SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERAMATED

Some signed books for a coupla sooper awesome KND fans!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YA!

A HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE SHOUT OUT TO ALL THE FANS WHO KEEP THE KND ALIVE WITH THEIR DRAWINGS, FAN FICS, WEB PAGES, AND SECRET TREEHOUSES IN UNDISCLOSED LOCATIONS!

HOPE ALL YOUR HOLIDAYS ROCK LIKE A HURRICANE!

KIDS NEXT DOOR RULES!

MR. W

MEMBERSHIP HAS IT'S PRIVILEGES

Ya'll know that back on the East Coast I was a rough and tumble member of the ASIFA-EAST mafia and wasn't ashamed to admit it.

And now that I'm cold representin' the West Coast, I totally had to join ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD to see how they roll.

Now, I haven't been to one of their meetings yet but I already like how they roll stuff into my mailbox.

In the last month I've received a DVD of Monsters vs Aliens (w/ bonus disc), very pretty promotional booklets for The Fantastic Mr. Fox and 9, and a copy of UP, along with Partly Cloudy, the original soundtrack and yet another gorgeous booklet:


So why all the free stuff?

Well, this IS Hollywood and we're getting into Oscar-time around here.
So the studios are trying to get everyone's attention. And they come up with some pretty fun ways. For instance...

This just came in from the makers of Coraline:


Popcorn?

Here's why:



So I hate to say this...

Yo, ASIFA EAST I miss you but ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD has the best free stuff of all time...

OF ALL TIME!

ALREADY?!

Hey...

Didn't I just start a new sketchbook way back HERE?

I mean, it usually takes me a coupla months to finish one, but this baby practically got polished off in a month.

But I know why... I do a lot of scientific research into these things.

First, the book itself was not really a sketchbook, per se.
Technically it was a scrapbook that I used as a sketchbook. I liked the grey paper inside and figured I'd give it a try. And since it was a scrapbook, the pages were a lot thicker than usual. Which means less pages.
So that's one reason it went fast.

Another was that I got kinda lazy and depended on other artists to fill the book up for me. Like when I was at CTN-X (which I talked about HERE and HERE). I never even got to post ALL the drawings I got from that weekend.

Which leads me to a nice segway... See this awesome drawing:


That's by the sooper brilliant artist/designer/vampire hunter Stefan G. Bucher.
He has a blog called Daily Monster where he draws a monster daily (duh) by squirting some ink on paper, blowing it with compressed air, and then creating a monster from the Rorshachish blot.

Quite genius. Check out the site and watch the videos to see it happen in real time HERE!

But I digest from telling thrilling (?) sketchbook tales...

Another reason this sketchbook went by like over-caffienated ninjas working at Benihana was because lately I've been forcing myself to draw BIG. You know, just to get out of my usual comfort zone of drawing within the page.

So here are a couple spreads from the latest book of sketchiness:















And then here's the NEW sketchbook...


Fresh and clean with 160 pages ready for fillin' up with drawlings. Here's the first one:


And away we go...

RANDOM KND SPOTTING

You never know where them KND will pop up next...

For instance, one of my best sooper pals from college was getting some printing done at some place down in Atlanta. And whilst the sales assistant was in the back getting his order (undoubtedly bleary from the jedi mind trick my friend used to get a 30% discount) he casually picked up one of the company's brochures.



And lookie who was inside:


It's the KND... oddly on a Camp Lazlo background!
Since it's Atlanta I'll assume that's in the Cartoon Network offices somewhere.
Or maybe it's a lawyer who fights for kid's rights.
Regardless... I LIKE IT!

Thanks for the spot, Mr. Peck!

CN ACTION PACK #44

While the series has long gone underground, the Codename: Kids Next Door comics keep coming at ya!

And you know who else keeps comin' at the KND?

Lizzie.


Love her or hate her... You know things get nuts when she's around.
But if she's not going on a date with Nigel then...

WHO?!

Grab Cartoon Network Action Pack #44 and find out!

THE SECRET OF KELLS

Wanna see something pretty?

I mean, REEEEEEEEEEEALLY PRETTY?

Then go see The Secret of Kells, please.

It's a masterpiece of design and just stunning to behold.
The story is nice...
But for my money
(which wasn't much since I got a
free pass from the Creative Talent Network...thanks guys!)
it was the production design that kept my attention.

Every shot was meticulously composed. Like this one:


And this one:


Yeah this one, too:


Wonderful character design based on solid shapes and flowing lines...
Simple, yet clever animation with interesting quirks...
(LOVED how Aisling's hair stayed flat with the ground when she walked)
Gorgeously painted BG's with texture you could just FEEL...

Here's the trailer... which is kinda deceiving since they try to make it seem more
epic and adventuresome than it really is.



Why couldn't they just say it was really pretty?

SAY NO TO THE HOLIDAYS!

I think I read in a medical journal that the absolute best gift you can give someone is a book. (or maybe it was a coupon for a free appendectomy...)

And I read in Muscle and Fitness that giving someone a book signed by the author is the surest way to a flat stomach.
(if you stick under your shirt...)


