this, either...

Check it out here.

Also, it seems that Wacom has reduced the price of its Cintiq 21UX to $1999 everywhere (which, strangely enough, puts it at the same price as the 20WSX, which is one inch smaller). Check it out here.