So why not get that special someone a signed copy of 1000 TIMES NO as an early 4th of July present? Or just get another five copies for yourself. You deserve it!

It's totally easy! Just go on over HERE for all the details!

PANELIZING at CTN-X!

I mentioned all the butt kickin' panels that went on at CTN-X so I thought I'd start with this one:


PIXAR IS IN THE HOUSE: STORY STORY STORY moderated by Roger Allers.

Usually we hear from the Pixar big guns about the production process of Pixar films... the Brad Birds, Andrew Stanton and Pete Docters. But this time we got to hear from the guys working deep in the story trenches... the Bill Presings, Scott Morses, Derek Thompsons and Ted Mathots. And it was really cool to hear about their individual histories, processes, daily travails, etc. Some memorable bite-sized chunks:

• Most, if not all, of these guys came out of comics. That kind of visual story telling set the stage for each of them to become the story tellers they are.

• If you want to work at Pixar, you'd better have an encyclopedic knowledge of cinema history and technique. Live action, animated, long form, short form... all these are discussed, referred to, copied, alluded to, and joked about at length-- especially at lunch, where many artists coyly admit which famous films they have not seen.

• The 'Art of...' books you see really only include the sooper pretty art work. Most of the drawing these guys do is raw and sketchy and whipped out to just get the point across and only later gussied up-- usually by other people.

• Speaking of which-- a scene or sequence is rarely your own. Often you'll be asigned a sequence and it will later get shifted off to someone else to get their take on it. It's a very collaborative process.

• A favorite quote I liked about writing and/or drawing a scene is "Get in late and get out early."

A really great panel that I enjoyed thoroughly!

Added Bonus #1: My friend working the event who shuttled me to the front of the line so I could sit in the front row! THANKS!

Added Bonus #2: Trading a signed copy of 1000 Times No for one of Scott Morse's delicious paintings!!! I got the waaaaaay better end of THAT deal and I'm grateful for it!


Thanks, Mr. Morse!

USING YOUR IMAGINISM

You've heard of Imaginism, right?

Well, if not, here's a little blurb from their website that explains them pretty well:

Imaginism Studios is made up of independent artists specializing in publishing, television, and movie pre-production. We produce some of the most fun and upbeat designs, concepts, and illustrations around! Plus we’re really friendly and will work long hours to meet your needs, so please feel free to contact us and let us know how we can help you!

Well, two of my favorite Imaginismeers (sp?) were at CTN-X and I just had to stop by their table and introduce myself since I had never met them in person:


That's Kei Acedera and Bobby Chiu in the pic (but that's not CTN-X. I borrowed that image from themovieblog.com. So just squint your eyes and pretend it's from CTN-X)

They were selling their gorgeous art books that covered every topic you're into:

Guy Sketches
Girl Sketches
Cat and Dog Sketches
Dragon Sketches
Water Worlds
Ancient Japan Sketches
Chickens Dressed Like Bea Arthur in Medieval Finery and Football Helmets

They were also selling reeeeeeeeeeally nice prints of their work, each one more drooltastic than the next. I got this one:


I love pictures that tell a story without the need for pesky words. Is that big-blue-serpenty-caterpillar thingie about to have that kid as a snack? Or grant him three wishes? Or dress him up like Bea Arthur in medieval finery and a football helmet and THEN eat him and grant him three wishes?

The world may never know. But i KNOW that I couldn't walk away from Mr. Chiu and Miss Acedera with just a print. I had to ask them to draw me something:




Yeah... I know.
Off the charts with the awesomosity, right?

Extra big-blue-serpenty-caterpillar-sized thanks to these guys for the drawings and make sure to check out their work in Tim Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland!

I THOUGHT... I THOUGHT...

"Since it was the first one, I thought it would be kinda lame."

"I thought it was just gonna be a bunch of artists selling prints and stuff"

"Eh... I thought about going but didn't feel like it."

UGH!

These are a couple of the responses I got from people who didn't go to the CTN-X expo last weekend.

And you know what? I'm kinda glad everybody in LA didn't go. Because if everybody was there I wouldn't have gotten THIS:


O HAI SOOOOOOOPER AWESOME DRAGON'S LAIR DRAWING BY LEGENDARY DON BLUTH HIMSELF!

That's right... I'm walking the floor of CTN-X and there, idling in his booth, is Don Bluth.

Yeah... Secret of Nimh, Land Before Time, Dragon's Lair, Space Ace DON BLUTH and NO ONE is talking to him. Sure... I've passed his table before and it was crowded. But this time... there's NO ONE THERE!

So I gots to stop and talk. And I gotta tell him about how his movies inspired me. And I've even got time to tell him how a long time ago me and my best friend from high school were at the local arcade (Space Port) and the manager asked us if we'd help move in the brand new Dragon's Lair machine. And in return we got a whole bunch of free credits to play!
Niiiiiiiiiice.

But man, that game was HARD!

Regardless... what a guy. Sooper friendly, no BS, quick with a story...

and even quicker with a drawing.

SIGH...

But the sighs don't end there.

If you know me... you know I love me some Craig McCracken. Powerpuff Girls was one of the reasons I wanted a show on Cartoon Network. And then he follows it up with Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends?!

Dude...

So what's next for him?

How's about his work-in-progress graphic novel 'Wander Over Yonder'?!



You may drool accordingly.

BUUUUUUUUT what about Lauren Faust, who just happens to be Craig's wife?! They had a table together at the expo and were selling prints, and t-shirts and stuff.

And perhaps you've that Lauren's sooper triple cute Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls are currently selling in world famous NYC toy store FAO SCHWARTZ?!

Yeah... I got a drawing of that:



So glad those suckuhs stayed home while I hung out and grabbed some awesome drawings.

CTN-X MARKED THE HOT SPOT!

I just spent the weekend at the sooper very first ever Creative Talent Network Expo here in Burbank, California and man, it rocked like a hurricane!

See, the folks at the Creative Talent Network looked around and saw that there was no annual event in the LA area dedicated to networking for the animation community. So why not make one?

Yeah... WHY NOT?!?


But usually these things are a wreck the first year or two (I'm talking to you, NYC COMICON). They're disorganized, you can't find anything, they get overcrowded, it's hot and sweaty and the floor is covered with rotting giant squid (or something like that).

NOT SO with CTN-X! They really had themselves put together and put on a great event that people are gonna be talking about for a loooong time.

Personally, I couldn't have had a better time. I wandered the floor catching up with friends who had tables to hawk their wares (Craig McCracken and Lauren Faust, Bill Presing and Ikumi Moriya Presing, Scott Morse)... I hung out with other attendees (Khaki Jones, Chris Hamilton, Wilson Swain)... I went to absolutely amazing and informative panels (Pixar Storytelling, Dreamworks Production design, Animators who've made the transition from 2-D to 3-D, Visual Structure in storytelling, an interview with Mike Mignola) and made sure to introduce myself to lots of artists I've admired or had the pleasure of discovering at the event.

And, of course, I asked lots of folks to draw in my sketchbook. So over the next coupla days I'll be posting them up and telling you about some of the great panels.
In the meantime, here are a couple drawings:

This one here is by the legendary Eric Goldberg?!


Pixar's Bill Presing and his wife Ikumi... both old school New Yorkers!


How's about brilliant character designer Ben Balistreri?!


And there was lots of stuff to see and do. There as a wonderful life drawing model doing costumed poses (a cowboy, a pirate, the Godfather), live drawing, sculpting and digital demos by assorted artists, raffles, and of course, parties!



So all and all-- congrats to the Creative Talent Network for a MASSIVE success. They worked hard on this event and it showed.

So what could they do to make it even better for next year? Well for one, they're gonna need a bigger space. The floor was generally easy to get around, but the conference rooms weren't big enough and a lot of people got shut out (BUT... and this was VERY smart of the organizers... they had all the panels transmitted to TV's in the lobby!).

What else? It would have been nice to have badges for the attendees so you could know who's who.

But that's about all I've got to complain about.

Well, that and the fact I wasn't made Sooper Triple Just Moved to LA Guest of Honor.

Oh well.

Keep it locked for more in the next buncha posts.

I BEEN COWAN THE DAYS...

...until Sir Elliot Cowan would make good on his cross-your-heart-and-hope-to-be-fired-out of-a-submarine-torpedo-tube-naked promise to bestow a real live original Boxhead and Roundhead drawling on me.

And after 37 years... it FINALLY came:


SOOPER TRIPLE GORILLA-SIZED YAY!

But you know what's even coooooooler?
(Besides being fired out of a submarine torpedo tube naked?)

When you find ANOTHER drawing on the back of an original piece of art!

Like this teeny one here:


I'm not quite sure what exactly it is, though. It kinda looks like a glowering little Russian stacking doll with a genie's lantern on its head.

No?

Then perhaps I have it upside down?


Now it looks like a burnt roasting turkey with the head of a Rebel Commando (you know, the dudes who went to take out the shield on Endor... duh.)

What?!

You don't think that's what it is either?

Well then YOU tell me what the heck it is, smartypants.

And THANKS, Elliot!

THAT NEW SKETCHBOOK SMELL

Wasn't it just late last August when I started a new sketchbook? I told you about it over HERE but it appears that book is done now!

As you saw in that old post, I had started doing loopy, continuous drawings that traveled from page to page throughout the book and i pretty much stuck with that theme:


It turned out to be a pretty fun way to do a sketchbook...


Because if you didn't know what to draw...

you just draw a dragon...


that goes on...


and on...


and on...


aaaaand oooooooon...


and...


...yawn...


and then you move on to... i dunno...


a deep sea diver with some kind of intestiney air hose?!


or some telephone poles...


or sometimes you just need someone to hold onto the cool Naruto TCG card you got in the latest issue of Shonen Jump.

It's funny... some sketchbooks take a couple months, and others drag on for almost a year or more! This one went pretty fast, mainly because I wanted to just keep drawing even if I didn't know what I wanted to draw.

Anyway... that sketchbook is, like, SO over now. And it's on to new things.

So here's the first page of the new one... which has GREY paper instead of white (ooooooh!):


The drawings can only get better from here!